Cover Story
Zooming Out
A transition from summer camp to distance learning centers: Nonprofits offer space for overwhelmed families
Last Week To See “Stolen” Sculpture at Hacienda del Sol
Ever wanted to see a 6-foot-tall, over 200-pound work of art that someone thought was so beautiful they decided to steal it? The recently stolen and recovered metal sculpture known as Angelica is back on display at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort’s inner courtyard from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Saturday, Sept. 12.…
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Wednesday for a new office that will focus on tracking and cleaning up abandoned mines in Western states, a particular problem in Arizona with uranium and other mines. The unveiling of the Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains was welcomed by officials from the states where it…
ICE ramps up arrests, including 67 in Arizona, after lull from COVID-19
WASHINGTON – ICE this week touted the arrest of more than 2,000 immigrants, 67 of them in Arizona, in a five-week nationwide sweep as the agency recovers from a dip in apprehensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the effort, from July 13 to Aug. 20, targeted immigrants with criminal…
Experts fear pandemic could spur dramatic spike in homelessness
PHOENIX – For more than three decades, André House just west of downtown has provided food, showers, temporary housing and other services to Arizonans experiencing homelessness or poverty. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of families seeking such services has almost doubled, said Ash Uss, the faith-based nonprofit’s coordinator of advocacy and partnerships.…
AIA Says “Game On” for High School Sports Season
The Arizona Interscholastic Association is allowing the upcoming high school fall sports season to proceed after recent state metrics show COVID-19 cases on a downward trend. Football practice for many Arizona high schools could begin as soon as Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. “The metrics have gotten to a place that we can start football…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Thursday, Sept. 3: State Hits Benchmark Allowing Hybrid Instruction to Begin in Schools; Time Is Running Out To Apply for City Aid; Get a Flu Shot; County Test Sites Open
With more than 1,000 new cases today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 204,000 as of Thursday, Sept. 3, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,443 of the state’s 203,953 confirmed cases. A total of 5,130 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 590…
Danehy
The Republican National Convention, By The Numbers
Rocketing Ahead! Fox News Poll Has Kelly Ahead of McSally by 17 Points, Biden Ahead of Trump by 9 Points in AZ
Fox News released a poll today that showed retired astronaut and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Mark Kelly with a 17-point lead over appointed Sen. Martha McSally. That’s way outside the survey’s =/- 3.5 percent margin of error. The survey shows 56 percent of those polled prefer Kelly, while just 39 are supporting McSally, a…
America Doesn’t Have a Coherent Strategy for Asymptomatic Testing. It Needs One.
While it battles a virus that can spread quickly via silent carriers, the United States has yet to execute a strategy for testing asymptomatic people. This is a problem — and ProPublica health reporter Caroline Chen explains why. Dr. Sara Cody, health officer of Santa Clara County, California, was tired of seeing the same thing…
Movie Review: ‘Bill and Ted 3’ Weakest In Series But Still a Good Time
It’s been nearly 30 years since Bill and Ted of San Dimas, Calif., went to hell, played Twister with Death, and supposedly saved the world with a sorta-crappy song that was actually performed by Kiss. Now, after many failed attempts, we’ve finally gotten a third Bill and Ted film, in which the middle-aged dudes grappling…
New Engineering Report Finds Privately Built Border Wall Will Fail
The report, set to be filed in federal court this week, confirms reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune that found portions of the wall were in danger of overturning if not fixed due to extensive erosion just months after it was built. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up…
Marana’s Tax Revenues Remain Strong Despite COVID-19 Pandemic
The Town of Marana has enjoyed strong tax revenues over the past few months despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on the larger economy. The national GDP dropped by more than 30 percent at the beginning of the outbreak in the United States and since then, national unemployment has risen to 10.2 percent. However, Marana…
Forest Service Opens Several Recreation Areas Along Catalina Highway
Just in time for Labor Day weekend, the National Forest Service today updated their closure order around the Bighorn Fire burn area, reopening several vistas and recreation areas for public use. The following areas areas along the Catalina Highway are removed from the closure order: Soldier Trail, Baad Do’ag Trail and Vista, AZ Trail East…
Payroll ‘holiday’ begins, but it’s not clear that anyone’s celebrating
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s payroll tax holiday started Tuesday, but for analysts looking at the program, the holiday might as well involve a Secret Santa. No one involved with the program – from the IRS to Arizona business organizations to Washington think tanks – could say how many businesses will actually participate in the…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Wednesday, Sept. 2: UA Keeps Reentry Plan on Pause; Apply for City Help While You Still Can; Get a Flu Shot; County Test Sites Open
