Explorer 111622

Psychedelics

BY KAREN SCHAFFNER Tucson Local Media

Visit Saguaro National Park and, besides taking in the stunning beauty of the Sonoran Desert, par take of many of its programs.

Learn about tarantulas from Ranger Jordan Camp or the petroglyphs of the people who once walked this way from Rae shaun Ramon. It’s a true dia mond in the town.

Not everyone feels that way, however. The relationship the park has with the Tohono

O’Odham nation is complicat ed. The land the west side park encompasses was once theirs and was appropriated by the federal government. This is the same land where members of that nation and their ancestors once lived and hunted, once gathered the fruit of the sagua ro cactus, once cared for the land and its occupants — all the occupants, including the fourlegged, feathered and rooted varieties. Members of the Toho no O’Odham Nation still have a shaky relationship with the Na tional Park Service.

“For me, growing up I’ve al ways heard how the National Park Service and indigenous nations, there was a very com plicated history because the National Park Service claimed these spots,” Raeshaun Ramon said about Saguaro National Park.

He is an enrolled member of the Tohono O’Odham Nation.

“They kind of kicked us out of these areas. A lot of the national park places in the country are within indigenous lands and

Williams remembered for his humor, musicianship

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Tucson Local Media

Vanessa Strollo remembers her father, well-known Tucson musician Rich ard “Ricky” Williams, for his sense of humor and vivid storytelling talents.

“He was hilarious,” Strollo said.

“He was the best storyteller. He could make anyone laugh. He was a performer. He was most known as the lead singer of Back roads. He was very extroverted. He loved making people smile.”

He parlayed that into live performances with his band Backroads, which was quiet ed when Williams was killed in a Sept. 24 one-vehicle motorcycle crash in the 2000 block of North Kinney Road.

“Me and my mother came to visit me in the morning. They were visiting their grandbaby. My dad’s life revolved around my daughter, Bella,” Strollo said.

“They left and normally they go through what we call the ‘monument.’ I live out in Picture Rocks. I told them to text me when they got home. I do not like motorcycles. Over an hour went by and I didn’t really worry until my mom’s friend texted me and said, ‘Your mom stood me up.’ I called my mom, and it went straight to voicemail. I called my dad, and it went straight to voice

Haro-Gomez/Con

Spirits Are Bright at Desert Springs.

Residents Larry and Candy Kincaid

“We enjoy the freedom of living in a community without the burden of any home maintenance and no utility expenses. We have weekly housekeeping, cable TV, multiple daily activities, frequent live entertainment and outings, movies twice a day in an authentic private theater, heated pool, three meals served daily, and snacks 24/7. Our personal favorite is the self-serve ice cream machine and creating many new friendships with other residents. We have found a wonderful, carefree style of living at a very competitive month-to-month rent.”

Resident Dorothy Mullen

“I went looking all around for my new home after 20 years in my house, and then being all alone. I walked through the doors at Desert Springs and saw the bright, sunny dining room, and I immediately decided I’d found my new home. I love the friendly residents, the staff are great, I have a very comfortable apartment, and I enjoy the wonderful atmosphere. I no longer have to go buy food and cook it – the food here is great. They all take such good care of me – I won’t be going anywhere!”

Resident B. Carley

“I have been impressed with the staff, especially Jeanette and all the wonderful activities. I am very happy here and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone. I have found two things that I have been missing for quite some time: safety and community!”

The Explorer and Marana News is published every Wednesday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout the Northwest Tucson. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of the Explorer and Marana News, go to www.TucsonLocalMedia.com

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ARTS

Wednesday, Nov. 16, to Friday, Dec. 9 Pima Community College presents “Invisible Borders” at the Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery. The exhibit features 31 female photographers from Mexico and Southern Arizona and they present a unique collaboration from women on both sides of the border, who “temporarily make the divisions disap pear.” The gallery is open Monday to Friday, holi day hours may differ. Visit pima.edu for information. Louis Carlos Bernal Gal lery, West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road.

THEATER

Saturday, Nov. 19, to Friday, Dec. 2 Get in the holiday spirit with the Arizona Theatre Company as it celebrates the holidays early with “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley.” Lydia Wickham (formerly Bennet) returns to center stage for the sequel to last year’s holiday show. For information about ticket pricing and the 2022-2023 season, visit atc.org. The Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Avenue.

SPECIAL EVENTS

BY KATYA MEN DOZA Tucson Local Media

of performers throughout the series and the menu, visit tohonochul.org. To hono Chul, 7366 N. Paseo Del Norte.

Saturday, Nov. 19

El Tour de Tucson returns for its 39th year on Sat urday, Nov. 19. Whether you’re one of the 7,000 par ticipating cyclists or by stander cheering from the sidelines, this annual event brings together awareness, health, wellness and com munity. To check out this year’s merch, refamiliarize yourself with the route or to register as a volunteer or last-minute cyclist, visit el tourdetucson.org. El Tour de Tucson, 260 S. Church Avenue.

Saturday, Nov. 19

The Oro Valley Historical Society offers docent-guid ed walking tours of the Steam Pump Ranch Histor ical Park every third Satur day of the month from 9 to

WARNING!

PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

Oro Valley, AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. The problem with antidepressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side effects.

The only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness, tingling, pain, and balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves to degenerate – an insidious and often painful process.

cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.

The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “BandAid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.

Thankfully, Oro Valley is the birthplace of a brandnew facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.

1. Finding the underlying cause

2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)

3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition

Arrowhead Physical Medicine in Oro Valley, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. Th is ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results:

1. Increases blood flow

2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves

3. Improves brain-based pain

The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less than 95% nerve damage, there is hope!

Arrowhead Physical Medicine begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage – a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings.

Arrowhead Physical Medicine will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until October 31st, 2022. Call (520) 934 0130 to make an appointment

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Friday, Nov. 18, and Saturday, Nov. 19 Brewin’ at the Chul contin ues at Tohono Chul Botan ical Gardens and Galleries from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18. Visitors can enjoy the grounds after hours free of admission, and nosh on food from the Garden Bis tro. Sip on a craft beer or refreshing prickly pear mar garita while listening to mu sic from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. by singer-songwriter Brett Dooley on Friday, Nov. 18, or Taylor Kraus on Satur day, Nov. 19. For a full list

As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves

The treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling

It’s completely painless!

THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THIS TREATMENT IS COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND MOST INSURANCES!!

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:

Due to our very busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10 c allers. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (520) 934 0130 NOW!!

We are extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave a voice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Arrowhead Physical Medicine 10425 N. Oracle Rd., Suite 125 Oro Valley, AZ, 85737

Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free.

For the Tohono O’Odham Nation, it’s about the importance of the saguaro cactus to their culture and people, and the West District of Saguaro National Park has the most saguaros in the world, according to Ramon.

“The (saguaro) provides us food with the fruit and it provides us shelter, but also medicine,” Ramon said. “It’s in our songs, in our stories, and we basically say it’s in our blood. We come from the saguaro; we are the saguaro. We see them as our rela tives.”

For years, national parks staff considered themselves the storytellers of the land, but these staffers were all too often American men of European descent. Nothing wrong with that, but as a nation we are more than that.

As the community engagement and out reach coordinator, Cam Juarez handles all the special events at the park.

“My primary reason for being hired was essentially to create a pathway for under represented audiences to become more aware and potentially more involved with

trying to find the connections.”

To that end, Juarez has found numerous opportunities to expand the park’s out reach. Every year staffers make more than 40 visits to area activities such as the Tuc son Book Festival, where he emphasizes engagement with the community. It only counts as engagement if a staffer speaks with a member of the public for more than 5 minutes, he said. Juarez plans events for underrepresented communities. That in cludes a recent naturalization ceremony; Saguaro National Park was one of only five national parks to host the ceremony, ac cording to Juarez.

He has erected ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos at the west and east sites. Along with the Friends of Saguaro National Park, he set up and hired the members of the Next Generation Ranger Corps, which is how Ramon came to the park.

With the help of the Friends, the Next Generation Ranger Corps came to life in 2015. Students from UA and Pima Com munity College come to the park to work for a half or full year to learn about the jobs at the National Park Service. For people like Ramon, who strives to become a park

ranger, it allowed him to come to terms with his sense of injustice and distrust, and to see things in a new way.

“A lot of families (from my culture) like to come here to either harvest (saguaro fruit), hike or whatever, and over the years there is always conflict, whether it’s being watched by the park rangers or law enforcement, (or) the permit process: How much can you collect? Where can you collect?”

That permit process, which allows indig enous populations to harvest the fruit that comes from the saguaro, discourages many from the Tohono O’Odham nation from visiting the park. Community members say, ‘‘Oh, I don’t want to come here because I don’t want to be watched all the time. I don’t want to go through this specific per mit process in order just to get the fruit or gather any materials,” Ramon said.

Once he took the job with the next gen corps, though, he started to expand his vi sion of what the national parks, particular ly Saguaro National Park, could be.

“I learned those stories, too, and I was afraid but at the same time I love the land and the culture,” Ramon said. “Coming here, I just told myself, ‘Well, I have to test

the waters and see how it is.’ The first few weeks, the first month, I realized that there needs to be a bridge between my com munity and the Park Service. If I am that bridge, I open the doors for my community and hopefully they can step into a position like mine and then into the green and gray uniform.”

