Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Monday, October 26, 2020
As local school districts allow students to return to campus in hybrid learning models, they’re reporting positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff, resulting in some students and staff members being asked to quarantine themselves if they were in contact with people who have tested positive.
As of Monday, Marana Unified School District has reported five positive COVID-19 cases with 24 students and staff in quarantine since they reopened in a hybrid model Oct. 19, according to Alli Benjamin, the district’s public relations and community engagement director.
At Mountain View High School, four students tested positive for coronavirus, causing 23 students and employees who were potentially exposed to quarantine. One case was confirmed yesterday, and the other three on Oct. 22, 23 and 24, according to Benjamin.
One student was reported as testing positive at Marana Middle School on Oct. 21, but no potential contacts were established, according to Benjamin.
As of Friday, the Amphitheater Unified School District has reported five positive coronavirus cases resulting in 35 students and staff members quarantining, according to Communications Director Michelle Valenzuela.
Amphitheater reopened in a hybrid model on Oct. 12, and its latest positive COVID-19 case was reported at Walker Elementary School on Friday. One student tested positive, causing two employees to quarantine.
On Oct. 20, one student at La Cima Middle School reported a positive coronavirus test. Although no close contacts to the person were discovered inside the school, three La Clima students who were with the student over the weekend were asked to quarantine themselves.
One student at Canyon del Oro High School reported a positive test Oct. 19, causing 13 students who may have been in contact with the person to self-quarantine.
The week prior, 13 students and one staff member at Ironwood Ridge High School had to quarantine after a student reported a positive test on Oct. 16.
At Mesa Verde Elementary, one staff member reported a positive case on Oct. 14, but no other employees or students were identified as close contacts to require quarantining.
The 10,100 Amphitheater students who opted for hybrid classes attend two days a week and spend the other three learning remotely. About 1,400 students chose to continue attending school completely online.
Yes, the pandemic has been sucks for cinema. A lot of big movies have been pushed off into Whatever Land as far as their release dates.
But even before this all started, there was a significant push for the smaller, artier films to find their way to streaming services rather than going all in on a theatrical release. That trend has continued over the last year with the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Apple+, and Disney putting films on streaming either exclusively or simultaneously with limited theatrical releases.
On the Rocks (playing at the now open RoadHouse Cinemas in Tucson, and currently streaming on Apple+) is one of the movies that gives you both options. You can stay home and catch it on your TV, or you can venture out and see it on a big screen. Your choice.
The film sees Bill Murray and writer/director Sofia Coppala joining forces again, their classic original teaming, Lost In Translation, being one of the more beautiful films to come out of Hollywood in the last 30 years. Murray plays Felix, the rich father of Laura, a New Yorker and author with writer’s block and a busy, almost-never-home husband, Dean (the ever-reliable Marlon Wayans in a nice dramatic turn).
The film is nicely written, and luscious looking, two common traits for most Sofia Coppola films. It also has that Murray spark, an actor who really shines with Coppola at the helm. Felix, along with Laura, suspect that Dean could be having an affair, which he disguises as work trips and meetings. The father and daughter go on a mission of discovery in more ways than one. This allows Murray to access the more devilish side of his acting persona in both funny, and scary, ways.
Exploring the imperfections of human beings when it comes to their relationships, both with our parents and our partners, Coppola’s plot twists get a little conventional and silly at times. But Murray and Jones are excellent together, and what they put up on screen will have you easily forgiving those conventionalities. There are two particular moments of reckoning scenes in this movie that are expertly handled on both sides of the camera.
So, yes, there are still some very good movies for you to see, both inside and outside of the house, during these crazy times. On the Rocks is one of them.
Now Showing at RoadHouse Cinemas and streaming on Apple+
WASHINGTON – Remains of 181 migrants were found in the Arizona desert through the end of September, 37 more than in all of last year and the most since 2013, according to the group Humane Borders.
The rise in migrant deaths comes during a year of intense heat and little precipitation for Arizona – but also at a time when the number of people caught crossing the border has fallen sharply.
Humanitarian groups and county officials along the border blame the rising deaths on years of border security policies that have pushed migrants toward riskier routes into the U.S. – along with this year’s harsh weather, expanded border security and COVID-19 health restrictions.
“It’s kind of like stopping water: If you block it up in one place, it’s going to go somewhere else,” said Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier. “We’re seeing the results of that as an increase in deaths.”
