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TUCSON SALVAGE: The Bighorn Fire Nightmare
CHOW: Ducey Shuts Down Bars
THE SKINNY: More Bad News for McSally
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JULY 2, 2020
Southern Arizona
COVID-19
By Jim Nintzel jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com
THE LOCAL NUMBERS: The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Arizona continued to skyrocket, topping 79,000 as of Tuesday, June 30, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 8,004 of the state’s 79,215 confirmed cases. The number of confirmed cases nearly quadrupled from June 1, when the state had 20,123 cases. A total of 1,632 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 273 in Pima County, according to the June 30 report. Arizona hospitals continued to see a rise in the number of people hospitalized with COVID symptoms, as well as more people visiting emergency rooms. ADHS reported that as of June 29, 4,736 Arizonans were hospitalized and 1,435 ICDU beds (86 percent) were filled. The report shows 1,077 people arrived at emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms on June 29. THE NATIONAL NUMBERS: Nationwide, more than 2.5 million people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which had killed nearly 126,000 people in the United States as of Tuesday, June 30, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University. NO ROOM AT THE ICU: Banner Health Chief Clinical Officer Marjorie Bessel announced over the weekend that the hospital network, which treats about half of Arizona’s hospitalized COVID patients, was reaching its limit as it activated its surge plan and balanced its load of patients among its facilities. Banner is calling in additional health care workers from around the country. THE WORST IS YET TO BE: As COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket, Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday ordered the closing of bars, gyms, movie theaters, water parks and river tubing operators for at least 30 days. Ducey also said Arizona would delay the start of the school year by two weeks to Aug. 17. Ducey warned that Arizonans will see more cases of COVID-19 before the numbers begin to decrease and
Roundup
repeated his call for Arizonans to mask up when in public, stay home as much as possible, wash their hands and keep a physical distance from others. The Department of Health will also activate its “crisis standards of care” and cancel non-emergency surgeries as more COVID patients fill hospitals, ICU beds and emergency rooms. Ducey noted the greatest growth was among people ages 20 to 44, who generally do not face the worst symptoms of the disease but are capable of transmitting it to parents, grandparents, and others who do. “I don’t want there to be any illusion or sugar-coated expectations,” Ducey said last week. “We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following in terms of cases and hospitalizations.”
SCHOOLS WILL HAVE MONEY, BUT WILL THEY HAVE STUDENTS? Gov. Doug Ducey and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman last week announced new funding for Arizona schools to support the reopening of schools in August. Ducey resolved a major challenge that schools were facing: Funding is based on how many students physically attend schools and with some families turning to online learning to avoid infection in the classroom, those numbers are likely to fall. Ducey, rather than call a special session of lawmakers to change the law, instead issued an executive order providing $200 million to Arizona schools to prevent the funding cuts and support remote learning. The package also includes $40 million to improve
broadband lines in rural Arizona, where internet connections can be spotty; $20 million for high-need schools; $6 million for the Arizona Teacher Academy to help with a teacher shortage; $1 million in micro-grants for innovative learning programs; $1 million to purchase vehicles for the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind; $700,000 for leadership development; and $500,000 for tutoring programs. The Arizona Department of Education is providing an additional $25 million from the federal CARES Act for assistance to schools.
NO FIREWORKS: The Town of Marana announced late Monday night that it would join Oro Valley and Tucson in canceling their usual Fourth of July fireworks displays. Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega said he hoped the show atop “A” Mountain could be rescheduled “when we can all safely come together, to celebrate coming out of this time of crisis and our return to a new normal for our society.” PLEASE DON’T DRINK HAND SANITIZER: Arizonans are being asked to please stop trying to drink hand sanitizer to get drunk. Since June 1, Arizona’s poison centers have received 14 cases related to people drinking homemade liquor and hand sanitizers in pursuit of intoxication. While hand sanitizer does contain the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks (ethanol) and can reach 140 proof, it can also contain the toxic alcohol methanol if improperly made. According to Banner Health, all 14 cases resulted in an adult being hospitalized in critical condition. ■
RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson
TUCSONWEEKLY.COM
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JULY 2, 2020 | VOL. 35, NO. 27 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 ADMINISTRATION Jason Joseph, President/Publisher jjoseph@azlocalmedia.com Jaime Hood, General Manager, Ext. 12 jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com Casey Anderson, Ad Director/ Associate Publisher, Ext. 22 casey@tucsonlocalmedia.com Claudine Sowards, Accounting, Ext. 13 claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist, Ext. 10 sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor, Ext. 38 jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Logan Burtch-Buus, Managing Editor, Ext. 36 logan@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Associate Editor, Ext. 43 jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tara Foulkrod, Web Editor, Ext. 35 tara@tucsonlocalmedia.com Austin Counts, Staff Reporter, Ext. 37 austin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Kathleen Kunz, Staff Reporter, Ext. 42 kathleen@tucsonlocalmedia.com Contributors: Rob Brezsny, Max Cannon, Rand Carlson, Tom Danehy, Emily Dieckman, Bob Grimm, Clay Jones, Andy Mosier, Xavier Omar Otero, Linda Ray, Margaret Regan, Will Shortz, Brian Smith, Jen Sorensen, Eric Swedlund, Tom Tomorrow PRODUCTION David Abbott, Production Manager, Ext. 18 david@tucsonlocalmedia.com Louie Armendariz, Graphic Designer, Ext. 29 louie@tucsonlocalmedia.com Madison Wehr, Graphic Designer, Ext. 28 madison@tucsonlocalmedia.com Ryan Dyson, Graphic Designer, Ext. 26 ryand@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 Brek Montoya, Account Executive, Ext. 20 brek@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.
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THE SKINNY
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WHAT AILS MARTHA?
