• Slug: Walz in Arizona. 920 words. By Doyal D’angelo
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Doyal D’angelo
Cronkite News

MESA – Vowing to prioritize reproductive rights and help fix the “epidemic” of mass shootings in the United States, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rode a wave of energy at the Mesa Convention Center Tuesday during a campaign stop that preceded Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate with former President Donald Trump.

“No matter what he says, he will ban abortion,” Walz said. “He may try and change from hour to hour, but guess what, women don’t trust him.”

Continue reading “Tim Walz challenges Donald Trump’s stance on reproductive rights, mass shootings during Mesa campaign stop”

• Slug: Arizona Senate Critical. 420 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Phineas Hogan
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Democrats can’t keep control of the U.S. Senate unless Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego defeats Republican hopeful Kari Lake.

That’s the assessment of the party’s chief Senate strategist, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

“We don’t hold the majority if we lose Arizona,” he told Cronkite News during a roundtable with a small group of regional reporters at the offices of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which he chairs. “It’s essential.”

Continue reading “Arizona is ‘essential’ in battle for U.S. Senate, says Democratic campaign chair as Ruben Gallego maintains lead over Kari Lake”

• Slug: Wildfire Governors. 800 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and 19 other Western governors are prodding Congress to move more urgently to address a wildfire crisis that has grown worse in recent years.

In Arizona last year, 1,837 fires burned 188,483 acres, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. This year’s total is already worse: 1,704 fires on 252,929 acres, officials said, and the wildfire season isn’t over.

Continue reading “Governors prod Congress for more help on growing threat of wildfires in West”

• Slug: Trafficking Visa Update. 1,000 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A major update to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) T visa application regulations, meant for survivors of human trafficking, went into effect late last month. Those who work in the field of human trafficking say they are already seeing positive effects, yet experts believe that some parts of the rule change complicate the process.

T visas, which may be available for survivors and victims of human trafficking who meet certain conditions, offer a pathway to citizenship. Those eligible must have experienced a “severe form of trafficking in persons” as defined by federal law, which includes sex trafficking and labor trafficking.

After three years with the T visa, survivors and victims are able to establish permanent residency, and the T nonimmigrant status is generally granted for four years.

Continue reading “T visa rule changes could help survivors of human trafficking seeking immigration status”

• Slug: Mixed-Status Families. 955 words.
• File photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Fear for his undocumented parents haunted Mario Montoya throughout his childhood in Mesa. Sometimes it turned to outright terror, like the time his mom got into a car crash.

“One of my first thoughts was … what if the police asked for her immigration status?” said Montoya, 26, who now studies law in Seattle. “What if I don’t see her again?”

Continue reading “Half-million mixed-status families in Arizona will face vastly different realities under Trump or Harris immigration policies”

EDS: All elements are available for download here. 

• Slug: News21-Fractured-Fighting Disinformation. 1,956 words. Note: An abridged version of 1,020 words is also available.
• With audio story and 10 photos.

By Eliana Alzate
News21

Note: Story has a strong focus on Hispanic communities.

AUSTIN, Texas – Disinformation has surged in the U.S. and beyond and become an especially powerful threat during election years. Experts say immigrant communities and people of color are particular targets, as bad actors exploit political fears and ideologies and find these voters where they congregate – on messaging apps such as WeChat and WhatsApp.

EDS: All elements are available for download here. 

• Slug: News21-Fractured-Rebuilding Trust. 2,712 words. Note: An abridged version of 1,028 words is also available.
• With 9 photos.

By Romie Avivi Stuhl
News21

Note: This story has strong Arizona ties.

WOODRUFF, Wis. – For two and a half hours on a rainy Thursday evening, Kathy Bernier did what she’s spent the past year doing: trying to restore faith in America’s electoral systems – and, along with it, faith in democracy. It was all part of her work as Wisconsin state director of Keep Our Republic, one of several initiatives nationwide working to rebuild public trust in elections. The initiatives range from cross-partisan groups working in the battleground states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin to off-the-record meetings of conservatives in Republican strongholds such as Utah, Indiana and Texas. Don Henninger, the Republican co-lead of another Carter Center network, the Arizona Democracy Resilience Network, puts it this way: “It’s not an aisle anymore. It’s a canyon.”

• Slug: Apache Trout Delisted. 635 words.
• Photos available.

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland declared Wednesday that Arizona’s state fish, the Apache trout, will be removed from the endangered species list – a conservation success story decades in the making.