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 203,000 as of Wednesday, Sept. 2, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,294 of the state’s 202,861 confirmed cases. A total of 5,044 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 576 deaths in Pima County, according to the…
Ducey Delays Expiration Of Driver Licenses by One Year
In an attempt to reduce the number of in-person visits to Motor Vehicle Departments, Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order today deferring requirements to renew standard driver licenses. If your license has an expiration date through Dec. 31, 2020, renewal requirements have been extended by one year. According to the Governor’s office, under this…
The Loan Company That Sued Thousands of Low-Income Latinos During the Pandemic
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. HOUSTON — On an afternoon in mid-June, Analleli Solis was walking home from her brother’s house just down the street when she noticed someone she didn’t know retreating from the front door of her…
Now in Government Food Aid Boxes: A Letter From Donald Trump
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Millions of Americans who are struggling to put food on the table may discover a new item in government-funded relief packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat: a letter signed by President…
Suicide Hotline Offers Young People Hope and a Chance To Talk with Peers
PHOENIX – The small office building, nestled just off the road near a medical office and appliance store, looks more like a house where a quiet family might live. The only signs of activity are the cars in the small parking lot out front. Most passersby likely have no idea what goes on behind the…
Suicide may run in the family. A closer look at genetic risk.
For decades, researchers have looked to human genetics for linkages to mental illness, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Patterns of inheritance are murky, but it is clear that “stuff runs in families,” says Dr. Douglas Gray, a psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Utah School of Medicine. His 2018 study – published in…
Threatened American Airlines Layoffs Leave Arizona Employees Anxious
WASHINGTON – American Airlines’ announcement that it could let go up to 19,000 workers on Oct. 1 has left the airline’s roughly 10,000 employees in Arizona worried, but hopeful the state can avoid the worst of the cuts. The airline has not specified which regions of the country will see the cuts – which American…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Tuesday, Sept. 1: Total Cases Top 202,000; Ducey Advises Arizonans To Get a Flu Shot; County Test Sites Open
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 202,000 as of Tuesday, Sept. 1, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,286 of the state’s 202,342 confirmed cases. A total of 5,044 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 576 deaths in Pima County, according to the Sept. 1…
State passes 5,000 COVID-19 deaths, but overall numbers trending down
WASHINGTON – Arizona passed 200,000 COVID-19 cases this week and the death toll from the disease topped 5,000 Saturday, but despite those somber milestones experts said the numbers are all moving in the right direction – for now. Rates of infection and death are down sharply from just a month ago and hospital bed availability…
Ducey’s Buying This Round Of Flu Shots
It’s the nightmare scenario: The upcoming flu season colliding with a second wave of COVID-19 as children return to school and adults experience stay-at-home fatigue and start socializing again. So Gov. Doug Ducey and public health experts are asking you to roll up your sleeve and get a flu shot to help keep hospital capacity…
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. What a week. Rough for all Californians. Exhausting for the firefighters on the front lines. Heart-shattering for those who lost homes and loved ones. But a special “Truman Show” kind of hell for the…
Tell Inside Tucson Business How Your Nonprofit Organization Has Pivoted During the Pandemic
Inside Tucson Business, a sister paper of Tucson Weekly, will focus on nonprofit organization in its Sept. 11 edition. As part of this project, ITB is inviting regional nonprofits to submit guest commentaries of 500 to 1,000 words about how their organization has pivoted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While not all guest…
Tucson Jazz Festival announces COVID-related changes
Organizers of the Tucson Jazz Festival have cast a rose-colored glance to next spring and are banking that we’ll be free and clear of the COVID-19 pandemic, or at least ready to party in a responsible manner. Plans are for the Festival to be held at a yet-to-be-determined outdoor venue Downtown. The event will be…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM roundup for Monday, Aug. 31: Total cases closing in on 202,000; Gyms, movie theaters, other shuttered biz reopening with limited capacity; County test sites open
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 202,000 as of Monday, Aug. 31, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,221 of the state’s 201,835 confirmed cases. A total of 5,029 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 576 deaths in Pima County, according to the…
The Weekly List: Even in a Pandemic, There’s (Safe) Fun To Be Had in Tucson
