Tucson Weekly Jan 27, 2022

CURRENTS: DUCEY’S BOGUS CLAIM ON RAPE KITS

JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 • TUCSONWEEKLY.COM • FREE

NO REFUGE

Tucson’s homeless crisis is getting worse

By Madison Beal ARTS: Ballet Tucson’s Triple Play

MUSIC: Gem & Jam Goes Electric Slice

CHOW: Tino’s Last

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JANUARY 27, 2022 | VOL. 37, NO. 4

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STAFF

CONTENTS

CURRENTS

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There’s no evidence to back up Ducey’s claim that victims are being charged $800 for rape kits

FEATURE

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Tucson’s homelessness crisis is getting worse

CHOW

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Tino’s Pizza closing after nearly four decades of serving pie

MUSIC

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ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President

EDITOR’S NOTE

Jaime Hood, General Manager, jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Gimme Shelter

Tyler Vondrak, Associate Publisher, tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com Claudine Sowards, Accounting, claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com

BETWEEN OUT-OF-REACH HOME PRICES rising rents and the COVID crisis, it’s getting harder and harder for people to keep a roof over their heads, so it’s no surprise that the number of homeless people in our community is on the rise. This week, Madison Beal, a graduate student at the UA Journalism School, takes a look at the challenges of finding shelter for people. As Beal reports in her in-depth piece, there are no easy answers, but the problem is costing millions of dollars a year.

Meanwhile, the Omicron variant is still spreading rapidly across our community. Staff reporters Alexandra Pere and Nicole Feltman share the latest on the bug, including details on the new testing centers that Pima County has set up. If you’ve tried to get a test lately, you may have seen long lines or had to wait more than two days to get your results, so the efforts to boost testing are welcome. After all, if you are positive and you don’t find out for five or six days, the test is kinda useless. But the larger problem remains: Omicron is highly infectious and even a “mild” case of COVID can be rough.

So wear a mask when you’re out in public and get vaccinated, because the vast majority of people who are ending up in the hospital haven’t had their jabs or their boosters.

Elsewhere in the book: Gloria Gomez, a stu-

dent from the UA School of Journalism who is covering the Arizona Legislature as this year’s Don Bolles Fellow, looks into an unlikely claim about rape kits that was made by Gov. Doug Ducey in the State of the State—and discovers there’s scant evidence that it’s true; longtime columnist Tom Danehy hammers state lawmakers for their efforts to punish teachers for telling schoolchildren about our nation’s dark history of racial injustice; intern Jake O’Rourke talks to fans of Tino’s Pizza, which is closing down after the death of its longtime owner (though there’s still time to get a slice); arts writer Margaret Regan previews this weekend’s performance by Ballet Tucson; XOXO columnist Xavier Otero tells you where to rock this week; Tucson Weedly columnist comes across a report suggesting that pot makes sex more fun; and there’s more in the book, including a look at next week’s Gem & Jam festival, Dan Savage’s sex column, Tucson’s best comics and horoscopes and plenty more.

Jim Nintzel Executive Editor Hear Nintz talk about how to have fun despite COVID at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays during the world-famous Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM.

RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson

Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist, sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor, jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Managing Editor, jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Alexandra Pere, Staff Reporter, apere@tucsonlocalmedia.com Nicole Feltman, Staff Reporter, nfeltman@tucsonlocalmedia.com Contributors: David Abbott, Rob Brezsny, Max Cannon, Rand Carlson, Tom Danehy, Emily Dieckman, Bob Grimm, Andy Mosier, Linda Ray, Margaret Regan, Will Shortz, Jen Sorensen, Clay Jones, Dan Savage PRODUCTION Courtney Oldham, Production Manager, tucsonproduction@timespublications.com Ryan Dyson, Graphic Designer, ryand@tucsonlocalmedia.com Emily Filener, Graphic Designer, emilyf@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation, alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com Kristin Chester, Account Executive, kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive, candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING Zac Reynolds Director of National Advertising Zac@TimesPublications.com Tucson Weekly® is published every Thursday by Times Media Group at 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, Arizona. Address all editorial, business and production correspondence to: Tucson Weekly, 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, Arizona 85741. Phone: (520) 797-4384, FAX (520) 575-8891. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN). The Tucson Weekly® and Best of Tucson® are registered trademarks of Times Media Group. Publisher has the right to refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion.

Jimkata making Arizona debut at the Gem & Jam Festial

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Pima County Dems give a nod to Louisiana Senatorial candidate’s weed-based campaign ad

Cover image by Madison Beal

Copyright: The entire contents of Tucson Weekly are Copyright Times Media Group No portion may be reproduced in whole or part by any means without the express written permission of the Publisher, Tucson Weekly, 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, AZ 85741.

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DANEHY

SHAMEFUL STATE LAWMAKERS WANT TO FIRE TEACHERS FOR TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY

By Tom Danehy, tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com I HAVE A FRIEND NAMED William. He’s Black and/or African-American. Heck, I’ve known him so long, when I first met him, he was probably a Negro.

He’s a great guy—college-educated, hard-working, entrepreneurial. We’ve talked about it many times how he would love to live in a country where no one would judge him by the color of his skin, but he knows that such is not the case. (I am older than he and I have told him that in a very Pollyanna-ish manner, I truly believed that, after the hard-fought civil rights victories of the 1960s, things would continue to head, inexorably, in the right direction.)

I thought it was a ratchet effect, that we had achieved a new baseline of decency, democracy, and understanding. But, as it has turned out, it wasn’t a ratchet. It was a tug of war and the other side is fighting back with a ferocity born of a fear that America might not always be a white, Christian country.

This, of course, is an outgrowth of the winning Republican strategy of railing against Critical Race Theory, of which not one opponent thereof can provide an accurate definition. The “issue” helped get a hypocritical doofus elected governor of

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Virginia and now it’s helping right-wingers across the country rewrite history by un-writing history.

William is an actual student of history.

He is acutely aware of the horrible ways Americans of all colors and creeds have mistreated each other over the centuries.

But all that is about to change. No, history won’t change. It will just become inaccessible. Today’s kids won’t have to be burdened with the truth about yucky stuff like slavery or discrimination or genocide.

This is all thanks to people like Michelle Udall, a state legislator from Mesa who has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to teach about things like the Civil War or Bosque Redondo.

My son-in-law is a mechanical engineer who happens to be Navajo. He grew up hearing the stories from his elders about The Long Walk of the Navajo, the vulgar attempt by the U.S. government to uproot the entire Navajo Nation and relocate them to a barren piece of land (the Bosque Redondo) in eastern New Mexico. Thousands of Navajos were forced by the military under Kit Carson to walk the hundreds of miles from the Four Corners area to their new

“reservation.” Hundreds died along the way and hundreds more died under the terrible conditions at the Bosque Redondo.

After several years of living in horrible conditions, the Navajos were allowed to return to their land. The Government realized and then admitted that its plan had been terribly conceived and ruthlessly carried out. The Navajo Nation is now the largest Indian Reservation in America.

But Arizona’s children won’t learn about that bleak chapter in our history. If Michelle Udall gets her way, The Long Walk of the Navajo will be referred to—if at all—as a lovely spring stroll with a friendly Cavalry accompaniment. Those in Udall’s camp probably refer to Rainstorm Katrina and see the institution of slavery as having offered free meals and plenty of opportunities for work.

The late, great Morris Udall is probably spinning in his grave at 1,700 revolutions per minute. It was he and his brother, Stewart, who desegregated the dining halls at the University of Arizona. It wasn’t this overt, picket-sign kind of protest.

The two brothers had returned to the UA after World War II and were stars on the nationally ranked Wildcat basketball team.

One day, thinking that it was stupid and un-American for the dining halls to be segregated, they invited some of their Black teammates to eat lunch as a team. The dining hall staff was mostly Hispanic and they greeted the integrated lunch with a collective shrug and that was that.

Mo Udall went on to become a liberal

icon in the latter half of the 20th Century.

Now, somebody with that last name (she’s married into the family) is trying to push Mo’s state into some sort of intellectual Dark Ages (although she would probably blanch at the use of the term “Dark”).

Just think about it: A teacher could lose his/her license for talking about slavery or the decades-long attempt by the United States government to wipe out an entire race of people so that the country could spread westward.

I’m torn. I can’t figure out whether Ms. Udall never read about the changing and/ or eliminating of history in 1984 and so doesn’t understand the irony of her stance or if she did read it and is using it as a manual.

Her non-defense defense of her anti-intellectual (and pretty much un-American) bill is that “we cannot combat racism with more racism.”

Instead, she wants to use racism to prevent the teaching of history that was helping to combat racism.

However, before we get complacent and believe that Udall’s Race to the Right (which overlaps the Race to the Bottom) can’t get any worse, comes word that state Rep. John Fillmore of Apache Junction believes that Udall’s bill doesn’t go nearly far enough. He wants much harsher penalties against teachers and huge fines levied against district that allow actual history to be taught.

Next, they’ll probably take on math, which, as we all know, is communist. ■

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CURRENTS

BOGUS ALLEGATION

There’s no evidence to back up Ducey’s claim that victims are being charged $800 for rape kits

By Gloria Gomez Arizona Mirror IN HIS STATE OF THE STATE speech earlier this month, Gov. Doug Ducey claimed that women are being charged up to $800 in processing fees for rape kits—which would be illegal under federal law—but it’s unclear whether that’s actually happening.

To back up its claim, the governor’s office provided the Arizona Mirror a September 2021 letter from the Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women, an agency set up by Ducey’s administration to develop policy. In the letter, Co-Chairs Elizabeth Ortiz and Kate Brophy McGee wrote that victims of sexual assault are being charged consultation fees for forensic exams in certain Arizonan jurisdictions. Absent, however, was the $800 estimate.

The letter also didn’t specify which facilities or jurisdictions are charging consultation fees, nor did it include sources.

In an interview, Brophy McGee also could not clarify which jurisdictions were charging fees. The former Republican state senator said claims that women were being charged in hospitals, emergency rooms, care centers, doctor’s offices and other places in violation of federal law was anecdotal. The claims, she said, came from health care providers who spoke with the commission.

Ortiz did not answer questions about the letter when contacted, and instead noted in an email that McGee had more information on the topic.

The Mirror contacted the 29 forensic exam facilities spread across Arizona.

All 17 that responded said that forensic exams were offered free of cost, and that sexual assault victims are not charged consultation fees.

