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!

Tucson art people, you need to show up to the Best of Tucson digital party. Last year we go TONS of comments from upset readers who wanted to know why their favorite educational art institutions didn't make it to the finals.

Well, I'll tell you why: the Best Art Classes category is being a little neglected in terms of votes. 

So, art fans, listen up. Head over to your Best of Tucson ballot. Tell us where to take art classes, eat Indian food and shop for children's clothes. Tell us about everything in Tucson you love. 

As I explained in my first Best of Tucson blog of the season, we're changing things up a bit this year and ignoring votes for nonlocal institutions. As "local" is now implied in every category, we removed the descriptor from many of the category titles‚ including Best (Local) Actor. 

But APPARENTLY the message didn't quite sink in because, among a handful of nominations for our incredible local performers, we've received a barrage of votes for Hollywood actors. 

To my knowledge, Will Smith and Seth Rogan weren't in the latest Gaslight Theatre production.

Go see some local shows, pay attention to the cast list and come back and vote for whomever blows you away. 

Blake Lively is not going to be the Best of Tucson Best Actor. Try again.

We're still early in the Best of Tucson voting process, but we're seeing some runaway successes already. There are a few categories where I can look at the results and say, "yeah, I bet I can guess who is going to end up in the finals." 

However, there are still more than a few categories that are all tied up. Now, I can't tell you who is neck and neck right now but these are the most competitive titles:

Best Art Classes
Best Charity Event
Best Photographer
Best Auto Repair
Best Game Store
Best Blog
Best Home Furnishings 
Best Local Clothing Designer
Best Day Spa
Best Hair Salon
Best Kid's Clothing
Best Diner
Best Veggie Burger
Best Smoothies
Best Sandwich (the actual sandwich)
Best Contemporary/Fusion Restaurant
Best Eastside Restaurant
Best Downtown Restaurant 
Best Chef
Best Menudo
Best Botanica
Best Musical Act
Best Happy Hour
Best Comedy Night

Hey Amigos,

I'm pretty bad at goodbyes so I'll just cut to the chase: I'm no longer able to write the Into the Mild feature for Tucson Weekly. I've enjoyed writing it immensely and hope that you enjoyed reading it, but my time is simply stretched too thin to continue. I'm currently working, writing two books, looking for permanent work in the United States, dealing with banking issues, and trying to maintain a social life. I'm juggling all of this with very limited internet access. Writing for Tucson Weekly is a luxury that I can't squeeze into my schedule anymore.

I'm now using the lion's share of my writing time writing two books. The first will be a collection of short stories from my time exploring the world alone and the new perspective it puts on life's struggles. The other will be about working for grassroots charity groups, with sections on my stint living at refugee camps, my time in the Real Life SuperHero community, and the experience of working for several small organizations in the global south. I hope to have both books published sometime in 2017. I'll also post stories and photos on my personal site, IntoTheMild.co, from time to time.

I owe many thanks to former TW editor Irene Messina for writing an article about a charity project I used to run (found here) and then allowing me to cut my teeth by writing the “Hero of the Week” column, despite my having zero training, experience, or skill in writing. I'm also extremely grateful to Chelo Grubb and the other current staff at Tucson Weekly for giving me another opportunity to share stories with TW, this time personal accounts of exorcisms and life at refugee camps. I hope that my stories added a unique flavor to TW and hope to someday, when life has slowed to a sprint, write for Tucson Weekly again.


May all your dreams come true,
Jason

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 at Tucson Weekly, we talk about weed news a lot (see here and here). Now, it's time for our MMJ-card-carrying readers to tell us—and the rest of the city—what they think about the local cannabis scene.

Editor Mari Herreras puts it like this:

Medical marijuana patients we talk to never hesitate to tell us about that special dispensary where they get the best deal or have the best edibles.

You love your pot providers and you love that certain strain that either takes care of the migraines or helps stimulate your appetite while battling a serious illness you refuse to get you down.

This is your chance to unite and tell fellow patients and other Tucsonans where the best MMJ products (and everything else weed related) are in the Old Pueblo.

Welcome to the Tucson Weedly Cannabis Bowl. You have until March 31. Results will be printed in our 2016 420 Cannabis issue on Thursday, April 14. Get smoke, er, cracking.

So, MMJ patients, go vote! You've got until the end of March. 

Commenting sections on the internet are notoriously unpleasant and we're sad to report that our website is no exception. 

We've recently seen an influx in the types of comments deemed unwelcome on our website and we need to address the issue. Let's start here: our Comments Policy is always posted on our website.

Here's a refresher: 

THINGS THAT BREAK THE RULES

• Potentially libelous comments.
  
