Author: Steve Crane

Latest surge in COVID-19 cases stressing Arizona health care system

by Steve Crane
  • Slug: BC-CNS-COVID Crush,760
  • File photo, graphic available (embed code, thumbnail, caption below)

By Alexia Stanbridge and Reagan Priest
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona reported 18,783 COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the latest in a surge of infections that experts say is stressing a state health care system that is “not well suited” to take on more cases.

The state has been averaging almost 12,000 new cases a day since Jan. 1, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services, as the new, more-contagious omicron variant has raced through the state. COVID-19 deaths in the state are averaging 64 a day this month, and totaled just under 25,000 Wednesday. Continue reading “Latest surge in COVID-19 cases stressing Arizona health care system”

CORRECTION to Dec. 20 story on gender in youth, pro soccer

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged “BC-CNS-Youth Soccer” that moved Monday, Dec. 20, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the 14th graf. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

PHOENIX – A Dec. 20 Cronkite News story about the push to improve professional opportunities for girl soccer players misstated the status of one player’s lawsuit against the National Women’s Soccer League. Per their lawyer, Olivia Moultrie’s family reached an agreement with the league in August.

Joshua tree is first plant to get California protections because of climate change

by Steve Crane
  • Slug: BC-CNS-Joshua Tree,1580
  • 8 photos, time-lapse video available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Jude Binkley
Cronkite News

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. – More than a decade ago, Brendan Cummings was living in this desert town and working to gain federal protections for Arctic polar bears, which can’t survive without the sea ice that’s disappearing because of climate change.

A world away from the icy tundra, in a sunny spot named for the iconic yucca plants that grow all around, the environmental lawyer realized that polar bears weren’t the only earthly wonders in danger of extinction.

“While I was focusing on a climate-threatened iconic species in the Arctic where the threat of climate change was so clear – temperature warms, ice melts, habitats lost – literally right out my front door, right out my window was another climate-change threatened species that’s fate was less obvious,” said Cummings, who also is the conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson. Continue reading “Joshua tree is first plant to get California protections because of climate change”

CORRECTION to Nov. 12 story on court ruling on water fees

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Water Fight that moved Friday, Nov. 12, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the 17th graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – A Nov. 12 Cronkite News story about a court ruling on water hookup fees charged to public housing residents accidentally dropped a word in a quote from the court’s ruling. Judge Carlos T. Bea wrote that the fee was meant to cover for tenants’ unpaid bills that the water district “could not” recover from Pinal County.

CORRECTION to Nov. 4 story on burro racing

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged Sports-Racing Burros that moved Thursday, Nov. 4, under a SUPERIOR dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the third graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

SUPERIOR – A Nov. 4 Cronkite News sports story about the Superior Burro Run misstated the history of burros in North America. They were first introduced into the Southwest in the 1500s.

CLARIFICATION of Oct. 15 story on low-income voters

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS Low Income Voter Study that moved Friday, Oct. 15, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following clarification. The text needing clarification occurred in the headline and in the first, third and fourth graphs of the original. An updated version of the story has been posted here.

PHOENIX – An Oct. 15 Cronkite News story about a study of low-income voters included several points in need of clarification. The source data used for the study did not represent final voter tallies. Because it was not final, the percentages don’t correlate to the most-recent voter data, which was used to calculate some percentages in the original story. The study estimated that nearly 40% of the votes cast in Arizona in 2020 were by low-income voters. The story has been updated to explain the discrepancy.

CORRECTION to Oct. 22 story on U.S.-New Zealand rugby match

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Rugby Missionary that moved Friday, Oct. 22, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The errors occurred in the ninth and 10th grafs of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – An Oct. 22 Cronkite News story about Saturday’s 1874 Cup rugby match between the U.S. Eagles and the New Zealand All Blacks misidentified the coach of the Eagles and the last year the All Blacks played in the U.S. The coach is Gary Gold and the last U.S. game for the All Blacks before Saturday was 2016.

CORRECTION to Oct. 21 story on Super Bowl economics

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Super Bowl Economics that moved Thursday, Oct. 21, under a LOS ANGELES dateline are asked to use the following correction. The error occurred in the 18th graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

LOS ANGELES – An Oct. 21 Cronkite News story on the economic impact of the Super Bowl misquoted Chincie Mouton of Business Connect in Los Angeles in the 18th paragraph. Mouton said companies should review their digital media presence, including looking at “how are you carrying yourself on social media,” and should study “how to effectively write an RFP (request for proposal) response,” among other efforts.

CORRECTION to Oct. 6 story on effort targeting contraband

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Contraband Coalition that moved Wednesday, Oct. 6, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following correction. The errors occurred in the second, fifth, sixth and last grafs of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – An Oct. 6 Cronkite News story on a coalition fighting contraband smuggling included several errors. It should have said it was a 2018 report that said about 36% of cigarettes consumed in Arizona had been smuggled; that the coalition will present its recommendations to Congress; that the campaign is highlighting tobacco, but will also include fentanyl and human trafficking; and that it will focus on training and new information for local officials and law enforcement, and national strategies to fight illegal trade.

