Asylum from gang violence and opportunity to work are among the reasons cited in an article by Daniele Volpe and Kirk Semple of the New York Times as to why thousands of migrants from central and South America are making their way north.

“We’re traveling to find a better future for my daughters,” said Fanny Rodríguez, who was with her husband, Edil Moscoso, 26, and their two daughters Daily Edith, 2, and Yarice, 9 months old. “We’re not going because we want fancy things.”

She added: “I don’t have to give them luxuries, only what’s necessary — that my daughters don’t lack food, that my daughters don’t lack clothes. Things like that.”

With news of the growing caravan headed through Mexico, President Trump has tweeted about sending the military to the southern border of the United States. He also tweeted about the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

“We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing the massive foreign aid routinely given to them,” Trump said.

Hundreds of migrant families are being housed in low-budget Tucson motels after being processed and released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a report by the New York Times.

Catholic Community Services and volunteers from churches, synagogues and throughout the community have been helping provide food, clothes and medical services.

The flow of migrants fleeing violence and extreme poverty from Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador is increasing, leading to a record 16,658 people in family units apprehended by Border Patrol in September.

“The reality is that conditions in countries of origin continue to push
people to migrate,” said Joanna Williams, advocacy director of the Kino
Border Initiative, which works with migrants along the Arizona border.

As families continue to migrate, President Trump continues attempts to strong arm the situation, tweeting out threats to stop financial aid to these three countries, as well as blaming Democrats for those countries' exodus. 

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court and a legend in Arizona politics, has announced that she is suffering from dementia. SCOTUSblog has the details:

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, announced today that she has been diagnosed with dementia, “probably Alzheimer’s disease,” and that as her “condition has progressed,” she is “no longer able to participate in public life.”

O’Connor’s announcement came one day after Jessica Gresko of the Associated Press reported that O’Connor had “stepped back from public life” and that her sons had cleared out O’Connor’s office and files at the Supreme Court. O’Connor announced in 2005 that she planned to step down from the court in no small part to spend more time with her husband, John, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. John O’Connor died in 2009.

In a letter released by the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office that was addressed to “Friends and Fellow Americans,” the 88-year-old O’Connor was characteristically straightforward. Noting that “many people have asked” about her health and activities and that she wanted “to be open about these changes,” O’Connor wrote that “[s]ome time ago” she was “diagnosed with the beginning states of dementia.”

The developers of downtown’s AC Marriott plan are unveiling their plan for a new $88 million hotel project on Broadway and Fifth Avenue that will incorporate two new Marriott brands, as well as the historic Rialto Theatre.

The 16-story hotel, which could be under construction in a year, will incorporate Marriott’s Moxy and Element brands and include a multi-million-dollar remodel of the Rialto. The Moxy will have 109 rooms, while the Element will feature 140 rooms.

“We end up with three hotels who cater to three different types of guests that are all under 150 rooms, so they qualify as charming and boutique,” said developer Scott Stiteler, who is undertaking the project with his partner on the AC Marriott, Rudy Dabdoub. “And then they all work together. There's something for everyone.”

Stiteler said the success of the AC Marriott encouraged him to pursue this new project across the street. Marriott executives are also pleased with the AC, according to Stiteler.

“They see that Tucson is cool,” he said.

Marriott’s Moxy brand focuses on what hotelier calls “fun hunters” who are seeking a minimalist style, while the Element brand offers a space for travelers who are looking at longer stays, with fully equipped kitchens and similar amenities.

Stiteler said he’d be requesting tax abatements from the Rio Nuevo Board and the city of Tucson as part of the financing for the project.

The hotel will essential meld with the Rialto Theatre, allowing guests to attend shows without leaving the property. Stiteler envisions a lot of synergy between the two properties, including the possibility that guests who check into the Moxy will be able to look through a glass wall at the band playing on the stage of the Rialto.

Curtis McCrary, the executive director of the nonprofit Rialto Theatre Foundation, said he was thrilled at the possibility of a remodeled Rialto, especially since the plan includes new offices and green rooms for artists. The current office and green room, which the Rialto Theatre Foundation now rents from Stiteler, will be demolished to make room for the hotel.

