With longtime Congressman Andy Biggs leaving to run for governor, two Republicans are running to replace him in Congressional District 5. As wildfires grow larger in the West, utilities are using a variety of strategies to get ahead of risks and keep the power on. New World Screwworm cases have been confirmed in more than two dozen cows, sheep and goats in Texas since early June, having made its way up through parts of Mexico for over a year and a half. Plus the latest metro Phoenix, tribal natural resources, business, and education news.
Transcript
TIARA VIAN: This is KJZZ, your news and information station in Phoenix and across Arizona. I'm Tiara Vian. 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 July 6th, 2026.
With longtime Congressman Andy Biggs leaving to run for governor, two Republicans are running to replace him in Congressional District 5, which spans from the East Valley into Pinal County. What started out as a race about Republican bona fides has turned into something else entirely, following bombshell reports accusing the frontrunner of sexual impropriety and other bad behavior. Wayne Schutsky reports.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: The race for the Republican nomination in CD5 started out as a competition to see which candidate could out-Trump the other, in a deep red congressional district where the president's endorsement carries enormous weight.
MARK LAMB: And I am endorsed by President Trump, Turning Point Action...
DANIEL KEENAN: So, I would tell the voters that I've always stood with the president through the good times and the bad.
MARK LAMB: ...top to it, so God bless President Trump for bombing those boats.
DANIEL KEENAN: But I think what President Trump has done is made the world more safe.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Last November, Trump endorsed former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who made a name for himself nationally through popular YouTube videos and television shows focused on his work enforcing the law in the state's third-largest county. Since that time, Lamb has spent much of the campaign posting more videos in support of Trump's key issues, like the SAVE Act, a controversial voter ID bill that is stalled in Congress.
MARK LAMB: I couldn't think of a more important time in our history to ensure that the people that are voting in our elections are American citizens.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Lamb's opponent is East Valley native and home builder Daniel Keenan. Keenan says he isn't phased by the endorsement.
DANIEL KEENAN: Look, he did endorse my opponent, um, but I am confident that I will be getting that endorsement as well, whether that's before the primary or after the primary.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Trump does have a history of changing up endorsements in Arizona races, and Keenan believes the president could do just that, claiming Lamb has not always supported the president in the past. For instance, Keenan says he believes Trump's debunked claims that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was the result of widespread voter fraud.
DANIEL KEENAN: Mark Lamb got in front of Congress and said he saw no fraud in our elections. Got on a Spanish-speaking television show and said, uh, that our elections were safe and secure. He also testified in front of Congress and said Donald Trump lost the election.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: And there are other headwinds facing the Lamb campaign. In May, the Arizona Republic began publishing an extensive series exposing allegations of sexual impropriety against Lamb, who is married, including that he regularly sexted with other women and engaged in other sordid behavior. Republican voter Dennis Poulin says he's read the allegations, and he thinks the behavior doesn't line up with the Lamb campaign's messaging, which pitches him as a family values candidate and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
DENNIS POULIN: Well, I have a philosophy of, in my life, that behavior never lies. So, if what you say and what you do is in conflict, well then, that's a problem.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Lamb's attorneys called the claims baseless but didn't refute the specific allegations, and the candidate himself has largely avoided the subject. He canceled a planned interview with KJZZ after the Republic published its first article. Lamb also did not participate in a June debate with Keenan, who accused his opponent of hiding.
DANIEL KEENAN: He's afraid to answer the tough questions regarding his recent disqualifying behavior.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: An investigation by Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller concluded that Lamb did not violate any laws after several women accused Lamb of using his powerful position to stop them from speaking up. Miller's investigation did not address the broader allegations included in the Republic's reporting. Beyond the sexting scandal, Lamb is also facing claims he doesn't live in the district. That's because his family recently opened up a ranch, complete with rentable cabins and event space, on 140 acres the family purchased for $3 million in rural McNairy County, Tennessee.
MARK LAMB: Owning your own food source, your cattle, growing gardens, chickens, eggs—honestly, that's the American way. We wanted to get back to it as a family. We want our g—
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: That's Lamb in a video with his wife on the YouTube channel they set up to market the ranch, which they say will help their family to supplement the income he's going to lose by ending his consulting business to run for Congress. But both Lambs claim they still live in Arizona and only plan to visit the ranch.
