• Slug: Counting Ballots. 560 words.
• File photo (thumbnail, caption below).

By Eddie McCoven
Special for Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With more than 2.4 million registered voters in Maricopa County and the increasing number of allegations around election integrity, counting ballots for the 2024 presidential election is no easy task.

Maricopa County Deputy Elections Director Jennifer Liewer said the county goes to “extensive lengths” to make sure all legal votes are counted.

“Our systems, our personnel, our workers are all trained to ensure that we do not disenfranchise voters,” Liewer said. “We want you to know that if you are a legally registered voter in Maricopa County, that your ballot will be cast.”

Continue reading “How Maricopa County counts millions of ballots”

• Slug: Orphaned Wells. 965 words.
• Photo, map available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Gabrielle Wallace
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Many oil and gas wells across Arizona with no known owners leak methane into the environment, which tribal, state and federal agencies are responsible for cleaning up.

These wells – referred to as “orphaned” – are often not properly maintained and can lead to surface and groundwater contamination causing pollution, health issues and threats to wildlife.

Continue reading “Well, well, well: Taxpayers pay the price for oil and gas wells leaking methane as multiple entities work to plug them”

• Slug: AHCCCS Funding. 550 words.
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By Lizeth Adriana Calderon
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Roughly a fifth of expecting and new mothers in Arizona receive little to no prenatal care, which can lead to poor health outcomes for mothers and their children, according to the March of Dimes report from last year.

Overall the health of mothers and infants in the U.S. is on decline, partially because more than a third of Americans live in maternal care deserts, according to the subsequent March of Dimes report. A maternity care desert is an area where access to reproductive health care is limited or women face other obstacles in their ability to access care.

Continue reading “On-call maternity care in rural Arizona boosted by AHCCCS funding”

• Slug: Religious Poll Watchers. 590 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Tony Gutiérrez
Special for Cronkite News

Following reports of armed “poll watchers” at Arizona polling places during the last several election cycles, two groups have launched initiatives inviting people of faith to help promote peace at the polls.

Faiths United to Save Democracy is actively recruiting “poll chaplains” to serve at various poll locations, while the Arizona Faith Network, in partnership with Election Protection Arizona, is inviting people of faith to be “peacekeepers.” Medina Moore, voting rights organizer for the Arizona Faith Network, said both groups support each other in their missions.

Continue reading “Religious groups recruit volunteers to provide peaceful presence at Arizona polls”

• Slug: Spotting Disinformation. 490 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Ana Burk
Special for Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In this era of social media, a seasoned political reporter shares key strategies for identifying disinformation during election season.

The American Psychological Association reports that over the past few decades, people’s attention spans have decreased due to constant distractions from phones and other devices. People tend to only read the first line of a story, or watch the first few seconds of a video.

Continue reading “Election Day essentials: The do’s and don’ts for spotting disinformation”

• Slug: Maricopa County Election Security. 700 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Rallies outside of Maricopa County offices, threats and intimidation directed toward election workers and false election conspiracy theories spread by politicians are all problems Maricopa County officials have had to deal with in the past.

Now, officials are preparing security measures and fighting back against misinformation in the run-up to Nov. 5.

Continue reading “Maricopa County officials confident but wary of threats ahead of Election Day”

• Slug: Senate Young Voters. 800 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Nash Darragh
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With just a week to go until Election Day, all eyes remain on the swing state of Arizona. The state’s 11 electoral votes have been increasingly sought after by both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris over the past few months.

But Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego are also aiming to secure the final undecided votes from a generation that is voting for the first time.

Continue reading “Arizona Senate candidates Kari Lake, Ruben Gallego targeting younger voters”

• Slug: LDS Voters Immigration. 960 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have launched get-out-the-vote coalitions targeting the close to half a million Latter-day Saints in Arizona, a battleground state where every voting bloc will count in the presidential race.

Trump pitched himself to Arizona LDS voters while campaigning in Prescott Valley earlier this month. During an online “LDS for Trump” event, Trump told attendees that “we really have the same values.”

Continue reading “‘Not reconcilable’: Latter-day Saints in Arizona break with Trump on immigration, which could help Harris”

• Slug: Mexican Repatriation California. 765 words.
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By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES — On Thursday, Sens. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) officially launched the Mexican Repatriation Memorial Project in Los Angeles.

The project aims to commemorate the 2 million Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants who were forcibly deported from the United States during the Great Depression, including approximately 400,000 individuals from California. Senate Bill 537, authored by Gonzalez and Becker, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September. It will enable a selected nonprofit to construct and maintain a memorial in a public area of Los Angeles. The memorial is planned for completion before the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.

Continue reading “California launches Mexican Repatriation Memorial Project to honor residents deported during Great Depression”

• Slug: Arts Field Trips. 470 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Hayden Larkin
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Nonprofit organization Act One funded a school trip to the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix to see the Tetra String Quartet on Wednesday, which kicked off the organization’s 2024-25 season.

“I just think it was so beautiful,” said Milani Duran, a sixth grader from Sunland STEAM Academy. “Seeing all the different (things), seeing the violin, the cello, it was very different.”

Continue reading “Act One helps Title I students connect to the arts with string quartet at Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix”

• Slug: Ventanilla de Salud. 650 words.
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By Lizeth Adriana Calderon
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — People line up outside the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, one of the five Mexican consulates in Arizona.

They’re seeking assistance with visa application, consular and voter registration, community agendas and more. And while they wait, they learn about the free health services the consulate offers. Approximately 200 to 300 people use the consulate’s services daily, according to Consul General Jorge Mendoza Yescas.

Continue reading “Ventanilla de Salud initiative in Phoenix provides preventative health screenings for people with Mexican roots”

• Slug: Sports – Biden Indigenous Apology, 1,100 words.
• 2 photos available.

By Gabrielle Wallace and Marshall Baker
Cronkite News

LAVEEN VILLAGE – President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized for the 150 years of abuse and harm suffered by Indigenous children that were put into the federal boarding school system. 

“I believe it is important that we do know there was generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they never heard,” Biden said during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in front of an emotional crowd. “The federal government has never formally apologized, until today.”

This apology comes after an extensive investigation by the Department of Interior. The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative began in 2021 and was designed to recognize the long-term impacts of Indian boarding schools from 1819 to 1970.  Continue reading “Biden issues formal apology for treatment of Indigenous children within federal boarding schools”