North is providing some escape as we leer into summer with a dinner series that hopes to provide a taste tour of Italy. This Wednesday, Aprill 22, chef Carlos Calderon will head the event with a four course meal inspired by Piedmont. 

Since the region is known for its wine first and foremost, but also among food lovers as a hub of avant garde technique melded with hearty traditions, chef Calderon will have plenty to work with as he explores Piedmont. Each of the four courses in the meal will be paired with a beverage.

Here's the menu:

Antipasto
Antipasto Piemontese
Olive Oil Poached Tuna, Roasted Peppers, Anchovie Gremolata, Sea Salt

Primo
Agnolotti Piemontesi
Gorganzola Dolce & Potato, Crispy Radicchio, Barbera Wine Reduction

Secondo
Vitello Brasato al Barolo
Barolo Braised Veal, Roasted Mushrooms, Polenta, Barolo Jus

Dolce
Bonet
Chocolate and Nutella Budino, Caramel, Amaretti Cookie

The dinner is $55 and will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at 2995 E. Skyline Dr. You can make your reservation in person or by calling 299-1600.

If perfectly spiced elote makes your heart sing, tanning salons help you look like a true Arizonan through the winter or if you know the secret to drinking shots in the Old Pueblo, we need to hear from you. See, Best of Tucson® balloting is going well. However, these lovely categories are feeling a little neglected. So, businesses, start campaigning! Shot people, start voting! Tell your friends, tell your mom, tell your barista. Use us as a topic of conversation when you're stuck at a party with your boyfriend's friends. Spread the word, because more votes means better results—and that's really all we're looking for when it comes to finding the Best of Tucson®.

So, go vote! Feel free to leave your thoughts below, but your input only counts if you fill out the ballot. So, vote. 

Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote vote, vote.

On this year's Earth Day (tomorrow), the Center for Biological Diversity wants you to think about the link between human population growth and wildlife extinction, so they're putting images of some of the planet's endangered species on sustainable condoms.  

The project, a collaboration between the center and Sustain Condoms, is focusing on polar bears, whooping cranes, monarch butterflies, sea otters, hellbender salamanders and horned lizards. 

"Nothing sparks a conversation like handing someone a condom, especially when it comes with a slogan like, 'Before it gets hotter, remember the sea otter,'" said a statement by Stephanie Feldstein, the center's population and sustainability director. "On Earth Day, everyone is looking for how they can save the planet. Talking about population and overconsumption, and understanding how we influence the world around us every day, is one of the most important steps we can all take to help the environment and our communities."

Since 1970, the world's population has nearly doubled from 3.7 billion to 7.2 billion, while wildlife has dramatically declined, according to the center. 

The organization proposes easy access to family planning, contraception and reproductive healthcare, sex education and women empowerment as options that can lead to long-term solutions to the exorbitant population growth. 

Tomorrow, more than 500 volunteers will be giving away 50,000 free Endangered Species Condoms at Earth Day events on college campuses and various venues around the country. 

(If you get one, take a photo and show us before you use it!)

Also, you can get more information on volunteering tomorrow or getting some of these condoms on the site, endangeredspeciescondoms.com.

Much like malaria, we are never totally cured of the the “living wage” myth which erupts every few years on the political scene. This time around the Service Employees International Union is leading the charge along with Progressive Democrats of America. The goal is to create a nationwide $15 an hour minimum wage. The focus is on food service workers. The slogan is, “Fight for 15!”

Apparently wages, prices, and other economic stuff do not find their levels through the laws of economics (such as the Law of Demand) and free market forces, but are really arbitrary! So, a better approach would be to use Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator for Tucson (I’m not making this up). A prospective employee who applies at McDonalds can check the box that describes his household and his wage will be set—everyone who works hard will be able to support his family!

Speaking of the Law of Demand, what will happen if entry level fast food wages are artificially bumped up to fifteen dollars? Well, according to the law, as prices go up, demand goes down. Fewer people will be employed. More importantly, those who will be retained or newly hired will be generally higher skilled or experienced to meet the productivity demands of the higher wage. As a result, the low skilled inexperienced workers—those whom we presumably want to help - will be shut out of the labor market. They will be denied the opportunity to learn work habits and skills on the job.

The Marijuana Policy Project has mended ties with activists and dispensary representatives, so the group officially filed its weed ballot measure with the Secretary of State's Office Friday to begin the signature gathering campaign. This comes less than one month after a plan B group—Arizonans for Responsible Legalization—headed by MPP of Arizona's former campaign chairwoman Gina Berman came out with news that it'd be putting forward its own initiative, because they were not happy with the dispensaries' end of the stick.

Over the last few days, members of ARL traveled to D.C. and met with MPP leaders to discuss a middle ground for regulatory issues and other disagreements with the industry's proposed business structure and licensing. And, to make sure activists stayed on board, MPP put home cultivation rights back on the measure.

"Not everybody is happy with the language, I am not in love with all of the components, but we have the best compromise we are going to get," says Mikel Weisser, political director of Safer Arizona, the group that fought hard for homegrown weed language to make the initiative. 

Weisser was the only non-MPP member who participated in the announcement event in Phoenix Friday afternoon. 

"They wanted me there to show that we weren't going to face another split," he says. "Safer Arizona is going to continue to work in the activist community to make sure that all of Arizona gets included in the legalization and in the movement. The central MPP committee is going to pretty much focus on the mainstream message, leaving Safer Arizona to look at the folks not being included in the Arizona political discussion."

Weisser believed that if the two groups couldn't work it out, legal weed in Arizona would have been boycotted again. 

The ballot measure would allow adults 21 and up to buy no more than an ounce of pot through a state-licensed retailer or dispensary. An adult 21 or older would be able to grow six plants and there will be a limit of no more than 12 plants per household. There is a license, worth $7,500, for people who want to sell their pot, without jumping into a full-on dispensary.

