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In today’s newsletter:
📝 The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to expand transparency rules for NDAs and widen environmental review to cover more water- and electricity-heavy projects, building on changes made after Project Blue. Read more.
🏫 TUSD’s superintendent presented enrollment and birthrate data Tuesday night to back the case for closing or consolidating up to 10 schools — kindergarten enrollment alone is down 13% from last year. Read more.
🍎 More than $17 million loaded onto Arizona families’ SUN Bucks cards for food aid went unspent last summer — advocates say families who still have a card should use it before it expires Oct. 1. Read more.
Featured stories
$17 million in food aid for families went unspent in Arizona last year
Last summer, more than $17 million in food aid to help Arizona families buy groceries while school meals were unavailable — went unused. This year, there’s still time for families […]
TUSD superintendent to make school closure case Tuesday
The Tucson Unified School District has nearly 3% fewer students — mostly in grades K-5 — than this time last year, according to the district’s Day 10 count. That data, along […]
Tell us what you think: Arizona Luminaria’s annual reader survey is now open
At Arizona Luminaria, we don’t do this work alone. Your feedback guides the stories we tell and the communities we serve. Last year, readers like you helped us expand coverage […]
Board of Supervisors votes to expand transparency policies
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand transparency rules for non-disclosure agreements and widen the county’s review process for major development projects that use large amounts of […]
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Redwood Mobile Home Park, one of a handful of Tucson-area manufactured home parks currently in legal dispute with Attorney General Kris Mayes, has been ordered to start electrical safety testing. Mayes has argued the park neglected necessary electrical repairs, causing power outages during extreme heat. The park’s owners have argued they are not legally obligated to pay the high cost of upgrading the park’s entire electrical system. The judge has warned there could be financial penalties of up to $25,000 for violating a court order.
Three people associated with Academy del Sol, a Tucson charter school, have been charged by the attorney general’s office with 22 felonies including theft, forgery and fraud. Former Executive Director Jason Riegert, his wife, Staci Barton, and the school’s former Office Administrator, Kimberly Richards diverted school funds for personal use over seven years, according to the indictment in Pima County Superior Court. Academy del Sol, a K-8 school with two Tucson campuses, is known for its fine arts programs and was founded in 2009.
City pool passes for lap swim began Sept. 1. After five years of free pool admission, Tucson started charging to use pool lanes this month. Recreational swim remains free. The cost is $30 a month for residents and $45 for nonresidents. Passes can also be purchased in increments of five — $10 for residents and $15 for nonresidents and must be used within a year. Details about how to purchase a pass.
The Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025, which could speed up the environmental review of critical minerals mining projects, passed the House 218-201 last week. The Arizona delegation voted along party lines, with Rep. Juan Ciscomani and the Republicans voting yes and Rep. Adelita Grijalva and the Democrats voting no. It goes to the Senate next.
History of the Future screens “The Iron Giant” (1999) at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 at Majestic Tempe 7 in Tempe, with an introduction from ASU film historian Joshua Vasquez on masculinity and melancholy in American genre film. Tickets are $8.50; enrolled ASU students can request free tickets. Buy tickets.
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 Arizona Center for the Missing in Action will hold a POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony on Friday, Sept. 18 at the University of Arizona. The ceremony includes a remembrance service and student presentations on MIA recovery missions conducted across Europe this summer. Details.
PFAS in Arizona: The Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy hosts a panel on “forever chemical” contamination and regulation in the state, with researchers from the University of Arizona alongside officials from Tucson Water and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Grand Challenges Research Building, 750 N. Cherry Ave. The free event includes a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Register.
Meet Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing Executive Director Nikki Soukup and discuss local priorities for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind residents at a community gathering from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Tucson Deaf Community Center, 1436 N. 11th Ave. ASL interpreters and CART captioning will be provided on-site. Register.
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