After Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel (followed by Joe Ferguson of the Arizona Daily Star and yours truly) requested emails and other electronic records in order to get to the bottom of the absolutely bizarre story regarding one of Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller's aides masquerading as a reporter, the public learned that Miller was a big fat liar when she claimed she didn't use her personal emails for the public's business. 

Exposed as someone who fibs about following the law, Miller has fought back by requesting hundreds of thousands of emails from Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and her fellow Pima County Supervisors in an unsuccessful effort to prove there was a massive conspiracy among county officials and local media to discredit her. This is a perfect example of Miller's paranoia; there is no conspiracy. We media types pursued the story not because we were ordered to by Chuck Huckelberry; we pursued them because (a) it was a bizarre story and (b) it was obvious to anyone with half a brain (which evidently excludes Miller and her various flying monkeys in social media and conservative radio circles) that now-former Miller aide Timothy DesJarlais was lying about not being involved in the harebrained Arizona Daily Herald caper. 

Miller still hasn't turned over her emails and is the subject of a slow-moving investigation by the Arizona Attorney General's Office. Meanwhile, rounding up the records this would-be champion of the taxpayer has requested is taking up an insane amount of time and financial resources for the County Clerk's Office while producing zero evidence that anything improper has been taking place, no matter how hard the dumbass Arizona Daily Independent tries to spin things. Miller is now the equivalent of one of those vexatious litigants who file an endless number of lawsuits to harass people.

It now appears that Huckelberry is out of fucks to give regarding Miller, as illustrated by yesterday's memo to the County Attorney's Office wondering if there's some way to stop Miller's relentless requests to read all of his email (which is really ironic given that she was convinced that Huckelberry was reading all of hers as soon as she took office, which is why she instructed her staff to ignore public-records laws and use private emails when talking about the District 1 office's business on behalf of taxpayers).

Here's the memo:

To: Thomas Weaver
Chief Civil Deputy County Attorney

From: C.H. Huckelberry
County Administrator

Re: Continued Burdensome Records Requests by Supervisor Ally Miller

Supervisor Ally Miller has renewed her expansive and onerous requests for public records from me and other members of my staff. While her previous July 13, 2016 requests for records were equally expansive, they at least carried the pretense, stated repeatedly by her on various social media accounts, that she was seeking evidence that my office, the other four supervisors and the County Communications Office conspired with the local media to have them write stories about her mishandling of her employee’s attempt to masquerade as a journalist. She also sought proof we subsequently conspired with the media to have them report her apparent four-year effort to illegally cloak the business of her office in secrecy via the use of personal email and encrypted computer files and portable data storage devices.

Supervisor Miler’s records requests of September 22, 2016 are virtually identical to the requests of July 13, but without the pretense. The media have mostly moved on from the Timothy DesJarlais scandal, and her gross violations of State public records laws are being investigated by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Yet Supervisor Miller continues her expansive and onerous requests of my office, Chair Bronson’s office and the Communications Office; attempting to discover any mention of the DesJarlais scandal – as well as obtain every email sent or received by any of my staff, the Communications Office, and Chair Bronson and her staff – as well as a host of other electronic communications and internet browser data. Lacking the DesJarlais scandal pretense, one can only conclude the sole purpose of this latest series of requests is harassment.

Think back to 2008. The stock market has just crashed and things you used to be able affordable, luxuries no longer an option. Well, this misfortune became reality to one man in particular. While this exact mishap happened to many back in 2008, it is what this man did in the face of adversity that is the real story.

“I was a contractor, I owned my own business for eight years. It went under with the housing market crash, but I made a lot of money during that time,” said Matt Montgomery, founder and co-owner of Three Wells Distilling Company. "I got really used to high dollar tequilas, but suddenly I couldn't afford them, so I thought ‘How hard could it be?’”
Three Wells Distilling Company was incorporated in 2013 by two men that still run the company to this day, Matt Montgomery and Chris Dudding.

“We really never expected to do anything like this,” said Montgomery.

Three Wells started off as a dream and since has grown tremendously. With a total of four spirits under their belt (Agave Silver, Sonora Copper, Sonora Silver tequilas, and Mt. Lemmon Gin), they are continuing to expand and innovate, while still maintaining the principle that all ingredients are completely Arizona born and never sourced.Not only are they innovating when it comes to their spirits, Three Wells has another trick up their sleeve.

