Good Sunday morning. The heat this week was not subtle — Tucson spent most of it under an Extreme Heat Warning, with the thermometer touching 108 and 109 by the weekend, and overnight lows refusing to dip below the low 80s. There was no real relief after dark, which is its own kind of August cruelty. Hopefully you found some shade, and maybe a cold drink.

What’s worth knowing

The killing of Tucson police recruit Carlos Ramirez was the week’s hardest news. Ramirez — a former Pima County Sheriff’s Department corrections officer who had joined the police recruit class — was shot and killed, and his fiancée, a current county corrections officer, was wounded. Investigators believe robbery was the motive. A first-degree murder warrant has been issued for one named suspect, and the Sheriff’s Department is asking the public for help identifying two others. His fellow recruits are described as being in shock, and fundraisers have been launched for his family. This one landed heavily on the people who do this work, and it’s worth sitting with for a moment before moving on to the rest of the week.

The Arizona Supreme Court knocked two school-voucher-related measures off the November ballot in a pair of rulings Tuesday. One citizen initiative, Proposition 212, which would have imposed sweeping regulations on the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, failed to meet the required number of valid signatures, while the court separately blocked a Republican-led referral, Proposition 145, which would have barred voucher regulation altogether, as unconstitutional. Backers of Prop 212 conceded defeat, while a third measure, Proposition 144, a broad Republican-backed election-law package, survived a separate legal challenge and will appear on ballots in November, including in Pima County.

The federal government announced new Colorado River operating guidelines for 2027 and 2028 this week, and the short version for Tucson is: Arizona and the other Lower Basin states absorb the bulk of the reductions, though the Central Arizona Project — which delivers river water to Tucson and Phoenix — avoids the deepest cuts. Negotiations with Upper Basin states on a longer-term deal continue. This comes as Lake Powell has hit its lowest recorded level, which is a useful piece of context for understanding why the region’s water managers are paying such close attention to every drop.

It’s the kind of news you might expect to see on an unseasonably hot August morning: Attorney General Kris Mayes filed suit this week against the owners of three Tucson apartment complexes over broken air conditioning and what her office described as dangerous living conditions. This lawsuit, of course, comes on the day an Extreme Heat Warning went into effect across the metro area. Residents of the Sienna Ridge complex told reporters that they’ve been dealing with the problems for years. Whatever you think of the broader legal arguments, the practical stakes here are clear: people living without working AC in a Tucson August are in real danger.

What changed around town

The Tucson Mayor and Council had a consequential week at the dais — we covered the meeting in full. The most debated item was a 4-2 vote to convey 212 acres of city-owned land to the U.S. Air Force at no charge, clearing the way for a potential expansion of Raytheon’s operations. The land transfer flows from a 2009 amendment to a 1995 pre-annexation agreement, and the city manager confirmed the transaction was valued at $6.47 million — money that had been collected from Raytheon under that original deal, which is why no additional payment accompanied the transfer. Council Member Miranda Schubert, who pulled the item for debate, asked pointed questions about whether the expansion involved weapons or missile production; the city manager said the city simply doesn’t know which product lines are involved. Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz also voted no, and Council Member Nikki Lee recused herself citing a family conflict of interest.

The council also voted 7-0 to approve a lease giving the Tucson School for the Blind roughly 4,000 square feet on the third floor of 149 N. Stone Ave. — a direct response to the announced closure of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind’s historic campus. Separately, the council voted unanimously to purchase about 10 acres from Tucson Unified School District for a future Ridgeside Park on the city’s east side, with the purchase price drawn from development impact fees.

Up in Marana — as we reported from Monday’s council meeting — the Town Council approved a $319,000 payment to the developer behind the Marana Main Street project — a combination of a long-promised $300,000 reinvestment fund disbursement and roughly $19,000 in water and irrigation costs the town acknowledged it had never paid. The roads through that development were finished in July 2024, about three years behind a 2021 deadline. The council also raised the ceiling on individual job order contracts to $3 million, in line with state law, and heard from the town manager that U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani has committed to pursue $3 million in federal appropriations toward an interchange improvement where Marana Road meets Interstate 10.

What’s opening

The most interesting restaurant news this week was the liquor license application we spotted for Penelope The Depot, planned for 400 N. Toole Ave. in the Warehouse Arts District. That’s a space worth watching — the application went before the Mayor and Council on August 18, and the city has until early September to act on it. Nothing’s open yet, but it’s one to keep an eye on downtown.

Also on the downtown front, Block A opened this week as the second sports bar in the heart of the city, joining the Board Room Sports Loft & Bar on the second floor of Batch, according to the Arizona Daily Star. If you’ve been wanting more options for watching a game downtown without leaving the core, that’s now a reality.

Out in Marana on Tangerine Road, the state liquor database shows a new Chipotle Mexican Grill received an active restaurant license at 11302 W. Tangerine Road, with an effective date of August 18. That location is planned — nothing from the source material confirms it’s serving customers yet, but the paperwork is in order.

One thing to watch

The Pima County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday, August 25 at 5 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room, and the agenda is a full one. Most notably, supervisors will consider a resolution that would bar county officials from using nonpublic government information for personal financial gain — a measure the board is calling “Protecting the Public Trust.” They’ll also take up the process for hiring the next County Administrator, revisit a contested $122,000 education contract that drew enough public response to fill three batches of comment letters, and vote on a $35 million road repair contract extension. If you’ve been curious about the direction of county government, this is a meeting worth tuning into.

The Tucson Mini

This week’s crossword is ready and waiting — a 5x5 mini built for Sunday mornings just like this one. Play it here and see how fast you can finish before the coffee’s gone.

Stay cool out there, Tucson — August isn’t done with us quite yet, but we’re in it together. See you next Sunday.