• Slug: NAGPRA-ASU. 4,350 words.
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By Sam Ellefson and Aspen Ford
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

PHOENIX – Thirty-four years ago, Congress granted Native American tribes a pathway to reclaim ancestors that were dug up, stored and sometimes displayed in museums. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) required American institutions to return them.

The road to repatriation has been long at Arizona State University. The university has made under 2% of its Indigenous human remains available to Native American tribes, among the lowest rates in the nation, according to an investigation by Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU.

Continue reading “Misplaced artifacts, inaccurate inventories and 2% of Native American remains returned to tribes: Inside ASU’s repatriation record”

• Slug: NAGPRA-UArizona. 2,850 words.
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By Reagan Priest and Christopher Lomahquahu
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

TUCSON – In early February, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, took to the Senate floor to lambast 70 universities and museums for failing to return tens of thousands of Indigenous human remains and artifacts to the Native American tribes from which they were taken.

Schatz called the institutions the foremost offenders of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA, and accused them of having “done everything in their power to obstruct and obfuscate when confronted about their collections.”

One of the institutions Schatz singled out was the University of Arizona.

Continue reading “Low staffing, space crunch hobble state museum’s Native American repatriation work at UArizona”

• Slug: NAGPRA-How We Did It. 310 words.
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By Staff
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

PHOENIX – Reporters for Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University examined the repatriation records of Arizona’s three flagship public universities and wrote stories about the two with the largest collections of unrepatriated Native American human remains and artifacts: the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Northern Arizona University, with a collection of fewer than 10 human remains, made its entire holdings available for repatriation to the Hopi Tribe in 2022 and did not figure prominently in the investigation.

Continue reading “How Cronkite News and the Howard Center reported on NAGPRA”

• Slug: NAGPRA-First Person. 1,030 words.
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By Chad Bradley, Aspen Ford and Christopher Lomahquahu
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

PHOENIX – In January, eight reporters set out to report stories about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA for short, as part of the course work for a master’s degree in investigative reporting at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

All early career journalists, they came from different states and different family backgrounds. Yet they all shared a keen desire to spotlight an important national issue and give readers and viewers information they didn’t have.

Continue reading “Community, healing and justice: Indigenous journalists share what reporting on repatriation meant to them”

• Slug: NAGPRA-Explainer. 335 words.
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By Staff
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

PHOENIX – The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 outlines a process by which tribes can reclaim ancestors and artifacts that were taken from their ancestral homelands.

The law’s major stakeholders include the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes and villages, federally funded archeological institutions and museums, and federal agencies.

Continue reading “What is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990?”

EDS: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect quotation in the 55th graf. It has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Cannabis Social Equity. 2,160 words.
• Photos available.

By Analisa Valdez
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – It might feel like there’s a dispensary on nearly every other corner. Billboards that tout marijuana products such as carts and eighths and promote specials such as “dope deals” or “BOGO” sales line Arizona freeways.

Consumers might have trouble distinguishing between the stores and the products they sell, but one major difference sets apart Cookies dispensary in Tempe.

Continue reading “Social equity: Critics say Arizona’s cannabis program did ‘exact opposite’ of what voters intended”

• Slug: BC-CNS-SCOTUS Death Row, 715 words.
• 1 photo available (thumbnail, captions below).

By Sahara Sajjadi
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling ordering a new sentencing hearing for an Arizona death row inmate who strangled a 7-year-old and beat her father to death with a bat in 1992.

Lawyers for Danny Lee Jones, convicted in 1993 of the brutal murders in Bullhead City, argued that his death sentence was unfair because his lawyer failed to introduce evidence of his own childhood trauma and brain injuries – mitigating factors that might have led to a lesser sentence.

The state’s highest court had rejected that argument. But a federal appeals court agreed that Jones did not have effective counsel as guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment.

Continue reading “Supreme Court dashes Arizona death row inmate’s hope to avoid death penalty in 1992 double murder”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sedona Homeless Parking. 850 words.
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• Video available.

