Stay up to date with WNYC and ProPublica’s investigations into the president’s business practices.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday, via teleconference, about the power to investigate the president.

President Donald Trump has objected to subpoenas for his tax returns and other financial records. New York City prosecutors have demanded the documents as part of a criminal investigation into the president’s hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, while the House of Representatives has been seeking to investigate the conflicts of interests of a president who still owns a sprawling business.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that a president shouldn’t be subject to investigation while in office. “We’re asking for temporary presidential immunity,” attorney Jay Sekulow said.

PHOENIX – Arizona’s outdoors continue to be a source of solace and relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park and other national sites remain closed, state parks, the Phoenix Mountains Preserve and other popular hiking spots remain open with some restrictions.

Gov. Doug Ducey deemed outdoor recreation essential in his executive stay-at-home order on March 30, and parks and trails saw large numbers of visitors initially. Many state and city parks remain open but with safety measures, such as keeping 6 feet apart and avoiding congregating. Ducey this month extended his stay-home order until May 15, and allowed a limited number of businesses, including hair salons, to reopen with safety measures in place.

Health and exercise experts say it’s safe to break a sweat outdoors if you take precautions and leave yourself “wiggle room” when encountering others. And you can always exercise from home, they add.

“Some of our parks have seen an increase in day use, which is people just going in there for the day to hike or just get outdoors,” said Michelle Thompson, chief of communications for Arizona State Parks & Trails. “There are a lot of people who are looking for ways to get out of the house that maybe they haven’t done before.”

Tucson City Councilman represents Ward 5. The Weekly welcomes guest commentaries from elected officials, candidates for office and anyone with something important to say. Send yours to executive editor Jim Nintzel at [email protected].

Richard Fimbres is the Councilmember for Tucson’s Ward 5. This nation is facing a health crisis, with the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,300,000 cases and more than 80,000 dead while Arizona had more than 12,176 cases with 594, who passed away from COVID-19.

Throughout our nation, many primary elections had either been postponed or canceled outright. One state, Wisconsin, still held their primary election, for which 52 citizens of Wisconsin, tested positive for COVID-19, after trying to exercise their right to vote.

We know that this election year will be different and changes are needed for the voting process. We cannot risk our citizens for the old practice of going to the polling places.

Arizona offers voters the option of signing up to receive their ballot in the mail, using the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL). Voters must fill out the form and send it in.

With this COVID-19 health crisis and pandemic, people have raised questions and concerns about voting at a polling location, social distancing, occupancy at a polling place, and whether the voting equipment and ballots have been sanitized.

The vote by mail process answers these questions and addresses these concerns, a vote-by-mail election process, for which Tucson has, and is safe.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors adopted a set of temporary regulations to help restaurant owners expand their outside dining area while under new indoor occupancy restrictions during Wednesday's emergency meeting.

The county's new temporary regulations allow restaurants in the unincorporated areas "to use outdoor spaces for additional customer service, including the use of portions of parking lots, sidewalks, and vacant lots," according to the county's press release.

Supervisors made the concession after limiting indoor dining capacity to 50 percent as a part of the temporary addition of 15 new regulations to the county health code during the pandemic. The health code's new changes will be removed once the county’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco García declares the pandemic over.

"With the additional seating options, many restaurants should be able to reclaim much of the capacity lost as a result of physical distancing regulations that limit in-door seating to 50 percent capacity," according to the release.

Temporary shade, vacant indoor areas, and tent structures are also good to go by the county after owners submit a simple layout plan to Pima County Development Services to make sure the areas are cleared for dining service. The county is planning on providing same-day review and evaluation of temporary outdoor expansion requests in an attempt to help restaurants reach full capacity -or as close as possible - as quickly as possible.

Ward 6 Councilmember Steve Kozachik is also planning on proposing something similar to the county's plan during next Tuesday's city council meeting. Kozachik said his plan would be site-specific because "not all restaurants have space outside to allow for it."

Here are the county's new regulations on outdoor dining:

These three new Tucson locations are part of 10 new locations across Arizona. 

For more information, visit casavideo.com

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona reached 12,674 of Thursday, May 14, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
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Pima County had 1,696 confirmed cases.

The coronavirus had killed 624 people statewide, including 152 in Pima County, according to the report.

In Maricopa County, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had risen to 6,341.

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 and have advised people to cover their faces with masks in public.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced this week that he would not extend Arizona’s stay-at-home order past Friday, May 15. He also said that gyms, pools and movie theaters could open this week.

Ducey also invited major-league sports to play in Arizona, although he said it would have to be without fans in the audience.

Ducey had already given the green light for restaurants and bars that offer food service to reopen this week. Restrictions were lifted on stores, barber shops and salons last week.

Ducey said he hoped that schools would be able to reopen in the fall but was yet not ready to make that call.

Dr. Bob England, the director of the Pima County Health Department, said the reopening of bars this week "wasn't people's general understanding" given that Ducey had said in an April press conference that bars would remain shuttered longer than restaurants because people tend to mingle in bars. England said expected to see "a lot of variation out there."

"It's going to be a little bit like the Wild West," England warned. "Just know that if you're vulnerable, if you're older, if you have underlying health conditions that put you at higher risk, then please, please, please hunker down for a while longer."

England said last week that the results of reopening so many establishments wouldn’t be known for weeks as test results tend to lag behind the actual spread of the virus.