With the pandemic pushing health care to the forefront, Sen. Martha McSally’s lousy voting record is dragging her down—so it’s little wonder she’s lying about it ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY’S PUSH to brand former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut Mark Kelly as a Manchurian candidate in the service of the same Chinese government that brought us COVID-19 (or the “Kung Flu” as her pal President Donald Trump likes to call it) isn’t paying off yet, if the latest polls in Arizona’s Senate race are to be believed. Three recent polls show Kelly with anywhere from a 9-point to 15-point lead over McSally. Democratic pollster Civiqs, which polled 1,368 registered voters from June 13 to 15 showed Kelly leading McSally, 51 to 42 percent; a NYTimes/Siena College poll showed Kelly leading McSally, 47 to 38 percent; and a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll that showed Kelly leading McSally by 15 points, 49 to 34 percent. As with other polls, McSally is doing fine with most Republicans, but she’s turning off enough of them that Kelly wins the support of 8 and 11 percent of GOP voters. But she’s not getting the same kind of crossover; only between 3 to 4 percent of Democrats say they would vote for McSally. Kelly’s lead among independents is 16 percent in the Civiqs poll and 17 percent in the NYT/Siena College poll. It doesn’t help that McSally seems completely tone deaf on the pandemic. Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Arizonans remain out of work as the outbreak spreads uncontrollably, she hasn’t signaled support for extending the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits that came through the CARES Act—and has dismissed calls for additional aid to local governments as bailing out hotbeds of corruption such as Chicago. (And when word of that got out, her spokesperson explained that her remarks weren’t intended to be made publicly, even though she said them during a Zoom town hall with Surprise Mayor Skip Rimsza.)
from people with pre-existing conditions, Instead, McSally last week pitched the the Trump Administration hasn’t given up TRIP Act, which offers Americans an on the effort. Just last week, Justice Departall-expenses-paid vacation. McSally’s bill ment lawyers filed a legal brief claiming would reimburse up to $4,000 in vacation expenses for anyone who travels more than that McSally and her GOP colleagues clear50 miles from home. (And if you’re married, ly voted to get rid of the entire Affordable Care Act when they voted to get rid of the you get another $4,000 for the spouse and individual mandate requiring U.S. citizens $500 per kid. Hey, Joe Citizen: Now that you’ve survived the pandemic, what are you to buy health insurance or face a financial penalty as part of a deficit-expanding tax going to do? I’m going to Disney World!) break that gave away most of its benefits to Sure, we’d all like to turn in our receipts top earners in the country. and let Uncle Sam treat us to a $9,000 vaMcSally has, in her typical way, dodged cay with the kids, but first you have to have questions about whether she supports the the money to pay for it in the first place, Trump administration’s lawsuit, saying it’s which isn’t the case for all those unemployed Arizonans who are wondering what none of her business since it’s a legal fight. But her record clearly shows she has happens when they’re down to just $240 a been willing to roll people with pre-existing week and the next month’s rent is due. conditions under the bus when it’s time to McSally might as well have put the ball get the fucking thing done—which is why on the tee for Team Kelly. “Arizona is facing thousands of new coronavirus cases every day, people are waiting JEN SORENSEN 12 hours to get tested, and unless Congress takes action, critical relief for the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own will run out,” Kelly campaign spokesman Jacob Peters said. “Arizonans need a senator who will have their backs during this pandemic with a plan that helps people get the health care and testing they need, and make ends meet. Prioritizing taxpayer-funded vacations for wealthy Americans at this moment is irresponsible policy and desperate politics.” The pandemic is reminding voters of the issue that appears to be McSally’s kryptonite: healthcare. As McSally herself told Sean Hannity during her 2018 campaign, she was “getting (her) ass kicked” for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act when she was in the House in 2017. (You may recall McSally urging her fellow Republicans to “get this fucking thing done” when they raced to vote for a 2017 hodgepodge repeal-and-replace health care bill in 2017 that had, at the time of their vote, an approval rating of 31 percent among the public.) It was one of several votes McSally took to repeal the Affordable Care Act while in the House of Representatives. And while those failed efforts didn’t strip protections
PolitiFact gave a false rating to her latest TV ad, in which she says she will “always protect people with pre-existing conditions—always.” PolitiFact notes that “nothing in her voting record, which tracks closely with the Republican repeal-and-replace philosophy, supports this claim. And she has continually declined opportunities to oppose a pending legal threat to the ACA, including its provisions related to preexisting conditions, by a group of GOP governors and supported by the Trump administration.” The fact checkers added that “the legislation her campaign cited to justify her stance falls short in terms of meaningfully protecting Americans with preexisting medical conditions. McSally has not in the past or present taken actions that back up her statement. We rate it False.” ■
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and often disenfranchised voters. I have office. been particularly concerned with rural Pima County Recorder: With F. Ann voters, those who live in tribal commuRodriguez retiring after seven terms as nities, latinx voters, college students Pima County’s chief keeper of records, two Democrats are running for the office. who are often discouraged from voting, Kim Challender brings experience to the elders who struggle with Voter ID laws, Happy Independence Day! Early Voting Starts Next Week! job as the current assistant chief deputy the disabled community and people with in the office, while Gabriella Cázares-Kel- felonies who are often unaware of their GOP sheriffs such as Joe Arpaio and By Jim Nintzel rights. I’m running to make sure we are ly, an organizer with Indivisible Tohono Paul Babeu have done), Napier has chart- O’odham, brings an activist’s passion to jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com meeting the needs of our most vulnered a more moderate approach. This year, the job of managing Pima County’s voter able community members and to bring Nanos—who had served as a member of ARIZONA’S PRIMARY ELECTION the office into the 21st century.” rolls and early balloting. Challender has Dupnik’s command staff since 1997—is is right around the corner. The winner of the Democratic primathe endorsement of Rodriguez, but Cázalooking for a rematch against Napier, Arizonans who are used to a late Aury will face Republican Benny White, a res-Kelly has many friends among the but first he has to win a Democratic gust primary may be surprised to learn party’s activist base, who are more likely longtime GOP activist who has served on that Arizona lawmakers have moved the primary against Kevin Kubitskey, who the county’s Election Integrity Committee. to turn out in a primary. has a two-decade career with the Sheriff’s date to the first Tuesday in August to “I want to improve citizen confidence “Now, more than ever, the integrity and Department and who has served in the give candidates a little more time to rein election results,” White said. safety of our elections is of the utmost load ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. The primary election is on Aug. 4, which means early voting starts next Wednesday, July 8. If you’re on the Permanent Early Voter List, you’ll get a ballot in your mailbox. (And be sure to pick it up before the roving bands of kids can swipe