Weekly Rewind: Sen. Navarrete scandal, COVID-19 school outbreaks, bus driver shortage
From politics to pandemic overload, the Arizona region takes the cakes this week
DESERT SOUTHWEST (KYMA, KECY/CBS/AP) - Former Democratic Senator Otoniel "Tony" Navarrete was recently charged with seven felony charges related to child sex abuse. Governor Doug Ducey and Arizonan Democratic lawmakers immediately began calling for the former senator's resignation.
Detectives documented that a boy claims abuse began when he was around 12 or 13. Now 16 years old, the boy says the abuse continued through his 15th birthday.
According to the teen's younger brother, police say "he pushed away Navarrete's hand when the lawmaker touched his inner thigh."
Investigators found an audio recording which stated that Navarrete himself "told the victim that nothing he did was his fault," and that "Navarrete told the victim he wasn't well."
Not even a week later, he resigned from his Senate seat.
Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Democratic Leader Rebecca Rios issued a statement saying:
Moments ago, Senator Tony Navarrete tendered his resignation, effective immediately. We will now notify the Governor and Secretary of State, and the process will begin to find his replacement in District 30.
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will vote on a replacement for former Sen. Navarrete soon.
If convicted, he faces 49 years in prison.
Washoe County Health District officials claim more than 80 students were potentially exposed to COVID-19 on the first day of class in Reno, Nevada, on Monday after a parent sent their child to Marce Herz Middle School, despite both the parent and child receiving a positive coronavirus test just two days earlier.
The school district did not share information about the student whom came to school after testing positive, nor their parent. Officials admit the parent refused to communicate with any Washoe County Health District staff and school officials.
Kindergarten through 12th grade students, staff, parents and visitors in Washoe County are required to wear face coverings inside school buildings, regardless of vaccination status, per state directive.
More closer to home, COVID-19 outbreaks are already disrupting classes only a couple of weeks after students hit the books.
Meanwhile, the Crane Elementary School District says it is contacting parents when their children may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for coronavirus.
So far this week, the district has reported a total of 27 new cases, five of those cases at Ronald Reagan Elementary.
The question about mask mandates is endless. Still, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's ban on mask mandates in the classroom stands.
And despite other schools in the state already going against his orders, both Crane and District One say they highly recommend, but don't mandate masks at school.
As the new school year gets underway, there’s a bus driver shortage leading to minor delays and additional work for employees. Fewer drivers also mean more students on buses.
Yuma Schools Transportation is in charge of pick-up and drop-off for all Yuma Unified School District and Yuma District One schools. The transportation division is short about 20 drivers causing a strain on staff.
The licensed office staff is now having to go on routes themselves and many drivers are having to pull double shifts.
Agencies like the Department of Public Safety and licensing department, were not open for some time causing a delay in training and certifying both current and new employees.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Imperial and Yuma Counties respectively have populations of about 180,000 and 214,000 people.
With regard to those figures, 15% of Imperialites have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, while nearly 18% of Yumans on average tested positive for COVID-19.
Both California and Arizona continue to hit vaccination milestones. Over 45.3 million vaccines have been administered in the Golden State. Whereas, Arizona just surpassed 7 million coronavirus vaccinations.
