Compete with jovial instrumental music background. Sure, it's a parody, but it's certainly worth listening to these eleven minutes of delightful strangeness.

Courtesy of the Department of Public Safety in today's Arizona Daily Star:

"Dust storms don't kill people; highways don't kill people. Drivers kill people," said Bart Graves, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. "They panic and they do the wrong thing and something bad happens."

I was in one really terrible dust storm on my way back from Phoenix at night, so I'd like to offer one rebuttal to Mr. Graves. The storm I was in came on in an instant. One minute it was raining and windy and traffic was moving slow, the next minute, my windshield was white with dust. I pulled over, but to be frank, I had no idea what I was pulling over into. I could have rolled my car into a ditch, and it wouldn't have been my fault. A truck could have decided to pull over directly into me and there wouldn't have been a thing either the driver or I could have done about it. This was what was going through my mind as I sat in my car, wondering if I should call my wife and tell her that I love her. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, the dust cleared and I was fine. Still, it doesn't work out as well every time the wind kicks up by I-10.

I guess theoretically if something would have happened that the dust storm wouldn't have killed me, but that another driver would have been the actual cause of death, but I don't know that it would have taken someone panicking or doing the "wrong thing". Something bad could have happened just because an absurd amount of dust traveled across a busy road at an inopportune time and drivers tried to make the best decision they could at the moment...and it still resulted in someone losing their life.

I don't know what caused the pileup the other day or if anything can actually be done, considering most of the path between Tucson and Phoenix is framed by clear-cut stretches of land cut down to the ultra-dry soil, but it seems worth looking into some sort of solution. At very least, Bart Graves, you might want to think before you blame the victims in an accident for reacting to a situation they shouldn't have needed to expect or prepare for.

After yesterday's news that three Mega 106.3 employees were let go, people started speculating that a format change may be coming.

According to a report at RadioInsight.com, it looks like that is indeed the case:

The station logo at Mega1063.com has been replaced with an image hyping “Something New Is On The Way.” That appears to be “106.3 The Groove.“ 1063TheGroove.com was registered by Journal on August 29 and a corresponding Twitter account is already live.

John Schuster tells me he's received word that at least three people were laid off today from KGMG, aka Mega 106.3, which is owned by Journal Broadcasting.

Those let go include Ken Carr, Rosemary and Dino.

We'll bring you updates if and when we find out anything more.

As if eliminating 15 newsroom positions a couple of months ago wasn’t enough upheaval, the powers-that-be at the Arizona Daily Star have decided to make even more changes by shuffling a handful of major beats.

Star veterans Carol Ann Alaimo, Rhonda Bodfield, Rob O’Dell and Becky Pallack have all been uprooted from their respective — and well-cultivated beats — in order to put someone into what management considers a position worthy of a dedicated approach: computer-assisted reporting.

Even more surprising was the person the Star decided to put into this beat: O’Dell, who has covered city government since coming to Tucson.

The Star has previously had so-called ‘CAR’ positions in the past, most notably held by Enric Volante and Jack Gillum (who parlayed his work on uncovering local school districts’ fondness for promoting students despite failing grades into a similar database reporting gig at the USA Today and now a position with the Associated Press), but as the morning paper’s newsroom has been whittled away to next-to-nothing the last four years this beat had become part of every reporter’s responsibilities.

A novel idea: having reporters in the 21st century use computers to assist them in uncovering trends and news.

O’Dell’s reassignment caused a domino effect, which you can follow by reading the intranet posting the Star’s bigwigs put up today to explain all of the changes.

We're happy to say that we're bring back a computer-assisted reporting position, and even happier to say that Rob O'Dell will fill the position. Rob has taken it upon himself to learn about CAR, and his studies have led to some blockbuster investigations, most recently about how bailed-out banks that were supposed to help people stay in their homes instead were buying up tax leins (sic) that can force people out. Rob will work on his own investigations, but also will team with reporters throughout the newsroom on stories and projects involving databases.

Bringing back the CAR beat necessitated some other changes:

- Rhonda Bodfield will move to the city beat, where her killer sourcing and outstanding reporting and writing will translate into top-notch coverage of some of the hottest issues in Tucson right now: Rio Nuevo, the search for a new city manager, and some massive budget woes.

- Becky Pallack will move to the downtown office and take on the county beat. Becky was born a master of organization and multi-tasking, and she has become a master of alternative storytelling during her time on the UA beat. Now she'll take those skills and dig into politics, getting daily master classes from Rhonda and (downtown editor) Joe (Burchell).

