Desert Times, July 7, 2021

www.tucsonlocalmedia.com

July 2021

DESERT TIMES The Voice of Southwest Tucson

Volume 34 • Number 7

Senior Services Resource Guide 2021 How the pandemic changed senior needs, and local resource listings | Page 8

INSIDE

MY BEST FRIEND

Desert To-Dos Events returning around town | Page 3

This year’s pets section has info about local doggy day care, pet psychics, and plenty of reader-submitted photos for our cutest pets contest! Read more in our pets special section.

Courtesy photo

Board Notes Stewardship in Pima County | Page 5

SPONSORED BY

County falls short of mid-year vaccination goals Christina Duran Tucson Local Media

Arts Again Art groups collaborating | Page 15

A

s 2021 reaches its midpoint, Pima County continues to push for more people to get vaccinated.

At the start of June, the Biden administration announced their “all-of-America” sprint to have 70% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4. Howev-

er, as the holiday weekend grew close last week, Biden conceded that the country would not reach the goal.

The state of Arizona and Pima County hadn’t hit the goal at the start of the holiday weekend last week, either.

As of July 4, the U.S. falls just short at 66.7% of the U.S. total adult population vaccinated with at least one shot. According to County Administrator Chuck

Huckelberry’s July 1 COVID-19 update memo, 62.1% of adults have received at least one dose in Arizona and 69.6% in Pima County.

Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen had hoped the county could reach the goal, but said last week it would fall short of hitting the number by Independence Day.

Advocates blast Supreme Court decision upholding Arizona election laws Brooke Newman Cronkite News

T

he Supreme Court Thursday rejected claims that Arizona’s ballot-harvesting and out-of-precinct election rules discriminate against minority voters, a ruling that one critic said “takes a sledgehammer” to equal voting protections.

The 6-3 ruling said that while the state laws may result in some voters’ ballots being rejected, they do not “exceed the usual burdens of voting” and do not affect one group of voters more than any other.

In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the majority’s “tragic” opinion rewrites the Voting Rights Act “to weaken … a statute that stands as a monument to America’s greatness.”

See COVID, P4

See SUPREME COURT, P6

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Desert Times, July 2021

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Desert Times

The Desert Times is published the first week of every month and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout south Tucson. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of the Desert Times, please visit www.TucsonLocalMedia.com

STAFF ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President Jaime Hood, General Manager jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com Claudine Sowards, Accounting claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Managing Editor jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Mike Truelsen, Web Editor mike@tucsonlocalmedia.com Christina Duran, Staff Reporter christinad@tucsonlocalmedia.com Ireland Stevenson, Staff Reporter istevenson@tucsonlocalmedia.com PRODUCTION Courtney Oldham, Production Manager, tucsonproduction@timespublications.com Ryan Dyson Graphic Designer ryand@tucsonlocalmedia.com Emily Filener, Graphic Designer emilyf@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com Kristin Chester, Account Executive kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Lisa Hopper, Account Executive lisa@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com Tyler Vondrak, Account Executive tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL & AD CONTENT The Desert Times expresses its opinion in the editorial. Opinions expressed in guest commentaries, perspectives, cartoons or letters to the editor are those of the author. The content and claims of any advertisement are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Tucson Local Media assumes no responsibility for the claims or content of any advertisement. Publisher has the right to edit for size or refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion.

7225 N. Mona Lisa Road, Ste. 125 Tucson, Arizona 85741 Phone: (520) 797-4384

Desert Times, July 2021

Desert To-Dos Desert in Bloom. This month at the Madaras Gallery, they’re celebrating the beauty of the desert in bloom, from prickly pear blossoms to wildflowers and poppies.

The explosions of color that happen in blooming season are perhaps both one of the most surprising and most wonderful parts about living here in the desert. And when the going gets rough with that desert heat, it’s always a good idea to take the time to focus on the good stuff. The exhibit will be open throughout the month of July. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Madaras Gallery, 3035 N. Swan Road. Free.

generously offering virtual office hours this summer, for anyone looking for advice, feedback, pointers and tips on writing. Pellegrino left the business world to be a writer since 1984, and she’s been writing and teaching about it ever since. She’s led workshops for people of all ages, coordinated programming for the Owl & Panther Project for 20 years, and developed the library’s Word Journeys program for 12 years. She’s also the author of Neon Words: 10 Brilliant Ways to Light Up Your Writing. 2 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and 10 to 11 a.m. on Thursdays. Sessions are half an hour, and limited to one per person per week. Be sure to register in advance at the CAPTRUST Com- library website! munity Gallery: Arizona Space Wars. It’s been Landscapes. The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural over a year since the Gaslight Alliance has partnered with Theatre did an indoor meloCAPTRUST on this gallery drama. They did some really celebrating the work of Ar- incredible outdoor shows, izona artists. It’s located in which you could enjoy from Phoenix, but it’s easy peasy to your car. But there’s nothing make a virtual visit at saaca. like the atmosphere inside the org. The summer 2021 exhib- Gaslight Theatre. For their it focuses on art inspired by first show back (with limited Arizona landscapes, across capacity seating), they’re domultiple mediums and styles. ing this parody of Star Wars.

Barbara Garber, for exam- Do Duke Starfighter, Prinple, is a natural light fine art cess Layla and the rest of the photographer. Casey Cheuv- Rebels have what it takes to ront does painting, drawing stop the Evil Dark Visor from and ceramics. Ira Beckway destroying the universe? The works in ink, oil and etching, wisdom of Yoga (the little among other mediums. And green sage dude) enough to Nancy Breiman does every- keep Duke on the Course, is thing from graphic design it? Only one way to find out, to woodworking. Come see and it’s INDOORS! May the the exhibit and celebrate our Farce Be With You. Showing most Wednesdays through lovely state!

Sundays through Aug. 29.

One-on-One Writing (Most of July is already sold Consultations. Calling all out!) Gaslight Theatre, 7010 writers! The Pima County E. Broadway Blvd. $23.95 Public Library’s writer-in-res- adults, $21.95 seniors/stuidence, Marge Pellegrino, is dents/military, $13.95 kids.

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COVID Continued from P1

“We’re not going to meet it,” said Cullen. “But we’re close, hopefully we’ll be at 69%.”

Reaching the elusive herd immunity has proven difficult as vaccine administration steadily decreased beginning in April. While some people remain hesitant to get a shot or simply are refusing to do so, health officials attribute the struggle to vaccinate to a lack of access.

“One thing we hear repeatedly from people that are working hourly jobs is that they’re really fearful about getting vaccinated because they’re not salaried

Desert Times, July 2021

and they may or may not have any kind of medical leave,” said Cullen. “Almost everybody knows somebody who got a little sick and if they get sick, they’re going to miss work and they can’t afford to miss work especially with the economy.”

The county has shifted to provide mobile vaccinations sites, partnering with local organizations to administer vaccines at a church, school, or cultural center. In April, the county partnered with FEMA to administer vaccines through two mobile sites that changed to several different locations where they hoped to make it easy for those most at risk and vulnerable to get their shot.

As of June 26, the FEMA mobile unit vaccinations have ended and large vaccination sites shut down,

with Gila River Arena in Glendale administering final doses on June 28.

However, the vaccination effort continues and the CDC has funded several initiatives across Arizona to address health disparities due to COVID-19 and the barriers to vaccination.

The Arizona Prevention Research Center (AzPRC) at University of Arizona’s College of Public Health received a one-year supplemental grant award of $500,000 from the CDC to increase vaccinations among rural, border and underserved Arizona communities and identify barriers to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.

