LOS ANGELES – This summer marked the end of the warmest 15 months in a row, with heat waves scorching the Southwest. Urban design, with heat-trapping concrete and asphalt, roasted cities – though not all areas were equally hot.
How hot or cool a neighborhood depends on demographic variables: economically disadvantaged, mainly minority populations live in parts of town that can be several degrees hotter than affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods.
Cronkite News is taking a holiday hiatus. We plan to offer coverage from the Peach Bowl and then will be fully back in action when student journalists return in mid-January. In the meantime, we hope you’ll consider picking up some of the enterprise stories that have performed well with our audience. Happy holidays!
TUCSON – Just 15 minutes south of downtown Tucson lies the Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, an 11,000-seat venue built in 1998 and kept in pristine condition within the Kino Sports Complex. However, despite the city’s rich history in baseball, the complex now stands vacant of any Major League Baseball team or affiliate.
As of July 2023, Tucson’s population exceeds 547,000. To outsiders, it might come as a surprise that a city of this size and once a well-known baseball hub, now lacks MLB-affiliated teams – but that wasn’t always the case.
On March 8, 1946, Tucson hosted the first MLB spring training game in Arizona at Hi Corbett Field, featuring the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants. Over the next six decades, Tucson hosted Cactus League games and served as a spring training home for teams like the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.
WASHINGTON – By 2032, operators of coal-fired power plants and new gas-fired plants will be required to install equipment that cuts 90% of greenhouse emissions, under a rule issued in April by the Biden administration.
As soon as he is inaugurated Jan. 20, President-elect Donald Trump could revoke that rule and others aimed at slowing climate change, fulfilling a campaign promise to end what he called a “regulatory jihad to shut down power plants.”
PHOENIX – In Arizona, 12.4% of residents live in poverty, and 12.1% of people under 65 lack health insurance, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Mobile health clinics are helping to bridge the gap by providing essential care to underserved communities.
PHOENIX – In just its second year as a program, Grand Canyon University’s roller hockey team won the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Division I National Championship this past season with a 2-1 win over Lindenwood University in triple overtime.
Even though three Arizona schools compete at the Division I level in collegiate roller hockey, the teams share one rink, after two other facilities closed in the past two years. In addition to the lack of facilities, there are challenges to restore the sport’s success to its height before COVID-19, but also opportunities to expand the reach and online social media presence.
“I played two seasons of collegiate roller hockey at Lindenwood University,” said Aydin Schwetz, the director of operations for the program at GCU. “I was incredibly underwhelmed and disappointed in the program and how it was run despite winning an AA Division National Championship. So I left and started the GCU Division I program.”
LOS ANGELES – Angel Chen, a master’s student in nutritional sciences at California State University, Los Angeles, was shocked when she moved from Taiwan and began eating out. “Everything is double the size,” Chen said. “Fast food is cheap and bigger portions than in my country.”
The trend began in the 1970s as competition drove restaurants to lure customers with more generous helpings, equating larger portions to better value. In 1978 Americans consumed 15 percent fewer calories daily compared to 2018: 1,807 and 2,093, respectively. Eating out has become more frequent than it was a couple of decades ago and plays a significant role in increased calorie consumption mainly because of large portion sizes and calorie-dense meals, according to a study co-authored by Deborah Cohen, an obesity research scientist at Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California office.
Slug: Sports–Photo Essay: Girls Flag Football, 350 words.
4 photos available.
By Daniella Trujillo Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Ever since the Arizona Interscholastic Association voted to sanction girls flag football as a varsity competition for the 2023-2024 school year, the sport has taken off at a variety of levels.
Among high schools in the state, participation increased from 55 teams to 102 in just one season, the AIA reports.
The 2024 season wrapped up in late November, with Chandler’s Hamilton High School capturing the 6A title, Waddell’s Canyon View High winning the 5A and St. Mary’s winning the 4A.
PHOENIX – Practicar trucos en una patineta puede ayudar a navegar emociones difíciles y puede ser especialmente útil para aquellos que provienen de comunidades donde la salud mental está estigmatizada.
La actividad crea un sentido de pertenencia y reduce el estrés. Los hispanos y latinos enfrentan más barreras en el acceso y la calidad de la atención de salud mental, informa la Alianza Nacional sobre Enfermedades Mentales.
