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COVID19

Pima County top health official warns of 'sobering weeks ahead' with pandemic

County puts voluntary curfew in place for the rest of the year.
Margaret and Cathy Kay in January 2020, a few months before Margaret's death.

State officials discourage holiday gatherings for people in assisted living facilities

Officials continue to promote virtual visits and the role of designated essential visitors to keep morale up.
Gabriella Cázares-Kelly won the 2020 contest for Pima County Recorder with nearly 59% of vote.

A conversation with Pima County Recorder-elect Gabriella Cázares-Kelly

Cázares-Kelly discusses her priorities and goals in her new role.
A Centers for Disease Control image of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Pima County, state preparing COVID-19 vaccine plans

The Pfizer announcement that a vaccine may soon be available has put public focus on distribution.
A proposed pipeline project in southern Utah would transport water from Lake Powell to fast-growing communities in the state's southwest corner. The proposal hit political headwinds this year, as other Colorado River users objected to it.

2020 delivers setbacks for some long-planned Western water projects

Long-planned projects have run into roadblocks.
An image composite of campaign signs for U.S. Senate candidates Democrat Mark Kelly and Republican incumbent Martha McSally.

Moderate voters gave Democrats an Arizona Senate seat in 2018. Will they do it again?

To some voters, Joe Biden and Mark Kelly are more reminiscent of John McCain than their Republican opponents.
Guadalupe Canyon is a remote, rugged area in the Southwest where the Trump administration is currently racing to complete construction of a border wall.

In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon

In a mountain range too steep to cross, the Department of Homeland Security is spending millions of dollars on five miles of border wall.
Construction nears the end on the wall section across the San Pedro River in October 2020.

DHS marks milestone as wall construction severs wildlife corridors

New border wall construction is nearly done in some of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Arizona.
Artist’s conception of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

OSIRIS-REx touches an asteroid

The UA-led project is a first for NASA.
A meadow along Canyon Creek, Tonto National Forest.

As Western fires burn, focus narrows on forest management. But it’s easier said than done

Correcting the mistakes of the past is tougher than it sounds, as managers work to get ahead of coming wildfires and learn from previous ones.
Eighteen plots are laid out on the hillside on Brian Mealor’s property in Sheridan County, Wyo. Mealor is studying how differing amounts of herbicide sprayed at different times of year can be used to manage invasive species.

In grasslands plagued by invasives and drought, wildfires fuel calls for new solutions

Invasive plants and climate change are changing the relationship between vast rangelands, drought and wildfire.
Between the High Park and Cameron Peak Fires, a broad reach of the Poudre River’s watershed has burned within the last decade.

For the West’s drinking water, wildfire concerns linger long after smoke clears

For municipal drinking water systems, fires are felt for years after they’re snuffed out.
Firefighters watch a controlled burn within the Grizzly Creek Fire in Colorado. The fire has burned more than 30,000 acres near Glenwood Canyon. Now, the charred hillsides pose a flood risk for nearby areas.

Homeowners who avoid wildfire damage can find themselves in new flood zone

Even long after the flames of a wildfire are gone, those who live nearby face a serious increase in the threat of flooding.
A firefighter watches the flames in Yellowstone National Park during the 1988 fires.

In Yellowstone, America's 'first water park,' decades-old blaze marked start of megafire era

The wildfires ushered in a chapter of massive, frequent blazes as well as a new understanding of the ecological process.
A line of DPS officers forms in front of an Indigenous Peoples' Day Protest north of the Lukeville Port of Entry on Oct. 12, 2020.

'Falling on deaf ears': Tohono O'odham Nation reacts to use of force at Indigenous protest

Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. says tribal needs along the border are being ignored.
With residences in the foreground, the Bighorn Fire burns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on June 10, 2020.

Homes complicate Arizona wildfire response

Development in Arizona's wildlands is making fires more expensive, and in some cases, more difficult to prevent.

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