Desert Times, June 2021

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DESERT TIMES The Voice of Southwest Tucson

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Summer Survival 2021

It’s time to get out and safely have fun this summer | Special Section

INSIDE

FIDO FRESHENERS

As you were

A new startup business out of the University of Arizona is getting to the science behind bad dog breath, and how to cure it with specialized bacteria. Pictured are co-founders Eric Lyons and Scott Zentack. Read more on page 6.

Experts say vaccinated people can resume most activities | Page 4

Past the worst of it

UA researcher ends COVID reports | Page 5

Local Music

Desert Heart, Mountain Soul | Page 9

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tate Rep. Mark Finchem sent a “cease and desist” order to the group petitioning for his recall, threatening to sue the group for defamation. The Republican, who represents District 11, faces a recall by Rural Arizonans for Accountability, a group of his district’s constituents, for spreading voter fraud conspiracy theories and his ties to the “Stop the Steal” rioters at the Jan. 6 Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Natali Fierros, co-executive

Director of Rural Arizona Action, said they were approached by Finchem’s constituents to help organize the recall. “We exist to empower people, regular folks who are involved in the democratic system and really recalling an elected official is a power reserved for the people of Arizona by our state’s constitution,” said Fierros. “If enough registered voters sign that petition and they agree that Finchem does lack integrity, that he is dangerous and an ineffective legislator, then it goes to the voters in that district to get a chance to vote on whether or not they

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should fire him.” On May 5, the group received a letter from Finchem’s lawyers, which according to the Recall Finchem website, “demands Rural Arizonans for Accountability destroy all campaign materials Finchem incorrectly deems ‘defamatory’ and publish retractions in local newspapers. If not, Finchem’s lawyers promise to sue.” Rural Arizonans’ lawyers rejected Finchem’s demand and stated they would seek sanctions against him should he sue. See FINCHEM, P10

See MARANA, P8

Lawmaker threatens to sue recall proponents Tucson Local Media

C D arana High School Salutatorian Diya Patel didn’t sugarcoat the challenges of the last year in her graduation speech last month. “I think most people would agree with me when I say that this has been a dreadful year,” Patel said. “Graduation speeches in the past have included stories of proms, formals and football games. However, this year we had to adjust to a brand new way of life full of Zoom calls, masks and COVID tests, which consisted of massive Q-tips being shoved up our noses. Instead of reminiscing on a joyful high school experience, we are all sitting here today, collectively taking a deep breath and just being grateful that we’re finally here.” Patel, like so many other students, longed for a year of normalcy, but instead lived through a pandemic. Patel and fellow Marana Unified School District graduates expressed the woes of trying to graduate while juggling a series of changes beyond their control caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. “This past year, the Class of 2021 proved that we were some of the most adaptable

Photo courtesy Tech Launch Arizona

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Marana’s Class of 2021 took on big challenges

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Desert Times

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STAFF ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President Jaime Hood, General Manager, Ext. 12 jaime@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 Jeff Gardner, Associate Editor Ext. 43, jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Mike Truelsen, Web Editor Ext. 35, mike@tucsonlocalmedia.com Christina Duran, Staff Reporter christinad@tucsonlocalmedia.com PRODUCTION David Abbott, Production Manager, Ext. 18 david@tucsonlocalmedia.com Ryan Dyson, Graphic Designer, Ext. 26, ryand@tucsonlocalmedia.com Emily Filener, Graphic Designer, Ext. 28 emilyf@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation, Ext. 17 alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING Kristin Chester, Account Executive, Ext. 25 kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Lisa Hopper, Account Executive , Ext. 39 Lisa@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive, Ext. 24 candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tyler Vondrak, Account Executive, Ext. 27 tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL & AD CONTENT The Desert Times expresses its opinion in the editorial. Opinions expressed in guest commentaries, perspectives, cartoons or letters to the editor are those of the author. The content and claims of any advertisement are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Tucson Local Media assumes no responsibility for the claims or content of any advertisement. Publisher has the right to edit for size or refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion. 7225 N. Mona Lisa Road, Ste. 125 Tucson, Arizona 85741 Phone: (520) 797-4384

Desert Times, June 2021

Desert To-Dos Ready to Launch: Arizona’s Place in Space. The Arizona History Museum launched a really neat new exhibit last month, all about the role that Arizona and Arizonans have played in space exploration. Arizona has several claims to fame, but things like sending multiple missions to Mars and helping capture the first image of a black hole have got to be among the coolest. The exhibit includes objects from NASA, Lowell Observatory, the UA and—in the spirit of galactic neighborliness— even ASU. Come be inspired, whether you’re 2 years old or 102. Through Nov. 30, 2021. Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Arizona History Museum, E. Second St. $10 GA, with discounts for students, seniors and youth (free for kids 6 and under). Ask about free admission for veterans. Free Concerts at Little Anthony’s Diner. Sitting down for meal at the most charming diner in Tucson is one way to hearken back to simpler times. Doing it to the soothing sounds of a totally free concert is truly a cherry on top. 6 to 8 p.m. Recurring. Head on down to Little Anthony’s at 7010 E. Broadway Blvd., or call 296-0456 to make reservations. Purple Mountain Majesty. I think there’s a shade of Crayola crayon with that name. I didn’t always get it as a kid,

because, you know what? Mountains aren’t purple. But, you know what, again? When that sunset light hits them just right, or when the clouds pass overhead in just the right way, they kind of are purple. And “majestic” is the perfect word to describe it. In this exhibit at the Madaras Gallery, see a collections of paintings by Diana Madaras in which her violet hues, with their special way of bringing the desert to life on canvas, are front and center. On display though June 30 at the Madaras Gallery, 3035 N. Swan Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Summer Safari Nights: Bird is the Word. Need we say more? Birds are cool, and if you disagree, you should consider the possibility that you might just be jealous, because you can’t fly. Then again, neither can ostriches, and they’re still cool. Come celebrate those birds and more this Saturday at the Reid Park Zoo. As usual, the night will also feature live music from local bands games and wildlife activities and carousel rides! Plus food and drink specials (including craft beer, prickly pear margaritas, wine and White Claws for the adults). 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 5. Reid Park Zoo, 3400 Zoo Court. $10.50 adults, $8.50 seniors, $6.50 kids 2 to 14. Be sure to reserve your tickets in advance!