it and turn it over to the Antifa/K-pop mob.) If you’re not on the Permanent Early Voter List, you can request an early ballot by calling 520724-4330 or visiting recorder.pima.gov. If you’d prefer to vote in person before Aug. 4, County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez has set up a number of early voting locations you can find on her website. The deadline to register to vote in the primary is Monday, July 6. The winners of next month’s primary races will be the candidates on the ballot in November. COURTESY PHOTOS This week, we’re rounding up the counThe candidates for Pima County Attorney (left to right): Laura Conover, Jonathan Mosher and Mark Diebolt ty races, outside of the contests for the Board of Supervisors, which we tackled leadership of the Pima County Deputy a few weeks back. Thanks to a bunch of Pima County Assessor: Democrat importance,” Challender said. “The Reretirements and the untimely passing of Sheriff’s Association. corder’s Office manages the voter records Bill Staples is stepping down after three Pima County Attorney: One of the Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías, terms running the office that determines and the early voting process along with marquee races on the primary ballot is Pima County will see a changing of the property values for taxing purposes. recording documents like land transacthe three-way Democratic primary that political guard. At the very least, there Three Democrats are vying in the tions. This is an important office that will decide who takes control of the Pima touches everyone in Pima County in will be two new county supervisors, August primary: Brian Johnson, Dustin County Attorney’s Office as Barbara a new county attorney, a new county Walters and Suzanne Drobie. No Repubsome way. I have the experience, experLaWall retires after 24 years as the coun- tise, and passion needed to move the of- lican filed to run. recorder and a new county assessor. In ty’s top prosecutor. Two deputy county upcoming weeks, we’ll bring you more fice forward while allowing for a smooth Pima County Treasurer: As she seeks attorneys from LaWall’s office, Jonathan transition into 2021.” details on these races and others. a sixth term, Pima County Treasurer Beth Mosher and Mark Diebolt, are in the Pima County Sheriff: Republican Ford is facing Democrat Brian Bickel, Cázares-Kelly said she decided to run race, as is defense attorney and former Mark Napier managed to win heavily because she wanted to remove barriers to who ran an unsuccessful campaign Democratic Pima County four years ago public attorney Laura Conover. Mosher against Pima County Supervisor Ally voter registration. has LaWall’s endorsement in a race that after a procurement scandal erupted “My interest in this office began when Miller four years ago. No primary race. around Sheriff Chris Nanos, a Democrat normally has candidates talking about Pima County Superintendent of I started registering voters during my how tough on crime they will be, but who was appointed the seat in 2015 as lunch breaks and after work in the Toho- Schools: Democratic incumbent Dustin with the national mood shifting toward heir apparent to Clarence Dupnik, who no O’odham community,” she said. “I im- Williams did not draw any challengers criminal justice reform, Conover may be mediately realized that there were many who filed nominating petitions, although stepped down after 35 years in office. the candidate that Democratic voters see unseen barriers to voter registration and Green Party candidate Michael Cease is Rather than use the office as an anti-imas the most likely to bring change to the early voting that resulted in frustrated migration platform (as some Arizona running as a write-in candidate. ■
CURRENTS
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
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STAY HOME, ARIZONA
the spreading virus. But Arizona’s numbers have skyrocketed in June. At the beginning of the month, the state had roughly 20,000 confirmed cases. By June 30, that number had nearly quadrupled to 79,215. In addition, hospitals were pushed to the Ducey delays school year, orders bars, limit in June. As of June 30, Arizona had a gyms, theaters closed as coronavirus cases record 2,793 hospitalized COVID patients, including a record number of 683 in ICU skyrocket in June wards. In the latter half of the month, it was common for emergency rooms to see more By Logan Burtch-Buus than 1,000 people seeking help each day. logan@tucsonlocalmedia.com Banner Health Chief Clinical Officer Marjorie Bessel announced over the AS COVID-19 CASES CONTINUE to skyrocket, Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday weekend that the hospital network, which treats about half of Arizona’s hospitalized ordered the closing of bars, gyms, movie theaters, water parks and river tubing for at COVID patients, was reaching its limit as it activated its surge plan and balanced least one month. its load of patients among its facilities. Ducey also said Arizona would delay the start of the school year to Aug. 17 from Banner is calling in additional health care workers from around the country. Aug. 6. “We are absolutely experiencing a surge Ducey warned that Arizonans will see of COVID-19 patients that are coming in more cases of COVID-19 before the numfor care, and we are starting to get full,” bers begin to decrease. “Our expectation is, our numbers will be Bessel said. “We do have plans, however, to continue to increase our capacity so that worse,” said Ducey, who repeated his call we can meet the demand of the commufor Arizonans to mask up when in public, stay home as much as possible, wash their nities and all the people that we serve in there. But we do ask everybody to follow all hands and keep a physical distance from the things that we can do to try and reduce others. the curve of spread.” The Department of Health will also The decision to delay the start of the activate its “crisis standards of care” and school year comes as parents are deciding cancel non-emergency surgeries. whether to send their kids back to school Just a few days earlier, on Thursday, or move to an online option that districts June 25, Ducey told reporters he had no are offering. Options differ across districts. plans to order new shutdowns to combat
CLAYTOONZ By Clay Jones
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman did not join Ducey for the press conference but released a separate statement. “What Arizona’s numbers will look like by Aug. 17 remains unclear,” Hoffman said. “But one thing is for certain: If efforts are not taken across the entire state to curb the spread of this virus, our schools will only continue to face complications in reopening their facilities.” In a press conference last week, Ducey—who said when he lifted his stay-athome order in mid-May that the state was “clearly on the other side of this pandemic”—warned the worst days of the outbreak still lay ahead. “I don’t want there to be any illusion or sugar-coated expectations: We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following in terms of cases and hospitalizations,” Ducey said. “This is Arizona’s first wave, and this will not be our last wave.” Ducey noted the greatest growth was among people ages 20 to 44, who generally do not face the worst symptoms of the disease but are capable of transmitting it to parents, grandparents and others who do. “COVID-19 is widespread in Arizona,” Ducey said. “It’s in all 15 of our counties. It’s growing, and it’s growing fast across all age groups and demographics. Anyone can get this virus, and anyone can spread this virus.” Despite the increase in cases, Ducey
