Friday, July 24, 2020
The announcement by Gov. Doug Ducey and State Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman follows weeks of uncertainty for school officials around the state, many of whom called the Aug. 17 reopening – already delayed two weeks – unrealistic and unsafe.
“School leaders and educators are under a tremendous amount of stress as they plan for the upcoming school year,” Hoffman said. “I cannot ask our educators and families to enter this school year without critical assurances, policies and resources to set them up for safety and success.”
The executive order Ducey issued Thursday says public health benchmarks for reopening will be released by Aug. 7 – just 10 days before the scheduled reopening. Ducey also announced an additional $370 million to help high-need schools reopen, including $40 million to expand broadband in rural communities.
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Frustrated by the lack of response to their complaint of the “imminent danger” posed by COVID-19, three meatpacking workers at the Maid-Rite Specialty Foods plant outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, took the unusual step Wednesday of filing a lawsuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.
The lawsuit, filed in a Pennsylvania federal court, accuses the government of failing to protect essential workers from dangerous conditions that could expose them to the coronavirus. It relies on a rarely used provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act that allows workers to sue the secretary of labor for “arbitrarily or capriciously” failing to counteract imminent dangers.
On May 19, the Maid-Rite workers had turned to a Pennsylvania organization called Justice at Work to help them file an anonymous complaint with OSHA that detailed the lack of protections at the plant and described how they were required to work elbow-to-elbow with their co-workers on the production line.
Their complaint followed a similar report from another Maid-Rite employee in early April, which the workers weren’t aware of at the time.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
- 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 to return to schools … Ducey calls on Congress to extend the unemployment benefit that provides an extra $600 a week to out-of-work Arizonans … and more.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
One has a lot of colleges. The other does not.
New York has 102 schools that sport Division I, II or III programs. Arizona? Try four: Arizona, Arizona State, Northern Arizona and Grand Canyon.
The abundance of schools in New York made Cuomo’s decision a significant story.
“Fanless, the game can go on, the game can be televised, but no fans,” Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the Biodesign Institute, noted that virus cases are soaring across the country, and that Arizona is one of the states leading the surge. Some hospitals have temporarily run out of beds in their intensive care units, and death rates are going up, he said during a virtual press briefing Wednesday.
“If you look at each of the different counties here, you’ll see that . . . most of them are trending upwards,” said LaBaer as he showed off a dashboard designed by ASU’s Clinical Testing Laboratory.
The briefing came as the number of cases in the state topped 130,000 and the number of deaths topped 2,400 for the first time.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
The July 4th holiday saw examples of what you have correctly called ‘bad actors’ ignoring both mask wearing and social distancing protocols. We will very soon see the impacts of that behavior in increased COVID-19 infection rates. I feel confident in predicting that surge in sickness because we saw a similar trend in the weeks following the Memorial Day celebrations. During that holiday, scenes such as this were commonplace in the news:
Sir, that photo was taken of you at a party that took place shortly after Memorial Day. If bar operators are "bad actors" needing to be controlled by the State, I suggest your own behavior falls well within that same category.
The residents of Tucson have elected me, along with my City Council colleagues, with the expectation that we will do all we can to ensure the safety of the public. If we cannot count on the Governor of the State to set a ‘good actor’ example, then we will. I once again call on you to rescind the portion of your standing Executive Order in which local jurisdictions are prohibited from taking local action related to COVID-19.
Local conditions call for local solutions. Our hospitals are beyond capacity. Out-of-state health care workers are being flown in to help support our local workers. Through the surge line, our friends and loved ones are being flown out-of-State in order to receive health care. I do not believe the actions your administration has taken go far enough in protecting my constituents. I also do not believe even your own health care advisors feel the measures in place are having the desired effect.
We as elected officials will stand before the voters and be held accountable for decisions we make on the local level. All we need is for the State to step out of the way and return to us that authority.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Ward 6 Council member
UPDATE: The Pima County Department of Transportation has since announced that the Mount Lemmon Highway will reopen on Saturday, Aug. 1.
As fire crews work to snuff out the last hotspots of the Bighorn Fire, a lengthy cleanup process begins. Throughout July, the weather has turned favorable with less wind and scattered rainstorms, helping firefighters to get the Bighorn roughly 90 percent contained after it burned across 119,000 acres. Now, Pima County has announced that access to the mountain will be closed to most travelers.
"Based on conversations with our [Burned Area Emergency Response] team, we have decided that the closure orders that we have out currently now will be consolidated into one closure order that will remain in effect until November 1,” said CJ Woodard of the Catalina Ranger District.
Exemptions to the closure order include residents of the Summerhaven and Willow Camp areas, and special-use permit holders for establishments like Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory and Department of Transportation. Road closures stretch around the majority of the burn area, including Bear Canyon and Redington Road.
Catalina State Park is not part of the order. While it is still closed, it will reopen when staff deem it ready to do so.
"At this time, the Sheriff's Department is currently maintaining the road at the base of Mount Lemmon. This is due to the fact that we still have an active fire near Catalina Highway," said Pima County Sheriff’s Department public information officer Marissa Hernandez. "We ask that those Summerhaven residents that are utilizing that highway drive safely and that they notify the Sheriff's Department immediately of any hazards they encounter. That may include seeing a fire near the roadway or rocks."
Sabino Canyon also remains closed. According to the fire incident management team, factors determining the recreation area’s reopening include standing dead trees, trails being remarked, the potential for flooding and its aftereffects. Sabino Canyon’s closure order will constantly be reassessed and portions that are safe to open will be opened as soon as possible.
When Pima County reopens Catalina Highway, public access to Summerhaven will be allowed, but access to the general forest may be limited. Those with cabin reservations atop the mountain can visit the area, as long as the cabin is on private land and they can present proof of the reservation.
