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 for July 10, 2026
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 Friday, this is KJZZ's Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our station and region. I'm Phil Latzman, your host for this podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. Yeah, we've made it to Friday, you're here, about to get to the weekend, and let's check in on all that's happening around the state on this July the 10th. The U.S. Department of Justice is sending what it calls election monitors to Arizona and five other states. From the politics desk, CAMRYN SANCHEZ has the latest.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The announcement follows DOJ Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon's pledge to prosecute local election officials if her department finds non-citizens on voter rolls. Here's Dhillon in a social media video.
HARMEET DHILLON: We're sending the monitors into cities and counties where there may have been some problems in the recent elections. And so this is something that DOJ does routinely.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: She says the monitors will assess states' compliance with federal voting laws. The DOJ also demanded earlier this year that Arizona hand over voter information, which a federal judge ruled illegal. The DOJ is appealing the decision. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Under an executive order issued by Governor Katie Hobbs on Thursday, most state employees are banned from using insider information to bet on prediction markets like Kalshi. Hobbs called the order a preventive measure inspired by issues at the federal level, including a soldier who is charged with using classified information to make bets related to U.S. military operations in Venezuela.
GOVERNOR KATIE HOBBS: We have to ensure that our state employees are, uh, acting at the highest level of ethical standard and not using the information they have as a state employee to personally gain.
PHIL LATZMAN: Hobbs's order applies only to executive branch employees, like those working at state agencies that report to the governor's office. She encouraged independent bodies like the judiciary and state legislature to adopt similar rules. Attorney General Kris Mayes is again warning Arizona landlords of their responsibilities to keep rental units cool as extreme heat grips much of the state. KATHERINE DAVIS YOUNG has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS YOUNG: Mayes sent a formal demand letter this week to a Glendale apartment complex where residents reported the AC has not been working. The letter gives management a Friday deadline to get it fixed. Mayes notes more than a hundred Valley residents died last year in situations where air conditioning was shut off or not functioning. The management company, Asset Living, told 12 News it plans to cut ties with the property owner following the problems with the AC. Mayes has previously targeted other landlords for similar AC breakdowns, and she urges Arizona tenants to file a complaint with her office if their housing conditions are unsafe. Katherine Davis Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A federal judge says Mesa's Falcon Field can collect landing fees from pilots while litigation is pending. Connor Greenwall has the latest on that.
CONNOR GREENWALL: The flight schools Thrust Flight and CAE Aviation are suing the city of Mesa and claim those fees would put them out of business. Court records show the judge in the case has denied the schools' request for a preliminary injunction, saying they failed to prove the fees would cause them irreparable harm. The court says economic harm is generally not considered irreparable. The plaintiff must show it is likely the schools will be put out of business, not that it's merely possible. In her ruling, the judge noted the departure of one student pilot was not enough evidence to show more will follow. The landing fees are scheduled to take effect on July 30th. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, FEMA has awarded about $700,000 to Arizona and the Havasupai Tribe to fund hazard mitigation projects. The money came from a program the federal agency had nixed but was reinstated by the courts earlier this year. Jill Ryan reports.
JILL RYAN: Back in March, a federal judge ordered FEMA to take steps to reverse its termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. This came after Arizona's Kris Mayes and other attorneys general successfully sued when a previous order to reinstate the program was seemingly ignored. More than $400,000 will go to the state to help prevent flooding in Prescott. The Havasupai Tribe is receiving more than $300,000 for flood warning systems. Jill Ryan, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The National Park Service is investigating a mysterious illness afflicting boaters who have rafted down the Grand Canyon this summer. Chris Clements has more.
CHRIS CLEMENTS: One of the first stops Matthew Wappett made after finishing his trip down the Colorado River was an emergency room.
MATTHEW WAPPETT: And ever since really June 6th, I've had fevers, bone, joint aches. I felt like I've had the flu for a month, essentially.
