Good afternoon. A wind advisory is in effect until 8:00 p.m. today, with showers likely. Tomorrow will be rainy with a high of 57°. Thursday has a 20% chance of showers with a high of 58°.
🌵 Arizona lawmakers are running out of time to fix a potentially big election problem.
New election rules passed after the 2020 presidential election widened the margins for an automatic recount. There’s just one problem: A recount in the primary election could delay the process of mailing military and overseas voters their general election ballots. Elections officials have asked for a fix by Feb. 9 in order to give them time to implement any changes for this year’s elections.
🌵 UA faculty and staff are considering votes of no confidence in university leadership.
The university recently announced that every department would need to cut their budgets by 5 to 15% to combat a $177 million deficit for fiscal year 2024. With layoffs already in progress, many employees are uncertain whether they will be able to keep their jobs. People rallied outside the administration building on Monday in an event organized by the United Campus Workers of Arizona.
- Fronteras: UA confirms layoffs and budget cuts as faculty, staff consider no confidence vote
- AZ Luminaria: Following UA’s demand for budget cuts, campus union leaders are reporting layoffs and protesting
🌵 Migrant aid groups are reporting an uptick in harassment from right-wing extremists.
Some of the increase may be driven by social media. A video posted in January to X that was amplified by Elon Musk claims that Casa Alitas’ Drexel Center is a “secret” facility that “none of the American people knew about until now.” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running for U.S. Senate, falsely claimed on X that migrants were given $5,000 Visa cards, cell phones, and free plane tickets.
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🌵 Pluto could become Arizona’s state planet.
A bill working its way through the Arizona legislature would place Pluto alongside state symbols like the palo verde, ringtail, and turquoise. Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Technically, Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet following a vote by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.
🌵 Lastly, a camera has started taking a 1,000-year timelapse of Tucson.
The camera, designed by UA professor Jonathon Keats, is located on Tumamoc Hill. It’s hard to say what the final product may look like, but Keats said that if houses disappeared from the photograph 500 years from now, they would appear as ghostly echoes amid sharper areas of the landscape that haven’t changed.