Free Republic

One of the Washington D.C. snipers confessed to killing a man on a Southeast Side golf course four years ago, Tucson police said Friday. The confession from Lee Boyd Malvo on Thursday brings a sense of closure to Jerry Taylor's family, who for many years have believed that Malvo and fellow sniper John Allen Muhammad were behind the slaying on March 19, 2002. Taylor's daughter, Cheryll Witz, said she was ready to forgive Malvo for his crime. "I really do need to forgive him and I do believe he was brainwashed" by Muhammad, Witz said Friday. For several years, Tucson...

How would you rate the job the Tucson City Council has done this year? Good Fair Poor Undecided. They're all RATS except for the RINO mayor.

Is Target's 'illegal alien' costume offensive? Yes, and it should be removed. Yes, but it should remain on store shelves. No, it's all in good fun. No, some are just too politically correct.

They came with signs, T-shirts and petitions expressing skepticism, fear and anger. About 6,000 people descended Saturday on Tucson Electric Park for the Tucson Tea Party event, billed as "Tucson's Last Stand." The event kicked off with Tucson Tea Party organizer Trent Humphries expressing his own brand of hope for the future: "I love the smell of freedom in the morning." By 8:07 a.m., nearly two hours before the speeches began, the main parking lot of TEP was filling up. A random survey of one aisle found a car with a bumper sticker for limited-government advocate Ron Paul, next to...

Tea Party at Tucson Electric Park with pictures. J.D. Hayworth spoke while I was there as did Judge Andrew Napolitano and James T. Harris whipped things up near the end.

The parking lot of Tucson Electric Park filled quickly Saturday morning with Tucsonans eager to take part in The Tucson Tea Party. Organizers said they expected up to 10,000 people to descend on Tucson Electric Park for the rally to demand less government. Long lines of cars and a healthy crown of tailgaters Saturday morning made it clear organizers could get as large a turnout as they had predicted. “We’re normal, non-racist everyday Tucsonans who are very concerned about the direction our government is going, ” said Chris Bubany, a small business owner who was serving chile relleno and peanut...

At first I thought this article was a joke. I really thought that there was no way our government schools have gotten this bad. But I was wrong. Go figure. The Tucson Unified School District has decided to implement a two-tiered system for student discipline. One tier will be for blacks and Hispanics ... and the other tier will be for everyone else.

Mysteries in the MountainsA real-life Twilight Zone may exist in Southeastern Arizona near the Mexican border. by Ron Quinn May 15, 2003 Deep in the mountains close to the Mexican border, a mysterious place exists where time is altered at random. A joke? Not according to Ron Quinn. Quinn first submitted his stories to The Weekly's former editor, Michael Parnell, in November 2002. Upon his departure in January, Parnell passed them on to current Weekly Editor Jimmy Boegle. The Weekly staff decided to publish them; after all, they are quite compelling. Plus, Quinn's got some credibility; a life-long treasure hunter,...

The Tucson area Tea Party Coalition held a townhall healthcare meeting at Rincon High School in Tucson on Friday (August 28th). Over 1,000 people showed up at the event ... including one violent counter-protester. The ObamaCare supporter loudly interrupted the meeting immediately after a TPD officer thanked the group for always being civil and law-abiding at their events. The event protester shouted over our panelists incessantly and, when approached, hit one of the attendees in the face with his elbow. The man who was assaulted kept his cool and TPD promptly removed the protester from the auditorium. Two local TV...

The men arrived on troop trains that came in the night. They all wore heavy coats with a big P on the shoulder and they would be spending the duration of World War II at the prisoner of war camp in Florence. It was one of more than ten such camps in Arizona. Star filesThe view from the guard tower of the camp in 46. The first prisoners who arrived in Florence, about 70 miles northwest of Tucson, were Italian POWs. That was in May 1943. But, following Italy’s surrender in early September of that year, the prisoners were shipped...

28 year old Jesse Kelly of Tucson Ariz., a Republican seeking to boot Democrat Gabrielle Giffords from the U.S. House of Representatives. "If you're not going to get anyone's attention, you might as well not waste your time or money." “I'm tired of President Obama and the liberals who control Congress insulting us, calling us racist, and calling us a mob. I'm tired of their double-talk. I'm tired of their bait-and-switch shell games. I'm tired of being avoided by my public servants. They have forgotten that they work for us. ... “ Ronald Reagan once famously said, "Freedom is never...

