At tomorrow's meeting, the Tucson City Council is going to be chatting about a message they'd like to send Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Legislature: restore funding for Joint Technical Education districts...now, please.

The state's budget cut about 7.5 percent of funding, or roughly $344, per student that enrolls in a JTED course, starting in 2016.

From the so-called memorial the council members are considering tomorrow evening:

Whereas, JTED students are able to earn more, pay income taxes sooner and have more disposable income than their peers...and the city believes Arizona must continue to serve and educate students and sustain, if not improve, the workforce development JTEDs currently provide...any monetary cut in JTEDs is an issue of regional concern and has a serious impact on the future integrity of our skilled workforce and future prospects for Arizona and its economic recovery.

In March, business leaders, heads of Pima County's school districts and JTED leaders held a press conference as part of the joint efforts to make a case for the program. That, of course, did not work. The state Legislature went on to approve the budget, and Ducey signed it shortly after. 

"JTED was a referendum approved by tax payers in Pima County, approved at over 70 percent across the board, a huge percentage of passing a bill that says 'we want to raise our taxes because we want more money to go into career and technical education programs,'" said Pima County JTED superintendent Alan Storm at the time. 

That same month, Tucson Unified School District students planned a walkout to protest the budget cuts, but the district ended up hosting a forum with hundreds of high school students. Among the speakers were U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva and TUSD board members.

"There is a choice, we can all sit and allow the Legislature in Phoenix to continue to fund prisons or to start funding you," TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said at the forum that took place at the Tucson High auditorium. "We could also do nothing, be uninformed and sit here and allow big companies that make billions of dollars a year get tax breaks, maybe that money can be redirected toward you. My personal preference is that you are supported, that you are educated, my personal preference for a better Arizona, a better Tucson is for you to take a hold of your state, it is your state, your future and your responsibility, thank you for being here. I want to tell you how many millions of dollars are going to companies for tax breaks, I want to tell you how many millions of dollars are going to prisons."

Friday I wrote a post about the wildly unequal funding of organizations promoting progressive education and those on the privatization/"education reform" side. The big bucks are flowing to the privatization crowd, mainly from what Diane Ravitch calls the Billionaire Boys Club, while progressive educators get the little money they have through contributions from small donors and by looking for change under sofa cushions. My case in point was an online education news network being started by ex-CNN and NBC anchor Campbell Brown. She's got enough money to hire 13 people, including a former editor at Time magazine and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Her message is anti-union, anti-tenure, pro-charter and pro-voucher. And she's not alone. She's joining a network of well funded organizations that have plenty of money to get out a similar message.

The comments on that post aren't as wild and wooly as on some of my other posts—things can get pretty heated in Comments Land—but there are a few interesting points I want to respond to. A few people said, maybe the progressive education side isn't getting as much money because its ideas are tired and unpopular. Wrong. It's not about which side has the better ideas. It's about which side is favored by people with lots of money. Money may be speech according to the Supreme Court, but more money flowing to conservative politicians and ideas isn't a sign that they have the better, or even the more popular, ideas. It's just a sign of what big money wants.

Someone else's whole comment was a link to a group called the Progressive Education Network. I assume the point was to spotlight an equivalent organization to those on the privatization side. So I went to the website. Very nice looking, very professional. From the look of things, the group might very well have some big money behind it.

Next I went to the group's 2013 tax return. Total revenues for the year: $300,000, enough to maybe pay the salaries of 4 or 5 of Campbell Brown's 13 staffers. The president, secretary, treasurer and 6 directors get no compensation. They're volunteers. Under expenses on the tax form, there's no compensation—salaries—listed. Most of the money, $230,000, goes to pay for hotels, speakers, services and lodging/board.

 
If you're into Amy Schumer, movies in Oro Valley or free stuff, get excited. We've got a ton (so so many) tickets to see the upcoming film Trainwreck.

There is a catch. The passes (which each admit two people) are only good at AMC Foothills 15 (The Foothills Mall theater) on Tuesday, July 14 at 7 p.m.

Want to go? Come by our office. 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd. Ste. 125, Tucson AZ 85741—It says “Explorer” above the door, and “Tucson Local Media” on the door. We are located one block West of the Foothills Mall on Ina. Our newsroom closes at 5 p.m., and we're only here on weekdays. We're not even raffling these tickets off—come and pick 'em up.

Limit one pass (which, again, admits two adults) per person. I'll update this post when we're out of passes.

Reed—1.5 years old—Domestic Medium Hair Mix—M—#800463

Reed is quite the character. Reed came to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona as a transfer back in February and is still looking for the purrfect home! This quirky guy is full of personality and he loves to follow you wherever you go. Reed loves company but also enjoys playing with toys on his own. He loves routine and will join you in a nice game of keep-away. He is looking for an indoor-only home that will give him lots of love and devotion. If you think Reed would be a great fit for you, stop by the Main Campus and ask to meet him!