The Rialto Theatre Foundation, which will continue to own the nearly century-old theater, is on the verge of completing its own capital fundraising campaign, with a goal of a million dollars. But even that was not going to make the kind of difference that the partnership with Stiteler will.

Once completed, the theatre will boast new mezzanine seating, a multi-level ground floor, new bars and many other improvements. Visiting artists will find much better accommodations in the new green rooms, including showers and other R&R facilities.

But during the estimated two years of construction, the Rialto will have to close its doors. Fortunately for music fans, McCrary has already found an alternative location: The Corbett Warehouse at Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street, just east of the Sixth Avenue underpass. The warehouse, which is also owned by Stiteler, will serve as the Rialto’s temporary home.

McCrary said he was thrilled by the possibility of what the Rialto will become when it reopens.

“As H.I. McDunnough said in ‘Raising Arizona,’ this seems like the solution to all our problems and the answer to all our prayers,” McCrary said.

Fletcher McCusker, the chairman of the Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment board, said that the hotel and Rialto project “might just be the most exciting thing to ever happen in downtown Tucson. Scott Stiteler has been and remains a game changer.”

Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, who represents the downtown area, said the hotel strikes him as a great project for downtown. Kozachik led the fight to stop a major hotel project after he was first elected to the Tucson City Council in 2009 that would have been backed by city taxpayers, but he likes the way private developers such as Stiteler have been moving forward with new hotel projects in downtown.

“We did the right thing in being patient and letting the market catch a wave,” Kozachik said.

Kozachik called the notion of having the Rialto temporarily located at the Corbett Warehouse “ultra cool.”

“It'll give us time to make needed upgrades to the Rialto, keep the Rialto programming going and show that an entertainment use of the Corbett Building makes sense on that side of downtown,”

Kozachik said the project shows how far downtown Tucson has come in the last decade.

“Back in 2008, 2009, 2010, the city and Rio Nuevo and the Legislature were all litigating and trying to one-up the other,” Kozachik said. “Developers were caught in that mess and everyone was a loser. Now the city, developers and Rio Nuevo are all pulling in the same direction and the impacts on downtown resurgence is clear to anyone who cares to take a look. We've turned a significant corner relationally, and everyone is seeing the results.”

Kathy Hoffman and Frank Riggs are putting up a spirited fight to become our next Superintendent of Public Instruction. Their campaign websites are filled with educational plans and proposals, too many to list or discuss without getting so deep in the weeds, I'd never find my way out. The short version is, I like Hoffman's ideas far better than Riggs', but that doesn't tell you much.

So let's take another tack. Let's talk about hammers and nails.

No doubt you've heard the saying, "When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Even if the hammer you're holding isn't the best, or the only tool for the job in front of you, you're going to try and find a way to use it. You know that hammer. You like that hammer. It's the first tool that comes to mind when you have a situation you have to deal with before you consider other options.

It's the same with the ideas you tend to favor. They are going to be readily at hand when you're looking for solutions to problems you have to deal with. You'll call on them before you consider alternatives. Likewise with your personal and professional experience. You're going to lean on what you know to guide you.

So let's look at the hammer —actually the hammers — Hoffman and Riggs have in their tool belts which they would tend to favor if they became our next education superintendent.

Kathy Hoffman knows public schools. She knows early childhood education. She works with students with disabilities. She speaks fluent Spanish and Japanese. She understands the value of being bilingual and the importance of bilingual education.

If Hoffman becomes superintendent, her first instinct will be to seek out public school solutions to problems or opportunities she faces. She's going to think about Spanish (and other language) speakers as well as English speakers. She's going to consider students who have to overcome problems to reach educational success. She'll consider whether early childhood education should be a part of the solution.

Another national forecaster has delivering good news for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick and bad news for Lea Marquez Peterson in Southern Arizona's Congressional District 2.

Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball is moving the race from the "Leans Democrat" column to the "Likely Democratic" column:

Democrats appear well on their way to putting away at least three of these four seats. We are upgrading the Democrats’ chances in the open AZ-2, moving it from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic, after the National Republican Congressional Committee stopped spending there. NJ-2 is one of the safest Democratic pickups in the country, and CA-49, the seat from which Rep. Darrel Issa is retiring after a very close call in 2016, has long been the Democrats’ best bet in California.

In this week's Skinny, I run down many of the challenges facing Marquez Peterson.

