Monday, July 6, 2015
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!
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Eegees has been on the receiving end of some national affection over the last few days. Show your local appreciation for our fast food wonder by picking your favorite slush flavor on your Best of Tucson® ballot.
Now, don't get confused: The first category you'll see Eegee's name on is Best Fries, where they're a finalist. They've got some stiff competition with Diablo Burger, US Fries, Graze Premium Burgers and Zinburger also in the running. They're all such delicious fry options, I won't dare try to advise your vote.
Still—Eegees, and I mean the icy beverage, always gets a category all it's own. Cast your ballot and help us determine which flavor to order for lunch.
The nominees are:
- Watermelon
- Orange Dream
- Lemon
- Pina Colada
- Strawberry
Monday, June 29, 2015
Support the preservation of the sacred Apache lands at Oak Flat and head to the Apache Stronghold Caravan to D.C. send-off rally on Tuesday, June 30. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., councilman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and members of Apache Stronghold will be headed to the nation's capital to demand the repeal of a congressional measure that recently passed, giving those sacred sites to a foreign mining company, which in turn spells their eminent destruction.
According to the Apache Stonghold website, the land deal, which had failed to win congressional approval several times, was only pushed through Congress by piggybacking it on another congressional measure:
The Southeast Arizona land exchange was one of the bills that was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act and passed by the U.S. House and the Senate. It is a bill pushed by Arizona Representatives Gosar & Kirkpatrick and Arizona Senators McCain and Flake (and prior to Flake, Kyle) which for over the past 10 years has not been able to get enough votes for passage in either the House or the Senate. The Arizona Congressmen could not get the bill to pass using the normal Congressional procedures. This is because the bill gives land at Apache Leap and Oak flat in southeastern Arizona to a foreign Mining Company, Resolution Copper without any environmental impact studies or without consultation with San Carlos Apache and Tribes that consider the area sacred. The last time the bill came up for vote in the House of Representatives it was shut down by New Mexico Representative Lujan who proposed an amendment to the bill that required that Native American concerns regarding Sacred Sites be addressed.Members of the Apache Stronghold are headed to D.C. July 20-21 to stand in opposition to the land deal but, first, they're asking community members to head to the Global Justice Center, 225 E. 26th St., on June 30 at 7 p.m. to show their support. The event is free, but donations for the trip are encouraged. Donations can also be made through the Apache Stronghold website, where you'll also find more information on the cause.
Tags: oak flat , land exchange , apache stronghold , repeal , global justice center , wendsler nosie , rally , caravan
As a lifelong Tucsonan, I feel like I've got the rhythm of the city down. Of course, even newer desert dwellers know our population shrinks every summer when everyone clears out to escape triple digit temperatures. Last summer, I had that notion challenged. See, I was working at a bookstore and every shift—mid day Monday, Thursday nights, Sunday morning, whenever—was Saturday-level busy.
Now, I'm sure that surge in book shopping can be partially attributed to the beauty of air conditioning and an armchair on a hot summer day—but word on the street is the people of our fair city are particularly big readers. Perhaps that's why we have so many bookstore categories in Best of Tucson®.
We've got:
Best Bookstore for New Books
Antigone Books
Barnes & Noble
Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
Mostly Books
The Book Stop
Best Bookstore for Used Books
Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
The Book Stop
Antigone
Mostly Books
Best Independent Bookstore
Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
Antigone Books
The Book Stop
Mostly Books
Revolutionary Grounds
So tell us (with your votes, that is) where to buy books—and escape the heat.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Someone recently called me an "insufferable chicken wing snob." They're not wrong—chicken wings were the only thing I would order at restaurants until, oh, probably around middle school.
Point being, I've eaten quite a few wings in my day. Hell, I still want them to be my main course most nights. Obviously, this fowl affection means I have some pretty strong feelings about which Best of Tucson® Finalist should win.
But this is for you to decide, not me.
Now, I want you to make an educated decision here. Think about your plans for this weekend. I'm having a hard time imagining how those plans would be made worse by adding Chicken Wing Taste Test 2015.
So, give our finalists (1702, Brushfire BBQ, Proper, Rocco's Little Chicago, Wings Over Broadway—all selected in the first round of Best of Tucson balloting, of course) a call, bring home a stack of wings, and find out for yourself which ones are the most delicious. Then go fill out at least 30 categories (including Best Chicken Wings on Page 8, obviously) of your Best of Tucson® ballot.