In Maricopa County, the sole provider

for sexual assault examinations is HonorHealth, which has forensic nursing units in Phoenix, Chandler, Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale and Goodyear, as well as suites in several local family advocacy centers. The negotiated cost for forensic exams with the county is $700, but that bill goes directly to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, said Jill Rable, the clinical director of HonorHealth’s forensic nursing department.

“The way our billing system is arranged, the patient’s information never gets entered anywhere to send them a bill,” she said. “It’s one individual person who sends the bills directly to (the county attorney’s office).”

The director of the Yavapai Family Advocacy Center, Missy Sikora, said it’s against the federal Violence Against Women Act to charge victims, even if they don’t want to file an initial police report.

“Under statute, adults have the right to have exams without calling (law) enforcement with no charge,” she said.

The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, was enacted in 1994 and reauthorized last year. One of its provisions makes forensic exams, more commonly called rape kits, free of cost to victims of sexual assault. It requires states to pay, instead. Tasha Menaker, the chief strategy officer for the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, said that’s where problems may arise.

VAWA doesn’t specify which entities in each state are responsible. In Arizona, state law directs counties in which the crime occurred to cover the costs, and that generally falls to the county attorney. Menaker says it’s been years since she heard about a case in which a county attorney’s office refused to pay and the bill ended up coming out of the victim’s pocket.

What’s more common is a victim mis-

takenly going to an emergency room for help and being charged for intake processes there instead of being referred to an appropriate forensic clinic.

One woman Menaker met first went to Banner Health’s ER, was processed and sent to HonorHealth, where she again went through an initial physical exam to determine she was stable before being directed to the hospital’s forensic nursing unit. In the end, she racked up thousands of dollars in general medical care, which isn’t included in the forensic exam.

The best place victims can go if they aren’t sure where the local forensic nursing unit is located is a family advocacy center, which often has a forensic nurse in house. The Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence keeps an updated list on its website.

Another pitfall of current law is that no accommodation is made for injuries or health care needs sustained in the course of a sexual assault: broken bones, x-rays, stitches and even STI tests aren’t covered. Those bills get sent to an insurance company, if the victim has health insurance—otherwise they’re left up to the victim to pay.

“The statute is very vague,” said Menaker. “Counties look at the (forensic exam cost) as purely just the evidence collection portion.”

The governor’s office has reached out to Menaker’s organization in advance of plans to support sexual assault victims.

Menaker said the best way to construct policy would be to include forensic nursing units, county attorneys, law enforcement and family advocacy centers to discuss the issue.

“In an ideal world, (legislation) would include any health care costs that are associated with that initial visit for the survivor, even beyond the medical forensic exam,” she said.

Currently, victims can be reimbursed for costs related to their sexual assaults through the victim compensation program, but reimbursement isn’t guaranteed and it requires cooperation with law enforcement, as police reports are among the documents collected to determine eligibility.

More than 2,900 rapes were reported in Arizona in 2019 alone, according to

COURTESY PHOTO

data reported to the FBI from local law enforcement agencies. More than 1,000 of these occurred in Phoenix. It’s likely that the actual numbers are even higher. As many as 80% of rapes go unreported, according to a 2016 Department of Justice violent crime report.

For Rable, increasing public outreach is key in how the system can be improved. Better awareness of the specialized care provided by forensic nursing clinics, which isn’t always offered at every hospital, is necessary to ensure victims don’t end up paying out of pocket.

Outreach is especially important when the window of time for examinations is as narrow as five days.

“The governor’s office could just help send the message that sex assault examinations are free of charge. The county attorney’s office in each county should be paying for those directly,” Rable said.

Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the governor’s office anticipates meeting with stakeholders soon and will have additional information on the issue then. ■ Gloria Gomez is a senior at the University of Arizona and the 2022 UA School of Journalism’s Don Bolles Fellow.

This article originally appeared on azmirror.com, an online nonprofit news agency.

JANUARY 27, 2022

CURRENTS

SWAB CENTERS

Pima County approves new testing sites as COVID cases continue rise

By Alexandra Pere apere@tucsonlocalmedia.com

AS THE OMICRON WAVE continues to pack hospitals and spread across the region, the Pima County Board of Supervisors passed a plan to increase COVID testing availability during their Jan. 19 meeting.

The Board unanimously voted to increase PCR testing in Pima County with an additional 1,000 tests per day through Paradigm Laboratories.

“I am concerned with our PCR testing site at the airport,” Supervisor Sharon Bronson said. “We are seeing that we’ve got some issues at TAA (Tucson Airport Authority) with staff coming down with COVID and we’ve got people in line who have COVID. So I would think as part of the implementation of the new testing we need to find other sites than the airport.”

Cases continue to rise in Pima County due to the Omicron variant, with the county seeing 17,528 cases as of mid-January as opposed to 14,735 cases in the entire month of December, according to Acting County Administrator Jan Lesher.

Supervisor Adelita Grijalva said she had noticed that testing appointments through the county website were being scheduled two days out. She raised concerns this would make it more difficult for children to get back into school under the new test-to-stay policy.

Bronson added that constituents reported testing sites had a two-hour waiting period, even with appointments.

Low testing availability has also

impacted the local healthcare system.

“People, because they can’t find a testing site, are going to ERs to ask to get COVID tested and that is incredibly disruptive for the healthcare system,” Supervisor Matt Heinz said.

Pima County launched the new PCR test center this week at the Kino Event Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way. Testing is open to anyone 2 years and older from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

PCR (or polymerase chain reaction) tests amplify trace amounts of virus DNA to provide an accurate result.

Getting PCR test results through the county is expected to take between 24 to 48 hours. Testing at this location will be available for 30 days.

To provide more access to rapid testing, the Board voted unanimously to approve a master agreement with Stratus Point Global to supply more than 45,500 COVID-19 BinaxNOW Antigen Self-Test Kits to Pima County this year.

“The kind of testing that is widely available is typically 24 to 48 hours so it doesn’t get children back in school and doesn’t get people back into the workplace,” said Garcia.

The County also received federal support for a new drive-through PCR testing site at Pima Community College West Campus. The site was fully operational on Monday, Jan. 24, and test results are expected to take about 48 hours. It will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Lastly, a contract funded by the CDC with Partners in Health was passed by a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Steve Christy opposed. Partners in

Health is a nonprofit healthcare organization that will help the County collect quantifiable data on K-12 schools as they reopen with new COVID mitigation strategies, such as mental health services for children that tested positive for COVID. “This contractor over the next three years will be providing these services to include helping us with some of the data gathering, analysis, as well as some of the new strategic initiatives in this space,” said Garcia.

Meanwhile, COVID cases continue to put pressure on hospitals across the state. Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical officer for Banner Health in Arizona, said during a Jan. 24 press conference that COVID cases now account for one-third of the hospital system’s total patient population.

But Bessel said that while intensive care units remain busy, “ICU numbers are less than they were during our peak of January of the prior year, and we believe that is a direct result of the

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decreased severity that we are experiencing with Omicron.”

She said she hoped that hospitalizations would peak next month before declining.

Bessel noted that 83 percent of hospitalized COVID patients at Banner are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 87 percent of ICU COVID patients are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. She encouraged Arizonans to get vaccinated if they haven’t already and to get their booster shots.

“Vaccination continues to be your best defense to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID infection,” Bessel said. “Boosters will help maximize your protection.”

She also said people should wear high-quality masks such as a N95 or KN95 mask when indoors or around large crowds while Omicron is in widespread transmission. ■

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NO REFUGE Tucson’s homeless crisis is getting worse PHOTO BY MADISON BEAL

By Madison Beal tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com TINA CASALVERA BECAME HOMELESS in 2019 after she lost her job at Walmart and was unable to pay her rent on time. She was evicted.

Casalvera, 49, has been unable to find a new place to live with an eviction on her record, so she joined Tucson’s growing ranks of homeless people. She sets up camps, but on more than one occasion, city officials have given her 72 hours to pack up her belongings and move along.

“I can see the looks that you get from people, and it makes you just feel so worthless sometimes,” said Casalvera. “Even though you know what you do every day and what you try to accomplish. You have to do certain things to live. If you can’t get a job, you have to go in a dumpster to get an article of clothing—maybe to go to that interview—because you don’t have the money to buy something to wear. And then people

will see you doing that, and automatically, you’re no good because you’re doing it.”

Casalvera is just one of a growing number of people who can’t find a place to live. Since 2019, the homeless population in Tucson has steadily grown, and the demand for social services has increased along with it. Meanwhile, the municipal costs associated with homeless camps in the city have also increased. In the last three years alone, different departments within the city of Tucson, Pima County and the state of Arizona have spent more than a million dollars cleaning up the remnants of homeless encampments in the Tucson area.

While various government entities and nonprofit organizations are working to help get people off the streets, the problem continues to persist raising questions about what is actually needed to build lasting solutions to homelessness in Tucson.

From 2019 to 2020, the number of unsheltered homeless individuals in Tucson—people sleeping in their cars or on the streets—increased by 60 percent, according

to the data collected during an annual Point in Time count. The PIT count, which is facilitated by the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness—a local coalition that serves as the Continuum of Care for Tucson and Pima County—is an attempted count of the number of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in the community. It typically takes place on one night during the last 10 days in January.

This data is collected in communities throughout the county and compiled in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Annual Homeless Assessment report, which seeks to capture an estimate of the total number of homeless Americans in the United States. While it has been widely recognized that PIT counts tend to undercount the number of people experiencing homelessness in a given community, they still offer important insights into the humanitarian crisis unfolding right in our own backyard.

Last year, TPCH was unable to do a

PIT count for the unsheltered homeless population in the Tucson area due to safety concerns associated with the pandemic, but city officials say the number of people experiencing homelessness in the community has continued to increase in 2021.

(This year’s survey was scheduled for this week, but with the Omicron variant driving COVID cases to new highs, it was canceled.)

There are many reasons homelessness is becoming more prevalent in Tucson and throughout the country. Even before the pandemic, the homeless population in the U.S. has grown for four consecutive years, according to HUD’s 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report.

Experts say it will take years to fully understand how the pandemic has impacted homelessness, but there is a consensus that the pandemic has exacerbated the problem through higher unemployment rates, housing crises and more generally, forced economic disruption.

In addition to the hardships caused by

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the pandemic, other factors influencing rates of homelessness across the nation include a lack of affordable housing and increasing costs of living coupled with largely stagnant wages and a growing number of people struggling with addiction and mental health problems.

