Yana Kunichoff
@yanak.bsky.social
Journalist @azluminaria.bsky.social covering poverty/homelessness/housing insecurity and organizing in Tucson and southern Arizona
Nearly 1400 people have been ordered into Pima County’s Restoration to Competency program to see if they can stand trial
That can mean more than a year in jail, waiting. My colleague @jwashing.bsky.social writes about when jail becomes a mental health facility
azluminaria.org/2025/11/24/w...
That can mean more than a year in jail, waiting. My colleague @jwashing.bsky.social writes about when jail becomes a mental health facility
azluminaria.org/2025/11/24/w...
When jail becomes the mental health treatment plan - AZ Luminaria
Arizona’s competency restoration system pushes people with mental illness into jail. Stacey Brooks’ case shows the dangerous consequences.
azluminaria.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Nearly 1400 people have been ordered into Pima County’s Restoration to Competency program to see if they can stand trial
That can mean more than a year in jail, waiting. My colleague @jwashing.bsky.social writes about when jail becomes a mental health facility
azluminaria.org/2025/11/24/w...
That can mean more than a year in jail, waiting. My colleague @jwashing.bsky.social writes about when jail becomes a mental health facility
azluminaria.org/2025/11/24/w...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Today, Tucson City Council is discussing a proposed ordinance that would create a new offense of "drug-related loitering". Indications that could trigger an arrest for this include officer knowledge of a prior drug conviction, or the so-called "fent fold." tucsonaz.hylandcloud.com/221agendaonl...
tucsonaz.hylandcloud.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Today, Tucson City Council is discussing a proposed ordinance that would create a new offense of "drug-related loitering". Indications that could trigger an arrest for this include officer knowledge of a prior drug conviction, or the so-called "fent fold." tucsonaz.hylandcloud.com/221agendaonl...
A new ordinance under consideration in Tucson would allow police to arrest people who raise a “reasonable suspicion that they are about to engage” in public drug use
azluminaria.org/2025/11/18/a...
azluminaria.org/2025/11/18/a...
As Tucson drafts new drug-use law, a rare joint meeting points to multiple approaches - AZ Luminaria
As the Tucson City Council weighs whether to target public drug use through a new pathway to misdemeanor arrests, a rare city-county summit highlighted a central dilemma; how to address addiction as b...
azluminaria.org
November 19, 2025 at 1:28 AM
A new ordinance under consideration in Tucson would allow police to arrest people who raise a “reasonable suspicion that they are about to engage” in public drug use
azluminaria.org/2025/11/18/a...
azluminaria.org/2025/11/18/a...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Contractor Paying Random People $300 to Physically Track Immigrants for ICE
“The more I listened to it, the more I’m like, something doesn’t sound right,” a person who was briefed on the pilot plans told 404 Media.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Rest in power to Sister JoAnn Persch - I met her at the Broadview detention center circa 2010-ish, where she was among a group that lay down in front of a deportation bus
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/18/s...
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/18/s...
Sister JoAnn Persch, Trailblazing Immigrant Rights Activist, Dies At 91
Sister JoAnn Persch spent decades with the Sisters of Mercy, fighting for immigrant and refugee rights in Chicago and across the country. She prayed the rosary outside the Broadview ICE facility every...
blockclubchicago.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Rest in power to Sister JoAnn Persch - I met her at the Broadview detention center circa 2010-ish, where she was among a group that lay down in front of a deportation bus
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/18/s...
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/18/s...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Wrote about the contentious Project Blue — a massive proposed data center in Tucson AZ — for my first feature with @theguardian.com!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘The city that draws the line’: one Arizona community’s fight against a huge datacenter
Questions grow over water and energy costs of warehouse of computers in Sonoran desert – but will Project Blue be stopped?
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Wrote about the contentious Project Blue — a massive proposed data center in Tucson AZ — for my first feature with @theguardian.com!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Nice to see homies at national outlets running full features on this story.
