Celebrated sites in Arizona are slated to see a double border wall. The water level in Lake Mead is now the lowest it’s been since the nation’s largest reservoir was filled, about ninety years ago. The Arizona Healthy Schools Act recently took effect as students across the state filed back into classrooms. Plus the latest tribal natural resources, business, metro Phoenix, and technology 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.
It's the podcast 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 August 10th, 2026.
In Tribal Natural Resources:
From Joe Biden to Donald Trump, our nation's biggest political figures have found themselves increasingly becoming the subject of AI-generated satirical content. Even the sitting Navajo Nation president can't escape scrutiny. Buu Nygren narrowly lost his primary by a little more than 1,100 votes last month, and as Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, slings of AI parody could partly be to blame.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: With each passing day, it's getting harder to figure out what's real or a fake in our ever-evolving digital world.
BUU NYGREN: Navajo Times, the internet is making fun of me. Make 'em stop!
PIETRORAZIO: That's President Nygren sobbing outside of a Bashas' grocery store. But not really—actually, what you just heard was all made up. This lifelike clip is a deepfake, one of many that have been making the rounds within Diné social media circles for months now. Here's another one showing Nygren wearing a crown.
NYGREN: Re-election? King Buu does not need the peasants' permission to stay king.
PIETRORAZIO: All of this comes from Navajo AI, an anonymous satire account that started posting videos a year ago. The page has since racked up nearly 3 million views across TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube—so popular that the tribe's chief prosecutor penned a November op-ed against deepfakes. Verlynn Jackson Sr. made a pledge to, quote, "investigate, and if necessary, prosecute anyone who uses digital deception to harm our people."
KJZZ's many requests to speak with Jackson went unanswered, but his stern warnings haven't slowed down the creator behind Navajo AI. KJZZ has agreed to not use his name.
NAVAHO AI CREATOR: I do worry about old people getting confused about some of the videos because uh, that's not what I'm trying to do.
PIETRORAZIO: This middle-aged Navajo man who lives on the rez in Piñon, Arizona, says he's trying to poke fun at a scandal-ridden president, even through an Auto-Tuned diss track.
SONG: Digging a red clay overpainted desert, I found me a high chief who wore a funny black hat. Said his name was Buu Nygren and he was the president.
NAVAHO AI CREATOR: The album, I did that over a weekend. I put too much into the lyrics. I wanted like catchy hooks.
PIETRORAZIO: Some lyrics are subtle; others, not so much.
SONG: And I say [expletive] Buu, President Buu, [expletive] Buu. And all of his goons, he's a grifter and a crook. Look at his pockets full of loot. [expletive] Buu, President Buu.
PIETRORAZIO: While the First Amendment enshrines free speech in the U.S., that right is still up for debate in Indian Country.
TREVOR REED: Tribes aren't necessarily subject to the Bill of Rights. And so the question is like, what's the right balance?
PIETRORAZIO: Hopi judge Trevor Reed teaches copyright law at UC Irvine.
REED: Tribes are essentially able to make their own contours of whether they want to protect parody, and same thing with privacy and with your right of publicity. We need to at least have some breathing room for people to express themselves, but we also, I think as societies, we generally believe in protecting our own identities from misrepresentation.
PIETRORAZIO: Now, the Navajo Nation is trekking into this AI frontier and preparing for the tough conversations that come with it. A working group of Diné scholars and traditional practitioners may be assembled to give direction to the Tribal Council's drafting of a policy that could include labeling things like language, sacred spaces, and ceremonies as IP—intellectual property.
For now, the jury is out about whether copyright law will be used to stifle AI free speech. Here's Navajo DOJ Deputy Attorney General Katherine Belzowski.
KATHERINE BELZOWSKI: Will AI fall into that more traditional trademark situation where it's like, "We can use it as Navahos and create things, but we want to assert a right against other people using it"?
PIETRORAZIO: A few days after Nygren's primary loss, the man behind Navajo AI tells me that this was really his plan all along.
NAVAHO AI CREATOR: Hopefully it made a difference. We'll see how the new president is once they come in. I'm not sure who I would vote for yet, but I'm just hoping that they would do a lot better.
PIETRORAZIO: As for what's next, Navajo AI says he'll be watching and waiting to see who wins the general.
NAVAHO AI CREATOR: I might make some Buu Nygren videos, you know, for his way out.
