• Slug: Spotting Disinformation. 490 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Ana Burk
Special for Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In this era of social media, a seasoned political reporter shares key strategies for identifying disinformation during election season.

The American Psychological Association reports that over the past few decades, people’s attention spans have decreased due to constant distractions from phones and other devices. People tend to only read the first line of a story, or watch the first few seconds of a video.

Continue reading “Election Day essentials: The do’s and don’ts for spotting disinformation”

• Slug: Maricopa County Election Security. 700 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Rallies outside of Maricopa County offices, threats and intimidation directed toward election workers and false election conspiracy theories spread by politicians are all problems Maricopa County officials have had to deal with in the past.

Now, officials are preparing security measures and fighting back against misinformation in the run-up to Nov. 5.

Continue reading “Maricopa County officials confident but wary of threats ahead of Election Day”

• Slug: Senate Young Voters. 800 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Nash Darragh
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With just a week to go until Election Day, all eyes remain on the swing state of Arizona. The state’s 11 electoral votes have been increasingly sought after by both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris over the past few months.

But Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego are also aiming to secure the final undecided votes from a generation that is voting for the first time.

Continue reading “Arizona Senate candidates Kari Lake, Ruben Gallego targeting younger voters”

• Slug: LDS Voters Immigration. 960 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Mia Osmonbekov
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have launched get-out-the-vote coalitions targeting the close to half a million Latter-day Saints in Arizona, a battleground state where every voting bloc will count in the presidential race.

Trump pitched himself to Arizona LDS voters while campaigning in Prescott Valley earlier this month. During an online “LDS for Trump” event, Trump told attendees that “we really have the same values.”

Continue reading “‘Not reconcilable’: Latter-day Saints in Arizona break with Trump on immigration, which could help Harris”

• Slug: Mexican Repatriation California. 765 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES — On Thursday, Sens. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) officially launched the Mexican Repatriation Memorial Project in Los Angeles.

The project aims to commemorate the 2 million Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants who were forcibly deported from the United States during the Great Depression, including approximately 400,000 individuals from California. Senate Bill 537, authored by Gonzalez and Becker, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September. It will enable a selected nonprofit to construct and maintain a memorial in a public area of Los Angeles. The memorial is planned for completion before the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.

Continue reading “California launches Mexican Repatriation Memorial Project to honor residents deported during Great Depression”

• Slug: Arts Field Trips. 470 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Hayden Larkin
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Nonprofit organization Act One funded a school trip to the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix to see the Tetra String Quartet on Wednesday, which kicked off the organization’s 2024-25 season.

“I just think it was so beautiful,” said Milani Duran, a sixth grader from Sunland STEAM Academy. “Seeing all the different (things), seeing the violin, the cello, it was very different.”

Continue reading “Act One helps Title I students connect to the arts with string quartet at Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix”

• Slug: Ventanilla de Salud. 650 words.
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• Audio voiceover available.

By Lizeth Adriana Calderon
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — People line up outside the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, one of the five Mexican consulates in Arizona.

They’re seeking assistance with visa application, consular and voter registration, community agendas and more. And while they wait, they learn about the free health services the consulate offers. Approximately 200 to 300 people use the consulate’s services daily, according to Consul General Jorge Mendoza Yescas.

Continue reading “Ventanilla de Salud initiative in Phoenix provides preventative health screenings for people with Mexican roots”

• Slug: Sports – Biden Indigenous Apology, 1,100 words.
• 2 photos available.

By Gabrielle Wallace and Marshall Baker
Cronkite News

LAVEEN VILLAGE – President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized for the 150 years of abuse and harm suffered by Indigenous children that were put into the federal boarding school system. 

“I believe it is important that we do know there was generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they never heard,” Biden said during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in front of an emotional crowd. “The federal government has never formally apologized, until today.”

