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
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PHIL LATZMAN: 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 KJZZ news team. Welcome to Wednesday, glad to have you here, lots to talk about on this July the 8th, and here comes the news.
Well, the Department of Justice sent Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes a letter on Tuesday threatening to prosecute election officials if non-citizens are found on the voter rolls. From the Politics Desk, Camryn Sanchez has more on the threat.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Arizona is one of multiple states that received similar letters. Fontes says Arizona already has the strongest voter eligibility checks in the country, and election officials are doing their jobs diligently. He says it's insulting for Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, to suggest otherwise.
ADRIAN FONTES: And I will stand behind every one of our county recorders and all of our county elections officials if the Department of Justice decides that they want to go the wrong way and be enemies to the folks who are actually running our elections instead of being partners for the benefit of Arizona's voters.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Fontes asks that Dylan and the federal government provide his office with more resources rather than making threats. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Arizona Supreme Court has sided with Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap in his ongoing election fight with the county's board of supervisors. Also from our politics team, here is Wayne Schutsky with that.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: The Supreme Court overturned an appeals court decision that pressed pause in the ongoing fight over control of the county's elections. In her order, Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer reinstated a lower court order that found the supervisors illegally removed Heap's access to IT systems and returned some election duties to the recorder's office. To avoid creating confusion during the ongoing primary elections, Timmer adopted an interim plan proposed by Heap that would temporarily keep many existing election systems and procedures in place, such as voting locations. It would also postpone plans to split complicated voter databases used by both the recorder and supervisors to run elections. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Arizona Water Banking Authority and Valley cities are in disagreement about how a pool of backup water stored underground should be shared. As Alex Hager reports, they described their differences in a meeting that was held on Tuesday.
ALEX HAGER: Since the late '90s, taxpayers in Valley cities have been funding a program to put excess Colorado River water in storage. Now, big cutbacks are on the horizon. The agency that runs the storage program argues that its water should be preserved into the future. Water Bank leaders suggested it's not their responsibility to give cities 100% of the amount they lost to cutbacks. They hinted that cities might need to prove they're conserving water to get any from storage. The cities seem to disagree. They say they've been paying to store water, and the Water Bank is legally responsible to make them whole in the face of cutbacks. The Water Bank says it wants to give the cities answers by the end of this month. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed seven people in custody at an ICE facility in Florence have been infected with measles. Arizona Public Health Association Director Will Humble says detention centers are challenging environments to contain the extremely contagious virus.
WILL HUMBLE: So you have rapid turnover of people in a congregate setting with lots of shared air. And my understanding is they have very limited, if any, vaccination records to know who's unvaccinated.
PHIL LATZMAN: In a statement, DHS said infected detainees and others who may have been exposed are now quarantined. All in-person visitation for non-legal purposes is currently suspended at the Florence site.
Attorney General Kris Mayes is dropping her legal fight to require parents of children who use vouchers to document how each and every purchase they make is truly educational. Here's Wayne Schutsky once more from our politics team.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Mayes agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Goldwater Institute, which challenged her position that individual supplemental items bought by parents must be listed in a specific educational curriculum to qualify for reimbursement. The challengers said the mandate, which had been implemented by the Department of Education, created unnecessary hurdles for items as simple as books and pencils. As part of the deal, the State Department of Education has agreed to a scaled-back system. Parents will now have to legally attest that the items will support a student's curriculum or course of study and are not being purchased for any other purpose. That will also include a warning that providing false information can lead to suspension or loss of voucher funds. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Arizona's largest active wildfire is mostly contained now. The Pocket Fire north of Sedona near Oak Creek has consumed over 27,000 acres, about 42 square miles. But officials say it's now 51% contained. More than the 1,200 fire personnel continue to battle the blaze. Oak Creek Canyon surrounding areas remain on set status, ready for evacuations if conditions had worsened again. State Route 89A does remain closed between Sedona and Flagstaff, except for residents.
