Whether facing off against a fellow professional in the mixed martial arts cage or getting into street fights in his youth, Raymond “The Truth” Piña knows a thing or two about combat.

A lifelong wrestler who competed at Sunnyside High School, Piña molded his knack for getting into street fights as a youth into a professional MMA career—one he hopes will take him far in the cutthroat, constantly evolving sport.

Training out of Neutral Corner Gym here in Tucson, as well as several other locations in town, the 24-year-old Tucson native has been cutting his teeth nearly every day since making his amateur debut back in 2009 and believes his constant evolution as a fighter will one day earn him a spot in the limelight.

On Saturday, July 23, Piña (who holds a 6-2 record) will face off in a 170-pound welterweight bout here in Tucson, at Casino Del Sol, when Arizona MMA promotion World Fighting Federation returns to town to host “WFF 29.”

Pitted against an opponent with years of experience on his side, Piña will compete against Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA veteran Estevan “El Terrible” Payan (16-9-1NC), who fights out of Phoenix. Though Payan may hold the advantage when it comes to in-cage experience, Piña believes his tenacity and skill set will be enough to win the day in front of a hometown crowd.

“I hope to show everyone that has doubts about me that I'm the real deal,” Piña said. “I'm going to show everyone that I'm going places… It's the best feeling in the world to walk out to a crowd that loves you and supports me the way they do. My fans and supporters are what drive me to be somebody. I've never thought I would be loved the way I'm loved here in Tucson but to me it's one of the greatest feelings in the world.”

Yep: It's another Best of Tucson blog. There's just about 2.5 weeks left to make your voice heard in our annual guide to everything entertaining, useful and delicious in the Old Pueblo.

Today just happens to be a National French Friday, making it the perfect time to do your due diligence and make sure you're really picking the most delicious fries on our list of finalists. 

And the contestants are:

Crispy's Fish-n-Chips
Diablo Burger 
eegee’s 
Graze Premium Burgers 
US Fries 

Grab some fries (and maybe a milkshake to dip them in) and get to filling out your Best of Tucson ballot. 

The Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd.) is hosting A Hard Day’s Night Sing-A-Long on Saturday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. featuring the film that typifies the height of the Beatles' revolutionary career. The movie follows John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they prep for a London TV gig in the midst of shenanigans and screaming fans. Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day’s Night includes some of the Beatles' most famous tracks like, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “Tell Me Why,” and “If I Fell."

The 87-minute film will have all the lyrics to your favorite Beatles tunes displayed on screen for the optimal sing-a-long experience, and pre-show entertainment includes Beatles music videos and a costume contest. 10 bucks won't 'buy you love' but it is the general admission price, and children under 12 get in for $8. 

Cinematographer Anna Rose Holmer makes a thought provoking feature film directing debut with the story of Toni (the unforgettably named Royalty Hightower) an 11 year-old girl who spends her days hanging out at the boxing gym with her brother (Da’Sean Minor), but yearns to join the local girls dance troupe.

Set in Cincinnati, the film takes a surreal turn when girls on the dance squad start suffering seizures with varying symptoms. Exactly what is happening to the girls is never really explained, apart from some theorizing that it’s got something to do with the drinking water. The seizures could also be symbolic of each girl’s struggle to make it in society and the obstacles keeping them from being successful despite their drive and talent. Or, it could be each character coming into a new stage of adolescence in strange and unique ways. Or, as stated before, it could just be the water.

It’s the sort of movie that will spark many theories and opinions, none of them entirely right or wrong. Holmer has made a majestic looking, rather short (71 minutes) movie that will have you thinking about it for days after. Hightower is a real talent, who absolutely shines in the lead role. It’s a unique movie for sure that will frustrate some, and enchant many others. 

Imagine a group of students walk through the school doors sometime during the day, spend a few minutes lounging around the office, then leave. The school marks them present and collects their per-student money from the state.

According to an investigation by California's Attorney General, that was business as usual at K12 Inc.'s online school, California Virtual Academy—emphasis on the word "business," because K12 Inc. is a publicly traded, for-profit corporation. Students would sign into school on their home computers, then leave a few minutes later, and they would be marked present. That's not just a problem at the California school. According to a number of investigative articles about K12 Inc.'s online schools around the country, teachers are urged to hang onto students who are enrolled but don't spend enough time online or do enough work to pass their classes. Once they've been around long enough to qualify for state funding, they can be cut loose.

Misreporting attendance was only one issue that led California to reach a $168.5 million settlement with the company. According to the Attorney General,

"K12 and its schools misled parents and the State of California by claiming taxpayer dollars for questionable student attendance, misstating student success and parent satisfaction and loading nonprofit charities with debt."

The settlement is $2.5 million plus $6 million to cover legal costs to the state, and $160 million to wipe out debts CAVA owes to K12 Inc. 

Charter school supporters aren't complaining about the ruling. The California Charter Schools Association joined the California Teachers Association in applauding the decision. K12 Inc. is a major reason why some pro-charter organizations recently published a paper demanding improvement of online charter schools.

