Cancer can affect anyone. But Hispanics face disproportionately severe outcomes

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: Hispanic Cancer. 1,130 words.
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Nicollette Valenzuela
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – For 58-year-old Beatriz Topete, cancer has been a part of her life from an early age. When she was barely a toddler, Topete lost her mother to leukemia. Fourteen years later, her half-sister, 3, was diagnosed with Wilms tumor, a type of cancer that affects kidneys. The girl survived.

Later, the disease took her 62-year-old father, two uncles and one grandmother. Topete was anything but surprised when doctors told her she had a rare muscle cancer called leiomyosarcoma this year.

Continue reading “Cancer can affect anyone. But Hispanics face disproportionately severe outcomes”

Ruben Gallego outspent Kari Lake to win Senate seat but other Arizona races proved money isn’t always enough

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: Costly Arizona Elections. 750 words.
  • Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Miguel Ambriz
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – More than $250 million poured into Arizona’s contests for the U.S. Senate and House. After all the ads, mailers, phone calls and rallies, not a single seat flipped – proving, experts said, that money isn’t everything in politics.

The Senate race between Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor, drew the bulk of that spending – $156 million, according to OpenSecrets, a group that tracks campaign spending.

Continue reading “Ruben Gallego outspent Kari Lake to win Senate seat but other Arizona races proved money isn’t always enough”

’12th-man experience’: No. 21 ASU set for showdown with No. 14 BYU as sold-out crowd awaits

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: Sports–ASU Football BYU, 560 words.
  • Photo available.

By Dane Palmer
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Arizona State football has finally made its push into the top 25 teams in college football, landing at No. 21 in the nation. One of the most important games of the season now lies ahead of the Sun Devils as they get ready to face off with 14th-ranked BYU at Mountain America Stadium.

Coach Kenny Dillingham’s mantra has been “Activate the Valley” since he arrived at ASU, and it looks as if he’s done just that – Saturday’s matchup will go down in front of a sold-out crowd. Reportedly, student tickets were in high demand with the Ticketmaster queue reaching up to 1,000 people waiting to claim tickets.

Players have felt the buzz all week and are ready for the Sun Devils crowd to create a home-field advantage. Quarterback Sam Leavitt is more pumped for practice knowing he’ll be in front of a packed stadium this weekend. Continue reading “’12th-man experience’: No. 21 ASU set for showdown with No. 14 BYU as sold-out crowd awaits”

‘Cultural shift’ of young voters favored Donald Trump in 2024 election

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: Young Voter Swing. 710 words.
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Nash Darragh
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The outcome of the 2024 election has a familiar look to 2020. Then, the Democrats successfully got Joe Biden elected to the presidency, won the U.S. House and split the Senate. Now, a massive swing has led to what some are calling “the greatest comeback in political history.”

The Republicans have a trifecta for at least two years; Donald Trump won the presidency while Republicans won the Senate and officially claimed 218 House seats for a GOP majority.

Continue reading “‘Cultural shift’ of young voters favored Donald Trump in 2024 election”

Arizona receives mixed ratings on American Lung Association’s annual ‘State of Lung Cancer’ report

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: State of Lung Cancer. 465 words.
  • File photo available.

By Jalen Woody
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The American Lung Association (ALA) graded Arizona’s lung cancer response as mostly below average Tuesday. The association releases an annual report documenting the success or failure in each state’s response to lung cancer awareness.

“The No. 1 modality (for lung cancer) is going to be smoking,” said Dr. Richard Gillespie, a thoracic surgeon at HonorHealth Heart Care – Heart and Lung Surgery – Shea. “It’s No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, but it’s not the only risk.”

Continue reading “Arizona receives mixed ratings on American Lung Association’s annual ‘State of Lung Cancer’ report”

Breaking Barriers: Ability360 opens Phoenix Summit Challenge to all abilities

by Paola Boivin
  • Slug: Sports–Ability 360 Phoenix Summit, 850 words.
  • Photo available.

By Keller Brown
Cronkite News

TEMPE – On a slightly overcast Saturday at Papago Park, which is sandwiched between Tempe and Phoenix, a group of three hikers gathered to take on their second hike of the day, with two more trails still to follow.

