Tucson Weekly, April 29, 2021

THE AZ SENATE’S FRAUDULENT ELECTION AUDIT

Post c i m e d n Pa s n o i h s a F

APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2021 • TUCSONWEEKLY.COM • FREE

Our 2021

Swimsuit Issue!

*

Escape to Bisbee!

Facemasks

• Why They’re Still in Style • Pima County Supe Cites Bogus Study in Push to Lift Mandate *No Actual Swimsuits are in this Issue

TUCSON WEEDLY: Loco Weed Bills

2

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

APRIL 29, 2021

APRIL 29, 2021 | VOL. 36, NO. 17

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

3

The Tucson Weekly is available free of charge in Pima County, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue of the Tucson Weekly may be purchased for $1, payable at the Tucson Weekly office in advance. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of the Tucson Weekly, please visit TucsonWeekly.com

STAFF

CONTENTS CURRENTS

4

Vaccine appointments no longer necessary as health officials confront “hesitancy” among members of public

SKINNY

7

County Supervisor Christy cites bogus study in effort to lift Pima’s mask mandate

FASHION

12

Pandemic puts the squeeze on fashion industry, but local shops remain part of the fabric of the community

TRAVEL

15

ADMINISTRATION Jason Joseph, President/Publisher jjoseph@azlocalmedia.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

Jaime Hood, General Manager, Ext. 12 jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com Casey Anderson, Ad Director/ Associate Publisher, Ext. 22 casey@tucsonlocalmedia.com

The Times, They Are A-Changin’ TUCSON WEEKLY FOUNDER DOUG Biggers, who launched this paper way back in 1984, told me a long time ago that the only constant in the newspaper biz is change.

He got that right. In the three decades I’ve been working around here in various roles, it’s been my great pleasure to work with a long line of kick-ass journalists, photographers and artists. Together, we’ve hounded politicians, interviewed rock stars, chased after space robots, shamed scoundrels, been hassled by The Man and basically had more fun than should be legal. Some former colleagues remain good friends and others curse my name—it’s all part of the gig as the changes roll by.

Another big change was announced last week. Tucson Weekly and its sister publications in the Tucson Local Media empire have a new owner: Times Publications, which publishes more than two dozen weeklies, mostly in Maricopa County. Most of their publications are more akin to the community papers that we now publish on the north and west sides. But the new owners tell us they want us to keep doing what we’re doing right here, so that’s what you can expect us to do.

In the paper this week, staff writer Christina Duran fills you in on the latest on COVID’s persistent spread in Pima County; managing editor Austin Counts explains why the Pima County Attorney’s Office is unlikely to file

Claudine Sowards, Accounting, Ext. 13 claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com

any charges related to a shooting at a Marana shopping mall; The Skinny looks at how Pima County Supervisor Steve Christy got hoodwinked by a bogus study on face masks; columnist Tom Danehy shares his thoughts on the “audit” (or, as some are calling it, the “fraudit”) of the 2020 election underway in Maricopa County; calendar editor Emily Dieckman shares some pandemic-safe and fun things to do this week; Tucson Weedly columnist David Abbott looks at some of the loco weed legislation at the state Capitol; and we’ve got restaurant news, a Bisbee travel feature, horoscopes, sex advice, Tucson’s best comics and all the other usual features that keep you coming back every week. Despite our cover, we don’t actually have the latest swimsuit models in our pages, but we do a have look at post-pandemic fashion for those of you emerging from a year of sweatpants and T-shirts.

Stay safe out there—this pandemic ain’t over yet.

— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor Hear Nintz talk about the latest on the outbreak and other news at 8:30 Wednesday mornings on The Frank Show on KLPX, 91.1 FM.

RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson

Beat the pandemic blues with a day-trip to Bisbee

Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist, Ext. 10 sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor, Ext. 38 jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Austin Counts, Managing Editor, Ext. 36 austin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Associate Editor, Ext. 43 jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Mike Truelsen, Web Editor, Ext. 35 mike@tucsonlocalmedia.com Christina Duran, Staff Reporter, Ext. 42 christina@tucsonlocalmedia.com Contributors: 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 David Abbott, Production Manager, Ext. 18 david@tucsonlocalmedia.com Ryan Dyson, Graphic Designer, Ext. 26 ryand@tucsonlocalmedia.com Emily Filener, Graphic Designer, Ext. 29 emilyf@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation, Ext. 17, alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING Kristin Chester, Account Executive, Ext. 25 kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive, Ext. 24 candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com Lisa Hopper, Account Executive Ext. 39 lisa@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tyler Vondrak, Account Executive, Ext. 27 tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING VMG Advertising, (888) 278-9866 or (212) 475-2529 Tucson Weekly® is published every Thursday by 13 Street Media 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. First Class subscriptions, mailed in an envelope, cost $112 yearly/53 issues. Sorry, no refunds on subscriptions.

Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN). The Tucson Weekly® and Best of Tucson® are registered trademarks of 10/13 Communications. Back issues of the Tucson Weekly are available for $1 each plus postage for the current year. Publisher has the right to refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion.

TUCSON WEEDLY

17

Pot prohibitionists regurgitate tired tropes from the bygone days of the War on Drugs

Cover design by Ryan Dyson, image from Bigstock

Copyright: The entire contents of Tucson Weekly are Copyright © 2019 by Thirteenth Street Media.

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.

4

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

CURRENTS

COURTESY PHOTO

People no longer need appointments to get a shot at the University of Arizona’s vaccine point of distribution.

VAX GAPS

Vaccine appointments no longer necessary as health officials confront “hesitancy” among members of public

By Christina Duran christina@tucsonlocalmedia.com

WHILE THERE’S A LOT MORE vaccine in Pima County, it’s getting harder to persuade the public to get their shots.

In an effort to make it easier on residents to get vaccinated, the Pima County Health Department is working to launch six mobile vaccination sites with FEMA funding.

Pima County Medical Director Dr. Francisco Garcia discussed the move on Friday, April 23, saying that the county hoped FEMA would help cover some of the costs of setting up the clinics as county officials work to vaccinate more residents.

The mobile vaccination sites are part of an effort to counter vaccine hesitancy, especially after the temporary pause of the J&J vaccine.

“We cannot underestimate the impact that the J&J and the federal action to take J&J temporarily off the table has had on vaccine demand,” said Garcia. “Remember that J&J was actually, probably, the most commonly requested, that was actually kind of the only brand that was being requested when we were doing our vaccination PODs.” With the pause (which is now over), the mobile site began offering Moderna, as the Pfizer vaccine continues to face issues in mobile site implementation.

With both Pfizer and Moderna, Garcia said the challenge was the second dose, and committing the mobile clinic to return

to the same location. He said the strategy continues to evolve, but they are making sure that when people are vaccinated at a mobile site, “they understand that they need a second shot, and that they understand where to go for that second shot, because in some cases we will not be able to be back in exactly that same neighborhood exactly four weeks down the road in order to vaccinate.”

The county has not administered Pfizer at a mobile clinic because it requires ultra cold chain handling and it comes in multiuse vials with several doses. Garcia said Pfizer would pose the issue of “vaccine wastage.”

Garcia said county officials are working four times as hard for every vaccine delivered.

“We know that a lot of people are not actually truly resistant, but are just hesitant.

They’re waiting to see how the dust settles,” said Garcia. “We’re hoping to make vaccine opportunities so ubiquitous throughout our community, whether it’s on Fourth Avenue, whether it’s in some of these parts, whether it’s at a fixed site. We’re trying to make it so damn ubiquitous, that essentially you fall into a vaccination needle without much effort. If we can decrease those barriers for those folks for whom these are obstacles.

I believe that we will continue to make progress.”

The health department surpassed its goal of 300,000 vaccines administered by March 31 and had delivered nearly 655,000 shots as of April 25, with just under 300,000 Pima

County residents fully vaccinated and more than 391,000 having received at least one shot.

“We’re not done yet, folks,” said Garcia, pointing out the plateau of COVID-19 cases daily since March 14, where the state has seen around 600 cases of COVID-19 daily.

Dr. Joe Gerald, an epidemiologist and professor who has been following the spread of the virus for more than a year, said the state had seen slight increases in the number of positive COVID tests over the last four week, reversing a steady decline since January.

In the week ending April 18, 5014 people tested positive for COVID, a 6% increase from the previous week.

“Arizona cases remain ‘stuck’ just about the threshold differentiating substantial and moderate risk owing to more transmissible variants and normalization of business and social activities,” Gerard wrote in a report that noted that new cases are being diagnosed at a rate of 70 per 100,000 residents. During the week ending March 23, the rate had dropped to 53 cases per 100,000 residents, but it has been slowly but surely increasing since then.

STATE, COUNTY TO RESUME USE OF J&J VACCINE THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Services recommended resuming the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the CDC and FDA safety review Sunday.

On Friday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend the J&J vaccine, but members wanted clear messaging about the possible risks for women younger than 50 years old.

On April 13, the CDC and FDA recommended pausing the vaccine after six reported cases of a rare adverse event among women developed blood clotting with low blood platelets after receiving J&J. The CDC determined the event is rare, occurring at a rate of 7 per 1 million vaccinated women between the age of 18 to 49.

“After recommending a pause out of an abundance of caution, we join our federal partners in encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with the vaccine available to you,” ADHS Director Dr. Cara Christ said. “Arizonans can be confident that all COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use, including the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, have undergone a thorough review for safety and efficacy. The federal review will continue on all of the vaccines as more people are vaccinated.”

Arizona has allocated 226,300 vaccine

doses of J&J and administered approximately 122,000. Local health departments paused the use of the J&J vaccine, which was being used in hard-to-reach communities. Pima County had allocated the use of J&J for their mobile clinics, targeting minority and vulnerable communities.

The Pima County Health Department will resume the use of J&J along with “any approved vaccine at our disposal,” said Health Department spokesman Aaron Pacheco.

