Friday, September 9, 2016
No, not undead, brain-eating humans, but the 1960s band that graced us with the sultry song “Time of the Season” and the twangy love song “Can’t Nobody Love You.”
Sorry, newsletter readers, this performance is happening over the weekend: Saturday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m., the English rock band will grace the Rialto Theater, 318 E. Congress St., with local musician Brian Lopez. The show is all ages and and tickets range from $30 to $51 on Ticketfly. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tags: guitar , music , oldies , local , tickets , theater , Tucson , the best kind of zombies
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
The 87-minute film will have all the lyrics to your favorite Beatles tunes displayed on screen for the optimal sing-a-long experience, and pre-show entertainment includes Beatles music videos and a costume contest. 10 bucks won't 'buy you love' but it is the general admission price, and children under 12 get in for $8.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Suson Catlin has been writing letters to the Governor's Office hoping someone out there will help get her 27-year-old son, Kyle, out of prison—where he's been since mid-January over nonviolent marijuana felony charges. Unsurprisingly, she hasn't received a response. But as I imagine most mothers would, Suson is willing to exhaust all options. Hope dies last.
The night of June 23, Suson got a phone call from Kyle, saying he had been charged with assault after anotherp inmate in the Marana Community Correctional Facility jumped him and split his lip open. In response to the altercation, which Kyle repeatedly told his parents he didn't do anything but take the punches, Kyle was placed in "protective custody," also known as "the hole," or solitary. The inmate who assaulted Kyle was placed in solitary first, so he and friends threatened to kill Kyle for being "a snitch."
After Suson made several frantic phone calls to the correctional facility, guards moved Kyle to the hole, where he remained for about a week.
To make matters worse, Kyle got transferred back to the first correctional facility he stepped foot in—the Arizona Department of Corrections' Whetstone Unit off of South Wilmont Road and East Old Vail Road. While there the first time, an inmate jumped Kyle and hurt his head. One hopes the correctional system would have enough common sense to not send a nonviolent inmate back to a place where his safety was jeopardized. But, really, they could give a shit. It is not their son. It is not their brother. It is not their friend.
"I'm not giving up, I am going to fight even more to get my son out of that hell hole," Suson wrote on Kyle's Facebook after her son told her he'd be transferred again.
Tags: kyle catlin , in defense of marijuana , javier chon lopez , marijuana , tucson , #freekylecatlin
Monday, June 20, 2016
Summer is the most concerning time for immigration rights and humanitarian groups like Humane Borders and No Más Muertes/No More Deaths. The latter leaves gallons of water (all with messages of encouragement), canned food and medicine in desert areas migrants are likely to walk through. Humane Borders volunteers fill up water tanks that hold 30+ gallons, also in areas where they notice a pattern of high migrant activity. If volunteers come across migrants who need medical attention, they're prepared to help. Then, there are also times when they have to get Border Patrol involved to save people's lives.
On Thursday, I went on a 12-hour water run to the western part of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument with Joel Smith of Humane Borders. The organization also has water tanks in other portions of Organ Pipe, as well as in the desert of Altar Valley in Sasabe, and in Ironwood Forest National Monument, near Marana.
This water saves humans. The issue of humanitarian aid shouldn't be up for discussion, even as politics continuously dehumanize migrants.
I'm eternally grateful to people like Joel, who volunteer entire days to try to save as many valuable lives as possible.
Tags: joel smith , humane borders , no more deaths , no mas muertes , organ pipe cactus national monument , immigration , tucson , arizona
Friday, June 17, 2016
The inmate split Kyle's lip open. The inmate now sits in solitary because of the fight. Kyle is also in "the hole" for protection. Both of them were issued a complaint even though Kyle didn't do anything, according to his father Marvin.
This wasn't the first time. A couple of months ago, another inmate in a different correctional facility jumped Kyle and split his head open.
"His appeal for the guy punching him in the mouth was denied, he has one more appeal and is working on it now. If he is denied again he will have to be put in a medium security facility," Marvin told me through Facebook a couple of days ago. We've been in touch here and there since Kyle's trial.
"He is being threatened by a group of inmates. He should be moved to protective custody tonight.
I fear for his life," Marvin said last night.
It was a three-digit-hot August day last year, and the young medical marijuana patient/caregiver and I were supposed to talk about his upcoming two trials for nonviolent marijuana sale, possession and cultivation felony charges over some iced coffee or tea at Cafe Passé on Fourth Avenue. Kyle called me to let me know he couldn't make it because his car had broken down and he'd taken it to a shop in South Tucson. I met him there and we talked in the waiting room for at least three hours.
Before we got into the serious talk, he chatted about his upcoming birthday party on Aug. 15. It was his 27th birthday.
Tall, the blondest of hair, soft spoken, kind eyes, beyond family-oriented and a die-hard fan of car racing—I remember thinking, how can he be facing the possibility of going to prison?
At the time, he had at least 10 felony charges on him. (Read more about the charges, In Defense of Marijuana, September 2015.) He told me he was afraid of going to prison. He was afraid of getting pulled into a gang, being jumped. He, without shame, said he wasn't a fighter. He'd lose a fight. But probably the biggest fear was separating from his family. They were always together.
Tags: kyle catlin , in defense of marijuana , arizona medical marijuana act , tucson , arizona
Thursday, June 2, 2016
The death of 49 toddlers in the ABC Day Care fire in our sister desert city of Hermosillo is probably one of the most soul wrenching days—if not the saddest and most puzzling day—in Sonora's modern history.
