Good afternoon! Here is your Cronkite News lineup for Friday, Dec. 13.
If not linked below, stories promised for today, along with photos and links to multimedia elements, will post to our client site at cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/clients.
By Daniella Trujillo
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Ever since the Arizona Interscholastic Association voted to sanction girls flag football as a varsity competition for the 2023-2024 school year, the sport has taken off at a variety of levels.
Among high schools in the state, participation increased from 55 teams to 102 in just one season, the AIA reports.
The 2024 season wrapped up in late November, with Chandler’s Hamilton High School capturing the 6A title, Waddell’s Canyon View High winning the 5A and St. Mary’s winning the 4A.
Por Lizeth Adriana Calderon
Cronkite Noticias
PHOENIX – Practicar trucos en una patineta puede ayudar a navegar emociones difíciles y puede ser especialmente útil para aquellos que provienen de comunidades donde la salud mental está estigmatizada.
La actividad crea un sentido de pertenencia y reduce el estrés. Los hispanos y latinos enfrentan más barreras en el acceso y la calidad de la atención de salud mental, informa la Alianza Nacional sobre Enfermedades Mentales.
Las personas manejan el estrés y la ansiedad de muchas maneras no médicas, como tomar aire fresco o pasar tiempo con sus seres queridos. El ejercicio es una de las formas más eficaces para combatir el estrés. Como actividad física y exigente, patinar no solo mejora la fuerza y la coordinación, sino también la salud mental.
“Cuando se trata de patinar, tienes que usar realmente tus piernas, principalmente tus glúteos, tus cuádriceps, tus isquiotibiales y tus pantorrillas. También hay que usar el tronco, que involucra los abdominales y los oblicuos”, dijo Ashkan Alkhamisi, médico deportivo de HonorHealth Orthopedics.
El patinaje libera cuatro hormonas neurotransmisoras comunes en el cerebro: dopamina, oxitocina, serotonina y endorfinas.
“La dopamina ayuda con la motivación en el centro de recompensas porque estás tratando de realizar una determinada tarea. La oxitocina ayuda a mejorar tus relaciones con las personas con las que andas en patineta… La serotonina es una sensación de significación e importancia y las endorfinas… es el tipo natural de analgésico que ayuda a reducir la ansiedad y el estrés”, dijo Alkhamisi.
Adalberto Jesús Orozco, un ávido patinador de Arizona, dijo que cuando patina, nada más le importan los trucos de aterrizaje.
“Cuando no quiero estar en casa o no quiero tratar con nadie, simplemente vengo y patino, escucho música y me nivelo”, dijo Orozco.
Según Beyond the Board, un estudio de la Universidad del Sur de California sobre la cultura del monopatín no es solo una forma de recreación, sino una forma de que las personas construyan relaciones significativas.
El patinador de Arizona, Carlos Ochoa dijo que le gusta que la comunidad se una y aprecia las amistades que ha hecho.
“Me gusta el hecho de que une a todos y que sigo viendo a mis amigos patinar y mejorar, y nos ponemos felices y emocionados cuando conseguimos nuevos trucos”.
Más de uno de cada cinco adultos estadounidenses vive con una enfermedad mental, según el Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental. En Arizona, casi el 36% de los adultos reportaron síntomas de ansiedad y/o trastorno depresivo, que es ligeramente más alto que el promedio nacional de más del 32%.
Las comunidades hispanas y latinas a menudo no reconocen las luchas de salud mental debido a la falta de acceso a recursos, el estigma y las barreras financieras. La Alianza Nacional de Enfermedades Mentalesinforma que alrededor de un tercio de los adultos hispanos/latinos con enfermedades mentales reciben tratamiento, en comparación con casi la mitad de la población general de los Estados Unidos.
Ochoa libera las presiones de la jornada laboral patinando.
“Cuando estoy estresado, puedes venir al parque y tratar de divertirte”, dijo Ochoa.
El monopatín mantiene a los adultos jóvenes activos y reduce el tiempo que pasan en dispositivos que contribuyen a la ansiedad, la depresión, el aislamiento, la baja autoestima y los problemas de sueño, según un estudio de la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina.
“Nuestra investigación muestra que, a través del patinaje, los patinadores desarrollan la capacidad de comunicarse y construir relaciones con personas de diversos orígenes”, dijo Neftalie Williams, coautora de The Skatepark Project, en un comunicado de prensa.
Los investigadores también dijeron que patinar desarrolla el pensamiento crítico, la resolución de problemas, la resiliencia y los lazos fuertes, y aunque cada patinador desarrolla sus propias estrategias de éxito, a menudo ven los logros de los compañeros patinadores como propios.