PIETRORAZIO: Gabriel Pietrorazio, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
VIAN: In Fronteras News:
The Trump administration awarded billions of dollars in construction contracts last year—part of a megaproject to wall off the length of the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, celebrated sites in Arizona are slated to see a double border wall. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick takes us to an ancient Sonoran Desert spring in the crosshairs.
ALISA REZNICK: We're on a bumpy dirt road inside Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument leading to Quitobaquito Springs. It winds through ocotillo, saguaro, and the long, skinny arms of the national park's namesake cactus. Marlene Vasquez remembers making this trip as a little girl.
MARLENE VASQUEZ: We would go the old ways and come out right there by Quitobaquito.
REZNICK: Vasquez is in her 70s now, and she's Hia-Ced O'odham, a tribe that used to live at Quitobaquito. She would travel to the site to visit the graves of family members with her grandmother.
VASQUEZ: She would be doing everything to fight from them entering and disturbing that area, because that was her home.
REZNICK: The spring drains into a pond that now sits about 200 feet from the border. A 30-foot steel bollard wall was installed there under the first Trump administration, and now federal authorities are preparing to build another steel wall there—part of the so-called "smart wall system" made up of roads, lighting, and surveillance technology.
AARON COOPER: If a wall was constructed 200 feet north of the existing, it would be in the pond. It would be in the retention pond.
REZNICK: Aaron Cooper is with the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, a nonprofit in the nearby town of Ajo. He and Vasquez are some of a few dozen community members coming to visit the site before construction happens.
COOPER: We know very little. Information is not free-flowing.
REZNICK: A spokesperson says Customs and Border Protection will work with federal agencies to protect Quitobaquito, and the second wall will be built within a 60-foot stretch of land along the border called the Roosevelt Reservation. Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose says the new wall probably can't be stopped at the spring.
VERLON JOSE: The damage is done, and the damage will be done again with the secondary wall.
REZNICK: Contractors also plan to build a wall along the 62 miles of border inside of the Tohono O'odham Nation for the first time. A lawsuit filed by the tribe to stop that construction went to federal court last month.
JOSE: That's the last piece of area that we're trying to hold onto.
REZNICK: That's how protesters feel in the San Rafael Valley, a celebrated biodiversity hotspot southeast of Tucson, where construction firm Fisher Sand & Gravel was awarded more than a billion dollars' worth of contracts to build two parallel walls. Contractors tore down three cottonwood trees there in July that environmentalists estimate were up to 250 years old.
KATE SCOTT: How you doing up there?
REZNICK: Protesters like Kate Scott have been camped out inside the last remaining tree for over a week now.
SCOTT: We have a tree platform on the upper canopy of the last grandmother.
REZNICK: The big wooden platform sits high in the old tree's thick branches. Remnants of the other cottonwoods sit piled on the dirt road where big construction trucks barrel past.
SCOTT: I feel that our grandmother stands for our entire borderlands right now, and the destruction that's happening.
REZNICK: Back at Quitobaquito, the group is quiet as a pair of tribal members sing at the edge of the pond. The steel bollard wall from 2020 is stark against the orange light of the sunset behind them. Marlene Vasquez, the Hia-Ced O'odham elder, says standing here, she feels good—but she worries what will happen next.
VASQUEZ: We need to go ask for help from our Creator. Help us with our cause, because we can't make it without the water.
REZNICK: The National Park Service has closed the road to Quitobaquito in anticipation for new wall construction. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
VIAN: In Water News:
The water level in Lake Mead is now the lowest it's been since the nation's largest reservoir was filled about 90 years ago. Alex Hager reports its water flows to the Phoenix area plus farms and other big cities in the Southwest.
ALEX HAGER: The reservoir, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border, is about a quarter full. That's after two decades of climate change and drought, and policymakers' inability to cut back on demand. Jack Schmidt studies the Colorado River at Utah State University.
JACK SCHMIDT: In the near term, there is only one way to maintain water elevations, and that is to reduce consumptive use.
HAGER: Schmidt says the reservoir is only feet away from impacts to hydropower generators in Hoover Dam. The federal government is soon expected to release a new plan that would keep more water in Lake Mead by cutting the amount that flows to Arizona, California, and Nevada. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
VIAN: And this is the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast. Thanks for listening.
