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I’m opening with two Supreme Court Decisions affecting ‘carry’ laws. To set the stage, the Court says gun laws are not a local matter, but abortion laws can be decided by the states. It’s the same hypocrisy that comes from the state legislature when they say they’re not abiding by federal gun laws because of home rule, but they don’t extend that same decision-making principle to cities and towns.
Safe, Legal and Rare
That’s what Bill Clinton had to say about abortion back in 1992. As of last week’s Supreme Court ruling now they’re not only rare they'll be relatively non-existent, unsafe for low income and minorities, and illegal in the majority of states. Let's put that into perspective.
The last year for which the CDC has yearly totals for abortions is 2019. They estimated about 630,000 done in that year. Guttmacher uses a slightly different methodology. They estimated about 916,000 for that same year. Let’s split the difference and suggest that in the U.S. there are about 800,000 abortions conducted each year.
The CDC reports that nearly 1 in 5 women have experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime. Of those, 1 in 3 were between the ages of 11 and 17, and 1 in 8 were victims before the age of 10. None of them are currently eligible for an abortion based on the Supreme Court ruling. Guttmacher’s data say that about 1% of abortions are the result of rape and 0.5% are the result of incest annually. Using our compromise estimate that means about 12,000 people every year who can have a baby and who became impregnated through rape or incest will now be forced to carry that baby to term. That is a full house in McKale Center for a basketball game – every person in the arena a victim of rape or incest having to carry the baby to term.
I did a quick search of the psychological and physiological effects of rape. Every report I found suggested rape trauma victims suffer PTSD and other long-term effects. Those other effects can include issues with sleeping, nightmares, severe anxiety, long-lasting depression – rape victims are more likely to experience those symptoms for a lifetime. That is true even when the mother isn’t forced to raise and care for the offspring. The Supreme Court just sentenced them to those outcomes.
They’re some of the lucky ones. I know two women who have had abortions related to an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy can cause serious bleeding and death in the pregnant woman. The child always dies. In the U.S. roughly 2% (1 in 50) pregnancies are ectopic. The two women I know would be dead based on last week’s Supreme Court ruling. The CDC reports about 6.3M pregnancies in the U.S. last year. If 2% of those were ectopic, that’s another 126,000 women who’d be dead under the Court decision.
The M&C have approved a Resolution by which the TPD general orders will be redrawn in a way that assures nobody associated with an abortion will be arrested. That doesn’t address the whole access issue. To be clear, rape, incest and medical emergencies are not the only cases in which a person who can become pregnant might counsel with a physician – but they’re not an insignificant group and casting them aside as negligible exposes how morally vapid the Supreme Court decision is. Watch the states that follow – Arizona will be among them. There are mid-term elections on the immediate horizon.
Gun Control
In 2021, the U.S. experienced an average of more than one active shooter attack per week in which shooters killed or attempted to kill multiple unrelated people. During 2000 there were 433 such incidents. This ALERRT Center graphic shows the trend. It’s this trend that congress is responding to with what they consider groundbreaking gun control legislation. The reality is, it does nothing to ban the civilian use of military style assault weapons, does not require background checks on all gun sales, and all of the money that’s being earmarked for mental health services is long overdue.
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In the midst of the gun chatter we continue to hear the tired claim that it’s good guys with guns who stop attacks. That didn’t work out so well at Uvalde. More broadly the data show relying on a cop to stop an attacker is an effective approach fewer than 1/3 of the time. Even adding in the bystander who happened to be carrying only incrementally increases that figure. The issue isn’t waiting for a cop. It’s too many high-powered weapons that are capable of firing hundreds of rounds in just minutes in the hands of civilians.
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By now you’ve likely heard the new Supreme Court last week struck down a New York law that required people who want to carry a concealed handgun in public to have to demonstrate a particular need to do so. The law had been on the books for about 100 years. But the Court made it pretty clear last week that precedent isn’t something its bound to respect. The ruling guarantees more guns being carried in public throughout the nation. In Arizona, we might not see a huge increase. It’s already nearly unregulated in our state.
