Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Few people will argue that Gov. Doug Ducey has done an outstanding job in battling the coronavirus in Arizona. Twice, the state has been a global hotspot for the outbreak; he refused to shut down nightclubs (including those owned by the family of his own healthcare advisor) until the disease got so out of control that most public schools had to launch the fall semester remotely; he thinks so little of testing to determine the extent of infections and path of the virus that he wants to stiff Pima County on testing expenses despite getting hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to do just that; he totally botched the rollout of the state’s online vaccination registration system; and when he got tired of taking heat from the press in weekly COVID press conferences, he just quit having them.
But Ducey’s latest move may be his most appalling: Telling the federal government that Pima County didn’t need additional vaccination clinics.
Pima County officials have been working with FEMA staff on various vaccination efforts. FEMA and Pima County were in talks to set up vaccination clinics that would provide 6,000 Pfizer shots a day for three weeks, along with a second three-week clinic that would provide second shots and the possibility of a two-week clinic to provide two weeks of Johnson & Johnson shots. All told, that would have provided about 200,000 more vaccinations in Pima County.
But first, FEMA had to run the plan by the state. And that’s when Ducey said no.
Asked about Ducey’s shot-blocking of Pima County last week, Arizona Health Director Cara Christ said too many state resources would be used for the setup—which is laughable on its face, given how Ducey is squirreling away COVID relief dollars so he can once again cut taxes for Arizona’s wealthiest residents.
But let’s say Arizona is just too broke to speed along the vaccination process for Pima County residents. Ducey could have reached out to Pima County officials to find out if they’re willing to foot the bill, but he didn’t bother. (That’s not surprising, given that in his imperious way, Ducey rarely talks to his fellow elected officials when making his COVID decisions.)
Turns out, Pima County is ready to take on those expenses—and yesterday, Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson, along with all the local mayors—Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Marana Mayor Ed Honea, Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield, South Tucson Mayor Bob Teso and Sahaurita Mayor Tom Murphy—all signed a letter asking Ducey to reconsider his decision.
“Pima County is prepared to provide any and all assistance in setting up this POD such that it does not require resources from the state,” they wrote. “In addition, the vaccine supplied by federal policy will not deduct from the state vaccine allocation.”
The local elected leaders said that the POD “potentially provides another 300,000 or more vaccines that would be targeted for our low-income and minority communities. We understand the state has declined to accept the federal offer for a variety of reasons. We would appreciate you reconsidering this position in asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a federal POD in Pima County.”
We can only speculate on why Ducey turned down the FEMA offer. (The resources spin is obviously a dodge, given the state’s strong financial position.) Does he not want the Biden administration to get credit for vaccinating people in Arizona? Does he not care how long this stretches out? Does it somehow distract from his recent efforts to appear to be the big hero of the crisis? Does he just hate Pima County?
Whatever is going on in his head, Ducey should quit acting like an absentee stepdad who needs to be in control of everything on the rare occasions he decides to help out. He needs to approve Pima County’s federal site immediately. The sooner people are vaccinated, the sooner we’ll be past this pandemic. And hey, if he blames it on some underling, Ducey can pretend to be a hero again!
Photos were shot in and around the Tucson Mountains, especially in Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park West. All photos were shot with an iPhone 6, except for a few recent ones on an iPhone 12. There is no photo manipulation except the color filters in-camera. These are all straight shots.
Some Oscar-nominated films are still getting screen time here in Tucson:
Nomadland, nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, continues to screen at The Loft as part of the Open Air Cinema series and at Roadhouse Cinemas. Minari, nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture, is also screening at The Loft and Roadhouse Cinemas.
Nomadland still screening at Harkins Tucson Spectrum 18 with another Oscar-nominated film, The Father. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman both received Oscar nods for their fine work as a father and daughter dealing with the ravages of dementia.
The biggest news on the new release front is the arrival of Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max.
Here's a review:
ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE
Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a new 4-hour cut currently streaming on HBO Max, is a definite improvement over the 2017 Justice League part-authored by the recently disgraced Joss Whedon.
Whedon’s cut, a ridiculous attempt at Marvel-izing the DC Universe, was a total disaster. This cut? Certainly not a disaster, but nothing to get too excited about, either. Snyder's Cut is an almost forgivable behemoth, while Whedon's essentially stalled his big screen career.
