Cover Story
Gimme Shelter: It ain’t easy to buy a house in Tucson’s bonkers housing market. And rents aren’t getting any cheaper.
In December 2019, Eric Smith found out he and his wife, Janelle, were expecting their first child, so they wanted to move out of their apartment and into a home. Then the pandemic hit in March 2020. Smith, a bartender at midtown seafood restaurant Kingfisher, was soon out of work. Smith and his wife decided…
‘It’s about time’: Remembering Ford Smith, the lone Arizonan to play in the Negro Leagues
Editor’s Note: This story is part of an ongoing project to highlight Black athletes who have broken barriers and made lasting contributions to Arizona sports. PHOENIX – He was a trailblazer. An athlete. A civil rights activist. Yet 67 years after he stepped away from baseball, the full story of John Ford Smith’s life remains…
Enduring trauma: Arizona’s Indigenous boarding schools will be investigated, Interior announces
PHOENIX – When the Phoenix Indian School was established in 1891, the top federal administrator considered it a budgetary win to send Native American children to boarding schools to enforce assimilation into white society. “It’s cheaper to educate Indians than to kill them,” Indian Commissioner Thomas Morgan said at the opening of the school. The true…
‘An unlikely friendship’: Biden taps McCain for UN ambassador-rank role
WASHINGTON – Presidents typically pick ambassadors for their technical skills or their political connections, but in Cindy McCain’s case it is probably a little bit of both, experts say. Last week, President Joe Biden nominated McCain – a lifelong Republican who came out strongly in support of Biden’s candidacy last year – to be the U.S.…
Border Patrol chief out, as White House grapples with immigration
WASHINGTON – The chief of Border Patrol was forced out after just 17 months in the job, a move that critics blasted as a politically motivated decision by the Biden administration. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Troy Miller said Thursday that Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott has been replaced by Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz.…
Community Food Bank changes distribution hours
The Community Food Bank will be closed on Thursday and will not offer emergency food distribution at its Tucson location and all other resource centers. New distribution hours will begin on July 6, from 7 to 10 a.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3003 S. Country Club. “We continue to offer drive-thru distribution with the earlier hours…
What is ‘brain fog,’ and why are COVID-19 long-haulers more susceptible?
PHOENIX – Experts describe “brain fog” as a cognitive dysfunction when your brain isn’t performing in top shape. Although everyone is susceptible to occasional brain fog, experts say some of the worst cases have been identified in the group known as COVID-19 long-haulers – patients who had the disease and recovered but still can’t “get…
Navajo have COVID-19 under control, but still leery of Delta variant
WASHINGTON – The Navajo Nation has yet to record a single case of the Delta variant of COVID-19, but now is not the time for tribe members to let down their guard, Navajo President Jonathan Nez said Wednesday. Nez spent much of the time during a Washington Post program on public health talking about the Navajos’…
Wildcats optimistic despite early exit from College World Series
OMAHA, Neb. – Jay Johnson is determined to not let one game define the University of Arizona baseball program. “Twenty-four hours or 36 hours of disappointment here is not going to change the accomplishments of our team,” the Wildcats coach said. “I’m proud of them and I really believed we could be here. I believed…
Officials ‘devastated’ as feds extend nonessential border travel ban
WASHINGTON – Border officials said they were “devastated” this week to find that the federal government has extended a COVID-19 ban on nonessential border crossings for another month, potentially crippling businesses there. “The ban is a terrible and now-exaggerated response to the pandemic,” said Andy Carey, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Project. “It’s…
Can’t smell because of COVID-19? Retraining your nose might work, experts say
PHOENIX – If you’ve had COVID-19, chances are you lost your sense of smell, at least temporarily. Losing the sense of smell and taste is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. A recent study of more than 2,500 COVID-19 patients published in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that 74% reported loss of smell.…
Academic benefits a go: NCAA loses Supreme Court case on compensation
WASHINGTON – Border officials said they were “devastated” this week to find that the federal government has extended a COVID-19 ban on nonessential border crossings for another month, potentially crippling businesses there. “The ban is a terrible and now-exaggerated response to the pandemic,” said Andy Carey, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Project. “It’s…
Totaled Recall: Critics give up effort to force State Rep. Mark Finchem to face a special election
Organizers of a recall effort against state Rep. Mark Finchem ended three weeks before the deadline. Rural Arizonans for Accountability announced they would throw in the towel on Tuesday, June 15. Finchem said he expected the effort to fail. “For an effort that was rooted in baseless fraudulent claims, and defamatory accusations, I am not…
Danehy: The Anti-Vax Crowd Sure Has Some Stupid Arguments
As one goes through life and, through experience, gains wisdom and perspective, he/she finds that, in almost all cases, there are at least two sides to every issue. Except for when it comes to vaccines; there’s only one side to that and that is that anti-vaxxers are the stupidest people on Earth. Even the ones…
Stars Once More: Gaslight Theatre, Music Hall return to indoor shows
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . we used to attend indoor concerts without thinking twice. For more than a year, the folks at Tucson’s Gaslight Theatre and Oro Valley’s Gaslight Music Hall have been itching to come back inside, and this month they finally did. The Gaslight Theatre…
Lovely Rita: A new biography of Rita Moreno tells the story of an amazing performer
A few years ago, I had the honor of interviewing Rita Moreno before she made her appearance at the 2015 Loft Film Festival here in Tucson. Speaking with Moreno transcended the usual interview exchange and left me reeling with joy. Beyond having great stories to tell, she is as nice a person I have ever had…
City Week: Weekly Picks
Summer Safari Nights. Art in the Animal Kingdom. Nature is a lot of things, but one of the things it is is just plain beautiful. I mean, honestly. Have you seen a colorful bird? A zebra? A lion’s mane? Are you kidding me? At tonight’s edition of the Reid Park Zoo’s summer nights series, take…
Bow to No One: RogueViolin breaks away from academic constraints
Samantha Bounkeua learned to read sheet music before the alphabet. She first picked up the violin at age 4, and it more or less dominated her life for the next two decades. But after the exhaustion and frustration of being in the classical music system for years, she broke away and formed a new project:…
Editor’s Note: The Home Stretch
Even if you haven’t been in the market to buy a house, it’s hard to miss that prices have been shooting through the roof. People are paying tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price and homes don’t stay on the market for very long. It’s great if you’re selling your home, but a…
Cultural Closet: It’s a challenge for LGBT Asians to come out to relatives in their homelands
Xiukui Ji, a then-22-year old Chinese international student at the University of Arizona, was on the phone with his sister when he told her, “Oh, by the way… I’m gay.” “I knew it! I knew it from the fifth grade!” Ji remembers his sister telling him. His interest in musicals, his lack of interest in…
Certification Blues: Medical card providers have seen a big drop in business but hope for a better tomorrow.
While pot-related business in the state has exploded to a billion-dollar-a-year industry that is likely to increase for the foreseeable future, the trend on the patient certification side has dropped at an alarming rate. But these referral businesses—which help patients get the recommendation they need to get a medical marijuana card—remain optimistic that Arizonans will…
Flashy Fauna: Reid Park Zoo shows off ‘Art in the Animal Kingdom’
The Reid Park Zoo is continuing their Summer Safari Nights program series by celebrating the art found within the animal kingdom, both in color and shape. And while the obvious selection of colorful birds will be featured, so will animals like zebras, giraffes and more. Summer Safari Nights occur every Saturday evening through August, each…
