Here are Cronkite News Service stories that moved from April 7-11. If you have questions or would like to receive the daily news digest by e-mail, please contact Steve Elliott at 602-496-0686 or steve.elliott@asu.edu.
WEEKEND SPECIAL
REPAIRING DAMAGE FROM OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES NO EASY TASK
Slug BC-CNS-Desert Repair. By Nora Avery-Page. With BC-CNS-Repair-Box.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (thumbnails, captions below)
WEEKDAY SPECIALS (for use throughout the week)
UNIVERSITIES, COMMUNITY COLLEGES READY TO MARK EARTH DAY
PHOENIX (Thursday, April 10) _ Kevin Burke is trying to persuade fellow University of Arizona students to recycle. Joe Costion, a professor at Coconino Community College, is preparing to demonstrate a solar-powered oven. Tori Scott is arranging to show a global warming documentary at Yavapai College. With Earth Day 2008 set for April 22, students and professors at the state’s universities and community colleges are preparing exhibits, games, fashion shows, movie showings, musical performances and other events.
Slug BC-CNS-Earth Day. By Grayson Steinberg. With BC-CNS-Earth Day-Box.
Photos: 1 | 2 (thumbnails, captions below)
SOME IN COTTONWOOD BID FOND _ YES, FOND _ FAREWELL TO HUGE SLAG PILE
COTTONWOOD (Monday, April 7) _ In stark contrast to the salmon and cream-colored cliffs that define the Verde Valley, a black mountain of iron and glass rises out of the heart of this community. Roughly the size of 15 football fields and composed of an estimated 3 million tons of copper mining waste, the slag pile has been part of the local landscape since World War I. It will soon be a thing of the past, as Cottonwood officials, citing public health and environmental considerations, are having it hauled away. But some longtime residents will be sad to see it go.
Slug BC-CNS-Farewell Slag. By Jeremy Thomas. With BC-CNS-Slag-Box.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (thumbnails, captions below)
SPECIAL PROJECT
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE BORDER AND THE FAMILIES IT DIVIDES
A young mother whose son is already beginning to forget his father. Two men who have searched for their missing brother for years. Border Patrol agents who toil miles from their families. These are the some of the people whose lives and whose families are divided by the U.S.-Mexico border. Supported by a grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, a group of advanced students in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University set out in fall 2007 to do a semester-long reporting project on divided families. The result, based on more than 30 trips to the border, deep into Mexico and to various parts of Arizona, is being made available to Arizona newspapers via Cronkite News Service. We commend this package to your attention and recommend it for use in your print and online editions.
Review the content here: https://cronkitenews.jmc.asu.edu/dividedfamilies
THE WEEK’S NEWS
LAWMAKERS, GODDARD SAY TWO BILLS WILL PROTECT CONSUMERS
PHOENIX (Thursday, April 10) _ A Republican leader, a Democratic lawmaker and Attorney General Terry Goddard joined Thursday to celebrate the passage of two bills they say will help protect Arizonans from identity theft. One measure would require lenders to take more steps to verify borrowers’ identities before granting loans. Another would make it easier for citizens to freeze their credit reports.
Slug BC-CNS-Credit-Bills. By Daniel Quigley. With BC-CNS-Credit-Bills-Box.
NOTE: This story is suitable for business sections.
Photos: 1 | 2 (thumbnail, caption below)
GOVERNOR’S CENTENNIAL SCHOLARS PROPOSAL GETS COMMITTEE HEARING
PHOENIX (Wednesday, April 9) _ Just 14, Carolyn Fry already has her sights on a career in interior design after she graduates high school in 2012. She plans to join the Navy to raise money before heading to college. “My parents don’t make a lot of money,” said Fry, an eighth-grader at Bullhead City Junior High School. “My dad graduated the same year as I was born, and he’s still paying off his loans. I don’t want to have that problem.” Fry and three fellow classmates addressed the Senate Higher Education Committee on Wednesday to register their support for a bill that would create a Centennial Scholars Program. The program would provide free college tuition to Arizona high school students who need the help and who get good grades, perform community service and stay out of trouble. It would begin in 2012, when Arizona marks its centennial.
