Barely two weeks since the shooting in Connecticut, and without surprise, we're no longer any closer to resolving our differences on assault weapons and why the NRA exists in its current incarnation. But according to the Justice Policy Institute, any strategy to avoid future tragedies of this magnitude, going the route of putting cops or armed guards in schools may cause other problems:
The increase in the presence of law enforcement in schools, especially in the form of school resource officers (SROs) has coincided with increases in referrals to the justice system, especially for minor offenses like disorderly conduct. This is causing lasting harm to youth, as arrests and referrals to the juvenile justice system disrupt the educational process and can lead to suspension, expulsion, or other alienation from school. All of these negative effects set youth on a track to drop out of school and put them at greater risk of becoming involved in the justice system later on, all at tremendous costs for taxpayers as well the youth themselves and their communities.
Yep, they have a report.
Tags: Justice Policy Institute , gun violence , NRA , armed guards , Connecticut shooting , will we ever come to our senses
Before our annual Heroes issue goes the way of time, and our Year in Review hits stands this week, I was thinking about heroes I didn't get a chance to write about.
Once a year we think about a group or person we want to include in the issue, and it made sense to focus on Caroline Isaacs with the American Friends Service Committee and her work exposing and educating Arizonans on the private prison industry. We've written about the issue in the past, and we plan to write more in the future — but it never seems enough.
In this coming issue, I highlight 2012's headlines on Tucson Unified School District, such as Mexican-American studies, special education and desegregation. Objections to parts of the deseg proposal are filed and now, like the case in front of U.S. District Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima on the state's anti-Mexican-American studies law, Tucson waits for U.S. District Court Judge David Bury on the desegregation plan.
The past few months have been difficult for many people who support the return of MAS. As tensions continue to rise, besides suggesting some deep breaths and doing that thing your mother may have mentioned long ago—you know, wait three minutes before you open your mouth (just a suggestion)—why not take a moment to give thanks to Sylvia Campoy.
We've talked to and pointed out Campoy in our coverage on the TUSD desegregation case and her work as the Mendoza representative with Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund attorneys in the decades-old lawsuit, Fisher-Mendoza v. TUSD.
Despite what some may think, Campoy has been involved in the deseg case defending the education of all children in TUSD, as well as Mexican-American studies and changes needed for English Language Learners. This past year, Campoy has had to listen to a lot of false accusations or chisme spewed in an effort to discredit her work — what's been distressing is that that gossip has come from all sides.
Campoy and the attorneys at MALDEF deserve credit, thanks—and if you see them in town, a few hugs wouldn't hurt either. We don't know what Judge Bury's final decision will be on the different areas of the deseg plan, including if MAS will return as most MAS supporters hope it does (with core credit classes in Chicano literature, history and government with Chicano perspectives), but that doesn't mean Campoy isn't a hero.
I imagine that once Bury decides on the deseg plan and the objections before him, Campoy's work on the correct implementation of a desegregation plan in TUSD continues. I wouldn't expect anything less of a hero.
Tags: Sylvia Campoy , desegregation , A. Wallace Tashima , David Bury , Mexican-American studies , MAS , ELL , English Language Learners , MALDEF , Mexican American Legal Defense Fund , Video
I have received word that Cafe Poca Cosa's patio, which we reported on here, is open ahead of schedule. Seems it all came together quickly, and there's even a space heater in place for your comfort. Check it out for lunch or dinner at 110 E. Pennigton St.; you can call ahead at 622-6400.
Tags: Downtown Dining , Cafe Poca Cosa , Al Fresco , outdoor patio , downtown tucson
When former Tucson Unified School District candidate Betts Putnam-Hidalgo stood before the TUSD board at the last special meeting for the closure and consolidation vote on Thursday, Dec. 20, she brought up a recent radio interview with newly elected board member Cam Juarez.
On KVOI's Buckmaster Show with Bill Buckmaster, Juarez said, "You have a different perspective once you are privy to a lot more information." Juarez explained further that he had access to a little more information from TUSD than he had as a candidate, he changed his mind and understood that school closures had to happen for the district close in on its projected $17 million deficit.
"If they don't happen now they will have to happen in the near future. One way or another it is going to be a difficult thing to do," Juarez said.
But what was special about the information Juarez was provided as opposed to the information provided the public through the series of meetings, public hearings and school master plan?
That's what Putnam-Hidalgo asked the board at the Dec. 27 special meeting, especially since the criteria for school closures didn't fit near-high performing schools on the closure list like Brichta and Sewell This past fall, at a TUSD candidates forum in front of a 700 people at El Casino Ballroom (see above video), Juarez and other newly elected board member Kristel Foster both talked about "not closing schools," but then changed their minds — at least according to the interview on the Buckmaster Show.
"What ever that information is, we need it," Putnam-Hidalgo told the board, referring to Juarez's mention of being privy to information they didn't have before when they were running for school board.
You can listen to the Buckmaster interviews with Juarez and Foster here.
The interviews, coupled with the final vote on the closures, have given the incoming board members a public-relations hill to climb in the eyes of the Internet and social media:
In our interview with board member Adeltia Grijalva, she said she intends to bring that vote back up before the board during the Jan. 8 meeting when there is a majority board in support of MAS — Grijalva, Foster and Juarez.
Maybe, it's what Juarez referred to in his Buckmaster interview as the time "to start the healing process."
