Tag: Tucson

Pima County Recorder Election Takes Shape
News

Pima County Recorder Election Takes Shape

By JOE GIDDENS Photo courtesy Arizona Center for Empowerment Campaigns for the 2020 election have shifted to an online focus in the era of social distancing.  The Arizona Center for Empowerment helded a Facebook Live forum on May 14 for Democrat candidates Kim Challender and Gabriella Cázares-Kelly for Pima County Recorder.  The third Democratic candidate, Consuelo Hernandez Hernandez, has suspended her campaign for recorder and filed paperwork at the end of March with the Pima County Elections Department to run for the Pima County Supervisors District 5 seat. Kim Challender is the assistant chief deputy at the Pima County Recorder’s office where she has been for five years. Citing her role of working on county cyber security issues and hiring and training employees in her pitch to vo...
Does Online Learning Make the Grade?
Features, News, Opinion

Does Online Learning Make the Grade?

Photo-illustration of a student frustrated with online learning. By KEVIN HARTUNG There are two sides to every story and the fast switch to online learning during the spring semester is no exception. The switch was problematic for students, faculty and college administrators. Students battled connectivity problems. The faculty struggled to learn the online environment and incorporate their lesson plans. Administrators scrambled to train faculty and move classes online, even those requiring ingenuity to meet course requirements. Eliud Chuffe, a Spanish instructor, was concerned about the difficulties his students faced. Students who had not signed up for an online class experienced connectivity issues due to unreliable internet service or computer models with slow connectivity. Some stu...
Women’s basketball highlights shortened 2020 season
Sports

Women’s basketball highlights shortened 2020 season

By COREY MCMULLEN The world is in a place that none of us is used to, with the cancellation of all sporting events and types of social gatherings across the globe.  This includes the Pima Community College women’s basketball team’s 2020 season. The Aztecs were supposed to play in the NJCAA regional tournament in March. The original plan was for the tournament to just be postponed to the end of April, but with no signs of the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down, the tournament and the Aztecs’ season officially was canceled. With the season being over, the end-of-season honors were announced. Aztec head coach Todd Holthaus was honored with Region I West District Coach of the Year. This is the sixth time coach Holthaus was honored with the award (2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019). “This season wil...
Bernie Sanders suspends 2020 campaign
News

Bernie Sanders suspends 2020 campaign

Vice President Joe Biden congratulates Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Old Senate Chamber in 2013.  Photo courtesy Wikimedia By ELLIANA KOPUT   Less than 24 hours after Wisconsin’s controversial democratic primary election, for which votes have yet to be counted, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has announced that he will be dropping out of the 2020 presidential race. Although numerous states, including Wyoming, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska and Georgia, have yet to hold their state and presidential primaries, former Vice President Joe Biden has become the presumptive presidential candidate to run against President Donald Trump.  Sanders made the decision over a conference call with staff members. He later publicized the announcement in a livestream on April 8.  “So while we are winning the ideologic...
‘The Misadventures of Larry and Lucy Luckless’ – Episode four
Uncategorized

‘The Misadventures of Larry and Lucy Luckless’ – Episode four

The Misadventures of Larry and Lucy Luckless by Arthor Bookes, Editor-in-Chief of the PCC Creative Writing Club   Previously on The Misadventures, Lucy is arrested and tried for her “crimes!” If the corrupt Dewey Donaldson has his way, she’ll be hanging by sunrise. Can Larry rescue her in time to foil the dastardly plot? Read on to find out!   Larry pressed his back up against the wall of the homestead, struggling to be stealthy as he peeked out the front window. Dewey Donaldson Sr.’s thug was reclining against the porch post, his hat tipped down over his eyes and his hand resting lazily on his gun. He had been that way since Sheriff Clark took Lucy.  Larry squinted his eyes. The thug’s breath was long and slow - he might be asleep, Larry thought. He edged his way toward the door...
‘The Misadventures of Larry and Lucy Luckless’ – Episode two
Uncategorized

