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

By Ian McKinney
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court justices grappled Wednesday with the question of when testimony from an expert crosses the line into evidence that a defendant should have the right to challenge in court.

The question arose in a Yuma County drug case where Jason Smith was convicted in part due to lab tests that were performed by Arizona Department of Public Safety forensic scientist Elizabeth Rast, but presented at trial by another expert, Greggory Longoni.

Smith’s attorneys say that violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers. Continue reading “Supreme Court considers right to face accusers in Yuma drug case”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Riparian Restoration,540 words.
• 8 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Hunter Fore
Cronkite News

TUCSON – On an overcast November morning, volunteers got to work to restore local river flow.

Drought and decreasing water availability have been ongoing problems throughout Arizona. In Tucson, drought along with new land developments are causing decreases in vegetation and wildlife habitat.

Watershed Management Group is a Tucson-based nonprofit that aims to fix this problem. The group aids in local water conservation, land restoration and river flow. It holds regular events to help the environment such as cleanups, workshops, fundraisers and classes. The group has a club called the River Run Network, which includes a biweekly email with invitations to events like creek walks and family education days to help restore Tucson’s heritage of flowing rivers. Continue reading “Watershed Management Group removes invasive plants to aid in river flow, land restoration in Tucson”

• Slug: BC-CNS-HIV Dominican. Audio Essay,200 words.
• 7 photos, 3 audio stories linked below (photo thumbnails, captions below)

By Albert Serna Jr.
Cronkite Borderlands Initiative

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – AIDS Healthcare Foundation works to provide treatment for people living in the Dominican Republic. But for Haitian migrants, access to care can be difficult. Continue reading “For immigrants in the Dominican Republic, HIV treatment access is hard to obtain”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Boarding School Histories,1640 words.
• 9 photos, audio available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Ellie Willard
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A national oral history project aims to document the experiences of Indigenous children who attended federal boarding schools. The Department of the Interior announced the project in September as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) has been entrusted to lead the project with $3.7 million in grant funding through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Continue reading “‘We are survivors’: National, Arizona projects aim to uncover, preserve histories of Native American boarding schools”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Arizona Honeybees,600 words.
• 7 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Kate Duffy
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Key pollinators in Arizona faced a rough summer, but community efforts can help them thrive.

Arizona is home to the second-most diverse bee population in the country, according to pollination ecologist and bee specialist Stephen Buchmann, who said more than 1,300 native bee species reside in the state. The desert landscape also hosts a large population of honeybees, which, while not native to Arizona, are still important pollinators. Continue reading “Gardening helps protect threatened bees in Arizona”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Saavi Services,850 words.
• 4 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Caleb Scott
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Sending an email, cooking a meal and navigating the internet are activities people might take for granted, but some people need special training in order to perform these tasks. Saavi Services for the Blind teaches people who are visually impaired or blind how to do many activities that enable them to live independently.

Garry Fowlkes, 45, a recent graduate of Saavi, said “it gave me back a life.” Fowlkes, whose vision had been deteriorating for decades. had to have cataract surgery when he was in eighth grade. He said that until Saavi, “I was throwing a very lavish pity party.” Continue reading “Saavi Services for the Blind helps build life skills, career, tech training for independent living”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Border Alzheimer’s,1600 words.
• 6 photos, graphic available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Angelina Steel
Cronkite News

LAREDO, Texas – In a small border community in Texas, locals attending the city’s eighth annual Walk To End Alzheimer’s carried large pinwheel-shaped flowers made of brightly colored plastic, each color representing a different designation for those affected by the disease.

The orange flowers represented people who support the cause of Alzheimer’s research, yellow flowers were held by those caring for someone battling Alzheimer’s; people who have lost someone to the disease carried purple flowers and blue flowers were carried by those currently battling it.

Texas border communities have higher rates of Alzheimer’s than anywhere else in the state. Laredo, with a population of about 256,000, is a border community located across from Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to a study released by the Alzheimer’s Association, Laredo is tied with El Paso, another border community, for the highest Alzheimer’s rate in Texas and is ninth in the nation: 15%. Continue reading “Alzheimer’s impacts border communities in Texas at a higher rate than the rest of the state”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Sailing Classes,550 words.
• 4 photos, video story available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Sydney Witte
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Tempe, renowned for its popular Mill Avenue and Arizona State University, has a lesser-known yet thriving spot making waves – Tempe Town Lake. This expansive water haven isn’t just a picturesque backdrop: It’s a hub for various water recreation pursuits such as outrigger canoeing, kayaking and sailing.

Audubon Arizona reports that the state’s waterways, including Tempe Town Lake, contribute $13.5 billion to Arizona’s economy, drawing 1.5 million residents annually who indulge in the diverse aquatic offerings.

Arizona’s water recreation activities run deep with families across the state. Continue reading “Arizona Sailing Foundation makes waves with sailing lessons in the Valley”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Hayden Flout Mill,650 words.
• 6 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Ellie Willard
Cronkite News

TEMPE – The Hayden Flour Mill silos and building have stood vacant since the mill officially closed in 1998. But that’s about to change.

In October, the city of Tempe announced the approval of a restoration and redevelopment plan for the historic Hayden Flour Mill, which stands at the corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway.

“The mill is truly a central, iconic building and very unique building to Tempe’s history,” said Jared Smith, senior curator at the Tempe History Museum. “It makes sense that that building is a focal point going forward.” Continue reading “A 120-year legacy: Tempe’s historic Hayden Flour Mill set for revitalization”

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• Slug: BC-CNS-Snow Drought,580 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Alex Hager
KUNC

Winter is off to a dry start across the West, with wide swaths of the Rocky Mountains seeing lower-than-average snow totals for this time of year. But scientists say there’s still plenty of time to end the “snow drought” and close the gap.

High-altitude snowpack has big implications for the region’s water supply, which serves about 40 million people across seven Western states. Two-thirds of the Colorado River’s water starts as snow in Colorado’s mountains before melting and flowing into the watershed. Continue reading “An early-winter ‘snow drought’ is leaving the West’s mountains high and dry”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Adaptive Water Sports,300 words.
• 7 photos available (thumbnails, captions below)

By Hunter Fore
Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – On a sunny Saturday, kids and adults alike strapped on their life vests for some fun in the sun at Bartlett Lake.

At this September event and others like it, Arizona Adaptive Watersports helps people with disabilities enjoy the water through activities that include wakeboarding and water skiing. Continue reading “Arizona Adaptive Watersports provides fun-filled lake days for people with disabilities”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Gateway Tucson,990 words.
• Photo, graphic available (embed code, thumbnail, caption below)

By Adrienne Washington
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Migrant encounters in the Tucson sector of the border have steadily increased in recent years until the sector became busier than any other on the southern border, replacing the Rio Grande Valley as the busiest.

Migration experts say reasons behind the shift are not surprising: Migrants are looking to avoid other, more militarized border sectors. Continue reading “Tucson sees most border encounters, as migrants turn away from other sectors”

• 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”