This week the budget deal Congress passed just hours into a partial government shutdown included money for community health centers and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Federal funding for community health centers expired last September, creating uncertainty for facilities like Southern Arizona's El Rio Community Health Center.
The #MeToo movement culminated the Arizona Capitol with the State House of Representatives voting to expel Republican Rep. Don Shooter last week. An investigation into sexual harassment complaints began a few months earlier. Christopher Conover reports on how leaders plan to continue making changes to the legislature's culture. He spoke to Republican State House Speaker J.D. Mesnard and Mi-Ai Parrish, former publisher of the Arizona Republic, who came forward with inappropriate comments Rep. Shooter made toward her in 2016.
Within the same month, the University of Arizona found itself at the center of two legal dilemmas, both filed by women who separately made harassment and discrimination claims. The first was a notice of claim seeking $8.5 million filed by a former assistant against fired football coach Rich Rodriguez over sexual harassment and assault allegations, which the former coach denies. The notice of claim names the UA, Rodriguez and his wife. It is a precursor to a lawsuit.
Meantime, former UA Honors Dean Patricia MacCorquodale filed suit against the Arizona Board of Regents for "systematic discrimination" against female deans at the university. The former dean accused the university of paying her less than her male colleagues.
To explore the issues facing the university, we asked labor attorney Don Awerkamp, Ph.D., about the process for coming forward with these types of cases. While he's not involved with either case, his law firm has frequently helped UA employees with discrimination-related claims.
Oftentimes with legal filings and cases, the most salacious allegations dominate the headlines. Susan Swanberg, Ph.D., is a former attorney and teaches media law at the UA School of Journalism. She discussed the ethics that should help guide journalists as they decide how much detail to publish when they don't necessarily have all the facts.
Ups and downs on Wall Street this week set off alarms in the media and led to more scrutiny on the stock market. Chris Lamoureux, Ph.D., teaches finance at the UA Eller College of Management and offered context about sharp gains in January and its potential effect on volatility in trading this week.
The 64th annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show opened this week at the Tucson Convention Center. Since its inception, other gem shows have populated the city and put Tucson on the map as a global destination for gem and mineral dealers. As outside shows continue to expand, Lorraine Rivera reports on how the City of Tucson plans to keep pace with the event's growth.
In the last month, Arizona 360 has covered a number of issues from NAFTA, to Capitol Hill and the upcoming elections. All subject areas former Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe has firsthand experience with as a representative of Arizona for more than 20 years. He discussed those topics with Lorraine Rivera, along with his hopes Republicans and Democrats can work across the aisle more in the future.
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