Hey, everybody! Watch Kromko vs. the whole wide world from last night's Arizona Illustrated!

The Tucson Police Department's photo-radar van will be in the following areas on Saturday, Oct. 27:

• 9 to 2 p.m.: On Oracle Road near River Road
• 2 to 4:30 p.m.: On 22nd Street near Kolb Road

In our Oct. 25 print issue, on Page 28, we highlight a lecture entitled "Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform."

The date and time printed is 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25.

Yesterday afternoon, we received a call from a UA employee informing us that the correct date and time of the lecture is 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 26. Upon further discussion, it was noted that the press release sent out announcing the event had the incorrect Oct. 25 date on it.

When we learned about the incorrect date, we had our webmaster fix the date in our online version.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

A friend sent me this link to a Newsweek article on quirky children. I know that if I was in the doctor's office or at my mom's house, I'd be drawn to this story, secretly hoping it would solve a mystery my family has been wrestling with the past four years.

I also reacted to the e-mail as an intrusion and as another fine example of people wanting to give you their opinion on your life, when they know nothing. 

This friend of mine has what I'd call normal children. Actually, before I had my son six years ago, her children were the kind I would have used to describe the children I would never raise--quiet, neat, never questioning authority. No, of course, my children will be like my husband and I: loud, opinionated, messy, expressive and happy, most of the time. 

So, here's this link that comes to me from an old Newsweek. I have one child. Probably won't have more. My child is quirky and everything I imagined he would be when I thought of entering motherhood or at least my brand of motherhood. 

My child also has an autism spectrum disorder. 

The first time I talked with school district officials about concerns teachers at his preschool shared with us, I remember saying, "Isn't he just a little quirky, just like us? We're not exactly normal, so wouldn't he be a lot like us?" 

Well, they explained, it was a little more than just being quirky. I didn't rush toward a diagnosis, which we didn't get officially until January 2007. I didn't want to put him in a box, but at the same time, I could no longer explain away his aggressive behaviors or lack of interest in other kids, or his difficulty with physical tasks or sitting on the floor with a group of kids. 

I clung to his high vocabulary, his love of books, his love of music and his spontaneous concerts of "Hound Dog" in the middle of the grocery store. He remains all of those things, with his special interests in dinosaurs and space aliens, too. 

He continues to have his bad days, and most of the time, I can't predict when those days are upon us or his school. My cousin here in Tucson likes to tell me my husband and I are a perfect match for our son.

But really, I am only human. My son is, too. His autism doesn't make him a freak or a space alien, like the ones he plays with. But when you have a kid like this, the behavior goes beyond quirky, and other parents and sometimes educators are not too kind or understanding. 

Last year was difficult. We lived in this 60,000 population semi-rural community. Most of the mothers I passed at my son's school gave us what I now call The Look. This year, it is a different setting. We don't get The Look as much in Tucson as we did in Washington. I wonder why? 

Does the heat make being "quirky" more acceptable? The size of the town makes it easier to disappear? County Supervisor Richard Ellias told me Tucson has heart. I'm not eager to embrace that just yet. There's a lot of fucked-up shit in this city we're not working on. There are corners where that heart doesn't get out much. 

The past couple of weeks have been hard. My son's going through something right now. Two days a week, he's in an after-school program at a community center that shall remain nameless. It is a center that bills itself as inclusive with a high teacher ratio. They don't know what to do with him. They are overwhelmed. We're expecting to be told, "This is it. "We don't have a place for your son." We've heard it before many times. It could work. I'm trying to stay positive, while also trying to advocate for my son as a new character I've created--Glenda the Good Bitch. 

I knew I was going to have a quirky kid. I wanted a child that would question authority. I wanted a child that would love all that is good of being human--writing, art, books, music. Yet I find that our American society still wants kids that fit an Abercrombie and Fitch life. Not mine.

