Children’s Museum in Oro Valley To Offer Private Family Visits as a Fundraiser
The Oro Valley branch of the Tucson Children’s Museum launching a fundraiser that will allow families to have play time in the museum by themselves for a donation fee. The program, called Oro Valley Outing, is intended to allow families to have a fun and enriching time away from the home while staying safe from…
Now Stream This: When Good Animators Go Bad
Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story I’m a major Ren and Stimpy Show fan. Love the first two seasons to death. Not crazy about what happened after its creator, John Kricfalusi, left the series; he didn’t make it past the second season. The quality dropped off in a big way. Also, I’m not…
Call for Entries: Make a Movie for the Watershed Management Group’s Monsoon Film Fest
The Watershed Management Group is hosting their first Monsoon Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 24, and is currently seeking film submissions from the public. The virtual Monsoon Film Festival is planned to share audience stories and perspectives from the Santa Cruz Watershed and beyond. Videos can be submitted to one of five categories: – By…
Tucson Grant Fund Gets Over $1M for Immigrant Financial Relief
The City of Tucson’s We Are One | Somos Unos Resiliency Fund recently received a $1.25 million donation to provide financial relief for Tucson’s immigrant communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The donations, from the Open Society Foundations and an anonymous donor, will provide funds to immigrants living in the City of Tucson and the City…
Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Ruling Tossing Invest in Ed Prop off November Ballot
The Arizona Supreme Court will allow the Invest in Education initiative to appear on the November 2020 ballot after it was previously tossed out by a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge, who ruled its petition summary was “fraudulent or substantially confusing to Arizona voters.” The initiative proposes a 3.5 percent surcharge in state income tax…
UA Launches ‘Covid Watch’ Virus Notification App
The University of Arizona has announced it is employing a new app where students, faculty, and staff who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 can anonymously notify others who may have been exposed. The COVID Watch app is available on Google and Apple devices, and is “able to calculate a person’s level of exposure risk by…
Arizona teacher gets turn in spotlight, as Democrats officially nominate Biden
When it came time for the Arizona delegation to announce its votes for the next Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday, the job fell to middle school teacher Marisol Garcia. Who spent much of her allotted 30 seconds in the national spotlight talking about the reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was part of an unorthodox…
Navajo president speaks at convention as one of Democrat’s ‘rising stars’
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is one of 17 Democratic “rising stars” from across the country who have been tapped to share the job of delivering the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. The speakers will deliver their addresses virtually to the convention, which has been forced mostly online because of concerns…
Local Fire Districts Will Receive Funding for COVID-19 Expenses
If the multiple wildfires that flared throughout Arizona this summer didn’t already strain fire districts’ resources, the COVID-19 pandemic surely did. The virus outbreak has incurred costs on fire districts ranging from overtime pay for firefighters who cover for their sick co-workers to replacement costs for equipment that was contaminated by COVID-19, according to Pima…
Arizonans share health care struggles in Democratic convention speeches
When Arizona native Kristin Urquiza wrote her dad’s obituary after his June 30 death from COVID-19, the Democratic National Convention was probably the furthest thing from her mind. But that’s where Urquiza found herself Monday night, telling a national audience that her dad’s “only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid…
Trump visits border for second time since June; Democrats blast visit
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump was in Yuma Tuesday for the second time in as many months to inspect construction of the border wall that he said has “closed up the border,” reducing the flow of drugs and migrants. The visit came the same day that delegates to the Democratic National Convention were expected to…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Wednesday, Aug. 19: Total Cases Top 195K; Pima County Cases Top 20K; Pima County Says Virus Remains Too Widespread for Schools to Reopen; Pop-Up COVID Testing Today at Tucson Rodeo Grounds
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 195,000 as of Wednesday, Aug 19, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 20,047 of the state’s 195,557 confirmed cases. With 105 new deaths reported today, a total of 4,634 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 19…
Claytoonz: Demon Pillows
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Pima County Delays Permit Fee Increase for Restaurants
The COVID-19 pandemic has financially impacted a lot of economic sectors, but local restaurants remain one of the hardest hit sectors and they continue to struggle as Arizona and the larger United States fight to control the spread of the virus. Because of this, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to delay a…
Pima County Health Department: Schools Remain Unsafe To Open
As Gov. Doug Ducey celebrates a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases across the state, the Pima County Health Department has interpreted the data more conservatively and is cautioning local school districts against bringing students back to campus. According to the county’s nine metrics based on local public health data, the current COVID-19 situation is too…
Hispanic Democrats identify Arizona as a battleground state in 2020 elections
WASHINGTON – Arizona was identified by Democrats Monday as one of six battleground states for this fall’s election, a status that state lawmakers said has been 10 years in the making. “We have about 10 years of Latino activism resistance that has been going on … and we have created this environment in Arizona,” that…
Westridge Fire Burns 2,000 Acres In Tortolitas
A wildfire is burning southwest through the Tortolita Mountains parallel to Cochie Canyon Trail Road near the Dove Mountain area. The 2,200-acre Westridge Fire ignited on Monday, Aug. 17 and has since spread along the mountainous ridges through the desert brush. According to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, air and ground forces…
Cellphone Data Shows How Las Vegas Is “Gambling With Lives” Across the Country
