President Obama and First Lady to attend memorial event at University of Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Tucson to pay tribute to the victims of Saturday's mass shooting. The president will speak at a memorial event at the University of Arizona on Wednesday night. Obamas coming here for tribute:

The event, titled "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America," starts at 6 p.m. at McKale Center and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 4 p.m.

The university said attendees should arrive early because a capacity crowd is expected, and there will be increased security.

UA President Robert Shelton and state and federal officials also will speak at the event.

The event will include an American Indian blessing, a moment of silence, a poetry reading and a presentation of a chain featuring messages from the public.

You know the drill: you must have a photo I.D. for security clearance. Please keep what you bring with you to a minimum. I assume that cell phones (turn off the damn ringtone!) and small cameras will be permitted until I hear otherwise. Neither food nor plastic drink bottles can be brought into McKale. No backpacks, bags, large purses or laptops allowed. Also not permitted: Weapons, sharp objects, posters or signs.

UPDATE: From the Tucson Weekly:

UA students, employees and visitors are encouraged to visit the UA Mall on Wednesday afternoon to write messages on the chain that will be presented later that night.

Stay tuned to UANews.org, Facebook.com/uarizona or twitter.com/uofa for additional details about this special event.

The east side of Arizona Stadium will be open for any overflow from McKale Memorial Center when President Barack Obama and other dignitaries speak Wednesday, Jan. 12, in honor of the victims of the Jan. 8 shooting.

Those seated in the stadium will watch KUAT's live broadcast of the memorial on the stadium's scoreboard. The program also will be streaming live on Arizona Public Media.

UPDATE: From the Arizona Daily Star:

Shuttle: Sun Tran is offering free shuttle rides today to the memorial.

Shuttles will begin at 2 p.m. with the last shuttle departing for McKale at 5:30 p.m. Shuttles will also provide return service at the conclusion of the event.

You can get on a bus at these locations:

• El Con Mall, 3601 E. Broadway, in the northeast parking lot just off of Dodge Boulevard.

• Hi Corbett Field, East 22nd Street and South Randolph Way. Park on the east side of the baseball field.

In addition, the cable news networks (and presumably local broadcast networks) will be broadcasting the memorial live at 6:00 p.m. You can also follow the memorial on-line Live streaming video: Memorial service at UA with Obama.