On Thursday, Oct. 18, from 3-5 p.m. Campus Health Services will be in the Highland Commons Courtyard celebrating their 100th year anniversary on campus.

What started as a quarantined Flu Infirmary is now UA's official campus health. In 1918 they first began to fight the Spanish Flu, which was going around campus causing people to become extremely ill. Certain sections of Old Main and the Forbes building were turned into quarantined spaces for infected students and soldiers. Today, Campus Health is one of the longest-serving units on the University, according to UA News.

In 2004, they moved into their current space on Highland Commons that now serves over 70,000 patients a year. Lee Ann Hamilton said in a release, that they see about half of the University population in a given year. Their return rates are high, as 99% of students would recommend it to their friends.

Hamilton says they are set apart in many ways, one being that their three main goals are outreach, education and prevention. She also added that they have a dedicated passionate staff that genuinely wants to help their students. According to the release they were the first credited college health service in the nation and they were ranked No. 2 in Princeton Review's Best Health Services. 

Students taking one credit hour or more at UA are eligible for treatment from Campus Health; employees can also be seen. What began as a flu infirmary is now a health department with a multitude of outreach potential for its students. From a simple cold to mental health, UA Campus Health has got its students covered.

To continue the history lesson, Click Here.

Showcasing all of the diverse cultures and customs that dwell within our beloved town, the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival has done it again!

Affectionately coined, "Tucson EAT yourself," the festival presents a unique opportunity to have nachos and pad tai, tacos and dumplings, fry bread and curry all in one sitting.

"Tucson Meet Yourself is a folklife festival. We focus on presenting artists and communities that carry on living traditions rooted in a group’s own definition of identity, artistry, and cultural significance," according the TMY's mission.

Culturally based arts and crafts galore, performances from an array of artists and talks and tabling from various organizations are also a part of the heart of the festival.

Tucson Meet yourself just celebrated its 45th festival, and from us at the Tucson Weekly, thank you to all the volunteers that came together and make this weekend a success, even with all the rain!

Tired of squeaky chairs, coffee-stained carpets and the search for a desk with a power outlet when you go to the library? Well, those will be a thing of the past at the University of Arizona’s Science and Engineering Library thanks to a $7 million donation from the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation.

"We are all incredibly grateful to the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation for its transformative generosity," UA President Robert C. Robbins said after the Oct. 5 naming ceremony.

The gift was recognized at last week’s ceremony to rename the library to the Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library. The donation and name change mark the renovation of the library which will add student collaborative spaces on two floors adjacent to the libraries 260-seat collaborative classroom, the largest at the university.

The Cottrell foundation is the philanthropic arm of Research Corporation Technologies, a Tucson-based technology investment firm. The library’s new name comes from Albert B. Weaver who was appointed the head of the UA physics department in 1958 and later moved up to provost of academic affairs and vice president of the University. Weaver passed away in 2012.

"This gift honors the accomplishments of a past UA leader and makes our future more promising. It shows how powerful philanthropy is in shaping our campus and our identity," said John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the UA Foundation.

In a debate peppered with accusations of lying and treason, U.S. Senate candidates Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema took shots at each other Monday in their only public debate of the 2018 election, each calling out the other’s voting record as proof that the other candidate is not a true representative of Arizona.

Sinema used the debate, which was broadcast live on Arizona PBS, to portray herself as an independent, echoing the campaign ads supporting her candidacy. She painted herself as someone willing to step over party lines, embracing the fact that she had voted largely with President Donald Trump’s agenda since 2017.

“Over the past six years, I’m proud to say I’ve taken the time to learn and grow and occasionally even change my opinion,” said Sinema, who has served three terms in Congress. “Over time, I think it makes sense for individuals, who are willing, to learn and to grow.”

She attempted to dodge questions about how she would have voted during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, calling the event a “circus.” She expressed disappointment with the way the Senate handled the confirmation, but ultimately said she would have voted no because it appeared to her that Kavanaugh lied under oath.

On other issues, she attempted to downplay that some of her positions are Democratic, pointing them out as good for Arizona. She referenced the price of beer cans when saying she opposed the Trump administration’s tariffs on aluminum imports because they hurt the state’s people.

“That’s something I think we should all agree on, that beer shouldn’t cost more,” she said.