(dramatic music) - [Lorraine] The governor orders a deadline for when students return to class.

Reaction from the state capitol - Schools they're trying to figure out, exactly how they're going to make this transition.

- [Lorraine] And vendors cope with the cancellation of one of Tucson's biggest events.

- This show means so much to us.

First of all, we're the supply chain for the whole world.

- [Lorraine] Plus what the new COVID-19 vaccine means for Arizona's.

- I think people in rural areas they may end up getting more of the Johnson and Johnson.

(dramatic music) - Hello and welcome to Arizona 360, I'm Lorraine Rivera.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Schools that opted for virtual learning are expected to reopen for some students by the 15th.

Governor Doug Ducey declared it in an executive order he issued this week.

It lets schools offer a mix of at-home and in-person instruction.

A statement from Arizona Superintendent Kathy Hoffman said the timing of the announcement will quote make it challenging for some schools to return to in-person instruction on a different schedule due to their local community circumstances.

News of the order and it's reception at the state capitol kicked off our discussion with Julia Shumway a reporter with the Arizona Capitol Times.

- The reaction was mostly one of surprise especially from people like Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, who was not consulted or at least not made aware ahead of time that this announcement was going to come.

A lot of people in the education community, were preparing to transition back to schools but maybe later in the month and so now schools are trying to figure out, exactly how they're going to make this transition back to in-person learning with just over a week to prepare.

It took a lot of people by surprise.

- You're hearing from both Republicans and Democrats or is it primarily just one side of the aisle?

- I'm hearing from both people I'd say Republicans are pretty excited about this announcement.

They're real excited to have kids back in-person learning, Democrats who tend to speak a little more to public school districts, just that's part of what they do as Democrats, are a little less excited about this announcement.

They would have preferred to have something done by Superintendent Hoffman or by individual school districts rather than an announcement from the governor.

- Education always seems to dominate the headlines during the legislative session, but there are other issues that come up every year.

Abortion, guns, what's going to take the headlines this session?

- Abortion and guns are still a big deal.

We obviously saw it near the start of session national attention on Arizona because of an abortion bill that would have potentially resulted in doctors being jailed for performing abortions.

That bill didn't go anywhere it would have been thrown out in the courts if it had, but we still have number of other abortion restrictions moving through the legislature.

Some of these, we also have the return of a bill that's been introduced several times before that would try to give state money to crisis pregnancy centers.

These organizations that try to persuade women who may be seeking abortions, that they should not get the abortion instead they should choose adoption or raising this child as their own.

- So far this year there have been the most bills ever introduced with the slimmest majorities in both chambers.

So, let's look into the future just a bit when they signed dye here toward the end of the spring what do you think is going to be one of those issues that has dominated the headlines?

- I think the biggest issue this session would be elections, a whole lot of fallout from the 2020 election in which we saw a number of Republicans who still hold the majority in both chambers although only by one vote, they're very upset with how the presidential election went down.

And obviously there were concerns about potential fraud even though that has not been proven in the election.

And that's leading into a lot of the legislation that we've seen introduced.

There have been a record number not just a record number of bills, total introduced this year, but a record number of bills that have to do with elections.

And a number of those are on their way have passed either in the senate or the house and we'll be headed for governor DC's desk.

- How would you rate the overall climate there Julia?

I mean, some lawmakers are voting from home because of COVID-19, but just in general there's a different environment atmosphere up there this time around.

- Yeah, having lawmakers voting from home or in the senate, it's mostly voting from their offices on Zoom is a very different environment.

You don't have anyone in the buildings themselves.

There's no people in the room to testify in the senate although some are allowed in the house, there's no classes of school children going on field trips to the capitol and running around and seeing what government looks like.

It's a real different situation, but it's not necessarily calmer.

I think we've seen that people's tempers are at an even higher level than they'd usually be.

That this stress that we've all been under with the COVID pandemic for so long.

And the tensions that come with having such slim majority's on the Republican side really work their way into this building.

