The Arizona Community Foundation, Phoenix, the Desert Botanical Garden and ASU are teaming up to attract more investments in extreme heat mitigation in the Valley. Phoenix residents will soon be paying more for trash and recycling, with collection fees increasing by $14 over the next three years. The federal government has a new plan to prop up water levels in Lake Powell. Plus the latest Fronteras Desk, metro Phoenix, politics, business and tribal natural resources news.
Transcript
TIARA VIAN: This is KJZZ, your news and information station in Phoenix and across Arizona. I'm Tiara Vian and here are this week's stories you don't want to miss.
This is the podcast that's designed to catch you up on some highlights from around the region. Thanks for listening. Here are a few of the stories for the week of April 20, 2026.
Phoenix residents will soon be paying more for trash and recycling, with collection fees increasing by $14 over the next three years. Greg Hahne has more on Wednesday's City Council vote.
GREG HAHNE: That increase means monthly solid waste collection fees will jump to more than $51 a month by July 2028, a 38% increase. City staff had initially proposed a $17 monthly increase for trash and recycling but landed on the final rate after a series of public meetings. Annual bumps will be tied to inflation starting in 2029.
FELIPE MORENO: To again control costs incrementally, if needed, and to maintain or mitigate the need for large spikes.
GREG HAHNE: Public Works Director Felipe Moreno told City Council that staffing, vehicle and maintenance costs have jumped by double digits since 2020. That has put the solid waste division on the verge of an expected $21 million budget shortfall this fiscal year. The council voted 8 to 1. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In tribal natural resources, Earth Day is April 22nd, and earlier this month, the Colorado nonprofit EcoFlight came to Arizona as part of its annual aerial education program, Flight Across America. A cohort of college students soared through the skies for an environmental tour of endangered landscapes across the West. Gabriel Pietrorazio took flight with them and has this report.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: On the Tucson International Airport tarmac, a fleet of three Cessna 210s taxi for takeoff. Manufacturers ceased production of this six-seater model four decades ago. But these very planes have lately been the college students' main mode of transport. Their four-day adventure across the Grand Canyon State kicked off in Flagstaff. From there, they went to Page, followed by Cottonwood, then Buckeye, and finally Tucson.
KIMMALE ANDERSON: And I am in awe of just what the world looks like from a bird's eye view.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Back on the ground, 23-year-old Kimmale Anderson reflects on her ride. She is from the Hopi village of Kykotsmovi and a senior majoring in environmental science at Fort Lewis College in Colorado. Kimmale Anderson and seven more students met tribes along the way. While here in Tucson, Tohono O'odham Vice Chairwoman Carla Johnson joined her and the rest.
KIMMALE ANDERSON: These leaders coming and being with us in these planes and giving their perspective is very powerful. And I think that they don't really speak for all of their people, and I appreciate the fact that they always express that.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: ASU data science junior Sophia Honahni is Diné, Hopi, and from Tuba City.
SOPHIA HONAHNI: They had a lot to share, coming from both a Western science and a traditional ecological knowledge perspective.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Eager high schoolers were the first to learn about the land from above through Flight Across America until the nonprofit EcoFlight shifted its attention to career-bound college students who could make the most meaningful change in areas of conservation. This opportunity can, in part, be credited to one of the nation's most popular folk singers.
JOHN DENVER (singing): Almost heaven, West Virginia...
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: That's right, the John Denver. Born in Roswell, New Mexico, the son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel would follow in his father's footsteps by becoming an amateur aviator. This passion for piloting and astronomy only grew when he moved to spend much of his life in this snowy Colorado city.
John Denver (singing): I think on my home star would be in Aspen, all my friends and the snow-covered hills...
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Aspen is also where Bruce Gordon founded EcoFlight.
Bruce Gordon: My good friend, John Denver. You're old enough to know who he is.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Bruce Gordon was one of the pilots that ferried students around Arizona.
Bruce Gordon: And I laugh like that because even a number of the students we just had, maybe a third raised their hand.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: From the cockpit, Bruce Gordon and John Denver logged lots of flight hours while bonding over nature and the outdoors, also coming up with the concept of conservation aviation. Flight Across America was their brainchild for Earth Day 2000.
Bruce Gordon: This idea sort of came to a huge fizzle when he passed away.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: In 1997, the eight-time platinum album recording artist crashed an experimental plane into California's Monterey Bay. Bruce Gordon dedicated the maiden Flight Across America voyage in 2004 to John Denver's memory. About 180 students have taken to the skies of the West since then. It's something Bruce Gordon thinks would have inspired John Denver, too.
