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In honor of Earth Day, this week we bring you two stories focusing on how climate change is transforming our little corner of the world. Associate editor Jeff Gardner looks at how drought and rising temperatures are affecting our cacti and other flora, while UA intern Madison Beal looks at how fire danger is increasing in these parts, often driven by invasive grasses like the cursed buffelgrass. These local problems are just the tip of the (rapidly melting) icebergs that lie ahead for everyone on the planet. This last year has given us a preview of what happens when natural forces spiral bey...

It's with a heavy heart that I announce that staff reporter Nicole Ludden, who has been doing outstanding work covering COVID-19 and a wide variety of other stories for us since September of last year, is leaving the Weekly to seek new adventures. Nicole is one of the very best young reporters it's ever been my pleasure to work with and I'm gonna miss reading her work in our pages a lot, but I wish her the best in her next endeavors. I'm excited to say that we have a new staff reporter coming on this week. Nogales native Christina Duran recently graduated from the University of Ar...

With this pandemic with us for nearly a year now, who couldn't use a cold beer? Unfortunately, fear of spreading COVID-19 has taken its toll on brewery tasting rooms (as well as restaurants where craft beers are sold), so it's been a tough year for local breweries. More people are drinking at home instead of going out and small-batch breweries don't always have the resources to can or bottle beer. Ahead of Arizona Beer Week, managing editor Austin Counts takes a deep dive into what's happening with local breweries in this week's cover story. Counts taps into Rebuild the Guild, a new American ...

With 4,417 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases surpassed 771,000 as of Thursday, Feb. 4, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County, which reported 736 new cases today, has seen 103,448 of the state’s 771,796 confirmed cases. With 176 new deaths reported today, a total number of 13,752 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,868 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 4 report. The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 3,303 in the hospita...

With 4,671 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases surpassed 743,000 as of Thursday, Jan. 28, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Pima County, which reported 698 new cases today, has seen 99,441 of the state’s 743,232 confirmed cases. A total of 12,819 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,706 deaths in Pima County, according to the Jan. 27 report. The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks after peaking at 5,082 on Jan. 11 but remains above the peak levels ...