Tuesday, July 7, 2020
I didn’t like Hamilton the first time I watched it. The music felt unoriginal, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s face and voice were annoying me, and I didn’t follow the plot.
But…I loved the ending and really liked the women in the show, especially Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton. I liked them so much it made me ponder whether or not I had made some sort of mistake. So, I waited a couple of days and watched it again.
Upon second viewing, I loved Hamilton from start to finish, and Miranda grew on me to the point that I found him adorable. Not sure what happened the first time; perhaps I was distracted, perhaps I was just grouchy. This sort of thing has happened only once or twice in 25 years of film reviewing (Most notably, my about-face on Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas).
During the second viewing, my brain clicked on to the Hamilton frequency. I heard all of the lyrics, the melodies jumped out at me, and the choreography was stunning. It’s deserving of all the hype, and boasts a boldly original concept; the founding fathers played by multiple ethnicities, often rapping. The cast is superb, including Miranda as the title character, Leslie Odom, Jr. as friend-turned-enemy Aaron Burr, and a host of performers sometimes playing two parts.
MVP winner for the best comedic turn in the show goes to Jonathan Groff as the sassy King George, so assured the American colonies will be back under his reign and, yes, gloriously spitting while singing in vivid HD.
As good as everybody is, Soo steals her every scene and gives the musical major heart. She’s the reason I took a breath, took the time, watched the show again, and realized my near mistake. Hamilton is the gem it was rumored to be.
Pima County had 10,184 of the state's 105,094 confirmed cases.
A total of 1,927 people have died after contracting the virus.
Maricopa County has nearly two-thirds of the state's cases, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hitting 67,543.
Hospitals remain under pressure. The report shows that 3,356 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state, more than triple the 1,009 hospitalized on June 1.
A total of 1,385 people visited ERs yesterday.
A total of 869 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday.
With the spread of COVID increasingly out of control in Arizona, some local school districts have announced that they will only offer "distance learning" or online instruction when school starts next month. Unlike in spring, when schools moved online following spring break, districts are planning stricter instructional time designed to mirror traditional in-person classes.
Tucson Unified School District and Sunnyside School District revealed in recent days that they would move to an online-only model, while Catalina Foothills is moving forward with a plan that blends in-person classes and distance learning. Amphi School District and Marana School District had not yet updated their plans as of Monday, July 6.
Tags: maga , trump , racism , blm , racing , fox , confederate flag , political , cartoon , Image
Monday, July 6, 2020
One week ago, Gov. Doug Ducey announced that Arizona public schools will be allowed to open their doors to students on Monday, Aug. 17. But with COVID-19 cases on the rise, local school districts are not confident that this start date is the real thing.
Two districts, Tucson Unified School District and Sunnyside School District, announced over the holiday weekend that they would begin the school year with an online-only program and only return to having in-person classes once it is safe.
In a message to parents, TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said that because of the uncertainty about returning to in-person instruction, all students will begin the school year via remote learning on Monday, Aug. 10. The families who want their children to return to in-person learning can transition to that once it’s safe to do so.
“Although starting this school year remotely is not ideal, we are committed to offering every child quality and rigorous curriculum, five days a week, from our highly qualified teachers,” Trujillo wrote.
Using Zoom and recorded lessons, approved learning programs and offline homework, TUSD’s teachers are aiming to provide as comprehensive a learning experience as possible in a COVID-19 reality. The district is asking parents to register online for each child indicating their choice for either remote learning or on-campus instruction when it’s available. This will help them plan for the best way to reopen schools in the future.
Parents can submit and change their preferences until Saturday, Aug. 1. But once the school year begins, TUSD will create defined intervals when parents can transition their children from one option to another.
TUSD’s Next Steps 2020, which the district is calling “A New Era for Education,” lays out the details for both on-campus and at-home learning for all grades K-12.
Tags: Tucson Unified , Sunnyside , Catalina Foothills , Back to School , Reopening , Remote Learning , Gov Doug Ducey , Image
Early balloting begins Wednesday, July 8.
To help you register, Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez will be open until 7 p.m. at both her downtown office (240 N. Stone Ave.) and her eastside office (6920 E. Broadway Blvd.).
