Tucson Weekly, Sept. 9, 2021

XOXO: JACKSON BROWNE, ICE CUBE, BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY AND MORE IN TOWN THIS WEEK!

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SONORAN RESTAURANT WEEK Sample what our best local restaurants are cooking up these days

By Jeff Gardner

TUCSON SALVAGE: Shopping at the Free Store

CURRENTS: Toddler Found Next To Dead Migrant Mom in the AZ Desert

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 | VOL. 36, NO. 36

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STAFF

CONTENTS

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Monsoon 2021 is the third-rainiest ever recorded, and still has a chance to go higher

TUCSON SALVAGE

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Take what you need, leave what you don’t

FEATURE

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Sonoran Restaurant Week returns with more participants than ever before

CINEMA

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Eat, Drink and Be Merry—Safely NOT ALL OF OUR LOCAL restaurateurs managed to survive the pandemic.

Some of our favorite joints have closed down and others are getting back on their feet.

So it’s nice to see the return of Sonoran Restaurant Week, which highlights 50 of our local independent eateries. Each one has crafted a special menu, typically featuring multiple courses, so you can sample what they’re doing these days. Managing editor Jeff Gardner provides some highlights in this week’s cover story.

The usual rules apply: The pandemic isn’t over yet, so eat outside if you can, wear your mask, wash your hands and get vaccinated.

Elsewhere in the book this week: Laura Gómez of the Arizona Mirror brings us the tragic story of a 2-year-old found alive in the desert next to his deceased migrant mother; Tucson Salvage columnist Brian Smith takes us inside The Free Store, where you can find all manner of used goods at no charge; XOXO columnist Xavier Omar Otero lets you know what’s on this week’s music agenda; and we’ve got the stories about a promising new COVID treatment, our delightfully active monsoon season and all the usual stuff that keeps you flipping through our pages.

A final note: We here at Tucson Weekly are saying goodbye to yet another colleague.

Christina Duran, who came aboard as a reporter

in February, is headed to Boston University to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs with a specialization in international communications. Christina did a lot in her short time here, delivering regular updates on the COVID pandemic and its impact on schools, hospitals, housing and more. We’ll miss her relentless pursuit of her stories and the way she always said, “Sure, no problem,” whenever we asked her to chase down another lead. Best of luck, Christina!

Coming on board to take her place is Alexandra Pere. Alexandra bounced around the South while growing up and earned her undergrad and master’s degrees at the UA School of Journalism. She says she got interested in reporting because she “always loved talking to people and journalism allowed me to talk to a lot of different people and they had to talk back to me. I love telling their stories.”

If you’ve got a story to tell, reach out to Alexandra at apere@timespublications.com.

Jim Nintzel Executive Editor Hear Nintz talk about fun things to do in this burg Wednesdays mornings at 9:30 a.m. during The World-Famous Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM.

RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson

A fascinating documentary explores whether a damaged painting was a lost work by Leonardo da Vinci

ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President Jaime Hood, General Manager, jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tyler Vondrak, Associate Publisher, tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com Claudine Sowards, Accounting, claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist, sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor, jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Managing Editor, jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Mike Truelsen, Web Editor, mike@tucsonlocalmedia.com Alexandra Pere, Staff Reporter, apere@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 Emily Filener, Graphic Designer, emilyf@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation, alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com Kristin Chester, Account Executive, kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive, candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com Lisa Hopper, Account Executive, lisa@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.

TUCSON WEEDLY

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ADHS makes changes to equity application rules for dispensary ownership

Cover image courtesy El Taco Rustico

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COVID deaths.

Inhibitors for the sPLA2-IIA enzyme were in light clinical trials in the early 2000s, according to Chilton. Inhibitors of the enzyme are also being tested to counteract rattlesnake venom. Chilton UA prof exploring promising new COVID treatment — to slow body’s over-response to bug expressed excitement for the possibility of repurposing these inhibitors to treat severe COVID patients.

By Alexandra Pere Chilton. In short, too much of a good thing “We’re not talking about years to come apere@timespublications.com (sPLA2-IIA) leads to a bad outcome. up with an inhibitor to block this enzyme.

Chilton’s study compared blood samples We just need a large multicenter clinical from patients with mild symptoms and trial to test the efficacy of these utilizing UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PROFESSOR severe symptoms as well as patients who a precision medicine approach that was Dr. Floyd Chilton is on the precipice of died from COVID. outlined in the paper,” Chilton said. finding a new treatment for patients sufferThe initial sample size of the study To strengthen Chilton’s findings, the ing from severe COVID-19 symptoms that is small, so Chilton cautioned “to get to team used machine learning programs commonly lead to death. causality as opposed to a bystander effect, at UA to create an unbiased prediction of Chilton is the senior author of a recently we need more sophisticated samples.” Chil- what perpetuated the most severe symppublished study correlating the sPLA2-IIA ton’s study had one cohort of 127 samples toms in COVID patients. On three separate enzyme to COVID severity and death. and a second with 154 samples. After the machine learning algorithms, Chilton sPLA2-IIA is a protective enzyme that initial results, Chilton’s acquired another could test his hypothesis without human typically protects our bodies from pathocohort of around 300 samples. Chilton biases. gens by identifying bacteria membranes said they are now in contact with global “We fed these levels of this enzyme, and ripping them apart. However, organizations that have access to larger along with all other clinical parameters that according to the study, higher levels of the sample sizes. we could get our hands on, into artificial enzyme are associated with severe COVID These global organizations have an inter- intelligence, machine-learning algorithms, symptoms such as organ failure. est in Chilton’s study because combating and those machine learning models kept “We know this enzyme will begin to the sPLA2-IIA enzyme in COVID patients saying that this enzyme was the primary recognize the organ or the tissue as being could be a viable treatment for preventing cause of mortality,” Chilton said. foreign and begin to wipe it out,” said

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REACTION REMEDY

Chilton’s samples were taken before the release of the COVID vaccines and the rise of the Delta variant. Chilton believes inhibitors would work regardless of which variant the patient had contracted.

“I think it’s incredibly important that we move to the other end of the research, which focuses on specific therapies that are likely not to care what variant it is because these are probably the common death mechanisms that lead to late-stage organ failure,” Chilton said.

As a medical treatment for severe COVID symptoms, inhibitors would be a useful tool for doctors or nurses who may be treating vaccine-hesitant patients. Chilton said we need to begin focusing on treatments that will help all patients survive a COVID infection as more vaccine-hesitant patients are hospitalized for COVID. Chief Clinical Officer at Banner Health Dr. Marjorie Bessel said this past week that 90% of all COVID patients at Banner hospitals were unvaccinated.

“This is many, many times more important than anything I’ve ever done. To say I’m excited would be an understatement,” Chilton said. “I’m honored and humbled that I might have a chance to somehow help in the treatment of this disease.” ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

The greater Tucson area sees an average of 5.69 inches of rain during these three and a half months. Last year, we only saw 1.62 inches, making 2020 the second driest monsoon ever recorded since 1895. This year, we’ve already received more than 12 inches. The all-time monsoonal rainfall record was set in 1964, with 13.84 inches.

“Depending on how the rain develops over the next month, I think the record is within reach. With all of September left to go, we only have two inches to beat,” said John Glueck, senior forecaster for the National Weather Service in Tucson.

“For the most part, this was not expected.

COURTESY PHOTO There was a prediction for it, because of the relatively dry winter we had… The early season forecasts had us with a probability of above normal rainfall. But that didn’t 2021 ranks among top three rainiest monsoons on record quantify the amount of rain we were going to get, just the odds that it would be wetter than normal.”

By Jeff Gardner According to the National Weather Service, The major downpours brought wildjeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com 2021 already ranks as the third rainiest flower blooms and turned the flanks of monsoon ever recorded, and with most the Catalinas green. However, they’ve also of September remaining, forecasters say wreaked their share of havoc. Local fire IT SEEMS THE CLOUDS HEARD OUR there’s even a chance this year could hit departments like Tucson Fire and Northwishes. number one. west Fire District have conducted multiple After record-breaking heat and pitiful The National Weather Service classifies swift-water rescues over the summer, rainfall last summer, this year’s monsoon the monsoon as rainfall Tucson receives assisting motorists trapped in flash flood is making up for lost time—and then some. between June 15 and the end of September. conditions. In addition, trees, roofs and

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walls across town have also toppled under the deluge.

Although 2021 hasn’t yet seen the rainiest monsoon ever, it is still a record-breaking year for weather. This July was the rainiest July on record, with nearly four times as much rain as normal. (Tucson usually sees 2.21 inches of rain in July. This year, the region got 8.06 inches of rain.) Not only was this the rainiest July, but it was also the only month ever recorded to see 8 inches of rain in Tucson.

This rainfall data is measured from the Tucson Airport. Glueck acknowledges the difficulty in measuring monsoon rain equally across the Tucson area, and says the chances of precipitation increase as you get closer to the mountains.

“We all know the monsoon can be finicky; one side of the road can get rain and the other won’t. It really depends on where the rain falls for a given monsoon,” Glueck said. “Last year was horrible, we all know that. And statistically speaking, we also knew we would have a better season this year. When you look back at the historical record, you don’t see two really bad years back-to-back. But I don’t think there’s anyone out there who could have said we’d CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

for Morales Pinzon to pay for sending the remains of his wife and daughter back to Colombia, funeral fees and for costs related to getting his son back to his custody from have this strong of a monsoon.” the government.