Las personas manejan el estrés y la ansiedad de muchas maneras no médicas, como tomar aire fresco o pasar tiempo con sus seres queridos. El ejercicio es una de las formas más eficaces para combatir el estrés. Como actividad física y exigente, patinar no solo mejora la fuerza y la coordinación, sino también la salud mental.
“Cuando se trata de patinar, tienes que usar realmente tus piernas, principalmente tus glúteos, tus cuádriceps, tus isquiotibiales y tus pantorrillas. También hay que usar el tronco, que involucra los abdominales y los oblicuos”, dijo Ashkan Alkhamisi, médico deportivo de HonorHealth Orthopedics.
El patinaje libera cuatro hormonas neurotransmisoras comunes en el cerebro: dopamina, oxitocina, serotonina y endorfinas.
“La dopamina ayuda con la motivación en el centro de recompensas porque estás tratando de realizar una determinada tarea. La oxitocina ayuda a mejorar tus relaciones con las personas con las que andas en patineta… La serotonina es una sensación de significación e importancia y las endorfinas… es el tipo natural de analgésico que ayuda a reducir la ansiedad y el estrés”, dijo Alkhamisi.
Adalberto Jesús Orozco, un ávido patinador de Arizona, dijo que cuando patina, nada más le importan los trucos de aterrizaje.
“Cuando no quiero estar en casa o no quiero tratar con nadie, simplemente vengo y patino, escucho música y me nivelo”, dijo Orozco.
Según Beyond the Board, un estudio de la Universidad del Sur de California sobre la cultura del monopatín no es solo una forma de recreación, sino una forma de que las personas construyan relaciones significativas.
El patinador de Arizona, Carlos Ochoa dijo que le gusta que la comunidad se una y aprecia las amistades que ha hecho.
“Me gusta el hecho de que une a todos y que sigo viendo a mis amigos patinar y mejorar, y nos ponemos felices y emocionados cuando conseguimos nuevos trucos”.
Más de uno de cada cinco adultos estadounidenses vive con una enfermedad mental, según el Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental. En Arizona, casi el 36% de los adultos reportaron síntomas de ansiedad y/o trastorno depresivo, que es ligeramente más alto que el promedio nacional de más del 32%.
Las comunidades hispanas y latinas a menudo no reconocen las luchas de salud mental debido a la falta de acceso a recursos, el estigma y las barreras financieras. La Alianza Nacional de Enfermedades Mentalesinforma que alrededor de un tercio de los adultos hispanos/latinos con enfermedades mentales reciben tratamiento, en comparación con casi la mitad de la población general de los Estados Unidos.
Ochoa libera las presiones de la jornada laboral patinando.
“Cuando estoy estresado, puedes venir al parque y tratar de divertirte”, dijo Ochoa.
El monopatín mantiene a los adultos jóvenes activos y reduce el tiempo que pasan en dispositivos que contribuyen a la ansiedad, la depresión, el aislamiento, la baja autoestima y los problemas de sueño, según un estudio de la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina.
“Nuestra investigación muestra que, a través del patinaje, los patinadores desarrollan la capacidad de comunicarse y construir relaciones con personas de diversos orígenes”, dijo Neftalie Williams, coautora de The Skatepark Project, en un comunicado de prensa.
Los investigadores también dijeron que patinar desarrolla el pensamiento crítico, la resolución de problemas, la resiliencia y los lazos fuertes, y aunque cada patinador desarrolla sus propias estrategias de éxito, a menudo ven los logros de los compañeros patinadores como propios.
Patinadores en el Venice Beach Skate Park de Los Ángeles el 16 de noviembre de 2024. Los investigadores dicen que el patinaje libera cuatro hormonas neurotransmisoras comunes en el cerebro: dopamina, oxitocina, serotonina y endorfinas. (Foto de Gabriel Garza/Cronkite Noticias)Un patinador hace trucos en el Venice Beach Skate Park en Los Ángeles el 16 de noviembre de 2024. Una de las actividades más efectivas para eliminar el estrés es el ejercicio. Como actividad física y exigente, el patinar no solo mejora la fuerza y la coordinación, sino también la salud mental. (Foto de Gabriel Garza/Cronkite Noticias)
TUCSON – Soon Tucsonans won’t have to make the trip to Phoenix to fulfill their ice skating and hockey needs.
Tucson’s newest sports and recreational complex is under construction after the recent official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 20, with Tucson mayor Regina Romero and the University of Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois in attendance.