called the situation manageable, but said the state needs to change directions by applying all the knowledge it’s learned in the past few months and remaining “vigilant, flexible and humble as this virus presents new challenges at every turn.” Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ said the state is also working with private partners like SonoraQuest and TGen to expand private testing in addition to an increase in testing locations and availability across Arizona. While more than 50,000 collection kits have been distributed to healthcare partners, labs and local health departments, residents in low-income areas of Phoenix were waiting for hours in drive-thru lines to get tested earlier this month. Christ also said those who go out should consider how many people they will interact with when they leave their home. Meeting new people outside of their “quarantine bubble” carries great risk, Christ said. She advised the public to wear face masks when around other people, especially when you can’t maintain six feet of space. Christ said this is especially important because asymptomatic carriers can still spread COVID-19 and potential put other lives at risk. “Just because somebody doesn’t look sick, doesn’t mean they aren’t carrying the virus,” Christ said. “The closer you are to other people who may be infected, the greater your risk for coming down with COVID-19.” ■
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Story & photos by Brian Smith
A THING OF HATE THE SUN FALLS AND THE cloud turns dark against the sky, unfurling off the southern slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Some evil invading the northeastern part of the city. The helicopters are gone from above now but the buzzsaw harmonics of cicadas remain and I let the black smoke turn into a plague of locusts. The strange stomp and crush of something large. I hear her before I see her, that shock of the untamed, wild, and my heart surges: A dazed bighorn sheep strides across our yard, the cacti, snake nests and palo verde. She is several feet in front of me, the first I’ve ever seen in person. Her elegance defeated; she’s hungry, scared, lost, another sad reminder of things gone horribly wrong. How only certain types and colors of creatures in our world are marked for love. The blaze is a threat and like any clever antagonist disguises itself. At night it is strangely beautiful and intimate; drifting cinders as rotating stars, the flames feverish spirits set free. But it feels like we are a target. What it is to be a person of color in 2020, still, or a homeless person. Fire is hate and it gains momentum on idiot wind. We were told to be packed and ready to evacuate as the fire rages on a ridge above our house. A ridge in a range that served as a geographic pull my entire life, wherever I was, where the many empty pieces of my life are cradled and soothed, a virtual safety net. The range my father motored down on the cold January morning I was born, hauling ass from those glittering red towers. A range upon which O’odhams once found refuge. A ridge where Apaches stood lookout for invading Spaniards, one of whom, a Jesuit missionary, named the range itself after the brutalized and beheaded virgin Saint Catherine of Alexandria, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
She is the patron saint of unmarried women and the namesake of the Catherine Wheel, a bone-shattering torture device used in public execution through the Middle Ages. Medieval hagiographies claim the device blew apart when she touched it. The Catherine Wheel is a firework now, creates a spectacular ring of flame, sparks fly in all directions. The following morning is one of those hot ones where metallic light makes everything look toasted and dead in Tucson, and the sparks catch wind on the cliffs to the north. I drive over to a Red Cross evacuation center set up at Sahuaro High School. The same school I lasted a year and a half in, just another in a string of failed custodies of self. The school hasn’t changed, still boxy, friendless and sad. I meet two American Red Cross volunteer women, masked retirees, holy helpers one might say, there inside McConnell Gym, the Red Cross makeshift intake area. They are surrounded by trophies and photos of dozens of notable Sahuaro faces, mostly white and smiling. It is like a period movie, this place, and I am filled with that same sense of timeless mediocrity I felt when I attended years ago, a mostly all-white public school teaching whitewashed Christian things 70 miles from the Mexican border. The women sit behind a table, bored and waiting. They are waiting to do good. They are waiting to help others who might be in need because of the fire of hate. It has been days and no one has turned up here for help, not from the inferno on Mount Lemmon or from the devastating Spanish Trail apartment blaze on Tucson’s south side. I am not in need but wondered if some were, ready to employ the hearts of these women. The Manhattan-born Ellin Ruffner, a retired mental health pro and Tucso-
BRIAN SMITH
The Bighorn Fire rages above the Smith family house.
nan after too many northeastern winters. Barbara Whitehead, an ex-CPA and Virginian down to her dialect. They sit behind a table staffed with COVID-19 masks, sign-in sheets, disinfectants and information. They temperature check anyone seeking help. There is food and water in the gym behind them. They met each other a few days ago and are now friends, talking homemade masks and how they will soon eat lunch together. They say they will do anything Red Cross asks them to do. They are always on call. Ruffner, who was born during WWII, began volunteering to help the disenfranchised when Katrina hit Louisiana. She has seen floods and fires and blood in various parts of the country, all manner of wretched things. She tells me she attended university in a different time, her schooling was free. She gives back mostly out of a sense of duty and benevolence. Whitehead and Ruffner can’t stand to see suffering of any kind. They say as much in the quiet minutes. Ruffner’s affect slides into the formal when she says, “Our mission in the Red Cross is to be here for everybody.” She accents the word “everybody.” We live in a time when such words need to be accented, when a person must go even slightly out of their way to show judgment is not tolerated. I return home and taste the burning forest inside our house. My wife moved our two children to an afforda-
ble, COVID-safe hotel to keep their throat and lungs clear. They are redeyed and coughing and haven’t been able to sleep. Our neighbor loaded up his pickup and drove off. That night in our own bed, sleep will not come down, though the fire might, it crams my bathroom window, a mile up that sacred hill in the Coronado National Forest, “taunting us” as our 6-yearold Reece says. A song hit repeat in my head, Dave Alvin singing “4th of July”: On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone/The Mexican kids are shooting fireworks below … I wonder if our house, our forever lucky charm of a nest, will burn to the ground. “Even if it does,” says my more-evolved wife—a woman who eternally sees beyond the immediate, always armed with the bigger connotations—“fire is rebirth. It burns the old, leaves the ground more fertile.” If it is happening now, near the Fourth of July, she adds, it only makes sense. The fire will be fought, and the fire will die. The hate will die. The ashes will settle, some on my head, and something good must rise. Set out your Catherine Wheel or crack the sky and say fuck the tyrants and bullies, the power of human exchanges will soon shift from those who hate onto those who love. Turn on Dave Alvin: So dry your tears and baby, walk outside, It’s the Fourth of July. ■
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JULY 2, 2020
CHOW
By Jeff Gardner and Austin Counts
JEFF GARDNER
CLOSING TIME
Bar owners have mixed emotions over Gov. Ducey’s decision to shut down drinking establishments state-wide By Austin Counts austin@tucsonlocalmedia.com
TUCSON BAR OWNERS ARE ambivalent over Governor Doug Ducey’s recent executive order prohibiting bars from allowing customers in their establishments for the next 30 days amid a rise of coronavirus cases in the state since reopening May 12. The order went into effect at 8 p.m. on Monday, June 29. Gov. Ducey’s order came days after he called out a slew of Scottsdale and Tempe bars for being “bad actors” for not implementing social distancing protocols during the pandemic after recent photos of jam-packed college bars were released on social media. Sean Humphrey, co-owner of John Henry’s Bar in downtown Tucson, believes all drinking establishments in the state are being punished for certain bar owners acting irresponsibly during the pandemic. Humphrey was a part of Pima County’s Bars and Restaurant Task Force that helped to get barrooms reopened under the same rules as restaurants when Gov. Ducey lifted his initial shutdown order mid-May. “I feel like there are certain places in the state that operate with wanton disregard for the current health crisis,”