El Jefe Cat Lounge. El Jefe Cat Lounge opened up last year, but, for obvious reasons, was shut down the past few months. But they just reopened! And if you haven’t been yet, for god’s sake, go check it out and go get some of the serotonin we all need so desperately right now. It’s…
Pima County proposes new Community Bond Program
Since 2018, Pima County’s criminal justice agencies have been working on a proposal for a new Community Bond Program wherein the county would fund a non-profit bonding agency and help bail out qualifying defendants in the Pima County jail, under certain circumstances. The program is intended to help reduce the size of the county jail…
Electionland 2020: Nursing Home Voting, Election Guides, Creative Enfranchisement and More
This article is part of Electionland, ProPublica’s collaborative reporting project covering problems that prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots during the 2020 elections. Sign up to receive updates about our voting coverage and more each week. The Latest From ProPublica Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in…
Diamondbacks, Mercury postpone games in reaction to Blake shooting; Councilman DiCiccio rips NBA
PHOENIX – When the Milwaukee Bucks declined to take the floor for Game 5 of their series with the Orlando Magic Wednesday in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, their seismic decision reverberated throughout professional sports. One by one, the NBA’s three Wednesday playoff games were postponed. Hours later, the Milwaukee Brewers also…
Now Streaming at The Loft: Pierre Cardin and Werner Herzog Are This Week’s Highlights
It’s another documentary-centric week at The Loft, with four of the five new streaming offerings falling into that film space. For those who have been keeping tabs and partaking in The Loft’s streaming services during the pandemic, you already know; your favorite local theater has kept it going with the good movie fuel, with fresh…
Loyalty points: Ducey heads to White House for Trump acceptance speech
WASHINGTON – Most Republicans watched President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech from their couches Thursday but Gov. Doug Ducey watched from the South Lawn of the White House. The invitation for Ducey and his wife to be on hand for the speech is just the latest example of Ducey’s increasingly cozy relationship with the administration. Thursday’s…
RIP, Lute Olson: Legendary UA Basketball Coach Dies at Age 85
It’s probably fair to say that Linda Ronstadt is the most-impressive Tucsonan ever born here. And, with his passing late Thursday evening, it’s undeniable that Lute Olson is the most-impressive Tucsonan to have lived and died here. Olson had been in failing health after suffering multiple strokes. He was 85. There is no way to…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Friday, Aug. 28: Total Cases Top 200K; State Hits Benchmarks Allowing Shuttered Biz To Reopen; Aid Available for Tucsonans Affected by Coronavirus; County Test Sites Open
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 200,000 as of Friday, Aug. 28, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,072 of the state’s 200,658 confirmed cases. With 49 new deaths reported today, a total of 4,978 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 28…
Claytoonz: Better Off?
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Nanomoneo Establishes Biotech Research in Tucson
The University of Arizona’s Center for Innovation announced today that biotechnology company Nanomoneo has selected Tucson for its new research operation. Nanomoneo is a newly formed biotechnology instrument company associated with the fields of nanoparticles, sensors and organic molecules to allow consumers to “see things that are not normally visible with the naked eye.” Nanomoneo…
New York Reopens to Arizona and Four Other States
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today… New York is allowing residents from five states—including Arizona— to visit the Tri-State region without needing to quarantine for 14 days after arriving. Alaska, Deleware, Montana and Maryland were also taken off New York’s COVID-19 travel advisory by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last Tuesday. Guam, however, was…
Appeals exhausted, Navajo double-killer executed despite tribe’s objections
WASHINGTON – Lezmond Mitchell on Wednesday became the first Native American in modern history to be executed by the federal government over the objections of a tribal government for a crime committed between Native Americans on tribal land. Mitchell, a Navajo convicted of the 2001 murders of a Navajo woman and her granddaughter, was pronounced…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Thursday, Aug. 27: Total Cases Top 200K; Harkins Movie Theaters Screening Movies This Weekend as State Expected To Hit Benchmarks Allowing Shuttered Biz To Reopen; County Test Sites Open
The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 200,000 as of Thursday, Aug. 27, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 21,001 of the state’s 200,139 confirmed cases. With 33 new deaths reported today, a total of 4,929 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 27…
Claytoonz: The House That Trump Built
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Southern Arizona Weekly COVID-19 Roundup
What happened this week
The Skinny
Whether he’s peeing in someone’s yard or smashing up a county car, Pima County Constable Oscar Vasquez can’t seem to stay out of trouble
Goodbye, Dad
RIP James Counts, 1958-2020
Tucson Salvage
Home is where the hatred is not
High Court Backs Weed Prop
AZ Supreme Court unanimously says voters can decide the fate of recreational cannabis initiative on November ballot
