PHOENIX – With polls showing him trailing in the state, President Donald Trump stopped in Phoenix on Monday to woo a key demographic that could make or break the November election and determine whether Arizona flips from red to blue: Hispanic voters.

His appearance at a Latinos for Trump roundtable at Arizona Grand Resort & Spa came just days after Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, virtually addressed Hispanic business owners in the state.

Today the Pima County government announced that late District 5 Supervisor Richard Elías will receive a posthumous award from the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson.

The Othli Award—which will be given to Elías’ family on Friday, Sept. 18—is described as the “highest award granted by the Mexican government to community members in the U.S. who have contributed to the development of the Mexican community living abroad,” according to a county press release.

Elías died unexpectedly on March 28, at the age of 61. He is survived by his wife, Emily and daughter, Luz. According to appointed consul Enrique Alfonso Gómez Montiel, this award is intended to recognize Elías’ work on migrant rights. Elías served on the Board of Supervisors from 2002 until his death.

The consulate had nominated Elías for the award before he died and it was only recently approved. His family will receive the award on his behalf during a private reception this Friday, which will be livestreamed on the consulate’s Facebook page.

“Richard was not only a dear colleague of mine, but a friend and a brother,” said District 2 Supervisor Ramón Valadez in the press release. “I was fortunate to have known Richard for three decades and during that time he was always a steadfast ally and passionate advocate for the migrant community. This award is well-deserved and exemplifies Richard’s dedication to the underrepresented in our community. We miss him dearly.”

Hundreds of emails offer a rare look at the meat industry’s influence and access to the highest levels of government. The draft was submitted a week before Trump’s executive order, which bore striking similarities.

In late April, as COVID-19 raced through meatpacking plants sickening and killing workers, President Donald Trump issued a controversial executive order aimed at keeping the plants open to supply food to American consumers.

It was a relief for the nation’s meatpackers who were being urged, or ordered, to suspend production by local health officials worried about the spread of the coronavirus.

But emails obtained by ProPublica show that the meat industry may have had a hand in its own White House rescue: Just a week before the order was issued, the meat industry’s trade group drafted an executive order that bears striking similarities to the one the president signed.

As an editor, I’ve long had mixed feelings about the journalistic tradition of marking particular chronological or numerical milestones. No one wanted to avoid the “Sept. 11: One Year Later” package — and I was eager to do it given the six previous years I’d spent directing global coverage of al-Qaida — but the annual stories seemed far more forced by Sept. 11, 2005.

More recently, we’ve seen stories like “World War I: A Century Later” or “The 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II.” They’re often illuminating, but they don’t have deeper meaning than stories that might have been published on the 99th or 74th anniversary of those events.

University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins and Pima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen today announced they are recommending a 14-day quarantine for students living on and off campus within a geographical boundary they have identified as showing high transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Robbins said this is a “last ditch” effort to get students to follow public health directives before they have to take more drastic measures. Robbins gave off a frustrated tone at the press conference, saying the university is dealing with a “blatant disregard for public health measures.”

“I’m short of saying I’m mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore,” Robbins said. “This is part of being a good member of society, to take into account the health of others, not just your individual health and your individual desire to go out and party.”

High-density apartments near campus are included in the recommendation, with specific boundaries of the quarantine are expected to be released later today. Robbins said there is COVID-19 transmission happening around campus because of the “selfish behavior of a few individuals.”

Cullen said they aren’t seeing transmission as a result of classes, labs or on-campus activity, but more so off-campus social activities and parties.

The quarantine allows exceptions for students enrolled in essential in-person classes such as science labs and performance and fine arts classes. Students in the quarantine boundary are also allowed to go on essential shopping trips, appointments and work if necessary.

“There are a clear subset of individuals, primarily students, who are not following the rules,” Robbins said during a press conference. “Today, we’re going to ratchet up the warnings, the encouragement to please follow the rules.”

Cullen said that by establishing a recommended two week quarantine, they will have the potential to ensure that the increased virus transmission will go back down.

Robbins said enforcement of the recommended quarantine will be difficult, but the university has established a support system to assist students during this time and he hopes they will follow this recommendation before the condition of COVID-19 spread at UA worsens.

He said the university administration anticipated this problem once students came to campus at the beginning of the semester. He hoped the university wouldn't have to institute “more draconian measures, but we're to that point.”

Robbins said the university will have to move toward an all-digital learning model if they cannot get the situation under control.

“This is it, this is your last chance,” he said.

Cullen said the county is actively looking at other potential options besides an optional quarantine that they could legally pursue if the spread of COVID-19 around the university continues.

With 213 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 208,000 as of Monday, Sept. 14, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

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Pima County had seen 22,511 of the state’s 207,725 confirmed cases.

A total of 5,322 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 602 deaths in Pima County, according to the Sept. 14 report.

The number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to decline from July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Sept. 13, 489 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, the lowest that number has been since April 8, when 338 COVID patients were hospitalized.. That number peaked at 3,517 on July 13.

A total of 861 people visited emergency rooms on Sept. 13 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.

A total of 168 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Sept. 13, the lowest that number has been since April 8, when 155 COVID patients were in ICU. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.

On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,396 cases, according to a Sept. 11 report from the Pima County Health Department. While a vocal minority continues to insist that masks do no good, the spread of the virus began to decline within weeks of Pima County’s mask mandate, as more people began wearing them in public, although the level of new cases has essentially plateaued in recent weeks rather than continuing to drop. For the week ending Aug. 22, the number of new cases dropped to 528; for the week ending Aug. 29, 514 new cases were reported; and for the week ending Sept. 5, a total of 527 cases were reported. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)

Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 55 in the week ending July 4 to 19 for the week ending Aug. 15, 13 for the week ending Aug. 22 and nine in the week ending Aug. 29. (As above, these numbers are subject to revision as recent deaths may not have been reported.)

Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 239 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals. For the week ending Aug. 29, 36 COVID patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals and in the week ending Sept. 5, 21 patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals. (Numbers are subject to revision.)

Cases spiking among UA students

Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik warned yesterday that the off-campus private residential towers near Speedway and Park Avenue are a breeding ground for COVID.

The Ward 6 Democrat said that testing had shown that in HUB Tucson, 45 of 490 residents had tested positive for COVID, some of whom had tested negative through the UA’s rapid-result antigen test.

“With 490 residents living in a confined congregate setting, the likelihood is the virus is already spreading throughout the building at an alarming pace,” Kozachik warned.

Kozachik said his request that management test all residents was rejected.