Tucson Weekly March 24, 2022

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Been a long time since I rock n rolled

By Jim Nintzel CURRENTS: RIP, Desert Rat Tony Burgess

TUCSON WEEDLY: Prohibitionists Pursue Pot Prosecution

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MARCH 24, 2022 | VOL. 37, NO. 12

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

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STAFF

CONTENTS

FEATURE

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The South by Southwest festival returns in-person after two years off

CURRENTS

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A new book follows the growth and success of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona

CURRENTS

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RIP Tony Burgess, the man who helped shape Biosphere 2

MUSIC

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

EDITOR’S NOTE

Tyler Vondrak, Associate Publisher, tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Anything That’s Rock ’n’ Roll I’VE BEEN FAR LUCKIER THAN MANY folks throughout the pandemic. My kids and I have somehow dodged the bug (so far) and my wife’s encounter with COVID was very mild.

I still have my job and no one close to me has suffered a long hospitalization or died from it.

But until last week, I hadn’t had a chance to board an airplane to get out of town in two years, so it was a thrill to return to South by Southwest, Austin’s legendary music festival. SXSW felt like it was on smaller scale, but that still meant hundreds and hundreds of bands were playing.

It was simply glorious to hear so much music again, whether it was a young British band in a small club or an entourage on an outdoor stage in front of thousands of people.

Plus I got a chance to see Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, an extraordinary documentary about our local former congresswoman’s recovery from the assassination attempt that claimed six lives back in 2011. The movie was directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, who previously did RBG, the Ruth Bader Ginsberg documentary. They have created a film that is sad, funny and inspiring. I will say I cried more than once as I watched what Gabby went through in the wake of the shooting, but left the theater lifted by what President Barack Obama called Gabby’s “indomitable spirit.” I can’t wait

Claudine Sowards, Accounting, claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL

to see it again. (Rumor has it a Loft Cinema engagement is on the horizon.)

Elsewhere in the book this week: Veteran journalist Ford Burkhart writes a tribute to the late Tony Burgess, a desert rat who helped develop Biosphere 2’s various biomes; UA School of Journalism intern Cameron Jobson gives you a taste of a new book about the history of the Southern Arizona Community Food Bank; managing editor Jeff Gardner catches up with the Craig Green Band ahead of a record-release party this Friday at Monterey Court; XOXO columnist Xavier Omar Otero guides you through this week’s live music offerings; calendar editor Emily Dieckman tells you where to howl this week; Tucson Weekly columnist David Abbott digs into how prosecutors in Mohave County are still bending the law to find ways to prosecute people for possession of cannabis, even though voters passed a proposition to put an end to such nonsense; and, of course, there are the usual comics, columns and such spread throughout the book.

Jim Nintzel Executive Editor Hear Nintz talk about all the fun you can have in this burg at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays during the world-famous Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM.

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

RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson

The Craig Green Band explores the desert and personal stories on the new album Southland

TUCSON WEEDLY

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Despite state legalization of cannabis, Mohave County prosecutors are pursuing possession charges on wild grounds

Cover image of Golden Dawn Arkestra by Jim Nintzel

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

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DANEHY

TOM PEERS INTO HIS CRYSTAL BALL TO SEE WHAT LIES THE OUTRAGE MACHINE WILL CHURN OUT IN THE NEXT YEAR

By Tom Danehy, tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

SORENSEN

OKAY, WE GET IT. If you’re working a crappy job, sometimes you have to do crappy things to keep that paycheck coming. If you’re a mechanic in some shady garage, you have to swear that the customer needs a new air filter, otherwise the oil change will be useless. If you’re a butcher, you’ve got a callous on the side of your thumb from pressing on the scale. And if you’re a right-wing radio talk show host, you’ve got to keep the Outrage Machine churning, lest your audience of Angry White People takes a breath, looks around and realizes that America, while not perfect, is pretty damned great and maybe it would be okay to go on about their lives without being in a constant state of agitation.

As I have mentioned, I’m part of the problem because I listen to the venom spewers when I’m in my car. I once could convince myself that I was getting a fresh perspective on issues. Now, it’s just to see how vile and unhinged they have become.

I have real trouble listening to the morning guy because he has crossed a serious line. No matter how heated things would become in the past, there were always things that you should not ever call someone (including, but not limited to, traitor, rapist, and

child abuser), unless it were verifiably true.

But this guy, on a daily basis, uses the term child abusers to refer to educators who have devoted their entire adult lives to try to do what is best for their students.

He and the morons who follow him—I think it’s Bray and Cluck because one is a jackass and the other is just…fowl—are part of this national clique that has sought to defame those in our society who are most deserving of praise (especially during this pandemic)—nurses, doctors, and teachers.

And the worst part is that they build their current lies on their previous lies and then extrapolate their next lies from their current lies. And it seems to be accelerating at a pace never seen before.

You can look at what’s being said today and just know what’s coming. For example:

THE AUDIT • The Truth: A boondoggle from the very start, it was a waste of taxpayer money conducted by an inept and corrupt company that has since gone out of business in an attempt to keep from having to turn over records that could show that crimes have been committed in that sham “process.”

And, oh yeah, they ended up finding even more votes for Joe Biden than before.

• The Current Lie: It’s not over!!! Some guy says that he has proof that 200,000 mailin ballots have problems with the signatures on the envelopes.

• The Lie One Month From Now: If they were mail-in ballots, they all had to have come from Democrats. That would turn that 10,000-vote Biden “victory” into (wait, let me get my calculator) a Trump win!

• The Lie Six Months From Now: Those Cyber Ninja people who are facing criminal charges and prison terms were all Democrats. They hoodwinked State Senate President Karen Fann (who was too busy going after True White American Patriot Wendy Rogers) into letting them “count” the votes so they could claim a fake Biden victory.

• The Lie One Year From Now: The proBiden “Fraudit” was perpetrated by Chinese Communists who had money to spend when they weren’t able to buy up all of Sedona.

MASKS • The Truth: Masks are helpful. They’re not perfect. They’re not a cure, but they can cut down on the spread of the disease and offer protection for the wearer. More Truth: Those of us who actually understand science hate wearing masks just as much as you self-proclaimed patriots. Actually, we hate it more because we know that if y’all weren’t so selfish, we could have been done with the masks a lot sooner • The Current Lie: Masks aren’t helpful.

They’re evil. They’re un-American.

• The Lie One Month From Now: There was never any reason to wear a mask. We were lied to by everyone except the people who weren’t lying and only we know why they are.

• The Lie Six Months From Now: We now know that the mask scandal was caused by Big Pharma. They wanted to make a quick billion by pushing masks while they took the time to make the vaccines…which don’t work.

• The Lie One Year From Now: There never was a pandemic.

VACCINES The vaccines will go down in history as one of the greatest scientific achievements ever. They have saved millions of lives and have kept many millions more from getting serious or even life-threatening cases of the virus.

• The Lie One Month From Now: I know a guy who got the shot with the microchips in it and it made him feel like Bill Gates. Just dweeby, but not smart at all.

• The Lie Six Months From Now: They put something in Donald Trump’s vaccinations that made him turn around and try to encourage people to get the shots.

• The Lie One Year From Now: The aforementioned stuff they gave Emperor Trump made him do all those things that he’s on trial for in New York and Washington and Atlanta. It’ll come out in the trial(s). Also, there never was a pandemic. ■

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Back to SXSW Back to SXSW

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Been a long time since I rock n rolled

PHOTO BY JIM NINTZEL

Golden Dawn Arkestra performs at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

By Jim Nintzel jnintzel@tucsonlocalmedia.com I WAS SET TO JET TO SOUTH BY Southwest in March 2020 when all of sudden, everything started to fall apart. The festival’s cancellation was just the start, of course, of the outbreak that shut down travel and festivals and crowded clubs and rock ’n’ roll for most of us.

Last year, SXSW—the annual festival that brings together music, comedy, film and the digital frontier—went digital and, while I caught a few of the film festival offerings, I didn’t have much interest in Zoom panels or online musical performances. I’d had my fill of Zoom by then.

But this year, SXSW returned in person and I headed out of town for the first time in two years. Other than a few outdoor shows here and there in recent months, it’s also been a couple of years since I’d seen a concert. For whatever reason, even though our venues have

reopened and Tucson has been treated to some great shows, I haven’t gotten out to see much of anything. I’d begun to wonder if live music just wasn’t my jam anymore. And as I looked over the acts playing in Austin, I realized I recognized only a handful of the hundreds of bands that were on the bill.