“After more than 50 years of devoted efforts among federal, state, tribal and nongovernmental organizations, the incredible recovery of the Apache trout reminds us of the transformational power that collaborative conservation efforts – grounded in Indigenous knowledge – can have on fish and wildlife,” Haaland said at an announcement event in Mesa.

Continue reading “Apache trout, Arizona’s state fish, dropped from endangered species list after 50-year comeback”

• Slug: Migrant Belongings Rules. 445 words.
• File photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection has directed agents to stop discarding migrants’ personal belongings, after a scathing report detailing how medicine, clothes, cell phones, cash and identity documents have been taken by authorities at holding facilities and never returned.

The new rules classify legal documents, contact information and religious items as “essential personal property” that cannot be stripped from migrants. Phones, cash, medical documents and items of sentimental value must be stored, with migrants given written instructions on how to retrieve their belongings.

Continue reading “After scathing GAO report, Border Patrol agents ordered to stop tossing out migrants’ belongings”

• Slug: DNC Wrap-up. 775 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Arizona delegates left the Democratic National Convention electrified and eager to help Vice President Kamala Harris win the presidency.

“We are returning to Arizona with a lot of energy, excitement and enthusiasm,” said Yolanda Bejarano, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. “Our country is on the line, our democracy is on the line and our rights are on the line.”

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats excited as Kamala Harris accepts presidential nomination, vow to help her win battleground state”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Immigration Harris. 850 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).
• Video coming.

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – When President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Democrats offered a sharp contrast with incumbent Donald Trump’s strict border policies and harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“Not only do immigrants support us – immigrants are us,” the party’s platform said.

Continue reading “Vulnerable on border security, Democrats adopt some GOP rhetoric even as Harris slams Trump’s approach”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Abortion Rights. 675 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Democrats in Arizona view the fight over reproductive rights as a key to victory in November. The strategy is front and center at the Democratic National Convention too.

One hard-to-miss symbol is the 20-foot inflatable IUD outside the United Center, where thousands of delegates are gathering this week to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This issue is going to help us from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket,” said state Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, one of the state party’s delegates in Chicago. “I’m talking not only about the presidential race and our local legislative races, but also when it comes to judges and to other local elections, to city councils.”

Continue reading “‘I don’t want to be in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’’: Abortion access drives Arizona delegates to get out the vote”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Glass Ceiling. 765 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

CHICAGO – Arizona Democrats are feeling good about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of achieving what Hillary Clinton could not: making history as the first female president.

“She can break the glass ceiling,” said Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder and one of the state’s 91 delegates at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago. “She has the support of Arizona women, men, and nonbinary. She has a lot of support everywhere.”

Clinton, the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state, lost the 2016 race to Republican Donald Trump – dashing Democrats’ hopes of ending the all-male presidential winning streak that began with George Washington in 1789.

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats pin hopes on Kamala Harris to break the glass ceiling Hillary Clinton cracked”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DNC Day 1 Mood. 530 words. By Phineas Hogan.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

CHICAGO – After months of anxiety over the presidential contest, Arizona Democrats basked in a far more optimistic vibe as the party’s national convention opened Monday.

“Excited, invigorated and happy,” was how delegate Llama Habern of Cornville described the mood – now that Vice President Kamala Harris is atop the ticket, reversing a downward spiral before President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.

“How excited everyone is in general is very motivating, very encouraging,” Habern said.

Continue reading “Arizona Democrats ‘excited, invigorated and happy’ as national convention kicks off four-day Chicago rally for Harris-Walz ticket”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Arizona Canada Trade. 500 words. By Regan Gallo.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).
• Video available.

By Regan Gallo
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona attracts tourists and foodies, major sports events and big business. The money comes from all over the world, but one major investor is the neighbor in the north: Canada.

Total trade between Arizona and Canada topped $5.3 billion in 2023. Arizona Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, who serves as the chair of the House International Trade Committee, has been an advocate for increasing trade with Canada.

“Where else can you take this large amount of money? Because you’re limited for investments in your own country of Canada – then what better place, what safer place to invest your people’s money than the state of Arizona,” Cook said.

Continue reading “Arizona and Canada strengthen ties through new Phoenix trade office”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Muscular Dystrophy Therapy. 2,190 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lauren De Young
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Jace Taylor is a rambunctious 4-year-old boy. He runs, jumps and plays with his friends. He isn’t aware that genetically, he’s different from other children.

“I think he’s too young to comprehend what’s going on,” said Brittany Taylor, Jace’s mother. “We let him … do his little boy thing.”

Last year, Jace was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare and fatal genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and deterioration. But, in some ways, he’s lucky.

Continue reading “Gene therapy provides hope for those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – but not without concerns”