• Slug: BC-CNS-Azteca Bridal. 780 words.
• 10 photos available.

By Alyssa Bickle
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Bertha Gonzalez bought her wedding dress from Azteca Bridal in 1967. In the store’s last two weeks of operation, she came back this month for her great-granddaughter’s quinceañera dress.

“This was a bridal shop for all of Arizona, especially for us … the Mexican people,” Gonzalez said.

Azteca, which is closing its doors for the last time on Thursday, after 60 years of service, began selling quinceañera dressing around 1972 as the demand for them grew along with the Latino population in Phoenix.

Continue reading “Azteca Bridal closes its doors after 60 years of family-operated business”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Urban Fishing Photo Essay. 400 words.
• 10 photos available (thumbnails and captions below).
• Video by Roxanne De La Rosa available.

By Kevinjonah Paguio
Cronkite News

PAGE SPRINGS – Though Arizona may be a desert, the recreational pastime of fishing is still alive and well. Hatcheries like Page Springs are able to provide the public with fish and preserve an activity that many enjoy.

“Arizona stocks the (lakes) with nice, healthy trout,” Dan Esh, a snowbird from Pennsylvania, said. “They’re fun to catch.” Esh can thank people like Matt Lyons, wildlife specialist at Page Springs Hatchery.

Continue reading “Arizona Game and Fish restocks lakes with fish grown in hatcheries”

• Slug: BC-CNS-CN2Go Weekly Update. Runtime 5:39.
• Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)

[Music bed under] 

CN2Go Host: This is Cronkite News 2 Go. I’m your host, Deanna Pistono.

[Music fade in/under]

HOST: On today’s show, we talk about weapons detectors in public schools and how land development in the Valley may displace local rattlesnakes.

Continue reading “CN2Go Weekly Update: Security in schools and rattlesnakes vs. roadways”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Changemaker Gina Jernukian. 1,800 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Ana Aragon Sierra
Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – Gina Jernukian was working part time when she began to notice something in her tattoo studio that made her uneasy.

“I started having strange tattoos and strange men in my studio,” she said. “I mean, I was taken aback. They were rude. They were mean. The girl didn’t speak at all – only the guy did, and he would yell at me.”

“So I finally asked someone, ‘What is this?’ And a friend of mine said, ‘It’s probably a branding.’ I said, ‘What?’ I had no idea. I had no idea. I didn’t know.”

Jernukian, a permanent makeup artist who lives in Phoenix, decided to find out more. She did some online research and attended meetings of groups that were all too familiar with branding – the practice of tattooing or marking sex trafficking victims, mostly women, with the names or symbols of those who victimize them.

Continue reading “Restoration: Tattoos removed from sex trafficking survivors”

EDS: This is a partner story from KUNC. If you choose to use it, please fill out this form to help their tracking.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Warming Warning,650 words.
• 2 photos, audio story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Alex Hager
KUNC

The arid West is getting drier, and shrinking water supplies pose a boatload of risks to human health throughout the region.

Those findings come from a new federal report on climate change that also covers a broad range of hazards brought on by changing climate patterns due to human activity, from flooding to wildfires, drought to rising sea levels.

The Fifth National Climate Assessment identified drying in the Colorado River basin as one of the greatest climate risks facing the Southwest, as well as the region’s biggest area for future climate mitigation and adaptation. Continue reading “New climate report shows impact of drying on human health in Southwest”

• Slug: BC-CNS-New Mexico Gun Violence. 900 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).
• Video available. By John Leos and Deanna Pistono.

By Deanna Pistono
Cronkite News

ALBUQUERQUE – On Nov. 4, the parking lot outside Albuquerque’s San Pedro Library held more people than cars. On a wall in the parking lot, the nonprofit organization New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence unveiled its new mural against gun violence – a shower of flowers, faces and hummingbirds. The mural itself has augmented reality or AR capabilities, which enables visual elements to change or shift when viewed through a phone camera.

“All the faces, they become shadow and then a scrolling list of people that we’ve lost in the city in New Mexico starts scrolling,” said Warren Montoya, the artist who created the mural.

“So it’s a list of 200…almost 300 names by now that have been taken in the last two years, so that people can really recognize and remember those people,” he said.

New Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was the state with the third-highest death rate as a result of gun violence in 2021. In September this year, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a public health order that would have prohibited people from carrying guns – whether concealed or openly carried – in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, and other areas with high rates of gun violence.

Continue reading “New Mexicans speak out against gun violence”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Purple Star School,590 words.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Kate Duffy
Cronkite News

GOODYEAR – At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, Great Hearts Trivium Preparatory Academy became one of the first schools in Arizona to be named a Purple Star School candidate.

The school joined Luke Elementary School, Millennium High School and Dreaming Summit Elementary School in the Purple Star pilot program launching in Arizona. All four schools serve families from Luke Air Force Base.

