Hot Dog!
Let’s start out with some important news – Joey Chestnut retained his hot dog eating contest title last week! And there’s a Tucson tie-in.
Also known as “Jaws”, Chestnut crammed down 63 dogs in 10 minutes. That’s 6 and a half hot dogs per minute – one every 10 seconds. This might fall under the label of ‘don’t try this at home’ - or maybe ‘only try this at home where nobody can see you.’
Chestnut is 38. His own record for wolfing down hot dogs is likely safe for a while at 78 hot dogs in 10 minutes. But he’s not limited to dogs. “Jaws” has also eaten 32 Big Macs in 38 minutes, 82 tacos in 8 minutes and 5.9 pounds of funnel cake in 10 minutes.
For the uninitiated, this is a funnel cake. What’s in the picture is probably about a half a pound, so multiply that by 12.
Joey beat an Afghanistan war veteran who has previously eaten 275 jalapenos in 8 minutes, and the women’s winner’s diet coach who last year ate 50 hardboiled eggs in 3 minutes and 4 seconds.
On the women’s side Miki Sudo regained her title by eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She had to sit out last year’s competition because she was pregnant. Coming in 2nd was Michelle Lesco from Tucson! Michelle won last year’s competition, confirming our local City of Gastronomy fame. The hot dog eating championships have been held every year since 1916.
|
Support Local Teachers
For the 2nd year in a row TPD is partnering with residents and businesses in the Alvernon/22nd area to support Roberts-Naylor K-8 teachers. Every public-school teacher I know at some time comes out of pocket for basic teaching supplies. This back-to-school drive is focused on the Roberts-Naylor teachers, hoping to assist them in actually ‘taking home’ their pay.
Please drop off donations of school supplies at the Hardesty TPD sub-station at Alvernon/22nd . If you participated, this is where I did the gun buy-back several years ago. We’re grateful to all who serve as teachers and support staff in our public schools – and to TPD for recognizing the need and getting involved.
This collection will go through the month of July into early August. The donations can be made at the midtown station, 1100 S. Alvernon and we are open Monday-Thursday, 8-5 PM.
KIDCO Afterschool
Another item looking towards the start of school is pre-registering your kids for afterschool programs through KIDCO. The programs run from dismissal time until 6pm. During that time there will be planned activities such as sports, games, performing arts and some special events. It’s not just letting the kids free wheel for a few hours.
The fee for city residents is $500 for the entire school year, and $625 for non-city residents. You can register online at EZEEreg.com according to this schedule:
- Saturday, July 16, 6 a.m. (City residents)
- Saturday, July 16, 8 a.m. (Non-city residents)
Gun Violence
It’s unfortunate but following 2 school-related items with a section on gun violence is not a jarringly unrelated transition. During the height of COVID we had the American flag at the ward office at full staff pretty much throughout, signifying that we weren’t out shooting people in grocery stores, movie theaters or schoolrooms. Since things have trended back towards ‘normal,’ it’s a half-staff more often than not.
Do you remember the board game Clue? It was where you tried to put clues together and solve a crime. The murder weapons in the game were a candlestick, rope, and a pipe. If they remade that game today, we’d have to change the weapons of choice. It’s a sign of the times in which we’re living.
 |
A couple of weeks ago congress passed what was trumpeted as major gun reform. It includes some money for mental health services. That’s good. It did not ban the sale of weapons of war to civilians, and it did not close the gun-show background check loophole. Last week a guy killed 7 and wounded well over 50 during the Highland Park, Illinois Independence Day parade. The reason police were able to track him down so quickly is that he dropped one of the AR-15's he used in the murder. It had a serial number which they traced to him through the background check he had to go through when he purchased it. If he had bought the gun at say the Pima County fairgrounds gun show through a private seller, no background check – no record of the purchase – would have been included in the national instant check system. And yes, I realize that begs the whole question about why some guy who had been posting up images on social media of planning a mass murder was able to pass a background check in the first place. We’re not independent if we can’t go to church, school, a grocery store, or a parade without fearing being gunned down. And we’re not brave if we’re owned by the NRA.
