Today, the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society announced that the 2021 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is canceled. While the overall Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase season that takes over Tucson from February to March is home to numerous showcases and exhibits, the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society's Gem and Mineral Show is the largest and the show that launched it all.

"COVID-19-related risks clearly make it impossible for TGMS to put on anything more than a shadow of our accustomed vibrant event," representatives of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society announced in a prepared statement. "Restrictive COVID-19 travel policies mean many of our major domestic, and most of our international museum exhibitors and friends either won't or can't travel here. This effectively eliminates both our exhibits and educational programs."

However, the society has announced that they intend to use this time to plan for a "blockbuster" 2022 show.

"Most importantly, TGMS does not want to be responsible for a single COVID-19 fatality or serious illness. Our show is run by volunteers and many of us are in high-risk demographics...as are many of our participants and attendees," the statement continued. "Consulting closely with the Pima County Health Department, the Mayor and City Manager’s offices and the good folks who run the [Tucson Convention Center], it is clear that applying the mandated COVID-19 protocols to reduce risk would mean drastically restricted attendance and curtailment of many of our programs."

In 2018, the total Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase brought an estimated economic impact of $120 million to the City of Tucson. 

PHOENIX – The pay gap is confoundingly stubborn: On average across the United States, women make 81 cents for every dollar a man makes, with the size of the gap varying based on a woman’s job, family status and race.

In Arizona, women fare slightly better than the national data, making 84 cents for every dollar a man is paid. That places the state at No. 11 for the smallest gender wage gap, according to a 2020 study by business.org. When the wage gap is broken down by race, many women are making even less.

Asian women overall are paid the most, matching the Arizona average of 84 cents. The gap grows for Black women, who make 65 cents on the dollar, and Hispanic women, who make 55 cents.

The National Committee on Pay Equity, which advocates for the elimination of the race and gender pay gaps, created a formula to determine how far into the following year different demographics of women would have to work to make the same as a man, on average, at the end of the year. They call each of these days “equal-pay day.”

With 1,157 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 240,000 as of Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

click to enlarge

Over the last week, the state has seen, on average, more than 1,000 new cases a day.

Pima County had seen 27,703 of the state’s 240,122 confirmed cases.

With 16 new deaths reported yesterday, a total of 5,891 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 636 deaths in Pima County, according to the Oct. 27 report.

The number of hospitalized COVID cases has declined from July peaks but has ticked upward in recent weeks as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly. ADHS reported that as of Oct. 26, 861 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. That number peaked with 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients on July 13.

A total of 784 people visited emergency rooms on Oct. 26 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.

A total of 187 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Oct. 26. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.

Although President Donald Trump said the “big spike” in Arizona cases was now “gone” during last week’s final presidential debate, Arizona Department of Health Director Cara Christ noted on her blog last week that cases in the state were on the increase.

Christ wrote that while Arizona has not seen as big a surge as other states, “we have recently seen a shift of COVID-19 spread in the wrong direction.”

WASHINGTON – Arizona conservative groups hailed the confirmation of “capable, brilliant” Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, after a rushed vote Monday that split the Senate along party lines.

Barrett’s confirmation comes less than six weeks after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and cements a conservative majority on the high court for years to come – what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called a “decades-long effort to tilt the judiciary to the far right.”

No Democrats voted for Barrett, who was sworn in Monday night at the White House by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas within hours of the 52-48 Senate vote. Maine Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican to vote no on the nomination.

Arizona’s senators also split on party lines, with Republican Sen. Martha McSally saying before the vote that she was eager to vote for “this highly qualified pioneering woman.” But Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who voted no, expressed concerns over the weekend over what she called Barrett’s “inconsistent views on legal precedent.”

As local school districts allow students to return to campus in hybrid learning models, they’re reporting positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff, resulting in some students and staff members being asked to quarantine themselves if they were in contact with people who have tested positive.

As of Monday, Marana Unified School District has reported five positive COVID-19 cases with 24 students and staff in quarantine since they reopened in a hybrid model Oct. 19, according to Alli Benjamin, the district’s public relations and community engagement director.