MPP expects taxes, set at 15 percent, to bring revenue of between $60 million and $100 million. The funds would go toward sales regulation, education and public health efforts. 

Safer Arizona plans to host a series of public forums to answer everyone's weed questions. They'll also be at the forefront of gathering signatures. The measure needs 150,642 by June 2016 to make it on the ballot.

Other states targeted by MPP to legalize ganja next year are California Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine.

Colorado and Washington legalized recreational pot in 2012. Oregon, Alaska and D.C. gave it the go last year.

PS: Happy 4/20!

Well?

From an email I received from Raymond Duron of Optimus Investigations:

WITNESS? On March 14th, 2015 at about 2:00 a.m., a physical altercation involving law enforcement officers and an individual occurred on the north east area of the parking lot of Maynard’s Kitchen. If you saw altercation or witnessed events leading up to the incident please call 520.339.2342  

Ruger—1-year-old —Corgi Mix—M—#804147


Ruger is simply too cute for his own good! This little guy is petite and just the perfect size. Ruger is looking for an adult home or one with older children that can offer him plenty of patience and adjustment time. This handsome boy is shy and nervous to new situations, but once he is comfortable he is all about you! Ruger loves attention, wants to be in your lap, and his happy to clean your face with kisses! If you are looking for a sweetheart that will become a loyal friend with time and mutual work, then Ruger is the perfect buddy for you!

Local food lovers swarmed to Rillito Park Race Track on Saturday, April 18 for Viva La Local's spring event. The event, which was so successful in previous years that it's become bi-annual, fuses a farmers market with a tasting event—at least that's what I expected before going.

The first thing I realized about the event was that the tasting sizes were actually massive. Each sample ran $5, which seemed pricey until you saw the dishes. While the price matched the portion, it did make it a bit difficult to try out more than two or three of the spots before getting uncomfortably full. That's why the first lesson learned is bring a friend or two or three—that way you can all get different things and swap bites for maximum coverage.

The next bump in the road was actually a little rougher to overcome once planted at the festival. There was one water fountain that I could find and water was being sold for $1 at the Hydration Tent, though it was cash only. So, when the fest returns on October 31, be sure to bring either cash or your own water bottle or you'll find yourself mighty thirsty with only beer and wine to comfort you. (The token booth took credit cards so you're able to swipe for food and booze.)

Other than that, be sure to bring a big floppy hat or a hefty dose of sunscreen because shade at Viva La Local is like the spice in "Dune"—hard to come by and even harder to give up once you've had a taste.

Friday night marked the release of Tough Luck Club's new cocktail menu. Like the last, it's a four page zine-style booklet complete with cocktail recipes. However, according to bartender Niklas Morris, what sets this new menu apart is the bar coming into its own.

"The bar is finding its identity," he says. "First menus are usually about equal parts status quo and shock and awe, with the second you can begin shaping the bar."

Morris compares this process to a comedian workshopping jokes, and, like the first menu, this new one is not short in humor. The This Is Heartbreak, for instance, is a drink named to reference the fact that the bar has a no Morrissey/The Smiths rule. While the name might be a little silly, the drink itself is a seriously tasty blend of genever, sweet vermouth, Bonal and Creme de Noyaux. 

However, the menu isn't all that's new at TLC. Morris says the bar plans to roll out two new programs: the Acid Cat Spirit Guide and the Culinary Experience. 

The Acid Cat Spirit Guide will launch next Friday, April 24 and will be "like an inverse bartenders choice." The bartenders will each have their own special secret drink. You don't get to know what's in it, it will "actively change" in terms of flavor as you drink it and it will look nothing like what it tastes like.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride," Morris says.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Culinary Experience is poking fun at the cocktail world's penchant for embracing "convoluted trendy culinary technique behind the bar." To take all of that one step further, you can expect classic cocktails with a snack food twist. Using techniques like immersion circulation, vacuum chambers or rotovap essential oils, the TLC team will mix up pizza daiquiris, ranch dressing gin sours, chips and salsa margaritas and whiskey and pho sodas in bottles.

Overall, even asking what the menu is conceptually yields a somewhat cheeky response:

"Spring obviously, but we try to match the greater Midwestern seventies basement feel. A dash of Italian influence, like a father who is half Italian, but insists on talking about the old country he's not from. I did notice when I was compiling our menu that we really only make tiki drinks anymore. Not tropical per se, but fun and really conceptual," Morris explains.

You can try out all 24 of the new drinks (hopefully not in one sitting) while the spring menu runs for the next few months. Morris says TLC's menu will change quarterly.

Tucson Unified School District sent out a press release Friday afternoon saying it plans to hire an internal auditor and that it is seeking for volunteers for an Audit Committee.

Transparency of budget expenditures has been a years-long issue between the district and its critics. The governing board argued the district didn't have anything to hide, but that it could not bring an internal auditor on board because there's wasn't enough money for one.

There have been accusations of ill spending, such as for desegregation programs—a major reason a bill that looked to defund these gained support from TUSD Board Member Michael Hicks. (He's demanded for an internal auditor for what seems like forever).

Applicants for the internal auditor position will be interviewed by the committee, which will then recommend finalists to the governing board. Board members have the last word on who gets hired, and the auditor will report directly to them.

The goal is to have the internal auditor in place by July 1, when the district's new business management is in place.

“With a couple of key retirements, we have the funding for the position,” TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said in a short statement, adding that it's time to put the auditor debate to rest.

For more information to volunteer in the Audit Committee, visit http://www.tusd1.org/contents/govboard/audit.html. And the internal auditor position should be posted on the district's website by now, tusd1.org.