On June 30th 9 people were shot and wounded in Newark. The incident involved a stolen car. On June 20th a 21-year-old basketball player was killed, and 8 others wounded in a popular picnicking area. On June 4th 3 people were killed and 12 wounded in a downtown Philadelphia shooting. That was the same weekend during which 6 people lost their lives and dozens more were wounded in shootings in Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. All of this happened after the June 1st Tulsa mass killing where 5 were killed in the St. Francis hospital – which happened days after 19 kids and 2 adults were killed in Uvalde, Texas. It’s all so routine.
 |
The gun advocates will say gun laws don’t work because criminals won’t obey them. Illinois has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. It has the 9th lowest rate of gun ownership, universal background checks and red flag warnings. But none of the states that share its borders are among the 20 highest rated for gun safety. That’s Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. Illinois is surrounded by states with weak gun laws which leads to trafficking guns purchased out of state. The failure at the federal level is undeniable.
What about Arizona? Here in the wild west, you can buy a military-style semi-automatic rifle from the trunk of someone’s car for cash – no questions asked. Here in Arizona, we have a state legislature that passed legislation announcing we won’t be following federal gun laws. I brought to the city council an item through which we announced that in the city of Tucson, we will recognize federal gun laws. So, the battle goes on between the various levels of government, we have a patchwork of laws that are getting people killed every minute of every day.
Last week my bride and I attended the screening of Gabby Giffords; Won’t Back Down at the Loft. The show will be out at the Loft and other theaters this week. Go see it. You’ll come away impressed with Gabby’s grit and integrity. And you’ll come away astonished at the gutlessness of congress. There are midterm elections – primary election in August. Don’t skip them if you want change.
Gun violence ends in all sorts of broken hearts. The U.S. is ridiculously well out ahead of every other developed country in the world for the rate at which we use guns to settle disputes.
Friends of Aphasia
One of the groups who will benefit from the successes Gabby’s film brings is Friends of Aphasia. It won’t come as a great surprise if you’re not familiar with aphasia, but you may know someone who is suffering from it. If you don’t, you will.
Aphasia is a disorder that affects peoples’ ability to speak, to understand when being spoken to, to read or to write. Or some combination of those. It can be advanced and completely debilitating, or it can be managed at some level, so people are able to function well. Sort of like dementia where there are stages and levels of severity.
Aphasia can be caused by traumatic brain injury where portions of the brain involving communication are damaged. That’s what happened to Gabby. She’s doing great in her recovery. We spoke after the movie, and she was clear and engaged in the conversation.
For others the aphasia is more pronounced. The cause can also be the degeneration of portions of the brain due to stroke, infection, or possibly environmental causes. My brother Pete has aphasia. You may have seen his presentation at the Loft when he shared about his role filming The Nightmare Before Christmas. Pete was Director of Photography in the film. He has led crews on dozens of films you may have seen – all the Tim Burton stop motion, Matrix, Starship Troopers, and some Disney flicks. Today Pete can’t speak beyond a few broken words. And his comprehension skills are severely limited. I believe the cause was environmental conditions on movie sets. Whatever the cause, it appears to be irreversible. Because he was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Nightmare, he was selected to vote at the Academy each year thereafter. He can’t understand what he sees on the screen any longer – so he’s off that gig.
I bring this up because I want you to be aware of the work Friends of Aphasia are doing here in this community. The estimate is over 6,000 people in Pima County are working through some level of aphasia. It’s more common than Parkinson’s Disease. With the aging of America, it will only get more common. Aphasia can occur in all ages, and it hits all races, men, and women.
Here’s a link to the Friends’ website. https://friendsofaphasia.com/ They’re a local group that I plan on working with to help get the word out about this disability. If you’ve followed Gabby’s recovery you know the condition can improve. I’ve watched it go in the other direction too. Spend a few minutes on the site and you might recognize some traits you see in friends or loved ones. It’s never too early to get involved.
