State

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed a $2 trillion economic stimulus package just hours after it was rushed through the House Friday, clearing the way for aid to businesses, increased benefits for workers and direct payments to taxpayers.

The spread of COVID-19 has “deeply affected” Arizona animal shelters, which are discontinuing some services, cutting hours and trying to juggle between taking animals in and adopting them out to stretch resources while protecting pets and people.

The mayor of Tucson is ordering the closure of all non-essential businesses -- but only those that Gov. Doug Ducey said local governments can shutter.

Touting the importance of transparency, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Friday that state government and its universities should disclose where employees and students who came down with COVID-19 were working and living.

Saguaro National Park in Tucson has temporarily closed restrooms and visitor centers and halted public events, but that hasn’t stopped throngs of people from visiting the park during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Native Americans are seeking more help from the federal government to fight COVID-19, even as the Navajo Nation and other tribes take steps to combat the disease themselves – including raising money to help vulnerable citizens and issuing shelter-in-place orders.

Arizona did relatively well in a new study of social distancing, but the same could not be said of how well most counties in the state follow the practice that is aimed at stemming the coronavirus’ spread.

Arizona's jobless rate remained steady for February in what could be the last such report for awhile.

Wednesday, Gov. Doug Ducey ordered Arizona hospitals to come up with plans to increase bed capacity by 50 percent within the next month and actually have half of those ready to go by April 10.

Arizonans likely won't get to decide this year whether they want to ban anonymous contributions to political campaigns.

Cases of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation Reservation have risen to 49, up from the 29 reported Monday by the Navajo Department of Health. Forty-three cases are in the Arizona part of the reservation, according to the Navajo Epidemiology Center.

WASHINGTON – The Senate gave unanimous approval late Wednesday to a historic $2 trillion economic stimulus package that calls for direct payments to taxpayers and hundreds of billions in relief for small businesses and targeted industries, like airlines.

The number of Arizonans diagnosed with -- and dying -- from COVID-19 will continue to increase for at least the next month, the state's chief health officer said Wednesday.

Gov. Doug Ducey announced a new series of orders, directives and requests Wednesday designed to deal with COVID-19.

The state Senate will get a new chance to escape at least some of the financial penalty imposed over the firing of a staffer.

Health officials are warning adults not to self-diagnose and treat COVID-19 following the death of a Pima County man who ingested chloroquine phosphate, a chemical used to clean fish tanks.

Arizona lawmakers, like the rest of Congress and much of the nation, are learning to telework in the face of COVID-19, with calls going to voicemail or being forwarded to workers at home – or in some cases going unanswered.

Arizona renters affected by COVID-19 will not be in danger of being put out on the street, at least through July 23.

A new executive order by Gov. Doug Ducey on "essential services'' appears less designed to empower him to force people to stay home than to preclude Arizona cities from once again getting out in front of him on actions to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The number of Arizonans applying for jobless benefits jumped by a factor of seven this past week, providing the first clear indicators of the effect COVID-19 is having on the state economy.

State lawmakers gave final approval to a $11.8 billion contingency budget Monday and went home -- at least for a couple of weeks.

Gov. Doug Ducey has prepared a list of what are “essential services’’ should he decide to order everyone who doesn’t fit into that category to stay home due to COVID-19.

The viral pandemic has prompted the state to fund a hotline that has been mired in controversy for years.

Gov. Doug Ducey wants federal dollars and an expanded role for the Arizona National Guard, saying the citizens, economy and infrastructure of the state have been "catastrophically affected'' by COVID-19.

Border officials will start turning away all undocumented migrants and asylum seekers beginning Saturday, in what President Donald Trump called an effort to protect “our border agents, migrants and to the public at large” from COVID-19.