My family and I were stunned and saddened by the sudden death of our dear brother, Richard Elias. Frustrated by the distance this crisis demands and unable to personally comfort Emily, Luz and the Elias family, we are left with the overwhelming sadness that so many of us who loved and worked with Richard can’t gather together to honor and respect our friend.

I want to say about my friend, as directly as I can: Richard Elias gave a shit. He cared about regular folks and the issues that mattered to them. He led with his heart and used his mind and body to consistently fight for the right thing for people. The loss of a thinker and advocate like him will be sorely missed in our community.

Poet warriors are rare in politics, and we just lost a good one. I will miss him schooling me about the music he loved, recommending good reads, and discussing—in a deeper way—why he and I do what we do including the frustrations, losses, occasional wins, and humor of our public lives. I will miss the privacy of those conversations, the kind that you can only have with family.

Remember Richard and what he stood for. Let’s thank him for his work, friendship, and care. My family and I send our most profound condolences and love to Emily, Luz, and the entire Elias family. The loss is heavier for them, and our family and community are here for whatever they need.

As Richard would say: "Resist. Much love.”

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias died today at age 61.

Elias, a Democrat who has represented District 5 since being appointed to the board in 2002, has been serving as chair of the five-member board.

Justice of the Peace Ray Carroll, who served alongside Elias on the board before declining to seek reelection in 2016, said he respected Elias' commitment and expertise in areas such as healthcare, the environment and housing.

"We had a lot of successes, a lot of disagreements, but we never failed in trying to do our best for our community," Carroll said. "He had a deep understanding of his district and believed in healthy spirit, healthy mind, healthy body."

More details to come.

A total of 773 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Arizona on Saturday, March 28, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

That's a jump of 108 from yesterday's 665.

There are now 120 confirmed cases in Pima County.

The virus has killed 15 people in Arizona, including at four in Pima County—a woman in her 50s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 80s. All had underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk.

In Maricopa County, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 454 cases.

Many Tucson businesses will be closing today after Mayor Regina Romero last night issued an order to shutter all non-essential businesses that are not protected from mandatory closure by Gov. Doug Ducey, who has said that Arizona needs to has consistent rules statewide. Romero’s order is effective through Friday, April 17.

“After consulting with my colleagues on the City Council, the City Manager, City Attorney, medical professionals, small businesses, and other stakeholders, I have determined that these actions are necessary to protect public health,” Romero said. “Although these are painful decisions, we have a moral obligation to do what is in the best interest of our residents and protect public health.”

Romero said she wished she could do more, but Ducey’s order—which allows grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants (via takeout and delivery), barber shops, beauty parlors, parks, golf courses and other “essential” businesses to remain open—limited how many businesses she could order closed. She asked Tucsonans to stay home and avoid necessary trips and urged Ducey to issue a statewide “stay-at-home” order.

Here are the coronavirus news stories we've been following today:

• A total of 665 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Arizona on Friday, March 27, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
  
  
• With the Arizona Department of Health Services announcing the state’s COVID-19 transmission level to be “widespread,” sectors from private businesses to the state government are implementing new plans to combat the steadily growing pandemic.
  
  
• Internal Emails from the CDC show how chaos slowed the early response to coronavirus.
  
  
• The #SceneFromASocialDistance for today came from early morning grocery shopping experience, or more specifically, the line to get in.
  
  
• In an interview with ProPublica, Dr. Fineberg talks about how our goal should be to flatten the curve.
  
  
• As with many businesses, dispensaries continue to adapt to daily societal change in the face of the COVID-19 virus. While non-essential businesses remain closed for the foreseeable future, dispensaries continue to maintain recommended measures to keep patients and staff safe.
  
  
• As basic necessities and rest-stop options become limited across the nation during the coronavirus pandemic, the Triple T Truckstop is stepping up to make sure truck drivers on Interstate 10 have what they need and a safe, clean place to lay their head.
  
  
• As the question of whether Arizona’s public schools will reopen before the scheduled date of summer break hangs in the air, administrators now know they will not have to extend the academic year.
  
  
• A group of researchers from the University of Arizona's College of Engineering and College of Medicine are 3D printing medical masks for health care workers at Banner Medical Center.
  