But with the Omicron wave fading, I was eager to get out of town, so I headed to Austin. Organizers did their best to address COVID risks, requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test in order to attend.

Participants were asked to mask up inside the Austin convention center and at other indoor events. But SX was born as a rock ’n’ roll festival and rebellion is in its DNA, so adherence to mask protocol was spotty, especially once you got into the bars.

Dolly Parton was on hand to receive SX’s Grulke Prize for Career Act. She played at a gig at the Moody Theater (where Austin City Limits is filmed) after a conversation with author James Patterson. (She and Patterson have

collatorated on a novel.) As part of the show, NFTs were handed out and it was evidently all cutting-edge metaverse stuff, but I missed out on my chance to enter the Dollyverse.

I have to confess that all the Web 3.0/ crypto/metaverse stuff flew right over my head. On my first day in Austin, I overheard one musical artist talking about Web 3.0 during an interview in the press room.

“Web 3.0, people really aren’t seeing it yet,” he said. “Web 3 is a way to invest our brand in a place that isn’t in the physical world.”

It all sounded like buzzwords and bullshit to me, but then I had dinner with a woman who told me her kid was making a half-million dollars a year on transaction fees and design work on cryptocurrency, so I’ve no doubt there are people finding ways to get rich off working on the blockchain gang and whatever hustles exist in the metaverse.

But I wasn’t there for the finsplaining. As I mentioned up top, it’s been a long time since I rock ’n’ rolled, so I

wanted to experience live music right here in the physical universe. And on that front, SX did not disappoint. On Wednesday night, I got a blast of a new British Invasion from the Royston Club, a four-member band out of Wales that was sheer raw rock energy as they blasted through a set of songs, some just a few months old. They were followed by Red Rum Club, a Liverpool sextet that had a sweaty crowd bouncing in front of the stage. As Hotel Congress Entertainment Manager David Slutes said as we munched on bulgogi fries from a food truck after the show, “Those bands were both perfect. Discovering some really great Brit-pop I’ve never heard of before is what makes SXSW such a great experience.”

Slutes, who has been attending SX since it launched in the late ’80s (and who landed two record deals for his band The Sidewinders following performances in the early ’90s), said this CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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PHOTO BY JIM NINTZEL

Red Rum Club: A British invasion at SX.

SXSW

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

PHOTO BY JIM NINTZEL

Nancy Sanchez: A mix of alt-pop and mariachi.

year’s festival felt smaller than recent years, but he appreciated the smaller scale.

“I enjoyed it because it was less hectic getting into venues and performances,” Slutes said.

SX is a musical buffet, so you get to taste a little bit of everything: I started Thursday night out by catching the tail end of Surfbort’s punk show at a vintage flea market I happened to be walking by. Then it was off to the mammoth outdoor stage at Lady Bird Lake, where I was bathed in the cosmic energy of RA in the cool evening air by Golden Dawn Arkestra, a flamboyantly costumed entourage that describes itself as conducting “experiments involving space and time travel through the use of sound and movement.” Next up was a tiny bar where I saw Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys, a genuine rockabilly outfit that delivered a heartbreaking rendition of Roy

Orbison’s “Crying.” After a drink at the Driskill Hotel, I finished the night at the massive outdoor amphitheater at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, where the Lemonheads relived their glory days with a 30th anniversary celebration of their 1992 album It’s a Shame About Ray. NPR alt.Latino sponsored a set of day shows by artists such Queralt Lahoz, an R&B/flamenco act hailing from Bacelona, and Nancy Sanchez, who blends Lat-indie pop with cumbia and mariachi. Sanchez gamely tried to get a reserved crowd to join her in a grito during a ranchera about heartbreak.

“Are you ready, South by Southwest?” she asked the crowd after demonstrating an impressive howl. “Are you ready to do a mariachi grito?” (At least a few folks tried, even if they didn’t really hit the kind of notes that Sanchez did.

The energy was a little higher at the Radio Day Stage the next day, when the Wild Feathers took the stage in their trucker hats and warmed up the crowd with their indie alt-country act.

Then Brooklyn’s Sunflower Bean took the stage and even managed to get the crowd dancing for their final song, a new number called “Beat the Odds.”

Lead singer and bassist Julia Cumming told the crowd: “If you planned on getting out of your seats at any time, this is it.” With that permission, a crowd rushed the stage and started dancing.

Cumming said the band had recorded new songs during the pandemic: “It’s great to be playing them live.”

It’s great to be back in the audience, too. Long live rock ’n’ rock! Long live SXSW! ■

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CURRENTS

SEEDS OF CHANGE

New book follows the growth, success of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona

By Cameron Jobson tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com THE COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF Southern Arizona started off as a 600 square foot storefront with one delivery truck and a few boxes of food. Today, it is one of the largest food banks in the nation with more than 200,000 volunteer hours in an average year.

The story of this growth is covered in the new book, Sowing the Seeds of Change, which lays out the history of the CFB and the steps they take to attack the causes of hunger.

As the organization grew over the years, author Seth Schindler was intrigued by their success.

“It’s an incredible story of growth… but it’s also a sad story,” Schindler said. “I first responded to an advertisement: researcher wanted by community food bank. They wanted someone to put the information together, maybe a history page on their website.”

He began interviewing volunteers and staff, reading old meeting notes and annual reports to capture the complexity of the CFB. But when he visited the Tucson headquarters, a 140,000 square foot service center, Schindler realized there was a much bigger story to tell.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Schindler said. “The scale of the facility’s operations was the first thing that really struck me.”

Named “food bank of the year” by Feeding America in 2018, the CFB serves five counties, covering 23,000 miles. Customers have access to a variety of educational programs and culinary training, emergency food assistance and free meals.

The CFB works daily to promote social cohesion and participation throughout Southern Arizona.

“All kinds of folks are committed to supporting their neighbors,” said Chief Programs Officer Robert Ojeda. “We work with other partners such as nonprofits,

small community groups, local gardens and mutual aid groups.”

The facility now has more than 6,000 volunteers who are dedicated to their work and bring unique skill sets to the CFB. “They are the people that make it work,” Schindler said. “They understand how precarious the situation is.”

In his book, Schindler highlights the success of the food bank. But their main goal, he said, is to put themselves out of business by getting rid of hunger and the causes of hunger in Arizona. One in six Arizona residents are considered food insecure, and one in four children. And everyday, the CFB battles this harsh reality.

“We don’t want to find ourselves 50 years down the road dealing with these same issues,” Ojeda said. “We are investing in programs and initiatives that address the root causes of hunger.”

The CFB operates at a few resource centers offering food and innovative services.

They encourage cooperation and community development, and incorporate an educational component into every one of their programs.

“We want to ensure that people get food today,” Ojeda said. “We don’t want people to choose between paying the phone bill or feeding their families.”

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The CFB’s mission is to address the hunger crisis through advocacy and education.

They gather demographic and qualitative data to identify vulnerable populations in Southern Arizona to inform their next steps.

Now, the CFB distributes food to nearly 200,000 people each year. With the help of their nutrition team, the CFB brings the healthiest possible food to the community to focus on feeding the body, as well as the mind and the soul.

During the pandemic, the CFB switched to a drive-thru to enforce social distancing.

But as of February, they have expanded their hours and are transitioning back to their original model of walk-in distributions.

“COVID uncovered a lot of things,” Ojeda said. “Our system needs to be strong. We want to support the local food economy and promote resilience within the system.”

The CFB will continue emphasizing food education and nutrition with the hopes of getting people food today and tackling food insecurity. Because from the work of the CFB so far, they learned it takes a lot more than food. ■ For more information, visit communityfoodbank.org and uapress.arizona.edu/ book/sowing-the- seeds-of-change

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CURRENTS

DESERT RAT’S LEGACY RIP Tony Burgess: Helped shape Biosphere 2

By Ford Burkhart tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com TONY BURGESS’S WORLD WAS ONE of fungi, flowers, saguaros and century plants.

He left a legacy of ideas for saving them and the rest of desert life, stretching from his research at the Desert Laboratory west of downtown to helping design Biosphere 2.

