The thought of spending time in sweltering temperatures has a way of postponing all outdoor excursions, but don't let the triple digits prevent you from satisfying your desert wanderlust this summer.

The kids are out of school, so there's no better time than the present to use some of that vacation leave you saved up. Go ahead, plan a mini road trip close to home and pack your trekking bags. Here are a few great staycations for your family.

Kartchner Caverns State Park: This limestone cave is home to unique ecosystem in Southern Arizona that's known for its seasonal bat colony. But don't worry about getting bombarded with guano, guided tours of the bats' living quarters are suspended until the winged inhabitants migrate in October. Temperatures inside stay around 70 degrees, making it a comfortable environment for a 90-minute tour of underground passages. Your kids will become experts on stalagmites and stalactites by the end of the day. Take advantage of the park's $3 tour discount for adults and active military until October 31. $7 entry fee per vehicle. June 1 through Dec. 18, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 19 through May 31, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Check azstateparks.com/kartchner for trip information.

Copper Queen Mine: Take a trip to Bisbee to see one of the most lucrative mining digs in the industry that produced copper, lead, silver, gold and zinc from the Mule Mountains until it closed in 1975. It was the hub of Bisbee's economic growth for almost a century. Retrace the steps mineworkers trudged with a group tour led by former miners who have first-hand insight of what life was like when the mine was in operation. Visitors gear up in hard hats and go down more than a thousand feet on a rail tram into the depths of the 47-degree mine. Head into the core of Bisbee's history with sensible walking shoes, curiosity and maybe even a light jacket. $13 adults. $5.50 ages 6-12. Daily, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call (520) 432-2071 for reservations.

Patagonia Lake State Park: This is the ultimate getaway, overflowing with wildlife and recreational opportunities. Its pristine waters are perfect for water sports, swimming and licensed fishing. Hike a half-mile trail located at the end of the campgrounds for prime birdwatching at Sonoita Creek Preserve. Overnight guests can book RV, tent or cabin sites just minutes away from the sandy beaches. Stay for a couple hours or a few days for an active family outing. $15-20 entry fee per vehicle. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. More at azstateparks.com/patagonia-lake.

Colossal Cave Mountain Park: Do you want to enrich your family with an educational experience? Ancient Hohokam dwelled in the area thousands of years ago and left behind historical artifacts. They farmed on the land that's known today as La Posta Quemada Ranch. Choose from different daily tours of Colossal Cave, just under 30 miles southeast of Tucson in the Rincon Mountains. Discover the cavern's legends, humans history and structural geology as you savor its 70-degree atmosphere. You and your family can also hike, horseback and picnic above ground in the park's 2,400-acres. Following the scenic trails is a great way to see desert wildlife. Check out colossalcave.com for events and tours. Free park admission. 8 a..m. to 5 p.m. Every day.

Salt River Tubing: If you feel like basking in mother nature this time of year, inner tubing down the Salt River in the southern Tonto National Forest just makes sense. Park for free and take a shuttle for a two, three or five-hour float. You might even get lucky and see wild horses grazing along the 68-degree water banks. The two hour drive north of Tucson to Mesa is worth the commute when you're looking for a place to relax in an ethereal oasis with spectacular views. $14 for shuttle. Daily, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Visit saltrivertubing.com for safety requirements and info.

The TUSD Governing Board decided to table a vote on reinstating the course, Phil 101: Ethics, Economy, and Entrepreneurship. The course was created by UA's Koch Brothers-infused Freedom Center and has met with controversy and skepticism since people found out about it.

It looks like the main reason for delaying the vote is the textbook. New textbooks are supposed go through a review process and be on display in the district office for 60 days before the board votes on adoption, which hasn't happened. Up to this point, the district has played fast and loose with the course. The board wasn't even involved in approving it. It would have been difficult to justify fast tracking the textbook after all the prior shenanigans.

So, no Phil 101 course at TUSD. For now. The issue will almost certainly come to a board vote sometime during this school year after the textbook has gone through the 60 day review process, which means the board could decide to reinstate the course.

