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 15, 2026
ANNOUNCER: KJZZ Z’s son 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: This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman. Well, this podcast, brought to you daily, is a digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. Dub to dub, welcome to Wednesday, here in the ides of the month, the 15th of July, 2026. I’m Phil Latzman. Hope you’re doing well, and here is a check of the news as we know it.
Well, Arizona Democrats are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security after several cases of measles were confirmed among people in ICE custody in the state. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: DHS last week said seven detainees in ICE’s Florence Detention Center had measles, and two other ICE facilities in Arizona also had detainees quarantined for possible measles exposure.
Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari, and Adalita Grijalva, along with Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, have now sent a letter to DHS asking what the agency is doing to contain the outbreak. They also raised concerns about detainees’ access to court hearings as a result of quarantines.
DHS has said it is long standing practice to provide comprehensive medical care to those in custody. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Meanwhile, state officials have also confirmed the presence of measles virus in wastewater samples taken in Sedona.
KATHY RITCHIE: From the KJZZ newsroom, I’m Kathy Ritchie. Primary election day is now less than a week away. If you missed yesterday’s deadline to mail in your ballot, don’t worry. You can still drop it off at an official ballot drop box or bring it to a polling place. There are dozens of vote centers around Metro Phoenix with more locations opening on election day, which is July 21.
PHIL LATZMAN: And as you finalize those ballots for the primary, be sure to check out our Arizona voter guide at kjzz.org.
Well, Arizona’s Governor, Katie Hobbs, helped to shepherd through a three year pause on tax breaks for data centers amid concerns those developments are straining state water and energy supplies. As Taylor Griffith reports, hundreds of developments could still benefit from the program, though, for years to come.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Lawmakers introduced tax breaks on computer equipment in 2013 as a way to attract data center development. The Arizona Commerce Authority oversees the program. It says 83 data center developments have benefited since it was introduced.
In the two weeks leading up to the pause on those tax breaks, the ACA says it received 113 new applications. Because they came in ahead of the moratorium, those proposals could still be eligible.
The ACA says the applications mostly came from facilities that are already approved or are in the process of expanding. But some may still represent new data center projects. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, food delivery robots are becoming more common in Metro Phoenix. But who is responsible if a robot causes injury or damage? As Connor Greenwald reports, a local jury may decide.
CONNOR GREENWALD: Under Arizona law, delivery robots have the same rights and responsibilities as pedestrians, and robot operators must carry general liability insurance up to $100,000. A lawsuit in Maricopa County alleges in 2023, an ASU parking attendant was run over by a delivery robot on campus in Tempe.
According to the ASU police report, a 73-year-old woman waited for the robot to pass by before crossing. The robot then abruptly reversed, knocking the woman down before changing directions and running her over a second time.
The woman is suing robot operator Starship Technologies for liability and negligence. Connor Greenwald, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, monsoon rains have helped to boost some flows in the San Pedro River. But as Alex Hager tells us, the benefits are temporary for that river, which was historically dry earlier this summer.
ALEX HAGER: Last month, an important measuring site on the river called the Charleston gauge was completely dry for only the second time in more than a century. Joanne Roberts is president of the nonprofit Friends of the San Pedro River. She says it’s getting drained by climate change, drought, mining, and other human uses.
JOANNE ROBERTS: It all has a cumulative effect that ends up removing water from the system, which allows that point in time at Charleston not to be flowing at all.
ALEX HAGER: Roberts says groundwater under the river in Southeastern Arizona has been getting depleted for years. That makes it harder for water on the surface to come back. Alex Hager, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The company that operates Arizona’s 211 crisis hotline announced funding has been secured to keep its live operators. Jill Ryan has details.
JILL RYAN: Arizona 211 connects people in crisis to resources and organizations for food, shelter, and more. Last month, Solari announced that Arizona 211 lost state funding and could no longer support live operator services starting in August.