The county will continue to offer the vaccine at mobile sites, but as supply increases would also offer it at larger locations that have requested it, including TMC One, “so it is no longer being specifically targeted for only mobile events or hard to reach populations,” Pacheco said.

As health departments grapple with the vaccine hesitancy, especially after the pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Pacheco said the county looks to address “the risk vs. benefit reality of the vaccine.”

“Every medical treatment or procedure has a measurement of risk. In this case, that risk is incredibly low, while the benefit and efficacy of the vaccine is incredibly high. It is also important to share that the system in place to identify and respond to potential risks is strong. That is why this issue was identified so quickly,” Pacheco said.

Dr. Richard Carmona, the former U.S. surgeon general and UA Task Force director, said it remains unclear whether the blood clotting is directly related to the vaccine “but the benefit of this vaccine is enough that we all agreed that it should go back to market.”

“We need to get this vaccine back out there because it is a very effective vaccine,” said Carmona.

COUNTY CONTINUES TO REQUIRE MASKS FOLLOWING GOV. DOUG DUCEY’S executive order rescinding mask mandates for K-12 schools and signing a bill that allows businesses to ignore city or county mask mandates, the health department updated its Public Health Advisory on Friday, April 23.

It made clear for schools that the Board of Supervisors Resolution 2020-96 is still in effect, which requires people over the age of 5 wear masks. It also states that businesses should follow “state, county, and industry-specific guidance related to COVID-19 mitigation.”

“We believe that our mask mandate is legal and valid until 90 days after this

APRIL 29, 2021

legislature adjourns and because we have this short window of time to get people vaccinated, we’re going to double down and do everything that we can in order to encourage people, cajole, incentivize people to be observant of that mask mandate,” said Garcia. “It really has an impact on the infection in this community.”

Local school districts have said they will continue to require masks through the end of the school year.

VACCINE WALK-INS WELCOME; APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE YOU NO LONGER NEED AN appointment to get a shot at the UA vaccination point of distribution. The POD will now accept anyone over the age of 16 who comes in for a shot.

The pod, which offers both a drive-thru clinic on the UA mall and a sit-down clinic in the Ina E. Gittings Building (1737 E. University Blvd.), is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

If you’d rather schedule an appointment, the state is expected to open new first-dose appointments daily at podvaccine.azdhs. gov. Call 602-542-1000 or 844-542-8201 for help in English or Spanish.

Because of rising temperatures, the

drive-thru clinic will close on May 3.

If you need help, call the COVID Ambassador Team hotline at 520-848-4045 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily or email covidhelp@arizona.edu.

Meanwhile, Pima County officials are shifting to indoor vaccination sites to avoid making staff and volunteers endure long days in triple-degree temperatures.

Pima County has opened a new indoor vaccine site at the Kino Event Center, where the county had earlier been doing COVID testing. That site is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Register at azdhs.gov.

The county has also opened an indoor vaccination POD at El Pueblo Center, 101 W. Irvington Road, which is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. No appointment is necessary.

The drive-through POD at Banner-South Kino Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way, is now offering appointments between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and will close permanently on May 14.

Register for an appointment at a Pima County POD at pima.gov/covid19vaccineregistration or by calling 520-222-0119.

Many local pharmacies are now receiving vaccine doses. To find one near you, visit the ADHS website. ■

Celebrating 25 years serving the greater Tucson area Artisan Hand Crafted Tortillas with no additives or preservatives.

Tamales and Mexican food to go for any occasion

TORTILLAS NORTHWEST 3684 W. Orange Grove

(520) 297-2640

(Sam Levitz Shopping Center)

TAMALES

CENTRAL

3923 E. Pima St.

(520) 777-6172

BURRITOS

EAST SIDE

7823 E. Broadway Blvd.

(520) 298-5966

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

5

6

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

the involved parties, detectives did not discover any evidence that would lead them to believe that this incident was motivated by the affiliation of either party to a group listed in Arizona Revised Statutes 41-1750, subsection A, paragraph 3. This statute specifically governs the investigation of hate crimes.”

No charges expected following shooting at Arizona Pavilions While the Marana Police Department and the Pima County Attorney’s office have not released the names of either person involved in the shooting,

By Austin Counts Tucson Local Media has requested a copy of the a GoFundMe for Jarron Taylor-Smith—an Afriaustin@tucsonlocalmedia.com incident report from MPD, but has not received the can-American man presumed to have been shot— department’s official document as of press time. cites the incident in the online fundraiser’s bio and While details regarding the case are unclear, THE PIMA COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE questions MPD’s official account. The GoFundMe is being tight-lipped regarding whether prosecutors MPD’s public information officer Sgt. Abel Samano has collected $7,783 toward their $25,000 goal since plan to file charges against a man who shot another confirmed Marana Police officers responded to a launching on April 13. man during a physical altercation, presumedly over 911 call about a shooting in the parking lot of Ross In the fundraiser’s bio, organizer Billie Fuller a parking space at a Marana shopping mall earlier Dress For Less in the Arizona Pavilions Marketwrites: “The aggressor was a middle aged white this month. place on Cortaro Road at 12:32 p.m. on Saturday, man, whose picture I have yet to obtain, decided to While the Marana Police Department posted April 10. attempt murder all because the man felt entitled their criminal investigation unit was notified by the “All the other parties involved were detained to a parking spot that Jarron was not pulling out county attorney’s office that charges would not be on-scene. There were no warrants outstanding and of fast enough. The witnesses on site have statpursued “against the shooter or the male that was no danger to the public,” Samano said. “We have ed that the aggressor initiated the confrontation, shot” on the department’s Facebook page last week, several witnesses all over the [parking] lot. As you attempted to choke, then attempted to lift and slam County Attorney Laura Conover has yet to confirm can imagine it was very busy at that time and there Jarron onto concrete with no success. Jarron’s because her office was still trying to contact the were a lot of people who watched it and saw it.” only attempt at defending himself was pushing the wounded man’s family.

Samano also confirmed one man sustained a man off of him and attempted to turn away to leave Conover wrote in a text to Tucson Local Media single gunshot wound to the abdomen during the the situation. He was then shot in the back by the on Friday, Apr. 23: “I requested services be proscuffle and was later transported to UMC Banner aggressor.”

Hospital after officers administered first aid. The vided to the family, so now I am going through Fuller, who is a family member of Taylor-Smith, their advocate to get the meeting. I know that time sergeant declined to comment further since the in- then disputes MPD’s statement that both men equals stress in the situations, so I have offered the vestigation was still open at the time. However, he were armed during the confrontation and that weekend.” referred Tucson Local Media to check the departthe shooter did run over Taylor-Smith’s legs after She later wrote on Sunday, April 25, that her office ment’s Facebook page for future details on the case. shooting him in the fundraiser’s bio: “Infuriated had been unable to get in touch with the family over MDP’s initial post about the incident on April that he wasn’t able to shoot him [Taylor-Smith] to the weekend, but they would continue their efforts.

16 stated: “Preliminary information indicates the death, the aggressor then climbed into his vehicle two adult males engaged in an argument and and proceeded to run Jarron over with the intenthen physically fought for a short period. The two tion to murder before driving away. Even though separated and one male was shot in the abdomen Jarron did not have a gun on his person, the Maduring the separation. Both subjects had firearms in rana Police Department is now currently trying to their possession during the incident. Both subjects frame Jarron for the entire altercation claiming that were on scene and spoke to detectives.” the aggressor had all rights to carry the situation In a social media update about the case on April as self defense and is attempting to prevent any 22, the department announced their criminal incharges being pursued against him.” vestigation was complete and responded to citizen Fuller later writes that Taylor-Smith sustained concerns for more details. MPD dispelled online multiple injuries from the shooting and is not speculation that the shooter later ran over the per- expected to regain mobility after suffering severed son who was shot with their vehicle, stating “Denerves to his lower spine, along with having a portectives spoke with all identified witnesses, none tion of his small intestine removed due to lodged of which reported that that anyone was run over or bullet fragments. Donations collected from the struck by a vehicle.”

GoFundMe are expected to help with the family’s MPD also addressed questions regarding wheth- expenses and a wheelchair for Taylor-Smith, acer the shooting should be considered a hate crime cording to the fundraiser’s bio. due to the nature of the incident and the race of Tucson Local Media reached out to Fuller for those involved. In a Facebook post, MPD stated: comment, but have been unable to make contact as “During interviews with all identified witnesses and of press time. ■

CURRENTS

SHOWDOWN AT THE SHOPPING MALL

THE SKINNY UNRELIABLE SOURCES County Supervisor Christy Cites Bogus Study in Effort To Lift Pima’s Mask Mandate Jim Nintzel jnintzel@tucsonweekly.com

PIMA COUNTY SUPERVISOR Steve Christy cited a bogus study making its way around right-wing websites when he made a run at lifting Pima County’s mask ordinance at last week’s board meeting.

Christy’s motion died for lack of a second.

In justifying his push to lift the ordinance that requires Pima County residents to wear face masks in public when they can’t physically distance from other people (and also requires businesses to ask customers to wear masks), Christy cited a study he said was from “the Medical Center at Stanford University” that purported to show that wearing masks did nothing to stop the spread of COVID and could in fact be hazardous to people’s health.

Christy asked Dr. Francisco Garcia, the county’s chief medical officer, if he was familiar with the study.

Garcia said he was aware of that study and “the variety of different studies that come to different conclusions.” Garcia added that the Arizona Department of Health Services has advised that wearing marks is an effective “mitigation strategy against the coronavirus.”

“I guess these Stanford guys don’t know what they’re talking about,” Christy responded.

But as it turns out, Christy appears to have been hoodwinked by the alleged Stanford study, which has been

making the rounds on right-wing websites and social media.

An AP fact check reveals that the study is bogus.

