Ruthie Foster’s performance at last weekend’s Folk Festival didn’t make it to air with the rest of KXCI’s coverage, due to a programming error at the station.

But the headliner’s set will be broadcast in its entirety this Sunday, May 11, at 6 p.m.

The good folks from the Southern Arizona Stonewall Democrats asked us to post something about their confab this weekend:

The Southern Arizona Stonewall Democrats are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the National Stonewall Democrats on May 8 through 11, 2008 for a conference and Board meeting here in Tucson.

The conference will be held at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Airport at 4550 S Palo Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ 85714 (520) 746-3493, and feature training programs designed for Democrats locally, state-wide and nationally, including topics involving media, fundraising, organizing campaigns, and youth programs.

You can find more info, including a schedule, here.

Here are a few events that were received too late for inclusion in our May 8 print issue. We recommend calling event organizers to check on last-minute changes in time, location, price, etc.

• Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m.
  Cafe Passe
  415 N. Fourth Ave.
  Film Screening. American Drug War, a documentary from director Kevin Booth, screens. Free. Call 624-4411 for info.
• Saturday, May 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  La Paloma Academy
  2151 N. Palo Verde Blvd.
  Open House. Parents can tour the new campus and meet the principal and teachers. Kids can enjoy jumping castles, face painting, balloon figures, cotton candy, popcorn, sandwiches and icees from Egees. Free. Visit www.lpatucson.org for more info.
• Saturday, May 10 from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
  Triangle L Ranch in Oracle
  Barn Dance. Contra dance under the stars with dance caller Laila Lewis and the fiddling of Diamond Jim Hewitt and friends. Take a lesson at 7 p.m. $5 per person. Event will be held outside. Benefits GLOW. Visit www.trianglelranch.com for directions and info.
• Monday, May 12 from 6 to 9 p.m.
  Beowulf Alley Theatre
  11 S. Sixth Ave.
  Theater Auditons. Audition for Dinner With Friends. Prepare two contrasting monologues (comedic and dramatic) one minute in duration. Auditions start at 6 p.m.; callbacks will take place between 7 and 9 p.m. Call 241-4604 or e-mail smarnold@dakotacom.net for info.

Looks like voters won’t have a chance to vote on whether Arizona’s Redistricting Commission–which draws the boundaries of legislative and congressional districts–should put more emphasis on ensuring that the districts are competitive.

Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services has the details, but it looks like the backers of the initiative drive didn’t want to have to compete with an alternative that state lawmakers were contemplating putting on the ballot. State Rep. Jonathan Paton, who had sponsored the legislative alternative, says he’ll pull the plug on his bill.

We mentioned in this week’s Skinny that the initiative to restrict payday loans is in trouble, while the initiative to extend payday loans–which, of course, is sponsored by the payday loan sharks–is likely to make the ballot.

There’s another pair of dueling initiatives out there: Support Legal Arizona Workers and Stop Illegal Hiring.

Support Legal Arizona Workers is the addled brain-child of Don Goldwater, the half-wit nephew of the late and lamented Barry Goldwater, and state Rep. Russell Pearce. It would permanently revoke the business license of any employer who is caught with an illegal immigrant on the payroll.

The one-strike-and-you’re-out initiative launched when state lawmakers were considering Pearce’s employer-sanctions bill last year. Even though they passed the bill, Russell and Co. went ahead with their petition drive, mumbling something about how lawmakers could still amend the law if it didn’t have voter protection. Yes, it’s certainly a terrible notion that we would give the legislature an option to change a law if it doesn’t work as intended.

The business community, understandably concerned that a bunch of knotheads were writing regulations that could put them out of business without so much as a warning, countered with their own initiative, Stop Illegal Hiring. The biz gang is spinning their effort as cracking down on under-the-table hiring, which the other initiative doesn’t address. And to sweeten the pot, they use the fines from the initiative to help schools and hospitals. Stop Illegal Hiring would eventually strip an employer of a business license for knowingly having illegal immigrants on the payroll, but it includes a variety of loopholes and defenses that Pearce’s initiative doesn’t include.