It's time to figure out "how to heal from school closures, how we're going to deal with deseg plan ... we can't afford to lose anymore students. If we lose more students we definitely have to close more schools in the future."
Foster, in support of MAS, said in her Buckmaster interview, "I am going in as a supporter. When you put all the politics aside, the data still stands."
"We have to rebuild our image, our trust, bring the community back to our schools. We have to bring our board and community together."
For some in the community, it means this new board has a lot of work to do, and a lot to prove.
Tags: Kristel Foster , Cam Juarez , Betts Putnam-Hidalgo , TUSD , Tucson Unified School District , school closures , Mexican-American studies , MAS , Mark Stegeman , Adelita Grijalva , Michael Hicks , John Pedicone , Video
The Not So Real Reality Show - Joe Schmo Is Coming
Get More: The Not So Real Reality Show - Joe Schmo Is Coming
Although the show has seemingly been wiped off the pop culture map (there are very few clips on YouTube and episodes aren't available on any of the streaming services to my knowledge), the two seasons of the Joe Schmo show were among my favorite television experiences. I'm entirely sure that's a great thing to admit, considering the show was essentially an exercise in torturing an unsuspecting regular person (hence the title) by placing them inside a fake reality show where everything is scripted and the rest of the cast are actors (Kristen Wiig was one of the cast members during the first season). Still, I watched every episode, laughing uncontrollably at the reactions of someone trapped inside a televised world where everything has seemingly gone mad.
After nine years, the show is coming back, this time as a fake game show to find America's next bounty hunter (sure) and Lorenzo Lamas is among the contestants (OK, why not?). I generally assume that the cable network Spike's programming schedule consists of one constant marathon of Deadliest Warrior, so now I'll have a reason to figure out what channel it occupies on my cable lineup by January 8th.
Tags: joe schmo , joe schmo third season , spike , dan gibson makes bad tv choices , Video
Merry Christmas, Weekly Rangers—even if you don't happen to celebrate this particular holiday, we hope that you'll spend some quality time with your friends, family and loved ones.
Feel free to grab some coffee or hot chocolate, gather 'round our yule log GIF and chat in the comments with your favorite internet family—even the ones you can't normally stand.
We've got a few things to share today, and we'll be back at full force tomorrow.
Thanks for coming by, folks. Have a great day.
Tags: merry christmas , happy holidays , yule log , peace and civility
This is traditionally the time of year when news outlets, facing slow news days (aside from the occasional terrifying mass shooting, of course), throw together trend stories about holiday shopping.
The Los Angeles Times isn't immune to this trend—though they went the extra 480-some-odd miles for this one, venturing to check out the consumer relationship between Tucson and Mexico, pointing out that Mexican consumers account for roughly 5% of Pima County sales tax revenue and noting that officials are working to bring that number up.
From the L.A. Times:
Faced with political backlash from the state's tough illegal immigration laws and increasing efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, local officials have tried to mitigate the long border lines and bad perceptions with grass-roots public relations.They've met with Mexican officials, trained local retailers in Mexican culture and even created a half-hour Tucson tourism television show for more than 200,000 cable subscribers living in Mexican border states. Their aim? To banish the perception that Arizona is unwelcoming or hostile toward Mexicans.
"We really need that customer to come here," said Felipe Garcia, executive vice president of the visitors bureau.
An estimated 24 million Mexicans visited Arizona in 2007 alone, according to the most recent University of Arizona study. Of those, about 2.7 million visited the Tucson region and spent about $976 million in Pima County. Tourism officials think those numbers have continued to rise.
Check out the full story at latimes.com.
A woman in Louisiana, with assistance from the ACLU, has won the right to keep her Christmas display up: A string of multicolored lights arranged to look like a hand giving her neighbors the finger.
From the Associated Press, via SFGate.com:
Sarah Childs was in a dispute with some of her neighbors in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, so she decided to send a message with her decorations. Neighbors complained and police threatened to arrest her, so she and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sued the city.A judge ruled in her favor Thursday.
"I imagine it will be back up before too long," ACLU of Louisiana executive director Marjorie Esman said of the display.
Childs erected the lights on her roof last month. She has removed them twice — once after a police officer told her she could be fined and again after another officer threatened to arrest her, her lawsuit said.
Since we're a family publication (we consider ourselves the cool cousin of Tucson's extended family of news publications; you can make your own comments about the Star's role in this metaphor) and it's the holidays, we're including the photo, courtesy of the UK's Daily Mail, after the jump.
Tags: merry christmas , good will toward men? , louisiana , sarah childs , louisiana , middle finger , christmas lights
Maybe on a holiday rum punch, but certainly not 'nog.
As alluded to in the headline, we're going to be taking it easy today and tomorrow, enjoying time with our family and friends. We'll be back, full-force on Wednesday.
Tags: announcements , takin' it easy , merry christmas eve , holiday relaxation
Guess what? Wayne LaPierre made his first public appearance since Friday's total debacle of a press conference and yeah, he's not going to give an inch on any sort of gun control or restrictions. Meet the Press' David Gregory actually seemed irritated by LaPierre's stubbornness, getting into it with the NRA head over regulating high-capacity magazines.
Also, if you were wondering if LaPierre recognizes the cognitive dissonance of claiming that armed guards would stop school shootings even though Columbine had one on duty in 1999...nope, he's not bending on that either. Sigh.
Tags: wayne lapierre , nra , meet the press , columbine massacre , gun control , david gregory , Video