“In reality, the study is not affiliated with Stanford and is based on debunked claims about face masks, including the false notion that wearing a face covering decreases oxygen levels and increases carbon dioxide levels,” AP reported.

Titled “Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis,” the study was first published in the medical journal “Medical Hypotheses.” One doctor who blogs about medical misinformation told AP that the journal published “fringe science and hypotheses.”

The study’s author, Barach Vainshelboim, claimed to be affiliated with Veterans Affair Palo Alto Health Care System, but a spokesman for the agency told AP no one with that name worked there. Likewise, a Stanford spokesman told AP that Vainshelboim had never been employed by the university, although in 2015, “he was a visiting scholar at Stanford for a year, on matters unrelated to this paper.”

Likewise, PolitiFact said the “paper about mask wearing was not from Stanford and makes false claims.”

Asked about the paper, Christy said he thought it was legitimate because it was published on the website of National Center for Biotechnological Information website, which is a branch of the National Institute of Health.

“The study was sent to us,” Christy said. “We found no reason to doubt something published on the NIH website.”

APRIL 29, 2021

After Christy’s motion to lift the mask mandate failed, Supervisor Matt Heinz said Christy was right about most face masks not stopping viral particles, but pointed out that the masks do block many of the respiratory droplets that the virus will catch a ride on.

“You’re not worried about the virus itself flying around,” said Heinz, a medical doctor. “That’s not how this virus is really transmitted. It’s transmitted via respiratory droplets—these itty bitty droplets of respiratory water that people exhale when they cough or they sneeze.”

After the meeting, Heinz said “junk science” studies like the one Christy cited add to the public’s confusion.

“It really highlights the problem with convincing people who to trust and then getting that trusted information out there,” Heinz said. “And then the problem is, sometimes when you get the correct information out there from a trusted source, there’s just so much other contamination, like this junk sci-

SORENSEN

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

7

ence study that was cited, that it makes it very, very difficult for people.”

Heinz said he believes medical misinformation about the dangers of vaccines was responsible for vaccine hesitancy in the community, which in turn made it harder to reach herd immunity and further reduce the spread of the virus.

Heinz said he could understand how Christy could have fallen for the bogus study.

“It could trick anybody,” Heinz said.

“It could especially trick people who don’t have a background in health care.

But that’s why it’s incumbent on us as public officials to make sure that kind of information is solid and supported.”

Pima County officials say the mask mandate will remain in place until the county reaches less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks. As of the week ending April 18, new cases were being diagnosed at a rate of 55 per 100,000, according to UA epidemiologist Joe Gerald. ■

8

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

DANEHY

ARIZONA’S SO-CALLED “ELECTION AUDIT” IS AN ILLEGITIMATE SHAM

By Tom Danehy, tucsonweekly@tucsonlocalmedia.com ON THE NIGHT OF AUGUST 6, 1930, Judge Joseph Force Crater left a Manhattan restaurant where he had been dining with one of his mistresses. Crater either got in a cab or began walking down 45th Street.

He was never seen or heard from again.

Crater was a Justice of the New York Supreme Court and, besides the multiple mistresses that colleagues claimed he had, he was also involved in some shady side dealings tied to the notorious Tammany Hall political machine that had ruled New York City politics from 1821-1872 and then again from 1905 until the mid-1930s.

His case dominated the headlines for weeks and huge rewards were offered for any information as to his whereabouts and/or fate. But he was never found and a couple months shy of 10 years after he disappeared, he was declared officially dead in absentia. He became a staple of popular culture as a famous missing person. There was a really creepy episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (the screwyou anthology series that Serling created when CBS went cheap on him over The Twilight Zone). A mysterious mega-rich guy was revealed to have a human zoo, with Judge Crater locked up along with

CLAYTOONZ By Clay Jones

Amelia Earhart and Roald Amundsen (the first guy to reach the North Pole who later went missing on a rescue mission).

Mrs. Crater was also a piece of work.

She met not-yet-Judge Crater when he was her divorce lawyer. They married a week after her divorce became final. Then, when Crater was still missing but not officially dead yet, she married another guy, Carl Kunz, who had gotten a quickie divorce. Kunz’s first wife then hanged herself a week before the Kunz-Crater nuptials. You can’t make this stuff up.

With all due respect to Jimmy Hoffa (of which there should be none), Judge Crater’s was the most famous missing-person case of the 20th century. But now, I’m happy to report that after nearly a century, Judge Crater is going to be found. And he’s going to be found by people “working” at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, along with the 200,000 votes that were stolen from Donald Trump in last year’s Presidential election. Heck, they might even find D.B. Cooper.

The thing is, you just know that they’re going to HAVE to claim to have found something. They’ve painted themselves into a corner through legislative chica-

nery, time- and money-wasting lawsuits, and an endless series of lesser lies, all designed to prop up the Big Lie. Does anybody really expect Arizona Senate President Karen Fann to get up and say, “Okay, our crooked cronies who stupidly call themselves Cyber Ninjas have completed their work and they agree with all of the other audits, recounts and court rulings that showed that the election was free and fair and Joe Biden won Arizona?”

There’s no way. They’ve gone so far down Liars’ Highway, there aren’t any offframps left from which they can exit and maybe turn around and head back to Maturity, Fairness and Decency. They’ve got no choice but to plow ahead in “search” of their pre-ordained and completely fabricated conclusions.

I’m not sure what they are going to “find.” But, whatever it is, the only people who are going to believe it are those who believed in the Big Lie to begin with.

Most likely, it will be the 11,000 votes that Trump wanted found in Georgia, enough to show that he “won” Arizona.

I doubt that they’ll claim to have found the 200,000 votes that some idiots have claimed are out there. Maybe they’ll open up one of the voting machines and find, written in Sharpie, “Hugo Chavez was here!”

(I’m betting that the clowns at Cyber Ninjas—who petitioned the court to keep their “vote-counting” procedures kept secret—will tread lightly with the voting

machines for fear of massive lawsuits.)

This is a dark time for democracy in Arizona. Not SB 1070 dark, but embarrassing and vile and un-American. Let’s get it over with and move on.

• On another note, my worst wishes go out to Ted Nugent, whom I had the great misfortune to meet at an NRA convention in Phoenix back in the 1990s. He was a blithering, racist jackass back then and has become exponentially more distasteful in the past quarter-century.

After claiming for months that the pandemic was a hoax and then railing against the vaccine (which he swore he would never get), he came down with a severe case of COVID-19. Apparently, it wasn’t severe enough, because he’s still talking and tweeting. In one of his latest tweets, he said, “I’m addicted to truth, logic and common sense.” He then demanded to know “Why weren’t we shut down for COVID 1 through 18?”

As just about everybody who was paying attention in the past year knows, the 19 in COVID-19 refers to the year in which the virus was identified. It’s not the 19th iteration of the bug. If Nugent had been paying attention, he would have known that Trump sycophants Kellyanne Conway and Rush Limbaugh both made the same dumbass mistake in public. (I wonder if they’ll have Limbaugh repeat the mistake on his From The Grave Tour.)

It looks like, in a fever, the cat done scratched away Nugent’s last few remaining functioning brain cells. ■

APRIL 29, 2021

the bread, and we wanted ours to be the best,” he said. After sampling breads at seven local bakeries, they gave their business exclusively to La Baguette Bakery, which they claim is “distinct from the rest of the herd.”

These Vietnamese sandwiches are so good, you may become Banhdicted “These baguettes, made by an amazing local family, are lighter and softer than standard banh mi breads,” he said. “Typical Their passion for the banh mi sandwich

By Matt Russell banh mis can be a little hard and crumbly, was reignited when they hammered out a but ours maintain an interior softness even tucsonweekly@tucsonlocalmedia.com deal on a new restaurant called after they’re toasted.”

Banhdicted.

Banhdicted features six versions of banh IT’S BEEN DESCRIBED AS A “Kim was living in San Diego around mi on its menu, each with the classic linebanh mi boom when an information that time, and whenever she’d come to up of pickled carrots and daikon radishes, technology executive partnered with a Tucson for a visit, I’d ask her to bring me liver pate spread, cucumber, jalapenos, and real estate professional last fall to respond 10 banh mi sandwiches from A Chau, one cilantro. The protein is the pivotal element, to a paucity of local purveyors of Vietof our favorite Vietnamese restaurants,” with the AZ Special with Vietnamese nam’s street food staple. said Vongtheung, co-owner of Banhdict- ham and pork belly holding the bestseller But without previous restaurant expeed, 1980 W. Orange Grove Road. “There position. rience, what could they offer to patrons aren’t many good banh mi shops here “This one is the staple banh mi, and if who would bring certain expectations and that started the idea for our new you’ve never had a banh mi, this is the gofor authenticity to their door? Could it be restaurant.” to,” he said. generations of wisdom from the Southeast Vongtheung and Nguyen opened Vongtheung starts the process by Asia communities where their respective quietly last October but it didn’t take long brining pork belly for 24-48 hours in a families have deep roots? for lines to start forming at the countsecret sauce, steaming it for four hours, Yeah, that’ll do it. er. Vongtheung attributes the strong and chilling it for six hours. It’s then sliced Kim Nguyen, whose family hails from response to their nod to tradition, their before it lands on the baguette and goes Vietnam, and Don Vongtheung, who came multiple variations on the banh mi theme, into the oven. to the United States from Thailand, are and 11:55:17 their overall business philosophy.

WK041921 Tucson Weekly Size = 10” W x 4.95”.ai 1 4/26/2021 AM Other versions include lemongrass beef, both first-generation Asian Americans.

“The banh mi experience is all about barbecue pork, chicken, and tofu, as well

CHOW

VIETNAMESE STREET FOOD

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

as a breakfast banh mi with eggs and pork belly. Two new versions, with spicy Laotion sausage and Vietnamese meatballs, are expected to hit the menu in the next few weeks.

The couple’s business philosophy is straightforward.