The new gun measure passed by congress last week does require background checks for people under 21 who are buying a weapon through a federally licensed dealer to include checking the purchasers’ juvenile criminal and mental health records, but the provision expires in 10 years. It also includes a provision that intimate partners (not just spouses) who are domestic abusers are barred from buying a gun. But it’s not retroactive, and it expires after a few years for first time abusers who don’t repeat. And the $750M set aside to help states implement red flag laws stops short of simply creating a federal red flag law that allows judges to temporarily confiscate guns from people who pose a threat to themselves or to others.
The bill does tighten up gun trafficking laws as well as penalties for ‘straw’ purchases (buying a gun for a prohibited possessor.) The mental health money is important. It’s also important to not allow that funding to unfairly add to the stigma that’s already associated with people seeking mental health care. For example, a rape victim. This is neither a ‘significant’ gun control measure, nor does it mandate states take advantage of the funds being made available.
Genna
Sunday was the 10-year anniversary of Genna Ayup’s killing at the hands of her live-in. The guy just plead guilty to manslaughter with a gun, but the court only awarded 3 years’ probation. On Sunday, the family and others gathered for a balloon release in commemoration of the anniversary. If the killer breaks probation, he can still get sent to prison. Combined, TPD, the Pima County Attorney and Pinal County Attorney joined in failing this family. TPD blew it during the investigation, and both county attorney’s offices were more concerned with whether or not they were certain of winning the case than actually pursuing justice for Genna. It’s all about the batting average.
San Gabriel Bench
I’ll open with this short video done in collaboration between photojournalist Momta Popat and reporter Nicole Lunden from the Star. They both spent a few hours with us out in the heat during the build last Thursday, so their handiwork deserves more exposure.
Watch Now: Tucson neighborhood gets bench made from 616 lbs. of plastic
Here are a few more pictures showing the teamwork that went into the project. The first step was setting the blocks into place. They’re connected by a rod that extends their full length. Here I’m snaking the rod through the blocks -
Here’s neighborhood president Paige Anthony working at one end with Nate Kappler from Kappcon Construction at the other end. They’re cinching down the nuts at each end that hold the rod in place, which holds the blocks together. Heidi Kujawa from ByFusion is standing over Nate’s shoulder guiding the process along.
With the end cap secured, this is what the blocks look like, ready for the top. The blocks represent roughly 620 pounds of plastic that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. Each block weighs 22 pounds and is all repurposed plastic waste.
Here we are setting the tops into place. The tops were produced by Anita Goodrich (in the gray holding the left end in place. The tops contain about 250 pounds of crushed glass. The beer or wine bottle you brought by the ward office could well be embedded in the bench top. We’re lining up the steel rods Anita added to the top with holes Heidi drilled into each block. They’re secured with epoxy, so nobody is going to walk off with any of this.
After the tops are in place, the next step is to stucco the base. We added some Lexan openings so people will be able to see the blocks, but the stucco is going in around those viewpoints. This is our General Services Director Carlos DeLaTorre showing me how a pro applies stucco.
Here’s the rookie. What Carlos succeeded in doing was to use all the wet stucco so when it was my turn it had all dried out and most of mine ended up on the ground. I think he set me up – but he’ll never admit to that.
This is the finished product. Thursday evening, I asked our Tucson Clean & Beautiful partners if they can move up the finishing of the pocket park so the bench isn’t so lonely in the space. They’ve already contacted their landscape team and will be accelerating that portion of the work.
Thanks to Heidi and Chris from ByFusion for coming in and sharing their expertise – Anita from Bottle Rocket for the wonderful seat tops – Nate and his crew from Kappcon for dedicating the morning to the project – Carlos DeLaTorre and his General Services workers for laying the foundation and coming by to take part – Paige Anthony from San Gabriel for planting the seed and coming by to help with the construction – and my staff for coming along and helping with each phase of the work. Now that we’ve done one the hope is to learn from the experience and to use both the blocks and Anita’s crushed glass products in other applications around the city.
