KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need ti start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ.
Transcript
PHIL LATZMAN: Welcome to Wednesday, this is KJZZ Sun Up, it’s your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman, good day, and we bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. As we roll over the hump on this 29th day of April, thanks for being here; and let’s get on with it.
The cities of Phoenix and Tucson are setting up a new system for sharing water with other agencies in Arizona. As Alex Hager reports, it’s in response to shrinking water supplies.
ALEX HAGER: Phoenix officials are calling it the Secure Water Arizona Program, or SWAP. It’ll create an emergency reserve of water and connect willing buyers with willing sellers. Max Wilson with Phoenix says big cities in Arizona have an interest in helping stop smaller cities from going dry.
MAX WILSON: Water insecurity on even the smallest communities in Arizona can have an enormous impact on public perception and economic development for all of Arizona.
ALEX HAGER: Proposed cutbacks from the federal government could deal massive water cutbacks to some cities in the valley as the region grapples with record low water levels in the Colorado River. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A federal judge threw out the Department of Justice’s attempt to force Arizona to turn over its voter rolls to the Trump administration. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky has more on that.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: The Department of Justice sued more than two dozen states that rejected requests for sensitive voter data. The DOJ argued it has the authority to obtain that information under federal law as it seeks to ensure states are properly maintaining their voter rolls. That law requires state election officers to maintain certain documents from federal elections and gives the Attorney General the power to demand state officials turn over that data. But Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes argued some of the requested information, including social security numbers, is protected by state and federal privacy laws. And US District Court Judge Susan Brnovich found that the exact information sought by the Justice Department goes beyond the records the AG is allowed to demand from state. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, for weeks Gov. Katie Hobbs said she would veto every bill sent to her by the Arizona Legislature until Republican lawmakers released their proposed state budget to the public. Well, Republicans released their proposal Monday, unveiling a plan that adopts a massive new suite of tax cuts and pays for them by slashing government spending. Now that the GOP proposal is public, Hobbs won’t say whether she plans to start signing bills again.
KATIE HOBBS: We’re monitoring the situation and waiting to see if they’re ready to engage in good faith negotiations.
PHIL LATZMAN: Hobbs says she has serious concerns about cost-saving measures in the Republican budget, including a 5% across-the-board spending cut at most state agencies.
Republican state lawmakers are using this week's budget votes to revive proposals that Gov. Hobbs has already vetoed, like imposing new requirements on people seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. From the politics team as well, here is Camryn Sanchez.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The budget bills advanced by GOP lawmakers through a committee hearing Tuesday make across-the-board cuts to state agencies. Savings Republicans propose using to pay for massive tax cuts. The GOP budget would also add new eligibility requirements to SNAP benefits and Arizona’s Medicaid program. With fewer Arizonans able to claim those benefits, Republican lawmakers estimate they’ll save roughly $180 million. Representative David Livingston says the stricter requirements will weed out fraud.
DAVID LIVINGSTON: This budget does ensure that people have to follow the rules of Access and SNAP and qualify, and if they are not eligible, they don't get benefits.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Hobbs vetoed similar efforts in separate bills sponsored by Republican lawmakers earlier this year, including stricter work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks for Arizonans applying for those benefits. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, this week the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management is taking the reins of an annual cleanup event to help protect Flagstaff communities from wildfire. As Jill Ryan reports, it comes after a local fire management team was disbanded.
JILL RYAN: Since 2017, the Bear Jaw Fire and Fuels Crew had annually removed an average of 1,400 dump trucks’ worth of debris like pine needles from Flagstaff homes and nearby surroundings. But due to what they said was funding limitations and staffing shortages, the crew was terminated. But the cleanup event is continuing. PJ Lingley with the state agency says the cleanup directly helps firefighters defend structures and lessens the safety risk.
P. LINGLEY: The number one risk to a home ignition in a wildfire situation is actually proximity to another structure, and so by protecting one’s home, it actually protects your neighbor’s home.
