Cover Story
Judgment Day
Three Democrats want to be the next county attorney as a national movement for criminal-justice reform takes center stage
Prom Body Frontman Back With New Music
If you happened to be around the west coast’s garage rock revival back in the early 2010s, then I’m sure you know of Tucson’s Prom Body. Their 2014 high energy scuzz-rock album Naughty by Natural is still as Tucson as it gets and deserves a place in your record collection. With that being said… Prom…
Lost Treasures: Voting in the Final Round of Best of Tucson Is Underway!
The lost treasures of Tucson are spoken of in hushed whispers. Who knows what happened to these legendary talismans after they vanished more than a century ago? Did they really have magical powers? And where are they today? Tucson Weekly is on the hunt for these long-lost treasures—and we need your help to find them…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 PM Update for Wednesday, July 22: What We’ve Covered Today
ICYMI, here are the stories we covered today: In today’s coronavirus news: AZ has passed the 150K threshold in cases … hospitalizations are trending downward as Arizonans embrace masks … Gov. Doug Ducey is expected to give more guidance to schools tomorrow as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman calls for metrics rather than…
UA, State Expand COVID Antibody Testing to Educators, Food Service Workers
With Arizona’s COVID-19 cases now topping 150,000, the University of Arizona and the State of Arizona have expanded their free COVID-19 antibody testing program to include 15 new categories of essential workers considered at high risk for exposure. The antibody test, developed by researchers at UA Health Sciences, determines who has been exposed to and…
Coronavirus sports roundup: Cuomo’s ‘no fans’ announcement eye-opening for Arizona collegiate programs
PHOENIX – Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement Tuesday that fans will not be allowed to attend college sporting events in the state of New York during the fall shed light on an interesting discrepancy between New York and Arizona. One has a lot of colleges. The other does not. New York has 102 schools that sport…
Court rejects long-simmering challenge to Proposition 123 school funding
PHOENIX – A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected a long-simmering challenge to Proposition 123, the voter-approved 2016 measure that is set to redirect an estimated $3.5 billion to Arizona public schools over a decade. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling in the case, which has…
Legal Challenge Filed To Keep Recreational Marijuana off the November Ballot
Opponents to the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona filed a legal challenge in Maricopa County Superior Court Tuesday in an attempt to stop the initiative from making the state’s November ballot. But rather than challenge the validity of the signatures, Arizonans for Health and Public Safety is taking issue with what they call…
Critics: Trump order to exclude undocumented migrants in Census will fail
PHOENIX – President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will exclude undocumented immigrants in the 2020 Census when it comes to allocating seats in Congress, a move critics called unconstitutional and unenforceable. Opponents immediately vowed to sue over Trump’s memorandum, which comes a little more than a year after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s attempt…
Navajo leaders consider phased reopening as soon as next week
Navajo leaders said the tribe could begin moving toward the phased reopening of the reservation as early as next week, but they continued to urge members to take precautions to keep the number of COVID-19 cases trending downward. Despite the optimism, the Navajo Nation already announced it will continue a reservation-wide weekend lockdown for at…
Legal challenges to border wall continue – and so does construction
PHOENIX – Conservationists expressed anger and frustration over the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision not to hear an appeal to stop construction of the southern border wall. But they’re moving ahead on other legal fronts while monitoring construction as it chews through land marked by towering saguaros and home to the endangered jaguar. “It’s upsetting…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Wednesday, July 22: Total Cases Top 150K; Schools Awaiting Guidance from Ducey; Ducey Calls on Congress To Extend Unemployment Benefits
In today’s coronavirus news: AZ has passed the 150K threshold in cases … hospitalizations are trending downward as Arizonans embrace masks … Gov. Doug Ducey is expected to give more guidance to schools tomorrow as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman calls for metrics rather than calendar dates to determine when it is safe…
Claytoonz: Anti-Social Gatherings
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‘Greyhound’ a Good Fit For the Home Screen
When Apple bought the distribution rights to Greyhound, the new Tom Hanks movie, and announced they would be releasing it direct to streaming, my first thought was “It must suck.” This knee-jerk reaction was due in part to the utter disaster that is Artemis Fowl, the big-budget, originally-intended-for-the-big-screen, complete shitshow that Disney + “gifted” to…
Pima County Dem Party Withdraws Support from Candidate for Sheriff After His Daughter Accuses Him of Abuse
The Pima County Democratic Party has withdrawn its support for Kevin Kubitskey, one of two Democrats competing for the party’s nomination in the Aug. 4 primary. Earlier this week, Kubitskey’s estranged daughter, Makyla Cleary, said on Facebook that she had been mentally, physically and sexually abused by him. Her post: To all my friends and…
Summer Music 2020: Let’s Listen to a New Album from Tucsonan Bradford Trojan.
