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: This is KJZZ's Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I'm Phil Latzman, your host. This podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our amazing KJZZ news team. Top of the Thursday, on this July the 16th, 2026, we can see the weekend from here. Let's check on the news as we know it. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes says Arizona does not need the Trump administration's help to ensure that only citizens cast ballots in the state's upcoming elections. From the politics desk, Ben Giles reports.
BEN GILES: The Department of Justice last week sent a letter to Fontes threatening to prosecute election workers who knowingly leave non-citizens on voter rolls or facilitate non-citizens casting ballots. The letter said the DOJ is willing to assist Arizona in complying with federal voting laws. In response, Fontes rebuffed the offer, noting Arizona's 15 counties are more than capable of following the law on their own. Fontes has railed against President Trump's repeated baseless claims about election security and integrity. Trump is said to deliver a national address Thursday evening, promising really big news about elections. Ben Giles, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, public school advocates are suing over descriptions of two separate ballot measures related to Arizona's school voucher program that were approved last week by state lawmakers. From the politics desk as well, here's Camryn Sanchez with that.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: At issue is language describing the Protect Education Act, a ballot measure to place new restrictions on Arizona school vouchers. Lawmakers are tasked with approving impartial descriptions of measures that appear on voters' ballots. But those backing the Protect Education Act say Republican lawmakers adopted biased language, intended to discourage Arizonans from voting in favor of voucher restrictions. They also argue lawmakers failed to adequately describe the impact of a separate poison pill ballot measure designed to negate the Protect Education Act's reforms. The lawsuit asks a judge to block ballots from including the GOP lawmakers' favored descriptions. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Environmental advocates say the EPA's proposal to eliminate public comment requirements for data center air permits is another attempt at weakening transparency amid the AI buildout. Taylor Griffith has more.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Most data centers in Arizona obtain minor source air permits that allow them to run backup diesel generators or small gas turbines. The EPA is proposing eliminating a federal 30-day public notice requirement for those permits. Sandy Bahr with the Sierra Club says that would limit opportunities for residents to speak out about their concerns and —
SANDY BAHR: ... make the case, especially in places like Maricopa County that already have poor air quality, that the permit is insufficient to protect public health.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement it's evaluating the proposed rule and that it remains committed to public engagement and transparency. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Golden Dome, a defense project proposed by President Trump, envisions utilizing space-based interceptors to shoot down long-range ballistic missiles headed for the U.S. As Greg Hahne reports, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly questioned the project during a committee hearing this week.
GREG HAHNE: Critics have said the Golden Dome as proposed would be too expensive to operate and ineffective against cheaply made weapons like drones and short-range missiles. Senator Kelly raised similar concerns in an Armed Services Committee hearing as he questioned Trump's nominee for the chief financial policy adviser at the Department of Defense.
SEN. MARK KELLY: We could spend more than a trillion dollars and end up with a system that's not going to work, and it's not going to improve, meaningfully improve, our security.
GREG HAHNE: Nominee Jules Hurst defended the project.
JULES HURST: I trust the program manager, General Gutlein, to make these kinds of determinations and change course inside the program if necessary to achieve an outcome at the appropriate cost for the taxpayer.
GREG HAHNE: Hurst still needs full Senate approval. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, after several months of declining measles cases in Arizona, the state reported a slight increase in transmission in June. Katherine Davis-Young has more.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The state's largest measles outbreak in Mohave County has now gone more than two months with no new infections, but the extremely contagious virus is still appearing in other parts of the state. Pinal and Maricopa Counties confirmed new cases this week, and Yavapai County has now confirmed its first measles case of 2026. Will Humble with the Arizona Public Health Association says the once eliminated disease is likely to continue spreading in the state.
WILL HUMBLE: It's going to happen off and on for a long, long time because vaccination rates are just not sufficient anymore to stop and prevent the spread of measles.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Ninety-six percent of Arizona's cases over the past year have been among unvaccinated people. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, there's one thing we cannot do without during the Valley's hot summer months, and that is air conditioning, but many do, including low-income older adults and people with disabilities. Kathy Ritchie tells us about a program that is aiming to change that.