“Keep it simple, keep it easy, and focus on what you do best,” he said. “Our specialty is banh mi, so we’ve decided not to expand our menu beyond these six to 10 sandwiches.”

When they first opened the restaurant, Vongtheung and Nguyen were kicking out 10 pounds of pickled vegetables each week.

Now they’re up to 100 pounds every few days. That’s quite a spike over a six-month period of time, which suggests that their business model is working.

“If you love what you do, believe in what you do, and listen to your customers, the money will come,” said Vongtheung. And come it has, as the number of Tucson’s certifiably Banhdicted continues to grow. ■ Contact Matt Russell, whose day job is CEO of Russell Public Communications, at mrussell@russellpublic.com. Russell is also the publisher of OnTheMenuLive.com as well as the host of the Friday Weekend Watch segment on the “Buckmaster Show” on KVOI 1030 AM.

A mobile recreation program is coming to a park near you!

Follow us to find the vans

9

Visiting the park April 30-May 6: 4/30 Tierra del Sol Park 2-4 p.m.

4/30 Catalina Park 2:30-4:30 p.m.

4/30 Elias Esquer Park 3-5 p.m.

5/1 Joaquin Murrieta Park 10 a.m.-Noon 5/1 Jacobs Park 10 a.m.-Noon 5/1 Lincoln Park 10 a.m.-Noon 5/3 Groves Park 2-4 p.m.

5/3 Riverview Park 4-6 p.m.

5/4 Case Park 2-4 p.m.

5/4 Loma Verde Park 2:30-4:30 p.m.

5/4 Swan Park 3-5 p.m.

5/4 Verdugo Park 4-6 p.m.

5/5 Purple Heart Park 2-4 p.m.

5/5 Hoffman Park 2:30-4:30 p.m.

5/5 Conner Park 3-5 p.m.

5/5 Santa Rosa Park 3-5 p.m.

5/5 Menlo Park 4-6 p.m.

5/6 Udall Park 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

5/6 Bristol Park 3-5 p.m.

10

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

Theater

by Emily Dieckman

Tell Me About You. Are you ready to get out of the house for some live, original, safe theater?! This installment of Live Theatre Workshop’s Etcetera Series is a one-woman show written and performed by Ally Tanzillo and directed by Gabriella DeBrequet. Tanzillo has created a show about dating that is equal parts earnest and hilarious. She’ll be discussing everything from her old jobs to whether or not Top Gun is gay to (of course) falling in love. If you’re not familiar, the Etcetera series features local theater artists creating original pieces that reflect the variety Tucson has to offer. 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1.

Live Theatre Workshop, 3322 E. Fort Lowell Road. This is a drive-in show. $25 per car, or $35-$40 if you get a snack bundle too.

Festivals Agave Heritage Festival Presents Cinco de Mayo.

Thank God Cinco de Mayo is here! This statement has been true almost constantly over the last year or so, but I think we could all use a reason to safely party and relax right now, right? Normally the Agave Heritage Festival kind of takes over town around this time of year, but this year, Hotel Congress is doing the big celebration in its COVID-conscious plaza for one night. Come on down for a night of mezcal tasting, live music and good eats. Capacity is limited, so get tickets in advance! 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 5.

Club Congress Plaza, 311 E. Congress St. $25.

May Day. Do you already have plans to celebrate this ancient, folkloric holiday? Because the Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures is having the cutest little celebration. They’ve celebrated May Day every year since their opening in 2009 (except in 2020, when pretty much everything that is enjoyable in this life was cancelled). Bring the kids for a chance to make crafts, listen to music, and do the Fairy Caitlin Scavenger Hunt. And be sure to check out the Japanese Children’s Day display. Do feel free to dress up: fairy wings, flower crowns, whatever strikes your fancy. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 1. Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, 4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive. Tickets are $10.50 GA, with discounts for military, students and youth. Capacity is limited, so purchase them in advance!

The Fantasticks. Known as the world’s longest-running musical, and performed all over the world, The Fantasticks is a love story that has charmed audiences for generations. In this collaboration between Pima Community College and Arts Express Theatre, the show takes place in a garden, and is available for streaming. This gives you an opportunity to support community theater students who are making magic onstage, as well as to finally see The Fantasticks, if you’re a theater fan who somehow hasn’t seen the show yet. To view, visit arts-express.org/the-fantasticks. Once you begin viewing, you have 48 hours to watch. $25 per device for up to four people viewing.

Call 319-0400 for group sale information.

Old Pueblo Playwrights 30th Annual New Play Festival. One of the silver linings to the pandemic is how many forms of art are now available to enjoy online, from home. Throughout May, enjoy some thought-provoking literary theater for free! Both monologues and multi-character scripts, all written by Tucson authors and which tie in themes related to the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement,

APRIL 29, 2021

and marital fidelity, will be performed in staged readings. The monologues are “Quarantine Poem,” “Confronting Delusions of Self-Sufficiency” and “The Letter.”

One-acts are Nana and Paige and Zoom Intervention. No tickets or reservations needed: Just tune into the Old Pueblo Playwrights YouTube channel anytime throughout May to view the selections.

Art Pia Camil: Three Works. Have you had a chance to check out the newest exhibit over at MOCA yet? Camil is showing three major pieces that all touch on themes of power, collectivity and intimacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece “Autonomous Space Rug,” created especially for MOCA, is a makeshift space with overstock carpet and T-shirt tarps where community members will be invited to hold pandemic-conscious gatherings. The other two pieces, “Bara, Bara, Bara” and “Air Out Your Dirty Laundry,” also prominently feature t-shirts and the concept of resourcefulness. On display through Sept. 18 at MOCA, 265 S. Church Ave. Museum hours are noon to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is currently free!

Art Institute Spring Student Exhibit.

Are you familiar with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute? This show is a good way to get familiar! The show includes more than 50 original pieces by the Art Institute’s students, in mediums including mosaic, oil, scratchboard and photography. Each of them aims to

reflect and interpret the unique beauty of the Southwest desert. The show also features portfolios from two Nature Certificate Graduates, Scott Adams and Karen Nealon. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. On display through May 16. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute, 2021 N. Kinney Road. Entrance to exhibit included with museum admission.

Tempera Paintings of Ted DeGrazia. In a crazy, unpredictable world, one thing we can rely on is tempera paintings. This techniques involves colored pigments mixed with a binder—traditionally egg yolk. And they’re super long-lasting: There are tempera paintings intact from the first century AD. Come check out DeGrazia’s unique twist on this ancient medium, which he explored in 1959 and 1960. As usual, he has a way of bringing images to life with his use of color and brushstrokes. This exhibit is on display through Sept. 1 at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Museum, 6300 N. Swan. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and adult admission is $8.

Buccaneers of the Caribbean (or “Don’t Touch Me Booty!”). You can always count on the Gaslight Theatre for a good night out and a big belly laugh.

In this outdoor show, follow the crew of the Esmerelda on their journey to find a hidden treasure. Of course, along the way, they battle, brawl and get into all sorts of antics. You can order pizza, popcorn and drinks when you buy your

tickets, or once you’re on site (and you can also order extra goodies when you’re on site). Enjoy the show from your car, or check out the new festival seating, with sanitized chairs and tables in the first three rows. Showing at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays through Sundays through June 6.

The Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway.

Emergence. The new exhibit at Untitled Gallery is a celebration of a very special time of year, and in history. After all, not only are the Palo Verdes emerging into a

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 11

brilliant sea of yellow and the air conditioning emerging from its winter slumber, but it looks like we’re starting to emerge from this pandemic. The gallery received 85 entries with more than 250 works of art in response to a call for submissions, and selected 43 to display at the gallery.

They’re on display from noon to 5 p.m. every Saturday until June 5 (as well as online 24/7). Come see, or even buy, some art from this truly unforgettable time.

Untitled Gallery. 101 Sixth St., suite 121.

Free. ■

12

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

FABRIC OF THE COMMUNITY

Owner and designer Laura Tanzer had to furlough all four part-time workers, as she continues to feel uncomfortable Pandemic puts the squeeze on fashion industry, but local shops threading the needle putting her employees at risk. With appointments few and far between, she said she probably made about a sixth of her typical income over the past year. ing to places to find source materials and

By Christina Duran Tanzer sources material from deaddesigns. christina@tucsonlocalmedia.com stock–leftover fabric from manufacturers.

Not only small boutiques but large With manufacturers closed, she was powerhouse brands and retailers suffered unable to get more deadstock; however, LOCAL FASHION BOUTIQUES through the pandemic, with factory shut- Tanzer already had a large stockpile and designers continue to face chaldowns and delays in merchandise. Many of vintage materials and still plenty of lenges due to the pandemic, but some filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protecinventory. have recently seen shoppers looking for tion, including retailers like J. Crew, She received the first round of PPP, new clothes alongside a push for more Men’s Wearhouse and Lucky Brand. and applied for the second but has not sustainability in the industry.

However, small boutiques had an heard back. Unlike other small businessLast March, businesses—especially advantage with a strong local following es or restaurants, retailers did not receive non-essential businesses like boutiques and the ability to quickly pivot or build as much government help through the and thrift shops—were forced to close. on existing online presence.

Paycheck Protection Program or other The pandemic had a rippling effect For a year, Laura Tanzer Designs, government loans, said Tanzer. across the industry as manufacturers a sustainable retailer and atelier, has “I make a product that is extraordinary also closed and barriers arose to travelremained open by appointment only. and beautiful and artistic, very creative,

and this type of product wasn’t something that people wanted or needed during the pandemic because everybody was at home. People weren’t going out.

People weren’t being seen,” said Tanzer.

“It really was very close to devastating for me to be closed for this amount of time, especially since my business, prior to the pandemic, was ramping up and doing really, really, really well and then it’s just like somebody pulled the curtain and closed everything.”

From March to May, Tanzer made masks from left over cotton, which sold faster than she could make them.