“What we have learned being in the craft distilling industry, is that it is not so much that you open a craft distillery and people just come in and buy your booze, to get the point of where you are making enough money, we had to do something,” said Montgomery.

After much research and development, Three Wells have decided to open up a Cocktail Room.

Inspired by what other craft breweries were doing in the area, Montgomery and Dudding decided on the next step for their business. 
“The unique experience of drinking beer crafted right there, while looking at the inner workings of a craft brewery is so cool and Chris and I realized that we have the opportunity to provide folks with a similar experience at our distillery,” said Montgomery.

Groundbreaking New York City band Television released the equally groundbreaking Marquee Moon in 1977, the year I was born. Aside from a self-titled album in 1992 and a handful of onstage reunions, the band has been largely inactive since 1978. With the very notable exception of guitarist Richard Lloyd—especially for a group so renowned for its dual guitar interplay; Lloyd has been replaced by the surprisingly worthy Jimmy Rip in recent years—the sight of the (mostly) classic line-up on the Rialto stage tuning their guitars warranted a double take, if not a complete jaw drop. I never expected to see these songs played by these people in my lifetime—after the previous week’s sterling Echo & the Bunnymen show, I’m half-expecting David Bowie to show up with the Velvet Underground to play the Rialto any day now.


The sound Television laid out on Marquee Moon and its ’78 follow-up, Adventure, is nearly mythical and its influence (yet both total commercial flops) on the last four decades of alternative guitar rock is as vast as the music itself was unprecedented. Despite years of imitators and bad onscreen portrayals (in punk-era fictionalized movies), nobody really sounds like Television. The ringing, droning guitars with Billy Ficca’s jazzed up drums and Tom Verlaine’s strangled whine—this is something that most people still have never heard coming from a stage. And though its members, as famous for their feuding as for their playing, are all AARP-eligible, Television’s performance was invigorating and electrifying.

As for the songs, what can be said of “Venus de Milo,” “Prove It,” the world-changing “Marquee Moon” and the heart-destroying “Guiding Light” that hasn’t been repeated for 40 years? Yet, the band’s casual affability lent itself to the hymn-like nature of the performance and soon the whole show began to feel like a religious service. Excluding the encore of “Friction,” the set closed with the title track of that epochal ’77 debut album. By the time Verlaine’s famous extended guitar break built into the song’s pounding climax, it sounded like a skyscraper was being constructed. And the following quiet section was wondrous and incandescent, the equivalent of countless buzzing fireflies scattering, and not unlike the lightning Television itself unleashed into the world.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Pick of the Week

Dusk Music Festival: Music festival season has officially hit Tucson! Dusk is an all-ages music festival held featuring greats Calexico, Danny Brown, Matt and Kim, RL Grime, A-Trak, DJ Mustard, Wild Belle, Gaby Moreno and Luna Aura. Fill out the day enjoying local food and beer, taking in the art installations and letting loose with carnival games and rides. Rumor has it the festival has big plans to expand into a two day event next year, so that must mean this  year's event is gong to be pretty spectacular. See for yourself: Noon, Saturday, Oct. 22. Rilito Regional Park, 600 E Bromley Street. $49 general admission. 

Food & Booze 

4thtober Fest: The fall brings a change of weather, a change in the color of the leaves and also many delicious and refreshing Oktoberfest festivals. But the only one to have beer, bands and enjoy the deliciousness of a brat plate contest on 4th is the 4thtoberfest. Enjoy 10 brews from local brewers, 18 live performances and food throughout bars in Tucson’s 4th Ave. For more info and tickets visit 4thtoberfest.com. 1-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. It's free to attend, but a $15 ticket grants exclusive access to special beers, a logo sample glass, and 8 five-ounce pours for a nickel each.

Tucson Firefighters Chili Cook Off: Warm your belly and your heart this weekend and spend a day with your local firefighters as they compete in the 21st annual Chili Cook Off. All proceeds made from the event will go to the Local 479 Adopt-A-Family program. 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 The Bandshell at Reid Park, 998 S. Concert Place. Free.

Southwest Craft Beer & Sports Festival: The name pretty much says it all: This festival is about sampling (more than 40!) craft beers, eating great local food and competing in target golf, beer pong, bean bag, toss and a putting contest for prizes. Brin the kids, dance near the DJ, and see what you can score at the silent auction. 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Tickets range from $35 to $75—but designated drivers can get in for $20.
 