It's not uncommon to see, people yelling at each other insulting each other on the floor of the house or senate where that might've been...

It might've been a more civil atmosphere in years past.

- All right this year certainly one for the record books.

All right Julia Shumway from the Arizona Capital Times thank you.

- Thank you.

- From the Capitol to Pima County next we checked in on issues in the region with analysis from the Green Valley News Sahuarita Sun Dan Shearer, and Tucson Local Media Jim Nintzel.

We began with a look at the county's rollout plan for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dan I wanna get started with you down in Green Valley.

We've been talking about the vaccine rollout, what's the sense there in that community?

Has this process been fair?

- Oh I think it's been fair.

I think it's a question of just actually getting the vaccine and I think people are frustrated and aiming their frustration at probably the wrong targets.

I mean we don't have vaccines sitting on the shelves.

We get it, we push it out.

The county's been good at that.

The state's been good at that.

It could be to a private group like UCH sit down here or we have a private consortium of groups doing it.

It could be distributed at UFA we don't care as long as you're getting it into arms that's what we we care about.

But no I don't think there's a sense that we've been treated unfairly or that's going on.

- Jim this week the State of Arizona hit a grim milestone.

16,000 deaths recorded another 818,000 confirmed cases of the virus, what's been the state's response to all this?

- Well, you know the state is rolling out the vaccine as quickly as it can.

I do think there's been, more confusion than there needed to be.

I mean Pima County has set up a program to provide these vaccinations and they have certainly more capacity than they have supply.

Then the state came in and set up its pod at the UFA and took that the vaccine for that off the top of what Pima County already had.

So I think there's been a lot of frustration among Pima County officials.

You know last week we got a lot of the vaccine supply because stuff that had been sent to us or stuff that was supposed to be sent to us got delayed because of the cold weather now we've got a whole bunch more coming in.

The other thing that's coming up soon that we have to be concerned about is it's gonna start getting really hot.

And right now we're doing most of this outdoors people are driving up in their cars and the staff is all standing outside, providing the shots, registering people, guiding them through the process, and that's not gonna be safe to do when those temperatures get higher.

- Locally Pima County Board of Supervisors on top of this the way people like?

- Oh I think they are.

I think that there's some unnecessary anxiety out there maybe a little bit of fear.

I think when Administrator Chuck Huckelberry recently said, " Hey we just don't have money for testing and we're gonna cut it off," that he knew in his heart he was never gonna cut it off we're gonna find the money somewhere the state and through with it.

And I think that causes some unnecessary frustration among people.

By our check the Pima County is receiving the amount of vaccine commensurate with our population of the state which is about 14%.

So we can't say that the state's been holding back or or anything like that as far as the vaccine goes.

I do think the board has been wanting to be on top of this and it's done a pretty good job, but again somethings you just can't control and for us one of those is just the amount of vaccine coming into Arizona itself.

- Jim we have some new faces and voices on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Not necessarily a lot of new waves though.

Is that a fair assessment?

- You do have people who are pushing the board in a slightly different direction.

For example Rex Scott, in district one is now saying he wants to see the county move into this whole childcare operation.

That has been a topic of discussion for several years here in Pima County.

He wants $10 million to start a pilot program.

And that's something the old board did not have an appetite for they felt that responsibility went to the state to provide those childcare dollars and did not wanna see Pima County move into that area given all the other expenses that the county already has.

- Dan is it a new day on the Pima County Board of Supervisors?

- Well it's a rough day for our representative down here Steve Christie because he is the lone Republican.

And I think the other four members being Democrats have pushed him a little bit even further right.

I think he gets frustrated real clear through some of those he's questioning certain things that he had an ally in with Ellie Miller in the past even though they were two very, very different people.

So it's pushed him I think a little bit more to the right.

- Jim I have to ask there were some rumblings about Mayor Romero possibly being tapped for a federal gig.

What's the likeliness of that?

- You know I've heard that rumor.

