• Slug: BC-CNS-Native Health,670 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Caleb Scott
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Three new and upgraded health facilities recently opened in Arizona to provide Native Americans with better access to health care, and more are in the works.

Health disparities such as lower life expectancy and a disproportionate burden of diseases persist for Native American populations throughout the U.S. A 2022 review of studies about environmental health outcomes in the Navajo Nation found high rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome – a group of diseases that increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Continue reading “New and upgraded health care facilities for Native Americans open in Arizona”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Uber Waymo Partner,650 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Jacob Snelgrove
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Calling an Uber doesn’t necessarily mean calling an Uber driver any more in the Valley.

Uber, the ride-hailing company, and Waymo, one of the companies seeking to popularize driverless cars, announced in late October that Uber customers will have the option of getting “a fully autonomous, all-electric Waymo ride – with no human driver behind the wheel” in those parts of metro Phoenix where Waymo operates. Continue reading “Uber partners with Waymo in Arizona to offer autonomous rides”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Veteran Homelessness,710 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Angelina Steel
Cronkite News

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced in November that it had permanently housed 38,847 homeless veterans nationwide and surpassed its calendar year goal two months early. Organizations working to decrease veteran homelessness in Texas, where veterans make up 6.7% of the adult population, said the state is seeing the effects of that progress.

In 2007, 5,527 homeless veterans resided in Texas, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. By 2020, the number dropped to 1,948, a 65% decrease. The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the number continued dropping to 1,711 in 2022. Continue reading “Government programs are substantially decreasing veteran homelessness in Texas”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Mexico IVF,1660 words.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Roxanne De La Rosa
Cronkite News

YUMA – Cristina Yanez was filled with hope as she drove to Mexicali, Mexico, on a hot summer day to make her dream of having a family a reality.

Yanez and her husband, Alex, spent eight years trying to conceive a child, but they were always met with disappointment. After a series of tests were completed, they learned Alex had issues with his sperm. Cristina, a full-time registered nurse, looked into her medical plan and quickly realized that fertility treatments of any type would not be covered.

And she learned that fertility treatment in the United States could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000. “I was not about to go into debt not knowing that we were not going to be guaranteed a family or children, because it’s a scary journey,” she said. Continue reading “Americans cross the US-Mexico border for more affordable IVF treatment”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Nevada Homeless Youth,640 words.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Oakley Seiter
Cronkite News

LAS VEGAS – Niraya Gregory, 19, experienced homelessness as a child with her mother and siblings, and later by herself.

“I was afraid of how I was going to eat, where I was going to go. I was afraid of what I was going to do for my future,” Gregory said.

Gregory spoke at a recent summit to end youth homelessness on behalf of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY), an organization that helps homeless youth find stable housing, complete an education and find careers. NPHY helped Gregory get off the streets three years ago and she now has her own apartment. Continue reading “Nevada summit discusses problem of – and solutions to – youth homelessness”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Pumped Hydropower,1220 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Renee Romo
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – When Adrian Herder saw the plans for proposed hydropower project on the Navajo Nation’s Black Mesa, he was shocked by the “outrageous” 450,000 acre-feet of water the project would reportedly use.

“Which is also kind of scary, too, especially given that we’re from such an arid region here on Navajo,” said Herder, media and community organizer for Tó Nizhóní Ání – or Sacred Water Speaks – a Diné-led environmental nonprofit.

Developers agree it would be scary – if it was right. But Denis Payre insists that the Black Mesa Pumped Storage Project – which is still years away from approval, much less construction – will use only about 3,000 acre feet of water while generating clean, renewable energy. Continue reading “‘Pumped’ hydropower plans proliferate; one in particular stirs opposition”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Hispanic Middle Class,1550 words.
• 2 photos, graphic available (embed code, thumbnails, captions below).

By Tim Henderson
Stateline

The Hispanic middle class has grown faster than the white or Black middle class in the past decade and has reached near-parity with the white middle class in seven states, including Arizona, according to a new Stateline analysis.

Between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of Hispanic households in the country that qualified as middle class grew from about 42% to 48%, while the share of white households in the middle class remained about the same at 51%. The proportion of Black middle-class households grew more slowly, from 41% to 44%.

