Tuesday, June 23, 2020
"After viewing a video yesterday of a Tucson Police Department in-custody death, I do not feel that it would be appropriate to carry on with business as usual in light of this event," Romero said. "I am anguished and deeply troubled by what I saw in the video yesterday."
Mayor Romero said they will not be sharing the name of the victim, details of the incident, or releasing the video at this time out of respect for the victim's family. However, the mayor will be holding a press conference to disclose information surrounding the incident, after the victim's family members have a chance to be briefed.
"My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victim during this extraordinarily difficult time," Romero said. "I want to assure our community that there will be a thorough and transparent investigation."
The mayor said she hopes the council will adopt new reforms and policy changes in upcoming meetings. The city has not announced when Tuesday's meeting will be rescheduled.
"I will be proposing that Mayor & Council act swiftly to adopt reforms and effective policy changes with input from our community," Romero said. "We can and must do better.”
City officials cite growing concerns over large gatherings during the pandemic as well as the potential for wildfires as reasons for the postponement. Local firefighters have been battling the Bighorn Fire in the Catalina Mountains since early June after lightning ignited dry brush on the mountain's backside.
The city has not rescheduled the event at this time.
"With the recent large spike in COVID-19 case and the current administrative order to postpone reopening our City facilities to August 3, postponing the event at this time is the right decision to ensure that we stay on track slowing the spread and for our planned reopening," City Manager Mike Ortega said. "it is our intent to hold the event sometime in the future, when we can all safely come together, to celebrate coming out of this time of crisis and our return to a new normal for our society."
Today alone, Arizona has seen a 3.6 K jump in COVID-19 cases, with more than 500 of those cases in Pima County. Last week, Mayor Regina Romero issued a proclamation requiring all Tucsonans age 2 and up to wear a COVID-19 mask while in city limits. A day later, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to require facemasks to be worn in the county.
Summer 2020 will be officially canceled in the Old Pueblo if Eegees decides not to release their beloved watermelon Eegee as they usually do in July. Don't let us down, Capt. Eegee. You're our only hope.
During today’s budget meeting, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to allocate more than $380,000 to tourism-related agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impacts.
Nine nonprofit organizations will receive funds from the county to promote events and programs that could provide local economic development and improve tourism, according to a press release.
The recipients are the Ajo District Chamber of Commerce, Arts Foundation for Tucson & Southern Arizona, International Sonoran Desert Alliance, Portable Practical Educational Preparation, Southwest Folklife Alliance, Children’s Museum of Tucson, Perimeter Bicycling, Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Tucson Presidio for Historic Preservation.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, attractions are open with limited capacity and events altered to accommodate physical distancing,” said Diane Frisch, the county’s Attractions and Tourism Director. “These nonprofits need our assistance now more than ever as we navigate these unprecedented times.”
While this money will provide new opportunities for tourism, the COVID-19 pandemic is still a relevant factor that could interrupt future plans. If any events funded through the county and produced by these groups are canceled due to risks from the virus, the money will simply carry over to the following year.
The Attractions and Tourism department manages the county’s partnership with outside tourism and cultural organizations in an effort to coordinate the efforts between government and these community groups.
The department’s Outside Agency Citizen Review Committee considered each application and recommended where funding should be allocated.
For more information, visit the Attractions & Tourism website.
Tags: Pima County , Attractions & Tourism , Funding , COVID19 , Coronavirus , Image
Pima County had 6,089 of the state's 58,179 confirmed cases.
A total of 1,384 people have died after contracting the virus, including 247 in Pima County.
Maricopa County has more than half the state's cases, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hitting 33,883.
Arizona hospitals continue to see a steady rise in the number of people hospitalized with COVID symptoms, as well as more people visiting emergency rooms. This morning's Arizona Department of Health Services report shows that as of yesterday, a record 2,136 Arizonans were hospitalized, more than double the 1,009 hospitalized on June 1. A daily total of 1,228 arrived at emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms on June 22. Previous to June, the number of people seeking help in emergency rooms never topped 667. The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds hit a new record of 614 yesterday.
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It has become a familiar pattern: President Donald Trump says something that doesn’t line up with the facts held by scientists and other experts at government agencies. Then, instead of pushing back, federal officials scramble to reconcile the fiction with their own public statements.
