Saturday, June 5, 2021
The DiamondBacks in partnership with the state and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona will hold a family vaccination event at Chase Field today, Saturday, June 5.
Families can receive Pfizer for ages 12 and up and will have the opportunity to run the bases and take family photos on the field. They can set an appointment or walk-up from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A second dose event will be held on Saturday, June 26, and those fully vaccinated will receive free tickets with the completion of their second shot.
While this is one of the first events the state has created to offer an incentive for vaccinations, Pima County continues its efforts to offer incentives for vaccinations. Previously the Health Department gave away Arizona Lottery scratcher tickets at two events over the Memorial Day weekend and also offered free admission to the Pima Air & Space Museum to people who went to the FEMA mobile vaccination center. The county will continue to give out scratchers with a maximum prize of $10,000 at various locations throughout June. Scout them out here (and find out about the $20 restaurant gift card you can get at Casino del Sol this weekend for getting a shot).
On Thursday, the Pima County Health Department announced the Reid Park Zoo will offer free passes at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic today, Saturday, June 5, in partnership with the county and the City of Tucson.
The first 100 people who get their first COVID-19 shot at the clinic will receive a free daytime admission ticket to come back and visit the zoo. The City of Tucson is providing 50 of the free passes, with the zoo providing the rest. The mobile clinic will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Zoo (3400 E. Zoo Court) and no appointment, identification or payment are required.
People arriving for their vaccination can check-in at a table in front of the zoo entrance. Zoo staff will escort people to the clinic, which will be set up in the zoo's Event Garden behind the carousel, and then be escorted back out if they don't have a ticket for the Summer Safari Nights event that day. All three vaccine types will be available (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson), but only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for children 12 to 17 years old.
"Those events helped boost the vaccinations at those sites, and we will continue to provide extra motivation for people to get their shots and protect our community," said Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen. "We're grateful to our partners for making this happen at a fun summer event for the family."
This vaccination clinic is part of Pima County's participation in the National Month of Action, which President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday. The administration called it an “all-of-America sprint” to reach the goal of vaccinating 70% of U.S. adults with at least one shot by July 4.
According to data from the CDC, 58.1% of Arizona residents age 18 and older have received one dose of the vaccine. Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ said she hopes that state hits that 70% goal, but vaccine hesitancy and decreased demand makes that harder.
Friday, June 4, 2021
The Pima County Sheriff's Office is asking people to avoid the Catalina area because they have a suspected shooter barricaded.
Residents are asked to find alternate routes near Coronado Sunset Drive and Coronado View.
No further details are available.
PHOENIX – Scott Yates is a Denver-based entrepreneur and writer. He’s also one of a select few people around the country who can be described as a “Daylight Saving Time activist.”
Yates has been invited before countless state legislatures, which he’s exhorted to end the biannual switch between Standard Time and Daylight Time, or as he puts it, to “lock the clock.” His goal is to prevent the disruption in circadian rhythms that results from springing forward and falling back, which causes a slew of maladies: “car accidents and workplace accidents and strokes and all the rest,” he said.
Arizona avoids these hazards, as one of just two states with the clock already locked (in its case, on Standard Time). Yates said this makes it a “role model.” And while his movement is gaining ground – 18 states have passed measures locking the clock on Daylight Time, pending federal action – it’s still not exactly receiving mainstream attention.
But Yates does see one particular group show up to support these bills again and again.
“A lot of the states, when I testify,” he said, “the only other ones that show up are the golf people.”
The golf industry has historically promoted the expansion of Daylight Saving Time. One of the earliest advocates for setting the clocks ahead in the summer was an English builder named William Willett who wanted to be able to golf later in the day. And after the U.S. standardized Daylight Saving Time (DST) with the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the golf lobby was right there to push for an extra month of DST in the 1980s, which they said would garner an additional $400 million in revenue for their industry.
The thinking goes that extra daylight after work should entice more people to spend their spare time on the golf course.
“I think that most of us spend more leisure time in the afternoon,” said Calvin Schermerhorn, a history professor at ASU who once spoke about DST before the National Conference of State Legislatures. “So yeah, you may want to get out to the links early and have a nice early tee time, but the real sweet spot is in that afternoon.”
But what about in Arizona? It’s a top-10 state for golf economic output, according to advocacy group We Are Golf, yet it eschews DST.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Pima County residents in danger of being evicted can get help and resources at a Tuesday event.
The Amphi Coalition and Pima County’s One-Stop will hold an Eviction Prevention Resource Fair from 8 a.m. to noon at Literacy Connects, 200 E. Yavapai Road.
In addition to rent and utility assistance, more than 25 organizations will be offering various other services at the fair, according to a news release.
The Pima County Health Department will offer COVID vaccinations. The Pima Animal Care Center will offer dog and cat food for those with pets. People can also be connected to resources on finding work and mental-health support, signing up for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and enrolling children in school.
“This fair is a wonderful opportunity to blend all the resources available to the community — be it health or financial resources,” said Daniel Sullivan, Pima County’s Community Services director. “It will also be the first time that we’ll be able to tell the community about the legal resources that we’re bringing to bear to prevent evictions.”
He said the county and city have about $23 million left to be distributed to families in need, having already jointly disbursed or obligated $11.6 million in rental and utility assistance.
Still haven't gotten your COVID vaccine? TMC hopes its vaccination party will convince you to finally get it done.
Tucson Medical Center and Pima County will host a free Vaccine Fiesta on Saturday for those 12 and older.
The party will offer entertainment, prizes, games and food for those who get their shots from 9 a.m. to noon at the Udall Park Vaccine Clinic, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.
Walk-ins are welcome.
WASHINGTON – Tribal police have the authority to detain non-Natives traveling through reservation land if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect violated state or federal law, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The unanimous ruling overturned lower courts that said a Crow police officer should not have held a nontribal member who was found to have drugs and weapons in his truck. The Supreme Court said that the lower courts’ rulings would “make it difficult for tribes to protect themselves against ongoing threats.”
Calls seeking comment Tuesday from Arizona tribes and tribal police agencies were not immediately returned. But advocates welcomed the ruling that one said addresses “a crucial issue of law enforcement and safety in Indian Country.”
“The Supreme Court got it right, and upheld tribal authority to do the bare minimum of what any police force should be able to do to protect their homeland and the public safety of members of the community,” said Heather Whiteman Runs Him, director of the Tribal Justice Center at the University of Arizona.
The case began early on the morning of Feb. 26, 2016, when Crow Police Department Officer James Saylor noticed a truck stopped on the side of U.S. Route 212 on reservation land in southern Montana. Saylor stopped, thinking the driver might need assistance.
As Saylor approached the driver’s side of the truck, driver Joshua Cooley rolled down, then rolled back up, his window. When he rolled it down again at Saylor’s request, the officer noticed that Cooley, who “appeared to be non-native,” had “watery, bloodshot eyes.”
After he noticed two semi-automatic rifles on the front seat, Saylor asked Cooley to get out of the truck for a pat-down search and called for assistance from tribal and county officers. While waiting for them to arrive, Saylor returned to turn off the still-running truck and spotted a glass pipe and a bag containing methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