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“I FEEL LIKE THERE ARE CERTAIN PLACES IN THE STATE THAT OPERATE WITH WANTON DISREGARD FOR THE CURRENT HEALTH CRISIS. THEY THREW CAUTION TO THE WIND AND WE’RE PAYING FOR IT. IT IS WHAT IT IS.” - SEAN HUMPHREY, COOWNER OF JOHN HENRY’S Humphrey said. “They threw caution to the wind and we’re paying for it. It is what it is.” Humphrey said the challenges of being in the bar business for the past three months have been hard to overcome, starting with the economic shutdown, then coronavirus concerns upon reopening, followed by civil unrest over police brutality, which led to state-mandated curfews and now a reclosure of Arizona bars as COVID-19 cases skyrocket in the state. “Between the initial shutdown, then the state-mandated curfew and now
individuals and establishments not being responsible, not enforcing social distancing like we do at our place, they have ruined it for everybody,” Humphrey said. “It only takes a handful of high-profile examples to ruin it for the other 99 percent.” At this point, Humphrey isn’t sure if his bar will survive the pandemic. He said his partners plan on meeting soon to discuss the future of John Henry’s. Whether that means going back to to-go beer and liquor sales or shutting down entirely is up in the air, said Humphrey. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it,” Humphrey said. “We’re going to talk, but I think everybody is feeling the same way. We’re all tired. As of right now, I just don’t know and I feel really defeated.” Across the train tracks that separate downtown from Fourth Avenue, Che’s Lounge co-owner Jim Vancza said he thinks Ducey made the right move, considering the rising number of cases across the state. “Based on the numbers I’m seeing, I think they should shut down practically everything,” Vancza said. He and his business partner Jill Brammer chose to stay closed for sit-down bar service—opting to continue selling beer and booze to-go—even after the stay-athome order was lifted last May. Vancza said they made a simple decision to help keep their customers and staff safe, as Che’s Lounge would be typically packed on any given night of the week before the pandemic. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
AS BUSINESSES SLOWLY GET back to (the new) normal, we’ll be highlighting local restaurants that are reopening, as well as talking about what new foods and regulations they have. If you have news about restaurants reopening, email jeff@ tucsonlocalmedia.com.
WILL FERGUSON
17th Street Market. Tucson’s beloved 17th Street Market is reopening mid-July and it’s expected to be unlike anything the Old Pueblo has ever seen before. “Basically, it’s opening in a different form,” owner Tom Kusian said. “It will be more along the lines of Pike Place Market in Seattle with multiple vendors.” Kusian said the new 17th Street Market will feature stalls vendors can rent out and sell grocery goods from all over the world and will also have a walk-in produce cooler for those hard to find fresh items. They even have plans to bring back their famed fish market, which is great news since Rincon Market recently closed its doors. The new location is connected to the old building, but located just to the west at 870 E. 17th Street, near Park Avenue. The market will be open on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm starting on Saturday, July 11, Kusian said. He also plans on featuring live music as they used to do at the original store. “It’s a 64,000-square-foot location where Tucson Food Service used to be,” Kusian said. “This is going to be a lot of fun. I’ve very excited to be doing this.” While the original 17th Street market had a devoted following, the store closed in March 2013 due to declining sales. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
JULY 2, 2020
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JULY 2, 2020
GREEN RUSH
Medical cannabis sales hit a new high By Ray Stern tucsonweekly@tucsonlocalmedia.com
After the March record, sales took a dip in April to 16,531 total pounds. But the new numbers show that cannabis sales are remaining strong in the stay-atARIZONANS COPING WITH THE pandemic are buying more medical mar- home culture. A breakdown of the stats show that ijuana than ever before, with sales hitting a monthly program record again in May. May sales included 16,270 pounds of flower, 456 pounds of edibles (that’s the The latest report on the state-run cannabis inside the edibles, not the food weed program shows that dispensaries or drink it’s infused in), and 1,356 pounds sold more than 18,083 pounds of total of “other,” which means concentrates like cannabis products last month. That’s an vape-cartridge juice and shatter. increase of 5.8 percent over the previThe number of patients also took a ous record from March, when patients bought 17,095 pounds as the coronavirus big jump in May to its highest total ever of 245,533. That’s about 10,000 more papandemic set off a buying spree. May’s total sales also represent a blistering 31.3 tients than in April, a significant increase percent increase over sales in May 2019. considering that the patient ranks in-
BIGSTOCK
creased by only about 5,000 from March to April. It’s also about 23 percent higher than the May 2019 patient count. At this pace, it’s seems safe to predict that the milestone of a quarter-million Arizona medical marijuana patients will probably be hit sometime this month. The state’s medical marijuana industry has been growing in leaps and bounds since the first dispensaries opened in December 2012, following narrow voter
approval of the program in November 2010. Large sales increases year over year came to be expected by Arizona dispensaries. But the coronavirus, in a twisted way, has proved to be the perfect fertilizer for the cannabis industry. Sam Richard, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, offered several speculations for the spike of the last three months, starting with his gratitude to Gov. Doug Ducey for following the
JULY 2, 2020
lead of other states and making medical marijuana an essential business that could remain open during the stay-athome order from April to mid-May. The initial pandemic fears in midMarch sparked some panicked buying as many patients stocked up, fearing that a national quarantine order could be imminent, he said. He mentioned that people staying at home is a likely contributing factor. That seems like a good bet: Unemployed people may have more time on their hands to medicate, and bosses can’t see what patients are doing when they’re working from home all day. Richard noted that while anxiety and depression are not qualifying ailments for the state program, “much as been reported” about the use of cannabis to treat those conditions. “This current moment is establishing that as a beneficial use,” he said. He also pointed out that the percentage increase in edibles and concentrates has
been slightly higher over the last three months than the increase in flower, which could indicate a desire by more patients to forego smoking as a disease that attacks the respiratory system runs rampant. Steve White, CEO of Harvest, said that the latest statistics “tell a story.” “Here, we are learning that the regulated cannabis industry in Arizona will continue to develop even when the world as we know it changes,” White said. “It’s a testament to strong regulators and operators across the state serving patients.” The Arizona Dispensaries Association, of which Harvest is a member, is hoping to put an adult legalization measure on the November ballot called the Smart and Safe Act. The campaign says it has collected far in excess of the 237,645 valid voter signatures it needs to turn in by the state’s deadline of July 2 to qualify for the ballot. ■ Ray Stern is news editor at Phoenix New Times, where this article originally appeared.
