February 28th, 2016 from Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel on Vimeo.

On this week's episode of Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel: Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik comes by the set to talk about the city budget, the proposal to require private employers to provide sick time to the their workers and more. Then we talk with former public defender Joel Feinman, who wants to challenge Pima County Attorney in this year's Democratic primary. And then international correspondent and UA School of Journalism professor Mort Rosenblum talks about the state of reporting on foreign affairs, the reputation of the United States around the world and more. 

Tune into the show at 8 a.m. Sunday on the CW Tucson, Channel 8 on Cox and Comcast and Channel 58 on Dish, DirecTV and broadcast. Listen to it at 5 p.m. Sunday on community radio KXCI, 91.3 FM. Or watch online above.

Here's a transcript of the show:

(Nintzel) Hello, everyone. I'm Tucson Weekly senior writer Jim Nintzel, and we're here to talk Zona Politics. Joining me on the set today is Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik Councilman Kozachik is in his second term representing Midtown Ward 6. Thanks for joining us here on Zona Politics.

(Kozachik) Happy to be here, Jim. Thanks.

(Nintzel) Now one of the things that you've been concerned about recently relates to water issues and you've raised concerns at the Governor's Water Augmentation Council doesn't have enough representation from the environmental community. What is going on there?

The latest news on the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts [aka Vouchers on Steroids] vouchers-for-everyone bill is that it's stuck in the House, temporarily at least. Republican leadership postponed debate on HB 2482. They know the Democrats are against it, but the problem is, some Republicans are concerned about it as well. So until they can scare up the needed votes—and I use the term "scare up" advisedly—the bill is on hold.

But I want to bring up one more thought on the ramifications of offering vouchers for all Arizona children, using a post by Richard Gilman from his Bringing Up Arizona website, an excellent place to go for information and ideas about the state of Arizona education.

I mentioned earlier that the greatest beneficiaries of the vouchers-for-all bill are people of means. The ESA voucher for an average student is between $3,500 and $5,000 a year, not enough to pay tuition and expenses at most of the better quality private schools but plenty to give upper middle class and wealthy parents a way to lower their tuition costs on the taxpayer dime. In his post, Gilman covers another aspect of the bill: that it will encourage shady operators to create private schools on the cheap, lure in the children of unsuspecting parents, then pocket as much voucher money as they can. That's what happened, by the way, when Washington, D.C., offered private school vouchers. A similar problem arises whenever there's a rapid expansion of charter schools. A few years back, for example, horror stories were coming out of Florida about the unsafe conditions and nearly complete lack of education at a number of charters.
Here's Richard Gilman's take.

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

Psst, want to make a quick killing? Go into the school business with me. The state’s making it just too good to pass up.

They’re going to put well over $3,000 of taxpayer money in every kid’s backpack, tell his parents nothing more than he needs to get instruction in reading, grammar, mathematics, social sciences and science, and send him out to spend the money on whatever “education” provider he chooses.

Here’s the best part. All you and I have to do to collect this kid’s check is call ourselves a “school,” set up an Arizona address, and accept every child who walks through the door regardless of his race, color, or national origin. And believe me, we’re going to want to lift the money off of any and every of the little snot noses even if they come from New Zealand.

That’s all we have to do. No, really. That’s all there is. We don’t need accreditation or certification or any of that other education crap. You’re no educator, and neither am I. But what difference does that make? The state couldn’t care.

All we need right now is for our buddies in the Legislature to pass this bill they’ve got making tax money available to every kid.

Well, it's Oscar weekend. Are you boycotting the telecast because of the white-washing issue? Eagerly looking at the nominations and making predictions? Feeling completely behind schedule because apparently it's already March next week—and who has time to watch all of 2015's big deal movies, anyway?

Whatever you're feelin' right now, we're here (just like every week) for you with the list of Casa Video's Top 10 most rented films. 