I wrote about it, the Romero, Mayor Romero's office just said that it would be an honor to be considered, but that she's focused on our work here in Tucson.

And there is two schools of thought on that.

One is that there's actually some serious consideration that she's a talented Latina, maybe it's time to move up.

There's other rumors that people have started this rumor 'cause they're not super happy with Regina and they'd love the idea for leaving town.

I don't see her actually getting tapped for the position I think she likes being mayor here in Tucson this is where her power basis so I expect she'll be sticking around.

- And Dan we should note that this week the recall effort for the mayor actually failed.

- Right it did and not by much, but it did fail.

And it was definitely something a bunch of people who just didn't like her no matter what she would do right or wrong.

But remember, while she had been on the council for 12 years she was elected mayor and then stepped almost immediately into all of this COVID stuff which is a very difficult circumstance for any leader and his certainly tried to do her best.

I would be in line with those who wanna see her go I think Tucson would be better without an activist type mayor which I see her as.

I was really stunned at the $15 an hour minimum wage when a reporter asked her, " Where are we gonna get the money for that because you have just given 2000 people a raise," and she didn't have an answer.

- There was a justice of the peace who made headlines and there was a firearm involved.

What's the threat level facing public figures these days?

Go ahead Dan - No matter how upset you are I think it's really out of bounds to go launch a demonstration in front of an officials private home.

I think that's a bad idea.

It's so easy to find everybody online these days and to know where people live but we don't need to point it out that clearly it is a difficult situation.

We've had a rough year for journalists you know a lot of them getting beat up at events and things like that but this is a constant threat for our public servants.

And it's very, very real and that's exactly what happened to this justice of the peace Adam Waters is that he was victimized by this and for whatever reason fired a warning shot, and it's still yet to be played out we're just real early in this one.

- Jim.

- Yeah I do think that people who are running for office are facing threats.

Like there's always been a few yahoos out there who would get so passionate about something that they'd send some kind of death threats.

But you look what we saw on January 6th at the capitol.

I mean, I think the challenges for people who are in public office now are greater than they have ever been.

And there's just, on both sides of the aisle there's just way too many people who are so absorbed by all of this that they're considering taking violent actions.

And I think that's 100% inappropriate, no matter what end of the political spectrum you're on.

- All right, Jim Nintzel from Tucson local media, Dan Shearer from Green Valley News Sahuarita Sun My thanks to both of you.

- Thanks.

- Always a pleasure, Tucson City Council, races this year (instrumental music) - The pandemic snapped a 60 plus year tradition with a cancellation of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Showcase.

The effects have devastated many companies but some are still open for business.

Tony Paniagua has a story.

- [Tony] The large white tents around Tucson this year are pointing to places where people can get vaccinated against the Corona virus.

But in 2020, and before that many of these structures were part of a massive winter migration to the city.

It brought a treasure trove to Tucson literally.

The Tucson Gem and Mineral and Fossil Showcase attracts thousands of merchants and visitors to Southern Arizona.

The showcase is made up of multiple gatherings by groups or companies.

Collectively, they pumped tens of millions of dollars to the regional economy.

(water flowing) Michal Mael established Michal & Company Nature's Art Decor a couple of decades ago in Los Angeles.

As part of her operations Tucson is one of her annual destinations.

- Oh it's huge.

I mean, this show is probably about 70% of my income.

So this show means so much to us.

First of all we supply, we're the supply chain for the whole world.

This is the only place, that you can get something from Morocco, from Brazil, from Uruguay, from Russia, from Europe, from South America, this is the only place.

And I don't think people understand how lucky they are in Tucson in Arizona, to have such a huge mecca of crystals in their hands once a year - [Tony] Even though the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center was not held last month, Mael is still opening for business.

She's renting a 10,000 square foot warehouse on main avenue North of downtown.

- So what's happening right now is in lieu of the show being canceled, I said what am I gonna do?

Like people are still gonna be coming and wanting these crystals and how am I gonna be able to get to them?

