Tucson Politics

  The Tucson City Council is tentatively scheduled to decide whether to move forward with a Southeast Side data center before the city’s November election, but Council candidates are weighing on whether they would support Project Blue if they were in office.

  The Trump administration said it’ll soon release billions in Education Department funding that has been frozen for weeks, delaying disbursements to K-12 schools throughout the country.

  A roundup of upcoming Tucson-area political events: Democrat Adelita Grijalva discusses her campaign; Wednesday is recommended deadline to send back early ballot in city primary election; Tucson City Council primary election and South Tucson recall coming up on Aug. 5; Sentinel team on the airwaves & more

  Heck yes to Amphi Public schools sending middle-schoolers on trips to Catalina Island, New York City and D.C.. Plus, auditors OK the district's finances and Nogales will discuss hiring new city clerk. That's about it from public meetings around Tucson this week.

  A mix-up with the Pima County Recorder’s Office’s voter registration list resulted in as many as 1,294 incorrect ballots for the Aug. 5 city of Tucson primary election being mailed to voters.

  As candidates for Tucson City Council enter the final stretch of the primary race that voters will decide on Tuesday, Aug. 5, campaign finance reports show that five of the seven Democratic candidates have qualified for matching funds from the city.

  People who wear political hats and shirts out and about during election season may be less likely to actually cast a ballot, according to a recent UA study.

  Tucson’s citywide general election means I, along with every voter, will help decide who represents Ward 6. I’m proud to support Leighton Rockafellow Jr. for City Council. His pragmatic, community-centered approach is exactly what Tucson needs right now.

  Russia continues to obtain U.S.-made microelectronics despite strict export controls. Those chips – including some from manufacturers with Arizona facilities – end up in advanced fighter jets used against Ukraine and linked with alleged war crimes.

  Since Trump returned to office in January, Attorney General Kris Mayes has positioned Arizona on the legal frontlines of the resistance, filing lawsuits against his administration about once a week on average, with mixed results.

  Ending the spread of HIV in Arizona may become more difficult if federal funding is cut or eliminated.

  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials continue to rebuff oversight of detention centers, rejecting Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari’s request to meet with migrants held in the Eloy facility just hours after approving it, without explanation.

  What's your freaking name, "Project Blue?" That you won't tell us who you are means Tucson is still playing a sucker's game in economic development. Amazon still won't admit they are behind a gargantuan series of planned data centers around Tucson, and that doesn't inspire trust.

  Three Democrats are vying for the chance to advance to the November general election in the race for the Tucson City Council Ward 6 seat, with voters deciding the Aug. 5 primary.

  Tucson city officials and the developers of Project Blue — a planned complex of data centers for Amazon — faced a fractious crowd Wednesday as they attempted to make their case the project will be "water positive" and will not drive up electric rates, while trying to defend non-disclosure agreements that still keep information from the public.

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to slash its presence in the Washington, D.C., area by sending employees to five regional hubs, and the U.S. Forest Service will phase out its nine regional offices primarily into a single location in Fort Collins.

  Hoping to break the GOP grip on Congress, Democrats are aiming to topple three Republican incumbents in Arizona: Reps. David Schweikert, Eli Crane and Juan Ciscomani.

  The Interior Department ceded 285 acres of public land in southwestern Arizona to the U.S. Navy on Wednesday for a "National Defense Area" — part of a Trump administration strategy allowing active-duty troops to arrest suspected migrants and hold them until Border Patrol agents arrive.

  All six counties in Arizona's Congressional District 7 have finished counting votes in the special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of longtime U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who died in March after battling lung cancer.

  A roundup of upcoming Tucson-area political events: Wednesday deadline to request early ballot in city primary election; Project Blue meetings; Democrat Adelita Grijalva discusses her campaign; Tucson City Council primary election coming up on Aug. 5; Sentinel team on the airwaves & more

  The Trump administration may partially resume "Remain in Mexico" — a controversial policy which requires migrants to stay in Mexico while their immigration cases wind through the U.S. immigration system — the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

  Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has launched another bid for Congress, seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Eli Crane and flip Arizona’s largest congressional district.

  The Ward 5 City Council race pits a longtime local businessman against two younger Democrats who are making their first runs for office. The August 5 primary will decide who takes the seat.

  Arizona officials say they have “moderate confidence” that the Iranian government or its affiliates are responsible for a cyberattack that breached the state’s candidate web portal last month, and say the same actors attempted to breach servers for other agencies in Arizona and elsewhere.

Remember to write the city council and mayor, folks! And the next public meeting about this is Wednesday (see earlier post).