Seeing the Best of Tucson winners list is always a lot fun—a vetted list of where to grab a drink, where to ride your bike and which shows to see.

But Best of Tucson is also there for more practical advice: Who is the best handyman? Which dealership should you go to when buying a used car? Where should you take that car when the "check engine" light comes on?

Best Of is a Tucsonan-approved guide to the entire city, and you should keep that in mind when you're voting. Get in there, fill out your ballot, and remember some poor new-to-Tucson soul is going to be counting on your advice when their laptop crashes one week into their new job.

Once you’ve mastered pie making in the kitchen, it feels like a turning point in your technical ability. Finicky dough can cause problems and what the heck do you even thicken a berry pie with? Tapioca? Cornstarch? Arrowroot?

Well, no doubt, you’ve already mastered a pie or two in your time, and now is the time to celebrate that achievement with other local pie bakers at the 13th annual Pie Party. Equal parts pie potluck, pie bake-off and fundraiser, this event brings the community together all in the name of that sweet, crusty dessert we all know and love.

For those looking to get competitive, bring your pie creation to the YWCA of Southern Arizona’s Frances Mclelland Center (525 N. Bonita Ave.) from 11 a.m. until noon on Sunday, May 1. Pies are separated into fruit, cream, vegan, wheat-free and other categories. Last year’s winning pies include date pecan mesquite, strawberry ginger and chile mango margarita cheesecake , so you’ll want to be sure to flex those creativity muscles if you plan on going for Best in Show this year.

The top pie baker also gets to choose which nonprofit will get the cash prize at the end. Participating nonprofits for the 2016 event are Local First Arizona Foundation, Make Way for Books, Tucson Roller Derby, Camp Born This Way and Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona. Pie entries earn two free tickets to the event when submitted.

For those just looking to eat some pies and donate to local nonprofits, the pie party runs from 3 until 6 p.m. on Sunday. Pie is sold at $3 per slice or two for $5. For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.

Let's talk giving: What's your favorite Tucson cause to support? Arizona Gives Day just passed, which means your favorite nonprofits should still be on your brain. Show them a little love in the Best Place to Donate Your Time/Money category in Best of Tucson. 

Honestly, this is one of my favorite categories to watch as Best of Tucson votes roll in. Our community has so many incredible people working to make our chunk of the world a little better. 

Fill out a ballot for your vote to count, but feel free to leave an endorsement in the comments if you want to make sure your fellow readers know about your favorite Tucson do-gooders.

Best of Tucson basics:

• You don't have to fill out every question, but you've got to fill out at least 30. It shouldn't be hard—there are 191. That's plenty to choose from. 
  
• You have to vote for local places. We're celebrating Tucson and Tucson's best. Case closed.
  
• Having trouble logging in? It's probably because you voted in a previous year with the same in email, and typed your name a little differently this time around. Email me for help: [email protected]
  

Vote!

The devastating 7-plus magnitude earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan in the last week have left thousands upon thousands missing, injured and displaced and hundreds more dead.

According to AP, more than 400 people are estimated to be dead following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country on Saturday, April 16. The Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa is estimating $3 billion in damage—3 percent of the country's GPD. Rebuilding after this massive natural disaster could take years and crews are still searching for survivors in the wreckage, while humanitarian aid groups are working on getting clean water, food, temporary housing and mosquito nets (which are needed especially now due to the Zika infection risk in the area) to those who need them.

Over in Japan, twin earthquakes have left over 100,000 still in temporary housing and thousands injured days after the final earthquake stuck on Saturday. The streets of the Japanese city Fukuoka were coated in a mysterious foam following the event.

Here in Tucson, Yume Japanese Garden (2130 North Alvernon Way) is hosting a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the victims of the earthquakes that will also serve as a fundraiser to help those who have survived the devastation. 

I attended the April 5 public hearing on the Broadway project. As I walked the short two blocks from my car to attend the meeting on Tuesday, I passed at least 20 of the brass information plaques that grace our historic sites, as well as countless significant pieces of architecture. I imagined how the immediate surroundings of City Hall would look and feel if these sites had not been preserved, and wide roads were deemed more necessary or worthwhile then our beautiful historic sites.

Upon entering the lobby of the Pima County Administration Building, I was greeted by an attractive and prominent, permanent display of Pima County's varied and significant historic sites. Clearly the city understands how important our unique heritage sites are to our identity, pride and brand. The irony that I was confronted by a celebration of our city’s valuable sites, while lining up to go into a crowded hearing that would decide the fate of some of Tucson’s other historical sites, was not lost on me.