Republic Services’ attitude right now is that having the city use plastic for this kind of thing is taking revenue away from their operation of the material recycle facility. Sometimes people need to see ideas advance before they come alongside and want to take part. That’s my hope with them.
Ready, Set, Rec
In another ‘park-related’ item, the July RSR van schedule has been released. I want to thank Sierra Boyer for working with us and getting the Miramonte Park visit scheduled. We know there’s a big demand, so we appreciate the extra touch. We hope you can find a time to stop by and take part in the RSR activities.
Reid Park Zoo Summer Safari Nights
Our friends at TMC are once again partnering with the Reid Park Zoo folks to sponsor this summer’s Summer Safari Nights. The nights are themed and as in the past there will be different presentations offered by zookeepers each Saturday night throughout the summer.
There will be animal encounters, activities for the kids, live music and the Ready, Set, Rec van will be on hand. Check out this link for a rundown on all of what’s being offered. Each Saturday evening until August 13th, Summer Safari Nights runs from 5:30pm until 8:30pm. It’s a great way to explore what the zoo has to offer at, and after sunset so you’re out of the heat of the day.
Reid Park Zoo Summer Safari Nights
Therapeutic Riding of Tucson (TROT)
I had this group in a recent newsletter but since summer is here now is a good time to send out a reminder. TROT is in their summer camp mode now. They use horses in therapeutic sessions with people who bring a variety of challenging conditions. Those include autistic youth, people with physical disabilities, PTSD, and others. You do not need to be an experienced horse rider to take part. As you can see from the photo, the horses they have at TROT are gentle participants in each therapy session.
TROT has 18 horses at their place. They’re looking for a few more in case you’ve got one over 7 years of age with a good personality that you’re looking to donate. The more they have, the more people they can enroll. Due to the certification requirements, they operate under they cannot – and would not anyway – overwork the horses. The down time you see in the photo happens regularly throughout the day.
The sessions cover a wide variety of experiences for the people involved. Some is simple riding and building trust with the animal. Some involves riding up and down some mild hills – to engage different muscle groups on the rider. Each rider has 3 people helping to guide the experience. One on each side to help steady the rider, and one walking alongside helping to secure the rider in the saddle. These are not recreational rides – they're therapeutic sessions conducted in ways that are safe for riders of all ability and physical conditions, and they continually have the welfare of the animals front of mind.
TROT has over 220 volunteers – common with non-profits. They all rely on the good graces of people who’ll donate their time to support the work. They’re located on several acres of ground so the work the volunteers do ranges from administrative to maintenance to working the therapy sessions – all sorts of things.
If you’d like to learn about how to get involved, support their work, or enroll in some of their classes you can check them out at this link: https://trotarizona.org/
Closure of Tucson Greyhound Park
On June 25th, 2016, Tucson Greyhound Park ended live racing. It was a live racing facility since right after WWII. Hundreds of dogs were killed through the operation of the track, and tens of thousands were abused. This is a photo of a rally that advocates I worked with to end the racing staged outside TGP the night before the live racing ended.
All of those same advocates were thrilled to see the complete closure of the park last week. Bud Foster – Emmy award winning journalist from KOLD ran this piece.
https://www.kold.com/2022/06/24/tucson-greyhound-park-shuts-down-after-decades/
For the past 6 years, TGP has continued to operate as a parlor used for people to place Off Track Betting (OTB.) That is, you’d go and watch races happening at other tracks in the country and place bets from TGP. Those races included a mix – horses as well as greyhound racing. But there are only a couple of dog racing tracks still operating in the country. Evidently the owners – definitely not a local group of investors – got tired of carrying the facility at a loss, so it’s shuttered. Finally.
