www.tucsonlocalmedia.com
January 2022
DESERT TIMES The Voice of Southwest Tucson
Volume 35 • Number 1
Desert Defense
Regionalism vital for Pima County’s future | Page 8
Tucson lagging Phoenix in pandemic job recovery
INSIDE
Our Town
An update from the Marana Chamber | Page 4
Alexandra Pere Tucson Local Media
the mission as “perhaps the most ambitious astronomy project human beings have done.” George and Marcia Rieke, both UA Regents Professors of Astronomy, have worked with infrared astronomy and NASA missions for decades. See SPACE TELESCOPE, P6
See ECONOMIC FORCAST, P5
Happenings
Theatre, music and classes | Page 7
Healthcare 2022: A new beginning | Page 11
Photo courtesy of Bobby Bradley / NASA (CC BY-NC 2.0)
UA Astronomers Help NASA Space Telescope Explore Universe’s Past Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media
A
husband and wife team of University of Arizona professors and their research group are part of an international group of scientists working on NASA’s new James Webb
Space Telescope, which launched on Dec. 22. The JWST will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission, and will be able to observe some of the oldest and most remote objects in the universe. George Rieke, UA Regents Professor of Astronomy, describes
G
eorge Hammond, the director of the UA’s Eller Economic and Business Research Center, said that while the Arizona economy is bouncing back from the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tucson’s job recovery has been slower than Phoenix and Flagstaff. Hammond presented his newest compilation of economic data virtually at the Arizona Economic Outlook event on Nov. 30. Hammond advised attendees to keep their eyes on Arizona’s labor and housing markets. Tucson is behind Flagstaff and Phoenix in replacing jobs lost in the beginning months of the pandemic. Tucson had a 77.5% job replacement rate, while Flagstaff had 85% and Phoenix had 105.8%.