That's the end of the news. Now, for your amusement...

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INGMAR BERGMAN RETROSPECTIVE TRAILER from Janus Films on Vimeo.

The Seventh Seal. Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of Ingmar Bergman in the coming weeks. The Loft Cinema is celebrating the Swedish director’s 100th birthday to the glee of beret-wearers and Philip Glass-listeners everywhere. Picture this: A tired, old knight meets up with Death incarnate on an empty beach and they sit down for a game of chess. It’s a simple, yet powerful, story idea, and this movie starts there and only goes further. 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. Thursday, July 12. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Regular admission prices. Details here.

Desert Sun. In the heat of the summer, when you might be wondering why exactly you still live in Tucson anyway, there’s nothing like a desert sunset to remind you that we actually live in a pretty beautiful, wonderful place. Unfortunately, it’s about a million degrees at sunset, so driving to the edge of town or hiking up A Mountain to get that perfect view isn’t as fun as it is in the fall. Enter the Madaras Gallery: Throughout the month, they’ll be featuring Southwest and desert sunset paintings by Diana Madaras herself. Throughout July. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Madaras Gallery, 3035 N. Swan Road. Free entry. Details here.

Odyssey Storytelling Presents: Summer. In case you hadn’t noticed, summer is here! And Odyssey Storytelling is celebrating it with its summer program, exploring the season in all of its facets, from Little League baseball games and popsicle-stained lips to summer romances and trips to the library. People who are getting up on stage to tell 10-minute personal stories include Aimee Finkelstein, Stephen Krohn and Paul Lucie. Maybe you’re not the type of person who likes to tell personal stories in front of people, but this show is sure to get you thinking: What summer story would you tell? 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 12. The Sea of Glass Center for the Arts, 330 E. Seventh Ave. $10 GA, $7 students with ID. Details here.

The Breaking Point. Fed up with this heat? Fed up with your job? Fed up with the meaninglessness of life? Whatever you’re fed up with, you probably feel like you want to smash something. Maybe break some plates, maybe go bigger, and take a bat to your refrigerator. Well, say no more. Because the Breaking Point, Tucson’s new (and only!) rage room, is exactly the place you need. Head into one of their rooms full of shatter-able items with a blunt object they provide and start smashing away. Take a hammer to an old washing machine. Take a metal rod to a table covered in glass bottles. (And do it all while wearing the appropriate safety gear they provide, and, for the love of God, don’t wear flip flops). Call ahead to make your reservation! The Breaking Point, 2006 E. 14th St. Prices range from $10 to $400 based on the length of your session, how many people you bring, and which experience you choose. Details here.

Mirror Lab Tours. You’ve probably heard of the UA’s mirror lab, but might not know exactly what it is, or at least haven’t seen it in person. But you can! They have tours all the time! If you haven’t checked it out yet, why not this week? You’ll have the chance to see LITERALLY the biggest and most advanced telescope mirrors in the world (like 27 feet across), because they’re made at the UA campus. The stuff that goes on in the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab make it possible for astronomers to look deep into the universe, and, technically, if you walk through the lab, you can say you’re a part of it, right? Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. 527 National Championship Drive. The lab is located on the east side of the UA Football stadium. Adults $20, seniors and military $18, students 10-20 years old with ID, $10. Details here.

Arizona Biennial 2018 at the Tucson Museum of Art. Artwork from all over the state was juried into this exhibition by guest juror Rebecca R. Hart, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. Works by dozens of artists, in dozens of mediums, will be on display in the James J. and Louse R. Glasser Galleries, the Chann Gallery and the Green Gallery. After all, you can’t spell “Tucson, Arizona” without “art.” On display through Sunday, Sept. 16 at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. $12 adults, $10 seniors 65+, $7 college students with ID and youth 13-17, free for kids 12 and under, veterans and museum members. Details here.

