• Slug: DNC Black Voters. 540 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Black Democrats account for a relatively small share of the electorate in Arizona, but they’re thrilled at the prospect of electing Kamala Harris as president.

“Her candidacy is a big deal for the African American community in Arizona,” said Nicole Brown, a communications strategist from Tempe and according to state party officials, one of 18 Black delegates from Arizona at the Democratic National Convention this week.

Continue reading “Black Democrats see Kamala Harris driving up turnout in Arizona”

• Slug: DNC Democrats Go Centrist. 780 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Phineas Hogan
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Former President Donald Trump has driven some Republicans out of his party. Democrats have spent the week offering them a new home.

They have toned down progressive language in their platform. At the Democratic National Convention, they have framed Trump as an extremist and deployed disaffected Republicans to encourage others to defect to Vice President Kamala Harris.

“John McCain’s Republican Party is gone,” Mesa Mayor John Giles, who co-chairs the Arizona chapter of Republicans for Harris, said from the convention stage, invoking the late senator known for working across party lines. “Let’s turn the page. Let’s put country first.”

Continue reading “In centrist shift, Democrats tweak platform, deploy anti-Donald Trump Republicans to help Kamala Harris broaden her appeal”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Immigration Harris. 850 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).
• Video coming.

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – When President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Democrats offered a sharp contrast with incumbent Donald Trump’s strict border policies and harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“Not only do immigrants support us – immigrants are us,” the party’s platform said.

Continue reading “Vulnerable on border security, Democrats adopt some GOP rhetoric even as Harris slams Trump’s approach”

• Slug: BC-CNS DNC Media Shy Dems. 1,010 words.
• Photo available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, fresh from Kamala Harris’ vice presidential short list, kicked off the morning for Wisconsin Democrats on Tuesday with a plea to avoid complacency and get voters to the polls.

“We cannot allow Donald Trump to get within a mile of the White House again,” the former astronaut told the breakfast crowd on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention. “This is not rocket science. It isn’t. If it was, I could help you with that.”

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats bar press from convention events, defying norms and keeping cabinet members and governors off camera”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Abortion Rights. 675 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Democrats in Arizona view the fight over reproductive rights as a key to victory in November. The strategy is front and center at the Democratic National Convention too.

One hard-to-miss symbol is the 20-foot inflatable IUD outside the United Center, where thousands of delegates are gathering this week to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This issue is going to help us from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket,” said state Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, one of the state party’s delegates in Chicago. “I’m talking not only about the presidential race and our local legislative races, but also when it comes to judges and to other local elections, to city councils.”

Continue reading “‘I don’t want to be in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’’: Abortion access drives Arizona delegates to get out the vote”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Glass Ceiling. 765 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Arizona Democrats are feeling good about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of achieving what Hillary Clinton could not: making history as the first female president.

“She can break the glass ceiling,” said Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder and one of the state’s 91 delegates at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago. “She has the support of Arizona women, men, and nonbinary. She has a lot of support everywhere.”

Clinton, the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state, lost the 2016 race to Republican Donald Trump – dashing Democrats’ hopes of ending the all-male presidential winning streak that began with George Washington in 1789.

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats pin hopes on Kamala Harris to break the glass ceiling Hillary Clinton cracked”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Day 1 Mood. 530 words. By Phineas Hogan.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

CHICAGO – After months of anxiety over the presidential contest, Arizona Democrats basked in a far more optimistic vibe as the party’s national convention opened Monday.

“Excited, invigorated and happy,” was how delegate Llama Habern of Cornville described the mood – now that Vice President Kamala Harris is atop the ticket, reversing a downward spiral before President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.

“How excited everyone is in general is very motivating, very encouraging,” Habern said.

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats ‘excited, invigorated and happy’ as national convention kicks off four-day Chicago rally for Harris-Walz ticket”

• Slug: Howard Center-Online Exploitation. 2,175 words.
• Photos, graphic available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Gianna Montiel
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

PHOENIX – An adult sexual predator, posing as a teenager, sought out young boys from 10 to 13 years old to entice them to play various online gaming platforms and then sexually exploited them, police in Scottsdale say – part of a growing trend that authorities contend should put parents on alert.

“A lot of cases that we’re coming across, especially with younger victims, are starting from online gaming,” said the case detective, who asked not to be named because of his undercover work in the Scottsdale Police Department’s Human Exploitation Unit.

Continue reading “New battlefield of online sexual exploitation: Gaming platforms popular with children”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Arizona Canada Trade. 500 words. By Regan Gallo.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).
• Video available.

By Regan Gallo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona attracts tourists and foodies, major sports events and big business. The money comes from all over the world, but one major investor is the neighbor in the north: Canada.

Total trade between Arizona and Canada topped $5.3 billion in 2023. Arizona Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, who serves as the chair of the House International Trade Committee, has been an advocate for increasing trade with Canada.

“Where else can you take this large amount of money? Because you’re limited for investments in your own country of Canada – then what better place, what safer place to invest your people’s money than the state of Arizona,” Cook said.

Continue reading “Arizona and Canada strengthen ties through new Phoenix trade office”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Teacher Shortage. 660 words.
• Photos available.

By Alex MacDonald
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – A few weeks into last school year, 30% of teacher positions in Arizona remained unfilled. The shortage persists, but there are signs of improvement.

Tucson Unified School District currently has 164 classroom openings – down from 300 at the same time last year. Deer Valley Unified School District is close to fully staffed. Tempe Union High School District has just one opening to fill compared to five at this time last year.