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Desert Times, June 2021

As long as you’re vaccinated, experts say you can resume most of your old activities

Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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lmost as fast as the nation entered quarantine more than a year ago, businesses and governments are now lifting mask mandates and COVID restrictions. Last month, the CDC announced those who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by state or local rules. This new guidance includes activities like shopping and eating, and allows for domestic flights without testing. Although a full vaccination removes most mask requirements, the CDC acknowledges vaccinations don’t prevent all cases, and says indoor events pose a “minimal risk,” but not no risk at all. “I think it’s completely appropriate,” said Kelly Reynolds, a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health. “We have a lot of evidence now that vaccinated people are not really transmitting the virus to others, and they’re protected themselves. It seems like an appropriate guideline to loosen those restrictions. Obviously there’s challenges with knowing who is vaccinated and who is not, so the key point here is vaccination.” Reynolds, PhD, is de-

partment chair for UA’s Department of Community, Environment and Policy. She also serves as director of UA’s Environment, Exposure Science and Risk Assessment Center, and has researched water quality, food safety and disease transmission for decades. Reynolds still urges caution because of unknowns regarding the vaccine, and the large portion of people unvaccinated. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, more than 40% of Arizonans are now vaccinated, equaling 3 million people who have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Reynolds lists the incidence of vaccine “breakthrough” cases, the uncertain longevity of the vaccine, and how compromised people build immunity as some of the most important remaining questions. “One of the ways the CDC makes decisions about their recommendations is by looking at the probabilities in the population, not necessarily these smaller groups that have rarer cases that don’t follow the general norm,” Reynolds said. “We still have a ways to go, and I think that’s where the difficulty comes in. If you’re not vaccinated, then you still really need to adhere to a lot of protections. And now even more so, because other people are

not going to be masked. If you’re not vaccinated and not wearing a mask, perhaps going with the peer group, you’re putting yourself at higher risk.” The CDC has stated that those fully vaccinated can resume the activities they did prior to the pandemic, but still wear a mask when required and still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19. “Vaccines are good, but not perfect,” says Joe Gerald, PhD, an associate professor in the UA College of Public Health who has operated a weekly COVID report throughout the pandemic. “Through the course of the pandemic, we should have viewed outdoor events as safer than we did. Of course, the greatest risk is in places like gyms, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and churches. These places have drawn a large number of transmissions. But if you’re vaccinated, the outdoors are safe, and people need to get outdoors.” Throughout the pandemic, there has been an emphasis on sanitizing surfaces to avoid the hand-to-surface-to-face route of infection. However, Reynolds says the virus really doesn’t survive well on surfaces, and so the efforts to disinfecting surfaces should not be people’s primary focus. “There’s so much we know now that we didn’t

know a year ago. It was summertime a year ago when Arizona was leading the nation in the number of cases and hospitalizations, and that was largely because we all went inside when things started heating up. Something we learned that is validated by real life is how the virus circulates very well in indoor environments. There’s new evidence now that when you’re indoors and there’s good air circulation, it might not matter if you’re six feet apart or 60 feet apart: the virus is being spread in indoor environments,” Reynolds said. “Circulating air can dilute the virus, but you need to get it out of the building. There needs to be air exchange, not just circulation.” Though sanitizing surfaces isn’t the primary method of reducing COVID, it has proved effective against other contagions like influenza and norovirus. In fact, the CDC estimates that 22,000 Americans died from the flu in the 2019-2020 season, more than 10,000 fewer than each of the previous three flu seasons. “There has been a cultural shift in terms of recognizing the importance of hygiene and social distancing. Even though we know in indoor environments social distancing is not that effective because of the air-circulation issue, avoiding large crowds in general does reduce the

Courtesy Photo

Health experts say vaccination remains the key to stopping the pandemic. risk of person-to-person transmission,” Reynolds said. “But some of those habits have adverse effects, like social isolation, anxiety and depression. The loss of human contact can really affect quality of life. So I think we’re really going to be doing a lot of reflecting back on this pandemic and finding that right balance between reducing risk of infection and the relative risk of social isolation.” While removing masking requirements for fully vaccinated individuals is a welcome sight, the CDC still has directives for those unvaccinated, and plans to keep those even after states fully roll back their most

basic COVID protocols. “The greatest barrier now is the hesitancy for getting the vaccine,” Reynolds said. “Early on, people were standing in lines and doing whatever they could to get the vaccine, and we’ve gotten the vaccine to those people. Now we have the vaccine waiting to be delivered, and there’s not a big line of people waiting to get them. So the message really is that the vaccine has been the big difference in reducing the restrictions and being able to get people back together. So we want to get more people to trust the vaccine. The data is high efficacy and low side-effects.”

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Desert Times, June 2021

UA COVID researcher: ‘We’re past the worst of it in Arizona’ Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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t may be hard to imagine a time when 20 confirmed COVID cases in the entire state was newsworthy, but thanks to the diligence of an associate professor out of the University of Arizona, the public can look back on weekly reports tracking how the virus spread throughout Arizona. Joe Gerald, PhD, who works in the UA’s College of Public Health, has written weekly COVID reports that listed the number of Arizona COVID cases, forecasted the virus’ growth, and kept up to date on health guidelines. But with nearly

half the state vaccinated and cases at a low plateau since March, Gerald ended his regularly scheduled reports on Friday, May 21. “I have a pretty high degree of confidence that we’re past the worst of it in Arizona,” Gerald said. “We did a good job of predicting what the coming weeks would be like, but we could never accurately predict the inflection points [when curves change direction].” Gerald is a health services researcher who serves as the director of UA’s Public Health Policy & Management program. For decades, he has studied the cost-effectiveness of respiratory illness-related interventions, such as tuberculosis contact

screening and school-based asthma management. The information in his reports was intended to help guide response to the outbreak, not predict exactly how the pandemic would evolve, by showing what might occur if current conditions remained unchanged. Gerald began his reports in mid-March 2020, back when confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pima County could be counted on one hand, and no deaths had yet to be reported. Despite this, his first report projected Arizona could see more than 60,000 new cases daily by May 2020 if no prevention measures were taken. He acknowledged that such “unabated growth” was ex-

tremely unlikely, but figured such projections could help gauge the extent to which public health interventions would “flatten the epidemic curve” by delaying the peak and reducing the number of new cases. Of course, Arizona never saw this extreme number of cases per day thanks to shutdowns and mask mandates. And while stay-at-home orders in Arizona and other states helped reduce cases, new infection numbers skyrocketed from hundreds to thousands per day after Gov. Doug Ducey declared Arizona was “clearly on the other side of this pandemic” in May 2020. Gerald and other public health researchers expressed

concern in May when Arizona’s stay-at-home orders were lifted, increasing social interactions with the potential to transmit infections. And while cases did increase following the orders being lifted, the spike wasn’t even close to what the state would see in late 2020. “We were aware many of the necessary shutdowns and mandates were difficult politically, and that after things reopened, additional future shutdowns were almost impossible,” Gerald said. “Even though we had a realistic and pragmatic view, we were angry and frustrated that the Governor didn’t step in during December. We thought he’d institute targeted interventions when

the cases were that high.” As the reports continued, they took on data like testing efficacy, infection delays, medical burdens—and finally, vaccine distribution. His reports also indicated that COVID-19 ranked as the leading cause of death in Arizona since the pandemic began. He noted how by February 2021, a pressing challenge would be “holding the line” on public health mitigation practices in the face of improving conditions, and buying time for more of the population to get vaccinated. And while vaccination rates rose with Pfizer and Moderna gradually becoming available to more See Covid Winding Down, P15