However, don’t let the green trails and Morales Pinzon lives in Florida. thunderstorms make you forget about the Tania Pavlak, a spokeswoman for the other weather records broken this year. Mid 2-year-old boy, still alive, found next to his migrant mother’s dead body near Yuma Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, said the June, Tucson sweltered under a heat wave county’s medical examiner determined the (one of many for the Western United States Health and Human Services’ Office of RefBy Laura Gómez deaths were heat-related. That day, temperathis year) that broke multiple daily heat Arizona Mirror ugee Resettlement. ORR holds minors who tures soared to 119 degrees. records. While we never quite beat the allarrived at the border alone or were separatThere is no data for the number of dead time high of 117 degrees measured in 1990, ed from their relatives at the border.

A COLOMBIAN MAN LIVING IN migrants found in Yuma County, but the parts of Tucson saw upwards of 113 and 115 When reached by Arizona Mirror by Florida is trying to reunite with his todmedical examiner in neighboring Pima in June. phone, Morales Pinzon, said he is in contact County recorded 220 remains of dead dler son after his wife and daughter died With a warming climate, increased heat with a social worker to try to find a home in the desert west of Yuma, an ordeal that migrants in Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz is easier to predict as it has a more linear where his son can be released from ORR the 2-year-old boy survived as the family counties last year. So far this year, there have rise. Monsoonal rainfall can be a bit more crossed into the United States from Mexico. custody. Getting his son out of government been 162 skeletons and bodies of migrants difficult, changing due to El Nino, winter custody is his priority, Morales Pinzon said. recovered, said Greg Hess, chief medical Hugo Morales Pinzon lost his wife and rains and pressure variants.

“For the moment, I ask for a lot of prayers examiner for Pima County.

10-year-old daughter last week. The mother “I think everyone’s happy with what from the community so my wife and daughand girl died from heat-related illness The Sonoran government took the tragic transpired this monsoon, but hopefulter can find rest,” he said. His voice cracked. case as an example to again promote its somewhere in the Cocopah Indian Tribe ly they don’t expect it every monsoon He said he was tired. lands just east of the U.S.-Mexico border “Dangers of the Desert” campaign. Guadabecause we can flip back to a dry one next “(My wife) was a woman of faith,” Morales near Yuma, according to U.S. Customs and lupe Lares Núñez, state coordinator for C5i, year,” Glueck said. “And when you look at Pinzon said.

Border Protection. an emergency call center in Sonora that studies, especially the latest [IntergovernThe mother and two children had migratBorder Patrol agents found a two-year collaborates with Border Patrol to respond mental Panel on Climate Change] report, ed from Colombia.

They crossed the border old boy, still alive, next to his mother’s dead to calls near the U.S.-Mexico border, said we’re going to much more extremes with near Mexicali, authorities from the Mexican body.

He needed medical attention, CBP migrants should not wait until they have the monsoon. We’re warmer, and a warmer state of Sonora said. The state agency said a no water, food or phone battery to contact said in a statement. Emergency personnel atmosphere holds more water, so we may took him to a hospital. He is now in govern- human smuggler had abandoned the family. rescue services. see more extreme rain events than we’ve ment custody in California, according to the In a phone call to Sonora’s 9-1-1 rescue line, ABC15 reported in August that the had in the past. But we’ll also probably see the mother told dispatchers that she was emergency response teams in Arizona and a lot of down monsoons, too. So the idea of Colombian Consulate in Los Angeles. about to faint. A crying child then says, The boy is among the nearly 15,000 miSonora that collaborate to respond to rescue normal is just a word. There’s not too much “Mom, I’m hungry!” grant children and teens who, as of Aug. 31, calls near the border have aided almost 700 normal anymore. I think what normal is goA GoFundMe page is raising money are in the custody of the U.S. Department of people between November to June. ■ ing to be in the future, is the extremes.” ■

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Story & photos by Brian Smith

Take What You Need, Leave What You Don’t PAUL HERNANDEZ ROLLS UP IN a late-model truck, steps out and pulls several packages of brand-new changing pads and a plastic lawn bag filled with barely used nightgowns into the airy store. He is greeted by store manager Debbie and tells her he has a few donations. Hernandez is running-back big, a snow-white Fu Manchu facial hair against brown skin, extraordinary forearm tattoos show sacraments and saints on flames. I’d call this guy a gentle giant, eyes peaceful, sad.

“These were my wife’s,” he says, words efforted. “Someone can use these things.”

Debbie hauls the donations into the next attached warehouse, to be sorted and shelved.

“She,” Hernandez tells me, “died last week. Her name was Juanita.”

What does one say to a hurting stranger whose wife just died, who donated a few of her things? Just listen.

Juanita, a woman to whom he was married more than 40 years, a caretaker for the elderly, died in a place with a view of beautiful pines near Prescott, Arizona. “She had that,” Hernandez says. It is one comfort for him among precious few, a barrier against lonely last days of summer. “I just try to stay busy.”

Debbie returns, gives a mindful nod to Hernandez, now in his truck, motoring off into the Friday noontime heat. Her ease is enviable, a surety of where she is and what she does is not lost on anyone, her absence here would be a loss to a large number of people. She meets the best, the worst and the hurting among us daily. Befriends them, because, as one volunteer here says, “her personality is magnetic.”

Another donation arrives, and she moves.

WE ARE INSIDE THE FREE STORE, a concrete-block corner structure—the store and its adjacent warehouse—in an

aged strip on Flowing Wells Road. One of those sullied white storefronts in a sea of asphalt, like it sprung from the earth in 1965 fully intact as a thrift store. The heavy air inside blows with the familiar desert whoosh of a giant evap cooler, the slight sweet tang of damp woodcuts. Rollup and double door opened wide. The geometric layouts of goods on shelves and racks—life “necessities”—jeans, shoes, shirts, lamps, toys, bedding, music, glassware, all arranged in pleasing groupings.

Could be any thrift store except nothing is priced, save for a corner in the store where a curious juxtaposition of things, hand-woven Native bowls, silver trays, vintage knickknacks, are actually priced, for little.

Some things can’t be given away. There is overhead, and they do accept private donations.

Debbie Mitchell is a volunteer in that she receives no paycheck and lives rentfree nearby in an RV owned by the company. That’s it. William, a lanky, quiet gent, is the only fulltime paid employee. The handful of others are volunteers, they jest and laugh and know each other well, and it feels like a family of misfits: retirees, artists, the big-hearted, the inscrutable.

The store is a non-profit, launched mid-2019, under the guise and funding of like-minded Suburban Miners, a Tucson electronics recycling company, and that store’s owner Aaron Polley. Aaron and Debbie had known each other from working with another non-profit and he hit her up with the idea of a donation-only store where everything is free. The idea suited Debbie’s serve-the-greater-good philosophies, she admired the environmental aspects of his store and work.

The Free Store landed in this location on Flowing Wells in Northwest Tucson last year, just as COVID hit.

“More people were struggling,” Debbie says, “losing their jobs, becoming home-

Debbie Mitchell inside The Free Store.

less; in a way, COVID actually helped our business.”

It’s five free items per customer, $1 donation after that, a limit set after so many showed greed, or took to resell at yard sales. She instilled an estate-sale number system at one point to organize pandemic crowds. “People were showing up at four in the morning.” She slumps at the memory.

“People were fighting. I said, you know what, folks? When you graduate kindergarten, let me know.”

It is open three days a week for shopping and six days for donations, furniture pickup and for caseworkers and their clients. There is a waiting list for large items, and organizations phone to shore up help for the displaced, to even furnish whole apartments.

Debbie works with many community services and caseworkers, a client list she

rattles off, La Frontera, S.A.A.F., Recovery in Motion, nursery schools, even the V.A., and others. She works with More Than a Bed, providing for foster kids. Mentions Treasures for Teachers, an outfit providing teacher items, those otherwise severed by education budget cuts. She’s a conduit, connects services and folks to needed things.

“I’ve been in this town awhile and I know people,” Debbie says, “I’ve worked with really remarkable people in many areas.”

Why here, why now?

She laughs. “Because I’m crazy.”

She laughs often. She’s sprightly and spindly, almost tiny, hyper-intelligent, organized, always with direct eye contact.

She carries herself more like the kooky CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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middle-school hot-lunch lady kids love and remember, and whimsey informs her dress, the neon splashes and gray hair pulled into long pigtails. She easily invokes a kind of den-mother feel in the place.

She arrived in Tucson more than 30 years ago, “with a cat and a computer,” stayed on and off. Discovered she couldn’t live in Tucson without a car and rode her bike to a Ford dealership to trade it in for a Subaru, with no air. “I kept that car for 16 years without air-conditioning.”

Several marriages under her belt, she chuckles, “I’m not marriage material, took me decades to find out.” Her last, to career radio DJ and author Tim (Bud) McKay, ended in divorce but they stayed close and she moved back in to care for him until his 2018 death.

Her steel-worker dad retired and worked in flowers, died after suffering a stroke in his New Jersey garden. Her stay-at-home mother, who volunteered her time to help others for 30 years, cared for Debbie’s disabled brother. That brother died recently, cancer, and she is the last standing of her immediate family. The 66-year-old lives alone with her cat, spends nights writing.