The morning of June 5, 2009, at least 200 babies and toddlers were dropped off by their parents. In the early afternoon, during nap time (la hora de la siesta) the fire from neighboring storage owned by the state's Finance Department spread to ABC—a warehouse with practically no emergency exists, a small main entrance, defective fire alarms and a tarpaulin ceiling. More than 100 children and staff were injured by the fire, according to Hermosillo's newspaper El Imparcial. The 49 angels passed away either because of the fire, smoke or the ceiling's collapse.
Evidence quickly piled up suggesting negligence and corruption from the day care's owners, all the way up the ladder to federal and state officials.
ABC was inspected often, and somehow it always passed. In fact, 10 days before the fire, it passed its last inspection.
Except, in 2005, federal authorities ordered the owners to get rid of the tarp, add more emergency exits and widen the entrance, according to a June 2009 New York Times article. Absolutely nothing happened. What's more, several months later that same federal agency—the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico's Social Security—renewed its contract with ABC even though the repairs were never made.
It took seven years for the families to get some sort of justice.
In May of this year, 19 of the presumably 22 people involved in the fire—including the IMSS representative in Sonora—were sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for culpable homicide of the 49 toddlers.
It's not enough. It's a tragedy that should have never happened.
Tags: 49 angels , charlie minn , paul cicala , guarderia ABC , hermosillo , sonora , mexico , the screening room
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
The home invasion was led by Shawna Forde, a former member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and founding member of the group Minutemen American Defense. Reports say she'd patrol the Arizona-México borderlands carrying weapons and protested against crime along the border, as well as the presence of undocumented immigrants in the country. Forde was reportedly kicked out of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps because she was "unstable." (Describing both groups as white supremacists is not far fetched.)
Forde and her two accomplices claimed to be law enforcement, which is how they were able to enter the Flores' home.
The day of the murder, as a CNN article from 2011 describes, Brisenia, Raul and mom Gina Gonzales went shopping for new shoes for Brisenia. She had just finished third grade and needed them for summer camp.
She fell asleep watching television as her parents slept in their bedroom. A few hours later, she opened her eyes to the sight of her father, lying on the opposite couch. He had been shot in the chest and was choking on his own blood. Her mother was bleeding on the floor, a gunshot wound to her leg. The little girl was startled and cried out to intruders in her home, “Why did you shoot my mom?”Brisenia's mom, Gina, cried and described the events in court back in 2011. She made it out alive seven years ago yesterday, after being shot in the leg. She called 911 and got a hold of her husband's gun.
"[Brisenia] was really scared. Her voice was shacking," Gina said in court, according to CNN. "I can hear her say, 'Please don't shoot me.'"
Forde and two accomplices, Jason Bush—at the time the national director of operations for the Minutemen American Defense—and Albert Gaxiola planned to raid the home to steal drugs, weapons and money to fund their anti-immigration group, according to CNN. Reportedly, they thought Raul was a drug dealer. No drugs were found.
On Feb. 22, 2011, a jury found Forde guilty of first-degree murder and gave her the death penalty.
Tags: brisenia flores , raul flores , gina gonzales , shawna forde , minuteman civil defense corps , minutemen american defense , raul a reyes , huffington post , cnn , arivaca , arizona , immigration
Thursday, March 31, 2016
I'm pretty bad at goodbyes so I'll just cut to the chase: I'm no longer able to write the Into the Mild feature for Tucson Weekly. I've enjoyed writing it immensely and hope that you enjoyed reading it, but my time is simply stretched too thin to continue. I'm currently working, writing two books, looking for permanent work in the United States, dealing with banking issues, and trying to maintain a social life. I'm juggling all of this with very limited internet access. Writing for Tucson Weekly is a luxury that I can't squeeze into my schedule anymore.
I'm now using the lion's share of my writing time writing two books. The first will be a collection of short stories from my time exploring the world alone and the new perspective it puts on life's struggles. The other will be about working for grassroots charity groups, with sections on my stint living at refugee camps, my time in the Real Life SuperHero community, and the experience of working for several small organizations in the global south. I hope to have both books published sometime in 2017. I'll also post stories and photos on my personal site, IntoTheMild.co, from time to time.
I owe many thanks to former TW editor Irene Messina for writing an article about a charity project I used to run (found here) and then allowing me to cut my teeth by writing the “Hero of the Week” column, despite my having zero training, experience, or skill in writing. I'm also extremely grateful to Chelo Grubb and the other current staff at Tucson Weekly for giving me another opportunity to share stories with TW, this time personal accounts of exorcisms and life at refugee camps. I hope that my stories added a unique flavor to TW and hope to someday, when life has slowed to a sprint, write for Tucson Weekly again.
May all your dreams come true,
Jason
Tags: Into the Mild , charity , writing
Monday, March 28, 2016
Take a look for yourself:
1. Hub at Tucson, Sol Building and Luna Building at Speedway Boulevard and Euclid Avenue
Tags: transformation , skyline , apartment , government building , housing , tucson , change , Video
Monday, February 1, 2016
I left Tucson in June of 2014, traveling with a group of 500 soccer fanatics to watch the World Cup in Brasil. We were hundreds of strangers from across the US and everyone seemed to bond almost immediately
Then, after two weeks, they were gone.
I next stayed with a friend from Brasil, though she usually had school and I spoke no Portuguese at the time.
Then, after two weeks, I was on my own again.
I worked in Bahia for a month, then left and never saw my coworkers again. I repeated the experience in Salvador. And Ecuador. And Peru. You see the pattern. I was surrounded by people who wouldn't stay in my life. I was alone in a crowd. I wanted a permanent travel companion, flexible and adventurous.
So I made my own.
First came the pattern. I found this nifty guide, printed out a PDF of the design, bought some fleece, and got to work.
I started with the arms and legs. They were the easiest pattern, and as I had never sewn before, the least noticeable if/when something went wrong.
Tags: IntoTheMild , Hobbes , Calvin and Hobbes , South America , Slideshow
