Arizona COVID-19 cumulative counts, Dec. 14
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Select regional and national coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic as of Friday, May 29. For more, visit our resource page.
Tucson City Council splits over COVID-19 grant money
AZPM
Philosophical differences split the Tucson City Council this week, as the panel debated the best way to divvy up $95 million in emergency federal aid.
The $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress gives $95 million for COVID-19 relief to the City of Tucson. While the city manager drafted a plan to use the money mainly on the city's fiscal needs, council member Lane Santa Cruz presented a modified version directing more of it toward social needs.
Pascua Yaqui Tribe pushes distanced voting in Monday’s council election
AZPM
Pascua Yaqui tribal leadership is pushing the benefits of early or distanced voting as its election for tribal council nears.
The last opportunity to vote for the new members of the 11-person council is Monday, June 1. The tribe has requested that people casting their ballots that day use drive-thru or curbside ballot drop-off, though in-person voting is still an option.
One of the first steps the tribe took to decrease in-person contact during the election was to send voters absentee ballot request forms. It also established drive-thru, curbside and in-person early voting opportunities in some of the Yaqui communities spread across the state.
Departing Pima County health director thanks community for its response to crisis
AZPM
Dr. Bob England is leaving the Pima County Department of Health after a year as the interim director.
England, who originally agreed to hold the position for three months, became the face of the Pima County response to the pandemic through his YouTube briefings. On Friday, during his last briefing, he told the community he had “fallen in love.”
“I really think, this place more than most has a good chance to just cut through the politics and just do right by each other. So, thank you very much for that,” England said.
Dr. Theresa Cullen takes over as director of the Pima County Department of Health on June 1. She is a former U.S. assistant surgeon general and holds the rank of rear admiral.
Northern Arizona U president sees some cuts amid budget woes
AP
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The president of Northern Arizona University has said fewer than 100 positions would be laid off in response to budget concerns and there would be no reductions in tenured or tenure-track faculty.
The Arizona Daily Sun reported that President Rita Cheng released a statement responding to a protest Wednesday where more than 70 demonstrators gathered outside Flagstaff City Hall. The protest called for administrators to implement furloughs or pay cuts.
The university is approaching a fiscal year with an expected $100 million or more in lost enrollment revenue. Cheng explained that public universities nationwide have also taken multiple cost-saving measures.
Virus protection adds new wrinkle to Southwest heat relief
PHOENIX — Trying to stay safe during a global pandemic is hard enough, but people in Southwest desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas where temperatures can soar into the triple digits are also trying to protect themselves from the brutal heat.
With many government-run spaces like libraries still closed this week to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Salvation Army is among nonprofits shouldering much of a responsibility for ensuring people stay cool and hydrated amid an extreme heat warning in parts of the southwestern U.S. At the cooling sites, they are also asking people to follow protocols aimed at preventing the virus’ spread.
Rocky Point residents allowed to re-enter city
Fronteras Desk
In neighboring Sonora, Mexico, the popular beach town Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point, implemented a three-phase reopening plan last week. Now, residents who had been barred from entering the city while it was on lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus are being allowed back in.
Anyone attempting to enter Rocky Point has to show proof of residency at a checkpoint north of town. They also must be screened for a fever with a thermal camera and walk through a so-called sanitation tunnel with their belongings to be misted with a disinfectant.
Sonoran governor concerned about looming reopening
Fronteras Desk
With cases and deaths rising quickly in her state, Sonora’s governor is concerned about the possible impact of reopening.
In a Wednesday video, Gov. Claudia Pavlovich said she’s troubled by the sizable jump in caseloads — now nearing 2,000 — and deaths, now topping 150. Mobility in the state has been increasing, and that’s before a number of factories and other businesses are slated to begin reopening June 1.
“I’m worried that this reactivation comes with a big health impact,” she said, especially if the state’s residents confuse “the return to this new normal with a return to the old normal.”
US consumer spending sinks by record 13.6% in face of virus
AP
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6% in April as the viral pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent the economy into a deep recession.
Last month’s spending decline was far worse than the revised 6.9% drop in March, which itself had set a record for the steepest one-month fall in records dating to 1959. The figures reinforced evidence that the economy is gripped by the worst downturn in decades, with consumers unable or too anxious to spend much.
Even with employers cutting millions of jobs, though, incomes soared 10.5% in April, reflecting billions of dollars in government payments in the form of unemployment aid and stimulus checks.
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