Cases: 206,541 | Deaths: 5,251 | PCR tests: 1,267,371
Arizona reported nearly 500 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 30 more deaths on Sept. 9. Earlier in the week, officials touted some of the lowest statewide numbers they've seen since march, while many are watching the state's large universities for signs of surges, like the rise in recent numbers from the University of Arizona.
Rate of COVID-19 cases on UA campus 'alarming'
AZPM
The University of Arizona reported 150 new COVID-19 cases on campus on Monday. The campus has increased the number of tests administered to more than 1,000 a day but the positivity rate has risen to 8.8%.
Many of the cases are coming from students who live off campus. Of particular concern are fraternity and sorority houses. Officials will not say which houses have experienced outbreaks, but they do confirm so far most of the cases came from three houses.
“Some of the houses, they translate into positivity rates that are far beyond 10%, in one case 60%,” Pima County Department of Health Director Theresa Cullen said in a Wednesday media briefing.
UA President Robert Robbins in the briefing said he finds the numbers "alarming."
“These numbers show to me we’re not doing a good job of controlling the virus,” said Robbins
Court ruling mandating sunset of ICE hotel program for migrant children goes into effect
AZPM
A federal court order mandating an end to the Trump administration's practice of holding migrant children in hotels goes into effect this week.
Last month a monitor found that by July, nearly 600 unaccompanied minors were being held in hotels in cities like El Paso and McAllen, Texas, and Phoenix. The children were in the custody of Department of Homeland Security contractors and awaiting removal flights to their countries of origin.
Administration officials argue the practice is a safeguard against the spread of COVID-19. But on Friday, Los Angeles District Court Judge Dolly Gee ruled the practice violated the Flores settlement. The result of a 1997 class action lawsuit, the agreement outlines care standards for minors taken into immigration custody.
An ICE spokesperson said the agency was aware of the ruling and would "evaluate any decision received from the court," but declined to comment further on ongoing litigation.
Arizona weekly unemployment jumps again
AZPM
More than 1.3 million people are receiving unemployment benefits in Arizona, according to the latest numbers released by the state.
Last week, 188,915 new claims were filed by Arizona residents, an increase of more than 61,000 over the week before.
Nationally, the unemployment rate is falling. The federal government reported in early September that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4%, down from 10.2% the previous month.
The state is also bracing for federal unemployment supplement funded by FEMA to run out.
Find the numbers here.
Tucson council to vote on climate emergency declaration
AZPM
The Tucson City Council was scheduled to vote Wednesday on declaring a "climate emergency" for the city.
The proposal, by Mayor Regina Romero and council member Paul Durham, builds on the Green New Deal announced by Democrats in Congress last year. Romeo says it calls on all city departments to plan on becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
"And it commits to deploying a just and equitable transition framework to shift to an economy that's sustainable, equitable, and just for all of its members," Romero added.
Asked if making city operations — including police cars and transit buses — carbon-neutral in 10 years would be expensive, Romero said it's climate change that's expensive, from the cost of drought mitigation to the higher electric bills brought on by soaring temperatures.
The resolution will be discussed at the council's evening meeting, starting at 5:30.
UA postpones in-person commencement
AZPM, AP
University of Arizona students graduating in December will not get an in-person commencement ceremony. A notice sent to students Wednesday says the in-person ceremony, scheduled for Oct. 30, has been postponed indefinitely.
This is the second semester that the UA has called off the traditional commencement. Last spring, as the coronavirus pandemic was on the upswing, the university replaced its usual ceremony with an online video production.
The announcement says specific colleges or academic programs may offer convocations or celebrations in December. Those plans will be announced later.
Massive smoke clouds, thick air darken Western US skies
AP
SAN FRANCISCO — People from San Francisco to Seattle woke up Wednesday to a massive clouds of smoke hanging in the air, darkening the skies in some areas to an eerie orange glow.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, street lights were still illuminated at noon. The region’s air quality district issued a record 23rd consecutive so-called Spare The Air alert requiring residents to cut pollution as smoke from an unprecedented numbers of fires in the West filled the air.
Weather experts say winds from the Pacific Ocean are expected to push the smoke across the West, worsening air quality as it moves through the region.
6 Western states blast Utah plan to tap Colorado River water
AP
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Six states in the U.S. West that rely on the Colorado River have rebuked a plan to build an underground pipeline to transport billions of gallons of water to Utah.
In a joint letter Tuesday, water officials from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming urged the federal government to halt the approval process for the pipeline until the states could resolve concerns about the potential effect on future water supplies.
Utah has the right to use additional river water under agreements between the states. But critics argue that diverting more water will jeopardize the river as it faces threats from persistent drought and climate change.
Book: Trump said of virus, 'I wanted to always play it down'
WASHINGTON — A new book reveals that President Donald Trump seemed to understand the severity of the coronavirus threat even as he was telling the nation it was no worse than the flu and insisting the government had it totally under control.
According to Bob Woodward's book, Trump told the journalist on Feb. 7: “You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed." Trump is also quoted as saying, "It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus." Trump said Wednesday that in public he was just being a “cheerleader” for the nation and trying to keep everyone calm.
Excerpts from the book were reported Wednesday by The Washington Post and CNN.
Vaccine by Nov. 3? Halted study explains just how unlikely
AP
WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health director is telling Congress that AstraZeneca's suspension of its COVID-19 vaccine study shows there will be “no compromises” on safety in developing the shots.
AstraZeneca has put on hold its late-stage studies in the U.S. and other countries while it investigates if a British volunteer's “potentially unexplained illness” is related to vaccination or a coincidence. NIH chief Dr. Francis Collins pledged that science will be behind decisions of if and when any COVID-19 vaccine is good enough for widespread use.
AstraZeneca's shot is one of three vaccines in late-stage testing in the U.S.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.