Continue reading “Teacher shortages persist in Arizona but may be easing”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Muscular Dystrophy Therapy. 2,190 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lauren De Young
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Jace Taylor is a rambunctious 4-year-old boy. He runs, jumps and plays with his friends. He isn’t aware that genetically, he’s different from other children.

“I think he’s too young to comprehend what’s going on,” said Brittany Taylor, Jace’s mother. “We let him … do his little boy thing.”

Last year, Jace was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare and fatal genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and deterioration. But, in some ways, he’s lucky.

Continue reading “Gene therapy provides hope for those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – but not without concerns”

• Slug: BC-CNS- Migrant Mobilization. 1,355 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Sahara Sajjadi
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s migrant communities have much on the line in the 2024 elections, with former President Donald Trump vowing mass deportations, and the end of both DACA protections and automatic citizenship for children born to non-Americans.

With no right to vote, some people in the country without legal status are finding ways to make their voices heard through grassroots activism – encouraging others to support sympathetic candidates.

“Not being able to vote puts you at a huge disadvantage. But we decided to organize our family, friends and people in the community that have the power of voting. We give them some information, and we share stories on how these decisions impact our daily life,” said Karina Ruiz, executive director at the Arizona Dream Act Coalition.

Continue reading “Unable to vote but with much at stake, undocumented migrants register Arizona voters and mobilize against anti-immigrant candidates”

EDS: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described a recent rate cut. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Public Power Tucson. 1,065 words.
• Photos available.

By Isabelle Marceles
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Tucson is exploring a transition to a publicly-owned electric utility, as customers complain about high bills and the city aims to cut its carbon footprint.

Tucson Electric Power’s contract will expire in April 2026. The city recently hired an outside firm to assess the economics and regulatory hurdles of taking over by forming its own power utility.

“This feasibility study is another pathway of, what does the future of Tucson’s energy look like?” said Tucson resident Nick Arnold, a board member of the Sierra Club Nopales Group. “TEP is not operating as the act that will get us there as quickly as we need to.”

Continue reading “Tucson, aiming to trim electric bills and hit carbon neutral by 2045 to fight climate change, will explore creating a public utility”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Blood in Ambulances. 550 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Taylor Mazock
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Time was running out as the medevac helicopter made its way from rural Arizona to a nearby hospital. The patient was in critical condition, and flight paramedics worked against the clock. Only one thing could save him – blood.

BannerAir flight paramedics worked to save the patient, who was losing large amounts of blood due to an ATV accident. If the flight team did not have access to the life-saving blood, the patient could have died.

Quick access to blood, whether at the hospital or at the scene, could be the difference between life and death.

Continue reading “Life-saving method: Medevac helicopters start carrying blood, but what about ambulances?”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Kari Lake. 1,250 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Keetra Bippus
Cronkite News

MILWAUKEE – In the days after a would-be assassin tried to kill former President Donald Trump, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake shrugged aside calls for politicians to soften their rhetoric and refrain from stoking divisions.

The political climate is actually “good,” she said at one point during a whirlwind week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee at which she lashed out at the news media and reiterated claims that she actually won the 2022 election for Arizona governor, which the courts have repeatedly tossed out.

Continue reading “Speech, book signing, more: Kari Lake prominent at RNC after modeling campaign after Donald Trump”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Ciscomani Patriot Academies. 800 words.
• Photos available.

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Tucson congressman Juan Ciscomani, who enjoys a reputation as a relatively moderate Republican, has long been active with a group that promotes the goal of Christians stewarding the nation’s morality through “biblical citizenship.”

“I can wholeheartedly say that nothing in my life has given me a clearer direction for my life than Patriot Academy,” the first-term Republican wrote in a 2010 blog post.

Continue reading “Kirsten Engel slams Juan Ciscomani over links to Patriot Academy, a Christian nationalist group, as Arizona congressional race simmers”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Youth Social Media. 1,065 words. By Morgan Kubasko.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Morgan Kubasko
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Congress hasn’t passed a law protecting children online since 1998. Advocates are hoping that changes soon.

The Kids Online Safety Act would require tech companies to protect minors from bullying, sexual exploitation, and material that promotes suicide and eating disorders. KOSA would also add privacy protections and limit how minors’ information is collected online.

Continue reading “Kids Online Safety Act could pass the Senate soon amid calls to protect minors online”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Native Boarding Schools. 830 words.
• Historical photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – From 1819 until 1969, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools – sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles from their families.

The schools were run by churches and the federal government with a clear purpose: to strip Native Americans of their cultures and force them to assimilate.

Continue reading “Proposed federal commission would investigate abuses at Native American boarding schools that operated until the 1970s”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Kelly VP Assess. About 1,400 words.
• File photo available (below).

By Grey Gartin, Benjamin Adelberg and Aoife Kane
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Of the contenders Vice President Kamala Harris is vetting as a possible running mate, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is the only one who’s been to space, traveling over 20 million miles for NASA.

But does he have the right stuff to join the Democratic ticket?

“This is not about me,” he told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. “This is about the future of this country.”

Continue reading “Mark Kelly VP: What would Arizona senator, in office just four years, bring to the Kamala Harris ticket if she taps him for vice president?”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Indigenous Skateboarders. 1,230 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The first skateboard Di’Orr Greenwood ever rode was a cheap plastic one her grandpa had given to her younger brother.

“He had so much fun on it that I wanted a little bit of that fun, too,” she said.

When she was 22, an arson fire left the family home in ashes. They lost almost everything. But Greenwood found some old skateboards unscathed by the fire, and a tool for wood burning that her late uncle had taught her to use.

Continue reading “Skateboarding gives Navajo and other Indigenous people an outlet for artistry and heritage”