It happened in March, when Trump pushed his opinion that antimalarial drugs could treat COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an unusual directive that lent credence to the president’s perspective: “Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally” on specific dosages that the CDC then lists. The CDC’s language — which the agency later retracted — shocked experts, who said the drug needed to be treated with caution. The CDC told Reuters the agency had prepared the guidance at the behest of the White House.
Perhaps the best known example of an agency twisting itself into a pretzel stems from “Sharpiegate.” After the National Weather Service’s Birmingham, Alabama, office contradicted Trump’s Sharpie fable that Hurricane Dorian threatened the state, the agency overseeing the office put out a statement backing the president over the scientists. Emails obtained by BuzzFeed and The Washington Post showed just how the episode roiled the agency. “You have no idea how hard I’m fighting to keep politics out of science,” one official wrote. Another email simply had one word: “HELP!!!”
On the same day last week, two separate agencies cut through the White House influence with their own factual conclusions.
Monday, June 22, 2020
Don't forget to vote in the Best of Tucson® 2020!
- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona jumped over 54,000 as of Monday, June 22, after the state reported 2,196 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
- Right before President Donald Trump unveiled punitive measures against China on May 29, he inserted a surprise into his prepared text. “We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization,” he announced during a press conference in the Rose Garden.
- The Bighorn Fire continued its spread northeast across the Catalina Mountains over the weekend, reducing its containment levels by more than half.
- With COVID-19 taking an especially heavy toll on Native Americans, tribal leaders and mental health experts have stepped up efforts to address the emotional suffering brought on by ongoing lockdowns and so much loss.
- Local Greek eatery Athens on 4th Avenue decided to call it quits last Saturday evening after serving the Old Pueblo for 27 years.
- A new partnership between Pima County government and the Downtown Tucson Partnership will distribute personal protective equipment to downtown businesses in the coming weeks.
- As the top spot for the Pima County Attorney’s Office opens up this August, candidate Mark Diebolt believes his 23-year record as a deputy county attorney speaks for itself.
- As the school year draws near, many questions are still in the air about the University of Arizona’s campus re-entry plans.
- President Donald Trump’s scheduled rally in Phoenix on Tuesday will go ahead as planned, and Mayor Kate Gallego has pledged not to enforce local face mask requirements.
As the school year draws near, many questions are still in the air about the University of Arizona’s campus re-entry plans. Logistics have already changed multiple times, but the UA remains firm in their intent to reopen the campus to in-person activity in just a few weeks. The Weekly’s intrepid team of summer interns have reached out to their fellow students to find out how UA’s latest class feels about returning to campus during a pandemic.
Lam Nguyen came to the U.S. during high school as an international student from Vietnam. In pursuit of studying optical sciences and engineering, he decided to attend the University of Arizona. This upcoming fall semester will be his junior year, and despite concerns of the campus reopening, Nguyen remains hopeful.
“It would be risky but definitely doable,” he said. “I think the school will take a lot of safety measures, of course, to put the students first.”
Nguyen noted the challenges students face when the school transitioned courses online in March.
“Our health was affected a lot,” Nguyen said. “You went walking miles and miles every day at school to sitting at home in front of a computer.”
For him, the biggest challenge was the cancellation of lab classes.
“It’s definitely better for engineers and science students to be able to go into the lab. To have an in-person experience instead of trying to look online,” Nguyen said.
At the moment, he's living in Tucson for the summer away from his parents.
“My parents are currently in Vietnam and the country is doing really well with the whole COVID situation,” Nguyen said. “I am not as worried for them than I am worried about the situation in this country right now.”
However, Nguyen says he is still managing social distancing and only going out for essential travel. He also says that he is looking forward to the new school year.
Adela Granados is a first-generation college student majoring in creative writing. Since she lost her job at a campus grocery store thanks to the pandemic, Granados has tried to keep herself busy with keeping in shape and volunteering in a Korean language study camp, which is also her minor. She is worried about returning back to campus in the fall for her junior year.