A UA senior majoring in archeology, Ra mon he works in community engagement and outreach. He gives programs on sagua ro fruit harvest, and on Signal Hill and the

Raeshaun Ramon is part of a new out reach program at Saguaro National Park in Tucson. (Noelle Haro-Gomez/Contributor)

A UA senior majoring in archeology, Ra mon he works in community engagement and outreach. He gives programs on sagua ro fruit harvest, and on Signal Hill and the petroglyphs.

“I tend to use what I learned (in school) and I realized that archeology and anthro pology and the Park Service, they go hand in hand, so I think it’s the perfect place for me to be,” he added.

Another next gen ranger is Lizbeth Perez, a student in the bio/diversity program at UA she reignited her love of the outdoors. She graduated last May with a degree in natural resources, and never expected to stay here.

“Just seeing that the desert could be so full of life over here, really reinvigorated that (interest),” Perez said. “I love the des ert and I’ve been studying it for years at the university. Afterwards, with Cam’s help and inspiration, I’m here now and it’s really in credible. Everything I’ve learned the past five years at the college has been really, re ally helpful here.”

As a young Latina, Perez, whose specialty is bugs, feels at home right where she is at the park.

“I’m very thankful to be on the west side where we do see more people of color here,” she said. “Otherwise, it has been pretty iso lating. It’s kind of eye opening to be in cer tain spaces, which is still the national parks, but maybe not Tucson.”

Feeling like an outsider sometimes has helped Perez know how to help others.

“It lets me know, for sure keep this in mind for anyone else coming in,” she said. “I am a little bit thankful for that, that I can take my experiences of panic and feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing and keep it in mind for the future for anyone else who comes through, to ensure that they don’t have those experiences.”

Perez sees the next gen corps as an op portunity to open the doors to others who may have not considered that the park is for them as well.

“I really do appreciate this program,” she added. “A lot of time it’s just (inviting) dif ferent identities and different ages of people to come in here and find out what National Park Service is about,” she said. “I think it’s really valuable in that way; we don’t have old heads who are keeping everything as it is. It’s really injecting youth and new ideas and diversity. It’s building up a new gener ation.”

Finally, Camp came into the next gen program also from the bio/diversity pro gram at UA. He calls himself the “white male elephant in the room.” He is a now veteran of the next gen program, and then the Pathways Program, which is a stepping stone to becoming a federal employee. He proudly wears his ranger uniform, though his flat hat has seen better days.

Though Camp gives tarantula programs and is working on a game to be played at dusk in the park, he is also a man of his generation — digitally savvy. He prefers to be behind the camera and mic, and helps with the park’s Instagram Freddie Friday series, among other digital tasks. It’s a new way to work as a ranger.

“You think about a park ranger, you think about a scientist,” Camp said. “The idea is to be able to take my skill set of digital knowledge and digital interpretation and promote other faces, other people that don’t look like me. That’s the goal.”

Juarez added, “These guys are just com ing in with all this ingenuity in all these dif ferent ways. They’re changing the park ser vice. We’re breaking the mold with having that perspective that young people bring.”

THE BEST CLASS YOU NEVER TOOK

Rediscover the joy of learning with top UA professors

UA student wins big at business game tourney

BY HOPE PETERS Tucson Local Media

In a Sims-style video game, students from UA, and Pima and Cochise community colleges competed to make the most rev enue for their virtual businesses.

During the tourney, students played en trepreneur and put their business skills to the test. UA freshman Oliver Stoner-Ger man walked away with the $2,500. He grew his in-game revenue to $92.8 million. The event included the UA Venture Expo show casing student businesses, products, and prototypes.

Travis Gramm won the $1,000 second prize by building businesses worth $76 million and Zane Aljazzazi won the $500 third place. Twelve other students won part of the total $5,000 in cash giveaways and prizes.

University of Arizona FORGE partnered with Venture Valley, a fast-paced multi player business simulation game from the nonprofit Singleton Foundation for Finan cial Literacy and Entrepreneurship, for the recent tourney at Roy Place.

“We had almost a hundred competitors,” said Erika Mitnik, manager for University of Arizona Marketing & Communications, FORGE. “The winner racked up about $92 million, (revenue for his simulated busi ness).”

Added Paul Valdez, FORGE Student Venture Pathways program manager in a statement, “As part of our quest to bring entrepreneurship opportunities to our stu dents, we partnered with the Venture Val ley mobile and PC game as it encompasses what we teach on a daily basis.

“All of our students had a blast playing the game and walked away from the com petition with a real sense of all of the fac tors and intricacies involved in being an entrepreneur”

Mitnik said Stoner-German, who is studying pre-business and is looking to go into the Eller program, told her the video

game gave him the chance to test his eco nomics studies.

“I signed up for it (after hearing about the tournament at a club fair),” Stoner-German said. “Afterward, I got more involved in the FORGE organization and I’m looking fur ther to get more involved in that.”

Nick Night, Venture Valley game maker, started the simulated business video game about four years ago through the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and En trepreneurship.

“We wanted to take finance education and make it fun and engaging (for busi ness/entrepreneurship education),” Night

said. “How do you make it not just about education? Something that people want to play and have fun, but secretly learn some thing.”

Night said the video game simulates how to build or model your business in a fastpaced multiplayer game. Venture Valley is a free (no in-app purchases or ads) PC and mobile (iOS and Android) game.

The game has card play events, both good and bad, and real-life situations that are “a bit cartoonish,” Night added. He equated it to having a coffee shop business and then a new coffee shop moves in across the street with less expensive drinks.

“And how do you handle that,” he said. “Maybe make your coffee gourmet or you have espresso for sale, you sell more espres so.”

Night said as players build their business es, they have to figure in costs for running it—such as research and development and marketing. They have to be prepared for emergencies, too, like plumbing problems or storms that flood the building.

FORGE (Finding Opportunities and Resources to Grow Entrepreneurs) is an entrepreneurial community that com bines startup acceleration alongside expe riential student and community education. FORGE programs provide entrepreneurial education, mentoring, coaching, exposure

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From left, Travis Gramm, second-place winner; Nick Night, Venture Valley game maker; Oliver Stoner-German, first-place winner; and Zane Aljazzazi. (UA FORGE/Courtesy)

UA student with FORGE Student Venture Pathways, Leslie Teran, helps with registra tion and information for the event.

(Steve Peters/Contributor)

FORGE from Page 6

to the venturing process, and readiness as sessment tools. FORGE maintains an en trepreneurial resource hub in Downtown Tucson (Roy Place), and several locations on the UA campus and throughout the state.

Asked about his plans for his winnings, the 19-year-old Stoner-German will handle his prize money wisely.

“I will probably invest it into the market and grow more money and use that to fund my college education,” he said. “Put it in my portfolio, I have a stock market portfolio.”

16, 2022

Stoner-German said he was determined to win the tournament, which ran from 2 to 9 p.m. Students/participants were welcome to start their games any time during those hours.

“We got to do a bunch of tries at the game and we had 15 minutes for every single try…to create the business and create as much revenue as we could for said busi ness,” he said. “I was there for about seven hours playing…I was there for the whole entire tournament…I was there to win it.

“We got to choose from three business

options. We had options for floral, pizza and hovercraft. I focused basically fully on the hovercraft one because it made the most money and seemed really cool.”

FORGE forge.arizona.edu forge.arizona.edu/royplace

Venture Valley venturevalleygame.com

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Saving Tucson taxpayers $15M with EV

BY DIANE E. BROWN AND TONY DUTZIK

Arizona cities and towns spend mil lions of dollars each year buying, fueling and maintaining vehicles. From pickup trucks to emergency and road maintenance vehicles to ordinary sedans, Arizona’s municipalities rely on a wide variety of vehicles to serve the public. Despite skyrocketing prices and air pollu tion, however, municipalities mostly use gasoline or diesel to fuel their vehicle fleets. Fortunately, a better option is emerging for Arizona municipalities: electric vehi cles (EVs). EVs are rapidly coming down in price and are less expensive to fuel and maintain than gas and diesel vehicles. And recently adopted federal legislation — in cluding the bipartisan Infrastructure In vestment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the In flation Reduction Act (IRA) — provides

valuable new incentives for EVs and infra structure, making fleet electrification even more attractive.

Taking the relevant factors into account, a new report by the Arizona PIRG Edu cation Fund and Frontier Group, Electric Fleets for Arizona: Saving taxpayers mon ey through municipal fleet electrification, found a combined total of nearly $80 mil lion could be saved in lifetime ownership expenses in 10 of Arizona’s largest munici palities by replacing retiring light-duty ve hicles with EVs. Each of the 10 municipali ties surveyed would save millions of dollars over the lifetime of light-duty vehicles by “going electric.” Tucson, alone, would save nearly $15 million for taxpayers while also improving air quality.

The good news is that Tucson has already developed a citywide plan toward increas ing the use of EVs in their fleets. Here is the roadmap we encourage Tucson and other

municipalities to follow to fully reap the fi nancial and air quality benefits:

• Make bold commitments. Setting a goal of phasing out gasoline and diesel vehicles as electric versions of those vehicles be come available can focus all departments of municipal government on the task of transitioning to EVs and create economies of scale in vehicle purchasing and charging.

• Develop municipal electrification plans. A municipal plan can help identify the best near-term targets for electrification and ensure that EVs and charging infrastruc ture are deployed and used effectively.

