Tucson Sentinel @TucsonSentinel@mastodon.tucsonsentinel.com

U.S. House GOP plan would expand work requirements for food aid for older adults https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/042723_senior_snap/us-house-gop-plan-would-expand-work-requirements-food-aid-older-adults/
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans from ages 50 to 55 could face higher barriers to food assistance under the U.S. House Republican plan to cut spending while temporarily lifting the debt limit.
#Tucson #Arizona

Border towns see 'disaster' without federal help as end to Title 42 looms https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042723_border_impact/border-towns-see-disaster-without-federal-help-as-end-title-42-looms/
Arizona border communities face a “humanitarian disaster” in two weeks if the federal government does not step in to help with the crush of migrants expected when Title 42 ends, officials from Pima County, Yuma and Sierra Vista told a Senate panel Wednesday.
#Tucson #Arizona

Poorly executed: 'The experiment failed,' halting executions in Arizona https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042723_arizona_executions_halt/poorly-executed-the-experiment-failed-halting-executions-arizona/
A botched execution left convicted murderer Joseph Wood gasping for nearly 2 hours as he was given 15 lethal doses of drugs, setting off three years of litigation that ended with the execution protocol rewritten - but by the time executions resumed eight years later, a lot had changed.
#Tucson #Arizona

Arizona challenges Biden – again – on COVID-19 vaccine mandate for contractors https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042723_covid_court/arizona-challenges-biden-8211-again-8211-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-contractors/
Arizona legislative leaders have asked the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that said President Joe Biden had the authority to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers on federal contracts in Arizona.
#Tucson #Arizona

'We Build the Wall' co-founder Kolfage gets 4-plus years in fraud sentencing https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/042723_kolfage_sentence/we-build-wall-co-founder-kolfage-gets-4-plus-years-fraud-sentencing/
A federal judge handed down a 51-month prison sentence to Brian Kolfage, co-founder of a fraud called We Build the Wall, which he billed as a grassroots fundraiser to fulfill the campaign promise of former President Donald Trump for "big, beautiful" wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
#Tucson #Arizona

Cochise County hires elections director who has spread election misinformation https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_cochise_bartelsmeyer_elections/cochise-county-hires-elections-director-who-has-spread-election-misinformation/
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 2-1 to hire Bob Bartelsmeyer to run the county’s elections, and supervisors indicated they weren’t concerned that Bartelsmeyer had repeatedly shared posts on Facebook baselessly saying that the 2020 election was rigged.
#Tucson #Arizona

Millions of kids could lose health coverage as states purge Medicaid rolls https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/042623_medicaid_purge_kids/millions-kids-could-lose-health-coverage-as-states-purge-medicaid-rolls/
Arizona and other states are once again free to verify that Medicaid enrollees are still qualified and cancel coverage if they’re not, and as many as 15 million Americans, including 7 million children, could lose the health coverage they relied on through the pandemic.
#Tucson #Arizona

Federal ban on bump stocks rejected by appeals court panel https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/042623_bump_stock_ban/federal-ban-bump-stocks-rejected-by-appeals-court-panel/
The latest twist in the ongoing legal saga regarding the legality of bump stocks – used to increase the rate of fire on semiautomatic weapons – is a win for gun owners, after a Sixth Circuit panel unanimously found the government cannot enforce a rule that bans the devices.
#Tucson #Arizona

Chief Justice Roberts will not testify before judiciary committee https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/042623_roberts_congress/chief-justice-roberts-will-not-testify-before-judiciary-committee/
Chief Justice John Roberts declined to testify before Congress over ethical concerns relating to Supreme Court justices in the wake of reporting on potential violations of disclosure requirements by Justice Clarence Thomas.
#Tucson #Arizona

Arizona lawmakers head back on hiatus as budget talks move slowly https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_az_budget_talks/arizona-lawmakers-head-back-hiatus-as-budget-talks-move-slowly/
The day the Arizona Senate returned to work after a nearly two-week hiatus, the chamber announced it would adjourn until the middle of next week - a move the House may join - to focus on the budget, and give Maricopa County officials time to replace expelled legislator Liz Harris.
#Tucson #Arizona

