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 Date: 05/16/2022
Topics in This Issue:
Judge Ahmad
I’m going to open this week with an update on the family reunification work I’ve been struggling with since last November. This is the judge who has his young wife (Nilofar) and his 2-year-old daughter (Kawsar) stuck in Turkey. The brief background is Judge Ahmad worked in support of our mission and in the process was responsible for imprisoning hundreds of Taliban. His house and car were bombed, and he was shot. He took Nilofar to Turkey when Talibs began threatening her. Ahmad continued traveling into Afghanistan working to support our mission. On his last trip in he was shot by Taliban. The weekend of his release from the hospital is when the government fell. He was caught up in the evacuation and ultimately ended up in Tucson. His family is stuck in Turkey.
When they arrived in Turkey their original plans were to go to Germany where Nilofar has relatives. They planned to open a business there – similar to what Ahmad had in Afghanistan. A next-door neighbor in Turkey befriended them and told them he knew people in the German embassy. He offered to expedite getting them a German visa. Ahmad gave the guy (Darviesh) their passports and about 10 days later he returned them with German visas stamped inside. Ahmad used that passport book each time he flew back into Afghanistan – nobody ever questioned the document.
The plan to move to Germany was put on hold. Nilofar was within days of giving birth to Kawsar so she was denied access when they tried to board the flight. Nobody questioned the document. She has been living in Istanbul, apart from Ahamd for going on 3 years.
Recently my contacts within the State department let me know they had successfully gotten authorization to fly Nilofar and Kawsar to our base in Qatar. The news brought tears. That’s when I went radio silent on sharing information about the family. I didn’t want to go public and thrown any wrenches into the plan. She was to travel with two Afghanistan men who were also refugeed from the country. They all flew from Istanbul to Ankara, received their instructions and boarding information, and flew back to Istanbul for the flight out. Nobody questioned any of the travel documents.
Upon boarding the flight to Qatar, the two men were allowed on, but Nilofar was pulled aside and accused of having a forged German visa. She was detained by the Turkish authorities. Her 2-year-old daughter was detained along with her. Our embassy staff was able to get them moved to an EU-run detention facility. And through the intervention of a lady-friend in Turkey, they were released ‘indefinitely’ the weekend before last. The Turkish authorities have retained her passport. Without that, she cannot fly out of the country.
A couple of my staff members posted a call for prayer on Facebook just before her release. That generated interest from some congressional aides – none of whom have ever called me to check in on the situation, and all of whom told me very early on that I couldn’t be included in any of this due “to protocols.” Their interest manifested itself in them calling the single congressional aide (she works for Representative Grijalva) who has shown any interest in assisting with this – just to get the scoop.
The scoop is that I am working with Ahmad on getting either her passport released, or her expired passport (which she still has) extended. Embassy staff told us last week that they ‘strongly advise’ against her going to the Afghanistan embassy because ‘it is controlled by Taliban.’ So, we’ve asked if the consulate can grant the extension. And embassy staff are still working with the Turkish authorities on getting her original one released. There are lots of moving parts – and once again we have validation that my contention from the start that she is not safe in Turkey is correct. Congressional people have said otherwise.
For their part the Turks don’t appear any too interested in finding the guy who’s producing fake travel documents. I early on offered up his address and phone number. Nobody wanted it – and nobody has moved to schedule a court date for Nilofar. She’s just released, without her passport, and without any ability to leave Turkey.
We’ve also asked embassy staff if we can secure a court document authorizing her to travel. Just boarding a plane requires the passport – we might be able to get a document that takes its place, allowing embassy to find a 3rd country that does not require a passport for entry. There are several. We’re still waiting for that answer as well. And I’ve asked whether we’re also held up on her leaving until the Turkish court vacates her ‘visa fraud’ charges. They released her, and they didn’t want to know who produced the fake documents. So, they don’t appear to be overly surprised that this is going on in their country. But they kept possession of the one document Nilofar needs in order to travel.
So that’s the update. I learned that our Ambassador to Turkey (Jeff Flake) is ‘unaware’ of any of this. I also learned that all that filtered back to our congressmen and congresswomen is that she was charged with passing a fraudulent visa. There has never been a proactive call to me to learn any of the details. The reality is Nilofar was an innocent victim of a presumed friend having produced a fake visa. He has since changed his phone number. I suspect he has also changed his place of residence, so we’re left to trying to convince the Turkish judicial system to release the passport so we can get this family reunited.
