• Slug: BC-CNS-Congress Baseball. 690 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Amaia J. Gavica
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats took the field at Nationals Park with plenty of competitive drive at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, and with one unifying desire: don’t pull a hamstring.

Injuries were mostly kept to a minimum, except for egos left badly bruised on the Democratic side at the end of a 31-11 blowout Wednesday night interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters and climate activists.

The team in red, which included Tucson Republican Juan Ciscomani, enjoyed late-inning rallies fueled by so-so pitching and fielding by the Democrats in blue.

Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix delivered a few solid defensive plays as the Democrats’ third baseman.

Continue reading “20-run win for Republicans in Congressional Baseball Game with Arizona lawmakers in supporting roles”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DOJ Phoenix Police. 1,140 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a report Thursday accusing the Phoenix Police Department of routinely using excessive force, including deadly force; violating the rights of lawful protesters; and targeting people of color.

The report comes after a nearly three-year investigation, which was initiated after a series of incidents raised questions about police conduct in Phoenix.

“Our findings today reveal very significant and severe violations of federal law and the Constitution,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, announcing the findings.
Continue reading “DOJ report says Phoenix Police used excessive force; agency calls out discrimination, ‘longstanding dysfunction’”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Young Farmers. 655 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Amaia J. Gavica
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The average American farmer was 58 years old the last time the U.S. Department of Agriculture checked.

As food producers age, the number of farms is shrinking. For younger growers, land to get started on is increasingly scarce. Many gravitate toward organic and sustainable farming, where competition and costs are also obstacles.

There were just over 1.9 million farms nationwide in 2022, according to the USDA’s 2022 census – down 315,000 over the last quarter-century and by 141,733, or 7%, in just the last five years.

Continue reading “As farmers age and the number of farms shrinks, new growers struggle to get started in the agriculture industry”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Indian Citizenship Turns 100. 1,695 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – June 2 marked one century since then-President Calvin Coolidge signed a law granting American citizenship to Native Americans.

Women had secured the right to vote four years earlier under the 19th Amendment. For the nation’s 250,000 or so Native Americans, the Indian Citizenship Law promised acceptance, economic opportunity and legal protections.

But it was not intended to ensure voting rights.

That remained the purview of states, and many threw up obstacles for decades. Arizona, in particular, used literacy tests and other tools to quash voting rights of Americans who also happened to be Native American.

Continue reading “Congress gave citizenship to Native Americans a century ago, but voting rights would come decades later”

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

• Slug: BC-CNS-Contraceptives Senate. 920 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would ensure access to birth control nationwide as reproductive rights dominate the upcoming Arizona elections.

The 51-39 vote fell short of the 60 needed to proceed. Democrats had expected the effort to fail but were eager to score political points.

The bill would have codified access to contraception, regardless of any state-level restrictions, though no states are moving in that direction. Republicans called the legislation unnecessary.

Continue reading “Senate Republicans block right-to-contraception bill backed by Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona”

• Slug: BC-CNS-HCR 2060 Lawsuit. 650 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lauren De Young
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In the wake of the passage of HCR 2060, Living United for Change in Arizona filed a lawsuit against the state Wednesday aiming to strike it from the ballot in November.

The lawsuit claims that House Concurrent Resolution 2060, known as the Secure the Border Act, violated the single-subject rule, which states that the measures within a bill must be united under one subject.

“This is not some mere technicality. This rule ensures that acts of the Legislature do not result in surprise from unrelated propositions that are under the same act in order to attract majority support for what would otherwise be unpopular measures,” said Jim Barton, an attorney for LUCHA.

Continue reading “LUCHA files lawsuit, vows to fight controversial HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Border Biden. 830 words. By Benjamin Adelberg.
• Photo available (thumbnails, captions below).

WASHINGTON – Some Arizona Democrats praised President Joe Biden’s order Tuesday closing the border to asylum-seekers, embracing his remarkable shift toward a Donald Trump-era policy despite long-held qualms.

“I think President Biden really does want to find a solution to fix this problem,” said Manuel Ruiz, chairman of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, who stood with Biden at the White House as the president announced the new policy. “Immigration has been an issue that everybody has kicked down the road since, God rest his soul, Sen. (John) McCain and Ted Kennedy.”

Continue reading “Biden order shutting the border to migrants seeking asylum draws mixed reviews in Arizona”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Lowrider Culture. 1,400 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By David Ulloa Jr.
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On the second Saturday each month in the spring, the narrow two-lane road between First and Second Streets in downtown Phoenix is filled with striking lowriders, their glossy steel frames gleaming under the sun. A nearby DJ spins a mix of soulful blues and funky 80s beats as crowds gather to marvel at the classic cars that are visually stunning and tell stories of a bygone era.