Para más reportajes de Cronkite Noticias, visite cronkitenews.azpbs.org/Noticias
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By Tom Forbes
Cronkite News
TUCSON – Soon Tucsonans won’t have to make the trip to Phoenix to fulfill their ice skating and hockey needs.
Tucson’s newest sports and recreational complex is under construction after the recent official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 20, with Tucson mayor Regina Romero and the University of Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois in attendance.
The Mosaic Quarter, a multi-million dollar project, promises three ice rinks and a field house for basketball, volleyball, pickleball and football in its first phase, which is expected to be completed by 2027. The facility will also have a commercial space that can accommodate up to four restaurants and a solar farm to help power the facility, according to the project’s executive summary. Continue reading “Groundbreaking development: Mosaic Quarter set to transform Tucson sports scene with 2027 opening”
By Grace Monos
Cronkite News
NEW YORK – While many Americans see Thanksgiving as a joyous day to gather with family and feast on turkey, it’s more somber for descendents of people pushed off ancestral lands generations ago.
This Thanksgiving brought a moment of rare visibility, thanks to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which featured a performance by Indigenous Enterprise, an award-winning dance company based in Phoenix.
By Marshall Baker
Cronkite News
NEW YORK – The downpour starts early on Thanksgiving morning in Manhattan. Equipped with ponchos and umbrellas, people flock to the streets before dawn to get a good spot for the city’s coveted parade. Balloons and floats prepare on West 77th Street. Kenneth Shirley waits eagerly among them to greet the crowds.
Shirley had spent the past week in Newark practicing tirelessly with his dance troupe.They had been given an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a 60-second window on national television to show millions who they are and their ancestral roots.
EDS: Clients who used the Cronkite News story slugged Solar Energy Trump that moved Friday, Dec. 6, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in graf 21 of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.
WASHINGTON – A Dec. 6 Cronkite News story about President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on solar energy used an incorrect title for Autumn Johnson. She is executive director at Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.
By Nicollette Valenzuela
Cronkite News
SILVER CITY, N.M. – Silver City, a small town in southwestern New Mexico, preserved its mining character and stands unbothered by modernity and commercialization. The town’s hilly streets introduce visitors to its quiet beauty. Everything whispers a story, such as the nearly 150-year-old Palace Hotel, with a mine entrance in its basement.
North of the town’s many Victorian, Spanish Colonial and American Western-style homes – some more, some less elaborate – Silver City is a gateway to the mountainous region of a vast Gila National Forest, home to the world’s first designated wilderness area.
By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Native Americans in Arizona and three other states could now see government health coverage for some traditional healing practices.
On Oct. 16, the Biden administration announced it had expanded both Medicaid coverage and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon to cover traditional Native American healing practices through demonstration amendments to section 1115 of the Social Security Act.
By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News
ARLINGTON, Texas – Arizona State, long known as college football’s “sleeping giant,” changed its identity in 2024.
The giant woke up.
The Sun Devils continued their tear through the back half of their schedule and dominated Iowa State 45-19 Saturday to secure the Big 12 Conference title. The College Football Playoff selection committee rewarded them Sunday with a No. 4 seed, which translates to an opening-round bye and a spot in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News
ARLINGTON, Texas – Imagining Arizona State as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff seemed unfathomable this time last year.
As the Pac-12 Conference dissolved, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham searched for answers to a 3-9 debut season that felt like it ended before Week One thanks to the university’s self-imposed bowl ban amid an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations
Making matters worse, the Sun Devils prepared for a transition to the Big 12 Conference while starting over at multiple positions on the field and within Dillingham’s coaching staff. So like any college football coach entering the 2024 season, Dillingham dove deep into the transfer portal. Continue reading “Buying in: How an ASU team picked to finish last in Big 12 put its confidence in Kenny Dillingham”
By Tucker L. Sennett
Cronkite News
ARLINGTON, Texas – In late November, a highlight reel of Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo running over defenders as an 8-year-old emerged on X. His mother’s response?
“He use to put on his brother’s shoulder pads and run into telephone poles at the football field while the older kids were playing,” Becky Skattebo wrote about the post.
On Saturday in the Big 12 Conference championship, Skattebo wasn’t running into telephone poles anymore. He was running through Iowa State Cyclone defenders like a warm knife slicing through a stick of Kerrygold butter. Continue reading “They are the champions, my friend: ASU football wins Big 12 title, awaits CFP fate”
By Kendall Flynn
Cronkite News
SCOTTSDALE – If pickleball wasn’t growing fast enough in the Valley, the sport is about to hit a new level – by over 180,000 square feet.
