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
UNDERWRITER: KJZZ’s Sun Up is supported by Banner Health, Arizona's largest nonprofit healthcare system. Last year, Banner reinvested more than $1.1 billion in community health and charity care. Banner Health, nonprofit for Arizona. bannerhealth.com/nonprofitforaz.
PHIL LATZMAN: Greetings. 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 award-winning KJZZ news team.
It’s Tuesday, June 23. You know, studies have found that Tuesdays are the most productive day of the week. Let’s test that and see if it holds true with a check of the news.
Well, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Recorder Justin Heap will no longer meet with an independent mediator after an appeals court pressed pause on their yearlong legal fight. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky has the latest.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals stayed a lower court order that handed Heap a major win, requiring the board to return control of certain election responsibilities to the Recorder’s Office. The decision means the lower court no longer has control of the case, which led Judge Scott Blaney to cancel an order requiring both sides to meet with a mediator this week.
Blaney noted that nothing is stopping the recorder and supervisors from mutually agreeing to meet with the mediator anyway, but they could not reach that agreement. Heap accused the board of backing out of mediation following the appeals court decision. The supervisors, meanwhile, say Heap continues to reject their invitations to meet without a mediator to hash out their differences. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is under watch by a court-appointed monitor to oversee reforms in connection with a long-running racial profiling case. As Matthew Casey reports, that independent monitor says agency compliance fell for all but one order.
MATTHEWS CASEY: The result was a 12-point drop in what’s known as Phase 2 compliance, which is generally considered to be operational implementation of the orders. The monitor says the Sheriff’s Office has shown a disturbing pattern of behaviors, violations, and ethical breaches that call into question the integrity of the agency and its leaders.
The report comes ahead of a federal court hearing scheduled for Friday on a request by Maricopa County to end agency oversight. The Sheriff’s Office wants the judge to examine if the monitor has stepped into areas involving managerial discretion. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: The Sycamore Fire has burned a little over 9,000 acres of the Tonto National Forest near Globe. It is 7% contained. Two ranches in the area are preparing for evacuation orders. KJZZ’s Taylor Griffith has more.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Challenging terrain as well as hot, dry and breezy conditions have made containment of the Sycamore Fire difficult. Over the weekend, it grew by another 5,000 acres. Madeleine Bautista with the U.S. Forest Service says this is because crews are proactively burning brush at different road access points.
MADELEINE BAUTISTA: In order to meet the wildfire where it’s at, and from there, there would be no more fuel for it to burn, and basically, yeah, increase our chances for containment.
GRIFFITH: The Sycamore Fire is among three other fires sparked by lightning in the last week. The Flat Fire, 9 miles southwest of Heber, has residents on standby for evacuation. Nearby cultural sites and heritage resources are also at risk. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: More politics news now. Arizona’s junior senator, Ruben Gallego, has used campaign funds to pay for family trips, Super Bowl tickets and childcare. The story first appeared in Politico, and from the politics team once again, here is Camryn Sanchez with details.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The Federal Election Commission stipulates that lawmakers can’t spend campaign money on personal uses unless the expenses are related to campaigning. In a statement, Gallego says his expenditures only look unusual because he’s not as independently wealthy as other Congress members who aren’t forced to use their campaign funds to cover the cost of things like childcare.
He says he is operating within the FEC’s rules. It’s not unique for members of Congress to stretch the use of campaign donations on trips, expensive meals, and more, but many choose to pay out of their own pocket for entertainment and events like the Super Bowl. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: Two flight schools are suing Mesa in federal court over the city’s implementation of landing fees at Falcon Field Airport. The suit alleges the city acted illegally to implement those fees. Patrick Arnzen is the CEO of Thrust Flight school. He says the fees have affected student enrollment.
PATRICK ARNZEN: We’ve tried to have discussions with the airport, with the mayor to help address some of these concerns that these local communities have. But to date, that has not proven fruitful.
LATZMAN: According to court documents, the city and flight schools tried to resolve the issue prior to the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Well, lawyers for Navajo County Recorder David Marshall and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office met in court on Monday in a legal fight to decide whether a judge should remove Marshall from office. Here is Wayne Schutsky once again from our politics team.