Steven Alvarez, who is in charge of public and community relations for the Pachuco Arizona Car Club and the host of the web series Arizona Bomb Stories, emphasizes that these meticulously customized cars that drive low to the ground are not just vehicles. Alvarez said lowriders are living, breathing symbols of the rich cultural history of the Mexican and Mexican American communities. Continue reading “Blood, sweat and stories: Preserving culture and history through lowriding”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Trump Phoenix. 700 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump will stump Thursday in Phoenix, his first public campaign event since a New York jury convicted him on 34 felony counts.

Arizona has been at the center of Trump’s debunked stolen election claims. He lost the state narrowly. Attorney General Kris Mayes has brought charges against 11 Arizona Republicans and seven Trump aides and advisors, accusing them of conspiracy to overturn the result.

Continue reading “Donald Trump will campaign in Phoenix on Thursday after felony convictions in hush money case”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Fauci Arizona. 770 words.
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By Grey Gartin
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Dr. Anthony Fauci faced tough questions from Republicans at a House hearing Monday on the origins of COVID-19 and the federal public health response.

GOP lawmakers have tried without success to show wrongdoing by Fauci, who led the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Donald Trump. Many pressed him to agree that the “lab-leak theory” – that COVID-19 did not evolve naturally – is no conspiracy theory.
Continue reading “Debbie Lesko presses Fauci on gain of function, alleged suppression of lab-leak COVID-19 theory”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Noncitizen Voting. 1,440 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – For over 20 years, Arizona has banned noncitizen voting in local elections. Now as Rep. Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake tussle in the state’s U.S. Senate race, the issue is rising to the forefront.

Just last year, Gallego defended the District of Columbia’s policy allowing noncitizens to cast ballots in municipal elections.

But as the heat of an election year rises to a boil and hard-line Republicans stoke fears of illegal immigration and fraudulent elections, the issue has proved too toxic for Gallego as he seeks to broaden his appeal beyond his progressive base.

When the issue came up again in late May, Gallego sided with Republicans in an effort to overturn the D.C. law.

Continue reading “Ruben Gallego faces election year pressures in vote against noncitizen voting in D.C., but it’s not unusual in local elections”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Migrants’ Missing Stuff. 1,120 words.
• Photos available.

By Benjamin Adelberg
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – A child’s only change of clothes. Birth certificates and crucial contact information to reach family friends or distant relatives. Even wads of cash.

All have been lost at migrant detention facilities along the southern border, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office that affirms long-standing allegations by migrant advocates.

By the time migrants’ formal complaints to Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol or other agencies are investigated, the GAO found, their belongings have often been discarded.

Continue reading “Government report confirms that border agencies lose migrant belongings”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Felon Food Stamps. 550 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Amaia Gavica
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON — In a rare instance of bipartisan consensus, Congress is moving toward ending a ban on felons with drug-related convictions receiving food stamps –a 28-year-old policy seen by ex-offenders and their advocates as an obstacle to reentering society.

The reversal is part of a massive farm bill approved by the Republican-controlled House Agriculture Committee on May 24. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, is also expected to end the ban in its version of the bill, which Congress updates every 5 years.

Continue reading “In rare bipartisan agreement, House and Senate push to lift ban on felons with drug-related convictions receiving SNAP benefits”

• Slug: BC-CNS-FAFSA AZ. 1,440 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Grey Gartin and Keetra Bippus
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Defects with the federal application for financial aid have left thousands of Arizona students still unsure if they can afford college – or at least, how much they’ll have to pay – with less than three months to go before classes start.

The uncertainty is far more widespread in Arizona than in most states. As of May 17, only about 28% of graduating high school students in the state had completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – far below the 42% national rate, and well off last year’s pace, according to a tracker from the National College Attainment Network. At this point a year ago, just over half the class of 2023 nationwide had completed the FAFSA form.

Continue reading “Thousands of college-bound Arizona students still in financial aid ‘limbo’ in wake of FAFSA snafus”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Build to Rent. 965 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Vanessa Pimentel
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – High mortgage interest rates are pushing prospective homebuyers to consider build-to-rent communities instead.

Build-to-rent (BTR) communities with single-family home rentals fill the space between traditional rental properties and housing developments. They are constructed with the renter, not the buyer, in mind, and the target market includes young individuals and those who want a more home-like feel as opposed to an apartment lifestyle.

Rising interest rates are making it difficult for individuals to purchase homes. The Maricopa Association of Governments’ June 2023 housing update identified 256,000 households in the Phoenix metropolitan statistical area as “severely cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 50% of their income on housing.

Continue reading “Build-to-rent communities surge in Phoenix amid high home interest rates”