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Desert Times, June 2021

Local startup studies the science behind freshening dog breath Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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e ask our dogs a lot of questions, and oftentimes “Who’s a good boy?” is second only to “Oh no, what did you eat?” Oro Valley’s bioscience industry has gained a new member with uPetsia, a University of Arizona startup that has developed a bacteria strain to quell bad breath in dogs. uPetsia’s technology was developed by two associate professors out of the UA’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The idea dates back to a Thanksgiving with friends. Co-founder Eric Lyons recalls friends and family sitting around a campfire with their dogs, and everyone started talking about how dogs had horrible breath. Eventually this turned into guessing whose had the worst breath, and if breed or body size affected their breath. “And I thought to myself, I bet we can come up with some technology to solve bad breath in dogs,” associate professor Lyons said. “I kept thinking about it when I got back to the office. That was the genesis of this technology,

which is to screen and cultivate, and look at the naturally occurring bacteria in the mouths of dogs. Looking for ones that are safe and effective that we can work with in the lab that don’t carry antibiotic resistance genes, and see if we can genetically engineer some synthetic pathways to produce nice aromas like mint smell.” Lyons submitted his idea to UA, and caught the attention of the university’s commercialization office, Tech Launch Arizona. TLA then gave uPetsia a business development grant to move from concept to research. uPetsia’s argument is that traditional breath fresheners are only effective in the minutes after use, but introducing bacteria that produce mint smell can last far longer. “With toothpaste and mouthwash, you have fresh breath for about 20 minutes. It’s the same thing for dogs,” Lyons said. “When they chew on something, it scrapes the plaque and tartar off the teeth. Some products have mint to help give them fresh breath. But as soon as

that clears the oral cavity, that freshness diminishes very quickly. The difference here is that our bacteria establish small colonies in the mouth, and during their lifetime that lasts about two hours, they are producing that mint aroma.” Lyons realized that to be successful, he’d need to work with a business professional who can translate scientific advancements into a market-ready product, and called in longtime collaborator Scott Zentack. “As soon as he told me the idea, I thought it was phenomenal and was on-board,” Zentack said. “That was almost three years ago, and it’s been a really fun ride… It comes down to the fact that it persists, and persists longer than other products. Ideally, we’d like to get to a point where you feed a treat to your dog in the morning, and it still has fresh breath when you come home from work.” The mint smell in question is methyl salicylate, an organic compound commonly used for fragrance and flavor.

uPetsia co-inventor and fellow associate professor David Baltrus scanned through “hundreds if not thousands” of bacteria to find a type with the correct properties to engineer the production of the minty methyl salicylate. The engineering is done in the bacteria’s plasmids, small DNA molecules similar to chromosomes. While methyl salicylate has been linked to cases of toxicity in humans, this is often due to overuse of topical pain-relief products. “We basically synthetically engineered this pathway, and then we optimized it for use within these bacteria, and ordered stretches of DNA that contain the genes that we want to, and stitch them to a plasmid and put that plasmid in the bacteria,” Lyons said. “It’s very similar to thinking about it in terms of a computer code: there’s the bacterial program running on the bacterial chromosome, and then we have this little tiny program made up of a couple of genes that is there to make methyl salicylate.” To test the aroma-produc-

ing capabilities of the new bacteria, Lyons and Baltrus measured out a set amount of bacteria, put it on treats and fed them to dogs, then swabbed the dogs’ mouths immediately and every few hours after to find out how long the bacteria stuck around. “The University has a very stringent program for how to work with animals. But when it came to the first batch of dogs, these were our dogs,” Lyons said. “While the University was incredibly stringent in terms of their safety and control, the real person I had to contend with was my wife.” Lyons says they used four testing methods to detect the bacteria’s presence in their dogs’ mouths: using scientific instruments to detect the bacteria themselves, recovering the bacteria out of the dogs’ mouths, and using molecular markers as an additional confirmation of bacteria. But in addition to these more advanced processes, the classic sniff test also played a role. They were able to detect the

specialized bacteria and methyl salicylate production for 90 minutes to two hours after feeding the dogs. Of course, this time range can be reduced by dogs quickly scarfing down their treats. “Our main concern with this bacteria is, because we’re going in there and re-engineering to divert their internal metabolic energy to produce mint smell, it’s going to make them a little weaker,” Lyons said. “Bacteria are constantly battling it out on animals, so if you bring in one that’s a little weaker, how fast are they going to get outcompeted?” Looking ahead, uPetsia (which comes from the word eupepsia, meaning “good digestion”) aims to increase the longevity of their bacteria, potentially by three or four hours. “Our ultimate goal is to make a product that’s made for pets and the people who love them,” Zentack said. “Dogs are part of their families and our families, so we want the consumers to understand that we’re being very safe.” See Dog Breath, P15

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AGING WELL

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Marana: Class of 2021

Continued from P1 and resilient students, from starting our senior year online to numerous schedule changes, various learning models, social distancing, and many other obstacles outside of school,” said Mountain View High School’s Senior Class President Aurora Vandriel at May 18’s ceremony. “However, we still managed to persevere through it all so that we can be sitting in the exact seats we are in right now.” Vandriel also acknowledged the loss of her greatest supporter and friend, her mother, in her graduation speech. With a pandemic, the loss of family and friends was all too normal for the Class of 2021. Many graduates acknowledged the challenges they faced and recognized their achievements at last week’s ceremonies. Some students, like Valerie Ray from MCAT High School, not only had to deal with fear and uncertainty due to COVID-19, but also life’s other challenges. In what she calls her “over-personal speech,” she shared her episodes of homelessness, moving during a pandemic and how the

combination of all of that plus “stinky, smelly COVID” sent her on a downward spiral, from which she rose to stand where she was on the stage, a graduate. “All of you here today have your own form of unfair cards, and still yet here we all are at the same graduation ceremony,” said Ray. “I’m sure a handful of you find it difficult to be proud of yourself and the same goes for me. It’s easy to dismiss our tokens of honor, but for this honor, the amount of support that got me out of my spiral, I can’t dismiss. If you take anything from my elongated and over-personal speech, let it be this: Be proud of yourself. Be cocky, be boastful. Be obnoxious, be exasperated. Don’t be humble about this, because despite all the crap we put up with and went through, at the end of the day we’re all here and we all did this.” MVHS Student Body President Hannah Sheely called on her graduating class to be leaders in their communities, as the past four years had “proven how important competent leadership is, how regular people willing to step up are needed, and how to expose and separate true leaders from people in leadership positions.”

Desert Times, June 2021

“I honestly believe that if we can make it through these past four years of high school in general, crazy world events, and social unrest, we can surely survive the years to come and succeed,” Sheely added. The graduating class of 2021 faced not only a pandemic, but existing and continued problems, including climate change, as well as social, racial and economic inequalities. However, they seem prepared to take on any challenge. Early on in life, Marana High School Valedictorian Rocio Sanchez-Salcido learned to adapt to the circumstances and the pandemic was no different. At the age of 3, Sanchez-Salcido moved to Marana, without knowing English. She was raised in a household that primarily spoke Spanish and had to take English as a Second Language courses. “I remember practicing all those songs about the days of the week and the months of the year when I came home from school, and eventually, I was a pro. This is the first time I learned that I could truly do anything I want as long as I stay persistent and most importantly try,” said Sanchez-Salcido. “My first piece of advice for all of you is

you can accomplish anything you set your mind to through hard work.” She also empowered those who may feel different, as someone who faced bullying for simply having a name too difficult or too different to pronounce. She recalls sophomore year when a substitute teacher called her, “Roto.” “I don’t know where they got that from, but that’s not what hurt,” said Sanchez-Salcido. “What hurt were the comments that followed, the comments like ‘normal people don’t have names like that.’ And who could forget all the times I heard comments about how people like me wouldn’t amount to anything, because of my ethnicity. The painful days where jokes made me feel less than. The days where snide comments and stereotypes made me insecure.” During her speech, Sanchez-Salcido reintroduced herself as Rocio Guadalupe Sanchez-Salcido, and uplifted those who feel different. “It is our differences and unique traits that make the world a more beautiful place,” said Sanchez-Salcido. “Our generation will transform the world by focusing on inclusion, cooperation and celebrating the beauty in our individual uniqueness…. I could have easily let the mean comments and stereotypes push me down and cause me to lose faith in myself, but I never

