Reporter Shaq Davis' Fave Five of 2020

In a year filled with turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic, seeing community members band together to serve frontline workers who may have been forgotten was a sight to see. The bagged lunch and kind words were not only a nice gesture, but it let our nation’s truckers know they’re not forgotten and their important work was not in vain.

— Shaq Davis

Commercial truckers from around the U.S. left Tucson’s Triple T Truck Stop with smiling faces Thursday after receiving free lunch from community members who banded together to support them.

Truckers were greeted with signs saying “We Love Truckers” and “You keep us moving” as volunteers cheered them on for their work.

The idea for the event was put together two weeks ago by Michael Quinn, Kent Bauman and another neighbor who all attend Alive Church in Tucson and decided they could lend a hand during the coronavirus pandemic.

What was initially an idea to provide around 50 sandwiches to truckers turned into an operation where $3,000 has been raised and hundreds of truckers have the opportunity for a free lunch.

“I said I’d like to help these medical workers, who are nothing short of heroes with what they’re doing, but there’s a lot of people helping them, and we can help them, too,” Quinn said, “but what about our nation’s truckers that are keeping the supply chain going and keeping food in our supermarkets and medical supplies in our hospitals?”

Bauman, who owns an automobile transport trucking firm, knew firsthand what truckers can go through while on the job.

“There’s still parts of the economy that are still trying to run, and we’re really, very dependent on trucks, everything people buy, everything we use moves on a truck, maybe even two or three trucks to get from the factory or the farm in to retail,” Bauman said. “We just appreciate the sacrifices these guys have been making.”

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Sometimes a reporter needs a lucky break when developing a story. I met Max and his mom with boxes in tow in a UA parking garage as they prepared to bring Max’s belongings back home. I remember the overcast day matched the mood of those on campus after being told to the school would move solely online.  The pair were gracious enough to allow me to follow, ask questions and even have a photographer take photos. While Max expressed his disappoint, he said he’d do what it takes to finish the semester strong.

— Shaq Davis

The gray sky over Tucson on Wednesday seemed to match the mood of some students at the University of Arizona returning to a campus that felt more like a ghost town than the usual busyness of the final push toward the end of the spring semester.

It was the first day of classes after an extended spring break as the campus stayed mostly open while many students moved away as the university moved to online courses under rules instituted during the virus outbreak. It was the first day to move out of dorms for students like Max Tucker, a sophomore studying material science, who can go elsewhere to finish the semester.

Tucker acknowledged he’ll miss the independence of living on his own as he prepared moved out of the Villa del Puente dormitories, accompanied by his mother, Sarah.

“It’s kind of like going to summer early,” Tucker said. “I feel kind of a convenience by it, but it’s nothing that I can’t get used to. It’s not too bad; it’s just some classes are a little harder to get used to than others like labs, you can’t really do that online.”

He’s yet to decide if he’ll take the university’s offer of a 10% credit to his account in May or let 20% of his rent paid to apply to his possible return to dorms in the fall.

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The coronavirus has caused us all to adjust to new routines in order to continue working during the pandemic. This fact was captured in the pictures accompanying this story, where a teacher conducted zoom calls in the presence of his two children. With “cautious optimism” the University of Arizona moved forward with its fall semester filled with unknowns.

— Shaq Davis

The University of Arizona’s administration is “cautiously optimistic” the fall semester will resume in-person and in the meantime is helping its educators to deliver courses in any form.

At this time, we have planned for our summer curriculum to be delivered online through to the end of June. On May 1, we will communicate the decision as to whether summer programming due to start after July 1 will also need to be delivered in online and remote modalities,” a UA statement said.

“We are cautiously optimistic that the fall semester will be able to launch with the normal face-to-face campus experience, but of course we will prioritize the health and well-being of our community in making that decision.”

The university said its Office of Instruction and Assessment and Digital Learning teams are working to support faculty to “design and effectively deliver effective online and remote courses.”

Both offices said they’re providing resources about the online platforms provided for teachers, teaching tips and live support on weekdays for instructors, among other resources.

But in the wake of the pandemic, educators and students have been grappling with the new reality of remote instruction after completing the first half of a normal spring semester.

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I’ll never forget the sight of seeing the smoke-filled Santa Catalina Mountains and the loads of peoples stopping on the side of the road to take-in the Bighorn Fire. I’ll also remember the multiple pleas of officials as they told residents “we may not be able to come back and rescue you,” when some residents refused to evacuate.

— Shaq Davis

Between the rocky and steep terrain, the combustible dry grass and the heat, the Bighorn Fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains is proving one tough blaze to fight.

As of Saturday evening it had grown to 10,367 acres, with only 10 percent of it contained.

Firefighters don’t expect to have it controlled until June 25, assuming winds don’t shift, but some residents are not taking it seriously, officials say.

On Friday, officials alerted residents in about 80 homes near the area of East Golder Ranch Drive and East Rollins Road that they should evacuate immediately. Some have refused to leave.

“We encourage people that the evacuation order is serious. If we come to your door and ask you to evacuate, it’s because it’s absolutely necessary,” Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier said during a press conference Saturday afternoon. “Those people that are not heeding the evacuation order need to understand that if you stay there, we may not be able to come back and rescue you.”

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A project three decades in the making finally arrived in late-August. The Downtown Links project is set to improve the busy downtown area by connecting Sixth Street to Broadway Boulevard, adding multiple bridges and a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists. It’s safe to say when this is completed in 2023, the area will be more of an attraction than it currently is. 

— Shaq Davis

The construction of the Downtown Links project started last Monday to one day connect motorists from Barraza-Aviation Parkway to Interstate 10 and relieve downtown congestion.

It has taken different forms in the nearly three-decadeslong process, but transportation officials have finalized what Tucsonans will experience once the 30-month project is complete in early 2023.

City transportation officials say the main elements of the 1.3-mile-long corridor for the community are:

• A new four-lane road connecting Sixth Street to Broadway called Maclovio Barraza Parkway.
• Four new bridges, including a multi-use pedestrian bridge.
• Grade-separation of a railroad underpass at Sixth Street allowing motorists to skip delays. The railroad would later become a “quiet zone.”

The quiet zone designation lifts federal requirements for train operators to blow their horns during their approach, but they can do so during emergencies.

• Infrastructure for pedestrian and other modes of travel for better connectivity with downtown including multi-use paths as well as sidewalks and bike lanes.
• The deck plaza expansion at Ninth Avenue will bring shaded performance areas, landscaping and public art among its improvements.

Add native desert landscaping, water harvesting and six individual pieces of public art throughout the corridor.

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