Tomas Nuño, the lead and co-investigator for the effort, said AzPRC will use its existing network to conduct the research, part-

nering with the university’s mobile health units, which have been administering COVID-19 vaccines to rural, uninsured and farmworker populations in Southern Arizona since February.

The funding would be used to conduct listening sessions with AzPRC’s Community Action Board members and other key stakeholders to identify barriers to increased vaccinations and identify solutions. It would also support the Mobile Health Units to increase vaccine confidence and conduct surveys to understand barriers to getting vaccinated.

Nuño said they hope to learn what factors lead to “confidence or no confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.” They would be asking what people consider their concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine, how they get their information and who might have influenced their decision, like their provider or family and friends. From the work conducted by the Mobile Health Units, Nuño said practical issues play the biggest role in the vaccination effort for the Hispanic community.

“For the Hispanic community it’s not about hesitancy so much, it’s more about access and availability and fear of what are the requirements to get vaccinated, fear of giving personal information or work requirements, not being able to get off work,” said Nuño.

Nuño is aware a lot could change over the course of the year. He said they have already discussed

the possibility of addressing the need for a booster shot or a surge in the winter, or even a decline in need with high vaccination rates.

“Hopefully we can increase the confidence and increase the access,” said Nuño. “So it starts with the ease of access in providing it and then confidence and then actually getting vaccinated.”

VACCINE EFFECTIVE AT PREVENTING AND LESSENING COVID SYMPTOMS With months of real-world data supporting the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines reported by the CDC, Arizona Healthcare, Emergency Response, and Other Essential Workers Surveillance (AZ HEROES) conducted their own real-world study of mostly vaccinated frontline essential workers, which showed the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine at preventing breakthrough infections, as well as lessening the severity, length and viral load for those infected.

According to Jeff Burgess, principal investigator of AZ HEROES, they found that two doses of the mRNA vaccines, either Pfizer or Moderna, were 91% effective in preventing COVID-19. For breakthrough cases, those who got COVID days after their first dose or had gotten both doses, “the infection was much shorter, much less severe than if you hadn’t been vaccinated and furthermore, there was less virus there and for a shorter period of time than if you had not been vaccinated.”

For Burgess, these findings showcase how remarkable the vaccines are and how fortunate we have been.

“We’re really fortunate that we have these messenger RNA vaccines and they’re as effective as they are,” said Burgess. “These are not brand-new vaccines. The history of messenger RNA vaccines goes back 10 years and they’ve been improved over time, and I think that we benefited, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, from all that previous development. But we’re also fortunate, at least to this time, that so far it’s been effective against the variants, maybe not quite as effective, but still been effective against all the COVID-19 variants that have occurred.”

Burgess said there’s reasonable evidence to support that the Delta variant, which is becoming the dominant strain across the U.S., is more infectious and more severe. Since January, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Flagstaff has reported 122 cases of the Delta variant. The county reported seven cases of the variant in the last two months, according to Huckelberry’s July 1 memo.

“We are worried about it, but it’s one reason why we monitor our daily cases so much and why they seem to be pretty stable right now,” said Cullen. “The vaccine seems to be as protective, so we’re not worried about that. What we’re worried about is it getting in the unprotected, unvaccinated community because it will spread quicker.”

BOARD NOTES

Desert Times, July 2021

Pima County is leading the way in environmental stewardship

Sharon Bronson

Special to Tucson Local Media

I

n southern Arizona, we have always known how lucky we are to call such a magical place our home. The endless sunshine and unrivaled desert beauty can only be matched by the people. We are blessed everyday with the goodness and diversity of our neighbors.

But our community is not immune from consequences of a rapidly changing world, especially changes related to climate and the fragile environment. Pima County has long been aware of these issues and the responsibility we have to address the challenges.

A principal concern of the

county for many years has been water. The brutal drought we’ve been suffering through this year and last just proves what we already know, water is our most precious natural resource and we must treat it as such. An important part of our water conservation ethos is the Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department’s reclaimed water program.

County taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into wastewater treatment facilities capable of producing the highest quality reclaimed water. These facilities treat more than 65,000 acre-feet of effluent annually for use in irrigation of public parks, riparian restoration, and

underground storage, greatly minimizing regional dependance on groundwater and surface water.

The water we discharge into the Santa Cruz River feeds the state’s longest effluent-dependent river and creates a unique wetland environment.

The high purity of effluent has restored this ecosystem and fueled a resurgence in insect, amphibian and other aquatic life.

We are working with Marana on improvements to the El Rio Preserve near Twin Peaks and Coachline to protect the town’s natural resource park.

Our stewardship and that of our partner organizations has seen the reemergence of the Gila topminnow, a native

fish species once thought to be just a memory in our region.

Another of the County’s riparian assets is the marvelous Cienega Creek Natural Preserve. As one of the few remaining perennial streams and riparian ecosystems in southeastern Arizona, the 4,000-acre preserve supports a wide variety of wildlife, including rare and endangered species.

These efforts will help ensure our community has the water necessary to continue to grow and prosper for the foreseeable future, while also protecting the beautiful yet fragile ecosystem in which we live.

In 1998, I and a majority of the other members of the Board of Supervisors directed County staff to devise a policy framework to protect the precious resource of the Sonoran Desert environment. This began a process of community engagement to develop smart growth policies that extend protections into the desert landscape without stopping

proposed development in its tracks.

The result of this multi-year endeavor was the adoption of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which has been nationally and internationally recognized as a model of cultural and environmental conservation and smart growth policies.

With the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and the related Multi-species Conservation Plan as our guides, we have provided protection for 44 plant and animal species and banked more than 70,000 acres of land to mitigate future impacts under the permit.

Our efforts also include adopting a conservation ethos for the built environment. Beginning in 2005, the Board of Supervisors directed county staff to develop an action plan to reduce our carbon footprint and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

The resulting Sustainable Action Plan for County Operations (SAPCO) provides a

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framework for meeting rigorous greenhouse gas reduction targets. To meet some of these goals, we have committed to converting the majority of our fleet of vehicles to electric and hybrid by 2025, gotten five county buildings LEED Silver or higher certified, and installed more than 13.48 megawatts of solar generation capacity.

The SAPCO plan also sets goals for recycling of materials, expanding green purchasing efforts, and reducing the volume of waste our properties generate. In addition, the board in 2017 reiterated the County’s commitment to achieving or exceeding the carbon-cutting goals established in the Paris Climate Accords.

Pima County and the Board of Supervisors commitment to environmental protection and responsible stewardship runs deep.

Sharon Bronson represents District 3 on the Pima County Board of Supervisors

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Supreme Court Continued from P1

But Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich called the decision “a win for election integrity safeguards in Arizona and across the country.”

“Fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic and they start with rational laws that protect both the right to vote and the accuracy of the results,” Brnovich tweeted after the court handed down its ruling in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee.

Critics – from President Joe Biden down to local voting rights advocates – said the ruling guts a critical piece of the Voting Rights Act that the court weakened in a separate case eight years ago. It comes as state legislatures considered record numbers of voting restriction bills this year.

“Today’s decision takes a sledgehammer to that foundation (of equal access to voting) and gives a green light to states like Arizona to

enact further restrictions that target minority voters and limit their ability to exercise their right to vote,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, in a prepared statement.

The ruling concerned Democratic challenges to Arizona’s 2016 ballot-collection law, which made it a felony for anyone other than a family member, caretaker or letter carrier to turn in a voter’s ballot. It also ruled on the state’s longstanding policy on ballots cast outside a voter’s precinct, which requires election officials to reject any ballot cast in the wrong precinct – thus voiding the voter’s choice in national and statewide elections not related to precincts.