As a scholar in rainbow-colored suspenders, he was known as a friend to the Sonoran Desert’s packrats, lizards, button cacti and agaves, seasonal grasses and meadows of poppies.

As a UA student, his friends were the sort who kept snakes or turtles in their dorm rooms.

He was at home in Tucson circles where guitars and banjos appeared along

with his accordion, and his tenor voice singing “The West Texas Waltz.”

He died January 21 at 73, after a long battle with multiple cancers brought on

by Agent Orange exposure during U.S. Army service in Vietnam.

Burgess was born in Fort Worth, which played a key role in his career. In 1983, he helped design the rooftop of the landmark Caravan of Dreams arts center in the city’s historic downtown, financed by oil heir Ed Bass. It featured an interpretive garden of succulents under a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome, with a dramatic terrace garden of giant yuccas.

In 1984, a spin-off organization, the Institute of Ecotechnics, including Bass, purchased a ranch in Oracle, Arizona, for a sealed microcosm model of Earth’s complexity, anticipating space travel and Mars settlement. Burgess helped envi-

PHOTO BY PETE KRESAN

sion the project, along with top scientists from NASA, the Jet Propulsion Lab and the UA’s Environmental Research Lab. The venture became Biosphere 2. It aimed to mimic Earth, seen as Biosphere 1.

Into the 1990s, his work with Space Biospheres Ventures led to creation of several “biomes”—zones with certain creatures,

soil and climate—within the glass dome of Biosphere 2. Its biomes included a rainforest, ocean and coral reef, mangrove wetland, desert, and agriculture. Burgess, as site naturalist and biome management coordinator, led expeditions into Sonora, Baja California and Florida, collecting seeds, soil samples and plant materials for the simulated biomes.

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Columbia University took over in 1998, and built a campus for 300 students. Burgess, by then on the faculty of the Columbia’s Biosphere 2 Center, helped design its landmark Earth Semester course.

In 2003, the UA began running Biosphere 2.

Back in 1966, Tony had left Texas to study biology at the UA and fell in love with the Sonoran Desert plants and wildlife. He was curator of the UA mammalogy collection in the Biology Department, managing the “bug room” where the flesh-eating beetles known as dermestids nibbled carcasses of dead specimens down to bones and teeth to be used for study or display.

After Vietnam, he went to Texas Tech for a master’s in ecological sciences, specializing in agaves and other flora of the Guadalupe Mountains. There he discovered an unknown-to-science composite flower on the salt flats west of the Guadalupes, later named for him as Lepidospartum burgessii, the Burgess broomscale.

Burgess was born June 5, 1948, in Fort Worth, son of John Jarvis Burgess, co-founder of the Carter & Burgess Inc. engineering firm. His love of nature started early on his grandfather’s ranch near Azle, Texas, and from exploring the creeks, woods and prairie of the Trinity River drainage around Fort Worth.

In 1979 in Tucson he married Martha Hyde Ames, a dendrochronologist, ethnobotanist and desert educator who founded the outdoor expedition program at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Tony joined in as field instructor on expeditions into the desert.

They were married for 20 years.

Burgess was a botanist with the U.S. Geological Survey at its Water Resources Division Ecohydrology Project for 14 years, working in its office on Tumamoc Hill, adjacent to the Desert Laboratory.

Along the way, Burgess earned a PhD from the UA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He co-wrote the classic “Sonoran Desert Plants: An Ecological Atlas” (UA Press, 1995) with Raymond Turner and Janice Bowers.

He was program coordinator at the Desert Laboratory, working with top scientists including Paul S. Martin, Thomas Van Devender and Julio Betancourt. His published research documented saguaro growth, invasive species, climate impact and desert grasslands.

PHOTO BY PETE KRESAN

Around 1990, Tony was asked to guide a group of international desert ecologists, including some from China and Russia, on a whirlwind tour of the Four Deserts of North America. This trip with “Desert Rat Tony,” is reported in author Gary Nabhan’s book “The Nature of Desert Nature” (UA Press, 2021).

In 1991 Burgess went to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with a Friends of the Earth team to document Gulf War ecological damages.

At Tucson’s Mission Garden, Burgess helped plan native garden plots. A velvet mesquite tree there is now dedicated to his memory.

Burgess was as a controversial yet beloved professor of ecological systems at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, from 2004 to 2013.

Upon retirement, Burgess moved to Homer, Alaska, to be with his son, Beau, and to take up volunteer work in the boreal ecosystem, advising gardeners, farmers and conservationists about resilient planting for climate change that is happening extremely fast in high latitudes.

“Tony Burgess’ guiding principle was inhabitation,” said Martha Burgess, “to understand every facet of how we, as individuals and as communities, might live truly sustainably in deserts.”

Ever the environmentalist, Burgess’ last wish was that his body be composted.

And it was. ■

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

HUB’s Dog Days of Spring Yappy Hour.

If you like ice cream and dogs, we’ve got great news for you! The HUB is wrapping up its Dog Days of Spring special events for March, and you still have one more chance to make it to Yappy Hour. Just head over to the HUB Ice Cream Parlor between 5 and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30 with your dog (or a borrowed dog) to receive $1 off a scoop of ice cream.

Or you can bring in an item from Pima Animal Care Center’s donation list to get a free scoop. They’ll also be selling dog treats and donating 50% of the treat proceeds to PACC. HUB Ice Cream Parlor, 245 E. Congress St. Friends of the Pima Library Community Book Sale. Happy Spring! We all know that the reason we clean out our houses every spring is to make more room for books. This book sale has got you covered with a huge array of books from all different genres. The special theme this month is “Banned Books,” with a section showcasing books that communities—including Tucson!—have pushed to censor or ban. Here’s the pricing breakdown: Friday is regular prices (still very affordable), Saturday is 25 percent off for 55+, Sunday is half price for everyone and Monday is $10 bag day. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 25 to Monday, March 28. 2203 N. Country Club Road.

Oro Valley Spring Festival of the Arts.

Southern Arizona sure does love a good art festival. And this open-air artisan market is a good one! Come check out dozens of independently owned, small businesses and artists who make and sell home goods, fine art, fashion, food and more. There will be plenty of popup music performances and food trucks to keep you energized throughout all the browsing and shopping. This is also a really cool chance to hear directly from artists about the processes behind their work. Thank you, SAACA! 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 26, and 10 a.m. to 4

p.m. Sunday, March 27. Oro Valley Marketplace, 12155 N. Oracle Road.

Sylvia. Like most media about dogs, this show at Live Theatre Workshop is both The Piano Lesson. This August Wilson play cute and funny, but also packs quite the received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, emotional punch. The modern comedy by and is the fourth play in Wilson’s Pittsburgh A.R. Gurney follows Greg and Kate, who Cycle. This rendition is put on by Pima Thehave just moved to Manhattan from the atre. When Boy Willie arrives in town, he asks suburbs after becoming empty nesters. his sister if they can finally sell the old family When Greg finds a Lab-poodle mix in the piano in her living room. She refuses, because park named Sylvia, he’s delighted, Kate it’s covered in carvings from their ancestors is a little annoyed and Sylvia is adorable. which tell a story of the family’s rise from slavAnd they figure it out, because dogs are ery. Ultimately, it’s a show about the legacies usually the answer to problems. The New you honor, and the legacy you choose to leave York Daily News called it “one of the behind. March 25 to April 3. 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. most involving, beautiful, funny, touching There’s also an opening celebration at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 25. ASL night is March 31. and profound plays I have ever seen.”

Pima West Campus Black Box Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. $15 to $17.

March 24 to April 30. Shows at 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays, with a Saturday matinee on April 30. Live Theatre Workshop, 3322 E. Fort Lowell Road. $23 GA, $21 military/senior/student, $15 Thursdays and previews.

by Emily Dieckman Laser Queen. There may not be any gunpowder, gelatin or dynamite. But there will be plenty of laser beams, guaranteed to blow your mind.

Flandrau’s current light show combines the operatic glam of this legendary rock band with an array of rippling lights on the dome of the planetarium. Honestly, sitting down in the dark and listening to “Under Pressure,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Another One Bites the Dust” is already fun. But throw in a laser show!? I’m sold. If you’re really feeling it, stick around for the Pink Floyd show right after this one. 7 p.m. (Queen) and 8 p.m. (Pink Floyd) on Saturday, March 26.

Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, 1601 E. University Blvd. $9 GA, $8 seniors, $7 college students & kids 4 to 17, $3 with EBP or SNAP card.

From Mourning to Dancing. This weekend True Concord presents Bach’s B-Minor Mass, which, if you didn’t know, is a Very Big Deal. There many recordings of it, because many consider it one of the best pieces of classical music ever. (Wagner called it “the most stupendous miracle in all music!”) But nothing compares to being enveloped in its sound during a live performance. This show was originally scheduled for March 2020, so it’s been a long time coming and makes a perfect closer to True Concord’s season. 7 p.m. on Friday, March 25, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 2800 S. Camino del Sol, Green Valley. 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 27. at Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive. $27 GA, $42 premium. For subscribers, $22 GA and $37 premium.

TAFF Film Night at the Screening Room. Are you still missing First Fridays at the Loft? This event has a slightly different flavor (no gongs!), but is an equally wonderful opportunity to see short films and music videos created by local artists.

Members of the local group Tucson Aspiring and Focused Filmmakers will be showing their stuff this evening, while you show your support, and maybe expand your cinema palette. There’s something especially exciting about going out for a Friday night and not knowing exactly what you’re going to see. 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Friday, March 25. The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. Tucson’s Got Talent. Boy, does it. The Colby Olsen Foundation presents the finals of this event his weekend. Semi-finals were earlier in this month, but this is your chance to see who is named the winner— in both the 13-17 youth category and the 18+ adult category. Adult winners get a cash prize, and youth winners receive a scholarship. Singers! Lip syncers! Dancers! Magicians! Come see ’em all. Ticket sales support the Colby Olsen Foundation, which aims to raise awareness for issues affecting LGBTQ+ youth and seniors in the community. 6 p.m. Friday, March 25.

14 S. Arizona Ave. $5.

MARCH 24, 2022

MUSIC

guitar, Stefan Jöckel on bass, T Greg Squires on “Southland”release show drums and multi-instru7 to 10 p.m. Friday, March 25 mentalist Mike Sadler.

Monterey Court There are also a handful Studios and Café of local guest musicians 505 W. Miracle Mile featured on individual $8 tracks. craiggreenband.com Green says the band has gradually grown over the years, and this naturally led to a fuller sound and more complex instrumentals. A shift from his roots, the songs on Southland now feature warm layers of guitar, Hammond organ, banjo, trumpet, lap steel and more. But perhaps the most important change from his earlier albums are Green’s vocal exchanges with Okpisz, present on nearly every song.

“She and I developed a special chemistry on the last record. She’s a crucial part of the band and such a great singer,” Green said. “We’ve gotten to where live, we’ll have seven or eight people up there, and that’s always fun to be a kind of wall of sound. So we’ve definitely grown in that direction over time.”

Although Southland is mostly filled with energetic country rock ballads, there’s enough change to keep it from being homogenous. The song “Madness” is an optimistic look at the pandemic, “Atlantic City” is a Bruce Springsteen cover, and “Hermosillo” blooms with sudden horns.

“I do love Tucson so much, and can’t imagine living anywhere else now. The record’s definitely got a lot of references to my life here. The record is reflective of our experiences here. Except for Rachel, we’re all from elsewhere, which I guess is not atypical. But we’ve all embraced this place,” Green said. “The imagery of this area is certainly reflected.

Everything we experience here in Southern Arizona and into Mexico has an impact. But hearing local bands has definitely influenced me. People like Joe Peña and Stefan George show how talented folks here can be.”

One of the album’s standouts, “Lit the Gasoline,” is a ballad filled with personal visions of rosaries, car crashes and cliffs, which Green explains is about a breakup.

“At this point, all my songs are my experiences,” Green said. “And this song is about the two sides of a breakup, how each party feels slighted and upset. So that’s why the verses trade off, to share their own perspective. And it’s not assigning right or wrong to any party, but just showing how each party feels their own way.”

Craig Green Band will celebrate the album’s release at Monterey Court Studios and Café, a music venue with a strong community of local blues, rock and country acts.

Green and his band are regular performers at Monterey Court, and he says the associated bands often support and inspire each other.

“We’ve had so many great shows with people over there, and they were especially helpful during the pandemic being an outdoor venue,” Green said. “We all go so well together and collaborate. There’s a lot of cross-pollination that happens.” ■

Craig Green Band

COURTESY PHOTO

SONORAN SONGS

Craig Green Band traverse Tucson and personal stories on Southland

By Jeff Gardner jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com

IT DOESN’T TAKE A LIFELONG TUCSONAN TO fully appreciate and understand the Sonoran Desert—20 years should do that just fine. On the new album Southland, the Craig Green Band explores the views, people and stories of Tucson through country and rock.

Southland is the seventh album Green has released, and contains the largest scope of any project, with dense instrumentals and guest musicians from multiple local songwriter circles. The Craig Green Band is hosting an album release party at Monterey Court Studios on Friday, March 25.

Despite the album’s title, geography never takes a front seat on Southland. Green explains that his songs are always driven by his own experiences, and often focus on relationships and individuals. However, songs like “Driftwood,” “Pinetop” and “Hermosillo” are rich with borderlands influence and imagery, helping flesh out the world of Southland.

Craig Green Band’s last album, Flyboy Serenade, released in 2019 and it’s safe to say much has changed since then.

For the band, this resulted in a larger lineup and more intricate songwriting than previous records.

“Flyboy Serenade was a simpler record in a lot of ways, and this record just has a lot more going on. There’s more orchestration to the songs, and it’s more ambitious instrumentally, and there’s more musicians involved,” said Green, who explains that Southland may have released a year earlier if not for the pandemic. “I couldn’t do a big album release at the time, and it took the wind out of my sails to do a quiet release. Because I love the process, as a celebration of finishing a record. It makes sense to me to have a party.”

Aside from Green on vocals and rhythm guitar, Southland features Rachel Okpisz on vocals, Chris Allison on lead

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By Xavier Omar Otero tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… THURSDAY, MARCH 24 During the 1980s, Californian Chuck Prophet became an adopted son in the hearts of Tucsonans as a member of first-wave desert rockers Green on Red. On his follow-up to 2017’s Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins—an edgy noir broaching the mysterious death of the ’60s musician—Prophet continues to explore the tension between romance and cynicism on Land That Time Forgot (2020) with a novelist’s pen. Chuck Prophet. At Hotel Congress Plaza… Hailed by some as the “Godfather of desert rock,” after three decades of making music, Rich Hopkins (Sidewinders, Sand Rubies) has become synonymous with the dusty, windswept sound enkindled in the American Southwest. The Glorious Sounds of Rich Hopkins and the Luminarios permeate the night air. Live and Free. At Tap & Bottle (downtown)…

FRIDAY, MARCH 25 Coming up in Texas, Parker McCollum grew up listening to his older brother’s record collection. His star began to rise after moving to Austin to attend college. Before long McCollum was selling out shows at legendary venues: Stubb’s BBQ and Nutty Brown Café & Amphitheatre. With a taste for Rodney Crowell and James McMurtry, this brash young singer had just enough gangsta lean to set him miles apart from the good-ol’-boy image embodied by his

peers. At 29 years old, after living the life of a Gold Chain Cowboy (2021), McCollum has turned a new leaf. Obsessed with how his hard-living country music heroes wrote songs, he tells Sounds Like Nashville, “For a long time, I thought I had to do those things, too, to get the songs out.” Parker McCollum. At Rialto Theater… Healer and world soul multi-instrumentalist Porangui, originally from Brazil, is currently calling Sedona home. In a program that combines ancestral rhythms, dance, and deep earthy grooves this sonic alchemist guides the audience through waves of ecstatic movement. Galactic Center Productions present Porangui. At MSA Annex… Valentino Khan seemingly knows no bounds. The Los Angeles-based EDM artist has produced tracks for top-shelf acts: 2 Chainz, Iggy Azalea, T.I. Khan’s recent EP House Party (2020), which includes collabs on dance floor bangers with Diplo, Tchami and Wuki. Relentless Beats present Valentino Khan. At Gentle Ben’s… Recently nominated for a Grammy Award for her album The Garden (2021), “polymath, Renaissance woman, Jack of all trades, Rachel Eckroth Trio plays Duke Ellington’s Money Jungle (1963), hailed

by The Paris Review as “a masterpiece of disharmony.” At The Century Room… From mourning to dancing. True Concord Voices & Orchestra close their 2021-22 season with a performance of Bach’s Mass in B-Minor.

