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: Happy Monday. This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman. And we bring you this podcast. It’s a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. It is a fresh week, the 29th day of June. Hope you had a nice weekend, and let’s get this holiday week off with a check of the news.
Well, the Pocket Fire located in the Oak Creek area north of Sedona has jumped to more than 6,000 acres over the weekend. Its perimeter is still 0% contained. The communities of Kachina Village and Forest Highlands are in set status as heavy winds over the weekend spurred fire growth.
The forecast calls for more moderate winds today, but still be a little bit breezy and windy up there. Over 900 personnel are battling the blaze, and the county has activated a call center for questions on the fire. Shelters are in evacuation stages. State Route 89A remains closed from Sedona to I-17 except for residents.
Also, the lightning-caused Sycamore Fire, located north of Globe in the Salt River Canyon Wilderness area, is 12,000 acres, but it is currently 60% contained.
The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board has changed its policy regarding public comments at meetings. As Bridget Dowd reports, it comes after the Goldwater Institute raised First Amendment concerns.
BRIDGET DOWD: In April, the conservative think tank sent a letter to the district urging board members to change a policy that banned personal attacks on board members, staff, students, or members of the public. During a discussion at the board’s most recent meeting, board member Marcie Hutchinson said she still had concerns about protecting students.
MARCIE HUTCHINSON: But I’m hoping that the norms of this community will make sure that people refrain from particularly attacking students in our call to the public.
BRIDGET DOWD: Other members noted that the intent of the policy was never to censor its constituents. The new policy permits public comment without regard to viewpoint, including criticism, praise, or neutral observations concerning matters within its jurisdiction. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug in April. A weekslong hearing on whether to put recreational use in the same category starts today in Washington, D.C., and Matthew Casey has the perspective from here in Arizona.
MATTHEW CASEY: Arizona has dual licenses for medical and recreational marijuana. With only the latter reclassified federally, local operators have to segment their business so they can qualify for the associated tax breaks and traditional loans. Maxime Kot is a compliance expert with the Phoenix-based firm called Cannabis Business Advisors. She says state lawmakers have not yet defined how to separate medical and recreational.
MAXIME KOT: It really depends on what the state allows you to do because at the end of the day, the state does control what you can and can’t do with your businesses.
MATTHEW CASEY: The State Health Department issues and regulates marijuana licenses. If the DEA reschedules recreational use, Arizona operators would not need to segment their business to benefit. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: After a 14-year hiatus, Canada has reopened a consulate in Phoenix. Gov. Katie Hobbs and other leaders gathered near Central Avenue and Thomas Road for the ribbon-cutting ceremony this weekend. Ignacio Ventura reports.
IGNACIO VENTURA: Canada is one of Arizona’s biggest international trade partners behind only Mexico and Taiwan, and Arizona attracts tens of thousands of Canadian snowbirds during the winter months. But the northern country had to shutter its Phoenix consulate in 2012 due to federal cuts. Jérôme Pischella is the consulate’s head of office.
JÉRÔME PISCHELLA: We buy $2.8 billion U.S. worth of goods and services from Arizona, and we also have a lot of Canadian companies that want to do business in Arizona or open a subsidiary in Arizona. We understand that Arizona is open for business.
IGNACIO VENTURA: Canadian officials have acknowledged a strained relationship with the U.S. under the Trump administration, but Pischella says these tensions are temporary and that Canada is an important long-term trade partner. Ignacio Ventura, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, St. Mary’s Food Bank will close its facilities in Surprise and Phoenix Wednesday through Friday this week as a result of the temporary hiatus. Those anticipating a need for food are encouraged to visit the sites beforehand. Spokesperson Jerry Brown says the closure is due to a technology upgrade.
JERRY BROWN: St. Mary’s is in the process of switching over computer systems for their warehouse. That necessitates for us to be closed for a few days.
PHIL LATZMAN: St. Mary’s reports seeing about 10,000 families every week across its network. The food centers are closed on weekends, so Brown says normal operations will resume after the holiday on July 6.
The Arizona Office of Tourism is celebrating America’s 250th birthday with a free digital passport. The downloadable resource highlights 250 popular destinations across the state, from sites of historic significance to local restaurants. Josh Coddington is with the tourism office.
