Tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 20, the Univeristy of Arizona's Center for Latin American Studies will be screening "Made in LA (Hecho en Los Angeles,) a documentary film in Spanish and English with bilingual subtitles. It follows garment workers, many of them Mexican immigrants, in their long fight with clothing giant Forever 21 in an effort to secure fair wages and basic labor protections. The film is being shown at the Sam Lena-South Tucson Library, 1607 S. Sixth Ave., from 1-3 p.m.

This screening is part of the Borderlands Film Series, a project by the CLAS to provide community outreach and awareness of different issues affecting communities along the US-Mexico border.

In addition to the film, the representatives from the UA Law School's Tucson Immigrant Workers' Project will be on hand and available to talk about the services they offer.

For more information, please call 626-0189.

Tonight, the public is invited to attend a panel discussion presented by the University of Arizona chapter of young Americans for Liberty, featuring liberal writer Glenn Greenwald, conservative lawyer and former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Fein and libertarian commentator Jacob Hornberger as the trio of disparate political opinions come together to discuss "The War on Terrorism, Civil Liberties, and the Constitution."

This discussion, moderated by Charleston City Paper columnist Jack Hunter, is part of a five-college tour, and will feature topics such as habeas corpus, the PATRIOT Act, drone warfare, torture, and will take a look at how the war on terror has affected the rights of U.S. Citizens.

The two-hour event begins at 7 p.m., and doors open at 6 p.m. It's free, and open to the public. For more information, check out YALiberty.org/tour

The Sunday St. Phillip's Farmers' Market is packing up and moving for the day on Sunday, Oct. 21, from its regular location at River Road and Campbell Ave. to Rillito Downs at River Road and First Ave. This weekend also marks the the second weekend of Tucson Farmers' Market's Winter Hours, with markets opening at 9 a.m. and closing down at 1 p.m.

For more details, check out the video below from Tucson Farmers' Markets.

Tucson Farmers' Market Rillito Market Day from Maya Tea on Vimeo.

• A cistern installed at Manzo Elementary School.

Want to go green at home but need some ideas? The Watershed Management Group is conducting their second home-scape tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20.
Watershed Management Group's Green Living Co-op has been helping Tucson residents since 2008. They use a barn-raising model where co-op members earn discounts on installations at their homes by volunteering hours and labor at other co-op member homes. It's a great program. I wrote about it here.

To find out more about the tour, check out excerpts from a press release below:

More than a dozen home sites are featured on the tour, demonstrating a wide array of green living practices — including rainwater and greywater harvesting; local-food-growing urban homesteads and chicken coops; wildlife-friendly native-plant gardens; solar energy; and a variety of composting systems. All the homeowners on the tour worked with Watershed Management Group’s Green Living Co-op to install green features at their residences.

The wide variety of water-harvesting practices along the tour route should be of special interest to Tucson residents, since the City of Tucson recently announced new rebates that can significantly offset the cost of implementing rainwater harvesting at home. The City also offers rebates on home greywater systems that redirect household water from sinks, showers, or laundry machines for landscape use. Seeing examples of qualifying projects at homes along the tour will show visitors that installing more desert-friendly features doesn’t have to break the bank — or the homeowner’s back.

Centrally located homes were chosen to encourage people to take in the tour by bicycle, with suggested routes weaving through bicycle-friendly neighborhoods — some of which also showcase street-side features that harvest stormwater to grow native shade plants and beautify the city. Local bicycle-advocacy nonprofit BICAS will lead a leisurely paced group ride that passes by most of the sites, and some sites will have snacks and drinks ready to refresh bicyclists. In addition to the home sites Manzo elementary school will be open for student led tours of the sustainability features of their campus including cisterns installed with the help WMG’s schoolyard program.

The tour runs from 10 a.m. — 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 20, and homeowners will be on hand to guide tour participants through the green-living features at their homes. Cost is $10 — or $5 for bicycle riders, public transportation users, and those who carpool. Children under 14 can come along for free. Advance signup is required to receive a brochure including maps, suggested routes, and brief descriptions of the features at each property. For more information and to sign up visit www.watershedmg.org/home-tour. No advance sign up is required for the BICAS led tour. Just show up as BICAS (44 W. 6th St Tucson, AZ) at 10 a.m. on Saturday Oct 20.

According to a Tucson Unified School District press release, you have until Oct. 19 to participate in an online survey that's part of an online "virtual open house," on the TUSD school master plan.

New info, is a governing board public hearing on the plan rescheduled for Oct. 15, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Catalina High School auditorium, 3645 E. Pima St. and an open house to provide more public feedback/involvement, on Oct. 17, 6:30—8:30 p.m. in Pueblo High School cafeteria, 3500 S. 12th Ave.

From the press release:

Tucson, AZ, Oct. 8, 2012 — The public has another opportunity to participate in the Tucson Unified School District School Master Plan process by offering input on achievement and budgeting options and scenarios that have arisen from August town halls and September focus groups.

A virtual open house that presents the same information provided at recent open houses at TUSD schools is now available online at www.tusd1.org/SchoolMasterPlan. The online survey will be open until Oct. 19.

Visitors to the website will have the chance to examine various budget scenarios and suggest how to best resolve a significant budget shortfall projected for 2013-2014 while providing for the district vision of developing high performing classrooms in all schools. The scenarios include vision options, staff and program reduction options, and facilities and revenue options.

Several scenarios to trim the budget have arisen through the School Master Plan process, including consolidating schools and reducing administrative costs. At the end of the process, the TUSD Governing Board will make its decision on the budget and how the district will be funded going forward.