At Valley Presbyterian Church (Green Valley)... Inspired by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, this Austin songwriter’s work often muses on heartbreak. Pop Matters described her music as an “intoxicating ode to an unrequited love” executed by a “smoky club chanteuse.” Molly Birch. At 191 Toole… This hard rockin’ three-piece psycho rockabilly band from Chicago threatens to pop off a blast so powerful that it will knock you off your seat. Three Blue Teardrops.

At Surly Wench Pub. Texas Trash and the Trainwrecks open… The Craig Green Band celebrate the release of Southland (2022).

At Monterey Court… Hank & The Dead Horsemen perform not so “Happy Time Blues.” At Saint Charles Tavern… Tucson’s longest running Latinx dance party sin fronteras moves beyond. El Tambó. At Hotel Congress Plaza…

SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Slaves and oligarchy and their usurpations.

Following a frenzied night in 1980, at a Santa Ana, California warehouse party, an emergent Bad Religion took to a makeshift stage. The ferocity unleashed would soon propel them to the forefront of a burgeoning scene. In keeping with the title of their 2020 release, punk rock institution Bad Religion ask, What Are We Standing For? In an interview with Huck, author/professor/frontman Greg Graffin says, “When [we] got our start it was under a very conservative administration and the religious right was just as vocal then as they are now.” Spotlighting society’s ills, on Age of Unreason (2019), their 17th studio album, Bad Religion continue their course of action. Graffin elaborates, “I’ve always thought the best place for controversy is in debate. Not just being nihilistic and confrontational for the sake of it. For me, punk was an attempt to raise aware-

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ness.” Bad Religion. At Rialto Theater… In a post-industrial area of Pennsylvania—blighted by unemployment, substance abuse, and broken families—where prospects are bleak is where this band of nu metalists emanate.

From Ashes To New. At Encore… On “I Miss Having Sex but at least I Don’t Want to Die Anymore,” these Tucson pop punks work through their angst. Brace Yourself.

At 191 Toole… At the height of the new wave era, on the gossamer wings of “I Melt With You”—featured on the Valley Girl (1983) soundtrack—these lads from Essex, England indelibly etched their place in 1980s pop culture. Modern English. After The Snow Tour.

At Hotel Congress Plaza. With psychedelic cumbancheros XIXA… During the 1960s and ’70s, this little country-rock band from El Cerrito, California, rocked the entire continent with hit after smash hit, like “Down on the Corner,” “Proud Mary,” and “Bad Moon Rising.” Classic Albums Live offers an exact replication of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Chronicle, a collection of greatest hits. At Fox Tucson Theatre… Lala Lala is the indie rock project of Chicago songwriter Lillie West. At Club Congress… Fat Tony returns for a monthly DJ residency. At Hotel Congress Plaza… Dance to world beat imbued with a special ingredient: Joy. Baba Marimba. At Monterey Court…

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MARCH 24, 2022

Slip into the dead of night. Matt Mitchell Trio. Late Night. At The Century Room…

This acoustic duo perform Ameri-Mexicana for the betterment of the human soul. FebboFuentes. At Button Brewhouse…

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 Four-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz has been called “a songwriter of uncommon wisdom” by the Austin Chronicle. Despite her big city environs, the Wimberley, Texas-bred tunesmith says, “I never forgot where I came from,” even as her career rockets skyward.

Jarosz keeps an eye out for trail markings to stay on the path. “I’m very symbol-oriented, and a lot of that comes from my mom,” Jarosz reveals in an interview with Paste.

“The blue heron has always been a good omen.” As a kid she used to walk with her mom along the beachfront observing the iridescent-plumed birds. Feeling the weight of her mother’s recent diagnosis with breast cancer, on “Mama”—a heart-rending track off of Blue Heron Suite (2021)—Jarosz confronts mortality. “It’s a child simply longing for their mother. [Like] the beach, [which] can at once feel very calm and quiet, and the next intimidating and ominous.” Sarah Jarosz. At Rialto Theater… What more can

you say? With over 80 million records sold, this Guatemalan singer is one of the most successful Latin artists of all time. Ricardo Arjona. Blanco y Negro Tour. At Tucson Music Hall… Recounting the moments that defined her, this Phoenix indie singer-songwriter opens her journal. (She also does a killer version of ABBA’s 1976 classic “Dancing Queen.”) Danielle Durack. At Club Congress. With Female Gaze… Vocalist Connie Brannock quips, “It’s like “WD-40 for the hips, baby.” Little House of Funk add sizzle and sear. Congress Cookout. At Hotel Congress Plaza… Post-modern Americana troubadour P.D. Ronstadt & The Company perform original Southwestern roots and folk, while placing their own unique watermark upon traditional compositions. At Monterey Court… DJ Humblelianess and crew spin a mix of EDM. Harmony House.

At The Royal Room…

MONDAY, MARCH 28 Drawn together over their passion for club life and bossa nova, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton’s musical style juxtaposes elements of dub and acid jazz alongside Indian classical, Middle Eastern and electronica. In addition, Thievery Corporation has taken progressive

stances opposing war, exploitative trade agreements, while supporting human rights and food programs. Thievery Corporation. The Outernational Tour V.2. At Rialto Theater…

TUESDAY, MARCH 29 Many of community activist/rhymesayer Ali Newman’s lyrics cry out against racial inequality and slavery, criticizing the United States’ political system. The Minneapolis rapper’s music video for “Uncle Sam Goddamn”—a rebuke of America’s checkered past and latter-day economic slavery—quickly gained the attention of the Department of Homeland Security, who for a time froze assets to his record label. Spitting The Undisputed Truth, Brother Ali. The Travelers Tour. At 191 Toole… Taking deep drags from the blues, American folk, modern poets and philosophers, Rhythm & Roots present singer, guitarist and songwriter Chris Smither.

At Hotel Congress Plaza… A graduate of Berklee School Of Music’s synthesis program, Ryan Alfred may be best known for his work with Calexico and Sweet Ghosts.

His latest piece “We Are Made of Time” is described as “a fully improvised exercise in spontaneous composition, a tightrope act

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 15

of electronic, vocal, and acoustic elements recorded and processed live without a net of pre-recorded material.” Arizona Arts Live presents Ryan Alfred. At Club Congress…

Macdougal Street West: A tribute to Peter, Paul & Mary perform a benefit show. At WoodSongs Coffeehouse. Proceeds to support Tucson FrontPorch Music Association…

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 Following a chance meeting in the hallways of Televisión Española, where they were participants in the music show Aplauso, Rafael Gutiérrez and David Summers found common ground. Influenced by the Beatles and the British new wave movement, Hombres G made their debut in 1983 at Madrid’s renowned music venue Rock-Ola. Their sound soon ignited into fuego. Their self-titled debut (1985) set them on a trajectory to become one of Spain’s most prominent pop bands.

Thirty-five years of hits later, they present La Esquina de Rowland (2021). Hombres G. At Rialto Theater… Before harnessing their feminine powers, the members of this Cincinnati indie band were each serving as the “token girl” in various male-fronted bands. The Ophelias. At Club Congress…

Until next week, XOXO…

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HIGHWAY ROBBERY

Despite state legalization of cannabis, Mohave County prosecutors are pursuing possession charges on wild grounds

By David Abbott tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com ARIZONA COURTS ARE DEALING with legal challenges to possession protection.

A criminal case making its way through state appellate courts could give law enforcement legal tools to circumvent protections enjoyed by pot users that were enshrined in Prop 207.

The Mohave County case, like two similar cases before it, determines how to balance the rights of adults in the state to possess legal amounts of

cannabis against police claims that they can enforce federal laws on state highways.

The cases renew focus on the conflict between state and federal pot policy.

Most states have legalized medical or recreational use, but cannabis is still federally illegal and listed as a Schedule I narcotic on the same level as drugs such as heroin, LSD, or peyote.

The Mohave case involves a commercial driver busted for possession, and will come down to the judge’s decision on whether to enforce federal law on Arizona highways or follow the will

of 60% of state voters who passed the measure in 2020.

Should the judge rule against the driver, pot users and distributors may find law enforcement undermining the protections assumed in Prop 207.