Bruce Gordon: Listening to these kids on this trip, pretty eye-opening. It is every year. Yeah, he would have really been excited about this, getting up in the air, get the people involved, because that was one of his main loves, for sure.
John Denver (singing): Though he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly... Rocky Mountain High...
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: For KJZZ News, I'm Gabriel Pietrorazio, reporting from Tucson.
TIARA VIAN: And this is the stories you don't want to miss podcast. Thanks for listening.
UNNAMED HOST: Rio Salado College is hosting a community conversation on the future of affordable housing. Join industry leaders, innovators and local voices to explore new ideas shaping housing in our region. The event is Thursday, April 30th. Learn more at riosalado.edu/futurehousing.
TIARA VIAN: In politics news. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego says she wants to entice investors into making the Valley a quantum computing hub. As Greg Hahne reports, the announcement came in her State of the City speech on Tuesday.
GREG HAHNE: Quantum computing is a technology that uses principles of theoretical physics to solve problems that are too complex for current computers. Mayor Kate Gallego said the technology will be a platform to ensure continued economic growth for the city, as Phoenix has already attracted semiconductor facilities like TSMC.
KATE GALLEGO: This is a powerful signal that Phoenix is not just participating in the future of quantum technology. We have the potential to become the place where it takes root.
GREG HAHNE: The initiative to attract investment will be led by former National Science Foundation Director and ASU professor Sethuraman Panchanathan. Kate Gallego touted other city developments, such as drawing new corporate headquarters and water resource advances. Kate Gallego says she also wants to make room in the city budget to help families apply for food stamps as almost half a million Arizonans lost SNAP access in the last year. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In business news. The Santa Rita Hall near downtown Phoenix has a new face thanks to renovation efforts by Chicanos Por La Causa. Matthew Casey recently visited the place where current and former labor icons made history.
MATTHEW CASEY: Voices echo inside Santa Rita Hall.
MAX GONZALEZ: You can smell the fresh paint. It looks fantastic from the last time I was in this building.
MATTHEW CASEY: Max Gonzalez is with CPLC.
MAX GONZALEZ: This was the birthplace of our organization, so we're proud of it. It means a lot to us, but we also think it means a lot not only to this neighborhood but to the history of the city of Phoenix.
MATTHEW CASEY: And US history too. Cesar Chavez held his final fast here in the 1970s. CPLC publicly denounced him the day the New York Times published its sexual assault investigation in March. The room where Cesar Chavez stayed won't honor him.
MAX GONZALEZ: Who knows how we're going to use it moving forward. It'll probably be an office or something.
MATTHEW CASEY: Other history made at Santa Rita Hall came from one of Cesar Chavez's accusers, Dolores Huerta.
DOLORES HUERTA: What happened here has gone really international. And when I say that, I'm talking about "Sí se puede," right? About "Sí se puede" because this is where "Sí se puede" started.
MATTHEW CASEY: That was Dolores Huerta in 2022, recounting her reply to those who said a law against farmworker unions could not be overturned. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In heat news. The Arizona Community Foundation, the City of Phoenix, the Desert Botanical Garden and ASU are teaming up to attract more investments in extreme heat mitigation in the Valley. Katherine David-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The city and partner groups announced they'll host a new conference to connect researchers and community organizations with funders. The last two years were the hottest on record in Phoenix. Anna Maria Chavez with the Arizona Community Foundation says tackling the challenges of an even hotter future in the Valley will come with a big cost.
ANNA MARIA CHAVEZ: All of us need to come together with one single goal, and that is sustained investment.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The two-day event is scheduled for early December. It'll be called the 122 Degree Conference, named after the hottest temperature ever recorded in Phoenix.
ANNA MARIA CHAVEZ says that record is a call to action to devote more resources to heat mitigation and long-term resilience. Katherine David-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: And this is the stories you don't want to miss podcast. In Fronteras news. Arizona Public Service shut off power Wednesday to nearly 6,000 customers in the Flagstaff area. Connor Greenwall reports.
CONNOR GREENWALL: APS says extremely rare weather conditions combining dry terrain and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour pose an elevated wildfire risk. Yessica Del Rincón is a spokesperson for APS.
YESSICA DEL RINCON: Our meteorologists normally see these types of dry conditions in June, and so now we're seeing them in April.
CONNOR GREENWALL: But National Weather Service meteorologist Carter Humphreys says these conditions are not atypical for April.