“I find it very stupid to be reopening in the fall when this whole pandemic hasn’t blown over yet,” Granados said. “I feel like we are a little too lax in what we should be doing to prevent it. The minute that we are allowing small businesses to reopen again, everyone sees this as a green light to pursue their lives like normal, which is very not conducive to what we are trying to do.”
Granados is OK with shops and restaurants reopening in order to stay in business, she thinks it's still important to be careful. She suggests the university to have a trial period before fully reopening the campus and provide resources for the students.
“A test run wouldn’t hurt,” Granados said. “I find that we can never be too careful… The UA should provide preventive measures like gloves or masks ready on hand for those who don’t have them.”
Granados is keeping an open mind as the university reveals more of its plans, but she's ready to get back to the classroom.
“I am very, very cooped up,” Granados said. “I am very much an introvert, but it’s getting to me too.”
Interviews conducted by Mekayla Phan. More student perspectives to come as the school year draws closer.
Diebolt, who is facing fellow Pima County Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Mosher and defense attorney Laura Conover in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary, has over 320 felony jury trials—including 50 homicide cases—under his belt since beginning his career with the county attorney’s office in 1997. Due process, fairness and accountability is his creed as a prosecutor, he said.
“I’m probably one of the most prolific violent crimes prosecutors in Arizona,” Diebolt said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do, is hold people accountable for the violent crimes they commit. I’ve dealt with everything from gang crimes, drive-by shootings, attempted murder, murder...and a lot of gun crimes.”
Diebolt has also received several letters of reprimand in over the two decades he's worked for the county, ranging from mishandling of prosecution and failure to disclose exculpatory evidence to retaining and viewing emails of pornographic and X-rated material on his work computer.
The prosecutor asserts mistakes are bound to happen from time to time in his 23-year career prosecuting “killers and a variety of gang members,” especially when dealing with dozens of cases.
“I would have 35 violent crime cases and eight to 10 homicide cases going at any one time,” Diebolt said. “Is there ever a time when you’re overworked? Probably, but I think anyone who puts it out there and fights is going to have a few issues once in a while.”
A new partnership between Pima County government and the Downtown Tucson Partnership will distribute personal protective equipment to downtown businesses in the coming weeks.
In response to the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Arizona, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted on June 19 to require that face masks be worn in public by everyone over the age of 5 when six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained.
To help businesses meet that mandate, Pima County and DTP will begin distributing non-medical PPE such as face masks, sanitizer, and gloves to businesses in the Business Improvement District for a limited time, until supply chains stabilize.
The distribution is intended to be a “backstop” and is only available to businesses with less than 50 employees, according to a press release. All businesses are encouraged to source PPE on their own if they can.
“This is not just about personal responsibility, this is community responsibility—our responsibility to others, especially the vulnerable who need us to do what is right to keep them safe,” said Chairman Ramón Valadez in the release. “Wearing a mask is not a burden, it is a badge of honor that shows you are doing your part to try to stop the spread of this horrible disease and help save lives.”
To get their supply of non-medical PPE, businesses are required to complete a request form by Thursday, June 25. DTP Chief Sanitation Officer Russ Stone will pick up the orders from the county’s warehouse and deliver them directly to qualifying businesses.
According to the release, DTP will act as a liaison between downtown businesses and the county government, in order to facilitate a “successful and safe reopening.”
For more information, visit downtowntucson.org.
Tags: Downtown Tucson Partnership , Pima County , Masks , Gloves , Personal Protective Equipment , PPE , Image
The restaurant announced its closure and thanked their customers for all the "amazing memories" and the "overwhelming accolades from customers & food critics over the years" on a Facebook post last Sunday afternoon.
However, the post alluded that Chef and Owner Andreas Delfakis might have a new project in the works stating, "Stay tuned for the next adventure because that's how we roll!"
While the Greek-born chef perfected and served some of the best traditional Greek fare this side of Thermopylae, Delfakis' skills shine brightest upon tasting his flavorful Greek seafood dishes like the Santorini platter—fresh prawns and seafood acquired that day, then sauteed with olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs and white wine. Delfakis opened Athens on 4th Avenue in 1993.
We're hoping another venture is in the works! To keep up with what Delfakis and company are up to next, follow their Facebook page here.
