Good morning, Tucson. We have a university-heavy issue for you today. Here’s your news roundup for April 30, 2024.
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🌵 UA and ASU students have joined other campuses in setting up Gaza solidarity encampments.
At ASU, police arrested 72 people who violated campus rules that state demonstrations are not allowed between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Only 15 of those arrested were students. At the University Arizona, students have set up an encampment on the UA Mall. Police were monitoring the situation on Monday, and could arrest demonstrators who do not leave when the Mall closes at 10 p.m.
- Arizona’s Family: 72 people arrested for trespassing after Israel-Hamas war protest at ASU Tempe
- UA News: Gaza solidarity encampment starts on UA Campus
🌵 A UA student was killed during a shooting at a large off-campus party in midtown.
The victim was Erin Jones, a 20-year-old sophmore from California. Three other people were also wounded. The Tucson Police Department said that the shooting took place on the 3200 block of East Fifth Street, east of Country Club Road. As of Monday afternoon there were no reported suspects in custody.
🌵 The UA hired Joseph Glover as its new provost over the objections of more than 100 faculty members.
The provost is the school’s second-in-command and often seen as the executor of the president’s directives. During interviews, faculty said that Glover, the former provost at the University of Florida, did not lead them to believe he would be “someone who would help bring the campus together.” In its announcement of Glover’s hiring, the university said he helped UF become a top-five school in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of public institutions.
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🌵 Prosecutors will not retry the Arizona rancher accused of killing a migrant on his property.
Jurors were unable to reach a decision in the trial of George Alan Kelly, which lasted nearly four weeks. Kelly used an AK-47 to shoot at migrants passing through his property in January 2023. Santa Cruz County Deputy Attorney Kimberly Hunley said the county would not seek a retrial due to the “unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case.”
🌵 You can no longer turn left on a yellow arrow at several major city intersections.
The Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility made the change in an effort to improve safety. From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., traffic signals at several intersections with two left-turn lanes will no longer flash a yellow left-turn arrow. Drivers will instead have to wait for a green arrow when oncoming traffic stops.
🌵 Lastly, ASU researchers have sequenced the genome of a gila monster.
The genome has provided new insights into how sex is determined in the iconic southwestern lizard. Whereas humans have XX and XY chromosomes, gila monsters have ZZ and ZW chromosomes. Now you know.