The game here is obvious: The biz boys figure that voters will support Pearce’s plan if it makes the ballot, so they hope to get more votes so that their initiative will take precedence.

Ultimately, that’s why the fixes to the employer-sanctions bill signed into law by Gov. Janet Napolitano last week may not make much of a difference. We suspect the issue will ultimately be decided by voters, though if Pearce and Co. can’t come through wit the signatures, the winner will be pretty obvious.

Look! It’s a new issue! With our summer movie preview! Special!

Comment on its contents here, and in the meantime, enjoy this week’s YouTube Ask a Mexican! And be sure to stop by and show The Mexican some love this Saturday (5/10) at 2 p.m. at the Borders on Oracle Road.

The Weekly’s corporate sibling, Inside Tucson Business, made an appearance on David Letterman’s “Small Town News” segment on Tuesday night. Showing an ad touting “the growing number of Tucson’s most successful women business owners” which prominently featured a man’s photo in the mix, Letterman cracked that “she would be lovely if she lost the goatee.”

ITB was in good company. Items from the Chicago Tribune and the Detroit News were also used, as were clips from The Grizzly Weekender of Big Bear Lake, Calif., The Mountain Messenger of Downieville, Calif., The Leader-News of Greenville, Ky., The Tremonton Leader of Tremonton, Utah, and The Benicia Herald of Benicia, Calif.

As of 9:10 a.m. this morning at Tucson City Court, on the corner of Alameda Street and Sixth Avenue, no one had been arrested as Charlotte Gillis and about 10 friends/supporters stood in front of the building to protest what they feel is gender discrimination.

Gillis and eventually three other women took their shirts off to expose breast–with the areolas and nipples taped over to make them “legal.” And a couple of guys got in on the action too, sans tape.

While Gillis went in for her pre-trial hearing with friends, Kristina Stevens and Nate Campbell kept up the protest, while two Tucson Police Department officers looked on.

On her return, Gillis reported that she asked for a continuance so she could raise additional funds to pay an attorney who wants to take her case. Her new pre-trial hearing is set for June 2.

For more information on Charlotte’s case, go to her MySpace page at www.myspace.com/rptlgrl.

Here are a few events that were received past our deadline for the May 1 print issue. We recommend contacting event organizers to check for last-minute changes in time, location, price, etc.

• Saturday, May 3
  6 a.m. to midnight
  Titan Missile Museum parking lot
  1580 W. Duval Mine Road
  Exit 69 off Interstate 19
  7th Call Area QSO Party. The Radio Society of Tucson will participate in a special broadcast event where the object is for amateur radio operators to make as many contacts as possible. Prizes will be awarded for the most contacts. Free. Visit www.rstclub.org for more info.
• Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  3250 E. Kleindale Road
  Richard Zelens Art. View paintings, ceramics and silks by the artist. Items will be on sale. Call 867-9582 for info.
• Sunday, May 4 through Wednesday, May 7
  Benihana
  6091 N. Oracle Road
  Children’s Day. All children 12 and younger will receive free favors: edaname and drink, instructions for an origami Samurai helmet, koi streamer, Polaroid keepsake and a pamphlet about Japanese culture and the tradition of Children’s Day. Available during lunch and dinner hours. Call 297-5555 for info and to reserve your seats.
• Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6 at 7 p.m.
  UA Stevie Eller Dance Theatre
  1713 E. University Blvd.
  Dance Performance. The UA School of Dance presents Last Chance to Dance. $5.

Tuesday night, when the Tucson Unified School District Board of Supervisors voted against closing Ochoa, Rogers, Wrightstown and Corbett elementary schools, I heard a collective sigh of relief, especially among school supporters wearing green Tucson United School Supporter T-shirts and others wearing the red and white Save Our School T-shirts from Ochoa. Through cheers and applause, I also saw a few people crying. This was the end (for now, at least) to an emotional issue for people who mobilized to save their school.