More marijuana businesses may sooner-than-later be able to get property, casualty and other insurance coverage, according, to a write up by Forbes.

Things haven't been great on the insurance end, because, although many states have legalized medical marijuana and roughly a handful have legalized recreational marijuana, weed is still a controlled substance at a federal level, which doesn't make it an attractive world to insurance companies. 

Apparently, insurance carriers are slowly beginning to explore their options. The money the marijuana industry fuels, I imagine, is very appealing. This means there can potentially be more options out there for weed entrepreneurs. Right now, very few companies offer coverage, which leads to paying ridiculously high prices for insurance, because there isn't much competition out there, and insurers know that. 

The founders of Bolder Cannabis and Extracts in Colorado offer their insight on the insurance ordeal, as they employ about 60 people to grow, process and sell marijuana, 

If you're looking to take indulgence to the next level, you should head to Agustin Kitchen on Tuesday, July 14 for a special Dinner with Chefs event that's all about pork and scotch. Agustin's chef Ryan Clark will display a range of techniques with nine different tastes of pork prepared in cuisine styles from all around the world. The nose-to-tail pig dishes will come from an entire pig bought from the local pork purveyors at E & R Pork, who specialize in 100 percent locally raised, grain fed, hormone and antibiotic free pork products.

On the scotch side of things, "America’s Spirited Speaker" Russ Kempton will lead tasting through six different single malt scotches, featuring American white oak barrel and sherry barrel aged varieties. Kempton will also answer guests' questions and cap off the night with cigars to take home.


The Pork:

• Pork and miso broth with wonton and kombu
  
• Head cheese with apricot and fennel
  
• Trotter rillette with pickled mustard and balsamic onions
  
• Shoulder and shank sausage with whipped fig cheese and red wine
  
• Brined loin banh mi
  
• Smoked pork cheek mac & cheese
  
• Pig and duck liver pate with pistachio and cherry
  
• House bacon lardons with chocolate cookies
  
• Korean BBQ pork ribs with kimchi
  

The Scotch:

• Glenfiddich 18yr
  
• Bruichladdich Islay Barley
  
• Balvenie 15yr Single Barrel – Sherry
  
• Macallan 10yr Fine Oak
  
• Balvenie 12yr Single Barrel – American Oak
  
• Highland Park 12yr

The dinner will kick off at Agustin Kitchen (100 S. Avenida del Convento) at 6:30 p.m. on July 14. Cost per person is $75 plus tax and gratuity. You can reserve your spot for this decadent dinner event by calling 398-5382.

You may have noticed mesquite pods ripening on the trees around Tucson. You might have even joined the Desert Harvesters at Mercado San Agustin to learn how to mill mesquite into flour. In any case, you can deepen your knowledge and appreciation for the mesquite pod even further by heading to Loews Ventana Canyon for a chef-led cooking class all about mesquite.

Loews' executive chef Ken Harvey will be showing attendees at the class how to find and harvest mesquite. Then, he will instruct the group on how to prepare four dishes and one drink with the pods. The event's menu includes:

-Mesquite pod agua de cebada (barley)
-Mesquite pod Italian sausage and corn bread custard with cebeda
-Mesquite pod crusted crab cake, celeriac remoulade and garden herbs
-Mesquite pod hand tossed pizzetta with duck confit, ricotta, fresh heirloom tomatoes and arugula
-Mesquite apple fritters with vanilla ice cream, torn mint and chocolate sauce 

The mesquite pod class takes place at the resort in Ventana Canyon located at 7000 N. Resort Dr. on Saturday, July 11 beginning at 2 p.m. Then, on Aug. 15, you can learn about barbecuing and mixing cocktails with prickly pear from Harvey. Both classes run at $35 per person and space for the events is limited. You can reserve a spot by calling 299-2020 ext. 5107.

No one would be foolish enough to give me a couple million to start an online education news network. I'm the wrong guy for the job, in spades. But it would be nice if someone on the progressive side of education got that kind of money to put together a slick, comprehensive website to cover education news, staffed with serious, experienced journalists.

I don't see that happening. But ex-CNN and NBC anchor Campbell Brown is getting big money to start an online news network with a privatization/"education reform" slant. It must be nice to have friends in high financial places.

Brown's nonprofit news site is supposed to go live in mid July. She's hired 13 people so far, including a former editor at Time magazine and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. It takes a decent chunk of change to pay 13 quality staff members while also taking care of general startup costs. But money isn't really a problem when your funding comes from the likes of Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Walton Family Foundation, among others.

As in the world of politics, there's a financial imbalance between the people supporting conservative and progressive education agendas. In education, the big money is on the anti-union, anti-tenure, pro-charter, pro-voucher side. They have the means to package and disseminate their message. There's just not the same kind of money on the progressive side.

