Hola,
Gracias for making Arizona Luminaria part of your week. We are always grateful to hear from you. ☕📰 💜Love cafecito, community and local nonprofit journalism?! We’d love you to join some of our Arizona Luminaria news team next week for cafecito, chatting and chisme in the Phoenix area. Chelsea Curtis, Rafael Carranza, Dianna Náñez and hopefully more local journalists will be at Deseo A Coffee Shack Monday, Feb. 9, from noon-3 p.m. Now more than ever, we need to be with our communities and hear your stories so we can share them with our neighbors across our borderlands state. If you ever want to host your local journalists, please drop us a line info@azluminaria.org. Abrazos.
In today’s newsletter:
🚸 “You should be ashamed,” a parent shouted to the ASDB board as she exited the meeting on a scooter after members voted to move the 100-year-old Tucson campus to Oro Valley next school year and lay off about 70 staff. The tense, emotional meeting drew a packed crowd of families and teachers, and several attendees were escorted out as the vote came down. Here’s what happened and what comes next.
💥 Tucson leaders say a coordinated public safety strategy helped drive a nearly 20% decline in gun homicides last year. They’re planning to expand it. Read more.
📣 Sales tax dips, fewer permits and slower travel are shrinking city of Tucson revenues midway through the fiscal year, officials warned. Read more.
Featured stories
“This action will gut this agency”: ASDB board votes to move Tucson campus to Oro Valley, lay off 70 staff
PHOENIX — The Arizona Schools for the Deaf and the Blind will move to Oro Valley next school year, the Board of Directors voted Thursday — forcing many students, including […]
Tucson gun homicides dropped nearly 20% in 2025, officials say
Tucson recorded a 19.5% drop in gun-related homicides last year, city officials told the Mayor and Council during a study session Tuesday, crediting early success from the Safe City Initiative’s […]
Tucson braces for tighter budgets as revenues dip
Tucson officials warned Tuesday that city revenues are running below projections halfway through the fiscal year, forcing spending slowdowns and raising the prospect of deeper budget cuts in 2027. The […]
Flickers 🕯️
Please fill out this quick submission form to suggest a future Flicker.
The towns of Marana and Oro Valley have signed an intergovernmental agreement to formalize a regional bicycling partnership aimed at promoting tourism and economic development through cycling initiatives. The agreement supports joint planning of events, marketing, and long-term efforts like safety education and infrastructure improvements. Both town councils approved the partnership this month.
The Safe Inside initiative released a 50-state analysis of prison systems and highlighted staffing challenges at Arizona’s Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry. The agency faces significant staffing challenges, with 17% of staff leaving their jobs in 2024 and 18% of corrections officer positions (about 1,000 roles) vacant as of September 2024, despite a 20% salary increase for all ADCRR employees in July 2022. The labor shortage shows up in higher overtime spending, too, with overtime costs reaching $73.7 million — a 58% increase from 2019 to 2024.
The No Desert Data Center Coalition is continuing its fight against a data center in Marana through a citizen referendum on the town’s vote to rezone two sections of land for data centers. Residents turned in approximately 2,800 signatures Wednesday, according to the coalition. The threshold is 1,360 signatures, according to a spokesperson with the town of Marana, and the town clerk will have 20 business days after the end of the day Feb. 6 to review the signatures.
Artist Alex! Jiménez will discuss her work featured in the MOCA Tucson exhibition “Living with Injuries,” on Saturday, Feb. 7 from 1-2 p.m, reflecting on grief, anxiety and environmental loss in the Sonoran Desert through personal and community-centered art. Artist talks are included with museum admission.
Arizona Luminaria and SciLine are partnering to host a focused conversation about immigration with experts, practitioners, and media in downtown Phoenix on Feb. 10. The panel will bring together scientific experts and local journalists to examine the psychological, social, and economic ripple effects of local immigration enforcement actions such as raids, arrests, and deportations on families and communities. Register.
Disabled American Veterans and RecruitMilitary will co-host the Transitioning Service Member & Spouse Virtual Career Fair on Feb. 10. This virtual event is free to active-duty military personnel, veterans, members of the National Guard and Reserve, transitioning service members and their spouses. Register.
Get ready to vote on the RTA Next plan in Pima County by attending a community meeting. See upcoming meeting options plus plan info. Register to vote by Feb. 9. Early voting begins Feb. 11 for the election on March 10.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
