Daily Brief
September 15, 2026
Tuesday
🏛️ Government
Air Force offers PFAS cleanup at Davis-Monthan in exchange for a city land lease. The U.S. Air Force has offered to begin cleaning up groundwater contaminated with "forever chemicals" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base if Tucson agrees to let a group of Air Force retirees lease city land for a golf course, several sources told the Arizona Daily Star. The Star reports the City Council is scheduled to vote Sept. 22; contamination from the base has spread as far north as Broadway, and affected wells have been shut down for years. Separately, city officials this month held a ribbon-cutting for a $17 million plant treating PFAS-tainted groundwater on the south side, which will not treat water from the air base.
South Tucson council presses owners of derelict motel, problem properties. The South Tucson City Council is pushing for stronger action against the new owner of the Spanish Trail Motel at 305 E. Benson Highway, vacant for years and the site of multiple fires, and against a property owner residents blame for years of nearby crime, Tucson Spotlight reported. At its Sept. 1 meeting the council was also told it has little legal power to block a cell tower project opposed by residents.
Buttigieg rallies with Mendoza in CD6 race. Democratic congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza appeared with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Saturday at the Pima County Fairgrounds before a crowd of roughly 1,000 people, AZPM reported, in her bid to unseat Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani. Arizona's 6th District is among a handful of races national outlets are tracking as a possible factor in control of the U.S. House.
Voter registration closes Oct. 5 for the November election. Pima County residents must register by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 5 to vote in the Nov. 3 general election, KVOA reports, with registration available through the state Motor Vehicle Division website. The Pima County Recorder's Office lists the documents required to register.
🚨 Public Safety
Monsoon storm triggers three swift-water rescues, knocks out power to thousands. Tucson Fire crews carried out three swift-water rescues in under 30 minutes Monday afternoon: a driver pulled from the roof of a car by aerial ladder at Calle Betelgeux and South Avenida Sirio at 4:47 p.m., a driver swept down the Alamo Wash near North Alamo Avenue and East Rosewood Street at 5:01 p.m. who was hospitalized, and a person swept away behind TMC near Grant Road and Wyatt Drive at 5:12 p.m. KVOA reported nearly 16,000 Tucson Electric Power customers lost service, and a downed power line and toppled tree near Broadway and Kolb forced a closure of Broadway.
KVOA News 4, KGUN 9, KOLD News 13
Missing mother and 4-year-old found safe. Tucson police said a 24-year-old woman and her 4-year-old daughter, who disappeared from an area near 22nd Street and Kolb Road around 2 p.m. Sunday and prompted a state Safe Alert, have been found safe, KOLD reported. As we reported Monday, the Department of Public Safety had issued the alert at TPD's request.
Court documents detail eastside attack that killed a man and injured a 94-year-old. A 29-year-old Tucson man is accused of killing his father, stabbing his 94-year-old great-aunt and assaulting two neighbors at a home near Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde roads last Wednesday, according to court documents reviewed by KVOA. Officers found the man in the garage with blood on his hands and feet; the great-aunt was hospitalized in intensive care and is expected to survive, the documents say.
🎓 Schools
Marana High School student death prompts questions about warning signs. Classes at Marana High School were canceled last week after a student was found dead on campus in the early morning hours, AZPM reported. The station spoke with Tucson-based mental health professionals about how parents can recognize warning signs of suicide in teens, who said the signs are not always obvious.
Marana Unified schedules a parent session on November ballot measures. The district announced a Parent Partnership meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, at Vista, saying topics will include what is on the November ballot and measures that could affect public education and local schools. The district said parents, staff, PTOs and community members are invited.
Marana Unified School District
🏗️ Development & Business
GAP Ministries seeks $2.6 million to buy adjacent property. The Tucson-based Christian nonprofit, founded in 1999 and based on a five-acre campus at 2025 W. Highway Drive, said in a news release it hopes to raise $2.6 million over the next two months to purchase two adjacent acres that recently went up for sale, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The organization offers vocational training, reduced-cost essentials and meals, and says the land could eventually support an expansion.
🎉 Community & Events
Ward 5 launches a free Movies in the Park series. Council Member Selina Barajas announced a three-part, free family movie series at three Ward 5 parks this fall, in partnership with Tucson Electric Power and the nonprofit Mini Poderosas, according to a city news release issued Sept. 14. The release says the events will include family activities alongside the screenings.
📢 What Your Officials Are Saying
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-CD7). Grijalva issued a statement responding to the EPA's decision to roll back power plant emission rules, her office said in a release.
Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego (U.S. senators). The two senators, joined by Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari, announced in releases what they described as a $2 million federal investment to advance water reuse technology for semiconductor manufacturing at Arizona State University.
Sen. Mark Kelly, Sen. Ruben Gallego
Sen. Ruben Gallego (U.S. senator). Gallego posted Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected the president's attempt to restrict mail-in voting, writing that 80% of Arizonans vote by mail.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (U.S. senator). In a release, Gallego called for immediate congressional oversight and regulation of artificial intelligence, saying Congress should not wait on the president to act.
📍 Around Town
What sold in Pima County, Aug. 10–Aug. 16, 2026: 213 homes, median $365,000. 213 arm's-length home sales were recorded countywide the week of Aug.
🌵 The Desert Today
Heat: Sept. 13 high 99° (normal 96°, record 107°), low 73°. 77 days at or above 100° so far this year. Water: Lake Mead 1,038.8 ft on Sept. 13, down 18.2 ft in a year. Sky: air quality 44 (good), highest reading fine particles. UV index 9. Power: TEP demand peaked at 2,406 MW on Sept. 12, solar peak 540 MW.
Life in the Desert: the season against prior years, and the long record
⛈️ Weather — Tucson
No active National Weather Service alerts for the Tucson area as of this morning.
Today: partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms developing between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and continuing into the afternoon, high near 92, south wind around 5 mph, 50% chance of precipitation. Tonight: mostly cloudy with a continued chance of showers and storms, low around 73, southeast wind around 6 mph, 40% chance. Wednesday: partly sunny, high near 89, with showers and thunderstorms likely by afternoon and an 80% chance of precipitation.
Wednesday looks like the wettest day of the week, with storms likely continuing into Wednesday night before tapering off. Thursday dries out — mostly sunny, high near 92, with only a slight chance of storms before 5 p.m. Friday turns sunny and hotter, with a high near 96. Drivers should expect ponding and running washes during afternoon storms; Monday's rescues all involved vehicles or people in moving water.
NWS Tucson Forecast API
This brief was generated automatically by Claude Opus 5 from a review of 14 of 26 local sources fetched, at 6:02 AM MST on September 15, 2026, and published without human review. Every item links to its source. Read more about how this is made.
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