A prominent Phoenix pot attorney is fighting to stop that from happening.

In 2021, self-promoted “Attorney for Cannabis” Tom Dean took on three arrest cases for pot possession in commercial motor vehicles, two in Mohave County and one in Pinal County. One was dismissed on legal technicalities and another settled, but the third is set to be heard in appeals court in Kingman within weeks.

Should the state decide against Dean’s client, the result could give prosecutors an edge in future cases, affecting interpretation of Prop 207 — the Smart and Safe Arizona Act (SSAA) — that legalized cannabis in Arizona.

THE CASE IN PINAL JUSTICE Court was dismissed, but Dean said the arguments made by the Pinal County Attorney’s Office were troubling. He fears they could open the door for a broad interpretation of federal law and

allow Arizona courts to prosecute drivers caught in possession of pot.

The PCAO argued that a Code of Federal Regulations prohibits possession of any Schedule I substance, including marijuana, in a commercial vehicle.

“Essentially their position was that federal law is not affected by state legalization, and they claimed they’re allowed to do that,” Dean said.

Under Prop 207, anyone over the age of 21 is legally allowed to possess up to an ounce of cannabis for personal use “notwithstanding any other law.”

So it is up to the courts to decide if law enforcement can exploit that clause as a loophole.

The Pinal case involves Phil Wolf. On April 18, Wolf was driving a decommissioned school bus from Texas to California for shipment to a buyer in Tokyo, who intended to use it as a personal recreational vehicle.

Wolf was pulled over on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson. The arresting officer, Trooper Matthew Auerbach, “smelt an odor of marijuana,” according to prosecutors’ court filings last fall. After a brief struggle,

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Auerbach arrested Wolf and charged him with one count of “Possession and or Use of a Prohibited Drug in a Commercial Motor Vehicle,” court records showed.

The voter-approved act specifically disallows the odor of marijuana as probable cause for a vehicle search.

But PCAO pursued a charge anyway in the Western Pinal Justice Court, claiming that since the driver was engaged in interstate commerce, the state had the right to prosecute.

Dean argued the search was not legal because there was no legitimate probable cause and the case should be dismissed.

“Rather than list out every conceivable place an adult may possess marijuana, SSAA simply provides that an adult can possess it anywhere, which would include a motor vehicle,” Dean wrote in a September motion, adding, “Wolf was not charged with violating a federal regulation, but rather a state one.”

He also argued the local court had no jurisdiction over a prosecution stemming from the Code of Federal Regulations, which should have been heard in U.S. District Court instead.

Pinal County Deputy Attorney Allaura Dabbene argued that since the bus was not in the possession of the buyer, in the eyes of her office it was still in service and considered a commercial vehicle.

“The SSAA is not controlling in this issue because the defendant has not been charged with simple possession in this case,” Dabbene wrote in response. “If he was, the state would have dismissed the charges, but in this case, he was charged with possession of marijuana while driving a commercial motor vehicle.”

Dabbene added, “There is nothing in [SSAA] to indicate that the Arizona voters intended to decriminalize the possession of marijuana for commercial motor vehicle drivers. If this was the case, school bus drivers, or city bus drivers, would be allowed to possess marijuana while on duty and in the normal function of their job.”

She argued that since Arizona controls I-10, the case was rightly an issue for state courts because state agencies are subject to federal motor carrier safety regulations.

Judge Lyle Riggs acknowledged that Dean’s motion to dismiss was

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procedurally proper.

“If the provisions of SSAA abrogate [federal] provisions ... the defendant would be immune from prosecution,” Riggs opined. “SSAA is relatively new and there will be many questions of first impression for an appellate court to ultimately resolve.”

“This may very well be one such question,” Riggs wrote.

In December, Riggs dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back or re-litigated.

Afterward, Pinal prosecutors defended their actions, but vowed not to appeal.

“Prop 207 and related possession of marijuana is wide-ranging and when dealing with cases on an individual basis, there remain ‘grey areas’ and a level of ambiguity that is still being resolved,” wrote PCAO Public Information Officer Mike Pelton in response to a press inquiry. “Our position was based upon a rational interpretation of the statute and the voters’ intent. We respect the judge’s ruling and did not appeal or challenge the judge’s decision.”

Neither Mohave County case was dismissed in North Rim Justice Court

in Colorado City.

One of the cases was settled when the defendant, New York resident Nicholas Rogers, decided he could not afford to fight the case, given the amount of travel that would have required.

“He was a passenger in the vehicle and did not have a commercial license, so it was not in his best interest to pursue the case,” Dean told New Times.

Rogers pled guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a small fine, but the second case, which is still making its way through the courts, was not that cut and dried.

ACCORDING TO DEAN, California truck driver Brandon Tristin Willis was passing through a checkpoint on the Arizona-Utah border. He exited his vehicle at the checkpoint, and when he went into the facility’s office, Arizona Department of Transportation officials smelled the odor of marijuana on his clothing.

A former Arizona Department of Public Safety officer working for ADOT searched the vehicle and found about 6 grams of marijuana in Willis’ possession.

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Under the SSAA, the odor of marijuana cannot be used as the basis for reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search a vehicle, unless the search is part of a DUI investigation.

“In this case, it’s clear it was not a DUI investigation,” Dean told New Times. “I interviewed the officer who agreed that at no time did he have any reason to think that the driver was impaired, never did field sobriety tests or anything like that.”

Dean then filed a motion to suppress the evidence, arguing the vehicle was unlawfully searched in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Arizona Constitution and the SSAA. “The judge wrote it as if it were a federal brief in the district court,” Dean said. “I think the idea is maybe they can just start enforcing the entire federal Controlled Substances Act and all of a sudden they can undo legalization.

They can say, ‘Now we’re going to start enforcing possession of marijuana, not as a state offense, but as a federal offense in state court.’”

Dean thinks he has a good argument, armed with U.S. and state Supreme Court decisions to back him up.

“There’s law too, that talks about this from the United States Supreme Court, and other courts, that to the extent that you can enforce a federal law in a state court, you have to do so in compliance with that state’s law,” he said. “You don’t get to convert that state court

into a federal court: It’s still a state court and has to follow state law.”

Dean’s motion fell on deaf ears though, as the judge ruled that federal law trumps state law and the court determined the SSAA did not apply.

Jonathan Udell, cannabis attorney at Rose Law Group and political director for Arizona NORML, believes the state does not have the power to enact such fundamental changes to Prop 207 through the courts.

As a voter initiative, amending the law would require legislation to be proposed and passed by both houses of the Arizona Legislature. Any changes would have to be with the intent to “further the intent of the initiative” or it would be unlawful.

“With these commercial vehicle cases, the state is really grasping at straws in a bid to continue its unjust persecution of cannabis consumers,” Udell wrote in an email. “Although law enforcement may not like it, Proposition 207 allows adults ages 21 and older to possess marijuana in Arizona ‘notwithstanding any other law.’ ... neither the legislature nor government bureaucracies have the power to override voter initiatives.”

Dean filed an appeal in the Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman.

Although he prevailed in Pinal County, the case there had some troubling moments for Dean.

“They don’t consider the truck to be federal property, but there’s no question that the interstates are owned

.com

and operated by the states they’re in,” he said. “A technical reading of this would mean the state could prohibit all transportation of marijuana under that provision.”

Dean said the judge in the Pinal case asked the prosecutor directly if she agreed with that interpretation, and Dabbene confirmed that was her belief.

“This provision, technically read, could indicate it would include interstate [but] that can’t have been what the voters intended, because it would effectively give the legislature to power to completely undo 90-plus percent of the law,” Dean said. “You wouldn’t even be able to go to a dispensary, buy, and drive home. Dispensaries wouldn’t be able to transport between their cultivation facility and their retail outlet, or between one another.”

What it comes down to for Dean, though, is that the fight for the rights of marijuana users in Arizona is far from over, given the whims of the courts and the determination of prohibitionist forces.

Randal McDonald, supervising attorney at the Post-Conviction Clinic at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, agrees that

Prop 207 protections should apply, but noted a lot of the specifics of enforcement are still up in the air.

“There are still some ambiguities in the statute,” he said. “In Arizona, you can be charged with the sale of marijuana, but more often what you see is that you’re charged with possession for sale of marijuana: [Unauthorized] sale of marijuana is still not allowed, but possession is okay. So the question becomes is it possession for sale?”