PURE Pickleball & Padel, which will begin construction in Scottsdale in 2025, is expected to be a game-changer. With 50 state-of-the-art courts and top-line amenities, the facility is poised to become a hub for pickleball enthusiasts across Arizona and beyond.
The massive investment aims to take advantage of the sport’s growth across the nation, with nearly 19% of U.S. adults – over 800,000 people – playing the sport last year. According to the Association of Pickleball Players, the majority of players (70%) are between the ages of 18 and 44. Continue reading “PURE Pickleball & Padel set to change the game in Scottsdale by 2026 with 50-court complex”
EDS: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect title for Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association Executive Director Autumn Johnson. The error occurred in graf 21 of the original. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.
By Amelia Monroe
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The $2 billion Sun Stream Complex in western Maricopa County will soon generate enough power to supply over 200,000 homes. The first phase has been transforming Arizona’s scalding sunlight into electricity for more than three years.
The vast solar farm covers more than 6,000 acres, or 9 square miles. By 2026, it will generate 973 megawatts of emission-free electricity and, over time, $300 million in lease payments and taxes to Arizona schools and communities, according to Boston-based Longroad Energy.
Continue reading “Solar power growth could slow if Trump keeps promise to kill Biden-era incentives”
By Shi Bradley
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Suicide rates for young Americans are rising. With Latino youth among the most vulnerable, some researchers are calling for a culturally informed approach in therapies.
In ethnic communities family, culture and societal expectations significantly affect identity and mental health. Dr. Yovanska Duarté-Vélez, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, developed the first culturally adapted treatment for suicidal Latino and Hispanic teens.
By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News
MESA – Before attending weekly practices on Sunday afternoons, not many new members of the Hurling Club of Phoenix knew what to expect when they had signed up to join the group.
They were informed to meet at the East Valley Academy in Mesa to practice at the school’s soccer field. Little did they know that they would practice making difficult shots at the goals with paddles.
The club has practiced at the school for the past four years and grew in that time thanks largely to Connor Jones, the team captain who started the squad after moving from Madison, Wisconsin, to Arizona for a job opportunity in 2020. Continue reading “Hurling Club of Phoenix establishes roots in Arizona with lofty goals to expand reach across Valley, U.S.”
By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News
PHOENIX — Win and in.
Despite the bickering about the College Football Playoff rankings from Eugene, Oregon, to Miami and everywhere in between, Arizona State controls its destiny Saturday. A win in Arlington, Texas, against the Iowa State Cyclones will send the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff with the Big 12 championship and an automatic bid in hand.
The winner of Saturday’s title game will await its final ranking, but Tuesday’s latest rankings shed some light on what the future may hold. The Big 12 champion is currently projected as the 12th and final seed and would match up with Penn State in Happy Valley.
By Saleh Awwad
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Picked to finish last in the conference by Big 12 football media before the season, No. 12 Arizona State continues to defy all odds.
Following their dominant 49-7 Territorial Cup victory this past weekend, the Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2) are in position to earn an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff with a win Saturday against No. 16 Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas.
Arizona State continues to lean on star running back Cam Skattebo. The senior added to his already breakout season against Arizona, rushing for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Skattebo is now up to 1,866 total rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in just 11 games this season. Continue reading “ASU, Iowa State set for Big 12 championship showdown of contrasting strengths”
By Thomas Forbes
Cronkite News
TUCSON – After a disappointing Territorial Cup result in Kenny Dillingham’s first season at the helm, Arizona State found redemption in dominant fashion Saturday in Tucson.
Posting their first 10-win season since 2014, the Sun Devils secured a trip to the Big 12 Championship game against Iowa State at AT&T Stadium in Dallas with a 49-7 win over the Arizona Wildcats, but the victory came with a significant loss.
Dillingham shared Monday that wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is “out indefinitely” after he exited in the second half due to injury. Tyson, a key player for the Sun Devils offense this season with 75 catches for 1,101 yards, finished the game against Arizona with eight receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown. Continue reading “Despite loss of receiver Jordyn Tyson, ASU still energized as it prepares for Big 12 championship in Dallas”
By Tucker L. Sennett
Cronkite News
FLAGSTAFF – Staples are part of every college experience. These include football, dorm life and independence. But one thing can tie the whole thing together: the sound of a traditional and talented marching band.
Northern Arizona University’s Lumberjack Marching Band – locally known as the LMB – provides that and more for the school and community at the base of the San Francisco peaks in Flagstaff.
Throughout the summers, football seasons, basketball seasons and more, the people of Flagstaff can hear the LMB as it brings a combination of classics and modern music to the Walkup Skydome. Continue reading “A march to Macy’s: NAU Lumberjack band uses unique culture to earn 2025 Thanksgiving Day parade invite”