Courtesy Photo

gave them the power to.” Marana Unified School District celebrated 788 graduates from across all three high schools last week, with more than half self-reporting their intention to pursue a higher education. At Marana High School, 204 seniors earned about $11.5 million in scholarships, a record amount for the school. Future graduating classes may not face the same challenges brought on by the pandemic, but they could learn from the Class of 2021 in their ability to hope and persevere. In her speech, Patel shared the words she would address in a letter to herself in August. “You’re going to survive, all you need to do is have hope,”

Patel said. “This year is going to be filled with what seems like a continuous amount of challenges, there are going to be many different roadblocks and wrong turns that make this difficult journey seem never ending. But just know that at the end of the year you will no longer care about the schools that rejected you, even though you think that they are your dream schools. You won’t even remember the test that you failed, although in the moment, you’ll be convinced that they’ll ruin your life. Instead, you will be celebrating that you made it through a year where you had a plethora of challenges thrown your way and you were capable of surviving every single one.”

D T, J 

‘Desert Heart, Mountain Soul’ traces the Southwest with a blend of Americana J G Tucson Local Media

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luegrass music hails from the rolling hills of Kentucky, but fans of Chris Brashear and Peter McLaughlin know the musical style fits quite well between saguaros and canyon walls. The duo’s latest collaboration, “Desert Heart, Mountain Soul,” combines a variety of rustic and lonesome songs into a musical map of the American Southwest: creosote, pastures, borderlands and all. The pair have performed together since the early ’90s, blending a variety of ballads that fit beneath the Americana label. McLaughlin is a guitarist and singer who moved to Tucson in the ‘80s, performing in several folk festivals and fronting The Sonoran Dogs. Brashear, who records on the guitar, fiddle, mandolin and more, met McLaughlin when he moved to Tucson in 1992. In 2016, through a Museum of Northern Arizona artist residency, Brashear and McLaughlin recorded an album celebrating the Colorado plateau. A follow-up of sorts, “Desert Heart, Mountain Soul,” expands its view both thematically and compositionally, and was co-written with songwriter and performer Mark “Brink” Brinkman. “That particular project, there was a specific motivation to write songs about the Colorado plateau. There was a much more direct focus to that recording,” Brashear said. “‘Desert Heart, Mountain Soul’ didn’t have that kind of primary focus and I’d say was much more loose. We weren’t trying to fit anything into one small box.” Beyond its varied lyri-

Peter McLaughlin (left) and Chris Brashear released their third collaborative album ‘Desert Heart, Mountain Soul’ on the Hotel Congress plaza on Tuesday, May 25. Courtesy photo.

cal themes, “Desert Heart, Mountain Soul” also includes covers of American folk icons like Woody Guthrie and Kate Wolf. Songs like “Take Me Back Where I Was Born” and “Another Trip Around the Sun” are more somber reflections of time’s passing, but much of the album is warm, pastoral songs celebrating the history and landscape of Arizona. “We really haven’t done a lot of co-writing. Usually Peter comes up with ideas and I come up with ideas and we try to fulfill each other’s vision as much as we can,” Brashear said. “In our very nature and upbringing we probably bring some of that high, lonesome quality. We like that in music anyway. So I don’t know if the pandemic specifically has changed our sensibilities about what we bring to lyrics and songs, but we’ve also had this very specific Southwest bent. So there’s other things like geography and culture coming into our songs, as opposed to

what is just thought of as Appalachian mountain music.” McLaughlin says they are both heavily influenced by the outdoors in their songwriting, and often explore the Southwestern nature together. Adoration of the wilderness is clear in the title track, which decries city living and expresses a willingness to escape into a desert landscape: “The cactus blooms, the coyotes cry, the Colorado rolls / A full moon over the mesa is a wonder to behold.” “I think Chris and I have similar styles, even though our playing and singing is different. We both write about what we’ve seen and done, and the places we’ve been,” McLaughlin said. “Whenever I go out on one of my off-weekends to go hiking or camping or backpacking, I take it all in and that’s where I get a lot of my songs from. It makes me happy I can get away from city life. I think a lot of the songs talk about that because this past year, especially with not having a

lot of gigs, I was able to explore some wilderness areas I had no idea were so spectacular. That was one of the bright sides from the COVID year. I had all this time to get out into the backwoods and canyons and mountains.” Although the album was recorded during the pandemic, its songs feature a vast and warm atmosphere. Brashear and McLaughlin managed to maintain this even during isolated recording sessions at A Writer’s Room in Tucson. Guest musicians like Alvin Blaine, Duncan Stitt and Chris Haynes further defined the landscape via added layers of dobro, pedal steel guitar, piano and accordion. “This recording couldn’t be made with everybody in the room at the same time, so there was a question of how to keep things organic,” Brashear said. “Peter and I went in at the same time, we were in the same bubble anyway. So we could get the basic tracks done, then had other people come in. And I think the folks we had as guests were able to keep an organic feel, even when we were separated.” “Desert Heart, Mountain Soul” also includes a cover of Alice Gerrard’s “You Gave Me A Song,” and features her singing harmony. McLaugh-

lin says singing with Gerrard on her own song was the honor of the album. “We wanted to do those songs because they cover the natural elements and wildlife. It’s very reflective of what our thoughts were for the whole project, a lot of outdoor imagery and wild places,” McLaughlin said. “When I think of writers like Kate Wolf and Woody Guthrie, they really captured the social issues and environmental issues in their songs, and that’s kind of what we seek for our recordings.” Though there is an emphasis on natural imagery and genre standbys, certain tracks tackle personal and political subjects, such as “21 On the Border,” where Brashear sings about border crossings. The calm, pained song examines identity and isolation in lyrics like: “As empty as the Gila south of Phoenix, on a dusty road where no one ever goes / I will work anywhere I will do anything, I don’t have a name and I ain’t got no papers / I’m all alone, yes all alone, in a wasteland that a free man never knows.” “It’s not like the instrumentation on the record is complicated or too layered on top of each other, but we definitely are trying to capture

9

a feeling with every song. So we pick instruments that lend themselves better to produce certain feelings or settings,” Brashear said. “It’s the same for ‘21 On the Border,’ I wanted it to have that feeling of norteño in there, so we have accordion and nylon-string guitars to help instrumentally produce a sonic picture in people’s minds.” Brashear’s “The Day I Was Set Free” is a classic blues song filled with imagery of drunks, train cars and absent families. But the dusty guitar and drums are turned on their head with a tight performance and the ironic central theme of wanting to go back to prison after being released. “I always listen back to my own recordings and overall am my own worst critic, but I think we really captured what we wanted here,” McLaughlin said.