"Send a warrior to Congress." "Does this look like a Rino?" In the battleground of American political power, candidates for office tend to use every weapon at their disposal to be heard above the din. Now, a U.S. Marine who helped lead the initial charge into Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein is taking that approach literally by brandishing his M-16 assault rifle in some eye-catching campaign fundraising ads. "I'm taking full credit for that," says 28-year old Jesse Kelly of Tucson, Ariz., a Republican seeking to boot Democrat Gabrielle Giffords from the U.S. House of Representatives. "If you're not going...

Here are some pictures from the rally at Gabriel Giffords' office in Tucson, AZ. Overview of the turnout FReepers Mountain Woman and Borax Queen My favorite. Tthese guys were really creative What else can you add to this? For all of the patriots that showed up and sweated today here's one for you And for all of you that showed us the "bird". Here's one for you

Hate crime against Jewish couple results in chemical cloud in Tucson, surrounding homes evacuated, FBI take over case Here's the link http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/local/tucson/tucson_chemical_cloud_08_02_2009

Unfortunately I myself was unable to make it to this protest, however, Tucson sure did itself proud with over 400 coming out to protest Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Friday! Check out the video of the Tucson Tea Party called Tucson Tea Party Protest July 17, 2009 At Gabby Gifford's office on youtube.

For those of you who have been following the acquisition of Southern Catholic College by the Legionaries of Christ, I’m sure that you will be glad to hear that resolution has finally come and Southern Catholic's future finally seems to be secure. Just yesterday (Friday, July 10) SCC's vice-president of academic affairs made the announcement that the school had indeed been acquired by the Legion of Christ, and that the last of the paper work had finally gone though. The full story is available at: Veritatis Praeco

There'll be no fireworks over A-Mountain this Fourth of July. The city has decided to scrap the holiday celebration , which included the mountaintop fireworks and related events at the Tucson Convention Center Downtown. Canceling the event will save the city at least $51,000, Asst. City Manager Richard Miranda said in a news release Wednesday. Rodney Campbell, spokesman for Marana, expects the town will benefit. "I'm sure we'll get more people" he said, noting that the town suspected Tucson would cancel and has taken that into account for planning. Campbell said it will be great for the Marana businesses in...

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI - News) today said it will cease print publication of the Tucson Citizen. The Citizen will continue operating its web site, www.tucsoncitizen.com. The last print edition of the Citizen will be published on Saturday, May 16. “Dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy – particularly in this region – mean it is no longer viable to produce two daily printed newspapers in Tucson,” said Bob Dickey, president of the U.S. Community Publishing division of Gannett. “We are pleased that the Citizen’s web site will continue its role as a place for a...

<p>A mild desert breeze was blowing and early morning daylight filled the air as I headed for downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was easy to spot the I-10 downtown exits, because they have all been blocked off by major construction for some time. (You have to get off before them.) I did so and found my way to an underground parking lot where a nearby elevator rose to El Presidio Park, site of the Tucson Tax Day Tea Party. It was about 6:30 am.</p>

Tucson Tea Party Official Music Video by Jadi Norris.

About 2,000 Tucsonans celebrated Tax Day by protesting how those tax dollars are being used by the federal government. The Tucson Tea Party, part of a string of hundreds of protests held throughout the country Wednesday, served as a chance for citizens to voice their displeasure with the various bailout and stimulus plans generated by President Barack Obama’s administration.

Tucson's skies will see some extra military jet traffic from mid-April to early May. A dozen F-16 fighters are coming to town from Texas for two weeks of training at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft and aviators, from the 149th Fighter Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, will be here as part of Operation Snowbird, a training program for U.S. military pilots and those from allied nations. The program provides pre-deployment practice in desert and mountain terrain, simulating conditions the pilots may encounter during missions overseas. The sight of F-16s isn't uncommon in Tucson. The 162nd Fighter Wing, an...