Advocates said those rules targeted Black, Hispanic and Native American voters. They rely more heavily than others on mail-in voting and are more likely to face confusion about where to vote, because of shifting precincts, and have transportation issues that make it hard to get to the right precinct,

Desert Times, July 2021

the advocates said.

Two federal courts upheld the state’s policies, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2020 that the rules had a disproportionate impact on minority voters. The court said that violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits any procedure that makes it harder for anyone to vote “on account of race or color.”

The Supreme Court reversed that ruling Thursday in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote that whatever hurdles the policies impose fall on all voters evenly and are no more than squarely the “usual burdens of voting.”

“A policy that appears to work for 98% or more of voters to whom it applies – minority and non-minority alike – is unlikely to render a system unequally open,” Alito wrote.

He cited data from Arizona’s 2016 general election that showed that “a little over 1% of Hispanic voters, 1% of African-American voters, and 1% of Native American voters” who cast a ballot on Election Day, did so in the wrong precinct. That com-

pared to a rate of 0.5% for non-minority voters, he said.

“The mere fact there is some disparity in impact does not necessarily mean that a system is not equally open,” Alito wrote.

But Kagan said those numbers can make a difference in an election.

“A rule that throws out, each and every election, thousands of votes cast by minority citizens is a rule that can affect election outcomes,” she wrote. “If you were a minority vote suppressor in Arizona or elsewhere, you would want that rule in your bag of tricks.”

While the rules may not be discriminatory on their face, they are in effect, she said. The out-of-precinct policy results in “Hispanic and African American voters’ ballots being thrown out at a statistically higher rate than those of whites,” she wrote, and the ballot-harvesting ban makes voting “meaningfully more difficult” for Native Americans who “need to travel long distances to use the mail.”

Kagan said Section 2 should be interpreted broadly to guarantee a fundamen-

tal right, but that the majority instead “undermines” a law it considers too “radical.”

Section 2 should apply to the Arizona rules, she said, but “The majority reaches the opposite conclusion because it closes its eyes to the facts on the ground.”

Ryan Snow, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called the ruling just another example of voting rights advocates and a conservative court butting heads. And it won’t be the last time, he said.

“There’s going to be more litigation,” Snow said. “In the Supreme Court’s ruling they said they will take up more voting rights concerns, so it certainly won’t be the last.”

Korina Iribe, voting rights activist with the Movement Voter Project, called the ruling an example of attacks from state legislatures on ballot access for some voters in response to the 2020 elections.

“Elected Republican officials are saying this has to stop, because they saw people get out and vote” in the last election, Iribe said.

But Lori Roman, president at the American Civil

Rights Union, said “the argument against voting integrity laws are subjective and not based on facts.”

She added that Arizona had merely enacted “common-sense election laws” which “should make it easier for states that are trying to protect the security of their elections going forward.”

Niles Harris, executive director at Honest Arizona, criticized Brnovich for pursuing the case that “undermined the most important voting rights law enacted in the 20th century,” a comment echoed by Grijalva.

“Once again, a conservative court has gutted a critical provision of the Voting Rights Act and made it more difficult for minority voters to prove discriminatory intent when state legislatures pass new voting laws,” Grijalva said.

Snow said the ruling will make it harder for advocates to continue their work, but that it is not over.

“It’s up to advocates to do a very thorough job of presenting the facts and proving that voting processes are not equally open,” he said.

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Desert Times, July 2021

AGING WELL

I

f you’re looking for an easy way to improve your physical health and mood, just breathe.

The practice of breathwork, or the intentional manipulation of your breathing, has been gaining attention, thanks to the widespread popularity of yoga and meditation. However, researchers have been studying the benefits of breathwork for years.

“Breathing is not new— it’s the most essential thing we do for our bodies— but breathwork is a new approach to wellness,” says William Wesley Meyers, director of wellness for Mather. Mather is one of the parent companies of Splendido, an all-inclusive community for those 55 and better in Oro Valley.

“Breathwork was recently identified as a top trend for the wellness industry by the Global Wellness Institute, and we are incorporating it in programs at Splendido,” says William. “You can use it a number of ways, to rejuvenate and restore, or to relax and calm.”

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Regular breathwork, or the intentional manipulation of your breathing, offers many benefits to your physical and emotional health.

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Breathwork Benefits Physical benefits from deep breathing are often instantaneous. There is a direct relationship between breath rate, mood, and systems that activate our fightor-flight or rest-and-restore responses, which directly affect heart rate, respiration, and digestion. Deep, mindful breathing carries benefits to these systems and more: Emotional Health: One study showed that manipulating the breath can cause up to a 40% variance in emotions. Evoke joy by breathing and exhaling slowly and deeply through the nose. Other research shows

Blood Pressure: A regular practice of slow, deep breathing is an effective way to reduce blood pressure.

Stamina: An Italian study found that the lungs of mountain-climbers who practiced slow breathing an hour a day for two years maximized oxygen better, allowing the climbers to forego supplemental oxygen needed by others to summit Mount Everest.

Try It Yourself Breathwork can be done on your own, with a little research, Focus: Breath-focused yoga or you can look for a class can sharpen participants’ near you. Here are two basic attention spans and focus by practices to get you started: changing brain chemistry.

Simply focus on your Pain Management: Multiple breath—this can be done studies have shown that slow, anytime and anywhere for deep breathing can reduce two or three minutes. Breathe perception of chronic pain, through your nose naturally, or help people cope with and observe your inhalations discomfort. Breathwork can and exhalations. Are your be especially effective with breaths regular? Do you inhale and exhale at the same pace? back pain.

A popular practice is alternate nostril breathing.

Gently close your right nostril and inhale through your left nostril, then close your left nostril and open your right to exhale slowly through it. Inhale “You can develop your through the right nostril, then

Longevity: Research has shown that breathwork improves metabolism and reduces inflammation—both of which contribute to longer life.

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Desert Times, July 2021

Senior Services Resource Guide 2021

Pandemic changed needs for seniors Local services are adapting to the new normal

Christina Duran Tucson Local Media

J

une this year looked different from last year, especially for older adults most affected

by COVID-19. Despite the higher rate of infection for individuals below age 65, those 65 and older had the greatest number of deaths due to COVID-19. While the threat of the virus may have somewhat subsided as about 75% of those 65 and

older are fully vaccinated in the nation, other pre-pandemic issues continue to pose concerns for the aging population.

Even before the pandemic, those in the caregiving professions knew a shortage in workers would occur. The pandemic only exacerbated the problem, said Homewatch CareGivers of Tucson president Margie Lannon.

“We are also taking care of the baby boomers, and there are a lot more baby

boomers and we knew a long time ago that this was going to happen,” said Lannon. “Granted the pandemic and the pay rates have made things a little bit more difficult with the surplus money that they’ve been getting for staying home, but it’s also the generational gap that we have right now.”

The pandemic only caused a greater shortage as individuals felt fear of contracting COVID-19 or infecting someone else. Partic-

ularly in Green Valley, where many of Lannon’s in-home care workers are retirees, she said many of them resigned during the pandemic and about half have returned.

Like Lannon, Pima Council on Aging President W. Mark Clark said they knew long before the pandemic that they faced problems with that workforce.

While there is a general labor shortage in the nation, he admits direct care work “tends to be challenging, and

doesn’t pay very well.”

Clark said part of the problem is balancing the workers’ wages with the costs to people who need the in-home care services. He said the only public support for that non-medical inhome care is the state Medicaid program, AHCCCS, which offers the Arizona Long-Term Care System for individuals who are age 65 or older, or who have a disability, and require nursing facility level of care.

