Innovation Academy Principal Michael McConnell is used to seeing hundreds of excited children in the halls of his Oro Valley school—and the empty campus is an unwelcome sight.

Considering the anxiety kids are experiencing while they sit at home for the remainder of the school year, McConnell gave himself a task: Make sure students start their day with a friendly face.

So he turned to Facebook.

Every morning, McConnell dons an alter ego for a few minutes and delivers an episode of his new video series, the title of which changes with the character he plays.

The show began with Prince I. Pal, who delivered Mr. Rogers-like messages, read books and discussed different topics. After a two-week run, the character was “canceled” April 3—much to the disappointment of Innovation Academy families.

One parent said Prince I. Pal was their family’s “favorite lunchtime channel.”

“We love staying connected to you and the school while we are home,” the parent wrote.

While the cancellation was intended as a joke, McConnell said he was thrilled to know families were sitting down together to watch his videos.

“It makes me feel good to know they’re seeing my message and feeling my love for them each day,” he said. “When I see that my efforts were being appreciated and valued and used, it made me feel good. The time I’m putting in every day is worth it.”

Just a few days after canceling Prince I. Pal, McConnell returned with his newest character: Principal Science. The new program includes a science vocabulary word of the day, this day in science, a “Did you know?” segment and the explanation of a different scientific principle.

While McConnell has spent his mornings entertaining and explaining new topics to his students and their parents, he said his staff has worked to provide as positive an educational experience as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of public schools.

This isn’t homeschooling, he said. It’s crisis schooling.

“But if you want something done, throw it at teachers and they’ll figure it out,” McConnell said. “They’ll make it happen. In this case, it’s one of those times where the direction from the state was minimal, the direction from the district at the very beginning was minimal. Teachers just came together and said, ‘Here’s the problem, and here’s how we’re going to do it. We’re going to figure it out, we’re going to make it happen.’”

While teachers are working over Zoom calls and online worksheets to keep their students on-track, parents are more involved than ever in the education process as living rooms transform into classrooms.

After several weeks of adapted education, McConnell had the following 10 tips for parents and their young learners.

1. Kids need a designated and comfortable space for learning
2. Take frequent “brain breaks.” Get up and move
3. Find a schedule that works. Flexibility is key as some families have multiple students and parents working from home and sharing technology devices
4. Turn off the devices sometimes. Read a book, play a board game, go for a bike ride or walk
5. Build of your child’s interests and passions
6. Integrate hands-on experiences like cooking, building, dancing, and music
7. Free online resources are popping up every minute. Don’t try them all, but find a few you like
8. If you can’t do all the assignments, do what you can and be OK with that
9. Take it slow. When you think you are going slow, go slower
10. Don’t panic. We are in this together and we are going to be just fine. Kids are resilient.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

Congress has approved billions of dollars of checks for Americans hard hit by the biggest round of layoffs in U.S. history. But millions of Americans will have to wait months for that money — and millions more may never get the money at all.

That’s because the rescue legislation left it to the IRS, an agency gutted by Congress, to organize the complex logistics of delivering the money to those entitled to it. As the IRS has struggled, for-profit tax preparation companies, notably Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, have stepped in with websites to help people get their checks.

But Intuit is not just acting as a conduit: It is also misleading unwary Americans by steering them to paid services that they could otherwise get for free.

The job Congress gave to the IRS in its $2 trillion CARES Act is seemingly straightforward: Identify the Americans who qualify and send them money. This turns out to be far more complicated than it sounds.

Tens of millions of Americans have not provided the IRS with their banking account information, if they have one. Some of these people have filed taxes, so they should eventually receive money but will have to wait weeks or even months for a check to come in the mail.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

As the COVID-19 outbreak rages in the United States, businesses and schools have closed and events have been canceled, leaving employees and business owners without work and at a loss for income. Even the U.S. Navy is struggling. No aspect of life seems to be untouched; filing and paying taxes is no exception.

When are taxes due?
2019 federal income tax returns are now due on July 15, 2020. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced in March that the IRS tax deadline would be pushed back from April 15, 2020. The IRS confirmed the new deadline the following day for 2019 tax returns and payments, with no fees or interest, but encouraged taxpayers to file earlier if possible.

Am I eligible for the new tax deadline?
The new deadline applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, freelancers and others who pay self-employment tax, as well as “trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers,” according to the IRS.

PHOENIX – Arizona processed a record 82,771 background checks on would-be gun buyers in March, as fears of the coronavirus drove people to gun shops in what one shop owner called “panic time.”

