Vice Mayor Paul Cunningham

Is it April already? Yes it is, and you know what that means.

The tax filing deadline is Monday, and if you haven’t filed, there is still time to get help from United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA).

Last year, we had the fourth hottest summer on record. All indications are that we will continue to have more days of triple digit temperatures that will start earlier and earlier.

The organization Building Resilient Neighborhoods and Physicians for Social Responsibility are offering workshops on the topic for neighborhoods.

The workshop is called the Extreme Weather Challenge the mission of the workshop is to help Southern Arizonans to prepare for extreme heat and other weather-related emergencies.  

The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona is seeking a teaching artist for the 2019 PAG Summer Youth Public Art Project to design and produce artwork with community youths. This year's project is a pedestrian overpass located on 22nd Street in Tucson, across from Palo Verde High School with the theme, "Bridging the Community". We would love to see artists from all of Southern Arizona apply for this teaching artist opportunity. The budget for the project is $25,000 and would occur and be completed during the summer of 2019.

A contractor for Southwest Gas is scheduled to begin pipeline improvement work on North Kolb Road between East Sunrise Drive and North Sabino Canyon Road on Monday, April 1.

The construction will begin at Kolb Road and Sunrise Drive and proceed south toward Sabino Canyon Road, with crews working Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the beginning of the project schedule. Work hours will begin earlier when daylight hours are longer.

A common refrain is “government should be run like a business.” If that’s the case, the next question should be, what business would sell its most valuable assets for prices set nearly 150 years ago?

That may seem like an odd question, but it’s pretty much what our federal government does with public lands when a mining operation wants to open up there.

According to the 1872 Mining Act, a claim (basically an assertion of a right to mine) can be made on a certain types of public land and the federal government will charge you the lofty price of $5 per acre.

From our friends at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base:

Nearly 120 local people with disabilities or special needs will be brought to the flight line Friday, March 22 – the day before Davis-Monthan AFB’s Open House begins to watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds practice their routine.

The event, dubbed “Heroes Day,” was organized to accommodate members of the local community who would enjoy the Open House demonstrations but might not be physically able to deal with the extensive walking and huge crowds.