The number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 200,000 as of Thursday, Aug. 27, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County had seen 21,001 of the state’s 200,139 confirmed cases.

With 33 new deaths reported today, a total of 4,929 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Aug. 27 report.

The number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to decline. ADHS reported that as of Aug. 26, 895 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, the lowest that number has been since May 25, when 818 people were hospitalized. That number peaked at 3,517 on July 13.

A total of 1,019 people visited ERs on Aug. 26 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7 and has bounced between 900 and 1,100 for most of August.

A total of 311 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Aug. 26. That number has been cut in half since the beginning of August. The number in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.

In Pima County, the week-by-week counting of cases peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,398 cases, according to an Aug. 19 report from the Pima County Health Department. Those numbers have dropped with Pima County requiring the wearing of masks in public but they have plateaued in recent weeks, with 832 cases in the week ending Aug. 8 and 819 cases in the week ending Aug. 15. (Not all recent cases may have been reported.)

Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 54 in the week ending July 4 to 19 for the week ending Aug. 8.

Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 247 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals. For the week ending Aug. 8, 88 COVID patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals.

State hitting benchmark to allow shuttered biz to reopen

State officials expect Arizona to hit certain benchmarks allowing for the reopening of Indoor gyms, movie theaters, bars serving food, water parks and tubing operations in Pima, Maricopa and Pinal counties.

State metrics are expected to reach the “moderate” COVID-19 transmission category today.

WASHINGTON – If anyone thought it strange that the top two elected officials in the Navajo Nation were speaking at competing political conventions, Navajo Vice President Myron Lizer said they have not been paying attention.

“There’s no secret we are a split ticket,” Lizer said during a Navajo town hall Tuesday with President Jonathan Nez. “We are working both sides, and we are well represented in Washington.”

Lizer’s comments came as he was getting ready to address the Republican National Convention, just one week after Nez was featured as a “rising star” who helped deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention.

In a prerecorded prime-time speech, with Shiprock as a backdrop, Lizer credited President Donald Trump with improving relations between federal and tribal governments.

“For years, we’ve fought congressional battles with past congressmen and senators that were part of a broken system that ignored us. That is, until President Trump took office,” Lizer said in his convention address. “Whenever we meet with President Trump, he has always made it a priority to repair the relationship with our federal family.”

WASHINGTON – Mary Ann Mendoza, the Mesa mom who became an evangelist for get-tough immigration policies, apologized Tuesday for retweeting a conspiracy-laden, anti-Semitic diatribe just hours before she was to address the Republican National Convention.

Mendoza was abruptly removed from Tuesday night’s lineup of speakers, where she had been scheduled to have a prime spot on the second night of the convention.

The Trump campaign did not cite the tweet, but said in an email shortly after Tuesday’s convention had started that it had removed Mendoza’s “scheduled video from the convention lineup and it will no longer run this week.”

The tweet, since taken down, was first reported by the Daily Beast. It encouraged Mendoza’s almost 41,000 followers to unroll a Twitter thread that tied Jewish bankers to the Titanic, the Kennedy assassination, global government and alleged crimes of past administrations.

Mendoza apologized for “not paying attention to the whole message. That does not reflect my feelings or personal thoughts whatsoever.” But that did not appear to be enough to keep her as part of the convention.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court late Tuesday rejected a last-minute appeal from Lezmond Mitchell, a Navajo on federal death row who is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening for the brutal 2001 murders of a Navajo woman and her granddaughter.

Mitchell, 38, has two appeals remaining – a request for a presidential commutation of his sentence and a petition for another court to delay his execution so the commutation request can be heard – but one expert conceded that those were long shots.

“Mr. Mitchell’s life is in President Trump’s hands, and we hope the president will demonstrate his respect for tribal sovereignty and grant Mr. Mitchell the mercy of executive clemency,” said a statement Wednesday from Celeste Bacchi and Jonathan Aminoff, the federal public defenders representing Mitchell.

If the execution goes forward at 6 p.m. EDT in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, it would be the first time in modern history that the federal government carried out the death penalty for a crime between Native Americans on tribal land, over the objections of the tribal government, his attorneys said.

“There’s a feeling that, you know, the matter is something that should be in the hands of the Navajo leaders…. That we have the inherent power to make decisions,” said Robert Yazzie, who was the Navajo Nation chief justice during the time of Mitchell’s crime.

The Twittersphere is reacting to news reports that beloved former Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is reportedly receiving hospice care. 

Arizona Daily Star Sports Columnist Greg Hason tweeted prayers for Olson would be welcomed by the Hall of Fame coach while commenting on how he is "in the fight of his life" and ESPN Tucson radio host Justin Speers tweeted "He is easily the most beloved person in Tucson."

If you believe in the power of prayer, your positive thoughts would be welcomed by Lute Olson. The Tucson legend is in the fight of his life.

— Greg Hansen (@ghansen711) August 25, 2020

Lute Olson is Arizona basketball. Lute is Tucson. Didn’t matter what side of town you grew up on, Foothills or the South Side, he brought so many Tucsonans together every year with his teams. He is easily the most beloved person in Tucson.