One shameless pitch – Pete was able to finish his book about his career in the film industry before aphasia got to be too much. It’s available on Amazon. Here’s a link. If you like special effects, stop motion and would like to read about how they do that stuff, check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Pumpkin-Kings-Cameraman-Kozachik/dp/1632993791
Here’s a link to the article I mentioned in last week’s newsletter from Variety Magazine. It’s a good write-up on the new film incentive bill the Arizona state legislature just passed. In the article you’ll see I’m lukewarm about it, not because I’m lukewarm about the film industry, but because the bill placed some impediments in front of Southern Arizona – which I believe we will overcome.
https://variety.com/2022/politics/news/arizona-film-tax-credit-125-million-1235308004/
More Health News – Kevin Dahl
Last week Kevin announced that he will soon begin treatment for throat cancer. His docs say the aggressive treatment regimen he’ll undergo gives him a 97% chance of full recovery. I’d take those odds, and we at the Ward 6 office of course wish him and his family smooth sailing throughout the few months the treatments will be administered. Radiation and chemo are no walk in the park, no matter what the odds of success are.
Kevin says his cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV.) He has never been a smoker and believes the virus infected him years ago. We now have vaccines for HPV. I know, there’s the no-vax crowd but for most of us science is still a real thing. The CDC recommends HPV vaccines be given between the ages of 9-12. Check this link for more information on who should get the vaccine, and who might want to take a pass for legitimately science-based reasons.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/hpv/hcp/recommendations.html
Plastic Blocks
Several of you have asked how much the benches made from plastic block will cost. I’m working with ByFusion on some DIY kits that’ll include benches of varying sizes. The one we just installed at San Gabriel cost about $1,500 for the bench materials (minus the stucco) and $3,200 for the design costs. The design costs will go away when we start working from the kits. Also remember the San Gabriel bench was 2 benches – in a V shape – so the material costs for more straight-forward benches will drop even further. This is very affordable, and totally environmentally sound.
I’m also still putting together the details of the pilot program we’re going to start, using your plastic. Republic Services has not indicated that they’re interested in working on the project. They didn’t want to take part in the glass crushing either – perhaps making one wonder at what level they’re serious about their motto “environmental services for a more sustainable world.” As I did with the glass, this can be done in a way that does not violate our currently existing agreement with Republic.
Start saving your plastic for this program. The items shown in the graphic below are explicitly called out on the city environmental services website as contaminants – the kind of plastic that should NOT go in the blue bin. That’s what I want for this program. Plastic bags, plastic dinnerware, baggies, bubble wrap, potato chip bags – toss them in a plastic bag and hold them until I have the drop off site(s) identified. Ward 6 will be one – but we don’t have it ready yet. I just want to get an early start on collecting the material, so you don’t toss it into the trash (landfill) or blue bin (contamination at the recycle facility.)
When I first began talking this idea up a local company reached out and told me they have ‘tons’ of bubble wrap that they just send to the landfill. The city computers swallow your email traffic once its 90 days old – so I’ve lost that contact. If it’s you, please rewrite so we can get you involved in this.
If you need a plastic bag to use for this, stop by the Ward 6 office and we’ll give you one. Eventually we’ll be shipping all that’s gathered back to ByFusion, they’ll make blocks out of it and send those back to us for use in the community. That’s the goal – filling the ‘reuse’ part of the waste stream.
Park Tucson Phone App
Our Park Tucson team is making it easier for you to park in downtown garages. If you have a phone that’s smarter than my flip phone, you can download a mobile application that’ll allow you to use the garages without having to carry cash around with you. Use this link to find the app for your phone:
Entervo Smart Pay
The app is good for all 5 of our public garages, Centro, Depot Plaza, Pennington Street, the Library, and the City-State garage. If you are a monthly Park Tucson permit holder, you’ll continue using your garage access card for entering and exiting any of the City facilities.
Transit Conversation
Another initiative being led by our transportation department is the outreach taking place related to the transit system. This week they’re starting public meetings to introduce a conversation about policies that could affect service changes, fares for the transit system and how any of those changes might affect the various transit users throughout the community. This table shows the dates/times/locations for these public meetings. The Ward 6 meeting will be held downtown at the Joel Valdez main library on July 20th.