JILL RYAN: He says it’s unclear who will be in charge next year, but he’s confident the event will continue. Jill Ryan, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: US trade officials were in Mexico City last week ahead of an upcoming review of the USMCA trade deal. That is the treaty that keeps many goods that flow between the US, Mexico and Canada tariff-free. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: The trade pact that binds Mexico, Canada, and the United States is up for its first mandated review this July, six years after it replaced NAFTA under the first Trump administration. President Trump said the U.S. isn’t ready to reapprove the treaty as is, suggesting talks could extend past July, says Chris Sands, who leads the USMCA Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He says the uncertainty is taking a toll on the economy.
CHRIS SANDS: Businesses are not investing as much as they would normally invest in their plant and equipment, in upgrades, in hiring new people, because they can’t assess the risk.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Mexican and US officials said after a round of talks in Mexico City last week that formal bilateral negotiations between the two countries will start in late May. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: Gov. Katie Hobbs will not commit to sitting for an interview with Attorney General Kris Mayes part of the AG’s investigation into allegations the Governor gave a sweetheart deal to a group home for foster children. Yesterday, Hobbs continued to deny any wrongdoing.
KATIE HOBBS: I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this investigation, which I know will show what reporting has confirmed: that I was not involved in the decision and that DCS acted in the best interest of Arizona’s foster children.
PHIL LATZMAN: Sunshine Residential Group Homes donated generously to Hobbs and the state Democratic Party in 2022 and 2023. Later, a state agency director appointed by Hobbs awarded the company a steep increase in payments for its services.
Federal officials have issued a stop work order for a planned ICE facility in the city of Surprise. As Angela Gervasi reports, the order delays work on a $313 million contract awarded to the private company, the security firm Gardaworld.
ANGELA GERVASI: The company was set to convert a warehouse into a new ICE processing facility in the city of Surprise. But a stop work order was issued for Gardaworld last week, according to an online database maintained by the federal government. No reason was listed for the decision, and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Federal officials issued the initial stop work order last Wednesday. Two days later, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced she was suing the Department of Homeland Security over the ICE facility. Reached Monday, Mayes’ office declined to comment on the stop work order, citing pending litigation. That was Angela Gervasi reporting.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a water agreement between the city of Chandler and a public utility is enforceable and valid even after the utility pulled out of it eight years ago. As Greg Hahne reports, the dispute was over whether Chandler waited too long to sue the Roosevelt Water Conservation District.
GREG HAHNE: In 2002, the district agreed to supply irrigation water to Chandler through a contract intended to last 80 years. But the water district terminated the agreement in 2018. Chandler attempted to enforce the agreement multiple times and sued the district in 2022. The district claimed Chandler waited too long to file suit, citing a law stating all claims against a public entity have to be brought within a year. But the Supreme Court ruled that law had no bearing in this case, as there is a common law doctrine that removes statutes of limitations for state entities to bring lawsuits against other state entities. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix announced new resources for visitors with disabilities. Heard Museum Director of Engagement and Learning Programs Lucia Leigh Laughlin says the changes will allow more families to visit the exhibits.
LUCIA LEIGH LAUGHLIN: We want people to feel welcome here and I think having these resources, especially in advance of the visit, knowing that the Heard Museum, you know, is welcoming of visitors with all neurodivergence and different needs, knowing that that’s a space that we are expecting them to be here and want them to be here.
PHIL LATZMAN: Laughlin says the Heard Museum will offer designated quiet spaces for those with sensory disabilities and online resources so visitors know what to expect.
In sports, baseball: the Diamondbacks blown out by the Brewers last night in Milwaukee, 13-2. The Brewers broke the game open, scoring eight runs in the sixth off D-backs reliever Andrew Hoffman. On the bright side, Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas singled in the eighth inning and has now hit safely in 21 games he’s played in this season. Vargas extends his overall hit streak to 24 straight dating back to last season; it's now the third longest in franchise history. D-backs will try again tonight in the second of three in Milwaukee.
And that’ll do it for this Wednesday edition of KJZZ Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast on this April 29. I’m Phil Latzman, thanks so much for being here, and we will do this again tomorrow; enjoy the day.
