• Slug: 100,000 Arizona voters. 550 words.
• 2 Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Miguel Ambriz
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – A day after asking the Arizona Supreme Court to decide what to do about 98,000 registered voters who’ve never proven their U.S. citizenship, Arizona election officials offered assurances Wednesday.

There’s no sign of widespread voting by non-citizens, they said. It’s a glitch involving driver’s licenses issued before the state began requiring proof of citizenship.

“The voters didn’t themselves do wrong in any way, shape or form,” Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, said in Washington after a McCain Institute forum on elections and disinformation.

Continue reading “Maricopa County election official rejects Trump claim that glitch involving 98,000 Arizona voters means someone is ‘trying to rig the election’”

EDS: This story has been updated to reflect that the Leona Group, which operates 28 charter schools in Arizona, declined to comment on the record. Please update grafs 14 and 15. 

• Slug: Homeless Money Unspent. 950 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Madeline Nguyen
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The Arizona Department of Education is scrambling to urge schools to tap millions of dollars earmarked to help homeless students before the funds expire at the end of the month.

Three years ago, Arizona schools were allotted nearly $17 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds intended to provide resources ranging from temporary housing and transportation to prepaid debit cards. Continue reading “Millions in federal aid for homeless students in Arizona schools, unspent after 3 years, about to expire”

• Slug: Empowering Voters with Disabilities. 630 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Sienna Monea
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – As the November general election approaches, Arizona is taking a significant step toward ensuring that voters with disabilities are fully prepared to participate in the democratic process.

On Monday, First Place AZ and the Foundation for Blind Children co-hosted Spark the Spectrum, a workshop to equip voters with disabilities with the knowledge and tools needed for Election Day.

The event, which aligned with National Voter Registration Day, was designed to familiarize attendees with voting equipment, accommodations and the overall voting process. It also served as a reminder of the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline.

Continue reading “Spark the Spectrum empowers Arizona voters with disabilities after court ruling expands accessibility”

• Slug: Social Justice Art LA. 1,375 words.
• Photos available.

By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES – In the heart of Los Angeles, art is more than a form of expression. Be it a blank brick wall or a stage under spotlights, artists here use every platform as a vehicle to amplify social discourse.

Corie Mattie, aka “LA Hope Dealer,” an LGBTQ+ artist, is turning the street into her canvas, calling out local and national injustices. She is challenging social norms one bold stroke at a time.

“I had to really take the things that speak to me. Being a woman, being gay and then there’s things that just aren’t fair,” Mattie said. “I have to speak out against it even if it doesn’t affect me. It’s just one of those things where I have to call attention to it.”

Continue reading “‘Activism and community building’: How LA artists spotlight social justice in their work”

• Slug: Parkland Survivors Endorsements. 1,150 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Miguel Ambriz
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – March For Our Lives, the group founded by survivors of a 2018 high school shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida, has thrown its weight behind Democrats in two contentious races in Arizona.

In the fight for an open U.S. Senate seat, the group is backing U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Phoenix over Kari Lake, and former state Sen. Kirsten Engel of Tucson, who is challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican.

Continue reading “Endorsements from Parkland survivors group elevates gun debate in Arizona races that pit Democrats against NRA-backed Republicans”

• Slug: Uranium Mine Environment. 1,095 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Marshall Baker
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Carletta Tilousi was a young girl when she first heard about possible uranium mining near her home of Supai. Deep within the canyons near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, this is where the Havasupai people reside.

From the day they were contacted about it, the Havasupai were resistant to uranium mining near their homelands.

Continue reading “Havasupai Tribe continues to oppose controversial uranium mine as Energy Fuels assures safety”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was translated from English to Spanish using ChatGPT. A Cronkite News editor reviewed the translation. Find the original story here. See any errors? Please let us know. Contact julio.cisneros@asu.edu.

NOTA DEL EDITOR: Este reportaje fue traducido del inglés al español usando ChatGPT. Un editor de Cronkite Noticias revisó la traducción. Encuentra el reportaje original aquí. ¿Ves algún error? Por favor, déjanoslo saber. Contacta a julio.cisneros@asu.edu.

• Nombre: CN-VISAT. 1293 palabras.
• 2 fotos disponibles

Por Aaron Stigile
Cronkite Noticias

PHOENIX – A finales del mes pasado entró en vigor una importante actualización de las regulaciones de solicitud de visas T del Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de Estados Unidos (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglés), destinadas a los sobrevivientes de la trata de personas. Quienes trabajan en el campo de la trata de personas dicen que ya están viendo efectos positivos, pero los expertos creen que algunas partes del cambio de reglas complican el proceso.

Continue reading “El cambio en la normativa de visas de trata podría ayudar a los sobrevivientes migrantes”

Slug: News21-Fractured-Rise of AI. By Kyle Chouinard/News21. 2,794 words. Note: An abridged version of 1,100 words is also available.

With 7 photos.

CONCORD, N.H. — This year’s election marks the first amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, and that has regulators, lawmakers and voter advocates examining how best to regulate the technology to combat its misuse. Bills passed in New Hampshire and California seek to regulate deepfakes during election season, but other states and Congress have yet to take meaningful action. A robocall scheme in New Hampshire quickly became national news earlier this year, turning Americans’ concerns about the emerging technology of AI into a domestic case study for its misuse in elections.

 

• Slug: RECA Navajo Rally. 600 words.
• File photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Gabrielle Wallace
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Survivors of nuclear testing and uranium mines are ramping up pressure on Congress to reauthorize a federal compensation program that expired in June.

Many of those afflicted since World War II are from the Navajo Nation, which is organizing a rally next week that will include prayers at the Capitol for radiation victims.

“I want Congress to realize that it’s important and we need to pass this bill because some people did not get any … compensation,” said Maggie Billiman, whose father, a Navajo Code Talker during World War II, died of stomach cancer that she attributes to fallout from nuclear tests that settled over their hometown in Arizona.

Continue reading “Navajos will press U.S. House to revive aid for victims of bomb fallout and uranium mines”

• Slug: Young Voter Forum. 750 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Embeddable chart available.

By Hayden Larkin
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With the 2024 election around the corner, droves of people are being pushed toward the polls this November. But and for many young voters, it has become difficult to remain engaged. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Tempe Alumnae Chapter urged college-aged voters to stay engaged and informed at its Youth Voter Forum on Sunday.

“I just encourage everyone to vote,” said Keisha Tatem, Alumnae Chapter president. “I vote because there were people at one point in time that could not vote, and some people lost their life to make sure everyone in America had the right to vote. And so I vote to honor them, but also because I want to be in control. I want to have some control over my future, and so it’s important to know that that’s what voting can give you.”

Continue reading “ASU voter forum encourages college-aged voters to engage ahead of 2024 election”

• Slug: Anti-Lake Trump Voters. 1,300 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Phineas Hogan
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Kari Lake has consistently underperformed Donald Trump in Arizona, an anemic showing that spells trouble for Republicans hoping to nab the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

A Fox News poll of Arizona voters on Aug. 28 showed Lake lagging Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego by 15 percentage points, even as the former president remained virtually tied with Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race.

Other polls also find a persistent gap between Trump’s support and hers in Arizona, which bodes well for Democrats who would almost certainly lose control of the Senate without the Arizona seat.

Continue reading “Kari Lake has Donald Trump’s stamp of approval but Arizona polls show her lagging, with implications for U.S. Senate race”