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 June 3, 2026
UNDERWRITER: KJZZ’s audio services supported by Banner Health, Arizona's largest non-profit healthcare system. Last year, Banner reinvested more than $1.1 billion in community health and charity care. Banner Health, nonprofit for Arizona. bannerhealth.com/nonprofit for AZ.
PHIL LATZMAN: Hey, welcome. This is KJZZ's Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I'm Phil Latzman, and good day to you. We bring you this podcast daily as a digest of the news from Arizona as reported by our KJZZ news team. And welcome to Wednesday, dub-to-dub on this third day of June 2026. Let's keep rolling towards the weekend and over the hump with a check of the news.
Well, state lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have restricted the demolition of historic homes to build what's known as middle housing. From the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez reports.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Middle housing refers to townhomes, duplexes and triplexes. Rep. Matt Gress says the bill is necessary to preserve state history and sarcastically thanked housing advocates for convincing lawmakers to vote no.
MATT GRESS: I want to thank them for coming in and blocking this bill, even though we watered it down so much that it's doing one key thing related to protecting perfectly good historic homes.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Housing lobbyists argue that allowing more types of housing would help the state increase its housing supply. Lawmakers passed legislation in 2024 preempting cities from blocking construction of middle housing in many cases. Housing groups say Gress's new bill is just an effort by cities to unravel that legislation. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Mexico's president is doubling down on rhetoric pushing for her country's sovereignty amid rising tensions with the U.S. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum dedicated a large portion of a speech in Mexico City on Sunday to defending her country's right to self-determination after the indictment of several Sinaloa public officials by a U.S. court.
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM: ¡México no es piñata de nadie!
NINA KRAVINSKY: "Mexico is no one's piñata," Sheinbaum told the crowd. Mexico's Senate passed a measure last week that would allow officials to void elections for foreign interference. In a post on X after the speech, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said politicizing the two countries' shared security issues is a, quote, "missed opportunity" to strengthen their partnership. Sheinbaum said in response that the ambassador should refrain from expressing opinions about domestic political issues in Mexico. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: We'll see if Scottsdale will be using part of its recent water rate increase to fund additional water sources and supply. As Greg Hahne reports, Scottsdale City Council approved a 4.5% rate bump last month.
GREG HAHNE: Scottsdale receives about 70% of its water from the Colorado River. Arizona will likely see further cuts in its river water allocation later this year, but those final numbers haven't been settled. While the majority of the rate increases are for infrastructure and operating costs, a smaller portion will fund other sources like water conservation. Scottsdale is also looking into advanced water purification, buying groundwater from Harquahala Valley, and expanding Bartlett Dam on the Verde River, though no final decisions have been made. The new water rates will go into effect Nov. 1. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In Arizona's blazing heat, shade can lower temperatures by 30 degrees or more. And now, homeowners associations will no longer be able to enforce as many restrictions on umbrellas, awnings, pergolas or other shade structures in Arizona backyards. Katherine Davis-Young tells us more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: A bill in the state legislature would allow HOAs to put some restrictions on the style or size of shade structures, but it would prohibit HOAs from putting outright bans on shade structures in backyards. Rep. Stacey Travers, a Democrat, sponsored the bill. In a March Senate committee hearing, she said shade is important for comfort as well as long-term sustainability as Arizona's temperatures rise.
STACEY TRAVERS: Allowing reasonable flexibility for pergolas, awnings, and other manufactured and well-designed shade solution helps homeowners protect their families from excessive heat, reducing energy costs, and creates more usable outdoor living spaces.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support. It now heads to the governor's desk. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A new report from Colorado River experts says water levels in major reservoirs are even closer to devastating consequences than current data shows. As Alex Hager reports, the authors say another dry winter this year would bring those reservoirs to the brink.
ALEX HAGER: Federal data about Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which are both partially in Arizona, shows they're about a quarter full. And Anne Castle, one of the report's authors, argues that the amount of usable water in those reservoirs makes them functionally closer to zero, since they have to store a minimum amount or risk dams and hydroelectric generators not working.
ANNE CASTLE: That undermines the value of the entirety of the Colorado River reservoir system, and we don't want to get there.