Experience the photographic work of Dave Carter at the Porter Hall Gallery this July.

Carter, who is originally from California, has been practicing his craft for more than 30 years and is now based in Arizona. His exhibit showcases his journey of finding the elusive spirit of places and things.

The exhibit opened July 1 and will continue through July 31 in the Tucson Botanical Gardens' Porter Hall Gallery.

The botanical gardens' website says:

 He believes that this essence is always given as a gift, for it can never be taken from the subject unwillingly. He also believes this spirit is fleetingly offered only when the artist’s consciousness is free and open, regularly enough to keep one drawn to the place where its presence is strongest.

The show will feature Carter's vibrant photography detailing moments in passing. 

There is an open artist's reception this Thursday, July 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 

Interested in seeing a moment in passing? Check out the Tucson Botanical website or Carter's website for more information. 

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Contact HSSA at 327-6088 to check on my availability and exact location!

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Derby (812595)

Writer-director Hong-jin Na has put together an epic, rather long South Korean horror film that keeps messing with your head nearly to the point where you just can’t take anymore.

A strange old man (Jun Kunimura) shows up in visions, and then is discovered in the flesh, in a small village where Jon-Goo, a hapless cop (Do Won Kwak), lives with his young daughter. Village residents start killing each other off and occasionally acting like zombies covered with strange boils. Then, Jon-Goo’s daughter starts exhibiting symptoms of possession, setting Jon-Goo off on a crazed mission to find the root of the evil pestilence destroying his town and his family.

Na makes things scary without resorting to jolt scares or quick edits. The movie unfolds, sometimes slowly, in a way that maintains a high level of tension and creepiness. He mixes in some humor, even during some of the more grisly scenes.

The movie is over 2 ½ hours long, and it makes you work a bit, but it’s all worth it in the end. Kwak is especially good as the father figure who thinks he has it all together, only to find out any sense of security he thinks he’s giving his family can be wiped out in an instant.

The Wailing is genuine nightmare fuel, and another strong entry to the horror genre, which is experiencing one of its periodic renaissances these last few years. 

Last we heard, Arizona Theatre Company had two weeks to come up with two million dollars, otherwise the theatre would be forced to close its doors for its next season. The announcement came last week in a press release, saying the company needed the cash or an entire year of reorganizing in the hopes they could raise the curtain the year after.

On July 8, ATC sent out another press release to announce that nearly 360 donors from Tucson and Phoenix have pledged a quarter million ($220,000 to be exact) in a fundraising effort to save the 2016-17 season. In addition to the 213 Tucson donors and 145 from Phoenix, an anonymous donor pledged a separate $100,000 donation to have the deadline for closure extended to July 15. Mike Kasser, board member at ATC, has also agreed to match the funds if one million can be raised before the deadline.

Members of ATC's governing bodies said in the release that the support from the Tucson and Phoenix communities is cause for hope, but they are reaching a critical timeframe that needs to be met otherwise "options are very limited," according to  ATC Managing Director Billy Russo. 

"Either we go on temporary hiatus to restructure the business model or close our doors," he said. "We are hopeful that the people of Arizona won’t let that happen.”

To donate to the cause or for more information, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

Arizona voters may have a chance to boost the state's minimum wage this year.

The campaign for a ballot initiative to increase Arizona’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 submitted more than 217,000 signatures to state officials on Thursday, July 7.

The Fair Wages and Healthy Families initiative would boost the current $8.05 minimum wage by 50 percent within four years.

If passed by voters, the measure would introduce a $10 minimum wage on Jan. 1, 2017 with increases on Jan. 1 of every year: $10.50 in 2018, $11 in 2019 and $12 in 2020. After that, the wage would rise with the cost of living each succeeding year.

An additional provision of the measure would provide mandatory sick leave for wage-earners. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees would be required to provide 24 hours each year, while those with more than 15 employees would need to provide 40 hours each year.

The campaign has collected well over the minimum requirement of signatures to reach the ballot, so barring a successful legal challenge, voters will likely be able to decide its fate in November.

“It’s not a hard sell,” said Zaira Livier, who coordinates the campaign in southern Arizona. “People generally want to help each other out.”

Livier plans on expanding the campaign’s leadership and increase support by utilizing a volunteer base of 25,000 and partnering with national organizations supporting similar initiatives in others states.

David Wade, a consultant for the campaign, said the support to get the measure on the ballot is a good indicator of how it will do in the hands of voters.

“When you tap into that need and harness that energy it corresponds with the energy of people and small businesses,” he said.

Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber, said that the organization has vocally opposed the idea of using government to mandate business costs since minimum wage became an issue.

“We understand there are federal guidelines and so far we’re comfortable with those guidelines,” he said. “We don’t see the need for states to change those guidelines.”

Varney cited numerous issues with raising minimum wage, such as business moving to replace workers with robots, reducing employees’ hours, moving out of state or just shutting down.
Predicting opposition from commercial interest groups, the campaign has already begun reaching out to local business owners to promote the initiative.