By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – More heat and wildfires and less rainfall are among the risks of climate change in Arizona, and some voters are looking to the November presidential election for climate action.
However, it’s hard to define how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump plan to take on these challenges.
By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News
Editor’s note: This article contains images of animal slaughtering.
PHOENIX – By 7 a.m. on a Monday in early September, hundreds of people – some of whom had come out as early as 3 a.m. and traveled from states thousands of miles off – had gathered in the small town of Window Rock to watch the first day of the Miss Navajo Nation pageant. The building where the event took place was filled to capacity almost as soon as attendees were allowed in, and hundreds more set up lawn chairs behind a roped off area to watch the pageant.
EDS: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described compensation eligibility for people who lived downwind from the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.
By Gabrielle Wallace
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – People exposed to radiation from atomic bomb tests and uranium mines rallied Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol – along with tribal leaders – to demand action on a stalled compensation program.
“They gave the ultimate sacrifice when it was needed. We should reward the people who didn’t question what needs to be done,” said Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
By Emery Davis
Cronkite News
LOS ANGELES – California is taking climate-saving efforts to the next level with a full ban on plastic bags and a state lawsuit against natural gas giant ExxonMobil.
Gov. Gavin Newsom approved new legislation Sunday prohibiting stores from providing plastic bags starting in 2026.
By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society are accusing federal agencies of allowing livestock grazing that has put the northern Mexican garter snake at risk.
The rare wetland snake has lost 90% of its habitat in the past century and was declared threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014.
The two groups sued the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 11, asserting that livestock grazing on federal lands along the Big Sandy River in western Arizona is pushing the garter snake toward extinction.
By Amelia Monroe
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The nation’s first solar-powered cobalt processing facility will break ground next year in Yuma County, a $300 million project subsidized by a big federal investment in climate-friendly projects.
The plan is one of two dozen projects underway in Arizona catalyzed by the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden in August 2022. The law set aside $370 billion to promote clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Arizona State University announced measures on Monday to deal with higher education budget cuts passed by the state Legislature. They include a tuition surcharge, cuts to programs such as the Arizona Teachers Academy and the Arizona Promise Program and the closing of its Lake Havasu center. Thousands of students and employees are expected to be affected.
The tuition surcharge is a $350 additional payment for full-time on-campus students in spring 2025. Part-time on-campus students will pay a proportional charge.
By Nash Darragh
Cronkite News
MESA – Election season is in full swing. Arizona is one of the most important states in this year’s presidential “race to 270.” The purple state contains 11 electoral votes that could make or break either campaign for former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans in Arizona who are publicly switching their support to Harris could have an impact.
“I remain registered as a Republican because I think it most closely identifies with where I’m at politically,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles, who has endorsed Harris. “There are absolutely things about the Biden-Harris administration that I have policy differences with. I think the fearmongering from the Trump campaign about Vice President Harris being a socialist or calling her Comrade Harris, you know, those are way overblown. I think she’s demonstrated that when it comes to governing and when it comes to problem solving, she will do that. She will compromise, and she’ll work with Republicans, and she’ll govern from the middle.”
By Emery Davis
Cronkite News
LOS ANGELES – Following Little Tokyo’s designation as one of America’s most endangered historic places, the area is looking to return to its flourishing past.
Throughout its 140 years, Little Tokyo has faced many challenges, including racial discrimination and cultural erasure. However, it continued to celebrate thriving legacy businesses and provide a safe haven for Asian culture.
By Jalen Woody
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Arizona changes every day. The state’s count of new buildings and people grows daily. As the state changes, so do the museums, which are challenged by a constantly changing city with new possibilities, tastes and people.
Museums in Arizona continue to change their tactics to draw in new audiences. These attractions are expensive to run but must continue to innovate what they have. Otherwise they risk the chance of losing their core audience.
Note to CN clients: This story includes Arizona material.
By Celia Frazier
News21
LAS VEGAS – In the heart of Las Vegas’ Chinatown, residents gather for a celebration of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Some stop in to grab shiny, red packages of premade zongzi.
Others grab flyers decorated with a colorful dragon boat and something else: a QR code taking them to information about how to vote – all translated into Chinese. As demographics shift, advocates from Nevada and Arizona to Alaska are fighting to make voting accessible for citizens who speak different languages. But challenges remain – from the cost of translating materials to outright resistance to the idea.