However she didn’t plan to make masks for the rest of her life, so she made a shift in her business model and a new website, called Learn Craft Sew, soft launched at the end of March. She will post online tutorials and offer workshops on sewing and pattern making in a twoto three-hour session.

APRIL 29, 2021

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 13

Summer Survival Pullout Section Tell our readers how to survive the summer!

LAURA TANZER DESIGNS

Laura Tanzer working on new shoe designs.

FOR TUCSON THRIFT, A KNOWN vintage shop on Fourth Avenue, the ability to pivot was a little harder, but the shop took the opportunity to remodel and install a new POS system while closed.

Owner Arlene Leaf said they closed on March 18 along with other nonessential retailers and had already purchased Halloween merchandise in January, not cancelling their orders and keeping their commitments. With people not celebrating Halloween, as other years, they still have merchandise, but Leaf said the community comes by to support the shop. They reopened on Oct. 10, but she decided to close again after seeing the spike around Thanksgiving before reopening again in February.

Leaf thanks the government programs that allowed her to continue to support her staff and remodelling efforts.

“Very fortunately I had savings, so I could keep the staff going while we worked out the other stuff but it was a little scary there at that time. But honestly, without the government we couldn’t have made it,” said Leaf. “It’s like I was just to zero in my account and the $10,000 showed up.”

Leaf said they also received an additional $42,000 in PPP and EIDL that allowed her to keep going.

Like Tucson Thrift, W Boutique had already purchased merchandise from manufacturers and designers for the spring and summer about six months

Coming May 2021 prior, then the pandemic hit, said owner Sydney Duncan. The boutique kept their commitments and was given more time to pay to deal with the losses as people were no longer purchasing “going out” outfits at the same rate as before.

“We got kind of caught in the middle of our busy, busy season,” said Duncan. “We definitely had a lot of dressy things but we always have a really nice casual selection and that’s what was our strength.”

W Boutique, a 25-year Tucson retailer, had a wide selection of sweatsuits and elevated casualwear and currently have sold out their Kermit the Frog and Animal boyfriend tee and hoodie.

The pandemic had a rippling effect across the industry as manufacturers closed and traveling to source materials and designs stopped.

Star of India Fashions, the enterprise that owns the Fourth Avenue staple Creations Boutique, found itself with more of their own Angie brand merchandise, as retailers cancelled big orders. The national brand sold in Nordstrom and Dillards was now more available at the company’s own retailers across Arizona and in California.

“We were really lucky to be diversified into wholesale and retail that we have our own brand,” said Star of India Fashions general manager Olivia Verma Smith, daughter of original owners Avtar and Satya Verma.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Reserve your space NOW! Call

520-797-4384

NEED YOUR JEWELRY APPRAISED FOR INSURANCE, ESTATE OR LIQUIDATION PURPOSES? Master Gemologist Appraiser, Monica Caldwell owner of Caldwell Jewelers & Appraisals is one of only 65 experts in the country. With 30 years experience & certified ASA Master Gemologist Appraiser, Caldwell Jewelers is here to provide the best service in Tucson.

Call now to schedule an appointment.

New Jewelry/ Custom Work/ Repairs/ Appraisals 742-3687 | 7225 N. Oracle Rd. (NW Corner of Oracle & Ina)

Tuesday-Friday- 9–4 • Saturday - 10-2 Closed Sundays and Mondays Since 1979

www.CaldwellJewelers.net

14

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

FASHION FORWARD

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

LAURA TANZER DESIGNS

Star of India, which sources their products from all around the world (with designers travelling from India to China), had to transfer their design process online, shopping for artwork over Zoom and with employees on the ground sending fabric material photographs through email.

“It’s been a lot of innovation in the design process and I think we might keep some of that because it’s very cost effective to not travel and if so, we’ll see If we keep some of those practices long term,” said Smith. “It’s been interesting to keep it going, but the fashion is new. It keeps on going, it’s just the inspiration comes from other places. It comes from online.

It doesn’t come from physical things.”

As vaccinations roll out, the shops have seen more business. Tanzer said for the month of April, she had more appointments and looked forward to participating in the Tucson Museum of Art’s Spring Artisan Market on April 16-18.

The market, which will also be open on April 23-25, showcases local arts and craft and this year implemented social distancing and mask wearing to keep

participants safe.

“We’re starting to see people sort of coming out a little bit, especially because a lot of people vaccinated and a lot of people are halfway vaccinated, and then other people are going to get their vaccination,” Tanzer said. “All of those factors are playing into a little bit more comfort, whereas before, you know, we were all very on edge.”

the pandemic accelerated the change.

“I think you’ll find in most industries, the pandemic has accelerated things that were sort of trending that might have been positive things but people are stuck in old behaviors,” said Tanzer. “So I’m hoping that the pandemic will continue to accelerate these huge changes in the fashion industry and we will not see overproduction and overconsumption going forward.”

Tanzer often thinks about how to recTUCSON THRIFT OFFERS oncile her role as a retailer while advoan array of vintage wear that could not cating for sustainability. be really tailored to the elevated casual “I’m an artist and as an artist, I’m not wear and sweatsuit fashion that became going to stop creating, but what I can do popular throughout the pandemic, but is use found materials, which is what I do Leaf had seen not only people coming with vintage and the deadstock. Those are out more, but appreciating the value of found materials that otherwise would have vintage clothing.

“There’s a shift, whereas the people are gone to landfills or incinerators,” said Tanzer. “We were not going to stop crereally appreciating the vintage clothing ating, but we’re going to find other ways and looking forward to wearing it,” said to be of value. So yes, so having a retail Leaf. “They finally woke up to what fast shop in the general sense is contrary to fashion is. It doesn’t have the character, being sustainable. If that shop carries non love, whatever in the creation that the sustainable products. If that shop is only oldest things had and they really are there to sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, regardless enjoying that. I think that’s a big shift.” of whatever, and I don’t do any of those While the fashion industry had been things. My shop is just an extension of my trending towards a more sustainable future, Tanzer said the pace was slow and creativity, of my personality.” ■

APRIL 29, 2021

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 15

JEFF GARDNER

Beautiful downtown Bisbee sits amid the picturesque hills of southern Arizona.

MINING FOR FUN

The Bisbee Breakfast Club, just outside Old Bisbee, is a must try, becoming so legendary in these parts they opened Beat the pandemic blues with a day-trip to Bisbee locations throughout Tucson.

Café Roka consistently wins “Best of” bee, like the Bisbee Mining Museum. The bragging rights each year, although it is

By Jamie Verwys museum is a Smithsonian affiliate and currently open for take-out only. tucsonweekly@tucsonlocalmedia.com offers a small but mighty look at Bisbee’s But if you want to eat like a local, the long history of mining, the now famous tiny but delicious Thuy’s Noodle Shop THE TOWN OF BISBEE WAS Bisbee deportation and well-known figserves delicious Vietnamese food but once one of the state’s most bustling minures during its Wild West days. now has limited seating, so take it to go. ing towns. In fact, by the early 1900s Bisbee If you’re a history buff, the town also Before you explore Bisbee’s nightlife, was the biggest city between St. Louis and features a number of walking tours, or you check out the Copper Queen Library, San Francisco, boasting a population of can strap on a hardhat and travel down which is the state’s longest continuous20,000 in its hilly homes. into the Queen Mine Tour. ly-operated public library.

Today, Bisbee remains an experience.

There are a number of local shops No trip to Bisbee is complete without a With its collection of artists and characters, where you can find a one-of-a-kind gift. round of drinks in Brewery Gulch. This the town has become a sort of pilgrimage The Miners & Merchants Antique pocket of entertainment in Old Bisbee for Tucsonans who visit for its beloved Center offers multiple floors of antiques is home to the majority of the drinking events, cool weather and funky vibes. to browse, while shops like Redbone establishments in town.

For those seeking a little adventure in Vintage sell a small selection of curated The Old Bisbee Brewing Company the form of historic bars, unexpected convintage clothes and colorful boots. has the most mass appeal and the best versations and lots of antique shopping, it’s If cooking is your hobby, stop by Bisbee view of the action from their patio. They the perfect place for a day trip or weekend Olive Oil, where you can find (and sambrew a small selection of beers, ranging away from the fast lane. ple) over 40 unique flavors of olive oil and from a stout to an IPA. The most interIn the hub of the action is “Old Bisbee,” balsamic vinegars. esting of their brews is Salut, a light and the stretch of businesses down and around The quirky town delivers on dining flowery drink made with champagne Main Street that epitomize the town. It’s options as well, with a mix of casual eats yeast. here that you’ll find the real treats of Bisand fancier fare.

Across the gulch is local dive St. Elmo

Bar. Home to the best jukebox in town and the loudest, rowdiest characters of Bisbee, they’re known to make a strong drink and an experience you won’t forget.

There is no shortage of lodging available in Bisbee, but if you come during Bisbee Pride or New Year’s Eve, reserve your rooms early. The town fills up fast on holidays and events.

The Copper Queen Hotel is one of the most well-known places in town and puts you in the heart of the action. You might even see a ghost in this longstanding hotel. The Bisbee Grand Hotel, The Inn at Castle Rock and Hotel San Ramon are other good historical options.

You can even book a stay in the OK Street Jailhouse, which was built in 1904 as the local branch of the county jail and is now a comfy hotel.

Tombstone, the town too tough to die, and the vineyards of Elgin/Sonoita are just a short drive away if you need more fun in Cochise County.

The trip to Bisbee from Tucson is under two hours and you can get there via I-10 East and AZ-80 East.