This isn't Brown's only educational venture. She also runs another nonprofit with deep pockets devoted to fighting teacher tenure and seniority laws in court. And she's hardly a lone voice crying in the wilderness. A number of well funded organizations push a similar agenda. For instance, there's Students First, the group started by Michelle Rhee who built her educational reputation on lies and half truths about her successes as a teacher and as chancellor of the Washington, D.C. schools. She raised lots of money before she got kicked out of her own organization. Students First also has a high powered Board of Directors. One of the board members is Dan Senor, who was an aide to President George W. Bush, chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, foreign policy advisor for Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential bid — and Campbell Brown's husband.

Wired comes out with a stirring defense of the A-10 Warthog after a GAO report showed the Air Force didn't take a very serious look at the savings and costs of retiring the plane:

The Air Force claims shutting down the A-10 program would save $4.2 billion over five years, but a new report from the Government Accountability Office shoots that down, finding USAF analysis incomplete.

More worrying (and unsurprising, to anyone who’s been paying attention), the GAO report says dropping the A-10 would “create potential gaps” in close air support. Even though every A-10 flying is more than thirty years old, it remains “the only or the best Air Force platform to conduct certain missions” like escorting helicopters (the Warthog can fly really slowly, making it effective at protecting the pokey choppers) or engaging small boats that could threaten US ships (See: USS Cole).

Close air support is a vital job that, when properly executed, can mean the difference between life and death for soldiers. It’s highly dangerous, because it requires flying at altitudes low enough to discern friend from foe, leaving the plane particularly vulnerable to ground-based anti-aircraft fire.

But the Warthog was specifically designed for close air support: the cockpit sits in a 1,200 pound titanium tub, specifically designed to withstand fire from anti-aircraft shells at close range. Every system is double or triple redundant, and it can take a ridiculous amount of abuse. It can continue flying if it’s lost an entire engine, part of its tail, or even half a wing.

And, because the A-10’s role is so important, it’s designed for easy repairs to keep it in the air. Entire engines can be quickly and easily replaced. Most repairs can even be made in the field. Many parts are interchangeable between the left and right sides of the plane, and the A-10 can take off from rough and unpaved runways. Because it has huge wings, a high wing aspect ratio and huge ailerons (almost 50 percent of its wingspan), it’s incredibly maneuverable.

The Warthog is basically a flying gatling gun, and it’s terrifying if you’re on the angry end.

Southern Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally (R-CD2), who led an A-10 squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, said last week that the GAO report "confirms what I have worked to highlight over months of hearings: that retiring the A-10 without a replacement would create dangerous capability gaps and put American lives at risk.‎ Not only did GAO find that divesting the A-10 would eliminate our ability to conduct Close Air Support, Combat Search and Rescue, and other critical capabilities, but that the Administration's budget justification for doing so is based on incomplete information. While this report is welcome news, it will not eliminate the threat to the A-10, and I'm going to continue to fight to make sure we keep these vital capabilities."

Meanwhile, War is Boring has gotten ahold of a report that shows significant problems with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that is supposed to replace the A-10:

Woman's Day's Susan Spencer profiles Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly:

This spring, I sat down with Gabby and Mark in their homey kitchen. Nelson, a former service dog with a fondness for chewing water bottles, settled near us. Like many couples, Mark and Gabby have a sweet shorthand, complete with gentle teasing that makes Gabby smile widely. A conversation with one is a conversation with both, as Mark helps clarify when speech fails her, which it often does because of her brain injury. But by no means does he speak for her. Gabby can bring Mark back to a point she wants to make with a single word.

The shooting, which killed six people and injured 13, left Gabby paralyzed on the right side of her body, but after years of intense physical therapy, she has made progress toward greater mobility. The bigger struggle is with expressing herself: The bullet damaged the part of her brain that controls language. Still, Gabby is clearly bursting with thoughts—her mind outpaces her mouth. As Mark talks about gun violence in the United States, she reels off nations— "Yemen, Mexico, Iraq, Brazil"—that have death rates from shootings that are thought to be on par with the U.S. Gabby has almost daily speech therapy, and a goal to be able to speak nonstop for 20 minutes. To demonstrate, she gives the first lines of a new speech: "I'm Gabby Giffords and I used to be in Congress. But don't hold that against me!"

Gabby has traded stumping for very different activities: "Yoga twice a week, French horn, Spanish lessons, riding my bike." She also spends more time with her husband. Before the shooting, she was commuting between Washington, DC, and Tucson, and Mark was based in Houston. Now, they go on drives in the desert, see movies and eat out often. They are both avid cyclers, and are planning to do the 40-mile El Tour de Tucson in November. That morning, Gabby had logged 11 miles on her recumbent bicycle. When I ask her why she loves to bike, she responds simply, "Freedom."

Gabby doesn't appear to dwell on what could have been—the Senate seat that came open just weeks after her shooting, the children she hoped to have. Her desire to move on even extends to the man who shot her. When Mark asks her if she has forgiven him, she emphatically shakes her head no. "Do you feel like you need to?" he asks gently. Gabby shakes her head again. Says Mark: "If what happened to Gabby happened to me, I would be bitter. I don't think there are many people who could be as positive about life as she is."