Local Politics · Pima County
Contractors were expected to begin uprooting sacred saguaro cacti on the Tohono O'odham Nation as early as Monday, Oct. 12 (Indigenous People's Day) for the 62-mile Tucson 5 border wall project, but failed to appear. The tribe filed an emergency injunction request with a federal judge on Oct. 5 to halt construction and related activity, citing the saguaros' deep religious significance. DHS has until Oct. 15 to respond to the motion. Tribal leaders have long opposed the wall, arguing existing technology-based border security is more effective, while CBP maintains contractors are "moving forward" with the project.
Public Safety · Pima County
At its Oct. 13 meeting, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a $45,000 contract amendment with Insight Hydrology to develop drone-based streamflow models for the county's Regional Flood Control District, bringing the total authorized amount to $180,000 through Nov. 6, 2027. The technology uses drones and software to measure water velocity remotely, replacing dangerous traditional methods of placing instruments in floodwaters from bridges. Data from the district's 130+ sensors is shared with the National Weather Service, which issued a record 246 flash flood warnings across Southern Arizona between July and September. Residents can access rainfall, streamflow, radar overlays, and camera images through the Pima County Flood Warning System.
Local Politics · Pima County
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve three finalists in the search to replace retiring County Administrator Jan Lesher: Deputy County Administrator Carmine DeBonis, Thurston County (Wash.) Manager Leonard Hernandez, and Gilbert (Ariz.) Assistant Town Manager Leah Rhineheimer. A special board meeting for public interviews is set for Oct. 20. The selection process is the county's first top-executive search since 1989, following Lesher's 2022 appointment to replace Chuck Huckelberry.
Local Politics · Pima County
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from attorneys who represented failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem in a 2022 lawsuit against the Maricopa and Pima county boards of supervisors. The suit sought to block use of electronic tabulators in midterm elections but was dismissed by Judge John Tuchi as "conjectural" and "frivolous," resulting in $122,000 in sanctions against attorneys Andrew Parker and Kurt Olsen. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling a year later, with Alan Dershowitz removed from the sanctions due to limited participation. Parker's petition to the Supreme Court was his final attempt to avoid paying.
Local Politics · Tucson, AZ
Students, staff, and alumni at the University of Arizona in Tucson are pressing the administration to declare a sanctuary campus barring ICE and CBP enforcement activity on university grounds. The coalition, led by UA Resist and joined by DeFlock Tucson, United Campus Workers Arizona, and other groups, issued seven demands with an Oct. 23 deadline for a response. No incidents of ICE activity have been reported on the UA campus this year, nor at Arizona State or Northern Arizona universities. The push follows the 2025 rescission of a Biden-era policy that had restricted immigration enforcement at schools and churches, as well as recent UA rollbacks of DEI-related protections including centralizing cultural resource centers and closing cultural dorm communities.