James r (cactus Jim): You guys are 8 years too late in your protest. It was the bungling Bush administration that now makes the spending of trillions of MORE dollars necessary. Anything else is just Hooverville economics. Robert M (DowntownTtown): In many ways this is correct, and in others is it wrong. The Bush administration certainly passed many huge entitlement bills as well as federal mandates. We also cannot forget that he started the first round of stimulus packages and bailouts. However, the economic catastrophe is much more complex and cannot be completely blamed on one person. That would be...

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday to keep a local punk rock band from continuing to use a photo of a slain Tucson police officer for its album cover. “I guess the bar for common decency is pretty low these days, isn’t it,” U.S. District Court judge David C. Bury said before issuing the restraining order. Bury told two members of the group Awful Truth that the photo, which was published in the Arizona Daily Star on June 2, 2008, is protected by the Copyright Act of the United States and therefore cannot be used without permission....

Fed up with the socialist agenda? Ready to take action toward restoring our country to its founding principles? We need to start in our own backyard. This is a call to FReepers in Southern Arizona - Tucson- Sierra Vista - GreenValley area who may be interested in meeting to introduce ourselves, brainstorm, blow off some hot air and get organized. We need to turn our words into actions - posting of FR is fine but it is no longer enough. Lets get organized and develop a plan of action. Who is willing to take the next step?

"My country has let me down." That's the assessment of an Arizona rancher who was sued by six illegal immigrants he detained on his property and turned over to the Border Patrol in 2004. On Tuesday an eight-member federal jury in Tucson threw out the claim brought by the six illegal aliens that Roger Barnett violated their civil rights when he detained them at gunpoint on his ranch nearly five years ago. The panel also ruled against the plaintiffs' claims of battery and false imprisonment. But the jury did find Barnett liable on four claims of assault and four claims...

In the story of the emperor with no clothes, it took someone whose observations are rarely heeded -- a child -- to point out the obvious fact that no one else could acknowledge. In the case of drug policy, it takes people who are usually ignored by Washington policymakers -- Latin Americans -- to perform the same invaluable service. Last week, a commission made up of 17 members, from Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa to Sonia Picado, the Costa Rican who heads the Inter-American Institute on Human Rights, did nothing but admit the truth: The war on drugs is a...

A number of witnesses have come forward to describe remarkable sighting of a UFO in the vicinity of the city of Tucson, Arizona. The UFO is being described as classic saucer shaped with red glowing lights. The craft was spotted on the evening of 11 February 2009. One witness was sitting and watching television with her husband, a former Airman, and her daughter when she noticed a UFO through a large glass sliding door that looks out towards the Tucson Mountains behind her backyard.The witness described the object as disc shaped with non-strobing red lights at its front and rear....

A Tucson, Arizona homeowner alerted of an impending home invasion by his security cameras, armed himself and took matters into his hands when four armed suspects attempted to break into his home last week. In the surveillance video you see a vehicle pull up, and four men run out. One of them is carrying what appears to be an AR-15 or M-16, a weapon which could be fully automatic. The robbery happened in broad daylight. All the action was caught by the homeowners outdoor surveillance system. “The victim was able to get back inside his house, close his door, semi...

Marching for Life in Tucson - 2009 The sun was shining brightly as I traveled dusty Interstate 10 to downtown Tucson, Arizona in the early morning of January 17, 2009. Like this time last year, I was headed for the historic St. Augustine’s Cathedral of Tucson that was built in the 1860s. The 2008 Tucson March for Life was well attended, and this year looked even more promising. A sense of doom seems to hang in the air when 50 million souls are memorialized, yet there is also a spirit of optimism and hope. The March for Life has...

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) today said it is offering to sell certain assets of the Tucson (AZ) Citizen. If a sale is not completed by March 21, 2009, Gannett said it will have to close the newspaper. "The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976 and we deeply regret having to take this step. But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy - particularly in this region - mean it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson," said Bob Dickey, president of the U.S....

TUCSON, Ariz. - Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in the country, will close the Tucson Citizen if it does not find a buyer for certain assets owned by the paper by March 21. Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett U.S. Community Publishing, made the announcement in a brief meeting with employees Friday. "The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976, and we deeply regret having to take this step," Dickey said. "But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy _ particularly in this region _ mean it is no longer viable for our partnership...

