A live debate between the 3 candidates running for the vacant CD 8 Congressional seat will beheld on May 23 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Rd. (north of Dodge Blvd.) The organizers are asking the public not to arrive before 6 p.m. due to parking issues. Complimentary tickets for admission will be issued starting at 6 p.m. for the 500 people allowed inside the ballroom. Injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords resigned from this seat in January of this year.

All 3 candidates Ron Barber (D), Jesse Kelly (R) and Charlie Manolakis (G) will be participating. The MC for the evening will be radio talk show host Bill Buckmaster of the Buckmaster Show (high noon on weekdays on KVOI AM 1030) . Bill was a TV talk show host on “Arizona Illustrated” on KUAT Channel 6 for 23 years.

This debate is sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Jewish Community Center, and will also be broadcast live on KVOI AM 1030 Tucson and KAPR AM 930 Douglas.

Click here for my previous blog about the CD 8 debates (with photos and campaign websites).

If you don’t want to attend the debate, with want to listen to it with other “liberals”, Drinking Liberally is hosting their weekly meeting with a radio to listen on KVOI. They meet at The Shanty at 6 p.m., 401 E. 9th St. (NE corner of 4th Avenue).

The latest voter registration as of 3/1/12 for CD 8 (parts of Cocise, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz Counties) from the AZ Sec. of State’s website:

Democrats: 133,571
Greens: 852
Libertarians: 2646
Republicans: 159,200
Americans: 27
Others: 128,242

Ron Barber has been endorsed by the Tucson Weekly (click here), and The Arizona Republic (click here). Early voting for this special general election started on May 17, 2012.

The person elected on the upcoming June 12 special general election will only serve out the remainder of Giffords’ term till January, 2013.

Reminder: June 12 special general election is coming up for CD 8 House race to replace injured Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who resigned from her office on January 25, 2012. Early voting starts next week on May 17, 2012.

Who’s running:
Ron Barber (D), former Tucson District Director for Congresswoman Giffords (5 years), former State Director of AZ Division of Developmental Disabilities, www.ronbarberforcongress.com, political newcomer

Jesse Kelly (R), project manager of family construction firm, former Marine, Republican nominee for CD 8 House in Nov. 2010 (lost to Giffords by 4156 votes), www.votejessekelly.com

Charlie Manolakis (G), community activist, political newcomer, former Democrat turned Green on March 12, 2012; website under construction?

Two debates coming up between these candidates:

–May 16, Arizona Public Media (AZPM) Arizona Illustrated, on PBS-HD Channel 6, 6 to 7 p.m.
all 3 candidates will be debating,
simulcast on the radio NPR 89.1 FM

If you have any questions for the candidates for the AZPM forum, submit them by going to this link (click here), and by giving your name & city you live in.

–May 23, hosted by Arizona Daily Star & Tucson Jewish Community Center (TJCC),
at the TJCC Ballroom , 3800 E. River Road, 7 p.m.,
all three candidates are scheduled to attend.

This debate will aired live on KVOI AM 1030 Tucson and KAPR AM 930 Douglas. 1030 AM Radio talk show host Bill Buckmaster (www.buckmastershow.com) will be the MC for the evening.

If you want to submit questions for the May 23 debate, send them to politics@azstarnet.com and include your name, phone number, address. Deadline is May 21.

An earlier May 14 debate, hosted by Vail Academy High School has been cancelled via their Facebook page:

Unfortunately, VAHS was unable to secure all three candidates therefore we are canceling the debate scheduled for May 14th. Thank you for all of your support and apologies for the inconvenience; oh, and by the way, the Class of 2013 is already working on the upcoming General Election.

My understanding on that Vail Academy HS debate was that Kelly and Manolakis agreed to participate, but Barber declined.

View separate interviews of each CD 8 House candidate previously done by AZPM reporters:

Ron Barber:http://www.azpm.org/yourvote/story/2012/4/25/184-cd8-democratic-candidate-ron-barber/

Jesse Kelly:http://www.azpm.org/yourvote/story/2012/4/25/182-cd8-republican-candidate-jesse-kelly/

Charlie Manolakis: http://www.azpm.org/news/story/2012/4/27/1454-cd8-candidate-charlie-manolakis/

Vote wisely on or before June 12.

Ron Barber

Jesse Kelly

Charlie Manolakis

Over two years ago Sue Parker, librarian at Himmel Park Branch Library decided to start up a Senior Games program (age 50 plus) for patrons interested in getting together and socially playing games such as chess, checkers, rummikub, scrabble, etc. I suggested we play Chinese Mahjong, which I play at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, but which I also learned back in Hawaii decades ago from Japanese-American friends on the Big Island. Sue had never played Mahjong before, but she was willing and enthusiastic to learn.

(This program is also an offshoot of the now defunct Sam Hughes Cares for Seniors program which I founded in 2005, in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood, where the library is located).

Two years later, we have taught numerous Seniors (and some younger friends), and now have 3 regular tables of four players each – patrons, neighbors, visiting “snowbirds”. Some of these Seniors learned American Mahjong style first (utilizing pre-printed cards), which is being played at the Tucson Jewish Community Center and Oro Valley Library, as well as taught at Oasis on River Road.

Know anyone interested in learning Hong Kong Simplified style or other games, please contact librarian Sue Parker at at 520-594-5305, or just show up on Mondays, 12 noon to 3 p.m. at Himmel Lbrary’s large meeting room, 1035 N. Treat Ave. (SW corner of E. 1st St.) No Senior Games when the library is closed for holidays. (Incidentally Himmel is the oldest branch library, built in 1961).

The lead teacher is now MJ Talbot, a Chinese-American immigrant from Hong Kong, assisted by myself, and Sarah Stephenson, who used to live in the People’s Republic of China. We are all members of the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Rd., phone 520-292-6900, which promotes Chinese culture and history.

More about Mahjong (sometimes spelled Mah jongg) read wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong. The version we play uses 144 tiles, but other versions (such as the Hawaiian style) uses 4 more, including animals – cat, rat, chicken, & worm. It is a game of luck and skill, similar to rummy, where you have to match sets of 4 grouping of three (or sometimes four) tiles, plus a pair of two tiles to attain “mahjong” & win. A Mahjong set (in a case) can cost about $50 or more (pictured below).