JOSH CODDINGTON: We actually reached out to people in Arizona and said, “Share with us your favorite places. Share with us the things you love to do in your community.” Because the people that live there know their communities the best. They know the hidden gems. They know their favorite places.
PHIL LATZMAN: Coddington says while the pass is intended for the America 250 celebration, it will be available into 2027 and beyond.
Well, reducing the legal limits for alcohol can lead to a reduction in driving fatalities. That’s the finding from a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez reports, the analysis followed one state’s initiative.
YVETTE FERNANDEZ: The state of Utah lowered its legal blood alcohol concentration levels from .08 grams to .05 grams in 2017. That led to a decline in drunk driving fatalities. Kaigang Li, an associate professor at Colorado State University, says their study showed changing a law can change behavior on a mass scale.
KAIGANG LI: People think about the penalty, or they put their own life and other people’s life at high risk if they drink then drive on the road.
YVETTE FERNANDEZ: Li and his team used data from the National Fatality Analysis Reporting System. They compared Utah data before and after the law and cross-referenced it with data from bordering states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Their findings showed alcohol-related crash injuries and fatalities decreased by 11% in Utah but not in other states. Yvette Fernandez, the Mountain West News Bureau.
PHIL LATZMAN: As AI tools continue to evolve, several Arizona school districts have begun drafting policies for AI use in their classrooms. The Tempe Union High School District is finding ways to introduce students to the tools without sacrificing their critical thinking skills. Here’s Bridget Dowd once more.
BRIDGET DOWD: Tempe Union has six ed techs, one at each high school campus. Those are staff members who bridge the gap between technology and teaching by training educators to effectively use digital tools. Tahlia Remer is an ed tech at Marcos de Niza High School. She says they’ve developed several resources to guide staff and students on AI use, like a traffic light graphic.
TAHLIA REMER: Red light means no AI use, a yellow light means they can use it for some aspects of the assignment, and then a green light means that the assignment is about working with AI to learn more about whatever the topic may be.
BRIDGET DOWD: For example, a yellow light assignment could allow students to use ChatGPT to brainstorm topics for an essay, but then do their own research and writing. Some teachers are using Gemini Gems to create custom chatbots to give students feedback. Another ed tech, Amy Miller, says they might tell the bot how to handle a student who’s looking for an easy answer.
AMY MILLER: If a student says “I don’t know” or “just tell me,” I want you to go back and do some questioning strategies instead to try to get them to go through it.
BRIDGET DOWD: She says in a packed classroom, it allows teachers to, in a sense, replicate themselves to help multiple students at once. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, a listener sent us a social media video of water spilling out onto the desert in Peoria. In it, the filmer asks if water being wasted is being wasted in the middle of a drought. As part of our Q&AZ reporting project, Alex Hager got to the bottom of this water mystery.
SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO: They’re just dumping water out here. For what?
ALEX HAGER: It’s a good question, and Peoria water director David Burks has an answer. One of the city’s wells needed routine maintenance.
DAVID BURKS: After we rehab a well, we have to pump it for a set amount of hours to clean it up before we can serve it to the public again.
ALEX HAGER: They wanted to put the water in a sewer or treatment plant, but this well produced enough to overwhelm those. So instead, they dropped it in a place where it can seep back into the ground and get pulled out later.
DAVID BURKS: When you’re dumping an 800-1,000 gallons a minute into one area, you’re going to get a majority of it back into the aquifer.
ALEX HAGER: Burks said Peoria takes water waste seriously, and to call the city if you see any. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, baseball: lost weekend for the D-backs in Florida, swept by the Tampa Bay Rays. They lose the finale 5-1 yesterday. D-backs managed seven hits against five different pitchers and scored just four runs in the three games. They’ll try for better luck tonight when they return to Phoenix to begin a series with the division rival Giants.
Basketball: In the WNBA, Mercury off till Thursday. They’ve won two in a row after a win in Toronto Saturday.
In the NBA, the Suns made a trade over the weekend. They got forward Miles Bridges from the Hornets for guard Grayson Allen and forward Royce O’Neale. The teams also exchanged draft picks with a future first-round and second-round pick going to Phoenix, and a future first-rounder to Charlotte. Suns have been busy.
And that’ll do it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Monday, June 29. I’m Phil Latzman. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll do this again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
