Republican Jim Deakin, who has joined J.D. Hayworth in challenging U.S. Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary, stops by Arizona Illustrated to chat with Bill Buckmaster. He says he'd filibuster Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court until the border is secure.

In The Arizona Republic, Barry Wong talks up a proposal he wants to bring up if chosen by voters to return to the Arizona Corporation Commission: If you're an illegal immigrant living in Arizona ... no power, water, natural-gas or phone service for you.

The Range is tired of this anti-immigration campaign strategy.

Wong made an unsuccessful run for the office in 2008; let's see if this works for him this year:

One immigrant advocate quickly cast the statement as political posturing, a bid for votes in an election season already charged by the immigration issue. But Wong insisted he has a financial motivation.

"There is a cost ratepayers shouldn't have to bear because of the illegal-immigrant population," Wong said.

Although the Corporation Commission elections are usually mired in arcane policy discussions, the state's hot-button immigration debate has now twice found its way into the 2010 campaign. This time, the discussion could lead to action.

When the Los Angeles City Council voted in May to boycott Arizona over its new immigration law, Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce, who is running for re-election, sent a sarcastic letter to the LA mayor suggesting his city stop taking power from Arizona power plants. It was an empty threat because Arizona regulators can't shut off power to Los Angeles.

But if Wong were elected, it would take only his request to begin a study of the idea and put the issue before the commission. And it would take two other votes on the five-member board to implement such a proposal

Congressman Raul Grijalva has joined with three colleagues—Reps. Michael Honda, John Conyers and Alan Grayson—to issue a challenge on funding for the war in Afghanistan:

It is disingenuous to say the president’s request for more Afghan war funding is an “emergency” supplemental. The only “emergency” is this: In funding the longest war in history, we are forcing America to borrow more from China, expanding the deficit, increasing wasteful government spending, undermining our budgetary process, risking Social Security and cementing governmental debts that military leaders call our number one national security threat.

The Iraq Study Group argued in 2006 that the government should stop funding the wars with emergency supplemental appropriation bills that avoid budgetary restrictions. Last year, President Obama pledged to stop these off-budget gimmicks to hide the cost of war. Last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, cited debt as the number one threat to America’s national security. This week, Republican leader John Boehner stated, “We need to look at the American people and explain to them that we're broke,” proposing to cut Social Security to pay for the war.

Our challenge: if you oppose deficit spending, debt dependency on China, cuts to Social Security, and are concerned about a debt-threat to our national security, then oppose this supplemental war funding request.

If you're like many local foodies, you're wondering why May's Counter Chicken and Waffles (2945 E. Speedway Blvd.) isn't open yet, despite numerous reports that it would be by now.

John Foster, who is opening the restaurant with Phoenix chef Aaron May, says he had to push back the opening after his furniture delivery was delayed. The eatery was initially expected to open in late May, but that date was pushed back to Sunday, June 20. However, that date has come and gone, and the restaurant has yet to open.

Foster said he's currently on schedule to open by August. He expects to start hiring and training employees in about three weeks.

A number of bars and restaurants that agreed to sell a special beer to raise money for a local charity took the beer and never coughed up the money.

The beer, Father Joe’s Penitential Ale, was brewed by Barrio Brewing Company to raise money for Caridad de Porres, which provides hundreds of thousands of meals each year to hungry people across Southern Arizona.

It sounded like a sweet deal: Every pint sold would provide about four meals for the hungry. A number of local restaurants signed on; advertisements were purchased in local papers; both the Tucson Weekly and the Arizona Daily Star wrote about the fundraiser.

But when officials tried to get the $500 each restaurant pledged to donate for a keg of the beer, a number of them didn’t pay, said Burt Nehmer, president of the board of directors for Caridad de Porres.

The fundraiser was expected to raise about $100,000. Nehmer said it ended up raising about $14,000.

Nehmer did not want to mention the names of those who failed to fulfill their pledges, saying only that he’d “hate to have to answer to God for that one.” Businesses that fulfilled their pledges include Barrio Brewing Company, Gentle Ben’s, Pastiche Modern Eatery, Kingfisher, Buddy’s Grill, the Bamboo Club, the Dish and TD’s East.

TD's East actually paid up before the beer was sold, said Nehmer. They also put “Father Joe Is Here” on their marquee, which got Nehmer in a fix with Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanis.