“I think if there are increases right now, they have a lot to do with reaping the consequences of a long, long time of not investing in community,” said Daniela Figueroa, the chairperson for the TPCH Continuum of Care board and the director of programs for Youth on Their Own, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting youth in Tucson who are experiencing homelessness.

“Until we start really giving folks economic supports and autonomy and a chance to thrive, until we start really investing in social services, until we start really investing in mental health services and increasing access, we’re going to continually see this cycle.”

THE PERFECT STORM IN TUCSON, LACK OF AFFORDABLE housing is a serious problem contributing to homelessness. The values of homes across the city increased by 29.5 percent in the last year, with the typical home value at just under $300,000, according to Zillow’s Tucson Market Overview. This means people have become more reliant on rental units, but the cost of rent in Tucson has also been increasing for years. The average monthly rent for an apartment in Tucson is now $1,115, according to a report from RentCafe.

Since the pandemic hit, there has also been a reduced number of shelter beds available throughout the city. “Our shelters are full on any given night,” said Brandi Champion, the recently hired Housing First program director for the city of Tucson.

“It’s rare to have even 10 beds available at any given time in the community that’s not restrictive.”

When shelters do have openings, there are sometimes restrictions in place that make the services unappealing to those who are unhoused. People may be hesitant to accept shelter services when they limit their autonomy or separate them from their belongings, pets, significant others or support systems.

“We’re trying to make shelter more user

friendly so that we can get these people that are hesitant to come off the street to come off the street,” Champion said. “We can get these people into housing, get them going towards a better living, and then wrap services around them—maybe to get them directed toward a better way of thinking. They don’t have to be stuck in this cycle of drug abuse and homelessness and drug abuse and homelessness.”

The city’s effort to reduce the red tape that stops the unhoused from accessing services is part of its “Housing First” strategy. The model, which prioritizes getting individuals experiencing homelessness into housing before providing them with additional support and services, was officially implemented in 2020. In addition to making shelters more user friendly, the model also seeks to overcome other barriers that commonly keep people from accessing housing including a lack of employment, substance abuse problems, mental health diagnoses and previous criminal or eviction records.

Both the city of Tucson and Pima County are now using the Housing First model to address homelessness in the community.

The Pima County Housing First Program was first implemented in April 2019 with the goal of reducing chronic homelessness and limiting interactions between homeless individuals and the criminal justice system.

Despite the local government’s shift towards a Housing First model, there is currently still a lack of low-demand shelter beds and affordable permanent housing units in the community. In fact, Tucson’s rental vacancy rate has hovered around 3% for most of 2021—a historically low rate indicative of a highly competitive market.

With limited housing and shelter inventories, the number of people sleeping on the street has increased significantly, leading to increased visibility of homelessness throughout the city.

“Homelessness is getting worse, undoubtedly,” said Sergeant Jack Julsing, head of the Tucson Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team. The separate unit within TPD was created in January of 2020 in response to an increasing number of complaints about homelessness. The team consists of three TPD officers—Julsing, Officer Jacob Valenzuela and Officer Josh Parrish—who work in conjunction

with outreach workers to respond to nonemergency reports related to the unhoused community in Tucson and connect people experiencing homelessness with social services. Since the creation of the Homeless Outreach Team, at least 100 to 150 calls for service are diverted away from TPD’s patrol officers every month.

“I don’t really want patrol officers taking the homeless calls because I don’t think that’s something that patrol should be doing,” Julsing said. “They’re there for you when you need us in an emergency. Not for, ‘Oh, can you kick this homeless guy out of the wash because I’m tired of looking at him?’ That’s not your what your tax dollars are paying for.”

Julsing and his team have been more lenient towards people setting up camps outside since the start of the pandemic, but TPD is still tasked with the duty of posting 72-hour notices for the unhoused to vacate when there is illegal activity, when a camp grows to be too messy or when someone persistently complains about the presence of homeless people as a part of the “homeless protocol” for both the city and the county.

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“WE’RE BEATING A DEAD HORSE” WHEN AN ENCAMPMENT “poses a threat to public safety” or someone files a complaint to the city of Tucson, Pima County or the police department, homeless protocol is implemented. Through the protocol, the area is inspected, law enforcement officials and outreach service providers meet with the people at the camp and eventually, a 72-hour notice to vacate is posted at the site.

Forcing people experiencing homelessness to leave their camps may reduce visibility of the problem and satisfy those who have complained, but it doesn’t serve as a long-term solution. Often times this only uproots the unhoused and forces them to sleep outside in different location.

Not only does this make it more difficult for outreach workers to find the people they’ve been working with and connect them with housing and services, it also puts people experiencing homelessness in a position where they have to move all of their belongings to a new place—sometimes without transportation or outside help.

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NO REFUGE

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In this process, they are frequently forced to leave things behind and start from scratch.

Once the people experiencing homeless have cleared out, the camps are cleaned up by either a local government entity or a contracted company, and this task can vary in intensity. Some cleanups are simple, but others can be time consuming and expensive depending on how much and what gets left behind. There might be a need to bring in a contracted company when a cleanup involves larger items or human waste and needles. Abandoned camp sites sometimes also contain large quantities of trash, clothing, pieces of furniture or other personal items that need to be removed.

“We throw so much stuff away when we go to these camp cleanups,” said Cliff Wade, an outreach specialist and veterans advocate who works closely with the unhoused population in Tucson, during a city homeless protocol focus group that took place on Oct. 28, 2021. “That is what the campers were using to survive.”

As far as the trash goes, people experiencing homelessness do not have access to their own trash cans, which can make it hard for them to dispose of their garbage—especially when there are no public trash cans close to their camps. The same thing goes for human waste. Without public restrooms, people experiencing homelessness may have no choice but to go to the bathroom outside near their camp sites. These areas can grow to be a safety hazard when trash and human waste start to accumulate.

If the camps were set up on public property, depending on who owns the land, a county or city government entity is usually largely responsible for facilitating a cleanup of the area.

This duty can fall upon different county departments including the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, Pima County Natural Resources Parks and Recreation and the Pima County Department of Transportation. From the city of Tucson, people from the Department of Transportation, the Environmental and General Services Department and the Parks and Recreation Department frequently facilitate cleanups. Additionally, at a state level, the

Arizona Department of Transportation also coordinates various cleanups in the Tucson area.

Public records obtained from the city, county and state departments that handle homeless encampment cleanups in the Tucson area reveal that, since 2019, these agencies have collectively spent more than $1 million cleaning up what gets left behind at abandoned camps. In addition to the monetary cost, government and contracted company employees have spent thousands of hours of their time at these cleanups.

From 2019 to 2021, the city of Tucson Parks and Recreation Department alone recorded that employees spent 755 hours cleaning up the remnants of homeless camps in Tucson.

“We’re beating a dead horse here,” Champion said. “These guys are utilizing resources like crazy on the same camp sites, and we’re not solving anything. They feel the morale is going down in the other departments because they keep having to go and clean these sites over and over and over again.”

Champion hosts a “homeless protocol focus group” with different actors from the city, the county and various nonprofit

organizations to discuss the state of the homeless situation in Tucson and potential solutions at least once a month. At the Oct. 28 meeting, which was hosted on Zoom, several city officials compared the process of homeless encampment removal to playing a game of “Whack-A-Mole” due to the continuous cycle of camps being established, the homeless being removed and the city coming in to clean things up.

This raises the question: Is the current protocol’s strategy for addressing homeless encampments in the community an effective use of resources?

While the current cycle may seem futile, people throughout city continue to express concern about the presence of homeless encampments in their neighborhoods and near parks and other amenities frequently used by the public. Some people genuinely fear for their safety and others just don’t like seeing the camps and what they entail in their vicinity.

“There is such a spectrum,” said Ann Charles, the chief of staff for the city’s Ward 6 office, at the Oct. 28 meeting. “We go from people who get upset if they see police talking to a homeless person, to people who…go on a bicycle, see a homeless

JANUARY 27, 2022

camp—even if it’s 50 yards away—and call in and say you’ve got to get rid of it.”

There is an immense amount of pressure placed on our local government bodies to both address citizen complaints about encampments and to help the homeless. But the two tasks sometimes seem to be at odds with each other, which puts government officials in the difficult position of deciding whether to force campers to leave or to continue to receive angry complaints.

“It’s a very difficult balance,” said Julsing, who expressed that police action surrounding certain encampments is frequently impacted by whatever public opinion is at the time. “Whoever’s the loudest gets their way—whether it’s right or wrong.”

Despite how people may feel about the issue of homelessness, one thing is certain: It’s not going away anytime soon.

It is going to take a monumental effort to address this problem not only by our local and federal governments and nonprofit organizations, but also by members of our community.

People experiencing homelessness—who are already dealing with a tremendous amount of trauma trying to survive—face a seemingly constant barrage of blame and ridicule for ending up in a horrible situation. They are often all painted as addicts and criminals who are lazy and choose to be homeless, but the reality is, they are human beings who are doing the best they can to get by.

A COSTLY CYCLE THE LONG LIST OF STEREOTYPES about people experiencing homelessness not only grossly over-simplifies a massive humanitarian crisis, it also contributes to a growing tension between the housed and the unhoused and, in many cases, an unwillingness among the housed to help people who are homeless.

It may be true that a high percentage of the unhoused community does struggle with substance abuse, but addiction is a widespread problem impacting millions of people all over the world. In the United States in 2020, an estimated 40.3 million people over the age of 11 were struggling with a substance use disorder, according to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And these numbers only seem to be growing as the opioid epidemic continues to wreak havoc in communities across the nation.

“The truth is: People who are experiencing substance use—it could be you, it could be me, it could be anybody,” said Bryanda Acuña, a former peer support specialist at CODAC, a nonprofit organization that seeks to address mental health, addiction and trauma in Arizona. “Substance use is a coping skill. It’s not the best one, but it is a coping skill. We’re just told that people who use that coping skill are bad people, and they’re not. They’re just like anybody else struggling out there.”

When it comes to mental health, research estimates that at least 20 to 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States has some form of a severe mental illness.

In the latter half of the 20th century, when the U.S. government initiated an effort to deinstitutionalize and reform mental health practices, thousands of people who had been diagnosed with some form of mental illness were removed from psychiatric facilities where they were often receiving substandard care. This effort sought to improve the standard of care for people experiencing mental illness, but it largely failed to provide alternative services which put a vulnerable population at risk of becoming homeless and led to an incredible number of people who were experiencing mental illness moving through the criminal justice system.

