Happy Leap Day! It should be sunny through the weekend, with highs of 76° on Friday, 75° on Saturday, and 72° on Sunday.
🌵 Layoffs at the University of Arizona will begin this spring.
Interim CFO John Arnold said he and his team are evaluating every college’s budget request, a task they expect to complete by mid-April. The new fiscal year begins July 1. As for reallocating the workload from cut positions, Arnold told staff, “there may be a period where you’re asked to do a little bit of extra stuff.”
🌵 Governor Hobbs is demanding a meeting with UA leadership and the Arizona Board of Regents.
In a press release, Hobbs said it was “crystal clear that the handling of the University of Arizona crisis is heading in the wrong direction.” She cited oversight lapses during the acquisition of Ashford University, as well as ABOR Chair Fred DuVal’s legal threats against Faculty Senate Chair Leila Hudson, who raised questions about a possible conflict of interest between DuVal and his prior employer, Amicus Investors.
🌵 Jurors are deliberating in the retrial of the man accused of murdering Isabel Celis.
Deliberations began on Tuesday afternoon and are still underway Thursday morning. Christopher Clements is accused of killing six-year-old Celis, who went missing from her Tucson home in 2012. A jury was unable to reach a verdict during Clements’ first trial last year.
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🌵 Arizona’s attorney general is suing nine corporate landlords in Tucson and Phoenix over an alleged price-fixing scheme.
Also included in the lawsuit is RealPage, a software company that provides private pricing data on rental properties. The lawsuit claims the landlords provided pricing info to RealPage and used algorithms to collectively raise prices. Rent prices in Tucson are up 30% since 2016.
- Arizona’s Family: Arizona attorney general sues RealPage, landlords; accuses them of conspiring to illegally raise rents
- RealPage: Tucson, AZ
🌵 Lastly, in better news for renters, Pima County awarded $7 million to affordable housing developers.
The funds support eight projects and 835 housing units. In order to qualify for the units, households must earn at least 20% less than the area median income.