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 is 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.
It is Tuesday, the 19th day of May. Hope the week’s off to a good start. And Tuesday's usually the most productive day of the week, they say. News is happening, so let's get to that first.
Well, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon reopened over the weekend after last year's devastating wildfires. Alex Hager reports that some businesses and trails are back, but fire damage there is hard to miss.
ALEX HAGER: The Dragon Bravo fire destroyed about 145,000 acres and a famous historic hotel. So visitors to the reopened viewpoints and hiking trails need to manage their expectations. Melinda Rush Marshall manages the Jacob Lake Inn, a hotel on the North Rim.
MELINDA RUSH MARSHALL: There is going to be fire damage. And I think for some people, that's hard to see. But what they're going to experience is seeing all of the range of of fire, you know, that you'll have low-intensity burn, medium-intensity, and high-intensity.
ALEX HAGER: Rush Marshall said she was surprised to see a lot of international visitors after increased admission prices to the national park. She says June and July are busy times on the North Rim, where it's about 20 degrees cooler than the Valley.
Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, damage from wildfires across the country costs hundreds of billions of dollars annually. As the Mountain West News Bureau's Murphy Woodhouse reports, new research shows that prescribed fires and other treatments can prevent some of that loss.
MURPHY WOODHOUSE: It's well known that prescribed fire can bring significant ecological benefits and help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. But a pair of new papers tries to put some dollar figures to the impacts. One of the studies found that over seven recent years, U.S. Forest Service projects helped communities avoid $2.8 billion in harm.
RODERICK STRABO: So for every dollar that the Forest Service spends, we find that the public saves $3.75 in property loss, smoke and health impacts from wildfire smoke and carbon emissions.
MURPHY WOODHOUSE: That's Roderick Strabo, lead author on both of the papers. But the researchers also found that not all prescribed fires and other projects are created equal. And in general, the research shows that the larger they are, the more likely they are to have positive impacts. For the Mountain West News Bureau, I'm Murphy Woodhouse.
PHIL LATZMAN: The state's utility regulators started its six-week hearing yesterday for Arizona Public Service's proposed 14% rate increase. As Greg Hahne reports, it kicked off with APS customers speaking in opposition.
PROTESTERS: No rate hikes! No rate hikes! No rate hikes!
GREG HAHNE: Protesters gathered outside the Arizona Corporation Commission office, speaking against the proposed hike. Ricardo Reyes is with Vets Forward and an APS customer.
RICARDO REYES: You can't move around and shop around for a different electric company.
GREG HAHNE: Data centers rang as a common concern among the speakers providing public comment. Blake Lister spoke before the commission.
BLAKE LISTER: Big tech’s data centers are using up more and more of Arizona's electricity, as well as demanding significant investments in new infrastructure, which as a result, raises everyone's electricity bills.
GREG HAHNE: The utility says it is seeking to set a specific rate for data centers and that the general increase is necessary due to rising infrastructure costs. The hearings are set to wrap in June and the commission's final vote is expected to come in December. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the number of people experiencing homelessness across Maricopa County did not significantly change this year. That's according to new data from the annual Point-In-Time homelessness count. Katherine Davis-Young has details.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The annual survey found about 9,700 people experiencing homelessness across Maricopa County this year, almost exactly the same as last year. And investments in shelter beds across the Valley appear to be making an impact. Matthew Finley with the Maricopa Association of Governments says the number of people in shelters increased this year, while the number of people on the streets dropped.
MATTHEW FINLEY: In total, that is 632 more people who were sheltered, and 640 fewer people who were unsheltered.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Even with little change from last year, this year's total is still far higher than pre-pandemic numbers. And other data still shows more people are becoming homeless across Maricopa County than are finding housing. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A Republican lawmaker investigating Medicaid fraud that started under the Ducey administration won't say whether she wants to interview the former governor or the head of the state's Medicaid agency. From the politics desk, here's Camryn Sanchez.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Republican Sen. Carine Werner has been hosting legislative hearings looking into a Medicaid fraud scheme which started around 2019 and has since resulted in numerous prosecutions. Werner says there needs to be accountability for people in state government who allowed the fraud to occur in the first place through AHCCCS, Arizona's Medicaid agency.
