Even though Democrat Joe Biden's inauguration is just a week away on Wednesday, Jan. 20, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232-197 today
to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time following his incitement of a mob that overran the U.S. Capitol last week.

Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed in the resulting rampage.

Ten Republicans, including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, joined the all of the House Democrats in voting for impeachment.

The impeachment resolution states that Trump "engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States."

It notes that while a joint session of Congress was in the process of counting the electoral votes affirming Biden's win, Trump addressed a crowd of supporters and "reiterated false claims that 'we won this election, and we won it by a landslide.' He
also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol, such as: 'if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.' Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed … unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts."

The resolution also points to other efforts by Trump to subvert the election, such as his January phone to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to rig the election in his favor. A recording of the call was released to the media.

Trump "has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law," the resolution reads.

All five Democrats in the Arizona delegation—Reps. Raul Grijalva, Ann Kirkpatrick, Tom O'Halleran, Ruben Gallego and Greg Stanton—voted in favor of impeachment. All four Republicans—Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert—voted against it.

Grijalva said Trump remains a "clear and present danger to this country and must face responsibility for his actions."

As Pima County prepares to provide COVID-19 vaccines to a much wider segment of the population this week with a limited number of vaccines on hand, the county health department has announced its plan to prioritize the vaccination of specific segments of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who qualify.

“We are in a very vaccine-constrained environment right now, but we do not want to be in an administrative and distribution constrained environment,” County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said at a press conference today. “So we challenged ourselves - it was only 10 days ago - to figure out how to give 300,000 vaccines in three months.”

Phase 1B of vaccine rollout includes prioritized education and protective service workers, essential workers in fields like transportation and government, adults in congregate settings with high-risk medical conditions and individuals over 75.

However, the 1B phase will be divided into sub-segments of 1B.1 and 1B.2. The 1B.1 group includes those over 75, teachers and childcare providers and prioritized protective service workers such as law enforcement and emergency response staff.

Those who qualify under 1B.1 can register to receive vaccines as the registration websites become available. According to Pima County Communications Director Mark Evans, the first two registration sites for Banner North and Tucson Medical Center will go live Thursday. Both locations prioritize the 75+ population.

In addition to the Banner North and Tucson Medical Center vaccination centers used to provide vaccines to group 1A beginning in December, Pima County is adding Kino Stadium, the University of Arizona, Tucson Convention Center and Rillito Racetrack as vaccine sites.

The county asks those in the 75+ age group to receive their vaccinations at Banner North, Kino Stadium or Tucson Medical Center. Teachers should go through The University of Arizona and protective service workers should register at the Tucson Convention Center.

Congressman Raul Grijalva has announced he'll vote in favor of impeaching President  Donald Trump for a second time. Grijalva's statement:

Impeachment is reserved for the extreme situations when a President betrays their oath of office, abuses their power, and loses the trust of the American people. President Trump did exactly that as he urged deranged individuals to march on the Capitol and threaten lawmakers to overturn the results of the election and illegally install him in power. As mobs overpowered Capitol police, he refused to forcefully condemn them. He has since showed no remorse for his actions and bears responsibility for this horrific attack.

President Trump is a clear and present danger to this country and must face consequences for his actions. I will vote to impeach Trump for a second time because calls of ‘unity’ will not stop the treacherous situations Trump continues to encourage. Trump and his congressional enablers must be held accountable for the carnage and terror they released on our nation last week, and for their continued willingness to spread lies and support violence to undermine our democracy.

COVID cancellations continue into the new year with the organizers for the annual Tucson Jazz Festival announcing that the 2021 festival is off.

Although this year's event was scheduled to take place outside in Armory Park, and with a smaller lineup and timeframe than previous years, the organizers have decided even the reduced event isn't feasible with Arizona claiming the worst viral spread in the nation.

"While we hoped by March of 2021 we would be able to host the Festival in a safe, enjoyable manner, it is now clear it's just not worth the risk," said festival executive director Khris Dodge. "We all look forward to the time when we can gather and enjoy live music together, but for now our priority must be the safety and well-being of our community."

The event organizers are currently working on plans for the 2022 festival, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 14-23. For more information, visit tucsonjazzfestival.org.

Just one week ago, members of the 117th Congress took the oath of office. Raising our right hands, we swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I took this oath two years ago, as well, and cited it when I voted to impeach the president the first time, following the Mueller report. This week, I’ll vote to impeach the president a second time, following the rampage he organized.