The hundreds of people who invested literally years of effort in getting rid of live racing should take a bow. The track is located in cash-strapped South Tucson. Now they’ve got an opportunity to develop it into something that’ll help increase their own tax revenues while shutting the door on greyhound racing for good.
Tucson Fire Annual Report
Last week, TFD issued their 2022 Annual Report. It’s a great summary of the work they’ve been doing, mostly in emergency medical responses, but of course also in responding to fires. It is the ‘fire department’ after all. Every night we see reports of wildfires raging all over the state. It is with that in mind that I share this data from the TFD report – the number one cause of fires is ‘accidental.’
When you’re out on hikes, camping – or when you’re lounging in the comfort of your own home, please be mindful of fire hazards you may be creating by accident. Be aware of what’s on the stovetop, overloading circuits, not fully extinguishing campfires, or even things like chains dragging under your car causing sparks. If you smoke, do not toss the butt out the window.
Thanks for doing your part. If you’d like to page through the full TFD Annual Report, you can find the link here: Tucson Fire 2021 Annual Report
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On a similar note, last week I shared a photo of a guy who was caught on video tossing rocks through windows of downtown businesses. This week we’re asking for your help in identifying this person – he's suspected of trying to burn down some downtown businesses. Call 88-CRIME if you have any tips and would like to remain anonymous. |
PFAS
During our study session on July 12th, I’ve asked for an agenda item related to the new standards the Bureau of Reclamation just issued for Colorado River water users. Based on the on-going drought and the severe over-consumption that’s taking place by pretty much everyone who has rights to the River, the Bureau issued a call for basin states to reduce consumption by from 2 to 4-million-acre feet per year – immediately. Those same states (Arizona is one of them) use roughly 14maf annually, so this is an extremely high bar to meet. It reflects the extreme emergency the Bureau recognizes that exists on the River.
The mayor has also asked for an agenda item related to the new EPA health advisory standards related to PFAS. I wrote about those new guidelines in last week’s newsletter. We’re combining the two items into one discussion because the reduction in use of CAP water is directly tied to the need to assure our groundwater is not contaminated.
Two days after that study session, I’ll be hosting a PFAS forum. Joining will be representatives from DOD, ADEQ, Tucson Water and our city attorney’s office. The meeting will take place on Thursday, July 14th at 6pm – by Zoom.
Here’s the link.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84137080185?pwd=K05UK3VJT1kzV1Fmb0FyS0owVzQzQT09
Meeting ID: 841 3708 0185
Passcode: 11111
This is one of the top few issues the region is facing since water is our life blood. Both the study session item and the zoom are important informational opportunities.
Refugees
The Star ran a couple of short articles last week reporting on the devastating earthquake that took place in Afghanistan. I thought this photo that I pulled from a NY Times piece offered a vivid reminder of how difficult the conditions are. Look at the darkness surrounding the workers. And they’re digging through the rubble by hand, knowing that friends and family are buried below. The earthquake struck in the middle of the night when people were sleeping and had no chance to try to reach a safe area.
Taliban does not have the capability to manage a rescue operation for anything close to this magnitude. They’re focused on revenge, not rescue. There have been some muted requests for international assistance, but it’s not like Taliban has endeared themselves to the international community.
When I did relief work in Sri Lanka following their tsunami, I remember trucks from some non-profits pulling up and workers just pushing donated supplies out onto the street. The people competed for what they could get. I was standing with a Swami who was on crutches as a result of injuries suffered in the tsunami. He was one among others who had no chance to dive in and grab what they could. I mention this to make the point that even when relief supplies arrive, the distribution protocols are difficult. In Afghanistan, with it being rural areas that were hit most severely, that will be even more true. The trucks you see in the picture are lined up in neighboring Pakistan, headed for the areas they can reach. It’s a certainty that large trucks like that, fully loaded with provisions will not get anywhere close to the people you see digging through the debris in the other photo.
