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.
KJZZ's Sun Up Transcript for May 28
PHIL LATZMAN: Hey, it's your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. KJZZ's Sun Up, welcome to it. I'm Phil Latzman. We bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by the KJZZ news team. It's Thursday, May 28th, weekend almost in sight. Thanks for being here, and let's hop right in with a check of the news.
Well, after a month-long delay, the Maricopa County Recorder's Office referred hundreds of alleged non-citizens it found on the voter rolls to the Arizona Attorney General's Office for further investigation. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky has the latest.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Earlier this year, Recorder Justin Heap's office used the federal SAVE database to identify over 200 suspected non-citizens registered to vote in Maricopa County. State law requires the recorder to refer those cases to both the county attorney and Attorney General for investigation. But for months, Heap resisted demands from the Arizona Attorney General's Office before finally turning over the records last week. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes accused Heap, a Republican, of playing politics.
KRIS MAYES: That's really not appropriate. He needed to be following the law, and it's uh, not a great sign uh, that he was not willing to follow the law for as long as he did.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: In a letter to the Attorney General's Office, Heap denied those allegations. The back-and-forth is playing out as Republicans and Democrats nationwide fight over the use of the SAVE database following reports that it is unreliable. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, much of this winter's snowfall has already melted, as federal officials are reporting record low snowpacks across the Southwest. Dan McEvoy, a researcher with the Western Regional Climate Center, says that means that Arizona will see lower runoffs into streams and reservoirs this summer.
DAN MCEVOY: And why that matters, uh, is because during the warm season, this is our our time when the, um, atmospheric demand for water is highest, and also the human demand for water is highest for things like irrigation and recreational use, um, outside.
PHIL LATZMAN: McEvoy tells KJZZ's The Show that Arizona could see above-average rainfall this monsoon season, but that it would not make up for the snowpack water loss.
Well, due to growing opposition, Arizona developer Vermaland will reduce the size of its proposed La Osa data center project that's outside of Eloy by about 80%. Project attorney Court Rich asked Pinal County Supervisors on Wednesday to extend Vermaland's request to rezone and create design guidelines to accommodate the reduction.
COURT RICH: What we want to impart on you all and leave you with and ask you for today is a continuance at the end of this after we hear from everybody, so we can go back and come back to you with a stipulation that would limit this to a gigawatt size, which would be no more than 11 buildings.
PHIL LATZMAN: La Osa was originally planned for 59 buildings and 3 gigawatts of energy demand. The board decided to extend the vote to August 26th with another public hearing.
Arizona's largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years is showing promising signs of slowing down. Katherine Davis Young has the latest.
KATHERINE DAVIS YOUNG: Arizona has confirmed more than 300 measles cases since August 2025. The vast majority have been in Mohave County around the small Utah border community of Colorado City. But it's now been about three weeks since Mohave County had a new case, says Nicole Witt with the state health department.
NICOLE WITT: We're optimistic, um, and hopeful that maintains and and we can get to a point, um, where we can officially declare this outbreak over.
KATHERINE DAVIS YOUNG: Measles symptoms can take three weeks to appear, so health officials wait two full incubation periods or six weeks before they consider outbreaks to be over. Measles is still spreading in Utah, and a few cases have been reported recently in other parts of Arizona. Witt says Arizonans should still remain vigilant. Katherine Davis Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Tribal Head Start programs across the country are helping preserve native languages and culture throughout early childhood education. But a new report from the Government Accountability Office says enrollment challenges, staffing shortages, and delayed communication from the Federal Office of Head Start are creating uncertainty for many tribal programs. Catherine Larin is a GAO director.
CATHERINE LARIN: Tribes will, for example, submit a plan for their under-enrollment and then not hear back from the agency for months and months.
PHIL LATZMAN: Larin says tribes emphasize that language and cultural education are critical for the next generation. The Office of Head Start says it plans to improve communication with tribes and identify why delays are happening.
Well, state gaming officials say they're going to make available at least two sports book licenses at the end of June. Matthew Casey has more on that.
