No licking. How scientists study Sonoran desert toads.
Last summer, Kansas State University veterinarian Gretel Tovar-Lopez headed south on Interstate 35 bound for Oklahoma State University, home to a colony of Sonoran desert toads. She and her colleagues wanted to give each toad a neurological exam to find out whether what’s normal in one species is normal in another. It turns out it’s…
TUSD posts school closure data, releases list of committee members
A first look at the range of data used to determine which Tucson Unified School District schools will close and be consolidated was made publicly available Thursday afternoon. The 31 members…
“Invisible disaster”: How Tucson nonprofits help seniors through extreme heat
It’s 103 degrees outside, and it’s hard to avoid the unrelenting heat, even on Tamara Shamrock’s shaded porch. But Tamara, 61, is only outside for a little while before she’s…
At the Grand Canyon, flooding and wildfire underscore compounding extreme weather risks
While flash flooding is not uncommon during monsoon season, experts say the El Niño climate phenomenon — on top of longer-term, human-caused climate change — may have supercharged the storm,…
Borderlands Bulletins
Tracking the impact of immigration enforcement on Southern Arizona communities
Local environmentalists discuss federal border construction impact on public lands, wildlife
Amy Juan questioned why the Trump administration is misrepresenting the border wall as a critical security measure and targeting millions of dollars to build…
Keep readingNew database tracks deaths in ICE detention; 4 in Arizona
Deaths in immigration detention have skyrocketed under the Trump administration, with more than 50 people dying while in civil detention across the country since…
Keep readingICE arrested 2,171 people across Arizona in July 2026
More people were arrested by immigration authorities in Arizona in July 2026 than any time in the previous four years, according to data visualized…
Keep reading
Photos: Vigil draws 1,000 to honor two men killed outside LGBTQ+ Tucson bar
More than 1,000 supporters and mourners gathered at Catalina Park near Fourth Avenue on Wednesday, Sept. 2, many draped in…
“Tucson is Pachuco territory”: Luis Valdez’s story comes home to The Loft Cinema
“Tucson is Pachuco territory.” It’s not something a historian says or a phrase you’ll find on a map. But it’s…
“Tucson es territorio pachuco”: la historia de Luis Valdez llega a casa en The Loft Cinema
“Tucson es territorio pachuco”. No es algo que diga un historiador ni una frase que encontrarás en un mapa. Pero…
Rising heat, falling funding challenge nonprofits serving Tucson seniors
It may not have been easy exactly, but it was more manageable for Tree Lafferty to spend Arizona summers unhoused…
“They Were Genuinely Who They Were”: Tucson Remembers Venture-N Shooting Victims
By sunset, the memorial at Venture-N had grown from just a couple of candles to an entire section of the…
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