EXPLORER The Voice of Marana, Oro Valley and Northwest Tucson
Dec. 8, 2021
Volume 28 • Number 49
Nonprofit Giving Guide
Oct. 7, 2020
Putting an end-of-the-year spotlight on local charities | Page 10
INSIDE
THE RIGHT NOTES
Our Town
The Tucson-based nonprofit Lead Guitar brings acoustic guitar training to underserved students in multiple states. Their local efforts support students in TUSD, Amphi and more. Read more on page 13.
Benefit concert for local vets, first responders | Page 4
Photo by Lead Guitar
Happenings Theatre, music and classes around town | Page 22
Sports & Rec
Local ref (sort of) hangs up whistle | Page 24 $
Hospital beds fill as COVID remains widespread Alexandra Pere Tucson Local Media
P
ima County intensive care unit beds are shrinking in availability as COVID hospitalizations remain high. Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen reported that only eight ICU beds were available in Pima County during a Dec. 1 press conference.
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“We’ve had less than 5% ICU bed availability for the past 42 days,” Cullen said. Epidemiologist Dr. Joe Gerald, a professor in the the UA Zuckerman School of Public Health who has been tracking COVID cases since the virus first arrived in Arizona, reported that as of Dec. 1, 31% of Arizona’s general ward beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, a 5% increase from the previous week. Gerald
also reported only 5% of Arizona’s general ward beds remained available for use, which he called “a new all-time low.” Gerald urged people to get vaccinated or a booster shot. “Vaccination remains the most important public health priority to reduce transmission and severe illness,” Gerald wrote in his Dec. 4 weekly report. See COVID, P6
Man arrested after missing OV teens found in Tucson Alexandra Pere Tucson Local Media
A
33-year-old man was arrested on Dec. 2 in connection to two 14-year-old Oro Valley teens who went missing from Canyon Del Oro High School on Nov. 22. Isabelle “Izzy” Kring and Jade Inniss have returned to Oro Valley after Oro Valley Police Department picked them up from Moss Worthington’s apartment on Wednesday, Dec. 1. According to an OVPD press release, the girls are safe and Worthington is being held in Pima County Jail. Worthington has been charged with two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, 11 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of custodial interference.
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