Meanwhile by Bradford Trojan Earlier this month, local actor and musician Bradford Trojan teamed up with Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog to release a new album, Meanwhile, a collection of nine bouncy folk-rock songs recorded her in Tucson over the last three years. If you like what you hear, buy it over at Bandcamp.
Homeland Secrets: An Investigation
Federal law enforcement shootings have escaped the kind of scrutiny that gave rise to the local policing reforms of the Black Lives Matter movement. Experts say that’s no accident: federal agencies are not transparent, making public oversight difficult. One such agency is ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, whose agents have been involved in shootings nationwide. Most…
Coronavirus sports roundup: Diamondbacks experience baseball with cardboard cutouts, fake crowd noise
PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks caught their first glimpse of pandemic baseball. Cardboard cutouts and piped in fan noise were among the oddities as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 9-2 in an exhibition game Sunday at Dodger Stadium. It was the first time Diamondbacks fans saw the team in game action since March…
At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This election, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential advocates is 26-year-old Charlie Kirk, who has developed a unique bond with the first family. The conservative star dines with the president at Mar-a-Lago…
Arizonans recall John Lewis, heap tributes on late civil rights leader
Arizona lawmakers and advocates were unsparing Monday in their praise of the late Rep. John Lewis, using words like hero, giant and legend for the man one described as “living, breathing history.” The Georgia Democrat, who played a leading role in the civil rights movement from the 1960s until now, died Friday of pancreatic cancer,…
Bad News at the Zoo: Baby Zebra Dies
We are mourning the unexpected loss of the Grevy's zebra foal born on July 4th. Preliminary exam results show the foal likely died from a spinal injury. Our hearts go out to our animal care staff and community, as we know the foal was already very loved.https://t.co/HtZgQXhNay — Reid Park Zoo (@ReidParkZoo) July 21, 2020
USCIS balks on taking new DACA applications, despite court order
PHOENIX – The federal government is currently not accepting new applications for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, despite a federal court’s order Friday that it resume doing so. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson said Monday that “Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are reviewing the court…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Update for Tuesday, July 21: Total Cases Close in on 150K; Death Toll Closes in on 3K; Hospitals Seeing Fewer Patients; School Announcement Expected This Week
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 148,000 as of Tuesday, July 21, after the state reported 3,500 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 13,848 of the state’s 148,683 confirmed cases. A total of 2,918 people have died after contracting the…
Claytoonz: Stable Cognitive Genius
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Inside One Huge Company’s (Mostly) Successful Campaign to Escape Trump’s Tariffs
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Last August, Adam Durand, legislative director for Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, fired off an email on behalf of an important state manufacturer that was waging a frustrating fight for relief from President Donald…
What Coronavirus Job Losses Reveal About Racism in America
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The economic and health crisis brought on by the pandemic has struck Black Americans especially hard: from their prevalence among workers in essential high-risk fields, to their disproportionate share of deaths, to extensive…
COVID-19 in Arizona: White House report names state one of 18 COVID-19 ‘red zones’
PHOENIX – Arizona is one of 18 states in the coronavirus “red zone” that should take stricter action to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, according to an internal White House report unveiled Thursday. The document, first reported by the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, categorizes states as being in the red zone if…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Monday, July 20: Total Cases in AZ Top 145K; State May Have Reached a Peak But Many Bad Days Still Ahead; More School News Expected This Week
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 145,000 as of Monday, July 20, after the state reported 1,559 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 13,994 of the state’s 145,183 confirmed cases. A total of 2,784 people have died after contracting the…
Mi Familia Vota urges Hispanics to vote by mail or take health precautions at polls
PHOENIX — Melissa Calles used to walk her dog to the park every day, and she was part of a dance group. Life changed for the 26-year-old Phoenix resident on May 15 when she fell ill. After tests, her doctor informed her she had COVID-19. “I lost my sense of smell, that was the first…
Here’s What To Do With Those Old Family Photos You Have Lying Around
Preserving Family Memories: How to Care for Your Photographs. Admit it. You’ve got hundreds of family photos somewhere in your house—maybe in albums, maybe in boxes, some probably just, like, floating loose around the garage—that you’ve been meaning to “organize” for years. What better time to finally take care of them than during a global…
Danehy: Be Wary of the Numbers But Watch the Trends. And Wear a Damn Mask!