By Brenden Paul
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Kim Hayashi rose to dominance thanks to her “go big” jumping style. Now she’ll “go big” into the USA BMX Hall of Fame this weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, alongside fellow Arizonan Debbie Kelley.
Hayashi and Kelley will be two of the eight members inducted into the USA BMX Hall of Fame Class of 2024, as voted on by over 500 BMX experts, including current Hall of Famers, BMX historians and selected members of the BMX media.
“It’s pretty humbling. It feels like a huge honor,” said Hayashi, 38, who lives in Chandler. “Especially when you look at the women’s side, there’s not a lot of female names up there (at the Hall of Fame). To see some of the people that I looked up to, some of the people that were my heroes, and seeing my name next to theirs is a huge honor.”
Continue reading “Track titans: Two Arizonans among inductees into 2024 USA BMX Hall of Fame class”
By Delaney Chase and Emily Richardson
News21
Note: This story has a strong Arizona focus.
NEW YORK – With studies showing a decline in civics education and knowledge across the U.S., programs from Arizona to New York are working to engage the next generation in democracy. In New York, high school students who gathered this summer for “Democracy Camp” were asked to consider a question: “What is my role in an ideal democracy?” In Arizona, Camp O’Connor takes seventh and eighth graders on a five-day journey through the workings of government. “There’s space to be better,” says one young voter.
WASHINGTON – Republicans have been warning that “military-aged” men have been crossing the Southwest border in threatening droves since President Joe Biden took office – especially from adversaries such as China and Russia.
“It’s like a military invasion,” former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Tucson last week. “We are being conquered and we are being occupied by a foreign element. And you know, if you think about it, China has a 5 million man army.”
By Miguel Ambriz
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – A day after asking the Arizona Supreme Court to decide what to do about 98,000 registered voters who’ve never proven their U.S. citizenship, Arizona election officials offered assurances Wednesday.
There’s no sign of widespread voting by non-citizens, they said. It’s a glitch involving driver’s licenses issued before the state began requiring proof of citizenship.
“The voters didn’t themselves do wrong in any way, shape or form,” Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, said in Washington after a McCain Institute forum on elections and disinformation.
EDS: This story has been updated to reflect that the Leona Group, which operates 28 charter schools in Arizona, declined to comment on the record. Please update grafs 14 and 15.
By Madeline Nguyen
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The Arizona Department of Education is scrambling to urge schools to tap millions of dollars earmarked to help homeless students before the funds expire at the end of the month.
Three years ago, Arizona schools were allotted nearly $17 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds intended to provide resources ranging from temporary housing and transportation to prepaid debit cards. Continue reading “Millions in federal aid for homeless students in Arizona schools, unspent after 3 years, about to expire”
By Sienna Monea
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – As the November general election approaches, Arizona is taking a significant step toward ensuring that voters with disabilities are fully prepared to participate in the democratic process.
On Monday, First Place AZ and the Foundation for Blind Children co-hosted Spark the Spectrum, a workshop to equip voters with disabilities with the knowledge and tools needed for Election Day.
The event, which aligned with National Voter Registration Day, was designed to familiarize attendees with voting equipment, accommodations and the overall voting process. It also served as a reminder of the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline.
By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News
LOS ANGELES – In the heart of Los Angeles, art is more than a form of expression. Be it a blank brick wall or a stage under spotlights, artists here use every platform as a vehicle to amplify social discourse.
Corie Mattie, aka “LA Hope Dealer,” an LGBTQ+ artist, is turning the street into her canvas, calling out local and national injustices. She is challenging social norms one bold stroke at a time.
“I had to really take the things that speak to me. Being a woman, being gay and then there’s things that just aren’t fair,” Mattie said. “I have to speak out against it even if it doesn’t affect me. It’s just one of those things where I have to call attention to it.”
By Miguel Ambriz
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – March For Our Lives, the group founded by survivors of a 2018 high school shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida, has thrown its weight behind Democrats in two contentious races in Arizona.
In the fight for an open U.S. Senate seat, the group is backing U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Phoenix over Kari Lake, and former state Sen. Kirsten Engel of Tucson, who is challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican.
By Marshall Baker
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Carletta Tilousi was a young girl when she first heard about possible uranium mining near her home of Supai. Deep within the canyons near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, this is where the Havasupai people reside.
From the day they were contacted about it, the Havasupai were resistant to uranium mining near their homelands.