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At 5 years old she was literally devouring books, “I would tear off pages from the encyclopedia and eat it, thinking that was a good way to get the knowledge,” she laughs.

Only later, when pressed, does she mention she’s “written some books.” She survived quietly on her writing and editing.

As an author, the animal-crusading vegan is accomplished. Debbie, or Deborah, is a regarded health and well-being journalist whose work has been published in myriad go-to medical journals and elsewhere.

The woman has authored or coauthored with doctors dozens of books on major publishers (Simon & Schuster, MacMillian, HarperCollins etc.) on disparate health topics, titles include The Essential Guide to Children’s Vaccines, The Complete Book of Nutritional Healing, Growing Up Godless and The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Cat, and so on. What I’ve read, her books are expertly sourced, researched, and highly readable tomes.

She half-laughs. “I quit counting after writing 50, and I don’t even have copies of my books. They would arrive and I’d give them away.

She gave up books six or seven years ago (“I was too busy!”). One can find many

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Customer Ruby Deleeuw: “This is for my mental health.”

of her recent health-related pieces, infora kind of exchange-based, barter-system mative and thoughtful, tight and focused, community—take what you need, give at naturallysavvy.com. what you don’t if you can—a version of Debbie is The Free Store, and she does money when money is scarce. not need to be here. Face to face, hand THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE STORE to hand, sweat drop after sweat drop, she is open to the public for free stuff. The serves a community, oversees needs, place bustles, customers of various colors mostly when no one is watching. She’s all and sizes, idle dawdlers with sun-crevassed action. She gets a few backslaps from volfaces and women carrying found items unteers and folks who know her but she is as gently as puppies. There’s communal rare to talk about herself. (“I’m just a child verve inside, the clings and clangs of of the universe, a minimalist.”). Debbie baubles and pandemic-masked murmurs gets tired, fatigue fills her eyes today; the work is endless.

She made a career, like her mother, of volunteering outside her work, especially for critters. Though, “I get so emotionally involved with the animals. These are helpless creatures, so I had to step away.”

Besides, she’d rather talk reuse.

“Did you know you can recycle cigarette butts?” She tells of a New Jersey company, TerraCycle, which reutilizes hard-to-recycle waste. It’s free. “They recycle everything, dirty diapers, chewing gum. They pay for the postage. So everybody should be doing that. One month last year we were the top recyclers for toys in the country.”

Lazy dumpers sometimes deposit trash in front of The Free Store, in the middle of the night. “One morning we had six dirty, I mean filthy, mattresses piled up. It costs a lot of money to haul those away, which we Richard Smith loads up Free Store beds for hate to do.” two motherless teens.

One ethical underpinning here shows

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Volunteer Cheri Cordova and a tip jar.

in Spanish and English. Big things like bookcases and mattresses cart in and out, a microcosm of supply-and-demand.

A 3-year-old boy, Lucas, in a yellow dinosaur T-shirt floats about with his young mother, ecstatic, zooming a toy car he mined from a kid bin.

Debbie floats around in a top hat decorated with thin multicolored tubes. A suitable couture. “All of October last year I wore a bee outfit,” she grins. “The wings were a problem getting through a doorway.”

Cheri Cordova is a volunteer, young retiree, friendly face, works here on the free days. Sits at the checkout table, minus a cash register, only a tip jar filling up with ones, a couple fives and coins. Customers bearing all manner of essentials step up and Cheri counts their goods. Most tip, others with more than five items pay.

“There is so much gratitude here,” Cheri says. She says it’s been a great day and means lots of people picked up necessary things for their lives.

What of those who run a grift, procuring as much as they can to resell elsewhere?

“It happens,” Cheri says.

“I know who most of them are,” Debbie adds. “I say, please respect our guidelines,” which are posted outside the store. “I gotta choose my battles. The resellers have to make a living too.”

“We have people who come in and socialize,” Cheri adds. “One old lady, Ruby, lives around the corner and we adore her.”

On cue, Ruby Deleeuw arrives, Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks” on the stereo. She moves gently to the song, fin-

gers tracing items on a shelf, she lifts one and examines it with mild curiosity before returning it carefully to its place. Ruby is 86, wears a white brimmed hat, speaks with a Dutch clip of her Netherlands homeland. I learn she speaks four languages, is widowed, and her kids are accomplished, doctors, lawyer, an airline captain. She is alone now. “This is my social scene,” she says, glancing around The Free Store. “This is for my mental health.

And I bring more than I take, I don’t take more than I need.” She laughs, “Of course I get irritated by people who take more than they need.”

Over in the side warehouse, volunteer Jules Wood sorts through a plastic container filled with donated dolls. She lifts one, a fat-faced ghoulish thing a rare child might love, and says, “some of these are really creepy. I like to come up with back stories of the people who donate. You can’t believe what they throw away … I’ve learned a lot here, spotting the fake jeans, fake handbags, the antique dolls.”

You’d never know the young-looking 41-year-old with cropped purple hair suffers perpetual back pain, is disabled because of it, and lived in a car for two years, all thanks to an abusive husband. With a kind of tragic pride, she traces a scar around her thumb, nearly severed by her ex. Jules is a painter and learned to brush with her left hand after that damage. She is currently working on a massive desert mural on the wall in a private residence.

Jules drops her shoulders. “If I would’ve known about this place when I was married, my life would’ve been so much easier. I would come here on Saturday mornings with my dog and soon Debbie asked if I would volunteer here. Her presence calmed me, lessened my anger.

Debbie gives you a reason to want to help other people.”

Her anger is arrogated by humor now, and a sense of solidarity with her co-volunteers, which extends to her exterior, like the cosplay body-armor breast cups she wears across her overalls.

Customer Richard Smith lives on the Tohono O’odham reservation, he is sturdy, drenched in 11 a.m. sweat of a 104-degree desert morning. He is securing two mattresses and bedframe pieces to the car’s roof with help from two teenage boys. He’s a regular Free Store man and Debbie loves him, says he forever helps those in need on the reservation.

“I help family and friends, and those who don’t have cars,” Richard says, his tone suggesting solicitude of shared experience. Work is scarce, a theft and forgery charge haunt him from a distant past. “What do you think when you hear the word ‘forgery?’” He shakes his head. “Well, I was drunk when I signed the wrong name on a fingerprint card.”

Debbie says Richard can fix and build anything and I believe her. He produces a phone photo to show how he mounted a full-size Free Store couch to the top of a tiny car. A miracle the thing made it.

Richard takes me aside. “Their mother hung herself,” he says, nodding to the boys standing over in the shade.

“One of them found her.”

He bursts into tears, what must be the terrifying

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

9

Debbie Mitchell: “I’m just a child of the universe.”

insides of the kids’ minds. Traffic rises and a vulgar motorcycle roars on the street. Ease returns to his face.

He says, “They were taken in by a friend, and they don’t have beds.” He places a hand on the mattresses atop the car, “that’s what these are.” ■

Visit The Free Store, open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to receive donations, furniture pickup and for caseworkers and their clients. Shopping is Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon. 650 N. Flowing Wells Road; 520-918-3333

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Sonoran Restaurant Week

BORDERLANDS BANQUET Sonoran Restaurant Week returns with renewed importance

holiday also serves as a celebration of our restaurants themselves and their roles in the community. The third annual Sonoran Restaurant Week has the most AS IF IT WASN’T DIFFICULT ENOUGH participants ever, with 50 restaurants, to choose between all the great places to breweries and cafes across town serving eat across town, for this year’s Sonoran up specialty options from Friday, Sept. 10 Restaurant Week, Tucson is just showing to Sunday, Sept. 19. off. Sonoran Restaurant Week is a 10-day “The goal of this has stayed the same, celebration of our local food culture, giv- but the importance of that goal is all the ing participating restaurants the oppormore apparent because of the pandemic,” tunity to cook up special dishes highsaid Laura Reese, co-creator of Sonoran lighting the unique foods and flavors that Restaurant Week. “Our goal was always to make our corner of the world so delicious. get people to experience our local restauAfter the toughest year for restaurants rants in Southern Arizona. That was origin recent memory, this special Tucson inally dining in, but we also encourage

By Jeff Gardner jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com

take out. It’s just to experience the foods and flavors that make our region so delicious. The idea was always getting people inside restaurants, supporting them and trying something new.”

This year’s Sonoran Restaurant Week features local eateries and breweries each putting their own twist on local food culture: Borderlands Brewing Company is serving up a selection of tacos paired with desert-inspired craft beers; Commoner & Co. has a Sonoran corn carbonara with smoked bacon; and Flora’s Market Run is making a special Sonoran Mousse Tart for dessert with spiced mousse and a caramel churro.

COURTESY PHOTO

The quesabirria combo with a traditional Mexican stew at El Taco Rustico.

Some of the participating restaurants are younger than Sonoran Restaurant Week itself, whereas El Charro also

Sonoran Restaurant Week Special

Fixed Price is $35 FIRST COURSE Coliflor Ahumado

Smoked Cauliflower Steak served on a Duo of Moles

SECOND COURSE Machaca de Camaron

Corn Quesadillas with Oaxaca Cheese stuffed with a Shrimp Machaca topped with organic lettuce, crema, and chard tomato salsa

THIRD COURSE Choco Flan

Coconut Flan topped with chocolate cake crumbles drizzle with a salted caramel

533 N 4th Ave 520-777-8134 BocaTacos.com

Sonoran Restaurant Week happens to be celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

All of the Charro family is participating this year (El Charro, Charro Vida, Charro Steak & Del Rey and Barrio Charro), with each branch cooking up special dishes to highlight their different locations.

