The last time the Tucson Weekly interviewed LuisCarlos Davis in May 2009, his documentary 389 Miles: "Living the Border", had just won the Golden Iguana audience award for best film at the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival. Since then, Davis' documentary that explores the complexities of life along the Mexico border starting from Douglas, Arizona and ending in San Luis, Sonora, has been seen by audiences overseas and across the country.

Davis said he presented this work at leadership conferences, medical schools, and journalism, media arts, and communication departments, movie theaters, film festivals, jails, juvenile centers, and alternative schools. "All places where people come from different backgrounds and beliefs."

"In these difficult times we are living it is important to increase our points of view on the reality that we are living in our border of Arizona and Mexico," Davis said.

To help that effort, Davis' documentary is now aavailable in its entirety on YouTube. Currently, Davis, who was born in Nogales, Sonora and raised in Noglaes, Arizona, is writing two screenplays. Davis was also recently selected by the Spanish Embassy and Fundacion Carolina as one of 15 Hispanic leaders from the United States to visit Madrid, Bilbao, Vitoria and San Sebastian to learn about the culture, politics, economics and social issues of Spain and explore the international relationship between the U.S and Spain.

Arizona Sen. Steve Smith of the town of Maricopa announced today that he would seek a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives rather than take on Arizona Sen. Al Melvin of SaddleBrooke in the new Legislative District 11.

Smith sent out a press release blaming the whole situation on the Independent Redistricting Commission, which was evidently supposed to deliver safe Republican districts for all sitting senators.

But Smith may not avoid a primary fight. At least two Southern Arizona Republicans—Adam Kwasman and Bob Westerman—are looking at running for the two House seats in LD11.

Smith's decision comes days after Westerman indicated he might be interested in the race, as The Range reported on Friday.

Smith's press release after the jump:

If you were planning on visiting local art/fun collective Powhaus' website today, you will likely encounter the image above, which will likely be somewhat confusing to you, as they are not a anti-Israel organization. Turns out the group's site was hacked over the weekend, and Powhaus' spokesperson Kitty Katt McKinley assured me via Facebook that their alien associate Kitty Quasar is on duty "promising to retaliate against the terrorists."

However, it should be noted that Powhaus do have an event coming up on Feb. 11th, as part of the Rialto's gem show festivities. The first in a series of promotional videos for GEM is below:

The Ninth District Court-appointed special master is in Tucson examining Tucson Unified School District and it's failed desegregation plan. Former Tucson city councilman Steve Leal recently shared his perspective asking "How will TUSD be made to do now what they historically have shown that they do not care about and have refused to remedy?":

Things make sense again. Now that the Ninth Circuit District Court ruled that the prior Federal Court ruling was in grave error regarding Tucson Unified School District relationship and entire handing of the desegregation responsibilities. In fact, the Court of Appeals Opinion states, " The district court's own findings are fatal to its determination that a school district has achieved unitary status." The Opinion made clear that T.U.S.D. has not yet accepted the principle of racial equity.

The Judge further stated, "Accordingly, we do not hesitate to do so here. We reverse the court below and order it to maintain jurisdiction until it is satisfied that the School District has met its burden by demonstrating—not merely promising—its “good-faith compliance . . . with the [Settlement Agreement] over a reasonable period of time.” Id. at 498."

The main question as I see it is, how will TUSD be made to do now what they historically have shown that they do not care about and have refused to remedy?

• Courtney L’Ecuyer
• Eric Firestone, a New York gallery owner and exhibit curator, was the mastermind behind The Boneyard Project. The former Tucson resident stands by a plane spray-painted by Retna, a popular LA graffiti artist.

By Courtney L'Ecuyer

Eric Firestone paced back and forth between each painted bird and inspected their position. He wore a tattered blue jean button-down shirt, with a plaid tie and green Converse sneakers. He could have easily been mistaken for a janitor, when in fact he’s been in the art gallery business since age 22.