The three hikers, accompanied by at least one guide per person at all times, were not ordinary hikers, and not just because they were willing to hike four trails in a day.

Two sat in wheelchairs, another recently suffered a partial loss of her vision. Continue reading “Breaking Barriers: Ability360 opens Phoenix Summit Challenge to all abilities”

Migrants headed north from the Darién Gap can walk or catch a bus

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Borderlands-Uvita. 2,340 words.
  • Photos, charts available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Carly Stoenner
Cronkite Borderlands Project

UVITA, Costa Rica — Yocelin Dayana Garcias Barrio and Gladys Yusberny Seijas Matute stand begging for money in front of a grocery store in this small tourist town on the Pacific coast in southern Costa Rica. They hold pieces of cardboard with messages written in black ink. The 90-degree tropical sun bears down on them, and perspiration mixed with highway exhaust soaks their clothes. They have been on the road for two months since leaving Colombia, which was their first stop after fleeing their home country of Venezuela.

“We are a Venezuelan family. We are migrants. Please help us if you can with work, food or a little money,” reads their makeshift sign. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Continue reading “Migrants headed north from the Darién Gap can walk or catch a bus”

COVID-19 winter surge expected to hit marginalized communities hardest, experts warn

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: COVID-19 California. 940 words.
  • File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES – As COVID-19 is expected to surge this winter, communities across the Southwest face rising hospitalizations and new, resilient variants. Infection rates can be even more severe for marginalized populations in these states.

Limited health-care access and historically low vaccination rates amplify the burden on these communities and underscore long-standing health disparities. Following a summer surge, this new wave serves as a stark reminder of how these inequities continue to put vulnerable groups at greater risk.

Continue reading “COVID-19 winter surge expected to hit marginalized communities hardest, experts warn”

‘Don’t get lost in the sauce’: No. 21 Arizona State preps for landmark game against No. 14 BYU

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–ASU Football Ascension. 740 words.
  • Photo available.

By Tucker L. Sennett
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The last time Arizona State football finished the season undefeated at home came in 2004. Kenny Dillingham, then a 14-year-old freshman in high school, reflected Monday on what he was likely up to 20 years ago.

“I was either watching games or probably playing Halo 2 with people in high school,” Dillingham said.

The Master Chief, the Halo franchise’s iconic main character, is known for making miracles happen on science-fiction battlefields. While the gridiron isn’t the same as a sci-fi war, what the Arizona State head coach has done with the program in his second year is nothing short of a miracle. Continue reading “‘Don’t get lost in the sauce’: No. 21 Arizona State preps for landmark game against No. 14 BYU”

‘It’s like family’: Phoenix Suns gear and connection bring joy to Kenyan superfan Hussein Siro

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–Kenyan Suns Fans. 740 words.
  • 3 photos available.

By Anne-Marie Iemmolo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Devoted Phoenix Suns fan Hussein Siro was overcome with emotion when his package – which had traveled over 9,000 miles from Phoenix to Nairobi, Kenya – finally arrived.

Inside the box were a Devin Booker jersey and some Suns graphic tee shirts.

Mike Joseph, a graphic designer from the Valley and creator of the @SunsUniTracker account on X, had connected with Siro earlier in the year and arranged to send the package to Kenya. Continue reading “‘It’s like family’: Phoenix Suns gear and connection bring joy to Kenyan superfan Hussein Siro”

CORRECTION to Nov. 15 story on federal subsidies for the TSMC semiconductor factories

by Julia Thompson

EDS: Clients who used the Cronkite News story slugged CHIPS Biden TSMC that moved Friday, Nov. 15, under a WASHINGTON dateline are asked to run the following correction. The error occurred in grafs 2 and 18 of the original. A corrected version of the story has been posted here.

WASHINGTON – A Nov. 15 Cronkite News story about federal subsidies for the TSMC semiconductor factories in Phoenix misspelled the name of Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

Biden locks in $6.6B for huge TSMC chip factories in Arizona, ensuring Trump can’t rescind CHIPS Act deal

by Adnan Alam

EDS: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. The error occurred in grafs 2 and 18 of the original. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

  • Slug: CHIPS Biden TSMC. 645 words.
  • Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Phineas Hogan
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has finalized a $6.6 billion award for the Taiwan semiconductor giant that is building massive factories in Phoenix, amid concerns President-elect Donald Trump will derail subsidies aimed at fostering the domestic chip industry.