At Charro Steak & Del Rey, you can get nopalitos with calabacitas, as well as mesquite-roasted quail enchiladas. The vegetarian-friendly Charro Vida features a plant-based ceviche. And the mainstay El Charro is cooking up quesabirria chimichangas.

“The whole menu is pretty Tucson’d up,” said Charro owner Ray Flores. “If you look at the City of Gastronomy certification, a lot of it has to do with certain local ingredients. For example, we’re using calabacitas because it’s one of the ‘Three Sisters,’ and we’re using the cactus nopal for the Sonoran profile. Cooking on mesquite is also a big part of it, especially roasting quail with it, because quail is a big part of Arizona protein cooking options.”

Sonoran Restaurant Week Friday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 19 SonoranRestaurantWeek.com

While their entrees feature some Arizona classics, the green chiles and mole on their Sonoran Restaurant Week dishes are a more explicit nod to Mexican food culture. The Charro locations also work with other Tucson establishments with their food, such as using Barrio Bread’s grains for their cookies.

“We look at events like this as part of the fabric or community of Tucson. I know people throw that around pretty lightly, but we don’t. We’ve been here for nearly 100 years, and it’s really important that we look at the bigger picture,” Flores CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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SONORAN RESTAURANT WEEK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

said. “There’s been a lot of events where restaurants go to some other venue and bring their food. And while those events can be great, you don’t often get to put your best foot forward because you’re bringing your food into a different setting. What I love about this is how it creates a marketing movement and traffic pattern to get people into restaurants. For a community, restaurants are needed as places to gather and places to entertain. That’s part of what we want to provide for Tucson.”

The HUB Restaurant is featuring a variety of seafood mixed with borderlands flavors, including a shrimp elote pasta with sauteed vegetables, and fried calamari with spicy tomato aioli. El Taco Rustico is serving up their beloved tacos with a quesabirria twist, featuring a side of traditional Mexican stew, salsa and guacamole.

Reese says planning out this year’s So-

Sonoran Restaurant Week noran Restaurant Week included staying flexible for CDC guidelines and keeping an ear on the community. While there was a Sonoran Restaurant Week in 2020, many restaurants were take-out only and some others weren’t open at all. Many participating restaurants are now fully dine-in, and plenty others are continuing their outdoor dining options.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm. It’s not just about supporting these restaurants, but truly enjoying them, especially with a lot of people being vaccinated and all the safe dining options these restaurants have,” Reese said. “I know there’s a lot of restaurants that have taken the downtime of the past year to renovate and revamp the menu. A lot of them are even using Sonoran Restaurant Week to debut these changes.”

One such renovation took place at the Hotel Congress’ Cup Café—it wouldn’t be a Tucson event if it didn’t include Hotel Congress, right? Over the summer, Hotel Congress updated its outdoor stage, Cup Cafe, and partner location

Maynards Market. The updates changed the restaurant space, but also included additions to the menus.

“The role of restaurants in the community hasn’t necessarily changed, but the pandemic has given us a deeper appreciation of just what that role is,” said Hotel Congress marketing manager Jeaninne Kaufer. “Tucson has had to see the closure of many beloved restaurants over the course of the pandemic, and these have been very sad moments over the last year and a half... Restaurants are a place of gathering, sharing, enjoying the company of our friends and family, getting to know someone on a first date.

Restaurants give us the opportunity to discover something new, experience flavors from around the world and from our own backyard.”

The Cup Cafe is offering a special three-course menu for Sonoran Restaurant Week. First you can choose between a southwest salad with roasted corn, pico de gallo, tortilla strips and cilantro lime vinaigrette, or a Sonoran-style

shrimp cocktail with pickled red onion and tortilla strips. The main course is a choice between Sonoran sopes or a Santa Cruz flank steak marinated with local honey plus chimichurri, calabacitas and crushed potatoes. Finally, they’re offering a slice of one of their scratch-made cakes or pies.

“Incorporating and highlighting native wild foods has become a central focus of both Cup Café and Maynards,” Kaufer said. “This supports local farms and producers while also highlighting the rich food history of our region... The Sonoran Desert has a deep culture and heritage surrounding food and agriculture. Tucson is the oldest continuously inhabited and cultivated area in the southwest U.S. with an archaeological record of habitation and crop cultivation going back 4,000 years, plus a 300-year tradition of orchards, vineyards, and livestock ranching.”

Another renovated room at Hotel Congress will serve as a new venture for Sonoran Restaurant Week: the Sonoran

DIAMOND CAFE • TASTE OF AGAVE

SONORAN

SEPTEMBER 10TH - 19TH

Restaurant WEEK

SUPPORTING THIS AMAZING CAUSE TO HELP THE SOUTHERN ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

An Enterprise of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Sonoran Restaurant Week Sip Room. Congress’ former Copper Hall space will turn into a tasting lounge featuring wines and liquors from throughout the borderlands region. This venture was made in partnership with the Agave Heritage Festival.

The Sonoran Sip Room will feature wines from Flying Leap Vineyards, Dos Cabezas, Callaghan Vineyards, Sonoran Wines and more. Their special agave distillates include Bacanora Mazot, LaMata, Racho Tepua Bacanora, Mezcal Vago, Sotol Por Siembre and more.

“Essentially it’s a consolidated tasting room. We’re going to have a lot of regional wines and agave spirits that are available for tasting. So it’s going to be a fun place to grab a sip downtown before or after going to a participating restaurant,” Reese said. “I think it will be an exciting way to sip your way through the Sonoran Desert.”

Appetizers at the Sip Room will be made with indigenous ingredients grown on the San Xavier Co-op Farm, which is this year’s Sonoran Restaurant Week non-profit community partner. Reese says a food-related nonprofit is always selected to maintain the week’s focus on everything from “food security to food access to cultivating local ingredients.”

Sonoran Restaurant Week has previously selected the Community Food Bank

of Southern Arizona as their non-profit community partner.

The San Xavier Co-op Farm, run by members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, focuses on healthy farming practices and growing traditional Sonoran crops. Among their tenets are sustainable use of land and water, respect for animals, and passing on traditional knowledge.

“I’ve been a fan of what they’ve been doing for so long, and I think their mission to continue cultivating and growing a lot of indigenous ingredients that make our region special is so important to support,” Reese said. “And the drought has been a huge challenge they’ve had to cope with, so I think supporting them by raising awareness and funds is what Sonoran Restaurant Week is all about.”

Although they’re not a Sonoran Restaurant Week participant, it should be noted this month is a special occasion for another popular Tucson eatery: eegee’s is celebrating their 50th anniversary concurrent with Sonoran Restaurant Week!

If you’ve had enough fancy Sonoran cuisine at the end of the week and are in the mood for something quicker, you can enjoy some special eegee flavors this month. And Saturday, Sept. 18 is dubbed “National eegee’s Day” with special events to be announced across town.

COURTESY PHOTO

Aguachile Amarillo at the Red Light Lounge

So yes, there’s plenty to choose from this Sonoran Restaurant Week. You can visit the Sonoran Restaurant Week website to see the special offerings from the participating restaurants, or if you’re feeling more adventurous, take a walk through town and just see what local dishes grab your attention.

“Some people might be confused on the name because of the Mexican ‘Sonora,’ but the Sonoran Desert works almost

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 13

as an extension or combination,” Flores said. “The culture prevails across the border, it doesn’t matter what side we’re on. So therefore the food culture stretches across as well.” ■

Sonoran Restaurant Week Special $25 Rollies Taco Tour Pack *Available for dine-in or take-out*

Menu Includes:

2 Birria Cheesy Tacos 2 Chicken OR Papa Rollies w/queso OR Rojo sauce 2 Nanas Tacos 2 Carne Asada Tacos

4573 S. 12th Avenue • 520-300-6289

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Editor’s Note: While we are delighted to see Tucsonans once again gathering for fun events, we are also aware that the new Delta variant is circulating and case counts in Arizona are on the rise. Please consider getting vaccinated against COVID if you haven’t yet and following CDC guidance, which includes wearing masks at crowded indoor events. Keep yourself and others safe—the pandemic isn’t over yet.

HungerWalk. The biggest fundraiser of the year for the Community Food Bank is here! Like a lot of organizations, they had to hold the event virtually last year, letting participants walk when and where they wanted. But it was such a big success that they’re doing a hybrid model this year. Once you register, you can decide to do your own walk, or to head to one of six virtual meetup sites—where attendance is capped for safety reasons. Join the fight to end world hunger and get yourself moving all at once!

Group walks will be held between 8 and 10 a.m., but, of course, if you walk on your own, you can do it at whatever time you want.

Saturday, Sept. 11. $25 adults, $10 kids 6 to 11 and free for kids 5 and under. Visit communityfoodbank.org for more information on meetup locations.