One final note on the whole refugee resettlement issue. Over the weekend I reached out to both a congressional office and to State advocating for a 5-year-old little Ukrainian girl. Her sponsor is in touch with me – she has her approved Homeland Security travel document – she will get her COVID vaccine on Monday (even at the age of 5) and we are having a hell of a time getting anyone to give direction on how to get the little kid onto a plane. In addition, I was in touch with a congressional office regarding a Tucson resident (U.S. citizen) whose Pakistani bride and 1 year old son have not been allowed to come to the U.S. They have submitted all their paperwork and are approved to come, pending their in-person interview with our embassy. They’ve been waiting for over a year for that interview. I totally understand that congressional authority does not extend to telling State and Homeland Security how to run their business. But fixing our broken refugee system (Nilofar should come with immediate asylum status – the Ukrainian kid should be given a plane ticket to come join with her sponsor – the Pakistani bride and 1 year old should have been reunited with their husband/father a year ago) - all of that is laying at their feet. All we hear is the system is backlogged. That’s an excuse. Fix the process. That is a congressional responsibility if caring about these people is a priority. It is for some of us.
Humanizing the Homeless
Last week I introduced you to Marie. She’s the 75-year-old woman I met over at Sister Jose women’s shelter. Friday morning, I got a call from Jean who runs the shelter. An Uber driver had dropped off a 78-year-old woman, and a 75-year-old woman – both evicted from their apartments by landlords who had jacked up the rent. We’ve found them temporary space in a hotel. Seniors are the new most common demographic of the homeless. The director of one of our homeless resource teams said to me that he’s tired of hearing me gripe about landlords running up rents – that's just ‘how the market works.’ Well, I’d like to suggest that predatory capitalism led to lots of changes in ‘the market.’ One is labor unions. Sadly, people like Marie, and these two newly evicted seniors won’t have the ability to ‘file a grievance’ with a shop steward. They’re just happy to have a roof.
Also, while visiting Sister Jose to do the interviews, I met Joy. I had also met Joy a couple of weeks earlier at the city-run Wildcat Inn. And previous to that she was out at the Golf Links camp. It seems Joy has some behavioral/mental health issues that make her unsuitable for a housing setting. Despite that some of our own housing staff were citing Joy as an example of a ‘success’ coming from our Housing First model. In fact, what she is, is an example of why we need more of a continuum of options, including controlled camps. Not everyone will thrive in a shelter setting.
This week, meet Phaedra. She's 56 years old and is pictured here with her companion pooch Tito. Phaedra was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has a high school education and begins studying to become a Physician's Assistant and Respiratory Technician. She has some memory issues that made our conversation a little tough. Those are due to having been hit by a car in 2013.
Phaedra's family moved from New York to Texas where she began studying accounting at Brookhaven College. She isn't really clear on how she got to Tucson, but believes it was in about 2004 when she met her former husband. He was unfaithful and when she found out about it and called him on it, what resulted was a series of events that eventually ended up with Phaedra in prison for 2 years. Her former husband was doing lots of drugs and stealing from her to pay for his addiction. He died right after she went to jail.
Prior to being imprisoned Phaedra had connected with a new guy. They dated while living in transitional housing. In 2013 when she was hit by a car, she suffered traumatic brain injury and multiple other injuries. She spent a year in the hospital and nursing facilities, eventually being discharged and moving into a mobile home with the new guy. It was upon their eviction that she got into trouble with the former husband and was convicted and imprisoned. One thing that clearly breaks her heart is that her dad - with whom she had a good relationship - died right before she went to jail.
As a result of the accident, she is classed with Serious Mental Illness. She was released from prison about a year ago, lost her SSI support and spent time couch surfing and living in her truck with her dog. One of the last places she was couch surfing was at the home of a friend who ended up dying from COVID. When that happened the husband of that friend put her out and she has been homeless since then. When I asked her what made her sad, she said 'I'm not sad, I'm angry when peoples' rights are being abused.' What makes her happy is watching kids and animals play? She says that even if you don't keep all 10 of the Commandments, keep the first 3 and you'll be fine. Her rock is her religion - and Tito.
If you feel you’ve been seeing more unhoused people around, you’re likely correct. This is data compiled by one of the shelters we are connected with. It shows a clear increase in homelessness across all categories. And this is just from the current calendar year.