• Obscene, racist or bigoted comments.
  
• Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language. Name-calling will not be tolerated.
  
• Plagiarized material.
  
• Private, personal information published without consent.
  
• Comments totally unrelated to the topic of the post.
  
• Commercial promotions or spam.
  
• Hyperlinks to material that is not directly related to the discussion.
  
• Comments that are duplicated on multiple stories or articles.
  
• Comments that are typed in all caps. That's shouting.
  
• Comments that harass the reporters and newspaper staff.

We delete comments that violate the policy. Repeated and particularly egregious violations get you booted from the TW comments for good. 

We strive to be judicious about which comments to delete. We don't want to censor you. We also don't want the comments section of our website to turn into a cesspool of hate speech, personal attacks and hijacked conversations.

When that happens, we start deleting posts and closing commenting.

You can notify us about comments you find objectionable by pushing the "report" button at the bottom left and telling us why you think the comment should be removed.  

Here's the deal: Make your points, say what you need to say, speak up when someone is mistaken or misinformed. Be critical. Discussion and debate are welcome. Personal attacks and racist comments are not.

"Best of Tucson? Didn't we just finish up with that?"

Yep.

Best of Tucson is one of our biggest issues every year, and that means it's on our minds about 10 months out of the year. We're just about ready to look over last year's ballot, cut out the categories nobody cares about, and add categories to help make this guide to the Old Pueblo more complete. 

So, what do you want? More Kids' Stuff in general? Something specific in Arts & Culture? Most deadly pothole? We're listening. 

Get a look at last year's list and let us know in the comments below what you think we're missing, then look out for our 2016 ballot which could be on its way as early as next month.

Happy New Year! We're at home nursing hangovers and writing resolutions we won't keep, so we don't have time to keep you entertained on the Range today.

But never fear! There's plenty for you to read. We've got year-in-review articles aplenty. Take your pick from: Chow, Cinema, Music, Dubious Achievements, Danehy's thoughts and even our own Local Heroes.

Not enough? Well, here's a list of our 15 most read stories in 2015. 

15. Critics Call McCain's Oak Flat Tactics a New Low
There was lots of discussion in 2015 on Oak Flat, a lush woodland located about 100 miles north of Tucson which is considered a sacred site by the the San Carlos Apaches.

Something about Oak Flat just brings out the ornery in a politician. And of course that something is money and influence. Stir in a few long-simmering grudges, and you have a rancid stew that bares little resemblance to principled democracy or good policy.

Which brings us to Arizona Sen. John McCain. 

14. Standardized Test Scores and Family Income
David Safier has told us before and he'll tell us again: Family income and standardized test scores have a strong correlation.

This bears repeating whenever the subject of high stakes testing comes up. There’s a very strong correlation between standardized test scores and family income. Test scores are higher in areas with high family income and lower in areas with low family income. It’s true in Tucson. It’s true in Phoenix. It’s true across the United States. It’s true in developed countries around the world (and probably even more true in undeveloped countries).

13. The Folks at Amy's Baking Company In Scottsdale Have Gone Insane [Update: They Were 'Hacked']

This is a fun one: Remember back in 2013 when Scottsdale bakery Amy's Baking Company went on Kitchen Nightmares and then the owners lost their damn minds?

We now present a masterclass in how a business owner should not respond to criticism.

You might be familiar with Amy's Baking Company, up in Scottsdale — and likely, not for the reason that a restaurant would prefer to be known for.

12. 100 Essential Dishes: Brunch at Its Best

Blessed be the brunch revolution and its surge in the Old Pueblo. One of the best spots in town for the hybrid meal, Prep & Pastry, waxes the meal poetic on their chalkboard wall, which says, "brunch without booze is just a sad, late breakfast." Cheers to that and to spots like the Cup Café, which offer an extensive and very customizable bloody mary bar, but the truth is you don't have to feel excluded at all if you're a daytime (or all of the time) teetotaler.

 (Seriously, food lovers, also check out our 2015 Best Of food reviews)

11. Our Ink-Stained Heart: Welcome to the 27th Best of Tucson®
Ah, of course. Best of Tucson® continues to be one of our best read issues—both online and in print. If you haven't yet, we really recommend you look through the list—feel encouraged to leave us comments about who you believe should have won, which categories you can't be bothered with and what categories we need to add next year.

This is a Best of Tucson® with heart, but it also broke some wonderful records that surprised us—we broke voting records. Thank you readers, we really appreciate the time and support. We broke ad revenue records this year, too, and we thank our advertisers. Per usual, we will close with some sentimental words for you: treat this as your city road map for what makes Tucson special and the places we all love and support.