But a spokesperson for Gov. Katie Hobbs confirmed that $2,000,000 has been set aside to keep the live service going through early 2027. The money came from the State Department of Economic Security’s homelessness funds as well as the American Rescue Plan Act. Jill Ryan, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Maricopa County is working to prevent overdose deaths related to extreme heat this summer through increased access to opioid reversal medication. Lilly Roseburrough has more.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: In partnership with local organizations, the county’s Department of Public Health distributed 1,700 heat relief kits across the county in 2026. The kits include naloxone, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. Carmen Batista with county public health says extreme heat increases the fatal overdose risk of people who use opioids.
CARMEN BATISTA: We have at least two reports with an individual who’s revived uh on site. And then we also have a volunteer who later used naloxone to save their son’s life. So we’re already seeing some immediate positive impact from this.
LILLY ROSEBURROUGH: Batista says the county’s emphasizing maintenance for the naloxone to ensure residents have steady access to harm reduction tools. Lilly Roseborough, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: And an analysis from the National Alliance to End Homelessness shows nearly 1,800 formerly homeless Arizonans are at risk of losing shelter. The Trump administration has proposed drastic changes to federal funding for permanent supportive housing programs. Tim Burch with the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care says those programs typically serve disabled and chronically homeless individuals.
TIM BURCH: If folks are unable to work due to these disabling conditions, what are they going to transition to over time that is going to be sustainable for our community without this longstanding federal investment that has suddenly been shifted?
PHIL LATZMAN: The Trump administration says permanent supportive housing encourages dependence on government handouts.
Well, a city ordinance barring misuse of 911 is set to take effect in Scottsdale on August 1. Matthew Casey tells us more.
MATTHEW CASEY: Scottsdale officials want to keep 911 available to report true emergencies and crime. But there’s a small group of people who intentionally misuse the system over and over.
AARON BOLIN: Maybe it’s a party in your neighborhood and there is a parking issue now in your neighborhood, but it’s not causing an immediate hazard
MATTHEW CASEY: Officer Aaron Bolin is a police department spokesperson. He said if you have time to look up the non emergency number, the situation is probably not a crisis.
AARON BOLIN: Maybe your neighbors’ home the weeds are too tall or something like that, or it might be another nuisance issue, but it’s not truly an emergency.
MATTHEW CASEY: Bolin says those who misuse 911 could have to pay for the response. Matthew Casey, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Tucson transit service Sun Tran has reached a new collective bargaining agreement with its drivers to avoid a strike. Here once again is Connor Greenwald with details on that.
CONNOR GREENWALD: The union that represents Sun Tran bus and streetcar drivers ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement this week following a union vote in June to authorize a strike. The union says 75% of members approved the new agreement, which focuses heavily on safety, including new protective barriers for drivers and expanded police and private security deployments at transit stops. Additionally, the union will be able to review data related to assaults, substance misuse, and safety incidents that occur on transit routes. Connor Greenwald, KJZZ news, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: An Arizona tribal chef has published a new memoir focusing on food sovereignty and sobriety. It’s called “Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef.” Nephi Craig is the author.
NEPHI CRAIG: Sobriety’s such an important topic in Native America that gets relegated to the shadows sometimes. But we have all the tools that we need as Native American people to heal and recover, and we don’t necessarily need a Western stamp of validation.
PHIL LATZMAN: Craig is executive chef of Whiterievr Cafe, which is owned by the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s Rainbow Treatment Center.
In sports, baseball, Diamondbacks All-Stars Corbin Carroll and Eduardo Rodriguez each appeared briefly in last night’s Major League All-Star Game. Replacing National League starter Christopher Sanchez. Rodriguez retired all three batters in the second inning. Carroll got in the game in the fifth inning to play left field; he struck out his only at-bat.
Winners of four straight, the D-backs as a team will resume their regular season Friday in Phoenix. They start a weekend series against the Cardinals.
And in basketball, Mercury have off till Friday when they’ll return home for their first of two games against Connecticut. Phoenix has lost four straight games.
And that will do it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast, this Wednesday, July the 15th. I’m Phil Latzman. Have a wonderful day, and may the good news be yours. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.