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“Some people think Medicaid pays for long term care, it does not. it pays for a limited amount of skilled rehab care, but not what we call non-medical in-home care. It does pay for longterm like skilled care or residential assisted living or those sorts of things,” said Clark. “So people are having to pay for much of that care out of pocket and so as we see significant wage pressure, which we know we’re going to see.”

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With a shortage of workers and some workers getting sick, Lannon implemented what she calls the “caregiver shuffle.”

“An employee would get exposed to somebody with COVID, so then they couldn’t work for 14 days.

So that caregiver might have taken care of five different clients that week, but I had to find another caregiver that could go in and take care of her five clients for two weeks,” said Lannon. “It’s not like we can plan ahead for a vacation...This was you know like five people calling and saying, ‘I’ve got exposed.’”

At the start of the pandemic Lannon had about 20 clients who went on hold because they were not receiving services they deemed necessary.

“We were just helping make their lives a little bit easier by grocery shopping and things like that,” said Lannon. “The people who didn’t feel it was a necessity, they did stop as soon as the pandemic really hit, and all of those people are now back, I think, except for one.”

During the pandemic, Lannon notes demand for their in-home care services fluctuated from month-tomonth.

“One month I would

have a ton of people who needed help, and then the next month it was quiet as a bee. I mean, there was really no rhyme or reason, I couldn’t make any sense of it,” said Lannon.

Prior to the pandemic, Lannon said they traditionally ran at about 125 employees and have about 91 caregivers at the moment.

As the number of workers climbs back up, Lannon faces increased demand and finds herself having to refer clients to other agencies, turning away and sending about 10 clients to other agencies in the last two weeks.

“It breaks my heart when people are calling and I can’t help them. It’s probably the worst feeling in the whole wide world,” said Lannon.

According to Clark, the Pima Council on Aging has about 180 people on a waiting list that they have approved for services, but their 13 providers are unable to find a person to work in those people’s homes.

“They’re not waiting for what we would call authorization or service approval.

It’s now just a matter of trying to figure out how one of our providers can find somebody to actually go in their house, help them

Desert Times, July 2021

with bathing, help them with laundry, light housekeeping, linen changes. The kind of really important caring work, those direct care workers do on a regular basis,” said Clark.

Lannon had not necessarily prepared for the shortage, but made it her motto to always care for her employees.

“Yes, I own the company.

Yes, I’m the administrator but the person who really is my company is my employees that are out there with their faces,” said Lannon.

When Lannon opened her company about 13 years ago, she conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis with all the other companies in town and found no one was offering employee health care benefits.

“I made that my personal goal to be able to do that and at this point right now, I pay 75% of my employees health care benefits to try to make it even more affordable for them because I want this to be a career for them. I don’t want this just to be a stepping stone,” said Lannon.

For the Pima Council on Aging, facing the shortage meant investing in those training the next generation of caregivers.

Last April, the Pima Council on Aging integrated the CareGiver Training Institute (CGTI) into their family of nonprofit companies as a subsidiary organization to keep it afloat. For more than 20 years, CGTI has provided certified nursing assistant, certified caregiver, and assisted living manager training.

“Those workers do not tend to be the folks doing

that non-medical, in-home direct care work, but they’re the next rung up the ladder,” said Clark. “Part of the way I think you get people to do the direct care work is by talking with them about how that work will allow them to move into higher level, better paying healthcare careers.”

However, CGTI also faced a decrease in students after they had to pause their

9

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Desert Times, July 2021

Seniors: Caregiver difficulties after the pandemic Continued from P9

approved by the Board of Nursing, as their clinical sites were no longer accepting nursing assistant students.

This meant investing in PPE and more equipment, like mannequins to provide them that experience.

“Knowing that one of the reasons that people leave the healthcare industry in general, especially within the first year of employment, is that they didn’t feel prepared going into it. They faced circumstances and encounters that they didn’t feel that their training had prepared them for,” said PCOA Vice President of

Population Health Initiatives Rebekah McGee. “We not only wanted to address that moving forward, and training on Caregiver Training Institute has always done a really great job at providing quality training to students, but during this time we wanted to make sure that we were able to do that, especially considering the needs of healthcare workers in a pandemic. “ Once they opened back up, McGee said many students declined enrollment due to personal issues brought on by the pandemic.

“Job training programs saw a steep decline in stu-

dent enrollment because priorities had to change.

Meeting their basic needs and taking care of kids being at home and lack of transportation, lack of childcare, lack of any other income made people have to reevaluate, which is completely understandable,” said McGee. Since then, enrollment has increased with CGTI offering full classes, with waiting lists for would-be students. One of the benefits that McGee thinks draws students to enroll in CGTI is that they provide help overcoming barriers to enroll and also connect them with employers through their industry

partner program. Those in training may go on to work for Casa de la Luz or other partners that provide care services for older adults.

“The people that are doing this work are just wonderful. They have such big hearts, and they continue to do it during the pandemic just kind of talks about who they are,” said Lannon. “My office never shut down because of the pandemic, we were always there, we were always still working.”

While the shortage continues and Clark says they have a lot of work to do, he is reminded of the resilience of older adults. When

Courtesy Pima County Health Department

While the threat of the virus may have somewhat subsided as about 75% of those 65 and older are fully vaccinated in the nation, other pre-pandemic issues continue to pose concerns for the aging population. checking in with their 75 and older clients, about 600 of them, nearly 40%, had already gotten vaccinated.

“They’d figured out how to find a friend who can navigate the registration

system, the transportation system, all of that stuff,” said Clark. “So that resilience, I think, is very important to remember, because sometimes we lose track of that.”

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The Northwest’s Newspaper

My Best Friend 2021 DoggieDaycare

Dogtopia ensures your dog has plenty of fun and company while you’re at work or on vacation

By Jeff Gardner

Barks from Beyond Pet psychics receive messages from the other side of the rainbow bridge

By Emily Dieckman

OurReaders’CutestPets

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My Best Friend 2021

For the Love of Pets Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

I

t’s no secret that Americans love their pets.

Aside from the fact that phrases like “pet parent” are entering our vernacular, consider this: According to the annual survey facilitated by the American Pet Products Association, an estimated 67% of American households have a pet. This adds up to about 85 million families that own a pet. And the number is only increasing, with only 56% of American households owning a pet in 1988 when the survey was first conducted.

Now, we don’t discriminate when it comes to pets, it doesn’t matter if they’re furry, scaly or slimy, as long as they’re properly cared for and make you happy (most of the time). But it’s no exaggeration to say cats, and particularly dogs, own our hearts. According to that same American Pet Products Association survey, of the 85 million Ameri-

can pet households, 42.7 million owned cats, and 63 million owned dogs.

Dogs are an American tradition, from presidential pets roaming the White House to that Mark Twain quote that only gets sweeter by the year: “The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.”

In these pages, you’ll find information on local pet resources like doggy day care. You’ll also find a fun and fascinating article on local mediums who claim to communicate with your pets via extrasensory perception.

But last and certainly not least, we have the Tucson Local Media pets contest!

We’re ordaining the cutest pet in the region! You’ll also see an award for the ugliest local pet, but note the asterisk. Let’s be honest, dogs have that special power where even an “ugly” dog is adorable in their own way, and that’s certainly the case for this year’s winner. A big thanks to all our readers who submitted photos, and may the best pet win!

Tucson’s Dogtopia locations unique from national sites Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

T

ucson’s franchise Dogtopia locations are relatively new to the area, but after a large transformation last year, they’re seeing plenty of business and wagging tails. With locations across the US and Canada, Dogtopia brands themselves as the leading provider of dog daycare in North America.