Hispanic households’ increasing economic success reflects the maturing of a community that now has more U.S.-born residents. But it also reflects a change in fortunes for immigrants filling service jobs that are in high demand, as well as a broader labor shortage that has pushed up wages. Continue reading “Arizona among states where Hispanic families are surging into middle class”

• Slug: BC-CNS-AANHPI Mental Health.2600 words.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Deanna Pistono
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – For Jessika Malic, communications director of Asian Pacific Community for Action, a Phoenix-based nonprofit focused on providing access to health care, her search for the right mental health provider for herself involved some added effort.

“I thought it would be great to see a woman of color, not even Asian,” Malic said.

“My last two therapists were white women, which is not a problem, but also some of the things that I’m dealing with I think might be more relatable to someone of color.” Continue reading “Being ‘my own role model’: Normalizing mental health care in the AANHPI community”

• Slug: BC-CNS-UFO R-E-S-P-E-C-T,710 words.
• Photo, video story available (thumbnail, caption below)

By Alexandria Cullen
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – After years of researching UFOs, Phoenix resident Shane Hurd thinks the research may be finally be entering what he hopes is a “golden age.”

“The taboo … is lifting and the government is taking it seriously,” said Hurd, the assistant director of the Arizona Mutual UFO Network. “And as I said, I think we’re even in a little bit of a golden age where we stand a real possibility of getting some very meaningful information from the government and … from scientists.”

Hurd and other researchers are encouraged by the federal government’s recent interest in explaining Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – the new name for what used to be called UFOs. Continue reading “UFO buffs feel the R-E-S-P-E-C-T as government gets serious about research”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Opioid Settlement. 750 words.
• Photos, video story available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Oakley Seiter
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – On Aug. 31, Maricopa County announced it was distributing approximately $2 million in national opioid settlement funds to 12 local organizations. The county prioritized organizations that offer youth prevention and treatment, recovery programs and harm reduction programs. According to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, more than two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths from 2019 to 2021 involved opioids.

Live and Learn AZ, a nonprofit organization that supports women, received $60,000 of those funds. Live and Learn provides education and training to women who have experienced homelessness, domestic violence or substance use disorders, and offers a structured two-year program to help women reach economic independence. The organization offers career guidance, job training, mentoring and financial assistance. Continue reading “Maricopa County uses part of national opioid settlement for group that helps recovering women”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Park Vandalism. 750 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Zach Bradshaw
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Montezuma Castle National Monument is wrapping trees to prevent vandalism.

In March, natural resources technicians at the national monument used burlap to cover the bark of six Arizona sycamore trees along public trails at Montezuma Castle. Portions of the bark were written and carved on. Many of the carvings included the year, which made it obvious there had been a recent increase in incidents.

But national park vandalism isn’t just a problem at Montezuma Castle – it’s been an issue many Arizona national park sites have dealt with.
Continue reading “Montezuma Castle among Arizona national park sites combating vandalism”

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• Slug: BC-CNS-Winter Wishing,1240 words.
• 6 photos, audio story available. (thumbnails, captions below)

By Alex Hager
KUNC

When the snows come to the mountains of Colorado, it’s good news for skiers but also the first step to recharging the Colorado River.

But this winter’s precipitation outlook is unclear, and how it unfolds will have an outsized impact on the next few years of management of the river, which supplies water to tens of millions of people from Wyoming to Mexico and gets most of that water from high-altitude snow, two-thirds of which falls in Colorado. Continue reading “Winter snow could help recharge the Colorado River. But what if it doesn’t?”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Recycled Wastewater. 730 words.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Kate Duffy
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Recently, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality released a proposed roadmap outlining plans to convert treated wastewater into purified drinking water.

“Advanced water purification has the potential to provide a reliable source of purified water that can alleviate water scarcity issues faced in much of Arizona,” said Randall Matas, deputy director of the water quality division at ADEQ. “The additional source of sustainable healthy drinking water will really support Arizona’s growing population and economy.”

The Advanced Water Purification Program roadmap establishes and explains the technical standards to which purification technology will be held.
Continue reading “ADEQ proposes framework for converting wastewater into purified drinking water”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tomato Wars,740 words.
• 2 file photos available. (thumbnails, captions below)

By Lux Butler
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The U.S. is involved in a “critically important trade battle” that could cost the Arizona economy billions while raising the price of tomatoes to consumers by as much as 50%, according to one study.