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More Homeowner’s Assistance
In last week’s newsletter I noted that we’ve allocated $100K from our Ward budget to emergency rental assistance for seniors living in Ward 6. Let us know if you’ve got a candidate and we’ll connect that person with our housing people.
In addition to that, the state is now offering a Homeowner Assistance Fund to people who have a COVID-related financial situation they’re dealing with. That includes things such as job loss, reduction in income, increase in health care costs, and even things like being a new caregiver for a family member. The funds can be used to pay for property tax delinquencies, mortgage delinquencies, utilities, HOA payments – that sort of thing. There’s a maximum of $25,000 per household. The general eligibility criteria are in the green box below. If you’d like more details, you can check on this link:
HAF application and eligibility
Refugees
Since most of the Afghan refugees have been moved from the hotel into some form of apartment/housing, we’ve stopped taking donations – except for a few specialized items. We still get requests for sewing machines, laptops, and insta-pots. And there will always be the need for hygiene products, sunscreen (it’s summer!) and other personal care items.
In addition to housing many of the families have at least one member of the household who’s employed. I’ve been fortunate to find some of them jobs – all the positions the refugees are working at are low wage. That means when the housing subsidy runs out, they’re going to have challenges. If you’re a potential employer please let me know if you can hire someone whose English might be rough around the edges, who has skills in various fields, but who simply needs and wants to work.
I’ve been asked about health coverage for refugees. All of them can receive medical benefits through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS.) The resettlement agencies such as Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Community Services or International Refugee Committee make application for benefits. That’s for any refugee who comes in through the normal resettlement process through the agencies – including Ukrainians when they begin to arrive in numbers.
Speaking of Ukrainians, the federal government has instituted a program called Uniting for Ukraine. It’s a special program that requires a sponsor who will agree to support the incoming refugee financially during their stay. The program allows displaced Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members who are outside the U.S. to come here and stay temporarily for up to two years. It’s very similar to the Humanitarian Parole program offered to Afghanistan refugees except well over 90% of the HP applicants are denied. But both programs are good for only 2 years, and both require a local supporter. Since the Uniting for Ukraine program is a special one-off, it’s not through a resettlement agency and therefore it’s unlikely this group of refugees will qualify for AHCCCS benefits. If that ends up how the feds implement the program, Ukrainian refugees coming through the Uniting process would have to purchase health care through the www.healthcare.gov system.
The entire refugee resettlement process is cumbersome and broken. Even setting up this special pass-through for Ukrainians has left gaps in addressing needs.
Last week we had yet another bottle throwing incident over at the student housing towers by the Islamic Center. We have still had minimal support from the ownership Nelson Properties in addressing this ongoing problem. I’m in touch with our own legal team, exploring options we have that we can implement.
This last incident was also captured on video – by the video system the ICT installed so they can protect their own interests. The previous tower owners committed to installing video but that has never happened.
This is the group who had been partying to celebrate the end of the semester – and from this group more beer bottles ended up in the ICT parking lot below.
This time things were a little different. One of the tenants from the room came down and immediately helped clean up the debris. He said the guy(s) responsible didn’t live there and had just crashed the party. He ended up identifying the person who tossed the bottle, along with telling the ICT staff where he lives. This is the guy – and yes, all of this was presented to TPD in the police report that was filed.
The lease terms on the Nelson Property leases hold the tenants responsible for anything flying off from their balconies. They’re subject to eviction. I’ve also let the UA people know. Here’s the response I received from the Nelson Property attorney last week after I forwarded him videos:
Councilman Kozachik,
Thank you for sharing this information with us. Having the specific information on the students involved and the police report is helpful, and we will initiate an eviction proceeding for the tenants involved in this incident.
It’s worth noting that we’re in the last week of the semester. If the eviction is going to have any effect, it will need to be effective for re-leasing to the same group of students next semester. The UA has said in the past they will act on criminal behavior that takes place off campus. The Dean of Students has all this information as well.
Wear Orange Day
In the 72 hours prior to when I wrote this on Sunday, there were 101 mass shooting incidents in the U.S. in which somebody was killed. In total there were 325 mass shooting incidents. That’s where 4 or more people are shot in a single incident. That’s not an uncommon data set. Every day 110 Americans are killed by gun violence. National Gun Violence Awareness Day is coming June 3rd. It’s the 8th annual recognition of the Day. Locally I’ve shared in each of the events set up by Mom’s Demand Action. This year will be no different.