Take a night off, enjoy yourself and watch some films. Here's what your neighbors are renting:

1. Ted 2

Talking Points Memo editor and publisher Josh Marshall sizes up last night's GOP's fustercluck of a debate and declares Trump the winner:

The two senators had an almost impossible task - landing a decisive blow against a player who has been entirely impervious to decisive blows and is simply a better debater than either of them. The need to land that decisive blow created a series of visuals, set pieces and mini-dramas in which they gave their absolute all to take him down and inevitably failed. On balance, that made them look small and confirmed the pervasive impression of his strength and their weakness. They're being crushed by a guy who by any normal political calculus is a joke.

In virtually every instance, Cruz or Rubio would launch some slashing attack, often both of them in succession or even at the same time only to see an unflappable Trump raise his index finger to the moderator, wait his turn and calmly slap his attackers down and reiterate his basic mantra. 'I'll make us great. I'll win. I'm winning. We'll win.' Since Cruz is a bit shorter than Trump and Rubio is substantially shorter than Trump, the visual, with Trump in the center, often had the look of one of those old Bugs Bunny or Popeye cartoons where one tough guy is holding two runts at bay with outstretched arms to both sides.

Toward the end of the debate, even Cruz and Rubio seemed to lose their enthusiasm for the fight. The attacks degenerated into arcane discussions of Supreme Court jurisprudence between Cruz and Hugh Hewitt, whether John Kerry is worse than Hillary Clinton and arguments over the 2004 election. It was like overhearing a Federalist Society meeting at a cigar bar - all completely irrelevant to the politics of the moment.

During the debate and during the infomercial-esque Chris Cuomo interview after the debate, Trump said again and again that he was enjoying himself and that his opponents were losing badly. These are perhaps the most credible things Trump has ever said.

Robert Kagan, a veteran of the Reagan administration, blames Trump on the GOP's eight years of pandering and obstruction:

Let's be clear: Trump is no fluke. Nor is he hijacking the Republican Party or the conservative movement, if there is such a thing. He is, rather, the party’s creation, its Frankenstein monster, brought to life by the party, fed by the party and now made strong enough to destroy its maker. Was it not the party’s wild obstructionism — the repeated threats to shut down the government over policy and legislative disagreements; the persistent call for nullification of Supreme Court decisions; the insistence that compromise was betrayal; the internal coups against party leaders who refused to join the general demolition — that taught Republican voters that government, institutions, political traditions, party leadership and even parties themselves were things to be overthrown, evaded, ignored, insulted, laughed at? Was it not Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), among many others, who set this tone and thereby cleared the way for someone even more irreverent, so that now, in a most unenjoyable irony, Cruz, along with the rest of the party, must fall to the purer version of himself, a less ideologically encumbered anarcho-revolutionary? This would not be the first revolution that devoured itself.

Then there was the party’s accommodation to and exploitation of the bigotry in its ranks. No, the majority of Republicans are not bigots. But they have certainly been enablers. Who began the attack on immigrants — legal and illegal — long before Trump arrived on the scene and made it his premier issue? Who was it who frightened Mitt Romney into selling his soul in 2012, talking of “self-deportation” to get himself right with the party’s anti-immigrant forces? Who was it who opposed any plausible means of dealing with the genuine problem of illegal immigration, forcing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to cower, abandon his principles — and his own immigration legislation — lest he be driven from the presidential race before it had even begun? It was not Trump. It was not even party yahoos. It was Republican Party pundits and intellectuals, trying to harness populist passions and perhaps deal a blow to any legislation for which President Obama might possibly claim even partial credit. What did Trump do but pick up where they left off, tapping the well-primed gusher of popular anger, xenophobia and, yes, bigotry that the party had already unleashed?

To Greg Berger, reporter and filmmaker with the Mexico-based Narco News, there is no such thing as neutral journalism. There never has been and there never will be.

He runs The School of Authentic Journalism out of Cuernavaca, Morelos, about an hour from Mexico City. It's pretty much the only program in the world that founds itself in the collaboration that burns between media outlets and social movements. The Tucson Weekly's very own editor, Mari Herreras, is an alumni.

"Those of us who have practiced journalism of any kind, believe in supporting social movements and democracy from below," Berger says. "Stories have a big impact with what happens with [a] movement; how movements grow, who is attracted to it, how it gets defined in the court of public opinion."

