Friday, March 13, 2020
This is an ongoing list of every Tucson event canceled due to coronavirus (that we know of.) This list will be updated periodically:
—————————————————————
- Tucson Festival of Books
- Fourth Ave. Street Fair
- Tucson Folk Fest
- Fox Theatre shows through (at least) April 5
- SculptureTucson Festival Show & Sale
- Tucson Hip Hop Festival to be rescheduled
- 191 Toole is suspend all shows and events until at least the beginning of April
- KFMA Day
- Tucson Symphony Orchestra is suspending all performances through the end of the month
- Arizona Theatre Company putting the production of The Legend of Georgia McBride on hiatus through the end of the month
- Catalina Organ Festival
- The Museum of Contemporary Art is postponing all public programs until further notice
- Sahuarita Creative Arts Festival
- The University of Arizona's School of Theatre, Film & Television is canceling all performances and events through April. This includes the upcoming Arizona Repertory Theatre season presentations of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Light in the Piazza.
- The Rogue Theatre is canceling all remaining performances of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, as well as the upcoming staged reading of The House of Bernarda Alba
- Cirque du Soleil shows at the Tucson Arena from April 17 to 19
- Steam Pump Ranch events through the end of March (except for Heirloom Farmers Market)
- UA Presents has canceled all remaining events for their 2019 - 2020 season
- Broadway in Tucson has cancelled all showings of 'A Bronx Tale'
- Invisible Theatre has postponed shows of From Brooklyn to Broadway in Only 50 Years. The new dates are for Saturday, May 16
- The University of Arizona is switching to online classes through the end of the semester, canceling all sporting events
- Tucson St. Patrick's Day Parade is postponed
- Tucson Jewish Community Center closing through March
- All City of Tucson meetings of Boards, Committees and Commissions are suspended
- Tucson Sugar Skulls and Indoor Football League season is postponed until further notice
- Palo Verde Park Fest
- Vista Porch Fest
- Meetings for the Democrats of Greater Tucson through the end of March
- Marana Founders' Day
- Marana Gastronomy Tours
- Honea Heights Park grand opening
- Stormwater Utility Commission meeting
- Budget and Finance Commission meeting
- Taste of Oro Valley
- Oro Valley Kids Concert series
- AACM Oro Valley HOA Forum
Tags: canceled , closed , postponed , events , tracking , covid19 , coronavirus , Image
"We have made the decision to suspend all shows and events until at least the beginning of April, and we will be evaluating next steps on a daily basis," Rialto Theatre Foundation Executive Director Curtis McCrary said in an email. "This weekend’s shows at Rialto and 191 Toole—Shoreline Mafia tonight, and Buddy Guy tomorrow at Rialto, and Katastro tonight, The Frights tomorrow, and Girl Friday Sunday at 191 Toole—will all be rescheduled if possible."
The Rialto's decision follows announcements by the Fox Theatre and local venues that they will be suspending operations.
Here's the Rialto's email:
Tags: covid19 , theater , rialto , closed , canceled , Image
In addition to extending Spring Break an extra two days, to March 25, the college announced that in-person classes will move to virtual instruction whenever possible. Courses requiring hands-on learning will continue in person until further notice.
“Courses that cannot be transitioned to a virtual environment, such as labs and hands-on training will also continue to be taught face to face. After two weeks the College will reassess when to return to normal operations,” the college said in a statement announcing the change.
All non-essential college travel has been canceled or postponed until further notice. All non-essential events through April 30 have also been postponed or canceled.
College Provost Dolores Duran-Cerda also asked faculty to loosen attendance requirements for ill students, and to encourage students to stay at home if they feel sick.
Additionally, the college has implemented increased measures to daily clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as desks and chairs, door knobs, stair railings, and crash bars.
Tags: covid19 , pcc , pima , college , spring break , classes , online , Image
Thursday, March 12, 2020
The decision was made after a call with all 30 clubs and a consultation with the players association. MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days.
The 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson have also been postponed indefinitely.
Area nonprofits use fundraising events to provide essential financial support for their respective missions, and the loss of such events can prove a great detriment.
"CFSA is committed to supporting our nonprofit partners during this time of uncertainty,” said foundation president and CEO Clint Mable, in a statement. “Our goal is to always be responsive to the needs of the community and help ensure that the mission-critical services provided to our community by our nonprofit partners continue without interruption."
To contribute, visit cfsaz.org or call 770-0800.
"I'm looking on the bright side of this whole thing going on right now," said local entrepreneur Aric Mussman. "It's like treasure hunting.'
Mussman set up a Facebook page called The Coronavirus Travel Club, dedicated to posting flight and hotel deals across the globe, around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. In less than 24 hours, Mussman's page now has over 400 members and is steadily continuing to grow.
"A lot of my friends travel so there was a lot of people who were posting travel deals but there wasn't a place to post them together," Mussman said during a phone interview from Los Angeles International Airport before boarding a flight to Hawaii. "I figured I would start this group where we could all post the deals we found."
"Deals on flights from Phoenix to New York only $86 round trip", reads one post. Another one boasts round-trip fare to Oahu, Hawaii from Sky Harbor Airport for only $50. Mussman said he's noticing many of the people posting work for airlines and hotels and are encouraging people to travel by offering cheap deals. He believes the travel industry is in survival mode at the moment.
"There's a whole bunch of people who are fearful of coronavirus. Then you have another subset of people who are fearful about losing their jobs because they're in industries that revolve around traveling," Mussman said. "When I checked into my hotel in L.A. last night, the woman at the front desk said there used to be five people checking-in guests. Now she's the only one."