Tucson Pops Orchestra. This week’s concert in the park features guest conductor Toru Tagawa, as well as guest artist David Morgan on the tuba. Tagawa, originally from Japan, started playing the violin at age 6 and has now been the music director and conductor of the Tucson Repertory Orchestra since 2011. Morgan has been the principal tuba of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 2010. And you’ll hear a variety of pieces, from Verdi, Beethoven and Berlioz to a Beatles medley. Of course, Morgan will be playing the Washington Post March on the tuba as well. 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.

DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way. Free.

Historic Canoa Ranch tours. Have you ever paid a visit to the Raúl M. Grijalva Canoa Ranch Conservation Park? It’s 4,800 acres of land listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including hiking trails, a lake and a pollinator garden. And lucky for us, it reopened to the public earlier this month! They’re even doing guided tours every Saturday again. On these, interpretive guides share their knowledge about the history of the ranch and take visitors inside the buildings. 8:30 to 10 a.m. Saturdays through October. 5375 I-19 Frontage Road in Green Valley. $5.

Looped. If you’ve heard of Tallulah Bankhead, you might know her as a glamorous, scandalous, OG bad girl from the golden age of Hollywood. Or you might know her from the infamous story about the time it took her EIGHT HOURS— eight inebriated hours—to record a single line of dialogue for her final film. It wasn’t a good look for her at the time, but it makes for some hilarious, critically acclaimed theater today. This show, directed by Susan Claassen and starring Betsy Kruse Craig, is part of Invisible Theatre’s landmark 50th anniversary season.

Tuesday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 26. Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave. $40, or $20 for students.

Reservations required.

by Emily Dieckman Return to Woodstock: The Tributaries.

I think we can all agree with Garfield that Mondays are rough. So, thank goodness we have the Gaslight Theatre’s Monday night concert series to take the edge off a little bit. This particular Monday is basically a highlight reel of Woodstock—you’ll get all the peace, love and hits packed into just two hours, without any of the waiting around or getting too high. Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Arlo Guthrie, Janis Joplin, CCR and plenty more. They’ll even give you some background about the artists and songs! 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13. Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway Blvd. $15 to $27.

Second Saturdays at Steam Pump Ranch.

It’s time for another day of tours, displays and themed presentations at Steam Pump Ranch! They’re kicking off this second-Saturday series this month, and, in this cycle, they’ll celebrate a different theme each month. This week is Hispanic Heritage Month, to honor a culture that is deeply entwined with the history of Oro Valley. Enjoy the Farmers Market and antique fair while also expanding your cultural knowledge. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Steam Pump Ranch, 10901 N. Oracle Road.

LOL COMEDY JAM, featuring Mario Hodge. Ready for a night of laughs? Mario Hodge is a rising star from the Bay Area, coming down to Tucson specifically to make you laugh until you pee your pants.

The night, hosted by Rob Rodriguez, also features a motley crew of all-star Tucson and Phoenix comics, including TP Lucas, Reina Rodriguez and Paublo Pugh. Dance until your pants are dry again at the after party, with music by DJ RO-LEX. 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 11 to 1 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.

The Rock, 136 N. Park Ave. $15 in advance or $20 at the door/day-of.

Donde Mueren Los Suenos/Where Dreams Die. Up for a little jaunt out of town this weekend? The Hilltop Gallery in Nogales is featuring a stunning exhibit by 12 artists from both sides of the border.

There’s painting, sculpture, photography, textiles, music, poetry and more, all speaking directly to life and death, us and them, violence and peace. The exhibit is on display until Oct. 14. At this weekend’s opening, there will be a discussion by Alvaro Enciso, poetry and music by Pablo Peligrina, and readings by Todd Miller and the Weekly’s own Margaret Regan. Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12. Hilltop Gallery, 730 Hilltop Drive, Nogales.

Luz de Vida. This pop-up gallery at the MSA Annex is special in more ways than one. For starters, it’s co-organized by Homicide Survivors Inc., JFCS of Southern Arizona, and producers of the All Souls Procession, to benefit families impacted by homicide. For another, it features an online auction of handmade turntables with sound systems, all designed by local artists. In addition to the auction (which also includes art), there will be MSA Annex vendors and a doubtless-dreamy live performance

by Gabriel Naim Amor. 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10. MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento.

Sonoran Sip Room. There’s far more to Sonoran Restaurant Week than could ever fit in a calendar blurb. (That’s why Jeff Gardner wrote a whole article about it— thanks, Jeff!) But here, we do want to point out that you can head over to the Century Room at Hotel Congress throughout the week to grab a sip before or after you head to a restaurant for a special Sonoran Restaurant Week dinner. Local wines and agave distillates abound. Eat, drink and be merry! Or, if you go to the sip room before dinner, drink, be merry and eat! 8 to 11 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 9. 5 to 11 p.m. Sept. 10, 11, 16 and 18.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

CINEMA

YEAH, BUT IS IT ART?

COURTESY PHOTO

A fascinating documentary explores whether a damaged painting was a lost work by Leonardo da Vinci

By Bob Grimm tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

authenticity doesn’t really seem to matter in the art world.

Koefed’s film does an excellent job of depicting the drama and intrigue behind the building of a massive production to make big money on something that might not even be real.

IS THE SALVATOR MUNDI, A PAINTING If you’ve just been catching glances of stories on the discovered in a severely damaged and painted-over state, painting through the years, you probably thought the then painstakingly restored, really a lost work of the great painting had been deemed legit, and that’s why it went Leonardo da Vinci? A $450 million dollar bid by a Saudi for so much at auction. The many facts revealed in this Arabian prince would certainly like to think it is. documentary paint an entirely different picture (OK…sorry “Rediscovered” back in 2005, it was purchased for near about that, let’s move on). A series of da Vinci copies I drew nothing by art enthusiasts who simply had a hunch there for an art class in college are probably more legit than that might be something more to what had appeared to be a painting. Hey, I’m selling! A mere $5,000 bucks and they are damaged copy of the legendary long-lost work. The paintyours! ing was slowly cleaned up and restored by Dianne Dwyer The painting seemingly stands as much of a chance at Modestini. As Modestini began removing layers of paint being fake as it does being real. It’s almost as if the huge bid and getting down to the original work, she noticed some techniques—including work around the figure’s lips similar was paid in order to seal its legitimacy regardless of history. to the mouth of the Mona Lisa—that convinced her she was $450 million dollars says the painting is real. It’s currently in storage somewhere waiting for a permanent installation in a looking at the real deal.

The Lost Leonardo, directed by Andreas Koefoed, speaks gallery. The Prince (I’m not typing that name again) teased with many of the figures, including Modestini, who contrib- the Louvre with a chance to display the piece as part of a da Vinci exhibition, then pulled participation at the last second. uted to the paintings transformation from a marred closet It hasn’t been seen by others in years. find into the most expensive painting in the world.

The subjects on both sides of the argument in The Lost Mind you, the painting Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Leonardo are alternately convincing. Modestini’s observaMohammed bin Fahhan al-Saud (God, that’s a long name) tion of the lip, and other traits of the painting, make it seem allegedly forked over close to half a billion dollars for a couple of years ago might not actually be a da Vinci. While likely it could be real. But so many factors contribute to some experts have authenticated its origins, many doubt its it being a fake or having very little participation from the authenticity. And even if da Vinci did put a brush to a piece master.

Doesn’t matter. As The Lost Leonardo displays, people of wood hundreds of years ago, and this painting is part of that result, much of what is on display now is work provided with power and money say it’s a da Vinci. The film doesn’t give a definitive answer because there is no definitive anby Modestini. Very little of it is the original depiction. swer. Your guess is as good as anybody’s, and in the case of Yet, mystique surrounding its origins, various dealings back and forth with mounting prices, a marketing campaign at least one Saudi Arabian prince (I’m not typing that name again), some guesses can be mighty expensive. ■ that included Leonardo DiCaprio staring in awe, and an eventual record setting auction seems to be saying 100%

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

VAXED, MASKED, AND READY TO ROCK... ADELANTE!

By Xavier Omar Otero tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… FRIDAY, SEPT. 10 Born Marco Cardenas in Nogales, Mexico, this Phoenix-based rapper’s smooth R&B infused Latino hip-hop owes a debt of gratitude to Roger Troutman (of Zapp) and his trademark use of the talk box.

In 1997, as a member of Nastyboy Klick, Cardenas’ worked with his idol. Their single “Down for Yours,” featuring Troutman, hit No. 10 on the Billboard charts.

MC Magic—flanked by Lil Rob and Jay Roxxx—brings old school rhythms and rhymes to the Rialto Theater... After recognizing the common threads that connect all of humanity in the stories of the patrons that she served, this native Phoenician found the inspiration to finish writing her critically acclaimed debut

album Honest Life (2016), while tending bar at a tavern outside of Seattle. Singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews lays a beautiful bouquet of Old Flowers upon the Club Congress stage. With L.A.-by-way-of-NYC songwriter Johanna Samuels ...

SATURDAY, SEPT. 11 Banned from mainstream radio for making harsh socio-political commentaries, in 1988 this pioneering rapper was still living with his parents when N.W.A’s debut, Straight Outta Compton, was rocketing toward double-platinum success.

The opening track, “Fuck tha Police,” a dissent against police brutality and racial profiling, reflected the rising anger of urban youth. Despite a lack of airplay, the controversy generated by N.W.A’s lyrics led to mass appeal. After breaking with N.W.A, Ice Cube continued to hit hard, pulling no punches. Pitchfork declared 1991’s Death Certificate as Cube’s “most

AMAZING CONCERTS COMING TO TUCSON!