Homies at local indie nonprofit outlet @azluminaria.org have been keeping a steady vigilance on this story, which has led to greater community engagement, which led to greater national significance.
A virtuous news cycle.
Homies at local indie nonprofit outlet @azluminaria.org have been keeping a steady vigilance on this story, which has led to greater community engagement, which led to greater national significance.
A virtuous news cycle.
Wrote about the contentious Project Blue — a massive proposed data center in Tucson AZ — for my first feature with @theguardian.com!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘The city that draws the line’: one Arizona community’s fight against a huge datacenter
Questions grow over water and energy costs of warehouse of computers in Sonoran desert – but will Project Blue be stopped?
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Nice to see homies at national outlets running full features on this story.
Homies at local indie nonprofit outlet @azluminaria.org have been keeping a steady vigilance on this story, which has led to greater community engagement, which led to greater national significance.
A virtuous news cycle.
Homies at local indie nonprofit outlet @azluminaria.org have been keeping a steady vigilance on this story, which has led to greater community engagement, which led to greater national significance.
A virtuous news cycle.
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
October 2, 2025 at 10:42 PM
BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
The non-disclosure agreement also says the county will not share the name of the final user for Project Blue with county personnel unless it is legally obligated.
Pima County NDA confirms Amazon is behind Project Blue data center - AZ Luminaria
Pima County agreed to keep Amazon Web Services’ role in Project Blue secret for five years, according to a non-disclosure agreement obtained by Arizona Luminaria. The deal, signed in 2023, sheds new l...
azluminaria.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:30 PM
The non-disclosure agreement also says the county will not share the name of the final user for Project Blue with county personnel unless it is legally obligated.
From a mother evicted and grieving her brother, to a woman rotating between shelters and her car, to families in a mobile home park with failing power — Tucson residents show what it takes to survive in extreme heat
Living without air conditioning in Tucson’s deadly heat - AZ Luminaria
Thousands in Tucson endure record-breaking heat without reliable air conditioning. Families share how they survive deadly summers with few resources.
azluminaria.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:29 PM
From a mother evicted and grieving her brother, to a woman rotating between shelters and her car, to families in a mobile home park with failing power — Tucson residents show what it takes to survive in extreme heat
The latest on efforts to build a data center in the Sonoran Desert:
Breaking:
Massive Amazon data center is back in development in Pima County after a fierce fight this summer, in which the greater Tucson community pushed back hard against the developers.
Latest, along with @yanak.bsky.social for @azluminaria.org azluminaria.org/2025/09/17/p...
Massive Amazon data center is back in development in Pima County after a fierce fight this summer, in which the greater Tucson community pushed back hard against the developers.
Latest, along with @yanak.bsky.social for @azluminaria.org azluminaria.org/2025/09/17/p...
Project Blue data center pushes ahead in Pima County promising new low-water cooling tech - AZ Luminaria
Data center developer Beale Infrastructure says it is moving forward with Project Blue, this time promising a greener, slimmer proposal that will use a new low-water air-cooling technology. The compa...
azluminaria.org
September 17, 2025 at 11:13 PM
The latest on efforts to build a data center in the Sonoran Desert:
Pima County's jail healthcare provider has been in consistent violation of certain performance indicators over the past year, @jwashing.bsky.social reports
azluminaria.org/2025/09/11/s...
azluminaria.org/2025/09/11/s...
September 11, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Pima County's jail healthcare provider has been in consistent violation of certain performance indicators over the past year, @jwashing.bsky.social reports
azluminaria.org/2025/09/11/s...
azluminaria.org/2025/09/11/s...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
While President Trump calls opposition to the Resolution Copper mine that would destroy a sacred site for Western Apache people “anti-American,” I have the actual details on what’s happening and why the mine is so controversial.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1908202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1908202...
Court Temporarily Halts Land Transfer That Would Allow a Mine to Destroy Western Apache Sacred Land - Inside Climate News
The Western Apache and a coalition of environmental groups have fought for years against the Resolution Copper mine, which would become one of the country’s largest at the cost of a site revered by th...
insideclimatenews.org
August 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
While President Trump calls opposition to the Resolution Copper mine that would destroy a sacred site for Western Apache people “anti-American,” I have the actual details on what’s happening and why the mine is so controversial.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1908202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1908202...