MATTHEW CASEY: Event wagering and sports betting were legalized in Arizona in 2021. A deal struck during the Ducey administration created 20 sports book licenses, with half reserved for professional sports organizations and the rest set aside for Arizona tribes. State gaming officials plan to open a two-week application period straddling June and July, as there are six licenses not currently in use. The cost of a license with fees is about $1 million. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A new report shows the U.S. Forest Service treated fewer acres for dangerous fuels that could cause wildfires in 2025 compared to the year before. As Greg Hahne reports, Arizona saw about an 11% drop in acreage treated for fuels last year.
GREG HAHNE: The Forest Service removes fuels like dead and dried wood to prevent very large wildfires. This can be done through controlled burns, for example. Overall, the Forest Service treated about 35% fewer acres for hazardous fuels last year. Aaron Weiss is with the Center for Western Priorities, which released the study. He says the reduction stemmed from the massive amount of fire-hiring that happened in the Forest Service last year after President Trump took office. That was combined with an especially dry winter seen across the West.
AARON WEISS: So to essentially lose a year of that by falling more than a third behind means heading into this fire season, it's a bad scenario on the ground.
GREG HAHNE: Weiss says while the data for this year is still early, it looks like the Forest Service will be behind for much of 2026 as well. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, storms are dumping more rain in shorter bursts across the West than in years past, but longer stretches between them may leave the land drier over time. Researchers say a shifting climate raises concerns about long-term drought and wildfire risk. The Mountain West News Bureau's Kaleb Roedel has more.
KALEB ROEDEL: Scientists say it's not just how much rain falls, it's how it arrives. A new analysis found heavier downpours often leave more water sitting on the surface, where it's more likely to evaporate instead of soaking into soils or groundwater. Corey Lesk is a climate scientist at the University of Quebec in Montreal and co-author of the study.
COREY LESK: You're asking the land to drink from a fire hose. When water just arrives at the land in really intense bursts, it can only absorb so much. There are limits on that. You know, soils are like a sponge, and they're only so spongy.
KALEB ROEDEL: Researchers say the findings suggest the West could face a difficult balancing act in the years ahead: managing flood risk from stronger storms, while also preparing for longer and potentially more severe droughts. For the Mountain West News Bureau, I'm Kaleb Roedel.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, thousands of recent deportees from countries like Cuba and Venezuela now find themselves in Mexico. According to a new report from Human Rights Watch, many of them are now desperate and out of options after being deported to a country they've never even visited after decades in the United States. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Of the nearly 13,000 non-Mexicans who've been deported to Mexico since the start of the Trump administration, more than 4,000 are Cuban, representing the largest nationality according to Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch's Alcira Silva Hava says many of those individuals had been in the United States for decades and came to the country legally from Cuba. Many had years-old deportation orders for non-violent crimes.
ALCIRA SILVA HAVA: And it was only after the beginning of the second Trump administration that they were picked up by ICE, detained in inhumane conditions, and then deported to Mexico.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Silva Hava says many of the dozens of individuals interviewed for the report are elderly and suffer from chronic health conditions. The report finds some are now homeless in parts of Mexico where organized crime is prevalent. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports baseball, another win for the streaking Diamondbacks. They finished a three-game sweep yesterday in San Francisco, coming back to beat the Giants 3 to 2. D-backs starter Mike Soroka improved to 7 and 2, retired the last 11 batters he faced, before Paul Sewald closed it out in the ninth. Arizona's now won five straight and 10 of 11. They're tied with the Padres in second place in the National League West, four and a half back of the Dodgers. And the D-backs are off today before they start a weekend series in Seattle tomorrow.
Basketball though, another loss for the Mercury. They fell in New York to the Liberty last night, 84-74. The game, a rematch of last season's first-round playoff series that Phoenix won en route to the WNBA Finals, but it was their sixth loss in seven games since an opening day win. Mercury will play another one in New York City against the Liberty tomorrow night.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast on this Thursday, May 28th. I'm Phil Latzman, your proud host for said podcast, and we'll be back at you to do it again tomorrow when it is Friday. Talk to you then.