MARK LAMB: I'm going to be here when I can. Janel will be here when she—when she can. But our family is full-time here and really building this out. We're going to have cattle...
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Lamb won't say much about why he couldn't build that business in Arizona's sprawling Fifth District, which spans from the Southeast Valley into Pinal County. He only says he was drawn to Tennessee after winning the Buford Pusser Award, named after the infamous McNairy County Sheriff who took on bootleggers with a homemade bat and inspired the 1973 film Walking Tall.
BUFORD PUSSER: You know, ideas and realities are very far apart. One day you're going to see that, son. And if you don't, someone's going to point it out to you, clearly. You already have.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Pusser was a larger-than-life personality known for taking on crime with tough talk and bravado, whose mythology was later undermined by damning revelations about his personal life. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: For more information on this and other competitive races, go to voterguide.kjzz.org.
In science news.
As wildfires grow larger in the West, utilities are using a variety of strategies to get ahead of risks and keep the power on. Taylor Griffith learned how SRP is the first utility to use a common farming device to gauge fire conditions near their assets.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: It's already nearly 100 degrees in the Tonto National Forest at 8 o'clock in the morning. In another part of this lush desert oasis, the Sycamore Fire is burning thousands of acres of the same golden-green brush. Barry Johnson, a wildfire mitigation specialist for SRP, says he's multitasking during today's installation of moisture sensors. He also has to keep an eye on a major power line that's in the fire's path.
BARRY JOHNSON: We're in heavy communication with our operations back home at SRP, as well as with the fire liaisons at that fire.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Johnson stands near a sagging mesquite tree. Most of its bark is curling up and away from the trunk in large chunks. It looks thirsty.
Johnson fires up a generator that will power his auger—a large spiral drill designed for digging deep holes. The one he's digging will only go about two feet deep. Inside will go three soil moisture sensors made by GroGuru, an Albuquerque-based company that got its start in precision agriculture. GroGuru CEO Brian Henderson says farmers have many reasons for wanting minute-by-minute moisture analysis.
BRIAN HENDERSON: They want to closely monitor, "Are these plants healthy?" And they sometimes want to dry them out on purpose, uh, to enhance flavor. Of say, like, strawberries need to be dried out in order for them to develop their flavor. But you don't want to reduce your yield.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Now, their sensors could be critical in fighting fires in Arizona. Henderson says they'll help in two ways. First, the soil probes will continuously measure a water tension number for this section of the Tonto.
BRIAN HENDERSON: It's a bit scientific, but it's mostly, uh, how much water is in the soil available for the plant, uh, to—to pull up from the soil to use to maintain its, uh, moisture content where it's healthy.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Then, 30 more sensors attached to live and dead plants in the area will provide even more moisture data.
BRIAN HENDERSON: And that number is super important because, uh, wet plants don't burn and very dry plants, uh, burn very aggressively.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: SRP and GroGuru will repeat this installation across five more sites in the Tonto. The utility and NAU School of Forestry will receive 15-minute updates from more than 100 sensors. Johnson says that's incredibly fast feedback.
BARRY JOHNSON: Currently, the US Forest Service samples that twice a month, right? So, two times a month, they have a human come out and pluck this vegetation and get these weights and measurements.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: And it's exactly the kind of data that SRP could use on a day like today.
BARRY JOHNSON: So, we want to know the live and dead fuel moisture because we want to be able to predict how wildfire is going to spread and how catastrophic it's going to be.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Sally DiMento, NAU Forestry Professor, says the sensors will help with forecast speed and accuracy because they're literally on the ground.
SALLY DIMENTO: If we think about how wildfire ratings work right now, they're based on weather data, which is out in the open. And anybody who's walked through a forest or sat under a tree knows it's quite different than being under a tree.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Open-air weather information such as wind conditions and humidity levels are the basis for wildfire forecasts. But, fire scientists like DiMento want to know what's happening down to the root, because that's where the risks truly begin.