• Collaborate with other municipalities in Arizona and beyond, as well as state gov ernment, to share information and ideas, negotiate discounts for EVs and equip ment, pursue opportunities for financial incentives, and advocate for additional incentives and support for fleet electrifica tion.

• Take full advantage of utility incentives. Arizona’s electric utilities often offer dis counts on the installation of EV charging

infrastructure and/or technical assistance to help fleet owners make the transition to EVs.

• Take full advantage of incentives in recent federal legislation. Municipalities should work together to identify and pur sue federal incentives that further reduce the cost of new vehicles and charging infra structure, such as the commercial vehicle credit in the IRA and incentives and fund ing for charging infrastructure in the IIJA and IRA.

With gasoline and diesel prices on the rise, new models of EVs arriving seeming ly every day, and new federal incentives on the way, the transition to EVs now can save taxpayers millions of dollars while continuing to serve the daily needs of their residents.

Diane E. Brown is the executive director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund, an organization that conducts research and ed ucation on issues in the public interest. Tony Dutzik is the senior policy analyst with the Frontier Group.

Editor:

If Oro Valley resident Rick Cunnington consulted a non-MAGA news source even occasionally, he'd have learned that the very high price of eggs nationally is caused by an outbreak of avian flu that farmers can't control because it first infected wild birds that spread the disease as they fly over farms. More than 47 million chickens and turkeys have died due to infections and culling. This has resulted in export bans in addition to lowered egg and turkey produc tion, leading to record prices and unprece dented shortages.

Sen. Mark Kelly and President Biden have nothing to do with the inflation that Mr. Cunnington blames them for. He also might go outside his bubble to learn that fossil fuel producers (e.g., Exxon and Chevron) have been accused of price goug ing while reporting record profits. They're taking advantage of Putin's attacks on Ukraine. That war is causing worldwide

inflation as Putin doesn't allow Ukraine, one of the world's largest exporters, to ship ores, sunflower seed or safflower oil, corn, wheat and semi-finished products made from iron or non-alloy steel to countries throughout Europe. Inflation is a world wide problem in large part due to Putin. At least the Democrats are dealing with world problems, including providing in telligence and weaponry to Ukraine. Un like MAGA politicians, Democrats are not passing tax breaks that benefit the ultrarich and corporations and never trickle down to people like Mr. Cunnington or me. If we as individuals want to help bring down infla tion, buy less. Please don't attempt to blame Mark Kelly for issues that are far beyond his control.

Lois Berkowitz Oro Valley

Response to letter

Editor:

I am rather shocked that the publish er and editors at the Explorer decided to expose their readers to the sort of vitriol ic tripe that Rick Cunnington spewed in his letter to the editor. Not only does he demonstrate a lack of understanding re garding the workings of economics and government, he also demonstrates a lack of understanding of words.

Cunnington begins with a rant on the price of eggs, describing this as “beyond outrageous,” a rather hyperbolic assess ment foreshadowing hyperbole to come. He seems to think President Biden is to blame for this. Apparently, Mr. Cunning ton doesn’t know about the devastating bird flu that has resulted in 10s of millions of chickens being killed in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

One wonders if he blamed Trump for the

2020 recession and 15% unemployment.

Next, we are told that Arizona families are being devastated by unprecedented hy perinflation. While hyperinflation is not unprecedented, it certainly would be if it only affected Arizona families.

Hyperinflation is defined as the monthly inflation rate exceeding 50%, and typically accelerating far beyond that. So, Arizonans are safe for now. But Venezuelans can tell us about hyperinflation. So can Zimba bweans, Yugoslavs when their country fell apart, and any student of the German Wei mar Republic. Any of these people would have been ecstatic to pay $4.50 for eggs.

But according to Cunnington, Arizona’s hyperinflation “is 100% the fault of Biden and the Democrats.” Wait, I’m a Democrat, an Arizona Democrat. But I’m going to run a side hustle selling wheelbarrows at a hy perinflated price. I’ll rake in more money than the oil companies currently are. Good

thing Biden declared war on fossil fuels. Take that, Coal Brigade, and that, Oil Ar mada. But wait. There’s more! $2 trillion more, to be exact. Could Cunnington be referring to the CARES Act, the one signed into law by Donald Trump to stave off economic collapse? Cunnington says that money was “totally unnecessary.” Maybe he means unnecessary for him. Maybe he was sufficiently well-padded to weather the economic recession that began devastating Arizona families in early 2020.

It seems that Mark Kelly was trying to save Arizona families when he voted for the CARES Act. But Cunnington says that Kel ly doesn’t care about Arizona families. How can he know that? On what does he base that claim? Oh, it must have something to do with the “Democrat elites”. I wonder if I’m an elite.

Mr. Cunnington’s tirade is a classic ex ample of the fact that all opinions are not equal. Either Mr. Cunnington is grossly uninformed on these matters, or he likes to make stuff up. One wonders where he might have picked up that little trick. It also represents the standard tactic of Republi can politicians during elections; scare the daylights out of everyone and blame it all on the Democrats. Oh my, the sky is falling, the sky is falling! Yeah, yeah, but what does that have to do with the price of eggs in Oro Valley?

Kirk Alexander Pima County

mail.”

Strollo, her husband, Tyler, and friends traced the couple’s route and came upon a crash on Gates Pass.

“They let us know that my mom was on her way to the hospital, and they wouldn’t say anything about my dad,” she said. “Un fortunately, he died at the scene.”

Williams’ wife, Jamie, sustained serious injuries.

“Luckily, she made it, but she does have lifelong things that will be a struggle,” Strollo said.

“She had a traumatic brain injury, broke both arms, ribs, and now she’s blind in her right eye. She definitely has it worse than the rest of us. She wasn’t awake for a couple weeks. We went through the grieving pro cess, but for her, it’s still so new.”

See WILLIAMS Page 11

Ricky Williams was the lead singer of Backroads, a popular Arizona bnad. He will be remembered during a public ser vice from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Cholla Boulevard, Oro Valley. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

include the writer’s full name, address (including city) and telephone number. Tucson Local Media will print the writer’s name and city of residence only. Letters without the requisite identifying information will not be published. Letters are published in the order received, and they are subject to editing. Tucson Local Media will not publish consumer complaints, form letters, clippings from other publications or poetry. Letters’ authors, not the Tucson Local Media, are responsible for the “facts” presented in letters.

The family will host a public service for Williams from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Cholla Boulevard, Oro Valley. Strollo said she’s touched by the outpouring of support for her family.

A GoFundMe at https://bit.ly/RickyWil liamsFuneral has raised $8,700 of $15,000, as of Nov. 9.

“It’s pretty bewildering to see how many people loved him,” she said. “Immediately afterward is an invitation-only private ser vice. We know how many people loved him, but we want some time to grieve, just us.”

Strollo called her father her biggest inspi ration. He taught her about music and life.

“He’s the one who made me discover what I wanted to do,” she said. “I perform a little bit of everything. I really do like to take af ter my dad with the country music. I’m also into the more popular stuff like what you hear on the radio.

“He inspired me in more ways than a ca reer path, too. He was one of my role mod els. He’s just the kind of person you wanted to be. He was completely selfless and kind and giving. He’d give you the shirt off his back if that’s what you needed. He never asked for anything in return. He wanted to make other people happy. The sim ple things in life made my dad happy, like camping and fishing and spending time with his family.”

He was enamored with Strollo’s 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Bella. Strollo said he would do anything for her.

“I was always considered the favorite until that little girl came around,” she said with a laugh. “He would do such ridiculous things for her and find time at least every other day to make the long trip out here to hang out with her. He would bring her French fries and ice cream.”

Joe Bonamassa keeps it fresh on new tour

BY ALAN SCULLEY Tucson Local Media Contributor

For the first 20 years of Joe Bonamassa’s career, one constant was always tour ing. Even as he maintained a schedule that saw him release 14 solo albums, even more live CDs or DVDs, as well as multiple releases with the bands Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party and collaborations with Beth Hart, among others, Bonamassa has gen erally played a pair of extensive U.S. tours and taken a trip through Europe every year.

ed to take that I would never have taken myself,” he said. “So, there’s that. I mean, it is what it is. There was nothing anybody could have done about it. I was just fortu nate to be in a position where I didn’t have to sell my car.”

That noted, Bonamassa is happy to be getting in front of concert audiences again. He did a few shows in summer 2021 in the states, followed by a fall tour. Now he’s back on the road in the states for another run of dates.

“Some people can get their point across on Instagram,” he observes. “I need a crowd, you know what I mean, not likes and shares.”

Bonamassa, who shines as a performer, should come across just fine. He has plen ty of songs to work with, including mate rial from his 2020 album, “Royal Tea” (the pandemic prevented him from touring be hind that album) and his new effort, “Time Clocks,” which was released last October. Despite the wealth of new songs, Bonamas

sa said his show will cover his back catalog as well.

“We have a lot of new stuff. The whole show is new,” Bonamassa said. “So yeah, I brought back a few old songs, a couple of songs from (older) records we never played (live). I did a lot of stuff. We have a lot of al ternates, too, that we haven’t gotten to. The cool thing is it keeps it fresh for us. We can change the sets every night, and still hope fully achieve the same result.”

Writing and recording “Time Clocks” was one way Bonamassa passed time during the pandemic. And in some ways this project was similar to “Royal Tea,” and in other ways it was very different.

For “Royal Tea,” Bonamassa went to Lon don to live and write the album. Then he set up shop in the legendary Abbey Road studio, where the Beatles made their al bums and Pink Floyd did “Dark Side of the Moon,” to record the album.

