The Sunday Agenda: Let's get you caught up
We've got a new feature today ... Catching you up on last week and stretching our legs a little.
We’re excited to start a new feature today, the Sunday Agenda.
For the past year, we’ve been popping up in your inboxes every weekday at 6 a.m. That’s great. We’re helping you stay abreast of the news as you go about your busy workweek.
But Sunday is the best day to read the news. That’s why newspapers have their fattest editions, and run their best stories, on Sundays. You can kick back and read at your leisure, instead of gulping down the news as fast as you can while you get ready for work or manage your kids’ schedules.
And we’ve noticed a lot of you catch up on the weekday editions of the Agenda on Saturdays and Sundays. So the Sunday Agenda will give you a rundown of what we’ve published each week and help you stay up to date.
We’re also going to stretch our legs a little as writers. Instead of a deadline-driven, news-focused story like we do Monday through Friday, we take the time to talk to you about behind-the-scenes stuff. Some Sundays we’ll write about how we do things and why. Other Sundays we’ll talk about something else. The point is to have a little freedom.
First, let’s get you caught up.
Monday and Tuesday: “South Tucson Council seats in high demand” and “Meet the rest of the South Tucson hopefuls” : We took a look at the seven candidates running for South Tucson City Council. There’s a lot of competition for the four council seats up for grabs this year, with candidates’ priorities ranging from building the local economy to improving South Tucson’s reputation. One candidate even surprised us with a conspiratorial answer, saying he couldn’t respond to questions without compromising his campaign.
Wednesday: “Young activists take the stage”: Young activists who identify as LGBTQ talked about the issues that are important to them, in the face of a barrage of state legislation that targets their freedoms. They teamed up with the ACLU of Arizona and other groups for the event in an effort to drum up support for a statewide nondiscrimination law that would protect the LGBTQ community. And on top of that, they just want the community to understand that they’re regular people, too.
Thursday: “The company they keep”: Democrats have a big choice to make in District 3 as they pick their candidate to run for the county supervisor seat in November. Voters have the ultimate say, of course, but who did the big names among local Democrats endorse? And, we follow up on a reader’s comment about one of the candidates’ previous stint on the Tucson Unified School District governing board.
Friday: “Sunnyside grapples with post-pandemic attendance”: The height of the pandemic may feel far behind us, but the after-effects are still being felt at schools across the state, with what experts call concerning levels of chronic absenteeism. In Tucson’s Sunnyside Unified School District, some students are struggling to attend classes, especially in 8th through 12th grades, with board members and district officials discussing the topic at a recent meeting. While there are multiple theories as to the source of the problem, one administrator says there’s only one way to find a solution.
We’ve been planning our first birthday bash for the last few months, but it came and went in the blink of an eye on Friday night. It was great to see both new and familiar faces, and we appreciate you all taking time out of your busy schedules to help celebrate our milestone.
We enjoyed chatting with readers about their favorite parts of the Tucson Agenda and what they’d like to see us do more (or less) of. We talked to a handful of you about our plans for the Sunday Agenda and our upcoming coverage, but if you couldn’t make it to the party, we still want to hear your ideas! Send those to caitlin@tucsonagenda.com or curt@tucsonagenda.com.
And if you missed the party, you also missed some delicious food from of our friends at Empanadas El Dominicano (the chile verde con queso empanadas were a crowd favorite) but fear not, you can find their food truck posted up at the corner of Broadway and Rosemont (the schedule is posted here) and at various events around town.
The raffle was also a crowd favorite, thanks to Curt and his stage presence, and we hope to see some of those Tucson Agenda tote bags and shirts around town. If you’re interested in purchasing some of your own Agenda swag, drop us a note. We have shirts, totes and some pretty sweet coffee mugs available. We’ll also be giving some away as we continue with our birthday month celebration, so keep your eye on the newsletter for upcoming opportunities to win some Agenda-branded gear.
Last but not least, a big thanks to the Shanty and its staff for their hospitality and going above and beyond to make sure our guests had a great experience!
We had so much fun getting to meet some of our readers and we hope to have future opportunities to connect in-person, whether that be election-related presentations, forums focused on community issues or something else altogether. You tell us – what other kinds of ways would you like to engage with us?
If you’re disappointed about missing the party, come hang out with Caitlin in a few weeks at the next meeting of the solutions-focused community book club. On Thursday, June 25 at 5:30 p.m., we’ll be discussing Sara Novic’s True Biz at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona campus (5049 E. Broadway Blvd., Suite 201.) The Tucson Tome Gnome will have a book sharing table and we’ll be sharing details about a soon-to-be launching book club that we think our Agenda readers will love. The event is free to attend, but you need to RSVP in advance.