SALLY DIMENTO: When the soil gets too dry, below a point where the plants can physically pull it off the soil, that means the trees are going to be really, really stressed. Without any other water input, um, it means that the fuels dry out, the leaves dry out, the branches dry out.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: A recent study led by the US Forest Service and a group of Western universities confirms that natural fire risks, like extreme drought, are outpacing prevention efforts. Over the last three decades, the annual number of wildfires in the West has dropped by about a third, due to improved firefighting strategies. But, the fires now tend to be much larger and more devastating. That's because abnormally dry conditions have increased the amount of fuel available to burn. Johnson tells me these factors have made fires a bigger concern for power companies.
BARRY JOHNSON: SRP, like many of the other utility companies in the West, have expanded on their wildfire mitigation departments.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: They're investing in staff like Johnson, a wildland firefighter for 22 years, and on pilot programs like this one with GroGuru.
BARRY JOHNSON: When you can find a company or a device that can give you that data every hour on the hour continuously, uh, you—you know, that just speaks for itself how cutting-edge it is and how much more intel you can get to make more risk-based decisions.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Once Johnson wraps up here, he'll move to the high country to repeat the same installation in Payson's forests. If their partners at NAU can confirm the data in both locations is accurate, the pilot should expand to other areas. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: And this is the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast. Thanks for listening.
UNNAMED HOST: Rio Salado College, in partnership with ASU and Penn State University, is offering a free 12-week semiconductor manufacturing training. The next session begins August 24th. More information at riosalado.edu/veterantraining.
TIARA VIAN: In tribal natural resources.
Across tribal communities in northeastern Arizona, one in three homes does not have running water. Now, there's a proposal to fix that with federal law, and it has widespread support. But a few states are standing in its way. KJZZ and ProPublica teamed up to find out why, and Alex Hager has this report.
ALEX HAGER: In most American homes, getting water in your kitchen sink is as easy as flipping on the faucet. But not here.
Marilyn Tewa gets all of hers at this rickety windmill, which pulls untreated water from a well underneath this dusty, windy plain.
MARILYN TEWA: It's a daily thing for us out here to do this, and you know, other people uh, just don't really realize what we go through.
ALEX HAGER: This is life on the Hopi Reservation. Tewa is a member of the tribal council and still lives in the village she grew up in, atop a rocky mesa with endless views of the desert. Today, just like back then, water comes to the house in buckets.
MARILYN TEWA: We don't have any indoor plumbing, so we have to, you know, rely on outside Porta Johns. So, that's, uh—that hope that one day we'll be able to have all of these facilities that other people have in their homes.
ALEX HAGER: For the Hopi and two other tribes in the area, those hopes could soon become a reality, thanks to the proposed Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act. If it passes, Navajo Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley says the results could be life-changing.
CRYSTALYNE CURLEY: For me, it's not about green grass lawns or golf courses or swimming pools. You know, this is basically turning on a faucet and getting water to boil eggs for your children.
ALEX HAGER: The settlement is part of a long and complicated history. The Colorado River supplies water for big cities and farms across the West. Native tribes have legal access to about a quarter of its flow but lack the money and infrastructure to use it. This is a way for three tribes—Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, and Navajo—to change that.
BOO NYGREN: If we're going to operate and run like a nation, we need people that live on the nation, work on the nation, have their kids go to school here.
ALEX HAGER: That's Navajo President Buu Nygren.
BOO NYGREN: And without water, you can't do any of that stuff. So, that's how important water is.
ALEX HAGER: This settlement is a compromise. The tribes would agree to take less water than they might be legally owed, and in return, the government would give the tribes $5 billion. That would fuel the construction of a pipeline that could bring running water to thousands of homes. After years of work, tribal leaders say they're really close to getting it done, but there's a major hurdle standing in the way.
HEATHER TANANA: What the settlement is proposing is something new.
ALEX HAGER: That's Heather Tanana, a Navajo citizen and law professor at the University of Utah. She explains it like this. Over a century ago, the states that used the Colorado River were split into two camps. There's the Upper Basin—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—and the Lower Basin—Arizona, California, and Nevada. When it comes to sharing water, they rarely agree, and the Navajo Nation is stuck in the middle.