Immigration enforcement in America's second largest city:
"The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles."
calmatters.org/investigatio...
"The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles."
calmatters.org/investigatio...
Taken: What happens after an LA immigration raid
Their families won’t know what happened to them. They’ll be shackled, whisked away to another state, forced to subsist for days on potato chips, apples, water, and the occasional cold sandwich.
calmatters.org
August 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Immigration enforcement in America's second largest city:
"The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles."
calmatters.org/investigatio...
"The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles."
calmatters.org/investigatio...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
AI-processing data centers require massive amounts of energy and water, and relatively low power prices, state tax incentives, and lax regulations are attracting them to the West, threatening water supplies and straining the grid.
The West's data centers suck (water and power) - High Country News
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies.
buff.ly
August 7, 2025 at 10:00 PM
AI-processing data centers require massive amounts of energy and water, and relatively low power prices, state tax incentives, and lax regulations are attracting them to the West, threatening water supplies and straining the grid.
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Local reporting uncovered Amazon was behind the water-guzzling data center slated for the desert. Residents fought against the data center. Today, the city council unanimously voted against Project Blue.
If you care about local journalism that drives impact, consider donating to @azluminaria.org!
If you care about local journalism that drives impact, consider donating to @azluminaria.org!
BREAKING: Tucson City Council unanimously rejects Project Blue
Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue amid intense community pressure - AZ Luminaria
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center into city limits. That vote directing the city manager and staff to end n...
azluminaria.org
August 6, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Local reporting uncovered Amazon was behind the water-guzzling data center slated for the desert. Residents fought against the data center. Today, the city council unanimously voted against Project Blue.
If you care about local journalism that drives impact, consider donating to @azluminaria.org!
If you care about local journalism that drives impact, consider donating to @azluminaria.org!
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Responding to vehement opposition and public service journalism, Tucson's mayor/council unanimously vote to reject a mega data center project from Amazon.
Tucson ain't Eddington.
Read @yanak.bsky.social's latest from city hall.
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
Tucson ain't Eddington.
Read @yanak.bsky.social's latest from city hall.
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center amid intense community pressure - AZ Luminaria
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center — tied to tech giant Amazon — into city limits. After weeks of escalating ...
azluminaria.org
August 6, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Responding to vehement opposition and public service journalism, Tucson's mayor/council unanimously vote to reject a mega data center project from Amazon.
Tucson ain't Eddington.
Read @yanak.bsky.social's latest from city hall.
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
Tucson ain't Eddington.
Read @yanak.bsky.social's latest from city hall.
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
The Tucson city council unanimously rejected the Project Blue data center today.
That comes after weeks of dogged organizing plus our little team @azluminaria.org going hard on helping Tucson understand who was behind this project and its impact on our community
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
That comes after weeks of dogged organizing plus our little team @azluminaria.org going hard on helping Tucson understand who was behind this project and its impact on our community
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center amid intense community pressure - AZ Luminaria
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center — tied to tech giant Amazon — into city limits. After weeks of escalating ...
azluminaria.org
August 6, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The Tucson city council unanimously rejected the Project Blue data center today.
That comes after weeks of dogged organizing plus our little team @azluminaria.org going hard on helping Tucson understand who was behind this project and its impact on our community
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
That comes after weeks of dogged organizing plus our little team @azluminaria.org going hard on helping Tucson understand who was behind this project and its impact on our community
azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
My latest on Project Blue: The mega data center has more site options and will be built “regardless of what the City of Tucson decides,” said one council member Tuesday
azluminaria.org/2025/08/05/t...
azluminaria.org/2025/08/05/t...