The Big Bang Theory had a recurring character, a likeable dimwit named Zach who was best-known for saying things like, “That’s one of the great things about science—there’s no one right answer.” That’s cute (and utterly false), but in the Time of the Pandemic, in these life-or-death days, being dimwitted (especially intentionally so) is not…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 PM Update for Friday, July 17: What We’ve Covered Today
ICYMI, here are the stories we covered today: The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 138K as of Friday, July 17, after the state reported 3,910 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. In yet another sign that Arizona is in play in this year’s presidential…
As deadline looms, Congress urged to reauthorize diabetes program for Native Americans
PHOENIX — Arizona’s U.S. senators are pushing legislation to renew a federal program that fights diabetes in Indian Country – an initiative tribal leaders say is vital amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Special Diabetes Program for Indians is critical in our fight against diabetes and viruses such as COVID-19,” Navajo President Jonathan Nez said in…
Out of View: After Public Outcry, CDC Adds Hospital Data Back to Its Website — for Now
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been seen as a key metric of both the coronavirus’s toll and the health care system’s ability to deal with it. Recent federal actions may strike a blow to…
COVID-19 in Arizona: Ducey extends eviction moratorium until Oct. 31
PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey extended the state’s eviction moratorium and announced an additional $5 million for renters and measures to prevent foreclosure as the state continues to grapple with unemployment and housing problems caused by COVID-19. “Today’s plan protects families and individuals impacted by COVID-19 while empowering them to keep making rent payments,” Ducey…
Hospitals Are Suddenly Short of Young Doctors — Because of Trump’s Visa Ban
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months — with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall —…
Sharkk Heartt debuts ‘More Than This’
As 2020 continues its downward trajectory both in Arizona and the rest of the world, Tucson musician Lara Ruggles – or Sharkk Heartt – debuts an empowering track about standing strong. “More Than This,” released today, is the culmination of years of artistic development under the Sharkk Heartt moniker. It’s a soothing yet emotional anthem…
Improperly disposed of PPE raises environmental concerns
PHOENIX – Strewn across parking lots, in rivers and washing up on beaches, disposable face masks, gloves and other personal protection equipment are turning up everywhere except where they should be – in the landfill. With the production and use of PPE surging during the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts are worried this new type of…
‘They’re scared’: A look inside the COVID-19 crisis in Arizona prisons
As COVID-19 began to spread across the Southwest in March, lawyers representing incarcerated Arizonans reported “unsanitary conditions,” “inadequate medical staffing and treatment” and a “failure to take strong and sensible precautionary measures” in state prisons. The combination left prisoners “highly vulnerable to outbreaks,” the attorneys wrote in a letter to the state before asking a…
Your Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Friday, July 17: 3,900 New Cases Reported Today; AZ May Be on High Plateau; Ducey Extends Eviction Moratorium, Says “Certainty” Is Coming on Schools Reopening; More News of the Week
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 138K as of Friday, July 17, after the state reported 3,910 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 13,058 of the state’s 138,523 confirmed cases. A total of 2,583 people have died after contracting the…
As AZ Emerges as a Swing State in 2020 Presidential Contest, DNC Launches New Ad Targeting Trump on Tucson Airwaves
NEW AD: With tens of thousands of older Americans dead thanks to his disastrous coronavirus response, Trump is throwing America to the wolves. pic.twitter.com/L9o8o20Ayz — DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) July 16, 2020 In yet another sign that Arizona is in play in this year’s presidential race (as in the U.S. Senate race between appointed Republican…
Gov. Ducey Announces Eviction Moratorium Extension, Says AZ Is Making Progress Against Spread of COVID-19