I’m in disbelief right now.

— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) August 26, 2020

The 85-year-old coaching legend suffered a stroke in February 2019 and rarely has been seen in public since.

Olson is the most successful basketball coach in UA athletics history since arriving in the Old Pueblo in 1983. During his time, he led the Wildcats to an NCAA national championship in 1997, three NCAA Final Four appearances, 22 NCAA Tournament appearances and won 11 Pac-10 championships before retiring in 2008.

UA Football defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil tweeted his support for Olson during this time.

Many prayers for my friend and fellow Wildcat Lute Olson. We love you Coach. 🙏🏼 #BearDown

— Chuck Cecil (@chuckcecil26) August 26, 2020

Wildcats Radio 1290 assistant program director and co-host Michael Luke tweeted the station would not be discussing Olson's health until a statement from the family is released.

Regarding Lute Olson:
On 1290, we won't be addressing the rumors about Coach's health.
This is, and always should have been a private matter for the family and we will continue to respect those wishes.
When, and if, there is a statement released we will address it.
-Mike

— WildcatsRadio1290 (@Wildcats1290) August 26, 2020

Olson even got some love and support from the voice of his biggest advesary—the ASU Sun Devil nation. ASU announcer Tim Healey commented about the coach's graciousness when interviewed on Healey's pre-game show years back.

Prayers up from Sun Devil Nation for Hall-of-Fame former UA MBB coach Lute Olson. Lute was always gracious with his time visiting with me for pregame interviews when ASU played his Wildcats. The 1990’s Bank One commercials with Lute & Bill Frieder were TV classics! pic.twitter.com/VEtXAI1idP

— Tim Healey (@TimHealeyASU) August 26, 2020

 
One Olson fan's tweet sums up how we're all feeling right now.

Man. Don’t take Lute Olson. Fuck 2020. 😪

— Michael Evenchik (@Jewlympian) August 25, 2020

The history of police in America is a story of repeated promises to change from its gatekeepers, yet people of color, adolescents and other vulnerable populations say they continuously bear the brunt of its shortcomings.

Youth in America are criminalized every day, with racial and socioeconomic disparities further increasing their likelihood of being policed, arrested or killed by law enforcement.

Despite overall declines in arrests and incarceration, children of color are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system every step of the way. In 2018, Black youth were arrested more than twice as often as white youth.

“Hispanic/Latino youth are placed in residential facilities at a rate that is 1.3 times greater than their representation in the population,” according to a 2017 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

Nearly 730,000 minors were arrested in the United States in 2018, according to federal data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. For thousands across the country, this path is set off by a singular interaction that defines the trajectory of a child’s life: an encounter with police.

New precautions require all customers and staff to wear masks. If you do not have a mask, one will be provided by the theatre. There will also be social distancing required through the facilities, staggered showtimes to reduce the number of customers in the lobby, sanitizer stations, air filtration systems and reserved seating in all theatres.


For more information, visit harkins.com

Sunday, Aug. 9 marked five months since Pima County saw its first case of COVID-19. As of that date—now a few weeks in the rear-view mirror—there had been 17,880 recorded infections and 489 deaths across the region.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry says the fight is still far from over.

“In looking at the long view over the months since the pandemic started, we are not yet seeing any significant, sustainable decline in infections or deaths,” Huckelberry wrote in an Aug. 24 memo. “This data, as reported by the Arizona Department of Health Services, will and has varied significantly from day to day. This daily fluctuation should not and cannot be interpreted as a trend.”

This analysis contrasts with what the state health department has been telling the public in recent weeks. Gov. Doug Ducey said the state has made significant progress in decreasing the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of Aug. 24, Pima County has recorded 20,535 COVID-19 cases and 551 deaths related to the virus.

In order to control the virus, Huckelberry said the county needs to focus on testing, contact tracing, and surveillance testing, which involves continually retesting those who have higher risks of being exposed to COVID-19, such as healthcare workers and first responders. He suggests surveillance testing be done through antigen tests, which are less expensive and produces rapid results.

WASHINGTON – It took less than a minute, but Arizona’s delegation to the Republican National Convention cast all 57 of its votes Monday for President Donald Trump, part of a suspense-free nomination that kicked off the four-day convention.

Trump got all 2,550 votes, even though only a fraction of that many delegates were actually in the hall in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like the Democratic National Convention last week, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the GOP event this week to stage a nontraditional convention.

But even though they could not be there in person, Arizona delegates expressed enthusiasm Monday for their candidate.

“He took the time to come to Arizona to show that he cared for our state,” said Alberto Gutier, a delegate and sergeant-at-arms for the Arizona Republican Party who was watching the events from home Monday.

The outcome was hardly a surprise: Arizona was one of a number that opted against a Republican presidential primary this year, leaving Trump as the only candidate.

Most delegates focused their comments on law and order, economic issues and, for Arizona delegation Chairman Michael Ward, “miles and miles and miles of big, beautiful wall.”

It took a little more than an hour and a half Monday for the actual roll call of the states that formally nominated Trump, who followed with a speech that went on for almost an hour on everything from election security to COVID-19 to judicial appointments.