‘The Misadventures of Larry and Lucy Luckless’ – Episode two

by Arthor Bookes, Editor-in-Chief of the PCC Creative Writing Club   Previously, our intrepid heroes, twins Larry and Lucy Luckless, have resolved to search the mine owned by their late pa to find clues to his mysterious death. Once inside, calamity strikes! Larry falls through a sinkhole beneath his pa’s office, and Lucy’s confronted by pa’s former employee, Billy Rascal.   Lucy stood stock-still, eyes locked on the barrel of Billy’s gun. His eyes darted between her and the sinkhole. He motioned with the gun. “Time t’git on outta here, girl.” Lucy cast a silent glance back at the sinkhole. She heard Larry groaning below. I can’t leave him, she thought.  Billy waved the gun. “Go on, Luckless. I’ll drag you, if I hav’ta.”  I’ll be back for you, she whispers to herself. Larry could...
Upholding Democracy in a Crisis
Uncategorized

Upholding Democracy in a Crisis

Photo courtesy Michael Stokes, Flickr By Kevin Hartung Whether states are enforcing their shelter-in-place stances or candidates have deferred to the advice of social distancing, canvassing, stump speeches, town halls, debates, primaries and campaigns have taken a hit in this election cycle.  The CDC now recommends that gatherings instead be turned into virtual events. “Events of any size should only be continued if they can be carried out with adherence to guidelines for protecting vulnerable populations, hand hygiene, and social distancing,” the CDC said. “When feasible, organizers could modify events to be virtual.” The president’s Coronavirus Guidelines advised all Americans to avoid groups of more than 10 and urged older people to stay at home altogether in a set of new guidelines. Po...
Control the Spread and the Panic
News, Opinion

Control the Spread and the Panic

Keesler personnel fill the Commissary at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, March 2020.  Photo courtesy Kemberly Groue by Kevin Hartung Worldwide, officials are scrambling to control the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) but maybe controlling the panic is equally important President Donald Trump, who had contact with coronavirus subjects, was tested and received negative results. To date, at least 30 countries have been banned from U.S. travel.   The economic fallout from the panic was instantaneous, with the stock market hitting another all-time low on March 14. Experts predict economic fallout from the coronavirus scare will be long-lasting. According to a March 17 article on the FiveThirtyEight website, five states have postponed their presidential primaries due to the coronavirus. Sta...
Instructor's take: Casey at the Bat
Opinion, Uncategorized

Instructor's take: Casey at the Bat

By JERRY GILL Many years ago, when I was teaching at a college in Florida, I was asked by the graduating seniors to be their commencement speaker.  It was when the Vietnam war was grinding down, President Richard Nixon was being impeached, and the civil rights movement was in full swing. Difficult times indeed. I chose to interpret the famous poem “Casey at the Bat” by E. L. Thayer as a description of the failure of the United States to fulfill its promise to lead the world toward peace and justice. As the poem’s opening line has it: “The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day,” the outlook for our country was indeed not brilliant. Although the minor theme of the speech was the failure of the United States to deal effectively with its own problems, as well as those of the ...
How to: COVID-19 testing in Pima County
News

How to: COVID-19 testing in Pima County

Photo courtesy Peterson Air Force Base By ELLIANA KOPUT   The rate of recorded COVID-19 cases in Arizona has increased exponentially over the past month. When the Aztec Press released Issue 2 on March 12, there was one reported case in Maricopa County. Now, we have surpassed 1500 cases across the entire state, with 32 related deaths. These numbers do not include those with pending tests, nor do they account for those carrying the virus who lack access to testing.    Pima County saw its first COVID-19 related death March 23. It was a woman in her 50s who likely had preexisting conditions that increased her susceptibility to the virus. The county had declared an emergency in unincorporated areas on March 19.    “It’s here. You just need to act like it’s in our community,” Dr. ...