Wednesday, April 22, 2015
If there's an architect who defines Tucson style, it's Josias Joesler. The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation is sponsoring a home tour of some of his spectacular homes in the Catalina Foothills and elsewhere from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday, April 25. Cost is $40 and the proceeds benefit the fine work of the Historic Preservation Foundation, which fights to keep more of Tucson's heritage from being bulldozed. More info on how to get your tickets and the tour can be found here.
(Added after publication at 7:30 p.m.:)
Nicoll Hernández-Polanco was given asylum in the U.S. We heard the news a couple hours after a judge set her bond. She is en route to Tucson as we speak!
"Nicoll won her asylum hearing today and was released on her own recognizance! This is the best possible result we could have hoped for," says Vidula Patki, one of her pro-bono attorneys.
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It looks like Nicoll Hernández-Polanco may be getting out by before the end of the week. Her bond hearing was today and the judge set it to $3,000—it was previously anticipated that the bond would be up to $10,000.
Hernández-Polanco is a transgender woman from Guatemala who's pleading for asylum over the violent sexual, physical and emotional abuse she endured both in her native country and later in Mexico. Sadly, rather than ensuring she'd be in a safe place once she reached U.S. soil, the 24-year-old was thrown in an all-male detention center in Florence, where she was sexually assaulted by a detainee, and continuously degraded by guards and other detainees.
She's been in that place for six months, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to grant her humanitarian parole or transfer her to an all-female detention center, even though their policy says they're supposed to tend to the safety of detainees.
Mariposas Sin Fronteras, a Tucson immigrants and LGBT rights advocacy group, created a Go Fund Me page to raise money for the bond. They have $2,765, which means hopefully in a matter of hours, Hernández-Polanco will be able to walk out of detention and continue to fight for asylum in this country.
Tags: nicoll hernandez polanco , free nicoll , immigration , mariposas sin fronteras , tucson
Arizona is near the top—number 19 on the list. Per capita, the state spends about $831, according to 2012 data.
Wyoming takes the cake—although expenses total $805,592,000, per capita the number is $1,397. The report summarizes findings from other states:
Tags: mother jones , gun violence , arizona , mass shooting , suicide , homicide
For a person who puts his pants on one leg at a time, Ryan Adams can sure deliver the intergalactic star quality. His most dazzling talent is still his prolific songwriting, soulful poetry chock-a-block with emotionally incisive take-away lines. And he has no fear of a deeply pretty chord progression. Onstage, his retro-seventies guitar solos have few peers for passion, and his voice is agile, with an occasionally silky lilt between snags.
He can also be funny as hell on the fly, and last night he delivered the ultimate single-guy cooking tip: Make that mac ‘n cheese really special by adding onion soup mix to the cheese powder. Having moved more-or-less silently through the set, Adams burst into fun near the end, teasing crowd members about watching the show through their smart phone cameras, and calling out a woman wearing sun glasses. “I feel you,” he said to her. “That’s how high I am every day,” before creating a back story that might end with her determined not to let anyone see her cry. Later, he made up an entire song, with four verses, to introduce his keyboard player. Other band members gamely joined in with guitar, drums, harmonies and belly laughs.
Tags: ryan adams , tucson , live , rialto theatre , concert , review
The Arizona Board of Regents will soon vote on possibly adding a new policy that would create another non-resident undergraduate tuition rate specifically for students who graduate from an Arizona high school but don't otherwise qualify as residents.
The proposal would directly affect so-called DREAMers, young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. They have been fighting for in-state tuition for years, as they have lived in Arizona for most of their lives. Because of their immigration status—despite getting relief from President Obama's DACA program—the state doesn't grant them that benefit.
This new non-resident rate would be 150 percent of the resident tuition rate established by ABOR. It would also only apply to undergraduate students.
DREAMers want a rate that is equal to resident tuition. (If ABOR approves the tuition hike proposal by the UA, new undergrads will pay $11,403 a year, while non-residents, among them DREAMers, will pay $33,630 per year.)