Title VI is a federal law that very generally guides how local jurisdictions that take federal transportation money run their transit systems. For example, we can’t take federal dollars and then implement policies that are discriminatory. Explaining how Title VI is implicated in any policy change being considered will be a part of these upcoming public outreach sessions.
Water Supply and PFAS
Last week several people shared an article from The Guardian related to PFAS and testing methods used to detect it. It mentioned Tucson, noting that the testing method the Guardian was reporting on indicates the PFAS contamination found in Tucson wells is higher than what’s being detected through the EPA-approved testing method. This is a graphic they showed in the article.
Here’s a link to the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/06/us-drinking-water-pfas-toxic-forever-chemicals-epa-tests
The testing method cited in the article is called Total Organic Fluorine (TOF.) It’s used to signal the presence of a much broader array of PFAS compounds than the EPA method shows. It’s important to note a couple of things. First, PFAS is not a thing. It’s an acronym that stands for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS.) There are over 9,000 PFAS compounds that have been identified. The EPA testing method identifies roughly 29 PFAS substances. It focuses on those that are considered to have the highest ability to bio-accumulate (build up in systems and not be diluted and/or washed away.) TOF identifies more substances, but not of them all bioaccumulate. This isn’t at all to suggest some PFAS compounds are just swell to ingest. But it is important to note the testing Tucson Water uses and relies on focuses on those more squarely in the danger zone. And to that point, we shut down wells when we find any PFAS detected.
The second point is the article includes the allegation that Tucson Water has been serving contaminated water to some customers. In fact, what we serve comes from the Colorado River through the CAP. When Tucson Water tests for and finds PFAS in a groundwater well, it’s taken out of service.
None of this is to suggest PFAS above the EPA standards should be taken lightly. And the EPA just lowered their own standards to below levels we can even detect using their approved testing methods. All of this makes the dropping levels of water on the Colorado of even greater importance. The sooner we have to transition from CAP to groundwater, the sooner we will have to be assured PFAS is under control in our water wells. The DOD wants 3 more years to study the issue. If you live in an area that has or had a military base, you’ve likely got a PFAS contamination problem.
And with all of that, here’s the link to the PFAS zoom I’ll be hosting on the 14th at 6pm. We’ll have people from the DOD, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Tucson Water, and the City Attorney on the call. As you can see, this is important stuff.
PFAS Zoom Meeting - July 14th at 6PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84137080185?pwd=K05UK3VJT1kzV1Fmb0FyS0owVzQzQT09
Meeting ID: 841 3708 0185
Passcode: 11111
Reid Park Zoo Pollinator Garden
I don’t like bees. I know, they play an important role in the ecosystem. I don’t like bats either. Growing up in Michigan I had a couple of pretty unfortunate experiences with bees. And bats just gross me out.
Ok, with that out of the way, the Reid Park Zoo has flowering plants scattered throughout their property for the aesthetic benefit of visitors, and for pollinators. And they have a pollinator garden you can visit during your trip to the zoo. This 60 second video will introduce you to it - this video!
One of the plants they feature in the garden is milkweed – the only type of plant the monarch and queen caterpillars eat. The toxins in the plant make those butterflies unappealing food for their predators. That’s just a piece of what you and your family can learn when you visit the pollinator garden.
Here’s something else you can learn. What do these guys have in common with the swarm of bees?
Those are lemurs. You can find them on the island of Madagascar, or at the Reid Park Zoo. What they have in common with the bees is that they’re also pollinators. In fact, they’re one of the world’s largest pollinators. They’re fruit eaters, feeding on the nectar. This is a Traveler’s Palm tree:
It’s similar to Birds of Paradise I’ve seen in some tropical places. The Lemur is the only animal that can open the flowers on the Traveler’s Palm which makes them pretty much the only pollinator for that tree. Fun stuff? Visit the Reid Park Zoo and ask the docents about the pollinator garden and Lemurs. You won’t find the lemurs inside the pollinator garden though. And no, the lemurs don’t gross me out – I think they’re cute.
Pima Animal Care Center
In the critter theme, these guys would like for you to take them home and give them some love.
