Tuesday, October 20, 2020
A luxury technical sportswear company is moving its operations to downtown Tucson.
WOW Studios is relocating from Seattle to establish its new headquarters at 1 E. Toole Ave., the sportswear business announced in a press release Oct. 19.
The company says their relocation will have an economic impact of $252 million over the next 10 years and create 50 jobs in engineering, marketing, design and sales.
The new WOW Studios location is scheduled to open in January 2021 in Tucson’s former SinfoniaRx building, which will now house offices, design studios and retail space for the apparel company.
Co-founders Joey Rodolfo and Stacy Bennett have years of experience in the fashion industry. Rodolfo has worked with top menswear brands like Bench Co. Ltd, Cutter & Buck and Callaway Apparel Worldwide, and even is credited with elevating the Tommy Bahama brand. Bennett is a digital marketing executive who’s built multi-million dollar programs at places such as Amazon, Nordstrom and Clarisonic, according to the press release.
"My vision is to establish Tucson as the next hub of innovative design not just in fashion, but in health/wellness and wearable tech. Tucson is business-friendly and offers incredible partnership opportunities,” Rodolfo said in the news release. “I want to see how we can build a new industry in Tucson, attract suppliers and create the next generation of health and wellness products that make lives better. The environment is important to us—we believe in slow fashion with ethical production."
The apparel company is most known for their “Buki” collection, an assortment of “luxury technical clothing and wardrobe essentials, crafted for comfort with state-of-the-art Japanese fiber and sustainably-sourced collagen fabric,” according to the press release.
WOW studios said they’ve partnered with Rio Nuevo, the University of Arizona, Arizona Commerce Authority, City of Tucson and Pima County. They’ve also drawn praise from several political figures in the area.
“Arizona continues to attract innovative companies that are advancing new technologies and groundbreaking ideas,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in the release. “Thank you to WOW Studios for choosing to relocate their headquarters to Tucson and creating more new jobs in Southern Arizona.”
According to WOW Studios, Fletcher McCusker, chair of Rio Nuevo’s downtown redevelopment district, said "Downtown Tucson has to continue to evolve and this is a great step,” while Tucson Mayor Regina Romero called the development’s downtown location “the perfect place for developing emerging technologies."
“This is an exciting economic development opportunity at the ground floor,” Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said in the release. "We thank WOW Studios for their confidence and investment in Tucson."
The sample collection timeline is:
- 2:50 p.m.: Checkpoint maneuver, in which OSIRIS-REx adjusts its position and speed to begin descending steeply toward the asteroid's surface.
- 3:01 p.m.: Matchpoint maneuver, in which the spacecraft slows its descent and targets a path to match the asteroid's rotation.
- 3:12 p.m.: Touch-And-Go maneuver, in which the spacecraft descends to the surface, touches down for about 10 seconds and fires one of its three pressurized nitrogen bottles. The gas agitates and lifts Bennu's surface material, which is then caught in the spacecraft's collector head. The spacecraft will then fire its thrusters to navigate safely away from the asteroid.
- 3:30 p.m.: Live broadcast ends.
LOS ANGELES – The intersection of sports and politics took center stage again Monday night when a campaign ad featuring a Northern Arizona football player aired during ESPN’s broadcast of the Arizona Cardinals-Dallas Cowboys game.
Tristen Vance, a Hamilton High School graduate and linebacker for the Lumberjacks, expected to play his final season this fall before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Big Sky Conference postponed its football season until the spring, pushing Vance’s true senior season back to next fall.
“I’ve been working my whole life towards a dream to play professionally,” Vance, 23, says in a 30-second ad supporting Joe Biden. “Missing this season puts those dreams in jeopardy.”
Tags: dallas cowboys , arizona cardinals , trump , biden , Tristen Vance , northern arizona university , Image
Tags: fauci , coronavirus , covid , trump , Image
WASHINGTON – Arizona’s Senate race is now the state’s most expensive campaign, with the latest Federal Election Commission filings showing the two candidates have pulled in a staggering $133.7 million so far.
Republican Sen. Martha McSally had raised $50.9 million as of Sept. 30, while Democratic challenger Mark Kelly reported raising $82.8 million by that point, according to FEC reports posted Monday.
McSally reported having $12.1 million on hand for the remaining weeks of the campaign to Kelly’s $18.8 million.
Jason Rose, an Arizona political consultant, said the race “is definitely breaking records in terms of money raised.”
With 1,040 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 233,000 as of Tuesday, Oct. 20, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 27,019 of the state’s 232,937 confirmed cases.