I read the Newsweek article. For my son, it's not just being quirky, but it's the quirky we have to celebrate. We all have bad days. It’s on those days, we say, "Fuck autism."

Here are a few events that were received too late for inclusion in our print issue:

• Friday, Oct. 26 from 1 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon

  Rincon Church

  122 N. Craycroft Road

  Harvest Festival and Rummage Sale. Enjoy face painting, live music, crafts and food. Entrance fee is one organic canned good item per family. Call 745-3888 for info.

• Saturday, Oct. 27, beginning at 11 a.m.

  Hacienda del Lago

  14155 E. Via Rancho del Lago, Vail

  Hacienda Halloween. Family fun: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Kids' lunch. 2 p.m.: Dance Studio performance. 3 p.m.: Halloween parade; 5 p.m.: kids' costume contest; 7 p.m.: adult costume contest. All events are free. Lunch is $5. Call 657-3109 for information.

• Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m.

  ArtFare

  55 N. Sixth Ave., third floor

  Halloween Spectacular. A theatrical-based show with performances to the Monster Mash, Ghost Busters, Toxic Advenger and other surprises. Free face painting and refreshments. $7. Call 834-6479 for advance tickets and info.

• Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 4 to 6 p.m.

  St. Philip's Plaza

  4340 N. Campbell Ave.

  Tucson Real Estate Investors. A networking group will meet. Free. Call 256-6801 or e-mail gethelp@aznori.com for info.

It's a City Hall brawl tonight on Arizona Illustrated! Mayor Bob Walkup with be debating his only opponent, Green Party candidate Dave Croteau. Joining anchor Bill Buckmaster is none other than me, Jim Nintzel. (Yes, this is shameless self-promotion.) The show airs at 6:30 p.m. and midnight on Channel 6.

Tomorrow on Arizona Illustrated, we'll have John Kromko vs. attorney Larry Hecker on the pros and cons of the Tucson Water Users' Bill of Rights. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

The Phoenix New Times has an in-depth look at the crazy shit that went down in Marciopa County last week, including details about the arrests of executive editor Mike Lacey and CEO Jim Larkin. Check it out.

Also, the judge in the case has released a whole bunch o' records and transcripts from the grand jury investigation, so there's more news on the way.

The Tucson Police Department's photo-radar van will be in the following areas on Friday, Oct. 26:

• 7 to 9 a.m.: School crossing on 22nd Street near Treat Avenue
• 9 to 2 p.m.: On 22nd Street near Swan Road
• 2 to 4:30 p.m.: Roskruge Bilingual Middle School, 500 Block E. Sixth Street
• 4:30 to 8 p.m.: On Nogales Highway near Valencia Road

You might be interested in knowing that today, the country Kazakhstan is celebrating 17 years of sovereignty.

I wouldn’t even mention this--considering we sit here in Tucson thousands of miles away from this country that stretches over Eurasia—-except for one thing: Many of you scurried to the theater as I did last year to watch the Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

This movie was exciting for me, because it was banned in the country I grew up in, Saudi Arabia, as well as all of the other Arab nations (except Lebanon, because Lebanon is awesome). I couldn’t wait to watch the mockumentary in which actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (sorry, I mean Borat Sagdiyev) traveled around the United States making fun of fraternity brothers, governors of the South, cowboys at the rodeo, an Evangelical church full of people speaking in tongue and some surfer dudes who he had screaming while they jumped off of a bus repeatedly. (That scene was phenomenal!)

Don’t think that I am hating on America (though it is healthy to laugh at what we have come to represent). Hell, the United States gives me an education, doesn’t make me cover my face (and the rest of my body) and offers me a great opportunities as a female. In the country I grew up in, Cohen could have have been beheaded.

However, it’s quite a tragedy the only thing we know about Kazakhstan is that this funny-looking guy named Borat is from there.

Online and making its way to a newsrack near you: The new issue of the Tucson Weekly!

Feel free to comment here on this week's issue. Unless you're gonna be a cretin or something.