“Fourth of July weekend is a busy time for many families, so we want to give everyone the opportunity to register to vote on Monday,” said Rodriguez.
You can also register to vote online by visiting servicearizona.com.
Voter registration forms are also available at all post offices and public libraries, as well as online at the Recorder's Office.
If you want to get a taste of in-person politics, Laura Conover, one of three Democrats running for Pima County Attorney, is teaming up with political group Enough Is Enough to host what's she's billing as the "nation's first-ever drive-in political address at 7:30 tonight at El Toro Flicks Drive In Cinema, 198 S. Granada Ave. The event will also include appearances by state Rep. Andres Cano and county supervisor candidate Adelita Grijalva. Temp checks at the entrance and masks required.
The lost treasures of Tucson are spoken of in hushed whispers. Who knows what happened to these legendary talismans after they vanished more than a century ago? Did they really have magical powers? And where are they today?
Tucson Weekly is on the hunt for these long-lost treasures—and we need your help to find them as we embark on Best of Tucson® 2020.
But we’re not just looking for lost treasures. We’re celebrating the living legends of today: our restaurateurs, our brewers, our artists, our musicians, our bartenders, our coffee grinders, our bakers, our writers, our merchants and all the others who make our Sonoran home such a hospitable place.
That’s where you come in. We’re asking you to vote once again in Best of Tucson®.
You can nominate anyone in any category through midnight on Monday, July 6. We’ll tally those primary results to get the top five nominees in each category. Those top finalists will compete for your votes through midnight on Monday, Aug. 24. And on Oct. 22, we’ll announce the winners in our special Best of Tucson® collector’s edition!
Find your ballot here!
Noelani Betters, a 15-year-old Tucsonan, organized two Black Lives Matter protests in Tucson for Saturday, July 4, 2020. Betters led the first protest that started at Tucson City Hall that grew to roughly around 60 protesters of mostly young people, as they marched to the University of Arizona campus, before meeting up with a second and much larger group at Catalina Park, located on 941 North 4thAvenue.
Betters, armed with a megaphone, was surrounded hundreds of protesters she’s met at other Black Lives Matter protests since the beginning of June. Chanting “No Justice, No Peace” and other more pointed messages, the first group marched toward Catalina Park, encouraged by honking cars, and members of the public that cheered them on from businesses and surrounding apartments, including high-rises at the UArizona. Flanked by a sizable police escort led by Sergeant Mitch Vipond from the Tucson Police Department’s community networking team, the protest continued to grow bigger and louder before they wound through Downtown Tucson into the early evening on Saturday.
“I want equality. This is supposed to be Independence Day, but no one is independent,” Betters said. “There are people in cages, Indigenous women are disappearing, people are getting sprayed with deadly chemicals (by the police).”
One of the other young people who took the front of the line for Saturday’s protest was Isabelle Mundo, 19. Mundo, a University of Arizona student, said she has been protesting since the beginning of June when protests erupted across the country after footage of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former and disgraced Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin went viral on social media.
“We live in a diverse community and we need to support all of those who are oppressed by White Supremacy,” Mundo said. She, who is originally from Northern Arizona, said she has always been active online with social causes, but has wanted to become more active in person. Attending the university has given her the opportunity to become more involved and active within the community.
One of the protesters that joined at Catalina Park was retired air force airman Robert Williams, 47.
“Black Lives Matter,” he said, brandishing a Black Lives Matter flag high overhead.
The protest grew even larger as it wound around Downtown Tucson, after merging with a third group that was protesting to draw attention to the brutal killing of Fort Hood Private First-Class Officer Vanessa Guillen. The protest worked its way back to Catalina Park where the leaders thanked the many attendees with fireworks exploding overhead in the distance.
Pima County had 9,873 of the state's 101,441 confirmed cases.
A total of 1,810 people have died after contracting the virus.
Maricopa County has more than half the state's cases, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hitting 64,915.
Hospitals remain under pressure. The report shows that a record 3,212 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state, more than triple the 1,009 hospitalized on June 1.
A total of 1,306 people visited ERs yesterday.
A total of 1,405 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday.