Firestone, 40, is the mastermind behind The Boneyard Project: Return Trip, an exhibit that debuted Saturday, January 28, 2012 at The Pima Air and Space Museum.

Not that it isn't fine in its own right, but those expecting gastropub-style food might be underwhelmed. It appears much more like sports-bar fare - including numerous references to motorcycles on the menu, which screams sports or biker bar - and what decor there is looks like what one finds on the walls at a Famous Sam's. It has only been open a month though, so it's anybody's guess as to what the future may bring.

The beer selection is all the usual suspects - again, almost identical to what you find at a pub, not a gastropub - which seemed to be plenty to keep the almost packed house happy this Saturday. It appears the surrounding Continental Ranch neighborhood needed such a venue, and Jackson's Gastropub and Grille looks to be fulfilling that need just fine.

But as we basked in the bright glow of four enormous televisions tuned to ultimate fighting and the karaoke guy started warming up his gear, it felt so much like a sports bar that I wanted to run outside and peel the letters "gastropub" from the banner affixed to the exterior. With a few new letters one could rearrange the sign to say "sportsbar," which would be a better explanation of what's happening inside anyway.

Publishers of the book 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures, one of the books banned from the Tucson Unified School District's now dismantled Mexican American Studies classes, is offering 1,000 books to TUSD Mexican American Studies students:

It's been a pretty good eight months for Sean Getzwiller.

The former Tucson-area resident, who learned to play poker at the local casinos (as well as the underground games) while also riding the wave of the region's rising and falling real estate market, made his fourth deep run in a major tournament since June by finishing third late Monday in the World Series of Poker Circuit championship event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The $1,600 event, which began on Friday with more than 600 players, paid Getzwiller a little more than $89,000.

Though that money pales compared to the $611,000 Getzwiller earned for winning at World Series of Poker bracelet last June, yet another strong finish in a high-profile event helps solidify him as one of the top up-and-coming players in the game.

I'd like to say my limited interactions with Getzwiller taught me how to play as well as he does. Unfortunately, all I learned was how to throw a $1 chip from one table onto the other.

Some Love from A Lull on Vimeo.

You're in for double the fun at Club Congress' show tonight at 6:30 p.m. A Lull bring their winter 2012 tour to Tucson along with the band, Deleted Scenes..

There's something about A Lull that reminds me of Iron and Wine - and that's a good thing. The alternative-rock band uses softer vocals that blend in with their songs' melodies and varying rhythms. Here's what Ilene D. Palacios with Gozamos says about their album, Confetti:

The flavorful ingredients of this album are adventurous and diverse. There are elements of Ambient, Noise, Folk and Shoegaze all in an Experimental concoction. Each beautifully crafted song also contains complex layering of instruments and sounds, such as echoed pieces, industrial beats, fuzzy percussion and complicated harmonies. A Lull also music-ifies random sounds like breaking bottles, the crunch of garbage bags and what I think is an old ringing phone. The end of “Water & Beasts” seems to do opposite and use instruments to emulate an accidentally melodic printer rhythmically rolling out pages.

For more information, visit the Hotel Congress website.

According to an e-mail sent to all Pima Community College employees and faculty at 4:30 p.m. today, Chancellor Roy Flores announced his retirement at the end of the year.

Last year certainly wasn't the easiest for Flores, who faced strong criticism for ending PCC's open-enrollment tradition. As a result, the college lost the opportunity in October 2011 to host a White House Hispanic Community Action Summit when community members put pressure on the White House to change locations. (The Summit has been rescheduled the end of this month on Monday, Jan. 30, at Sunnyside High School. To register go to go.usa.gov/nj1).

In October 2011, Flores underwent triple-bypass surgery.

Along with the e-mail sent to PCC staff today, Flores included an attachment that detailed the college's accomplishments since he took charge of the college almost nine year ago.

Read Flores' letter and accomplishments after the jump.