It was twice as high as any March in the state since FBI background checks began in 1998 and almost one-quarter of the total sales in Arizona for all of 2019, according to NICS Firearm Checks data, which showed a doubling of background checks from February.

Gun shop owners said the only thing that has slowed down sales is a lack of inventory after March’s surge.

“People have just started panic buying at an insane rate,” said Wayne Semenko, owner of SnG Tactical in Tucson. “It’s been quite a roller coaster. People that have never bought before are in here buying.”

The surge in Arizona gun sales was reflected nationally, with background checks in March exceeding 3.7 million, the most ever for one month and more than 1 million more than the 2.6 million checks in March 2019.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona had reached 3,539 as of Sunday, April 12, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County had seen 622 of the state’s confirmed cases.

The coronavirus had killed 115 people statewide, including 29 in Pima County, according to the state health department.

Pima County is no longer running its own numbers and is now directing those looking for statistical updates to the state site, in order to keep consistency.

In Maricopa County, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had risen to 1,960, including 48 deaths.

Unfortunately, the state does not give out statistics on recoveries, but according to Johns Hopkins' Coronavirus Resource Center, there have been 412,534 worldwide, with 32,314 recoveries in the U.S.

The state remains under Gov. Doug Ducey’s stay-at-home order that has closed a wide number of “non-essential” businesses, including many retail stores, barbershops, salons, and swap meets. Public parks remain open but amenities such as playgrounds and restrooms are closed.

Under the stay-at-home order, Arizonans are still able to shop for groceries, medical and household needs, and pet supplies. They can also go work, pick up a take-out meal from a restaurant, travel to take care of a family member, friend or pet, and can still go walking, hiking, biking and golfing, provided that they adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Ducey announced four new executive orders this week:

It's been a week, huh? We hope you're staying safe out there. In case you missed anything, here are some of the stories we covered today:

• We started the day with the morning report of AZDHS updated statistics in Arizona, with 3,112 positive cases now being reported in the state, and 97 deaths overall. 543 of those cases and 26 deaths come out of Pima County. Maricopa had 1,741 cases reported.

• Arizona food-stamp recipients may soon be able to buy their groceries online, after the federal government’s swift approval this week of the state’s request in the face of coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders.

• In the wake of President Trump’s move to push aside the official who was supposed to lead the coronavirus bailout watchdog group, four other members are just as vulnerable.
  

• As if we didn't already have enough of a reason to love eegee's, now they've come through on a request to support those who are helping our city through these trying times.

• Unfortunately, we still aren't really sure how many people in the hospital actually have COVID-19.

• With libraries and schools closed there are families across Pima County without reliable access to free or low-cost books, but adventures are available in the palm of your hand thanks to Make Way for Books’ smartphone app.

• UA President Robert Robbins warned this week that a return to normal life could be months away—or longer.

• A local charity is helping youth members of Pima County 4-H and Future Farmers of America after their annual livestock auction moved online when this year’s Pima County Fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A local charity is helping youth members of Pima County 4-H and Future Farmers of America after their annual livestock auction moved online when this year’s Pima County Fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Los Charros Foundation Inc. is purchasing $25,000 worth of small and large livestock from members of the two groups at this year’s online auction, hosted by the Pima County Junior Livestock Sales Inc. The foundation typically spends about $5,000 at Southern Arizona county fairs in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties, said board member Richard Bratt. After this year’s Pima County Fair was canceled Bratt said he knew the organization had to do more.

“This year, we’re reallocating $25,000 from our scholarship fund because these kids didn’t get to have the Pima County Fair where they could auction,” Bratt said. “These kids are getting hurt after spending all year and spending their own money buying feed and supplies.”

Bratt said he was concerned local 4-H and FFA youth would ultimately be losing money typically used for their higher education after recouping feed and supply cost accrued raising the animal.

“Some of these kids are selling a pig for $1,800 or a steer might go anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000. These kids might lose out on all that money,” Bratt said.

With libraries and schools closed there are families across Pima County without reliable access to free or low-cost books, but adventures are available in the palm of your hand thanks to Make Way for Books’ smartphone app.

The literacy nonprofit works with families with young children ages 0 to 5 in order to empower them with the skills and confidence they need to be their child’s most important teacher, according to Fernando González, the Digital Director of Make Way for Books.

Too often, children enter kindergarten lacking important early literacy skills. Make Way for Books goes out into the community to provide programming so families can access high-quality literacy aid.

