April 28, 2024 Should you focus on lawmaker effectiveness to cast your ballot? Voters, experts say yes PHOENIX – When he considers who to vote for, Gilbert small business owner John Webster looks beyond campaign positions, going so far as to create a spreadsheet listing candidates' bipartisanship, their success rate in passing bills and their opinions on the 2020 election. Webster concedes he is probably an "anomaly." Experts say more voters should be like him. With 10 of Arizona’s 11 congressional seats up for election this year, experts and voters are urging Arizonans to consider the range o ..read more

April 26, 2024 Year of Medicaid ‘unwinding’ cuts 600,000, but renews nearly 2 million on state’s rolls PHOENIX - One year after restarting the pre-pandemic review process for enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System cut coverage for 611,144 recipients and approved 1,953,301 renewals, according to its eligibility dashboard. The agency is continuing to review coverage for 1,892 recipients as of April 5. The nationwide review process, referred to as “unwinding,” cut the Medicaid rolls in every state. State agencies, like A ..read more

April 26, 2024 Star athletes and best friends: Basha’s Gabriella and J.J. Garcia share unique bond through sports CHANDLER – As the Basha Bears softball and track and field teams gear up for their respective state championship runs, one pair of sisters are cementing their legacy at the school. Gabriella and Juliana (J.J.) Garcia have been dominant in their respective sports. Gabriella, a senior infielder on the Bears softball team, recently committed to the University of Oklahoma softball team, the top collegiate program in the nation. Gabriella is currently batting .507 with 27 runs batted in ..read more

April 26, 2024 Golf It Forward aims to grow women’s golf, empower future generations through Marilynn Smith’s legacy SCOTTSDALE – When Debbie Waitkus published a story on LPGA icon Marilynn Smith following her World Golf Hall of Fame induction, it was supposed to be nothing more than a tribute to her golfing journey. However, 18 years later, that story has brought her to a place she never would’ve imagined the day she put the pen to paper. Founded in 2020 under Waitkus following the passing of Smith in 2019, Golf It Forward has been a cornerstone in the golf community, preserving the legacy of ..read more

April 26, 2024 Hockey hotbed: Arizona might have lost its NHL team, but the sport’s growth can’t be stopped PHOENIX – Kenny McGinley prides himself on being part of one of the first generations to play hockey in Arizona. Born in 1993, the current president of the Arizona High School Hockey Association was 3 when the first iteration of the Winnipeg Jets packed up and joined the Valley’s professional sports franchises as the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996. For many years after the NHL’s emergence in the Valley, there was great skepticism as to whether a winter sport like hockey could survive in an arid ..read more

April 25, 2024 ‘Fake electors’ indictment charges GOP leaders with felony fraud, forgery WASHINGTON - Eleven top Arizona Republicans were among 18 people indicted on felony fraud, forgery and conspiracy charges for their part in a plan to present themselves to Congress as the state's presidential electors and throw the election to Donald Trump. The 58-page indictment handed up Wednesday gives a detailed account of the plan by former state party Chairwoman Kelli Ward, current state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, and others, to keep Trump - identified as "Unindicted Coconspirator 1" - in o ..read more

April 25, 2024 ‘Opportunities are boundless’: Arizona’s pushes space sector’s growth through education, collaboration, economy PHOENIX – “Our opportunities are boundless, just like space,” Gov. Katie Hobbs told an audience at the second annual Arizona Space Summit in Tempe last month. Arizona is the fifth-largest employer in aerospace and defense manufacturing, home to over 1,250 supply chain contributors, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority. Sandra Watson, the authority's president and CEO, said Arizona has become the “global hot spot for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturi ..read more

April 25, 2024 The rise of Valley fever SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, Calif. – Valley fever has been infecting people in the Southwest U.S., Central America and South America for decades. “It’s not just (in Arizona). It’s also up and down the Western Hemisphere. There are pockets in Mexico, there are pockets in Central America,” said Dr. John Galgiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona. In 1891, a medical student in Argentina came across a 36-year-old soldier with a fungal-like mass on his right cheek and elsewhere on his body. A year later, a migrant farm w ..read more

April 25, 2024 Valley fever, a fungal disease endemic to the Southwest, disproportionately affects minority populations TUCSON – Daniel Sestiaga remembers being in the COVID-19 ward of a hospital in late 2020. He tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in June, then later tested negative, but he was still struggling to breathe and testing positive again by the end of August. After driving 60 miles to see his Indian Health Service primary care physician in Sells, Sestiaga said that his doctor took a chest X-ray showing pneumonia. His breathing became so difficult that he had to go to ..read more

April 25, 2024 Clock is ticking: Arizona Cardinals set eyes on NFL draft with fourth pick overall PHOENIX – Following the fast frenzy of free agent action that has taken place over the past few months, the Arizona Cardinals now have their eyes set on 11 total draft picks heading into the NFL draft. But it all starts with the fourth overall pick for a team looking to revamp and reload following a 4-13 season. Last Thursday, Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon took the podium to discuss their plans for the draft, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday. Wi ..read more