Mountain View High School teacher Derrick Chipres resigned Monday after it was discovered he allegedly entered into an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Chipres, who was an automotive instructor at the school, began working at Mountain View Feb. 8, 2016, according to MUSD Director of Public Relations Tamara Crawley, who confirmed his resignation with Tucson Local Media.

According to the district, school administrators immediately contacted the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Monday, Dec. 9 when students reported an alleged relationship between Chipres and an 18-year-old student.

Following an investigation by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, no arrest occurred, though the school district immediately acted and Chipres resigned from his position.

“We recognize that you may have questions and may also feel a range of emotions surrounding this,” wrote Mountain View Principal Todd Garelick in a Dec. 11 letter to parents. “However, due to confidentiality and personnel laws, we are extremely limited in the information that can be publicly disclosed. I can tell you that this student was not a student in the teacher’s class and the criminal investigation did not result in an arrest.”

Pima County Sheriff’s Department Deputy James Allerton confirmed that detectives investigated Chipres on Monday, and found no criminal activity.

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Since their formation in 2000, these NYC punk darlings, by touring near constantly, have developed a rabid cult-like following, becoming the voice for outcasts and the hopeful, alike. Bayside truck the Interrobang Club Tour 2019 to 191 Toole. Capstan and Love Like Fiction commence the high-arousal ritual...

This Tucson folk gem's compositions have been sung worldwide. Not many can lay claim to that distinction. Accompanied by Gary Mackender, Matt Rolland, Michael Markowitz and Slim Rost, Don Armstrong & The Whiskeypalians exude, and perhaps tip one back, at the Monterey Court...

Grammy-nominated pianist/composer David Benoit brings the joy and memories of a Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown to the Leo Rich Theater...

Texas rock 'n' roller Koe Wetzel tracks in the red dirt. At The Rock. Tucson's Drew Cooper kicks things off...

Jesus Christ Superstar: A Holiday Sing-along—to a fully restored print of Universal pictures 1973 film classic—manifests at the Fox Theatre...

Multiple Ways of Knowing. The UA College of Science's Science Café series has several different programs that are wrapping up this week and month. One is the Desert Lab Series, which explores the biological and cultural diversity surrounding the Rio Mayo drainage of the Sierra Madre mountains near Álamos, Sonora. For example, did you know that the Sonoran Desert originated, at least in part, from the tropics? At this talk, you'll hear from Dra. Teresa Valdivia of the Instituto de Estudios Antropológicos, Universidad Autónoma de México. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11. Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, 1675 W. Anklam Road. Free, but make reservations at 629-9455 or [email protected].

Toast to Tucson. On the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, Taste of Tucson leads tours multiple appetizers and signature cocktails, wine or beer pairings to show you Tucson's best happy hour spots. Tours meet in front of Agustin Kitchen in the courtyard of the Mercado San Agustin, and roughly last two and a half hours. 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11. Book at tasteoftucsondowntown.com

The Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona Air Show is returning to Tucson in 2021, hosted by the 355th Wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The air show, featuring the famous United States Air Force Thunderbirds, will take place April 24 and 25, 2021. The Thunderbirds most recently flew in Tucson at a March 2019 demonstration at D-M, drawing more than 150,000 spectators.

The Thunderbirds fly six F-16 Fighting Flacons in formations as close as 18 inches of separation. Additional performers at the air show will be announced next year.

Admission to Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona is free, though there are several premium seating areas. Tickets to those areas, including the exclusive “Thunderbolt Club,” will be available for purchase beginning March 2020.

For more information, click here.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Arizona’s attempt to fast-track a case against the owners of Purdue Pharma in an effort to protect assets of the company for victims of the opioid crisis.

The justices without comment turned down Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s motion that the court should consider the state’s suit against the Sackler family.

Brnovich had claimed that family members were “looting” Purdue Pharma at a time when thousands of lawsuits are pending that accuse the company of helping create the opioid crisis.
Legal experts at the time called Arizona’s filing a long-shot—cases typically come to the high court only after they have been heard in lower courts—and Purdue has since filed for bankruptcy protection. But Brnovich said Monday he was disappointed with the high court’s decision.

“Today’s ruling will not end our efforts to hold Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for their role in the opioid crisis,” he said in a statement released by the attorney general’s office. “We will continue to fight for Arizona’s interests in the Purdue bankruptcy proceedings.”

The judge in that bankruptcy case has ruled that Purdue and the Sacklers are protected from lawsuits while the bankruptcy proceeds, an order that has been challenged by dozens of states with lawsuits pending.

In its petition to the Supreme Court in July, Arizona called the opioid crisis the “worst man-made disaster in American history.”

“There have been almost 400,000 opioid-related deaths in the United States in the last two decades,” the state’s complaint said, adding that “prescription opioid misuse costs the U.S. economy at least $78.5 billion annually.”

The Arizona Department of Health Services reported last week that there had been 3,768 opioid deaths in the state since June 15, 2017. That’s almost 400 more deaths than had been reported when the state filed its complaint with the Supreme Court on July 31.

The complaint claimed that Purdue has transferred more than $4 billion to eight Sackler family members since 2008, a year after the company pleaded guilty to federal charges that that it misled the public about the addictive properties of its drug, OxyContin.

Purdue now faces “thousands of lawsuits in which plaintiffs, including counties, cities, towns and nearly every state in the country, are seeking to recover billions of dollars under consumer protection and tort law,” the state said in its complaint then.

Purdue reached a tentative settlement this summer that would have included the Sacklers giving up control of the company, selling off foreign drug companies and putting $3 billion toward settlement of claims. The company filed for bankruptcy protection soon thereafter.

The company then tried to block Arizona’s Supreme Court appeal, arguing that “black letter bankruptcy law” mandated that “any and all fraudulent transfer claims against Purdue or the Sackler defendants may only be brought by the bankruptcy trustee.”

In a November response, Arizona argued that letting bankruptcy law dictate what cases the court could hear “strips this court of its jurisdiction to decide this controversy.” It called the opioid epidemic “an unprecedented public-health crisis” in need of a national solution.

“Only this court can enter a judgment that will be respected internationally when Arizona and other creditors inevitably pursue the assets that the Sacklers have stashed overseas,” the November filing said.

Cronkite News reporters Miranda Faulkner and Vandana Ravikumar contributed to this report.
For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

Performing new material and holiday favorites such as "Christmas in Jail," nine-time Grammy Award-winning country outfit Asleep at the Wheel celebrate a Merry Texas Christmas Y'All. At The Fox Tucson Theatre...

Get some folk and flamenco when guitarists Nancy Elliott and Ismael Barajas perform at Monterey Court...

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"Hi there! My name is Karla and I'm a sweet 4 year old girl with a gentle nature and loving personality. I was transferred to HSSA from another shelter, so my history is a bit of a mystery, but I'm just focusing on my bright future with YOU!" Come meet Karla at HSSA Main Campus at 635 W. Roger Rd or give our adoptions counselors a call for more information at (520) 327-6088 ext 173.

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