That’s what Arizona businesses and lawmakers say will happen if the Commerce Department gives in to demands to raise tariffs and overhaul an agreement on tomatoes imported from Mexico, an agreement that growers in Florida and other states say is being abused. Continue reading “Tomato fight: Arizona firms say tariff on Mexican tomatoes will hurt state”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Homeless Defiant,650 words.
• Accompanies BC-CNS-New Mexico Homeless.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Caleb Scott
Cronkite News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – One individual who calls himself Rabbit, 50, said he has been on the streets for 26 years as an unsheltered individual. He prefers to be called a hobo. “Hobo is the only word that has dignity to it,” Rabbit said. “Wherever I lay my head is my home.” He emphasized that he is homeless by choice.

Rabbit is currently staying near the Compassion Services Center in the International District in southeast Albuquerque, which is run by Pastor Joanne Landry. “This place right here, Pastor Joanne’s place, is the only place I feel is my second home,” Rabbit said. Continue reading “Despite outreach efforts, some unhoused people prefer to stay that way”

• Slug: BC-CNS-New Mexico Homeless,920 words.
• With BC-CNS-Homeless Defiant.
• 2 photos available. (thumbnails, captions below)

By Caleb Scott
Cronkite News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After declining for almost a decade, New Mexico’s homeless population has increased by 48% from the previous year. According to a report released by the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, this spike is primarily due to housing shortages and rising rents.

The report said rents in New Mexico increased by 70% from 2017 to 2021 while wages increased by 15%. Zillow reports the average price for a home in New Mexico in January 2017, was $173,063; in the current market, the average New Mexico home has increased to $293,040. For the U.S. as a whole in the same period, the average price for a home went from $206,839 in January 2017 to $346,653 in 2023. Continue reading “New Mexico confronts 48% homelessness spike with housing programs, rental aid”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Latino Vote,720 words.
• File photo, video story available. (thumbnail, caption below)

By Renee Romo
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – An estimated 150,000 Latino youth in Arizona will become eligible to vote in the 2024 election, when Hispanics will account for almost one in five voters in the state, according to analysts’ projections.

But how that bloc wields its growing clout remains a question, experts say.

“They’re still not the largest demographic group, but I think they’re the one for the biggest opportunity for either political party,” said Mike Noble, CEO of Phoenix-based Noble Predictive Insights.

Latino voters still lean Democratic, but experts say they are not a monolith: Their political outlook can be affected by age, religion, country of origin and the issues involved, which are as varied as they are for any voting group. Continue reading “Number of Latino voters is growing, but experts wonder in which direction”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Open Third,860 words.
• File photo available. (thumbnail, caption below)

By Renee Romo
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Look at campaign websites for the Democrats running to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, and the issues tend toward the progressive: climate change, abortion rights, affordable housing, migrant rights.

It’s red meat for a blue district, which comes as no surprise to analysts like Paul Bentz.

“More than half of all voters in that district are Democratic … only about 14% of registered voters in that district are actually registered Republicans,” said Bentz, senior vice president of research and strategy at HighGround Inc. Continue reading “Race to replace Gallego in Democrat-heavy 3rd District draws crowded field”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Target Arizona,880 words.
• Photo, video story available. (thumbnail, caption below)

By Renee Romo
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Election 2024 in Arizona is expected to bring a high-profile, three-way Senate race and campaigns for two open House seats that have drawn dozens of big-name candidates.

But analysts say it’s two other House races in Arizona that stand to be “two of the most competitive House districts in the whole country.”

Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson, and Rep. David Schweikert, R-Fountain Hills, were listed as the 11th and 15th most-vulnerable House members, respectively, on the National Journal’s initial 2024 House Power Rankings. With control of the House hinging on just a handful of seats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted Ciscomani and Schweikert among 33 competitive districts. Continue reading “With control of House in the balance, Democrats target two Arizona seats”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Indigenous Diabetes,1170 words.
• 12 photos available. (thumbnails, captions below)

By Oakley Seiter
Cronkite News

FLAGSTAFF – Native Americans for Community Action, a nonprofit agency in Flagstaff, provides health services primarily to Native Americans of Flagstaff and Coconino County, both on and off the reservation. These photos, taken in NACA’s wellness center on Oct. 24, look at what NACA is doing to tackle the issue of diabetes within the Indigenous community. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH), American Indians are almost three times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic white adults. Continue reading “A Flagstaff nonprofit helps its Indigenous community combat high rates of diabetes using holistic approaches”