Slug BC-CNS-Centennial Scholars. By Jeremy Thomas. With BC-CNS-Scholars-Box.
Photos: 1 | 2 (thumbnails, captions)
PROGRAM GIVES GRANTS TO THOSE WHO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL EARLY
PHOENIX (Tuesday, April 8) _While other 16-year-olds were hanging out at the mall and updating their MySpace pages after class, Marie Manning of Gilbert was studying math and science and racking up credits to finish high school ahead of her peers. Manning’s hard work will pay off _ literally _ when she receives a check from the state under a program that rewards students who graduate high school early. She and four others were honored Tuesday on the floor of the House of Representatives, standing with a ceremonial $1.8 million check symbolizing money available this year from the state’s Early Graduation Scholarship Grant fund.
Slug BC-CNS-Early Graduation. By Daniel Raven. With BC-CNS-Early Graduation-Box.
Download Photo (thumbnail, caption below)
BILL: LET COUNTIES POST MINUTES ONLINE RATHER THAN IN NEWSPAPERS
PHOENIX (Monday, April 7) _ The Internet makes it easy to find just about anything, and, because of that, a state lawmaker says there’s no longer a reason Arizona counties should have to pay newspapers for legal advertisements carrying their meeting minutes. Rep. John Nelson, R-Glendale, is sponsoring a bill that would allow counties to choose between paying for newspaper space or posting meeting minutes on their Web sites. The bill, which Nelson wrote over HB 2193 as a strike-everything amendment, has passed the House and won a unanimous endorsement Monday from the Senate Government Committee.
Slug BC-CNS-Legal Ads. By Nora Avery-Page.
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PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download
DESERT REPAIR
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-DESERT REPAIR: An off-highway vehicle rides on an illegal trail in the Tonto National Forest near Mesa. A bill that would make OHV users pay an annual registration fee would be used, in part, to raise money to help repair damaged landscapes. Officials and experts say it’s possible to repair areas damaged by off-highway vehicles but the scale of the damage makes it impossible to repair everything. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Nora Avery-Page)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-DESERT REPAIR: An area of the Tonto National Forest near Mesa is fenced off for a re-vegetation project to repair damage from illegal off-highway vehicle trails. A bill that would make OHV users pay an annual registration fee would be used, in part, to raise money to help repair damaged landscapes. Officials and experts say it’s possible to repair areas damaged by off-highway vehicles but the scale of the damage makes it impossible to repair everything. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Nora Avery-Page)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-DESERT REPAIR: An area of the Tonto National Forest near Mesa is fenced off for a re-vegetation project to repair damage from illegal off-highway vehicle trails. A bill that would make OHV users pay an annual registration fee would be used, in part, to raise money to help repair damaged landscapes. Officials and experts say it’s possible to repair areas damaged by off-highway vehicles but the scale of the damage makes it impossible to repair everything. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Nora Avery-Page)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-DESERT REPAIR: An area of the Tonto National Forest near Mesa is scarred by an illegal trail made by off-road vehicles. A bill that would make OHV users pay an annual registration fee would be used, in part, to raise money to help repair damaged landscapes. Officials and experts say it’s possible to repair areas damaged by off-highway vehicles but the scale of the damage makes it impossible to repair everything. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Nora Avery-Page)
EARTH DAY
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-EARTH DAY: Natalie Sirovy, a Rio Salado Community College employee who deals with advertising and vendor relations, shows tote bags the school is selling for $2. The blue bags are made from recyclable polypropylene. The beige bags are made from recycled plastic. With Earth Day 2008 coming up on April 22, universities and community colleges around the state are readying events to mark the day. Sirovy researched alternatives to retailers’ plastic bags, which are made from petroleum, as part of the school’s sustainability efforts. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Stephanie Sanchez)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-EARTH DAY: Natalie Sirovy, a Rio Salado Community College employee who handles advertising and vendor relations, shows a tote bag made from recyclable polypropylene that the school is selling for $2. With Earth Day 2008 coming up on April 22, universities and community colleges around the state are readying events to mark the day. Sirovy researched alternatives to retailers’ plastic bags, which are made from petroleum, as part of the school’s sustainability efforts. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Stephanie Sanchez)