The Mosaic Quarter, a multi-million dollar project, promises three ice rinks and a field house for basketball, volleyball, pickleball and football in its first phase, which is expected to be completed by 2027. The facility will also have a commercial space that can accommodate up to four restaurants and a solar farm to help power the facility, according to the project’s executive summary. Continue reading “Groundbreaking development: Mosaic Quarter set to transform Tucson sports scene with 2027 opening”
NEW YORK – While many Americans see Thanksgiving as a joyous day to gather with family and feast on turkey, it’s more somber for descendents of people pushed off ancestral lands generations ago.
This Thanksgiving brought a moment of rare visibility, thanks to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which featured a performance by Indigenous Enterprise, an award-winning dance company based in Phoenix.
NEW YORK – The downpour starts early on Thanksgiving morning in Manhattan. Equipped with ponchos and umbrellas, people flock to the streets before dawn to get a good spot for the city’s coveted parade. Balloons and floats prepare on West 77th Street. Kenneth Shirley waits eagerly among them to greet the crowds.
Shirley had spent the past week in Newark practicing tirelessly with his dance troupe.They had been given an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a 60-second window on national television to show millions who they are and their ancestral roots.
EDS: Clients who used the Cronkite News story slugged Solar Energy Trump that moved Friday, Dec. 6, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in graf 21 of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.
WASHINGTON – A Dec. 6 Cronkite News story about President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on solar energy used an incorrect title for Autumn Johnson. She is executive director at Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.
SILVER CITY, N.M. – Silver City, a small town in southwestern New Mexico, preserved its mining character and stands unbothered by modernity and commercialization. The town’s hilly streets introduce visitors to its quiet beauty. Everything whispers a story, such as the nearly 150-year-old Palace Hotel, with a mine entrance in its basement.
North of the town’s many Victorian, Spanish Colonial and American Western-style homes – some more, some less elaborate – Silver City is a gateway to the mountainous region of a vast Gila National Forest, home to the world’s first designated wilderness area.
PHOENIX – Native Americans in Arizona and three other states could now see government health coverage for some traditional healing practices.
On Oct. 16, the Biden administration announced it had expanded both Medicaid coverage and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon to cover traditional Native American healing practices through demonstration amendments to section 1115 of the Social Security Act.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Arizona State, long known as college football’s “sleeping giant,” changed its identity in 2024.
The giant woke up.
The Sun Devils continued their tear through the back half of their schedule and dominated Iowa State 45-19 Saturday to secure the Big 12 Conference title. The College Football Playoff selection committee rewarded them Sunday with a No. 4 seed, which translates to an opening-round bye and a spot in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Imagining Arizona State as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff seemed unfathomable this time last year.
As the Pac-12 Conference dissolved, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham searched for answers to a 3-9 debut season that felt like it ended before Week One thanks to the university’s self-imposed bowl ban amid an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations
Slug: Sports–ASU Big 12 Championship, About 1,000 words.
Photo available.
By Tucker L. Sennett Cronkite News
ARLINGTON, Texas – In late November, a highlight reel of Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo running over defenders as an 8-year-old emerged on X. His mother’s response?
“He use to put on his brother’s shoulder pads and run into telephone poles at the football field while the older kids were playing,” Becky Skattebo wrote about the post.
SCOTTSDALE – If pickleball wasn’t growing fast enough in the Valley, the sport is about to hit a new level – by over 180,000 square feet.
PURE Pickleball & Padel, which will begin construction in Scottsdale in 2025, is expected to be a game-changer. With 50 state-of-the-art courts and top-line amenities, the facility is poised to become a hub for pickleball enthusiasts across Arizona and beyond.
EDS: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect title for Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association Executive Director Autumn Johnson. The error occurred in graf 21 of the original. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.
Slug: Solar Energy Trump. 1,150 words.
Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).
By Amelia Monroe Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The $2 billion Sun Stream Complex in western Maricopa County will soon generate enough power to supply over 200,000 homes. The first phase has been transforming Arizona’s scalding sunlight into electricity for more than three years.
The vast solar farm covers more than 6,000 acres, or 9 square miles. By 2026, it will generate 973 megawatts of emission-free electricity and, over time, $300 million in lease payments and taxes to Arizona schools and communities, according to Boston-based Longroad Energy.