Be sure to call ahead to businesses to learn about pandemic restrictions. ■

16

BISBEE is

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

cool Canyon Rose Suites

Come escape to beautiful Bisbee, Arizona

520 432 5098 canyonrose.com

truly delightful

coppercityinn.com 520 432 -1418 • 520 456- 4254 99 Main Street • Historic Bisbee

Downtown Beautiful Rooms Funrished Kitchens

APRIL 29, 2021

WEED LIMIT

Pot prohibitionists regurgitate tired tropes from the bygone days of the War on Drugs

By David Abbott david@tucsonlocalmedia.com AS POT LEGALIZATION ROLLS through the U.S. like a modern-day Johnny Reeferseed, there have been concerted efforts to continue the demonization of weed that has lit up prohibitionists for decades.

Even as advocates work to pass initiatives to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for adult-use or for medical patients, there is a parallel phenomenon amongst elected officials proposing legislation intended to neutralize the cannabis laws that enjoy majority support from citizens across the country.

In states across the country, lawmakers have sponsored bills that seek to set limits

on THC blood content for DUI, create THC caps for flower and other cannabis products and fund studies to determine the correlation between pot smoking and violent behavior or mental illness.

Even if those bills have no chance to pass into law (either through lack of support or because they violate existing rules or protections written into legalization), they are stark reminders that the same arguments that led to cannabis prohibition in the early part of the 20th century are still alive and well.

Arizona has had no shortage of bad bills this year attempting to weaken Prop 207, which enjoys a certain amount of protection as a citizen initiative. We have been fortunate that most of the them have died

unceremonious deaths.

HB 2084 set a THC limit similar to blood-alcohol limits for DUI, but was pulled

by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) because it would not have garnered the three-quarters Senate support required by statute. Had it passed, it likely would have been found unconstitutional and not survived a court challenge. Likewise, HB 2809, which would have put the kibosh on your local dispensary sponsoring community events, went nowhere (although it may rear its ugly head again in the future).

In the 2020 legislative session, House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-LD25) advanced HCR 2045, which would have asked voters to set a 2% cap on THC in medical marijuana. The pot in your local dispensary has 20% to 25% THC, while concentrates have levels that are much higher.

In a House Health and Human Services Committee meeting in February 2020, Bowers stated his belief that marijuana is “habit forming” and a “gateway drug,” as he invoked the names of “friends” who used pot in the 1950s and ’60s, but are now inexplicably dead.

He then went on a Reefer Madness style diatribe inspired by his reading of Alex Berenson’s 2019 book Tell Your Children the Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence.

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 17

Bowers’ statements harkened back to a time when Americans received their news via newsreels at the talking pictures. They included all the classic Reefer Madness tropes about schizophrenia and violent mental illness brought about by the devil’s lettuce designed to scare middle-class suburban mothers from letting their children leave the house.

He posited that marijuana use leads to “violent violence: Not just somebody punching you in the face, but very horrendous insanity violence.”

Blaming it on “the hyper increase in THC,” Bowers was performing CPR, breathing new life into old tropes that have been used for decades to justify keeping cannabis listed as a Schedule I narcotic and continue punishing even the most benign recreational users.

At the same time, Bowers admitted that there are “limited” benefits to medical marijuana, “but the data does not show, as yet, that there is a very strong correlation, but there are individuals that have received benefit.”

To that end, HCR 2045 would have directed the Department of Health Services to study cannabis as it relates to mental health problems and crime, research intended to CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

18

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

WEED LIMIT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

verify a predetermined outcome rather than clinical testing to actually study the effects and efficacy of the psychoactive parts of the drug. The studies would be funded with revenues taken from the state’s Medical Marijuana Fund.

Fortunately, Bowers amended the THC cap out of the bill, but his willingness to perpetuate the scary caricature of a hypedup doper (as well as the existence of similar proposals in other states with some form a legalized cannabis) should make legalization advocates vigilant for these kinds of

bills in the future.

Bowers’ claims of higher THC content in what is available now compared to the good old days is a refrain that prohibitionists have used for decades, according to Paul Armentano, deputy director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

In several recent opinion articles, particularly in Colorado (which is experiencing the same legislative phenomenon despite several years of legal pot), Armentano cites the same argument from the 1930s, when Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics Henry Anslinger said that cannabis was so potent that it is “entirely the monster

Hyde, the harmful effect of which cannot be measured” to justify federal prohibition of the plant.

Likewise in the 1960s and ’70s, public officials claimed “Woodstock weed” was so uniquely powerful that smoking it would permanently damage brain cells and mere possession needed to be heavily criminalized to protect public health.

Even former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates (of Rodney King fame) said advanced growing techniques had increased THC potency to the point that “those who blast some pot on a casual basis … should be taken out and shot.”

President Joe Biden even joined in the chorus when he was a senator in the ’90s, claiming the cannabis of that time was like “comparing buckshot to a laser guided missile.”

“Fast forward to two-and-a-half decades, prohibitionists are now harkening back to the ’90s as if that was some time when marijuana was so low in potency, no one cared about it,” Armentano said. “This is a tried and true tactic that seemingly works to some degree of effectiveness every generation: It’s a very useful tactic, because if you recognize the majority of the country has first-hand experience with cannabis and if you recognize for most of those people that experience was largely innocuous, you have to convince those people that their firsthand experience is somehow anomalous.”

Southern Arizona NORML Director Mike Robinette said there is a good possibility that arbitrary cap limits would drive cannabis consumers to the black market, particularly medical patients who need larger doses for their afflictions.

“THC caps would have the effect of driving consumers out of the controlled market and back to the underground economy,” he said. “This was certainly not the intent of Prop 207 as it sought to create a regulated and controlled market. Without a crystal ball, we have no way of knowing if a bill supporting THC caps will drop in the next legislative session.”

Robinette said he believes cap limits would not survive a challenge in the courts, because it would not “further the purpose of Prop 207,” although NORML has not received a legal opinion on the matter.

“We really don’t believe that when voters resoundingly passed Prop 207 with a 60-40 margin, that they had THC caps on their minds,” he said. “In fact, Prop 207 was clear that voters were voting to legalize both the plant and the resin extracted from the plant.

It is generally known that concentrates have higher levels of THC and are valued by both patients and adult-use consumers.”

Robinette also voiced concern that should

one of these bills pass in any state, it would set a precedent that could be used to continue efforts to nullify the will of voters in states that have spoken out loudly in favor of legal weed.

“Southern Arizona NORML and Arizona NORML have been working with Colorado NORML to lobby against THC caps and are grateful for the work that Colorado NORML is doing to oppose [them],” he said. “We do not want to see THC caps get any traction since that traction will serve to motivate other states to consider introducing such damaging and detrimental legislation to cannabis consumers and the legalized markets.” ■

NEWS NUGGETS IS IT SAFE? For the fourth time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act, that would ease federal regulation on legal marijuana businesses so they might have full access to banking services other types of businesses take for granted. Last week’s vote was 321-101 in favor of the bill.

Unfortunately, given the current make-up of the Democratic-controlled Senate, the bill has once again run into a roadblock.

This follows on the heels of the Biden Administration backpedaling on its promise to deschedule cannabis and lead a charge for social justice for those adversely affected by the failed—and failing—War on Drugs.

The bill received support from the governors of 20 states as well as several bankers’ associations and even “a coalition of state treasurers,” who sent letters of support to House leadership.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the few voices in the Biden Administration who’s maintained his stance on legalization throughout the transition of power, is proposing an attempt to pass the legislation through the reconciliation process.

That would mean a simple majority could pass the SAFE Act, reflecting the actual will of the people, instead of the democracy-killing super majority needed to pass anything into law given the current mess in the Capitol.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema has voiced her support of the filibuster that basically gives all the power to the minority party (Republicans), which has hindered this bill as well as any other bills proposed by Democratic leaders.

Legislation does not happen in a vacuum, so contact your representatives and let them know what you think and why you voted for them in the first place. ■

APRIL 29, 2021

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 19

20

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

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): Poet Allen Ginsberg despairingly noted that many people want MORE MORE MORE LIFE, but they go awry because they allow their desire for MORE MORE MORE LIFE to fixate on material things—machines, possessions, gizmos, and status symbols. Ginsberg revered different kinds of longings: for good feelings, meaningful experiences, soulful breakthroughs, deep awareness, and all kinds of love. In accordance with astrological potentials, Aries, I’m giving you the go-ahead in the coming weeks to be extra greedy for the stuff in the second category.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In her poem “Mirror,” Taurus poet Halina Poświatowska wrote, “I am dazed by the beauty of my body.” I applaud her brazen admiration and love for her most valuable possession. I wish more of us could genuinely feel that same adoration for our own bodies. And in accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend that you do indeed find a way to do just that right now. It’s time to upgrade your excitement about being in such a magnificent vessel. Even if it’s not in perfect health, it performs amazing marvels every minute of every day. I hope you will boost your appreciation for its miraculous capacities, and increase your commitment to treating it as the treasure that it is.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini poet Buddy Wakefield writes that after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004, “the only structure still standing in the wiped-out village of Malacca [in Malaysia] was a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I wanna be able to stand like that.” I expect you will indeed enjoy that kind of stability and stamina in the coming weeks, my dear. You won’t have to endure a metaphorical tsunami, thank Goddess, but you may have to stand strong through a blustery brouhaha or swirling turbulence. Here’s a tip: The best approach is not to be stiff and unmoving

like a statue, but rather flexible and willing to sway.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): No educator had ever offered a class in psychology until trailblazing philosopher William James did so in 1875. He knew a lot about human behavior. “Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being,” he wrote. “They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a person who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using only his little finger.” I’m going to make an extravagant prediction here: I expect that in the coming months you will be better primed than ever before to expand your access to your consciousness, your resources, and your potentials.

How might you begin such an adventure? The first thing to do is to set a vivid intention to do just that.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Someone in me is suffering and struggling toward freedom,” wrote Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. To that melodramatic announcement, I reply, good for him! I’m glad he was willing to put himself through misery and despair in order to escape misery and despair. But I also think it’s important to note that there are other viable approaches to the quest for liberation.