  
• As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, so have confrontations between detainees and guards at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities across the country.
  
  
• We continue to update our list of restaurants still serving Tucsonans.

Oro Valley’s proclamation shuttering businesses and restricting restaurants to carry-out and delivery services were extended through the end of the state-wide emergency after a third amendment to its proclamation on Friday.

Mayor Joe Winfield issued his original proclamation on March 17, but at the time did not require establishments to close. In his original message, Winfield delivered a “strong advisory” that restaurants and similar businesses enact measures to implement social distancing and rely on the use of delivery and take-out service.

Two days later, Winfield amended his proclamation by including stricter guidelines for businesses. That change included a restriction for restaurants and an order to close businesses and gathering places.

In addition to extending that mandate, Winfield’s latest amendment also suspended regulation on temporary signs to aid businesses, closed playgrounds, basketball courts, fenced dog parks and other amenities in the town and strongly urged personal hygiene businesses to close.

“The Town Council understands that this unprecedented situation is significantly impacting many of our local businesses,” said Winfield, in a statement. “Suspending enforcement of the temporary sign code in our commercial corridors is one meaningful way we can try to help businesses that have modified operations to let our residents know they are open for business. I hope the community will continue to patronize these places, as appropriate, during this emergency.”

Oro Valley’s decision comes one day after the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to extend its own emergency. Democratic Supervisors Richard Elías, Sharon Bronson and Ramón Valadez voted in favor, while Republican Supervisors Ally Miller and Steve Christy voted against the measure.

The Town of Marana’s proclamation is already in effect through April 10.

On Friday, March 20, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman also announced a two-week extension on public school closures, to last until April 10.

In the face of the spreading virus, Ducey also halted to evictions for 120 days; ordered bars, gyms and theaters to be closed in any county with confirmed COVID-19 cases; halted all elective surgery to keep hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients; loosened regulations to make telemedicine more available and increase eligibility for AHCCCS, the state's Medicaid program; and activated the National Guard to assist in grocery stores as Arizonans clear the shelves.

A total of 665 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Arizona as of Friday, March 27, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services. That's a jump of 157 from the previous day’s 508. There are now 102 confirmed cases in Pima County.

The virus has killed 13 people in Arizona, including four in Pima County— two being a woman in her 50s and a man in his 70s who both had underlying health conditions.

In Maricopa County, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 399, with 100 more cases being reported than yesterday.

Health and government officials have urged the public to avoid unnecessary trips and gatherings of more than 10 people. They warn that the extremely contagious virus is rapidly spreading in the community. Symptoms can take up to 14 days to appear, so people can pass COVID-19 without realizing they have been infected with it. Some people remain entirely asymptotic but are carriers.

It's Friday, which usually means going and doing something fun to cap off the end of the work or school week. What's that you say? Everything is closed? Well, not to worry! Tonight, Fox Presents Friday Nights In!

Co-hosted by Tucson Weekly, tonight's "Friday Nights In" features Acoustic Crossroads with singer/songwriters Billy Shaw Jr. & Amy Munoz right in your living room. Stream starting at 7 p.m. to take part in this virtual concert, without having to worry whether you're standing six feet away from the closest concertgoer.

Billy Shaw Jr. is a Tucson native and country music award-winning entertainer. Amy Munoz is a rocker who hails from Bakersfield, California, but has become a beloved Tucsonan. Get a taste of their tunes from your couch or dance like nobody's watching in your room.

For more information, visit the Facebook event here. We'll see you there!

As the question of whether Arizona’s public schools will reopen before the scheduled date of summer break hangs in the air, administrators now know they will not have to extend the academic year.

Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Friday that ensures school will not have to make up for days lost due to statewide closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During this unprecedented time, parents and educators need certainty so they can plan and make decisions—and this bill provides it,” said Ducey in a statement. “It protects our teachers and prioritizes our students, ensuring kids continue to receive instruction even with schools closed.”
House Bill 2910, introduced by State Rep. Michelle Udall (R-Mesa), also requires public schools to begin offering education via “alternative formats” while the schools are closed. Ducey has ordered them shuttered at least through April 10.