Before the 4th of July fireworks, Pima Animal Care was stuffed to the gills with dogs and cats. In the aftermath of the fireworks, they’re at critical capacity. PACC announced last week that they’re going to have to begin euthanizing dogs if they don’t get them adopted out. They also have a foster program if you’re not in a position to take one full time for the long haul.
PACC is open Monday through Friday from noon until 7pm, and on weekends from 10am until 5pm. Right now, they’re waiving their usual adoption fee, and for any dog 40 pounds or larger they’re adding in a free $50 worth of dog food when you adopt. Give credit to the Click Family Foundation for funding that incentive. PACC is located at 4000 N. Silverbell Road. If you can find some room for one of their pooches, now’s a great time to go and see what potential family members they’ve got housed out at the center.
https://webcms.pima.gov/government/pima_animal_care_center/
COVID
The COVID message is consistent with what it has been for the recent past. The BA.5 variant of Omicron is gaining steam, it is more highly transmissible than the initial Omicron variant, and it does not currently look like it is causing more severe illnesses than the original.
The CDC still recommends masking up if you’re in closed settings with large groups – or if you’re immunocompromised or have other health issues that make you more susceptible to infection. People are still dying from COVID, so the notion that it’s just like getting a cold may be true in some cases, but certainly not all.
Pima County is still offering a free prescription for an oral antiviral treatment if you test positive. It’s called their ‘Test to Treat” program. You do not need an insurance card to qualify. The way it works is you are evaluated by one of the providers at no cost if you test positive. Then, if you meet these criteria, you may be deemed eligible for the free anti-viral meds:
People are potentially eligible for oral antiviral treatment after a positive test if:
- They are 12 or older
- Weigh at least 88 pounds
- Have mild to moderate symptoms
- Have a high risk of severe COVID-19 illness
Use these links to get more information on where to go to get tested and evaluated, and information on the treatment itself.
pima.gov/covid19testing.
pima.gov/covid19treatment.
An AP article I read last week confirmed that the case counts are under-reporting the true number of cases. People are testing at home and are not reporting positive tests to their local health authority. Please let Pima County health know if you test at home and come up positive. It will help us manage our way through the pandemic.
Our Pima County case counts stayed about the same as the previous week, but they increased significantly statewide. And statewide there were 57 more COVID fatalities last week – 11 in Pima County. Here’s my updated trend chart:
|
Week of
|
Pima County
|
Arizona
|
|
April 24th
|
260 new cases
|
2,350 new cases
|
|
May 1st
|
510 new cases
|
3,911 new cases
|
|
May 8th
|
776 new cases
|
5,404 new cases
|
|
May 15th
|
1,090 new cases
|
7,204 new cases
|
|
May 22nd
|
1,692 new cases
|
11,498 new cases
|
|
May 29th
|
1,985 new cases
|
13,042 new cases
|
|
June 5th
|
2,200 new cases
|
14,677 new cases
|
|
June 12th
|
2,451 new cases
|
16,334 new cases
|
|
June 19th
|
2,559 new cases
|
15,373 new cases
|
|
June 26th
|
2,263 new cases
|
16,514 new cases
|
|
July 3rd
|
2,210 new cases
|
20,198 new cases
|
It’s the first time since early in Omicron that Arizona has had over 20,000 new cases in a single week. And Pima County has been stuck at over 2,000 new cases for 5 consecutive weeks. Here’s our state map dating back to the start of this in 2020.
Those are not just numbers. They represent people you know and love, over 30,000 of whom have died in Arizona due to COVID. I believe many of those could have been saved if people had not fought against vaccinations and masks.
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 shows some clear spreading of the virus during the past week. It’s likely the beginning of showing the effects of the July 4th travel where millions resumed normal activities, ignoring masks in crowded airports. Mississippi has now joined Florida in not reporting data so don’t think those two deep south states have it figured out.
The Pima County numbers are nearly identical to what they were last week. We are still in the Red, high risk level category. That should mean masking and no large groups. We’re in the ‘who cares’ surge now so when you move around in crowds the burden has shifted to you to follow self-protective measures.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
|
