Wednesday, July 15, 2020
The Bar Exam has long been seen as the moment of reckoning for hopeful law students, but with Arizona COVID cases skyrocketing, the test pressure is higher than ever before. The Arizona Bar Exam is now less than two weeks away, and the state Supreme Court intends to move forward with an in-person exam in Phoenix, despite the voiced concerns of students and state lawmakers alike.
Arizona’s Bar Exam is planned to take place on July 28 and 29. Precautions include the 650 students who’ve signed up from the exam being required to wear masks and have their temperatures checked, staggered arrival times, and each student sitting at a separate table. However, some students say these precautions simply aren’t enough, as the exam will still gather groups of 200 students into exhibition halls at the Phoenix Convention Center.
“When all of this hit, it didn’t really sink in until we were well into Zoom classes that this might have an impact on how the Bar would be handled,” said Hannah Chute, a law student, and fourth-generation Wildcat. “It’s kind of funny if you look at the legal community as a whole and the academic community, we pivoted in a matter of days or weeks. My friends who are attorneys are now serving clients over video, and are taking depositions and attending settlement conferences digitally… What’s mind-blowing to me is the lack of willingness to explore other creative options for the Bar.”
As the August 17 school start date grows closer, TUSD has created a unique reopening plan with a completely virtual learning model. Administrators believe this is the only way to comply with Gov. Doug Ducey’s reopening rules while keeping staff, students and families safe.
Students who return to campus next month will be provided a computer and follow the same online learning program as students who stay home. They will be supervised by a school staff member in a room with about 10 to 13 other students, and will be required to follow safety precautions and wear a face mask at all times. Their teacher will not necessarily be in the room with them, and may be working from home.
Students who come to school will be able to take breaks throughout the day, including lunch on a staggered schedule. The online program will allow for collaboration in small groups that isn’t possible in an in-person setting.
At the July 14 board meeting, TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said this plan allows consistency for all students and will make it easy to shift to remote learning if a school needs to abruptly close because of COVID-19 exposure. He said a paperless learning environment will help prevent the spread of germs, and online learning at school will help drive class sizes down.
To make this plan a reality, the board voted to approve a $4 million technology package that will make TUSD a "one-to-one district," meaning every family will be given a computer. Trujillo said this is a “cause for celebration,” because the district has been working toward this goal for years. The money will also provide 1,600 new laptops to teachers in need.
Of the families who have enrolled at TUSD for the 2020-21 school year, about 50 percent indicated they want to send their children back to campus on August 17.
Trujillo said he does not like the idea of putting every student in a “cookie cutter” standardized learning program, but in these extraordinary times it is the best option.
Tags: TUSD , Tucson Unified , Reopening Plan , Governor Ducey , Executive Order , Image
The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block announced today that it will reopen its doors on Thursday, July 30. The reopening includes new safety protocols in accordance with city, state and CDC guidelines. A staggered maximum of 225 visitors per day will be permitted in the museum. Walk-ins will be limited, and tickets can be reserved online starting July 30.
TMA's new protocols include limiting capacity, regularly scheduled sanitation of all accessible surfaces, mandatory mask policy for all staff and visitors ages 5 and up, physical distancing procedures in exhibition galleries and sanitation stations throughout the museum.
Pima County had seen 12,406 of the state's 131,354 confirmed cases.
A total of 2,434 people have died after contracting the virus.
Maricopa County has 86,483 of the state's cases.
Hospitals remain under pressure. The report shows that 3,493 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state.
A total of 1,810 people visited ERs yesterday.
A total of 929 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday.
In response to the rising cases, Gov. Doug Ducey said last week that restaurants would be limited to 50 percent capacity, though he took no other steps to reduce the spread of the virus other than announcing that the state would be stepping up its testing program in the weeks to come.
Ducey said the state was reaching a plateau since local officials had begun requiring masks in some communities but stopped short of mandating the wearing of masks himself. Ducey said it would be better if Arizonans decided to do that without his mandate.
Democrats in the Arizona Senate released a joint statement saying they were "profoundly disappointed" in Ducey's failure to take further action.
"The newest actions to curb COVID-19 in Arizona are reactionary, piecemeal half measures that are inadequate to substantially slow the spread of the virus." the lawmakers wrote. "We have urged, and continue to urge, the governor to take swift and preemptive actions to curtail the virus’s spread, especially in light of Arizona being reported as the worst in the world for the COVID-19 pandemic. If we truly care about the health and economy of the state, then we need another statewide stay at home order. Only limiting indoor dining to less than 50 percent is woefully inadequate to significantly curb the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona. This fragmented approach has clear economic consequences–consequences that could have been avoided had we taken the pandemic seriously earlier. Taking more aggressive action now will allow us to safely open schools in the future."
