EDS: An earlier version of this contained errors in the 3rd and 5th grafs. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Live Nation Lawsuit. 620 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Alexander MacDonald
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona concertgoers, long annoyed at the so-called “Ticketmaster tax,” saw a glimmer of relief after the state and the U.S. Department of Justice accused the companies that have access to the nation’s top venues of monopoly practices and pricing.

“I hate them. The fees are absolutely ridiculous,” said Khambrel Speer, a hairstylist from Chandler who goes through Ticketmaster to watch the Rattlers play indoor football at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

Continue reading “Arizona concertgoers hopeful as Justice Department brings antitrust suit against Live Nation”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Leadership PACs. 1,980 words.
• Photo suggestion here.

By Lillie Boudreaux and Mason Ald
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

A loophole in federal campaign finance law that allows candidates to spend donations for their own personal use has repeatedly brought together Democrats and Republicans at the Federal Election Commission to try to persuade Congress to ban the practice.

But the issue presents a political paradox: The only people who can change the law are the ones who directly benefit from it.

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University investigated spending from a specialized type of political action committee known as a leadership PAC. The FEC says leadership PACs are often set up as a way to support like-minded candidates. They are separate from the candidate’s “authorized” campaign committees — the ones campaigns officially designate to receive and spend money. But leadership PACs are not bound by the same personal-use ban that applies to authorized committees, despite the leadership PACs’ close relationships to the candidates and officeholders who sponsor them.

Continue reading “Theme parks, private planes and Paris: The leadership PAC loophole”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Autism Disparity Research. 1,060 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions available).

By Mia Milinovich
Cronkite News

FLAGSTAFF – Researchers at Northern Arizona University have launched a project to study persistent disparities in autism services for children from underserved communities.

The project was sparked by a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed, for the first time, the percentage of 8-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder was higher among Black, Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander children than white children. Before the 2023 Community Report on Autism, white children were identified with autism spectrum disorder at higher rates when compared to other racial or ethnic groups by the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network.
Continue reading “Northern Arizona University research team addresses disparities in access to autism services”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Telling Time. 440 words.
• Photo available.
• Video available.

By Maria Staubs
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – If asked to check the time, one might check their phone or a digital clock – but, what about the old-school analog clock? As the world continues to move further into a digital era, some might ask: Is reading an analog clock even a necessary skill anymore?

Lowell Elementary School Principal Dana Ramos thinks it is. She said reading an analog clock is still a part of the state curriculum for second or third graders, so students should be proficient.

“I think it’s still a skill that students have to have because they still may run into an analog clock somewhere, and it’s important for them to be able to have that skill even if they don’t utilize it every single day,” Ramos said.
Continue reading “‘Time has a beginning, middle and end:’ Expert says telling time provides life skills”

• Slug: BC-CNS-TNR. 650 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)
• Video available.

By Lauren Bly
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In the sprawling urban landscape of Phoenix, where the desert sun sets over bustling streets, there are volunteers quietly tending to a population often overlooked: feral cats.

Jennifer Nitrio’s nightly routine involves filling food dishes for these feline friends. It’s a ritual she’s faithfully performed for a quarter-century.

Continue reading “Quiet heroes: Meet the Valley animal lovers tending to feral cat colonies”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Basketball Court Maintenance. 940 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Aden Schulze-Miller
Cronkite News

PEORIA – Three basketball hoops overlook the serene western vistas of Sonoran Mountain Ranch Park in northern Peoria. One faces a playset and has a double rim. The other two stand with rocks and grassy knolls beyond them. The surrounding mountains are tall, but not enough to block the sun from making the concrete simmer in the summer.

With constant play and the outdoor environment, basketball courts need plenty of maintenance. Some courts have cracks in their concrete or asphalt – some so long from the last resurfacing that weeds and dirt fill up portions of the court. Bulges due to the heat make them too bumpy for the ball.

Those are things that come with the weathering outdoor basketball courts face. Arizona’s harsh climate presents challenges that call for experienced services and unique measures to repair and resurface beaten-up outdoor courts.

Continue reading “Cracks in the blacktop: How Peoria maintains basketball courts in spite of Arizona’s environment”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Missing Person Collaboration. 670 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Marnie Jordan
Cronkite News

GLOBE – Founded in 1876, this old mining town is at the foot of the Pinal Mountains in southern Gila County. As visitors walk the streets of historic downtown Globe, they’ll see cafes, shops and old buildings.

Globe had only about 7,200 residents in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. Here, neighbors know neighbors, which is why when Natalie Jo Sebastian disappeared, word got around quickly.