However, the two locations in Tucson and one in downtown Phoenix operate under a slightly different model to facilitate a tight-knit community of dogs.

The first local Dogtopia opened in Oro Valley in March 2018, on Oracle Road. The following year, a second Dogtopia opened on Tanque Verde Road. According to Dogtopia relationship manager David Duran, both Tucson locations underwent a massive transformation during COVID, briefly shutting down and receiving a new management team.

These local locations now operate under a “weekly enrollment model,” where all daycare dogs are required to come in and play at least once per week to ensure familiarity. The locations offer various enrollment plans from one day per week to unlimited daycare. In addition, only dogs enrolled in daycare are eligible for boarding.

“Our complete focus on regular daycare vs. boarding or occasional drop-in daycare means that our dogs know us, we know them and they know each other,” Duran said. “It makes for a much better daycare experience because they are really able to be themselves and have a great, stress-

Local Dogtopia locations are at 7285 E. Tanque Verde Road and 7621 N. Oracle Road, suite 120. Photo courtesy Dogtopia

free time with their friends…

This is precisely why we believe so much in our enrollment plans. With all of our daycare dogs first having to pass a Meet & Greet prior to enrollment, we are able to ensure that our playrooms are filled with a tight-knit group of dogs that enjoy playing together.”

The Meet & Greet process includes one-on-one time with a Dogtopia staff member, followed by a slow introduction to two or three dogs from one of the playrooms. Once the dog feels comfortable and staff is confident, they are introduced to the rest of the pack inside the playroom. After some further observation in the playroom, they assess whether weekly daycare is a good fit. According to Duran, they generally only schedule two Meet & Greets per day so that they don’t rush the process and take the proper time with each dog to ensure maximum safety. These Meet & Greet takes between 30 minutes and an hour. Each location has three playrooms to accommodate different sized

dogs and their play styles.

“Of course, there will be minor disputes among dogs at times but our Canine Coaches, who undergo extensive training, including how to read a dog’s body language, are trained to spot issues before they happen and to safely resolve the situation in the rare cases that they do,” Duran said.

Beyond lodging, they provide dogs with treat days, photo parties, spa time and, lately, they’ve been hosting community events for their customers as well. Duran explains that they want their “dog parents” to find community through Dogtopia the same way other parents find community through their kids’ schools.

“Between people returning to work as well as taking much needed vacations, we have seen a huge increase in new sign-ups. We might have to start a waitlist soon!” Duran said. “It’s certainly been getting busy but hard to tell if that is from the heat or people going back to offices and traveling. Demand from the

heat in the summer is typically complemented by an increased number of Northern visitors wintering down in Arizona so we are fairly steady throughout the year.”

But despite the increased heat, Dogtopia keeps their play areas air-conditioned while being open seven days a week, 365 days a year, with available extended early drop off and pick up hours from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Customers can even access playroom webcams so they can watch their dogs from afar.

“Outside of our daycares, Dogtopia is very proud of its Dogtopia Foundation, which funds programs focused around three worthy causes: service dogs for veterans, youth literacy programs and employment initiatives for adults with autism,” Duran said. “Both of our Tucson stores are on their way to raising enough to each sponsor their first service dogs for veterans and we could not be prouder of our teams and thankful to our generous dog parents who continuously donate to the foundation.”

MY BEST FRIEND 2021

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My Best Friend 2021

Telepathic Con-fur-sation: Animal Communicators Are you there, dog? It’s me, Margaret.

Emily Dieckman

Special to Tucson Local Media

A

nn Marie Hoff is in the middle of telling me about how she’s had conversations with pets about their end-of-life wishes, then seen those same animals reincarnated in new bodies, when she interrupts herself.

“Just so you know, I have a master’s in animal science nutrition, so I come from a hard science-based background,” she says. “And that is, like, so far from something I would believe, otherwise.

Like sometimes, I hear myself talk, and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe she’s saying this stuff.’”

Hoff describes herself as a pet communicator and intuitive medium, with the ability to talk telepathically to animals ranging from geckos to horses. She says she first learned she had the ability to communicate with animals because she learned she had the ability to communicate with dead people. She hadn’t realized she was clairvoyant until she took a class on being a medium as an adult after leaving a job in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Though, it made sense when she thought about it. She thought about milking cows growing up on a farm, and how she’d always had a sense of how the cows were feeling as she milked them. Or how

her childhood cat would wait for her every day after school at the same time, but only on weekdays, like she’d inadvertently communicated her schedule to him.

Charles Peden, another psychic medium and animal communicator based in Tucson, also didn’t realize he could communicate with animals and the dead, or that it would become his career.

He was running a sea glass purveying business when he had his first supernatural encounter—with a ghost in his house—and started experimenting with telepathy and contacting the dead.

(Like Hoff, though, he can see inklings of his abilities looking back on his child-

hood.) When the spirit of a German shepherd showed up during a reading of a deceased person, he realized he could communicate with animals too.

BOW-WOW HOW IT WORKS

H

off has worked as a pet communicator and medium for the past 20 years. It’s been 15 for Peden. Their paying clients, of course, are not the pets themselves, but the pet owners, seeking to connect with their animals on a new level.

Hoff says there are four main reasons people get in touch: to communicate with pets who have passed away, to address behavioral issues, to locate lost pets, and to communicate with their pets about medical decisions—particularly end-of-life decisions.

“There’s a lot of guilt associated with making medical decisions for animals, because, unlike with people, they don’t really get a say in it,” she says.

She has a client, she says, who had spent $40,000 on cancer treatments for her cat and came to Hoff wanting to understand why the cat was always hiding in the basement. Hoff says the cat explained to her that he didn’t want to live, but didn’t want to disappoint his owners with that decision. On the flip side, there are animals given terminal diagnoses who tell Hoff they really don’t feel sick or ready to be put down quite yet.

How does all of this work, or allegedly work? Peden compares telepathy to using a

Courtesy Photo

Photo of Riley, who belongs to Paula Rose

smartphone, which can send data wirelessly in different formats, including text, images and sound.

“Telepathy works on those same principles,” he says. “It’s all about energy and little bursts of energy and creating these little encapsulated data packets just like a smartphone does, and entering a network, or the internet of the universe.”

Hoff has a similar explanation. Her website says that younger animals are more likely to communicate via images, then start to use words more as they get older (just like humans). They both say they also receive sensations during readings— for example, if an animal is communicating that its leg hurts, the communicator’s leg might hurt too. Because these exchanges are energy-based, and, Hoff explains, “in the intuitive world, there’s no space or distance,” both claim they have done readings for clients and their pets all over the world via phone.

Both agree that missing animal cases are some of the most emotional. Hoff says she found each of the thousands of animals she looked for in her first 10 years of the work, but had slowed down on accepting missing animal cases because they can be so draining. Peden tells the story of finding one dog, who went missing during the summer in Tucson.

“I reached out to the dog, he told me his paws were burned, he couldn’t run anymore, that he’d found water and shade and that he could smell Italian food,” he says. ‘‘He was right next to an Italian restaurant. And he gave me the street name he was on. He was on Eighth.”

Can all dogs read? I can’t help but interrupt to ask. “Oh yeah,” Peden says. He compares it to moving to a foreign country. After living in the country for long enough, he says, you’d start to learn the language. You’d certainly be able to repeat things like street names and your age.

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I

WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?

t’s comforting to imagine consulting our pets about what makes them happy, seeing how they’d like

Courtesy Photo

to handle their end-of-life care, or even to ask them where they’ve run off to. So, it’s easy to understand why some people turn to animal communicators for help. But I have to say, it’s also easy to understand the perspec-

tive that this whole thing is impossible, ridiculous or a hoax. My main form of animal communication consists of telling my own dog what a beautiful princess she is, so I turned to some experts for some more nuanced insight.