On Tuesday morning, Santa came wearing fatigues to a family that was hurting badly. It's the first Christmas that 16-year-old Derreck Burruss won't be here. And it's just days away from the Jan. 5 anniversary that marked the death of the high school sophomore, who was walking home from watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks" when he was shot at a bus stop near Park Place mall in a botched robbery. The year has tested his family's strength. Burruss' mother, 34-year-old Lakia Culver, the sole breadwinner, supports Burruss' four younger siblings and her mother, who is coping with diabetes and uses...

A bicyclist reported seeing something on the underpass sidewalk wrapped in duct tape with wires sticking out of it. Investigators believe it was a real explosive device.

This is so offensive to the dignity of the human person! Instead of attempting to cure the cause of people's ills, some are attempting to nullify the inconvenience these people cause to the rest of society: Folks at downtown's Ronstadt Transit Center on Tuesday afternoon had a way to make a quick $300.The only stipulation was that the people be drug addicts or alcoholics who agree to long-term birth control.The group Project Prevention, started by Barbara Harris in 1997, has so far paid more than 2,800 men and women across the nation..... Acceptable long-term birth control includes tubal ligation,...

By Michael Webster, Syndicated Investigative Reporter Early this month U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Tucson, Ariz. sector and agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were again fired upon with what appeared to be military type automatic weapons by Mexican drug smugglers dressed in military garb. Agents after observing a Flatbed tow truck on the Mexican side of the U.S. Mexican border backed up to the new international border fence. According to witnesses the tow truck backed up on a newly constructed earthen dirt berm which put the truck almost even with the height of the fence. The tow...

World War II hero David "Davey" M. Jones — one of the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders — died Tuesday in Tucson at the age of 94. Jones, a University of Arizona alumnus, retired from the Air Force as a two-star general in 1973 after a long and decorated military career. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and numerous other honors. He was one of the raiders who used B-25 bombers to hit targets in Japan in April 1942, a few months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. "Medium bombers had never been flown from a carrier, and sailing...

To troops downed in combat, few sights are sweeter than the approach of military rescuers. In a few weeks, Tucson will be at the center of efforts to speed up that lifesaving process. Personnel from around the globe will converge at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12 for the largest rescue exercise of its kind. The effort, dubbed Angel Thunder, will involve the U.S. Army and Air Force, troops from Germany, Chile, Colombia and observers from Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Pakistan. Several non-military U.S. agencies such as the State and Justice departments, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency...

Today was the first Sunday back for the congregation at Streams in the Desert Lutheran Church after a brutal assault on their building. Council member Justin Richert says their Midtown facility was damaged last week. He says it was the custodian who discovered windows smashed, posters burned, flowers uprooted, broken beer bottles and a water fountain kicked in. Richert says the most disturbing destruction was to a statue of Jesus. "We got a statue of Christ that was knocked over, decapitated and burned. They stole his head and his hand. It's intolerable and it's unbelievable the amount of anger and...

In Tucson this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (10/05/2008 to 10/07/2008) various events are scheduled to support the Crisis Pregnancy Center in the "2008 Share in a Life Fundraising Event." Sunday night was a great lunch at the Doubletree Inn. Scheduled to speak on both Sunday and Monday was Hugh Hewitt, the famous radio personality, lawyer and author. Michael Medved is the featured speaker for Tuesday, October 7th. Even though Hugh Hewitt's flight was down between Phoenix and Tucson, Hewitt rushed to a ground vehicle and zoomed to Tucson where he was only a little late. Hewitt's speech was great in...

The Big Orange A beautiful Arizona dawn was breaking as I loaded my truck with troop supporting signs and headed for inner city Tucson. My destination was the Military Recruiting Center at 2302 E. Speedway. It was Wednesday and the weekly face off between those protesting and those supporting US troops was approaching. Troop Supporter / Marine Veteran Frank was already on the scene along with several others. This was no ordinary Wednesday. It was September 10, 2008 and the seventh anniversary of a notorious and cowardly terrorist attack was at hand. Last year on 9/11 about 25 to...

The actions of Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia at a protest last month against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are "under review" after top county officials were flooded with complaints. Garcia, who is active with the immigrant rights group Derechos Humanos, participated in a protest at a signing event at a Barnes & Noble bookstore promoting a book by Arpaio, who has a national reputation for anti-illegal-immigrant raids and tough jail conditions. Videos posted on YouTube show Garcia picking up the head of a piñata representing Arpaio after several teenagers smashed it, and carrying around the head. Photo:...