Project Blue data center inevitable says Tucson council member Nikki Lee - AZ Luminaria
Council member Nikki Lee said Tuesday that the Project Blue data center may be built no matter what the Tucson City Council decides.
azluminaria.org
August 6, 2025 at 12:52 AM
My latest on Project Blue: The mega data center has more site options and will be built “regardless of what the City of Tucson decides,” said one council member Tuesday
azluminaria.org/2025/08/05/t...
azluminaria.org/2025/08/05/t...
The Trump administration is using federal jails and facilities as well as reopening shuttered facilities to detain a historic number of immigrants, the Marshall Project team reports
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/01/t...
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/01/t...
5 Ways that Trump Rapidly Ramped Up Immigration Detention
Through threats and incentives, the administration conscripted local jails, federal prisons and private companies to detain immigrants.
www.themarshallproject.org
August 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
The Trump administration is using federal jails and facilities as well as reopening shuttered facilities to detain a historic number of immigrants, the Marshall Project team reports
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/01/t...
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/01/t...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
The Trump administration’s deportation machine has made women invisible targets.
If you’ve ever wondered, like me, what happens to all the women ICE detains:
If you’ve ever wondered, like me, what happens to all the women ICE detains:
The People Being Arrested By ICE That No One’s Talking About
The Trump administration’s deportation machine is detaining immigrant women at record numbers — and they've become invisible targets.
www.huffpost.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The Trump administration’s deportation machine has made women invisible targets.
If you’ve ever wondered, like me, what happens to all the women ICE detains:
If you’ve ever wondered, like me, what happens to all the women ICE detains:
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
NEW: I spoke with a woman named Andrea about her experience being detained by ICE after calling the cops for help during a domestic violence incident.
She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.
She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.
July 31, 2025 at 2:45 PM
NEW: I spoke with a woman named Andrea about her experience being detained by ICE after calling the cops for help during a domestic violence incident.
She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.
She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
More on Tucson's Project Blue, the Amazon data center project cloaked in secrecy for years.
@yanak.bsky.social and I pieced together more of the timeline, finding that City of Tucson officials moved to annex the land BEFORE the first public hearing on the project.
azluminaria.org/2025/07/28/c...
@yanak.bsky.social and I pieced together more of the timeline, finding that City of Tucson officials moved to annex the land BEFORE the first public hearing on the project.
azluminaria.org/2025/07/28/c...
City annexation filing reveals next steps for Project Blue data center - AZ Luminaria
Even before its first public meeting on a controversial and long-secretive 290-acre data center project, the city of Tucson had already filed a petition with the Pima County Recorder’s Office to begin...
azluminaria.org
July 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
More on Tucson's Project Blue, the Amazon data center project cloaked in secrecy for years.
@yanak.bsky.social and I pieced together more of the timeline, finding that City of Tucson officials moved to annex the land BEFORE the first public hearing on the project.
azluminaria.org/2025/07/28/c...
@yanak.bsky.social and I pieced together more of the timeline, finding that City of Tucson officials moved to annex the land BEFORE the first public hearing on the project.
azluminaria.org/2025/07/28/c...
Reposted by Yana Kunichoff
Averaged out, a journalist has been killed every 3 days since the conflict began.
To state the obvious, Western journalists, writers, and filmmakers need to talk more about our colleagues being murdered in Gaza and the West Bank. You can do it from pure self interest if you want: every journalist murdered with impunity is a precedent which is headed in your direction
Zichro L'MAAPACHA
May his memory be for the revolution ❤️🔥
The activist & writer Awdah Hathaleen-- who worked on the film NO OTHER LAND, & brought so many Jews, Israelis & others to Umm Al-Khair to teach abt the realities of settler violence,
was murdered by a West Bank settler w/terrorist record. +
May his memory be for the revolution ❤️🔥
The activist & writer Awdah Hathaleen-- who worked on the film NO OTHER LAND, & brought so many Jews, Israelis & others to Umm Al-Khair to teach abt the realities of settler violence,
was murdered by a West Bank settler w/terrorist record. +
July 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Averaged out, a journalist has been killed every 3 days since the conflict began.