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Here are the stories we covered for you today. 

• The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona surpassed 20K as of Monday, June 1, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
• The secret, absurd world of coronavirus mask traders and middlemen trying to get rich off government money.
• Several leaders of the African-American community will be co-hosting a candlelight vigil to honor the memory of George Floyd from 6 to 7:45 p.m. tonight at The Dunbar Pavilion.
• If you were expecting a few summer celebrations this year in the form of Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance’s legendary food and drink fests, prepare to be disappointed.
• Despite promising trends last week, the Navajo Department of Health reported a spike in COVID-19 cases Monday, with 98 new cases and five additional deaths.
• Families looking to keep their children fed with the help of local school pantries recently received support in the form of a $25,000 grant from Fry’s Food Stores to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Families looking to keep their children fed with the help of local school pantries recently received support in the form of a $25,000 grant from Fry’s Food Stores to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The funding will support the nonprofit’s 22 school pantry programs, located in eight school districts in two counties. The pantries provide food to families despite school closures, and many continue to do so through the summer.

PHOENIX – Despite promising trends last week, the Navajo Department of Health reported a spike in COVID-19 cases Monday, with 98 new cases and five additional deaths.

As of Sunday, the total number of deaths on the Navajo Nation reservation was 246. Officials said 5,348 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, and they estimated 1,840 people have recovered.

“During this difficult time, we ask our citizens to practice preventive measures to minimize COVID-19 exposure,” Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer said in a statement. In addition to urging tribal members to disinfect items that come into their homes, wear masks and use hand sanitizer, Lizer said, “Remember to maintain a distance of at least six feet from others and allow elders and others at high risk of severe illness to move up in shopping lines to lessen their exposure of COVID-19.”

Navajo leaders urged tribal members to stay diligent because Operation First of the Month, a program in partnership with Basha’s food stores that allows elderly Navajo to shop safely when their monthly benefit checks arrive, is in effect.

If you were expecting a few summer celebrations this year in the form of Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance’s legendary food and drink fests, prepare to be disappointed. The nonprofit announced the cancelation of the Tucson 23 Mexican Food Festival, World Margarita Challenge, Southern Arizona Salsa, Tequila & Taco Challenge, and a slew of concerts.

In a June 1 statement, SAACA executive director Kate Marquez said the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the organization’s ability to raise funds and host programming. The nonprofit closed the Catalyst center in the Tucson Mall in the spring and has since shifted its efforts to streaming online resources, partnering with local companies to host virtual art exhibitions, and compiling care packages for local assisted living and veterans care facilities.

In addition to closing Catalyst, SAACA also canceled nearly every significant revenue-generating event since early March and expects that trend to continue through the fall.

“Although the organization remains in a bit of a holding pattern today, we want you to know that we spend most days making active plans for the future,” Marquez said in a company press release.

The Tucson 23 Festival, scheduled to take place at the JW Marriott Starr Pass, celebrates Visit Tucson’s campaign marking the “best 23 miles of Mexican food” in the U.S. The event brings together dozens of restaurants, breweries, and distilleries for a celebration of the Old Pueblo’s culinary traditions.

The World Margarita Challenge has been a venture alongside Tucson Originals Restaurants for the better part of a decade and pits the region’s most experienced mixologists against one another in a battle for alcoholic excellence.

Much like the margarita challenge, the Southern Arizona Salsa, Tequila & Taco Challenge allows guests to sample and vote on a wide array of delicious drinks (and food) in an effort to see how really prepares Tucson’s best taco.

SAACA aims to bring these events back in the future, and the organization said it will donate marketing resources for those projects back to the restaurants and chefs “who have generously supported our work for the past 20-plus years.”

In the meantime, the arts nonprofit is working to create short- and long-term changes to its programming and general operations to adapt to the fluid COVID-19 situation. That will includes developing a new calendar for 2020-21, capacity, sanitation and layout modifications to events and facilities, and creating new art experiences and opportunities for local artists.

“We will continue to communicate, collaborate and inform you as we move through these very difficult times ahead, continuing to make investments and decisions which will become more mission and vision-centric than ever before,” Marquez said.

Despite closures, SAACA is “cautiously” moving forward with some of its fall and winter schedule, including the Patagonia Fall Festival (Oct. 1 and 11), La Encantada Fall Fine Arts Festival (Oct. 24 and 25) and the Oro Valley Holiday Festival of the Arts (Dec. 5 and 6).