SCHUTSKY: Marshall resigned from the Arizona Legislature in April before the Navajo County Board of Supervisors appointed him to fill a vacancy in the Recorder’s Office. Now, Attorney General Kris Mayes is asking a judge to remove him. She argues he violated a state constitutional provision that bars lawmakers from holding other elected offices during the term for which they were elected.
Marshall’s attorney argued that rule doesn’t apply because Marshall resigned. But a lawyer with the Attorney General’s Office told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David McDowell that Marshall’s elected term runs until January 2027, meaning he is ineligible for other public offices until that time. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: The Pocket Fire north of Sedona is threatening businesses and homes in Oak Creek Canyon. Chris Clemens is there. He spoke with a property manager who is still inside the evacuation zone.
CHRIS CLEMENS: Jenny Kittredge manages Forest Houses Resort, a hotel in the canyon that’s a couple miles away from the fire. Kittredge worries about what will happen to the property if the fire makes it down into Oak Creek Canyon.
JENNY KITTREDGE: We’ve seen where winds can turn fire around pretty instantly and where basically anything can happen.
CLEMENS: If it comes down into the canyon, she says the Pocket Fire could threaten older buildings and properties with a lot of history.
KITTREDGE: This property, Forest Houses, has been in my family for almost 100 years now, and there’s just a lot of history and importance to us here.
CLEMENS: Oak Creek enables a unique riparian habitat that’s critical for deer, javelina and the Mexican spotted owl. As of Sunday afternoon, Route 89A remains closed between Sedona and Fort Tuthill. There is an evacuation order for areas within Oak Creek Canyon and nearby. The Red Cross has a shelter at Red Rock High School in Sedona.
LATZMAN: That was Chris Clemens reporting.
Solar power generated more electricity than coal in the U.S. for the first time this spring. It’s a milestone that signals a shifting energy mix across the country, including in the West.
In May, solar accounted for nearly 13% of U.S. electricity generation. Coal fell to just over 12%, according to new data from energy think tank Ember. Analyst Nicolas Fulghum says he expects the trend to continue.
NICOLAS FULGHUM: Solar is likely going to have more and more months where it is higher than coal and, ultimately, in two or three years, we do expect it to also overtake coal on an annual basis.
LATZMAN: Fulghum says the shift is evident in the Mountain West, including here in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. He adds that solar’s rise is being driven by falling costs and growing electricity demand, including from data centers.
As temperatures climb, it may be a good time to check your medicine cabinet. The University of Arizona’s Heat and Medications Task Force reports several common medications could be making you more susceptible to heat-related illness. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The list includes antidepressants, blood pressure medications and even some over-the-counter drugs. Medications can reduce sweating, increase sensitivity to sunlight or decrease the body’s ability to retain fluids – any of which could be risky in a scorching Arizona summer.
Mona Arora leads the Heat and Medications Task Force. She says one of the group’s goals is to get medical providers to be more cognizant of impacts of heat and to better communicate risks to patients.
MONA ARORA: Is it a change to adjust the dosage? Is that a recommendation to maybe have the individual increase their fluids?
DAVIS-YOUNG: Arora also encourages Arizona patients to ask their providers more questions about medications and heat risk. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
LATZMAN: The Fourth of July is right around the corner, and to prevent the risk of fire or injury, the city of Phoenix is tightening its fireworks regulations. Under the new rules, all fireworks – including those sold legally – are banned from use on city-owned property and within a mile of the local mountain preserves.
Violators could face up to $2,500 in fines or six months' jail time. The city recommends attending a professional fireworks show, and there are over 20 different events planned across the state this holiday.
In sports, in baseball, Diamondbacks fell short again. They lost to the Cardinals 3-2 last night in St. Louis, Arizona’s third straight loss. Drops them back to the .500 mark on the season. D-backs will play the second of four in St. Louis this evening.
Basketball, the Mercury gave up an early lead. They lost in the first of two in Indiana last night, 86-77. Caitlyn Clark had 24 points and 9 assists for the Fever as they overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit. Kahleah Copper scored 20 for Phoenix. They drop to 5-12 on the season, and they’ll play each other again tomorrow.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast, this Tuesday, June 23. I’m Phil Latzman. Stay cool, hydrated, shaded. Enjoy the rest of the day with the heat, and we’ll do it again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