- Carol Ann Alaimo will take her fine writing and investigative skills over to the UA, where she'll be both a watchdog of Tucson's largest government institution and a teller of campus stories ranging from fascinating to quirky to funny to sad.

Thanks to all for taking on these new challenges. We're excited about them, and believe they'll make the Star even better than it is today.

Alaimo had previously been the Star’s military reporter, though in the last two years she’d taken on additional beats as the paper’s lineup of reporters got smaller and smaller. Bodfield had also been covering state government for the Star, and it’s unclear if she’ll continue to do that while covering the city. And Pallack, an incredibly versatile reporter, adds the county to a laundry list of duties during her less than 10 years at the Star that includes spending a year as the high school sports editor.

[Disclosure: Brian J. Pedersen was employed at the Arizona Daily Star for over a decade before being fired in September 2010. He is currently a contributor to the Tucson Weekly.]

This week's edition of Political Roundtable from Arizona Illustrated: Everything from the GOP presidential debate to the impact of health-care cuts, all in one short half hour.

Tune in tonight for another edition of the Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable, featuring Tucson Weekly senior writer Jim Nintzel, Arizona Public Media reporter Andrea Kelly, Republican strategist Jonathan Paton and Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod. Tonight, we talk about Rick Perry's problems with Arizona Republicans, Richard Carmona's potential U.S. Senate run and the Independent Redistricting Commission. And you won't want to miss a heated exchange on the Fast and Furious gun scandal.

The show airs at 6:30 p.m. tonight on Channel 6.

Last year, we brought up the use of the term "illegal immigrant" on the Range and it's been a discussion, albeit short and sweet, during Weekly World Central staff meetings.

While typically when it comes to newspaper style we refer to the AP Stylebook, but like almost every other newspaper on the planet, sometimes we don't and for different reasons we choose our own style for a few words here and there. It's not science and you have to be flexible because, for example, maybe you've worked for 10 papers and every paper had a different preference for douchebag — one word, two words, hyphenated, publisher too conservative so no go.

The AP Stylebook, the reporter's journalism bible, when referring to undocumented workers or undocumented immigrants, says use illegal immigrant. Last year, according to the Society of Professional Journalists' blog we mentioned, the argument was brought up that reporters needed to end using illegal and for good reason:

For those news writers who insist on using the phrase “illegal immigrant” (or perhaps because it is a required, company policy); add the modifying adjective “suspected,” as “pro” journalists do when writing about arrestees or police suspects.

A fundamental legal principle in our American constitutional law is that everyone (including non-citizens) is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Consistent with that basic doctrine of law, journalists are urged to use the phrase “undocumented immigrant,” and avoid the denigrative phrases “illegal immigrant” or “illegal alien.”

This week, at a SPJ meeting, the organization decided to formally recommend to newsrooms to stop using the terms "illegal immigrant" or "illegal alien":

The Society of Professional Journalists, hearing an emotional plea from Rebecca Aguilar, a member of SPJ and of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, voted Tuesday to recommend that newsrooms discontinue using the terms "illegal alien" and "illegal immigrant." The resolution from the 7,800-member organization says only courts can decide when a person has committed an illegal act.

Aguilar argued that using those words insulted Latinos and all those who are or had once been in the United States illegally. She used the example of her mother, who became a "proud American" in 1980. Her mother felt insulted "every time she heard that word," Aguilar said of the phrase "illegal alien."

"She turned the tide," the new president-elect, Sonny Albarado, projects editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, said of Aguilar. "She delivered the statement with such passion. After that, there was just a great overwhelming outpouring of support." Aguilar, a freelance broadcaster in Dallas, is a board member of NAHJ and of the Fort Worth SPJ chapter, was an SPJ "diversity fellow," and is a new member of SPJ's Diversity Committee.

Here's another perspective on the debate published recently on AlterNet you can look at here.

At Weekly World Central what words we use to describe people who are in this country illegally or without papers remains split. Some writers are allowed to use illegal alien and some writers are allowed to use undocumented immigrant and personally chose to stay away from illegal or alien. This is Arizona after all, so rather than referring to the Stylebook, you have to remain flexible and once in a while have a friendly discussion during staff meetings and then ... get back to work.

On last night's Political Roundtable, we talked about the Tucson mayor's race, the controversy over call-to-the-audience at Tucson City Council meetings and civility in politics. Unfortunately, our conversation about TUSD's fight to keep its Mexican-American Studies program was truncated, but I'm sure it will come up again.

The folks over at Saturday Night Live have dug through old episodes and organized favorite clips by collection, dubbing it a "SNL Archive." Collections like "Classic Hosts" and "Commercial Parodies." Yeah. Goodbye doing anything productive today.