• Slug: BC-CNS-Homelessness Spending. 800 words.
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By John Sanders
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Think tank Common Sense Institute Arizona released a research study earlier this year claiming that Arizona spends as much as $1.1 billion a year on homelessness-solution services. The organization found that in 2023, approximately 14,200 people were unhoused and the number of unhoused individuals has increased by 30% since 2020.

The research estimates that the 167 nonprofit organizations providing homeless services across the state employ 9,003 people and utilize another 42,053 volunteers – a workforce that rivals the state’s mining and logging industries in terms of annual work hours.

Continue reading “Think tank estimates Arizona spends $1.1 billion annually for homelessness solutions”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Homeless ID Fees. 875 words.
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By Sadie Buggle
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona advocates are working to help get identification documents for those experiencing homelessness, aiming to eliminate the barriers faced by people seeking to regain stability and self-sufficiency. One step in that process is fighting to waive the fee to get a state identification card.

Experts say not being able to easily obtain licenses is a factor that can make it nearly impossible for people to escape the cycle of homelessness. Without an ID, it can be difficult or impossible to gain employment, secure housing, apply for food stamps or access disability benefits.

Continue reading “Arizona advocates aim to break cycle of homelessness through ID accessibility”

• Slug: BC-CNS-RIP Medial Debt. 980 words.
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By Jack Orleans
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — On March 4, the governor’s office announced that Arizona is partnering with RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to clearing Americans’ medical debt, to cancel the debt of up to 1 million Arizonans.

In making the announcement, Gov. Katie Hobbs said the program will help working Arizonans who have incurred debt from cancer treatments, life-saving surgery and accidents “through no fault of their own.”

Continue reading “Governor’s office partners with RIP Medical Debt to forgive billions in medical debt for some Arizonans”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Animal Cruelty Bill. 890 words.
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By Sadie Buggle
Cronkite News

CHANDLER – Advocates are pushing for a bill to bolster Arizona’s animal cruelty laws following a surge in reported cases and a high-profile incident in which 55 maltreated dogs were removed last year from a Chandler residence.

Introduced by Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, and championed by the Arizona Humane Society, SB 1047 states that a person commits animal cruelty by “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly failing to provide the medical attention necessary to prevent unreasonable suffering to any domestic animal under the person’s custody or control.”

The bill, which passed the Arizona Senate with bipartisan support and is working its way through the House, also defines “cruel neglect” as failing to provide an animal with necessary and adequate food, water and shelter.

Continue reading “Arizona Legislature considers tougher animal cruelty laws after spike in cases”

• Slug: BC-CSN-Dog Field Trips. 840 words.
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• Video available.

By Crystal Aguilar
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Dogs waiting to be adopted from the Arizona Humane Society can be taken out of the facilities for a couple of hours prior to the shelter opening. A volunteer comes into the shelter and signs up to take a dog out on a field trip in an attempt to raise its chances of being adopted.

“A program like a doggy field trip is so amazing and important because it gives them some time outside of a kennel,” said Joe Casados, public relations and social media manager at the Arizona Humane Society. “It also just gets them outside in the community that someone who might be thinking of getting a dog but maybe hasn’t come into the Humane Society has now been introduced to this cute dog on a walk and that’s going to get them interested maybe in that dog particularly or just to come in and check out the Arizona Humane Society and see what other dogs we have available.”

Continue reading “Arizona Humane Society introduces dog field trips to broaden dogs’ exposure, increase adoptions”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Final Four Security. 750 words.
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• Video available.

By Analisa Valdez
Cronkite News

GLENDALE – Are you ready for the Final Four games? The city of Glendale is.

March Madness will come to an exhilarating conclusion in the Valley this weekend when men’s basketball teams from North Carolina State, Purdue University, University of Alabama and University of Connecticut face off for the NCAA championship.

During the first round of the basketball bracket, almost 260,000 fans attended the games in cities and college towns across the country. In preparation for the Final Four games scheduled for State Farm Stadium, state, local and federal officials have put in place security procedures and protocols for the influx of traffic and travel expected for the big game.

Continue reading “Here’s how Arizona officials are preparing for expected influx of NCAA men’s Final Four visitors”

• Slug: HC-Lethal Restraint-Roy Scott. 2,840 words.
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By Brooke Manning, Isza Amponin Zerrudo, Sam Ellefson and Arlyssa Becenti
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

LAS VEGAS – On a chilly morning in 2019, just after 3 a.m., Roy Anthony Scott called 911 to report that a group of people – one armed with a saw – was trying to break into his apartment.

This wasn’t the first time a dispatcher had sent emergency responders to Scott’s home in Sunset Gardens, a senior living complex in Las Vegas. Seven other 911 calls had been placed from his apartment over the previous year, logs from Las Vegas Fire & Rescue show, including one just hours before the call about the attempted break-in.

Continue reading “‘My dad, he needed help’: Woman says her dead father deserved more from Nevada police”

• Slug: HC-Lethal Restraint-Nevada. 3,495 words.
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By Taylor Stevens and Katie Donnelly
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

LAS VEGAS – Richard Ybanez always saw himself as his little brother’s protector.

Growing up as latchkey kids on Guam, a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific, he and Glenn spent their childhood mostly outdoors, tinkering with their bicycles and riding their skateboards. If anyone tried to pick on his brother, Richard had his back.

But Richard wasn’t there the morning a Las Vegas police officer pulled over Glenn Ybanez and his girlfriend after she allegedly failed to signal before switching lanes. Glenn, a former Army combat medic, who struggled after his return from Iraq, had two outstanding drug warrants. He tried to run from the traffic stop, according to the police report, but an officer tackled him before three onlookers piled on. Paramedics transported the unresponsive Glenn to the hospital, where he was found to have a small brain bleed and abrasions covering his body, the report said.