To qualify, the student would have had to attend high school in the state for three or more years. Those three years of attendance don't have to be consecutive.
Tags: dreamers , tuition , university , university of arizona , arizona board of regents
After 30 years working at Casa Video, Tony Jensen is going to recommend his last movie (at least in a professional setting) on Friday, April 24. However, before he goes, we had a few questions for the long-time pillar in the Tucson movie community.
What did you do before Casa Video?
I worked on the Burlington Northern Railroad but they would lay you off for four months in the winter. One year I decided to go back to school and repair computers and VCRs.
What kept you in the movie rental business for 30 years?
I love movies and lots of patience.
Why do you think Casa survived while Blockbuster and other stores went out of business?
I think Casa Video survived because of the inventory of movies. We have over 60,000 titles—and our staff—you can come in and just have a couple of phrases from a movie and 90 percent of the time they know it. We have customers that come in and spend hours looking for a film to watch. Besides, we are a family owned business, not corporate. We care, I think, more for our customers.
Do you have a Netflix account?
What is Netflix?
What’s one movie you see rented a lot year after year that surprises you?
Ulysses With Kirk Douglas
Tags: casa video , tony jensen , movie , rental , tucson , retire , blue velvet
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
We've got four tickets to Wednesday night's Diamondbacks game against the Texas Rangers.The game starts at 6:40 p.m at Chase Field in Phoenix. We'll draw the winner Wednesday ("tomorrow" from when this was published, "today" when most of you will see it) at Noon. You have to be able to pick the tickets up at our office (located near the Foothills Mall) between when we get in touch with you at Noon and when we lock the doors at 5 p.m. (Though you should probably be on the road before then). Enter below:
Tags: free stuff , diamondbacks , go to a sports game
A resolution that seeks to make the college and university experience debt-free for students was introduced in Congress today. (Our very own U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva was among the representatives who introduced the House version. By the way, the resolution is sponsored by all Democrats).
They want to increase financial aid, lower tuition and offer options to get a degree quicker.
In a statement by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is the primary sponsor of the Senate's version of the proposal, the congressmen and women involved highlighted the fact that the cost of going to college has increased by about 300 percent in the last three decades. They also said that graduating with debt has detrimental long-lasting effects in the country's economy (college graduates who are unable of buying a house, starting a business, etc.).
"Student loan debt is now the highest form of personal debt in the nation, reaching over $1.3 trillion for 38 million student loan borrowers across the country," the press release said.
Tags: university , college , community college , tuition , obama , raul grijalva , tuition , loans , debt , economy
On Wednesday, April 22, the Dine Out for Safety event will allow Tucson diners the opportunity to have a great local meal and contribute to a nonprofit that provides education and support for victims of sexual abuse.
Now in its 19th year, the event features about 20 different local joints that will be donating a portion of their sales to the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault. SACASA provides a safe space for survivors of sexual assault to get resources to cope and learn past
According to SACASA, the event helps bring awareness to both the organization's mission and the sexual violence epidemic in a broader context. SACASA says that someone is affected by sexual violence every 2.5 minutes and one in five women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. The Dine Out for Safety event will keep all proceeds in the event in the local community to help victims recover and gain strength.
All you have to do is dine out on Wednesday at one of the following places:
For more information on the event and SACASA, visit the Dine Out for Safety website.
Tags: dine out for safety , tucson , restaurants , southern arizona center against sexual assault , charity , event
That’s a bump of $103 million from the current budget of $1.265 billion.
Most of that increase—close to $80 million—will be in the form of spending on big-ticket capital projects, with city staffing levels remaining flat.
The cops, firefighters and the justice system are responsible for roughly $13 million of the increased budget costs.
The City Council will continue discussing the budget at its May 5 meeting, with adoption of a tentative budget scheduled for May 19 and a June 9 public hearing before a final adoption of the budget.
You can review the PowerPoint presentation on the budget here.