KAREN WERNER: No one is asking the question, who had access, was not paying attention, while billions of dollars flew out the door?
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: But when asked whether she wants to speak with former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and his agency head Jami Snyder, Werner said she doesn't want to sit and point fingers about who's to blame. She and other Republicans have accused Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes of not doing enough on the issue. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The nearly 1200-acre Hazen Fire in central Buckeye is contained, but the cause of that fire has been ruled unknown. During the fire fight, local officials also were putting out metaphorical fires online, as Taylor Griffith reports.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: On May 2nd, a brush fire ignited in the Gila River bed at Arizona State Highway 85 and Hazen Road. The flames stretched across state, private, and locally owned lands. City of Buckeye Communications Director, John O'Halloran, says the city flagged misinformation regarding its source, impact area, and evacuation orders, of which there were none.
JOHN O'HALLORAN: I mean we were seeing things from Bill Gates owned the land and he was behind the fire, to the city was trying to build secret data centers.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: AI-generated photos and videos of the fire were also shared. In a Facebook post on May 11, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management stressed the importance of gathering incident information from verified government pages when scrolling social media. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, scientists are urging Congress not to overturn the management plan for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument just north of the Arizona border in Utah. As Ryan Heinsius reports from Flagstaff, a Utah senator is looking to gut the monument's protections.
RYAN HEINSIUS: The group of archeologists, biologists, and others call the nearly 2 million-acre expanse an unparalleled living laboratory. They've nicknamed Grand Staircase "the science monument" because of its fossil record, ecological diversity, and cultural resources.
Last week, 150 researchers and science organizations sent a letter to federal lawmakers. They want Congress to reject an attempt to toss out the monument's management plan that governs science, conservation, recreation, and cultural protection. The effort is spearheaded by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who has long fought national monument and other public lands protections in the state. In Flagstaff, I'm Ryan Heinsius.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Dignity Health says about 700 jobs will be created when it builds a medical campus in north Phoenix where the Arizona Cardinals have broken ground on a new headquarters. Matthew Casey has details.
MATTHEW CASEY: The Cardinals bought more than 200 acres near Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101, which the team envisions as a mixed-use development anchored by the club's performance center and business operations. Now, Dignity Health says it is the first to join the project and has plans for a medical campus anchored by two buildings. Officials plan to offer a wide range of programs, such as sports medicine, specialized primary care and outpatient surgery. Phase one of construction is scheduled to start next year with opening anticipated in 2028. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A former Mexican state security official indicted by the U.S. on drug trafficking charges has turned himself into authorities in Arizona. It comes as Mexico freezes the bank accounts of all 10 former and current public officials charged with drug trafficking. From our Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Sonora, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the bank accounts of 10 former and current Sinaloa officials have been frozen as a preventive measure because of the bank's relationship with banks in the U.S., rather than because of any domestic investigation.
A U.S. court accuses the public officials, who include Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, of accepting bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. Rocha Moya is on leave from his post, but has said he's innocent.
Another accused Sinaloa official, the former state public security secretary, was arrested in Arizona last week after he turned himself in. Court records show he appeared in court in New York on Friday. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, baseball: Nolan Arenado hit his seventh career grand slam, Gabriel Moreno added a two-run homer, and the Diamondbacks routed the Giants 12-2 last night at Chase Field. D-backs matched season highs with 12 runs and 16 hits. Every player had at least one hit. Starter Zac Gallen had another good outing to improve to 2-4.
Winners of three of four, Arizona back at the .500 mark. They'll play the second of three against San Francisco this evening, at home again.
In basketball, the Mercury continue their homestand. Tonight, they're hosting one of the WNBA's newest teams, the Toronto Tempo. Each team off to a 2-2 start. Tip-off 7:00 PM at Footprint Center. So it'll be a busy night downtown with the baseball and the basketball.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast on this Tuesday, May 19. I'm Phil Latzman, thanks so much for being with us, and we will do it again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