HEATHER TANANA: It straddles three states, and it crosses over, you know, this magical line that was created of the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin.
ALEX HAGER: The deal that would give the tribes water and money would also let the Navajo Nation lease some of its water from the Upper Basin to the Lower Basin, like fast-growing cities in the Phoenix area that are looking for every drop they can get.
HEATHER TANANA: That creates a little fear for some of these Upper Basin states that if we allow this to happen, what else might happen?
ALEX HAGER: That's the main reason why the tribal water deal hasn't gone through, because Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming are worried that it would set a precedent for taking their water and sending it downstream. KJZZ and ProPublica reached out to those four states for comment. Water officials pointed to letters they wrote to the Senate. The states wrote that they supported the idea of getting water to the reservations but still had significant concerns. Colorado wrote that downstream leasing would harm the "security and certainty" of the state's river access. But at a Senate hearing in March, Navajo President Nygren said worries about a new precedent are unfounded.
BOO NYGREN: There is no way for this to happen again because there is no other tribe besides Navajo in this position.
ALEX HAGER: So now, for people like Marilyn Tewa, who haul buckets of water to homes that don't have showers, sinks, or toilets, all that's left is to wait for a decision from policymakers that could make generational change.
MARILYN TEWA: We're at their mercy, and you know, begging for something which we are entitled to. I just hope that there—somebody up there will listen to us and help us out that we get this settlement passed.
ALEX HAGER: Tewa says she's hoping on behalf of her children, her grandchildren, and their children who haven't come yet. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, reporting from northeastern Arizona.
TIARA VIAN: This story was produced in partnership with ProPublica reporter Mark Olalde.
In Fronteras News.
The New World screw-worm feels a bit like something from a gory horror movie: a flesh-eating maggot burrows into the wounds of warm-blooded animals and lays eggs for the cycle to continue. The reality is screw-worm cases have been confirmed in more than two dozen cows, sheep, and goats in Texas since early June, having made its way up through parts of Mexico for over a year and a half. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky reports on the cross-border efforts to get the parasite under control.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Outside the ranching cooperative store in Hermosillo, saguaro cactuses stretch toward a bright blue sky. Inside, ranchers in white cowboy hats file in to order feed and buy supplies. The walls and shelves are lined with tools, saddles, and medicine.
VICTOR LOZAMA: Sueros, vitaminas, antibióticos...
NINA KRAVINSKY: Victor Lozama is the veterinarian who runs this depot for Sonora's Cattle Ranchers Union.
VICTOR LOZAMA: Todo lo que puede utilizar en un rancho, aquí encontrarlo.
NINA KRAVINSKY: One newer addition: a pamphlet at the checkout counter. On the front is a blown-up photo of a single New World screw-worm maggot, baring its signature mouth hooks, which look like little black fangs that it uses to bury into living animal tissue.
This Mexican border state, Sonora, directly south of Arizona, hasn't had any cases. But as the parasite has crept up from Mexico's border with Guatemala to the US-Mexico border over the past year and a half, the Mexican government has been trying to reach out to ranchers. It's provided many with kits they can use to collect samples of possible screw-worm maggots and send them in for testing, and it's provided ranchers with medicine to treat open wounds.
JULIO BERDEGUÉ: This needs to be a joint effort between government, state governments, and the ranchers.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Julio Berdegué is Mexico's former Agriculture Minister, who served in that position until the spring.
JULIO BERDEGUÉ: If you lose the—the trust, the collaboration of ranchers, you're dead. That's the most precious element of this.
NINA KRAVINSKY: If left untreated, the parasite can be deadly, and it now threatens the US's already low cattle supply as confirmed cases in Texas climb past 30. Screw-worm spread could raise beef prices from already sky-high levels. Its arrival in the US comes as the country's cattle herd reaches a 75-year low, even as demand for beef remains strong. The average US price per pound of ground beef has risen from under $4 at the start of 2020 to nearly $7 this year. Dudley Hoskins is an under secretary at USDA.