ALEX HAGER: Castle called on state negotiators to urgently come up with a plan to keep more water in those reservoirs by cutting back on use, instead of just adding water from other reservoirs upstream. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The city of Kingman is asking the FAA to release airport land so it could move forward with development plans. The agency says the city has yet to meet its requirements, though, as Connor Greenwall reports.
CONNOR GREENWALL: The city wants to use almost 800 acres of land at the Kingman Airport to expand the largest industrial park in Arizona outside of Maricopa County. It says the development would provide around $250 million in investment at the airport. The FAA requires two independent land appraisals before it will lift a deed restriction. Kingman submitted those appraisals, but the agency says they didn't meet fair market value and requested the city complete two more. Tim Walsh is the Kingman City Manager.
TIM WALSH: So, they're asking us to go out, get more appraisals and, and basically get it until we can get to the price that I think that they think it's worth.
CONNOR GREENWALL: The city is asking the FAA to reconsider its application. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, there's growing need domestically for minerals in manufacturing. And as a result, more companies are looking to tap into Arizona ore. Lilly Roseburrough reports.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: The family-owned Hackberry Silver Mine near Kingman hadn't been used since the 1980s, but recently sold for $10 million to Rock Forge LLC. Real estate agent Anne Sheldon arranged the sale and says this deal is part of a growing trend.
ANNE SHELDON: The silver and the rare earth minerals that are in Arizona, they're more wanted because of everything. You know, the batteries need silver, the technology needs silver, the microchips need silver.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: Sheldon says some manufacturing companies are coming to Arizona to start their own mining operations rather than just buying the metals. State Mine Inspector Les Presymk says new federal supply chain policies are attracting these companies to the state.
LES PRESYMK: And this is the most optimistic time that I have seen in 50 years of being involved in Arizona mining, in terms of the money that's coming in, the interest in bringing that money and that mining expertise to the state.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: Presymk says improvements in autonomous equipment are streamlining the mining process. Lilly Roseburrough, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Requests for childcare assistance in Arizona are growing. As Noor Haghighi reports, more than 12,700 children are now on the Department of Economic Security's waitlist.
NOOR HAGHIGHI: That's about 500 more children than one month ago. Michelle Saint Hilarie directs the Arizona Child Care Resource and Referral, a statewide program funded by DES. She says childcare access is part of the problem.
MICHELLE SAINT HILARIE: I would say that we're definitely at a historical all-time low for the supply of care. I think that the, you know, biggest challenge facing childcare right now is the childcare waiting list.
NOOR HAGHIGHI: Several nonprofits like the Children's Action Alliance intend on sending the governor and state legislators a collective 7,500 letters this week demanding more funding in next year's budget. The nonprofits say $160 million are needed to eliminate the waitlist.
PHIL LATZMAN: That's Noor Haghighi reporting from Tucson.
Well, National Trails Day is this Saturday, and for more than three decades, the American Hiking Society and the U.S. Forest Service have teamed up to get people out on the trails. Mountain West News Bureau's Jenny Kinsey tells us more on how.
JENNY KINSEY: There are over 1,000 organized events this year, including a record 284 on National Forest land. That includes guided hikes and trail maintenance projects. Access to the national forests and grasslands is free for the day, says Tyler Ray with the American Hiking Society.
TYLER RAY: National Trails Day is really a great opportunity for folks to get out and volunteer or just enjoy whatever form of outdoor recreation they love.
JENNY KINSEY: Ray adds there are plans for everyone, including interpretive trails for the disabled. I'm Jenny Kinsey for the Mountain West News Bureau.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, the Diamondbacks ran into a red-hot Shohei Ohtani who had a double, a triple, and two RBIs. Freddie Freeman smacked a two-run homer as the Dodgers held on to beat the D-backs 6-5 last night at Chase Field. Corbin Carroll a solo homer, a losing cause for Arizona, which has split the first two with LA, the third of four in Phoenix this evening.
Basketball, the Mercury trying to snap a six-game losing streak tonight in Seattle against the Storm. Phoenix has lost eight of nine now since an opening day win.
And there you have it for a Wednesday version of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast on this June the 3rd. I'm Phil Latzman. Enjoy the rest of this hump day, stay cool and hydrated, and we'll be back at you to do it again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
