Cannabis farms struggle to survive wildfires without insurance
LOS ANGELES – California’s record wildfire season has left many cannabis growers concerned about Croptober – the primary harvest season for marijuana sold in California, where it’s legally consumed. As fires continue burning into the record book, California growers – whose operations are federally illegal and therefore difficult to insure – are demanding protections for…
Coronavirus Cases in the Amphi and Marana School Districts
Since opening in a hybrid model on Oct. 12, the Amphitheater Unified School District has reported 32 total COVID-19 cases causing 234 individuals to resultantly quarantine, according to Communications Director Michelle Valenzuela. Coronavirus cases have reached 14 different school sites, and 11 of those cases are still active. From Nov. 1-9, Amphitheater reported 12 coronavirus…
Room and cardboard: ASU will fill up Sun Devil Stadium with fan, celebrity cutouts
PHOENIX – If fans look a little, well, stiff at Saturday’s Arizona State game, don’t be alarmed. They’re not real. The Pacific-12 Conference’s decision to allow only family members to attend football games this season prompted the university to follow the lead of professional teams by allowing fans to buy cardboard cutouts of themselves and…
Most States – including Arizona – Not Ready to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine
As the first coronavirus vaccine takes a major stride toward approval, state governments’ distribution plans show many are not ready to deliver the shots. The challenge is especially steep in rural areas, many of which are contending with a surge of infections, meaning that access to the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines may be limited…
Navajo hemp investigation expands to federal marijuana, labor probe
WASHINGTON – A Navajo Nation probe of a controversial, Navajo-owned hemp operation has turned into a federal investigation into reports of marijuana production, interstate drug trafficking and violations of labor and child labor laws. The FBI said Monday it had executed search warrants “in the area of Shiprock” in an operation that included nine federal…
As Supreme Court Weighs Healthcare Law, Advocates Say ACA Is Vitally Important to Americans
As the nation’s highest court heard oral arguments in the Trump administration-led lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA), proponents of the Obama-era health care reform law are spreading awareness about what repealing the act could mean for a country overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Protect Our Care Arizona, a healthcare advocacy organization, held…
2020 delivers setbacks for long-planned Western water projects
2020 has been a tough year for some of the Colorado River basin’s long-planned, most controversial water projects. Proposals to divert water in New Mexico, Nevada and Utah have run up against significant legal, financial and political roadblocks this year. While environmental groups have cheered the setbacks, it’s still unclear whether these projects have truly…
Sabino Canyon Tram Service Back in Action
The Coronado National Forest Service is giving Sabino Canyon the green light to relaunch Crawler and shuttle service with new pandemic precautions in place. Passengers are required to wear a mask while riding on the shuttle and in the ticketing area, as well as comply with all local and state health department requirements. People who…
City of Tucson Accepting Applications for Child Care Scholarship Fund
The City of Tucson is now accepting applications for the Somos Uno Child Care Scholarship Fund to help families offset childcare costs as the pandemic continues. Families with children 12 years old and younger may be eligible for scholarships up to $2,275 per child, with no limit to the number of children in the family.…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Wednesday, Nov. 11: More Than 2,000 New Cases Today; AZ Total Number of Confirmed Cases Jumps Past 265K; Free Test Centers Open
With more than 2,000 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases climbed past 265,000 as of Wednesday, Nov. 11, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County, which reported 191 new cases today, has seen 31,204 of the state’s 265,163 confirmed cases. After 36 new deaths were reported…
COVID-19 and Veterans Day: Remember your mask as you remember our vets
WASHINGTON – In addition to wearing the traditional red, white and blue, people watching the Veterans Day parade in Prescott are being encouraged to wear something else this year: a mask. It’s just one of the ways that organizations across Arizona have responded to the coronavirus, trying to balance the usual parades and picnics with…
Arizonans watching closely as Supreme Court takes up ACA
WASHINGTON – As the Supreme Court discusses the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act – again – Tuesday, Tucson resident Alicia DeWitt is closely watching the case. Without the ACA, DeWitt said she would not have been able to get health insurance to pay for surgery to remove a brain tumor, and would not be…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Tuesday, Nov. 10: More Than 3400 New Cases Today; AZ Total Number of Confirmed Cases Jumps Past 263K
With more than 3,400 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases soared past 263,000 as of Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. That’s the highest single-day jump in cases since July 25. Pima County, which reported 520 new cases today, has seen 31,013 of the…
Trump lawsuit targets Maricopa vote count, as gap with Biden narrows
WASHINGTON – The Trump campaign added Arizona this weekend to the list of states where it has gone to court to challenge the ballot count, charging that Maricopa County rejected ballots that should have been given a second review. The suit, filed Saturday in Maricopa County Superior Court, claims that those rejected ballots would “yield up…
Children’s Museum reopening Nov. 11
