Arizona school vouchers cost taxpayers more per student, but Republicans say they don’t https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013124_esa_horne/arizona-school-vouchers-cost-taxpayers-more-per-student-but-republicans-say-they-dont/
The Republicans in charge of the Arizona Department of Education and the state Senate say that the state’s school voucher program saves taxpayers money, and that any statements to the contrary are myths - but the numbers say something different.
#Tucson #Arizona
Advocates: Poor sex education & outreach is to blame for HIV increase in Arizona https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013124_hiv_rates/advocates-poor-sex-education-outreach-blame-hiv-increase-arizona/
A state health department report released last December shows that HIV transmissions in Arizona have grown to alarming numbers, bucking national trends where the virus is declining across most of the country.
#Tucson #Arizona
Texas' border standoff with the feds is igniting calls for secession & fears of violence https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/013124_texas_border/texas-border-standoff-with-feds-igniting-calls-secession-fears-violence/
The calls for Texas to defend itself and defy the federal government have set fire to a long simmering fight over states’ rights, emboldening right-wing figures small and large, a standoff that comes amid a recent and growing acceptance of political violence.
#Tucson #Arizona
Texas' standoff with the feds in Eagle Pass is igniting calls for secession & fears of violence https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/013124_texas_border/texas-standoff-with-feds-eagle-pass-igniting-calls-secession-fears-violence/
The calls for Texas to defend itself and defy the federal government have set fire to a long simmering fight over states’ rights, emboldening right-wing figures small and large, a standoff that comes amid a recent and growing acceptance of political violence.
#Tucson #Arizona
ATC's 'Intimate Apparel' weaves individual brilliance with uneven execution https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/arts/report/013024_intimate_apparel/atcs-intimate-apparel-weaves-individual-brilliance-with-uneven-execution/
Arizona Theatre Company opens the new year with a potent third installment of an otherwise boilerplate season. "Intimate Apparel" is a riveting script, but ATC's production doesn't fully unpack as technical elements overshadow the performances.
#Tucson #Arizona
Facing $177M shortfall, University of Arizona moves to stop financial bleeding https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_ua_budget/facing-177m-shortfall-university-arizona-moves-stop-financial-bleeding/
The University of Arizona faces a $177 million deficit, and over the next 18 to 36 months the school will pursue consolidations and layoffs throughout its administration, as well as across-the-board budget cuts of 5 to 15 percent.
#Tucson #Arizona
Desert SOS: Save Our Saguaros month begins with day of buffelgrass removal https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_buffelgrass_removal/desert-sos-save-our-saguaros-month-begins-with-day-buffelgrass-removal/
Uprooting non-native fire-prone buffelgrass will be the focus of a series of upcoming volunteering events hosted by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum at A Mountain.
#Tucson #Arizona
Hobbs pushes for Az school funding plan, GOP stands by its own proposal https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_school_funding/hobbs-pushes-az-school-funding-plan-gop-stands-by-its-own-proposal/
Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona Democrats formally introduced legislation to expand funding for public education and teacher pay, even as Republicans insist they will continue to push their own plan.
#Tucson #Arizona
Minor League Baseball pushes for minimum wage exemption in Arizona https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_mlb_minimum_wage/minor-league-baseball-pushes-minimum-wage-exemption-arizona/
A bill that would exempt Minor League Baseball from abiding by Arizona’s minimum wage requirements just took one step closer to becoming law, and while many players support the bill, activists say it would set a precedent to allow corporations to skirt minimum wage requirements.
#Tucson #Arizona
Holub: School vouchers aren't evil; they're actually good for public education https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/013024_holub_esas_op/holub-school-vouchers-arent-evil-theyre-actually-good-public-education/
Amid the noise surrounding how much ESAs are costing the state, and questions about oversight and accountability, the actual stories of the actual kids who benefit from the program can get lost. — Schoolteacher Annie Holub on Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account program
#Tucson #Arizona
Democrats want to nix Arizona’s early ballot collection prohibition https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_early_ballots/democrats-want-nix-arizonas-early-ballot-collection-prohibition/
House Bill 2335 would get rid of ballot collection restrictions that say voted early ballots in Arizona can only be returned by the voter’s family member, a member of their household or their caregiver, legislation almost certainly dead on arrival with Republicans in control of the legislature.