Close To You Summers in Tucson, Arizona can be pretty hot, and so can political passions. But sometimes the level of political rhetoric can go beyond passionate, beyond vitriolic and even beyond reason. Yet it was with a cheerful heart that I pulled up to 2302 E. Speedway on a bright Wednesday morning on July 30, 2008 at about 7:00 am. The weekly mission? Support the troops, counter anti-recruitment protesters and stand up for America. The regular weekly troop supporters were mostly set up when I arrived at the Tucson Military Recruiting Center strip mall but I was able...

Unhinged in Arizona: Open-borders mob, led by public official, ravages Joe Arpaio effigy By Michelle Malkin • July 15, 2008 03:34 PM Scroll down for updates…Jon Justice has more… Reader Tim C. in Tucscon sent me an e-mail about some completely unhinged open-borders activists who mobbed a book event for Sheriff Joe Arpaio. A group of young pro-illegal alien protesters repeatedly beats an effigy of Arpaio as Isabel Garcia–local reconquistadora and an official from the Pima County legal defender’s office–eggs them on. She then parades around with the effigy’s head as onlookers cheer and hoist up the rest of the...

Tucson open-borders official gloats about effigy-beating By Michelle Malkin • July 16, 2008 12:45 PM [See Picture at link--Oyarsa] Tucscon residents remain up in arms over the unhinged open-borders mob, led by reconquistadora Pima County (AZ) public defender Isabel Garcia, who beat and tore apart an effigy of tough, anti-illegal immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio at his recent book tour event. See the videos here in case you missed it yesterday. Garcia is now gloating about the incident–calling it “funny.” She has posted a bigotry card-playing response at her militant website, Derechos Humanos. Laugh line: “We stand for the principles of...

Selling damaged vehicles. Breaking rules. Calling cops on customers who complain. A Tucson car lot managed by ex-convicts did all those things and now is under state investigation for unlawful business practices. Regulators are probing reports that the dealership sold a wrecked vehicle that was legally unfit to drive, and that staffers repeatedly put inaccurate vehicle information on state records, violating Arizona law. Wildcat Mitsubishi, 5200 E. Speedway, has been under state scrutiny since the Army banned local soldiers from buying cars there and at Wildcat's sister dealership, Ideal Automotive Group, 645 S. Highway 92 in Sierra Vista. The May...

'Why would any rational human being sign up for this?" The question came up the other day as we discussed one of our public affairs staff sergeants possibly separating for a job in the private sector. There was a certain ease and even a slight euphoric relief about the conversation. He had opted to stay with us. He re- enlists Monday. The question was posed by our senior master sergeant — a man who has re-enlisted multiple times over his distinguished 26-year career. In the last few days, our staff sergeant had been really torn. Like most of us, his...

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE — In the early 1940s, Art Benko of Bisbee was trained at this airfield, which was then out in the desert near Tucson. Benko was a top turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II and would become known as the top bomber gunner in the Army Air Force. His exploits included the downing of seven Japanese planes on one mission over then-French Indochina. On May 22, officials at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will dedicate the installation’s fitness and sports center in honor of Tech. Sgt. Art Benko. Honoring Benko sits well with...

In the four years that Master Sgt. Tony Roy's electronic combat unit has been deployed, he's spent nearly two years away from home. Roy is one of roughly 140 airmen based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base who have been constantly at war since March 2004, deploying several times to provide electronic cover to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the 55th Electronic Combat Group hop back and forth from combat zones to Tucson for months at a time, coming home only long enough to retrain, regroup and head back.

Last Sunday at dusk, Bill McManus thought the dog padding toward him on the Ventana Canyon Trail in the Catalina Foothills looked like a golden retriever. Then he realized it was a mountain lion. Halting 40 feet away, the lion would not yield the popular trail. The 41-year-old hiker yelled and banged his walking stick on rocks, but the big cat did nothing more than lie down beside the trail and watch him. "It acted more like a dog or somebody's pet than a wild animal," McManus recalled. "That's what concerned me the most — that it wasn't afraid of...