At Mountain View High School, four students tested positive for coronavirus, causing 23 students and employees who were potentially exposed to quarantine. One case was confirmed yesterday, and the other three on Oct. 22, 23 and 24, according to Benjamin.

One student was reported as testing positive at Marana Middle School on Oct. 21, but no potential contacts were established, according to Benjamin.

As of Friday, the Amphitheater Unified School District has reported five positive coronavirus cases resulting in 35 students and staff members quarantining, according to Communications Director Michelle Valenzuela.

Amphitheater reopened in a hybrid model on Oct. 12, and its latest positive COVID-19 case was reported at Walker Elementary School on Friday. One student tested positive, causing two employees to quarantine.

On Oct. 20, one student at La Cima Middle School reported a positive coronavirus test. Although no close contacts to the person were discovered inside the school, three La Clima students who were with the student over the weekend were asked to quarantine themselves.

One student at Canyon del Oro High School reported a positive test Oct. 19, causing 13 students who may have been in contact with the person to self-quarantine.

The week prior, 13 students and one staff member at Ironwood Ridge High School had to quarantine after a student reported a positive test on Oct. 16.

At Mesa Verde Elementary, one staff member reported a positive case on Oct. 14, but no other employees or students were identified as close contacts to require quarantining.

The 10,100 Amphitheater students who opted for hybrid classes attend two days a week and spend the other three learning remotely. About 1,400 students chose to continue attending school completely online.

Yes, the pandemic has been sucks for cinema. A lot of big movies have been pushed off into Whatever Land as far as their release dates.

But even before this all started, there was a significant push for the smaller, artier films to find their way to streaming services rather than going all in on a theatrical release. That trend has continued over the last year with the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Apple+, and Disney putting films on streaming either exclusively or simultaneously with limited theatrical releases.

On the Rocks (playing at the now open RoadHouse Cinemas in Tucson, and currently streaming on Apple+) is one of the movies that gives you both options. You can stay home and catch it on your TV, or you can venture out and see it on a big screen. Your choice.

The film sees Bill Murray and writer/director Sofia Coppala joining forces again, their classic original teaming, Lost In Translation, being one of the more beautiful films to come out of Hollywood in the last 30 years. Murray plays Felix, the rich father of Laura, a New Yorker and author with writer’s block and a busy, almost-never-home husband, Dean (the ever-reliable Marlon Wayans in a nice dramatic turn).

The film is nicely written, and luscious looking, two common traits for most Sofia Coppola films. It also has that Murray spark, an actor who really shines with Coppola at the helm. Felix, along with Laura, suspect that Dean could be having an affair, which he disguises as work trips and meetings. The father and daughter go on a mission of discovery in more ways than one. This allows Murray to access the more devilish side of his acting persona in both funny, and scary, ways.

Exploring the imperfections of human beings when it comes to their relationships, both with our parents and our partners, Coppola’s plot twists get a little conventional and silly at times. But Murray and Jones are excellent together, and what they put up on screen will have you easily forgiving those conventionalities. There are two particular moments of reckoning scenes in this movie that are expertly handled on both sides of the camera.

So, yes, there are still some very good movies for you to see, both inside and outside of the house, during these crazy times. On the Rocks is one of them.

Now Showing at RoadHouse Cinemas and streaming on Apple+

WASHINGTON – Remains of 181 migrants were found in the Arizona desert through the end of September, 37 more than in all of last year and the most since 2013, according to the group Humane Borders.

The rise in migrant deaths comes during a year of intense heat and little precipitation for Arizona – but also at a time when the number of people caught crossing the border has fallen sharply.

Humanitarian groups and county officials along the border blame the rising deaths on years of border security policies that have pushed migrants toward riskier routes into the U.S. – along with this year’s harsh weather, expanded border security and COVID-19 health restrictions.

“It’s kind of like stopping water: If you block it up in one place, it’s going to go somewhere else,” said Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier. “We’re seeing the results of that as an increase in deaths.”

The number of deaths is tracked by the humanitarian group Humane Borders, using data from the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office and other public sources. The group, which releases numbers quarterly, recovered remains of 181 people in the desert through September, with 85 of those cases coming in the last three months alone.