The Purple Star distinction is awarded to schools with programs dedicated to supporting military-connected children in their education and social-emotional development. Continue reading “Arizona Purple Star pilot program kicks off with four schools supporting military families”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Thanksgiving Dinner Down. 730 words.
• Photos, illustraion available (thumbnails and captions below).
• Graphic available here.

By Jacob Snelgrove
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The average price of a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people this year is down 28%, after Arizona consumers faced “historically high” prices for their Thanksgiving meal ingredients in 2022.

The Arizona Farm Bureau’s annual market basket survey of the typical fixings for Thanksgiving estimates that a traditional meal for 10 people will cost $51.89 this year – or around $5.19 per person – a $19.99 decrease from last year’s total bill of $71.88.

The survey shopping list includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, milk, plus pumpkin pie with whipped cream, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10 with plenty of leftovers.

Continue reading “Arizona Thanksgiving meal cost down 28% as turkey prices decrease”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tribal Health,600 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Adrienne Washington
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a claim by the San Carlos Apache tribe that the federal government is shortchanging it on funds it needs to operate tribal health services.

The case turns on whether the Indian Health Service should reimburse the tribe’s overhead costs for health services it delivers with the support of third-party insurers, like Medicaid or private insurance. In the case of the San Carlos Apache, that amounted to $3 million in overhead expenses over a three-year period, according to court documents. Continue reading “Supreme Court agrees to hear San Carlos Apache appeal on health care funding”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Travel Spirals,600 words.
• 2 file photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lux Butler
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Millions of travelers won’t have to look any farther than the lines in front of them this holiday season for evidence that Americans have moved past the pandemic.

Experts say this holiday season will be one of the busiest in the last 20 years, with travel surging to pre-pandemic levels and beyond, and they remind travelers to make sure they are prepared before getting to the airport.

AAA estimates that 49.1 million will drive more than 50 miles for the holiday, another 4.7 million people will fly and 1.5 million will travel by boat, train or other means. The 55.3 million total travelers is the third-highest since AAA started tracking holiday travel in 2000, trailing only 2005 and 2019. Continue reading “Holiday travelers expected to hit the road, skies in near-record numbers”

• Slug: BC-CNS-CN2Go Weekly Update. Runtime 11:16.
• Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)

[Music bed under] 

CN2Go Host: This is CN2Go.

[Bring up music briefly and duck below and out ]

HOST: I’m Kenny Rasmussen, your host for the program today, and we have some interesting stories to share. Continue reading “CN2Go Weekly Update: Murthy speaks, a mom speaks out, Ray Anderson steps back”

• Slug: BC-CNS-General Loneliness. 530 words. By Deanna Pistono.
• 4 photos available (thumbnails and captions below).
• Video story available.

By Deanna Pistono
Cronkite News

TEMPE – U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy addressed Arizona State University students on Nov. 13 at Memorial Union on the Tempe campus as part of his “We Are Made to Connect” tour. In conversation with Emma Broyles, ASU student and Miss America 2022, Murthy advised the audience to connect meaningfully with those around them to benefit their mental and physical health.

“If you are like me, who was struggling with loneliness as a kid, you probably just thought, ‘Loneliness is just a bad feeling, gotta to suck it up, get it over with, it’s fine,’” Murthy said.

“It turns out that loneliness has real consequences for our health. When people struggle with the sense of being lonely and isolated, basically being socially disconnected, that actually increases their risk of depression, anxiety and suicide,” he said. “It also … over time, increases their risk of physical illness as well. Heart disease, dementia, premature death. In fact, we see that the overall mortality impact of social disconnection is on par with smoking daily.”

Continue reading “Surgeon General advocates for social connection at ASU”

EDS: An earlier version of this story misstated how Phoenix’s wastewater is treated and how much of it is recycled. The errors appeared in the ninth and 11th grafs of the text and also in the accompanying video.  The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: BC-CNS-AI Wastewater. 570 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Ellie Willard
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – From self-driving cars to automated services, artificial intelligence has been influencing every aspect of day-to-day life – even in ways we can’t see. In Phoenix, artificial intelligence is helping the city from underground.

In October, the city’s Water Services Department launched a six-month wastewater treatment pilot program with AI company Kando, based in Israel.

Kando Pulse is a wastewater intelligence platform built to “improve people’s lives and the environment,” according to Guy Cohen, chief product officer at Kando. The system uses sensors to obtain data from wastewater and translate it into insights that detect any irregularities within sewage.

Continue reading “An innovative flush: Phoenix turns to artificial intelligence for improved wastewater monitoring”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tucson Border,630 words.
• File photo, graphic available (embed code, thumbnail, caption below).

By Adrienne Washington
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Border Patrol officers encountered 55,224 migrants in the Tucson sector in October, far outstripping the 38,211 encounters in the Del Rio, Texas, sector and almost 10 times the number seen in the Yuma sector that month.

It was the fourth straight month that Tucson has been the busiest for Border Patrol activity on the southern border, and experts are not exactly sure why Tucson is the new gateway.

