Weekend wrap-up: Here are the biggest Arizona stories from Sept. 4-6
Sep 6, 2020, 6:00 PM | Updated: Sep 7, 2020, 7:15 am
PHOENIX – An urgent care chain is fined $12.5 million, Phoenix continues to break heat records and a metro Phoenix high school postponed resuming in-person classes citing a shortage of staff.
Here are some stories that headlined the Arizona news cycle over the weekend.
Arizona-based urgent care provider convicted of fraud, fined $12.5 million
UCXtra Umbrella LLC, which ran under the name Urgent Care Extra, was convicted and ordered last week to pay $12.5 million on charges of health care fraud and engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity.
That fine is equal to the estimated loss that the illegal activity, which included fraudulent billing, inflicted on health insurance companies.
The company operated more than 30 centers around the state, most of which were in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
Phoenix breaks daily heat record for third consecutive day
Arizona broke a daily heat record Sunday for the third consecutive day, according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature reached 112 degrees around 3 p.m.
The previous record for the date was 111 degrees, which was set back in 2013.
Sunday’s broken record marks the 20th record-high temperature Phoenix has experienced this summer. Phoenix has also broken 18 records for the warmest low temperature on days throughout the summer.
Cave Creek school cancels in-person class Tuesday amid staff shortage
Cactus Shadows High School canceled in-person class for Tuesday due to not having enough staff to safely open, according to a Facebook post late Friday.
The school will divert to the distance learning model with an update of the situation on Tuesday for the rest of the week.
“We determined that with the need for safety to be our utmost concern it would be impossible to reach those parameters with the current projected staffing,” Tony Vining, the school’s principal, wrote in the post.
Arizona reports 250 new coronavirus cases, 14 additional deaths
Arizona health officials reported 250 new coronavirus cases and 14 additional deaths on Sunday morning.
That put the state’s documented totals at 205,766 COVID-19 infections and 5,221 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths was 33.5 on Saturday, among the lowest marks since the start of July.
Forbes: Chandler school district is top Arizona-based company to work for
The Chandler Unified School District was the highest-ranked locally-based organization on Forbes’ best employers list for employees in Arizona.
The school district was ranked No. 4 on the annual list and employs around 4,675 employees, according to the list.
The United States Automobile Association (USAA), whose headquarters in San Antonio, ranked as the best company for Arizonans to work for overall.