Berger's voice lights up when he speaks about the school and what it contributes to journalists, social advocates, and the audience overall, around the world. Through the years, the school has trained hundreds of people from the U.S., Latin America and as far as Egypt. 

The school was founded in 2002. Since the inception, it's had shaky finances—as many grassroots programs that do not rely on corporate money do. The school has had its share of big donors and little donors. It went into a hiatus from 2004 until 2010, which is when the school got a major boost from donors. But that money's been invested, and last year was the first time after that six-year recession that the school created a Kickstarter campaign to rely on. 

In the next few days, the school needs everyone's help more than anything. They are trying to raise $30,000 to host its 2016 program.

They are not quiet half way there, with roughly $13,000 and seven more days to go. The deadline is March 4. It makes Berger nervous, but all he can do is keep pushing. If anything, his passion for what he does fuels the hustling mind.

"We have people doing freestyle rap battles on the streets of Mexico City to raise money for the school, people hosting brunches in New York," he says. Berger's is a New Yorker by birth. He's lived in Mexico for more than a decade now. "We don't just want money from people, we want to bring people into the stories we are doing."

Help the school out and be a part of a movement that pushes for pure, humanistic journalism. 

Visit the school's Kickstarter page. Anything counts.

Mexrrissey, the new project featuring the Mexican Institute of Sound and Tucson's Sergio Mendoza covering Morrissey's songs, is set to drop No Manchester next month. Here's the first video from the album.

Old Pueblo thrifting-gem Desert Vintage will host a three-day winter sale starting tomorrow, Feb. 26 at their store located at 636 N. 4th Ave. 














Expect deals 20 to 50 percent off normal pricing and lots of cool, Vogue-esque vintage finds. Get a feel for Desert Vintage's fashion aesthetic online here, or check out their Instagram page. 

Mexico native Pablo Gracida-Conte died at the age of 54 of heart disease while incarcerated at the Eloy Detention Center five years ago. His condition was treatable, but it took four months for Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff to get him medical treatment, even though he had repeatedly requested it upon entering the detention center. 

During his 142-day stay in detention, he complained of ongoing health issues. He'd vomit nearly after every meal and suffered extreme upper abdominal pain.

Gracida-Conte had a difficult time communicating with Eloy staff because he mostly spoke Mixteco—an indigenous language from the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. Although there were telephone interpreters available to facilitate the community, staff never accessed one. 

His repeated cries for help were ignored.

In October 2011, Gracida-Conte became the 10th person since 2003 to die while apprehended at the Corrections Corporation of American-run Eloy Detention Center.

But there's a pattern here.

Hank Stephenson at the Arizona Capitol Times has another blockbuster exposé on House Speaker David Gowan: The Sierra Vista Republican had to refund more than $12,000 in bogus expenses that he billed the state. Stephenson's report:

Arizona House Speaker David Gowan last month repaid the state more than $12,000 for mileage reimbursements he claimed for trips that he took in state vehicles and for days he claimed to work but did not.

Gowan repaid the travel reimbursement money after the Arizona Capitol Times published a Jan. 8 article detailing the increase of state fleet vehicle use by top Republican lawmakers and their staff. The speaker declined to comment on the issue.

House Republican caucus spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said after the Capitol Times published its investigation into Gowan and other lawmakers’ use of state fleet vehicles, the speaker instructed House staff to comb through his personal mileage reimbursement claims and cross reference those records with his fleet vehicle use to look for any travel reimbursements.

Read the whole thing here.

The report comes on the heels of Stephenson's earlier report that Gowan was cruising around Congressional District 1 in a state-issued car at the same time he's running in the district in a crowded six-way primary. Coincidentally enough, he decided to pay back his ill-gotten gains just days after Stephenson's report was published.

Gowan has built his reputation on the notion that he's a small-government conservative who made the "tough choices" to cut K-12 spending and university support, as well as slash programs that provide kids with health insurance, prevent child abuse and help low-income Arizonans afford food. But he'll now be known as a grifter who helped himself to as much government largesse as he could. He's taken George Washington Plunkitt's dictum to heart: "I seen my opportunities and I took ’em."