“Well, Abbey Road is a great studio. The thing about Abbey Road is it’s just what it

is,” Bonamassa said. “It’s not just, the gear is great, but Ocean Way in Nashville has got a nice Neve (mixing console), too. And the thing is, all that gear and that location won’t write the songs for you. But it did change my headspace as far as what I wanted to do and how I wanted to approach music, which was the right thing to do.

“Yeah, it was a special time,” he said. “We had such a blast before we didn’t.”

As that last comment indicates, the ses sions for “Royal Tea” were completed in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit, dampening moods for everyone and throwing a monkey wrench into every thing Bonamassa had planned for the re lease of the album

For “Time Clocks,” Bonamassa settled into life in New York City, hoping just as being in London brought a British rock ac cent to “Royal Tea,” the atmosphere of the “Big Apple” would seep into “Time Clocks.”

That goal may have been compromised a bit by the pandemic, which forced Bonamassa to adjust recording plans to meet protocols that were in place at the time.

Rather than being able to bring into the studio any number of musicians and sing ers, Bonamassa had to limit his resources in the studio, taking what he called a bare bones approach to the project.

“It was (drummer) Anton (Fig), (bassist) Steve Mackey and myself and a couple of engineers, and my assistant, who was act ing as my guitar tech, and a whole bunch of masks and just whatever,” he said. “Yeah, we only did a three-piece. It’s a small stu dio. Just logistically, 2019 things were easy, 2020, things were hard.”

Another person who wasn’t in the studio was Bonamassa’s long-time producer, Kev in Shirley, who was stuck in Australia at the time. Once again, they found a way to ad just, using Zoom calls so Shirley could be in touch as takes were recorded.

“Obviously, it was something that was very odd at first,” Bonamassa said. “But then we got our heads around it. It wasn’t a thing that, it was odd at first, but it was workable. But everything was odd. So what can I do?”

What Bonamassa did was make a rock album with a decidedly big and epic feel — somewhat surprising considering the rather minimal approach that needed to be taken to recording the basic tracks. “Time Clocks” features swaggering, blues-laced rock on songs like “Notches,” “Hanging on a Loser” and “The Heart That Nev er Waits” a chunky rocker in “Questions And Answers” and several multi-faceted songs, such as “Mind’s Eye,” which opens on a silky note and builds into an expan sive rocker and the Zeppelin-ish “Curtain Call,” while Bonamassa also builds plenty

of dynamics into the title track, whose un derstated verses have a slight country tinge that explodes into an anthemic chorus.

“I mean, it wasn’t conscious when I wrote

it. It just kind of scaled that way,” Bonamas sa said of the album’s feel.

Writing and recording in New York City marked a homecoming of sorts for

Bonamassa, who managed to scrape by as he started his career doing recording ses sions around the city. By that time, he had already made waves on the blues scene, getting tutored at age 11 by Danny Gatton and the following year opening some 20 shows for B.B. King, who was generous in his praise of the young guitarist.

He made his debut as a solo artist in 2000 with the album “A New Day Yesterday.” He’s released 13 studio albums since then, near ly all of which have topped the “Billboard” magazine blues album chart. Along the way, his formidable skills as a guitarist have grown more refined and his songwriting has improved considerably. The size ven ues he plays have also grown to the point where he commonly plays large theaters and arenas.

Producer Shirley, in press materials, has said he views “Time Clocks” as an album that could elevate Bonamassa from a blues artist to a superstar. Bonamassa isn’t con cerning himself with such talk. His focus is on his music.

“I really don’t know what my future holds, personally and professionally, it’s a very difficult landscape at this point to nav igate. And only I can answer that, and only I can see the true (path),” he said. “Every body can speculate, but I actually have to go out and do the work. It’s like you’ve got to make sure your heart’s in it still.”

Joe Bonamassa

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19

WHERE: Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Avenue, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $59

INFO: ticketmaster.com

Joe Bonamassa performs at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Saturday, Nov. 19 (Joe Bonamassa/Submitted)

Shemekia Copeland still believes

BY XAVIER OMAR OTERO Tucson Weekly Contributing Writer

Considered to be one of the great blues voices of our time, in 2011, at the Chicago Blues Festival, Sheme kia Copeland was crowned “Queen of the Blues,” a distinction held by the late blues great Koko Taylor.

Copeland came of age in Harlem, New York. The music that pulsed all around her grew to be the lifeblood that courses through her veins.

“It’s easy to connect to it when your mom’s from Carolina and your daddy’s from Texas,” Copeland reflected.

The daughter of Texas blues guitarist/ singer Johnny Copeland, she made her first public appearance at the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem before she turned 10 years old.

Through the eyes of a child, Copeland

was unaware of the fabled history — where iconic black artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith had once graced the stage — or significance of a club that helped to define the emergence of African American culture during the late 1920s and ’30s.

“We lived right down the street. It was just another place my dad took me to filled with a bunch of old people,” Copeland said, innocently. “Later in life it really hit me that this place was special.”

Despite her father’s influence and moth er’s passion for music, Copeland “Married to the Blues” came from another source.

“It was a calling,” she stated, without hes itation.

But a traditional marriage, it hasn’t al ways been.

Over the course of 11 albums, Copeland has expanded the definition.

“We’ve got banjos and fiddles,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s instrumentation that is not normally used in blues music.”

“Call me old fashioned, but I want to go back to the days where you’d go to a record store and nothing was separated by genre.”

On the title track of her latest album, “Done Come Too Far,” Copeland stares down America’s long history of racial in justice.

“It is just the truth,” she affirmed. “I’m talking about what’s happening in this country today.”

Engaging in social issues is nothing new for Copeland. “Done Come Too Far” is not a departure, but a continuation of her work.

On the title track — referencing the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — she sang, “Thought we were si lenced at the Lorraine / But that voice didn’t die in vain / Its echo rings like no other / For every sister and brother / Though many are gone / Their spirits still scream / You can kill a man but not a dream.”

For Copeland the march for justice and equality continues.

“Absolutely,” she said, pensively. “We are still fighting to be free.”

Copeland is talking to Tucson Weekly on Election Day. Taken aback, Copeland saw incongruity everywhere.

Like on “Apple Pie and a .45.” — from her 2020 album “Uncivil War” — where she not only questioned America’s love affair with guns, but a value system gone awry.

“Things are really bad out there. I see so many things out on the road. Like signs that say, ‘I am Christian, and I voted,’” Co peland pondered. “I don’t even know what that means.

“Sometimes I get discouraged and angry.” Yet, despite everything — searching for a path toward détente in this “Uncivil War” — Copeland said she believes there is still good in the world. As exemplified in her song, “Ain’t Got Time for Hate.”

“We should all love one another.”

For Copeland it all comes down to the will of the people.

“There is so much divisiveness and hate in the background, ruining our lives. But one day when everybody gets together and says, as American people, that we are sick and tired of these politicians ruining our lives, we are all going to stick together and make the changes we want to make in our country,” Copeland concluded.

Possessing a voice that can at once scream out at injustice then function as a healing salve, on “Clotilda’s on Fire” — from 2020’s “Uncivil War” — Copeland acknowledges a chapter of American history often unsung, with weight and tenderness.

In 1859, 50 years after the slave trade was banned, the last known U.S. slave ship, the Clotilda was burned and sunk by its cap tain to destroy the evidence. Over a decade and a half later its wreckage was discovered in the Alabama Delta, in 2019.

“When I learned of the history,” Cope land said, pensively. “I felt compelled to share it.”

On “Clotilda’s on Fire” — bringing peace to the specters of a multitude held under foot — Copeland sang, “Her flame no lon ger lights up at night / Now dreams survive and hope burns bright / People still come from miles around / To praise the folks of Africatown / Who rose from the ashes of sad history / To stand unchained, proud and free.”

HoliDaze 2022

Holidaze … on the stage and with family

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Tucson Local Media

Tucson arts patrons can celebrate the holidays with traditional events like “The Nutcracker” or celebratory twists on traditional happenings. Want something low-key? Visit Oro Valley or Marana for their tree-lighting ceremonies.

CELEBRATE Centennial Hall

1020 E. University Boulevard

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, and

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23

A Magical Cirque Christmas Magical hostess Lucy Darling leads guests through dazzling performances and breathtaking cirque artists, accompanied by holiday music. Get into the spirit with this family-friendly show.

7:30 P.M. TUESDAY, DEC. 6

Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller has become a holiday staple as the show is one of the top performances of the season. Enjoy Mann heim Steamroller Christmas classics in a multimedia setting.

8 P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 9

Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick Jr. celebrates the holiday with his take on Christmas classics, as well as his originals and fan favorites like “(It Must’ve Been Ol’) Santa Claus” and “When My Heart Finds Christmas.”

4 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 10

TDA: Spirit of Christmas

Tucson Dance Academy’s “The Spirit of Christmas” embraces “New York City Broadway Holiday magic” (including San ta, Frosty, Rudolph and the Grinch) and the spiritual dimension behind Christmas.

The Century Room

311 E. Congress Street hotelcongress.com/family/ century-room

7 P.M. AND 9 P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 23

“Nossa Bossa Nova: Jazz Christmas Italiano”

Celebrate the holiday season with Nossa Bossa Nova as it performs songs from its 2020 album, “Jazz Christmas Italiano.”