With the spread of COVID increasingly out of control in Arizona, some local school districts have announced that they will only offer "distance learning" or online instruction when school starts next month. Unlike in spring, when schools moved online following spring break, districts are planning stricter instructional time designed to mirror traditional in-person classes.
Tucson Unified School District announced last week that it would launch online classes for all students starting Aug. 10, with in-person classroom instruction delayed until "when it is deemed safe," according to a letter to parents from TUSD Superintendent Gabrielle Trujillo.
Although Gov. Doug Ducey announced earlier this week that the start of the school year would be moved from Aug. 3 to Aug. 17, Trujillo said that date "may be aspirational."
"Due to this uncertainty, and the importance of creating a stable educational environment for our families and staff, Tucson Unified has determined we will begin all students via Remote Learning on Monday, August 10, 2020 and then transition those interested in an on-campus learning experience when it is deemed safe," Trujillo wrote. "Although starting this school year remotely is not ideal, we are committed to offering every child quality and rigorous curriculum, 5 days a week, from our highly qualified teachers. Instruction will be conducted utilizing teacher zoom lessons, as well as, some recorded lessons and offline homework. Classes will be consistent with real-time classroom instruction and will utilize approved online programs with assessment tools."
Likewise, Sunnyside School District Superintendent Steve Holmes told parents that the district would start online classes on Aug. 5.
After more than a month of burning, fire crews have mostly contained the Bighorn Fire, which has spread across 119,000 acres of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
"The fire is pretty much out, we only have one area that the fire is still active in. It's right here in Willow Canyon and it's right by these two switchbacks in the Catalina Highway going up the mountain," said operations section chief Buck Wickham in a July 6 update. "There's nothing really large, however it is a concern because it's right on the highway.”
The fire's growth has slowed considerably in the past few days, coinciding with scattered rainstorms. Whereas in mid-June the Bighorn Fire grew more than 5,000 acres every day, the fire has grown less than 500 acres per day since the beginning of July.
As of now, the only remaining evacuation orders are for Mount Lemmon communities such as Summerhaven. Previously evacuated areas in the Catalina Foothills, Oracle and Redington are all on a "Ready" order, the lowest level of Pima County's "Ready, Set, Go" evacuation system.
With the reduced burning comes a lowered smoke impact; the Forest Service issued their final Smoke Outlook update for the Bighorn Fire on July 6, indicating there will be light smoke in the Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde areas, otherwise Tucson can expect generally good air quality.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
When the New York Times reported that Russia was paying Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers I was not surprised. Sadly, I was also not surprised to learn that President Trump and the White House’s National Security Council have done nothing in response.
Russia is our adversary, virtually every elected member of Congress agrees on that. We can’t trust them, and we know they want to undermine our democracy. That’s why Congress sanctioned Russia for meddling in the 2016 election.
Congress, in the House and the Senate, needs to conduct a full investigation to understand the breakdowns at the highest level of our government that have failed to protect American troops serving overseas.
Martha McSally, a fellow veteran who was appointed to the late John McCain’s U.S. Senate seat, was asked about the New York Times report earlier this week, and her response was shocking and offensive.
McSally told the Arizona Republic “ I’m just concerned about the leaking here and the politicization of it.”
The leaking? The politicization?
Senator McSally, how about you show some concern for your brothers and sisters in combat who are putting their lives on the line to create a safer world? How about you show some anger over a president and an administration who will turn a blind eye to naked aggression from a nation you yourself have called one of America’s top adversaries? How about you recognize that as a U.S. Senator you have the power to do something about it? Stand up to the President and call for the Senate investigation.
As someone trained in the collection, analysis, and reporting of intelligence I know what goes into corroborating information before briefing a commander. To make it into the president's daily brief, information must be deemed urgent and credible. The Commander in Chief and his National Security Council had this information and took no action.
I’m disappointed that Martha McSally is putting her political allies above the safety of American troops—the men and women that she served with. She should spend her Fourth of July weekend thinking about why she wants to serve Arizonans in the first place, what it means to defend democracy, and her oath to defend the Constitution against all foreign enemies.
Aaron Marquez is a member of the Individual Ready Reserve. The views expressed here are those of him only and not those of the Department of Defense.
