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: Hey this is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix, on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman, your host for this podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. We have made it to Friday indeed, also the first day of May, on this May 1st, 2026. Thanks for being here and let’s get right into the news. Well, congressional Democrats pushed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Senate committee hearing yesterday to justify a proposed one-and-a-half trillion-dollar military spending plan amid the United States’ ongoing war with Iraq. Greg Hahne was listening in.
GREG HAHNE: Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly asked why such a budget was needed, and how long it would take to restock weapon stockpiles used during the conflict. The US has reportedly hit tens of thousands of targets in Iraq, diminishing stashes of sophisticated weapons. Hegseth told Kelly it would take months to years to replenish US ammunition. Kelly criticized Hegseth’s approach to the war.
MARK KELLY: The Strait of Hormuz is closed. The Iranian regime is in place. The nuclear material is still in their hands. Americans are being crushed by higher costs, and it’s not clear to them at all what the goal of this war is.
GREG HAHNE: Kelly sued Hegseth earlier this year, claiming the defense secretary has sought to punish the Senate for his political views. Neither mentioned the lawsuit in the hearing. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Meanwhile, Arizona Republican lawmakers now want to redraw the state’s congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that altered redistricting law. From the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez has more on that.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The ruling against a “quote” unconstitutional racial gerrymander in Louisiana could have repercussions here in Arizona. Senate President Warren Petersen says Republican legislators plan to file a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s congressional maps, a maneuver that could force Arizona’s independent redistricting commission to redraw those maps mid-decade.
WARREN PETERSEN: I mean, how they’d be different is you take out the — you basically don’t base it on race anymore. So you look at all the other factors except for race.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Traditionally, Arizona and other states redraw congressional and legislative district lines every ten years in alignment with new census data. Unlike other states where Democratic and Republican lawmakers have sought to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections, potential new maps in Arizona likely wouldn’t take effect until the 2028 election cycle. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The small town of Kearney, Arizona, in Pinal County says it has bought more time to solve its water crisis. The town was slated to run out of water in July, but local officials say that’s been pushed back to August or September now. Alex Hager has the latest.
ALEX HAGER: Residents have brought down water use by more than 30% over the past two weeks. Mayor Curtis Stacy says conservation efforts have been a big help in the short term, while the town works on a deal to secure more water in the long term.
CURTIS STACY: We’ve had a very positive reaction from, you know, the people that are in a position to help us, and we’re all working toward a viable and mutually agreeable solution to this.
ALEX HAGER: The town pulls water from the drought-stricken Gila River. There’s not enough in the river this year for Kearney to take its share. So the town could forge a deal with another user, like a mining company, farm district, or Native American tribe to use some of theirs. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A campaign backing a ballot measure seeking to reform the state’s school voucher program is accusing a rival effort of using underhanded and potentially illegal tactics to sway Arizona voters. We go back to our politics team and here’s Wayne Schutsky with that story.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Two groups are trying to put their school voucher reforms on the ballot in November. Protect Education Now, which is backed by the state’s largest teachers union, would make a number of changes, including restricting non-education purchases and putting in place an income cap. The campaign accused signature gatherers with a competing group called Fortify AZ of spreading misinformation and physically obstructing people working for the rival campaign. Jim Barton, an attorney for Protect Education Now, claimed that violates a law against using coercion to block petition signers.
JIM BARTON: Yeah, we’re seeing amped-up, you know, physically moving between the signer and the petition gatherer, you know, you know, sort of very loudly, you know, trying to interrupt the things that are going on.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Fortify AZ, which is backed by the pro-voucher American Federation for Children, called the allegations ridiculous in a statement. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: As the summer approaches, organizations that serve the Valley’s unhoused residents are seeking donations of bottled water. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Phoenix’s Downtown Hub for Homeless Services Key Campus expects to distribute more than half a million bottles of water to people in need this summer. Keys to Change will host Thirst Aid water donation events monthly through September. The first event is Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Kim Beaudoin with Keys to Change says donors can drive up to the campus to drop off cases of water and volunteers will be on hand to help unload cars.
KIM BEAUDOIN: This is a tangible, easy thing that you can do to give back and help out and support your fellow man.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Keys to Change also accepts monetary donations for heat relief and the organization is looking for volunteers to help out with the water donation events. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Mexico says its own attorney general will investigate drug trafficking allegations from a grand jury indictment in US district court against officials in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The charges are against ten current and former government and law enforcement officials, including the sitting governor, alleging they shielded cartel members for years in exchange for bribes and political favor. Vanda Felbab-Brown with the Brookings Institution says it’s a major escalation of US pressure on Mexico.
VANDA FELBAB-BROWN: You know, I think it’s a massive shot across the bow of corrupt relations in Mexico.
PHIL LATZMAN: Sinaloa’s governor and other defendants have denied the U.S.’s allegations against them and suggest they are politically motivated. Well, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office says a Phoenix policy restricting ICE’s ability to use city property conforms with the infamous state law SB 1070, which was gutted by the courts. As Matthew Casey reports, what remains requires cities to not limit immigration enforcement.
MATTHEW CASEY: The Phoenix regulation at issue means without prior approval from the city manager, ICE is banned from using city property as an operation base to stage units and to process people arrested. A state lawmaker claimed that this conflicts with Arizona law against restricting federal immigration enforcement. Now the attorney general says SB 1070 prohibits cities from limiting that enforcement, but it does not require cooperation beyond what federal law demands. The AG also says cities can constitutionally restrict federal government access to property. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Affordable housing is an issue facing communities across Arizona. 3D-printed houses might be an answer, but as Connor Grenwall reports, builders say they’re facing other challenges.
CONNOR GRENWALL: Tempe leaders from government, construction, and education met recently to discuss ways to develop affordable housing. Panelists discussed a wide range of issues and potential solutions surrounding affordable housing, including 3D-printed houses and addressing labor shortages. Eric Cylwik with Sunt Construction says labor shortages are the biggest contributor to rising housing costs.
ERIC CYLWIK: If I’m a developer and I’m going to build affordable housing or housing in general, I can either pay an electrician the same amount to build something that’s considered affordable, which a lot of people just equate to inexpensive, or I can pay the same wage to that electrician and build something that’s higher income.
CONNOR GRENWALL: Silwik says misaligned incentives towards profit interfere with community housing development. Connor Grenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well summer is coming, and for the third year in a row, the city of Phoenix will operate a 24/7 heat relief site. As Katherine Davis-Young reports, the all-hours cooling center opens today.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The city is once again leasing a warehouse building downtown on West Jackson Street for its 24-hour cooling center. Last summer more than 5,000 people sought heat relief here, and across Maricopa County last year heat-related deaths decreased about 30%. City Council Member Anna Hernandez says the round-the-clock services at this site are part of what saved lives.
ANNA HERNANDEZ: Expanding access to safe, climate resilient public spaces is not optional, it is our responsibility. One heat death is one too many.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The site will be open through September. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, baseball, Diamondbacks lose two of three in Milwaukee. They were blown out again by the Brewers 13-1 yesterday in the series finale. Starter Mike Soroka took much of the brunt; he gave up eight early runs for his first loss in five decisions this season. The good news is Arizona’s Eldemaro Vargas went 2 for 4. He’s now hit safely in each of his 23 games played this season. He has a 26-game overall streak dating back to last season. He’ll try to keep it going as the D-Backs start a weekend series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs starts later this morning, Arizona time.
And that’ll do it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Friday, May the 1st. I’m Phil Latzman, have a wonderful weekend and we'll do it all again for you on Monday.