KATHY RITCHIE: Katie Martin is the administrator of home improvement for the nonprofit All Thrive 365, which supports seniors. She helps eligible Arizonans replace or repair broken air conditioners at no cost. The Healthy Homes Air Conditioning Program relies on grant funding from local utilities. And Martin says, since it's not federal funding —
KATIE MARTIN: ... we're able to move a little bit faster, a little bit less red tape.
KATHY RITCHIE: Martin says they survey recipients before and after receiving a working AC unit. And what they found is obvious. Almost everyone afterwards felt more comfortable being at home. But there are health benefits too, including a drop in medical encounters.
KATIE MARTIN: ... one less visit to the hospital, the doctor, the emergency room. I call that a win.
KATHY RITCHIE: Martin says the average cost of an AC unit is around $11,000. Kathy Ritchie, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors passed a unanimous resolution on Wednesday to ban employees from using non-public information to make bets. We go back to the politics desk now, and here's Camryn Sanchez once again.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The resolution comes after an order last week from Governor Katie Hobbs banning employees in the state's executive branch from the same activity on prediction markets. The Arizona actions follow reports that political insiders in Washington, D.C., may be profiting from betting on things like military operations. County Supervisor Thomas Galvin:
THOMAS GALVIN: One issue of particular importance to me is election integrity, and we want to make sure that our employees are not doing anything nefarious. But at the same time, even though we don't believe they are, we want to make sure that the public knows that this is an important issue for us.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Galvin says the resolution shows residents the county is committed to keeping everything above board. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Governor Katie Hobbs issued a proclamation making July 15 Native Right to Vote Day in Arizona. The proclamation states Native Americans faced struggles in accessing the ballot box for decades after they were officially recognized as citizens in 1924, when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law. Hobbs' proclamation is meant to celebrate the, quote, "history, resilience, and civic leadership" of Native American voters. There are 22 federally recognized tribes here in Arizona. Well, Valley Metro and downtown Phoenix are hosting a series of live music concerts on the light rail. Connor Greenwall has details.
CONNOR GREENWALL: It's all part of the "Ride the Rail" initiative to get more people to interact with small businesses in downtown Phoenix. The concerts will take place over three different days on Valley Metro's B-Line, and will feature music from the Phoenix Symphony, the Herberger Theater Center, and Rosie's House, a music academy for children. Skyler Scott is the marketing director for downtown Phoenix.
SKYLER SCOTT: To have them come onto the light rail to perform and do something that's pretty cool, that not a lot of the other cities are doing with their public transportation or really at all.
CONNOR GREENWALL: Scott says in addition to the concerts, people can use their transit passes this month to get discounts at participating businesses. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, this month marks the 50-year anniversary of the first successful soft landing on Mars. Tony Perkins has more from planetary historians remembering NASA's Viking program.
TONY PERKINS: David Grinspoon of the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute recalls Viking 1 and 2 were meant to answer the age-old question about life on other worlds in the solar system.
DAVID GRINSPOON: And then when we started sending spacecraft there, there were these wild oscillations between sort of optimism and pessimism about life on Mars.
TONY PERKINS: The first Viking spacecraft landed on Mars on July 20, 1976, the seventh anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. Since then, more than a half-dozen missions have soft-landed on the Martian surface, including rovers and the first helicopter to fly over another planet.
PHIL LATZMAN: That's Tony Perkins reporting from Tucson. And in sports, baseball, the Diamondbacks have one more day off before they return from the All-Star break tomorrow. They'll start a weekend series against the Cardinals in Phoenix. The D-backs won four straight heading into the break. Basketball, Mercury have off till tomorrow. They're home for the first of two games against Connecticut. They've lost four straight. It's been a pretty quiet sports week. And that's going to do it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast, this Thursday, July the 16th, 2026. I'm Phil Latzman. Thanks for taking the time to listen and to stay informed. We're back at you tomorrow for Friday. In the meantime, have a great day, and may the good news be yours.