The Children’s Museum in downtown Tucson has announced their plans to reopen with limited admission on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Museum will be open with two two-hour play sessions from 9-11 a.m. and from 2-4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Visitors will have access to all indoor exhibits, as well as their outdoor “curiosity courtyard.” Museum…
TUSD Postpones In-Classroom Instruction Until 2021 at the Earliest
As a key metric tracking the spread of coronavirus in Pima County is likely to shift to substantial spread this week, the Tucson Unified School District will not open as planned this Thursday, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo announced in a letter to the district’s families Friday. “In my briefings this week with the Pima County Health…
UA Seeing COVID Cases on the Rise as Fall Break Approaches
As statewide coronavirus data trends upward, the University of Arizona is showing elevated COVID-19 cases compared to recent weeks as it gears up for a pre-fall break testing blitz, UA President Robert C. Robbins shared in a news conference Monday, Nov. 9. From Oct. 29 through Nov. 7, UA found 71 positive coronavirus cases after…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM roundup for Monday, Nov. 9: COVID Spiking in AZ With Nearly 5,000 New Cases Over Weekend; AZ Total Number of Confirmed Cases Climbing Toward 260K; TUSD Delays Plans for In-Classroom Instruction
With close to 5,000 new cases reported since Friday, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases was nearing 260,000 as of Monday, Nov. 9, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County had seen 30,493 of the state’s 259,699 confirmed cases. A total of 6,164 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including…
Social media disinformation tactics that attempted to deceive Arizonans in the 2020 elections
As Americans watch election results continue to trickle in, voters have taken to social media to share their confusion and anxiety, and have often been met with lies and misinformation. The heightened spread of disinformation over social media can have negative consequences on America’s democracy, according to Scott Ruston, a research scientist with Arizona State…
With COVID Cases Skyrocketing, TUSD Pulls Plug on Return to In-Class Instruction Until 2021
Because of increased positivity rates, TUSD will delay in-person instruction until January 4th. Stay safe, mask-up! Posted by Adelita S. Grijalva on Friday, November 6, 2020 In an announcement on Facebook, TUSD Board member Adelita Grijalva told parents that because of rising COVID-19 cases, the district would not be launching hybrid in-classroom instruction starting next Thursday,…
Pima County Releases New Batch of Votes, Spain Gains on Scott
Pima County counted another 7,325 votes today. The county now estimates that only a few hundred early ballots remain to be tallied. In addition, roughly 18,000 provisional ballots are in the process of being verified, according to a county press release. County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez says the first batch of provisional ballots will be…
This Weekend’s Movie Roundup: New films at Roudhouse Cinemas, The Loft Cinema and Harkins
Want to catch a movie after a long (really, really long) week? Tucson, you have many options both in and out of your home. The Loft Cinemas is still bringing you their streaming series for new releases, along with their Outside Cinema series featuring classic films in the great outdoors. Theaters like The Roadhouse and…
Hot races, new battleground status make Phoenix tops for political ads
PHOENIX – A slew of high-profile races and Arizona’s new status as a battleground state made Phoenix the top market in the country for television political advertising during this election season, according to a recent report. Those factors, along with the fact that the Phoenix market dominates Arizona as few other large cities do in…
Updated: Republican Ford Leads in Pima County Treasurer’s Race After Late Thursday Night Count
Last night, Pima County counted another 28,720 votes. The county now estimates that that 8,000 early ballots have been verified but remain to be tallied, with an expectation that they will be counted today. In addition, roughly 700 early ballots remain to be verified and another 18,000 provisional ballots remain to be verified, according to…
Ballet Tucson hosting Pop Up Performances across town
It’s Ballet Tucson’s 35th anniversary and the company is hitting the town to celebrate with social distancing performances at several local hotspots. The 2020 Pop Up Performances kick-off Saturday at the Tucson Botanical Gardens with a Día de los Muertos-themed recital taking place alongside the garden’s La Calavera Catrina exhibit featuring 9-foot-tall skeletal depictions of…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Friday, Nov. 6: New Cases Jump by Nearly 2K; AZ Total Number of Confirmed Cases Rises Past 254K; Free Testing Available
With 1,996 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 254,000 as of Friday, Nov. 6, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County, which saw its number of cases jump by 308 yesterday, had seen 29,764 of the state’s 254,764 confirmed cases. With 22 new deaths reported…
‘Long time coming’: Latino voters help flip Arizona, tighten key races
PHOENIX – Latino voters fueled by the Trump administration’s failures to curb COVID-19 and the lingering impact of the anti-immigration law known as SB 1070 helped turn Arizona blue after decades of entrenched Republican rule, according to organizers who have spent years working toward this moment. “This feels like a victory lap,” said Eduardo Sainz,…
IRS Warns of COVID Payment Scam
The IRS is warning about a new text scam that attempts to trick people into disclosing bank account information by promising they’ll receive an “Economic Impact Payment” of $1,200, according to a news release from the Internal Revenue Service. The scam message includes a link to a fake phishing web address and reads: “You have…
Hobbs learns Sharpie ballot rumor, like marker’s ink, is hard to erase
