• Slug: BC-CNS-Abortion Veep,740 words.
• 4 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lillie Boudreaux
Cronkite News

TUCSON – Vice President Kamala Harris blasted former President Donald Trump Friday as “the architect” of new abortion restrictions sweeping the country, including the near-total ban that was resurrected this week in Arizona.

The hastily arranged Tucson campaign stop came just three days after a divided Arizona Supreme Court ruled that, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, an 1864 abortion ban that was still on the books in Arizona was back in effect. Continue reading “Harris, Arizona Democrats seize on abortion ban to blast Trump, GOP”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Abortion Upheaval,1260 words.
• 7 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lillie Boudreaux
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A divided Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated a 19th-century, near-total ban on abortion, saying it overrides a 2022 law that allowed abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.

State officials said it will be another 60 days before the ruling could take effect, but the reaction was swift and angry to what abortion-rights groups called a “dark day for Arizona.” Continue reading “Arizona Supreme Court restores near-total ban on abortions in the state”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Drone Incursions,590.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Cartels are sending as many as 1,000 unmanned drones across the border every month, sometimes smuggling drugs but more often probing the border for vulnerabilities, a Pentagon official told a Senate committee this month.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, who assumed command of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command in February, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that countering unmanned aircraft systems had “dominated … the first month” of his tenure. Senators started asking about drone flights around military bases, but the discussion then turned to incursions across the border. Continue reading “Senators told of ‘alarming’ level of drone incursions at southern border”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Scotus SanCarlos,740.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The San Carlos Apache said Monday that the federal government owes it $3 million for health care services, one of two tribes arguing before the Supreme Court for more support from the Indian Health Service.

But attorneys for the government argued that allowing tribes to claim additional overhead costs for the health care they provide their members would strap the system, and end up siphoning away money for care of Native Americans in other tribes. Continue reading “Tribes, feds spar before Supreme Court over who pays for health care”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Chips Change,690.
• 3 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Lillie Boudreaux
Cronkite News

CHANDLER – President Joe Biden announced the award of $8.5 billion to chipmaker Intel on Wednesday, along with $11 billion in loans that will help the semiconductor manufacturer expand operations in Arizona and three other states.

The grant, the largest to date under the CHIPS and Science Act, will let Intel upgrade current facilities in Chandler and construct what the company says will be two “leading edge” facilities there, making it the largest chipmaking location in the country when it opens in late 2025. The Chandler project is expected to create 3,000 manufacturing jobs along with 7,000 construction jobs. Continue reading “Feds award Intel $8.5 billion; money to expand Chandler, other chip plants”

EDS: This is a partner story from KUNC. If you choose to use it, please fill out this form to help their tracking.

• Slug: BC-CNS-GRIC Water,660.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Alex Hager
KUNC

The Gila River Indian Community said it does not support a plan backed by three states for managing the Colorado River’s shrinking water supply, and is instead working instead with federal officials to develop its own proposal for water sharing.

Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said Wednesday at a meeting of policy experts and water scientists in Tucson that his tribe would not go along with the plan unveiled a week earlier by the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada. Continue reading “Gila River Indian Community rejects states’ plan for Colorado, works with feds”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Pool Fences,650.
• 5 photos, graphic available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Lauren Kobley
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Brandi Stoll is an Arizona native who grew up swimming in pools and was familiar with pool safety. When she became a mother, she knew the risks and how to keep her children safe around the pool, but her world changed in July 2021 when she found her almost-2-year-old daughter face down in her family’s pool.

Drowning is a leading cause of death for children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023, there were 133 water-related incidents reported in Maricopa and Pinal counties, 50 of which involved children 5 and under, according to data from Children’s Safety Zone, which tracks Arizona data. Of those 50 incidents, 12 resulted in fatalities. Continue reading “Pool Fence Safety Program aims to raise awareness, reduce drownings”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Kidney Disparities,1210.
• 3 photos available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Leah Mesquita
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Angela Beatty had no idea that her high blood pressure could cause her to go into kidney failure.

As a Black American, Beatty is part of a racial group that is far more likely to experience kidney failure than other racial groups. Black Americans also experience high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease at higher rates, which can all contribute to the development of kidney disease.

“It’s a silent killer,” said Dr. Mandip Kang, a nephrologist at the Southwest Kidney Institute. “Majority of patients don’t develop any symptoms until the kidney function is in the 20-30% range.” Continue reading “Black Americans three times more likely to face kidney failure than whites”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Natural Decomposition,1040.
• 5 photos available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Sadie Buggle
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — There may soon be a new option in Arizona funeral care: human composting.

The process, also called natural decomposition, converts human remains into soil and gives grieving family members the opportunity to plant trees and gardens using their loved one’s remains.

“It’s really pretty simple. It’s exactly what happens when leaves fall from the trees and become one with the ground,” Brie Smith, chief operating officer of Return Home, said. “We’re just letting nature take its course, and then (people) are able to move through their grief in this most beautiful, meaningful way.” Continue reading “Human composting? Bill would allow natural decomposition as burial option”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Wildfire Fallout,710.
• 2 photos available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The nine wildfires that have swept through Coconino County since 2010 have led to the loss of more than 130 buildings, the issuance of more than 25,000 evacuation orders and the release of 4.1 million metric tons carbon into the atmosphere.

And that’s just the start of the problems, Coconino County Deputy Manager Lucinda Andreani told a Senate panel Thursday.

Andreani was one of several witnesses who called for improvements in the way federal agencies respond to crises like wildfires, during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing titled “A Nation on Fire.” Continue reading “Coconino official says improvements needed to federal wildfire assistance”

• Slug: BC-CNS-TikTok Knocked,730 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona lawmakers split Wednesday as the House gave overwhelming, bipartisan approval to a bill that would ban use of TikTok in the U.S. if the owners of the social media app don’t first sell it to another company.

