“To state it clearly, we are enduring crimes against humanity,” said Verlon M. José, the governor of the Tohono O’odham in northern Mexico and a former vice chairman of the tribal nation on the American side of the border.

​“Tell me where your grandparents are buried and let me dynamite their graves,” said Mr. José, emphasizing how visceral an issue the blasting has become among O’odham-speaking peoples. “This wall is already putting a scar across our heart.”  NY Times story here.

Phoenix, one of the hottest and fastest-warming cities in the US, could be hit by “a [Hurricane] Katrina of extreme heat” with temperatures peaking in the 120s and lingering for two weeks...
Southern California could see a wildfire that burns a total of 1.5 million acres. Smoke from the blazes could carry at least 100 miles west into Los Angeles and 100 miles south to San Diego, leading to hazardous air quality throughout the region and thousands of hospitalizations...
Tampa Bay is one of the areas in the US most at risk when hurricanes arrive because of its location, growing population, and the geography of the bay. If a Category 5 hurricane makes a direct hit on the bay, parts of Pinellas County — which is home to St. Petersburg — will temporarily become an island... Full story HERE (Vox)

Neto's Tucson: Ana Chavarin is a single mom, an immigrant and a success
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After the steel is scrapped out and a bar or two put on display in the local historical society visitors will marvel at the gargantuan impotence of it all. Right now in Ambos Nogales locals mock the epic failure of the wall/fence/slats/concertina wire to control the kind of immigration now happening.
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Nogales City Council calls on feds to remove all border razor wire in the Arizona city

Paul Ingram, TucsonSentinel.com
Four No More Deaths volunteers, charged with federal misdemeanors after they left water and food for migrants crossing Southern Arizona's protected Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, have been found guilty, U.S. District Court Judge Bernardo Velasco ruled late Friday. 
In a court decision released late Friday, Velasco said that the four women — Natalie Hoffman, Oona Holcomb, Madeline Huse, and Zaachila Orozco-McCormick — violated federal laws, because "they did not get an access permit, they did not remain on designated roads, and they left water, food, and crates in the Refuge," he wrote. 

​"All of this, in addition to violating the law, erodes the national decision to maintain the Refuge in its pristine nature," Velasco said. They each face up to six months in prison and a fine of $500, and will be sentenced sometime after February 18, he said.
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The case has major implications for the future of humanitarian aid for people crossing through Arizona's deserts, especially in the remote stretch of landscape known as the Growler Valley, which sets inside 800,000 acres of protected wilderness in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. No More Deaths is among the local humanitarian groups that provides aid — including water stations in rugged areas far from populated areas — for border crossers who might otherwise be numbered among the dead in the desert.  More.