On Saturday, June 4th we’ll gather at 6pm at Southside Presbyterian Church to honor those we’ve lost to gun violence. Southside is located at 317 W. 23rd Street. We’ll be meeting in the patio and sharing music, testimonials and our continuing call to action on the sad topic of losing loved ones to the epidemic of gun violence. I’ll share more of the details on the event as they are finalized, but please mark your calendar and plan on joining us. It’ll be an outdoor, COVID-safe event.
TEP Transmission Line Project
Last week the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the TEP transmission line/Gateway-Scenic corridor issue. What’s being proposed by the city is using what’s called a Special Exception (SE) process instead of the currently available Board of Adjustment variance request process. It’s an important distinction because with SE there are several levels of public involvement. With Board of Adjustment the public can speak at the BofA hearing, but if there is an appeal that goes to Superior Court. BofA variance requests never get to M&C.
The Planning Commission was presented by city staff a series of criteria that are being proposed for TEP to use when asking to go above ground on one of our protected corridors. The way it would work is TEP would apply for the variance and cite as many of the criteria as are relevant in justification for the variance request. With SE the first meeting is with affected neighbors. Then it goes to the zoning examiner for a public hearing. Finally, any appeals from the zoning hearing come to M&C for another public hearing. Clearly a much more robust public involvement than the current BofA process includes.
These are the criteria staff presented to the Planning Commission for consideration. I’ve highlighted the 6 the Planning Commission wants staff to do some ‘tightening up’ on.
  The Commission voted unanimously to have staff go back and either change the language in the 6 highlighted criteria or eliminate them. In addition, they asked staff to consider 4 more criteria that have been proposed by the Tucson Underground Coalition. That’s a group of neighborhoods who have formed to address concerns with this specific TEP project. The four Coalition criteria are:
12-l. The effects that can be expected from permitting any of the exceptions listed herein or any combination of those exceptions when added together must remain consistent with the overall purpose and integrity of the gateway/scenic route, unless doing so is technologically impossible and/or clearly financially cost prohibitive.
12-m. Notwithstanding any of the above criteria, above ground transmission lines are not allowed in or alongside historic areas (as defined by or listed in the National Register of Historic Places, properties or districts, City of Tucson Historic Preservation Zones, City of Tucson Historic Landmarks, or Neighborhood Preservation Zones).
12-n. A utility cannot obtain relief from Gateway/Scenic ordinances by routing through adjacent residential neighborhoods.
12-o. Any new above-ground utility structure that is permitted must be designed, constructed, and maintained to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Staff will report back to the Commission at their next regularly scheduled meeting – 6pm on June 1st. You can get the zoom link for the meeting 30 minutes before it starts on the 1st by going to this site: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/pdsd/planning-commission
At some point the Planning Commission will vote a recommendation to forward to M&C. We’ll likely get something on our agenda during one of our August meetings.
PFAS Test Well
Beginning today and going out through the end of May you’ll see some construction activity just north of the Randolph golf course. It’ll be on Broadway, between Randolph Way and Alvernon inside the golf fence line.
We’re working with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to drill some test monitoring wells related to PFAS contamination. We know the PFAS plume in midtown stretches from the NW corner of the DM runway out towards where this test well will be drilled. The purpose of the well will be to monitor for PFAS downstream of the actual test treatment well that’s in place closer to the base. It’s all a part of our work assuring we know where the plume is, and how effective the test treatment facility is that we have in place.
During the testing there will be no impact on people using the walking path.
ByFusion Blocks
Forging ahead with the San Gabriel pocket park sustainable seat bench. Last week we finalized some design decisions, confirmed the concrete seat will be made from crushed glass material, and I got the city on board to frame and pour the slab on which the bench will sit.
Our partners in the project include Paige from San Gabriel and her neighborhood team, Anita from Bottle Rocket who’ll pour the ‘sand’ bench, the city general services who’ll pour the base, and of course ByFusion who’s going to sell us the plastic block that’ll form the structure. This is truly our ‘test case’ so planning for more in the future will be a bit more of a streamlined process.
Here’s the concept drawing showing how the blocks will be nested together on the concrete slab. “L” brackets will hold it in place. The top concrete ‘sand’ bench will be locked in place with some rebar drilled into the blocks.
On Friday I received this from the city folks who are overseeing the trash enclosure out at the El Pueblo Community Center:
Ok, so we have a few of these in motion. Thanks to Carlos and his team for getting that one started. More to come. We at Ward 6 appreciate the momentum.
