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

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CN2Go Host: On today’s show we talk about Debbie Lesko’s announcement that she will not be running for re-election, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix’s recently-opened Mental Health Ministry, and how some veteran organizations have been left in limbo over a criminal case relating to bingo games and technology.

CN2Go Host: U.S. Representative Debbie Lesko announced on Tuesday that she will not be running for reelection in 2024. Lesko has been serving Arizona’s 8th Congressional District since her initial election in 2018. According to a statement from her account on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lesko stated QUOTE “D.C. is broken, it’s hard to get anything done” END QUOTE. Lesko said she wants to spend more time with her family, stating she spends on average three weeks out of every month away in D.C. Lesko said she will serve her role until the end of term in January 2025.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix offers ministry for mental health

CN2Go Host: Last month, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix held its second annual Mass of Remembrance for those who died by suicide. The diocese also has an Office on Mental Health Ministry, which has been open since December 2022 to provide support to those with mental illnesses or who are struggling with mental health. Deanna Pistono reports.

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DEANNA PISTONO: In Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral on September 10, 2023, white carnations were everywhere – in the hands of people in the pews, in vases near an altar of the Virgin Mary. As organ music stirred, Bishop Paul Dolan addressed those in attendance for this Mass, the second annual Mass of Remembrance conducted for those who died by suicide. For many here, including Bishop Dolan, the ceremony was deeply personal.

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<<BISHOP JOHN DOLAN: Mental health is something that’s, you know, it hit home for me when my brother lost his – took his life, or he died by suicide when I was in 8th grade… He just graduated from high school and that was back in the ’70s. And then my sister Therese and her husband died by suicide on Thanksgiving when I was in college. I can’t remember the years, but it was in the 80s, probably ‘83….And then my sister Mary, most recently last October, died by suicide… So what’s you know, was interesting is that those are three different points of journey for me, you know, when I was a child, when I was in college, and now as a, you know, a 60 year old, 60-plus-year-old guy.>>

DEANNA PISTONO: At the Mass, Dolan spoke about his sibling’s deaths, beginning with his brother.

<<BISHOP DOLAN: When I was in eighth grade, it was a different story. I wondered where Tom was. I wondered whether he was in hell. Thankfully, I had a wonderful, a beautiful Sister Mary Kylie, a Franciscan sister, who was a teacher in my school. And she said ‘Most assuredly not. He is in heaven.”>>

DEANNA PISTONO: Bishop Dolan co-founded the Association of Mental Health Ministers in 2019, a Catholic lay organization that seeks to provide spiritual support to Catholics living with mental health conditions or mental illness. Deacon Shoener (Show-ner) at the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who co-founded the association with Dolan, has his own connection to the work of the ministry – his daughter Katie.

<<DEACON ED SHOENER: Katie lived with bipolar disorder for many years, starting when she was a teenager and lived through it through her college years and bipolar disorder causes mood swings from very highs of mania to deep lows of depression and suicidality. And she lived well with this mental illness, but sadly, she died by suicide in August of 2016…>>

DEANNA PISTONO: Shoener wrote an obituary for his daughter, who was 29 years old when she died.

<<DEACON ED SHOENER: Apparently this short obituary spoke to the experiences of people that live with mental illness and those who support them, and many of the responses and comments we got back was about the need for the church to be more involved in supporting people with mental illnesses and mental health challenges. And I wound up hearing from a couple people around the country who were doing some things in this way of mental health ministry within the church and at the time, the Diocese of San Diego was the most active diocese in the country, which is where Bishop Dolan was at the time. So as a result, I got to know Bishop Dolan and we formed this lay association of the Catholic faithful. We’re doing it in accordance with canon law, and it’s been growing since then. We develop resources on how to develop mental health ministries. … so that’s what we do. And I’ve seen the ministry grow now around the world where we have members in about 40 countries now.>>

DEANNA PISTONO: In Scranton, Pennsylvania, Amy Morgan, who has long volunteered and worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, (‘nam-e) , found support from a mental health ministry through a support group for Catholics.

<<AMY MORGAN: I started going. And the peace that I felt, going there and praying and seeing other people that were Catholic and going through the same thing I am. It’s not refreshing. But it gave me some solace. That ‘I’m not alone’, even though with NAMI, the secular part, I know I’m not alone because we would have 20-30 people at a meeting pre COVID. But it was nice to hear, especially someone who always struggled with faith of course, with my history, why me? Why did God do this to me? Why did God let this happen? >>

DEANNA PISTONO: In Phoenix, the Office of Mental Health Ministry has been open since December 2022. Maricela Campa, the mental health awareness program officer, says that one of the office’s responsibilities, along with raising awareness, is educating clergy.