DUDLEY HOSKINS: Mexico is a critical partner in all this with us.
NINA KRAVINSKY: He says the two countries' agriculture departments have been in close contact as they try to beat back the northward spread of the New World screw-worm. The US formally eradicated the parasite in the 1960s by releasing sterile male flies into the environment. Those sterile flies mate with normal screw-worm flies to dwindle the population, and it remains what most experts consider the most effective tool against the parasite. But in the decades since, the sterile fly program ramped down until this summer, a USDA facility in Panama was the only one producing sterile flies.
PHILLIP KAUFMAN: Well, we don't want very many more of these infestation zones, or it's really going to stress the supplies that we have.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Phillip Kaufman is the head of the entomology department at Texas A&M University. The US and Mexico are now rushing to produce more flies. Late last month, they together inaugurated a production plant in Southern Mexico. It's that kind of collaboration between the two countries that Hoskins and Mexico's former agriculture minister Berdegué say prevented the screw-worm from arriving in the United States sooner.
ORACIO GÁMEZ LÓPEZ: Soy el ingeniero Oracio Gámez López...
NINA KRAVINSKY: Back in Sonora, rancher Gámez López waits at the union headquarters for a meeting with the union president. Ranchers say a nearly year-long border closure for Mexican livestock to protect the US from screw-worm has meant prices on cattle here have plummeted since so many more cattle stay in Sonora rather than be exported.
ORACIO GÁMEZ LÓPEZ: Mucho, fuerte, drástico.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Gámez López says that's had a drastic impact on his business. Ranchers like him say it's not fair that the stretch of border between Sonora and Arizona has remained closed, even though there've been no screw-worm cases here. The USDA says it's constantly evaluating to assess when to reopen the US-Mexico border to livestock. Gámez López is hopeful that the United States and Mexico will figure out how to eradicate the parasite again together, so the industry here can get back to normal soon. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
TIARA VIAN: And this is the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast.
In business news.
This week, the Arizona Corporation Commission unanimously voted to repeal its energy efficiency mandates for the state's largest utilities. Regulators say it will help customers save money. Supporters of the repealed rules say that's not totally true. Taylor Griffith reports.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The mandates adopted 16 years ago led APS, Tucson Electric Power, and others to develop efficiency programs that would reduce overall energy demands by 22% by 2020. This included offering ratepayers discounts for upgrading to energy-efficient appliances. Commissioner Nick Myers argues that developers today are building with energy-efficient appliances regardless of whether or not they receive a credit from utilities. Meanwhile, people who can't afford to upgrade their appliances are still required to pay for the program, essentially subsidizing rebates for others.
NICK MYERS: Maybe they get a $1,000 rebate from an energy efficiency program. Well, they don't have the other $9,000 to even buy that air conditioner in the first place, so they're not getting any benefit of the EE program, but they're still paying it out of their utility bills.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: He says that's because utilities will pass off costs associated with meeting efficiency requirements to ratepayers through surcharges. But Sandy Bahr with the Sierra Club says the claim that low-income residents are not benefiting from the program is misleading.
SANDY BAHR: Energy efficiency standards benefited all ratepayers, even those who weren't taking advantage of the programs. And for the Commission to say that somehow they're detrimental to low-income, uh, ratepayers is—is just outrageous and—and flat wrong.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: She said the Commission's own analysis showed that repealing the mandate could result in higher costs in the long term, because the incentive to upgrade is lost and older, less efficient systems could remain in use while energy demands continue to rise.
SANDY BAHR: The energy efficiency standards have provided, uh, about $4 in benefits for every dollar spent. And again, you know, the numbers are—are in the docket. So, that's something that, you know, we just, yeah, we just don't agree with.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The Commission also voted to repeal its renewable energy standards in March. These were adopted two decades ago to force utilities to build more renewables like solar and wind. Commissioner Myers said he and his colleagues campaigned on removing mandates like these because they lead to surcharges.