#Tucson #Arizona
As immigration debate heats up, migrant encounters in December set record https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/013024_border_disorder/as-immigration-debate-heats-up-migrant-encounters-december-set-record/
Border officials said they encountered more than 300,000 migrants at the southern border in December, setting a one-month record that pushed the total for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 to 785,422, a continuing surge that comes as debate on immigration is heating up in Washington.
#Tucson #Arizona
There’s an affordable housing crisis in Arizona, but no consensus on how to solve it https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_affordable_housing/theres-affordable-housing-crisis-arizona-but-no-consensus-how-solve-it/
Republicans and Democratic lawmakers have laid out their priorities to address Arizona’s affordable housing woes with wildly different plans, as GOP lawmakers announced their intention of “cutting red tape”, while Democrats are voicing support for creating capping rents.
#Tucson #Arizona
U.S. Supreme Court schedules March 26 oral arguments in abortion pill access case https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/013024_scotus_mifepristone/us-supreme-court-schedules-march-26-oral-arguments-abortion-pill-access-case/
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 26 in the case that could significantly curtail access to a prescription drug used for both abortions and miscarriage care, a pharmaceutical the U.S. Food and Drug Administration originally approved in 2000..
#Tucson #Arizona
In Tucson & other cities, neighbors are planting trees to provide shade — and food https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/013024_food_forests/in-tucson-other-cities-neighbors-are-planting-trees-provide-shade-and-food/
Tucson’s shadeless neighborhoods, which are predominantly low-income and Latino, soak up the heat, and a movement is underway to populate the city’s street corners and vacant lots with groves of trees - not just to keep sidewalks cool, but also to help feed people.
#Tucson #Arizona
Longtime UA Prof. N. Scott Momaday, first Native winner of Pulitzer Prize for fiction, dead at 89 https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/arts/report/012924_momaday_obit/longtime-ua-prof-n-scott-momaday-first-native-winner-pulitzer-prize-fiction-dead-89/
N. Scott Momaday, the much-lauded author of "House Made of Dawn" and for years a professor at the University of Arizona, has died at age 89.
#Tucson #Arizona
Sahuarita Town Council to discuss pretty much whatever they want during retreat https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/012924_agenda_sahuarita/sahuarita-town-council-discuss-pretty-much-whatever-they-want-during-retreat/
These retreats are typically ways to do what the kids 10 years ago called "Big Think" to guide future policies. Rather than just responding to work the staff has done, governing bodies use these events as an opportunity to say "Hey, do this over there!"
#Tucson #Arizona
‘It will revolutionize travel’: Gila River Indian Community cheers $95M to widen Interstate 10 https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/012924_i10_widening/it-will-revolutionize-travel-gila-river-indian-community-cheers-95m-widen-interstate-10/
A $95 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will help support the widening of the 26-mile stretch of I-10 that passes through the the Gila River Indian Community, with the project’s total cost estimated at just over $1 billion.
#Tucson #Arizona
Az Democrats rally behind race-based hair discrimination protections https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/012924_hair_discrimination/az-democrats-rally-behind-race-based-hair-discrimination-protections/
HB 2396 would prohibit discrimination against Arizona employees and students based on their ancestry, skin color, ethnic identity or background, and would also protect them from discrimination based on traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective styles.
#Tucson #Arizona
Kozachik: UA's Robbins needs to go https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/012824_kozachik_robbins_op/kozachik-uas-robbins-needs-go/
If the Board of Regents is to retain any public credibility, University of Arizona President Robert Robbins should be removed. — Councilman Steve Kozachik
#Tucson #Arizona
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