And then also 2021, what's gonna happen?

We don't really know, so I said okay I'm gonna close up shop in LA, and I'm gonna bring all of this beautiful, majestic energy beings into Tucson, Arizona and open it up here for the very first time.

So normally I'm here about two months out of the year, but now I'm gonna be here full-time - [Tony] Perhaps she'll only sell a fraction of what a typical year would fetch, but for her assistance such as Louis, this chance to work is crucial.

- Work's been pretty slow.

I get what I can get in and do whatever it takes to take care of my family.

It's an income every year that I bank on every year and not happening, put a big dent in my pocket.

(car engine roaring) - A few blocks North of Michal & Company, Kulin Pandey is also employing at his family's business.

Superb Mineral specializes in imports from India.

And leases a 12,000 square foot warehouse where they're displayed.

Due to the pandemic, there have been more sales online.

- People can look at the mental and they can discuss they can buy, they can make offers, things like that.

So definitely it helps a lot to have a space like this, but again, it adds the cost up too because when you're doing a show you're only paying a show fee, and if the show is canceled, you save that money or use it for the next years as a deposit.

But here, you're still paying your monthly rental, and all of those expenses are still where they were but the revenue like generation has gone down tremendously.

It's 75% of the revenue, for our entire year that comes from Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

- [Tony] Customers such as Mark Young are trickling in, drown here by the sparkling items.

He started a collection years ago and just can't stop.

- I have two kids that live in Phoenix so feel to come out here and say hello to them, see them.

And I brought my brother-in-law 'cause we usually come to the Gem Mineral Show, every year for the past 12 years.

- [Tony] And what does this mean for you having a showcase here in Tucson?

- Oh this is my reprieve every year.

We leave here, and spending two weeks here and can't wait to come back the next year.

We spend, I don't know how wise this is, but maybe 10,000 a little more, who knows.

But now, she's saving me a lot of money.

- [Tony] Moving forward merchants like Pandey and Mael are cautiously optimistic about the financial prognosis.

They hope the crystals align.

- Because just having a show for the sake of having a show, is not gonna make a difference.

Because the economic flow, the economic body has to work in favor of everybody to make it a successful show.

(machine roaring) - So we're also dancing and seeing how we can shift.

So 2022, let's just pray.

I mean I think really, at one point you just have, give it to God, and hope for the best.

- [Tony] And there may be some relief in just a few weeks.

Currently various other shows are scheduled to be held in April subject to COVID conditions next month.

- As for how the rest of the city is compensating for the loss of major events, we turned to Barbara Coffee, Tucson's director of economic initiatives.

Barbara this is normally an exciting and busy time of year in the city of Tucson with the rodeo, the street fair, the festival books, the gem show, all those things missing this time around, how much money does the city normally take in from those events?

- I can tell you as an economic development professional with the city that it is hard to go without the special events.

The impact is phenomenal.

I know the Jim Show and the events you mentioned that happened at the beginning of each year are critical to sustaining usually the rest of the year especially for our hospitality industry, the food and beverage sector that surrounds that.

And so again absent that, that type of economic impact, it becomes a challenge.

And so I know it's sorely missed, but we do, we see some positive signs and we're hopeful that through at the end of this year that we'll be back on track.

- Easily tens of millions of dollars loss, then you talk about sales tax.

So how does a city of this size sort of make up for it as we look into the future?

- You know it's interesting though that sales taxes are rising.

They're up.

I listened to Dr. George Hammond with the University of Arizona College of Eller, School of Management.

He was suggesting in his last podcast that we're up 12% with sales taxes over January of last year where we saw some losses in leisure and hospitality and food and beverage, we saw some growth, in our large industry sectors around transportation and logistics.

- In your opinion, Tucson is on the right track to get out of this pandemic when it comes to the economics.

- I think so.

And of course it's my job to say so as well but I think beyond that, we are positioned very well to recover.

We're surrounded by neighbors such as California where things are difficult, it's more challenging, it's higher cost of doing business.

