Tucson Politics

  The U.S. Army and a private company are flying high-altitude surveillance balloons over the Tucson area, raising concerns among privacy advocates.

  Three civil rights advocacy groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, claiming the federal agency has refused to detail how it collects and uses DNA taken from immigrants.

  The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved two measures that aim to address affordable housing without raising property taxes, voting Tuesday to budget $250 million over the next decade.

  Three civil rights advocacy groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, claiming the federal agency has refused to detail how it collects and uses DNA taken from immigrants.

  The Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that an air quality permit issued by state authorities for the planned Hermosa Mine south of Tucson does not comply with the Clean Air Act. Owner South32 said they'll address those concerns, and continue to develop the mine.

  While Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. had already done a lot, primarily saving the Indian Health Service from staffing cuts rippling through the federal government, cuts to health programs outside the IHS are hurting Native Americans.

  In the wake of ballot measures that increased abortion access and improved sick leave for workers, a coordinated effort is unfolding across the country to restrict direct democracy — and shift power to partisan legislatures.

  The mother of Arizonan Ravi Coutinho is suing Centene and the subsidiary that oversaw her son’s plan, Health Net of Arizona, for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental health care that were actually available.

  Organizers from across Arizona gathered at the state Capitol on Monday to mark the start of Pride Month and push back against what they called a continued onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the state Legislature.

  Arizona’s Democratic governor has vetoed legislation that would have barred the Chinese government from owning land in the state.

  The far-right Republican senator who already blocked several of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ picks to lead state agencies has accused another nominee of lying and violating the Arizona Constitution.

  Pima County is on the verge of a small property tax to raise money for housing programs; Oro Valley Town Council prepares to raise water rates; Downtown library may move across street & more from local government meetings around Tucson this week.

  Donald Trump’s push to recklessly impose tariffs should alarm every Arizonan, especially those of us who depend on trade to lower our costs of everyday groceries & goods, and to fuel our small businesses. — Democratic congressional candidate Daniel Hernandez

  Companies are rushing to secure government contracts as the Trump administration ramps up its spending on ICE to reach its deportation goals and the House approved a spending bill that sets aside $175 billion for immigration enforcement – about 22 times ICE’s annual budget.

  Federal immigration officials continued targeting people at the Phoenix Immigration Courthouse, surveilling and detaining migrants whose cases were dismissed minutes earlier in ways that appear to be an attempt to minimize attention from both protestors and media.

  Retired math teacher Theresa Riel has dropped out of the race for the Midtown Ward 6 seat on the Tucson City Council.

  An Arizona judge is allowing Cochise County officials to throw out the results of a local tax election after challengers identified a requirement in state law that they said the county didn’t follow.

  Gila County is a conservative place — almost 70% of voters went for President Donald Trump in November - and as congressional Republicans consider plans to cut more than $700 billion from Medicaid, the debate over the program hits close to home for many Globe residents.

  New tariffs imposed on nearly all imports into the U.S. since April were struck down when three federal judges in the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled ruled in favor of Arizona and 11 other states in their suit, as well as several businesses who filed a tandem suit.

  Immigration agents have resumed arresting people who show up to immigration hearings, pulling over and detaining a mother and her children in Phoenix on Wednesday morning, a policy that speeds up deportations while at the same time sidestepping rights to a court hearing.

  The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress that offers long-overdue updates to how oxygen therapy is provided and reimbursed, is more than a policy fix—it’s a public health necessity.

  If there's one thing the last 45 years of the "supply side" economic hypothesis have shown, it's that making the rich richer does nothing for the standard of living of hard-working taxpayers.

  In Northern Arizona, a growing number of locals say they’re being steamrolled by the people elected to represent them, particularly around LGBTQ+ issues - and their frustrations point squarely at U.S. Rep. Eli Crane.

  In a rare loss for religious rights at the Supreme Court, the justices refused to halt a massive copper mining project on Oak Flat, a sacred site for the Apache in Arizona.

  The College Board this month changed the criteria for its National Recognition Program awards in a move that could shift tens of thousands of scholarship dollars from Black and Latino students to white students, and could affect University of Arizona programs.