FAREWELL SLAG
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FAREWELL SLAG: A slag pile the size of 15 football fields stands in the heart of the Verde Valley community Cottonwood. A reminder of the area’s copper-mining past, the slag pile has been on the site since World War I. Citing health and environmental reasons, Cottonwood officials are preparing to have a company remove the 3 million tons of slag, and some residents say they’ll miss it. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FAREWELL SLAG: Discarded tires frame a view of a slag pile the size of 15 football fields that stands in the heart of the Verde Valley community Cottonwood. A reminder of the area’s copper-mining past, the slag pile has been on the site since World War I. Citing health and environmental reasons, Cottonwood officials are preparing to have a company remove the 3 million tons of slag, and some residents say they’ll miss it. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FAREWELL SLAG: A home lies near a slag pile the size of 15 football fields that stands in the heart of the Verde Valley community Cottonwood. A reminder of the area’s copper-mining past, the slag pile has been on the site since World War I. Citing health and environmental reasons, Cottonwood officials are preparing to have a company remove the 3 million tons of slag, and some residents say they’ll miss it. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FAREWELL SLAG: Jim Van Wert, owner of Jim and Ellen’s Rock-n-Shop, is shown at his mineral and collectible store in Cottonwood. Van Wert says he’ll miss a slag pile the size of 15 football fields that has stood in the town since World War I. He says it’s a link to the area’s mining heritage. Citing health and environmental reasons, Cottonwood officials are preparing to have a company remove the 3 million tons of slag. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FAREWELL SLAG: Cottonwood resident Newman Parker says he and his brother used to slide down a massive slag pile in the middle of town. Memories aside, he says it’s time for the slag pile, which has been in town since World War I, to go. Citing health and environmental reasons, Cottonwood officials are preparing to have a company remove the 3 million tons of slag. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CREDIT-BILLS
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CREDIT-BILLS: Sen. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, with Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, and Attorney General Terry Goddard joining her, speaks Thursday, April 10, 2008, at a news conference celebrating the passage of two credit-related bills that they say will protect Arizona consumers. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Quigley)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CREDIT-BILLS: Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, with Sen. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, and Attorney General Terry Goddard joining him, speaks Thursday, April 10, 2008, at a news conference celebrating the passage of two credit-related bills that they say will protect Arizona consumers. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Quigley)
CENTENNIAL SCHOLARS
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CENTENNIAL SCHOLARS: Emma Maraontes, 13, an eighth-grader at Bullhead City Junior High School, talks Wednesday outside the Arizona State Capitol after speaking in support of a bill that would create a Centennial Scholars program proposed by Gov. Janet Napolitano. The bill would provide free tuition beginning in 2012, the state’s centennial, to those high schoolers who maintain at least a B average. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CENTENNIAL SCHOLARS: Carolyn Fry, 14, an eighth-grader at Bullhead City Junior High School, talks Wednesday outside the Arizona State Capitol after speaking in support of a bill that would create a Centennial Scholars program proposed by Gov. Janet Napolitano. The bill would provide free tuition beginning in 2012, the state’s centennial, to those high schoolers who maintain at least a B average. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Jeremy Thomas)
EARLY GRADUATION
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-EARLY GRADUATION: Marie Manning, an early graduate of the Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center, an independent high school program offered in partnership with Maricopa Community Colleges, stands Tuesday, April 8, 2008, with House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix. Manning attended a ceremony celebrating the first year of a program offering college grants to those who graduate early from high school. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Raven)