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Desert Times, June 2021

Board Notes: Vaccines are the best tools we have to bring back normalcy other social gatherings. Restaurants are starting to seat more people at their tables. Traffic on our streets f you look all around, and highways seems pretty the signs are inescapable. close to normal. And those Pima County—along masks—oh, those pesky with the rest of the state masks—are being worn and the nation—is slow- less often in workplaces ly reopening following and among groups whose the horrible COVID-19 members are fully vaccipandemic. nated. The race to beat the None of this would pandemic is not close to have been possible withbeing over. In fact, there out the efforts of everyone remains much work to be in Pima County, especially done. However, the finish health care workers and line seems to be on the volunteers, who have been horizon. laboring tirelessly to get After more than a year people vaccinated. of closures, restrictions, District 3, which I am social distancing, working proud to represent as its from home and far too supervisor, has done its many deaths and illnesses, part to push the vaccinafamilies and friends are tion effort forward. Acgetting back together for cording to the most recent backyard barbecues and data from the Pima CounSharon Bronson

Special to Tucson Local Media

I

ty Health Department, about 64% of adults in Marana are fully vaccinated. The Ajo Unified School District is among the top three districts in the county for vaccination rates among adults, coming in at 60%, and Marana Unified (52%) ranks sixth among the county’s 14 districts. Meanwhile, unincorporated areas of Pima County have a 54% adult population that is fully vaccinated, so there is still room for improvement. We must continue this momentum and encourage our friends and relatives who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots. The fastest way to return to life as we used to know it is to defeat the pandemic. And the best tools we have to defeat the

pandemic are the vaccines that are plentiful and available all over Pima County. As part of this effort, the county has provided thousands of vaccine doses to the Marana Health Center to make sure that people in Avra Valley and Marana are getting their shots close to home without having to drive to vaccination pods in the center of Tucson or on the south side. As I stated, the finish line to defeating the pandemic is getting closer, but we’re not there yet. That’s why it is important to continue to wear a mask if you are not fully vaccinated or if you are around people whose vaccination status is unknown. That’s why I voted with the majority on the Pima County Board of Super-

visors on May 14 to ease mask restrictions in certain situations, in line with the updated recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC guidelines are straightforward. If you are fully vaccinated and you are in the company of other fully vaccinated people anywhere, you don’t need to wear a mask. If you are outdoors, you don’t need to wear a mask. It’s only in some indoor situations when you are unsure of others’ vaccination status that a mask might be recommended. Certain businesses and organizations, however, might still require that you mask up. The bottom line is this: Getting vaccinated is the fastest way for Pima Coun-

Courtesy photo.

ty and the rest of society to beat the pandemic. With a united community effort, we might soon be able to bring back what we’ve all been missing—normalcy. Sharon Bronson represents District 3 on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

Finchem: Rural Arizonans for Accountability aims for recall Continued from P1

“Threats by big money lawyers will not scare us away from recalling a dishonest politician that believes he is too important to do the job voters just hired him to do,” said Rural Arizonans for Accountability in a statement on May 13, “We hope that instead of pursuing this frivolous lawsuit, Mr. Finchem comes home to District 11 and does something he seems reluctant to do, work to improve the lives of his constituents.” Finchem did not re-

sponded to requests for comment from Tucson Local Media. While the recall was spurred by his tweets during the Jan. 6 Insurrection and an election integrity hearing he held featuring Rudy Guiliani on Nov. 30, 2020, Fierros said they have seen growing support for his recall with Finchem’s continued interviews regarding the election audit in Maricopa County, his announcement to campaign for Arizona Secretary of State and the fight between one of Finchem’s supporters and a recall canvasser.

“His growing absurdity and the outlandishness of what he’s doing and then for him to announce that he’s running for Secretary of State, who in Arizona is the second line for the governorship and who would be controlling our election system, that heightens the awareness of the everyday person,” said Fierros. Finchem filed to run for Secretary of State 25 days after Rural Arizonans launched the recall effort against him. He has based his platform on promises to stop voter fraud and has had several interviews with various internet news

sites about the Maricopa County’s election audit, including a known QAnon channel, RedPill78. “It’s all compiled, it’s the cease and desist. Secretary state filing, the audit, spending all his time in Maricopa County. He’s making a case for us, that clearly he’s more interested in being on internet shows that allow them to raise money for his new pursuit of Secretary of State,” said Fierros. She also noted there has been greater interest in the recall after a man later identified as Melvyn Hockett fought with a

canvasser from Rural Arizonans for Accountability, Aimee Carrillo, and ripped about 17 signed petitions. According to the May 14 police report, while sitting outside of the Oro Valley Library, Carrillo said Hockett began yelling at her. Hockett grabbed her clipboard and they pulled it back and forth until Carrillo was able to regain it, although Hockett proceeded to rip the petitions. When police spoke with Hockett at his home, he still appeared upset. He said he’d been harassed by a female. In the report, the

officer wrote that Hockett said “she kept wanting him to sign a petition and he kept saying no.” Hockett admitted to being frustrated and ripping up her paperwork. He was cited for disorderly conduct and then released at his residence. “I am a mother of two young kids. Creating a better place for them to grow up was my motivation to get involved in the first place, but this incident makes me feel like I have to work even harder, motivating me to do more for my Continued on P14

11

Desert Times, June 2021

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D T, J 

HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis 3

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1 I.R.S. ID

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“Ramayana”

3 Moon goddess

22

4 Certain Michelangelo work 5 Patronizes, as a hotel

6 Ready-___ (convenient food

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2 The “Mahabharata” or the

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69 Refuse

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ACROSS

5 Begins to wake

10 Part of a frame

14 Cowboy boot feature 15 “Pagliacci” baritone 16 “Vesti la giubba,” in

“Pagliacci”

17 Number that, in Chinese

languages, is a homophone for “longevity,” and is thus considered good luck 18 Man with morals 19 Something you might do “over backward” 20 Poem subtitled “A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888” 23 Discard 24 Hidalgo honorific 27 One greeting others with the shaka sign 31 Day-___ paint 32 Family room fixture

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53

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58

1 Lead-in to love or care

61

52

63

36 1950s White House

nickname

37 Accessory for Wonder

Woman 40 Greeting in Portuguese 41 ___ pants 43 Some winter travelers to the U.S. 46 Restaurant request 47 “The Louisville Lip” 49 ___ culpa 50 Goof 51 Hokkaido honorific 54 Spokes, say 56 ___-Coeur (Paris basilica) 58 Easy-to-resolve situation … or a hint to the progression found in 20-, 23-, 43-, 46and 58-Across 64 Fix 65 Sign of spring 66 Player that debuted in 2001 67 Chaka Khan, vocally 68 David of the Talking Heads

Know Us, Know Your Community

option)

