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Tucson City Council approves license for UA to sell beer, wine at McKale Center

Beer and wine may soon be available to fans during Wildcat basketball games at the UA's McKale Center.

The Tucson City Council on Tuesday night gave its blessing 5-1 to a new liquor license at the center for the University of Arizona, clearing one of the last bureaucratic hurdles so that beer and wine can be sold during basketball games. Councilman Steve Kozachik did not vote on the license because he works for the university. Councilwoman Regina Romero was the lone no vote.

Approval from the City Council came after some discussion and some light horse-trading, with city officials securing pledges that the sale of alcohol would be voluntarily stopped after the first time out during the second half of a game.

While the council has signed off on the new series five liquor license, it still needs to be approved by the Arizona State Liquor Board.

University officials said they hope to start selling alcohol early next year after getting final approval from the state liquor board. 

While no date for the liquor board approval has been set, officials expect the item to go before the board in a few weeks. It is unclear whether the holidays may further delay when it gets on the agenda.

The university already sells alcohol at city-owned and off-campus Hi Corbett Field for baseball games as well as at hockey games at the Tucson Convention Center. 

University officials have stated they are looking to sell beer and wine at sporting events due to numerous requests from fans.

They are not, however, considering selling beer at football games at this time.

Deaths in Southern Arizona

The deceased are from Tucson unless otherwise noted.

Bart, Roy, 87, printer, Nov. 11, East Lawn Palms.

Bartlett, Frederick, 59, heavy equipment, Nov. 26, East Lawn Palms.

Beebe, Stacey, 47, volunteer, Nov. 24, East Lawn Palms.

Bland, Columbus, 84, compliance officer, Nov. 3, East Lawn Palms.

Bramblett, Phoebe, 70, teacher, Nov. 20, East Lawn Palms.

Cabot, Laura, 57, homemaker, Nov. 7, East Lawn Palms.

Casey, Audrey, 84, Nov. 21, Avenidas Cremation Burial.

Childress, George, 90, carpenter, Nov. 21, East Lawn Palms.

Clark, Maria, 65, nurse, Nov. 28, East Lawn Palms.

Claytor, Alex, 83, civil servant, Nov. 18, East Lawn Palms.

Dikman, Roswitha, 79, nurse, Nov. 1, East Lawn Palms.

Enriquez, Manuel, 81, sales, Nov. 6, East Lawn Palms.

Faccio, Marcia, 78, administrative assistant, Oct. 30, East Lawn Palms.

Firth, Annette, 90, homemaker, Oct. 30, East Lawn Palms.

Frank, David, 73, attorney, Nov. 25, East Lawn Palms.

Franklin, Linda L., 77, homemaker, Dec. 4, Desert Sunset.

Gimbel, Si, 74, teacher, Nov. 19, East Lawn Palms.

Hedberg, Charles, 85, electronics, Nov. 22, East Lawn Palms.

Lauderdale, Florence, 93, administrator, Nov. 5, East Lawn Palms.

Lee, Kay Hocchi, 86, homemaker, Nov. 11, East Lawn Palms.

Magaletti, Josephine, 89, teacher, Nov. 6, East Lawn Palms.

Middlestead, Frances, 89, homemaker, Nov. 8, East Lawn Palms.

Moreira Cruz, Pedro, 21, Nov. 5, East Lawn Palms.

Padilla, Minnie, 94, homemaker, Nov. 19, East Lawn Palms.

Poston, Carolyn, 89, accountant, Nov. 16, East Lawn Palms.

Rahmani, Aliasghar, 70, engineer, Nov. 7, East Lawn Palms.

Ross, Wanda, 79, secretary, Nov. 9, East Lawn Palms.

Scheick, Donald, 87, engineer, Nov. 20, East Lawn Palms.

Townsend, Margaret, 85, nurse assistant, Nov. 13, East Lawn Palms.

Vega Diaz, Amparo, 62, homemaker, Nov. 10, East Lawn Palms.

Wallace, Lorraine, 85, inspector, Nov. 1, East Lawn Palms.

Weight, Jeanne, 70, marketing, Nov. 7, East Lawn Palms.

Wood, Steven, 63, manager, Nov. 1, East Lawn Palms.

AZ Supreme Court censures JP Aboud for "highly inappropriate" behavior

A Pima County justice of the peace has been censured by the Arizona Supreme Court for what some say was an attempt to cheat on a test for new judges and others say was a practical joke gone awry.

During January’s orientation for new limited-jurisdiction judges, recently elected Democrat Paula Aboud swiped an assessment and answer key from her mentor, Phoenix Municipal Court Judge James Sampanes, who witnessed the incident. Aboud, a former state senator, claims her actions were a prank, according to a response to the charges filed in late April. She did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. A fellow justice of the peace who was present testified that she also believed the incident to be a prank.

Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Lawrence Winthrop heard the case in mid-September. He ruled Aboud’s actions violated three rules of the code of judicial conduct, one of which requires judges to “be patient, dignified, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, court staff, court officials, and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity,” according to a release Tuesday from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Another states that judges “shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”

Winthrop cited as aggravating factors in his decision that Aboud’s “highly inappropriate” actions “eroded public confidence in the judiciary” and that she “failed to concede that her actions even arose to the level of a code violation.”

“Her manner and demeanor while testifying conveyed irreverence for the proceedings, including her flippant response that an appropriate sanction would be for her to be ‘forced’ to teach ethics’ at (the new judge orientation),” the ruling went on to say.

The commission adopted Winthrop’s findings and recommendation, which includes ordering Aboud to take additional ethics training and cover the costs of the proceedings.

The ruling does not affect her judgeship, according to a commission official.

Tucson weather: Rain, freezing temps and fire conditions

Scattered showers will be possible this afternoon, mostly to the east and south of Tucson, as a storm system leaves the area.

Much cooler temperatures are getting closer to the Tucson area, with widespread freezing possible for locations east of Tucson from Thursday night into Friday morning.

And just to keep things interesting, a Fire Weather Watch is also in effect for Western Pima County tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., as low relative humidity and gusty winds may create critical fire conditions.

High: 70

Low: 46