Hourly Update

Tucson braces for sold-out Michael Moore speech tonight

What do filmmaker Michael Moore and the Wildcat basketball team have in common? Both can pack McKale Center to the rafters. Moore's speech this evening at McKale is sold out, the University of Arizona announced. The last of the 14,500 tickets for the event were sold on Sunday, 19 days after they went on sale. Moore's speech, part of a political speaker series organized by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, comes a day before President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry visit Tempe for the last of three presidential debates. Moore is the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," a critical look at the Bush administration and its response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Fans call the film a sobering documentary; critics dismiss it as political propaganda. Doors for the event open at 5:30 p.m. Seating is general admission and ASUA director Fernando Ascencio is urging anyone who wants a floor seat to arrive early. To counter Moore's appearance, UA College Republicans have booked conservative columnist Ann Coulter for a campus appearance Oct. 21. Coulter writes a column for Universal Press Syndicate, is legal correspondent for Human Events, a conservative publication, and a frequent panelist on current-events TV shows. Last week, Tucson author and Moore critic David Hardy told a crowd of nearly 300 that the film maker is a "self-promoter who makes P.T. Barnum look shy." Hardy, a Tucson attorney and a one-time Libertarian candidate for Pima County attorney, is author of the book "Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man."