• Slug: BC-CNS-Fentanyl Report Graphic Short. 250 words.
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By Madeline Bates
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – The fentanyl and opioid crisis cost Arizona an estimated $58 billion for 2023, according to a Common Sense Institute Arizona report published Monday. The nonpartisan think tank’s report included the costs of fatalities, opioid use disorder, hospitalizations and border security.

The report analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arizona Department of Health Services and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, among others.

Continue reading “Common Sense Institute Arizona report estimates fentanyl, opioid crisis cost Arizona $58 billion in 2023”

• Slug: BC-CNS-SCOTUS guns abusers, 729 words.
• 1 file photo available.

By Sahara Sajjadi
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on Friday to uphold a ban on gun possession by domestic abusers – a ruling that came as a huge relief to victims’ advocates in Arizona and across the nation.

“When an individual poses a clear threat of physical violence to another, the threatening individual may be disarmed,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

The near-unanimous ruling to affirm limitations on Second Amendment rights defied the court’s usual ideological split. The sole dissent came from Justice Clarence Thomas, who had authored a 2022 ruling that vastly expanded gun rights on behalf of the conservative majority.

Abusers use firearms as “an intimidation tactic,” said Cynthia Rodriguez, an associate director at A New Leaf, an Arizona group that helps people affected by domestic violence. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to use them, but it’s a tool that’s used to show power against their victim.”

Continue reading “Supreme Court upholds gun ban on domestic abusers, defying its usual ideological split on Second Amendment rights”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Congress DCCC. 805 words.
• 2 photos and 1 file photo available.

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – The Democrats’ House campaign arm plans to inject $2.8 million into two battleground districts in Arizona, targeting U.S. Reps. David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani.

Both won by narrow margins in 2022 and Democrats are hoping the presidential race and concerns about abortion rights will motivate voters to put them over the top this time.

Democrats view abortion as pivotal to success in Arizona, where the state’s high court revived an 1864 law that enforced a near-total ban The Legislature repealed that ban but the issue remains top of mind for many voters.

“House Republicans are doing everything they can to chip away at reproductive freedom towards their ultimate goal of passing a nationwide abortion ban,” said U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), on a Thursday call with reporters. “We are holding Republicans accountable for their extreme anti-abortion stances. Come November we’ll take back the House of Representatives and defend our rights.”

Continue reading “Democrats spend big hoping to snag two of Arizona’s congressional seats”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Jobs Biden Arizona. 863 words.
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By Grey Gartin
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s unemployment rate fell in May to its lowest rate ever recorded, reaching a seasonally adjusted 3.4% and falling below the previous record of 3.5% recorded in August 2007, according to state data released Thursday.

The job boom has yet to translate into popularity for President Joe Biden, despite steps he’s taken to boost growth in manufacturing – a sector that’s seen some of the biggest gains. Polls show him trailing former President Donald Trump in Arizona.

Arizonans are sour on the economy, and pessimistic about their prospects if Biden wins reelection.

A CBS News/YouGov poll of likely Arizona voters last month found that only 17% expect to be better off financially in a second Biden term, compared to 45% if Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Continue reading “Arizona hits record low unemployment but Biden hasn’t seen political payoff from emphasis on job growth and workers”

• Slug: BC-CNS-VP abortion Phoenix. 440 words.
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By Morgan Kubasko
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris will mark the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling striking down Roe v. Wade in Phoenix, at a campaign event focused on abortion rights.

Arizona has been a battleground for reproductive rights, and Democrats see it as a wedge issue to drive up turnout and lure independents and even some Republicans.

Harris stumped in Tucson days after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total ban enacted in 1864 could again be enforced. Her latest visit comes nine days after the Legislature adjourned, ensuring its repeal of that Civil War-era ban cannot take effect even for a few days in the fall.

Harris will remind voters that Donald Trump named three of the six justices who overturned Roe, making him “responsible for overturning Roe and the chaos that has followed,” the Biden campaign said in announcing her visit.

Continue reading “Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in Phoenix on Dobbs anniversary, putting abortion rights in spotlight”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Undocumented Spouses Protection. 1085 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Benjamin Adelberg
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Migrants and their advocates welcomed President Joe Biden’s order protecting undocumented immigrants who are married to Americans.

Under the previous rules, migrants like Karime Rodriguez – a U.S. resident for 20 years – had to leave the country to apply for a green card. Her parents brought her into the U.S. from Mexico at age 2.

The order Biden unveiled Tuesday will let such migrants complete their paperwork without leaving home, spouses, children and jobs.

That will help roughly half a million immigrants who are married to American citizens, according to the White House. The policy change will also benefit 50,000 of their noncitizen children under age 21 who also would be granted an easier path to a green card and eventual citizenship.

Continue reading “Biden announces protection for immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens and their children, but Trump’s policies threaten to take it away”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Crane McCarthy revenge. 1224 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Eli Crane got $900,000 worth of support from Kevin McCarthy when he won his Arizona congressional seat in 2022, according to campaign finance records. Less than a year later, he was one of eight hardline Republicans who ousted McCarthy from the speakership.