Today, we are still dealing with the repercussions of these “well-intentioned” policy shifts and funneling people with mental health problems through emergency departments, jails and prisons. This comes at great cost to our society in a variety of ways.

For one, it places financial stress on our communities with researchers estimating that the monetary cost associated with a chronically homeless individual—including medical expenses, time spent in jails and prisons, and other costs related to shelters and treatment centers—to be between $30,000 to $50,000 a year. This cost can be reduced dramatically—by close to 50 percent—if the person is placed in supportive housing.

Tina Casalvera, who was evicted after losing her job at Walmart, discovered that once you’re on the street, it’s hard to turn things around.

“Even if I do have a mental illness, it’s not why I’m homeless,” Casalvera said. “It’s not what keeps me homeless. What keeps me homeless is nobody wanting to give me a chance.” ■

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 11

PHOTO BY MADISON BEAL

Officer Jacob Valenzuela with the Tucson Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team visits homeless encampments set up along the Aviation Bikeway near Golf Links and Swan Road on Oct. 27, 2021. The HOT unit was created in early 2020 in response to a growing number of complaints about homelessness in Tucson.

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Editor’s Note: While we are delighted to see Tucsonans once again gathering for fun events, we are also aware that variants are in widespread circulation. Please consider getting vaccinated against COVID if you haven’t yet.

Rushmore. If I were to tell you they’re showing Wes Anderson movies every week this week at the Loft, would you say “O.R. they?” If you recognized this joke, you’ve probably already seen Rushmore, and if you didn’t, you should go see it, so you can hear this joke said out loud by Jason Schwartzman, the way the good Lord intended. This coming-of-age story features several of Anderson’s go-to cast members (Bill Murray, the Wilson brothers), an unrequited love triangle, a fun and funny look at high school, and an off-the-hook soundtrack.

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2. The Loft, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $10 GA, $8 teachers/students/military, $7 children/seniors. reFRESH. Ballet Tucson is partnering with the Tucson Desert Song festival for a celebration of women in song and dance, featuring Broadway Legend Ann Hampton Callaway and a fantastic triple billing. They open (yes, OPEN) with probably the most famous classical ballet scene of all time: Swan Lake Act II, featuring prima ballerina Jenna Johnson as Odette. Then, the premiere of “Unraveling Seams” an original work by on-the-rise choreographer Amanda Morgan of Pacific Northwest Ballet. A piece composed and sung by Callaway and choreographed by Chieko Imada brings us home: “Ballet the Callo-way.” 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28 and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29 and Sunday, Jan. 30. Leo Rich Theater, 260 S. Church Ave. $50 GA, $45 seniors/students/ military, $40 groups.

An Evening with Kristin Chenoweth.

Whether you know her from Pushing Daisies, Wicked, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown or Glee, you’ve probably been impressed by this woman’s talent—and impressed by how much vocal power can fit into a person who stands at 4’11”. This is a chance to see the Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer perform live and in person. If you don’t already have tickets, you’re going to want to snatch some up! 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30. The Fox Theatre. $82.50 to $117.50.

La Encantada Fine Art Market. If you know and love any artists, you probably know they’ve been hard hit by the pandemic. And if music, books, TV shows, or new creative outlets have helped get you through the pandemic, then you know how important art is to humans and their wellbeing. Throw in a chance to take a nice weekend stroll, and you’ve already got a list of reasons why to attend this open-air market in the garden walkways of La Encantada.

From paintings and photography to woodwork and papier mache, from jewelry and pottery to metalwork and sculpture, this market is a feast for the eyes. 10 a.m. to 5 pm. Saturday, Jan. 29. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30. La Encantada Shopping Center, 2905 E. Skyline Drive. Free entry.

by Emily Dieckman Cat Yoga. Here at the Tucson Weekly, we believe every community should offer at LEAST two cat yoga opportunities per week, so thank goodness for our local cat lounge. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, there’s a class held on the first floor specifically designed for wheelchair users or others who need to or prefer to remain seated. It features modified movement forms and only has six slots available.

The next day (10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30), they’ll offer a class on the second floor with more traditional movements. El Jefe Cat Lounge, 3025 N. Campbell Ave., Ste. 141.

Reservations required. $18.

Winter Tucson Gem Shows at Casino Del Sol. The Gem Show is back, baby! Over at Casino del Sol, that means eight days of shopping, workshops and fun for professionals and hobbyists alike. At Colors of the Stone, tradespeople and designers can purchase gemstones, metals, leather, cords, wire, clay and other jewelry making and bead making supplies wholesale. Artisans in residence will also be teaching workshops in skills like metal work, hand knotting, crystal setting and mixed media. And To Bead True Blue is also part of the lineup, featuring 1,000 artisan exhibits, galleries and workshops. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 29 to Feb. 5. Casino Del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Road. Free entry.

Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. Over a month long in full, this local film fest continues this week with six short films, which you can purchase as part of a single digital screening window and watch in any order you want. Masel Tov Cocktail, a film about a Russian Jewish teenager living in Germany, who gets in a fight and pokes fun at a hypocritically tolerant society, is followed by a post film program via Zoom at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30. And Space Torah, about how NASA astronaut Jeff Hoffman brough a small Torah scroll on board Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996, will have a post-film program at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1. Screenings available from Friday, Jan. 28 to Wednesday, Feb. 2. Visit eventive.org/ tucsonfilm for tickets. $12.

Charlas con Café: Indigenous Voices and U.S. Policy in Central America. The Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona is hosting this digital weekly lecture series on Friday afternoons throughout the spring. They’re a great way to hear from a variety of experts on topics relevant to Latin America. This week’s speaker, Jadob Omar Jerónimo, is the is co-founder of the Central de Organizaciones Indígenas y Campesinas Maya Ch’orti’; the Upejkna’r e Ja’ Institute for Ch’orti’ Maya Science and Technology, and the Ch’orti’ Maya Pluriversity, all located in the Ch’orti’ territory in eastern Guatemala. He’ll be speaking about the Biden administration’s policy to “address the root causes” of Central American migration. In Spanish, with simultaneous translation in English. 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28. Visit news.arizona.edu/calendar to register for Zoom talk.

Tucson Online Speed Dating. I mean, if you’re single and looking, why not? Maybe you’re sick of swiping and trying to sum yourself up in online dating profiles, or maybe you just want to try something new.

Either way, this allows you to meet people virtual face to virtual face for three-minute speed dates from the comfort of your home.

It’s hosted by the dating app Ever, but is free and especially for people in Tucson, so you can connect with people nearby. Download the Ever App, set up your profile and RSVP for the “Tucson Date Night Meetup” event and—bada bing, bada Zoom—you’re in.

Maybe you’ll meet your soulmate, or maybe you’ll meet someone totally weird and have a good story for later. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28. Virtual. Free.

JANUARY 27, 2022

CHOW

JAKE O’ROURKE

Eastside eatery Tino’s is closing roughly one year after founder Dino Chonis passed away.

SPINNING AWAY

Tino’s Pizza Closing After Nearly Four Decades of Serving Pie

By Jake O’Rourke tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com AFTER 37 YEARS SERVING hand-crafted pizza to generations of Tucsonans, Tino’s Pizza will permanently close its doors on Wednesday, Feb. 2, retiring the legacy of its late owner Dino Chonis.

“After my dad passed, we were only closed for two days. The staff was ready to rally, the community was ready to rally,” said Morgan Chonis, who started working in the restaurant at age 12. “We’ve kept it running the last year and a half, but we decided as a family that it’s time to retire his legacy and let it be that ‘perfect and pure’.”

Dino passed away in April 2020 after a battle with cancer. He opened Tino’s Pizza on Tanque Verde Road in 1984 at the age of 24. At the time, there was already another restaurant named Dino’s, so he decided to combine his name with his sister Tina’s to create the name for Tino’s Pizza.

Although Tino’s can be a great spot for a quick slice, they have forged lasting relationships with generations of families who have frequented the establishment for decades. Instead of closing right away, the Tino’s family wanted to give their community time to enjoy a last meal and show their support before shutting their doors for good.

“It’s a great local place, but I’m sure the closing will create an opportunity for whatever comes next for them,” said Bill Hansen, a first-time customer who made it in before the restaurant shutters.

Being a part of the Tino’s Pizza legacy has been a rite of passage for many.

There are current employees who even follow in their parents’ footsteps in Tino’s kitchen. As an owner, Dino’s lessons helped solidify lasting bonds and established a family atmosphere.

“Dino called me four days before he died. I didn’t know it was a goodbye call, but that’s what it was,” said Jon Schmieder, a Tino’s employee from 1988 to 1997.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Ballet Tucson reFRESH Winter Concert 2022 A Celebration of Women in Song and Dance In partnership with the Tucson Desert Song Festival Jan. 28 to 30: Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Leo Rich Theater at Tucson Convention Center, 260 Church Ave. $50 general, $45 seniors, students and military Tickets at TCC Box Office at 520-791-4101; at tickermaster.com or 800-745-3000 Ballet Tucson 520-903-1445, ballettucson.org The show is two hours long, including two intermissions.

COVID protocols: Patrons must provide a vaccination card or proof of negative test results within 72 hours before the show.

Masks must be worn at all times. For info on TCC protocols, see tucsonconventioncenter. com/covid-19-update For info on Tucson Desert Song Festival events, see tucsondesertsongfestival.org/ events TIM FULLER

Jenna Johnson in “Swan Lake.”

TRIPLE PLAY

Ballet Tucson presents a trio of decidedly different dances this weekend

By Margaret Regan tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

THIS WEEKEND AT LEO RICH, Ballet Tucson is performing three decidedly different dances.

First up, Swan Lake, one of the most beloved of classic ballets, will be on a local stage for the first time in years. The troupe will perform only Act II, but that’s the work’s most gorgeous part: reams of ethereal ballerinas, dance to the music of Tchaikovsky.

Next is a brand-new contemporary work by Amanda Morgan, a rising young choreographer from Pacific Northwest Ballet. “Unraveling Seams,” her piece, “promises to capture the spirit of female creativity and resilience.”

And in the grand finale, famed Broadway artist Ann Hampton Callaway sings her own songs live, while the entire troupe moves around her doing jazz moves.

“Ann brings out the best of Broadway,” says Margaret Mullin, the company’s new associate artistic director, and her perfor-

mance is “a jazz, ballet, Broadway hybrid.”