Gov. Doug Ducey said the state was seeing some reduction in the spread of COVID-19 virus but warned the state had a long road ahead in the fight against the deadly virus. “I want people to get their heads around this,” Ducey said. “There’s no end in sight today. … There will be no victory…
How McKinsey Is Making $100 Million (and Counting) Advising on the Government’s Bumbling Coronavirus Response
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. In the middle of March, as the coronavirus pandemic was shutting down the country, McKinsey & Co., the giant management consulting firm, saw opportunity. The firm sprang into sales mode, deploying its partners…
“Outright Lies”: Voting Misinformation Flourishes on Facebook
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. On April 3, Terrence K. Williams, a politically conservative actor and comedian who’s been praised by President Donald Trump, assured his nearly 3 million followers on Facebook that Democrats would light ballots on…
As pandemic rages, farmworkers say employers are ‘prioritizing production over … lives’
Bertha spent 17 days in her bedroom after testing positive for COVID-19. There, she made the soup and the “hot, hot tea” that helped her endure the headaches and coughing fits associated with the contagious respiratory disease. Bertha, an agricultural worker, said she couldn’t risk going to the kitchen or other parts of the house…
Costly and nasty: Failure of Prop. 127 won’t stop renewable energy push, experts say
PHOENIX – The fight over whether Arizona should get half of its electricity from solar, wind and other renewable sources turned bitter election night when Attorney General Mark Brnovich called out California billionaire Tom Steyer for using California’s energy policies to try to influence Arizona’s policies. “I’ve got a message for Tom Steyer,” Brnovich said…
COVID-19 in Arizona: Expert paints mixed picture of virus situation in state
PHOENIX – The head of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute painted a glum picture Wednesday of current COVID-19 trends in the state, but he also suggested that the trend could be slowly improving. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the Biodesign Institute, noted that virus cases are soaring across the country, and that Arizona is one…
Good roads, bad drivers: Arizona interstates deadliest in nation, report says
WASHINGTON – Arizona’s interstate highways are in generally good shape, but they experienced the highest rate of fatalities in the nation in 2018, according to a national report released Tuesday. The report by The Road Information Program said that Arizona recorded 1.09 highway deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled on the state’s interstate highways…
Democrats climate plan signals shift in approach to environmental issues
WASHINGTON – In the South Phoenix neighborhood of Lindo Park-Roesley Park, temperatures can be up to 13 degrees higher than locations just 2 miles away, according to the Nature Conservancy. Communities that are predominantly Hispanic and Black, like Lindo Park-Roesley Park, are part of the focus in a new plan outlined June 30 by Democrats…
Thousands of Small Business Owners Have Not Gotten Disaster Loans the Government Promised Them
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. A $360 billion stimulus program that offers disaster relief to small businesses has been hobbled by delays and confusion, leaving millions of applicants harmed by the coronavirus pandemic waiting months for grants and…
House panel told deaths of children in CBP custody could have been prevented
PHOENIX – Medical experts told members of Congress Wednesday that the deaths of two children in Customs and Border Protection custody could have been prevented, but called the deaths “symptoms of a more extensive system that requires much improvement.” The comments came during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that looked at the December 2018…
Southern Arizona COVID-19 News Weekly Roundup
The stories we covered this week
Deadly Restraint
A second episode of a death in TPD custody surfaced last week
Nevermind
Tucson City Council repeals ordinance that could have limited filming of cops
Prosecutorial Predicaments
The Pima County Attorney’s race is heating up as the candidates—and their allies—fiercely try to discredit each other as mail-in ballots hit mailboxes last week
Half Empty
As Gov. Doug Ducey slashes restaurant occupancy down to 50 percent to curb the spread of coronavirus, some restaurants are concluding the juice isn’t worth the squeeze