Evan MacLean, PhD, director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center at the University of Arizona, said in an email that he doesn’t know of any science supporting the idea of human-to-animal telepathy. He does acknowledge that the minds of humans and other animals are often quite similar, particularly when it comes to the core psychology behind things like basic emotions, learning and memory.

All species that live in social groups, he explains, use signals to communicate, which range from sounds to chemical emissions to visual cues—think barking or

talking, pheromones, and facial expressions, respectively. And these signals are received using known senses, like hearing, vision and touch.

“If animals were capable of telepathic communication, it’s hard to understand why they would need these other energetically costly ways of communicating,” MacLean says. “In other words, telepathy proposes that there are communication systems that take place outside the known senses. We have no evidence that those exist, but lots of evidence that animals have evolved specialized communication systems using conventional known senses.

We may not always be able to detect these signals (e.g. chemical or visual signals that are not accessible to human perception) but there is no reason to think that telepathy is involved.”

Stella

Jeremy Brown is the owner of the Tucson dog training company the Complete Canine, the winner of multiple national dog training awards, and a therapy dog trainer for the Pima County Police Department. He says he has mixed feelings on the subject.

“I’ve had some clients use [animal communicators] and the result is spot on.

5

Courtesy Photo

It makes perfect sense,” he wrote in an email. “However, others it seems like they fish for info and give opinions based on this.”

So the professionals are skeptical. Hoff says many people are skeptical until they experience it. Peden says he used to be a full-on skeptic himself.

See ANIMAL COMMUNICATORS, P7

6

MY BEST FRIEND 2021

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Animal Communicators Continued from P5

PEANUT BUTTER AND POSSIBLE ARTHRITIS

D

espite all of this and my own skepticism, I am, of course, dying to ask these people to have a quick chat with my dog, Zelda, a Shepherd mix we got from Pima Animal Care Center back in November.

But I don’t know what the standard courtesies are surrounding this sort of thing.

Is that a big ask? I’m not sure if it’s more akin to asking a stranger to, like, hold your drink for a minute, or asking a stranger to help you move out of your 10th-story apartment.

Peden tells me he loves his job, but that readings are

exhausting and emotionally draining. Instead of asking him to read my dog’s mind over the phone, I ask to speak to one of his existing clients. Paula Rose and her dog Riley have been going to sessions with Peden for several years. She went to him most recently when Riley, normally loveable and calm, started lunging at other dogs on walks.

When Peden asked Riley if he was lunging at other dogs because they were a threat, or because he was trying to protect Rose, Riley said no both times. When Peden asked if Riley was just showing off, Riley showed him an image of Rose taking something out of the refrigerator, and then mentioned peanut butter. That sounded

familiar to Rose when Peden shared it: Every evening, she slices up some carrots for Riley as a healthy snack, then follows it up with some peanut butter. But what did that have to do with the lunging problem?

“He said Riley was changing the subject,” Rose laughs.

“He didn’t like being criticized about lunging at dogs.”

Rose says Peden was able to explain the problems and potential dangers of lunging to Riley, and that Riley has stopped lunging at other dogs since the session.

I don’t ask Hoff to connect with Zelda either, but when I mention I have a dog, Hoff asks for her name and shared some information voluntarily.

She explains that Zelda

loves to make me laugh (feasibly true), that she adores me (I hope so) and that she’s adorable (of course—cutest dog ever). She says Zelda showed her an image of me bouncing a ball so Zelda could jump up and catch it, as something she really enjoyed. I have done that, though not often. A lucky score or guess on Hoff ’s part, or Zelda telling me, via a medium, that she’d like to see more ball bouncing?

Then Hoff mentioned an image of Zelda splashing around in water, at the type of water park with fountains shooting upward. We’d just tried to take Zelda swimming in a pool earlier the same day, and she wasn’t at all interested in coming in the water, so that didn’t sound quite right to me. But, hey, it’s possible Zelda was trying to let me know she

preferred fountains to pools.

When I told her Zelda was 2 years old, Hoff said she was getting something more like 5. This, she explained, could be because Zelda is especially mature, or because she is starting to suffer from something like premature arthritis. “Ah yes,” said one of my friends, when I told him the story. “Surely it couldn’t be that she just got it wrong.”

FACT OR QUACK?

O

7

that makes this both interesting and tricky is that there’s no way to verify this by asking an animal, “Is that true, then? Is that what you were thinking?”

Hoff and Peden might respond by pointing to instances that animals have shared information with them they couldn’t have known otherwise. Peden says a dog once shared the password for his family’s home alarm system, for example. Or did it?

Much to think about, or perhaps look into or laugh about, depending on one’s opinion. The only thing I’ll say for certain about the world of animal communicators is that it’s nothing if not intriguing.

f course, it very well could be that she just got it wrong. It could be that there’s no way for humans and animals to connect telepathically, and that this is an industry of people deceiving the public and/or deluding themselves.

Learn more about these As MacLean explained, local animal communicathere’s no proof for the con- tors at annhoff.com and cept. And one of the things charlespeden.com.

Let us help you bring out the best in your furry family member.

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My Best Friend 2021

Resources for Pima County Seniors Ireland Stevenson Tucson Local Media

M

obile Meals mobilemealss oaz. org. (520) 6221600.

Mobile Meals of Southern Arizona delivers healthy and nutritious meals for those who are unable to drive, shop or cook their own meals. There are three meal service options to cater to the needs of their clients: medically tailored, special diet and nutritionally tailored regular diet meals. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday.

All income levels are accepted and reduced-cost options are available for those whose income meets eligibility requirements.

Meals are delivered to provide comfort and nourishment so that no matter what challenges a person is facing, food is one less worry to think about.

Neighbors Care Alliance. pcoa.org. (520) 7907573 ext. 5062. The Neighbors Care Alliance is a network of neighborhood volunteer programs with a shared goal of helping older adults thrive safely in their homes for as long

Desert Times, July 2021

as possible while avoiding social isolation. Pima Council on Aging foresees and administers the program, providing tools for infrastructure and volunteer training. Volunteers support the aging community through a number of services including transportation, running errands, meal delivery, phone calls and visits, and caregiver respite. Neighbors connecting to neighbors reduces the social isolation many older adults face when attempting to meet their everyday needs.

See RESOURCES, P12

HELP WANTED!

11

eded e n s e o r e h Super ay! d e h t e v a s to help Would you like to volunteer to support blood donors one ofto our blood drives?

Would you like toat volunteer support blood donors at one ofblood our blood Help wanted!

Support drivesdrives? as a Blood Donor Ambassador: • Assist with reception at Blood Drives Support blood drivesblood as a Blood • Greeting donorsDonor Ambassador: ● reception at Blood Drives • Assist Offer with refreshments ● Greeting blood donors Sign up todaytemperatures at: www.redcross.org/volunteer ● Record Select the volunteer opportunity: ● Offer refreshments BioMed: ENGAGE with Donors at BLOOD DRIVES Questions? Contact Stacey Moore at: Sign upStacey.Moore@redcross.org today at: www.redcross.org/volunteer / c:520-576-2874

Select the volunteer opportunity:

BioMed: ENGAGE with Donors at BLOOD DRIVES Questions? Contact Stacey Moore at: Stacey.Moore@redcross.org / c:520-576-2874

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For more information, call 520-322-7035 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712 www.handmaker.org

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Desert Times, July 2021

Confused about Medicare?

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Securing Your Attend seminar Medicala&free Financial Futureor call for Jenifer your free review. Patterson 520-275-3529 Securing Your Jenifer@seniorsolutionsusaz.com “I can help!”