The unusual concert is connected to the Tucson Desert Song Festival, an annual enterprise that celebrates musicians from in town and out. Ballet Tucson has been with the festival from day one, 10 years ago, Mullin says, importing musicians to blend their music with dance.

“It’s so rewarding, creating opportunities for talented artists,” Mullin says. And it’s rewarding for Ballet Tucson’s Chieko Imada as well. Each year, Imada choreographs dances for the troupe to go with the singers’ performance.

“Chieko has a passion for it,” Mullin says. “It pushes her to explore her own choreography.”

This year the festival is honoring women artists, and Ballet Tucson is showcasing not only women musicians, but female dancers and choreographers as well.

“We decided to craft the entire rep as a celebration of women and song and dance,” Mullin says.

Swan Lake was an easy choice.

The ballet was conceived by Julius

Reisinger in 1877 and revived by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivenov in 1895, and the music is Tchaikovsky’s. But despite this gaggle of men, the ballet “highlights women so beautifully,” Mullin says. “And we have a great group for it.”

Sixteen ballerinas in the core play the swans. They, along with Princess Odette. are women who have been turned into swans by an evil magician.

The company’s grand ballerina Jenna Johnson portrays the doomed Odette, who longs to revert to human form. Vasily Boldin dances Siegfried, the prince who loves her.

Taylor Johnson, another talented ballerina, alternates with Jenna for the role of Odette. Her Siegfried is played by Skylar Burson.

Casey Johnson is the evil Rathbart.

There are plenty of reasons that the ballet is so enduring.

“There is a love story, beautiful core work, a pas de deux, and those four little swans that are iconic for ballet,” says Mullin.

The cygnets are the swans who lace themselves together and dance as one, in a scene that always enthralls the audience.

“That’s a very difficult dance where they’re holding onto each other,” Mullin says. “I always have respect for the ladies doing that. I’ve done it before and it’s not easy.”

Mullin knows of what she speaks. She was a renowned solo ballerina at Pacific Northwest Ballet before coming home to Tucson to help run the city’s only pro ballet company.

And she’s familiar with the work of Amanda Morgan, the choreographer who created the concert’s second dance.

“She has gotten a lot of attention around the country,” says Mullin. “She has a lot of promise.”

Morgan, who is also a dancer, tapped composer Brian Lawlor for the music, selecting five of his works.

“She’s done a really moving piece with a great contrast to the other two works,” Mullin points out. “It is much more contemporary, very different type of music as well.”

For this very modern piece, the dancers will be wearing all black. Even so, the emotional work hints to “a way to joy and peace” in this difficult time.

The grand finale has a clever title: “Ballet the Callo-way.” Broadway singer and composer, Callaway, will sing her own songs for some 40 minutes, joining a cast of 26 dancers.

“Ann will wander around the stage amongst the dancers,” Mullin says. “She’ll have a microphone.”

And from time to time she’ll play the piano, and the dancers come in and out.

Callaway has crafted songs for the likes of Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli, and has won countless awards for her work. For this show she invited Imada to select seven songs of her own liking.

Callaway herself chose one of her songs for a solo at the end of the show.

The songs are all about love, just in time for Valentine’s Day, but not all of them are of the romantic variety.

“One scene is the love of a family, and a lonely person coming by and being welcomed,” Mullin says.

Imada’s dances have a “jazz layer,” and the costumes have a “lounge kind of feeling.”

The men’s clothes are simple and sleek, with blue pants and collared shirts. The women are in jazzy bar style dresses, but they outshine the men with color.

Every single woman wears a different hue. As Mullin puts it, “the women are in all the colors of the rainbow.” ■

JANUARY 27, 2022

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 15

MUSIC Gem & Jam Festival Featuring Jimkata, Liquid Stranger, Claude Vanstroke and others Friday, Feb. 4 through Sunday, Feb. 6 Pima County Fairgrounds $70 for one day, $199 for three-day pass plus service fees gemandjamfestival.com.

COURTESY PHOTO

“We take a lot of influences from contemporary music, like hip hop, a lot of funk, a lot of EDM type stuff but at the end of the day, we’re still three dudes with guitars and drums,” drummer Packy Lunn said.

ELECTRONICA AVENUE Jimkata making Arizona debut at Gem & Jam Festival

By Alexandra Pere apere@tucsonlocalmedia.com

ELECTRONIC ROCK BAND Jimkata will make their Arizona performance debut at the Gem & Jam Musical Festival on Saturday, Feb. 5, with Bonfires, an album that wrestles with the highs and lows of identity crises.

Lead singer and guitarist Evan Friedell began working on the lyrics for Bonfires after the band split in 2017.

Friedell, drummer Packy Lunn, and guitarist/keyboardist Aaron Gorsch wanted a break from tour life. The music industry had put more pressure on them than they could bear. Yet, the breakup left Friedell feeling lost.

“I identify so much with being a musician so when that was taken away,

it was really confusing and how the hell am I going to make a living?” Friedell said. “How am I going to make a living and do what I love?”

Friedell said the album wrestles with identity during the transition into full adulthood. The album is even more relevant when put into the context of “The Great Resignation,” the current trend where groups of workers are leaving their jobs en masse. While there are a number of reasons why people are quitting their jobs, the pandemic certainly heightened doubts people had about their occupation. With everyone trying to survive COVID, the question has arisen: Do I love what I’m doing?

But the album itself doesn’t take its subject matter to a dark place. The music gives the listener a sense of hope during a time of uncertainty by accompanying the lyrics with high -energy

beats and synthesizers. It’s hard not to bob your head to the Bonfires single Skinny Dipping, a song that clearly delivers the message of resilience.

“We take a lot of influences from contemporary music, like hip hop, a lot of funk, a lot of EDM type stuff but at the end of the day, we’re still three dudes with guitars and drums,” drummer Packy Lunn said.

Lunn said this album was the most intentional project the band has created together. Their time apart revitalized an appreciation for the art they once collaborated on, compelling them to build on the work fans loved. Without a deadline, the group was free to take more risks.

“We’d never had the luxury of this much time before to create something that we were really, really, really proud of,” Lunn said.

The band also worked with a team to produce music videos for each song on the album, all of which are available on Youtube.

Jimkata’s early plans to tour with Bonfires were thwarted by the onset of the pandemic. Yet, this unforeseeable occurrence made the album even more significant.

“I remember walking around while we were living in LA during this lockdown period and just feeling chills in a way,” Fridell said. “Like, wow, I had no idea that what we had worked on two years ago or whatever would be this relevant right now.”

The three-day Gem & Jam Festival features dozens of acts over three days at the Pima County Fairgrounds. ■

By Xavier Omar Otero tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

This week: Los Lobos, Martin Barre, The Garden, Joan Osborne, Martin Sexton, He$h & Bommer, Kristin Chenowith, Diamante, A.J. Croce, Damien Escobar y un chingo más.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… THURSDAY, JAN. 27 A hit single can change your life. Citing American poetry (the works of Walt Whitman in particular) as inspiration for her songwriting, Joan Osborne was a well-regarded figure on New York’s blues club scene, but practically unknown elsewhere at the beginning of 1995. But that had changed

by March, when the release of Relish (1995), her debut studio album, ascended the Billboard Hot 100. Propelled by hit single “One of Us,” the album peaked at No. 4, garnering seven Grammy nominations and forever changing everything. It was a blessing and a curse. “When I had that big song,” Osborne admits, “I was grateful, but I froze up inside. I was afraid. I didn’t want to make a misstep. I got tied up in knots trying to please everyone, even myself. I became the poster child for the sophomore slump.” She never had another single on the pop charts.

Twenty-seven years after her breakthrough, she follows her restless musical heart on her latest release, Trouble and Strife (2020), exploring a diverse range of genres. “We were going for a ’70s AM radio vibe,” says Osborne. Taking a hard look at transgender rights, climate change, immigration and disinformation, she adds: “These songs are the most political I’ve ever written.” Joan Osborne & The Weepies continue to break new ground. At Fox Tucson Theatre…

In 1988, after moving to Boston, blue-eyed soul/folk-rock singer-songwriter Martin Sexton launched his musical career busking on street corners around the city. As his following grew, his collection of CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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XOXO

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self-produced demo recordings, In The Journey (1991), released on an 8-track cassette, sold an impressive 15,000 copies to fans. Shifting his voice effortlessly in-and-out of falsetto, on “Women and Wine” Sexton toes the line.

“Like the mist of morning, my dream remains. Hanging in the burnt fields. The flames hiss a chorus of your disdain.

Picking up the past I left behind.” Taking to the high road, with what Rolling Stone calls his “soul-marinated voice,” an acoustic guitar, and a suitcase full of heartfelt songs, Martin Sexton presents 2020 Vision (2021). At 191 Toole…

Traveling through the forgotten landscapes of Nogrod, one of two Dwarven cities in the Blue Mountains, slumber drunk, inspired by grunge, dripping with sheets of sopping guitars and ’90s angst, these 20-something Tucson alternative rockers are making quite a racket. Droll live up to their moniker. At Club Congress. With Class and Deep Stay…

Recently voted Best Musical Act of 2021 (by TW’s Best of Tucson® readers poll), Miss Olivia & the Interlopers radiate their signature soulful, funky grooves and tell Tiny Tales. At Tap & Bottle (downtown)…

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 It’s been 44 years since the release of Los Lobos del Este de Los Ángeles Despite their humble suggestion that they are “just another band from East L.A.,” Los Lobos have repeatedly proven that they are much, much more. The band was a 2021 recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Their latest album, Native Sons (2021), is a tribute to their hometown via cover songs. From the opening track, “Love Special Delivery” (1966) by Chicano rock & rollers Thee Midniters to The Jaguars’ “Where Lovers Go” (1965), they profess an undying love to The City of Angels. While the repercussions from the pandemic are likely to embed themselves in future works, for now the band’s focus is on touring. A century ago, the end of the 1918 flu pandemic—followed by a period of social change when Americans cast aside old conventions in favor of new ideas—ushered in the Jazz Age. In an interview with PopMatters, saxophonist Steve Berlin philosophized that the desolation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic could set the scene for a renaissance of music and art. “Let’s cross our fingers and hope that happens now.” Los Lobos strew their signature cross-cultural mezcla, By the Light of the Moon. At Rialto Theater.

