ICYMI, here are the stories we covered today.
- The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 165,000 as of Tuesday, July 28, after the state reported 2,107 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
- On Wednesday, July 29, the Pima County Health Department will begin offering free saliva testing for COVID-19 at the Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road. The testing requires pre-registration and is conducted by Arizona State University in partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services.
- If you happened to be around the west coast's garage rock revival back in the early 2010s, then I'm sure you know of Tucson's Prom Body. Their 2014 high energy scuzz-rock album Naughty by Natural is still as Tucson as it gets and deserves a place in your record collection.
- Two Tucson Democratic state lawmakers joined a few of their colleagues this week to sharply criticize the Arizona Department of Corrections new media relations policy as COVID-19 spreads across Arizona and within the state’s 16 prison complexes.
- Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry today said schools should not reopen for in-person instruction on Aug. 17, based on the county’s current data on COVID-19 community spread.
- A research center in east Tucson is one of the 87 clinics in the country chosen to participate in phase 3 of a COVID-19 vaccine trial, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The Quality of Life Medical and Research Center is actively recruiting Arizona volunteers to participate in the trial and national study, it said.
- Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a condition for release from jail.