NICK MYERS: We see rules like this, or mandates like this, uh, largely as blank checks, and I think I've said that a couple of times. Anytime you tell a utility what they have to do, then they are basically guaranteed to recover on that. Um, if we don't tell them what to do, then they have to bring good programs to us and justify them.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Bahr says mandates like these are necessary, and part of the Commission's primary responsibility, considering APS and Tucson Electric Power are essentially monopoly utilities with little economic incentive to lower costs.
SANDY BAHR: We know energy efficiency is the lowest-cost energy resource. Study after study demonstrates that. Yet, instead of saying, "How—how can we update this, these standards, and do more to help ratepayers?" they're just tossing it out and saying to us, I guess we should, you know, rely on the good will of the monopoly utilities.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Utilities may no longer be required to prioritize efficiency, but many are still recuperating costs from prior initiatives. And some programs could remain in place at the utilities' discretion regardless of the vote to remove the mandate. The Commission acknowledges a complete elimination of efficiency-related surcharges would require a separate order. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In education news.
There are four candidates in the running to be the next Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. While the two Republicans are well-known names in state politics, the Democrats are both political newcomers. Bridget Dowd breaks it down.
BRIDGET DOWD: Republican Tom Horne is the current state superintendent. He also held that role from 2003 to 2011 and later served as Arizona's attorney general. In a recent primary debate, he billed himself as:
TOM HORNE: The only one in statewide elective office who's fighting for the normal against left-wing craziness.
BRIDGET DOWD: While in office, Horne has prided himself on empowering parents. He established a hotline allowing parents to report inappropriate content being taught in the classroom.
TOM HORNE: I am fighting hard against Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, DEI.
BRIDGET DOWD: Horne also accused his Republican challenger, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, of being on a DEI committee, which she has denied.
KIMBERLY YEE: I have fought, in fact, against, uh, those types of issues that distract from real representation on merit.
BRIDGET DOWD: Both Horne and Yee are proponents of school choice, but they disagree on how to cut down on misspending within the state's school voucher program. Yee says Horne has overstepped his authority by denying parents certain purchases for their children's education.
KIMBERLY YEE: These types of decisions with respect to what is considered and defined as educational expenses is done by the legislative authority.
BRIDGET DOWD: But Horne says:
TOM HORNE: If you're going to deny a Rolex watch, you have to do it right away. You can't wait a year for the legislature to act.
BRIDGET DOWD: Yee has suggested making changes to the online platform parents use to make purchases.
KIMBERLY YEE: Immediately upon an anticipated purchase, the system would know whether or not that is an educational item.
BRIDGET DOWD: Yee says she's running for superintendent because families deserve an education leader who will:
KIMBERLY YEE: Not only follow the law, protect school choice, and advance academic achievement, but also be able to bring that competence, not chaos, to the Department of Education.
BRIDGET DOWD: Yee prides herself on having a long history in K-12 public education policy, helping write early school choice laws and fighting to improve academic standards. On the Democratic side, Teresa-Laba Ruiz is a former educator who spent 25 years in the classroom.
TERESA-LABA RUIZ: I am the only certified teacher in this race. I think that's very significant.
BRIDGET DOWD: She says she decided to run after seeing Horne create what she describes as a culture of fear and misinformation.
TERESA-LABA RUIZ: I've never run for, anyway, political office, ever. But these times demand something different from all of us, and those who can serve, I believe, should serve.
BRIDGET DOWD: Ruiz says she will use her experience as an educator to restore respect to the profession by first taking down Horne's parent hotline.
TERESA-LABA RUIZ: Wasteful use of taxpayer resources on things like the snitch line. Imagine if I could end those and reallocate those resources in ways that will have a direct benefit on students.
BRIDGET DOWD: And she plans to use her experience as the former president of Glendale Community College, where she says she was responsible for a budget multiple times larger than that of the Arizona Department of Education. Challenging Ruiz in the Democratic primary is another political newcomer, Brett Newby. Newby introduces himself as a behavior analyst from a blue-collar union family.
BRETT NEWBY: I've just become upset and gotten angry about having seen our, uh, teachers have to work three jobs to make ends meet, delivering food on the weekends.
BRIDGET DOWD: He says his daughters, who attend public school, have seen turnover with their specialized reading instructors, and the state needs to fully and equitably fund its public schools so districts don't have to cut their support staff.