For example, having lavish fun and enjoying oneself profoundly can be tremendously effective in that holy work. I suspect that in the coming weeks, Leo, the latter approach will accomplish far more for you than the former.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo novelist Agatha Christie sold hundreds of millions of books, and is history’s most-translated author. While growing up, she had few other kids to associate with, so she created a host of imaginary friends to fill the void.

They eventually became key players in her work as an author, helping her dream up stories. More than that: She simply loved having those invisible

SAVAGE LOVE QUICKIES

By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net

I have a quick question about bisexuality.

What if one has a preference for dating straight individuals? As a straight woman, I am only interested in dating straight men. Is that some kind of phobia? Or is it okay for that to be a preference? I’ve always wanted to ask someone this but I’m afraid of being thought of as having a phobia.

—Nervously Asking Dan Something I think you’re fine, NADS, so long as you’ve taken a moment to think about

why you are burdened with this “preference.” Our sexual attractions, orientations, and preferences are easily distorted and limited by prejudice. If you reflect on what might be at the root of your “preference” for men who are straight (or for men who’ll tell you they are), NADS, you might be able to open yourself up to more partners. But a person can reflect day and night for decades and still feel the same way. At the very least, thought, we can all be thoughtful about our erotic and/or sexual biases, take responsibil-

characters around to keep her company. Even in her old age, she still consorted with them. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because now is a great time to acquire new imaginary friends or resurrect old ones. Guardian angels and ancestral spirits would be good to call on, as well. How might they be of assistance and inspiration to you?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “To hurry pain is to leave a classroom still in session,” notes Libran aphorist Yahia Lababidi. On the other hand, he observes, “To prolong pain is to miss the next lesson.” If he’s correct, the goal is to dwell with your pain for just the right amount of time—until you’ve learned its lessons and figured out how not to experience it again in the future—but no longer than that. I suspect that such a turning point will soon be arriving for you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her poem “Every Day,” Scorpio poet Denise Levertov wrote, “Every day, every day I hear enough to fill a year of nights with wondering.” I think that captures the expansive truth of your life in the coming weeks. You’ve entered a phase when the sheer abundance of interesting input may at times be overwhelming, though enriching. You’ll hear—and hopefully be receptive to—lots of provocative stories, dynamic revelations, and unexpected truths. Be grateful for this bounty! Use it to transform whatever might be stuck, whatever needs a catalytic nudge.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I hope you’re not too stressed these days. There has been pressure on you to adjust more than maybe you’d like to adjust, and I hope you’ve managed to find some relaxing slack amidst the heaviness. But even if the inconvenience levels are deeper than you like, I have good news: It’s all in a good cause. Read the wise words of author Dan Millman, who describes the process you’re midway through: “Every positive change, every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness, involves a rite of passage. Each time we ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.”

ity for them, be considerate about how we express them, and—perhaps most importantly—do our best not to transmit them. I’m not into shame but not finding a particular group of people attractive for whatever reason is something we can keep to ourselves—not just to avoid doing harm to people we aren’t attracted to, but to avoid passing our erotic biases and limitations on to the next generation.

My wife and I (lesbian moms together) have been invited to her cousin’s wedding. And she’s marrying the son of a former Republican statewide official who, in the early 2000s, turned the power of his state against gays, especially gay parents. His son hasn’t renounced his

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We can safely say that Anais Nin was a connoisseur of eros and sensuality. The evidence includes her three collections of erotic writing, Delta of Venus, Little Birds, and Auletris. Here’s one of her definitive statements on the subject: “Sex must be mixed with tears, laughter, words, promises, jealousy, envy, all the spices of fear, foreign travel, new faces, stories, dreams, fantasies, music.” In response to Nin’s litany, I’m inclined to say, “Damn, that’s a lot of ambiance and scaffolding to have in place. Must it always be so complicated?” According to my reading of upcoming cosmic rhythms, you won’t need such a big array of stuff in your quest for soulful orgasms—at least not in the coming weeks. Your instinct for rapture will be finely tuned.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “One is always at home in one’s past,” wrote author Vladimir Nabokov. I agree. Sometimes that’s not a good thing, though.

It may lead us to flee from the challenges of the present moment and go hide and cower and wallow in nostalgia. But on other occasions, the fact that we are always at home in the past might generate brilliant healing strategies. It might rouse in us a wise determination to refresh our spirit by basking in the deep solace of feeling utterly at home. I think the latter case is likely to be true for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Not everything is supposed to become something beautiful and long-lasting,” writes author Emery Allen. “Not everyone is going to stay forever.” Her message is a good one for you to keep in mind right now.

You’re in a phase when transitory boosts and temporary help may be exactly what you need most. I suspect your main task in the coming weeks is to get maximum benefit from influences that are just passing through your life. The catalysts that work best could be those that work only once and then disappear. ■ Homework: Write an essay on “What I Swear I’ll Never Do Again As Long As I Live-Unless I Can Get Away with It Next Time.”

FreeWillAstrology.com

views—in fact, he’s converted his fiancée, my cousin-in-law, to Trumpism. If it’s relevant, they’re more country-club homophobes than rednecks, they want to be seen as mainstream and pleasant, and they now live in a very liberal city and hide their views so they’re not pariahs. Not sure how to handle—simply not responding? Citing his father’s views in the RSVP? Never going to any family function where they will be, ever? I really don’t want my kid around these people, but also, I feel like maybe I should go to set an example. But then, wearing my best suit and tie to a Trump wedding deep in a red state makes me worried for my physical safety.

—What would you do?

APRIL 29, 2021

treatment for PE.

I would send my regrets along with a broken toaster and the wrong receipt.

I have a cult fascination with the film Withnail and I. OK, I love this film. But I am troubled by the perspective this film offers on homosexuality. It’s not what one would call a “modern perspective.” I believe the film’s portrayal of homosexuality can be seen as funny or alarming or a cultural reference point. I think it’s all three. My son is gay, and with some introductory apologizes, I want to tell him to watch the film. Apologies for “trial ballooning” something like this with you, Mr. Savage, and I know you are not the standard-issue gay, as if such a thing exists. But have you seen the film? And if so, your thoughts?

—Friend Of Withnail I’ve never seen the film but a quick Google search of “Withnail and I” and “homophobic” brings up nearly 100,000 results. Apparently one of the film’s main characters (Uncle Monty) is a “predatory homosexual” who makes unwelcome a series of advances on one of the male leads. “Is the film homophobic? Yes, undoubtedly,” Philip Caveney writes at Bouquets & Brickbats. Richard Griffiths, the actor who plays Monty, “somehow manages to evoke genuine sympathy for a tragic character who is, more than anything else, lonely—but all the talk about buggery by force does make you feel rather uncomfortable.”

The film was released in 1987—which in no way excuses the homophobia, of course, but you’d be hard pressed to find a popular film released in 1987 that wasn’t deeply homophobic either by commission (the hateful portrayal of gay characters) or by omission (the complete absence of gay characters).

Still, the film doesn’t portray homosexuality, FOW, it portrays an individual homosexual. It was doubtless a damaging portrayal at the time, as there were so few other representations of gay characters on TV or in film back then. But viewed now—viewed at a time when there are more representations of gay people in film and television than ever before—it doesn’t have the power

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 21

to do the same damage. So go ahead and recommend the film to your son, FOW, with the appropriate qualifiers and apologies.

I just got dumped in a pretty brutal and inconsiderate way by a guy I really liked. He didn’t want to tell me it was over he just pulled away and left me to figure it out on my own. We were dating for a year and he even started dating someone else and didn’t bother to inform me but didn’t hide it from me either. I feel depressed and really sad because I still like him and I miss him and I don’t know what to do.

—Sad And Depressed Over New Ending If he did that… if he broke up with you like that… you didn’t like him. Not really.

You liked the idea of him you formed in your head. He gave you the outline of a decent guy and you filled that outline in with everything you hoped he was, i.e. a kind, loving, decent guy who was as into you as you were into him. Or at the very least, SADONE, a guy who cared enough about your feelings to end things in a kind and considerate manner if it came to that. You can and should feel sad about losing the guy you hoped he was but don’t feel sad about losing the guy he turned out to be. Be-

cause that guy was an asshole.

I was just listening to the Savage Lovecast (Episode 750) and you were responding to a fella who was ejaculating sooner than he would like. I wanted to say that I, a female, had a male partner who always came twice. Once was quick and he played it cool, and just owned that that was how he operated.

We switched to a new condom and could go for much longer the second time! Own it, guys! No need for shame about your body’s functionality.

—Come And Come Again It’s good advice for men who suffer from premature ejaculation (PE)— don’t try to stop that first orgasm and you’re likely to last longer as you build to a second—but that advice works better for younger men with shorter refractory periods. The older a man gets, the longer his refractory period becomes; if your partner’s second orgasm took 12-24 hours to arrive, well, that’s a long time to wait, no condom or no new condom. Older guys with premature ejaculation might want to try low-dose SSRIs, i.e. anti-depressants; one of the side effects of SSRIs is delayed ejaculation and studies have shown that they are a pretty effective

I saw your response to DTFOMBNB, the gay man who wanted an emotionally intimate, sexless relationship and the freedom to seek casual sex elsewhere. You mentioned asexuals and cucks as potential partners for the intimate-but-sexless-relationship part, Dan, but I wanted to mention another possibility: I’m a gay guy in my 50s and I learned relatively late in life that I’m on the autism spectrum. Specifically, I have Asperger’s syndrome. That diagnosis was part of what resulted from my first long-term, cohabiting relationship, during which I found that I couldn’t manage intense emotional intimacy and physical intimacy at the same time. I loved my boyfriend and cherished a lot of what we shared. I loved conversations, cuddling, traveling, etc. But adding sexual intimacy on top of all that just felt overwhelming. I can’t say that my experience reflects those of all people with autism, but to me, what DTFOMBNB describes is similar to how I’ve envisioned any future relationship I might enter into. The bad news is that pretty much all of the relationship-oriented guys I’ve encountered on dating sites are looking for a relationship that combines emotional and sexual intimacy, so it’s not an easy ask. But there are definitely men like me out there looking for what DTFOMBNB wants.