With Lisa Morales… On Too Close To The Riptide (2021) local musician Sophia Rankin explores themes of love, mourning, new beginnings and acceptance. Up-and-comers Sophia Rankin & The Sound reach far beyond their folk roots. At 191 Toole. With Nocturnal Theory and Imogen Rose… As a Dallas skate punk, Joey Verrando (aka He$h) stumbled upon dubstep as a teenager. Zack Bommer started his career spinning in local bars before dubstep blew up into a phenom. He$h & Bommer. At Gentle Ben’s…

DJ Humblelianess leads Tucson’s hottest Latin dance party. El Tambó. At Hotel Congress (plaza stage)… Led by guitarist Steve Shell, veteran rockers Shell Shock guarantee a good time. At House of Bards… Descend into the underground world where the River Styx crosses with EDM. Wook N Jam. Runs through Jan. 31. Location TBA (45 minutes from Tucson)… Mamma Coal & Grant Bloom entertain on the plaza. At Hotel Congress…

SATURDAY, JAN. 29 Sneaky devils and identical twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears have been thumbing their snotty noses at convention since forming The Garden, based out of their parent’s house in The O.C., back in 2011. In their salad days, when they wandered the halls at Villa Park High School, punk aggression comprised the soundtrack to their lives. “It’s not all we listen to. But if we had to pick one style of music that’s in your soul, it’s that,” Fletcher says. Known for fast, punky jungle, drum ’n’ bass, and trickster antics, they just don’t give a fuck. “If other people like it, cool. If not, then they don’t have to listen to it.” In an interview with Spin, the brothers see their latest album, Kiss My Super Bowl Ring (2020)—their most “balls out” record since 2013’s The Life and Times of a Paperclip—as just another way to say “kiss my ass.” As Wyatt explains, “We just want to do what we want to do. We’ve experimented a lot musically, we’ve never had just one sound. On the lyrics front, I think this is our most candid and honest record, and there are less hidden messages.” The Garden “French Kiss the Abyss.” At Rialto Theater. With The Runts… Folk singer Jim Croce’s short-lived recording career spawned three No.1 songs and 10 Top 10 hits, earning posthumous acclaim as one of the greatest songwriters to ever put pen to paper. In a special night of music, A.J. Croce performs a complete set of timeless classics by his late father—including “Operator,” “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” and “Time in a Bottle” (a song written for A.J.)—along some of his own material.

Croce Plays Croce. At Fox Tucson Theatre… Fat Tony returns for his monthly DJ residency. At Hotel Congress (plaza stage)… Wholly Cats Swing Club do just that. At Hotel Congress (plaza stage)… After a long hiatus, The Surfbroads—still rakish and irreverent with a slight S&M bent—wash up on the desert sand to turn heads, once again.

At MotoSonora Brewing Company…

SUNDAY, JAN. 30 Putting her unique spin on pop classics—from Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” to Judy Garland’s “Over The Rainbow”—Kristin Chenoweth’s album, For the Girls (2019), pays tribute to the female icons that helped shape her as a performer. Assembling a collection of voices that span generations, Chenowith duets with Ariana Grande, Reba McEntire, Jennifer Hudson and Dolly Parton, although in an interview with NPR, she asserts that she didn’t set out to make a duets album. “It just started evolving,” Chenowith says. In a conversation with record producer Steve Tyrell

JANUARY 27, 2022

she reasoned, “If it’s going to be for the girls, I’ve got to have some of my favorite singers on there.” The Emmy and Tony Award winner counts her duet with Dolly Parton on “I Will Always Love You” as one of her proudest accomplishments. “I still get goose bumps and start to cry.” An Evening with Kristin Chenowith. At Fox Tucson Theatre…

Best known for his role as long-time guitarist of Britain’s Jethro Tull, Martin Barre played on every Tull album except for their 1968 debut album This Was. With album sales in excess of 60 million units, his contributions in shaping the band’s distinct prog-rock sound were instrumental to their success until the band’s dissolution in 2011. Although uncredited for much, Barre has claimed that a large body of work from the Jethro Tull catalog was co-written by himself and Ian Anderson. Barre has said two albums, Songs from the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1978), demonstrate his best playing; he’s credited with having contributed “additional material” both. As a solo artist Barre has recorded nine albums. Prog had this to say of 2013’s Away With Words. “Barre has taken an imaginative approach to his own past by readdressing many of his favorite, often more obscure, nuggets from lull’s [sic] vast cache, chiefly on acoustic guitar.” On the heels of the 50th Anniversary of the release of Aqualung (1971), Martin Barre has assembled a band—including original Tull drummer Clive Bunker— to observe the occasion. At Rialto Theater… Two-time Grammy nominee, Native American Music Award winner, Tucson Hall Of Famer, and multiple TAMMIE Award winner Amo Chip Dabney stokes the fire with some friends.

Congress Cookout. At Hotel Congress (plaza stage)… Later in the evening, Freddy Parish’s Country Club. At Hotel Congress (plaza stage)… A longtime fixture on the Tucson music scene—perhaps best known as bandleader of Latin jazz ensemble Descarga—Rafael Moreno Quartet returns.

At St. Philip’s Plaza…

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2 Having spent her teens sharpening her incisors playing Sunset Strip clubs as a disciple of Guns N’ Roses and Pink, Diamante grew obsessed, devoting every waking moment fleshing out her signature “hard rock sound with a modern alternative edge.” After extensive touring with Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace and Shinedown to promote Coming in Hot, her 2018 debut, Diamante returns with her sophomore release, American Dream (2021). Released independently, reveling in artistic freedom that comes with being untethered to a record label, she credits the album’s producers (Howard Benson and Neil Sanderson) with “bringing my stories to life and pushing me to embrace my vulnerabilities.” Diamante stands “Bulletproof.” At 191 Toole. With Eyes Set To Kill… Jason Boland & The Stragglers track in Texas Red Dirt. At The Rock. With special guests Kaitlin Butts and Cole Trains… In a solo acoustic performance, modern-day singing cowboy Hank Topless bangs out sets of honky-tonk and country blues. At Crooked Tooth Brewing Company…

THURSDAY, FEB. 3 Born to photographer/filmmaker John Cook and television director/producer Heather Cook, guitarist Jesse Cook grew up between France, Barcelona, and Canada. His music merges worlds. “I love flamenco, but I also love world music, jazz, pop, Brazilian samba, and Persian music.” His style is unique, a reflection of his many travels. Cook expands, “If you go to Spain and play my music, they’ll say, ‘What is this?’ They don’t recognize it as flamenco. Because it’s not. It’s a hybrid.”

He composed his first album, Tempest, in 1995. Part of the album’s initial buzz built up after the title track was looped for many monthsas background music for an Ontario cable TV channel listing, prompting viewers to call in and inquire. Recorded during the pandemic, Libre (2021), his latest release, was born of yearning for freedom. A Roland TR808 drum machine—whose diverse sounds have come to define hip hop, reggaeton, pop, and trap—reinvigorated his imagination. “If you’d asked me at 22, I’d have said that I would never, never make music for the public.” After a career spanning 25 years, Cook reflects, “Well, it turns out I did the thing I said I’d never do, and somehow it all worked out.” Jesse Cook travels Beyond Borders. At Fox Tucson Theatre… Hailing from Queens, New York, Damien Escobar, along with his brother Tourie, both Julliard-trained violinists, first gained recognition performing in the NYC subway. Their duo Nuttin’ But Stringz was catapulted into stardom after placing third on season 3 of America’s Got Talent. The duo’s ascent was rapid. Soon thereafter their music was featured in a montage for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. They basked in the glory of being highly sought-after musicians, albeit short-lived, and their fall from grace came with a hard landing. Egos crushed, in a haste the brothers set aside their violins and the duo disbanded. What came next was a struggle, not only with identity, but with depression and homelessness. Once thought of strictly as a passion project, in 2013 Damien Escobar released Sensual Melodies, his first album as a solo artist. A mix of classical, hip-hop, jazz, and R&B, this compelling crossover sound soon garnered over 200K downloads, landing on iTunes Top 100 chart. Doors that were once closed, opened. Escobar penned his first children’s book, The Sound of Strings (2014) and has gone on to release three more albums: Boundless (2017), Songs from a Breakthrough (2020) and a Christmas album, 25 Days of Christmas (2020). “Who’s to say that if Bach were alive right now he wouldn’t be playing hip-hop and blending everything?” Damien Escobar. At Rialto Theater… In a tribute to the leading ladies of country music—Loretta Lynn, Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, and more—Mamma Coal tells the stories of love, life, drinkin’, and hard-lessons-learned by these Queens of Country. At The Gaslight Music Hall (Oro Valley)...

On the horizon: Regarded by some as the unofficial after-party of the annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. STS9, Liquid Stranger, Claude VonStroke, Shpongle, Lotus, and Lab Group are the sparkling diamonds in a field of resplendent gemstones that cool and solidify to form a trippy and diverse lineup. Gem & Jam 2022. Runs Feb. 4––6. At Pima County Fairgrounds…

Until next week, XOXO…

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 17

SPINNING AWAY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

“It’s not just a pizza joint. You find a culture at a place and realize it has nothing to do with what product gets made there; it’s about the culture that gets created there. He was helping a lot of young people survive and persevere. The legacy and what he gave us is never going to die.”

The Chonis family and their extended Tino’s family of resolute staff members approach the loss as a celebration of life rather than a tragedy. On the day of Dino’s death, community members created a mural of messages to the Tucson legend on the west façade of the building.

The messages range from simple “I love you” to full paragraphs of memories and inside jokes. Of course, the University of Arizona “A” also made it onto the wall, as Tino’s frequently showed UA games and memorabilia.

To celebrate the Tino’s Pizza legacy, staff members from years passed returned to “the shop” to “scratch a pie” one last time. Employees from the ’80s, ’90s and on have returned to work short shifts.

For many employees, Tino’s Pizza was their first job.

They recall Dino teaching them how to show up, punch the clock and do their job correctly. Although the talks revolved around pizza, the lessons learned still impact their lives today.

“I probably made 2,000 pies in my day,” Schmieder said. “I was able to come in and make my last one with my son standing next to me almost exactly 25 years after my first shift. It hit me as I put the last one into the oven: that’s it, that’s a wrap.” ■

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JANUARY 27, 2022

SMOKING THE COMPETITION

Pima County Dems give a nod to Louisiana Senatorial candidate’s weed-based campaign ad

By David Abbott tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com IN A TWEET THAT THE PIMA COUNTY

Democratic Party called “an important campaign ad,” Louisiana Democratic Senate candidate Gary Chambers debuted his campaign with “37 Seconds,” which featured Chambers smoking a fat blunt while he talked about the damage the War on Drugs has done to communities of color.