Recycle Contamination
I have this reminder in newsletters from time to time – sadly it’s necessary. The city is paying (you are paying) roughly $30,000 per month to Republic Services because of the level of contamination people are tossing into the blue recycle barrels. The contamination rate arriving in blue barrels at the material recycle facility is 29%. That means about a third of everything that goes into the barrels is not allowed. We’re charged for everything above a 15% rate.
Please do not throw used clothing, diapers, electronics, and other non-recyclable materials into the blue bin. Use this link to see the Environmental Services site that explains what you can/cannot recycle: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/es/announcement/recycle-it-right
Changes to Bar and Restaurant Parking
Several months ago, the M&C asked staff to consider changes to our code by which we’d require more electric vehicle parking opportunities in new apartment construction. Staff also coupled with that item changes in our parking requirements surrounding bars and restaurants. At the time I made the point that those are two wholly different topics – one is to require installing some EV plugs on parking spaces, and the other is to allow parking reductions for bars and restaurants. They're not the same issue and deserve separate conversations.
Staff is hosting an in-person meeting and a virtual one during which both the EV and parking for bars will be presented for discussion. Those meetings are scheduled as follows:
IN PERSON Stakeholder Meeting*
Friday, May 20
8:30am � 10:00am
Join us starting at 8:00am for bagels & coffee
City Hall, 1st Floor Conference Room
225 W Alameda St
Tucson, AZ 85701
VIRTUAL Public Meeting � via ZOOM
Monday, May 23
6:00pm � 7:30pm
Register here
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
This item may be back in front of M&C for a vote on June 7th. Ahead of that I will be facilitating one more public meeting on the issue of the bar/restaurant parking. I’ve asked staff to lead a presentation at the Ward 6 office on Thursday, May 26th at 6pm. We’ll also have a virtual option for those who still prefer to avoid groups.
We will not be talking about the EV outlets for new multi-family projects. This presentation will focus solely on the IPP we’re allowing bars and restaurants to take part in – if the changes are approved by M&C. Right now, in our Unified Development Code there is this specific exemption for bars and restaurants -
By code we have exempted bars and restaurants from being allowed to apply for parking reductions unless they’re in a ‘mixed use development’ or shopping center type of project. That’s because those uses have more intensive parking impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and businesses – and their customers tend to linger longer so those impacts last in some cases into the wee hours of the morning.
On the 26th we’ll have our planning folks explain the history of that exemption, why it’s being proposed to change now, give some history on how often IPP’s are approved, and the process applicants for an Individual Parking Plan goes through. These are details that are important for the community to understand – and they’re not being given appropriate focus in the current presentations of this topic.
We’ll have copies of the 4-page IPP application form on hand to help guide you through the discussion. And we’ll have a local liquor license attorney here to share his thoughts on what the city can and cannot require of applicants when they apply for the various forms of liquor license.
Here’s a Zoom link for the meeting in case you’re unable to take part in person.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81555628611?pwd=nWg3VqnVoiH-dujDCv0t900-1auRmx.1
Meeting ID: 815 5562 8611
Passcode: 1111
Military Overflights
We’re right now in the middle of a public comment period related to some proposed changes to the Air Force flight rules related to DM. The Air Force has extended the public comment period until June 3rd. There are 10 airspaces in Arizona and New Mexico being proposed for lower supersonic flights, and for longer nighttime flying hours. That’s generally what is scoped and is what they’re taking input on.
The new flight rules would not affect flights directly over the city. This map shows the locations being proposed for where the rule changes would go into effect – the areas outlined with the solid black lines:
Right now, they’re in a public scoping process. With all the input being gathered an Environmental Impact Statement will be drafted. That will be ready for public comment this fall. The rules haven’t been changed since well prior to the emergence of some of the aircraft Air Force pilots are now flying. These changes are intended to affect pilot training, and to do so over lightly populated areas.
This link will take you to the project web page. There you can get a more thorough description of what they’re planning, and you can offer your comments.
ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com
From time to time we also get calls from people who want to share thoughts with DM on any number of aircraft issues. DM has a website on which you can file a complaint – or pass along kudos. They do not take direct phone calls so if you’re after a call-back, you must request that on the form you’re filing. You can use this link to reach that general hotline for DM activities.
https://www.dm.af.mil/Contact-Us/Noise-Concerns/
Reid Park Master Plan
There are just a couple of weeks left in the public survey for the Reid Park master plan. The online survey only takes about 10 minutes for you to complete. Please choose English or Spanish on the links below and share your thoughts on how you’d like to see the park evolve. The survey will close at midnight on May 31st.