Featuring Brice Winston, Richard Katz and Alejandro Canelos with Theresa and Mike Levy, the evening will blend tradi tional holiday standards, sung in Italian with acoustic jazz quartet.

7 P.M. AND 9 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 24

Britney Chauntae:

“A New Orleans Christmas”

New Orleans vocalist Britney Chauntae travels to Tucson celebrate Christmas with jazz music. In 2009, she competed, won, and toured with (BET) 106 & Park “Wild Out Wednesday Competition.” After that win, Chauntae wrote and performed music

while living in California. She then signed on to write music in Australia with the likes of world-renowned aboriginal actor David Gulpilil.

Chauntae first visited New Orleans in early 2012, when she volunteered with the Boys & Girls Club and also sung on Bour bon Street at night. She made it her perma nent home in 2014 — the same year she au ditioned for season 14 of “American Idol.” She made it to Hollywood Week.

Fox Tucson Theatre

17 W. Congress foxtucson.com

7 P.M. SUNDAY, NOV. 27

Jake Shimabukuro

Jolly ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro will celebrate the holidays with his “Christ mas in Hawai’i” show.

7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, DEC. 1

A Carpenters Christmas featuring Lisa Rock

Singer/playwright Lisa Rock and her six-

piece backing band are keeping the Car penters’ holiday traditions alive with their stage show.

Based on the music of the Carpenters’ two holiday albums and Christmas variety shows, “A Carpenters Christmas” features “Merry Christmas Darling” and the jazzy “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.”

7:30 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 3

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Holiday 2022

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy turns holiday songs into their own with jazzy versions of “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland.”

Expect “Rudolph the Red Nosed Rein deer” with an Andrews Sisters-meets-theblues spin, and a take on Heat Miser’s song from the classic “A Year Without a Santa Claus.”

The band rips through Chuck Berry’s “Run, Run Rudolph” and Lou Rawls’ “Mer ry Christmas Baby” and slows things down for Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.” There’s a New Orleans-flavored “Frosty the Snow

Mariachi Sol De Mexico with Jose Hernandez’s Merry-Achi Christmas is a tradition. (Submitted)

man” and a calypso “A Party for Santa.”

2 P.M. AND 6 P.M. SUNDAY, DEC. 4

“Elf”

The heartwarming “Elf” makes its way to the Fox Tucson Theater.

For the few who have missed “Elf,” the 2003 film stars Will Ferrell as the title char acter — a human raised by Santa’s elves — who learns about his origins and heads to NYC to meet his biological father. The Fox’s Mighty Wurlitzer plays a medley of holiday tunes 30 minutes before the movie starts.

7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 9

“In the Christmas Mood: A Holiday Music Spectacular”

Produced by Khris Dodge Entertain ment, “In the Christmas Mood” showcas es holiday tunes such as “Sleigh Ride,” “Happy Holidays,” “Jingle Bells” and “The Christmas Song.”

7:30

P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 10

The Mavericks’ “Very Merry Christmas Tour” with special guest

JD McPherson

Grammy winners the Mavericks will play selections from their 2018 holiday al bum “Hey! Merry Christmas!” along with hits from their 30-year career. JD McPher son guests.

8

P.M. THURSDAY, DEC. 15

Doo

Wop Project: “A Doo Wop Christmas”

Hear holiday hits with a doo-wop twist. The show features Christmas tracks as well as “doo-wopified” versions of hits by Mi chael Jackson, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5 and Sam Smith.

7:30

P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 16

Merry-Achi Christmas

Mariachi Sol De Mexico with Jose Her nandez’s Merry-Achi Christmas has be come an annual tradition.

While his family tree is rooted in five generations of Mariachi musicians who hail from La Sierra del Tigre region of Jalis co, Hernandez grew mariachi music in new lands, in new musical genres and in the hearts of new audiences.

2 P.M. AND 6 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 17

“The Polar Express”

The computer-animated 2004 film “The Polar Express” stars Tom Hanks, with Dar yl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett and Eddie Deezen.

The Fox’s Mighty Wurlitzer will play a medley of holiday tunes 30 minutes before the film begins.

7 P.M. SUNDAY, DEC. 18

“All is Calm:

The Christmas Truce of 1914”

A German soldier sings “Stille Nacht.” Thus begins an extraordinary night of ca maraderie, music and peace. A true story, told in the words and songs of the men who lived it.

Reveille Men’s Chorus promotes acceptance of LGBTQI individuals through music. (Submitted)

2 P.M. AND 6 P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 23

“It’s a Wonderful Life”

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a 1946 Amer ican Christmas fantasy drama film pro duced and directed by Frank Capra.

Based on the short story and booklet “The Greatest Gift,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams to help others in his community. His sui cidal thoughts on Christmas Eve bring about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). The Fox’s Mighty Wurlitzer will play a medley of holiday tunes 30 minutes before the movie starts.

Leo Rich Theater

260 S. Church Avenue, Tucson leorichtheater.com

VARIOUS TIMES FRIDAY, DEC. 2, TO SUNDAY, DEC. 4

Reveille Men’s Chorus’ “The Gift”

With a mission of promoting acceptance of LGBTQI individuals through music, Reveille Men’s Chorus will present its 28th season holiday show.

FAMILY

Linda Ronstadt Music Hall

260 S. Church Avenue tucsonmusichall.org

2 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 10, AND SUNDAY, DEC. 11

Tucson Regional Ballet’s “A Southwest Nutcracker” tucsonregionalballet.org

Tucson Regional Ballet’s “A Southwest Nutcracker” transports Tchaikovsky’s tra ditional Nutcracker to 1880s Tucson, giv ing the characters and events a Sonoran Desert twist.

Since 2003, Tucson Regional Ballet has collaborated with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for live accompaniment.

holidays with a multicultural Tucson flavor.

VARIOUS TIMES THURSDAY, DEC. 22, TO SATURDAY, DEC. 24

“The Nutcracker”

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra teams with Ballet Tucson for “the Nutcracker.”

Tucson Convention Center 260 S. Church Avenue tucsonconventioncenter.com

VARIOUS TIMES SUNDAY, NOV. 20, TO SUNDAY, JAN. 8

Tucson Holiday Ice

The Tucson Holiday Ice Rink, hosted by the city of Tucson, will be located on Church Avenue, south of Broadway, in front of the Tucson Convention Center.

Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

MARANA

11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana maranaaz.gov

3 TO 9 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 3

Marana Holiday Festival & Christmas Tree Lighting

VARIOUS TIMES SATURDAY, DEC. 17, AND SUNDAY, DEC. 18

Tucson Symphony Orchestra: “Happy Holidays ¡Feliz Navidad!”

Join Maestro José Luis Gomez, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Tucson Girls Chorus, the Tucson Boys Chorus and other special guest artists to celebrate the

Skates begin at size 8 for children and run as large as size 15 for adult men. Socks are required, and gloves are highly recom mended. Tickets are for 90-minute ses sions; adults $20, $14 for children younger than 12. Skate assists are $5. Private use is $700 per 90-minute session during off hours.

The Marana Holiday Festival & Christ mas Tree Lighting features artisan and craft vendors; more than 30 food trucks and vendors; free rides on the holiday train; free bouncy castles/inflatables expe riences; a photo booth with Desert Photo Booth; holiday laser projections in Santa’s Courtyard/Christmas Tree Lighting (6 p.m.); free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus; letters to Santa station; community performances and a creation station with Lucky Cat Social Art.

Layton returns to Mannheim Steamroller for year 27

BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT Tucson Local Media Contributor

ROXANNE LAYTON DOESN’T know exactly how many shows she’s played in the 27 years she’s been with Mannheim Steamroller.

But the recorder player knows she’ll be adding about 40 more to that total this year as the orchestra, which plays the clas sical rock Christmas music of Chip Davis, makes its annual two-month holiday tour. Mannheim Steamroller comes to Centen nial Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6.

“I was trying to add it up,” Layton said. “Here’s an average of at least 40 shows a year. The first 10 years we didn’t have 40 shows. We were playing arenas to 10,000 people a night. So, let’s say 500 shows at least.”

And even though the Mannheim Steam roller program only changes slightly from

year to year, Layton never gets tired of per forming it, on her recorder and percussion.

“There is such a joy to doing this,” she said. “This music is timeless. It was the first Christmas album that so many people re member getting introduced to Mannheim Steamroller, even though we know there was much more before that.”

Layton, in fact, came to Mannheim Steamroller before it became an American Christmas tradition.

After graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music, Layton was work ing in Boston when she initially encoun tered Mannheim Steamroller.

“I won tickets from a radio station,” she said. “I was making recorders at the time, and someone had given me ‘Fresh Aire III.’ I thought, ‘This is so cool. It’s classical rock and roll.’ They had a (touring) orchestra

Roxanne Layton will appear with Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis when it comes to Centennial Hall. (Mannheim Steamroller/ Submitted)

back then, and the trum pet player came into the shop. He asked if I want ed to come to rehearsal. I went from my shop with my instruments for the show, met Chip later and ended up talking with him until 2 a.m.”

Layton had left a tape with Davis, the Oma ha-based composer who created the neoclassical new age group in 1974, who, apparently, listened immediately after.

The next morning, Davis called Layton. “He asked, ‘Would you like to be on my next album?” That all happened in 24 hours,” Layton said.

So, why did Mannheim need a recorder player?

“Back in the Renaissance, the recorder was like the trumpet and the saxophone. It was the instrument that led all the dances,” Layton said.