The other thing that I love about our position where we are in Arizona is not only the proximity to Mexico and the bicultural bilateral opportunities that that offers us, but also the opportunity to be close to Phoenix, and only an hour and a half up the road where we have access to two large markets, to great airports, and that I think adds to our competitive advantage as well.

But still gives us everything that we know and love about the uniqueness here in Tucson - You have painted somewhat of a positive picture and as you know, there are people who are sitting at home and watching this, and that's not the case for them.

What sorts of resources are available if you're struggling and you live or have a business in the city of Tucson?

- So I would say for those definitely reach out to us.

Sometimes it's just not knowing where to go, so we keep our hotline for small business, 520-837-4100, we answer those calls and we help, figure out sort of triage.

What is it the business needs.

And so we can point them to capital and financing resource partners that are in our community.

We can help them with business licensed questions or development plans.

We can help them with access to training for their workforce, whatever their needs might be.

And so sometimes they don't know what they don't know.

So they don't know they can call us and we can help take the guesswork out of that.

So I would say, that's not to hesitate and definitely reach out.

- All right, Barbara Coffee the economic initiatives director for the city of Tucson.

Thank you.

- Thanks very much.

(instrumental music) - With the arrival of a single dose COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson, we learned more about it from Dr. Elizabeth Connick, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

- Johnson and Johnson was tested a little later time point so it had to go against the variance that Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines did not go against.

So we really don't know, if the Johnson and Johnson is less effective or not.

And this is going to take some time.

They are made differently both Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines.

And mRNA, is a template, it provides a blueprint for your body to make the spike protein.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine, uses a slightly different way of introducing the blueprint.

It uses DNA.

- So you're saying that, because Johnson and Johnson came after Pfizer and Moderna it doesn't lessen any of the steps they had to go through.

As a matter of fact they have tested again these new variants that have been emerging.

- Right, exactly.

We don't know what new variants will emerge in the next two months, and we don't know how any of these vaccines will do against them.

So I think it's really premature, to make any statements about one vaccine being better than another vaccine.

Now, at the end of the day if one vaccine, turns out, to be better than another they can give you a boost or shock, and they will.

But right now, we just need to stop transmission, stop people getting sick, so that we can get back to normal.

- The side effects are very similar to Pfizer and Moderna as well.

- Well actually there's some suggestion the side effects are less with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

So it may be easier to tolerate.

There's only one dose, with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and the worst side effects with both Moderna and Pfizer came with the second shot.

So Johnson and Johnson may have an advantage in that way.

- Given that Johnson and Johnson is the single dose is there someone, who might be better fit for that one, as opposed to Pfizer and Moderna.

- Absolutely people who have a hard time getting to a vaccine site, for any reason.

And there's all kinds of people for whom it's difficult, to get out, and get to a vaccine site.

Certainly if somebody is allergic to the components in the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine, Johnson and Johnson is a wonderful alternative, and I actually know somebody who is allergic to them.

So it's great, he has an option.

I think people in rural areas where the cold storage is not so readily available, they may end up getting more of the Johnson and Johnson.

- If people are still grappling with whether or not to receive the vaccine, because you study this very issue, what is your recommendation?

- Most people know someone who's died of COVID-19.

Some people know multiple people.

How many people do you know who've died from a vaccine or a COVID-19 vaccine?

I don't know anyone.

I think those facts in and of themselves, make a choice fairly obvious.

I think the great thing is as many people continue to get vaccinated, I think vaccine hesitancy is declining.

Because people see their friends, their family healthcare workers, getting the vaccine, and they're fine.

So hopefully, as more and more people get vaccinated the public will continue to realize that gee, this really doesn't look like it's hurting people.

- Okay, Dr. Elizabeth Connick from the UA College of Medicine in Tucson thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- That's all for now.

Thanks for joining us.

To get in touch visit us on social media, or send an email to arizona360y@azpm.org and let us know what you think.

We'll see you next week.

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