“The patterns of migration just continue to change,” said Colleen Putzel, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. “The diversification of people coming to the southern border are really shifting and that (is) presenting a lot of new and unique challenges.” Continue reading “Border encounters dip slightly, but Tucson sector again saw most traffic”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Israel March,700 words.
• 6 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Lux Butler
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Former Perry High School student Tomer Ben-Ezer said he has not always felt comfortable living in Washington, but that was not the case Tuesday as he looked around at the crowds and the Israeli and U.S. flags filling the National Mall.

“There’s going to be hate, of course, there’s going to be antisemitism, but as long as we are together, we’re going to be stronger,” said Ben-Ezer, an Israeli flag draped around his shoulders.

He was one of several Arizonans who joined thousands in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol for the Americans March for Israel. The event, organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, comes in the wake of more than a month of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Continue reading “Arizonans join thousands at rally to support Israel, decry antisemitism”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Scooter Expansion. 1,060 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Alyssa Bickle
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Phoenix residents and visitors could have more options in 2024 for micromobility, short-distance transportation with lightweight vehicles, electric and non-electric, that typically only transport one person at a time, such as electric scooters or electric bikes.

The city’s pilot program began in downtown Phoenix in September 2019 with various vehicle vendors; users logged more than 330,000 e-scooter rides. The program was further expanded to include neighborhoods south and east of downtown.

Continue reading “Phoenix considers expanding boundaries, inventory for e-scooter and e-bike program”

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

By Jacob Snelgrove
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona Republican lawmakers announced a plan to increase pay for teachers in K-12 public schools – they’re calling it the “Teacher Pay Fund.”

“This session the Republican-led Legislature will be introducing legislation to increase teacher pay by 7% or about $4,000,” said Senate President Warren Petersen at a news conference Monday. “The average teacher in Arizona makes $56,000 a year. Our plan will increase the average teacher pay to over $60,000 per year.”

Petersen said the land trust endowment, which is a long-term savings account that helps fund education, would pay for the plan.

Continue reading “Arizona Republican lawmakers announce plan to raise teacher pay”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Parent Caregivers. 990 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).
• Audio story available.

By Deanna Pistono
Cronkite News

QUEEN CREEK – Tyson Coon turns 9 this November. He enjoys reading and watching Disney movies, such as “Frozen” or “Moana.” He’s the oldest of three boys, whose names all begin with the letter T.

When Tyson was 6 months old, he had bacterial meningitis that caused what his mother, Brandi Coon, described as “massive strokes throughout his brain.” As a result, Tyson has a severe type of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, cerebral palsy, right-sided blindness and oral dysphagia, a condition that affects his mouth, tongue and lips.

These diagnoses have different impacts on his life. Because of his dysphagia, Tyson uses a gastrostomy tube that delivers food and drink directly to his stomach. He also uses an alternative communication device that enables him to press buttons to select words he wants to say. Because of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, he has two or more seizures each day.

In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) requested and was granted emergency flexibility to use funds to pay parents for providing specialized care to their children under 18. Though the flexibility was previously extended, it is currently set to expire in March 2024. A proposal submitted by AHCCCS to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this September, however, would permanently extend the program, allowing parent caregivers who meet direct care worker requirements to be paid for up to 40 hours a week.

Continue reading “Arizona proposal would help families of children with disabilities by paying parents to be caregivers”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Downtown Parking Woes. About 825 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails and captions below).

By Jacob Snelgrove
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The downtown area has seen significant growth over the last several years, and the influx of people has increased the parking demand.

R.J. Price, chief growth officer at Downtown Phoenix Inc., said the downtown population has tripled since 2000, but that the best indicator for the health of downtown Phoenix are its sidewalks, which have never been more energized, vibrant and full than in 2023.

“We were never expected to be a place that people were going to do vertical living and live in the middle of downtown,” Price said. Fast forward to 2023, and more than 12,000 residential units have been built, with 4,000 more under construction.

Due to the population growth and ongoing construction of new housing and other projects, parking is a common complaint.

Continue reading “Downtown Phoenix growth, construction, events lead to parking puzzle”

EDS: This is a partner story from KUNC. If you choose to use it, please fill out this form to help their tracking.

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tapped Out,1560 words.
• 5 photos, audio story available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Alex Hager
KUNC

With infrastructure that is aging and needs replacement, municipal water departments in the Colorado River basin are starting to invest in new systems that will help cities adapt to a future with a smaller water supply. But that means big spending, costs that will get passed along to the millions of people who use that water in sinks, showers and sprinklers.

“There’s literally nothing else you can have 1,000 gallons of delivered to your house at 2 in the morning for a few bucks,” said Mark Marlowe, water director in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Marlowe and other water experts across the arid West agree, the amount you pay for tap water should probably go up, and likely will over the next few decades — in large part due to aging infrastructure. Continue reading “Tap water is cheap, but old pipes, a shrinking Colorado could change that”