<<MARISELA CAMPA: We do have a foundational training that is using the Mental Health First Aid curriculum and it’s such a great curriculum. It covers a lot. It really is. It is and was created for anyone to sit through it. A parent, a teacher, a pastor. >>

DEANNA PISTONO: While the Office in Phoenix is still in its early stages, Bishop Dolan has a particular idea of its future, with trained clergy members organizing parishes or clusters of parishes into metaphorical wells for people to gather and find support.

<<BISHOP DOLAN: The bottom line is just let them have a place where they can converse and let them know that they have a place within the fabric of the church and society. >>

DEANNA PISTONO: Father Michael Reinhardt (rhine-hard-t), a priest in Lake Havasu (have-a-Sue) City, Arizona, who went through mental health first aid training from the Diocese of Phoenix’s Office of Mental Health Ministry, sees the potential of priests to engage Catholics more easily than mental health professionals in initial discussions related to mental health.

<<FATHER REINHARDT: It’s just a natural part of how people relate to you when they see who you are, it’s not so much who you are as a person. It’s about what you represent and the role that you represent. There’s a lot of… necessary processes involved in breaking down walls when you meet people in that capacity… a lot of… the trust… is just from the get-go part of the process.  >>

DEANNA PISTONO: Back at Saints Simon and Jude, the Mass of Remembrance ended with a prayer.

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DEANNA PISTONO: For CN2Go, I’m Deanna Pistono.

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State lawmaker, state agencies spar over regulation of veterans’ bingo games

CN2Go Host: A dispute over bingo games and technology has left some veterans organizations and non-profit groups in limbo. A state legislator has accused state agencies of targeting the groups. Meanwhile, a criminal case involving the company at the center of the controversy is scheduled for trial in the next few weeks in Maricopa County Superior Court. Kenneth Rasmussen reports.

KENNETH RASMUSSEN:  Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli claims the agencies are not following state law.

<< SEN. BORRELLI: “The last few years, we’ve had bureaucratic resistance coming from the Department of Gaming, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Liquor.” >>

KENNETH RASMUSSEN: Senator Borrelli said in a press release “At the center of conflict is state law regulating a specific technology used for their bingo games,” The specific technology identified were bingo-oriented slot machines. Borelli claimed these machines functioned as BTAs, or Bingo Technological Aids, which helped people with disabilities and were compliant with the ADA. Borelli stressed the importance of slot machines.

<< SEN. BORRELLI: “This has been the lifeblood for many of these nonprofit organizations.”>>

KENNETH RASMUSSEN: In a joint statement. the directors of three state agencies accuse senator Borelli of misrepresenting these slot machines as BTAs. The directors claim the machines which can be found in veterans organizations do not meet the legal definition of a BTA. The directors also say the machines are not regulated properly, which leaves them open to the possibility of unfair gameplay, potentially bilking Arizonans out of their hard-earned money. Borelli believes this effort against the slot machines is part of a power play on the Department of Gaming’s part to protect tribal gaming, due to it being a source of revenue.

<< SEN. BORRELLI: “Department of gaming gets all the revenue from tribal gaming. That’s how they function. They don’t get any operating budget. They don’t get no state money from their operating budget.” >>

KENNETH RASMUSSEN: According to state records, Borrelli’s claim about revenue for the Department of Gaming is not entirely true. Funding for the department comes from multiple sources including tribal gaming. Borrelli’s claims come in the wake of entrepreneur Greg Mullally’s prosecution in Maricopa County. Mullally and three associates are being prosecuted on 13 felony counts related to slot machines installed and maintained in veterans’ organizations. The charges were filed back in 2020. That case is finally set to go to trial next month in Maricopa County Superior Court.

In spite of opposition from the various state regulatory departments, Mullally seemed confident. In an interview with the Arizona Republic, the businessman said “I have no idea what the state wants to do, but they ain’t gonna run us off.”

Kenny Rasmussen, Cronkite News.

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CN2Go Host: And this was your CN2Go. Special thanks to Deanna Pistono and Kenneth Rasmussen for their stories in this episode. This show was hosted and produced by me, Kiersten Edgett. Until next time!

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