“This is a gigantic announcement,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters on a call ahead of the announcement early Friday, 10 days after Trump’s election.

Continue reading “Biden locks in $6.6B for huge TSMC chip factories in Arizona, ensuring Trump can’t rescind CHIPS Act deal”

Where’s the beef? After administrative feud defined relationship, ASU, GCU finally settling rivalry on court

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–GCU ASU Fued. 1,200 words.
  • 2 photos available.

By Tucker L. Sennett
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The relationship between the Valley’s two Division I basketball powers is an odd one. On Thursday night at Footprint Center, the Grand Canyon and Arizona State men’s basketball teams faced off in the Hall of Fame Series in a battle for community supremacy.

GCU’s rise from athletic afterthought to March Madness darling suggests an ideal crosstown rival for ASU. However, a history of bad blood between the schools at an administrative level prevented the rivalry from ever truly blossoming on the court.

Grand Canyon’s for-profit status was a major point of contention for Arizona State president Michael Crow. The tension boiled over at two inflection points, with the most recent coming in a scathing exchange between Crow and GCU president and CEO Brian Mueller in 2017. Continue reading “Where’s the beef? After administrative feud defined relationship, ASU, GCU finally settling rivalry on court”

Strength coach for the mind: Diamondbacks’ mental performance guru brings ‘whole person’ into baseball

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–Diamondbacks Mental Health. 1,470 words.
  • 3 photos available.

By Grace Del Pizzo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Major League Baseball – with its 162-game season, plus spring training, plus postseason for a lucky few – is a uniquely grueling sport physically.

It is also a uniquely mental game. Much of it is played in solitude. Players can do all the preparation and coaching they want, but when they ultimately step up to the plate or take the mound, they do it alone.

When a sport is as all-encompassing as baseball, how do players stay locked in on the game without losing themselves in it?

Continue reading “Strength coach for the mind: Diamondbacks’ mental performance guru brings ‘whole person’ into baseball”

Molly Miller’s ‘GCU Basketball’ brand takes center stage in Hall of Fame Series showcase win over ASU

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–GCU WBB HOF Series. 741 words.
  • Photos available.

By Kendall Flynn
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – It may be early in the season, but GCU women’s basketball has proven that few opponents stand a chance against the Lopes’ 3-pointer specialists.

GCU knows its best shooters, finds them and feeds them from behind the arc. Even when a play breaks down, the Lopes can regroup and get the ball in their hands. In Thursday’s Hall of Fame Series Phoenix showcase against Arizona State, senior guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas was the top recipient.

After 11 turnovers in the first half of Thursday’s game against ASU (3-1), the Lopes cut it down to four in the second half and used sharp shooting and relentless defense to rally from a halftime deficit for a 70-59 win at Footprint Center.

For the Lopes (2-1), the victory at Footprint Center only gave them a bigger stage to show off what coach Molly Miller calls “GCU basketball.”

Continue reading “Molly Miller’s ‘GCU Basketball’ brand takes center stage in Hall of Fame Series showcase win over ASU”

‘We’ll be better’: GCU men’s basketball remains optimistic despite Hall of Fame Series loss in Tyon Grant-Foster’s return

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports–GCU MBB. 580 words.
  • Photo available.

By Kendall Flynn
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The tables have slightly turned for GCU basketball from a season ago, as the men’s team now struggles with early-season injuries and a lack of chemistry in pursuit of a return to the NCAA Tournament.

Lacking connectivity on the court Thursday against Arizona State (3-1) at the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix, the Lopes (2-1) fell short of closing out a series sweep on the doubleheader showcase, losing 87-76. The GCU women’s team beat ASU earlier in the evening, 70-59.

Reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster, who sat out the regular season’s first two games due to health reasons, debuted at Footprint Center with a team-high 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals but turned the ball over five times in a clear display of rust.