Recreational cannabis sales still smoking the medical market in 2023 https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_rec_cannabis_sales/recreational-cannabis-sales-still-smoking-medical-market-2023/
After nearly $1.5 billion in sales in 2022, Arizona’s cannabis market continues to be robust in the first months of 2023, driven by a growing recreational market, with the medical marijuana market remaining in a freefall.
#Tucson #Arizona

Poorly executed: Murderer’s final words contained secret message about problematic Az execution https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_arizona_executions_personnel/poorly-executed-murderers-final-words-contained-secret-message-problematic-az-execution/
Arizona executed 10 men in 2011 and 2012, and the Federal Defender’s Office routinely filed lawsuits about dubious practices and an ever-changing protocol - but there were also problems with the personnel performing the executions.
#Tucson #Arizona

Poorly executed: Murderer’s final words contained secret message about problematic execution https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_arizona_executions_personnel/poorly-executed-murderers-final-words-contained-secret-message-problematic-execution/
Arizona executed 10 men in 2011 and 2012, and the Federal Defender’s Office routinely filed lawsuits about dubious practices and an ever-changing protocol - but there were also problems with the personnel performing the executions.
#Tucson #Arizona

Az GOP push to override veto of 'tamale bill' fails after Democrats balk at going against Hobbs https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_tamale_bill_override/az-gop-push-override-veto-tamale-bill-fails-after-democrats-balk-going-against-hobbs/
An attempt by Arizona Republicans to rebuke Gov. Katie Hobbs for vetoing a bill aimed at expanding the sale of homemade foods failed after most legislative Democrats sided with her, slamming the move to override her veto as just another effort to undermine her.
#Tucson #Arizona

Arizona increase in drunken driving deaths among highest in nation in 2021 https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042623_drunken_rising/arizona-increase-drunken-driving-deaths-among-highest-nation-2021/
COVID-19 was not the only killer accounting for an increase in Arizona deaths in 2021: A surge in drunken driving deaths on the state’s highways that year was among the highest in the nation.
#Tucson #Arizona

Grijalva: Protecting our students' right to read https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/042623_grijalva_reading_op/grijalva-protecting-our-students-right-read/
"If we cannot teach or read the true history of our nation, our education becomes fiction. Ignorance is not bliss." — U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva
#Tucson #Arizona

Hobbs appoints Randi Burnett to Pima Superior Court bench https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042523_burnett_judge/hobbs-appoints-randi-burnett-pima-superior-court-bench/
Randi Burnett, a former family lawyer who has served as a court commissioner since 2021, has been appointed as a judge in Pima County Superior Court, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Tuesday.
#Tucson #Arizona

Cochise County ready to hire elections director who spread false claims of 2020 election rigging https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042523_cochise_elections_director/cochise-county-ready-hire-elections-director-who-spread-false-claims-2020-election-rigging/
Cochise County is close to hiring an elections director who has repeatedly shared false claims about widespread election fraud on Facebook, including claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against former President Donald Trump.
#Tucson #Arizona

Tucker Carlson’s departure & Fox News’ expensive legal woes show problem with faking 'authenticity' https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/042523_carlson_departure_op/tucker-carlsons-departure-fox-news-expensive-legal-woes-show-problem-with-faking-authenticity/
Tucker Carlson’s departure after Fox News’ settlement over the network’s promotion of 2020 election misinformation reveals Fox’s biggest strength and weakness: the network’s incredible understanding of what its audience wants and its unrelenting willingness to deliver exactly that.
#Tucson #Arizona

Poorly executed: The 'Golden Age of executions' comes to an end https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/042523_arizona_executions_protocols/poorly-executed-golden-age-executions-comes-end/
Modern execution methods are designed as much to increase the comfort of the witnesses as to ease the pain of the person actually being killed, but a search for viable execution drugs caused problems for Arizona and other states looking to execute prisoners.
#Tucson #Arizona