Ducey's handling of the virus has caused a steep drop in his job approval numbers, according to a poll released yesterday by OH Predictive Insights. Pollster Mike Noble noted that in his latest survey of 600 likely 2020 voters, conducted July 6-7, showed that voters had sharply turned on Ducey's handling of the coronavirus, with his approval dropping to 35 percent with 63 percent disapproval. In a similar June poll, 59 percent of Arizonans approved of Ducey's handling of the coronavirus and only 37 disapproved.
“As goes the coronavirus so goes Doug Ducey’s fortunes among Arizona voters,” said OHPI Chief of Research Mike Noble in a prepared statement. “When the outbreak was being contained, Ducey was popular. Now that cases are on the rise, his disapproval rating is too.”
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Volunteers will be collecting donations from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Fast Signs located at 3009 E Speedway which will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson.
Donations will be taken via drive-thru to ensure safety and social distancing.
Now an analysis of available research shows just how dangerous tobacco use might be during COVID-19 – nearly doubling the risk of disease progression in smokers and former smokers.
The research, coupled with fresh warnings from global health experts about correlations between smoking and the novel coronavirus that causes the disease, runs counter to a much-publicized French study that claims smoking might somehow protect individuals against infection.
“Smoking significantly worsens COVID-19,” said Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And though smoking has declined in past years, in 2018 nearly 14 of every 100 U.S. adults – about 34 million people – smoked cigarettes.
The Paycheck Protection Program was launched to rescue the little guy, the millions of small businesses without the deep pockets needed to survive the COVID-19 shock.
But among the restaurants, dentists and mom-and-pops was Vibra Healthcare, a chain of hospitals and therapy centers spread across 19 states with over 9,000 employees. The biggest PPP loan was supposed to be $10 million, but Vibra found a way to land as much as $97 million.
In other contexts, Vibra boasts annual revenues of $1 billion, but when the company got in line to receive what is essentially free government money (the loans are forgivable), it made itself seem small. From Vibra’s corporate address in Pennsylvania, 26 limited liability companies received PPP loans, 23 of them from the same bank, with almost all the loan approvals coming on the same day in April.
ProPublica found several other large businesses employing the same apparent strategy of counting each of their LLCs or other entities as a separate business. In Las Vegas, a casino operator backed by hedge funds got 20 loans. Two nursing home chains received tens of millions of dollars: One chain in Illinois got loans for 51 different entities, while another based in Georgia got 19. Together, ProPublica was able to identify up to $516 million that flowed to just 15 organizations.
CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger was one of four private contractors who testified before a House Homeland Security subcommittee Monday on their operation of detention facilities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement – contracts that are worth billions, committee Democrats noted.
Throughout the roughly three-hour virtual hearing, the contractors insisted that conditions in the detention centers are “safe” for both detainees and employees and that they are following health and safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Since the pandemic began we have worked quickly to execute the guidance of the CDC and our partners,” Hininger testified. “I believe the practices and the measures CoreCivic has implemented in our facilities have prevented further transmission of COVID-19.”
But most committee members appeared skeptical.
“It is clear that ICE and its contractors have not taken this outbreak seriously and have not treated it aggressively enough,” said Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, the chairwoman of the subcommittee.
The Tucson mayor and council will host a free mask distribution event this Saturday, July 18 in six locations across the city. They have about 56,000 washable ear-loop cloth masks to give out.
Wearing a face covering is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, along with physical distancing and frequent handwashing. The city’s #MaskUpTucson event aims to provide a face covering to any community member in need.
There will be a mask distribution drive-through location in each of the city’s six wards, which will have 8,000 masks available on a first come, first serve basis. Individuals and families can drive up to the site and pick up as many masks as they need, while supplies last.
According to a press release, bike-up and walk-up requests are also welcome. The city staff working these events will use appropriate personal protective equipment and physical distancing while they distribute masks.
This event is strictly for distributing masks and is not a COVID-19 testing site. Individuals and families can go to any of the following locations between 7 and 10 a.m. this Saturday to pick up masks.
Ward 1: Mission Manor Park, Main Parking Lot, 5900 S. 12th Ave.
Ward 2: Udall Recreation Center, Main Parking Lot, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road
Ward 3: Donna Liggins Recreation Center, Main Parking Lot, 2160 N. 6th Ave.
Ward 4: Lincoln Park, Main Parking Lot, 4325 S. Pantano Road
Ward 5: El Pueblo Recreation Center, Main Parking Lot, 101 W. Irvington Road
Ward 6: Ward 6 Council Office, 3202 E. 1st Street
Tags: COVID19 , Coronavirus , Mask , Face Mask , Distribution , City of Tucson , Image
UPDATE: The Trump Administration has since rescinded the order.
On Monday, July 13, a coalition of 20 universities from multiple states – including the University of Arizona – filed a lawsuit challenging a recent order from the federal government that requires international students to attend in-person classes during the current pandemic, or face deportation.
The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement order, which was issued on July 6, states that the U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to "students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings."
The lawsuit, issued in a federal court in Eugene, Oregon, states that that ICE's order was made without warning and without any input from the schools or students directly affected by it and that the federal government's rationale for the order was to coerce schools to reopen.