The advertisement went something like this: “8 FREE ALBUMS FOR A PENNY.” It came out of T.V. Guide, Parade Magazine, and important journals of the day.This part was simple, you really did receive eight records and for them you signed on to pay for more LPs at Record Club prices ($9.99 a pop plus tax and you had four months to get them). Today I can recite all eight of them, those first ones I got. They’re part of my DNA.

The last platter I liberated from shrinkwrap was Curtis Mayfield's Superfly. Came out winter ’72, some months before the film would run in theaters.The cover sported a yellow Super Fly logo with red trim. Next to that was Mayfield’s face, and standing next to his chin was Priest, wearing an immaculate white suit coat and white Italian zip-up boots, with arms crossed and holding a non-threatening pistol. (Priest [Ron O’Neal] is the film’s conflicted coke dealer, with a stable of vague black women dropping in and out—he’s in for the big score so he can get off these streets once and for all.) A bikini-clad sister with an Angela Davis Afro is splayed behind Priest.

The soundtrack, unlike any of its kind, stands on its own, and nowhere do we see the word “soundtrack.” Yes, the back cover shows stills from the film, but clearly Curtis won this first fight of many. It follows the gritty screenplay in its own way, but this is not music to back a movie, possibly the other way around. This was Mayfield's music, his label, and his vision. From the first song to the last, the album provokes conversation. It’s trashcan fires, tenements and crime, black on black. This is urban renewal, welcome to it.

The music has many fathers, Delta blues, country blues, street-corner doo-wop, jazz, rock ’n’ roll, fusion, Latin and Puerto Rican rhythms. And Chicago was the last stop on the Chitin’ Circuit and the last storied few like Muddy, Buddy, the Wolf, and others, went straight to Britain before they died to soak up a little respect. Mayfield had been the de-facto leader/writer of the Impressions, a Chi-Town hit machine. He'd been watching, he'd been waiting, and now he was ready to protect his dream on his terms, with a true snapshot of the Chicago ghetto. No made for T.V. Movie-of-the-Week shit, this was badass, and blowin’ free.

The songs begin shy, twisting slowly as the bass and drums lock down, with congas and timbales dancing between the grooves of the song … “Freddie’s Dead” was the single they released, an instant climber on the R&B and pop charts. Fat Freddie’s a character in the film who gets runover, but Curtis makes him every junkee that is your father away doin’ time, sister who at 15 is pregnant and on methadone, it’s you man if you don't heed the call.

His lyrics are clever, never preachy and just the definition of conviction. Yet Mayfield’s never publically pro-violence to find the solution, and often working with all colors to help solve problems of poverty, urban decay and drugs. While the AM and FM radios played this record because everyone knew this was Chicago's high-water mark, “Freddie’s Dead” was a rolling wave of sound, strings are mixed as high as the vocals, no one else could touch Curtis's falsetto—because it was the street-corner talking. His vision was complex; he was all business and saw the sunrise from the recording studio control room. He was pristine, doing the tell by candlelight, and muted horns build a huge a hook.

In the movie, Priest and his woman take a bath together, it’s tender and reminds the watcher that everyone wants love and in the end might do just about anything to hold on to it. Wah-wah pedals and Cry Baby’s are used heavy in the mix; they’re urban and have so aged well. The first time I listened to this album at 12 I wept, for what or who I’m not sure. But I knew I had to see that life, those streets, those people. Man, if you don’t own this record I urge you to buy one of the 20 best records I have ever owned. 

Tell 'em Freddie sent cha.

Fasten your irony belts, ladies and gentleman, we're going to take a drive down the at-will firing and patronage-hiring highway.

Under Republican Governor Ducey, the number of state workers who have been let go has increased. More important is the increasing number of employees who were ousted without being given a reason. The credit and blame for the growing number of state workers fired without cause goes previous Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who signed a law in 2012 making it all possible.

Why was it harder to fire Arizona state employees without cause before our two most recent Republican governors? Because in 1969, good-government Republicans put a merit protection system for state employees into place. The Arizona legislature was generally under Democratic control before the mid 60s, and Republicans felt the sting of the patronage system, also known as the spoils system, when Democrats would hire and fire state workers at will. Arizona was actually late to the employee merit protection party. The federal government passed the Civil Service Act in the 1880s which said that federal government jobs should be rewarded on the basis of merit, not political affiliation.

