Here are Cronkite News Service packages that moved from Sept. 15-19. 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. If you would like to monitor the status of packages and make requests via Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/cronkitenews.
WEEKEND SPECIALState parks move to keep, lure volunteers as economy worsens
SEDONA _ Jack Edwards gives visitors to Red Rock State Park a handshake and hello along with a pamphlet on the park’s history. People buying rock candy in the visitor center’s gift shop will get a smile from Louise Appleton, who works the register. Those who don’t abide by rules for fires in the park’s campground will get a lecture from Don Swanson, a former firefighter. his nature preserve, set beneath the spectacular cliffs overlooking Sedona, has several employees, but these three aren’t among them. All retirees, they are among the 80 volunteers who keep the park running. Arizona 31 state parks cannot operate without such volunteers, officials say. Parks around the state are taking steps to keep volunteers and attract more as the economy worsens.
Slug BC-CNS-Parks-Volunteers. By Andrew Shainker.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 (thumbnails, captions below)
WEEKDAY SPECIALS: For use throughout the week
Landowners helping state return endangered minnow to Arizona
PHOENIX (Tuesday, Sept. 16) _ If the endangered Gila topminnow is to make a comeback in southern Arizona, its success will depend on places as seemingly unremarkable as TimBuckTwo Pond between Tucson and Nogales. At that site and others, state officials are working with private landowners to begin restoring the tiny fish to its native habitat under agreement called Safe Harbor. The minnow’s revival also will depend on a set of nondescript tanks at Arizona State University, where researchers maintain a breeding population.
Slug BC-CNS-Gila Topminnow. By Michael Martinez. With BC-CNS-Gila Topminnow-Box.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (thumbnails, captions below)
THE WEEK’S NEWS
Officials: Community college council will help districts speak with one voice
PHOENIX (Friday, Sept. 19) _ Gov. Janet Napolitano has created an Arizona Community College Council that leaders say will allow the state’s 10 community college districts to coordinate on education issues, speak with one voice to the Legislature and help achieve the governor’s goal of doubling the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by 2020.
Slug BC-CNS-Colleges-Council. By Kelly McGrath. With BC-CNS-Colleges-List.
As trades, construction slump, unemployment rate hits highest level in years
PHOENIX (Thursday, Sept. 18) _ Arizona’s unemployment in August reached its highest level in nearly five years as retail, utilities and construction continued to slump, state officials said Thursday. And experts say the worst is yet to come.
Slug BC-CNS-State Unemployment. By Greg Lindsay. With BC-CNS-Unemployment-Box.
Governor: Low AIMS scores show need for greater commitment to science
PHOENIX _ A 62 percent failure rate among high school students on the science portion of the AIMS test shows the need for Arizona schools to improve their teaching of the subject, Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday. “I think the scores validate what we been saying, which is our kids need more science. And now it’s our responsibility to help them get it,” Napolitano said during her weekly media availability.
Slug BC-CNS-Napolitano-AIMS. By Maria Konopken.
Multimedia: Flash video is available by following the link. We can e-mail the FLV file, but clients are welcome to link to our presentation.
Governor: Employers, insurers key to reforming health-care system
TEMPE (Tuesday, Sept. 16) _ Gov. Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that health-care reform can’t be the sole responsibility of government and will require the cooperation of employers and insurers. “If we rely on the government and say it’s only the government, then I think we’re going to end up where we are right now, which is not much of a solution,” Napolitano told those attending the Southwest Conference on Health Care Reform at Arizona State University.
Slug BC-CNS-Napolitano-Health Care. By Megan Thomas.
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Commission candidates favor renewable energy standard but debate timeline
TEMPE (Monday, Sept. 15) _ Republicans and Democrats vying for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission said Monday they support a requirement that utilities get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025. Democratic candidates said they expected the state to meet or exceed that goal sooner.
Slug BC-CNS-CorpComm Debate. By Deanna Dent.
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PHOTOS:
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PARKS-VOLUNTEERS
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-PARKS-VOLUNTEERS: Don Swanson (left) and Jack Edwards are volunteers at Red Rock State Park in Sedona. The hundreds of people who volunteer at Arizona State Parks’ 31 facilities are essential to keeping the parks in operation, officials say. The agency is working to make sure high gas prices and a worsening economy don’t cut into volunteer numbers. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Andrew Shainker)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-PARKS-VOLUNTEERS: Red Rock State Park is a nature preserve set beneath the majestic rock formations overlooking Sedona. The hundreds of people who volunteer at Red Rock and Arizona State Parks’ 30 other facilities are essential to keeping the parks in operation, officials say. The agency is working to make sure high gas prices and a worsening economy don’t cut into volunteer numbers. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Andrew Shainker)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-PARKS-VOLUNTEERS: Red Rock State Park is a nature preserve set beneath the majestic rock formations overlooking Sedona. The hundreds of people who volunteer at Red Rock and Arizona State Parks’ 30 other facilities are essential to keeping the parks in operation, officials say. The agency is working to make sure high gas prices and a worsening economy don’t cut into volunteer numbers. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Andrew Shainker)
GOVERNOR-HEALTH CARE
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-NAPOLITANO-HEALTH CARE: Gov. Janet Napolitano (right) talks with Gene Karp, president of The Project for Arizona’s Future, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, in Tempe at The Southwest Conference on Health Care Reform. Napolitano told participants that any national health-care system would require the involvement of employers and insurers, not just the government. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Megan Thomas)
GILA TOPMINNOW
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-GILA TOPMINNOW: This Arizona Game and Fish Department photo shows TimBuckTwo Pond near the southern Arizona community of Amado. Under an agreement called Safe Harbor, state officials are working with landowners to return the tiny Gila topminnow to its native habitat. TimBuckTwo Pond is the first such site. (Photo Credit: George Andrekjo, Arizona Game and Fish Department)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-GILA TOPMINNOW: A Gila topminnow is shown in this undated photograph by the U.S. Forest Service. State officials have started returning the endangered fish to its native habitat in southern Arizona under a Safe Harbor Agreement, which enlists the help of private landowners. (Mandatory Credit: John Rinne, U.S. Forest Service)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-GILA TOPMINNOW: Paul Marsh, an associate professor of biology at Arizona State University, observes Gila topminnows in a tank at the school’s Animal Resource Center. ASU has the only controlled facility breeding the endangered Gila topminnow. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Michael Martinez)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-GILA TOPMINNOW: These tanks at Arizona State University’s Animal Resource Center are used to breed the endangered Gila topminnow. State officials are working with landowners to return the tiny fish to its native habitat in southern Arizona. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Michael Martinez)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-GILA TOPMINNOW: Gila topminnows are shown in a tank at Arizona State University’s Animal Resource Center. State officials are working with landowners to return the endangered fish to its native habitat in southern Arizona. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Michael Martinez)
CORPCOMM DEBATE
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CORPCOMM DEBATE: Candidates for Arizona Corporation Commission participate in a debate Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, in Tempe. From right to left: Samuel George, Democrat; Sandra Kennedy, Democrat; Paul Newman, Democrat; Bob Stump, Republican; Barry Wong, Republican; and Marian McClure, Republican. At the podium is Mark Goldstein, secretary and president of the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council, which hosted the debate in conunction with the Arizona Citizen Clean Elections Commission. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Deanna Dent)