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).
Don’t miss this classic Japanese samurai film, to benefit Aikido at the Center on Saturday, Feb. 7th.
Benefit at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson
The movie plays from 2-4 pm, and Aikido at the Center will be there beforehand, from 1-2 pm, doing a demonstration and discussing Aikido. We’ll also have a table in the lobby, so if you are interested in Aikido or our dojo, someone will be on hand to answer your questions.
“Yojimbo” is a classic Akira Kurosawa movie starring the legendary Toshiro Mifune, as a ronin (masterless samurai) who wanders into a village where there are 2 competing crime lords. As usual he is caught in the middle of the conflict. More about the film at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojimbo_(film)
Last minute alert via FB from Arizona Women’s Political Caucus. Hope they have a number of lines to call in for this tele town hall. Sign up for news from the Governor at www.azgovernor.gov.
This year the Chinese New Year will be on February 19, but these are celebrations earlier than that at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Road or at the JW Marriott Star Pass resort. More info: www.tucsonchinese.org. Also coming up on Feb. 14 a Chinese New Year celebration, 10:30 a.m. at the Himmel … Read more
In the ever popular 1993 “Groundhog Day” movie the main character says at a town bar: “Phil: What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered? Ralph: That about sums it up for me.” Carolyn’s note: If you’re having one … Read more
south facade of new Pima County Consolidated Justice Court building
Press release from Doug Kooi, court administrator, and Pima County Communications:
Pima County Consolidated Justice Court moving to new location
New court open for business Monday, Feb. 2
The Pima County Consolidated Justice Court will be open for business at its new location, 240 N. Stone Ave., beginning at 8 a.m. Monday. The court is moving from the historic mosaic dome building at 115 N. Church Ave., and its satellite at 160 N. Stone Ave., to the new Pima County Public Service Center on the northeast corner of Stone Avenue and Alameda Street. The entrance to the Court’s new location is on the west side of the Public Service Center building on Stone.
An estimated 500,000 people pass through the security checkpoint at the Consolidated Justice Court annually. Although there have been notifications posted in the current location about the Court’s move on Feb. 2, it is anticipated some people will still show up at the old location. To help these lost find their way, Pima County will have signs around the iconic dome building and sandwich board notifications along key streets and avenues directing people to 240 N. Stone Ave.
The Pima County Public Service Center parking garage will not be completed until late March or early April, so persons visiting the Consolidated Justice Court will need to park in county parking garages on Alameda or Pennington streets, or at surface parking lots.
The move will allow all Justice Court services to be in the same location, something that hasn’t happened in 18 years, according to Douglas Kooi, court administrator. But space wasn’t the only reason for the move, he said.
“The original building was not designed with modern security, technology or access in mind,” Kooi said. “This new building lets us use the latest in audio and video technology and presentation equipment, and it is completely accessible to all members of the public. The old building was difficult to navigate, especially for persons with disabilities.”
The dome building will become the temporary home for Pima County’s senior administration and Board of Supervisors while the 10th and 11th floors of Administration.