7 Where Ariana Grande has

230+ million followers, informally 8 Hoots 9 Specious reasoner 10 Talk nonsense 11 Floor plan info 12 Ideal condition for collectibles 13 “___ dog!” 21 Pencil holder, at times 22 End of a professor’s address 24 ___ Pepper 25 “The Book of ___” (2010 film) 26 Done intentionally 28 Where the “balcony scene” takes place in “West Side Story” 29 Scratch (out) 30 “Out of Time” band 33 The spirit of Russia? 34 Haphazardly assemble, with “together” 35 Two concentric circles, on a golf scorecard 38 Fan noise 39 Target for iron supplements 41 Inspiration for Citizen Kane 42 ___-backwards 44 Crackerjack 45 Always, to poets 47 Something you might pick up at a bakery 48 Place for a pin 52 Basis of some insurance fraud 53 High-maintenance, in a way 55 ___-European languages 57 What’s anything but basic? 59 Catch 60 Like some wine and humor 61 “Aaron Burr, ___” (“Hamilton” song) 62 Female lobster 63 Manipulate

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). There’s a different way of solving your problem, and you’ll pick it up quickly once you decide that’s what you want to do. It’s not about studying so much as just paying attention to people who have the skill set. Much can happen through the magical osmosis of being around those who have what you desire.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Don’t waste a minute envying other people’s celebratory photos, epic travel pics and the like. An amazing life isn’t built in exciting events (which are never quite as momentous as they seem like they should be). The big joys are born of daily improvements and lifestyle choices. Build small wins into each day.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Friendship takes focus. No matter how many friends you have, you can always have more because each broadens your relationship skills and capacity to love. You relate to others so easily partly due to increased powers of empathy and excellent timing. You make life better for others; your attention is a sweet balm. CANCER (June 22-July 22). It’s said that you can catch more flies with honey, although no one has figured out why you’d want to. For now, don’t worry about how sweet you are being. Keep your mind on what you want, and your feelings will process themselves. Just allow them to flow through. You’ll attract what you need -- not flies! LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Everyone has words that are more difficult for them. For some, it’s “sorry,” for others “love.”“Goodbye” can be a hard one or awkward enough that you’d rather others say it first. And yet, there are situations that need to be moved along now or you’ll miss out on opportunities only catchable to those whose hands are free. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You love a challenge, especially one that fits your strengths. You can be sure that others feel the same way. To give them the chance to come through for you is to offer them a gift. So don’t be too proud to ask others for what you need. They just may be delighted by the challenge.

Crossword Puzzle Answers

2

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). When something is this new, it has a specific energy to it, as unmistakable as a “new car” scent. Opportunities arise this week. While there’s no need to rush, if you wait too long, you lose that effervescence. It’s like the vacuum seal pops causing a freshness leak. So act on your impulses. Move crisply forward.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Instead of striving for happiness, cut out striving altogether. The energy of reaching, trying and hoping yields poor results. Making excellence happen is simple. Decide what to do and be in a good mood while you execute the plan. Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Everywhere you look, people are taking care of one another. You’ll witness it in displays of gentleness, good manners, friendliness... You’ll also see it in the security people feel while out and about, and their trust in one another to uphold the rules of common decency. Your heart will swell with community pride. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The reason people don’t listen well is because, deep down, they are afraid of being moved by what they hear. They are afraid they’ll have to get involved, be inclusive of something new or change in some way. These fears are warranted. Listening well does have a way of changing things -- usually for the better. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Avoid the drastic and dramatic moves. Thinking that you need to do something huge to shake things up is wrongheaded; it’s the equivalent of a sensational headline for an underwhelming story. Big gestures can also be costly. The real excitement is created through incremental and affordable improvements over time.

S E L F S T I R S J A M B S P U R T O N I O A R I A N I N E A E S O P B E N D C A S E Y A T T H E B A T C A S T A S I D E S E N O R A S U R F E R G L O T V S E T I K E T I A R A O L A H A R E M C A N A D A G E E S E C H E C K P L E A S E A L I M E A E R R S A N R A D I I S A C R E O P E N A N D S H U T C A S E M E N D A R I E S I P O D A L T O B Y R N E D E N Y

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ARIES (March 21-April 19). Remind yourself of your good qualities. The reason is not to pump yourself up; rather, it’s an inventory process that gets you in touch with what you have to offer the world. To refamiliarize yourself with your numerous gifts helps you move forward in confidence. Bonus: This week will match you with ideal receivers.

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Desert Times, June 2021

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Finchem: Recall effort Continued from P10

community and all of Arizona,” said Carrillo, who has declined interviews, in a statement through Rural Arizonans. “Violence is not the way to get things done or settle political disagreements. Having voter’s signatures taken from my hand and torn up isn’t going to stop me from petitioning to remove Mark Finchem. As Arizonans, we have a right to petition and voters have a right to sign petitions and I won’t let this incident prevent me from doing my part.” Toni Cani, a spokesperson for the Recall Finchem campaign, said the canvassers are trained to de-escalate and there have been other instances where canvassers have faced someone who was upset or angry. They have since made changes to how they send out their canvassers to maintain their safety. Fierros said the incident has emboldened their canvassers and everyday folks. “I think people can identify a bully and when they see something happening like that I think the response that we’ve seen has been that people are doubling down,” said Fierros. “It’s united us and that we won’t be deterred and we won’t be intimidated.” While Fierros said Finchem’s actions directly affect District 11 constituents, not holding him accountable would deter democracy.

The Republican, who represents Legislative District 11, faces a recall by Rural Arizonans for Accountability. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

“Without accountability. It breeds cynicism and cynicism diminishes democracy’” said Fierros. “And ultimately, that hurts us as a state and us as a nation. What Mark Finchem is doing is not new. It’s not isolated to just him.… When this kind of behavior goes unchecked, you see what he does next is, ‘Let me go for a higher office where I will have more power.’ Left unchecked, not held accountable, it becomes a bigger issue so now not only is it LD-11 constituents who are being marginalized. Now you’re talking about millions of voters in the state of Arizona who will be dealing with Mark Finchem.” The recall effort would need a minimum of 24,775 valid signatures from registered voters in District 11 by July 8 to succeed. Fierros believes they will meet that deadline and said they are over halfway there.

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Graphic by Joe Gerald

Cumulative COVID-19 incidence in Arizona by county from March 1, 2020 – May 16, 2021.

COVID Winding Down Continued from P5 sections of the population, Gerald and others noted that vaccination rates slowed as most who wanted vaccines received them, and many of those hesitant remained unvaccinated. “I’ve been thinking about what happened in 1918 with the influenza pandemic ver-

sus 2020,” Gerald said. “A big difference is that science has come a long way. That’s not to say science is perfect, but we were able to develop a vaccine and get it delivered within a year. The press has also been very important for information, and even critical of lawmakers they viewed weren’t taking the pandemic seriously enough.