Dog Days of Summer menu. Bring your four-legged friends to Café Botanica inside the Tucson Botanical Gardens from now until Sept. 30 for a chance to try out the café’s new menu. Your dog can enjoy an upgrade from their bone; the café is debuting three different options from a dog-friendly menu, such as a hamburger, chicken and rice or a handmade dog biscuit. For the humans, the café offers a menu including apricot-glazed chicken, sweet cornbread strata and more. To visit the café, pay the Tucson Botanical Gardens’ admission, which for non-members is $15 for adults and $8 for children over 3. Admission for dogs is $3 a day and $10 for additional dogs. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Details here.

The Resiliency of Hopi Culture: 500 Years of Planting. There’s something about photographs taken or curated by a member of a community, rather than from the outside looking in, that gives pictures a certain power. This exhibit at the Arizona State Museum, guest curated by Hopi farmer, photographer and UA PhD candidate in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment Michael Kotuwa Johnson, is a perfect example. This series of photographs illustrates traditional Hopi farming practices and the values they’re based on. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday through June 29, 2019. Arizona State Museum, 1013 E. University Blvd. $5 adults and free for museum members, anyone 17 and under and UA faculty, staff and students with a Cat Card. Details here.

Events compiled by Emily Dieckman, Dylan Reynolds, BS Eliot, Ava Garcia and Jeff Gardner.

At 3:15 p.m., Tuesday, July 10 a Union Pacific train derailed between Twin Peaks Road and Avra Valley. Roughly 20 rails cars fell off and scattered across the train tracks and adjacent areas.

The derailment caused no injuries, according to Jeff DeGraff, Arizona Director of Media Relations at Union Pacific. Two crew members were on board, however they were at the front of the train whereas the derailment occurred toward the middle.

The cause of the derailment is still under investigation, although heavy rainfall and flooding likely played a role. Union Pacific will release an official announcement once a full examination of the tracks can be completed.

Northwest Fire District were the first responders to the scene, originally on the way to the area on a stranded motorist call, right around the time the train derailed.

“There was a bit of irony that we were already on our way,” said Brian Keeley, Captain and Public Information Officer for Northwest Fire District. “So it was lucky, we were right on it.”

The fire department’s role was mainly for hazardous materials management. Although haz mat crews were dispatched, no hazardous materials were found on scene, according to the Northwest Fire District.

The derailment obstructed two sets of tracks. The first set of tracks is now cleared and already has some trains passing through, in an attempt to prevent any further delays. Workers are still clearing equipment and containers from the second pair of tracks.

Because of the intensely busy day for emergency calls caused by monsoon rains, local agencies assisted Northwest Fire due to mutual aid agreements. The Marana Police Department, Tucson Fire Department, Golder Ranch Fire District, Town of Marana, Pima County Sheriff, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety all joined the effort.

“Public safety is a team effort,” Keeley said. “No one person could take care of all of this, it requires a network.”

Around 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, once the haz mat units okayed the area, the project was turned over from the fire departments to Union Pacific.

Union Pacific has no firm time of completion, and plan on continuing to work through the day.

One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. (I'm not saying I really followed the plot when I kid, but man, did I hate those Blue Meanies.) For the film's 50th anniversary, it's undergone a frame-by-frame restoration and this weekend, it's opening at the Loft Cinema. Get your friends all aboard and join the battle for the future of Pepperland.

We love both animals and tattoos here at the Tucson Weekly, so we’re thrilled to announce our latest competition, Tatts for Tails, in partnership with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.

Here’s the deal: You show off your pet-inspired tattoo and then campaign for votes. With the most votes, you win big prizes!

Just how big are these prizes? First place wins you two JetBlue Airlines roundtrip tickets to any domestic location, along with a $100 Target gift card, a $100 Buffalo Exchange gift card and a Road Tripper 400-liter REI duffel bag. (Plus, we’ll feature your tattoo in the pages of Tucson Weekly).

Second place brings home a $75 Buffalo Exchange gift certificate along with a $50 Cans Deli gift certificate and a $50 Target gift card. And the third-place winner will take home a $50 Buffalo Exchange gift certificate, a $25 Cans Deli gift certificate and a $25 Target gift card.

