Cover Stories
Seeking Sanctuary: An excerpt from Tucson journalist Todd Miller’s new book, ‘Build Bridges, Not Walls: A Journey to a World Without Borders’
On a cold evening in January 2018, the very same night of Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address, several students and I visited the San Juan Bosco shelter in Nogales, Mexico. In the shelter’s chapel was a group of people, many recently expelled from the United States, seated in metal chairs. The funeral…
Redrawing the Lines: Immigration author Todd Miller says we need to think about borders in new ways
Tucson journalist Todd Miller opens his newest book with an encounter he had with an undocumented immigrant in the Arizona desert about 20 miles from U.S-Mexico border. Miller offered Juan Carlos water and asked if he needed anything else. Juan Carlos asked him for a ride and, while Miller’s first instinct was to help the…
The Daily Saguaro, Thursday 6/24/21
This is, literally, the biggest saguaro I’ve ever seen. My friend Tim is over 6 feet tall and the top of his hat reaches the top of the arm on the bottom. Saguaro Park east.
Transitioning from coal is the goal – how to get there is the question
WASHINGTON – Navajo and Hopi witnesses agreed the region needs to move away from its economic dependence on coal, but specific proposals on how to get there remained elusive after a House hearing Tuesday. The tribal representatives joined witnesses from across coal country at a House hearing on “supporting communities through the energy transition” – a…
Ducey Forbids Colleges from Requiring Students to Take Vaccine, Wear Masks
Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order on Tuesday preventing Arizona’s public universities and community colleges from mandating students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or submit COVID-19 vaccination documents. In addition, higher education students cannot be mandated to be tested for the virus or wear masks in order to participate in learning. “The vaccine works,…
‘Basketball on grass’: Canadian Football League provides alternative path for Arizona athletes
PHOENIX – The New York Guardians of the XFL, a professional spring football league, began March 2020 with great optimism. The Guardians routed the Dallas Renegades 30-12 on March 7 behind their stifling second-half defense to move to 3-2 on the season. The next week would bring a showdown with the undefeated Houston Roughnecks –…
Airport, TSA officials say as passengers return, so do security delays
PHOENIX – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is filling up with more travelers this summer, with more than 4.8 million passengers boarding flights there in the past four months alone, according to a report published on the airport’s website. Due to the low volume of travelers at the height of the pandemic, getting through security…
City of Tucson opens ‘Cooling Centers’ to help against heat wave
In the face of 110+ degree heat expected throughout the week, the City of Tucson has opened six air-conditioned cooling centers across town, one in each ward. The centers will be open from noon to 6 p.m. through Friday. The City also plans to reopen them if more days reach 110 degrees. All are welcome, masks…
National park visitors – and money – are coming back after 2020 plunge
WASHINGTON – After hitting a 40-year low in the pandemic year of 2020, national park visitors – and their dollars – are steadily returning, but they are still below pre-pandemic levels, according to new National Park Service data. Park restrictions and outright closures in response to COVID-19 led the number of park visitors to fall…
Daughter in sports? Role models, parental support can help keep girls participating
PHOENIX – Michele McCann says she has “loud mom syndrome.” At all of her three daughters’ games, she can be heard cheering for not only her children, but everyone on the team. “I’m the loud mom in the crowd,” she said. “I’ve always been very determined to make sure that they know that they’re appreciated…
Tweens and teens, explore your creative side!
Are you a tween or teen, or do you know one, who enjoys writing? Pima County Public Library has the perfect events to check out! These programs, conducted via Zoom, are for middle and high school-age youth and they are facilitated by award-winning local writers. 365 Days: A Short Story Thursday, June 17 2–3:30 p.m.…
Hotter weather forces Pima County to change vaccination site hours
Some local COVID vaccination sites are changing operating hours because of expected increasing temperatures. Starting Saturday, the two sites – Rillito Race Track, 4502 N. 1st Avenue, and Curtis Park, 2110 W. Curtis Road – will operate 7 to 11 a.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. The Tucson area is expected to reach temperatures higher…
Aggressive Mathematics: Gov. Ducey’s flat-tax promises don’t add up
Republican legislative leadership and Gov. Doug Ducey think that with forecasts of a $1.5 billion ongoing budget “surplus” the best thing to do is provide a $1.9 billion tax cut that goes overwhelmingly to wealthier households through a “flat” tax and neutralizing the tax impact of Prop 208 on the top 1%. Note that “surplus”…
Aspiring to New ‘Heights’: Emotional, upbeat film recalls old Hollywood
In the Heights stars Olga Merediz and Jimmy Smits say their musical masterpiece is the perfect anecdote to a rough 18 months. “It’s balanced with emotional and deep moments, but there’s a lot of happiness and joy,” says Merediz, who plays the matriarch Abuela Claudia. “The musical numbers are just right. The music cuts right…
Tucson Weedly: News Nuggets
KNOW WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM, KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM It appears that not many people are rushing to apply for medical marijuana cards now that recreational cannabis is available on shelves throughout Arizona. Between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2021, fewer than 14,000 qualifying patients have applied for medical cards, according to the most…
Seeds of Success: For students at Chicano Por La Causa charter schools, graduation is an act of resistance
As the sun set over Anselmo Valencia Tori Amphitheatre on Thursday night, the graduating classes of Toltecalli and Envision high schools, led by Pasco Yaqui tribal member, keynote speaker and social worker Maria Molina Vai Sevoi, performed a rite of passage ceremony. Acknowledging the land they stood on and recognizing their roots, Vai Sevoi asked…
Covering Bases: Health Director: Those Who’ve Already Had COVID Should Still Get Vaccinated
In discussions about that ever-elusive herd immunity, the COVID-resistant population is divided between those who are vaccinated and those who’ve achieved a “natural immunity” by becoming infected with the virus. Either way, the immunity stems from the human body creating antibodies against COVID. So the question naturally emerges: If someone has already become infected and…
Editor’s Note: Miller’s Crossing
Author Todd Miller, who is based here in Tucson, is a dogged border reporter. He’s the guy who visits shelters in Nogales to hear the stories of migrants, who travels to conventions to learn what kind of border security programs are being sold to the government and who studies budgets to understand how your taxpayer…
Danehy: Tom is most definitely coming around on charter schools
Not long ago, there was a headline in the op-ed section of a nationally known newspaper that read, “Can We Stop Fighting About Charter Schools?” My initial response to that question was an emphatic “Oh, hell no!” But then I thought about it and tried to be more open to the possibilities. I, for one,…
City Week: Weekly Picks
Harkins Family Fun Series. Didn’t you miss the movies? With the popcorn, and the big ol’ drink, and the beautiful, wonderful air conditioning? Sometimes it’s really more about the experience than about the movie itself. Throughout the summer, Harkins Theatres is featuring family movies every week for just $5. If you join My Harkins Awards,…
Poor Exorcise Form: The latest Conjuring installment is a hell of a mess
The films of the Conjuring universe haven’t all been winners, but the first two main installments (director James Wan’s The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2) had a stylish, creepy charm to them, and some of the spinoffs (including Annabelle: Creation) provided solid exercises in horror. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is the…
Dizzying Skies: Local band Sweet Ghosts finally gets to celebrate the release of ‘An Endless Blue’
Unless we’re in the middle of the monsoon, it’s rare for a Tucson concert to get rained out. It’s almost unheard of for a show to get rained out twice. But for folk outfit Sweet Ghosts, the lucky number might just be five. Their latest album, An Endless Blue, released more than a year ago…