Mussman said the threat of coronavirus (as well as the precautionary measures) is going too far. While he said he doesn't want to minimize the situation because people have compromised immune systems, Mussman doesn't want to be confined to his home unnecessarily.
"I'm 39 years old and I'm in great shape," Mussman said. "I'll be careful around my grandma but in the meantime, why should I be locked in my house?"
Mussman said he already takes precautions to avoid getting sick while he travels, like wiping down his seat and tray with a disinfectant wipe before sitting down and religiously uses hand sanitizer abroad. "It's standard stuff. I don't want to get the flu when I travel, either," he said.
"I'm completely not worried whatsoever about traveling," Mussman said. "There's probably a better chance of me getting (coronavirus) in Tucson than in Hawaii. But if it happens, it happens."
You can check out The Coronavirus Travel Club here.
Tags: travel , coronavirus , club , upside , Image
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
The emergency declaration:
- Establishes the Arizona Department of Health Services as the entity responsible for coordinating all matters pertaining to the public health emergency response of the State.
- Allows ADHS to waive licensing requirements to provide healthcare officials with assistance in delivering services during times of heightened demand.
- Allows the state to access $500,000 in emergency funds to aid in measures and resources to protect public health.
- Provides the state with emergency procurement authority to procure goods and services as needed to protect public health.
The executive order :
- Requires insurance companies and health plans to cover out of network providers, including out of plan laboratories and telemedicine providers.
- Waives all copays, coinsurance, and deductibles for consumers related to COVID-19 diagnostic testing and decreases co-pays for telemedicine visits.
- Implements consumer protections, including prohibiting price-gouging on COVID-19 of diagnosis and treatment-related services.
- Requires symptom checks of healthcare workers and visitors at skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.
Tags: health , corona virus , covid19 , ducey , governor , state of emergency , Image
Monday, March 9, 2020
With three cases of the global virus confirmed in Pinal County, and an estimated 120 residents of Pima County being evaluated, it seems the virus entering Tucson is inevitable. But the Pima County Health Department reassures the public not to worry, and to treat the spreading virus as they would a bad flu season. To date, no cases have been confirmed in Pima County.
“The vast majority of healthy people will get through this just like we get though the flu season, but our elders and those who are ill are the ones who will have the most serious consequences,” Elías said. “Our community needs to know that this isn’t something that is going to come and go... We are going to be dealing with this illness for some time until it runs its course.”
Pima County representatives request the public to use “common sense” regarding coronavirus: wash your hands, avoid others if you feel sick, cover your cough and don’t touch your face.
“We are actively working with local, state and federal partners to monitor and prepare for the presence of COVID-19 in Pima County,” said mayor Regina Romero. “I want to emphasize that both the county and city have protocols in place to deal with exactly this kind of situation, and are ready to respond to when the virus presents itself in our region… as with other illnesses, sticking to the basics can go a long way.”
Francisco Garcia, chief medical officer of the Pima County Health Department highlighted three important messages in response to the “rapidly evolving situation”: this is the time to optimize your health and the health of your family; we need to focus on protecting the vulnerable – such as the elderly and the medically frail; we need to make sure our first responders are taken care of and are using the correct policies regarding this virus.
“We haven’t found a single case of this testing positive in Pima County yet, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s going to be here,” said Bob England of the Pima County Health Department. “This is probably going to feel to us like a bad flu season. So just as we lose tens of thousands of Americans each year to the flu, this will tragically kill many people. There’s no getting around that, but it's going to be like what we experience every year… We got a lot to learn, but there are a lot of good indications for us to treat this the same way we treat influenza.”
England says he cannot foresee a circumstance where Pima County would need to close a school, as children are becoming infected less often and less severely.
For more information on the disease, and how to best protect yourself, Pima County has established the website pima.gov/covid19
Tags: health , corona , virus , public , pima , flu , covid-19 , Image
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
The City of Tucson released its five-month E-Scooter Pilot Program Report on Wednesday for review by the mayor and council during their upcoming March 3 study session. The six-month pilot program is scheduled to end March 12, if the mayor and council vote not to renew.
The city has collected about $68,000 in fees (as of January 2020) from Bird and Razor scooters through application fees, permit fees and right-of-way-use fees (about .20¢ per trip), according to the report. The report estimates the city would receive an extra $6,608 in fees by the program’s end. The report also states the city would collect $129,304 if the program continued for a full year.
Over 37,000 people in the Tucson area between the program’s start on Sept. 12 and Feb. 12 have taken almost 174,000 e-scooter trips. The daily average is 1,130 trips per day, with the average trip distance about .86 miles and the average trip duration about nine minutes, according to the report. On any given day, there was an average of 688 e-scooters on Tucson streets, mainly in central Tucson's Ward 6.
Ridership started strong in the pilot program’s opening month, with 42,763 trips during September. It peaked at 55,500 trips in October. However, scooter trips dropped significantly in November to 34,666 trips. Ridership continued to decrease in December with only 19,219 trips. January saw an increase of 2,614 rides from the previous month, bringing that month's total to 21,833.
In a nutshell, there was nearly double the number of riders during the program’s first month as there were in the last month.
Tags: e-scooters , Image
Thursday, February 20, 2020
The skeletal remains located in the desert area northeast of Anthony Road and Massingale Road on February 12, 2020 have been identified as 38-year-old Sarah Galloway. The manner of death has yet to be determined.
Detectives are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call 9-1-1. You can also submit an anonymous tip, with the potential for a reward, by text, phone, or by going to 88CRIME.org.
Tags: Sarah Galloway , found , body , missing person , Image