JACKSON S E P T E M B E R BROWNE

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TUCSON MUSIC HALL JACKSONBROWNE.COM

@JACKSONBROWNE

THE NEW ALBUM

DOWNHILL FROM EVERYWHERE AVA I L A B L E N O W

TUCSON MUSIC HALL OCTOBER 26

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PHOTO BY CAMILLE VIVIER

Perfume Genius performs the lush, romantic pop of Set My Heart On Fire Immediately at Club Congress on Thursday, Sept. 16.

important album, and one of the most essential works in rap history.” In a 1991 interview with the L.A. Times, Cube declared, “‘The American Dream’ is not for Blacks. Blacks who (still believe in that dream) are kidding themselves. What I try to do is tell the kids the brutal, harsh truth.” To many critics, however, Death Certificate was merely “the rankest sort of racism and hate-mongering,” as Billboard editorialized. Fast-forward to 2021, after the murders of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, George Floyd (and numerous others) by police ignited historical protests and the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement in the ongoing fight for racial justice, this rapper/actor/ filmmaker’s work remains “an honest expression of black rage,” and, sadly, is as relevant as ever. Ice Cube sounds off.

At AVA Amphitheater... Formed in 1989, this band’s name was “handed down” to them by Albert Collins, on a night when the mojo hung heavy in the air. Frontman Scotty Morris recalls his encounter with the blues legend after the show. “He signed my poster ‘To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy.’” Like Manifest Destiny, an unstoppable seed was planted. “I thought it was the coolest name,” Morris told the Napa Valley Register. “I didn’t really have a choice.” Taking musical cues from Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, these waggish hepcats credit their rise to stardom to the 1996 indie film Swingers, which launched the

careers of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau and placed Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on the crest of the swing revival of the 1990s.

Since then, the band’s music has appeared in countless films and television shows. They’ve rocked throngs at Super Bowl XXXIII and played for three U.S. Presidents. “Go Daddy-O!” Twenty-five years strong, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Rattle Them Bones. At Fox Tucson Theatre...

The mystery remains. Just who is Malaa?

First breaking onto the EDM scene in 2015 with a low-slung club banger, “Notorious,” this balaclava-wearing French producer of hard-hitting ghetto/ tech/future house tracks prefers to let his music define his identity. Malaa collides and bounces. At Encore. With Toronto producer/songwriter Madhouse...

TUESDAY, SEPT. 14 With a homespun mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, at the age of 13, Sven Gamsky began recording all of the parts to his “psychedelic dream-pop” while cloistered in a garage. Viral sensation Still Woozy reaches into his “Goodie Bag.” At Rialto Theater. Digital artist Loveleo opens... Wrought of heartbreak and upheaval, the stripped raw, grungy punk rock of this Nashville power trio are “perfect anthems for a generation still learning to harness the power of resistance.” Led by spitfire Alicia Bognanno, Bully recites “Poetic Trash.” At Club

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Congress. Indie folk/dream poppers Lightning Bug kick things off...

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 15 “Songwriting is a mysterious thing,” says

this Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. “Sometimes it feels a bit like consulting the oracle.” The Associated Press hails his 15th studio recording, Downhill From Everywhere, as “timeless.” “There’s a deep current of inclusion running through this record,” he explains. “Opening yourself up to people who are different than you, that’s the fundamental basis for any kind of understanding in this world.” With a sense of urgency, he broaches matters of concern: Clean air, fresh water, racial equity, democracy. “I see the writing on the wall,” the 72-year-old ponders. “I know there’s only so much time left in my life.

But I now have an amazing, beautiful grandson, and I feel more acutely than ever the responsibility to leave him a world that’s inhabitable.” Acclaimed singer-songwriter, Jackson Browne performs at Tucson Music Hall. Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Leslie Mendelson

joins the tour... On September 16, 1810, the father of Mexican independence, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary, rang the church bells in Dolores, summoning his parishioners. There he delivered a now famous speech, El Grito de Dolores. Signaling the beginning of an 11 year war, El Grito was not only a call to arms against Spain but a cry for racial equality for indigenous and mestizo peoples. To commemorate this historic event, featuring timeless works by Mexican and Latin American composers, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra will perform a special Mexican Independence Bicentennial Concert.

Maestro José Luis Gómez conducts. At Fox Tucson Theatre...

THURSDAY, SEPT. 16 Tumbling through a thick fog of gnarled distortion, envision awakening in a dreamscape where there are no boundaries, no jagged edges, where old societal rules no longer apply. Delivered in a voice that ranges from a highly expressive croon to an uncanny quaver, Per-

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PATERNITY PROBLEMS: LAWSUIT CLAIMS FERTILITY DOC FATHERED HIS PATIENTS’ KIDS

WE’RE NO. 1: AZ HAS THE WORST COVID TRANSMISSION RATES IN THE COUNTRY

fume Genius’ 5th album, Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, examines the concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, irreverently authoring his own. “I wanted to feel more open, more free and spiritually wild,” says Mike Hadreas. “I wrote these songs as a way to be more patient, more considered. To pull at the chaotic threads hovering around me and weave them into something warm, thoughtful and comforting.” The staggeringly fantastic indie pop of Perfume Genius permeates into every part. On Club Congress Plaza. Staging queer stories against a wistful Americana backdrop, L.A.’s Hand Habits lend support... In 2006, this band of Maryland pop-punks—after landing on bills with bands like Plain White T’s and Amber Pacific—scored their first record deal just months shy of their high-school graduation. The future looked bright.

Fast forward to 2017. After a dozen years on the road, their seemingly boundless energy had been replaced with burnout. Leaning more towards alt-pop, Last Young Renegade was a departure. “The fan response wasn’t what we were used to.” In an interview with Kerrang, sing-

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 17

er Alex Gaskarth reveals, “Our hearts weren’t in it.” They weren’t ready to pull the plug. Instead, they pressed the hold button. “The year off was a great reminder,” guitarist Jack Barakat reflects. “I realized that I was taking it for granted.”

Alex adds, “Despite all the pressure, expectation and turmoil that comes with this life, things still feel as good as they did when [we] first embarked on this journey, seemingly.” Plagued by postmodern anxiety, All Time Low pump out their energetic, punk-glazed confection.

At Rialto Theater. Tempe alt-rockers The Maine open... Simply unforgettable. “I am California. Can’t you see? Wherever you roam, you’ll always want me.” Seattle’s The Stranger appropriately dubbed this modern-day troubadour, “The lovechild of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg.” John Craigie carries on the legacy of classic singer-songwriters. At 191 Toole. Backed by the poetic and contemplative folk of Daniel Rodriguez...

Until next week, XOXO...

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

ADHS makes changes to equity application rules for dispensary ownership

By David Abbott tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com AS THE DECEMBER DEADLINE to apply for 26 coveted social equity cannabis dispensary licenses approaches, the Arizona Department of Health Services recently revised criteria for ownership, bringing a rare round of praise for the department’s efforts.

Social equity advocates such as Arizona NORML and a coalition of stakeholders have been critical of ADHS and previous draft rules because they believed loopholes created incentives for powerful players who already control much of the industry to game the system.

The main change being lauded is a key provision that apparently closes a loophole that would allow a single individual or entity to sponsor an unlimited number of social equity licenses.

The rules now state that anyone entitled to 10% or more of the applicant’s profits is limited to two applications.

“Arizonans not only voted to legalize cannabis for adult-use but also supported a sustainable social equity program to those Arizonans who have been disproportionately impacted by the harsh prohibition of marijuana,” Arizona NORML Director Mike Robinette said via email. “This new rule now defines a program that is more in accordance with voter expectations and demonstrates the ADHS has been listening to stakeholders and other concerned parties with respect to the social equity program.”

ADHS will accept applications from Dec. 1 through Dec. 14 for a program that was one of several selling points for Prop 207,

which passed with 60% of Arizonans voting in favor of legalized pot in 2020.

According to Prop 207, the social equity program must promote the ownership and operation of marijuana dispensaries by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the nation’s long war on drugs.

The updated rules also offer some clarification on applicant qualifications, including that household income for three of the last five years must be 400% of the federal poverty guidelines or lower; have a pot-related misdemeanor, an expungeable felony or an old marijuana felony in Arizona; have a close family member convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Arizona; or lived in an area for at least three of the last five years that ADHS has determined to be disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of prior pot laws. (ADHS has yet to define those areas.)

NORML is not happy with a proposed change that requires applicants to complete the expungement process rather than just being eligible and having submitted an expungement application.

Prop 207 allotted $4 million for an initiative to grant expungement to every eligible Arizonan, but a big push on that front only started at the beginning of September, even though expungements have been available

since July 12.

Robinette said the process can take more than 30 days and will “place a significant burden on applicants, particularly when the department’s expungement project just went live and could flood the courts with filings.”

“We question language that now states that certain arrests and convictions must be expunged prior to the social equity application,” Robinette said. “Given that there are quite possibly hundreds of thousands of people who might have an expungeable arrest or conviction in Arizona, we fear this requirement will place an unfair burden on the applicants to get those arrests or convictions fully expunged prior to the deadline.”