Dean has been fighting for the rights of cannabis users since 1993, and is on a mission to let the public know that, despite the passage of favorable cannabis laws, the matter is far from settled, due to the scattershot way the U.S. is legalizing the plant.

“Unfortunately, the law has given everyone a false sense of confidence that what they’re doing is either legal or they know it’s not, but believe law enforcement isn’t going to bother anybody because marijuana is legal and they don’t care anymore,” Dean concluded. “And that’s a problem.” ■ This article originally appeared in Phoenix New Times and is reprinted with permission.

MARCH 24, 2022

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Harvest of Tucson . 2734 East Grant Road 314-9420; askme@harvestinc.com; Harvestofaz. com Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily Nature Med. 5390 W. Ina Road 620-9123; naturemedaz.com Open: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily The Prime Leaf Two locations: 4220 E. Speedway Blvd.

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Southern Arizona Integrated Therapies. 112 S. Kolb Road 886-1003; medicalmarijuanaoftucson.com Open: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily

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away for me to blame myself when we both know I don’t blame myself and that I want out of this relationship because you’re not who or what I want… I’m willing to do that.”

So, while you can’t avail yourself of the face-saving, ego-sparing, off-the-shelf “It’s not you, it’s me” lie, you can and should avail yourself of the lie you were workshopping there at the end of your question: “My partner wants to close things up for now.”

SAVAGE LOVE QUICKIES

By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net

My boyfriend and I have not had sex for more than two years. When I first asked him about it, he hemmed and hawed. When I pressed him, he said he doesn’t have any interest. I felt like he was not telling me the whole truth. When I suggested he tell his doctor, my boyfriend said he could not do that because his doctor is an old family friend. He won’t go to another doctor. I don’t know what to do. Staying in a long-term relationship without sex does not appeal to me. But I love him, so leaving him is not an option. On all other levels we have a great relationship. But I miss his cock and I miss intimacy. I have tried many things, but I am sick and tired of being refused. He will remove my hand from his cock if I touch it, and he does not seem to ever get hard anymore.

I used to think that it was my fault but no longer accept the blame. What can I do?

—Unhappy Not Having Any Penetration Play In Literally Years

he didn’t like it that I had friends. He was constantly worried I was cheating on him, and I would reassure him as best I could. I tried to be understanding because, again, his mom had just died. But nothing helped.

A month ago, he starts yelling that he now knows for sure I had cheated on him at least three times, even if he doesn’t have any proof. (I never cheated on him.) So, I broke it off. But he continues to send me dozens of abusive text messages every day. At the same time, he makes excuses to see me. Two weeks ago, he came over to get his phone charger, which was not here. Today, he came demanding a sweatshirt, which I do not have. Between these surprise visits he sends text messages saying he would be happy if something terrible happened to me. What should I do? Blocking him isn’t an option, as we continue to work together, and must communicate for work-related reasons.

—Pushy Ex Abusing Confused Ex

If you’re going to rule out leaving, UNHAPPILY, your options are staying and enduring a sexless existence or staying and having sex with other people. If you don’t wanna be accused of cheating, you’ll have to ask your boyfriend’s permission to seek sex elsewhere. If you don’t wanna ask his permission or you ask and don’t get it, well, then you’ll either have to endure a sexless existence or discreetly fuck other people when you have the chance. (I hesitate to describe that as cheating in a case like yours, UNHAPPILY, since you wouldn’t be cheating your boyfriend out of anything he seems to want.)

Get him fired, PEACE. Show his text messages to your boss or to HR, and demand they do something about the hostile work environment he’s created for you, i.e., tell your bosses you expect them to fire him. If your employer won’t fire your ex, PEACE, talk to a lawyer about suing your employer and, if you must, seek employment elsewhere. I’m sorry this is being done to you, PEACE, and in the future… a controlling, possessive piece of shit who “constantly worries” you’re cheating on him needs to be dumped immediately. Because those sorts of “worries” always—always—become angry and sometimes violent accusations in the end.

I’m a 65-year-old gay man and over the past few years, I’ve completely lost interest in having sex with other men. Coincidentally, pleasure from the prostate has gone to a whole new level. I am now having the most intense and powerful prostate-induced orgasms one could ask for—like joining the universe intense. Do I need to see a therapist?

—My Orgasms Are Now Sensational Only if you’re unhappy, MOANS, and you don’t sound unhappy to me. (And if you were, you might be better off seeing a sex worker.)

I broke up with my boyfriend about one month ago after almost a year together. I’m 22 and he’s 20, and we met at work. A month after we started dating, his mom died. He is a jealous and controlling person, whereas I’m a very friendly and outgoing person, and

Why do adult men want to look like pre-pubescent boys by cutting away their pubic hair? Hair is masculine and should be allowed to thrive in its natural habitat.

—Bush Lover In Maryland Are you suggesting you can’t tell the difference between a 30-year-old man who shaved his pubes and a pre-pubescent 11-year-old boy who doesn’t have any pubes to shave? Because if you can’t, BLIM, you shouldn’t be having sex with anyone.

Okay, wherever you are right now, BLIM, I’m sure you’re saying, “Of course I can tell the difference!” To which I would respond, if it’s unfair for me to suggest you can’t tell the difference between a 30-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy unless there are pubes present, it’s unfair for you to suggest that adult men who shave their pubes are trying to pass themselves off as pre-pubes-

cent boys. (And why would they do that?

To attract pedophiles who can’t tell the difference?) You can make your preference for hairy adult crotches clear to potential sex partners without impugning the motives or tastes of people who prefer to keep their adult crotches shaved or trimmed.

P.S. I get a lotta unsolicited dick pics in my line of work—not complaining, just saying— and half the dicks I see in any given week have pubes. So, there are plenty of naturally hairy guys out there for you to choose from, BLIM. I’ve been hooking up with someone for a while. It’s been okay, but not great, and I don’t want to do it anymore. She’s perfectly good people, very friendly, but we’re only fuck buddies and I’m not enjoying fucking that much. How can I end this nicely? A person can say, “Hey, it’s not you, it’s me,” when breaking up with a romantic partner.

Somehow saying, “Hey, I don’t want to do this anymore,” to someone you’re just boning seems almost cruel, like I’m saying, “Hey, you suck in bed.” Do I need to make up a white lie? I’m in an ENM marriage, so I could say, “My partner wants to close things up for now,” but I kind of hate lying.

—This Is The End Trust your instinct and lie—and that’s what, “It’s not you, it’s me,” is, right? It’s a lie, TITE, and everyone knows it’s a lie; the person who says it during a breakup knows it’s a lie, the person who hears it during a breakup knows it’s a lie. But it’s a lie most of us are comfortable being told. Because when someone says, “It’s not you, it’s me,” what they’re saying to us is, “Look, I know this sucks and it hurts and I’m sorry and I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I have to and if it takes even a little bit of the hurt

I’m a 29-year-old queer boy with a language question for you. I LOVE seeing other people piss. Pissing at a urinal, pissing their pants, pissing in the tub, pissing on me. However, when I say to people, “I have a pee fetish,” invariably the response I get is, “I don’t want you to pee on me.” I don’t want to pee on them! That literally does nothing for me!

I’m only interested in other people pissing on or near me! No judgment on people who vibe with that, as my fetish relies on those wonderful people. But I’m just not turned on by my own piss. So, my question is, can you think of separate words or labels to better distinguish between people who like to pee on, people who like to be peed on, and people who like both?

—Pee Is Super Sexy Top/bottom/vers works for anal, it works for fisting, it works for BDSM, and it works for piss, too. And if telling someone you’re exclusively a piss bottom doesn’t do the trick, hand them a laminated printout of your question and my response. And if a guy still doesn’t get it after reading this, PISS, he’s probably not smart enough to find his dick and point it at you.

When the Bible says “come” it means cum. That seems rather important for deciphering its hidden meaning. It’s all about the importance of sperm retention.

Dry ejaculation is the desert, Israelites are sperm cells, Jacob’s Ladder is fighting the urge to ejaculate, ejaculation is Christ rising to Heaven to meet God, Aaron’s rod is his penis, Moses’s staff is his penis. And so on.

