Journalists’ Roundtable: 12-10-21: Hospital Concerns, Hobbs Apology, Redistricting, Fann Recording

Time now for the journalists’ roundtable, and here to discuss some of the week’s top stories, we welcome Jeremy Duda of Arizona Mirror and Bob Christie of the Associated Press.

This week’s Journalists’ Roundtable covered:

• Hospital concerns
• Katie Hobbs apology
• Redistricting
• Fann Recording

Why are hospital numbers so high in Arizona right now?

Jeremy Duda: “I haven’t heard from the state level from the governor’s office I haven’t really heard much about covid in months except for wanting to get rid of mandates and bock mandates for vaccines and masks there’s those handful of laws regarding that stuff.”

Bob Christie: “We’ve been there before, but the difference this time is that last winter during the surge the doctors were talking about how the normal patients weren’t showing up, they weren’t seeing people with cancer surgery and that kind of stuff so those beds are full with regular patients now and like you said we’ve got 40% of all our hospital beds with covid now and that take sup all the slack.”

Katie Hobbs issues another apology for the firing of Talonya Adams. What is next for Hobbs?

Jeremy Duda: “This is the continuing damage control for what had been the presumptive Democratic frontrunner for governor this is kind of the starkest most apologetic language she had used so far in the past after the verdict when she spoke she kind of stood by her role regarding the firing of Talonya Adams from the Senate in 2015.”

Bob Christie: “I was struck by the unnecessarily defensive statement which I think all of us spotted immediately, she was defensive and she didn’t get it. This is the second jury that has returned the verdict against the senate in firing her she was party to the lawsuit. As a democrat who prides herself on representing groups of Arizonans Democrats say the Republicans don’t represent well, she missed an opportunity there, it’s a bad look for her.”