If the closure lasts through the end of the academic year, the new law requires schools to provide instruction until summer break is scheduled to begin. If the closure ends before that time, schools have the option to either resume physical operations or stick with technology-based distance learning.

The bill also moves the testing window for statewide assessments back to May 31.
School transportation fleets, including school buses, may be used to perform school operations “that are deemed to support students and their families during the statewide closure as determined by the public school.”

Teachers are expected to continue providing education during the closure, with both salaried and hourly employees now guaranteed their pay.

HB 2910 also allows for schools to reassign employees whose work cannot be done remotely, and eases statutory requirements for the delivery of special education as long as a school can ensure “to the greatest extent possible” that students covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act receive special education services and access to alternative modes of teaching.

“This is what coming together to support our kids and families looks like, and Arizona is again leading the way,” Ducey said.

With the Arizona Department of Health Services announcing the state’s COVID-19 transmission level to be “widespread,” sectors from private businesses to the state government are implementing new plans to combat the steadily growing pandemic.

These plans all focus on preventing an eventual hospital overload with more patients than beds, as has happened in other countries where the pandemic has quickly spread.

Dr. Cara Christ, ADHS director, said in a press briefing yesterday that Arizona’s COVID-19 outbreak could peak in April, with the greatest pressure on hospitals in May. But the lack of data (Christ estimated that the state has tested more than 6,600 people, a sliver of Arizona's population) means it’s impossible to say how many Arizonans are already infected with the virus.

COVID Act Now, a team of data scientists, engineers, and epidemiologists working to estimate the growth of infections across the country, projected that a potential overload could happen in Arizona as soon as late April if the state took little action to limit the spread of the virus. By contrast, three months of social distancing could still lead to an overload in mid-May.

Whatever the timeline, there’s a desperate need for more personal protective equipment to keep healthcare workers safe from infection. Earlier this week, Pima County Health Director Bob England warned that the county could not keep up the demand from local hospitals.

Pima County received a shipment of the state's portion of the federal National Strategic Stockpile, but it's not nearly enough, even when combined with the supplies that Pima County was able to find from outside sources, according to England.

England said when the county tried to respond to the requests of local hospitals, they discovered they could only deliver 9 percent of the surgical masks, 3 percent of the goggles and face shields, and 2 percent of the gloves that were requested, and only 1 percent of the gloves that are worn.

“It was just a pathetic drop in the bucket compared to the need,” England said.

As basic necessities and rest-stop options become limited across the nation during the coronavirus pandemic, the Triple T Truckstop is stepping up to make sure truck drivers on Interstate 10 have what they need and a safe, clean place to lay their head.

“Everyday day you go to a store looking for toilet paper, you got to remember it came from a truck,” said Kurt Dandoy, president of operations for Triple T Truckstop/Omar’s Hi-Way Chef. “If you shut the trucks down, chaos and mayhem is gonna be the next two words out of people’s mouths. I can promise you that.”

Dandoy is on a mission each day procuring much-needed supplies cross-country truckers are having a hard time finding—toilet paper, bottled water, milk, bread, eggs. If he can’t find what he needs at the big-box stores, like Walmart and Sam’s Club, Dandoy said he would try to find it at local grocery stores in the Tucson area. His daily procurement trips are not about reselling to make money, Dandoy said, but out of duty to his drivers and duty to the country during this unprecedented time.

“I go every day looking for the needs and supplies of my drivers. They are vital to this nation,” Dandoy said. “Without them trucks movin’, we won’t get the supplies we need in the stores and this country is gonna shut off.”

While Dandoy is doing his best to make sure the Triple T shelves are stocked with the needed goods, he is also helping truckers with another problem they’re facing coast to coast—lack of to-go and take-out options.

Dine-In service is closed at the truck stop’s restaurant, Omar’s Hi-Way Chef, but continues with a skeleton crew of three—a waitress, a cook, and a manager—serving take-out from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Dandoy said he’s had to lay off nearly two-thirds of his restaurant staff since the dine-in shut down started mid-March.

“That wasn’t a choice. We don’t have the financial means to fix that,” Dandoy said. “We’re doing less than 10 percent of our normal business at our restaurant.”