For starters, whoa, hang on there Zack, this didn’t need to be 4-hours long! Many of the new scenes do a lot to flesh out the story but, good Christ, do you get carried away with the slo-mo. Too many scenes drag on and on via slo-mo and dreary music. There were too many times where I had to stop down and take a lap around my apartment out of pure frustration. This cut could’ve been a comprehensible 3 hours…easily.
The beauty of getting it on streaming is that you can watch it in parts. Still, even divided up (6 parts not including a prologue and epilogue), too many sequences drag in a hellishly boring way.
Big improvements include a much better Steppenwolf visual experience. The villainous Steppenwolf has some new armor that makes him look less like a California Raisin and more like a demon warrior capable of destroying humanity. He's actually kind of scary instead of being an unintentionally comic travesty.
That stupid opening scene with Henry Cavill and his bizarre, CGI scrubbed face (he had a mustache that needed to be removed in post) is gone. Cavill’s Superman gets a more substantial role here and gets to sport the black Superman suit. The Superman stuff in this cut is actually, dare I say, kind of cool, and that’s coming from somebody who didn’t like Snyder’s prior takes on the character, Batman v Superman and Man of Steel. I've come to accept that the Superman of Snyder world is just sort of dark and whiny, and I just need to put the Christopher Reeve iteration out of my head while watching him. Cavill is good here, and I think it's time for a new Superman movie with him in it provided it has a new director.
Cyborg gets a lot more screen time, and that’s not a good thing. The character was drab before, and remains bland here, with a lot more cinematic minutes and exposition to put you to sleep. Characters like Martian Manhunter and Darkseid are added. Martian Manhunter feels tacked on and useless, while Darkseid is a nice add, giving the apocalyptic Steppenwolf a better sense of purpose. The much ballyhooed appearance of Jared Leto's Joker towards the end is not as stupid as I suspected it would be.
Upon ingesting it, the new cut left me feeling that I had definitely seen a more cohesive story. It makes more sense. It’s also an over-baked, far too padded, sometimes tedious story. The awful, discordant humor of Whedon’s cut is gone (The Flash doesn’t hump Wonder Woman in this one), the vibrant color correction of the prior cut has been replaced by the more typical, darker Snyder tone. Some will gripe about the new cut’s 4:3 aspect ratio (closer to a square) than that HD screen-filling aspect ratio we’ve all grown used to. I know this because my friends have been texting me that the new aspect ratio is pissing them off (I'm okay with it).
So Snyder got this out of his system, and can move on to bigger and brighter things. As for the DC Universe, it's still all over the place tonally. Looking forward to that alleged team up of Ezra Miller's Flash and Michael Keaton's Batman. Happy that Snyder and Whedon won't be directing it.
With 507 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 837,000 as of Tuesday, March 23, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 38 new cases today, has seen 111,950 of the state’s 837,244 confirmed cases.
With 53 new deaths reported this morning, a total of 16,798 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,334 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 23 report.
A total of 650 coronavirus patients were in the hospital as of March 22. That’s roughly 13% of the number hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.
A total of 879 people visited emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms on March 22. That number represents 38% of the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.
A total of 175 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on March 22, which roughly 15% of the record 1,183 ICU patients set on Jan. 11. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22, 2020.
State opens vaccinations to anyone 16 and older starting Wednesday
Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Tuesday that Arizona's state-run vaccine sites in Maricopa, Pima and Yuma counties will be open to all Arizonans 16 and older beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“Our goal has been and remains to get vaccine into the community as quickly, widely and equitably as possible,” said Gov. Ducey. “Given a thorough review of vaccination data, anticipated vaccine supply, and current demand among prioritized groups, now is the time to take this critical next step.”
The governor's announcement means that anyone 16 and older can schedule appointments at state distribution pods and private pharmacies. Pima County runs separate vaccination clinics and has not yet followed suit with Ducey's announcement.
You can register for your vaccine appointments at a state point of distribution by visiting pod vaccine.azdhs.gov, and those who need assistance can call 1-844-542-8201.
Pima County is providing vaccination appointments to people 55 and older as well as frontline workers, educators, first responders and healthcare workers. Those who qualify in Pima County’s priority group of eligible vaccine recipients can register for a vaccine at www.pima.gov/covid19vaccineregistration or by calling 520-222-0119.
Many local pharmacies are now receiving vaccine doses. To find one near you, visit the ADHS website.
More than 1.2 million Arizonans are now fully vaccinated against COVID as of today, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. More than 1.9 million Arizonans have at least one shot of the vaccine.