TUCSON AREA DISPENSARIES Bloom Tucson. 4695 N. Oracle Road, Ste. 117 293-3315; bloomdispensary.com Open: Sunday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Wednesday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Botanica. 6205 N. Travel Center Drive. 395-0230; botanica.us. Open: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily
Hana Green Valley. 1732 W. Duval Commerce Point Place. 289-8030. Open: Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Desert Bloom Re-Leaf Center. 8060 E. 22nd St. 886-1760; dbloomtucson.com. Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily; delivery available.
Harvest of Tucson. 2734 East Grant Road. 3149420; askme@harvestinc.com; Harvestofaz.com Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily
Downtown Dispensary. 221 E. Sixth St. 8380492; thedowntowndispensary.com. Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily
Nature Med. 5390 W. Ina Road. 620-9123; naturemedinc.com. Open: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily
D2 Dispensary. 7105 E 22nd St. 214-3232; d2dispensary.com. Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily Earth’s Healing North: 78 W. River Road. 3951432. earthshealing.org. Open: Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Delivery available. Earth’s Healing South: 2075 E. Benson Highway. 373-5779. earthshealing.org. Open: Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Delivery available. The Green Halo. 7710 S. Wilmot Road. 664-2251; thegreenhalo.org. Open: Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Green Med Wellness Center. 6464 E. Tanque Verde Road. 520-281-1587; facebook.com/ GreenMedWellnessCenter. Open: Monday,
The Prime Leaf. 4220 E. Speedway Blvd. 44-PRIME; theprimeleaf.com. Open: Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Purple Med Healing Center. 1010 S. Freeway, Ste. 130. 398-7338; facebook.com/PurpleMedHealingCenter. Open: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Southern Arizona Integrated Therapies. 112 S. Kolb Road 886-1003; medicalmarijuanaoftucson.com Open: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily Total Accountability Patient Care. 226 E. 4th St., Benson 586-8710; bensondispensary.com Open: Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 .m. to 7 p.m.
TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 11
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TUCSONWEEKLY.COM
JULY 2, 2020
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): Aries author Marge Piercy writes, “The people I love the best, jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows.” The Aries people I love best will do just that in the coming days. Now is not the right time to wait around passively, lazily hoping that something better will come along. Nor is it prudent to procrastinate or postpone decisions while shopping around for more options or collecting more research. Dive, Aries, dive! TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip by Bill Watterson. It features a boy named Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes. In the first panel of one story, Calvin is seated at a school desk looking perplexed as he studies a question on a test, which reads “Explain [Isaac] Newton’s First Law of Motion in your own words.” In the second panel, Calvin has a broad smile, suddenly imbued with inspiration. In the third panel, he writes his response to the test question: “Yakka foob mog. Grug pubbawup zink wattoom gazork. Chumble spuzz.” The fourth panel shows him triumphant and relaxed, proclaiming, “I love loopholes.” I propose that you use this scenario as your victorious metaphor in the coming weeks, Taurus. Look for loopholes! And use them to overcome obstacles and solve riddles. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to ourselves,” wrote philosopher and activist Simone Weil. I’m hoping that this horoscope of mine can help you avoid that mistake. In the coming weeks and months, you will have a stronger-than-usual need to be seen for who you really are—to have your essential nature be appreciated and understood by people you care about. And the best way to make sure that happens is to work hard right now on seeing, appreciating, and understanding yourself.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some readers wish I would write more like Cormac McCarthy or Albert Camus or Raymond Chandler: with spare simplicity. They accuse me of being too lush and exuberant in my prose. They want me to use shorter sentences and fewer adjectives. To them I say: It ain’t going to happen. I have feelings similar to those of best-selling Cancerian author Oliver Sacks, who the New York Times called, “one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century.” Sacks once said, “I never use one adjective if six seem to me better and, in their cumulative effect, more incisive. I am haunted by the density of reality and try to capture this with ‘thick description.’” I bring these thoughts to your attention, my fellow Cancerian, because I think it’s important for you to be your lavish, sumptuous, complex self in the coming weeks. Don’t oversimplify yourself or dumb yourself down, either intellectually or emotionally. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Travel writer Paul Theroux has journeyed long distances by train: once from Britain to Japan and back again, and then from Massachusetts to Argentina. He also rode trains during part of his expedition from Cairo to Cape Town. Here’s one of his conclusions: “It is almost axiomatic that the worst trains take you through magical places.” I’d like to offer a milder version of that counsel as your metaphor for the coming weeks: The funky, bumpy, rickety influences will bring you the best magic. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Philosopher Miguel de Unamuno declared, “Everything that exalts and expands consciousness is good, while that which depresses and diminishes it is evil.” This idea will be intensely true for and applicable to you in the coming weeks, Virgo. It will be your sacred duty— both to yourself and to those you care about—to enlarge your understandings of how the world works and to push your awareness to become more inclusive and empathetic. What’s your vision of
SAVAGE LOVE KINKED GAYS
By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net
I have a question. I’m a gay man in a relationship and we’re both really happy since we met a year ago. We’re “open” in the sense that he wants the option to be intimate with someone else if a connection happens and in turn he said he would be supportive of me being involved in my kinks. But I haven’t done anything yet out of fear. I’m not afraid of my kinks. I’m worried that if I ask to go do something kinky it will ruin our relationship. I don’t think he was bluffing when he said it was okay for me to explore my kinks with other guys but it worries me. I tend to repress the kink part of my sexuality and I’m worried that him knowing I want to act on it will cause issues. My boyfriend and I are so balanced but in the kink aspects of my life I’m a
submissive and need to engage in power exchange with someone. I miss being able to express these things and it feels like there’s a void in my life. That might sound silly, but it’s true. I think repressing them is actually taking a toll on my mental health. Any advice? —Guy’s Abandoned Yearnings Subtly Undermining Bond
If your boyfriend is bluffing, GAYSUB, you wanna know that sooner rather than later. Your still-relatively-new-ish boyfriend gave you permission to act on your kinks at the same time he asked your permission to fuck someone else. You
paradise-on-earth? Now is a good time to have fun imagining it. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What do you want to be when you grow up, Libra? What’s that you say? You firmly believe you are already all grown up? I hope not! In my vision of your destiny, you will always keep evolving and transforming; you will ceaselessly transcend your existing successes and push on to accomplish further breakthroughs and victories. Now would be an excellent time to rededicate yourself to this noble aspiration. I invite you to dream and scheme about three specific wonders and marvels you would like to experience during the next five years. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has advice that would serve you well in the coming weeks. She says, “Keep a little space in your heart for the improbable. You won’t regret it.” In accordance with your astrological potentials, I’m inclined to amend her statement as follows: “Keep a sizable space in your heart for the improbable. You’ll be rewarded with catalytic revelations and intriguing opportunities.” To attract blessings in abundance, Scorpio, be willing to set aside some of your usual skepticism and urge for control. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Author Malidoma Somé lives in the U.S. now, but was born in the West African country of Burkina Faso. He writes, “In the culture of my people, the Dagara, we have no word for the supernatural. The closest we come to this concept is Yielbongura, ‘the thing that knowledge can’t eat.’ This word suggests that the life and power of certain things depend upon their resistance to the categorizing knowledge that human beings apply to everything.” I bring Somé’s thoughts to your attention, Sagittarius, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will encounter more than the usual number of experiences that knowledge can’t eat. They might at times be a bit spooky or confounding, but will mostly be interesting and fun. I’m guessing that if you embrace them, they will liberate you from overly literal and materialistic ideas about how the world works. And that will be good for your soul.