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RESOURCES Continued from P11

Southern Arizona Senior Pride. soazseniorpride.org. (520) 312-8923.

Southern Arizona Senior Pride recognizes and responds to the unique concerns of LGBT adults over the age of 55. They deliver social and support programming sponsored by Senior Pride in three areas: Social & Learning, Health & Wellbeing, and Arts & Culture. Some of these programs include Arizona Queer Archives, Pima County Public Library LGBTQ+ Services Committee, CODAC, and the CUP Clinic for LGBTQ+.

428-4834. The MIND Clinic is a free, outpatient psychiatric clinic for uninsured individuals in Tucson. The clinic is run by medical students and volunteer psychiatrists. Psychiatric assessment and medication management for adults and children with anxiety, depression, OCD, bipolar, schizophrenia, or any other mental illness are provided.

Valley Assistance Services. valleyassistanceservices.org. (520) 625-5966.

Each of the Valley Assistance programs takes into account the increasing diversity of seniors as a group yet considers the needs of seniors at differMIND Clinic. uacup- ent stages of their lives.

Future clinics.medicine.arizona.edu/ Valley Assistance incorclinics/mind-clinic.

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supported by five inter-related principles: dignity, independence, participation, fairness and safety/ security. Valley Assistance encourages families and children to study, finish school, be responsible and experience success in life.

Interfaith Community Services. icstucson.org.

(520) 297-6049. ICS offers a variety of Caregiving Services that help registered ICS recipients who are frail, ill or disabled live independently in their own homes, without the need for institutional care. Volunteers provide essential support services that help accomplish this, while also providing important social contact that helps keep recipients healthy and connected. Programs offered

include: transportation and shopping, friendly phoning, friendly visiting, TeleCare, home repair and yard work, business help, and companion sitting.

ARC. arc-az.org. (520) 623-9383. Services provided by the ARC include helping seniors escape abusive and life-threatening situations. Safe temporary housing acquire immediate medical care, and transition to longterm housing– is available through the ARC all free of charge. Professional Case Management Services is also offered to help navigating the justice system and acquiring appropriate legal and social services.

Alzheimer’s Association. alz.org/dsw. (520) 322-6601. The Alzheimer’s

13

Desert Times, July 2021

Right at Home, Oro Valley: (520) 268-8608 Senior Helpers, Tucson/Oro Valley: (520) 2307864 Home Instead, Oro Valley: (520) 505-5365 A Wonderful Life, Oro Valley (520) 577-4825 Senior Home Care of Tucson Oro Valley: (520) 783-3784

By Your Side Senior Care, Oro Valley (520) 888-3100 Visiting Angels Tucson (520) 579-0099 Adult Care Assistance Homecare, Southern Arizona (520) 575-8000 Lend a Hand Senior Assistance Tucson (520) 2486882 StarrCare in Home SerSenior Assist Services vices Tucson (520) 347-6771 & Concierges Synergy Home Care of Home Care Assistance, Oro Valley: (520) 214- Tucson (520) 327-2771 7722 Association Desert Southwest Chapter provides education and support for those facing Alzheimer’s and other dementias, whether they are living with the disease, caregivers, health care professionals and families. They offer care consultation that consists of a professional staff dedicated to helping people navigate through difficult decisions pertaining to the diseases as well as the uncertainties that come with the diagnosis.

A variety of educational sessions and support groups are also offered for those in every stage of the disease.

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LIVEN UP

15

Desert Times, July 2021

Reeling from pandemic closures, some arts groups find new ways to work together Margaret Regan Tucson Local Media

I

t took a pandemic to get the Arizona Theatre Company and the Tucson Museum of Art to join forces once again.

Sort of.

Nowadays, ATC is the sole art organization that makes its permanent home in the Temple of Music and Art. But back in the 1920s, when Tucson was smaller, the Temple was host to a multitude of arts, including theatrical groups that were the precursor of ATC. And the Tucson Fine Arts Association—the forebear of the TMA—was the equal of the other groups.

It “used to occupy gallery space on the second floor,” says Jeremy Mikolajzak, director of the Tucson Museum of Art, displaying art and bringing in esteemed lecturers from the likes of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eventually the association moved on to

other digs, and in 1975 built the Tucson Museum of Art and took that as its name.

Now, thanks to the pandemic, ATC and TMA are sharing some space, just as their forebears did long ago.

The theatre now rents six offices in the museum’s Baker Center, while still maintaining its theatrical home in the Temple, a 15-minute walk away. Luckily, the actors won’t be rehearsing Shakespearean sword fights or other scenes in the museum. The rehearsals will still be in the Temple, in a large hall that is also useful for stashing scenery.

The switch came about when ATC sold the Glenwood Hotel, a handsome historic building on Scott Avenue. It was sold this spring to developers for $1.1 million.

The theatre company had had their offices for 14 years at the Glenwood, which is conveniently right across the street from the Temple. But ever since COVID forced a shutdown in March 2020, the the-

Courtesy photo

The Tucson Fine Arts Association at the Temple of Music and Art in 1928. atre has been dark. Without ticket sales, ATC was strapped for cash. And like workers across the United States, the theater’s staffers fled to their homes to avoid the deadly virus; they quickly switched to doing their work on laptops and their meetings on Zoom.

“Once the pandemic hit, we had three or four people in the Glenwood,” ATC artistic director Sean Daniels

says. “We were using half of that building. Empty offices, tons of storage. The office culture has changed” and it’s not coming back. “We learned in the pandemic that people are going to be able to work from home. We can work from multiple places.”

It made sense to sell.

“For us to own office space is not where an arts organization should be. We should be

putting money on stage or on our staff.”

Daniels says ATC was careful to sell to buyers who would respect Glenwood’s cultural value. One of the developers, Kevin Volk, told the Arizona Daily Star that the group is “committed to honoring the property and preserving the architecture.”

For a company that almost folded a few years back, the

money is a gold mine. “We’re really in a fantastic place right now,” Daniels says, “looking to come back really strong.”

If the pandemic unexpectedly got the theater on a good financial footing, it also pushed the company into the online world.

“A year ago we were like every other theatre. We would put some ads on Facebook and wondered why it wasn’t working in terms of digital marketing,” he recalls.

With live theatre impossible, COVID forced the staff to up their virtual game. Before long, Daniels was hosting a popular online talk show every Friday. ATC started staging free online readings of new plays, performed by actors in their homes all over the country. The audiences watching from their own homes have numbered as many as 24,000 over the course of one play, far more than the audiences the company attracts in person.

See ARTS, P19

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Desert Times, July 2021

HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

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*Graveyard sight 5 *Emerald or ruby 10 *Ring centerpiece 13 Jet stream direction 14 Word with one or other 15 Man found in America?

17 Deadly snakes 18 “Peanuts” boy 19 Brit’s “Nonsense!”

20 Bourbon substitute 21 Delight 22 Tear sheet?

24 Dangerous juggling props 26 Marshy area 27 Country whose flag has two blue stripes and a star: Abbr.

28 Quiets down 29 Tree cover 30 Anthem contraction 31 Nirvana’s “Smells Like ___ Spirit” 32 Org. seeking alien life 1

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33 ___ Murray,

two-time Wimbledon champ

34 Historic inn commemorated

during Pride Month, as suggested by this puzzle’s border answers 37 Political suffix 40 Fillable flatbread 41 Persist 44 Western treaty grp.