In February, a coalition of stakeholders from disproportionately impacted communities sent a letter to former ADHS Director Cara Christ in opposition to the first draft of the rules, outlining alternatives to create a more equitable distribution of the licenses.

One of the group’s complaints was that ADHS was not listening to constituents, but apparently the department received the message and incorporated some vital changes to the rules.

“We are still waiting on final rules relative to the definition of areas that will

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

be deemed disproportionately impacted,” Robinette stated. “Arizona NORML intends to submit public comments celebrating these changes, and will also offer revisions, specifically with respect to the new requirement that certain convictions or arrests must be expunged by the application deadline.”

Potential applicants, and their qualified boards and administrators, must also complete mandatory training offered by ADHS prior to submitting the final application. It is the only approved training accepted by the department.

The free virtual training will be held live Sept. 20-21, and will be available as a recorded session with a live Q&A on Oct. 12-13. Additionally, DHS will offer computer-based training from mid-October through mid-December.

Classes will be taught by industry experts and include two days of content and education focused on operating an adultuse marijuana business, including legal requirements, business practices, regulatory compliance and fundraising, as well as marketing and strategic growth.

ADHS will also offer one-on-one support and clinics to help potential licensees with the application process and the chance to meet with instructors to get questions answered.

ADHS will distribute the licenses via random drawing to be held after the Dec. 14 application deadline.

For more information on the social equity program and to register for the required training, go to azdhs.gov/SocialEquity.

NEWS NUGGETS ROOP ACQUIRES GREEN MED Last week, Roop Investments, LLC announced the acquisition of dual license

dispensary Green Halo in a $30 million cash deal. This acquisition includes Green Halo’s retail operations and its related dispensary, cultivation and manufacturing licenses.

Roop Investments, founded in 2020, is a private company owned and operated

by George Roop, a Tucson native and retired mixed martial artist who fought as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“We’ve spent years developing the Tucson Cannabis Campus operation, and this acquisition positions us to lead the market going forward,” Roop stated in a press release.

According to the release, Tucson Cannabis Campus currently operates a 40,000-square-foot indoor cultivation facility and is building out the first of its multi-acre outdoor grow. The facility is in the planning stage for an additional four 50,000-square-foot buildings that will allow the company to scale its production.

“We have the infrastructure and the team to meet our goals of being a premier supplier of high-quality cannabis and derivative products,” Roop stated. “Complete supply chain integration coupled with our cultivation capacity will enable us to deliver the highest quality products for the best prices in Arizona.”

Green Halo Executive Director Murray Stein said the company has spent the better part of a year preparing for the sale, and chose Roop over “suitors both big and small, from individual dispensaries to multi-state operation.”

“At the end of the day, our strong shared commitment to our home city of Tucson, the community, and our common goals of changing people’s lives helped make the decision for us,” he stated. “We are also excited about the opportunity this provides our team members in terms of professional growth and experience.” ■

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

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

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Anna Kamienska wrote, “I’ve learned to value failed conversations, missed connections, confusions.

What remains is what’s unsaid, what’s underneath.

Understanding on another level of being.” In the coming weeks, I suggest you adopt her perspective as you evaluate both past and present experiences. You’re likely to find small treasures in what you’d assumed were wastelands. You may uncover inspiring clues in plot twists that initially frustrated you. Upon further examination, interludes you dismissed as unimportant or uninteresting could reveal valuable wrinkles.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A blogger named MythWoven imagines an “alternate universe where I literally go to school forever (for free) so I can learn about art and literature and history and languages for 100 years. No job skills. No credit requirements. No student loans. Just learning.” I have longings like hers. There’s an eternal student within me that wants to be endlessly surprised with exciting information about interesting subjects. I would love to be continually adding fresh skills and aptitudes to my repertoire. In the coming weeks, I will give free rein to that part of me. I recommend you do the same, my fellow Cancerian.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): After studying your astrological omens, I’ve decided to offer you inspiration from the ancient Roman poet Catullus. I hope the extravagant spirit of his words will free you to be greedy for the delights of love and affection. Catullus wrote, “Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred; then another thousand, then a second hundred; then yet another thousand.” I’ll add the following to Catullus’s appeal: Seek an abundance of endearing words, sweet favors and gifts, caresses and massages, help with your work, and fabulous orgasms. If there’s no one in your life to provide you with such blessings, give them to yourself.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 2016, the International Garden Photograph of the Year depicted lush lupine flowers in New Zealand. The sea of tall purple, pink, and blue blooms was praised as “an elegant symphony” and “a joy to behold.” What the judges didn’t mention is that lupine is an invasive species in New Zealand. It forces native plant species out of their habitat, which in turn drives away native animal species, including birds like the wrybill, black stilt, and banded dotterel. Is there a metaphorically comparable phenomenon in your life, Leo? Problematic beauty? Some influence that’s both attractive and prickly? A wonderful thing that can also be troublesome? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to try to heal the predicament.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author Elif Batuman writes that the Old Uzbek language was rich in expressions about crying. There were “words for wanting to cry and not being able to, for loudly crying like thunder in the clouds, for crying in gasps, for weeping inwardly or secretly, for crying ceaselessly in a high voice, for crying in hiccups, and for crying while uttering the sound ‘hay hay.’” I recommend all of these to you in the coming days, as well as others you might dream up. Why? It’s prime time to seek the invigorating release and renewal that come from shedding tears generated by deep and mysterious feelings.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all,” wrote Virgo author Jean Rhys (1890–1979). I don’t think you will be agitated by those questions during the next eight weeks, Virgo. In fact, I suspect you will feel as secure in your identity as you have in a long time.

You will enjoy prolonged clarity about your role in the world, the nature of your desires, and how you should plan your life for the next two years. If for some inexplicable reason you’re not already enjoying these developments, stop what you’re doing

SAVAGE LOVE ON THE DOWN BLOW

By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net

I’m a gay man. After a decade together and five years of marriage, my husband informed me he wasn’t really interested in sex anymore. That was a year ago and we haven’t had sex since. He told me I should leave him, if regular sex was “really that important” to me, but if I chose to stay, I had to remain “faithful.” To him that means me not having sex with anyone else.

I’m 35, he’s 38, and he doesn’t see his unilateral decision to end our sex life as him breaking faith with me. There’s also the issue of financial dependance.

I am NOT dependent on him, he is dependent on ME. I didn’t want to

abandon him during a pandemic while he’s unemployed, so I stayed. Now he tells me he’s asexual and accuses me of being unsupportive of his sexual identity if I so much as mention missing sex. To make a long story short, three months ago I met a guy at work. We’re the only people on our floor currently coming into the office and we got to talking and it turned out he’s bisexual and married but open. I’ve been blowing him a couple of times a week for the last two months. He’s close to my age, and I really need this. We aren’t in the same department, so I don’t report to him, and he doesn’t report to me. He

and meditate on the probability that I am telling you the bold truth.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Several states in the US have statutes prohibiting blasphemy. Saying “God damn it” could theoretically get you fined in Massachusetts, South Carolina and Wyoming.

In the coming days, it’s best to proceed carefully in places like those, since you’ve been authorized by cosmic forces to curse more often and more forcefully than usual. Why? Because you need to summon vivid and intense protests in the face of influences that may be inhibiting and infringing on your soul’s style. You have a poetic license to rebel against conventions that oppress you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Everyone dreams at least three dreams per night. In a year, your subconscious mind generates over 1,100 dreams.

About this remarkable fact, novelist Mila Kundera writes, “Dreaming is not merely an act of coded communication. It is also an aesthetic activity, a game that is a value in itself. To dream about things that have not happened is among humanity’s deepest needs.” I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because September is Honor Your Dreams Month. To celebrate, I suggest the following experiments. 1. Every night before sleep, write down a question you’d like your dreams to respond to. 2. Keep a notebook by your bed and transcribe at least one dream each time you sleep. 3. In the morning, have fun imagining what the previous night’s dreams might be trying to communicate to you. 4. Say prayers of gratitude to your dreams, thanking them for their provocative, entertaining stories.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In her autobiography Changing, Sagittarian actor Liv Ullmann expresses grief about how she and a loved one failed to communicate essential truths to each other. I propose we regard her as your anti-role model for the rest of 2021. Use her error as your inspiration. Make emotionally intelligent efforts to talk about unsaid things that linger like ghostly puzzles between you and those you care about.

doesn’t reciprocate, but I don’t care. I wasn’t on Grindr and didn’t go looking for this. Do I need to feel bad about it?

—Cheating Homo On Knees Eating Dick So, your husband insists you honor the commitment you made to him (not to have other sex partners) but he’s released himself from the commitment he made to you (to be your sex partner) and invited you to divorce him if you didn’t like it. And you didn’t divorce him. You stayed. Not because you wanna stay in this marriage, and not because you’re obligated to stay in this marriage to affirm his sexual identity, but because he’s unemployed and you don’t wanna turn him out on the street during a pandemic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I could do with a bit more excess,” writes author Joanne Harris. “From now on I’m going to be immoderate—and volatile,” she vows. “I shall enjoy loud music and lurid poetry. I shall be rampant.” Let me be clear, Capricorn: I’m not urging you to be immoderate, volatile, excessive and rampant every day for the rest of your long life. But I think you will generate health benefits and good fortune if you experiment with that approach in the coming weeks. Can you think of relatively sane, sensible ways to give yourself this salubrious luxury?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): While wading through the internet’s wilder terrain, I found a provocative quote alleged to have been uttered by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. He supposedly said, “My ultimate goal is to look totally hot, but not be unapproachable.” I confess that in the past I have sometimes been fooled by fake quotes, and I suspect this is one. Still, it’s amusing to entertain the possibility that such an august personage as Socrates, a major influencer of Western culture, might say something so cute and colloquial.