As of Jan. 24, the video had more than 6.5 million views on Twitter since it was posted on Jan. 18, along with an-

other million-plus on Instagram. The ad has also been covered by multiple outlets, including Rolling Stone.

“I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology,” Chambers wrote in his original Tweet.

The ad featured Chambers, a Black man, smoking a large blunt with a voiceover addressing racial disparity in marijuana arrests and citing the

amount of money spent in the U.S. chasing down pot smokers like they’re cartel drug lords.

“Every 37 seconds, someone is arrested for possession of marijuana,” Chambers said in his video. “Since 2010, state and local police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, over half of all drug arrests. Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people.

States waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year. Most of the people police are arresting are not dealers, but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me.”

The information comes from an oft-cited 2020 ACLU study titled, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” that also reports in some states, Black people were up to 10 times more likely to be arrested. Additionally, since 2010, racial disparities in pot arrests have actually grown in 31 states.

While Chambers was trending on Twitter, the Pima County Democratic Party joined in and called out the video

for its message.

According to PCDP Chair Bonnie Heidler, while the organization does not condone smoking weed on a campaign ad, that should not detract from an important message.

“You have to listen to what he says,” Heidler told the Weedly. “We don’t think he should be smoking marijuana on a campaign ad, but we believe what he’s saying is true. We need to start changing laws so they do not impact the most vulnerable [members of society].”

Heidler likened pot prohibition to alcohol prohibition, adding that alcohol takes much more of a toll on the human body and can be more damaging with heavy use. She also said prohibitionists’ fears of “reefer madness” are overblown and detrimental to the debate on legalization.

“On a federal level, we want [legalization] passed because of the damages current laws inflict on the communities most affected [by current policy],” she said. “It’s not like every kid is going to go out and eat gummies like [prohibitionist groups] portray. It’s

JANUARY 27, 2022

because of what it does to the communities. That’s the point we were trying to make.”

While the PCDP may not agree with the “optics” of a campaign ad featuring a large, Black man in a blue suit sitting in a recliner in the middle of a field smoking a blunt, the Weedly thinks it is a much better look than a moronic white woman toting an AR-15, shooting at pictures of Democratic elected officials with bullseyes painted on their faces.

Chambers has vowed to back expungements and banking bills—such as the ever-present, never-passed SAFE Banking Act—if elected to Congress.

Several news outlets have reported a bump in donations in what is now a nationally high-profile campaign

NEWS NUGGETS YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A number of news reports dropped earlier this month regarding a study at Oregon State University finding that some compounds in hemp may help inhibit COVID’s ability to enter cells.

“These compounds can be taken orally and have a long history of safe use in humans,” Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, said in a statement announcing the Center’s findings. “They have the potential to prevent as well as treat infection by SARS-CoV-2.”

Way back in the dark days of July 2020, the Weedly reported on two other studies into the efficacy of cannabinoids as potential treatment for the pathogen. One was a Canadian study that was a collaboration between the University of Lethbridge, Pathway Rx, a Canadian pharmaceutical research company that develops cannabis therapies, and Swysh, Inc., a cannabinoid-based oral health company. The other, an Israeli study, featured a col-

laboration between InnoCan Pharma of Israel and Tel Aviv University.

But Grace Huckins, writing in Slate, provided a bit of a buzzkill. After speaking with some researchers, she shared the bad news that you’d have to take massive dosages of CBDA tinctures that could cost up to $60 a day with no proven protection.

That said, we stand by our earlier assertion that it is probably safer to self-medicate with weed than it is to drink horse paste malteds or inject bleach into the veins.

Mask up and get the damn vaccinations.

DUH: The Department of Redundancy Department brings us this gem from Marijuana Moment: A study in Spain released last month determined that young people who smoke cannabis and drink alcohol have better sex and more orgasms.

“Sexual function is improved in young people who are high-risk cannabis consumers with a moderate risk of alcohol use, resulting in increased desire, arousal, and orgasm,” the study determined. “This improvement is usually associated with a reduction in anxiety and shame, which facilitates sexual relationships.”

On the down side, pot smokers and alcohol users can also be prone to risky behavior.

“Notwithstanding the benefits reported of cannabis consumption in our results and others, it is important to keep in mind that drug use is associated with risky sexual behaviors such as unprotected sex and the appearance of sexually transmitted infections, leading to careless and unsafe sexual encounters,” the study states. “These high-risk attitudes are frequently associated with increased relaxation, euphoria, disinhibition, decreased self-control, and decreased risk perception caused by psychoactive substances, which cause users to be less cautious and to forget the importance of safe sex.”

Maybe we can file this one with the similar studies that found “water is wet,” and “2+2=4”? ■

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 19

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JANUARY 27, 2022

SAVAGE LOVE ROOTING AROUND

By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net

I’m a heterosexual cisgender male who loves prostate stimulation. I discovered it later in life, but it’s been a staple for the last 15 years. I’m worried I’m pushing the envelope too much and need your advice. Lately, the last six months or so, I will have an orgasm that’s so intense I have pain just to the right of the base of my penis & balls immediately afterwards. If I push a finger in toward the center of my body, it’s tender. It goes away after a few minutes, but sometimes my right ball remains sensitive. I’ve even taken an ibuprofen to lessen the pain and I’ve had a prostate exam when it’s happening and I do self-exams of my testicles regularly, and I’ve noticed no changes. Usually my next orgasm is normal, and there’s no pain or sensitivity afterwards. As I said, though, it happens after intense sessions with a lot of prostate stimulation. While I’ve been practicing butt stuff for a long time, I feel as I’ve only perfected it in the last year or so. I should also state that my sessions last up to two hours, and I’m erect during most of that time. I obviously don’t want to hurt myself, and I don’t think I am, but it’s a concern. It’s very hard to stop something that feels so incredibly good. I’m a little uncomfortable talking with my urologist because he treats me like a long-lost uncle. At our first visit, I told him very directly that my father had prostate cancer and I really wanted him to take his time with the exam and to really make sure all is well with my prostate. I added that the last exam I got from my primary care physician didn’t last long enough to feel very accurate and encouraged my urologist to take as much time as he wanted up there. He did not. Hoping you can help me out.

—Pain Around Balls Concerning “I’ve never had a patient specifically say they wanted me to ‘take my time’ with a prostate exam,” said Dr. Ashley Winter, a board-certified urologist in Portland, Oregon. “But on numerous occasions, I’ve had a patient say, ‘Wow, that was way more detailed of a prostate exam than my primary care doctor did.’ And generally, that comment is meant as a ‘thank you,’ as in, ‘thank you for being detail-oriented.’”

To be perfectly honest, PABC, I shared your letter with Dr. Winter because I suspected the request you made—take your time up there, doc—might’ve been the reason your doctor rushed through that prostate exam.

Dr. Winter assures me that was unlikely.

“I understand when someone wants their doctor to do a thorough exam,” said Dr. Winter. “A detailed exam shows the clinician is actually intent on collecting

information about their body apart from lab tests and imaging studies. The patient feels ‘seen.’ Or touched. You get my point.”

But just as a prostate exam that ends quickly isn’t evidence a doctor is worried a patient might be perving, an exam that ends quickly also isn’t evidence a doctor isn’t being thorough.

“Some patients have a very ‘high-riding prostate,’ for example, and that’s difficult to feel except for the apex, or the tip, of the prostate,” said Dr. Winter. “And I have long fingers! In those cases, I will probably do a quick in-and-out because taking longer would just involve me massaging the anus with no specific information being gathered.”

There’s nothing wrong with massaging an anus for the sake of massaging an anus, of course, but no one needs to go to med school and/or to the doctor for that. But while I had her on the phone, I asked Dr. Winter again if some people do go to the doctor for that.

“In extremely rare instances patients are manipulative or fetishize their exams, but this is extremely uncommon,” said Dr. Winter. “And while I can’t rule out the possibility that the urologist who saw PABC was ‘weirded out’ by his comments, it seems more likely that PABC is projecting that on to his doctor. There is so much shame around ‘butt stuff’ and so I can easily see how this happens.” (It’s also possible that I’m the one doing the projecting here, as I was the one who raised the issue.)

That said, while intentional perving is rare, some people do get aroused during exams.

“Unintended genital responses—whether erection, or prostatic secretion during a rectal exam—are normal and occur on occasion,” said Dr. Winter. “It is the role of any self-respecting sex-positive clinician to acknowledge that these things are normal and move on. But it’s super uncommon and when it happens, the patient is usually stressed out and very apologetic about it.”

As for your problem—sensitivity around the base of your penis after one of your extended butt-play JO sessions—Dr. Winter thinks you might need a different sort of exam altogether.

“It sounds like what he’s having is a pelvic floor muscle spasm,” said Dr. Winter.

“People tense and contract muscles in their pelvis—muscles at the base of penis— during periods of prolonged stimulation.

He’s not doing anything wrong, and he doesn’t have to stop. But he might want to take a warm bath after. And if it’s too uncomfortable or gets worse, he should ask to be referred for a pelvic floor exam and

possible pelvic-floor physical therapy.”

Follow Dr. Ashley Winter on Twitter @ AshleyGWinter.

There’s a long-running controversy among the Adult Baby/Diaper Lover (ABDL) community about the long-term impacts of continuously wearing and using diapers.

Some argue that adult babies may or may not become a bedwetter and/or incontinent from continual diaper use. The ABDLs who claim to have been successfully “un-potty trained” are loudly decried as liars by other members of their community. Naturally, there aren’t a lot of medical studies on this (there aren’t any), and I’m not going to ask my family doctor. Can you figure this out?

—In Nappies Cancels Out Nocturia Nope.

I’m a 74-year-old straight male. I don’t have a problem for you. Instead, I am writing to share an idea with you with potential benefit to society. But, unlike you, I don’t have the means to spread the news. Based on the success of your “It Gets Better” Project, you seem like the perfect person to publicize it.

My idea and my proposal to you is this: International Come-Out-of-the-Closet Day. It would include coming out about your sexual orientation but not be limited to sexual orientation. It would include all long-suppressed “secrets,” including affairs, crushes, no longer being in love with your spouse, or anything else a person might have kept hidden. I even have a suggestion for when to celebrate International Come-Out-of-theCloset Day: March 4. The slogan would be “March Forth on March Fourth!” What do you think?