—Intense Biblical Studies I don’t argue with crazy people on subways, in restaurants, on airplanes, or at family gatherings. So, whatever you say, IBS, whatever you say.

Send questions to questions@savagelove.net.

Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast.

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.

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

MARCH 24, 2022

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

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

ARIES (March 21-April 19):The Carib people from Surinam quote their mysterious Snake Spirit as follows: “I am the force of the spirit of the lightning eel, the thunder ax, the stone. I am the force of the firefly; thunder and lightning have I created.”

I realize that what I’m about to say may sound far-fetched, but I suspect you will have access to powers that are comparable to the Snake Spirit’s in the coming weeks.

In fact, your state of being reminds me of how Aries poet Marge Piercy expressed her quests for inspiration: “When I work, I am pure as an angel tiger, and clear is my eye and hot my brain and silent all the whining grunting piglets of the appetites.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “It’s always too early to quit,” wrote cheerful author Norman Vincent Peale, who first popularized the idea of “positive thinking.” I’m an optimistic person myself, but I think his advice is excessively optimistic. On some occasions, it’s wise to withdraw your energy from a project or relationship you’ve been working on. Struggling to find relevance and redemption may reach a limit. Pushing ever onward might be fruitless and even harmful. However, I don’t think that now is one of those times for you, Taurus.

According to my reading of the astrological omens, it is too early for you to quit.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “You can be as earnest and ridiculous as you need to be, if you don’t attempt it in isolation.” So says author Barbara Kingsolver. She adds, “The ridiculously earnest are known to travel in groups. And they are known to change the world.” In my view, this is perfect advice for you right now. If you and the members of your crew focus on coordinating your efforts, you could accomplish blazing amazements in the coming weeks. You may solve riddles that none of you has been able to decipher alone. You can synergize your efforts in such a way that everyone’s individual fate will be lifted up.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): About 200 years ago, poet William Wordsworth wrote, “Every great and original writer must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished.” Now I’ve come up with a variation on that wisdom: “Every great and original soul must herself create the taste by which she is to be understood and appreciated.”

That’s what I hope you will work on in the coming weeks, Cancerian: fostering an ambiance in which you can be even better understood and appreciated. You now have extra power to teach people how to value you and get the best out of you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “I hate housework!” complained comedian Joan Rivers. “You

make the beds, you do the dishes, and six months later you have to start all over again.” I wish I could give you a six-month reprieve from having to attend to those chores, Leo. In fact, I’d love it if I could permanently authorize you to avoid all activities that distract you from thinking big thoughts and feeling rich emotions and pursuing expansive adventures. But I’m afraid I can only exempt you from the nagging small stuff for just the next three weeks or so—four, tops. After that, you’ll have to do the dishes and make the beds again. But for the foreseeable future: Focus your energy on thinking big thoughts and feeling rich emotions and pursuing expansive adventures!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A British plumber named Kev Crane worked for weeks to install a new bathroom at a private home.

As he toiled, he passed the time by singing his favorite songs. He didn’t know that the homeowner, Paul Conneally, was the owner of a music label. So he was surprised and delighted when Conneally offered him a deal to record an album in the label’s studio. There may be a comparable development in your life during the coming weeks, Virgo. You could be noticed in new ways for what you do well. Your secret or unknown talents may be discovered or revealed. You might get invitations to show more of who you really are. Be alert for such opportunities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It’s the start of the Listening Season for you Libras. I propose a full-on celebration of listening: a threeweek Holiday of Paying Close Attention to Important and Interesting Words Being Said in Your Vicinity. Make yourself a magnet for useful revelations. Be alert for the rich information that becomes available as you show the world you would love to know more of its secrets. For inspiration, read these quotes. 1. You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. —M. Scott Peck. 2. Learn to listen.

Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly. —my friend Jenna. 3. Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.

—Alan Alda. 4. If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening. —Marge Piercy. 5. Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold.

—Karl A. Menninger.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Worry doesn’t count as preparation,” writes author Lily Akerman. That sounds wise, but I don’t think it’s true in all cases. At its best, worrying may serve as a meditation that helps us analyze potential problems. It prompts us to imagine constructive actions we

might take to forestall potential disruptions—and maybe even prevent them from erupting into actual disruptions. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Scorpio, because now is an excellent time to engage in this kind of pondering. I declare the next three weeks to be your Season of Productive Worrying.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If I had my way, you’d be a connoisseur of kisses in the coming weeks. You’d make it your intention to expand your repertoire of kissing styles and ask willing partners to do the same. You would give and receive unwieldy kisses, brave kisses, and mysterious kisses.

You would explore foolish, sublime kisses and sincere but inscrutable kisses and awakening kisses that change the meaning of kisses altogether. Are you interested in pursuing this challenge? It will be best accomplished through unhurried, playful, luxurious efforts. There’s no goal except to have experimental fun.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days,” wrote author Flannery O’Connor. Her observation may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. And I’m offering it to you now, as you begin a phase when you can glean many new teachings about your childhood—insights that could prove handy for a long time to come. I encourage you to enjoy a deep dive into your memories of your young years. They have superb secrets to divulge.

Comics

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected,” said author William Plomer.

I agree with that. And I’m pleased to let you know that in the coming weeks, you will have more of this power to connect than you’ve had in a long time. I hope you will use it to link your fortunes to influences that inspire you. I hope you will wield it to build bridges between parts of your world that have been separate or alienated until now. And I hope you will deploy your enhanced capacity for blending and joining as you weave at least one magnificent new creation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I use my intelligence to discover more ways of appreciating you,” author Piscean Anaïs Nin told her lover Henry Miller. In the coming weeks, I recommend you activate a similar ambition. Now is a time when you can enhance your close relationships with important allies by deepening your insight into them.

What magic is at play within them that you haven’t fully recognized before? How could you better see and understand their mysteries? PS: You may be pleased when your deepening vision of them prompts them to extend the same favor toward you.

Homework: What non-sexual experience or adventure do you lust for?

FreeWillAstrology.com

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Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS [I’m speechless!]

5 Float 9 Italian car, informally 13 Northeast Corridor train 15 1934 novel made into a hit 1970s BBC/PBS miniseries 17 Hawaii’s “Pineapple Isle” 18 Bus excursions to see homes of celebrities 19 At the party where the scientist was demonstrating her new shrink ray, [ZAP!] the punch ladle turned into a …

21 Analogy words 22 West ___ (furniture chain) 25 Family 28 When the appetizers were passed around, [ZAP!] the potato wedges turned into …

34 Exaggerate, as a stage role 36 Flag down 37 Sweetheart, in modern lingo 38 When the main course was ready, [ZAP!] the six-foot hoagie turned into an …

42 ___ Faire (historical festival, informally) 43 Territory 44 Didn’t dive (into) 45 When the dessert was brought out, [ZAP!] the pudding cake turned into a…

49 Boris Johnson, e.g.

50 Mum’s mum 51 Principal 1

53 Finally, when the still-

hungry guests went back for more, [ZAP!] the additional helpings turned into …

61 Language that gave us “aardvark” 64 “Middlemarch” author 65 Prepare for cold weather 66 Dig (into) 67 Taobao, the so-called “___ of China” 68 Citrus drinks 69 Trickle

DOWN

Audacity It’s berry tasty!

3 On cloud nine 4 Credit card status 5 Domain of Athena 6 Stage opening 7 Tizzy 8 Bit of weatherproofing 9 Devotee 10 ___ Yifei, star of 2020’s “Mulan” 11 Something traded at a trading post 12 Ding-dong 14 Isn’t well 16 People for whom a state is named 20 Supposed creators of crop circles, for short 23 Longing to go to bed?

24 More grinchlike 25 Bracelet item 26 Triangular sail 27 King of the Egyptian gods 29 Leave in ___

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30 Setting for the 1962 hit

“Monster Mash” 31 Calculus calculation: Abbr.

32 Scratch or nick 33 Ramshackle 35 A.C.C. team, informally 39 Mongrel 40 ___ Lanka 41 Squalid abodes 46 Hostile state 47 Misses abroad 48 Before, in verse 52 Kept informed, in a way 54 Old presidential nickname

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55 Italian term of

endearment

56 It’s a bust 57

Eleven, to an élève

58 Home for many hippos 59 Magician’s bird 60 Put one’s foot down 61

Dazzle

62 “You’ve hardly aged a

bit,” usually

63 Genetic material

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