The number of deaths is tracked by the humanitarian group Humane Borders, using data from the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office and other public sources. The group, which releases numbers quarterly, recovered remains of 181 people in the desert through September, with 85 of those cases coming in the last three months alone.
Tags: immigration , border , Image
With 801 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 239,000 as of Monday, Oct. 26, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 27,575 of the state’s 238,964 confirmed cases.
With one new death reported yesterday, a total of 5,875 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 636 deaths in Pima County, according to the Oct. 26 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases has declined from July peaks but has ticked upward in recent weeks. ADHS reported that as of Oct. 25, 837 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. That number peaked with 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients on July 13.
A total of 770 people visited emergency rooms on Oct. 25 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.
A total of 179 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Oct. 25. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.
Although President Donald Trump said the “big spike” in Arizona cases was now “gone” during last week’s final presidential debate, Arizona Department of Health Director Cara Christ noted on her blog last week that cases in the state were on the increase.
Christ wrote that while Arizona has not seen as big a surge as other states, “we have recently seen a shift of COVID-19 spread in the wrong direction.”
Christ noted that the statewide positivity results from tests has climbed from 3.9 percent to 5.5 percent in recent weeks.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump name-dropped Arizona early in Thursday’s presidential debate, claiming the “very big spike” in COVID-19 cases in the state is “now gone.”
Except that it’s not.
New cases are up – twice in the past week they topped 1,000 – the rate of positive tests rose as did hospitalizations – although currently well within the current capacity of hospitals. That led Arizona Department of Health Services director, Dr. Cara Christ, to caution Arizonans on Thursday, “Don’t let down your guard.”
“Over the past few weeks in Arizona, reported cases and percent positivity have been increasing,” Christ wrote in the blog post that went up about an hour before the presidential debate started.
Trump brought up Arizona – and Texas and Florida – early in the debate, when he and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were asked how they would lead the country “during this next stage of the coronavirus.”
Saturday, October 24, 2020
The candidates for Pima County Recorder certainly have different approaches to the office, but one candidate recently criticized the other after third-quarter campaign finance reports were released.
Republican candidate for county recorder Benny White posted a photo of Democratic candidate Gabriella Cázares-Kelly’s cash operating expenses that show she paid herself with campaign funds. The post has since been deleted.
“My opponent pays herself from her campaign account,” the post read. “The saddest part of this in my mind is that she is taking $5 and $10 donations from people who are reported as being unemployed and then taking their money for her own benefit. We just see things differently.”
Cázares-Kelly was quick to respond by acknowledging her opponent’s criticism in her own Facebook post and says she pays herself a $1,290 biweekly salary to support herself while she runs for county recorder.
“I do not come from a rich family. I am not independently wealthy, I am not yet retired, and my household cannot survive off of only one income,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “My reality is that I am a working-class candidate bringing my unique perspective and experiences into this leadership role.”
Cázares-Kelly says she paid herself $4,580 in campaign funds from Aug. 19-Sept. 18. One reported expense in the finance report shows a payment of $1,000 on Sept. 2, but her campaign says it was never received, and a later disbursement on Sept. 18 was used in its place.
Her paychecks were set at $1,000 for the first two weeks, and subsequent payments were set at $1,290 a week.
“There is no express prohibition in Arizona on candidates drawing salaries from campaign monies,” Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, wrote in an email.
“Arizona law defines permissible ‘operating expenses’ as ‘staff salaries … and similar items necessary to keep the campaign in operation,’ which could include candidate salaries,” Solis wrote. “While Arizona law applies to local and state candidate campaign finance activities, to the extent that authority from the Federal Election Commission on this issue is persuasive, the FEC permits candidates to draw a limited salary from campaign monies, provided that the salaries do not exceed the lesser of the amount they earned the year prior to running for office, or the minimum salary paid for the office the candidate seeks to hold.”
According to Cázares-Kelly, her salary last year was $54,000 annually. According to Arizona Revised Statutes, the county recorder has a starting salary of $67,800.
“I just found it curious. I've never seen anyone take campaign funds for their personal salary,” county recorder candidate White said. “I don't have any comments on her postings because I've not read them.”
After White made the post on Wednesday, Cázares-Kelly says her campaign has exceeded its fundraising goal.
Within 24 hours of White’s post, Cázares-Kelly says her campaign raised $18,541—the biggest fundraising day of her entire campaign. As of today, the campaign has raised $21,391 online, according to Cázares-Kelly.
“People were very motivated and inspired by the posts that we shared about some of the barriers that I've had being a working-class candidate, and they wanted to show that by donating more money,” Cázares-Kelly said.
