KJZZ’s Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Transcript
Phil Latzman: This is KJZZ’s Sun Up. It's your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I'm Phil Latzman, back with you thanks to Bruce Drummond for sitting in these past few days. This podcast, brought to you as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team, welcome to a Wednesday. It's Earth Day, April 22, if you’re celebrating, and who doesn't? I mean, it's Earth Day. Good to have you here, and let’s get cracking with the news.
Arizona Congresswoman Yasamin Ansari said her family and staff have faced threats and online attacks since the beginning of the United States' war with Iran. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky has more.
Wayne Schutsky: Ansari, whose parents fled the Iranian Republic, has long accused the Trump administration of engaging in an illegal war in Iran, and she recently filed articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for allegedly carrying out illegal military actions, including a missile strike that hit a girls' school. In a statement, the congresswoman says "bad actors" have attempted to use AI images and lies to spread racist and sexist conspiracies about her staff and family, including false claims that Ansari and her parents are not U.S. citizens. Ansari says she expects to face criticism as a public figure and elected official, but denounced the attacks against her family and staff. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: Well, Phoenix once again earns a failing grade from the American Lung Association in its annual rankings of air quality across the U.S. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
Katherine Davis-Young: Phoenix is the fourth-smoggiest city in the U.S. according to this year’s report. That ozone pollution comes from tailpipe emissions, but it's made worse by Phoenix's heat and sun. When it comes to particle pollution, Phoenix is 15th worst in the nation. Melissa Ramos with the American Lung Association says Phoenix's hot, dry climate plays a role in that as well.
Melissa Ramos: Drought, catastrophic wildfires, dust from construction — all of this also contributes to our particle pollution burden.
Katherine Davis-Young: Poor air quality can contribute to health problems including asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancers. The EPA has recently rolled back several emissions regulations; the report warns that could threaten Americans' health and calls on policymakers to strengthen air quality protections. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: Arizona's water agency acted illegally when it created new water regulations back in 2024 which restricted home building in the Phoenix area. That was according to a court ruling yesterday. And also from the politics team, here’s Camryn Sanchez with details on that.
Camryn Sanchez: In November 2024, the Arizona Department of Water Resources produced data showing the groundwater basin around the Phoenix metro area had low groundwater levels. ADWR stopped issuing certificates to housing developments for new projects which rely on groundwater. The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona filed a lawsuit against the department, accusing ADWR of overstepping its authority by creating new rules. The agency argued it was simply using fresh data to update existing rules, but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney sided with the home builders. The rules are now invalid and ADWR will have to return to granting certificates to home builders the way they did before, even in areas with low groundwater supply. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: Gpv. Katie Hobbs is in a standoff with Republican lawmakers, refusing to sign legislation until they send her a budget proposal. But so far they don’t have one prepared. GOP lawmakers say they’ll have a budget plan ready sometime in the next two months. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan says there’s not much else to do in the meantime.
Priya Sundareshan: I mean, the governor put out her budget proposal. Republicans control this body. We will have input, but we generally, you know, need to know what the Republicans like or don't like from the governor's proposal.
Phil Latzman: Republicans criticized Hobbs for leaving the negotiating table until they present a budget plan. GOP lawmakers say their budget will conform to federal tax cuts and will likely slash the budgets of state agencies. Well, the Phoenix City Council is set to vote today on whether to raise trash collection fees each year through 2028. Greg Hahne has more on the proposal to offset a roughly $20 million budget deficit.
Greg Hahne: Current rates for residential trash and recycle bin collections are just over $37 a month. The proposal in front of the council suggests implementing annual rate increases over the next three years until they hit just above $51 every month. City staff have proposed the rate increase as vehicle and staff costs have skyrocketed since 2020, far outpacing the rise of solid waste collection rates. The city says if a rate increase is not adopted, then the Public Works Department would have to reduce its services. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: A report from a consumer advocacy organization warns that hundreds of hospitals across the country are at risk of closure or reduced services, including eight here in Arizona. As Jill Ryan reports, a prominent teaching hospital in Phoenix is on that list.
Jill Ryan: The Public Citizen report says the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which is slashing billions in federal funds for Medicaid and other programs over the next decade, is partly to blame. The report determined an at-risk hospital based on two years of net profit, plus the percentage of the hospital's payer mix that's dependent on Medicaid and other government programs. One of the eight Arizona hospitals on the list is Valleywise Health Medical Center. The teaching hospital says it's closely monitoring potential impact and proactively planning, though it did not get into specifics. Jill Ryan, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: The chief of the U.S. Forest Service is defending a sweeping plan to restructure the agency. But as the Mountain West News Bureau’s Rachel Cohen reports, concerns remain.
