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
ANNOUNCER: 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: ¡Buenos viernes, amigos! 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 award-winning KJZZ news team. Yeah, it's Friday, we've done it, we're here. It is June 26, the weekend just ahead, and let's hop on to the news.
Well, there has been a shakeup to the seven-state team working on the future of the Colorado River. As Alex Hager reports, there's a new negotiator entering the fray just weeks before the deadline for a new deal about sharing water.
ALEX HAGER: Tanya Trujillo is the new negotiator representing New Mexico in the contentious seven-state talks. She's worked in water policy for more than two decades, including important roles with the federal government. She'll join the talks in the 11th hour. State negotiators have been stuck in disagreement for more than a year, and Trujillo could bring some new energy and direction to help break that deadlock. The states have until mid-summer to agree on a new plan for sharing water from the shrinking river or risk a major legal fight. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she put Trujillo in the position to bring her experience to the table at a time when consensus is more urgent than ever. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Public school advocates and GOP lawmakers are battling over private school vouchers with competing ballot measures. But lawmakers are discussing making a deal in a special legislative session. From the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez reports.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Public education advocates are pushing a ballot measure to put guardrails on vouchers, and GOP lawmakers countered by adding their own measure to the ballot, which would invalidate that. They also added measures which would limit teacher union activity and restrict school spending options. The education advocates filed a legal challenge against the Republican measure on Wednesday, and now lawmakers are considering making a deal with education groups to take all the competing measures off the ballot in exchange for lawmakers putting guardrails on vouchers themselves. A similar agreement failed earlier in the legislative session. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Pocket Fire located in the Oak Creek area north of Sedona has now grown to almost 1,500 acres, and its perimeter is still 0% contained. Nearly 1,000 personnel under the command of the Coconino National Forest Red Ranger — Red Rock Ranger District are battling the blaze. Firefighters are watching the weather as winds pick up, and a red flag fire warning is now in effect. State Route 89A remains closed from Sedona to I-17 except for residents. Also, the lightning-caused Sycamore Fire, which is located north of Globe in the Salt River Canyon Wilderness area, has now grown to over 11,000 acres, and it is currently 37% contained.
Arizona Public Service says it may have to shut off power affecting about 10,000 customers in Northern Arizona on Saturday. As Greg Hahne reports, the planned outage is due to severe fire risk conditions.
GREG HAHNE: Communities from Flagstaff to Sunset Crater and the Grand Canyon South and East Rims could experience power cutoffs for 12 to 24 hours starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. APS says it could cancel the planned shutoff if weather conditions improve, but that current forecasts show high wind, low humidity, and dry terrain could lead to increased fire risk near power lines this weekend. Flagstaff saw a temporary power shutoff from APS in April. The utility launched its shutoff program in 2024 but only started using the outages this year. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a new bipartisan law this month that increases penalties on people who pay for sex but eases up on sex workers who are victims of human trafficking. Also from our politics team, here is Wayne Schutsky.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Under the current law, anyone convicted of selling or purchasing sex is guilty of a misdemeanor. But a new bipartisan law that will take effect in September increases that to a felony for anyone caught paying for sex. Republican Selina Bliss, the bill's sponsor, says that will help reduce prostitution by cutting down on the demand.
SELINA BLISS: And this is what doing the right thing looks like. Um, this bill was very important to me, looking uniquely at reducing the demand by increasing the penalty on those that traffic other humans that are part of fueling the sex trafficking trade.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: The legislation also strengthens an existing law that allows someone found guilty of prostitution to have that conviction vacated if a judge determines they were a victim of sex trafficking. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, President Trump, and before him, presidents of both parties have limited the number of people who could apply for asylum at U.S. ports of entry. Well, now the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the practice to be once again used here in Arizona. And Matthew Casey has reaction.
MATTHEW CASEY: The Justice Department convinced a majority of justices that people stopped by authorities haven't yet arrived in the country, so immigration agents don't have to let them apply for asylum. In Arizona, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project represents those fleeing persecution. Laura Belous is managing attorney.