Tags: Pima County Recorder , Pima County , Campaign spending , Image
Friday, October 23, 2020
The two-day lineup has been announced for the 2021 Tucson Jazz Festival, which will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 20-21, on the main outdoor stage at Armory Park, 220 S. Fifth Ave.
Saturday will include performances by Nayo Jones, Ghost-Note, Cory Wong, and Dirty Loops. Sunday will feature Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Marcus Miller, Dave Grusin + Lee Ritenour, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones.
Social distancing protocols will be instituted throughout the festival, and face masks will be required for all attendees. Reservations for tickets to the 2021 Tucson Jazz Festival are now available.
The following artist info is from the Tucson Jazz Festival:
NAYO JONES
1 p.m., March 20
Nayo Jones (pronounced Nīyō) is the Chicago-born jazz vocalist based in New Orleans, where she regularly performs with her band, The Nayo Jones Experience. Her vocal range has been compared to Natalie Cole, Nancy Wilson and Whitney Houston. Annually, she can be seen at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and French Quarter Fest. She has toured with Kermit Ruffins as the featured vocalist, headlined at various jazz festivals and most recently joined forces with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.
GHOST-NOTE
3 p.m., March 20
Ghost-Note is a band with an explosion of sound pushing funk music into the future. Building on the uplifting, pioneering foundations laid out by James Brown and Sly & The Family Stone, they infuse their music with tastes of Afrobeat, hip-hop, psychedelia and more. The band creates seductive, danceable grooves and offers a contagious feel-good energy to ensure their audiences “let loose and connect.”
CORY WONG with Special Guest CODY FRY
5 p.m., March 20
Cory Wong considers himself music’s answer to motivational speakers like Tony Robbins. The NY-born, Minneapolis-raised guitarist attended the University of Minnesota and the McNally Smith College of Music. With head-spinning rhythm guitar wizardry, technical ebullience, and laugh-out-loud jokes, he is both a sought-after collaborator and celebrated solo artist.
DIRTY LOOPS
7 p.m., March 20
Stockholm, Sweden, band Dirty Loops are known for their jazz fusion re-harmonized covers of pop songs like "Baby" by Justin Bieber, "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, and "Wake Me Up" by Avicii, but don’t let the pop covers fool you. These longtime friends and schoolmates borrow from jazz, jazz fusion, gospel, funk, electronica and disco.
PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA
1 p.m., March 21
After 10 years of due diligence, the Pacific Mambo Orchestra gained recognition with a crowd-funded, self-titled debut resulting in a GRAMMY for "Best Tropical Latin Album." This San Francisco based orchestra is leading the rebirth of Latin big band music, using the traditions of the classic mambo-craze orchestras of the '50s. While their repertoire consists of mostly original scores they also include clever arrangements of hit songs, performed in English and Spanish.
MARCUS MILLER
3 p.m., March 21
It is said that Marcus Miller has one of the most enviable careers in music, having performed, recorded and toured with legendary artists such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Luther Vandross, in addition to working with various rock legends, hip hop icons and pop stars. Marcus Miller is a multi-instrumentalist, albeit primarily known as an electric bassist.
DAVE GRUSIN + LEE RITENOUR
5 p.m., March 21
Dave Grusin, a 10-time Grammy winner, is a seven-decade music professional: pianist, arranger, composer, record producer and co-founder of GRP Records. Grusin is considered one of the top 10 film scorers of his generation, writing more than 60 film scores, including The Graduate, On Golden Pond and The Fabulous Baker Boys, and receiving eight Academy Award nominations and one Oscar.
Grammy winner Lee Ritenour has been a guitarist for six decades beginning with session work in the late '60s. It was in the studio with the Mamas and the Papas that he earned the nickname "Captain Fingers." He has garnered 19 Grammy nominations, #1 spots on guitar polls, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian SJ Awards, Alumnus of the Year Award from USC and 35 chart songs from more than 40 releases.
ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES
7 p.m., March 21
Since forming in 2012, Alabama-based rock & roll soul band, St. Paul & The Broken Bones has released two albums, toured the world relentlessly, opened for the Rolling Stones, and appeared on Letterman. They have become a must-see performance due in part to frontman Paul Janeway’s fearless showmanship, thoughtful lyrics, and dedication to performance. Janeway is supported by co-band leader Jesse Phillips and a full eight-man roster of the best young instrumentalists in the South.