And while we’ve made progress in human behavior, it’s still the weak link in our pandemic preparedness plan.” With Arizona’s current vaccine rates and infection numbers nearing a “moderate” spread of COVID, Gerald says the greatest threat is a virus variant with vaccineand immune-resistance

properties that could reset the clock, and put us back at “ground zero.” Luckily, most variants, such as the B1617 variant first identified in India and now in Arizona, have not been found to be vaccine resistant—although evidence shows some are more transmissible. “Even with a more transmissible virus, there’s not a lot of opportunity to find a new host because so many are already immune,” Gerald said. “So I don’t think a more transmissible virus will lead to a full resurgence. It just means we’d take longer to get from substantial spread down to moderate, and then moderate to low.” Along with other public health professionals, Gerald supports wearing masks as one of the easiest and most effective methods of reducing infections. However, similar to shutdowns and mandates, he acknowledges their political difficulty. “The CDC is in a tough spot. They’re trying to thread a needle; the medical science says masks work, but there are still many so strongly opposed,” Gerald said. “With these polar opposites, it’s almost impossible to have a non-controver-

sial mask mandate.” Gerald is closing his regularly scheduled weekly reports, but has said he will return if something unforeseen develops. In his place, there are multiple other public health professionals still modeling and writing COVID reports, including a research group out of Arizona State University. “The ASU COVID-19 Modeling group estimates the doldrums to continue for most of the summer before materially improving. This is the result of continued normalization of behavior, more prevalent highly-transmissible variants and slowing vaccination rates,” Gerald’s final report reads. “Even though too many Arizonans are not fully vaccinated as we would like, another summer resurgence seems off the table. That doesn’t mean though we won’t experience thousands more COVID-19 cases and hundreds more COVID-19 deaths over the summer. So, please get vaccinated if you haven’t already.” To read Gerald’s updates, visit publichealth.arizona. edu/newsroom

Dog Breath Continued from P6

uPetsia recently gained a major business boost in winning the University of Arizona Center for Innovation’s Sponsored Launch Fueled by the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce competition, which grants uPetsia business support and one year of admission to the new Center for Innovation in Oro Valley. “It was perfect. We were looking at lab space at the time this came up, so we did a pitch for the competition and were selected,” Zentack said. UACI has hosted multiple Sponsored Startups throughout the region, partnering with the likes of Perkins Coie law firm and the Town of Sahuarita. uPetsia recently moved into the Oro Valley office, which includes office space and lab space for research and development. The Center for Innovation at Oro Valley serves as a business incubator and connection between UA and Oro Valley’s own bioscience industries.

We hope to begin meeting May 15 - please check our website or Facebook to be sure all listed services are meeting at the church located 1 mile west of Kinney Road. on Ajo Hwy 5757 W. Ajo Hwy- Tucson, AZ 85735 as we are adhering to AZ 9:00 am (520) 883-1234 health requests - check outAssistant Pastor Lynn Spoon, Spoon 10:30 am Elaine Gilbert Gilbert, Ministry Assistant our sermons online!

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TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

APRIL 9, 2020

The Northwest’s Newspaper

Summer Survival 2021

2

Bustin’ Loose

Summer Survival 2021

It’s time to get out and—safely—have fun this summer Emily Dieckman

Special to Tucson Local Media

F

or the last year or so, we haven’t really had a good answer to the question “What have you been up to lately?” But with about half of all adults in Pima County vaccinated and more getting their shot every day, it seems like the pandemic is slowly starting to fade away. Not that you shouldn’t continue to take precautions such as wearing masks in crowded situations with strangers and frequently washing your hands. And with more variant strains spreading, it’s important to consider the risk when unvaccinated children are involved. The virus hasn’t vanished yet but we’re (*crosses fingers*) past the worst of it. There’s a reason that Tucson ended up on Travel + Leisure’s list of the Top 50 Places to Travel in 2021 and Condé Nast Traveler’s list 2021 Hot List: It’s fun place to be! It’s certainly been too long since we’ve sought out many of our favorite adventures in this town, so here’s a calendar that can guide you through what’s going on this summer. Get out, have fun, stay well! CAMPS & KIDS STUFF Camp Groundworks. Hopefully the youth in your life get to spend a lot of time at Groundworks—the youth-driven, nonprofit community arts space in town— this summer. They’ve got lots of great stuff coming up, but

Puppet Camp they’re kicking the summer off with Camp Groundworks, a summer camp-themed celebration that includes a virtual live stream with local musicians, a mural scavenger hunt, an art showcase and an auction. They’ve faced a lot of challenges in their first two years, but the “little nonprofit that could” is still forging ahead, and this is a great way to celebrate it. Participating is free, but donations are greatly participated to fund other events throughout the year. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 29. Groundworkstucson.com Desert Museum Summer Camps. Whether your kids are itching to leave the house to do some exploring, or they’d rather learn about the desert from the air-conditioned comfort of home, the Desert Museum has some exciting offerings this summer, including a virtual camp, a camp onsite

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at the museum, a camp up on Mount Lemmon and a camp that combines both art and science. Camps run in June and July – just check the kids camp page at desertmuseumtucson.org for more info on which programs are geared toward your child’s age. There’s really nothing like summer camp, and summer camp after over a year of pandemic weirdness is going to feel extra special. desertmuseum.org Puppet Camp. Puppet camp is for ages 8 to 13, which is not fair, because I am 26 and I want to go to Puppet Camp. The program is hosted by Red Herring Puppets, whose founder, Lisa Sturz, has 40 years of puppetry experience and has worked with Disney, Jim Henson Productions and Lucasfilm. So she definitely, definitely knows what she’s doing. In the five-day camps, campers will create their own hand

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Desert Museum Summer Camps puppets with papier mache heads and cloth bodies, create their own vignettes, record their characters voices, and create a soundtrack to their very own puppet show with music and effects. They will also make a shadow puppet and scarf marionette. What a fantastically unique experience for the creative kiddos in your life. 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Final performance is 4 p.m. on Friday. Sessions are June 7 to 11, June 21 to 25 & July 12 to 16. Red Herring Puppets in the Tucson Mall (upper level, between Macy’s and Forever 21). $150. redherringpuppets.com Summer Safari Nights at the Reid Park Zoo. There’s something a little bit magical about getting to spend a summer evening at the zoo with your kids. Watching

the wonder on their faces while they learn all about our fellow members of the animal kingdom and play educational games is special. And doing it to the sounds of live, local music in the gorgeous setting at the Reid Park Zoo, even more so. And, hey, if you partake, it might not hurt to know that these nights also feature craft beer, prickly pear margaritas, wine and White Claws. Each week of this program has a different theme, so you can come back as many times as you want and keep learning more. (And FYI: it’s super fun even if you don’t have kids to bring). 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays May 15 through Aug. 14. Reid Park Zoo, 3400 Zoo Court. $10.50 adults, $8.50 seniors, $6.50 kids 2 to 14. reidparkzoo.org

Summer at the Children’s Museum. Summer is for the kids, and that’s why we’re so glad that both the Tucson and Oro Valley Children’s Museums will be back in full swing just in time. The Children’s Museum Tucson (200 S. Sixth Ave.) will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, starting on Memorial Day. The Oro Valley location (11015 N. Oracle Road) will resume a six-day schedule, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Capacity is limited, but fun isn’t! The Tucson location offers half-price admission during extended evening hours with bilingual programming. Both locations have also relaunched MyTime, an inclusion program for families and chilSee Summer Survival, P4