So how do you, tattooed reader, win these prizes? The first step is uploading a photo of your ’tacular tat to www.hssaz.org/tattoo. It will set you back $10, but that’s a small price to pay when you consider the payoff of a JetBlue roundtrip. And then you campaign for office with the tried-and-true strategy of buying votes. You, your family and your friends can vote for your tat as many times as y’all want—but each vote costs one buck and you’ve got to buy them by Tuesday, July 17.

All proceeds from this exercise in quasi-democracy will benefit the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, so the cause is just. Vote early and vote often. And maybe this is just the incentive you need to get a tattoo.

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Together Again! We know it can be tempting to do everything you can to ignore how hot it’s getting, but we also know from experience that method is pretty ineffective. So why not focus on things that are better when they’re hot, like mashed potatoes, movie stars and jazz? As part of the Invisible Theatre’s two-week program, enjoy music by the likes of musical pairs Lerner and Lowe, Rodgers and Hart and the Gershwins, performed by Katherine Byrnes and musical director Jeffrey Haskell (“Mr. Jazz.”) It’s too darn hot, so you might as well snap your fingers and go with it. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 11. Janos Downtown Kitchen/Carriage House, 125 S. Arizona Ave. $35 GA. Details here.

El Charro “Cinco de 95th Summer Menu.” El Charro Café has been around just five years shy of a century. Over that time, the restaurant’s built up its status as a local staple, and it’s easy to see why with this batch of new menu items dedicated to highlighting the restaurant’s long tenure in Tucson. While the regular menu is still available, branch out and try new fare like the ensalada de sandia, hola hemp tamales, Cazadores watermelon cooler and Nutella dessert tamal. Oh, and did I mention all the new eats are only $5.95? Menu available until Sept. 15. Locations at 311 N. Court Ave. (open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday), 7725 N. Oracle Road (open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday) and 6910 E. Sunrise Dr. (open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday). Details here.

Desert Sun. In the heat of the summer, when you might be wondering why exactly you still live in Tucson anyway, there’s nothing like a desert sunset to remind you that we actually live in a pretty beautiful, wonderful place. Unfortunately, it’s about a million degrees at sunset, so driving to the edge of town or hiking up A Mountain to get that perfect view isn’t as fun as it is in the fall. Enter the Madaras Gallery: Throughout the month, they’ll be featuring Southwest and desert sunset paintings by Diana Madaras herself. Throughout July. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Madaras Gallery, 3035 N. Swan Road. Free entry. Details here.

Events compiled by Emily Dieckman, Dylan Reynolds, BS Eliot, Ava Garcia and Jeff Gardner.

The charter school movement owes its current level of success to its friends in high tax brackets. Lots of friends. We wouldn't have as many charters as we have now, by a long shot, if deep-pocketed donors hadn't contributed billions to get them started and prop them up. And they'd get far less press without all the privatization/"education reform" groups funded by the same rich folks who help them make it into the news.

Take the private donors out of the charter school biz, and we'd have a backwater education movement with significant outposts around the country, a band of ardent supporters and occasional articles in the media, including thought pieces like "Will charter schools ever catch on?"

A number of the deep-pocketed charter supporters are men who made their money in high tech and hedge funds. Their allegiance has less to do with an objective analysis of charters than their dislike of government regulations and their oversized, self-made-man egos. Other donors are billionaires who made their money the old fashioned way, they inherited it. Together, they've plowed billions into charter schools. That's on top of taxpayer funding, of course. Charters get per student dollars from state budgets, just like district schools.

I used "billions" to describe the money going to charters. Did I add a zero to the total to exaggerate the contributions to charter schools? The answer is, no. Billions it is, no exaggeration necessary. To get a sense of the kind of money that flows to charters from private sources, let's push aside all the donors except one, not because the others' contributions are insignificant, but because this one money machine cranks out cash for charters at an amazing rate. I'm talking about the Walton Foundation.