—Movement About Really Changing Hearts

We already have a National Coming Out Day (NCOD), MARCH, when closeted queer people everywhere are encouraged—if they can do so safely—to come out to their families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. NCOD is not a new thing; it’s taken place on October 11 every year since 1988. And while I appreciate the spirit of your proposal—let’s all get those long-suppressed secrets off our chests—I’m not sure you’ve thoroughly thought this one through.

If one day a year we blurt out our secrets—affairs and crushes and secret second families included—the result would probably look less like National Coming Out Day and more like The Purge. And since most people regard breaking up on an annual holiday as a needless and avoidable cruelty, people who confess to affairs or no longer being in love on International Come-Out-of-the-Closet Day will not be seen as courageous truth-tellers, MARCH, but as inconsiderate assholes. It’s fine to dump someone, people fall out of love, people have affairs. But no one thinks it’s okay to dump someone—or to share a secret that forces someone to dump you—on Thanksgiving or Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Because then the person whose heart you stomped on winds up being reminded every year when that holiday inevitably rolls around. So, for the same reason it wouldn’t be okay to blurt out terrible secrets on the holidays we already have, it wouldn’t be okay to blurt them out on a day dedicated to blurting out terrible secrets. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.

Columns, podcasts, books, merch and more at www.savage.love!

JANUARY 27, 2022

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

By Rob Brezsny. Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY HOROSCOPE 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 $1.99 per minute. 18 and over. Touchtone phone required.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Helen Hunt Jackson said that one component of happiness is “a little less time than you want.” Why? Because you always “have so many things you want to see, to have, and to do” and “no day is quite long enough for all you would like to get done before you go to bed.” I propose you experiment with this definition in the coming weeks.

According to my astrological analysis, you will have even more interesting assignments and challenges than usual—as well as a brimming vitality that will make it possible for you to accomplish many but not all of them. Your happiness should be abundant!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Born under the sign of Taurus, Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) had considerable skills as a composer of music, an athlete, an author, a passionate lover, and an activist working for women’s rights. She was successful in all of them.

I propose we make her one of your role models for the coming months. Why? First, because she did more than one thing really well, and you are now primed to enhance your versatility, flexibility, and adaptability.

Second, because she described a formula for high achievement that would suit you well. She said, “Night after night I went to sleep murmuring, ‘Tomorrow I will be easy, strong, quick, supple, accurate, dashing and self-controlled all at once!’” (PS: I suggest you make “supple” your word of power in 2022.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to author Olivia Dresher, “Feelings want to be free. Thoughts want to be right.” Well, then, what about intuitions? In a sense, they’re hybrids of feelings and thoughts. They’re a way of knowing that transcends both feelings and thoughts. When intuitions come from the clear-seeing part of your deep psyche rather than the fear-prone part of your conditioning, they are sweet and fun and accurate and humble and brisk and pure. They don’t “want” to be anything.

I’m pleased to inform you, Gemini, that in the coming weeks, your intuitions will be working at peak efficiency. It should be relatively easy for you to distinguish between the clear-seeing and fear-prone modes of intuition.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “If you are going to do something wrong, at least enjoy it,” wrote humorist Leo Rosten. I offer his counsel to you right now because I want you to have fun if you wander away from your usual upstanding behavior. But may I make a suggestion? As you depart from normal, boring niceness, please remain honorable and righteous. What I’m envisioning for you are experiments that are

disruptive in healthy ways, and dares that stir up interesting problems, and rebellious explorations that inspire beauty and truth.

They’ll be “wrong” only in the sense of being mutinies against static, even stagnant, situations that should indeed be prodded and pricked. Remember Bob Dylan’s idea: “To live outside the law, you must be honest.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo actor Anna Kendrick bragged, “I’m so humble it’s crazy. I’m like the Kanye West of humility.”

I’d like to see you adopt that extravagant approach to expressing your magnificence in the coming weeks. I hope you’ll add another perspective to your repertoire, too—this one from Leo actor Mae West.

She exulted, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!” Here’s one further attitude I encourage you to incorporate, courtesy of Leo author Rachel Pollack: “To learn to play seriously is one of the great secrets of spiritual exploration.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Sammy Davis Jr. (1925–1990) was multi-talented: an actor, singer, comedian and dancer. One critic described him as “the greatest entertainer ever to grace a stage.” He didn’t think highly of his own physical appearance, however.

“I know I’m dreadfully ugly,” Davis said, “one of the ugliest men you could meet.

But ugliness, like beauty, is something you must learn how to use.” That’s an interesting lesson to meditate on. I think it’s true that each of us has rough, awkward, irregular aspects—if not in our physical appearance, then in our psyches. And yet, as Davis suggested, we can learn to not just tolerate those qualities, but use them to our advantage. Now is a favorable time for you to do that.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “It is the nature of love to work in a thousand different ways,” wrote the mystic Saint Teresa of Avila.

According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you’re due to discover new and different ways to wield your love magic—in addition to the many you already know and use. For best results, you’ll have to be willing to depart from old reliable methods for expressing care and tenderness and nurturing. You must be willing to experiment with fresh approaches that may require you to stretch yourself. Sounds like fun to me!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “If you are drilling for water, it’s better to drill one 60-foot well than 10 six-foot wells,” advised author and religious scholar Huston Smith. He was using well-drilling as a metaphor, of course—as a symbol for solving a problem, for example, or developing a spiritual practice, or formulating an approach to psycho-

logical healing. The metaphor might not be perfectly applicable for everyone in every situation. But I believe it is vividly apropos for you and your current situations.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A well-worn proverb tells us, “All good things come to those who wait.” There’s a variation, whose author is unknown (although it’s often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln): “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left behind by those who hustle.” I think that’s far more useful advice for you in the coming weeks. I’d much rather see you hustle than wait. Here’s a third variant, which may be the best counsel of all. It’s by author Holly Woodward: “All good things come to those who bait.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Author Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, “To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.” I agree, which is why I authorize you to add “Saint” to the front of your name in the coming weeks. There’s an excellent chance you will fit the description Stowe articulated. You’ll be at the peak of your power to elevate the daily rhythm into a stream of subtle marvels. You’ll be quietly heroic. If you’re not fond of the designation “Saint,” you could use the Muslim equivalent term, “Wali,” the Jewish “Tzadik,” Buddhist “Arhat,” or Hindu “Swami.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Since the iconoclastic planet Uranus is a chief sym-

Comics

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 21

bol for the Aquarian tribe, you people are more likely to be dissenters and mavericks and questioners than all the other signs.

That doesn’t mean your departures from orthodoxy are always successful or popular.

Sometimes you meet resistance from the status quo. Having offered that caveat, I’m happy to announce that in the coming weeks, your unique offerings are more likely than usual to be effective. For inspiration, read these observations by author Kristine Kathryn Rusch: “Rebels learn the rules better than the rule-makers do. Rebels learn where the holes are, where the rules can best be breached. Become an expert at the rules. Then break them with creativity and style.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean author Juansen Dizon tells us, “Don’t find yourself in places where people have it all figured out.” That’s always good advice, but it will be especially germane for you in the coming weeks and months. You need the catalytic stimulation that comes from associating with curious, open-minded folks who are committed to the high art of not being know-it-alls. The influences you surround yourself with will be key in your efforts to learn new information and master new skills. And that will be an essential assignment for you throughout 2022.

Homework: What is the feeling you want to have the most during 2022? Newsletter.

FreeWillAstrology.com

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JANUARY 27, 2022

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Banner University Medical Group –has an opening for a Hospitalist to work in Tucson, Arizona. Provide medical care to assigned patient population, maintain timely and appropriate documentation of such care, and actively participates in medical staff duties. Participate in utilization management and care management processes to ensure high quality, cost effective delivery of services. For full description, or to apply, Send resume to Lisa.Welsh@bannerhealth.com , Reference # JSA2021.

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Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS

When said three times, how an overlong comment might be summarized 5 Morgan Stanley acquisition of 2020 11 Shock, in a way 14 Let up 15 Get something just right 16 Word aptly hidden in “I’ve got this!”

17 Reef deposit hung on the holiday tree?

20 Is unobliged to 21 Popular web browser 22 Something an Australian might throw on the barbie 25 Beats (out) 26 Heath genus that’s also a woman’s name 29 Certain international soccer championship, familiarly 31 Noble gas you can’t live without?

33 It’s 1 for 90° 37 Occasion on which to sing the hymn “Up From the Grave He Arose” 38 Word with candy or ball 40 Things caught at a beach 41 Starbucks order for a man’s man?

45 True 46 Essential character 47 Cause of the moon hitting your eye like a big pizza pie, in song 51 Sugar or flour 53 Car model with a musical name 55 Miami five 1

59 Buys tickets for a

couple of friends for a Polynesian getaway?

62 Something it’s good to get a hole in?

63 Archers 64 Trash day reminder 65 Passage blocker, maybe 66 New citizen, perhaps 67 What cynophobia is the fear of

DOWN

Black-eyed pea, technically 2 Get ready to skate, with “up” 3 Lead-in to a Southern “-ville” 4 Tries to wrangle the unwrangleable 5 “Christ’s Entry Into Brussels in 1889” artist 6 More ragged 7 ___ shot 8 In the way of 9 45, e.g.

10 Does some cave art 11 Free-fall phenomenon, informally 12 Good thing to bring to the field 13 North and South, but not East or West 18 Gobble down 19 Chicago airport code 23 ___ shot 24 For 26 At all 27 Org. that gives out “gold” but fights pirates 28 Teeny-tiny 30 “Kiss her ___ for me” (“A Holly Jolly Christmas” lyric) 1

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advocacy subject 34 Hankering 35 N.Y.C. neighborhood next to the Bowery 36 Great-great-greatgreat-great grandfather of Noah 39 Dish that may be served folded 42 Old-timey agreements 43 Like Santa, in traditional depictions 44 Butter up, say 45 Doesn’t disturb 47 Start of an English auto name

48 2016 animated film with

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MEETINGS/ EVENTS Protect your future. Senior Pride’s Honoring A Life Workshop takes away the mystery of Advance Medical Care Planning for LGBTQ people. Register for workshop: https://soazsenior pride.org/events Learn more: eol@soazseniorpride.org

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

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No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!

Join Us In-Person and Online Sundays at 9:30am

www.caucc.org/welcome 520.297.1181 | info@caucc.org | 6801 N. Oracle Road

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