City News

The Mayor and Tucson City Council yesterday approved a plan by City Manager Michael Ortega to offer a health insurance incentive for City of Tucson employees eligible to retire. The latest plan offers a varying one-time payout (based on number of dependents) to those who permanently opt out of City-provided insurance. Those who take advantage of the offer can spend the taxable money on insurance premiums for other plans they choose.

Sun Tran, KGUN 9 News, and HSL Properties are partnering again this year to sponsor a “Stuff-the-Bus” food drive, benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. A Sun Tran bus will be located at River Oaks Apartments at 7730 E. Broadway (Broadway and Pantano) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If you'd like to track the streetcar and you have a smartphone, you're in luck. The Tucson Streetcar Tracker, developed by Dallan Porter at the University of Arizona, is useful if you want to figure out how long it will take for the streetcar to show up at the stop where you're waiting.

The City of Tucson is holding the first of three public meetings this month to allow the community and business leaders to discuss a proposal to require all businesses in city limits to offer sick time to their employees. The Earned Sick & Safe Time Stakeholder Meeting runs tonight from 6-7:30 at the Ward 5 Council Office, 4300 S. Park Ave.

There's snow on the grounds of Reid Park Zoo today. The white stuff didn't actually fall at the Zoo, but it was trucked in from Mt. Lemmon for the animals and zoogoers to enjoy.

The HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival begins this week, kicking off nearly two weeks of jazz at Downtown Tucson venues and surrounding areas, through Jan. 24.

This year's festival opens Thursday at the Fox Tucson Theatre with NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Jimmy Heath performing his arrangements with the Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Band.

Other events include the free Downtown Jazz Fiesta on Martin Luther King Day, New Orleans-style jazz, piano jazz, and more.