America is becoming more and more homogeneous. Every city has a snarling web of arterial roads punctuated by large plazas with box stores, that add nothing to the unique flavor of their communities. How many cities can boast such a significant strip of mid-century buildings? Tucson has some very important gems on Broadway that were built during what is widely considered America’s heyday.

The thing about architecturally significant buildings is that they get more significant with time, not less. Once they are gone they are gone forever, and it is shortsighted to destroy any of them. Banners celebrating Broadway as the “Sunshine Mile” mark the very area that the project would irrevocably change. Please do not turn it into the “Cloudy Corridor” of Anywhere, USA. Cities rarely, if ever, regret preserving their heritage. No one will ever visit Tucson to admire our six lane strip of asphalt.

The Best of Tucson® 2016 ballot has been up for a few days now and, as you may have noticed, there have been some changes.

Perhaps most notably is the introduction of the ¡Cultura! section. For years, Best of Tucson had ¡Comida!, a section dedicated to the Old Pueblo's delicious Mexican food. But you know what? Tucson's Mexican influence goes beyond what we put in our bellies. We decided to open the section up to include categories like Best Mariachi Band and Best Carnicería. 

We plan to bring in new ¡Cultura! categories next year, so let us know if you have any suggestions.

In the meantime, go fill out your Best of Tucson ballot! It can seem daunting to start—there are 191 questions—but you can do it.  It's the tiniest bit shorter than last year, you can skip questions you don't have opinions on, and you only have to fill out a minimum of 30 questions. You can even save your ballot and get back to it anytime before we start looking at finalists on May 15. 

Get voting. 

Attention, business women! Red Carpet Events and the Matrix Media Consulting Group are holding the second Annual Women in Business Conference & Ball this Friday and Saturday, April 8-9. 

Our Theme this year is “Real Women, Real Success: How To Build A Business Without Burning Out.” The idea is to bring a number of resources that are essential to the survival of women-owned businesses and their everyday lives. Smart women know real success is not about having it all, it's about having the things that matter! Thousands of women are now enjoying economic independence and empowerment after benefiting from financial and non-financial services.

The event will take place at the Tucson Scottish Rite (160 S Scott Ave.) 

We're giving away pairs of tickets to this event, but you have to earn them: Head over to the website so you can answer the trivia question on the entry form.

We'll pick a winner on Wednesday. Good luck, everyone! 

Arizona Gives Day is a bit of a spring tradition. Since 2013, that state has come together to pour a little love into the community and "invest in Arizona" by donating to local non-profits. 

In previous years, Arizona Gives Day has raised a total of $4.5 million dollars. This year, organizers are aiming to raise $3 million in 24 hours. 

Grab your wallet and find a non-profit making Arizona a better place. If you need some inspiration, read up about some of Tucson's (many) wonderful organizations: I found TW stories about non-profits here, here and here but tell us about the people and places you love to support in the comments.

Yes, Tucson, it's finally time—Time to fill out your Best of Tucson® Ballot.

You'll notice some new categories, you'll miss some old ones. So it goes.

Everything is pretty much the same, with one major exception: We're only accepting nominations for local institutions. We've been back and forth on this issue, but it all comes down to celebrating Tucson.

We're celebrating our people who make our city great. We're celebrating Tucson's best. We're celebrating Tucson.

Go vote. This write-in, vote-for-who-ever-you-want round of balloting will close on May 15. Then, we'll compile a list of your top 5 (local) nominations, and create a finalists ballot to determine the winners.

As always: You're required to fill in something for 30 categories for your ballot to count. If you don't have an opinion, leave the space blank. 

Any questions?

Here's something different.

Imagine a fully staged production of the Shrek in musical form, complete with costumes and sets and lights. OK, that's easy enough. But when I say fully staged, I mean that the stage will be full of all kinds of students, including those from the deaf and blind community.

Not only will there be a full-voiced, full-sighted Shrek singing and dancing his way into our hearts, but shadowing that Shrek will be a hearing-impaired actor performing the same character in American Sign Language. This shadowing technique will be extended to most of the characters, and blind students will be in on the staging and singing as well.

This unique theater event will be given life by Arts Express, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to providing arts education and family entertainment,” says Karen F. Wiese, Executive Director. This is the third year they have done a musical. Last year it was Beauty and The Beast, and the first was Big River. These productions are a central feature of their Arts Express Building careACTOR program.

“We've seen some incredible things happen,” says Weise.