gave him your OK and I assume you meant it, GAYSUB; you meant it when you told him he could, if and when “a connection happens,” go ahead and fuck the dude. Seeing as he took your “yes” for an answer where his “connections” are concerned, GAYSUB, I think you should take his “yes” for an answer where your kinks are concerned. So go find some hot Dom you wanna submit to and let your boyfriend know you’re gonna get your kink on. If it turns out your boyfriend was lying to you—if he’s one of those people who wants to be free to play with others (which is why he got your OK) but doesn’t want his partner playing with others (and the OK he gave you was insincere)—it’s better to find that out 12 short months into this relationship than to find it out 10 years, a mortgage, one kid, and two dogs into
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Pioneer Capricorn scientist Isaac Newton is often hailed as one of history’s greatest geniuses. I agree that his intellectual capacities were sublime. But his emotional intelligence was sparse and feeble. During the time he taught at Cambridge University, his talks were so affectless and boring that many of his students skipped most of his classes. I’ll encourage you to make Newton your anti-role model for the next eight weeks. This time will be favorable for you to increase your mastery of three kinds of intelligence beyond the intellectual kind: feeling, intuition, and collaboration. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When future writer (and Aquarius) Charles Dickens was 12 years old, his parents and siblings got incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. To stay alive and help his family, he took a job working 12 hours a day, six days a week, pasting labels on pots of boot polish in a rotting, rat-infested warehouse. Hard times! Yet the experiences he had there later provided him with rich material for the novels that ultimately made him wealthy and beloved. In predicting that you, too, will have future success at capitalizing on difficulty, I don’t mean to imply you’ve endured or will endure anything as harsh as Dickens’ ordeal. I’m just hoping to help you appreciate the motivating power of your challenging experiences. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Maybe you feel that the ongoing pandemic has inhibited your ability to explore and deepen intimacy to the degree that would like to. But even if that’s the case, the coming weeks will provide openings that could soften and remedy your predicament. So be extra receptive and alert to the clues that life reveals to you. And call on your imagination to look for previously unguessed and unexpected ways to reinvent togetherness and tenderness. Let’s call the next three weeks your Season of Renewing Rapport. ■ Homework: Decide on three special words that will from now on serve as magic spells for you. Keep them secret! Don’t even tell me. RealAstrology.com.
this relationship. And what you describe about the void you feel is understandable to anyone with kinks, GAYSUB, and even vanilla people can understand if they think about it for even a moment. (That vanilla stuff you enjoy, vanilla people? Imagine never being able to do any of it. See?) Your kinks are an intrinsic aspect of your sexuality and repressing them—not having any way to explore or express them—does take an emotional toll. It can also breed resentment if your partner is the reason you can’t explore or express them. Which means if your boyfriend wants you to be happy and wants you to be a good boyfriend to him, then you need to have the freedom to be who you are. For some kinky people porn is enough of an outlet, GAYSUB, but most kinky people want actual experiences.
