May 14, 2024 Rapid rise in syphilis hits Native Americans in the Southwest hardest From her base in Gallup, New Mexico, Melissa Wyaco supervises about two dozen public health nurses who crisscross the sprawling Navajo Nation searching for patients who have tested positive for or been exposed to a disease once nearly eradicated in the U.S.: syphilis. Infection rates in this region of the Southwest — the 27,000-square-mile reservation encompasses parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah — are among the nation’s highest. And Wyaco, who is from Zuni Pueblo (about 40 miles south of Gallup) and is the ..read more

May 13, 2024 Border sheriffs see more ‘load car’ drivers, teens paid to smuggle migrants WASHINGTON - It's a "scary" trend that border county officials say is getting scarier: Mexican cartels paying teenagers from throughout the country to smuggle illegal migrants across the state as "load car" drivers. "We've had them from every state in the lower 48 down here," said Robert Watkins, commander of the Cochise County Sheriff's Department patrol and special operations division. "We have 1,500 smugglers coming into Cochise County a month to transport people." Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot says t ..read more

May 10, 2024 Border shelters stave off ‘homelessness on steroids,’ but funding worries remain TUCSON - A Customs and Border Protection van pulls to the side door of an industrial building. Two federal agents get out and open the van's rear doors, revealing metal, barred gates that read "Inmate Transport." The first face to emerge from the van’s dark interior is a young girl wearing pink pants and a beaming smile. A man steps out next and carries her, and her juice box, toward the entrance of the shelter where asylum seekers get food, clothes, and a temporary shelter after being processed by CB ..read more

May 8, 2024 ‘No dull days’: Pages get front-row seats, help keep the Capitol running PHOENIX – They can be seen sitting quietly on the sidelines of legislative committee hearings in their blazers, striped ties and khakis, or bustling around the House or Senate floor delivering papers to lawmakers. These college students are the Legislature's pages, quiet but essential workers that one lawmaker compared to "the oil in a machine that keeps things running." Pages are college students hired by the Legislature to assist lawmakers and staff in running day-to-day operations. Besides working in commit ..read more

April 30, 2024 Succeeding by failing: ‘Virtue signaling’ runs high in the Legislature PHOENIX - They can't say they weren't warned. When Republican lawmakers pushed a bill that would rewrite state law to include "only two sexes" and specifically rejected "gender identity," Gov. Katie Hobbs told them she would veto the bill if it passed, just like she vetoed a similar measure last year. They passed it. She vetoed it, just one of 52 bills vetoed by the governor so far this year. Bills addressing immigration, abortion, and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI programs, are among the many that ..read more

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 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

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

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

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