Crazy Curve gets Creative for Melrose Community Garden Project
The Seventh Avenue Merchants Association needs your help to make a community garden possible in the Melrose District. The Association has applied for a $250,000 grant from Pepsi Refresh.
The grant money, with additional help from Clear Channel Communications, will create a community garden on what is described as a weed infested lot at the corner of 7th Ave and Montecito—the heart of the ‘m7 Curve.’ The design for the garden combines community input and talent from the ASU School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
So far, the garden is doing well in voting, but not well enough to win. Out of 1341 ideas on the Pepsi site, the graden has been hovering around the rank of 140. It has to be either 1 or 2 to win the $250,000. The competition is tight and only a few votes separate the garden from the top two places.
The key to success lies with you and others who can vote on the Pepsi grant website. You can take action now and use the following link to vote for the Melrose Community Garden. Remember you can vote once per day between now and May 31st. In addition, pass the word on to their friends any family, wherever they may live. If they have a computer with internet access, they can vote.
Click Here to VOTE for the Melrose Community Garden Project or use the following link: http://www.refresheverything.com/M7project
12:17 PM
Buz Mills: I'm a "real man"
We’re deeply indebted to Heat City for this screen shot of a Buz Mills campaign mailer:
Mills’ campaign manager, who, by the way, is also a woman, denied the flier was meant to be sexist and blamed the poor word choice on a mix up at the print shop. Camilla Strongin told the Guardian the mailer should have said it’s time to hire “a real leader” for the job.
Brewer is the third woman in a row – and the fourth in Arizona history – to occupy the governor’s office.
7:17 AM
PHXations—Saturday, May 29
The BBC catches wind of the ‘Dora the Illegal’ meme that has been circulating through the various social media sphere’s:
For almost a decade, the doe-eyed cartoon heroine has been one of the most prominent Hispanic characters on children’s television in the US. Her TV show has spawned a global empire, with her smiling face appearing on everything from lunch boxes to computer games. But as the controversy over illegal immigration has intensified, Dora has been drawn into the political debate.
[…]
The Dora police mugshot was originally created last year by Debbie Groben of Sarasota, Florida, for a contest on the fake news site FreakingNews.com.
More on Mayor Gordon’s slush fund
“It’s troublesome to me (that) people are basically writing checks to the mayor for his discretionary use,” said Fred Solop, chairman of the department of politics and international affairs at Northern Arizona University.
It raises lot of questions, he said: “Under what auspices is the money raised? If there was purpose, who is governing that?”
Another celebrity obit (New York Times):
Dennis Hopper, whose portrayals of drug-addled, often deranged misfits in the landmark films “Easy Rider,” “[Apocalypse Now]”(http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/2675/Apocalypse-Now/overview)“ and “Blue Velvet” drew on his early out-of-control experiences as part of a new generation of Hollywood rebel, died Saturday at his home in Venice, Calif. He was 74.
The cause was complications from metastasized prostate cancer, according to a statement issued by Alex Hitz, a family friend.
Hopefully the celebrity deaths won’t overshadow the remembrance of the true heros this weekend: our Veterans.
Phoenician spend an average of $33 a month on coffee. More than San Francisco, Denver or Tucson. (HT Chris Tingom)
AZCentral.com reports on another example of our state’s misplaced priorities:
Neighborhoods in 10 locations around the Valley would get more relief from freeway noise under a $26 million plan that could begin later this year.
The Maricopa Association of Governments and the Arizona Department of Transportation plan to build or replace noise walls along freeways in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Peoria and other parts of the northwest Valley.
6:23 PM
NYT weighs in again on musicians and SB 1070
It’s the lede story in the arts section today:
[T]he new law has galvanized Latino artists and performers not just in Arizona, but across the country and the hemisphere.
“Mexican-Americans are not going to take this lying down,” the singer Linda Ronstadt, an Arizonan of Mexican descent, said at a news conference in Phoenix last month. The Colombian singing star Shakira flew to the state last month to denounce the law as “a violation of human and civil rights” and met with Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix and other opponents of the legislation; but she has not signed the Sound Strike pledge.
In a telephone interview from Miami, the Colombian folk-rock singer Juanes, who has joined the boycott, said: “I’ve performed in Phoenix many times, and it’s sad that I’m not going to be able to play there. But from the moment I heard that this bill had become a reality, I felt offended and also that I had to stand in peaceful solidarity with our immigrant brothers who are being made the victims in this.”
The story also takes note of a little noted issue; there was already a de facto boycott of Arizona:
It is not clear, however, to what extent commercial considerations may also have figured in those decisions. Mexican regional music performers, managers and booking agents said business was suffering even before Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law. They ascribed the decline to what they called a longstanding practice by Arizona law enforcement authorities, especially Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, of stopping fans coming out of arenas, clubs, rodeos, fairs and cantinas that they think will attract illegal immigrants.
Hispanic leaders and human rights groups contend that the authorities do not dispatch similar “crime suppression sweeps” to rock and country music concerts. Michael Nowakowski, who is both a vice mayor of Phoenix and general manager of Radio Campesina, a Spanish-language radio station, said that even Latinos who are American citizens or green card holders are afraid to attend music or theatrical events
Mr. Gutierrez said, “It’s a purely racial, Hispanic thing, ethnic profiling at its worst.”
12:27 PM
Today's march headed toward the state capitol
The Republic estimates the crowd at 10,000:
The throng of people banged drums, chanted slogans asking President Barack Obama to intervene and waived American flags as they made their way toward downtown Phoenix. Organizers were scattered throughout the protesters picking up trash and providing water to the marchers as the day got progressively hotter.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., the first of the protesters reached the Capitol after the long march from central Phoenix. A stage is set up in the middle of the Capitol complex where speakers will address the crowd in a post-march rally.
Arizona Capitol Times is covering the march, too, but ups the crowd-size estimates considerably:
Tens of thousands of protesters, composed of activist groups and unions from around the country, marched from Indian Steele Park in mid-town Phoenix on their way to the state Capitol May 29, trying to send a message to state and federal politicians: Repeal Arizona’s new immigration law.
1:05 PM
The Sheriff Joe Piñata—and other photos from the Alto Arizona March
Our photographer on the scene is Diane D'Angelo.
CNN, incidentally, is saying the march and rally attracted “up to 50,000.”
The Republic is still saying “more than 10,000."
5:04 PM