Now McCarthy is out for revenge. Using his vast war chest and web of affiliated PACs, the deposed Californian is trying to knock Crane out in the Republican primary on July 30, backing a challenger Crane’s camp has denounced as a “puppet.”

McCarthy is batting .000 so far in his quest to punish the turncoats who joined with Democrats to push him out last fall, bringing the House to a standstill for weeks until Republicans settled on a successor.

Crane, a former Navy SEAL who left college in his senior year to enlist after the Sept. 11 attacks, is seeking his second term in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. The vast district encompasses the northeastern part of the state and includes Flagstaff, Prescott and parts of the Valley. He lives just outside it in Oro Valley.

Continue reading “Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s quest for vengeance faces test in Rep. Eli Crane’s primary”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Juneteenth Art. 600 words.
• 12 photos, video available.

By Stella Subasic
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Downtown Tempe came alive with vibrant cultural celebrations as the city hosted its annual Juneteenth Block Party Saturday. Organized by Downtown Tempe Authority, the theme for this year’s block party was Freedom of Expression. It combined history and education with immersive artistic experiences to showcase how art and activism come together to reflect on social justice and racial equality.

Event manager Tamar Burch, who recently moved to Tempe from Las Vegas, organized The Doorways art installation and worked on the block party alongside three other event managers to engage the community and support local businesses.

“Our role as event managers is to put on events that activate downtown Tempe,” Burch said. “We partner with the city to bring the community in and help the businesses down here.” Continue reading “Tempe Juneteenth celebration combines art activism with reflections on social justice, racial equality”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Abortion California. 590 words.
• File photo available.

By Morgan Kubasko
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court revived a near-total abortion ban adopted decades before statehood, Democrats in California sprung into action. Through the end of November, Arizona doctors can get temporary licenses to perform abortions in California for Arizona patients.

Arizona abortion providers and abortion rights advocates voiced appreciation for the neighborly gesture.

But so far no Arizona doctors have signed up, California officials say.

Continue reading “With 1864 abortion ban repealed, Arizona doctors don’t need emergency licenses in California and none have signed up”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Small Scale Campaign.710 words.
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By Lauren De Young
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A cheer of “Bingo!” was quickly followed by groans of disappointment and hearty laughter as a group of older adults played Biden Bingo on Thursday morning. The event was part of a new Joe Biden campaign tactic that aims to mobilize senior voters through bingo rounds, pickleball tournaments, ice cream socials and intergenerational chats.

Attendees at Biden Bingo at a Biden campaign office in Phoenix praised the event, saying that it was a more personable approach to campaigning.

“I love the concept because just sitting at my table today, I met people I had no idea were invested in helping to reelect Joe Biden,” said Dora Vasquez, executive director of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans.

Seniors for Biden-Harris is one of the latest attempts from the Biden campaign to target specific demographics. This month, Republican Donald Trump launched Latino Americans for Trump and Black Americans for Trump. This targeted campaign strategy has blown up in the past decade or so, according to Stella Rouse, a professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.

Continue reading “Joe Biden campaign tries to win Arizona seniors with bingo as Donald Trump campaign focuses on Black, Hispanic voters”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Abortion Ban Quirk. 650 words.
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By Sahara Sajjadi
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Arizonans nearly found themselves back in the 1800s.

A Civil War-era abortion ban repealed in May would have become enforceable on Sept. 26 – temporarily – if the Legislature didn’t adjourn in time.

New laws take effect 90 days after the legislative session. Through that quirk, unless lawmakers adjourned by June 28 the ban they had just repealed would be the law of the land, if only for a few days.

As a budget deadlock persisted, the specter grew that lawmakers would miss the deadline. Then, in a weekend push, they completed their work on Saturday night.

Continue reading “Arizona Legislature adjourns just in time to prevent repealed 1864 abortion ban from taking effect”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Missing Bullet. 1,886 words.
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By Xavier Brathwaite
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

A new investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University and The Texas Observer reveals San Antonio police lost a bullet after logging it in as evidence in the shooting death of an 8-month-old baby. The SAPD has a history of problems with evidence handling, the report found.

Eight-month-old Rosalinda Martinez died in April of last year after a July 2023 indictment says she was shot during a fight between her parents over a handgun. San Antonio police collected evidence from the crime scene.

Police arrested Ruby Mora and Alejandro Martinez, the baby’s parents, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless bodily injury to their child, according to court records. Mora was arrested on April 18, 2023, and Alejandro was booked a month later on May 7. Both Mora and Martinez are in jail and awaiting trial in Bexar County Court.

But San Antonio police have lost a crucial piece of evidence: a bullet.
Continue reading “How police in Texas lost a bullet tied to the shooting death of a baby”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Tribal Teacher Shortage. 680 words.
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By Alexander MacDonald
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Teachers have been in short supply across Arizona. Nowhere is that felt more than at schools run by Native American tribes.