Nehmer, however, is undeterred. His organization is currently selling Father Joe’s Frownies, a decadent chocolate brownie, at local churches to raise money for Caridad de Porres, which is sorely in need of funds.

The charity has had to scale back its efforts since mid-2008, when the housing crisis and other national financial woes dried up the flow of donations. The charity currently serves about 10,000 meals a month, down from the 15,000 it once served.

Nehmer is also looking at another round of fundraising beer, but said this one will be canned and sold at stores.

This letter was recently sent to Gov. Brewer by the the League of Resident Theatres, which refers to itself as "the largest professional theatre association of its kind in the United States, with 76 member Theatres located in every major market in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia. LORT Theatres collectively issue more Equity contracts to actors than Broadway and commercial tours combined."

Dear Governor Jan Brewer,

The League of Resident Theatres held its semi-annual Meeting at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson from May 5 — 7, 2010. Representing over 50 of the country’s most respected professional theatres, the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) has enjoyed holding its Meeting in Tucson three times over the last ten years.

In light of the recent passing of SB1070, the LORT membership convened to discuss a response to the abhorrent bill that you recently signed into law. It was agreed that ideally the correct response would have been to cancel the Meeting, withholding any dollars spent in the State of Arizona. Unfortunately, the timing of your signing this bill into law coincided with the Meeting and a cancellation would have left one of our member theatres, Arizona Theatre Company, wholly liable for the contract they had signed with the Tucson resort. LORT felt it unfair to burden your State Theatre with this financial obligation.

As a group, however, we felt a response to this Anti-Immigration Law was necessary.

We condemn this law. We have taken and will be taking the following actions:

Individual members who were staying over the weekend to enjoy Tucson and the surrounding area were encouraged to cancel their plans and return home or plan a getaway in a neighboring state;

Individual members attending the Meeting were encouraged to spend as few ancillary dollars as possible on any leisure activities, including golf, spa treatments, meals out and the other leisure activities Arizona is known for;

The LORT Meeting will not take place in Arizona again as long as this law is in place.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords tells Fox News' Greta van Sustren that nobody should be boycotting Arizona and says she opposes a federal suit against SB 1070.

The latest from Live Theatre Workshop's Etcetera series, Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle, opens tomorrow night, Thursday, July 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. theater.

This show features the LTW's best. First, it's directed by Kristi Loera, LTW's executive director, and the cast includes City High School student Lucille Petty (who was absolutely amazing in company's production of Picnic), and other LTW favorites: Stephen Frankenfield, Michael Martinez, Richard Gremel, Shanna Brock, Michele Loera, Christopher Johnson, Amanda Gremel and Danielle Dryer. The play continues through July 17, on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call 327-4242 for reservations.

Here's a bit on the play:

Lucy, a four year-old girl with an extremely overactive imagination, has produced her first imaginary friend - Mr. Marmalade. Unfortunately, Lucy's hectic and abusive home life is reflected in her creation, resulting in an invisible companion with a cocaine addiction and a severe problem with leaf-blowers and pornography. With the help of her friend Larry (the youngest suicide attempt in the history of New Jersey) Lucy sets out to divorce Mr. Marmalade as her imagination becomes more and more violent, desperate and adult. A smart and funny black comedy about navigating childhood in these bizarre and difficult times.

Sounds like a late-night treat.

The first taste of a beer that’s been aged for six months in a Kentucky bourbon barrel will be available this Friday.

Jason Schneider, the general manager of Thunder Canyon Brewery, says the first of two kegs of bourbon-barrel-aged Warhead Stout will be tapped at 4 p.m., Friday, July 2. He said the specialty beer is hotly anticipated by local beer connoisseurs.

“The beer-drinking demographic has developed and grown to where they want to drink and experience different things,” said Schneider. “Actually, they demand it.”

The brew boasts an alcohol content of 12 percent and a rich flavor imparted by the wooden cask that has been its home for the past half-year. It will only be served in 10-ounce glasses, which will sell for $5.50 each.

Schneider says the beer will soon be available on a regular basis.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Buz Mills has reported spending $3,193,369 on his gubernatorial campaign through June 28.

That's certainly a stimulus for the TV stations that are running his ads, but it's not doing much for him, according to last week's polls.