“Chip is a big Renaissance fan. He was a bassoonist, but he was also a great recorder player and drummer, which is a double

you don’t see out there.”

Adding Layton to the group gave Davis, who, for years, played with Mannheim on tour, additional flexibility in his role onstage.

“What it did was allow him to play the recorder while I played the drums or I could play the recorder while he plays drums,” she said of Davis, who no longer tours but still appears at special Mannheim Steamroller events.

The enduring career of Mannheim Steamroller began in 1975 — not with a Christmas album, but with the first “Fresh Aire” album. Combining classical music and pop, and using orchestral instruments and synthesizers and other synthetic tones, “Fresh Aire” helped usher in the new age music genre.

Davis created Mannheim Steamroller during the period when he was writing music with friend Bill Fries, who adopted the stage name and the CB radio toting character of C.W. McCall and became a country music star in 1976 with their hit song “Convoy” (which inspired the 1978 movie of the same name, starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw).

Davis, though, was soon focusing on

Mannheim Steamroller and what grew to a series of eight “Fresh Aire” albums, which enjoyed major popularity considering they were marketed in a niche genre.

But today Davis and Mannheim Steam roller are best known for Christmas music. Davis entered the holiday fray with the 1984 album “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas,” at a time when such seasonal albums were largely seen as something artists released when they were on the downside of their careers.

Instead, that first Christmas album became a huge hit, selling 5 million copies, and Mannheim Steamroller has gone on to become the bestselling Christmas act of all time.

The way Davis schedules the holiday tours has helped keep fans — especially families — coming out to see Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas shows year after year.

“We go to the markets every other or every third year,” Davis said in a 2017 interview. “So, then that gives them time to (think about), ‘Oh, you know, the kids are a little older. We should take them this

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year.’ I think that has a lot to do with the longevity.”

Like every other music group and artist, Mannheim Steamroller was unable to tour in 2020. But it was back for the Christmas tour last year. Once again, this year, two companies of the group will go on tour — one East Coast and one West Coast.

That music will be performed by an orchestra that is made up of a core group of Steamroller players, like Layton, and musicians brought in from each commu nity or area where the group performs,

who rehearse in the afternoons before the evening show.

That combination works well, Layton said, as the local musicians come in well prepared and the rehearsal tightens up the music before the performances.

“We do the same program every night,” she said. “For me, I just try to do it better every night. For me, it’s a gift to get to enjoy this music. I still cry at a point in ‘Oh Holy Night’… I try not to cry during the shows, but sometimes it happens.”

ORO VALLEY

Oro Valley Marketplace, 12155 N. Oracle Road, Oro Valley orovalleymarketplace.com

VARIOUS TIMES SATURDAY, DEC. 3, AND SUNDAY, DEC. 4

Oro Valley Festival of the Arts and Holiday Tree Lighting

Oro Valley Marketplace hosts the Oro Valley Festival of the Arts and Holiday Tree Lighting. Known as one of the largest fine art and craft festivals in the region, the event is programmed for all age groups.

Hosted by Mayor Joe Winfield and Santa, the Oro Valley Tree Lighting Celebration is 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, preceded by cookie decorating and free photos with Santa and the Golder Ranch

childrensmuseumtucson.org

10:30 A.M. OR 1:30 P.M SATURDAY, DEC. 3, AND SUNDAY, DEC. 4

Gingerbread Workshop

For $50, up for four guests can design a preconstructed house with tons of icing and candy. Reservations required.

SOUTHERN ARIZONA

Transportation Museum 414 N. Toole Avenue, Tucson tucsonhistoricdepot.com

10 A.M. TO 3 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 17

17th Annual Holiday Express

Features visits with Santa in front of “Oklahoma’s” Locomotive 1673, bilingual exhibits, a reading of “The Polar Express,” singing of holiday music, and an arts and crafts show.

Irish band Altan returns to the Fox Tucson Theatre

BY MARGARET REGAN Tucson Weekly Contributing Writer

Altan, one of Ireland’s foremost tradi tional bands, is at long last here in the United States.

“We started on the East Coast and creeped our way across America to the West Coast,” says Máiréad Ni Mhaonaigh in her brogue. “Finally, we’re coming. It’s happen ing.”

Altan, four members strong, will perform Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Fox Tucson The atre.

Back in March 2020, the band was ready to perform at the Fox near St. Patrick’s Day — until COVID-19 came raging in.

The concert was canceled, like most of the arts in Tucson and beyond. The musicians fled back to Ireland before lockdowns were imposed on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since then, Celtic fans in Tucson were told that the band was returning, but the pan

demic spoiled plans time and again.

Thanks to promoter, Don Gest, their Tuc son audience will see them on their first tour back in America. “We are delighted,” Ni Mhaonaigh said. “Don had great faith in us.”

Ni Mhaonaigh, a renowned fiddler and Gaelic singer, said Altan went to London last St. Patrick’s Day for a few shows.

“The band has not been performing until this tour started in mid-October,” she said. “This is our first time around since the pan demic started. Everybody’s been well, and we’ve seen old friends.”

Joining Ni Mhaonaigh on stage are Cia rán Curran on bouzouki, Daíthí Sproule on guitar, and Martin Tourish on accordion. Sproule and Tourish are singers, too. And Tourish also is a celebrated composer.

She’s really excited about “an amazing young musician,” their guest artist, Clare Friel, who accompanies the group as a fid dler and singer.

“She’s a family friend. I’ve known her since

she was a baby,” Ni Mhaonaigh said.

In 2018, Friel was named Young Artist of the Year by TG4, the Irish national pub lic television station. She also plays in a trio with her sisters, part of a new generation of Irish traditional musicians.

Although the women grew up in Scotland, their parents were from County Donegal and Friel plays in that tradition.

Ni Mhaonaigh, born and bred in Donegal to a musical family, had Irish as her first language and learned her songs and tunes from family and neighbors.

In the show, “Donegal to Tucson,” “you will see traditional tunes as we are known for that. We have collected tunes from lots of the old fiddle players, and we also compose our own.”

Ni Mhaonaigh especially sings the praises of Tourish “as a great young composer. He will be singing some beautiful songs.” And Irish step dancers from Tucson’s Celtic Steps Irish Dance school will kick up their heels

on jigs and reels.

Altan’s repertoire of songs celebrates the Irish language, Ni Mhaonaigh’s native tongue. (“Altan” is Irish for “stream.)

“I will sing lots of songs in Irish. I grew up with it, speaking with neighbors and even using it shopping for groceries. But you’ll not understand a word I say,” she said with a chuckle.

One happy consequence of the pandemic was that it gave Ni Mhaonaigh and her peri patetic bandmates time at their homes to work on new music and some solo projects.

She, for example, recorded online lessons of some 32 tunes for aspiring fiddlers.

Altan

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov.19

WHERE: Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $27.50 INFO: foxtucson.com

COPELAND

from Page 14

Unafraid to cast light on a subject that for many is a taboo best kept in the dark, “The Dolls Are Sleeping” — off of “Done Come Too Far” — acts as a sobering exposé about childhood sexual abuse.

“Something needed to be said,” Copeland said. “I’ve known too many victims of mo lestation.

“My albums reflect me. But I am not all serious.” As evidenced in “Fried Catfish and Bibles” and “Fell in Love with a Honky,” tracks from her new album.

Once her son was born Copeland became even more committed to making the world a better place.

“When he gets older, I want my little guy to be proud of me,” Copeland said. “To know that his mommy mattered and had the courage to speak out.”

An artist, ever evolving, the underlying thread that connects her recent work, her trilogy, is unification.

“On ‘America’s Child,’ ‘Uncivil War,’ and now ‘Done Come Too Far,’ I have been try ing to put the ‘united’ back into the United States,” Copeland stated. “Friends, family

and home, these things we all value.”

In the summer of 2021, Copeland was planning her return to performing, as the world was reawakening post-lockdown. But her plans were promptly sidelined when she was diagnosed with a rare type of kidney cancer: Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. Surgeons operated.

Shortly afterward, she contracted COVID-19 and temporarily lost her sense of smell, despite being vaccinated.

“I feel fine, so far. It’s not recurring,” Co peland said, optimistically. “So, I’m just going to hope and pray that that’s the case with me. I am just going to wait and see what the next months bring.”

Shemekia Copeland w/Sugaray Rayford

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18

WHERE: Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $35 INFO: 520-547-3040, foxtucson.com

WHAT IS COHOUSING?

EXTRA POINT WITH TOM DANEHY SPORTS & RECREATION

BY TOM DANEHY Tucson Local Media

Kayla Carter has work to do. And we’re not talking about her new weekend gig at the McDonald’s up on Tangerine. As a sophomore, she is already one of the key players for the Mountain View Mountain Lions bas ketball team and, at 6 feet in height and possessing wing player skills, she has a chance to become a force in Southern Ar izona hoops.

Carter (her coach refers to her as Makayla, while the player refers to her self as Kayla) comes from a basketball family. Her dad played ball in high school

and college, while her mom was a softball player. Older sister Tianna Carter starred at Canyon Del Oro a couple years back, where she holds numerous school re cords, including rebounds in a season and in a career and highest scoring average in a season. Tianna originally went to UNLV on a basketball scholarship, but has since transferred to North Carolina Central.

“Tianna is so much happier at NCCU,” Kayla said. “UNLV was just too big. She feels like she’s part of a family at NCCU.”

