On the next episode of Metro Week: Topic 1: Vanessa Barchfield takes us to a day with the Homeless Work Program, a local effort to help those without homes find pay for a day, then she interviews Tom Litwicki, the CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services. It’s one of the organizations helping support and run the program. Topic 2: The Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was in Tucson this week to visit the local VA Hospital. Sloan Gibson talked about the reports that wait times were fabricated to look like the facility was in compliance with federal standards. Topic 3: Last week a new male jaguar was sighted on Ft. Huachuca Army installation. We talk to Melanie Culver, the jaguar habitat researcher at the U of A. She’s operated remote cameras throughout Southern Arizona to document a jaguar and ocelots. Topic 4: The man who oversaw some of the most important public services (roads, flood control and the sewer department) for Pima County is retiring. We ask John Bernal how he’d solve funding pressures, and what road projects have made a difference in Pima County. Topic 5: The end of the month is the 100th anniversary of Lalo Guerrero’s birthday. He died in 2005, and is known as the father of Chicano music. We hear from him in an archived interview, and hear some of his favorite famous songs.
