Candidate Meet and Greet

There will be a local Meet and Greet for two state Democratic candidates  on Monday, November 18.

Arizona Attorney General candidate Felecia Rotellini and State School Superintendent candidate David Garcia will be at the State Farm office on North Broad Street on Monday at 6:pm.

Light food will be served.

Candidate Forums at Bernard's Coffee Station

If you missed the candidate forum last week, a series of forums is being held at Bernard’s Coffee Station. The programs start at 6:pm.

Terry Wheeler will be there tomorrow (Tuesday), Jim Gillette on Wednesay and Fernando Shipley on Friday.

District 3 candidate Carmen Cassillas will be at Bernard’s Coffee Station this Thursday and Erik Mariscal next Wednesday, February 15.

District 2 candidates Thea Wilshire and Mike Humphrey have declined to participate.

Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' Barred from Arizona Schools

Arizona is once again getting national attention for its politics. Salon.com and the Wall Street Journal report that William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” is among the books that are now barred from Arizona classrooms.

The new law banning ethnic studies has forced the Tucson Unified School District to terminate its 13 year old Mexican-American Studies program rather than lose millions of dollars in state funding. One of the program’s former teachers says she asked if she could start teaching “The Tempest.” She was told no, because of its themes of colonization, enslavement and racism.

Another book that has been removed is “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years,” which includes an essay by award-winning Tucson author Leslie Silko. The book’s editor Bill Bigelow says the only other time one of his books was banned was when the apartheid government in South Africa banned a book that included a speech by Nelson Mandela.

The Tucson Unified School District has responded by saying that the books that were removed from the classroom are still available in the District’s library system. The statement also says the books will be considered for possible use in the 2012-2013 school year.

'Blue Dog Democrats'

Here is a link to an interesting column in the Tucson Citizen (which is now a blog with a variety of "citizen journalists.") It is about "progressive" vs. "Blue Dog" Democrats, but includes some interesting information about the proposed Resolution Copper Mine and Arizona's Congressional District 1:

Blue Dogs: The Democrats TEA Party?

Democratic Club Meets Wednesday

Everyone is invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Miami-Globe Democratic Club Wednesday at Noon at DeMarco’s. The guest speaker is Margret Celix on Proposition 302, First Things First.