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: Hi, 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, your host for this podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team and is supported by you.
And KJZZ works very hard to earn your trust. We’ve been through a lot together. You make the difference in our future with a sustaining donation to support the independent nonprofit journalism you rely on, including this podcast. Please make that contribution. It’s the last day of our new member drive, and we need to hear from you. Go to kjzz.org or call 888-774-9150. And thanks.
And it is Wednesday, May 13. Gliding over the hump, let’s keep it rolling by getting right into the news. A new poll shows water is the number one issue for Arizonans. From the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez breaks it down.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The poll was conducted at the end of April by a conservative firm called Signal. It asked respondents what their top issues are and what they want state lawmakers to prioritize in the state budget. It also asked whether respondents support Arizona having a Colorado River Protection Fund. Pollster Chris Lane says the responses are overwhelming.
CHRIS LANE: I have seen inflation and the cost of living and immigration and the border be the top issue in almost every single state in the country for the better part of a decade. But when introduced the idea of water supply and the Colorado River protection, not only does it stand out, it is the number one issue.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The poll had over 1,000 respondents from across the political spectrum. Water was the top legislative priority for Democrats and independents, and the second-highest priority for Republicans, after the border and immigration. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Pinal County leaders say the top local prosecutor having partnered with ICE is weakening his office’s ability to try local cases. Matthew Casey reports.
MATTHEW CASEY: The latest in a monthslong fight between the Pinal County Attorney and the Board of Supervisors is an open letter to residents from the board chair and sheriff. They allege that top prosecutor Brad Miller has hired staff for jobs that were never authorized, offered salaries that weren’t approved and used resources in ways that raise concerns.
The letter says prosecutors have 10 investigators, and when they’re diverted to work with ICE, they’re not focusing on local crime. Miller’s office says it looks forward to these issues being handled in court, where the sides are scheduled to appear on Friday. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Sen. Mark Kelly has called on his fellow lawmakers to reform the nation’s immigration laws to protect longtime undocumented residents who were brought to the country as children. Also from our politics team, Wayne Schutsky has more on that.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: At a press conference, Kelly criticized the mass deportation effort undertaken by the Trump administration, accusing federal immigration officials of targeting law-abiding citizens. He said Congress must act to protect Dreamers, or people brought to the U.S. as children, and pointed to the case of Annie Ramos, a military spouse detained by immigration agents earlier this year as she tried to check in at a military base in Louisiana with her husband. Kelly appeared with Ramos’s mother-in-law, who said the ASU student taught Sunday school and was about to graduate with a degree in biochemistry.
MARK KELLY: In what world does it make sense for us to focus our time and our effort chasing down and holding people like Annie? We should be chasing down serious criminals.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Ramos was released from custody in April, but the Department of Homeland Security says she still faces deportation proceedings. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A majority of people support using public lands to generate solar and wind power. That’s according to a new climate-focused poll out of Yale. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez has more on it.
YVETTE FERNANDEZ: The poll from the university’s School of the Environment found that 75% of people somewhat or strongly support the idea. Jennifer Marlon is a senior research scientist with the program.
JENNIFER MARLON: When you talk to everyday people in cities and towns across the U.S., they want stable energy sources. They want local energy. They want control over where the energy is coming from.
YVETTE FERNANDEZ: The Federal Bureau of Land Management’s renewable energy rule currently allows solar and wind development on public lands. However, the Trump administration last year announced it was walking the policy back, reversing the Biden-era initiative that gave, quote, “preferential treatment” to renewable energy projects. I’m Yvette Fernandez.
PHIL LATZMAN: In Arizona, 74% of those polled somewhat or strongly support renewable energy on public lands.
Arizona State University’s collaborating with TSMC in offering a free new professional program to train technicians. As Greg Hahne reports, it comes as the chipmaker is planning to expand its footprint in north Phoenix.
GREG HAHNE: According to a press release from the university, TSMC plans to hire more than 100 equipment technicians by the end of this year. Those techs are responsible for maintaining semiconductor equipment. Earlier this year, TSMC purchased about 900 additional acres near its current location off Loop 303 and I-17. The company says it will add new fabrication facilities, housing, and recreation areas. TSMC has sped up the timeline of its expansion as demand for the company’s advanced chips has skyrocketed from the ongoing artificial intelligence boom. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: This week, a film festival in Nogales is connecting both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border through cinema. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Tomorrow evening, Nogales movie lovers will gather not in a theater, but on either side of the border wall. For three nights, the Nogales International Film Festival aims to make that barrier a portal by showing films on screens directly in front of either side of the wall. The screenings are free for people on both sides of the border, who can see each other lit up by the glow of the same movie, says Francisco Landin, managing director of the festival.
FRANCISCO LANDIN: It just reminds us we’re one Nogales, we’re one people, we’re one culture, one community.
NINA KRAVINSKY: The Film on the Fence event will occur this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Arizona Senate gave early approval to a measure that would make it illegal for teachers to conduct union activities on school campuses. It would also ban unions from deducting dues from teacher paychecks. Republican supporters say they want to block public funding from going to union dues, but opponents say the resolution impedes on teachers’ rights to petition and unionize. Democratic Sen. Lauren Kuby spoke against the measure.
LAUREN KUBY: It does nothing about strengthening schools, which should be our main goal, but it just harms educator recruitment and retention, creating fear and instability in the workforce, an already strained workforce.
PHIL LATZMAN: The measure now awaits a final vote in the Senate. If it passes both chambers, it’ll go to the ballot in November.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says it’s charged its first-ever case involving child sex abuse materials generated by artificial intelligence. Matthew Casey reports.
MATTHEW CASEY: Last year, Arizona enacted a law that reserves the same punishment for possessing certain AI-generated sexual images of children as real material. Now, 44-year-old William Powderly has been indicted for having child sex abuse images, including two with a real kid’s face swapped onto images of another young female by AI. Prosecutors say the charges against Powderly stem from an investigation by Chandler police, who were acting on a tip. Online court records say Powderly has pleaded not guilty. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The legendary actor Harrison Ford delivered ASU’s commencement address in front of 14,000 undergraduates Monday, its largest class yet. The “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” star urged students to go out and change the world.
HARRISON FORD: Stand up for someone who can’t stand up for themselves. Bring people together who weren’t talking before. That’s leadership. That’s what moves the needle.
PHIL LATZMAN: Ford also reminded them to enjoy their time and to own it.
HARRISON FORD: Because what could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing that you haven’t fully lived it?
PHIL LATZMAN: Ford has also been a longtime champion of global conservation efforts, and in recognition of that work, ASU awarded him an honorary degree.
In sports, Mercury lose their home opener last night. They fell to the Lynx 88-84. Minnesota’s Nia Coffey made a wide-open three-pointer with 25 seconds left. Kahleah Copper scored 30 for Phoenix in a losing cause. The Mercury have now dropped two in a row. They’ll continue a homestand hosting Chicago on Friday.
Diamondbacks lose in Arlington to the Rangers 7-4. Another poor start for Zac Gallen, who allowed a season-high seven runs and knocked out of the game in the fifth inning. Arizona’s bats again went silent, managed just three hits in eight innings against Texas starter MacKenzie Gore. Bright spot for the D-backs: Ildemaro Vargas, who had a homer and two RBIs, and they’ll play the final of a three-game series in Arlington this evening.
And that does it for this Wednesday edition of KJZZ Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast on this Wednesday, May 13th. Again, don’t forget to donate to this podcast. We need your help to support it. Go to kjzz.org or call or text “donate” to 888-774-9150. I’m Phil Latzman. Enjoy the rest of the day and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.
