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In today’s newsletter:
📺 A new documentary premieres Sunday showing how Tucson mobile home residents are organizing to fight power outages and demand accountability from park owners. Meanwhile, the state AG is taking action. Read more.
🏫 Arizona released new school letter grades for 2025. Search our database to find how your school performed and what the grades really mean for students and families.
🏛️ Sen. Gallego hears Tucsonans’ worries over rising health care costs if Congress doesn’t come to a compromise over federal subsidies.
🎨 “This is showing me how to be an artist.” Students from Title I schools are discovering new dreams through field trips to museums, gardens and theaters — experiences many have never had before. Read their stories.
💧 Arizona’s water fight continues: The state has funded hundreds of conservation projects, but the money is running out. As drought deepens and aquifers drop, communities are asking: what happens next? Get the update.
Featured stories
Sunday documentary shows how community organizing brings change for Tucson mobile home residents
Over the past several years, an increase in organizing efforts by mobile home residents in Pima County, led in part by a group called Poder Casas Moviles, has helped change […]
Database: Find your school’s new 2025 letter grade
The Arizona State Board of Education released its preliminary school and district letter grades for the 2024-25 school year. The A-to-F grades are the state accountability model used to annually […]
Gallego in Tucson to hear concerns over ‘broken’ health care system as rising costs loom over Arizonans
Tucson residents worried about healthcare costs spoke with Sen. Ruben Gallego at a town hall on Friday. Several voters asked him to advocate for universal health care.
“This is showing me how to be an artist.” Student field trips ignite creative dreams
Some days Gael Navarro dreams about becoming a professional baseball player. Other days, the seventh grader at Robins K-8 School considers drawing and painting for a living. As he was […]
Can Arizona maintain its drought response as water and money dry up?
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. CAMP VERDE — In […]
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AZ Luminaria reporter Chelsea Curtis will speak alongside experts about her coverage and database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People at the Coolidge Public Library, 160 W Central Ave. The program, hosted by the Arizona NAACP, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18. The discussion will focus on the disproportionate number of missing people from communities of color.
Pima County finished upgrades to the Steve Anderson Sweetwater Trailhead, its most-visited trail access point, to improve parking, accessibility and stormwater management. The renovated trailhead now features 45 parking spots, two ADA-compliant spaces, a horse trailer zone and a new bench. Take a hike.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, in partnership with Arizona State University, has opened the state’s first “LABrary” in Patagonia. The new science resource center allows community members to borrow lab tools and equipment to support local environmental education and data collection. Additional LABraries are planned across Arizona as part of a broader effort to expand public engagement in water and environmental monitoring.
The American Hospital Association is warning that proposed federal caps on state directed payments could jeopardize key hospital funding programs in Arizona. The state’s HEALTHII program alone is projected to provide $2.9 billion in net payments next year to support care for Medicaid patients. The AHA is urging federal officials to revise the rules to protect Arizona’s healthcare safety net.
Former U.S. Army Sergeant Jose Valdenegro, who lives in Sahuarita, received a payment-free vehicle from the Military Warriors Support Foundation and Wells Fargo during a ceremony Friday at the Tucson Auto Museum. The donation is part of the Transportation4Heroes program, which honors combat-wounded veterans and supports their transition to civilian life.
Sign up now for the M.O.V.E. Across 2 Ranges Hiking Challenge in February. Routes in the Tortolita and Santa Catalina Mountains vary depending on challenge level, from 7-20 miles.
The City of Tucson plans to request federal funding to support construction of a 100-unit affordable housing complex for low-income seniors. The $26.2 million Shasta Apartments project will be located at 855 W. Prince Road and serve adults 62 and older earning 40% to 60% of the area median income. City officials determined the development will have no significant environmental impact and are accepting public comments through Nov. 28. Learn more.
The City of Tucson will continue its series of public forums, The Housing Equation, to gather input from residents on the fiscal year 2027 budget. The forums focus on housing, homelessness and public safety. Each session will include budget education, expert panels, roundtable discussions and opportunities for residents to provide feedback. Registration is required.
• Monday, Nov. 17, 6–8 p.m. at the Ward 2 Office, 7820 E. Broadway
• Wednesday, Nov. 19, 6–8 p.m. at the Donna Liggins Center, 2160 N. 6th Ave.
• Friday, Nov. 21, 9–11 a.m. at the Randolph Center, 200 S. Alvernon Way
Flock to learn about the Tucson Bird Alliance’s Desert Martin Program in a free virtual event about this important and delightful part of our desert ecosystem at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 20. Register.
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