What has impressed me most, however, is the group formed by Ann-Eve Pedersen–Tucson United School Supporters–most of the people wearing those green T-shirts. What I like now is that Pedersen and her crew aren’t going home and pretending that everything is back to normal. They are continuing to roll-up their sleeves and do what they need to do next. 

TUSS will hold a strategy meeting on Sunday, May 4, to discuss ways to help the district with recruiting students, helping pass the November override package and fundraising avenues to close the budget gap. The meeting is at 2 p.m. at the Ward 6 City Council office, 3202 E. First St. (east of Country Club Road, one block south of Speedway Boulevard). 

In an e-mail sent out to TUSS supporters, Pedersen gave her perspective on how the vote went down at the Tuesday meeting and what’s ahead for TUSD and its supporters: 

I just wanted to pass on the good news that the board decided tonight to keep all four schools open next year. Joel Ireland, who was the crucial third vote, said the desegregation order last week clarified his decision. The lifting of the desegregation order means that the district now can consider all schools for potential closure. The board members are committed to involving the community in any future school closure process. Their decision tonight was very wise because rather than alienate people, the board has motivated parents and community members to get involved to help the district. Thanks so much to all of you who came to rallies, wrote letters, attended board meetings and mobilized parents and community members. It’s heartening that the board members really listened. If you have a chance, please email the board members and thank them. Also, if you can, please write a letter to the editor in support of the board or post a message at the bottom of the online news story. They’re already taking some hits for this decision and we need to support them publicly. We also must mobilize on several fronts: 1. In support of the override, which would provide $24 million a year for seven years to fund small class sizes, the OMA program and extra pay for teachers in hard-to-fill positions. The board will vote in May on whether to put the override on the November 2008 ballot. 2. To help close next year’s projected budget deficit. We have been talking with the Educational Enrichment Fund, a foundation that helps TUSD, about launching a fundraising campaign to help close the gap and show support for the new superintendent. We have been lobbying the board to not cut programs or close schools to save money, so we can show our thanks by helping raise money for the district. We already have a commitment from a local business to donate $10,000. 3. To help the district with PR efforts to encourage more families to attend TUSD schools. The district’s image problem is turning families away from TUSD even though we have a large number of excellent schools and programs. These drops in enrollment hurt all of us because it means there’s less money coming in to fund education for the students who remain.

In addition to May 1 being International Workers’ Day, it’s RSS Awareness Day. Both the main TW site and the blog offer RSS feeds. What’s an RSS feed? That’s what the RSS Awareness Day site is all about. There’s even a nifty video to explain everything in plain English. Readers of the World, Unite!

… here’s the new Weekly, online and hitting the streets as I type!

Please, by all means, comment on the issue’s contents here. And here’s this week’s online Ask a Mexican!

State Rep. Jennifer Burns has announced she will not seek re-election, saying she “can no longer afford the level of time and financial commitment required to be a representative.”

Burns is something of an anomaly in the Arizona Legislature: A Republican who represents the Democratic-leaning Legislative District 25, which includes Marana, Sierra Vista and a big chuck of rural Southern Arizona.

Burns is a moderate who often sides with Democrats. She has faced frequent challenges from the right wing of the GOP, as well as occasional challenges from the Dems.

Burns’ seatmate, Manny Alvarez, is expected to seek the Senate seat that Democrat Marsha Arzberger will have to give up after four terms, leaving two open House seats.

Democrat Pat Fleming, who unsuccessfully ran the LD 25 seat in 2006, has announced that she is running for a House seat, as has Democrat Richard Boyer, who lost a Corporation Commission race in 2006. Republican David Stevens, another former House candidate, is also in the race.

From Burns’ press release:

While it has been an extreme honor to serve in the Arizona House of Representatives, I am announcing that I will not run for re-election in 2008. I sincerely thank my constituents for giving me this opportunity to work with them to give Arizona a brighter future. Together, we have made a difference and I look forward to future opportunities to continue serving the people of Arizona.

During my six years, I joined with others to fight for increased funding for (more…)

Our latest installment of Tucson Weekly TV is up. Matt Kielty demonstrates some of the challenges of being an unpaid Tucson Weekly intern.