WASHINGTON – Voter intimidation, Russian hacking, stolen ballots and, now, Sharpies. The popular marker has been cited in social media claims as part of a clever strategy to invalidate ballots by using Sharpies, because their ink reportedly cannot be detected by ballot-scanning machines. That claim has since been picked up by at least two Arizona…
Arizona One of Five States To Pass Marijuana Initiatives in 2020
On Tuesday night, Arizonans joined four other states to pass some form of cannabis legalization, when citizens voted in favor of the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, Prop 207, which legalized the use of marijuana for persons over the age of 21. Citizens of Arizona joined with voters in New Jersey, Montana and South Dakota…
Ballot Counting Continuing in Pima County; Last Night’s Count Didn’t Change Any of Tuesday’s Results
Pima County updated its vote tally yesterday afternoon but the new totals didn’t change the results in any local races. Meanwhile, the County Recorder’s Office has verified another 22,000 ballots for tabulation later today, according to a press release from Pima County. The Recorder’s Office is continuing to verify early ballots and will ship them…
Southern AZ COVID-19 AM Roundup for Thursday, Nov. 5: New Cases Jump by More Than 2K; AZ Total Number of Confirmed Cases Rises Past 252K; Free Testing Available
With 2,135 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 252,000 as of Thursday, Nov. 5, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County, which saw its number of cases jump by 165 yesterday, had seen 29,456 of the state’s 252,769 confirmed cases. With 28 new deaths reported…
Officials: COVID-19 death toll could be ‘staggering’ for Arizona
PHOENIX – Health officials Wednesday warned of a “staggering” death toll in Arizona as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise unabated, citing fatigue over COVID-19 and crowded holiday gatherings as potential dangers. Dr. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, said its team attributes a resurgence of cases in Arizona and…
Blue wave in the Grand Canyon State: Biden, Kelly projected winners as Arizona takes center stage in 2020
PHOENIX – Amid a pandemic that changed the way Americans live and vote, Joe Biden was the projected winner over Donald Trump in Arizona, leading a blue wave to flip a longtime Republic stronghold that chose a Democratic for the White House for only the second time since 1952. Mark Kelly also was projected to…
Tucson Salvage: A Clover in weeds, loss, homelessness, beatings and love
Clover emerges to a stand from something resembling sleep and her foot finds gravel on the concrete walk and makes her flinch. Her mouth tastes like dirt and so she steps among her possessions, in two shopping carts garrisoned around the blanket-on-concrete sleep space until she locates a half-full liter of RC cola, unscrews it…
Style Guide: A virtual Modernism Week celebrates Black architect Paul R. Williams
At mid-century, Paul R. Williams was a sought-after architect in Los Angeles. Known for his luxury houses for Hollywood stars—among them Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson—Williams could make houses in almost any style, including the popular “California Spanish” genre. But he gave these works a distinct modernist cast, with simple, elegant rooms…
Editor’s Note: Covid rising
How about that election, huh? Who saw that coming? Actually, I’m writing these words on Tuesday morning, so I’m in the dark about the results, though I’m hoping the picture is a lot more clear by the time this edition is in your hands. We’ll have results and analysis all week long as they count…
Weekly Picks
Ballet Tucson Fall 2020 Pop Up Performance at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. If you think the Tucson Botanical Gardens are usually magical, and even more magical with the Calavera Catrina exhibition, get ready for some next-level whimsy with this performance by Ballet Tucson dancers. The event features new choreography by Chieko Imada and Daniel Precup,…
Chow: Next On the Menu
Janos Wilder has no intention of fading away from Tucson’s culinary scene—a scene he helped build for nearly 40 years. The James Beard Award recipient takes issue with how the Arizona Daily Star presented his decision to halt DOWNTOWN Kitchen+Cocktails’ 10-year run with their headline: Tucson Chef Janos Wilder ends restaurant career with closure of…
Floral Arrangement
Travis Freeman and Taylor Reed have devoted a lot of time to the study of CBD leaf and have come to a conclusion: There is definitely a market for the 31 strains of CBD and CBG products on the shelves of their new enterprise, Healthful Flowers on East Speedway. Healthful Flowers opened on Oct. 15…
The Wrong Direction: Ducey: ‘Storm ahead with rising Covid cases
Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ provided a COVID-19 update at a press conference today amid rising cases throughout the state. On Oct. 29, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 1,315 new COVID-19 cases throughout the state, with a percent positivity of 9.7%. Pima County reported 105…
Keeping Count
As Tucson’s schools reopen for in-person classes, some are reporting an increasing number of COVID-19 cases among students and staff—many who are being asked to quarantine themselves if they were in contact with people who have tested positive. As of Monday, the Amphitheater Unified School District has reported 20 active coronavirus cases resulting in 98…
Party Foul: Campus cases on the rise as police encounter more student gatherings
The University of Arizona is reporting elevated COVID-19 cases reflective of a state-wide uptick after large gatherings occurred over the Halloween weekend, UA President Robert C. Robbins said in a news conference Monday, Nov. 2. From Oct. 23 through Nov. 1, UA found 79 positive coronavirus cases after administering 7,122 tests for a positivity rate…
On Course: TUSD set to launch hybrid learning on Nov. 12
Tucson’s largest school district will allow students to return to in-person classes starting Nov. 12. Tucson Unified School District’s governing board voted to return to school in a hybrid model in a 3-2 vote Tuesday night. Board members Kristel Foster, Bruce Burke and Leila Counts voted to approve the reopening date,and members Adelita Grijalva and…
