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).

Drive-in movies to return to Tucson

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Tucson’s Cactus Drive-in Theatre Foundation Bringing Drive-in Movies Back To Town. (press release)

Tucson, Arizona-The Cactus Drive-In Theatre Foundation announced today that they have revitalized their community base and are now doing a fundraiser via a Kickstarter project to bring the “drive-in experience” back to Tucson.   The Cactus Drive-In Theater Foundation is a non-profit (501C3) with plans to bring a drive-in theater back to town. Their ultimate goal is to establish a permanent, community-owned drive-in theater in Pima County. This Kickstarter project will bring them one step closer to fulfilling that dream. 

In April of this year the original founders George Cohn and Charles Spillar of the CDITF took back control of the non-profit, elected a total new board of directors, and this new energized group has revitalized the efforts to have a drive-in theater back in Tucson. Originally the Cactus Drive-In Theatre, it was renamed the DeAnza in 1977 and kept the name until its closure & destruction in 2009. Many mourned the downfall of Tucson’s last drive-in theater. As a result the Cactus Drive-In Theatre Foundation was formed, and its Facebook page blossomed to nearly 1500 followers since April of this year and new supporters are joining daily. <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cactus-Drive-In-Theatre-Foundation/142005862525867?ref=br_tf >

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Ride Sun Link to 2nd Saturday Downtown in August

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Most of Tucsonans know by now that the  new Tucson modern streetcar started operation with 8 cars on Friday, July 25.  If you missed being one of the 60,000 passengers who tried it for free, plan on catching it easily to downtown from the UA, Main Gate Square or 4th Avenue (or even from out west at the Mercado de San Agustin or the Luis G. Gutierrez bridge on Cushing St.) to downtown,  for the monthly, very popular urban street fest called 2nd Saturday Downtown.  This fest has been celebrating downtown since May, 2010.

How to ride Sun Link: http://www.streetcarfriends.org/faq/. A round trip pass costs $4.00 (get tickets at the kiosks) and the streetcar runs till 2 a.m. on Saturdays (Sunday mornings).

SATURDAY

  • 8 AM – 10 PM EVERY 20 MINUTES

  • 10 PM – 2 AM EVERY 30 MINUTES

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Photo above of a Sun Link streetcar on Congress St., courtesy of Donovan Dean Durband.

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Who’s running for TUSD Governing Bd. in 2014

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Today was the filing deadline for those interested in serving on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board.  Nine  people filed by the 5 p.m. deadline, so here’s the cast of candidates to choose from in the November 4th general  election.  This is a nonpartisan race for 2 school board members (unpaid volunteers). The two incumbents are Adelita Grijalva and Michael Hicks, both running for re-election. In alphabetical order from last name:

Rene Bernal , applied software engineer at Honeywell, political newcomer, www.tusdsbernal.com

Debe Campos-Fleenor, owner of financial/ insurance agency, ran before in 2012. www.debefortusd.com

Don Cotton, self-employed businessman, ran before in 2012, father of 2 TuSD students, www.cottontusd.com

Miguel Cuevas, former TUSD board member, elected in  2008, lost in 2012 (came in 4th for 3 seats, out of a pool of 12 candidates), project coach at AFNI, www.votemiguelcuevas.com, https://www.facebook.com/Miguelcuevasfortusd

Jenifer Darland, policical newcomer, community activist, mother of 2 TUSD children, www. darlandfortusd.com, https://www.facebook.com/DarlandforTUSD

Adelita Grijalva, current board member and President, has served since 2004, http://www.adelitafortusd.com/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adelita-Grijalva-for-TUSD-School-Board/130007817047419, daughter of CD 3 Congressman Raul Grijalva, mother of 2 TUSD students

Michael Hicks, current board member, elected in 2010, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Hicks-for-2014-TUSD-School-Board-Member/112861325429566, father of 2 TUSD students

Betts Putnam-Hidalgo,  community activist & part time teacher, ran before in 2012, mother of son at TUSD school, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stand-with-betts-for-TUSD/204287006336384

Francis Saitta,  Pima Community College adjunct math/ science teacher, ran unsuccessfully for PCC Governing Bd. in 2012 (District 5)

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Las Adelitas Arizona endorsements for 2014

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Las Adelitas Arizona is proud to announce the endorsement of the following candidates (from their FB page):

LD 2
Senate: Andrea Dalessandro (D)
House: Rosanna Gabaldon (D); Demion Clinco (D)

LD 3
Senate: Olivia Cajero-Bedford (D)

LD 4
House: Lisa Otondo (D); Charlene Fernandez (D)

LD 9
House: Randall Friese (D)
House: Victoria Steele (D)

LD 10
Senate: David Bradley (D)
House: Bruce Wheeler (D)
House: Stefanie Mach (D)

LD 11
House: Holly Lyon (D)
Senate: Jo Holt (D)

Governor
Fred Duval

Secretary of State
Terry Goddard

Attorney General
Felecia Rotellini

Superintendent of Public Instruction
David Garcia

Corporation Commission
Sandra Kennedy

Las Adelitas Arizona general membership met on Sunday, July 27th and voted on endorsements for the 2014 election cycle.

Las Adelitas Arizona is an organization committed to engaging Latinas in the political process, advocating for Latinas and their families in the political arena, and supporting progressive issues. In addition to endorsing candidates, Las Adelitas’ members volunteer for their campaigns.

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