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So, Afghanistan continues to be troubled. In the past week I had 2 guys who have families stuck in Kabul under Taliban threat stop in and ask what I can to do help get their family members out. It would be great if our State Department could use the earthquake as a way to leverage Taliban to show a more humane attitude towards the people we’re trying to reunite. But I’ve been working with so many State officials that I’m painfully familiar with their pace and their attachment to established policy. The reality is unless the people who are stuck in Afghanistan can get to a third country such as Pakistan or Iran, the U.S. has no presence in-country to help extract them. And getting to a third country means hiring someone to help smuggle family members. The going rate is around $3,000 U.S. dollars per person, with no guarantee of successfully crossing the Afghan border. None of the people I’m working with have anything close to that amount of money.
The judge I’ve been working with got his wife to a third country just prior to the fall of the Afghan government. So, we’re working through our State bureaucracy that’s lumped in with the challenges presented by the Turkish government. Just as is the case with the costs to smuggle people out of Afghanistan, every step of the process getting Nilofar and her daughter out of Turkey has a financial cost tied to it. The ‘taxi’ she’ll have to take 600 miles round trip to just get a medical exam. Paying a judge to get her passport back. Paying attorneys to effect that transfer. Paying for the State-required medical exam. Paying, paying, paying. These are refugees who are fortunate to not be stuck in Kabul, and who have benefitted from some relationships here in Tucson, and elsewhere. As difficult as this case has become, it brings some hope for a good outcome.
Also, in the past week I ‘reminded’ some of the congressional and State Department people we’ve been trying to engage with the Tucson resident/U.S. citizen Pakistani whose wife and 1 year old son are in Pakistan and who have waited for over 1 year to simply get an interview with the U.S. embassy for approval to reunite. No reply from anyone in any congressional or State office, and no progress on scheduling an interview. That is our system inaction.
For the Ukrainian woman who stopped in asking for assistance - her son made it to Poland with his wife and 4-year-old son. We were able to get her connected with other members of the local Ukrainian society to assist with starting the paperwork they’ll need to file in an effort to get that family out of Poland and united here in Tucson. The fact is that its locals who are responsive to requests to help others while those in the bureaucratic pipeline who are stuck in ‘protocol mode.’
Ben’s Bells Kid Stuff
The kids are out of school and in an effort to keep their focus on positive things, the Ben’s Bells team is promoting their Summer of Kindness. It’s a series of skill-building and awareness activities that youth of all ages can benefit from.
The Summer of Kindness encourages daily reflection – and acting – on kindness. We can plop the kids down in front of the TV to watch school shootings, Ukraine, or the January 6th hearings. Or we can share this resource with them to foster skills that run counter to all of that.
Check out this link - https://bensbells.org/summerofkindness/ - it has exercises on calendars, activities the kids can take part in and lots that the family can reflect on together. It’s all about gratitude and savoring positive things out of each day. Kids’ minds will be focused on something – we might as well help direct them to this sort of stuff.
De-Escalation Training
Sort of along the lines of practicing kindness is the de-escalation training TPD will be offering to downtown business employees this week. The session will take place at The Screening Room – 127 E. Congress – on Tuesday, June 28th from 2pm until 4pm. TPD Sgt. Darrell Hussman will present both basic and advanced techniques. The presentation is free for any worker in the downtown area.
Please use this short form to get signed up for the training:
https://downtowntucsonpartnership.formstack.com/forms/tpdtraining
We at the Ward 6 office are grateful to Captain Dennison and his team for the work they’re doing to make downtown a safe and inviting destination. And that gratitude is also due to Kathleen Erickson and all the Downtown Tucson Partnership support staff. Together they’re making a positive contribution to all of the private sector investments that have taken place downtown.
Here are some useful points of contact for you to use – whether you’re downtown or out in the wider community.
To report graffiti: tucsonaz.gov/graffiti
The Mental Health Crisis Line is 520.622.6000
CODAC Health and Wellness can be reached at 520.327.4505.