In her first year at NCCU, Tianna was twice named Conference Defensive Play er of the Week, finished second in the conference in rebounds per game, and grabbed a school-record 21 boards in one

game.

That’s certainly something to try to live up to, but Kayla wants to chart her own path (which may be part of the reason that she goes to a different school).

Kayla plays for Coach Niki Melchiori, who starred on the first Mountain View High team back in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Melchiori was a baller, a point guard who led the first-year school into the play offs, which is a rare feat, indeed. She later played college ball.

When asked in Melchiori still gets af ter it in practice in a scrimmage, “Kayla laughs. “No, I’ve heard that she was really good, but she doesn’t play with us.”

As a freshman, Kayla was part of a team

that struggled, going 6-11 in the regular season. Due to the vagaries of the AIA Power Point system, that record was still good enough to get the Lions into the playoffs, where they were throttled by Casteel in the opening round.

“I really think that we can do better this season,” she says. Our team is mostly (up perclassmen). We have a lot of experience and I think we can have a winning record.”

When asked if she was going to drive to her new job, she laughed and said, “No, I just turned 15. I won’t be driving for a while. I started school early. I was 4 years old in kindergarten. I’m supposed to be a

See KAYLA Page

Pima soccer teams chase national titles

BY TOM DANEHY Tucson Local Media Columnist

With the World Cup (quite ridic ulously) set to start next week, five months late because the event is being held in hell’s foy er of Qatar, soccer will be getting a boost in the public consciousness starting Nov. 21 and running through Dec. 18. But here in Tucson, it’s already soccer heaven. The National Junior College Athletic Associa tion (NJCAA) is hold its national cham pionships this week at the Kino Sports Complex.

Pima Community College’s men’s team is the defending national champion.

Pima men’s coach Dave Cosgrove start ed his coaching career at his high school alma mater, Amphitheater. He is the school’s all-time winningest coach and his team made it to the playoffs every year that he was the coach.

He became the head coach at Pima College in 1998 and immediately helped to elevate the Aztec program to a place of national prominence. For many years, Yavapai College in Prescott had ruled the community college soccer world thanks to a steady stream of foreign players making their way to the Northern Arizona school. As the years went by, Pima chipped away and chipped away at Yavapai’s dominance. The Aztecs finally pulled even, but even then, it was sometimes a pyrrhic victory. For a time, Yavapai and Pima were the best two soccer teams in the entire country, but because of NJCAA rules, only one of them could advance to the national champion ships. That meant that more than once, the second-best team in the country was staying at home while their rival was ad vancing to the NJCAAs.

Cosgrove continued to build his pro gram. They reached the National finals in 2011. They finished third in the nation in

2015 and 2017. They finally broke through and won the national championship in 2018 and then again last year, in 2021.

His teams have been ranked in the Top 15 in the nation more than a dozen times. He has won Conference Coach of the Year six times and Western Region Coach of the Year twice. He has had nearly 100 players named All-Conference and a couple doz en named All-American. He is a member of the Pima County Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame.

And he just keeps on winning. Follow ing up on last year’s national title was go ing to be difficult, but if they could pull it off, waiting for them at the end of the rainbow was the grand prize — a chance to defend their title on their home turf. So impressed with Pima is the NJCAA that they named Tucson as the site for this year’s national championship.

It wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Pima would be playing this week. They

lost in the Arizona finals to Phoenix Col lege on penalty kicks. But with a record of 10-2-3, they grabbed an at-large bid into the tournament and are the No. 5 seed.

The tournament will run all week. Pima started off the tournament by taking on Southeastern Community College from Burlington, Iowa. Today, Nov. 16, they will play Morton College of Illinois. The win ners of the four pools will square off in the semifinals on Friday.

While the Pima men’s roster has a cou ple players from South Korea and a couple from Japan, there is mostly a Southern Ar izona flavor to the team. There are players from Walden Grove and Ironwood Ridge, a couple former high-school teammates from Tucson High, and players from Cholla, San Miguel, and players from Mountain View, Pusch Ridge, Rincon, Catalina and Marana.

Having started their run a couple de cades after the men, the Pima women are also making a national name for them selves. The women have a record of 132-1 and also earned an at-large bid after falling to Phoenix College in the finals. If anything, their roster is even more amaz ing. Every single player on the roster is from Southern Arizona.

There are five players from Tucson High and three from Cienega. Other lo cal schools represented on the Aztec ros ter formerly played at Marana, Salpointe, Sahuaro, Catalina Foothills, Sahuarita, Walden Grove, Tanque Verde, Marana and Ironwood Ridge.

The Pima women have won five confer ence championships, four regional cham pionships, and four District titles. They were national runner-up last year.

Their coach, Kendra Veliz, has also piled up the hardware. She was ACCAC Coach of the Year four times and Region Coach of the Year once.

The Aztec women opened play yester day against Northeast Community Col lege from Nebraska. Today they will play

Northwest Mississippi Community Col lege. The women will follow the same for mat as the men. The winners of the four pools will advance to the national semifi nals, with those winners meeting for the national title.

It’s an amazing honor for even one local team to make it to the national tourna ment, but to have both teams make it (for the second straight year) is beyond words. We all need to get down to Kino Sports Complex this week.

KAYLA from Page 17

freshman this year, but I don’t want to be a freshman. I’m happy where I am.”

Mountain Lion fans are happy where she is, as well. The 5A-Southern team faces a stiff early-season challenge on Nov. 28 when they go on the road to face 3A power Pusch Ridge.

“I can’t wait for our first game.”

There are good uses for psychedelics

T

Hallucinogens are a varied group of drugs that can alter users’ awareness of their surroundings and their own thoughts and feelings.

They can cause a feeling of disconnec tion with the world around them. There are two major categories: classic hallucino gens such as LSD, psilocybin, and peyote (mescaline) and dissociative drugs such as ketamine and phencyclidine (PCP).

Some hallucinogens are extracted from plants and others are manmade. Historical ly these substances were used for religious purposes, as medicines, and in healing rit uals by various cultures for thousands of years. More recently they have been used for recreation, to create spiritual experi ences, or deal with stress.

In 1938, a Sandoz chemist named Albert Hoffman was working on ergot, a fungus that grew on grain when he accidental ly developed LSD, a potent psychoactive compound. This ergot fungus can infect various grains and sometimes caused peo ple who ate it to appear mad or possessed.

It wasn’t until 1943 that he discovered those hallucinogenic effects when he acci dentally ingested a small amount and saw intense colors and shapes. He then took a larger amount and took the first intention al “acid trip.”

Burgeoning research into such drugs was co-opted by both the countercultures of that time and the United States military.

During the 1950s, the U.S. government with help from research universities and pharmaceutical companies tried to devel op LSD as a weapon of chemical warfare that could incapacitate enemy troops.

Soldiers who volunteered for the exper iments were not given adequate informa tion about the drug and possible adverse

effects and sadly later studies found that many of these study subjects experienced such psychiatric symptoms as terrifying flashbacks and they have needed intense psychiatric help for decades following the experiments.

o those of a certain age, psychedel ic substances such as “magic mush rooms” and lysergic acid diethyl amide (LSD) are reminiscent of Timothy Leary, The Grateful Dead, and the “tune in, turn on, drop out” culture of the 1960s and early ’70s.Too many people suffered such severe adverse reactions that they were unable to function and suffered.

This research was halted in 1963 because they found that the LSD effects were too unpredictable to be weaponized. That pro gram had so many violations of research ethics and abuses and these, in part, led to hallucinogens being classified as Schedule 1 substances and preventing any federal funding for hallucinogenic research until recently.

Psychedelics such as LSD, Psilocybin and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, also known as ecstasy) are again being researched, not for recreation and profit or for warfare purposes, but for health care.

Goals of this research are not mind control but to reduce cycles of repeat ed reliving of trauma, to change patterns of self-injury or -destruction, and even to promote an affirmation of life in the face of debilitating illness. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe substance use disorders, treatment-resistant depres sion, and ruthless mental anguish that can lead to suicide might respond to a halluci nogenic medication.

Ketamine was approved as an aesthetic for painful medical procedures and has been used in emergency settings for severe depression as well. There have been stud ies into the use of psilocybin as an effec tive treatment for anxiety and depression that doesn’t respond well to conventional therapies.

Experiments with varying doses of psi locybin in terminally ill patients were conducted at Johns Hopkins, UCLA, and New York University in 2010. Many of the volunteer subjects reported that over the course of their guided psychedelic expe rience, they rethought how they saw their cancer and the reality of dying. Several said they no longer had a fear of death.

The Nov. 30, 2016, issue of Psychopharma cology published an article titled “Psilocy bin and palliative End of Life Care,” which highlighted this research.

Other studies have looked at the effica cy in treating alcohol and substance abuse with positive and sustained results. Smok ing cessation might be better achieved with psychedelic therapy. PTSD research has shown that when used in a controlled setting, some psychedelics can affect sig nificant and lasting psychological and be havioral changes.

Sometimes depression and anxiety are not relieved with conventional therapies and medications but treatment with cer tain hallucinogenic drugs can help to mit igate symptoms.

Of course, as with many medications, there are risks with hallucinogenic drugs. Self-dosing and experimentation with out proper supervision can be dangerous and lead to serious psychiatric problems

including panic, psychosis, paranoia, de pression and suicidal thoughts, memory loss and speech problems. Dependence or addiction can occur with some drugs. But this is true of many conventional psy chiatric medications as well, so caution is always advised with most treatment mo dalities.

