Tucson Sentinel @TucsonSentinel@mastodon.tucsonsentinel.com

New data shows high totals of suspensions for missing class https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/052024_attendance_suspension/new-data-shows-high-totals-suspensions-missing-class/
Educators regularly turn to suspension as a response to attendance problems, though many experts criticize these punishments as an ineffective way to solve the problem, and punishing students by forcing them to miss class can harm their chances of getting a diploma on time.
#Tucson #Arizona

Taking back Native voting rights https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/052024_native_vote/taking-back-native-voting-rights/
In rural parts of Arizona and Montana, voter education groups are leading initiatives to spread the word about why every vote counts, especially during a presidential election year.
#Tucson #Arizona

Az, tribes receive historic preservation funding to protect natural resources, culture, traditions https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/052024_preservation_funding/az-tribes-receive-historic-preservation-funding-protect-natural-resources-culture-traditions/
As part of the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund, more than $2.5 million in funding is coming to 10 Arizona tribal nations to support various programs and projects to preserve cultural resources and history.
#Tucson #Arizona

Medicaid unwinding deals blow to tenuous system of care for Native Americans https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/052024_native_medicaid/medicaid-unwinding-deals-blow-tenuous-system-care-native-americans/
About a year into the process of redetermining Medicaid eligibility, more than 20 million people have been kicked off the program for low-income families - but Native Americans are proving particularly vulnerable to losing coverage and face greater obstacles in finding other coverage.
#Tucson #Arizona

Az House Ethics Committee drops complaint against GOP Rep accused of signature fraud https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/052024_smith_eithics/az-house-ethics-committee-drops-complaint-against-gop-rep-accused-signature-fraud/
An ethics complaint filed against Republican state Rep. Austin Smith, after he was accused of petition signature fraud, was dropped by the Arizona House Ethics Committee Friday, after the committee chair said he does not see the accusations as a violation of the House rules.
#Tucson #Arizona

Democratic women governors forge friendships in group chat https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051824_dem_govs_group/democratic-women-governors-forge-friendships-group-chat/
Democratic women governors brag on their states — and one another. They talk to The 19th about learning from one another about policy, what it takes to lead and what they see as “women’s issues.”
#Tucson #Arizona

Housing boom in most of U.S. could ease shortage, but cost is still a problem https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051824_housing_construction/housing-boom-most-us-could-ease-shortage-but-cost-still-problem/
The United States has added almost 5 million housing units since 2020, most heavily in the South and most of them single-family homes, making a housing shortage look conquerable in much of the nation - but continuing high interest rates are hurting potential homebuyers.
#Tucson #Arizona

Grant Road makeover set to continue in Midtown Tucson https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051624_grant_construction/grant-road-makeover-set-continue-midtown-tucson/
After decades of planning, the Tucson Transportation Department is ready to begin widening Grant Road between Swan Road and Sparkman Boulevard, just west of Dodge Boulevard.
#Tucson #Arizona

Tucson voters won't be asked to hike sales tax this summer https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_tucson_sales_tax/tucson-voters-wont-asked-hike-sales-tax-this-summer/
Despite requesting a legal opinion from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office regarding whether it was legal to put a sales-tax proposal on the July primary ballot, the Tucson City Council will not be asking voters to approve a tax hike this summer.
#Tucson #Arizona

Longtime Tucson political operator Byron Howard dead at 77 https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_howard_obit/longtime-tucson-political-operator-byron-howard-dead-77/
Byron Howard, a longtime political player who worked for both Pima County and the city of Tucson, died April 29. He was 77.
#Tucson #Arizona

Long-delayed cross-border sewer pipe rehab completed in Nogales https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_ioi_completion/long-delayed-cross-border-sewer-pipe-rehab-completed-nogales/
Repairs to the International Outfall Interceptor — a vast wastewater line beneath Nogales that includes flows from across the border — were completed by a private contractor last month, after decades of delay.
#Tucson #Arizona

Abortion ballot measures could lift Dems in U.S. House races, campaign chief says https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_abortion_ballot/abortion-ballot-measures-could-lift-dems-us-house-races-campaign-chief-says/
The Democratic congressional campaign chair says ballot questions on abortion access, which will go before voters in several states this November, could help vulnerable Democratic candidates in swing districts — potentially increasing the odds the U.S. House flips from red to blue.
#Tucson #Arizona

Populations in 5 key states in 2024 presidential election very much like U.S. overall https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/051724_population_election_op/populations-5-key-states-2024-presidential-election-very-much-like-us-overall/
Five of the seven states - including Arizona - widely expected to be political battlegrounds in the 2024 presidential election have populations very much like that of the U.S. overall, in a range of demographic and socioeconomic measures.
#Tucson #Arizona

FEC rejects proposal to weaken disclosure laws but agrees to further rulemaking https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051724_political_donations/fec-rejects-proposal-weaken-disclosure-laws-but-agrees-further-rulemaking/
The FEC declined to advance a temporary measure that would have made it easier for political donors to hide identifying information from the American public, but agreed to move forward in creating new rules to standardize how disclosure exemption requests are evaluated and approved.
#Tucson #Arizona

U.S. House panel debates voting by noncitizens, which is already illegal https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051724_illegal_voting/us-house-panel-debates-voting-by-noncitizens-which-already-illegal/
Republicans on the U.S. House Administration Committee argued at a Thursday hearing that there is a need for legislative action to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections — even though voting by noncitizens in federal elections is extremely rare and already illegal.
#Tucson #Arizona

Self-funded candidates put more than $166 million into their own campaigns https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051724_self_funded_candidates/self-funded-candidates-put-more-than-166-million-into-their-own-campaigns/
Wealthy candidates in key races across the country are pouring millions of dollars of their own money to self-fund their campaigns, with roughly 45 self-funded candidates spending at least $1 million on their own campaigns, totaling more than $166 million this election cycle.
#Tucson #Arizona

Az prisons noncompliant with court orders in prisoner condition class action, judge says https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_prison_conditions/az-prisons-noncompliant-with-court-orders-prisoner-condition-class-action-judge-says/
A federal judge said Thursday she’s prepared to issue a ruling finding the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry in violation of her permanent injunction in a decade-old federal class action over the state’s prison conditions.
#Tucson #Arizona

Az Republicans take aim at the ‘convenience’ of voting with sweeping election reform ballot measure https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051724_gop_voting_reform/az-republicans-take-aim-convenience-voting-with-sweeping-election-reform-ballot-measure/
Republicans in the Arizona Senate are looking to put a sweeping election reform resolution to voters this fall, and they’re not shy about the fact that it is designed to make it harder for Arizonans to vote.
#Tucson #Arizona

Supreme Court revives consumer finance watchdog https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051724_cfpb_scotus/supreme-court-revives-consumer-finance-watchdog/
Rejecting an attempt by payday lenders to cripple the agency, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not violate the Constitution when funding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
#Tucson #Arizona

Getting an abortion is hard for people from states with bans. It’s even harder if they’re undocumented. https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051724_undocumented_abortion/getting-abortion-hard-people-from-states-with-bans-its-even-harder-if-theyre-undocumented/
This year’s abortion bans in Florida and Arizona — following an older near-total prohibition in Texas — threaten to make the procedure virtually unattainable for undocumented people living in those states.
#Tucson #Arizona