COVID
I’ve been keeping the COVID chart you see below since the last week of April. Every week since then the case counts for COVID have increased. That same trend continued last week for Pima County. The Arizona count was within 100 of what we had 2 weeks ago. What changed was the number of fatalities due to COVID jumped to 52 statewide (8 in Pima County) – we're now far beyond where we were earlier in COVID when even the governor had things shut down. But the new variants are generally less deadly and so people are just in a ‘live with it’ mentality. At the Ward 6 office we’re being cautious. We’ve got some family members who have tested positive, and there’s some flu mixed in. So, if you have business with us, please respect masking, and more importantly don’t pay us a visit in person if you have symptoms.
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Week of
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Pima County
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Arizona
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April 24th
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260 new cases
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2,350 new cases
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May 1st
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510 new cases
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3,911 new cases
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May 8th
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776 new cases
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5,404 new cases
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May 15th
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1,090 new cases
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7,204 new cases
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May 22nd
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1,692 new cases
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11,498 new cases
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May 29th
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1,985 new cases
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13,042 new cases
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June 5th
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2,200 new cases
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14,677 new cases
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June 12th
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2,451 new cases
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16,334 new cases
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June 19th
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2,559 new cases
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15,373 new cases
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These data show the percent positivity is still excessively high. This is only those people who chose to report the data. Self-tests are largely not included. And there are still roughly 100 people per week being admitted to the hospital for COVID. It is not a bad cold for lots of people. The age vulnerability continues to be seniors so if you’ve got some parents or grandparents you’re around, please keep that in mind.
Here is this week’s Arizona ‘by-county’ COVID case map dating back to the start of all this in March 2020. In that time over 30,000 Arizonans have died from the disease.
Getting tested while the case counts are escalating is doing the responsible thing. If you have symptoms, or if you’ve been around people who do, call, and make an appointment at one of these Pima County Health testing centers.
Of course, vaccines and boosters continue to mitigate the severity of COVID for those who become infected. Here are this week’s Pima County Health vaccine centers.
You can still order your in-home COVID tests through this website: covidtests.gov. The federal government is making 8 per household available.
The Harvard Global Health Care risk level map is pretty much the same as it was last week. Higher risk levels in our part of the country than in the midwest and northeast. Just based on a quick eyeball comparison, it looks like things might be peaking and headed slightly downwards in some parts of the country.
That ‘peaking and slight downward trend’ is not true of Pima County. Here our numbers continue to escalate – from 350 daily new cases and 33 per 100,000 last week to these current data.
Last week, I noted that the flu is under control in Arizona. That’s still very much the case – and is also true of our surrounding states. Pima County Health issued a flu warning last week, so there might be a lag in the data I have available. Keep vigilant for both COVID and the flu.
A lot of people are just ignoring COVID now. Certainly, vaccines and boosters have allowed us that luxury. No vaccine is forever. Please keep track of your own timing and stay up to date on that protective measure. The CDC recommends a 2nd booster 6 months following your first one, and last week they approved COVID vaccines for kids as young as 6 months old. You might consider adding it to your list of childhood vaccinations.
Jim Nintzel
After 33 years doing all sorts of things to keep the Tucson Weekly afloat, Jim Nintzel is hanging up his spurs this week. My first foray into all-things-Nintzel was during the 2009 campaign when he chose Jasper the Polecat to endorse, skipping me and my opponent. It’s ok – Jasper's a cutie. It might have been the last time Jim let that be the standard guiding his decision-making.
I’d like to think if I had a rematch against Jasper, I’d be able to swing the endorsement now.
Jim has been editing 5 papers for Tucson Local Media. He has spent time hosting and co-hosting shows on Arizona Public Media and has emceed multiple public events. He’ll be missed by the local media community, and by the regional community in general. We at the Ward 6 office wish him well in whatever direction this change takes him and his family.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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