BRETT NEWBY: And if a teacher is in a classroom with 30 to 40 kids and they have 10 students that are, you know, below standard or just needing extra assistance, that teacher is not able to give them that extra support.
BRIDGET DOWD: Newby says that starts with having conversations with legislators. He also wants to see more resources allocated to rural districts.
BRETT NEWBY: Our rural schools are in dire need of, uh, facility upgrades, infrastructure. I mean, a lot of the schools in Arizona are older than I am.
BRIDGET DOWD: He says if elected, he'd also like to strengthen special education programs in public schools. Both Newby and Ruiz agree that the state school voucher program needs more oversight and accountability. Arizona's primary election is on July 21st. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: And finally, from KJZZ's The Show.
A researcher says the risk of a big earthquake along the San Andreas Fault should be top of mind. Here's co-host Lauren Gilger.
LAUREN GILGER: Bridget Smith-Konter is an NAU researcher who studies the San Andreas Fault, and her newest research is stark. Her research suggests the notorious fault is currently experiencing its highest levels of accumulated tectonic stress in more than a thousand years. I spoke with her more about it.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: These tectonic plates that keep moving, regardless of whether faults are slipping on them, and the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate push against each other at a rate of about 45 millimeters per year, so that's about two inches a year. And all this motion has to go somewhere. Now, the fault itself though, is a place where stickiness happens. The faults are locked in place and friction builds along these sections and accumulates this thing called tectonic stress in the surrounding rock, and that stress builds over time and eventually gets high enough to where the conditions are set for fault to not be able to hold onto it anymore and it breaks in an earthquake, um, and so in Southern California, we're looking at really a place for two different faults that kind of come together that make up the San Andreas. Um, the San Andreas has like a little sister called the San Jacinto.
LAUREN GILGER: Okay.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: And this is a little branch, um, in Southern California that we're sort of concerned about its interaction with the San Andreas and the fact that these two haven't produced an earthquake in Southern California near Los Angeles in almost 170 years, and that's pretty long quiet period for earthquakes.
LAUREN GILGER: Right, so it's sort of like a building up, like you're watching and your research is focused on, you know, finding out when and if we might be due for one.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: That's right.
LAUREN GILGER: And bad news, right? It seems as if that pressure is building. Is that what you're finding here?
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Yeah, so this is all based on, um, what we call a physics-based computer model. So, we designed this, this model almost 20 years ago, um, to study the San Andreas. But in this case, we're looking at a thousand years back in time of fault motion due to earthquake history. So, we have all this computer code and we need data to put into it. So, we fed data from past earthquakes into this model based on reconstructed geologic evidence, like stuff like, um, radiocarbon dating of displaced sediments in the crust, tree ring anomalies caused by past earthquakes, um, and we used all this to track how tectonic stresses build up and are released on the fault over time. And what we found is that the stress levels, um, in this area of the San Jacinto and San Andreas junction, they're really at a thousand-year high, um, where current stresses are really exceeding any level that we've seen throughout our simulation. And our simulation covers the entire San Andreas plate boundary from Southern California to Northern California, so...
LAUREN GILGER: So, things are building up. Tell us about this specific, uh, place in your research that you're looking at, which is the Cajon Pass, and its potential importance. This you describe as a, "conditional earthquake gate."
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Yeah, so it's kind of a new word in earthquake science. Um, it's basically thought of as like a barrier to earthquake rupture. So, at this point, we were asking the question, um, "Does this thing act as a gate where it can either stop a large earthquake rupture that's already happening in its tracks, or does this—this region allow earthquake ruptures to continue moving forward and cross the fault and onto another one, creating a much larger, more destructive event?" And so, this model really suggests that whether the gate opens or closes, whether this Cajon Pass acts as a—a green light or a red light to...
LAUREN GILGER: Right.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: ...to ruptures, that really depends on how similarly stressed these two fault junctions are at the time of rupture. So, it's really—the critical factor is not just how much stress has been built up on any one fault, but really how closely aligned these stress levels with on these two nearby faults are to each other. Unfortunately, we're in the current situation where it looks like both faults are highly stressed, and they—they kind of historically points to a joint rupture, which could be a bigger type of earthquake.
