Dudley—3-years-old —Pit Bull Mix—M—#805516

Dudley is one goofy guy! This adorable big-headed fella came to Humane Society of Southern Arizona as a stray back in April and is ready to find a best friend. Dudley has a unique personality and look that makes him one memorable pup! This love-bug is high energy, athletic, extremely smart, and affectionate. Dudley is looking for a home that can offer him plenty of exercise, obedience training and an indoor lifestyle. This precious boy will do best with a family that can devote lots of time and love to him! If you are interested in giving the dashing Dudley a home, please come by HSSA today to meet him!

If there's one bright side to Tucson in the summer (besides the oppressive, blinding sunlight, of course), it's summer deals around town. That means right now is the perfect time to seize the opportunity to help your favorite local businesses make it through the dreaded summer slow down and take advantage of culinary experiences that you may not have been able to afford regularly. 

One such bangin' summer deal is Penca's Noches de Penca dinners. The prix fixe meals will serve up three courses for $25 plus tax and gratuity with dishes inspired by many different regions in Mexico. Also on the specials roster is a special selection of wines priced at $5 per glass. If that doesn't get you out from under the swamp cooler, maybe the menus for both nights will.

Menu for Wednesday, June 17
Pulpo escabeche
Banana leaf steamed cabrilla with achiote and bitter orange
Ice cream with papaya verde

Menu for Wednesday, June 24
Ensalada de chicharron
Braised achiote and garlic rubbed pork ribs
Caballeros pobres (Yucatan-style French toast) with cinnamon syrup

The dinners, which kick off at 5 p.m., will continue every Wednesday with the final event on Wednesday, August 26, excluding Wednesdays during July 6 through 15 when the restaurant closes for a brief summer break. Penca's regular menu will also be available those nights, if you're so inclined. Reservations can be made by calling 203-7681.

In other Penca-related news, the restaurant, located at 50 E. Broadway Blvd., also announced it will be getting a patio in front along Broadway soon, though an exact date is yet to be released. 

Our very own David Safier gave us a good summary last week of Tucson Unified School District Superintendent H.T. Sanchez's new contract and salary deal. Basically, Sanchez will head the district until at least 2018, and his base salary is increasing to $260,000 this school year, reaching $280,000 on his proposed final year. There are also opportunities for incentives, which are discussed by the ninth anonymous letter criticizing the district's leadership.

I never understood these so-called incentives in institutions being sucked dry by the state (UA President Ann Weaver Hart also gets generous incentives, despite continuous cuts and tuition hikes), but that is how things work. 

And because I think criticism and praise deserve equal attention, here's a portion of the letter—released on Thursday—where the contract deal is discussed:

We've got two pairs of tickets to Wednesday night's Diamondbacks game against the Los Angeles Angels. The game starts at 6:40 p.m at Chase Field in Phoenix. We'll draw the winner Tuesday ("tomorrow" from when this was published, "today" if you're seeing this in your newsletter) 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 by 5 p.m.Wednesday. Enter here:

Best of Tucson® is a big deal. It's our most read issue, it's on our website year round, It's a resource for navigating the city—and we intend to make it a well informed one.

So, do your part. Fill out your Best of Tucson ballot.  Be a part of our collective Tucson spirit guide. 

We're closing the first round of voting—the support-whoever-you-love round of voting—Monday night. This Monday. Monday, June 15. The Ides of June. Basically, right now. 

So, vote. Cast your support for the Tucson institutions that leave an impression. Encourage your friends to vote. Do it now, before your computer turns into a pumpkin. 

Do it.

Zona Politics Eps.33 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo.