By Huston Dunston Jr.
Cronkite News

SEDONA – Sedona has been looking for solutions to its homelessness problem and city leaders think the Safe Place to Park Program could be a step in the right direction, but residents against the program have stalled the measure by pushing to take the issue to a public vote in November.

The program is meant for people who work in Sedona but can’t find affordable housing there and are living out of their vehicles. The proposed program would provide legal overnight parking, some amenities and help finding housing. To be eligible for the program, participants would have to prove employment in the city and have a registered and insured vehicle.

Continue reading “Sedona parking lot program to ease homelessness on hold until November election”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Honey Allergies. 840 words.
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By Naomi DuBovis
Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – Allergy season is here, and some sufferers consume local honey to alleviate their symptoms. But the jury is still out as to whether it’s a good strategy.

When it comes to eating honey for allergies, the evidence that it works is largely anecdotal, but beekeepers and experts agree that local honey is both tastier and healthier than honey at the supermarket.

Arizona Honey Market is a vendor that sells local honey online and at farmers markets. One type of honey it sells is its Allergy Mix, which is made specifically to be a remedy.

Continue reading “Experts, beekeepers weigh in on local honey for seasonal allergies”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Child Literacy. 600 words.
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By John Sanders
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Child literacy is at the forefront for many Arizona educators, as English Language Arts and reading comprehension prepare students for adulthood and future careers.

However, recent research suggests that third grade students struggle with reading comprehension. According to the Center for the Future of Arizona’s education progress meter, which collects and analyzes data from the Arizona Department of Education, just 41% of Arizona third graders scored “proficient” or “highly proficient” across state assessment tests in 2023. That was 5 percentage points lower than pre-COVID-19 numbers and far short of the goal of 72% of third graders getting a passing grade in reading by 2030 that Arizona school districts are aiming for.

Continue reading “Read On Arizona and partners provide youth reading education to support fight pandemic literacy loss”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Front-row Seat,730 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Reagan Priest
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – They can be seen sitting quietly on the sidelines of legislative committee hearings in their blazers, striped ties and khakis, or bustling around the House or Senate floor delivering papers to lawmakers.

These college students are the Legislature’s pages, quiet but essential workers that one lawmaker compared to “the oil in a machine that keeps things running.”

Pages are college students hired by the Legislature to assist lawmakers and staff in running day-to-day operations. Besides working in committees and on the floor, that can include anything from answering constituent phone calls to setting up hearing rooms and giving information to visitors. Continue reading “‘No dull days’: Pages get front-row seats, help keep the Capitol running”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Cochlear Implants. 830 words.
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By Brooke Rindenau
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Cochlear implants have been available in the U.S. since 1961. However, the deaf community is divided over whether getting a cochlear implant undermines deaf identity and culture.

A cochlear implant is a small electronic hearing device, with one part surgically implanted into the bone surrounding the ear and one part placed on the ear like a hearing aid. It allows people who are deaf or very hard of hearing to receive and process sounds and speech; it does not, however, restore normal hearing.

Continue reading “Deaf community is divided over how cochlear implants affect deaf identity and culture”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Engandered Species Scientist. 375 words.
• 6 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mariah Temprendola
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Tara Harris’ fascination with science began in childhood, eventually forming into her passion for conserving native species. Harris believes animals play vital roles in the environment, yet recognizes some are overlooked.

“I really found a passion for them and wanted to work with our partners to help save them,” Harris said. “I feel like I can make a tangible difference for them right here at home.”

Continue reading “‘A tangible difference’: Phoenix Zoo scientists work to save native species”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sage Memorial Hospital Sidebar. 230 words.
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By Mia Milinovich
Cronkite News

GANADO – Sage Memorial Hospital is tackling access to health care beyond its main facility in Ganado, with two mobile units that provide a range of outpatient services, including diabetes mellitus screenings and education, rapid HIV and syphilis tests, screenings and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, adult immunizations, harm reduction services, walk-in services and more.

Kathryn Barron, nurse practitioner and director of outpatient services and community health at Sage Memorial, said officials there are developing the mobile units to provide comprehensive care.

Continue reading “Mobile units and nutrition assistance extend Sage Memorial’s reach”