Continue reading “How non-shooting deaths involving police slip through the cracks in Las Vegas”

• Slug: HC-Lethal Restraint-Meth. 1,060 words.
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By Brooke Manning
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

Roy Anthony Scott’s death is not an anomaly.

An analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism in collaboration with The Associated Press identified 11 other deaths after non-shooting police encounters in Nevada from 2012 through 2021. Like Scott, who died in 2019 after an encounter with Las Vegas police, four of the dead had a combination of histories of mental illness and meth in their systems at the time of their deaths.

Continue reading “Mental health problems and meth common in deaths in non-shooting police encounters in Nevada”

• Slug: HC-Lethal Restraint-CA Transparency. 1,860 words.
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By Tyler Dedrick
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

PHOENIX – Despite new laws intended to “pierce the secrecy” protecting California police officers, law enforcement agencies have thwarted those who seek information on cases of misconduct – in some instances battling requesters in court.

And some basic personnel records – including complaints and disciplinary action against officers – are still hidden from the public, accessible only when a California judge grants access to them.

California, considered one of the most progressive states in the nation, had at least 198 non-shooting deaths from 2012 through 2021 after police used force that isn’t supposed to be deadly — the most documented in any state in the nation, an investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, in conjunction with The Associated Press, found. The investigation identified 1,036 deaths across the country during that time frame, though suppression of information means the numbers are likely an undercount.

Continue reading “California law enforcement agencies have hindered transparency efforts in use-of-force cases”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Fillmore Bike Lanes. 545 words.
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By Vanessa Pimentel
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Downtown Phoenix is growing rapidly as more people are moving to the developing center of the city.

Concerns have been raised regarding walkable sidewalks, accessible bike lanes and connectivity that contribute to safety. The Phoenix Street Transportation Department is exploring modifications for Fillmore Street downtown for those riding bicycles or other active modes of transportation.

The department conducted an online survey, which closed on March 3, as part of a feasibility study and pre-design phase. The Fillmore Street project could add bike lanes or a two-way protected bikeway on Fillmore from Seventh to Central avenues.

Continue reading “Downtown Phoenix community speaks out for safer bike lanes along Fillmore Street”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Dreamscape Learn. 765 words.
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• Video available.

By Lauren Kobley
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Have you ever been inside of a cancer cell? Or 30 meters below the ocean’s surface? Elementary students at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest Elementary & Middle School have (virtually).

The school is the first in the U.S. to offer the innovative learning experience that immerses K-12 students in places and topics they study, through a partnership with Arizona State University and Dreamscape Learn, which says it’s “a transformational education experience born from a groundbreaking entertainment platform.” ASU offers a similar Dreamscape Learn program for college students.
Continue reading “Dreamscape Learn provides virtual learning experiences for ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest students”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Menthol Cigarette Marketing. 900 words.
• Photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brooke Rindenau
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Arizona and across the U.S. Federal and state officials are now targeting flavored tobacco products, particularly menthol, for having made the problem worse.

The American Lung Association recently joined Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and attorneys general from other states urging the Biden administration to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

Continue reading “Menthol cigarettes, heavily marketed to African American communities for years, face possible state and federal bans”

• Slug: BC-CNS-South Mountain Farmers. 1,050 words.
• Photos available.

By Analisa Valdez
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Older Phoenix residents might recall memories of driving along Baseline Road in the late 1960s and the mile-long stretches of vibrant flower fields that once flourished at the base of South Mountain.

The Japanese Americans who immigrated to the area in the early 1900s started farms that quickly grew into iconic agricultural staples in the South Phoenix area. According to Kathryn Nakagawa, daughter of the original Nakagawa flower field owner, seven main Japanese American families were the driving force behind the booming, blooming businesses on Baseline. They persisted even after the families faced incarceration in internment camps during World War II, until slowly selling their farmlands off in the early 2000s.

Despite the era of the Japanese flower farms having come to an end – the hundreds of acres of floral fields having now been replaced by blocks of housing and urban development – the environment at the base of South Mountain continues to offer plentiful opportunities for the next generation of farmers.

Continue reading “Where flower fields historically grew, the next generation of farmers cultivates south Phoenix”

• Slug: BC-CNS-ACA Anniversary. 460 words.
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• Video, graphic available.

By Vanessa Pimentel
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On Tuesday morning, health care advocates and others gathered at the Valle del Sol Community Health Center in central Phoenix to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act is a comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010 and is sometimes known as ACA or “Obamacare.” During the 2024 open enrollment period, a record 21.3 million people across the country selected an ACA Health Insurance Marketplace plan. The number of Arizonans covered by the ACA rose more than 110,000 during the year, to 348,055, also a record.

Despite its increasing adoption, the ACA continues to be a controversial topic in the political arena.

Continue reading “Affordable Care Act celebrates 14th anniversary following jump in enrollment, continuing political discord”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Smokus Pocus. 565 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Donovan Growney
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With the benefits of cannabis legalization still being debated throughout the country, one traveling magician is trying to destigmatize its use.

Ben Zabin brought his “Smokus Pocus” show to Phoenix earlier this month as part of his nationwide tour.

Zabin described the show as projecting a laid back and humorous atmosphere that includes “pretty crazy stuff” with bongs, lighters and jars of weed. Though recreational cannabis was legalized in Arizona in 2020, Zabin said that his show helps to destigmatize the use of cannabis and empower cannabis users nationwide.

Continue reading “‘Smokus Pocus’ cannabis-themed magic show aims to destigmatize marijuana use”