Continue reading “Globe detective, private investigator work to solve missing-person case”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sober Living Homes. 1,800 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Sadie Buggle
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Jade Lara was five months pregnant in January 2022 when she arrived at a group home in San Tan Valley with the promise of daily classes and group therapy to help her with sobriety. However, when she arrived, she was met with a lack of assistance and care and provided with only one therapy session a week held at a different center.

Lara noted the men in the co-ed home were given the freedom to “come and go,” often coming back clearly intoxicated. The situation turned dangerous the night she was sent to another center in Maricopa County, where an intoxicated man wouldn’t leave her or the other woman in the house alone.

Continue reading “Indigenous advocates work to combat fake sober living homes in Arizona”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Doctor Shortage. 1,300 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Leah Mesquita
Cronkite News

EL PASO, Texas – For Makena Piñon, the Texas doctor shortage is not just an issue for the state – it’s a personal issue with repercussions for her health.

The freshman studying biomedical sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso was born with a congenital heart defect, requiring travel outside her hometown to receive treatment.
Continue reading “Texas Tech Health El Paso program helps high school students go to medical school in state, aims to relieve statewide doctor shortage”

• Slug: BC-CNS-AI Libraries. 1,035 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Naomi DuBovis
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Librarians have a lot to think about now that artificial intelligence has entered the picture. Not only could the technology fundamentally change the way they do their jobs, but it also affects areas such as patron privacy and information literacy.

But librarians also see AI’s potential for good. Cataloging and research are major areas in librarianship that artificial intelligence can automate and potentially improve.

Continue reading “A new intermediary: How AI may impact libraries, research and information retrieval”

• Slug: BC-CNS-George Floyd Exhibit. 320 words. By Julia Schamko.
• 7 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Video available.

TEMPE – ASU Art Museum partnered with Arizona State University’s Center for Work and Democracy and the George Floyd Global Memorial following a professor’s acquisition of a collection of offerings gathered during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis. Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis during an arrest in May 2020, sparking nationwide protests over police violence.

Items including posters, letters, paintings and more are currently displayed in the museum’s “Twin Flames: The George Floyd Uprising from Minneapolis to Phoenix” exhibit through July 28.

Continue reading “Minneapolis to Phoenix: George Floyd protest offerings displayed at ASU Art Museum”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sage Memorial Hospital Photo Essay. 530 words.
• 12 photos available (thumbnails, captions throughout).
• Video & embeddable map available.

By Kevinjonah Paguio
Cronkite News

Continue reading “New Sage Memorial Hospital transforms Navajo health care”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sage Memorial Hospital. 2,560 words.
• 8 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Video & embeddable map available.

By Mia Milinovich
Cronkite News

GANADO – Desert stretches out around the little town of Ganado, which sits in the western part of the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Nation.

Ganado is home to Sage Memorial Hospital, a Native-managed comprehensive health care system serving thousands of people in surrounding Navajo communities. The medical facility has operated out of its current facilities since 1930. Back then, the outpatient building, Poncel Hall, was home to the first Native American nursing school.

Now, 93 years later, Sage Memorial Hospital has built a 95,614-square-foot state-of-the-art hospital that is more than twice the size of the original hospital and will significantly increase patient capacity.

Continue reading “Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation constructs new facility to improve health care”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Rattlesnake Ready. 800 words.
• 7 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Video available.

By Analisa Valdez
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Rattlesnake season in Arizona is ramping up and while that means watching out for snakes – it can mean watching out for your pets, too.

Experts caution Arizonans to be aware of their surroundings while hiking or walking their dogs and to keep their eyes and ears open for the telltale signs of rattlesnakes: their coiled bodies and the unmistakable rattle of their tails.

“Certainly there are avoidable situations and potentially unavoidable situations,” said Bryan Kuhn, pharmacist and toxicologist at Banner Health Poison & Drug Information Center. “I can say that for this year, the vast majority of our bites have been these sort of unintentional, unavoidable type scenarios where someone is in an area where they are unaware there’s a snake.”

That’s where Rattlesnake Ready and Rattlesnake Ranch come in. Co-founders and owners Cody and Kate Will have built a large collection of rattlesnakes at Rattlesnake Ranch, which people can visit for a fee to see and learn about the snakes. Through Rattlesnake Ready, the pair prepare and educate pets and pet owners about these misunderstood desert creatures by utilizing ranch resources at the 2,400-square-foot nature center and training area in Cave Creek.

Continue reading “Cave Creek business aims to train dogs to avoid rattlesnakes in the summer months”