—A Sexual Partnership Isn’t Essential Considering how many people wind up in sexless relationships, ASPIE, it stands to reason that some non-insignificant percentage of the population wants a sexless relationship. But so long as people who want intimate-but-sexless relationships don’t feel comfortable asking for it—so long as guys like you and DTFOMBNB assume no one else could possibly want what you’re offering and so you don’t offer, e.g. you don’t put it out there on the dating apps—you’re going to have a hard time finding each other. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. savagelovecast.com

22

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

Comics

Crossword Answers P E C S A C A I W O N D D C A R Y A R O B E F E A S G R A R T I L A N I M T A L E A B A T M I C R I T S O

Y A L U A T O P E R F U L O N I S N E F F E K E I T E T I N G P I N Y C O E D P R U D E F E A T O S I T Y N T S T E C O U R O A L P O N L E S T

Applying for Social Security Disability or Appealing a Denied Claim? Call Bill Gordon & Assoc. Our case managers simplify the process & work hard to help with your case.

Call 1-855-808-1674 FREE Consultation. Local Attorneys Nationwide [Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL (TX/NM Bar.)] (AzCAN)

ooooooooooo

SHIH TZU PUPPY FOR SALE Shih Tzu, 11 wk m purebred w/ pedigree paperwork. Brown w/ white. Family circumstances have changed. $ 1900 including all necessities.

We are Local in Tucson 619-818-3466

CLASSIFIED ADS Autos AUTO-ALL MAKES DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY. Receive maximum value of write off for your taxes. Running or not! All conditions accepted.

Free pickup.

Call for details.

866-932-4184 (AzCan)

Personal Services BODY RUB

J2J2J2J2J2J2J2J

COVID Precautions Taken Body Rub Ajo and Kinney area.

You all stop by and enjoy a stress free body rub by a man for a man. Private/Discreet.

Call or text Oliver: 520-358-7310

J2J2J2J2J2J2J2J

JJJ FULL BODY RUB Best full body rub for men by a man. West Tucson. Ajo and Kinney. Privacy assured. 7AM to 7PM. In/Out calls available.

Darvin 520-404-0901.

No texts.

JJJ

Mature Woman Full Body Massage Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Provided by a woman for a man.

10 am to 8 pm Text or Call 520-278-0597

ooooooooooo

Employment

Announcements

HEALTHCARE

ANNOUCEMENTS

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a Medical Office Professional online at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & ready to work in months!

Call 866-459-5480.

(M-F 8am-6pm ET) (AzCAN)

SAVE BIG on HOME INSURANCE! Compare 20 A-rated insurances companies.

Get a quote within minutes.

Average savings of $444/year!

Call 855-602-7212!

(M-F 8am-8pm Central) (AzCAN)

EMPLOYMENT GENERAL Attention Active Duty & Military Veterans!

Begin a new career and earn your Degree at CTI! Online Computer & Medical training available for Veterans & Families! To learn more, call 855-626-7941 (M-F 8am-6pm ET) (AzCAN)

NETWORK ADS NEED NEW FLOORING? Call Empire Today® to schedule a FREE in-home estimate on Carpeting & Flooring! Call Today! 877-591-3539 (AzCAN) Over $10K in debt?

Be debt free in 24-48 months.

Pay a fraction of what you owe.

A+ BBB rated.

Call National Debt Relief 866541-6885. (AzCAN)

AT&T TV - The Best of Live & On-Demand On All Your Favorite Screens. CHOICE Package, $64.99/mo plus taxes for 12months. Premium Channels at No Charge for One Year! Anytime, anywhere. Some restrictions apply. W/ 24-mo. agmt TV price higher in 2nd year. Regional Sports Fee up to $8.49/mo. is extra & applies.

Call IVS 1-833-967-1811 (AzCAN)

G O N U C L E A R

S N O R T

P R I S T O A N T E R S

P I L E I N

O C T A V E

T E E M E D

S E T A G O A L

E N T I R D Y U S S P A Y

DISH Network $64.99 For 190 Channels!

Blazing Fast Internet, $19.99/ mo. (where available.) Switch & Get a FREE $100 Visa Gift Card. FREE Voice Remote.

FREE HD DVR. FREE Streaming on ALL Devices. Call today! 1-855-722-2290 (AzCAN)

Merchandise WANTED TO BUY I BUY VINYL RECORDS CASH PAID $$$ Are your records gathering dust for years in boxes? Inherited records that you’ll never use? Win a storage unit & have lots of albums you want to flip quickly?

Please call. I own a record store locally & pay fairly in cash. (520) 900-1392.

Service Directory CARPET CLEANING

DIRTY CARPETS?

Carpets cleaned professionally with $30,000 steam machine.

Guaranteed 100% satisfaction.

Clean 2 rooms of carpet only $59 Clean 2 rooms tile/grout only $59

Call 520 331-7777 For free estimate orovalleycarpetcleaners.com HANDYMAN

Wesley Financial Group, LLC Timeshare Cancellation Experts – Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and fees canceled in 2019. Get free informational package and learn how to get rid of your timeshare!

Free consultations. Over 450 positive reviews.

Call 866-482-0406 (AzCAN)

oooooooooo Handyman Service

Doors* Drywall* Painting Roof Repair/Coating* Hauling Coolers* Odd Repairs Minor Plumbing/Electrical* BBB Member. Visa & MasterCard accepted.

Not a licensed Contractor.

520-425-0845

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 23

APRIL 29, 2021

CLASSIFIED ADS

1

2

3

4

14

ACROSS 1 They can be found just

520-999-0804

above a six-pack 5 China/North Korea border river 9 Area named for gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg 14 Brazilian export 15 Standing above 16 Standing by 17 Opposite of [circled letters] 19 Nick who voices Kuiil on “The Mandalorian” 20 Pest control brand 21 “You betcha!”

23 Ancient Indo-European 25 Opposite of [circled letters] 27 Legal cover-up?

28 Harvey of Hollywood 29 Composer Rorem 30 Opposite of [circled letters] 32 Get-up-and-go 34 Like many Bigfoot photos 35 Like horsehair

DOWN 1 Boxer’s mitt?

$CASH$

For ALL unwanted Cars, Trucks & SUVs Now buying Catalytic converters

Call or text anytime for quote

2 Prefix with conscious 3 Mars, for one 4 “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad,

Mad World” co-star

5 Knitter’s need 6 Division of the Justice

Dept.

7 Jazz’s Mary ___

Williams

8 Raise 9 Escalate to the

extreme

Get the word out

271-0546

Reserve Ad space in your local Worship Directory

New, Old, Running, or not!

Tucson and surrounding areas

23

9

10

24

25

29 32

34 38

47

33

35

43

36

40

45

46

48

49

50

51

52

53

58

59

60

61

62

63

Reaction to hilarity, maybe 11 Enter all together 12 Distance between “some” and “where” in “Somewhere over the rainbow” 13 Swarmed 18 Now we’re in the Phanerozoic one 22 Ooze away 23 Intruder warning, maybe 24 Director Nicolas 25 Start of a counting-out rhyme 26 Fruit that’s usually dried before consumption 28 Most charitable 31 Got loaded 33 Cons 35 Supercomputing pioneer Seymour 10

37

39 44

13

26

31

42

12

22

28

30

11

19 21

27

41

8

16

20

Worship Guide

FREE PROFESSIONAL REMOVAL

7

18

38 Color on the flag of

every permanent U.N. Security Council member 39 Opposite of [circled letters] 41 Up to 44 Best 46 Brouhaha 47 Opposite of [circled letters] 49 Sycophant 50 Gifts 51 Grocery product with orange packaging 52 Go from worse to bad, say 53 Opposite of [circled letters] 58 Prefix with aggression 59 “Quick, get that dog some ___” (old ad slogan) 60 Carver’s tool 61 Cry made while removing a jacket 62 Just in case 63 Dispatch, in a way

6

15

17

Catalytics, Starters, AC Pumps, Alternators, Radiators, Complete Cars & Trucks

5

54

55

56

36 Do some wishful

57

thinking?

Camelot lady 39 Word before food or theory 40 Five-point rugby play 41 Mat used for judo 42 Shortly 43 Flowers that “in the dooryard bloom’d,” in a Whitman poem 45 ___ conservative 48 Union Station-Dupont Circle connector, in D.C. 49 Bit of ink 51 Brisk pace 54 Estadio cheer 55 Happy states 56 Destination of Finnish mail that’s addressed to “Yhdysvallat” 57 One role for Harriet Tubman in the Civil War 37

24

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 29, 2021

MEDICAL MARIJUANA EVALUATION CENTER

Save Money on Taxes!

Get Legal Today!

Medical Card Holder Benefits • • • • •

18+ Up to 2.5 Ounces of concentrate* Up to 2.5 ounces of flower* No potency limit on edibles HIPAA/Legal Protections to your rights

Recreational Disadvantages • • • • • •

21+ No more than 10mg per serving on edibles No more than 100mg per package of edibles Limit 5 grams of Concentrate 24.5% tax on all purchases No Protections

TELEMEDICINE CERTIFICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE! GET LEGAL TODAY! *MUST HAVE CURRENT MEDICAL RECORDS FOR MONTHLY SPECIAL

$125 *

SPECIAL

ALL MONTH LONG! **excludes State fee.

WALK-INS WELCOME: OPEN MON-FRI UNTIL 6PM, SAT UNTIL 4PM

• Receive A Voucher With Every Certification!

• Choice of 1 Free 150mg Gummies or Syrup from Baked Bros.

520-623-0

4120 E SPEEDWAY, TUCSON, AZ 85712

Voted #1 in the Cannabis Bowl