As for the Catalyst Arts & Maker Space in the Tucson Mall, SAACA will keep the facility closed to the public, including drop-in and group activities, through Sept. 1 or until further notice. Space will be available to smaller groups for private events and reserved classes later this summer. Private rentals will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Several leaders of the African-American community will be co-hosting a candlelight vigil to honor the memory of George Floyd from 6 to 7:45 p.m. tonight at The Dunbar Pavilion. Floyd was killed during an officer-involved interaction on Monday, May 25 in Minneapolis.

"This is a peaceful vigil. It's about bringing peace and healing," event organizer and co-sponsor Jahmar Anthony said. "It's just our way of trying to bring peace to Tucson and bring some resolution."

Vigil-goers are encouraged to wear COVID masks and bring candles to tonight's event.

Anthony also said he wanted to address questions of why the City of Tucson and Tucson Police Department's logos are on the vigil's flyer. To Anthony, it's very important that city leaders listen to the African-American community to express their anger over police brutality as well as hear the first-hand experience of that brutality inflicted on the community.

"There has been a lot of confusion based on the fact their logos are put on the flyer and they are invited guests. When I say invited guests, it's mayor Romero and Chief Magnus," Anthony said. "The reason why we feel their presence is important is that we want them to hear from the community. They are there to observe, not act. We expect them to listen to our voices and then we expect them to go back and try to make changes so we don't have any more killings like George Floyd."

The Dunbar Pavilion is located at 325 W. 2nd Street.

For more information, check out the Facebook event page here.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

It was 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, and I was watching footage of secret stockpiles of N95 masks, so-called proof-of-life videos sent to me by strangers, when Tim, the juicer salesman, called.

“My name is Tim, and I heard you’re looking into VPL,” the man said in a squeaky, nervous timbre. “I distanced myself from the company because they weren’t delivering what they said.”

A few hours earlier, I had called the owner of VPL Medical LLC, a company outside Los Angeles that had gotten a $6.4 million contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs to supply 8 million three-ply surgical masks to hospitals dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. My call freaked them out, Tim said, and someone at the company had passed my number along to him.

What was his interest in the story, I asked.

“I went and got myself $8,000 in cash. I was on my way with the money in a briefcase…,” he began.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona surpassed 20K as of Monday, June 1, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County had 2,382 of the state's 20,123 confirmed cases.

The coronavirus had killed 917 people statewide, including 185 in Pima County, according to the report.

In Maricopa County, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hit 9,937.

Because symptoms can take as long as two weeks to appear after exposure to the virus (while some people can remain entirely asymptomatic), health officials continue to urge the public to avoid unnecessary trips and gatherings of more than 10 people, especially if you have underlying health conditions, and have advised people to cover their faces with masks in public.

• Following the end of Gov. Doug Ducey's stay-at-home order on March 15, Arizona hospitals are seeing a rise in the number of people hospitalized with COVID symptoms, as well as more people visiting emergency rooms. Today's Arizona Department of Health Services report shows that through yesterday, 961 Arizonans were hospitalized. 540 people arrived at emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms on May 31, according to the report—a drop of 79 from the day prior.

• A protest against police violence turned violent in downtown Tucson on Friday night when rioters smashed windows, painted graffiti, and others went wild in downtown Tucson. The protest was one of many across the country following the killing of George Floyd, who died in police custody after a Minneapolis Police Officer kneeled on his neck as the black man gasped for air and said he couldn't breathe. Following Friday's riot, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus asked the public to not attend a Saturday protest. A few hundred people still turned out on Saturday night for a protest march that went smoothly until protestors attempted to match back downtown and clashed with police.

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Following a night of rioting in downtown Tucson, Mayor Regina Romero asked the public to avoid tonight's scheduled downtown protest.

Flanked by Police Chief Chris Magnus and several members of the African-Amerian community during an appearance at City Hall, Romero recommended going to a candlelight vigil set up by Jahmar Anthony with Deejays Against Hunger, youth activist Zion Givens, and Debi Chess Mabie at the Dunbar Pavilion on Monday night at 7 p.m. 

"I'm going to implore Tucsonans, those that what to effectively make a change to systematic racism in our city, to stay home tonight. Stay home tonight," Romero said. "Come on Monday, come to the Dunbar...we will be unified in our voice against violence."

Magnus said there will be more officers on the scene for tonight's protest and warned lawbreakers will spend the night in jail if arrested.

"We are deploying a significantly greater number of officers into the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods," Magnus said." We will be making physical arrests and individuals who commit crimes will not only be arrested, they will be transported to jail. They will be going to jail."