Rachel Cohen: Chief Tom Tidwell testified in front of a congressional subcommittee about next year's budget, but he spent a good portion of the time answering questions about the big reorganization his agency announced last month. Tidwell says the goal is not to push staff out, but to be prudent with taxpayer dollars.
Tom Tidwell: One of our facilities has no people in it, the plumbing doesn't work, and people saw it on a list and, "Oh my gosh, the facility's going to close," yet there's no employees even in that facility.
Rachel Cohen: Tidwell says about 500 Forest Service staff — about 1.5% of the workforce — would have to relocate under the plan, which will move the Washington headquarters to Salt Lake City. Some lawmakers said they didn't have enough information about the plan, including closures of research facilities and regional offices. For the Mountain West News Bureau, I'm Rachel Cohen.
Phil Latzman: A digital portal for submitting evidence is now available to attorneys and people representing themselves in probate cases in Maricopa County Superior Court. Judge Jeffrey Fish says the CaseCenter by Thomson Reuters increases efficiency and eliminates paperwork.
Judge Jeffrey Fish: It cuts that out completely. So, it's all digital, it's accessible by everybody. Whereas in the past, attorneys would have to bring notebook after notebook after notebook to make copies for everybody.
Phil Latzman: Probate cases involve the estate of someone who has died or the belongings and finances of someone who is incapacitated. Well, Axon executives gave tens of thousands of dollars to campaigns for lawmakers who pushed through controversial legislation last year to pave the way for the company’s new headquarters in Scottsdale. Once again from our politics team, here's Wayne Schutsky with that.
Wayne Schutsky: Last year, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers approved the so-called "Axon Bill," which effectively negated a citizen referendum that sought to block the company from building a new campus in Scottsdale featuring a hotel and apartments. Axon CEO Rick Smith and a political action committee funded by the company made contributions to 52 Republicans and Democrats in the Arizona House and Senate who voted for the bill. According to state campaign finance records, Smith and the PAC gave over $70,000 to those campaigns. Governor Katie Hobbs, who signed the bill into law, did not receive any contributions from Smith or the PAC, but Smith did give $4,000 to David Schweikert, one of the two Republicans seeking to unseat her this year. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: In Arizona's high country, nearly 6,000 homes and businesses in the Flagstaff area could have their power shut off today due to high winds. Connor Greenwall reports.
Connor Greenwall: Arizona Public Service announced it may shut power off in certain areas due to the wildfire risk posed by high winds. APS says rapidly changing weather, dry terrain, and extreme winds elevate the risk, and electrical equipment could start or contribute to a wildfire. Carter Humphreys with the National Weather Service says gusts could be as high as 50 mph.
Carter Humphreys: I mean, this is fairly typical for this time of year. We just get these systems that, like, pass through to our north and create some breezy to gusty winds as we head into spring. So, you know, 40 to 50 mph in the spring isn't really anything too uncommon.
Connor Greenwall: Humphreys says to take fire precautions, such as not parking on grass or throwing cigarettes out the window. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
Phil Latzman: In sports, basketball Suns will try to recover from a serious opening blowout loss in Oklahoma City tonight, game two of their first-round playoff series against the Thunder. The defending champs dominated the opener Sunday, winning by 35 points, 119 to 84. Suns head coach Jordan Ott was asked what he needs to do and the team needs to do to bounce back.
Jordan Ott: Our pressure and our aggressiveness defensively needs to be better. We only had three steals. So just some of the stuff that we do on a night-to-night basis slipped a little bit on Sunday, and know that they played really well.
Phil Latzman: Suns will try to get Devin Booker going after he took just 17 shots in Sunday's loss and hopefully will benefit from a couple of days off. Tipoff 6:30 PM Arizona time in OKC. The series comes to Phoenix for game three Saturday. Baseball, Diamondbacks lost at home to the White Sox 11-5 last night in Phoenix. Chicago rookie Munetaka Murakami homered for fourth straight game to lead the Sox, and for second straight night a D-backs starter was hit hard. Merrill Kelly gave up eight runs and took the loss. D-backs try to snap a two-game skid; they'll continue with the second of three against the White Sox this evening at Chase Field.
And that will do it for this edition, this Wednesday edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast on this April 22. I'm Phil Latzman. Enjoy this Earth Day 2026. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and we will do this again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