LAURA BELOUS: And I think the decision really rubber-stamps executive overreach and undermines decades of asylum law and congressional intent. And that's going to put our clients in harm's way.
MATTHEW CASEY: Advocates said metering the number of people allowed to seek asylum caused a humanitarian crisis with thousands settled in unsafe shelters to wait their turn. Homeland Security praised the high court's ruling but did not say if the policy will be brought back. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Glendale City Council has voted to appeal a judge's ruling which reinstated one of their members after his expulsion. Jill Ryan has details on that.
JILL RYAN: Councilmember Lupe Conchas was ousted last month after he won a seat on the Salt River Project board. His fellow councilors argued that a provision in the city's charter barred Conchas from having any other paying public office, as SRP pays the board members $60 for every day they physically attend meetings. A judge disagreed, saying this doesn't go against Glendale's compensation rules, and Conchas was reinstated. Now, the majority of the council wants to appeal the case. Council member Bart Turner was opposed.
BART TURNER: Appealing this is a waste of public money that could be better spent elsewhere. Or who knows, maybe not even spent at all.
JILL RYAN: The mayor as well as the city's attorney said the appeal would help clarify the city's provision on the qualifications of a council member. Jill Ryan, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Arizona's three major utilities have started the process in finding what locations could work best for potential new nuclear energy projects in the state. The utilities are moving forward with the process despite the federal government rejecting their grant application to help cover the siting costs. One of the key aspects in the siting study process will determine which areas have reliable access to water. And Brad Berles is leading new nuclear projects at Arizona Public Service.
BRAD BERLES: You use water for drinking water for the people that work on there, and um, for a reactor, you may use that for cooling of the reactor or generating the steam.
PHIL LATZMAN: The early siting study is expected to take six months. Well, nearly a year ago, the Kyrene School District relocated about 500 students when one of its campuses underwent roof repairs, creating air quality concerns. As Bridget Dowd reports, now another one of its campuses will have to move students, this time due to a flood.
BRIDGET DOWD: A broken pipe led to a flood at the Kyrene de la Morada Leadership Academy in Chandler last week. A notice sent out to the community said it caused extensive damage to walls, flooring, doors, furniture, and materials. At a governing board meeting this week, Associate Superintendent Chris Herrmann said staff and students will not be able to start the school year at Morada.
CHRIS HERRMANN: The school will temporarily move to the Kyrene de las Manitas campus, which is available following the closure of Manitas at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
BRIDGET DOWD: Manitas is one of six schools the district decided to close last year due to declines in enrollment and a projected $7 million funding loss. The district says students and staff should expect to be on that campus through winter break. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, gas prices are continuing to decrease across the state. The average price at the pump in Arizona is $4.11, still about 84 cents higher than last year according to AAA. The auto club's Doug Johnson says the dropping price of crude oil is bringing gas prices down with it. That's despite remaining uncertainty following an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.
DOUG JOHNSON: There has been talk that the, the deal is, is in jeopardy, but it's still not impacting the oil markets. Uh, they have been dropping for five straight weeks, um, from their high in, uh, early May.
PHIL LATZMAN: Historically, gas prices tend to rise in the early summer as fuel companies switch to an eco-friendly gasoline blend that costs a bit more to produce.
In sports, in baseball, Diamondbacks rained out in St. Louis last night. They'll make up the game with the Cardinals next month. They head to Florida for a weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays that begins tonight. The D-backs also activated outfielder Max Kepler from the restricted list. Kepler, who was signed earlier this month, served an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
In basketball, the Mercury off till tomorrow, they'll play at Toronto, but they'll be without one of their top players. The WNBA has suspended Phoenix's Alissa Thomas a game after she made contact with her fist to Caitlin Clark's throat in Wednesday night's win in Indiana.
And that will do it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast on this Friday, June 26. I'm Phil Latzman. Have a great weekend, stay cool and hydrated, and we'll do this all again on Monday. Talk to you then.