This apology comes after an extensive investigation by the Department of Interior. The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative began in 2021 and was designed to recognize the long-term impacts of Indian boarding schools from 1819 to 1970.  Continue reading “Biden issues formal apology for treatment of Indigenous children within federal boarding schools”

• Slug: Trump in Tempe. 1,000 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Aaron Stigile
Cronkite News

TEMPE – A normally frozen Mullett Arena hosted heated rhetoric about immigration, the economy, Vice President Kamala Harris and faith during a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on Thursday.

The crowd, which filled much of the 5,000-seat arena save a smattering of empty seats,  consistently broke out into chants of “fight, fight, fight” before Trump came on stage, a reference to the words he said after an assassination attempt in July. 

“Immediately upon taking office, I will launch the largest deportation in American history,” Trump said. “I will rescue every town across America that’s been invaded and conquered.”  Continue reading “Donald Trump focuses on immigration at Tempe campaign rally just 12 days before election”

• Slug: SALT Expiration. 1,050 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Grace Monos
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s higher-income residents and homeowners with steep property taxes have felt a pinch since Congress capped the state and local tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000, but the presidential election could lead to changes in the tax code.

The SALT cap and other provisions in former President Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are set to expire next year. Even Trump has said he wants to let the cap expire.

Continue reading “Will tax deduction cap expire under Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? Experts weigh potential impact on Arizona taxpayers”

• Slug: Phoenix Heat Recap. 700 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Jalen Woody
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Summer is the most brutal time in Phoenix, especially for those surviving without basic needs like water and cool places to rest. This year, the city offered 24-hour heat relief spaces that skyrocketed in demand. City officials say 92% of visitors were experiencing homelessness, and the centers are a means to help them get off the streets and into safer places.

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) implemented the centers to provide people experiencing homelessness with much needed necessities to survive the temperatures.

Continue reading “Phoenix says visits to heat relief centers skyrocketed during record-breaking summer, and 92% were from people experiencing homelessness”

• Slug: Toss the Tusk. 1,040 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Aryton Temcio
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Since 1989, the international commercial trade of ivory has been banned in an effort to rebuild the dwindling population of elephants and other species poached for their ivory. Although these animals are found primarily in Africa and Asia, many agencies think the ramifications of ivory poaching are felt around the world.

The United States only adopted a near-total ban in 2016. Despite the bans on commercial trading, ivory is still legal to possess in the U.S., and many people still do.

Continue reading “‘Toss the Tusk’ educates Phoenix Zoo guests on illegal ivory trading, allows ivory surrender”

• Slug: Guerrilla Gardening. 1,350 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Brandelyn Clark
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES – Amid the barren patches of dirt scattered throughout Los Angeles’ bustling streets, a movement for social change is taking root. Community gardens and local plants flourish in underused land, bringing much-needed green to the city’s concrete jungle.

Starting as a necessity for people who didn’t own land seeking to provide food for their communities, guerrilla gardening has evolved into a powerful tool for social rebellion and environmental activism.

Continue reading “Flourishing Los Angeles: Activists reclaim urban spaces through guerrilla gardening”

• Slug: PFAS Water Contamination. About 1,000 words.
• 2 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Amelia Monroe
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – An estimated 97% of Americans have detectable levels of invasive “forever chemicals” in their bloodstreams – many are unaware that they’re drinking them.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS – are man-made synthetic chemicals manufactured and commercialized since the 1940s. This class of chemicals includes roughly 14,000 variations, widely used in consumer and industrial products – nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, cosmetics and firefighter foam – due to their grease-, oil- and water-resistant properties.

Continue reading “Arizona is launching PFAS mitigation efforts ahead of the EPA deadline. But critics say it isn’t enough”

EDS: An earlier version of this story miscast what $14.9 billion in tax revenue through 2045 would fund. The error occurred in the fifth graf the original. The story below has been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: Prop. 479. 800 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Hayden Larkin
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – With Proposition 479, a continuation of a half-cent sales tax in Maricopa County for transportation funding, on the ballot in November, Valley Metro and other groups are advocating for the continuation, while opponents say the tax on consumer goods is unneeded for a service few people use.