English (bit.ly/reidparkreimagined) or Spanish (bit.ly/reidparkreimaginedSP)
Proposition 411
Tomorrow is election day for Proposition 411. This is the half-cent sales tax extension that’ll fund $600M in road repair and another $150M in road safety elements over the next 10 years. The election pamphlet can be seen at this link:
"The Choice is Yours" (PDF) Proposition 411
If you haven’t already mailed in your ballot, you have several options to take part on election day. Here are the voting locations, with hours they’ll be operating on Tuesday.
Rosemont Mine
Last week I had some photos of the destruction happening in the Santa Rita’s due to the construction of the new Rosemont/Hudbay copper mine. Also last week there was a short article in the news about the Federal Appeals Court telling Rosemont they cannot move forward with their planned mine until issues concerning some permits they need are resolved. What the media reports did not make clear is the Court decision does not affect any of what I shared last week. That blading is still going on.
In the newsletter last week, I had this graphic. What it shows is Rosemont work that’s happening on both the east and west slopes of the Santa Rita’s. The Court decision was speaking to work associated with the large black blob on the lower right-hand side of the graphic. That’s the east side of the mountains, and it’s primarily on public land. That’s where the permits are being contested. The 4 smaller black blobs are where they want to dig more open pits on the west side of the mountains. Much of that is land already owned by Hudbay. Because of that they’re taking the position that no permits are needed. Expect further litigation to sort out that question.
The eastern portion of the mine is slated to be about a mile across and a half mile deep. That’s the piece the Court ruled on last week, saying Rosemont does not have the permits it needs before starting work. All of the west side work I had in last week’s newsletter is continuing.
COVID Update
Last week the U.S. passed 1,000,000 COVID deaths. It’s easy to read – let it sink in. One million individuals mean tens of millions of Americans felt the loss of a loved one. I’ve had 3 friends die of COVID. Given the numbers, I’m sure many people reading this can pause for a moment and reflect on someone they’ve lost – friend or family.
Let’s just get it on the table – a fully vaccinated population would have saved lives. And a fully vaccinated population right now can still save more. We’re a year into the false debate over their efficacy. If you are unvaccinated, you’re only lucky you aren’t one of the statistics.
These data demonstrate that we’re not done with the virus, and that it’s still making significant impacts on peoples’ lives.
The number of cases is increasing at a faster rate than the number of tests. And these are just the reported data. Case counts have increased by a factor of 3 since April 1st. The CDC folks call that ‘alarming.’ This next map shows national hot spots – here's the key to reading it.
As I’ve shown in the past few newsletters, the northeast is the fastest growing section of the country. But if Arizona, and Pima County look just fine to you, the close up look at those numbers tells the real story. The 62% fully vaccinated tells much of our story.
 
And closing in on our region -
We’re back above 110 cases average per day. That puts us back in the high-risk category.
Those infections are COVID, although a friend last week was one of the lucky ones who combined COVID and the flu. Here’s our national flu infection map. Our neighbors continue to be trouble spots. Arizona so far is in a good position.
There are several distribution centers operating this week for COVID self-tests. Here’s the list provided by Pima County health:
And they’re setting up some mobile COVID/flu vaccination centers again this week. No appointment is needed – and they’re free.
 In Arizona our COVID counts 3 weeks ago were 2,350. Two weeks ago, they had climbed to 3,911. Last week they were over 5,400. And there were 41 COVID fatalities statewide in the past week. That’s our trend. The same is true of Pima County. We went from 260 new cases to 510, and then last week to 776. That’s still well below the severely high numbers from earlier in the pandemic, but it’s the trend we should be looking at.
Here’s the current state map showing county by county COVID case counts dating back to the start of this in 2020.
The Harvard risk level map shows the high-risk areas around the nation are spreading. Compare what I had in last week’s newsletter:
...compared to the current map. And no, Florida didn’t fix itself in a week. They didn’t report.
 In the past week the data moved Pima County from the yellow risk level up to orange. The numbers reported by the Harvard folks are fully consistent with the CDC counts I showed above. Two weeks ago, the 7-day average was 7.0, and the daily case average was 72.
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