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In today’s newsletter:
🌵 Border Patrol agents escorted contractors onto Tohono O’odham land this week over the Nation’s objections, as tribal leaders and Rep. Adelita Grijalva visited Quitobaquito Springs in protest. “It’s us. It’s our people. It pains me when they try to divide us.” Read more.
🏫 Update: TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said Thursday the district will likely close or consolidate 6-10 schools over two years — the first time he’s put a number on the plan, which the board voted this week to explain to the public before naming specific schools. Read more.
🏛️ Pima County supervisors voted Tuesday to delay adopting the county’s 2026-2029 economic development plan, wanting more time to hash out the targeted industries and rural coverage before a Sept. 22 vote. Read more.
🍗 Inside the home kitchen where one volunteer cooks a week’s worth of chicken, veggies and lemonade for Community Care Tucson’s weekly meal for 100-plus unhoused neighbors. Read more.
Featured stories
“We will not let this destroy our sacred sites”: Indigenous leaders fight Trump administration’s border wall
Standing near the pond at Quitobaquito Springs, Lorraine Marquez Eiler, a Hia-Ced O’odham elder, shared how her ancestors held ceremonies at the sacred site — a desert oasis in a […]
TUSD superintendent: 6-10 schools to be closed or consolidated over two years
Six to 10 Tucson Unified School District schools will likely be closed or consolidated over a two-year period, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said Thursday afternoon. Before it votes in December on […]
Pima County supervisors delay economic development plan vote
Pima County supervisors want more time to discuss the county’s three-year economic development plan. The Pima County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to continue the county’s proposed 2026-2029 […]
In one Armory Park kitchen, dinner for 100 unhoused neighbors starts at noon
Each Wednesday evening, upwards of 100 people line up on a sidewalk adjoining Tucson’s Armory Park for a hot meal served in heaping portions from steaming containers lined up on […]
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The percentage of individuals and families in Pima County receiving food aid dropped by nearly half this summer, a stark consequence of changes to federal requirements that has hit some of the region’s poorest residents. Community organizations trying to respond to the sharp increase in need don’t have enough funding to close the gap, according to a county memorandum on the impact of federal rule changes. Read the full memo here.
Arizona State University is offering a three-year bachelor’s degree program in elementary and special education to address Arizona’s teacher shortage. The three-year education program is available online and in person and is the first in the nation at a public university, ASU administrators say. The program includes 90 required credits instead of the typical 120. It is also offered at Arizona Western College in Yuma and Gila Community College in Globe and Payson as part of an effort to better serve rural communities who need teachers. As of last school year, 1,400 Arizona teaching positions were unfilled and 4,200 were covered with substitute teachers and other staff.
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors rejected two zoning proposals that would have paved the way for a data center project at their Wednesday meeting. The La Osa Energy Center proposed for an area southeast of Eloy would have included a gas-fired power plant. Most of the 60-plus people who spoke at the public meeting were against the center, according to local news reports.
The Water Resources Research Center will host a Zoom webinar on how AI data centers’ energy use ties to water consumption, arguing that efficiency gains in chip design and computing methods double as water-conservation measures, at noon Sept. 8. Speaker David Ebert, the University of Arizona’s chief AI and data science officer, will make the case that arid regions like Arizona actually hold advantages for data center cooling design. Register.
The city of Tucson is seeking input on shelter housing rules. The Drachman Institute at the University of Arizona and the city’s Planning and Development Services Department are hosting public feedback exhibits on how zoning code regulates emergency shelters, ahead of a planned code amendment. Sessions include interactive maps and displays on where shelter housing should be located and how it should be defined. The Fourth Avenue Coalition Space hosts one Sunday, Sept. 13, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Park Place Mall’s central exhibit space runs Oct. 2-4; and a virtual session is set for Thursday, Sept. 24, 5:30-7 p.m. (registration required for the virtual session). All sessions are free. RSVP.
The League of Women Voters of Southern Arizona will present nonpartisan “What’s On My Ballot” info sessions about ballot propositions.
- Monday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m. – Sahuarita Library
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 4 p.m. – Flowing Wells Library
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1:30 p.m. – Kirk-Bear Canyon Library
- Thursday, Oct. 1, 5:30 p.m. – Valencia Library
- Thursday, Oct. 1, 1 p.m. – Sam Lena South Tucson Library
- Friday, Oct. 2, 1 p.m. – Joyner-Green Valley Library
- Monday, Oct. 5, 4 p.m. – W. Anne Gibson-Esmond Station Library
- Saturday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m. – Nanini Library
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