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. When it comes to COVID-19, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. Las Vegas casinos reopened June 4, and they have become a likely hotbed for the spread of the novel coronavirus,…
UA Researchers Design Solar Desalination, Waste Purification
A team of University of Arizona scientists is developing a solar-powered desalination system that uses less energy and could provide more water for arid regions like Arizona. Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Department of Energy, the system recovers water from the “concentrated waste streams” formed from other types of desalination like reverse osmosis.…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Tuesday, Aug. 18: Total Cases Closing in on 195K; Trump Coming to Yuma Today; Pop-Up COVID Testing Today at Sunnyside High
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 195,000 as of Tuesday, Aug 18, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 19,976 of the state’s 194,920 confirmed cases. A total of 4,529 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 18 report. The number of…
City of Tucson To Provide $4.5 Million in Rental Assistance Grants
The City of Tucson has allocated $4.5 million of federal CARES Act funding for an emergency rent and utility assistance program available to city residents. To be eligible for the financial assistance, participating renters must have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the household income cannot exceed $68,400. One application will be accepted…
Claytoonz: Only Fascism
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Internal Memo Shows Trump Administration Expects Drastic Drop in Demand for U.S. Visas for Years to Come
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The Trump administration is predicting years of dramatically reduced international demand for U.S. visas, and planning for drastic budget cuts to visa services worldwide as a result, according to an internal memo seen…
Missing you: High school football programs face safety and money woes in COVID-19 era
PHOENIX – High school athletic directors and football coaches are eager to kick off the season – assuming the season even happens – but the COVID-19 pandemic likely means no fans in the stands, tough safety protocols for players on the field and tighter budgets for high school sports. That could lead to cuts to…
ICE Guards “Systematically” Sexually Assault Detainees in an El Paso Detention Center, Lawyers Say
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Guards in an immigrant detention center in El Paso sexually assaulted and harassed inmates…
Slow COVID-19 test results prevent effective contract tracing, health expert says
PHOENIX – Arizona has failed to conduct robust contact tracing, which was considered a vital tool to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and proved effective in other parts of the world, public health experts say. And it’s not just Arizona. Contact tracing has “largely failed in the United States” because of long waits for test…
Miss Navajo Nation is a ‘glimmer of hope’ for community during pandemic
PHOENIX – After winning the title of Miss Navajo Nation in September, Shaandiin Parrish immediately got to work on the cultural preservation and advocacy efforts central to the role. At times, she attended five or more events in a single day, traveling across the 27,000-square-mile reservation to speak to elementary school students and attend conferences.…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Monday, Aug. 17: Total cases top 194K; More Unemployment Dollars Coming to Some Out-of-Work Arizonans; Tucson Offering Grants to Residents Affected by Outbreak; Pop-Up COVID Testing Today at Rillito Racetrack
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 194,000 as of Monday, Aug 17, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 19,743 of the state’s 194,005 confirmed cases. A total of 4,506 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 17 report. The number of hospitalized COVID…
Claytoonz: Say All Their Names
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Now Stream This: A Doc Heavy Week at The Loft
The Loft is bringing on the documentaries good and strong this week, with four of their five new streaming films being of the documentary strain. There’s also a Shakespeare adaptation in there for good Measure (pun intended). To stream via The Loft, you can visit their website by clicking here. Represent Hillary Bachelder’s documentary follows…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 Roundup for Friday, Aug. 14: Total Cases Top 191K; Pop-Up Testing in Green Valley Today; Tucson Offering Grants to Families Affected by COVID
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 191,000 as of Friday, Aug. 14, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 19,164 of the state’s 191,721 confirmed cases. A total of 4,423 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 14 report. The number of hospitalized COVID…
Claytoonz: White Authority On Blackness
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School-to-prison pipeline has deep roots in tangled history of tribal schools
PHOENIX – In the early 1930s, Robert Carr, a member of the Creek Nation, was expelled for “incorrigible behavior” from Chilocco Indian Agricultural School near the Kansas-Oklahoma border. By the time he was 21, Carr had been incarcerated in three different institutions. He died in a Kansas state prison where he was held for stealing…
City of Tucson provides $3 million in grants to local workers and families
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Tucson received about $95 million from the federal CARES Act. Mayor Regina Romero and the city council members recently approved $3 million of that funding to be distributed to local workers and families that have been negatively impacted by the crisis. The grant program, named the…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 Roundup for Thursday, Aug. 13: Total Cases Top 190K; Pop-Up Testing in Marana Today; In-Person School on Hold Until Spread of Virus is Under Control
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 190,000 as of Thursday, Aug. 13, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 19,001 of the state’s 190,794 confirmed cases. A total of 4,383 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 13 report. The number of hospitalized COVID…
Claytoonz: Pootie Juice
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No Foolin’
State judge blazes the legal challenge suggesting that recreational weed effort was misleading to Arizona voters.
Southern AZ COVID-19 Weekly Roundup
What was covered this week
Tucson Salvage
A tale of two service workers
The Skinny
Last week’s primary set the stage for the November election.
Tax Break
Archaic tax code kills growth in cannabis industry, opens markets to foreign companies