CARTER HUMPHREYS: You can never like rule out a stray gust to a stronger speed, but the majority of the area should see gusts in that 40 to 50 mile an hour range.
CONNOR GREENWALL: APS says this is the first public safety power shutoff event, but there could be more if conditions are similar. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In water news. Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir, is held back by a big dam in northern Arizona. After a record dry winter, the federal government has a new plan to prop up water levels. But as Alex Hager reports, some policy experts say it's only a short-term solution.
ALEX HAGER: Federal officials will send water from Wyoming and Utah down to Lake Powell. They'll also reduce the amount of water that flows out of Powell and into the Grand Canyon. Dropping water levels are threatening to cause infrastructure problems inside the dam in Page, Arizona, and shuffling water around will help keep the system running while a long-term plan is still in the works. Eric Balken directs the nonprofit Glen Canyon Institute.
ERIC BALKEN: This action that's being taken is a band-aid solution for a gaping wound because it's a short-term measure that does not get at the root of the problem, which is overconsumption of water.
ALEX HAGER: Leaders from seven Western states are under pressure to agree on a plan to reduce that consumption from the Colorado River, but their negotiations have hit a standstill. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: And finally from original productions. Phoenix has a lot of interesting history and some of it we even preserve. From KJZZ's The Show, here's essayist Robrt Pela on Mystery Castle.
ROBRT PELA: Here's a bit of news. For once, Phoenix's long-suffering crew of historic preservationists has scored a victory. Mystery Castle, that oddball stone and scrap fortress perched atop South Mountain, has been spared from demolition. Mystery Castle was a tourist stop owned and operated by Mary Lou Gulley, who lived there until her death in 2010. Her father had built the house for her in the 1930s using telephone poles, automobile parts, adobe, stone and whatever else Boyce Luther Gulley could get his hands on.
After his death in the mid-1940s, Mary Lou Gulley and her mother began offering paid tours of the place. For decades, visitors wandered its rooms, heard its stories and experienced it as a home shown by the woman for whom it had been built, rather than as a piece of Sonoran history.
After years of neglect and vandalism, the owner of this weird local landmark, who had inherited it from Mary Lou Gulley, threw in the towel. She boarded the joint up in 2024, sold off its contents and filed for a demolition permit.
Local outcry from fans of the place led to a new owner, who recently stepped in with a pledge to preserve Mystery Castle. The Harrell family of companies, which has been involved in other local historical preservation projects, has promised to rehab the castle and once again welcome visitors to its long-dilapidated walls. Cut to sigh of relief and nostalgic Facebook posts from locals who once toured Mystery Castle on a fourth-grade field trip.
The new owners have floated the idea of turning Mystery Castle into a destination event venue. Okay, but event venues are tidy. They're designed to be safe, rentable and photogenic. Mystery Castle was none of those things. It was precarious and eccentric, a folk art fever dream made by a guy who wasn't a builder.
How is the Harrell family going to turn that into an event venue? And if they do, will it still be Mystery Castle? I'm reminded of all the nice people in the world who buy old houses for their quaint charm and then rip out all the quaint charm and replace it with granite countertops and open floor plans and ceiling fans because, I don't know, why do people do this? Why not just buy a new house?
Mystery Castle isn't a stately Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece or even a Ralph Haver home. It's a folk art project made from found objects. To leave it untouched risks further decay, but to restore it risks erasing the very improvisation that made it meaningful.
And for the millionth time, wouldn't it be better if we just started appreciating and caring for our local landmarks, even the ones made out of bits of junk? I mean, you know, instead of waiting until they've been assigned a date with a wrecking ball before we step in.
A public forum about Mystery Castle is scheduled for early May, giving Phoenicians a rare chance to help decide if Phoenix wants to be a city that keeps its oddities or one that polishes them into marketable assets. Will the castle remain a public curiosity or will it become a private commodity with occasional public hours? Phoenix hasn't historically been great at managing this kind of preservation problem. It's better with clean slates made by knocking down old buildings and starting over again with an empty lot. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Mystery Castle and whether its resurrection as a destination will rob it of the very character that made it mysterious. For KJZZ, I'm Robrt Pela.
TIARA VIAN: And this has been the stories you don't want to miss podcast, made possible in part by the Katina Foundation and Basis Charter Schools, Palo Verde Generating Station, SRP and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Thank you for listening and for your generous support. I'm Tiara Vian. This is KJZZ. Listen more, learn more, online and on the KJZZ mobile app.