Don't let me down, Tucson.
Tags: insufferable chicken wing snob , best of tucson voting
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
On Friday, we released the second round* of Best of Tucson® voting. We've already had a ton of ballots submitted and pretty much** all of them (93 percent!) include a vote for "Best Place to Take Friends Visiting Town."
And the nominees are...
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Sabino Canyon
Mount Lemmon
Gates Pass
Unscrewed Theater
And the nominees are...
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Sabino Canyon
Mount Lemmon
Gates Pass
Unscrewed Theater
Friday, June 19, 2015
Round 2 of this year's Best of Tucson® ballot is ready for you! What's this "Round 2" you might be asking. We tallied your votes (Well, I did) and we gathered finalists in every category. "The Best" will be selected (by you!) from these champions.
I know, I know, many of you preferred the old method of voting where which person/place/institution got the most votes straight out won the whole thing. I feel for you but we've talked about this and am afraid the two level voting situation is here to stay.
You have until the end of the day on Sunday, Aug. 2 to fill out your ballot. Try not to be too bummed if your favorite places didn't make the finals—Maybe even take some time to explore your options. You might find a new favorite pizza place or public garden.
Now, after approximately 2 billion consecutive hours of working on this ballot, I'm going to sleep. You should work on your submission and tell your friends to do the same. Please.
Tags: Best of Tucson , vote vote vote vote vote , Our Ink Stained Heart
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
City Councilman Steve Kozachik calls Safe Park an unsafe and unsanitary place. The park has become a small community of houseless residents and advocates that have occupied downtown's Veinte de Agosto Park and some surrounding areas since 2013. For now, it has been shut down to all until it's cleaned.
Since Sunday, yellow caution tape surrounds the park, and city deep-cleaning crews have been in-and-out. That evening, Tucson Police agents went through the park and cleaned out the remaining belongings from previous occupants. They were all evicted Friday. A young man's death at the park Thursday was the last drop to it all.
Local businesses asked the city to fix the place up due to public health concerns. There are no toilets available, so occupants took it to the streets. When I wrote about Safe Park in April, several sources told me they had years ago requested permits for portable toilets, but the city said no.
The city can continue to kick people out from sidewalks, parks, washes, but the bottom line is that the shelter beds are not sufficient. The so-called resources are not sufficient and, according to several of Tucson's houseless residents, pretty damn hard to obtain. These short-term "solutions" do not work.
Tags: safe park , veinte de agosto park , steve kozachik , arizona daily star , homeless , tucson
Monday, June 15, 2015
Calexico's Joey Burns took his ukulele to the WFUV Christmas Concert in 2013 and got Beth Orton, Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Glen Hasnard (The Frames/Swell Season), Nick Lowe, Kathleen Edwards, Amos Lee and everyone in his band to sign the instrument. Then, while performing on Conan, Burns had Neko Case, Jon Rauhouse, Kelly Hogan and Eric Bachman make their mark on the ukulele as well.
Now Burns is auctioning off the signed ukulele as a fundraiser for Tucson's community radio station KXCI. The instrument itself is a Carlo Robelli soprano ukulele with a sapele body, nato neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge and chrome tuners.
The auction ends on Wednesday, June 17, and with two days left, the auction is only up to $136 (at the time of this post). You can put your bid in by visiting the item's Bidding for Good page. The winner can either pick up the uke at KXCI headquarters (220 S. Fourth Ave.) or opt to pay for shipping.
Tags: calexico , joey burns , kxci , ukulele , auction , charity , community radio , neko case , signed , musician
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Best of Tucson® is a big deal. It's our most read issue, it's on our website year round, It's a resource for navigating the city—and we intend to make it a well informed one.
So, do your part. Fill out your Best of Tucson ballot. Be a part of our collective Tucson spirit guide.
We're closing the first round of voting—the support-whoever-you-love round of voting—Monday night. This Monday. Monday, June 15. The Ides of June. Basically, right now.
So, vote. Cast your support for the Tucson institutions that leave an impression. Encourage your friends to vote. Do it now, before your computer turns into a pumpkin.
Do it.