Summer Survival 2021

3

4

Summer Survival Continued from P2 dren who need a more supportive environment. And don’t miss Discovery Nights, from 5 to 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. ART Hacienda Del Sol Pop Up Drive Through Sculpture Show. Maybe you’ve gotten used to being able to quasi-interact with the world and view new parts of it without leaving your car. And, while you might not be able to make every part of your life work with that preference (for example, you usually still have to leave the car for things like surgery, or getting on a flight), with this event, you can have it the way you want it. This exhibit

started last summer at Hacienda Del Sol, and now they’re making it annual! Just drive through the front entrance and follow the signage to view a lovely array of art pieces on display in the desert. On display through Sunday, June 13. Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol Road. Free. Artists Studio Tour and Sale. Do you ever miss DVDs? They had those amazing special features section with things like deleted scenes, bloopers and behind-the-scenes content. There’s just something cool about going behind the scenes and seeing how art is made. That’s one reason why this double show, which features both art for sale and

Summer Survival 2021

studio tours, makes for an excellent summer outing. Don Baker, who works with rusted steel on canvas, is doing a retrospective. And Risa Waldt is showing her spring collection paintings. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13. Don Baker is at 16530 N. Ridge Rock Road. Risa Waldt is at 65650 E. Edwin Road. MISCELLANEOUS FUN Sunset Yoga at Armory Park. If you’re anything like me, you’ve thought about taking up yoga many, many times. It’s supposed to be good for you joints, right? And your mind? And it looks like it feels so good? People who do yoga always just seem to have it together. Maybe this is the summer where you take up yoga in a free Wednesday evening class at the park. They’ll even

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Yoga at Amory Park have occasional special guest DJs to help you really get in the groove. Namaste! Please arrive at 6 p.m. to be ready for the yoga session from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evenings throughout the

summer. Armory Park, 222 S. Fifth Ave. Free. Tucson Cars & Coffee. If you’re a car person, you won’t want to miss this meetup hosted by Obsessions Car Club on second

Saturdays. Get together with a group of fellow enthusiasts and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of beautiful cars. Each month of this meetup has a theme. June’s is European cars, July’s is modern

SUMMER SURVIVAL 2021

Summer Safari Nights muscle, August is Mopars and September is GM (it goes on through the fall and winter months too, but this is the Summer Survival Guide!) Grab a coffee, grab your car, and do try to arrive

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early. Lord knows the later you are, the hotter it will be 7 to 10 a.m. on second Saturdays. Lowe’s Home Improvement parking lot, 4075 W. Ina Road. Free. Third Sunday Metaphys-

ics Fair. Looking to explore some new worlds this summer? You’ll have fun visiting the “Oracles on Oracle,” as they like to call themselves. This group of metaphysical practitioners include gemstone diviners, palm readers, reiki masters, empaths and a variety of intuitive psychic counselors. Maybe you’re not getting the guidance you need from the realm we normally exist in, or maybe you just think it would be interesting to talk to some of these people. Of course it would! Why not meander down on a Sunday morning this summer? 9 a.m. on third Sundays. (June 20, July 18, Aug. 15, Sept. 19) Best Western, 6201 N. Oracle Road. Free. Oro Valley Movies on the Lawn. On fourth Saturdays throughout the summer, Oro Valley is screening films on a giant, inflatable outdoor screen. Drive up, lay

5

out a blanket, pull up a chair and enjoy. The kids will love watching a movie outside, and you’ll love that there’s no hassle: it’s free, and no registration is required. June 26 is Frozen II (so make sure you watch the first Frozen for the 4,000th time before you go), July 24 is Sonic the Hedgehog, and Aug. 28 is The Call of the Wild. Shows start around 7:30 p.m. at the Oro Valley Community

& Rec Center, 10555 N. La Home Rescue, and are all in tip top health and ready Canada Drive. Free. to adopt. Plus, the facility is El Jefe Cat Lounge. Yes, so cute that it basically feels technically this is a sum- like a spa… except better, remer survival guide, but you ally. Because there are cats. should keep this one in your Book a slot today at eljefeback pocket for survival at catlounge.com! Or check in any time of year. Because throughout the summer to what better way to cheer up see if any of their events, like than visiting with a bunch of a movie night or Cat Bingo, adorable, adoptable kitties? pique your interest. El Jefe’s resident felines come See SUMMER SURVIVAL, P6 from Finally My Forever

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Tiny Beautiful Things. If you’ve read this Cheryl Strayed book, you’re in for a real treat with this stage adaptation by Nia Vardalos. Starring Susan Baker, Tim Tully, Emily Gates and Richard Michael Thompson, it’s based on Strayed’s experience as the advice columnist behind “Dear Sugar.” (Who among us doesn’t think we could probably run an advice column, despite a total lack of qualifications?) It’s a touching, surprising show about coming unstuck and finding the courage to ask questions. Showing from Wednesday, June 9, to Sunday, June 20 at Invisible The-

atre, 1400 N. First Ave. $40 GA, $20 students. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Be sure to also check out a reprise of this spring’s hit, “Gloria: A Life”, about famed feminist Gloria Steinem. It runs Aug. 18-29.

written or created by female artists, this season certainly looks promising. First up is “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend,” a musical based on the true story of Broadway performer Charissa Bertels. The show is going on tour after playing in Arizona, so don’t miss your chance to see it. Sept. 25 to Oct. 16. Arizona Theatre Company, 330 S. Scott Ave. arizonatheatre.org

Arizona Theatre Company’s 54th Season. At the tail end of the summer, ATC will be kicking off its 2021/2022 season. Because we’ve pretty much all been having a bad time the past year or so, the team has curated productions that tell stories about learning to heal and to love others. With three plays and three musicals (including one musical about RBG and Sandra Day O’Connor), five of which are

The Rogue Theatre Season Begins. The Rogue Theatre stayed open in the 20202021 season with elaborate COVID protocols, including making videos of each play for fans who weren’t ready to get back in a theatre. Rogue’s new 2021-2022 season opens, or should we say… it AWAKENS, on Sept. 9 with “The Awakening”, an adaptation of Kate Chopin’s early feminist novel. Four more plays follow, including

SUMMER SURVIVAL 2021

the classics “Twelfth Night” and “Death of a Salesman,” ending with an adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel “Mrs. Dalloway,” April 18 to May 15. theroguetheatre.org.

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Eight 10s in Tucson. Winding Road Theater Ensemble received some 300 submissions from around the country for the company’s annual 10-minute play writing contest. This is your chance to see the eight winners on the digital stage! You can check it out on opening night on Friday, May 28, or watch it on demand through June 30. Keep a special eye out for the play “I See Your Face in Mine,” written by our very own Tucsonan Madison Peden. Check it out at windingroadtheater.org. Live Theatre Workshop has been using its parking lot this past year to accommodate drive-in outdoor plays. But the three summer shows will move indoors, with a limited number of seats. “A Life in the Theatre,” by David Mamet, is on the stage June 10 to July 10; “The Standby Lear,” a comical work by John W. Lowell, runs Aug. 5-28; and “Bloomsday,” a Irish time-travel romance by Steven Dietz, runs Sept. 2 to Oct. 9. Livetheatreworkshop.org. “Once Upon This Time,” a “princess meets the present” story, runs in the

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The Gaslight Theatre children’s theatre July 16 to Aug. 1. “The Conundrum at Camp Catalina,” on Sundays from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6, gets children participating woodland games, The Gaslight Theatre. The Gaslight’s shows have gone back indoors for their new season, and, as always, they are raucously fun. How about the Star Wars parody “Space Wars” from June 10 to

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