J ,
MARANANEWS The Voice of Marana since 2007
V • N
A Dream At Arm’s Length
O. Local , musician Brian Berggoetz gathers the good from last year on
his new album ‘Wildflower’ | Page 13
INSIDE
MUJERES, MUJERES, MUJERES
Our Town
Fini’s Landing expands north | Page 4
A new virtual art exhibit of various work by women is at Raices Taller Gallery. Pictured here is “River Magic Matryoshka” by Rachel Espinoza. Read more on page 14.
Marana Chamber
Photo courtesy Raices Taller
Arizona economy continues recovery but still below pre-pandemic levels
Town update | Page 10
Athlete of the Year
C D Tucson Local Media
Isaiah Roebuck follows in father’s footsteps | Page 19 $
U
niversity of Arizona economist George Hammond said Thursday morning that overall, Arizona’s job recovery continues but “we’ve still got a long way to go.” Hammond, director of the Eller College’s Economic and Business Research Center, told a breakfast crowd that from February to April
599,000 2BD/3BA+Den
1749 E Mellow Trail, Oro Valley, AZ 85755
(2,186 sq ft) updated home in Sun City Vistoso. Views! MLS#22112622
2020, more than 330,000 jobs were lost in first months of the pandemic. Then over the next two months, Arizona “saw really substantial increases with callbacks once the stay at home order expired and since June we’ve seen continued recovery but at a much slower pace than than those first two months.” As of April, Arizona has recovered over 71% of the jobs lost between February and April last year,
better than the U.S. reported 63% recovery of jobs lost, said Hammond. But Arizona is still about 95,000 jobs below pre-pandemic numbers. Job recovery also varies across the state. Tucson is just over 19,000 jobs below pre-pandemic levels, better than Phoenix at 64,000 jobs below where it was before the pandemic. See ECONOMY, P11
UA COVID researcher: “We’re past the worst of it in Arizona” J G Tucson Local Media
I
t may be hard to imagine a time when 20 confirmed COVID cases in the entire state was newsworthy, but thanks to the diligence of an associate professor out of the University of Arizona, the public can look back on weekly reports tracking how the virus spread throughout Arizona. Joe Gerald, PhD, who works in the UA’s College of Public Health, has written weekly COVID reports that listed the number of Arizona COVID cases, forecasted the virus’ growth, and kept up to date on health guidelines. But with nearly half the state vaccinated and cases at a low plateau since March, Gerald ended his regularly scheduled reports on Friday, May 21. See COVID WINDING DOWN, P6
699,000 4BD/4BA (2,868
$
12583 N Yellow Bird Road, Oro Valley, AZ 85755
sq ft) home with resort-style yard and views. MLS #22112409
Lisab@LongRealty.com 520-668-8293
#1 LONG AGENT & #1 REALTOR IN ORO VALLEY Zillow Premier Agent