Supporters say the measure is needed because TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, can be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans. But fans defended the popular app and said the vote just proves that “the government is so completely out of touch with reality.” Continue reading “Arizona lawmakers split as House overwhelmingly OKs bill to ban TikTok”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Schools Status,990 words.
• 3 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Lillie Boudreaux
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona Schools Superintendent Tom Horne told lawmakers Tuesday that the state faces a crisis in teacher retention, with low salaries and a lack of support leading to a loss of thousands of teachers every year.

Horne told the House Education Committee that the state faces a “public sector crisis,” with thousands of teachers leaving every year and not enough new teachers coming in to replace them.

“If we do nothing to reverse this trend, this could be a major catastrophe for our students and our economy that needs a skilled workforce,” Horne said. Continue reading “Horne calls for more funding for teachers, more discipline for students”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Diss Union,890 words.
• 2 photoa available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden delivered a combative State of the Union address Thursday that laid out his achievements and baited Republicans for not doing more, a tone that did not sit well with Arizona’s GOP lawmakers.

Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson, called it a “divisive” address that sounded “more like a campaign speech than anything else,” noting that Biden repeatedly targeted former President Donald Trump while glossing over other issues.

“He (Biden) mentioned his predecessor more than anything that I heard him say. So, he was obsessed with that, making comparisons, and quite frankly, when you compare where we were as a nation … it isn’t even close,” Ciscomani said. Continue reading “Arizona lawmakers pan, praise Biden’s combative State of the Union address”

• Slug: BC-CNS-HIV Spike,1250 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Leah Mesquita
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – When Christopher Carrillo discovered a lump behind his ear in 2011, it never occurred to him that the cause could be from HIV.

“Testing wasn’t something that I did,” Carrillo said. “It wasn’t part of my routine.”

After Carrillo researched lymph nodes online and saw a mention of HIV, he decided to see a doctor. The results changed his life forever.

Today, Carrillo is a case manager at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS in Phoenix, a health-care facility serving primarily “persons of color, LGBTQIA2S+ and Queer individuals, and those affected by HIV.” He sees a recent wave of new HIV cases in Arizona changing the lives of the Hispanic population around him. Continue reading “Arizona reports 20% increase in HIV cases, predominantly affecting Hispanic communities”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sinema Out,680 words.
• 2 file photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Tuesday that she will not run for re-election this fall, lamenting the current state of partisan politics where voters and lawmakers alike prefer to “retreat farther to their partisan corners.”

The announcement ends months of speculation over Sinema’s political future and removes the possibility of what could have been a three-way race for Senate, as Sinema left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent.

That followed a series of votes that angered progressives, who targeted Sinema over her refusal to back a higher minimum wage and to preserve the filibuster, among other actions. Continue reading “Sinema won’t run again, decries system where ‘compromise is a dirty word’”

EDS: This is a partner story from KUNC. If you choose to use it, please fill out this form to help their tracking.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tree Tales,530 words.
• 2 photos, audio story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Alex Hager
KUNC

The current Western megadrought is unlike any other dry period the region has experienced over the past 500 years.

That’s according to a new study in which scientists looked at tree rings to track changing temperatures going back to 1553. Researchers found that human-fueled climate change is driving temperatures higher, which makes soil drier and droughts more frequent, intense and widespread. Continue reading “If trees could talk: Tree rings show recent decades warmest in 500 years”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Lethargic Lawmakers,940 words.
• File photo, graphic available (embed code, thumbnail, caption below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers passed a last-minute budget extension Thursday to head off a looming Friday government shutdown – just the 40th law passed by this Congress, which is on pace to be the least productive in at least a half-century.

Those 40 bills – four of which were continuing resolutions to extend the budget that Congress has been unable to pass since fiscal 2024 started Oct. 1 – are about 11% of what would normally be passed at this point in a typical congressional session. Continue reading “Congress in action, or inaction? This Congress among the least productive”

• Slug: BC-CNS-EVerify Vilified,780 words.
• 2 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Martin Dreyfuss
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – House Speaker Ben Toma says his latest immigration bill could save Arizona billions in welfare benefits annually, but small-business owners rallied Monday to say it will cost the state instead, by driving out businesses and workers.

The business owners, backed by advocates and Democratic lawmakers, said HCR 2060 – which would require proof of citizenship to work or to receive any public assistance – will wind up hurting the state’s economy while renewing fear among Latinos in Arizona. Continue reading “Business owners challenge bill requiring E-Verify checks for jobs, benefits”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Defense Dollars,680 words.
• 2 photos, graphic available (embed code, thumbnails, captions below)

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – When the Senate approved $95 billion in military and other aid for Ukraine and Israel earlier this month, President Joe Biden singled out Arizona as one of the states that would benefit from the increased defense spending.

It’s not clear whether Ukrainian aid is entirely the cause, but there’s no question that defense spending has been good to the state. The Pentagon spent $15 billion in Arizona in fiscal 2022, the last year for which data is available, up from $14.6 billion the year before. Continue reading “Going on offense over Defense spending: Biden touts benefits to states”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sickle Cell,1430 words.
• 8 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Mia Milinovich
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Arizona currently has a one- to two-day supply of donated blood, barely half of the standard supply. The shortage is critical for Arizonans who need frequent blood transfusions because they have sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease is a red blood cell disorder that affects close to 100,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Sanjay Shah, the director of the sickle cell program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, said without frequent transfusions, sickle cell patients experience severe pain that can result in organ damage. According to BioNews, simple blood transfusions for sickle cell patients are “typically given in intervals, possibly once or twice a month.” Continue reading “Arizona is in critical need of blood donations for sickle cell disease patients”