“I thought on defense in the first half, it was definitely a little rust from his end,” GCU coach Bryce Drew said postgame. “And I think that carried out through our team. There’s a little getting used to each other type again feeling.”

Continue reading “‘We’ll be better’: GCU men’s basketball remains optimistic despite Hall of Fame Series loss in Tyon Grant-Foster’s return”

Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone makes waves in Arizona Fall League debut

by Paola Boivin
  • Slug: Sports-Royal Caglianone Fall League, 1,900 words.
  • 2 photos available.

By Tyler Bednar
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Dennis Braun has been Plant High School’s baseball coach for 20 years, and he runs a tight ship when it comes to uniforms. Every player wears the same thing. For former Plant Panther and current MLB.com’s No. 17 prospect Jac Caglianone, the uniform wouldn’t fit. The team wears Nike baseball cleats, and the company doesn’t make cleats his size.

Located in Tampa, Florida, Plant High School is known for its plethora of players to make their mark at the highest level of baseball. There was a solution to Caglianone’s size.

“The shoe he wore in school was (Aaron) Judge’s,” Braun said. “Mychal Givens, a former big leaguer who played here, talked to Judge, and Judge gave a couple pairs of shoes to Jac every year, and that’s what he wore here.” Continue reading “Kansas City Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone makes waves in Arizona Fall League debut”

Chasing opportunity: For Arizona high school athletes, transfers offer new paths and new challenges

by Paola Boivin
  • Slug: Sports-Arizona High School Transfers, 1,110 words.
  • 2 photos available.

By Sebastian Mondaca Sepulveda
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Some high school athletes are chasing a trophy. Some might want to pad their statistics for college scouts, while others hope a change in scenery could help them land a lucrative NIL deal.

Then there are the athletes who, through no fault of their own, must switch high schools because of family dynamics or hardship.

No matter the reason, transfers between Arizona high school sports teams have become more of a trend throughout the years. And with athletes looking for better opportunities, these transfers continue to reshape and redefine the culture of the sport. Continue reading “Chasing opportunity: For Arizona high school athletes, transfers offer new paths and new challenges”

Tucson Roadrunners battle uncertainty, changes to keep professional hockey alive in Arizona

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Sports-Tucson Roadrunners , 1,545 words.
  • Photo available.

By Chase Beardsley
Cronkite News

TUCSON – The smell of doughnuts, the “meep meep” sound effect from the Looney Tunes’ Road Runner and mascot Dusty the Roadrunner hyping up fans – all are staples of the American Hockey League’s Tucson Roadrunners game day experience.

However, while this season’s home opener brought all of the hoopla, it still felt different. Last season ended in heartbreak as the Calgary Wranglers swept the Roadrunners in the opening round of the AHL playoffs. The Roadrunners were on the path to success though, as their regular season record was getting better season after season.

However, the future of the team in Tucson is uncertain and the reminders of its perilous status rang throughout the arena with a faint “let’s go Utah” chant. Continue reading “Tucson Roadrunners battle uncertainty, changes to keep professional hockey alive in Arizona”

So there’s a chance? Inside Arizona State’s unexpected road to a College Football Playoff berth

by Julia Thompson
  • Slug: Sports-ASU Football, 870 words.
  • Photo available.

By Patrick Holleron and Doyal D’angelo
Cronkite News

TEMPE – ASU football has opened a path to the College Football Playoff after last weekend’s 35-31 win over UCF. The Sun Devils enter the final stretch of the season against three Big 12 squads in No. 20 Kansas State, No. 7 BYU, and in-state rival Arizona.

All the optimism surrounding a potential playoff run wouldn’t have been possible based on ASU’s play in most of the first half of the UCF game, but the Sun Devils got timely team contributions that propelled them.

One of the key turning points came at the end of the first half when defensive back Laterrance Welch recorded a pick 6 to give the Sun Devils the lead for the first time. The Devils also got contributions from unsung heroes such as Montana Warren, who returned a blocked punt for a 46-yard touchdown in the first quarter, which was the first since 2017 against UCLA. Continue reading “So there’s a chance? Inside Arizona State’s unexpected road to a College Football Playoff berth”