This past November, we held a free and fair election. Due to record turnout, President-Elect Biden won by a significant margin. Rather than concede with grace, President Trump began spreading propaganda—baseless lies—that the election was rigged, that votes were stolen, and that he won by a landslide. This movement was either actively supported, or at best ignored, by Republicans who were elected on the same ballot.

On Jan. 6, this propaganda campaign climaxed to an all-out assault on our democracy when the President of the United States instructed a violent mob to attack government buildings and officials. Doors and windows were smashed, lawlessness and chaos took over, and in what felt like an instant, my colleagues and I became victims of domestic terrorism under the dome of what we thought was one of the securest and most symbolic buildings in the world.

But the truth is, it wasn’t an instant. This wasn’t a peaceful protest that happened to spiral out of control. What unfolded was the result of a disturbing trend that had been brewing and growing, without scrutiny and without consequence, for the last few years.

There is no question that the attack on the Capitol was harrowing. To see a place so sacred and meaningful defiled and disrespected is extremely heartbreaking. Yet, what’s even more devastating, and downright disturbing, is the attitude that we should simply gloss over the attempted coup from last week to find unity amidst the wreckage.

We are at an impasse. We simply cannot move forward from here without holding the President and his party accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. The only way to overcome the division is for Republicans to finally recognize and call out the MAGA cause for what it is: a movement entrenched in white supremacy, in entitlement, and in loyalty to one man, rather than country. For too long, Republicans have either been complicit in the face of this President or have dutifully fallen in line with him. So they, too, are responsible for the pillage that occurred.

With more than 5,600 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 641,000 as of Wednesday, Jan 13, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County, which reported 830 new cases today, has seen 85,256 of the state’s 641,729 confirmed cases.

A total of 10,673 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,335 deaths in Pima County, according to the Jan. 13 report.

The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Jan. 12, 5,055 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, a slight drop from yesterday’s 5,082. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27, or less than a tenth of the current count.

A total of 2,082 people visited emergency rooms on Jan. 12 with COVID symptoms, down from the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29. That number had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.

A total of 1,158 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Jan. 12. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.

Teachers included in the next phase of Pima County’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout will have less access to vaccine doses than originally expected, Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo said at a governing board meeting Tuesday.

At a press conference on Jan. 8, Trujillo announced a registration website will go live Friday where TUSD employees can make an appointment to receive a vaccine at one of Pima County’s vaccination sites and schedule a follow up for a second dose 28 days later.

However, the Pima County Health Department has notified TUSD there may not be enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the hundreds of thousands who qualify for the vaccine in phase 1B, which includes prioritized essential workers in education and protective services, essential workers in fields like transportation and government, adults in congregate settings with high-risk medical conditions and individuals older than 75.

In its first week of vaccine implementation starting Jan. 18, the district could be limited to 100 to 200 vaccine appointments weekly for up to a month, Trujillo said.

“The Pima County Health Department's late Friday notification that it received a significantly limited supply of vaccines will not allow them to meet the aggressive targets that they had previously set of being able to vaccinate 2,000 to 3,000 group 1B individuals a day,” Trujillo said.

“So this compromises our efforts as a Tucson Unified community to make sure that all of our 1B employees can get vaccinated by the end of the month of February.”

Alex Martinez looked over his Air Force dress blues, the uniform he wore when he graduated from boot camp. He touched his insignia – a circle with a star in the center and a striped wing flaring from either side – that signified his rank of airman second class.

“I was in the military for three years, 11 months and 13 days,” said Martinez, 25, of Arizona. “From the day I got out of basic training, I was ready to get out” of the Air Force.

During his time in uniform, Martinez contemplated suicide, a phenomenon that increasingly affects younger veterans. In fact, veterans ages 18 to 34 experience a higher rate of suicide than all other age brackets. The suicide rate for young veterans swelled by 76% from 2005 to 2017, according to the Veterans Affairs’ 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, released in 2019.

Yet unlike soldiers who served in frontline deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Martinez had never experienced combat – a subtle side of military suicide that isn’t fully understood. In fact, a 2018 Pentagon study determined that 41.7% of active duty military members who died by suicide in the previous year had not been deployed.

Martinez suffered from suicidal thoughts, isolation, addiction and a culture that suppresses and neglects the mental health of its members.