Brewer reversed the good work done by her Republican predecessors by signing a law increasing the number of "at will" state workers who can be fired at any time without a stated reason.

Despite good performances from a cast that includes Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux and Allison Janney, director Tate Taylor’s The Girl on the Train winds up being a little too ridiculous for a movie that wishes to be taken seriously.

Blunt spends much of the movie blotto drunk as Rachel Watson, a slurring alcoholic who aimlessly rides a train to New York City every day, spying on the people living in her former house, as well as the neighbors.

Rachel is divorced from Tom (Theroux), who seemingly couldn’t take Rachel’s drinking and their inability to have a child. Tom is remarried to Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), they have a child, and they would really like Rachel to stay away. Tom and Nancy’s nanny, Megan (Haley Bennett), lives nearby with her husband, (Luke Evans). Rachel spies on them in their most intimate moments as she races by on the train, envying what she sees as the perfect young romance.

Then, Nancy sees Megan with another man—setting off an odd, drunken tailspin that results in her getting involved in the drama when Megan goes missing.

So, for starters, I’m just not down with this premise. A deliriously drunk woman is able to decipher the goings-on inside homes as she races by in a train. Yes, sometimes the train slows down, and she does know the inhabitants somewhat, but this is a highly unlikely plot gimmick that’s stretched out to unrealistic proportions. Then she gets involved with the missing woman’s husband, and eventually finds herself a target in the investigation.

The movie is too kooky to be taken seriously.

Tap + Bottle is having a ladies’ night!? Nope, wait—it’s more like a “ladies’ late morning.”

Ever heard of “Tucson Girls’ Pint Out”? It’s a local all-female organization that, according to its website, “promotes solidarity between beer drinkers of the fairer sex.” Through monthly events like field trips, drives and meet-ups—quite often, obviously, at bars and pubs—this group aims not only to unite women who already love beer, but to initiate future female brew connoisseurs.

“Boys” are allowed at Girls’ Pint Out events… but only “on chains and when dining al fresco.”

This group’s mission? “To increase women’s knowledge of beer through collaboration with fellow females, and introduce the uninitiated to superior suds.” Actually, GPO wants to “reclaim our supremacy” over the beer lifestyle, pointing out that females were the first brewers in ancient Sumeria. (We didn’t know that!)

So is GPO a bunch of radical feminists or just some cool chicks who love beer? If you don’t know yet, you decide when you come to their three-year anniversary party, where members (and initiates) will be getting together for one of the most ladylike types of gatherings—a brunch—and making it boozy.

This Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon—if you’re a girl, that is—come to Tap + Bottle and get girly over delicious eats from the Chef's Kitchen omelet bar, with beer on tap, naturally: A special-collaboration mole stout by GPO and Ten Fifty-Five Brewing Company will be flowing, as will taps from Historic Brewing Company and New Belgium Brewing.

Bring bras to donate to Sister Jose Women’s Center—because girls are generous like that.

Tap + Bottle is at 403 N. Sixth Ave., St. 135. Visit thetapandbottle.com for details and to check out the calendar.

So, I want to start this article off by saying that I had some trepidation about that title up there. I tend not to like to call people "douchebags." It's one of the most vile insults of the world, in my book. Right up there with the "C" word. I'm more of an "asshat" kind of girl, but for this particular piece, douchebag was about as fitting a descriptor as I could muster. 

I also need to tell you that I, too, have fit squarely into the douchebag category in the past. But then my daughter got her wheelchair, and I heeded the advice of Zelda Rubenstein when she was trying to save Carol Ann. I came into the light. And because I came into the light, I feel it is my responsibility as a mom to a kid who uses a wheelchair, a friend to people that use wheelchairs, and well, as a human being, to help you do the same. Here are five ways you can steer clear of able-bodied douchebaggery, and continue being the lovely human being you most likely already are:

1. Accessible Fitting Rooms 
This sign is typically seen in Target or Walmart fitting rooms. It means that families and people in wheelchairs (or utilizing mobility aids) can use this particular fitting room. It is large. It has 2 mirrors. It is for the mom with a kid (or kids) in tow, the mom with the kiddo in the wheelchair (or utilizing Caroline's Cart), or simply, the person in the wheelchair (or on crutches, or using a walker, or any type of mobility aide, really). If you do not fall into one of those categories, THIS DRESSING ROOM IS NOT FOR YOU.  Do not hop your solo self in there because you want to take numerous selfies of the front and  back of your outfit to post on Instagram. Do not pop on in there because it's the only dressing room left. That's like taking the handicapped parking spot because it's the only spot left. If you wouldn't park your car in the handicapped spot, don't park your booty in the wheelchair accessible fitting room. 