“It will take a few weeks to know the impact of this so we won’t know until early June what all of this is doing to the epidemic curve,” England said in a daily briefing.

Other members of the medical community said Ducey’s move may have come soon and will result in greater spread of the virus. State Rep. Randy Friese, an emergency room doctor, warned last week that by relaxing so many standards so quickly, Ducey was risking losing all the progress that state has made in stemming the disease.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the Trump administration, told the U.S. Senate in testimony this week that states and cities should follow the guidelines set out by the CDC when allowing businesses to reopen.

“It’s my concern that if some areas—cities, states, what have you—jump over those various checkpoints and prematurely open up without having the capability to respond effectively and efficiently, my concern is that we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks,” Fauci said. “The consequences could be really serious.”

In other COVID-related news:

• The Pima County Board of Supervisors yesterday 3-2 voted to enact emergency health regulations related to the “best practices” strategies developed by the county’s Back To Business Task Force. Republican Supervisors Steve Christy and Ally Miller voted against the regulations, which include taking the temperature of all workers and anyone making deliveries to restaurants. Christy said the regulations were too burdensome for a sector that has already been hammered by the outbreak's fallout.

• Pima County Public Libraries will reopen on Monday, May 18, with limited services, including book pickup, computer use on a first-come, first-served basis, and printing, copying and fax services. The new open hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will still be precautions for coronavirus, including taking guests' temperatures before they enter the building, wearing face masks and maintaining six feet of physical distance. The library will also allow only a limited number of people in at a time, and guests will most likely have to wait in line to get in.


• Today, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s 355th Wing, alongside the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, are taking off from Tucson International Airport at 2 p.m. in a flyover across the metro area in a salute to healthcare workers. A formation of two A-10 Thunderbolts IIs and two F-16 Fighting Falcons will begin the flyover at 2 p.m. The 40-minute flight will pass by healthcare facilities in Tucson, Sahuarita, Green Valley, Oro Valley, and Marana.

• The Arizona Supreme Court has denied an effort by initiative campaigns to collect online signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is disappointing in Arizona to see the courts and the attorney general and legislature repeatedly prevent the options of choice to voters where their options are to forgo their constitutional rights or to risk their health and safety," said Roopali Desai, the lawyer representing the initiative campaigns. "It's really unfortunate the court did not grant the relief under such extreme circumstances. It's not only disappointing but it's incredibly dishearting."

Initiative campaigns such as Smart and Safe Arizona, Save our Schools Arizona, Invest In Education and Arizonans for Second Chances filed a Petition for Special Attention with the Arizona Supreme Court on April 2. The groups wanted to utilize the state's E-Qual electronic signature system in an attempt to help initiatives continue collecting signatures during the pandemic. But lawyers for the state argued that the Arizona Constitution requires that petition passers personally witness every voter's signature.

• COVID-19 symptoms typically occur two to 14 days after exposure, and include headache, fever, cough, shortness of breath, blue toes or a loss of taste and smell, according to the CDC. However, some cases of the virus are entirely asymptomatic. Practices to avoid infection include social distancing (of at least six feet), washing your hands, avoiding unnecessary trips and not touching your face. If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, speak with a healthcare provider for medical advice.

According to the CDC, people who are mildly ill with COVID-19 are able to recover at home. Stay at home and avoid public transportation, but stay  in touch with your doctor. If you do leave your home, wear a facemask and clean your hands often. If you develop more severe symptoms (persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion, bluish lips) get medical attention immediately. Your local health authorities will give instructions on checking your symptoms and reporting information.

Have you caught COVID-19? Are you feeling ill? Is your small business struggling to make it? Have you lost your job as a result of the outbreak? Are you struggling to manage your kids while schools are closed? Tell us your COVID-19 stories. Send an email or photo to [email protected].

For more Claytoonz click here.

Halfway through, and two days before the stay-at-home order expires. We got this. Until then, here are all the other things we've covered today.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona reached 12,176 of Wednesday, May 13, according to the morning report from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
On Monday, May 18, Pima County Public Libraries will reopen with limited services, including book pickup, computer use on a first-come, first-served basis, and printing, copying and fax services.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s 355th Wing, alongside the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, are taking off from Tucson International Airport May 14 for a salutatory flyover across the Greater Tucson Metro, the airbase announced.
While many are saying it’s too early to open up society again due to increasing COVID-19 cases across the country, counties in Arizona are known as “weak arms” of the state government and must comply with their mandates.
In a 3-2 vote, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved to immediately update the county's health code to include 15 of the 17 new guidelines recommended by the Pima County Health Department during today's emergency meeting.
The Arizona Supreme Court has denied an effort by initiative campaigns to collect online signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Arizona Supreme Court has denied an effort by initiative campaigns to collect online signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is disappointing in Arizona to see the courts and the attorney general and legislature repeatedly prevent the options of choice to voters where their options are to forgo their constitutional rights or to risk their health and safety," said Roopali Desai, the lawyer representing the initiative campaigns. "It's really unfortunate the court did not grant the relief under such extreme circumstances. It's not only disappointing but it's incredibly dishearting."

Initiative campaigns such as Smart and Safe Arizona, Save our Schools Arizona, Invest In Education and Arizonans for Second Chances filed a Petition for Special Attention with the Arizona Supreme Court on April 2. The groups wanted to utilize the state's E-Qual electronic signature system in an attempt to help initiatives continue collecting signatures during the pandemic.