LAUREN GILGER: So that's the kicker, right? Like, this is the gate, it's the red light or the green light, and it looks like it could be a green light. I mean, I don't want to paint like a, you know, an action film picture here, but is that what we're looking at?
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Look like a green light, yeah. So, um, big, big breath here.
LAUREN GILGER: Right.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Um, okay, so what we can tell from this model is that the system is critically loaded. It's the highest point that we can tell from the earthquake record it's been in a thousand years in Southern California. Um, this doesn't mean that an earthquake will happen tomorrow, um, but what it does mean is that the system is loaded enough that it is significant to pay attention to and really ask yourself the question of not really if, but when. And we're not at the point where we can really predict exactly when and where an earthquake will occur. Unfortunately, that's just not part of our earthquake science portfolio that we're able to—to really give numbers on. Um...
LAUREN GILGER: Right.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: But we can estimate probabilities of significant earthquakes in Southern California, and we can plan and prepare ahead for what that looks like for the people of Southern California. So, I can just throw a statistic out there. Um, the probability of a significant earthquake in this region in the coming decades is relatively high. Um, the US Geological Survey puts the chance of a magnitude 6.7 or larger on the Southern San Andreas at roughly 59% over the next 30 years. So, if you're going to Disneyland, Arizonans, in the next 30 years, just keep that in mind as you're picking your hotel and figuring out where you're making your pit stops. Um...
LAUREN GILGER: Right.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: But it's—it's nothing new. We've known that the San Andreas is a potential very big seismic risk all along.
LAUREN GILGER: Right, so I mean, this—this study, this research of yours that just came out is getting a lot of attention particularly in Southern California, which makes a lot of sense. I mean, I wonder if you can just speak to the importance of—of doing this kind of research. I mean, there's nothing you can do to prevent this from happening necessarily, but I'm certain there's a lot you can do in terms of preparation.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: I hate to use the term, "the big one," but we've all grown—we've all grown up hearing it.
LAUREN GILGER: Yes.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Um, and these results really reinforce what earthquake scientists have long been saying, that Southern Californians face a significant and growing seismic risk, and so now is the time to prepare. And so, for city managers and emergency responders, really the implication of this work is that for planning scenarios, they should really be thinking about including cases where we have these joint ruptures because that impacts more people. And they should consider this not just as a remote worst-case scenario, but as a realistic possibility given these current tectonic stress conditions. Um, for—for people like you and I, for the public, um, this means knowing how to prepare for and respond during an earthquake. Um, have an updated earthquake kit. Um, you should have a family and friends communication plan, and um, you should really familiarize yourself with evacuation routes. And we were all taught as kids to stop, drop, and roll during a fire.
LAUREN GILGER: Right.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Um, but uh, the earthquake community has gotten together and tried to message a different phrase for earthquake response, and that is, "drop, cover, and hold on." So, drop to the ground, make yourself as small and compact as possible, cover your head and neck, and hold on to something strong and sturdy, or try to get under a table or hold on to a chair, something um, and look out for falling debris. So, don't run out of a building, um, stay put and make yourself um, as small as possible so that you can—you can minimize the impacts of shaking.
LAUREN GILGER: So if we're looking at, quote-unquote, "the big one," right, Bridget? I mean, would this be something that impacts us here in Arizona?
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: We could easily feel shaking here in, um, in Arizona, certainly our friends in Yuma will feel the impacts. Um, but it's really those 20 million people in Southern California, right around Los Angeles and San Diego, um, that would feel the largest brunt of this hypothetical but certainly reasonable large earthquake that could occur.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah, okay, we'll leave it there. Bridget Smith-Konter, professor at NAU School of Earth and Sustainability, part of their Radian Center for Remote Sensing there at NAU. Bridget, thank you for coming on, thanks for all of the details here, this is, you know, scary but important stuff.
BRIDGET SMITH-KONTER: Thank you, Lauren. It's been a pleasure.
TIARA VIAN: And this has been the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast, made possible in part by the Katina Foundation, 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.