Even if he didn’t actually say it, I like the idea of blending ancient wisdom with modern insights, seriousness with silliness, thoughtful analysis with good fun. In accordance with astrological omens, I recommend you experiment with comparable hybrids in the coming weeks. (PS: One of your goals should be to look totally hot, but not be unapproachable.)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “If you don’t know what you want,” writes Piscean novelist Chuck Palahniuk, “you end up with a lot you don’t.” Very true! And right now, it’s extra important to keep that in mind. During the coming weeks, you’ll be at the peak of your ability to attract what you want and need. Wouldn’t you prefer to gather influences you really desire—as opposed to those for which you have mild or zero interest? Define your wants and needs very precisely. ■ Homework. What’s your greatest blessing?

Newsletter@FreeWillAstrology.com

OK. You don’t need to feel bad about this—you don’t need to feel bad about the dick you’re eating at work—and if you’ve been reading my column for longer than a week, CHOKED, you knew I was gonna say that. So, you wanted a permission slip and you’ve got it, signed and notarized. And now if you stop giving those hot non-recip blowjobs to the bisexual guy at the office, I’m gonna be pissed at you for wasting my time. So don’t let me down here, CHOKED. Keep eating that dick.

Of course, eating that dick isn’t a long-term solution to your problem, CHOKED, but that dick will make your life more bearable in the nearterm. (It sounds like it has already.)

But ultimately, CHOKED, you’re

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

gonna have to counter your husband’s ridiculous ultimatum with a perfectly reasonable ultimatum of your own: he doesn’t have to be sexual with you—he never has to eat your dick ever again—but he can’t expect you to live a sexless life. Tell him you’re gonna seek dick elsewhere, CHOKED, and if he doesn’t like it, then he can leave.

Just wanted to commend you for your advice to “Having A Realistic Discussion On Needs” in last week’s column. I say this as someone who recently went through a similar—though blessedly temporary—situation with my girlfriend. The first time I lost my erection before I came, I was a little bummed, but my attitude was basically, “Dang, well, at least I made her come.” My girlfriend, however, had a mild-to-moderate freak-out: Was everything OK? Was she doing something wrong? Was I not attracted to her anymore? Like HARDON’s partner, I also “got in my own head,” and the same thing kept happening. It got to the point where I was avoiding sex because I didn’t want to deal with the crisis-counseling session that would inevitably ensue if I couldn’t come again. After a few weeks of this I was finally able to get through to her that talking and obsessing about it was only making it worse. She backed off, I got to a point where I could relax again, and it wasn’t long before our happy, healthy, way-hotter-than-you’dexpect-from-a-couple-of-divorced-40year-olds sex life picked up where it left off.

As you implied to HARDON, sometimes you just need to STFU and hope for the best. Guys being who we are, nothing sets our deep-seated insecurities ablaze like being pestered about our dick problems, no matter how well-meaning and sincere the pesterer is. We’re kind of like toddlers who suffer a minor boo-boo: If we see you frantically running toward us waving your hands and asking what’s wrong, we’re going to flip out. But if you don’t make a big deal out of it, we won’t either.

Just wanted to share my straight-dude perspective and thank you for your level-headed response.

—Please End Needless Interrogations Speedily Thanks for sharing, PENIS. And while I sometimes feel like I should say, “Everybody doesn’t always need to

come during sex,” I worry about some straight guys reading that and then giving even less of a shit about getting their female partners off than they already do. I don’t want to accidentally widen the orgasm gap: while more than 95% of straight men self-report that they always come during sex, according to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, only 65% of straight women said the same.

We should all want our partners to get off and should make a good-faith effort to get them off, but we shouldn’t make a huge deal out of it if our partner, every once in a while, for whatever reason, doesn’t get off.

I just read your reply to HARDON and I think you missed something.

(I know, I know! Who am I to tell you anything?!?) I’m a mature woman who had a younger male lover for a while.

Same scenario in that he was super fit, had stamina, was eager, etc. All was good—except that he had to finish himself off with a hard and furious handjob every time. I suggested that he go on a masturbation diet: stop jerking off every day and when he did masturbate, use props, e.g., wrap a cloth around his hand, grind against pillows, Fleshlight, whatever he could think of because I had the idea that the intense and hard hold he used when masturbating was the culprit. And I was vindicated!

It took a few patient tries, but he got there!

—Someone In Toronto Thank you for sharing, SIT, and I would’ve addressed the issue you raised—the issue you successfully addressed with your hot young man—if HARDON had mentioned something similar, i.e. her boyfriend using what I’ve long called the “death grip” to finish himself off. Dive into the Savage Love archives, SIT, and you’ll find tons of advice for guys who used the death grip during masturbation and then couldn’t get off during partnered

sex because the inside of a vagina, a mouth or a butt doesn’t feel like the inside of a bony clenched fist. My advice for guys who suffer from death grip syndrome is the same as yours: stop jacking off like that, use a lighter touch, get some lube and maybe a Fleshlight, and retrain the dick.

It doesn’t work in all cases—some guys can’t come back, for other guys that’s just what their dick needs—but I’ve heard from plenty of men over the years who successfully retrained their dicks.

TO MY READERS: I had to file this column early due to the Labor Day holiday. But I want you to know that I’m furious about what happened in Texas last week (a law banning abortion went into effect) and what didn’t happen in the Supreme Court (the Trump-packed

Comics

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 21

court didn’t block that law from going into effect, essentially nullifying Roe v.

Wade). Texas’s new anti-abortion law empowers individual citizens to sue anyone they suspect of having helped a woman get an abortion—doctors, clinic staffers, parents, anyone. Lend a friend some money to pay for an abortion? You could be sued. Drive a friend to a clinic?

You could be sued. If a lawsuit brought against you is successful, you could be ordered to pay the person who sued you $10,000 and reimburse their legal expenses; if you prevail in court, you get nothing—no damages, none of your legal expenses reimbursed. Women still have a constitutional right to an abortion in the United States, but abortion is effectively illegal now in Texas and will be soon in other states, as GOP legislators and governors drive a truck through the hole the Supreme Court just ripped open in Roe v. Wade. My advice to women and men in Texas: stock up on morning after pills—available over the counter (for now)—and vote every last GOP motherfucker out of office. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. savagelovecast.com

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TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 23

Edited by Will Shortz 1

ACROSS

Big, in adspeak 5 Game show shout-out 10 “Miss ___ Regrets,” jazz standard performed by Ethel Waters and Ella Fitzgerald 14 Draft picks 15 Grammy category 16 Sport shooting variety 17 After the top half of a 7-Down, sophisticated lady 19 Total War game company 20 His murder elicited the first wail of mourning, in Islamic accounts 21 Lead-in to care 23 Icy remark?

24 When the Lyrid meteor shower typically peaks 26 Bucolic call 27 Sport shooting variety 29 King of cubs 30 Before the bottom half of a 7-Down, tipple and then some 32 That, en España 33 Carrie in “Sex and the City” 34 Flash point?

36 Savage 40 Stopped producing new leads, as an investigation 44 Apt rhyme for “lumberjacks” 45 After the top half of a 42-Down, circles around the block?

48 Leave out 49 Silly 50 “Live well” sloganeer 1

You can see right through it 52 MC ___ of N.W.A 53 Talk up 55 Where you might search for a lead?

56 Stained, in a way 58 Before the bottom half of a 42-Down, keeps arguing after something has been decided 62 Prerelease, in Silicon Valley 63 Japanese automaker 64 Isle known as “The Gathering Place” 65 Funk 66 Throat malady, for short 67 Graph component 51

DOWN

Portrait seen on renminbi bank notes 2 Pole worker 3 “Cool it, lovebirds” 4 Rubbish receptacle 5 Cry of pain … or laughter 6 Major talking point on CNBC, maybe 7 Hybrid creature of myth 8 City sieged by Joan of Arc 9 Anti-D.U.I. org.

10 “Fourth periods” in hockey, for short 11 A host of answers?

12 “Seconded” 13 Rival of Athens 18 Sushi bar choice 22 Follower of Christmas or Easter 24 Son in “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” 25 ___ Pizza (punny trattoria name) 1

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38

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60

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7

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26 It may be wireless

46 Kicked things off

28 Green smoothie

47

ingredient 30 Liquid-Plumr alternative 31 Some tribal leaders on “Game of Thrones” 33 Playwright Bertolt 35 Bucolic beasts 37 Certain protective parent, colloquially 38 Graph component 39 “Sounds like a plan” 41 Late-night interviewee, e.g.

42 Hybrid creature of myth 43 “Lord of the Rings” baddie 45 Gummy candy brand

Connect with

48 Hard one to teach, in a

saying

51

Inits. in a.m. TV

54 They might be tied using

a taiko musubi (“drum knot”)

55 “Time ___!”

57

Maneuverable, in nautical lingo

59 Philosopher Mo-___ 60 Sushi bar choice 61

Letdown at a fireworks show

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TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021