On this week's episode of Zona Politics: Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lea Marquez Peterson and attorney Jeff Rogers talk about Gov. Doug Ducey's proposed plan to use money from the state land trust to fund schools; discuss the college achievement gap with Hispanic students; examine the ongoing battle between Secretary of State Michele Reagan and the Clean Elections Commission over dark money in political campaigns; assess Pima County's lawsuit against the state over government costs that were pushed onto the county by Ducey and GOP state lawmakers; weigh the pros and cons of fast-track authorization for the Trans-Pacific Partnership; and the future of Arizona's congressional districts as the Supreme Court gets ready to rule on a lawsuit regarding whether state lawmakers should regain the authority to draw congressional maps. Then Demion Clinco, executive director of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, talks about a controversial apartment development near two downtown historic neighborhoods.

The Weekly featured a photo essay from Phoenix ComiCon 2015 in this week's issue, but we had more photos than we could possibly fit in the print edition, so here's a slideshow of some of the pics that didn't make the cut. More to come!

After you've had your Sunday brunch and taken your requisite post-brunch nap, head over to Che's Lounge to be serenaded by two harmonizing sirens now called Hestina. Sure, Sirens used to be the band's monicker, but that doesn't mean their entrancing vocals paired with a lone ukulele are any less alluring under the band's new name. 

The New Orleans based duo, comprised of Kimberly Vice and Michelle Ausman, plays at Che's, located at 350 N. Fourth Ave., on June 14 from 6 until 8 p.m. It is a 21 and over event and free to attend. 

Check out Hestina's song "Belong," coupled with some pretty cool puppet animation from the minds of Lee Garcia and Milissa Orzolek.

Belong from milissa orzolek on Vimeo.

The Obama administration suffered a big setback in its efforts to get fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal after a part of the plan was rejected in Congress today.

U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), who co-chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus, are delighted by this turn of events. Their statement:

The defeat of The Trade Act is a big step towards stopping the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership. Today’s victory belongs to people who rely on Medicare, union members, environmental organizers and every single working family in America.

The fight is far from over. President Obama and the Republican majority will not stop pushing until they get the rubber-stamp they need to sign another bad trade deal. The Progressive Caucus will push too, but on the side of Americans who are already struggling to make ends meet. We will oppose any trade deal that lowers wages, endangers our air, land and water and supports human trafficking.

"It was totally gnarly," Dara Silverman, playwright and actor for the Agile Rascal troupe, says, "It was really rough."

Her group of seven cyclists and actors primarily from the Bay Area found, while bike touring their play from Encinitas to Tucson, that riding in the desert isn't easy in June. They started off carrying all of their set and props on their bikes with them, but quickly found they had to "make sacrifices" in order to get to their destination.

"We kept lightening the load and modifying how far we went every day. We were getting up at 2 and 4 in the morning, taking showers roadside with a solar shower and drinking lots of water," Silverman adds.

Now on the outskirts of Tucson, Silverman and her Agile Rascal team have already found parallels between their journey and the radical play that they will be performing at BICAS on Saturday, June 13. The play, titled "Sunlight on the Brink," centers around a gas station in the southwest during a time when a catastrophic drought forced a mass evacuation of the western states. The gas station attendant watches and waits as people move from one side of the country to another. However, Silverman says the donation-funded production has found the troupe at several southwestern gas stations already.

"We wrote the play with the intention of it overlapping with our trip, but I didn't know at the time how much I'd be living off gas station food along the way," Silverman says, jokingly.

"It wasn't meant to be but it's really become an experiment in taking care of each other," she says. "It's been intense."

The harsh surroundings getting to Tucson for the show also mirror the play's major themes, which deal with the preciousness of life and water as well as human's interconnectivity with the environment. Silverman says to keep the play light, as it is a family-friendly comedy, the use of "wacky" characters like sea creatures and the Internet come into play. Overall, though, she says wants the play's message to be up for interpretation.

"I think art asks questions," she says. "Anything where you can just say the meaning, then you can say the meaning and that’s it."

While the play itself only uses bikes as props in some scenes, Silverman and Agile Rascal will be biking across the country for a three month tour with their play "Sunlight on the Brink." You can see the only Tucson performance of the play on Saturday, June 13 at BICAS (44 W. Sixth St.) beginning at 8 p.m. Remember to bring money to donate, too, so Silverman and her crew can stop eating at gas stations.