Every Wednesday, KJZZ offers up Hotspots to spice up your weekend. It's delivered right to your phone. Try something new or step out of the routine. Just visit hotspots.kjzz.org to sign up.
VIAN: In Technology News:
In consecutive weekdays, four Metro Phoenix police departments have announced queries into misuse of controversial license plate readers, also known as LPRs. Matthew Casey reports.
MATTHEW CASEY: A Surprise police officer is on paid leave and under internal investigation after an abnormality was discovered during an LPR system audit. A Chandler police officer resigned before a formal investigation was complete after their LPR account was linked to unusual system usage. In Goodyear, an officer is under criminal investigation in connection with a potential department policy violation that was also found during a system audit. In Apache Junction, an officer resigned after investigators said he improperly used the system to locate a family member. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
VIAN: In Business News:
Arizona's infrastructure is in need of some work. That's according to a new report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which looked at all 50 states. Kathy Ritchie has more.
KATHY RITCHIE: Overall, the state earned a C, the same as its last rating in 2020. The report looked at 11 infrastructure areas and found transportation, drinking and wastewater, and public service systems are in need of improvement. The report found much of it has to do with the state's growing population, hotter temperatures, more frequent wildfires, and prolonged drought conditions. And those challenges are further complicated by persistent funding shortfalls at the state level. Besides closing the funding gap, the report's authors recommend updating and maintaining existing infrastructure. Kathy Ritchie, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
VIAN: In Education News:
The Arizona Healthy Schools Act recently took effect as students across the state filed back into classrooms. As Bridget Dowd reports, districts say they started planning for the change last year.
BRIDGET DOWD: The law, which passed in 2025, bans public schools participating in federal meal programs from serving foods that contain certain additives and dyes. Julie Peterson is the director of Food and Nutrition at the Tempe Union High School District. She says after the law was signed, they started going through their menu and replacing some items with healthier alternatives.
JULIE PETERSON: A big one was Gatorade. So, a lot of the Gatorades that we served previously had some of the dyes in them, and Gatorade was able to reformulate those and take those dyes out and use a coloring that's based on a juice.
DOWD: She says some students have noticed the drink colors are not as vibrant, but for the most part, it's been a smooth transition. The changes also apply to treats brought in for classroom celebrations and daytime fundraisers, but not what parents send in their children's lunches. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
And finally, in Original Productions:
It's really hot when Arizona kids go back to class. Experts worry about schools' ability to handle the heat. Here's co-host Mark Brodie with more.
MARK BRODIE: Schools across the state are starting back up for the year. Some start this week, while others have already been in class for a few days already. And despite the relative cooldown to start this week, it's still plenty hot out, and many other parts of the country are still on summer vacation.
My next guest argues lots of schools are unprepared to deal with extreme heat, either inside the classroom or elsewhere on school grounds. Allie Polis is an associate professor in ASU's College of Health Solutions. She joins me, and Allie, schools go into session earlier here than in many other parts of the country, but at the same time, if they waited until after Labor Day as a lot of places do, it's not that much cooler then. So I wonder, does it make sense that schools start here when much of the rest of the country is still on summer break?
ALLIE POLIS: Yeah, it's a good question, and it's sort of a complex situation. After Labor Day, so generally here in Phoenix, we do see our highest temperatures in the months of July and August. And one thing that starts to happen after Labor Day is that even though we still do in Phoenix get, you know, high temperatures during the day, we'll start to see more cooling overnight. And that gives us a little bit more time just to acclimate. So, our bodies get a chance to rest and reset easier overnight when it's cooler. The morning temperatures are generally a little bit cooler, which when we think about how that might affect kids in school and learning, it might mean that there's more opportunities to safely and comfortably spend more time outside when we've had cooler nights and cooler mornings. So that's a consideration when it comes to temperature and the school starts.
BRODIE: So it sounds like maybe if schools here were to start a little bit later in the year, maybe like waiting for the bus or walking to school would be a little more comfortable, or you know, for the elementary school ages, if you had morning recess, maybe you could be outside, that kind of thing?
POLIS: Yeah, exactly. And even for our middle school, our high schools, I think it impacts them, too. Often times, the campus is open before school, so kids can enjoy the grounds. Often times, we'll have sports teams that are practicing before school to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. So I think it can impact kids in schools, you know, K through 12.