45 Section of a wine list 46 H.S. class whose students might cook 48 G.O.P. org.

49 Binary digit 50 Binary question 51 Tokyo’s airport 53 Vegetable also called ladies’ fingers 54 “There’s the ___” 55 Discharge 56 Weight on the Isle of Wight 58 Hurtful remark

Know Us, Know Your Community

*Online card game with over 100 million players 2 Infield pop-up, say 3 Malign 4 Rehab woe, for short 5 Debutantes, say 6 Elite eight 7 Actress Russo 8 1989 play about Capote 9 Widespread panic 10 Grasps 11 Beach problem 12 Like the words “literally” and “ironic,” often 16 *Pit that’s spit 21 War of 1812 treaty site 23 Fingerprinting need 25 Where the heart is 26 Ruling on a point of Islamic law 29 Borscht base 32 Mocking 33 Davy Crockett died defending it 35 Start tallying your drink orders, say 36 Literature Nobelist Mario Vargas ___ 37 *Vital piece 38 Behaved uncontrollably 39 Attribute 42 Spicy Mexican pepper 43 Like many veteran professors 45 Decay 46 This point forward 47 *Quaint street material 50 “See what I mean?,” informally 52 Teeny 53 Aware of 57 Defenseman who scored a Stanley Cup-winning “flying goal” 58 Neighbor of Brazil: Abbr.

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32 34

DOWN

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29 31

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First-year legal student, familiarly 62 *Pennsylvania state symbol 63 *Kind of building seen on “Sesame Street” 64 *Magnetite 61

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). People can pilfer power in a multitude of sneaky ways. Seduction is a fun one. Sensationalism is another, causing you to look. Once you see, you can never unsee.

Don’t give away your power. Stay vigilant in the protection of your attention and energy.

Surround yourself with those who bring out your best.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). While silence includes the absence of sound, golden silence makes even more space, spreading out a soft place for all to land. You’ll choose your words carefully, and your nonverbal responses even more so. You’ll often walk in nonjudgment and the welcoming emotional tone of gentle acceptance.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Awareness and action go together. This is why our minds often protect us from information, storing it in the subconscious until we’re ready for it.

Realizations can be painful rites of passage.

They indicate we’re finally strong enough to do something about the circumstance. Here comes your aha moment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’ll have the flexibility to weather any change thrown your way. You’ll handle things like an action star in a fantastically choreographed fight scene, dodging blows and using the felicitous arrangement of your surroundings to help your cause. These are the battle stories you’ll remember fondly upon the return of calm.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’d normally execute hundreds of actions in response to cues so subtle they speak only to your subconscious.

But this week marks an awakening. You clearly see the most difficult thing of all to comprehend -- the environment you live in every day. A better way forward opens before your eyes.

Crossword Puzzle Answers

17

16

I N K

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60 Skywalker’s droid, informally

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). If you’re afraid to go against the tribe’s wishes, consider that such a thing may not exist. The tribe cannot wish; only people can, and each person does it differently.

Some wishes mesh, and others don’t. Arguing over it is a waste of time. Let your agenda play out in swift and loving action, and all will be well.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Rules, spoken and unspoken, will be obeyed. People will do as they are allowed to do. Change allowances and people change. Structuring interactions is an art requiring thought, practice, experimentation, adjustment, application -- rinse and repeat.

What works in one era may not in the next.

Keep finding what works.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Kindness is among the top attractive qualities, though it is often knocked down the list by flashier qualities such as courage. Having the courage to be kind when others aren’t will enable you to claim both qualities and activate a deep primal preference in others who will be inspired by and attracted to you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). It takes a lot of energy to think, which is why overthinking is really an egregious waste. When you start repeating thoughts, get creative instead. Seek answers to the left and right; reach up; root down. Change the pattern and you’ll interrupt the swirl of energy headed down the drain.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Because you seek to understand a situation better, the rules of active listening will apply in crucial moments of the week. The hardest one to swallow: Anything your partner says is OK. When you hold a purpose of helping your partner get clear (instead of communicating your own agenda) you’ll make progress.

B E L L E S

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59 Overcharges, so to speak

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A S P E R S E

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H E A R T H

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L L O S A

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C O R N E R

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G E M E R I C T O S H S S U E I S R O E R A N D Y L A S T M E E C O R N O R U B B A R B O N E L L O D E

6

I R T H V E R Y I N U S E E T S F E B A R S E T I N E W A I T A D S H E Y E O K R O N N E R T O O R O W N

5

O P E N A T A B

4

D T S G C H H E E N S T T R O I T T S Y

3

A S C R I B E

2

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ve had the thought, “My life is entirely up to me,” and you’ve had the thought, “I’m trapped.”You’ve also believed in numerous variations along the free will spectrum, like, “I’m free, but this is hard.” How can you make it easier? An empowering thought process will help you claim the experiences you crave.

R A N A M O K

1

ARIES (March 21-April 19). The most effective attitude will be to take up a cause as if it were your own. You’ll quickly realize the truth of the matter. It is your own. Your liberation is bound up with a grand emancipation. All are free, or none is. The traps can only be released by working together.

17

Desert Times, July 2021

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Arts

Continued from P15

“Now we have a real base of people that we connect with online on a weekly basis,” Daniels says. “It’s a newer audience—a real silver lining. We won’t try to get them all into the theatre, but if 10% of them came, 20% came, that would be transformative.”

Over at TMA, director Mikolajzak can also count some blessings. Renting the rooms out to his ATC friends brings in some welcome cash.

The museum was closed for months, and then reopened on July 30 with limited hours and capacity, which means a loss in revenue. Unfortunately, the office rooms now occupied by ATC staff are empty in part because some TMA staffers were let go.

To make the ATC folks feel comfortable, the art museum hung up an old print of a painting in the Fine Arts Association gallery in the Temple in those early days.

“Collaboration is something we in the arts talk about all the time,” says Mikolajzak.

And now that they see their theatre colleagues often, “we’re talking about collaborative lectures, talking about our summer arts program. There might be a performance that goes along with an exhibition.

“I’m excited for this collaboration. I want museum patrons to go to the theater, to the university, to MOCA, to experience contemporary art, desert museum or zoos. Arts in a city like Tucson really do need to stick together.”

Some of the town’s smaller arts groups have also found positive ways to counteract the coronavirus. Ballet Tucson partnered with other organizations in a series of outdoor dance concerts this winter and spring, bringing attention to all

19

of them. The troupe danced at Tucson Botanical Gardens, public parks, St. Philip’s Farmers Market and Tucson Museum of Art. After the two performances at TMA, audience members were invited to come inside and look at the popular Wyeth show, the new Latin American Art wing and others.

John Salgado of Raices Taller says that the 23-year-old gallery has weathered many ups and down, so COVID 19 was “one more to tackle.” The Latinx gallery has always been an in-person enterprise but early in the lockdown Salgado taught himself how to create online exhibitions.

“We’ve had great results,” he says, “and we have actually increased our outreach.”

Artists from Croatia, Canada, Mexico, India, the Netherlands and others have now shown their work in the virtual gallery. Sales are up too, so much so that Salgado plans to make all future exhibitions hybrids, showing art both online and in person.

“Definite silver linings have allowed us to continue our mission,” he says.

Contreras Gallery has likewise assembled virtual shows.

Husband and wife Michael Contreras and Neda Contreras have continued making their own art in their space, and their work, Neda’s paintings and Michael’s handmade silver and turquoise jewelry, helped pay the rent.

Last spring, Michael vowed that the gallery would not open its doors until an effective vaccination was widely available. That time has now come, and Contreras will open on the Fourth of July weekend. There will be no reception but the show of work by nine women is still a celebration.

“We’ve been in hibernation,” Michael says. “And now we’re finally emerging.”

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Desert Times, July 2021