Normally, their work consists of a couple of strategies, including the Family Education and Literacy, The Story Project and Neighborhood School Readiness Project programs, which provide literacy aid both in and out of the home. The Story Project, for instance, includes at-home education, on-site workshops, and lending libraries.

According to González, Make Way for Books tries to provide a two-generational approach in which parents are there with their kids providing a reading lesson while also learning explicit strategies on how to share books with their children.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

In the wake of President Trump’s move to push aside the official who was supposed to lead the coronavirus bailout watchdog group, four other members are just as vulnerable.

Trump was able to remove the panel’s chosen head, Glenn Fine, by naming a new Defense Department inspector general and bumping Fine to the No. 2 job at the Pentagon watchdog office. No longer an acting inspector general, Fine was disqualified from serving on the panel he was supposed to lead.

Fine’s removal sounded an alarm among Democrats in Congress, who had demanded that spending safeguards be built into the $2 trillion recovery package. House Democrats rushed out a proposed tweak that would stop further removals like Fine’s by opening up eligibility to senior officials in IG offices, not just IGs themselves.

PHOENIX – Arizona food-stamp recipients may soon be able to buy their groceries online, after the federal government’s swift approval this week of the state’s request in the face of coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders.

Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture came less than a week after Arizona asked to be part of a pilot program that lets recipients use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to buy from approved online retailers like Amazon and Walmart.

State officials welcomed the move that they said will help limit social interactions while ensuring food assistance for the state’s most vulnerable. One advocate agreed, but added that “it’s unfortunate that it took a pandemic to make it happen.”

“We’re very grateful that this change is occurring and this pilot program is in place,” said Cynthia Zwick, executive director of Wildfire AZ. “Fundamentally, we think everybody ought to have the same opportunities when they’re shopping and should be able to decide how and when to spend their money. Everybody should have the same access – is our bottom line.”

Online ordering is just the latest change to the food stamp program as a result of the isolation and job loss driven by COVID-19. The USDA also approved a two-month extension of SNAP benefits, included some hot and prepared food meals in the list of goods recipients can buy and temporarily waives the requirement that able-bodied adults without dependents look for work while getting food stamps.

“Many Arizonans who have never asked anything from the government suddenly find themselves in a time of need – and we are going to be there for them,” said Gov. Doug Ducey in a prepared statement welcoming online SNAP shopping. “These changes help ensure food assistance is available and easy to access.”

The changes also come at a time of soaring unemployment and a related spike in demand for food assistance.

The USDA said that 776,402 Arizonans, from about 400,000 households, got SNAP benefits in December. But applications for SNAP in Arizona have jumped 40% since mid-March, said Ashley St. Thomas, public policy manager for the Association of Arizona Food Banks.

St. Mary’s Food Bank is seeing twice as many clients as usual and has added mobile pantries in addition to its permanent facilities to try to keep up, said food bank spokesman Jerry Brown.

“We’re being stretched as far as we can be stretched, so any help that will ease that burden and give people another access to food is helpful,” Brown said.

With facilities in nine of Arizona’s 15 counties, it’s impossible for St. Mary’s to deliver to individual homes, which is one reason Brown welcomed the new online program.

“Any program that allows them to deliver food to homes and allow people to stay where they should be, which is at home right now, is good,” Brown said.

That was echoed by St. Thomas.

“Helping Arizonans at risk of hunger use SNAP for online food purchases minimizes their exposure to COVID-19 and allows much-needed flexibility in food access,” St. Thomas said. “This online access to groceries will go a long way for a lot of people.”

Arizona and California were added this week to six states already piloting the SNAP online program. An Arizona Department of Economic Security official said the program should begin next month in the state, once testing is finished.

DES Director Tom Betlach said in the statement with Ducey that these changes “expand options for Arizonans” while they work on limiting time away from home.

Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg said allowing SNAP recipients to buy healthy food online could outlast the COVID-19 emergency.

“So many folks who are food-insecure have multiple jobs and lack transportation,” Nierenberg said in an email. “Anything that makes it more simple for them to access food will be a benefit, especially for the elderly.”

Zwick said the USDA should make the online program standard, rather than making states apply for the benefit, especially since Walmart and Amazon are accessible nationwide.

“It’s been tested, we know it works, so let’s just make it available in every state,” Zwick said.

And she said to Arizonans who have lost jobs during COVID-19, “don’t hesitate” to apply for SNAP benefits.

“That’s what these programs are for – they’re there to provide support when there is a crisis,” she said. “Don’t hesitate. If you’re not eligible today, check back.”

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