Cronkite News
2,473 FOLLOWERS
Cronkite News is a multiplatform news organization. Cronkite News provides news, feature and investigative stories each week on issues critical to Arizonans.
Cronkite News
7h ago
April 24, 2024
Abortion law status remains unclear, even as lawmakers near repeal of ban
PHOENIX - As state lawmakers push to repeal a near-total ban on abortion, Planned Parenthood of Arizona confirmed Wednesday that it will continue to provide abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy "until the last legal moment." But when that last legal moment is depends on who's talking. Abortion opponents argue that the ban should have taken effect this week, while Attorney General Kris Mayes said it would not take effect until June at the earliest - and she would not enforce it then. It could take weeks ye ..read more
Cronkite News
7h ago
April 24, 2024
House votes to repeal near-total abortion ban; bill still needs Senate OK
PHOENIX – The Arizona House voted Wednesday to repeal the state’s near-total ban on abortion, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to reverse the law despite emotional rhetoric from anti-abortion lawmakers. The 32-28 vote came just two weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated the 1864 law that criminalizes abortion except to save the life of the mother, and it was the third try by Democrats to reverse that ruling. The measure still needs Senate approval before it goes to the governor, who h ..read more
Cronkite News
3d ago
April 22, 2024
Supreme Court turns down Lake, Finchem suit to ban electronic vote tallies
PHOENIX - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, apparently ending their two-year bid to block the use of electronic voting tabulation in Maricopa and Pima counties. Lake, the failed GOP nominee for governor in 2022 who is now running for U.S. Senate, and Finchem, the failed 2022 Republican nominee for secretary of state, had claimed in court filings the tabulating machines were susceptible to hacking. But a district court judge rejected those claims as hig ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 18, 2024
Abortion-rights advocates, opponents continue to spar, with eye on fall ballot
PHOENIX - While lawmakers inside the Capitol were jockeying over efforts to repeal a near-total abortion ban from 1864, advocates on both sides of the issue who gathered outside the Capitol Wednesday were looking forward to fights at the ballot box this fall. Hundreds showed up over the course of the day, carrying signs, handing out literature and manning tables in hopes of recruiting people to their cause. It came as Democrats tried - and failed - for a second week to repeal the 19th century law that ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 17, 2024
Republicans stall, but don’t kill, effort that would repeal 1864 abortion ban
PHOENIX – The Arizona Senate took tentative steps toward a repeal of the state’s 1864 abortion ban Wednesday, just hours after House Republicans blocked efforts to do so. Senate Democrats, with the support of Republican Sens. T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, were able to introduce a bill to repeal the territorial-era law that bans virtually all abortions, a law that was resurrected by the Arizona Supreme Court last week. That ruling is currently on hold, but abortion-rights activists have been scrambling ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 17, 2024
State asks Supreme Court to reject new trial for Arizona death row inmate
WASHINGTON - State officials told the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday that a lower court gave too much weight to mitigating factors when it ordered a new sentencing for Danny Lee Jones in a pair of brutal 1992 murders in Bullhead City. But Jones' attorney argued just the opposite. While conceding that Jones was guilty of "brutal crimes," including the strangulation of a 7-year-old girl, the defense attorney said a lower court judge "serially nit-picked" evidence of Jones' brain damage and abusive childhood to ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 15, 2024
Biggs ready for his day in impeachment spotlight, even if it’s short-lived
WASHINGTON - Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said he is prepared to tell the Senate, and the American public, the "historical basis" of high crimes and misdemeanors and how they apply to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. If he gets the chance. The Senate is expected to quickly dismiss articles of impeachment that will be sent over this week from the House, which indicted Mayorkas in February on two articles, including willful refusal to comply with the law and "breach of public tr ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 12, 2024
Harris, Arizona Democrats seize on abortion ban to blast Trump, GOP
TUCSON - Vice President Kamala Harris blasted former President Donald Trump Friday as "the architect" of new abortion restrictions sweeping the country, including the near-total ban that was resurrected this week in Arizona. The hastily arranged Tucson campaign stop came just three days after a divided Arizona Supreme Court ruled that, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, an 1864 abortion ban that was still on the books in Arizona was back in effect. "What has happened here i ..read more
Cronkite News
1w ago
April 12, 2024
Shaman sidelined: Chansley among more than 70 to miss signature threshold
WASHINGTON - Jacob Angeli-Chansley, better known as the "Qanon Shaman," will not be going back to Washington - at least not in any official capacity. Angeli-Chansley was one of more than 70 would-be candidates for federal office who failed to meet the April 1 deadline to turn in petition signatures to the secretary of state's office that were needed to get their names on the ballot. While that narrowed the field, it still left dozens of candidates who will compete in this fall's primary and general electio ..read more
Cronkite News
2w ago
April 10, 2024
Clinics vow to continue providing abortions, but unsure for how much longer
PHOENIX - One day after the Arizona Supreme Court resurrected a law that makes it a felony to perform an abortion, clinics around the state said they will continue offering care even as they scramble to figure out how long they can do so. The court ruled Tuesday that an 1864 law banning abortions in all cases except to save the life of the mother is still in effect, overriding a 2022 law that allowed abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy. But the justices put the ruling on hold to allow for legal challen ..read more