Arizona has 34 such schools, plus 20 others operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, or BIE. Most of the tribally controlled schools are in remote parts of the state, far from towns or metropolitan areas. That makes finding teachers tough, and the pay and benefits tribes can offer – often less than other schools – makes it even more challenging.

Continue reading “Bill aims to ease teacher shortage at tribal schools by granting federal pensions to educators”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Congress Baseball. 690 words.
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By Amaia J. Gavica
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats took the field at Nationals Park with plenty of competitive drive at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, and with one unifying desire: don’t pull a hamstring.

Injuries were mostly kept to a minimum, except for egos left badly bruised on the Democratic side at the end of a 31-11 blowout Wednesday night interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters and climate activists.

The team in red, which included Tucson Republican Juan Ciscomani, enjoyed late-inning rallies fueled by so-so pitching and fielding by the Democrats in blue.

Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix delivered a few solid defensive plays as the Democrats’ third baseman.

Continue reading “20-run win for Republicans in Congressional Baseball Game with Arizona lawmakers in supporting roles”

• Slug: BC-CNS-DOJ Phoenix Police. 1,140 words.
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By Brianna Chappie
Cronkite News

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a report Thursday accusing the Phoenix Police Department of routinely using excessive force, including deadly force; violating the rights of lawful protesters; and targeting people of color.

The report comes after a nearly three-year investigation, which was initiated after a series of incidents raised questions about police conduct in Phoenix.

“Our findings today reveal very significant and severe violations of federal law and the Constitution,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, announcing the findings.
Continue reading “DOJ report says Phoenix Police used excessive force; agency calls out discrimination, ‘longstanding dysfunction’”

• Slug: BC-CNS-SCOTUS Abortion Pill. 1,000 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Morgan Kubasko
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court upheld access to a widely used abortion drug Thursday, tossing out an effort to take mifepristone off the market on grounds that the anti-abortion doctors who brought the case lack legal standing to sue.

The drug is used in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions available.

The justices – splintered ideologically in other abortion cases – all agreed that the doctors who brought this suit couldn’t show they’d suffered any personal harm from keeping mifepristone on the market.

Continue reading “Widely used abortion drug remains legal on 9-0 vote, as Supreme Court says anti-abortion doctors lack standing to challenge mifepristone”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Big Trucks. 720 words.
• Photos available (thumbnails, captions below).

By Isabelle Marceles and Morgan Kubasko
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Law enforcement from Arizona and other states descended on Congress on Wednesday, lobbying against a proposal to allow much heavier trucks on the nation’s highways.

Backers say the idea would improve the supply chain. But Jeffrey Hawkins, president of the Arizona State Troopers Association, warned that heavier semitrailers would endanger other drivers and lead to more serious crashes.

“We only have 63% of Phoenix filled, currently, with troopers,” he said outside the office of Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., following a meeting with him. “It doesn’t matter what part of the state it’s going to be. There’s less folks, so it takes us longer to get there, if we get there at all.”

Continue reading “Arizona troopers warn Congress that lifting weight limit on trucks will make highways more dangerous”

• Slug: BC-CNS-Cervical Cancer Test. 1,260 words.
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• Video available.

By Lauren De Young
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Dr. Gail Petersen Hock was making dinner for her family on a Friday night in 1982 when her OB-GYN called her.

“He said, ‘I want you to sit down,’” she recalled. “‘We found cancer in your cervix, and you need to have surgery next week.’”

“It was a surprise to me,” she said.

Continue reading “Breaking barriers and improving access: Providers hopeful that cervical cancer self-test will increase screening rates”

• Slug: NAGPRA-ASU. 4,350 words.
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By Sam Ellefson and Aspen Ford
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

PHOENIX – Thirty-four years ago, Congress granted Native American tribes a pathway to reclaim ancestors that were dug up, stored and sometimes displayed in museums. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) required American institutions to return them.

The road to repatriation has been long at Arizona State University. The university has made under 2% of its Indigenous human remains available to Native American tribes, among the lowest rates in the nation, according to an investigation by Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU.

Continue reading “Misplaced artifacts, inaccurate inventories and 2% of Native American remains returned to tribes: Inside ASU’s repatriation record”

• Slug: NAGPRA-UArizona. 2,850 words.
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By Reagan Priest and Christopher Lomahquahu
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU

TUCSON – In early February, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, took to the Senate floor to lambast 70 universities and museums for failing to return tens of thousands of Indigenous human remains and artifacts to the Native American tribes from which they were taken.

Schatz called the institutions the foremost offenders of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA, and accused them of having “done everything in their power to obstruct and obfuscate when confronted about their collections.”

One of the institutions Schatz singled out was the University of Arizona.

Continue reading “Low staffing, space crunch hobble state museum’s Native American repatriation work at UArizona”