*Also, don't ignore the person who calls you out for doing it, or get snippy with them. It just makes you look like a bigger douchebag, and again, I kind of think you're probably not a douchebag.

2. Caroline's Cart
In case you're unaware, THIS is Caroline's Cart. 


And this is my kid in "Caroline's Cart". Caroline's Cart was designed specifically for individuals with disabilities. If you've never had to get a child (or adult) with low to no muscle tone in or out of a typical shopping cart, you have NO IDEA how much of a godsend this cart is. I have almost dropped my child and nearly fallen to the ground in the middle of a busy parking lot while trying to get her out of a standard cart. So, this is really a two part instruction on how not to be an able-bodied douchebag in regards to Caroline's Cart. A) If you are not traveling with a child, teen, or adult that utilizes a wheelchair or mobility aid, DO NOT USE THIS CART. It is not a backup cart for when all of the other kid carts are taken. It is not a cart for your pet. It's not a cart for your kid who is tired of walking the aisles with you. It is for parents of children that use mobility aids, and adults shopping with other adults who use mobility aids. Please do not make me call you out if I see you doing this (and yes, person about to comment about invisible illnesses, I know about invisible illnesses). B) If you see someone pulling ALL of the kid carts out, just to get to Caroline's Cart, and she's struggling to hold her own child while doing so, HELP HER OR HIM OUT. I cannot tell you how many times people have stood and watched me struggle (patrons and employees alike), and even commented about how much of an inconvenience it seems to be, and then grabbed their own super accessible, easy to grab shopping cart and gone on their merry way. Please don't be that person. Not only does it qualify you to move straight to the top of the douchebag line, but it can (and actually has) reduce the person struggling to tears of anger and frustration. 

Sen. John McCain, who is facing Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick in this year's election, promised yesterday to lead the Republican Party in a blockade of any Supreme Court nominee during an interview with a Philadelphia radio station. He later sort of walked the comment back through a spokesman, saying that he'd at least give Clinton nominees a cursory look-see before rejecting them.

Last night, Phoenix CBS-5 political reporter Dennis Welch tried to talk to McCain about his comment, but Arizona's senior senator proved quite spry in racing away away from Welch and diving into the safety of an elevator. This, from the guy whose TV ads made hay of Kirkpatrick's decision to walk away from a Congress on Your Corner as an hostile group of Tea Party activists were starting to surround and yell at her.

Team Kirkpatrick is using the episode to underline the charge that McCain is not the same maverick he once was.

“John McCain is once again putting his political party over Arizonans as he campaigns on East Coast radio stations and brags about refusing to do his constitutional duty,” said Kirkpatrick for Senate spokesperson D.B. Mitchell. “McCain isn’t a maverick or a straight talker and he showed today he will do anything to save his career, even if it means ignoring his constituents and the Constitution because after 33 years in Washington, he’s changed. Arizonans deserve better.”

The Washington Post echoed that theme in an editorial today:

Even if Ms. Clinton tapped someone considered more liberal than Mr. Garland, that nominee would deserve a fair hearing. Senators should accept presidential nominees unless they are either truly unqualified or true ideological extremists. The functioning of government depends on speedy and open-minded judicial confirmations. In the past, Mr. McCain, who ran for president in 2008 and recognizes the importance of a sound appointment process, was a voice of restraint on these matters. Now he recklessly encourages Republican voters to expect that GOP senators will refuse any Democratic Supreme Court nominee.

This is a dangerous road. If the Republicans keep the Senate majority next month, acting on such an expectation will establish the precedent that the judicial branch can be staffed only when the president and the Senate are of the same party. If the Democrats take control, GOP intransigence could lead them to quash the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees, which would further politicize the judiciary and poison the process.

Like many Republicans, Mr. McCain hit a professional low when he endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this year, an endorsement he retracted only after seeing a video of Mr. Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women. His vow to further politicize the judicial nomination process is another sad marker.

NY Mag's Jonathan Chait expects that Democrats will end the filibuster of Supreme Court justices if they win the Senate and the GOP follows through on McCain's promise: