Riley—1 year-old —Pit Bull Mix—M—#799022

Riley is a handsome man! He has a big goofy grin and absolutely loves the camera. This boy loves attention! Riley is looking for an active home that can offer him plenty of exercise. He has been successfully housed with children and cats before. He will greatly benefit from patient obedience training, and seems to love learning new things!

Politico flags a fiery exchange between GOP presidential hopeful and Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Republican moneybag Randy Kendrick, wife of Arizona Diamondback owner Ken Kendrick, over Medicaid expansion for low-income Americans at one of those big Koch Brothers getaways:

Kasich’s temper has made it harder to endear himself to the GOP’s wealthy benefactors. Last year, he traveled to Southern California to appear on a panel at a conference sponsored by the Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch. At one point, according to accounts provided by two sources present, Randy Kendrick, a major contributor and the wife of Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, rose to say she disagreed with Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage, and questioned why he’d expressed the view it was what God wanted.

The governor’s response was fiery. “I don’t know about you, lady,” he said as he pointed at Kendrick, his voice rising. “But when I get to the pearly gates, I’m going to have an answer for what I’ve done for the poor.”

The exchange left many stunned. About 20 audience members walked out of the room, and two governors also on the panel, Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, told Kasich they disagreed with him. The Ohio governor has not been invited back to a Koch seminar — opportunities for presidential aspirants to mingle with the party’s rich and powerful — in the months since.

Jonathan Chait of New York magazine notes:

This is not good news:

Teachers have been fleeing Arizona in droves, resulting in such a serious shortage of experienced teachers that state officials are warning of serious consequences if the exodus continues.

Over the last five years, thousands of teachers have left the state, according to a 2015 report by the Arizona Department of Education, with this past school year being possibly the worst. The report warns if teachers keep leaving, “students will not meet their full potential” and “Arizona will not be able to ensure economic prosperity for its citizens and create the workforce of tomorrow.” It calls for increased pay for teachers and more overall education funding in the state.

Why are so many teachers leaving? Educators say reasons include low pay, insufficient classroom resources, and so many testing requirements and teaching guidelines that they feel they have no flexibility and too little authentic instructional time. According to new Census Bureau statistics, Arizona is near the bottom of a state list of spending per student, $7,208. The average per pupil spending around the country is $10,700, and the state is near or at the bottom for classroom spending per student. But it is near the top of a list of states showing which ones get the biggest percentage of their education revenue from the federal government.

Read the whole depressing report here.

TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez is giving a total of $17,000 to two schools. A couple of thoughts on the gesture.

First. I don't know if Sanchez timed the gift to lessen the impact of the complaints about his overly generous new contract, but if he did, it won't do much good. His gift is close to what the two previous superintendents gave back to the district—their yearly bonuses—so the gesture just puts him in line with his predecessors. He's still taking a big compensation bump over the next few years which has been greeted with nearly universal criticism (with me taking longer to get there than it should have. Mea culpa). I'm guessing nothing short of a reopening of the contract to lower the pay increase will help much.

Second. Sanchez chose two schools to give the money to: Davis Bilingual Elementary and University High. They're probably worthy choices, but I'm sure there were a few among many, many schools and projects he had to choose from. No matter where he decided to give money, and no matter how much he decided to give, it's small potatoes compared to the overwhelming need. If he brought his salary down to the previous level or took a small raise, it would be a clear statement that he doesn't put his needs above those of others in the district, but it wouldn't make a dent in the programs that need to be funded, and at most it would mean pennies in salary increases spread across the district.

The big issue, the one that we shouldn't take our eyes off of no matter what other legitimate concerns people have, is the state is starving the schools of funds. TUSD can work to save money however and wherever it can. Superintendent Douglas can try to reduce the bureaucratic mandates to schools which are currently built into state law. But so long as Arizona is sitting in 49th place, thousands of dollars per student below the national average, we're cheating our children out of the educations they deserve. 

I'm pretty much winging this dad thing, so I'm not someone to take any parenting advice from. But I try not to turn on the TV when I'm playing with my nearly 2-year-old kid because I worry about somehow messing up her developing mind (and I'll often give in if she's particularly insistent about watching Elmo.) That said, these days, screens are everywhere, from the boob tube to iPhone I check way too often when I'm watching her (and yeah, I know that's probably setting a terrible example.)

Anyway, Emily Oster of Five Thirty Eight Science looks at the latest research and discovers that maybe not all screen time is bad: 

When I was a kid, my parents had strict television rules: no more than an hour a day, and the content must be educational. This meant a lot of PBS. I did briefly convince my mother that the secret-agent show “MacGyver” was about science, but that boondoggle ended when she watched an episode with me. These restrictions seemed severe at the time, but my parents were just following the orders of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Children and teens should have no more than one to two hours of screen time per day, with children under 2 having no screen time at all. Those orders remain the same today.

Relative to my childhood, limits on screen time have become increasingly restrictive and confusing. The iPad (and Kindle, and various other tablets) has opened up a world of “educational” screen time. If my 4-year-old is doing a workbook on the iPad, does that mean she learns less than if we used a physical workbook? The AAP advocates for newspapers and physical books over iPads, computers and other screen options.

The AAP statement on media seems opposed to screens per se (quote: “young children learn best when they interact with people, not screens”) without really differentiating among various uses and types of screens. But, not surprisingly, when you look at the research, the screen matters less than what you do with it.

And then there's Louis CK's NSFW take:

We Tucsonans know that the best Mexican restaurants north of the border are found right here in the our town, but it was not until recently that the vortex of sabor Mexicana was identified with “The Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food”! With the skill of a corrupt redistricting commission, all of the best Mexican eateries were gerrymandered into one district!

Of course, the identification of the “Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food” is a challenge to lesser regions, the likes of which cannot hold a candle to the eateries of the Old Pueblo, but it also is an opportunity for us locals to take a look around and see if we missed something special, or to reconnect with some with some old favorites.

To that end, the foodies at the "Wake Up Tucson!" radio show have joined with Gray Line Tours to create the first ever “Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food! Tour”. The tour starts at El Mercado San Agustin at 5:30 p.m.. The plan is to be done by 9:00 p.m,. The organizers offer three guarantees: 1, You will bring goodies home with you; 2, You will eat amazing food; 3, You will have new places to take your friends the next time someone asks, "Where are going to eat tonight?"

For more information, or to book your reservation, call Gray Line at 622-8811.

Zona Politics Eps.34 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo.

On this week's episode of Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: UA College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz stops by lay some science on us about climate change research, space missions, the Biosphere and other cool stuff happening at the UA. Then author and Edible Baja Arizona editor Megan Kimble talks about her new book, Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food. 

A Zona Politics programming note: We've got one more week on KGUN-9. We're taking a three-week break in July and will be back on Sunday, July 26, in our new 8 a.m. timeslot on the CW Tucson, KWBA-TV. We'll be airing at 8 a.m. on Channel 8 on your Cox and Comcast systems and 58 on broadcast and DirecTV. And we'll also be coming your way on KXCI-FM on Sunday afternoons.

Round 2 of this year's Best of Tucson® ballot is ready for you! What's this "Round 2" you might be asking. We tallied your votes (Well, I did) and we gathered finalists in every category. "The Best" will be selected (by you!) from these champions.

I know, I know, many of you preferred the old method of voting where which person/place/institution got the most votes straight out won the whole thing. I feel for you but we've talked about this and am afraid the two level voting situation is here to stay.

You have until the end of the day on Sunday, Aug. 2 to fill out your ballot. Try not to be too bummed if your favorite places didn't make the finals—Maybe even take some time to explore your options. You might find a new favorite pizza place or public garden.

Now, after approximately 2 billion consecutive hours of working on this ballot, I'm going to sleep. You should work on your submission and tell your friends to do the same. Please.

How do you like your barbecue—dry rubbed and smoked or slathered in sweet and tangy sauce? Well, regardless of your 'cuin' preference, you're going to want to head to the inaugural Smokin' Showdown cookoff event. For the first time ever, Hotel Congress will be putting local barbecuers in head-to-head competition to try to determine who Tucson's top pitmaster is.

This year, Chillin n' Grillin BBQ, Edge Catering, Gary Ray’s Smokehouse, The Cup Cafe, Acacia and Brushfire BBQ will compete alongside the brand new Rusty Truck BBQ. Rusty Truck will be making its Tucson premier the night of the Smokin' Showdown, showcasing what we can expect from the mobile BBQ unit in the future. Although the truck has roots in Kansas, the caterer and food cart looks to bring some of that flavor right here in town by serving up smoking meats from a converted six-foot old, rusty water tank, grilled brownies and other BBQ faves like mac and cheese.  

Inside Tucson Business contributor and On the Menu Live host Matt Russell will be judging the BBQ throwdown, alongside executive chef Daniel Perez of the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and CJ Hamm of Tucson Foodie. The team that is judged to have the best brisket in Tucson based on appearance, taste and tenderness will get bragging rights, the title of Old Pueblo's Pitmaster and a commemorative trophy belt.

The neighboring Pueblo Vida Brewing Co. will be on site to serve up pints to thirsty guests, and local band Greyhound Soul will perform. Best of all, proceeds from the event go to benefit Steele Children’s Research Center. 

The first Smokin' Showdown barbecue cookoff kicks off at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 27 and runs until 9 p.m. Tickets are available for $30 in advance or $35 the day of the event (if it doesn't sell out), which includes two ounces of barbecue from all seven vendors, two sides, one draft pint and a vote for People’s Choice. You can snatch your spot at the Smokin' Showdown and find more information on the event by visiting the Hotel Congress website. 

Citizens Warehouse, on Sixth Street just west of Stone Avenue, is a hotbed of creativity. Etherton Gallery is celebrating 21 of the artists who use the warehouse as studio space with Citizens Warehouse Artists, a show continuing through Sept. 12. The gallery is throwing an opening reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at 135 S. Sixth Ave. More details at Etherton's website.