Extra Wet Monsoon + Officer Shoots Man In Back + Tucson Is Best

TUCSON, AZ — It's been an interesting year in Tucson, with COVID-19 and its impacts always in the news, a strikingly wet monsoon season and a police shooting that shocked the community, left a man dead and an officer without a job.

Read on to see some of Tucson Patch's most-read stories of 2021.

Tucson Named Among Best Places To Live

Tucson was listed as the 81st-best place to live in the United States, on a ranking released in July by U.S. News & World Report.

The list ranked the country's 150 most populous metropolitan areas based on affordability, job prospects and desirability. Researchers also looked at how the top communities fared throughout the pandemic and how much work is needed to recover.

Overall, Tucson received a score of 6.5 on a 10-point scale.

Tucson Surpasses 2020 Monsoon Rainfall Total In 28 Days

In the first four weeks of the 2021 monsoon, Tucson had already eclipsed its rainfall total from the entire previous season, putting it on a path for its third-wettest monsoon on record.

As of July 13, the city had already received 1.64 inches of rain at Tucson International Airport since the start of the monsoon on June 15. Last year's monsoon saw 1.62 inches of rainfall at the airport.

This year's monsoon total was 12.79 inches. Tucson's typical rainfall during the season is 5.69 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Tucson Officer Fired After Shooting Man In Back, Killing Him

Tucson Police began the process of terminating Officer Ryan Remington Nov. 30, after he shot and killed a man suspected of shoplifting, according to Tucson Police.

The man who was killed was in a motorized scooter and had his back to the officer when Remington shot at him nine times. The man who was killed, Richard Lee Richards, was accused of pulling out a knife when police and a Walmart employee confronted him about the shoplifting.

Mike Storie, attorney for the Tucson Police Officer's Association, said that Remington had no way of knowing whether Richards being in a wheelchair meant that he was actually physically disabled. Storie also said that Tucson Police edited out important parts of the video of the shooting and events leading up to it before releasing the video to the public.

Catalina Foothills Named Best Suburb In Arizona

The unincorporated community of Catalina Foothills claimed the top spot in Niche's 2021 Best Suburb to Live in Arizona rankings.

The enclave knocked off the likes of Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler and Paradise Valley — the quartet that rounded out the top-five spots in the latest rankings.
The rankings were determined by using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, CDC and other agencies, combined with reviews from people that live in the area.

Catalina Foothills earned high marks for its public schools, as well as its ranking for families and its nightlife options — all of which earned an A- or A+ ranking.