“How to Change Your Mind,” by Mi chael Pollon, is an interesting book with an intriguing history of psychedelics and current research into their utility. He cites many research studies as well as his own experience with psilocybin under the guidance of specially trained psychiatrists.

We are a long way from seeing psyche delic drugs on the pharmacy shelves. But what was once considered completely morally and culturally objectionable might someday be a possible answer to maladies for which we have no adequate relief.

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November—a month containing both Veterans Day and Thanksgiving—is an ideal time to focus on feel ing thankful. Concentrating on feelings of gratitude helps you feel happier and more positive in the short and long term.

“Multiple research studies have examined the benefits of a simple gratitude practice,” says Jennifer Smith, PhD, director of research at Mather Institute. The Institute is the research arm of Mather, one of the two parent organizations to Splendido, a Life Plan Community for those 55 and better in Oro Valley. The Institute is an award-winning re source for research and informa tion about wellness, aging, trends in senior living, and successful aging service innovations.

“Gratitude can help us feel more connected to others, in crease positive emotions, and reduce negative thoughts,” says Dr. Smith. “And emphasizing the positive can create more positivity.”

The Gratitude-Happiness Link

Many studies have linked higher levels of gratitude to more happiness and satisfac tion with life; in other words, it seems the more one feels grati tude, the happier and more sat isfied one feels in general. One

study that earned an Innovative Research on Aging Award from Mather Institute points out that older adults consistently report the highest levels of gratitude, compared to middle-age and younger adults. That link be tween level of gratitude and overall life satisfaction does not change with age, which means those over age 60 have a “hap piness advantage” due to their high levels of gratitude.

The good news is that you can practice gratitude at any stage of life to actually improve your happiness, positivity, and life satisfaction. One study showed that a regular habit such as daily journaling can enhance your long-term happiness by more than 10%.

Feelings of gratitude have also been shown to make us more resilient, boost optimism, increase self-esteem, and reduce depressive symptoms. Focusing your attention on the positives rather than the negatives— which is what a gratitude prac tice does—can actually switch your outlook for the long term.

Physical Health Benefits

Feeling grateful also carries some physical benefits. It seems obvious that feeling optimistic and generally positive would impact one’s blood pressure, and research confirms this. A study of people with hypertension who

were asked to practice gratitude at least once a week showed a “significant decrease” in their blood pressure. A similar study showed that practicing gratitude can improve quality of sleep.

Give Gratitude a Try

If you want to enjoy the benefits mentioned here, try to focus on feeling grateful at least three times a week, if not daily. Here are some examples of hab its you might adopt:

Gratitude journal: Whether you use a special notebook or

scrap paper, take time every day or evening to list five things you feel grateful for. Ideally, you’ll save your lists so you can look back on them over time. Re viewing them will also increase your positive feelings.

Thank-you notes: Write a note or email to someone who has had a positive impact on your life—whether it was a sin gle action or a lifetime of sup port. Expressing your gratitude in writing gives you a chance to think more deeply about your

thankfulness—and will make the recipient happy!

Gratitude meditation. Take some quiet time to reflect on what you’re grateful for, then examine the feelings brought up when you identify those items, people, or experiences. Focus ing on what you value will bring moments of peace and joy.

Share gratitude. Find a “gratitude buddy”—perhaps your spouse, child, or a close friend—and take turns listing a few things you are grateful for.

This adds extra depth to grati tude, as you can build off of each other’s comments.

Take a gratitude walk. Take a stroll and look for positive things—from the walkability of your neighborhood to appeal ing sights and friendly people.

Whether you’re a natural pessimist or an optimist, try a regular gratitude practice. It will improve your outlook right away, and could result in life long benefits.

K_DS’ S_NG

Mac alternatives

Vampire vanquisher, e.g.

“Don’t worry about it”

Fuzzy buzzers

Keen on

Engineered crop letters

Repair

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Chinese or Lao

Modern medium for meeting some one … or what each of the starts of 17-, 25-, 37- and 50-Across is

Like the taste of Tic Tacs

Give the most votes, as a candidate

teenage

emotion 66 Vampire-vanquishing weapon

First clue number in this puzzle that doesn’t have an Across answer Down 1 Gives the Anne Boleyn treat ment

Many an ex-pat

Attack, as in fencing

Good, in Guatemala

School website ending 6 Genre for Nicki Minaj

Stop replying to, as on a 59-Across 8 Video game hedgehog 9 Hype (up) 10 Storage spot in a ship 11 Perfect 12 Ones with leases 13 One of up to 200(!) on a scallop 18 Provoke 22 Hood wearer at a graduation, for short 25 Common street name 26 Battery terminal 27 Five Portuguese kings

Bit of concert merch

Marvelous Mrs. ___”

Hawaiian garland

Adler in the Sherlock Holmes canon

Playthings in bathtubs

“Ay ___ mío!” (Spanish “OMG!”)

Car-to-phone connection option

Connects to an electrical outlet

Beaver’s job

Necklace dangler

Person being used by another

Go as low as

Whistle blower

Common eyeliner shape

___ one’s time (waits)

poker payment

By Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It's easier to be sure-footed when you're walking the stability of a known world. While there may be a lot that needs to change, when you think about all the systems and rou tines that have to go right to keep things marching along, you feel grateful for whatever is happening smoothly in this part of life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The week goes well if you don't get too wrapped up in winning. That would make your game tight and vulnerable to mistakes of tension. Back off and consider two ways to relax into your play. Pretend like you have so much advantage you'll never run out, or imagine instead that you have no advantage and therefore nothing to lose.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). It's a good time for social strategizing. For instance, you may want to decide ahead of time what and how you will share with people. It is both kind and smart to consider the expectations of others. When in doubt, go for a pleasant state of neutrality. Avoid inspiring envy and controversy or giving people a reason to focus unhelpfully. .

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Financial de mands seem affordable when someone else is paying. Chores and maintenance go faster when done by others. As true as this may be, you still prefer to take care of things on your own. Your reward for this is that you become incredibly capable, confident, vital, attractive, forward-think ing and unstoppable.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You'll speak words of kindness if they come to you, but you don't have to. The way you hold yourself open to the world, the nice things you think to yourself about the strangers passing by and the friendliness of your smile contribute more than you know to the spirit of gentleness that would ideally prevail in a better world.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The act of cre ating a fantasy is like giving yourself a gift. The right fantasy can do more than enter tain you. It can give you the clues about the life you might create for yourself. It can be the vision that shows you where you could go and pulls you into a future that would delight you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). This week's todo list contains items that are less than fascinating, but give them more attention than you think they deserve. They have potential to advance you, perhaps delight fully so. It is the details -- the glorious, captivating details -- that will provide the magic of the week.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). As much as you'd like others to focus on the same things that matter to you, it won't happen often this week. There are benefits to the diverse energies, though. You'll get more versions of the story, and multiple view points will be interesting, broadening the scope of your project and causing you to learn more, and quickly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). In the animal kingdom, there are not enemies, just creatures competing for resources. Humans tend to see the competition as sinister, and yet the same principle ap plies. Take moral bias out of the equation and you will see people in terms of what they need or want, not in subjective terms of good and evil.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You are good at many things and great at some thing that is rare. Too much time has passed since you gave much-deserved at tention to your talent. Use your exception al gift this week, or at the very least, plan to use it soon, building the schedule, train ing or environment to make this possible.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You have powers so terrifying and awesome you wouldn't dare use them regularly. That would be like using a lightning bolt to do the work of a stapler. You don't need to de ploy these powers this week, though the thought will cross your mind. It's a con fident feeling just to remember what you are capable of.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You embrace duty, knowing it's not likely to change. People say it gets easier, but "it" actually remains about the same. What happens is that (SET ITAL) you (END ITAL) get stron ger, as well as smarter, more innovative and capable until one day, the task that used to make you sweat will be a piece of cake. That day is coming sooner than you think.

LESSONS/ TUTORING TAP DANCERS

NOTICE TO READERS:

Most service advertisers have an ROC# or “Not a licensed contractor” in their ad, this is in accordance to the AZ state law.

Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC): The advertising requirements of the statute does not prevent anyone from placing an ad in the yellow pages, on business cards, or on flyers.

What it does require under A.R.S. §32-1121A14(c) www.azleg.gov/ars/ 32/01165.htm is that the advertising party, if not properly licensed as a contractor, disclose that fact on any form of advertising to the public by including the words “not a licensed contractor” in the advertisement.

Again, this requirement is intended to make sure that the consumer is made aware of the unlicensed status of the individual or company.

Contractors who advertise and do not disclose their unlicensed status are not eligible for the handyman’s exception.

Reference: http://www.azroc.g ov/invest/licensed_ by_law.html

As a consumer, being aware of the law is for your protection.

can check a businesses ROC status at: http://www.azroc.gov.

FREEDOM. TO BE YOU.

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parentsandlovingwifeof28years,Donna.

Everettissurvivedbyhisthreechildren:Cynthia(Mark)Hays,Lee(Carol), andWayneThurston;4grandchildren,6great-grandchildren,and5siblings. AmemorialservicewillbeheldonSat,Nov19,2022at2pmatMountain ViewBaptistChurch,3500WOvertonRd.Acommittalservicewillbeheldon Mon,Nov21at10amatArizonaVeteransMemorialCemeteryMarana.In lieuofflowers,donationsmaybemadetoMountainViewBaptistChurch MissionsFund.

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