CHRIS CLEMENTS: Nobody else on his trip got sick. He thought he was alone with this mystery illness until he discovered a Facebook post from a different boater who mentioned similar symptoms.
MATTHEW WAPPETT: Helps me feel like I'm not crazy.
CHRIS CLEMENTS: The boater who posted on Facebook also floated down the river in June. He says four different groups of people who rafted down the canyon have reached out to him about similar illnesses and described similar symptoms. Now, the National Park Service Office of Public Health is leading an investigation into the illnesses. I'm Chris Clements in Flagstaff.
PHIL LATZMAN: Mexico says it will file criminal complaints through U.S. prosecutors relating to the deaths of its citizens during U.S. immigration enforcement operations and while in ICE custody. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Sonora, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco says his country will take several additional steps to protect its citizens in the U.S. from mistreatment, more than a year after the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement efforts. The announcement comes after ICE agents fatally shot a Mexican national in Houston this week. Velasco says 14 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody since the beginning of President Trump's term, and three more have died during immigration enforcement actions.
ROBERTO VELASCO: And we're going to move on from the diplomatic sphere and go directly before prosecutors,
NINA KRAVINSKY: Velasco says. In addition to the request for criminal charges to the U.S. Department of Justice and state prosecutors' offices, Velasco says Mexico will also file civil lawsuits against private contractors that operate immigration detention facilities. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: Automated vehicle developers have been told to keep their tech from interfering with police and firefighting activity. Connor Greenwall has more on demands made this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CONNOR GREENWALL: In a letter sent Wednesday to AV developers, agency head Jonathan Morrison called the situation unacceptable and a functional insufficiency. He said the agency has documented multiple incidents of automated vehicles driving directly into active emergency and law enforcement scenes, blocking the paths of emergency vehicles, and failing to recognize traffic cones and flashing lights. The letter tells developers to come up with a solution by the end of July. Last month in Chandler, 12 News reported an automated delivery robot from DoorDash entered an active SWAT situation. The robot did not respond to police orders to leave the scene. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Navajo Highways, a children's show using puppets to teach youth the Diné language, recently won the Emmys' gold. Gabriel Pietrorazio caught up with the creator and has more on the honor.
PETE SANDS: Yá'át'ééh, binnááh! To all my listeners out there. Yahoo!
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: After just the single season that included six episodes and a Christmas special, Navajo Highways won one regional Emmy Award for informational instructional content and another for best set design.
PETE SANDS: I really wanted it for the crew who believed in me. I wanted them to feel validated that I wasn't just some crazy kook that came up with a puppet show, you know?
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Utah-based creator Pete Sands, who films in Moab, says he's still awestruck, even after coming back from the La Jolla ceremony.
PETE SANDS: I dipped my toe back into it. I was like, yeah, I kind of like my Utah life, keep it to myself. And our culture is still alive.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Gabriel Pietrorazio, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, basketball: a late layup from Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell finished off the Mercury last night at home as the Fever won 92-89. The two teams put testy games in Indianapolis last month behind them, trading baskets instead of bumps and barbs. Fever's star Caitlin Clark didn't play; she rested a back injury. Phoenix's Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas each had 22; in a losing cause, Thomas received a one-game suspension for landing fist down on Clark's neck during that June game, leading to death threats and racial slurs on social media. The Merc dropped to 8 and 15 on the year with a second straight loss.
And baseball: Nolan Arenado homered and moved closer to 2,000 career hits, and Merrill Kelly combined with two relievers on a three-hitter for the Diamondbacks as they beat the Padres 3-1 last night to split the four in San Diego. D-backs stay in second place, tied with the Padres in the NL West, each 14 and a half back of the Dodgers, though Arizona begins a weekend series in L.A. tonight trying to catch up a little bit.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast on this Friday, July the 10th. I'm Phil Latzman. Enjoy the weekend, stay cool and hydrated out there. Might get some rain coming, stay tuned for that, and have a terrific weekend.