BRODIE: How big of an issue is air conditioning in school specifically in Arizona? Like, is this a problem that there are some schools that don't have functional or, you know, AC that is sort of up to the task?
POLIS: I'd say this is the number one thing that comes up when we talk to schools, especially schools outside of Arizona. So, Arizona is the only state right now that has a mandate for a certain temperature threshold in classrooms. So actually, our state is in a better position than many others when it comes to having air conditioning and functioning air conditioning. There are many other states and folks that we talk to in schools in other states where this is a huge concern because many buildings are older, many buildings were constructed during times when heat wasn't affecting the school years as commonly. And in fact, in some of the older buildings across the country and across the world, built with brick and other materials that actually traps heat and actually is more hot. So, not only do we not have a lot of schools that have adequate air conditioning, but they're not designed for even airflow.
BRODIE: I want to ask you also about shade, especially, you know, you mentioned a lot of Arizona schools are open, you know, you walk between buildings or you're walking outside to get from class to class, and the younger grades you have recess. How prevalent is shade relative to the amount of time that students are spending outside during the school day?
POLIS: There is not enough shade on school campuses, and one of the most interesting parts about this is that when we do have shade and shaded campuses, trees and shade cover is often located in the places where students are not the most active. So generally, on school campuses, you'll see kids playing hard, you know, in fields during sports practice or out at recess or on courts. And when schools do have shade and trees, we typically don't see those in places like fields and courts.
BRODIE: I would imagine that would be hard to like put shade over a soccer field, though. Like, you don't want trees in the middle of the field that students are going to run into or that would affect, you know, a game a school might be playing. But like, how do you go about doing that?
POLIS: Yeah, absolutely. So there can be—we are seeing more and more schools with shade coverings over courts. And then making sure that we have either treed or, you know, human-made shade structures available on the perimeters of fields where the kids who aren't playing, the coaching staff, the spectators, you know, at sporting events can be comfortable. And then also making sure that there's purposeful rest time where the athletes out in the sun get time to take a break, get in the shade, and hydrate. We visited a school a couple summers ago, and during recess, every five minutes, the staff person in charge of recess, the teacher, blew his whistle, and everybody stopped, they went to the shade, everybody had a water bottle, everybody drank, they rested, and then they went back and played. And they did that throughout recess.
BRODIE: Wow. When schools are looking to do things like that, I can't imagine it's terribly inexpensive to do. Like, how much of an impediment is the cost to make that happen, even, you know, for schools that want to do that?
POLIS: Yeah, so there's sort of a range of different things that can be done. So things like shade structures, especially, you know, permanent large structures, are very expensive. They're very cost-prohibitive. So it's not an easy thing for every single school to be able to do. There are some grants that can help support funding for shade structures. There are a lot of great community groups that can offer tree plantings to add tree canopy and shade to schools. But things like what I just mentioned—that school where they purposefully stopped during recess every five minutes and had all the kids and all the staff move to the shade and hydrate—you know, those are very affordable and easy strategies that can be incorporated into the school day, and that can make a difference.
BRODIE: What are the impacts of heat on how kids do in school, like how they actually learn and absorb the material?
POLIS: Heat definitely affects learning. So, there are studies, there is research that shows that school absence rates for kids are higher on days when it is hotter. There are some studies that show negative associations with learning, with test scores during hot days. Kids are more irritable; they're not as ready to sit and learn when it's hot. And just, you know, anecdotally and through conversations that we have with teachers and with principals, with parents, we hear that just kids are irritated. I know, you know, my own kids, when they come home from school after sitting all day because it's too hot to go outside, you know, they're a little nutty. They're ready to move around, they're ready to play, they have some energy to get out. They're not ready to just sit and focus.
BRODIE: Are you finding that there are places that are really just starting to think about this and try to deal with it now? Places where maybe heat wasn't a concern or as much of a concern in past years, but it's getting hotter there, and now they're starting to have to really think about it and try to come up with solutions?
POLIS: Yes. Yes, absolutely. I think what we're seeing now is that heat isn't seen anymore as an occasional disruption, but rather something that we need to be thinking about and planning for and incorporating into regular planning, just like schools do with so many other things every year.
BRODIE: All right. Allie, thanks so much for the conversation. I really appreciate it.
POLIS: Yeah, it was great to talk. Thanks for the opportunity.
BRODIE: Allie Polis is an associate professor in the College of Health Solutions at ASU.
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.