With seven new deaths yesterday, a total of 5,837 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 634 deaths in Pima County, according to the Oct. 20 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. 19, 777 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, the highest that number has been since Aug. 28, when 812 people were hospitalized. That number peaked with 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients on July 13.
A total of 747 people visited emergency rooms on Oct. 19 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.
A total of 170 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Oct. 19. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.
On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,453 cases, according to an Oct. 16 report from the Pima County Health Department.
After a bump following the return of UA students, cases on a week-to-week basis are on the decline. For the week ending Sept. 19, 1,225 cases were reported; for the week ending Sept. 26, 596 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 3, 523 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 10, 466 cases were reported.
Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 54 in the week ending July 4 to 10 in the week ending Sept. 5, one in the week ending Sept. 12, three in the week ending Sept. 19, four in the week ending Sept. 26 and three in the week ending Oct. 3.
Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 221 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals, but it has been on the rise in recent weeks. In the week ending Sept. 12, 24 patients were admitted; in the week ending Sept. 19, 17 patients were admitted; in the week ending Sept. 26, 13 people were admitted; in the week ending Oct. 3, 20 patients were admitted; and in the week ending Oct. 10, 24 people were admitted. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)
UA increases number of in-person classes as campus-area cases remain low
The University of Arizona will allow more students to return to campus this week as metrics tracking the spread of coronavirus remain low, UA President Robert C. Robbins said in a news conference Monday, Oct. 19.
Continuing phase two of its reopening plan, the university will allow classes of 50 or fewer to return the week of Oct. 26, raising last week’s maximum of 30 students.
From Oct. 8-17, UA found 44 positive coronavirus cases after administering 6,867 tests for a positivity rate of 0.6%, the same rate the university reported last week.
“We have five weeks before the break. I’m very proud of the way the university has risen to the challenge so far, but we cannot become complacent,” Robbins said.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump was welcomed by boisterous MAGA-hatted crowds in Prescott and Tucson on Monday, the last stops on a Western swing as the campaign entered its final two weeks.
But not everyone was putting out the welcome mat.
Democrats in the state criticized what they called the president’s “super spreader” events during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat, sending a “friendly reminder” of the city’s mask regulations – and the fact that Trump’s campaign still owed the city for services from previous visits.
Marion Pack, headquarters director for the Yavapai County Democratic Party, was more blunt. She said the president’s refusal to mandate masks or social distancing at his rallies is “unconscionable” and urged him to “stick to the White House.”
“We think that he’s just continuing his reckless behavior,” Pack said before Trump’s midday stop at the Prescott Regional Airport.
Monday, October 19, 2020
PHOENIX – Inde Motorsports Ranch has been a staple among motorsports enthusiasts across North America for a decade.
The 2.75-mile road course sits in Willcox, a community of 3,500 about 80 miles of Tucson. It grants its 200-plus members exclusive access to private garages, trackside casitas and 40 different track configurations, while boasting one of the greatest scenic backdrops in Arizona.
The racing country club serves as an escape for people across the United States, ranging from doctors, dentists and everyone in between looking to test their skills or relieve the stresses of everyday life. Initiation fees range from $25,000 to $75,000 as the facility delivers an intimate and exclusive feel to the premier motorsports experience – which the club says is about to get even better.
As it celebrates its 10th anniversary, it is receiving a major facelift in the form of a complete track resurfacing, among other additions, promising an enhanced experience for everyone.
Purchased in 2008 by track president CJ Dorland and his father, Graham, the duo transformed a working cattle ranch owned by dealership titan Tex Earnhardt into one of the most desirable destinations in motorsports.
The wall's construction has proved controversial in Southern Arizona, prompting one of the largest political demonstrations in Cochise history against the destruction of the San Pedro floodplain. In addition, local governments officials have expressed frustration over the lack of communication by the Department of Homeland Security regarding construction specifics.
One of the main concerns about the construction is its impact on wildlife. According to CBD, the wall is blocking one of the best remaining wildlife corridors in the region, and is likely to clog the river with debris during monsoons.
Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick says she has sent multiple letters to the Department of Homeland Security requesting transparency on the border wall construction, all of which have gone unanswered.
At a February board meeting, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors approved a letter supporting Kirkpatrick's efforts encouraging DHS to engage with local agencies and the general public to offer information about their border construction. According to the Board of Supervisors, Cochise County had "not been made aware of, or consulted on, any site plans or construction timelines."