JULY 2, 2020
Often a vanilla partner is willing and able to meet a kinky partner’s needs and that’s great. But sometimes a vanilla partner can’t do it or is incapable of faking it or does it poorly on purpose so they won’t be asked to do it again. And for some kinksters, the awareness you’re being indulged makes it impossible for to get into the right subby headspace. If either is the case, you’ll have to outsource these desires to fill that void. If your boyfriend gives you the OK and has a little breakdown after you get home—if it dredges up some unexpected feelings (and you should expect that it will dredge up some unexpected feelings (so expect those unexpected feelings))—and needs some reassurance, that’s fine. Answer any questions he has and let him know you’re not going anywhere; indeed, the fact that you don’t have to choose between him and your kinks makes you far less likely to end this relationship. (Sometimes people who weren’t even in the dungeon during the scene need a little aftercare too.) But if you’re careful not to neglect your boyfriend sexually or emotionally and your kinky dates are just an occasional thing and your boyfriend keeps having great, big, dramatic meltdowns, GAYSUB, then that’s a bad sign. If he punishes you with drama every time he gives you his OK to play with someone else, then he’s hoping you’ll decide to stop seeking these experiences out because the emotional price is too great. You won’t be able to remain in this relationship if that’s what winds up happening, GAYSUB, so you’re going to wanna act on your kinks at least a half a dozen times before you get a dog or a mortgage. My new boyfriend just opened up to me about his kinks. Nothing crazy: just bondage and humiliation. While he usually meets and dates guys off kinky dating sites, we met “the old fashioned way” a few months before COVID-19 slammed us here in Chicago: at a potluck dinner party thrown by a mutual straight lady friend. Your name came up during the conversation about his interests: he told me he was taking your advice and “laying his kink cards on the table” before I had made too much of an emotional commitment. What’s interesting to me, Dan, is how often this happens. My boyfriend is easily the fourth guy I’ve dated in the last few years who laid down the exact same kink cards: wants to be tied up, wants to be called names, wants to be hurt. I’m learning to tie knots and getting better at calling him
names when we have sex and I actually really enjoying spanking him. But I was talking with a friend—our straight lady mutual (with the boyfriend’s OK!)—and she told me she’s never had a straight guy open up to her about wanting to be tied up abused. Are gay guys just kinkier? —Talking Over Perversions
I have a theory… When we’re boys… before we’re ready to come out… we’re suddenly attracted to other boy. And that’s something we usually feel pretty panicked about. It would be nice that first same-sex crush was something a boy could experience without feelings of dread or terror, TOP, but that’s not how it works for most of us. We’re keenly aware that should the object of our desire realize it—if the boy we’re attracted realizes what we’re feeling, if we give ourselves away with a stray look—the odds of that boy reacting badly or even violently are high. Even if you think the boy might not react violently, even if you suspect the boy you’re crushing on might be gay himself, the stakes are too high to risk making any sort of move. So we stew with feelings of lust and fear. Sexual desire can make anyone feel fearful and powerless—we’re literally powerless to control these feelings (while we can and must control how we act on these feelings)—but desire and fear are stirred together for us gay boys to much greater degree than they are for straight boys. We fear being found out, we fear being called names, we fear being outed, we fear being physically hurt. And the person we fear most is the person we have a crush on. A significant number of gay guys wind up imprinting on that heady and very confusing mix of desire and fear. The erotic imaginations of guys like your boyfriend seize on those fears and eroticize them. And then, in adulthood, your boyfriend want to re-experience those feelings, that heady mix of desire and fear, with a loving partner he trusts. The gay boy who feared being hurt by the person he was attracted to becomes the gay man who wants to be hurt—in a limited, controlled, consensual and safe way—by the man he’s with. ■ On the Savage Lovecast: would you choose to live in...Kansas? mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. savagelovecast.com
CLOSING TIME
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“We didn’t feel it was safe for our employees or our customers. I think we were proven correct based on the numbers,” Vancza said. “I would rather be the last place to open and miss out on a little bit than to be the first place that opens and get our employees and our customers sick.” While Vancza said he and Brammer are fortunate to have savings from their successful establishment which could possibly help them weather the pandemic storm, he “completely understands” why a bar would reopen during these times. “Having the history (Che’s Lounge) has, it gives us the luxury a lot of places don’t have. We can fall back on some savings and hopefully ride this out,” Vancza said. “A lot of these places downtown
QUICK BITES
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HUB Restaurant and Creamery. This downtown restaurant and ice cream shop opened earlier in June with a new menu and guidelines to make their reopening safe and tasty. HUB is now open for dine-in service indoors and outdoors, as well as takeout service. Their new “focused menu” features several of their greatest hits, including their house-made pastrami, Prime Fries with prime rib and onions, and veggie, chicken and lobster pot pies. They’re also debuting special to-go family meals, and a new walk-up window for socially distanced ordering. In addition to turning the lights back on inside, HUB will also take over the neighboring rooftop at Playground for an “open air, 6 Foot Supper Club” serving dinner Thursdays through Sundays, and the 6 Foot Breakfast Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings. HUB is open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 266 E. Congress St. (520) 207-8201. 1912 Brewing Fifth Anniversary. It’s going to be an extra special 4th of July at 1912 Brewing Co., where they’re celebrating their fifth anniversary with music, food and beer. Their special beer releases will be paired with food from Daniela’s Cooking, and you can either enjoy the treats in-house or take the party to-go. Anniversary specials include the Pie Gose with hints of cinnamon and graham cracker paired with apple empanadas, and a Mexican candy-inspired gose paired with a fruit cup, topped with chamoy, tajin and lime. They’re also offering up some 1912 classics
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don’t have that kind of history that we have. So I completely understand the pressure to try and make it however you can, but I personally feel like people’s health is more important than money.” Vancza isn’t sure when he and Brammer will decide to reopen their bar, but he’s pretty confident it is not happening after the end of this current 30-day shutdown. He said they plan to re-evaluate the situation in mid-August as college students return. However, Vancza notes the prospect of being open for sit-down bar service anytime soon doesn’t seem realistic at the moment. “I don’t think it’s going to go back to the way it was until there is a vaccine or a cure or something along those lines,” Vancza said. “Who knows when that will be and then (the vaccine) would need to be widely available. Hopefully, it gets better real quickly but I don’t have a whole lot of faith in that.” ■ like their “Random Voices from an Old Man Yelling At A Cloud” IPA with hints of grapefruit, citrus and pine. And on top of all of that, the celebration also includes an unlimited taco bar for $20, which comes with two empanadas. Noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 4. 2045 N. Forbes Blvd., suite 105. (520) 256-4851. El Charro - Ventana. Flores Concepts’ El Charro Café near Ventana Canyon at Kolb and Sunrise opened last month, and is offering their full menu, plus some special additions. In addition to opening for dine-in, they’re still serving takeout and curbside food from their expanded online menu, which includes family meal kits. Their returning menu features classics like their carne seca, fajitas and the Charro Burger, which comes with grilled onion and chipotle ranch—with an option of avocado, bacon and a fried egg added. All El Charro employees have undergone special COVID training and the dining rooms now feature UV lighting systems installed in all A/C units for added fresh air sterilization. 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Mondays. 6910 E. Sunrise Drive. (520) 514-1922. Pueblo Vida Brewing Company. While they’re still only offering to-go service, Pueblo Vida is keeping busy with a series of specialty beer releases and infusions. Pueblo Vida just announced their new cucumber + watermelon “microburst” infusion pale ale, which combines fruity flavors into a sweet and refreshing package. Other recent can releases include the “Monswoon” IPA with notes of pineapple and mango, and their Hef Classic Bavarian-style Hefeweizen with notes of banana, clove and vanilla. Although you can’t enjoy their beers in their tap room, you can purchase 4-packs and 6-packs of their latest brews, either by ordering at pueblovidabrewing.square.site or walking up to their taproom window. Noon to 6 p.m. every day. 115 E. Broadway. (520) 623-7168. ■
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Disciples Of Christ
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