Month: September 2015

Back when Fort Lowell was operational

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The entrance to Ft. Lowell Park is located at 2900 North Craycroft Road in Tucson. Along with the usual offerings, this city park is home to a museum andFTL 5 artifacts dating from the time in the late 1800s when Fort Lowell was an active military post. The fort once played a major role in the Apache wars.

In the 1860s, Tucson’s population was around 700. The dusty little community centered on what are now Main, Washington, Church and Pennington Streets. Water flowed in the Santa Cruz River, the irrigated fields along its banks producing a variety of crops. During the summer of 1866, the army established Camp Lowell on a site slightly to the east of town in what is now the downtown area. The installation was named in honor of Col. Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., a Union officer killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War.

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Secretary of State intervenes in redistricting case before SCOTUS

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MicheleReaganArizona’s queen of voter suppression, Secretary of State Michele Reagan, has decided that she wants to join the pantheon of truly despicable secretaries of state alongside Katherine Harris (FL), Ken Blackwell (OH), and Kris Kobach (KS).

This partisan hack is the reason why elections should be managed by an independent nonpartisan election commission, rather than a partisan secretary of state.

Howard Fischer reports, Arizona secretary of state wants redistricting plan voided:

Secretary of State Michele Reagan has joined with Republican interests in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to void the state’s legislative redistricting plan.

In new filings with the high court, attorneys for Reagan point out the population differences among the 30 legislative districts created in 2011 by the Independent Redistricting Commission. They said this raises constitutional questions because it effectively gives voters in some districts more power than others.

But what’s particularly problematic, they said, is that the disparity was done deliberately to achieve a result of improving the chances of Democrats getting elected to the Legislature.

Uh-huh. What Howie fails to mention is that “competitiveness” is one of the criteria enacted by a citizens initiative, Prop. 106 (2000), which created the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission: “‘Competitive districts’ are favored if competitive districts do not significantly harm the other goals…” You remember, this is the citizen initiative that Republicans tried and failed to kill in the U.S. Supreme Court this year.

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Education advocates call for a special session, 40% of Arizonans are blind to the problem (Updated)

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A statewide automated phone Poll was conducted on Wednesday by MBQF, a public-affairs and consulting firm. It polled 857 likely voters who voted in at least three out of the last four elections about Arizona’s education system. The poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percent.

5 percent (appx. 43) rated Arizona’s education funding levels as “excellent.” Another 8 percent (appx. 68) rated Arizona’s education funding levels as “above average.”

GarrisonKeillorNow I know what you are thinking, “Who ARE these people?” Given the low numbers, I’d say it is our Tea-Publican Arizona legislators and Glen Hamer and his acolytes at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (That’s sarcasm for the slow-witted).

An astounding 27 percent (appx. 231) rated Arizona’s education funding levels as “average.” Taken together, some 40% of those surveyed said Arizona’s education funding levels are average to excellent.

This does not even remotely comport to reality.

The most recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau has Arizona spending less than all but two other states in overall funding from all sources; when just state dollars are counted, Arizona is ranked dead last. Arizona competes for ‘worst in the nation’ in support of public education.

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Más at Temple of Music and Art

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Más by Milta Ortiz Directed by Marc David Pinate Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Based on a true story. A community struggles to hold onto their history, identity, and humanity as they fight to save Mexican American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District. Más was commissioned and developed at Borderlands … Read more

Political Calendar: Week of September 6, 2015

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Political Calendar for the Week of September 6, 2015:

Sunday, September 6 – Sunday, September 13: 69th Annual Navajo Nation Fair, in Window Rock, AZ. 69th Annual Navajo Nation Fair – arts & crafts, baby contest, free BBQ, exhibits, concerts, horse racing, parade, Pow Wow, Open Indian and junior rodeos, traditional song & dance, fry bread contest, carnival, $2-4, 928-871-6647 or http://www.navajonationfair.com/ or http://www.navajonationparks.org.

Monday, September 7: Labor Day.

Monday, September 7, Noon: Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon, Dragon’s View Restaurant (400 N. Bonita, South of St. Mary’s Road between the Freeway and Grande Avenue, turn South at Furr’s Cafeteria). New price: buffet lunch is $10.00 cash, $12 credit; just a drink is $3.50. No DGT in observance of Labor Day. Next Week: Tucson City Councilwoman Shirley Scott, campaign update.

3rd Annual Arizona AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast

LaborDayMonday, September 7, 7:30 a.m.: 3rd Annual Arizona AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast, at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak, 7677 N. 16th Street, Phoenix. This event is where people from Labor, Community activists and Elected officials start their Labor Day holiday. This year, the Arizona AFL-CIO will honor three deserving leaders drawn from from Unions, Community Groups and Elected officials. Individual tickets are $120, sponsorship levels available.Tickets are available by calling 602-631-4488 or emailing Rebekah Friend at rfriend@azaflcio.org.

PALF 19th Annual Labor Day Picnic

Monday, September 7, 10:00 am-2:00 pm.: Pima Area Labor Federation hosts the 18th Annual Labor Day Picnic at the Reid Park bandshell, 22nd Street (at Alvernon Way) in Tucson. PALF Olympics, entertainment, speakers, free soft drinks & hot dogs. Groups interested in tabling the event should contact PALF headquarters at (520) 388-4139.

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