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May 10, 2026

TDB Weekly — May 10, 2026

Good Sunday morning. The heat arrived right on schedule — and maybe a little ahead of it. If you stepped outside yesterday and felt the air press back against you, that wasn't your imagination. Tucson is sliding into triple-digit territory this week, and the forecast has a certain "buckle up" quality to it. Grab something cold and settle in. There's a lot to catch up on.

What's worth knowing

The biggest government story of the week happened in Phoenix, but its effects land squarely here. Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed the Republican legislature's $17.9 billion budget on Tuesday, calling it "unbalanced and reckless." For Tucson specifically, the stakes are real: the proposal would have eliminated $6 million in adult education funding that Pima Community College uses to serve roughly 4,500 students a year — meaning around 1,100 people annually could be turned away if the funding disappears for good. More than 420,000 Arizonans have already lost SNAP access since last July; St. Mary's Food Bank says demand among its 700 partner organizations is up 15% over the past year. Lawmakers are in recess until June 1, leaving a tight window to negotiate something bipartisan before the June 30 deadline.

The Tucson City Council had a full and pointed week of its own. On Tuesday, all seven members voted to formally oppose both a proposed ICE detention facility at the former state prison in Marana and Hudbay Minerals' proposed Copper World open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. Neither vote carries legal weight — the council can't stop either project — but both were unanimous, and the debate was pointed. On the mine, Mayor Regina Romero tied it directly to the city's water and environmental future. On the detention facility, members drew on some dark history: Japanese American internment, the demolition of Mexican American neighborhoods during urban renewal, the 2010 ban on TUSD's Mexican American studies program. It was the kind of meeting that made clear these aren't abstract policy positions for the people sitting in that chamber.

The week also brought genuinely difficult news on the education front. Amphitheater School District held farewell ceremonies for four elementary schools — Copper Creek, Donaldson, Holaway, and Nash — closing at the end of the year due to budget pressures. Meanwhile, TUSD's governing board formally launched a months-long review of potential school closures and consolidations of its own. No schools are named yet, but the process is underway. This is happening against the backdrop of Arizona ranking 49th in the nation for per-pupil school funding, according to the National Education Association — spending roughly $11,723 per student when the national average is closer to $17,840.

Finally, a story that's easy to scroll past but deserves a moment: a rare wild ocelot roaming southern Arizona now has a name. Tohono O'odham youth named him Himdam — the O'odham word for "traveler." He's among a tiny number of ocelots that occasionally cross from Mexico into Arizona, representing one of the rarest wildlife sightings in the country. The naming connects the animal's borderlands wandering to Indigenous language and to the land itself. It's a small, good thing in a week that needed one.

What changed around town

The Tucson City Council approved a rezoning of the former Lyon Elementary School site — 10 acres at 7555 East Dogwood Street, closed since 2013 — clearing the way for approximately 63 single-family homes from developer KB Home. The surrounding Groves Lincoln neighborhood was apparently enthusiastic about it; the applicant's attorney noted she'd never been to a neighborhood meeting where residents were actually encouraging a developer to look at the land next door too. Infill done right tends to look like this.

Up in Oro Valley, the Town Council voted 6-0 to send its "Path Forward" General Plan — three years in the making, with more than 10,700 resident comments gathered — to voters on the November ballot. The same meeting produced a 5-1 vote restricting the former Rooney Ranch property near Oracle and Pushview to ownership townhomes rather than apartments, while permanently preserving 88 acres as open space. The one dissenting vote came from a council member who worried a future buyer could seek rezoning after purchasing at a lower price. It's a reasonable concern, but the majority held.

The pickleball fight at Udall Park reached an armistice of sorts. After players pushed back hard on a proposed $3.50-per-session fee, the Tucson Area Pickleball nonprofit signed a five-year stewardship agreement with the city to oversee operations and maintenance of the courts. The city holds onto responsibility for the areas outside the fence line; TAP will seek sponsors and work toward adding at least three courts. Regular players are being asked to contribute a voluntary minimum of $25 to support maintenance — which is a different thing, psychologically and practically, from a mandatory fee at the gate.

What's opening

The biggest food news of the week came with a ribbon cutting: Lin's Grand Buffet opened its second Tucson location Thursday at 4420 N. Stone Ave. — Stone and Wetmore, across from Tucson Mall — with more than 100 dishes, a sushi bar, a Mongolian grill, and live cooking stations. It's the chain's eighth Arizona location, and weekday lunch starts at $15.69. If you've been to the original, you know what you're getting into.

Also worth marking on your calendar: Treasury 1929, Chef Daniel Scordato's restored 1929 bank building at Congress and Stone, hosts its first public event on May 15 — "An Evening of Opera, Broadway & Beyond," with soprano and tenor performers, concert piano, and a three-course dinner. Tickets are $130, reservations required. The building's original marble-and-wood interior has been preserved. It's a big swing for downtown Tucson's event scene.

In Oro Valley, Bloom Tea Wellness was profiled in Inside Tucson Business this week — a community-focused tea café pitched as a wellness gathering space for the north Tucson area. The same outlet also covered a new 24-hour gym that's opened up there, which is useful to know if you keep inconvenient workout hours. And for something completely different: the Co-op, Mineral and Fossil Galleries at 1635 N. Oracle Road is holding its inaugural Spring Showcase this weekend — Friday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — with museum-quality dinosaur fossils, trilobites, minerals, meteorites, local artists, and a food truck. Admission is free.

One thing to watch

The Pima County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday, May 12, at 5 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors' Hearing Room, and it's a meeting worth paying attention to. Sheriff Chris Nanos will deliver a formal report to the board — part of a months-long, publicly uncomfortable confrontation over his management of the department and his cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The board has limited authority over an elected sheriff under Arizona law, which makes the public dynamic all the more charged. The same meeting takes up a post-mortem on the April RTA special election, a $600,000 contract for new elections software, the start of a process to hire a new County Administrator, and a resolution formally backing Rio Nuevo's continued funding at the state level. It's a dense agenda. The sheriff item alone is worth showing up for.

The Tucson Mini

This week's crossword leans into the season — which is to say, it may or may not involve words that evoke heat, Sonoran landscapes, and the particular mood of a Sunday in early May. Play this week's mini here and see how you do.

That's the week. Stay hydrated, find some shade, and we'll see you back here next Sunday.

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