Details on the entire School Master Plan process, including information on the district budget, survey results, videos of town halls, as well as comment forms and answers to questions from the public, are available online at www.tusd1.org/SchoolMasterPlan.

NEW!
• Public Hearing: The TUSD Governing Board Public Hearing on the School Master Plan has been rescheduled for Oct. 15, 6:30—8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Catalina High School, 3645 E. Pima St.

• Open House: TUSD has scheduled another open house to provide more opportunity for public involvement on Oct. 17, 6:30—8:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Pueblo High School, 3500 S. 12th Ave.

Table-top gamers, are you looking for people to play with this weekend? If so, head out to Cartel Coffee Lab on 2516 N. Campbell to game with the members of Marana Dice & Decks, who will be engaging in a five-hour hangout-and-play session from 7 p.m. to midnight this Saturday, Oct. 13.

Dice & Decks have put on similar events in the past at Cartel, as well as the Wheller Taft Abbett, Sr. Library, and they were featured last month in the Daily Star.

So if you're looking for a group of folks to play Epic Spell Wars, Magic: The Gathering, or the World of Warcraft trading card game with, you've got friends there — and if none of those strike your fancy, bring along your own games.

For more info, take a look at their event pages here and here.

Fall is here and it's time for the 24th annual Patagonia Fall Festival, a celebration of art, music and fun. The small town of Patagonia invites the whole family to come enjoy some cooler weather in the town park, where the festivities are held. Shoppers will find authentic gifts, trinkets, food, art, and more.

“This festival is truly one of the best small-town celebrations anywhere, and has been growing and getting better with each year of juried artists and great food vendors,” said Lars Marshall, the marketer for the celebration. Marshall has attended the festival for the past 11 years.

There will be more than 140 booths of arts and crafts, jewelry, fashion, furniture/household creations, gourmet food and non-profit and informational exhibitors from all over the United States.

Here are just a few examples of the numerous exhibitors that will be participating in the Fall Festival, which runs Oct. 12-14:

* Sunshine Specialty Food will be selling salsas, spreads, gift bags and recipes.
* Creek Ranch Design will be selling turquoise and coral jewelry.
* Copper Anza Furnishings will be selling metal benches, tables, lamps and furniture.

A lineup of musicians will play on the Gazebo stage performing a variety of genres, ranging from the band Americano—playing electronic/dubstep, to the band Haywire—playing jazz, rock and classical.

For more information on the exhibitors or schedule, visit www.patagoniafallfestival.com.

A public hearing on Rosemont's proposed air quality permit with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m. at Sycamore Elementary School in it's multi purpose building, 16701 S. Houghton Road,

From Save the Scenic Santa Ritas:

This is a final reminder that ADEQ will be holding a public hearing TOMORROW evening (Oct. 9th) at 6pm. Details are listed below. If you cannot make it to the hearing, you can still submit comments through Oct. 31st. Thank you for your participation in this important issue!

Air Quality Permit

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, 6pm there will be a public hearing hosted by ADEQ on Rosemont's proposed air quality permit. If you cannot attend the hearing, ADEQ is accepting comments now through Oct. 31, 2012.

Where: Sycamore Elementary School (Multi Purpose Building, 16701 S. Houghton Rd., Corona de Tucson, AZ 85641).

Why should you attend?

As ADEQ's public notice about the proposed air quality permit states, "YOU HAVE A VOICE IN AIR POLLUTION CONTROL IN ARIZONA." Now is your chance to raise your voice and help protect our air quality.

SSSR's analysis of the draft permit

Our coalition and legal team has analyzed the permit request, and we have put together some key points to consider when making comments.

Also, SSSR has rented a room at the school during the hearing - please stop by and say hi, to pick up additional information, and for snacks (we will be around beginning at 5:30). We will be happy to answer questions you have regarding the air quality permit, as well as other general questions related to the proposed mine. Here is a map of the school with our location labeled in relation to the hearing room.

For more information and technical support documents, go to http://www.azdeq.gov.

Comments may be submitted in writing to:

Balaji Vaidyanathan, Air Quality Permits Section Manager, ADEQ
1110 W. Washington St., 3415A-1
Phoenix, AZ 85007

or via e-mail at [email protected].

Persons wishing to submit written comments may also do so at the public hearing.

Save the Scenic Santa Rita's key points re: permit:

ADEQ_AQP_key_issues.pdf

If you never had chance to see a screening of Jason Michael Aragón's Under Arpaio, his documentary on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and those fighting for justice, you can see the documentary in its entirety on YouTube.

Calling all local bands and performers:

Time is running out to get your submissions in for this year's Great Cover-Up, the annual three-day blowout in which local acts that normally perform original music cover other, more famous acts, in 20-minute sets, all in the name of charity.

This year's event will take place at Plush on Thursday, Dec. 13, Club Congress on Friday, Dec. 14, and the Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 15, and all proceeds will be donated to the Southern Arizona Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance (SAAMHA — formerly TAMHA), which you can read about here.

More information about the event itself is here.

To submit an application, just send your band name, what type of music you normally play, your top three choices of acts you'd like to cover, contact info (name and email address or phone number) to [email protected].

The deadline for submissions is Friday, Oct. 19.

Please remember that this is a populist event, so try to steer away from obscurity, and toward something the audience will recognize. (Bonus points for dressing the part, etc.)

The event's organizers (of which I'm one) are patiently standing by, waiting for your awesome ideas.