Greetings from Tucson …
The capital of beautiful Baja Arizona. Click through for news, views and upcoming events from around the Old Pueblo and greater Baja.
Happy Birthday Tucson
Yesterday was Tucson’s 241st Birthday. As you may remember, we date the city’s birth from August 20, 1775 when the Spanish Army moved their Presidio up the Santa Cruz from Tubac. Here’s the founding document:
I, Hugo Oconor, knight of the order of Calatrava, colonel of infantry in His Majesty’s armies and Commandant Inspector of the frontier posts of New Spain, Certify: that having conducted the exploration prescribed in Article Three of the New Royal Regulation of Presidios issued by His Majesty on the Tenth of September of 1772 for the moving of the Company of San Ignacio de Tubac in the Province of Sonora, I selected and marked out in the presence of Father Francisco Garces and Lieutenant Juan de Carmona a place known as San Augustin del Tucson as the new site of the Presidio. It is situated at a distance of eighteen leagues from Tubac, fulfills the requirements of water, pasture, and wood, and effectively closes the Apache Frontier. The designation of the new presidio becomes official with the signatures of myself, Father Francisco Garces, and Lieutenant Juan Carmona, at this Mission of San Xavier del Bac, on this Twentieth Day of August of the Year 1775.
How about a tune ?
Meet-Up Report
The Central Committee had another successful Meet-Up last Wednesday. The Zellos had a lovely time, sincere thanks to all who attended. Casa Vicente is a good venue; a little pricey but they have good food and live guitar. Turns out there’s a seafood joint called Casa Vicente in Málaga, Spain. Málaga, being on Spain’s southern coast, is a Flamenco hotbed and lends its name to both a style of Flamenco composition and a particular tune. Malagueña was originally composed for piano by Ernesto Lecuona. It’s instantly recognizable, even to those who don’t know much about Flamenco, and is in nearly every classical guitarist’s repertoire.
It’s nice to see Drinking Liberally meeting again even though Maddy, their organizer, says that they won’t be doing candidate forums like they once did. They did have a guest speaker this time, representing Arizona Healthy Families. This is the group working to get Arizonans a minimum wage increase by passing the Healthy Working Families Initiative. The initiative would raise the minimum wage to $10/hr. immediately and $12 by 2020. It would also mandate 3 to 5 earned sick days. The Arizona Restaurant Association challenged the petitions in court but the challenge was rejected by a judge in Maricopa County Superior Court. The Healthy Working Families Initiative will appear on the November ballot. I’ll be voting for it since I believe it has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt that prosperity never trickles down but, instead, percolates up from the bottom.
Pinal County News
We all remember the 5Cs that drive Arizona’s economy, (What, you don’t remember them ? see here) well Pinal County has a sixth C: Corrections. The US Department of Justice announced last week that they will begin phasing-out the use of private, for-profit prisons. This is certainly welcome news, but does not represent a complete rejection of privatization. The phase-out only applies to the Federal Bureau of Prisons which is run by the Department of Justice. It does not include for-profit "detention centers" contracted out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Among the many prisons in Penal County are three of these centers, two in Florence and one in Eloy. All three are operated, for profit, by Corrections Corporation of America. Neoliberal crack-pots love privatization, especially in Arizona where said crack-pots run the show, but prisons, like schools, should not be run as for-profit businesses. Privatized prisons cost more and, predictably enough, generate perverse incentives that drive policy towards more incarceration.
Pinal County also made the news for having no coverage available for 2017 under the ACA. United Healthcare has already announced that it will not offer “coverage” in Arizona for 2017 and now, with Aetna pulling out, 8,500 people in Pinal County will have no options available in the Obamacare Marketplace. Here’s a handy list of 10 things health insurers won't tell you.
Update, 8-22: More on Pinal County & ACA here ☛ Politico
Events Around Town
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been referred for criminal prosecution and could face prison time. I’m sure many here will agree with me when I say, it’s about freaking time. Still, he is up for re-election and it would be nice if the citizens of Maricopa County could be persuaded to elect his opponent, Paul Penzone. To help with this, Congressman Raúl Grijalva will host a fund-raiser for Penzone Friday evening at 5 pm at the Historic Y.
On Wednesday night, at 6 pm our time, Bernie Sanders will stream a talk about his new organization, Our Revolution. He sent out emails asking for volunteers to host Our Revolution Organizing Kickoff events. You can go HERE and play with the parameters to find an event near you. It looks like there’s one in Green Valley, one in Bisbee at the Bisbee Royale, one in Patagonia and several around Tucson including one in a dorm at the UofA. I have RSVP’d to attend the one at Borderlands Brewery. We’ll probably grab something to eat before the event and make an evening of it. Anybody else interested?
OK …
That’s all I got for this Sunday. Is anybody out there ? Talk to me.