Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014. Part time she sat as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005 for 15 years. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter. She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).

8th Annual Rodeo Days at Plaza Palomino

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“Mark your calendars! It’s almost time again for the Rodeo Days Arts Celebration! Get ready to put on your cowboy hat and come see some of the region’s best fine art, jewelry, wood work, metal art, pottery, fused glass, leather work and more! Listen to Mariachi Herradura, The BILL GANZ WESTERN Band and the Arizona … Read more

“The Age of Consequences” free climate change film at the Loft

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 AT 7:30PM | FREE ADMISSION Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson “Featuring a post-film panel discussion with local experts: Gary Krivokapich Engineer at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; Edward Beshore, Tucson Group Leader, Citizens Climate Lobby; Dr. Gregg Garfin Director of the Southwest Climate Science Center; Austin Yamada, Director of the Defense … Read more

Spring Ikebana Festival at Yume Japanese Gardens

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“Once again Yume Japanese Gardens will be throwing open the doors of Yume Japanese Gardens for a week to the talented adepts of five different schools of Ikebana practice. The result: elegant floral displays throughout our grounds, museum, and art gallery that capture the harmony, discipline, and refinement of traditional Japanese flower arranging. Our Spring … Read more

All in the family: 3 Hernandez siblings running for election in 2018

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L to R: Consuelo Hernandez, LD 2 Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr.,Alma Hernandez – photo taken by their mother (also named Consuelo)

Three siblings in Tucson, all named Hernandez are running for election in 2018. Daniel is running for LD 2 House (re-election), Consuelo for Sunnyside School District Governing Board, Alma for LD 3 House.  They are having a joint fiesta campaign kickoff on February 15 (scroll down to bottom for flyer).

One-term Democrat LD 2 House Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr, seeking re-election to his House seat. He defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Chris Ackerley 32,651 to 28,506 in Nov. 2016. (The other House Rep. Democrat incumbent Rosanna Gabaldon got 32,495 votes.) Daniel has also served on the Sunnyside School District Governing Board as President, and was the Congressional intern who assisted then CD-8 Congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was shot in the head, at the Tucson mass shooting on 1/8/11.

His youngest sister Alma is now running for LD 3 House, where there will be 2 open seats, as LD 3 House Rep. Macario Saladate is retiring, and Rep. Sally Gonzales is running for state senate in that same district. Also running for the House in LD 3 now is current LD 3 Senator Olivia Cajero Bedford, and political newcomer (but involved in Dem politics for years) Andres Cano, a Special Staff Assistant to Pima County District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias.

Alma recently got her M.P.H. from the U of Arizona, and has been active in Democratic politics for years. Recently she led Arizonans United for Healthcare working to defeat the repeal of the ACA (Affordable Care Act).

Their middle sister Consuelo is running for Sunnyside School District Governing Board, where her brother currently sits. She is a case worker for the International Rescue Committee in Tucson.  Daniel is not running for re-election on the SUSD board (after 2 terms), so Consuelo is running for one of 2 seats. The other SUSD board member  up for re-election is Eva Carrillo Dong.

All 3 of these siblings went to the Democratic National Convention in July, 2016 as delegates.

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Four Years at Blog for Arizona

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Well, it’s that day again – February 11—when I celebrate another anniversary blogging here at Blog for Arizona. What a year it has been since January 20, 2017 when Republican political newcomer Donald Trump became our 45th U. S. President.  Prior to this site I was online as “Carolyn’s Community” for Tucsoncitizen.com. Folks in town do remember me there.

For four years now I’ve been concentrating on promoting good non-profits and other groups in Tucson, reporting on local politics & elections, and posting passionately in our image Calendar (https://blogforarizona.net/calendar-2/).  I’ve individually posted 2,363  events in 4 years, which is quite a lot of progressive events, and 983 articles (almost 1000).

Thanks for reading our opinions/commentary and fact-based reporting.

Our bloggers online now are mostly attorneys (what else?) – Owner/founder & former prosecutor Michael Bryan; the mysterious AZ Blue Meanie who could only be a lawyer with his/her vast knowledge; longtime blogger Phoenix attorney Bob Lord; new blogger attorney/journalist Larry Bodine; and me, a has-been attorney/Hearing Officer in Small Claims Court (for almost 13 years in April, 2018).  Fortunately for them, fellow bloggers Karl, Pam and Linda aren’t attorneys (yet).    And Craig, Donna, and Steve are on hiatus, but could be back.

This political year  one Arizona U.S. Senate seat (being vacated by Republican Jeff Flake), 9 U.S. Congressional seats, Arizona statewide offices are all up for election (including Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer,  AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction, etc.) and all Arizona Legislative Senate and House seats.  A few Governing Board  volunteer seats in the local School Districts are also up for election.

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