Public transit has provided Maricopa County residents with access to ease of travel. Light rail expansions, short-term rental bikes and scooters and public buses have all become viable options for city-dwelling Arizonans. With these options becoming more available, voters and groups are butting heads over the taxation and costs of expanding these transit systems. Some places in Maricopa County also may not have the means to afford certain forms of public transit to be able to expand into their cities.

Continue reading “Prop. 479 seeks to continue half-cent sales tax that helps fund Maricopa County public transit, roads”

• Slug: Health Care Election. 1,160 words.
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Madeline Nguyen
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Maria Losoya isn’t a doctor. She can’t treat patients, and she can’t do surgeries. But in southern Arizona’s border communities, she performs a special kind of life-saving health care. She’s an expert at navigating the health insurance marketplace – in English and Spanish.

It’s a strength that has made Losoya a trusted face in her home of Santa Cruz County, where nearly one in three residents were uninsured in 2022 – the highest rate in the state, according to the National Institutes of Health. Day and night, community members call Losoya from hospital rooms to see how they can afford the treatment they need, from emergency care to chemotherapy.

Continue reading “Future of ACA, health insurance coverage at stake in presidential election”

• Slug: Mental Health Maternal Mortality. 920 words.  
• 3 photos available (thumbnails, captions below).
• Story voiceover available.

By Nicollette Valenzuela
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – “Can we skip straight to the empowerment session?” shouts someone from a crowd at a small, dimly lit shop with a fluorescent pink glow. The “empowerment session” gathers more than 30 participants every Tuesday night at The Daily Mix Nutrition store in Avondale.

After a battle with postpartum depression, Yormheri Munguia, the store’s owner, and Jennie Parra, a women’s transformation coach, recently started the Women’s Empowerment workout.

Continue reading “How mental health affects maternal mortality in Arizona”

• Slug: Lethal Restraint-Repeat Offenders. 1,485 words.
• Photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By James Brown, Jr., Nathan Collins and Taylor Stevens
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

Sometimes second chances can prove deadly.

A police officer in Minnesota was suspended for threatening to shoot a passenger in the head after an unauthorized high-speed chase. In Paterson, New Jersey, an officer threw a handcuffed woman to the ground and strangled her. And in Little Rock, Arkansas, a patrol officer was allowed to rack up 36 sustained misconduct allegations and at least 65 days of suspension.

Each officer went on to be involved in a deadly encounter with the public. Not in shootings, but in cases where the force – whether physical restraints, blows or weapons such as a Taser – is often referred to as “less lethal.”
Continue reading “These police officers had red flags in their past, then used force in a case that ended in death”

• Slug: Heat-Relief Centers. 880 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Jalen Woody
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – In the middle of the desert, in Maricopa County, summer is the most brutal time. This year, temperatures reached 100 degrees or over for 142 days, according to the National Weather Service.

To combat heat struggles, the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) implemented a heat-relief network of centers to provide everyone with the care needed to brave some of the hottest temperatures in the United States.

Continue reading “Maricopa County combats heat with its heat-relief network; Phoenix reports serving 35,000”

EDS: An earlier version of this story included several errors, which occurred in grafs 10, 11, 30 and 31 of the original and in a photo caption. The story and caption below have been corrected, but clients who used previous versions are asked to run the correction found here.

• Slug: Carbon Capture. 900 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions available below).

By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – As climate change continues to wreak havoc, companies in Arizona are developing technologies intended to pull greenhouse gas from the air.

Arizona’s unusually intense summer heat – with triple-digit temperatures continuing into October – plus frequent wildfires and decreased flow in the Colorado River are all linked to greenhouse gas buildup, scientists say.

Continue reading “Arizona companies building tech to reduce carbon emissions”