Arizona COVID-19 cases: 7 days
Cases 834,323 | Deaths 16,586
On Wednesday, March 17, Arizona reported 445 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths.
Pima County considers requiring vaccines for employees
AZPM
The Pima County Board of Supervisors is undecided on the question of requiring some county employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
With increasing numbers of people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, county supervisors Tuesday considered whether to require vaccination for some employees, such as jail officers, who come face to face with a lot of vulnerable people.
For now the question is only in the discussion phase. Administrator Chuck Huckelberry says the county has already added vaccination to the list of steps that will earn a discount on an employee's health insurance, like exercising and quitting tobacco. But he doesn't want to take it further without supervisors' approval.
Rural officials say towns are ill-prepared for asylum seekers
AZPM
In a statement this week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas said the U.S. expects to see a record number of asylum seekers along the border. As in the past, aid groups in border states like Arizona are stepping in to help. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, officials in rural communities say the federal government is asking them to step into roles they feel ill-prepared to do.
Gila Bend Mayor Chris Riggs said his town of about 2000 is scrambling to plan for the possibility of asylum seekers being dropped off at a park in town.
While there is a Border Patrol facility in Gila Bend, Riggs says there’s no shelter to house asylum seekers or aid groups to assist them.
Bill would allow Indigenous students to wear cultural clothing at graduation
AZPM
Indigenous students may soon not need to ask permission to wear traditional clothing or items at graduation.
A bill, HB 2705, currently in the Arizona Legislature prohibits public or charter schools from blocking students from wearing culturally-significant regalia. The proposal has passed the House with only two no votes and is expected to pass the Senate unanimously in the coming days before heading to Gov. Doug Ducey for his signature.
After a year of racial justice protests, former Arizona State Rep. Arlando Teller introduced a bill allowing Indigenous students to wear their regalia at graduation. State Rep. Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, who replaced Teller earlier this year, picked up the bill.
Newest UA telescope mirror in cool down phase
AZPM
One of the biggest and most advanced telescope mirrors ever created is currently cooling off beneath Arizona Stadium.
Technicians at the Richard F. Caris mirror lab on the University of Arizona campus produced the 8.4-meter (27 ft.) wide mirror earlier this month. The mirror is the sixth of seven that will eventually be hauled to a mountaintop in Chile and put in place as part of the Giant Magellan Telescope project.
UA scientist Buddy Martin says the mirror was forged from molten glass in an oversized furnace. He notes the next step in the process is weeks away.
Arizona reports 5 days with fewer than 1K coronavirus cases
AP
PHOENIX — Arizona has reported 12 additional COVID-19 deaths and 445 more confirmed cases. Wednesday's report marks the first time since October that the state had at least five consecutive days with fewer than 1,000 confirmed cases.
The total number of confirmed cases in the state now stands at more than 830,000 and the total number of deaths at more than 16,500.
Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients rose to 773 as of Tuesday. That's up from Monday’s count of 743 but still far below the Jan. 11 pandemic high of more than 5,000.
During a lull between surges in the summer, fall and winter, Arizona had a 26-day streak of reporting fewer than 1,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Navajo Nation reports 2 new cases of COVID-19, 1 more death
AP
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported two new cases of COVID-19 and one more death.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s pandemic total to 29,957 confirmed cases and 1,219 known deaths.
The Navajo Nation had a soft reopening Monday with 25% capacity for some businesses under certain restrictions. Still, mask mandates and daily curfews remain.
The Navajo Department of Health has identified two communities, Baca Prewitt and Coyote Canyon, as having uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 26 to March 11. That compares with 75 communities that were identified in January as having uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.
Bitterly divided House panel OKs big school voucher bill
AP
PHOENIX — A bitterly divided Arizona House committee has advanced a massive expansion of the state’s school voucher program just over two years after voters overwhelmingly rejected universal school vouchers.
Republicans called the measure already passed by the full Senate a lifeline for 600,000 low-income students who would become entitled to state funding for private school tuition.
Minority Democrats argue it will siphon money from already-underfunded public schools and go against the will of voters who rejected the larger expansion in 2018. Wednesday's 6-4 Ways and Means Committee vote sends SB1452 to the full House.
Ex-CEO at Goodyear charter school gets prison in fraud case
AP
PHOENIX — A former CEO at a now-closed Goodyear charter school has been sentenced to four years in prison in a fraud case.
State prosecutors say Daniel Hughes also was ordered to pay restitution for his role in the theft of more than $2.5 million from the Arizona Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Federal Communications Commission.
The Bradley Academy of Excellence abruptly closed its doors in January 2018. Authorities then discovered the K-8 charter school had falsified its attendance records and Hughes was the architect of a scheme reporting fake students to the Arizona Department of Education to increase funding.
Sonoran Teachers Could Soon Get Vaccine, A Step Toward School Reopening
Fronteras Desk
Teachers in Sonora, Arizona’s neighbor to the south, could get access to coronavirus vaccines.
Now that the state is considered low-risk for coronavirus spread, those vaccines could be coming soon for the state’s teachers. That’s according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“It’s very likely that teachers will also be vaccinated there,” he said of Sonora, where older residents in rural areas are currently being prioritized. A final decision should come within the week, he added.
Sonora is one of three states at green, and the only one in northern Mexico. Sonora’s health secretary recently said his department was ready to aid schools in reopening as soon as this week.
EXPLAINER: Is the US border with Mexico in crisis?
AP
SAN DIEGO — Migration flows to the U.S. from Mexico are surging for the third time in seven years under Republican and Democratic presidents — and for similar reasons.
Numbers grew steadily over President Donald Trump's final months in office but demographics shifted more recently. Families and children traveling alone, who enjoy more legal protections and require greater care than adults, have accounted for 29% of all Border Patrol encounters in February, up from 13% two months earlier.
The Biden administration is rapidly opening new holding centers to speed children's release in the United States.
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