News Briefs

MASK

Required upon Entering COVID-19 outbreak forces county attorney’s o ce to telecommute

After several employees tested positive for COVID-19 in early January, the Pima County Attorney’s Offi ce, housed at the Legal Services Building (32 N. Stone Avenue) in Downtown Tucson, was closed to PCAO employees and the public on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12.

Closing the building is unprecedented but necessary “in order to keep operations going and to make sure that we don’t hit that brick wall of not having enough healthy staff ,” says Pima County Attorney Laura Conover. The closure allowed PCAO employees time to obtain a COVID-19 test and to receive results. Employees telecommuted from home while the building was cleaned and sanitized.

Conover experienced mild COVID-19 symptoms since potentially being exposed in early January.

Romero honored by Latino Leaders Network

777 Highway 260 Pinetop, AZ 85935 800.WAY.UP.HI www.hon-dah.com (3 miles south of Pinetop)

The Latino Leaders Network honored Tucson Mayor Regina Romero with the Antonio Villaraigosa Leadership Award at the 34th Tribute to Mayors in late January.

The Tribute to Mayors convenes elected offi cials from across the country to honor a mayor who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to bringing diverse communities together.

“It is an honor to receive the Antonio Villaraigosa Leadership Award from the Latino Leaders Network,” Romero says. “Although this year has presented its fair share of challenges, we’ve proven our resilience and positioned ourselves to return stronger than ever here in Tucson. I extend my sincere gratitude to Mickey Ibarra for his continued leadership in ensuring Latino issues and stories have a national platform to be heard.”

Program participants included Latino Leaders Network Chairman Mickey Ibarra, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, former Los Angeles Mayor Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa, award-winning journalist Maria Elena Salinas and UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguia.

“We are delighted to honor Mayor Regina Romero at our Tribute to Mayors for her outstanding leadership and commitment to making Tucson a better place for everyone,” Ibarra says. “Her powerful personal story of obstacles overcome to achieve success is an inspiration we look forward to sharing with our national leader network of nearly 14,000 members.”

Mayor Regina Romero is the daughter of immigrants and was elected as the fi rst woman and fi rst Latino mayor of Tucson in November 2019. She is the only Latina mayor among the nation’s 50 largest cities.

Banner adds a pediatrician and children’s cardiac specialist

Dr. Helene Felman — a pediatrician with experience in advocacy, well child care, and treating behavioral issues such as depression, attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety — has joined the general pediatrics team as its division chief at Banner–University Medicine.

In addition, she serves as a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson, Department of Pediatrics. Felman was most recently a clinical assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

As a pediatric generalist, Felman treats children ages birth to 18 years old. Her practice focuses on health maintenance for children to ensure the child is meeting or exceeding health benchmarks. In addition, she also treats children with common health issues such as asthma, attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, obesity, depression, simple infections, upper respiratory illness, pneumonia and ear infections.

Felman sees patients at Banner–University Medical Center Tucson, 1625 N. Campbell, and Banner University Medical Group Children’s Multispecialty Services, 535 N. Wilmot Road, Suite 101.

To schedule an appointment with Felman, call 694-5437.

In other Banner news, Dr. Andrew Hoyer, a cardiologist and heart imaging expert for children, has joined Banner-University Medicine.

He specializes in fetal cardiology and pediatric echocardiography. Hoyer is experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease and the heart-related imaging tests echocardiography and cardiac MRI for children. He is the fi rst pediatric cardiologist in Southern Arizona with this expertise.

Hoyer treats children with heart murmurs, chest pain, palpitations and fainting and provides screenings for familial heart problems. He provides care for children from fetal life to adulthood.

“Complicated heart problems require a multidisciplinary approach, and I am one part of a great team delivering care at Banner–University Medicine,” Hoyer said.

To schedule an appointment with Hoyer, who sees children at various clinics, call 694-5437.

Mayor, council approve bond sale to fund pension obligation

The Tucson mayor and council approved the sale of certifi cates of participation (COP) to fund the city’s growing obligation to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. The system funds the fi re and police personnel pension program. The obligation stands at $1.5 billion and is projected to grow to a peak annual cost of $240 million to the city’s general fund.

Approved by the mayor and council, the strategy addresses the long-term system obligation by borrowing funding at unusually low interest rates and investing those funds. The investment earnings will be used to fund the pension obligation. This has the potential, over the 25year plan, to save the city more than $800 million, reducing future burdens to the general fund, preserving essential services, saving taxpayer dollars, and helping to stabilize the city’s fi nancial future.

Mayor and council also created the Tucson Public Safety Pension Trust to manage, invest and safeguard the bond proceeds. In addition to the composition of the trustees, the trust will have an independent investment adviser and trust administrator. The trustees will adopt an investment policy and guide the investment of the funds. Additionally, the trust will be audited as part of the city’s annual audit.

“This is a historic, once-in-a-generation decision that puts Tucson at the forefront of our state and our nation, when it comes to securing our public safety pension system,” says Mayor Regina Romero.

“This move has the potential to save Tucsonans more than $800 million in taxpayer (monies) over the next few decades and ensure the retirement security of our fi rst responders.” —Executive Editor Christina Fuoco-Karasinski can be reached at christina@ timespublications.com.

King Crossword

ACROSS

1 Saudi native 5 Job-safety org. 9 Old CIA foe 12 Mentor 13 Err 14 Shoe width 15 Secondhand 16 Watch chains 17 Away from SSW 18 Slightly 19 And so on (Abbr.) 20 Tackles weeds 21 Longing 23 Hearty quaff 25 Ex-hausted 28 Castor’s twin 32 Silents star Mary 33 Country singer

Shelton 34 Arrest 36 Dwellings 37 Meadow 38 Dancer Charisse 39 Rage 42 Trio after Q 44 Raw minerals 48 Exist 49 -- Domini 50 “Damn Yankees” vamp 51 Irate 52 Tale teller 53 Maui meal 54 Golfer Ernie 55 Track circuits 56 Holler

DOWN

1 Oaxaca water 2 Reddish brown 3 Region 4 “That’ll Be the

Day” singer 5 Insult 6 Coin aperture 7 Wheel cover 8 Six-pack muscles 9 Vegas game 10 Hereditary unit 11 Honey bunch? 20 Louis Armstrong song 22 Haunting 24 Hotel area 25 “Humbug!” 26 “Suits” network 27 Disco guy on

“The Simpsons” 29 Young fellow 30 Guitar’s kin 31 Ballot marks 35 Aslan’s land 36 Oscar contenders 39 Notoriety 40 Russian river 41 Some wines 43 Crisp cookie 45 Libertine 46 Mideast airline 47 Author Bellow 49 100%

The idea of Go Figure is to arrive at the figures given at the bottom and right-hand columns of the diagram by following the arithmetic signs in the order they are given (that is, from left to right and top to bottom). Use only the numbers below the diagram to complete its blank squares and use each of the nine numbers only once.

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK H H

H Moderate HH Challenging HHH HOO BOY! DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK H

H Moderate HH Challenging HHH HOO BOY!

EVEN EXCHANGE

by Donna Pettman

Each numbered row contains two clues and two answers. The two answers differ from each other by only one letter, which has already been inserted. For example, if you exchange the A from MASTER for an I, you get MISTER. Do not change the order of the letters.

SCRAMBLERS

Unscramble the letters within each rectangle to form four ordinary words. Then rearrange the boxed letters to form the mystery word, which will complete the gag!