A total of 300,166 Pima County residents have received at least one vaccine shot and 177,131 residents are fully vaccinated as of today, according to ADHS.
ADHS will now announce on Wednesdays via Twitter, @AZDHS, and Facebook the approximate number of first-dose appointments available. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) will release those new COVID-19 vaccination appointments every Friday.
Get tested: Pima County has free COVID testing
Pima County is continuing to offer a number of testing centers around town.
You’ll have a nasal swab test at the Kino Event Center (2805 E. Ajo Way) and the Udall Center (7200 E. Tanque Verde Road).
The center at the northside Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road, involves a saliva test designed by ASU.
Schedule an appointment at these or other drive-thru or pop-up sites at pima.gov/covid19testing.
The University of Arizona’s antibody testing can determine if you have had COVID and now have antibodies. To sign up for testing, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu/home.
—with additional reporting from Austin Counts, Christina Duran, Jeff Gardner and Mike Truelsen
PHOENIX – Arizona is in a drought. That’s not exactly breaking news, but all the water in the world won’t quench the thirst of pro sports fans around the Valley.
With no disrespect toward the Mercury or Rattlers, who have been like water bottles found in a sea of sand that is the Arizona sports market, the so-called four major professional sports franchises have come up dry every year except one.
There is hope that the Cardinals, with an electrifying franchise quarterback in Kyler Murray, and the Suns, led by burgeoning star Devin Booker, might soon provide relief, but the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Coyotes and Suns have still combined to win exactly one championship.
One.
The Diamondbacks delivered in 2001, defeating the New York Yankees in a memorable World Series. But they are the only major pro team to win a championship and that was nearly two decades ago.
The Arizona sports landscape has been particularly barren since 2010, a stretch during which all four teams have spent many seasons on their league’s bone pile.
“The last 10 years has been an absolute drought in the Valley,” said Scott Bordow, who has covered sports in Arizona for almost 40 years with the East Valley Tribune, the Arizona Republic and The Athletic.
The four franchises have lost their way for varying reasons.
Monday, March 22, 2021
OK, it’s 11 a.m. on a weekday morning. Most decent people are working. Spring Break is over and some politicians have declared that the pandemic is no longer a thing, so kids can be back at school. But a few of us lucky ones get to be at home, watching the University of Arizona women’s basketball team play their first game in the NCAA Tournament.
I’ve got my laptop in front of me, with the TV a little bit off to the side. Giant mug of Diet Pepsi and a bowl of microwave popcorn. I eat the plain kind of popcorn, so it kinda tastes like sawdust. I’ve never tried the “butter” flavor; I’m afraid that it will taste like feet (not that I actually know what feet taste like).
It’s been almost two decades since the UA women made it to the NCAAs. They certainly would have been in it last year, but the pandemic canceled everything. While I believe that the NCAA acted quite responsibly in most things last year, I think that they made a big mistake in not announcing the brackets for the men’s and women’s tournaments. It would have given fans something to chew on and given the players the satisfaction of knowing that they would have been in the tourney were it not for the coronavirus.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced today that Arizona's state-run vaccine sites in Maricopa, Pima and Yuma counties will be open to all Arizonans 16 and older beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“Our goal has been and remains to get vaccine into the community as quickly, widely and equitably as possible,” said Gov. Ducey. “Given a thorough review of vaccination data, anticipated vaccine supply, and current demand among prioritized groups, now is the time to take this critical next step.”
The governor's announcement means that anyone 16 and older can schedule appointments at state distribution pods and private pharmacies. Pima County runs separate vaccination clinics and has not yet followed suit with Ducey's announcement.
As of this morning, Arizona had administered nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 1,831,456 individuals, including 1,136,413 who are fully vaccinated.
Information about all vaccination sites across Arizona can be found at azhealth.gov/findvaccine, but the website was not loading as of Monday morning, likely because of heavy traffic.
With 484 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 836,000 as of Monday, March 22, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 87 new cases today, has seen 111,912 of the state’s 836,737 confirmed cases.
With no new deaths reported this morning, a total of 16,745 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,326 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 22 report.
A total of 647 coronavirus patients were in the hospital as of March 21. That’s roughly 13% of the number hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.
A total of 940 people visited emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms on March 21. That number represents 40% of the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.
A total of 180 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on March 21, which roughly 15% of the record 1,183 ICU patients set on Jan. 11. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22, 2020.