CORRECTION to Sept. 21 story on athletes in court case on abortion

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Athletes Abortion that moved Tuesday, Sept. 21, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the third graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – A Sept. 21 Cronkite News story on female athletes weighing in on an abortion case before the Supreme Court misstated the year of former University of Arizona swimmer Crissy Perham’s accidental pregnancy. She was a sophomore when that occurred.

CORRECTION to Sept. 10 story on Navy-Air Force game

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged Sports-Academy Battle, that moved Friday, Sept. 10, under a WASHINGTON dateline, are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the third graf. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – A Sept. 10 Cronkite News story about the 9/11 football game between the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy gave the wrong team for one of the players named. Tré Bugg is a senior defensive back for Air Force.

CORRECTION to Aug. 30 story on standardized test scores

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Tests Tank, that moved Monday, Aug. 30, under a WASHINGTON dateline, are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the penultimate graf. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – An Aug. 30 Cronkite News story about standardized test scores for Arizona schools accidentally dropped a word in the penultimate paragraph. Erin Hart, senior vice president for Education Forward Arizona, said that standardized test scores are not the end-all, be-all.

CORRECTION to stories on nonessential border travel

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News stories slugged BC-CNS-Nonessential Travel, that moved Monday, Aug. 23, and BC-CNS-Border Bummer, that moved Wednesday, June 23, both under a WASHINGTON dateline, are asked to run the following correction. A corrected version of the June story has been posted here, and of the August story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON—Two Cronkite News stories about the COVID-related ban on nonessential travel and its effect on border towns like Nogales incorrectly identified an organization cited. Andy Carey is executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership.

Outbreak of inequality: COVID-19 magnifies decades of injustices, inequities in U.S.

by Steve Crane
  • Slug: BC-CNS-COVID Inequalities,2650
  • 9 photos, chart and map graphics available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Jimmy Cloutier, Maya Leachman and Emily Schmidt
News21

COVID-19 has laid bare the devastating cost of inequality in the U.S. More than 600,000 people have died from the virus. Black and Hispanic people are at least twice as likely as white Americans to die of COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The pandemic was a crisis nationwide, but it didn’t hit everyone equally,” said Megan Curran, director of policy at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy. “Some people suffered a lot more than others.” Continue reading “Outbreak of inequality: COVID-19 magnifies decades of injustices, inequities in U.S.”

CORRECTION to July 23 interview with Navajo police chief

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Navajo Police Chief, that moved Friday, July 23, under a WINDOW ROCK dateline, are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the caption of a photo that ran with the story. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WINDOW ROCK — A Cronkite News interview with Navajo Police Chief Phillip Francisco included a photo of telephones with a caption that incorrectly said the phones were in a former police station in Shiprock, New Mexico. The phones were in an abandoned Navajo Nation corrections facility.

CORRECTION to July 15 story on heat-related hiking restrictions

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged “BC-CNS-Too Hot to Hike” that moved Thursday, July 15, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the headline and throughout the story. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

PHOENIX – A July 15 Cronkite News story about the Phoenix Parks and Recreation board’s new heat-related limits on hiking misstated the trigger for those restrictions. Trails at Camelback Mountain Preserve and Piestewa Peak will close from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on days when the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat watch. The story also misstated conditions that warrant an excessive heat watch. The NWS does not have a set temperature to issue those watches for Phoenix but bases those decisions on a variety of factors.

 

CORRECTION to May 31 story on refugee admissions

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged “BC-CNS-Refugee Rush” that moved Monday, May 31, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the 11th graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – A May 31 Cronkite News story about the refugee admissions cap for fiscal 2021 misstated the name of the organization for one of the sources quoted. Dany Bahar is a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

‘It hasn’t stopped’: Arizona volunteers try to stem the tide of migrant death in the desert

by Steve Crane
  • Slug: BC-CNS-Desert Aid,3350
  • 21 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Grace Oldham
Cronkite Borderlands Project

AJO – It was a simple message scrawled into a basalt rock lying near empty cans of beans and jugs of water that volunteers had left deep in the Sonoran Desert for undocumented immigrants passing through: “Gracias.”

But to Mikal Jakubal, who, as a volunteer with the Ajo Samaritans, had been making weekly trips into the backcountry to stock water drop locations, the note was affirmation that the group’s efforts were appreciated.

“For the most part, we will never hear from the people who use this,” Jakubal said. “We don’t know what it was like getting to this point. We don’t know what is after this. But you have this one little connection across massively different life experiences: They found some water and you found a thank you note.” Continue reading “‘It hasn’t stopped’: Arizona volunteers try to stem the tide of migrant death in the desert”

CORRECTION to March 2 story on firefighters and COVID-19

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged “BC-CNS-Firefighters and COVID” that moved Tuesday, March 2, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the 13th graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

PHOENIX – A March 2 Cronkite News story on COVID-19 and firefighters misstated the severity of the 2020 wildfire season. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management says 2011 was the worst year for wildfires in the state over the last decade.

CORRECTION to April 19 story on the future of nuclear power

by Steve Crane

EDS: Clients who used a Cronkite News story slugged BC-CNS-Nuclear Power LA, which moved Monday, April 19, under a PHOENIX dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in the 10th graf of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

PHOENIX – An April 19 Cronkite News story on the potential role of nuclear power in reducing emissions mistakenly described uranium pellets. Fuel rods contain uranium pellets, but the terms cannot be used interchangeably.