Well, a Morenci copper mine worker died on the job this week. Lilly Roseburrough has more on that.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: The worker was fatally injured on Monday morning. According to the mine's owner, Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan, the worker was involved in a haul truck accident. Freeport-McMoRan's Morenci mine produces 225 million pounds of copper per year in eastern Arizona. The last fatal accident to occur at the Morenci mine was in 2022, when a haul truck lost control of its brakes. According to the company, the incident is currently under investigation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Arizona State Mine Inspector. Lilly Roseburrough, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Planned Parenthood Arizona clinics are once again providing care for patients insured through Medicaid. Those services had been on pause since September. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: It was already illegal to use Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, but the Republican tax and spending mega-bill passed last summer included a provision that also barred Medicaid reimbursements for STI checks or other types of reproductive healthcare performed at some abortion clinics. That provision expired this week, and Planned Parenthood Arizona CEO April Donovan says lower-income patients are already returning.
APRIL DONOVAN: I think with the influx we're seeing in phone calls right now to our offices, that those patients are coming back very quickly.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Donovan says Arizona clinics did lose patients and revenue while the provision was in effect. In other states, nearly 30 Planned Parenthood clinics closed over the last year after losing Medicaid funds. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, a judge has ruled that former state lawmaker David Marshall can continue to serve as the Navajo County Recorder, finding his appointment to the job did not violate the Arizona Constitution. Marshall resigned from the Arizona House of Representatives in April, shortly before the Navajo County Board of Supervisors picked him to fill a vacancy in the recorder's office. In May, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes asked a judge to remove Marshall from office, arguing the appointment failed — violating a state constitutional provision that barred lawmakers from holding other state or county offices during the term for which they were elected. But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David McDowell disagreed. He ruled the moment Marshall resigned, he ceased to be a member of the legislature and was free to hold other offices.
Well, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to open an office in Flagstaff. Local officials say they don't know what operations will take place there, though. Taylor Griffith has more.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The city of Flagstaff says ICE secured private office space and does not know when it will open or the scope of operations. ICE told the city the purpose of the office is to expand enforcement efforts across the state. Flagstaff officials say ICE has not requested to use city property. If it does, the city will have to follow new rules for federal use of local property, which it passed in March. That would include providing notice if ICE agents plan to visit a city workplace, as well as a form for community members to report concerns. Requests must be approved by the city and cannot disrupt local law enforcement operations, public health, or safety. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, quasars are extremely bright and active centers of galaxies made of really big black holes consuming gas and dust. A new study details 31 newly discovered quasars, including the oldest one ever observed. As Greg Hahne reports, UA researchers were involved in the global team.
GREG HAHNE: The quasar was found when the universe was just 670 million years old, about 5% its current age. The thing is, quasars from when the universe was that young are incredibly rare and hard to detect. Because our current understanding of how black holes and quasars form requires a lot of time, scientists still don't know how supermassive black holes could have formed when the universe was that young. The objects were first discovered by the Euclid space telescope, which is similar to Hubble and JWST, and confirmed with ground-based telescopes, including one in southern Arizona. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen continues to struggle. Jake Cronenworth's three-run home run off of him capped a four-run first as the Padres beat the D-backs 4-1 last night in San Diego, and they pulled back into a tie for second place in the NL West with the D-backs. Each team is 14 back of the division-leading Dodgers. The two teams play the third of a four-game series in San Diego this evening.
And in basketball, the WNBA, the Mercury's three-game win streak is over, beaten at home last night by the Sky, 77-66. Chicago scored the first 10 of the second half to build a lead they would not relinquish. Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 25. Phoenix stays home for the Indiana Fever tomorrow.
In the NBA, the Suns re-signed three players: guards Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin, along with center Mark Williams, each agreed to a multi-year deal to remain in Phoenix.
And that'll do it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up on this Wednesday, July the 8th. I'm Phil Latzman. Thanks so much for listening, and we will do this again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
