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: Hello there, 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 for this podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. It is Tuesday, August the 4th. Thanks for being here. Hope the week’s off to a good start for you and stay cool and hydrated.
Heat warnings have now been extended here in Maricopa County through Friday. Temperature still in the 110 range, though not quite as hot as the record-breaking levels we’ve seen.
All right, let’s check on the news and other things happening. Well, many Arizona cities that use water from the Colorado River will likely be getting less of it soon. New federal rules for sharing the river expected to include big cutbacks for the Phoenix and Tucson areas, but as Alex Hager reports, they won’t be going totally dry anytime soon.
ALEX HAGER: Big cuts to the area’s water supply have been in the works for years, and city utilities have been planning accordingly. Many around the Valley have spent years diversifying their water supplies to soften the impact of future Colorado River cuts. Some will lean harder on water from underground aquifers or the Salt River, which is managed separately. Cities are prepared to spend billions on projects, like a bigger dam on the Salt River system to store more of its water during extra wet years. Some utilities are building facilities that can safely recycle sewage back into drinking water. And a new program is in the works where cities with enough water to sell can find other cities looking to buy it. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, extreme heat warnings still in effect for multiple Arizona counties we mentioned this week, and as Alisa Reznick reports, warnings have been extended now through Friday for Maricopa, Yuma, and La Paz counties.
ALISA REZNICK: The warnings come on the heels of a new heat record of 115 degrees in Phoenix over the weekend. Gabriel Lojero, with the National Weather Service, says even after the high temperatures back off, it may still take longer to feel cooler.
GABRIEL LOJERO: The issue is that the humidity levels are actually going to go up a little bit, so it’s actually going to feel a bit more uncomfortable, um, as we head throughout the upcoming week.
ALISA REZNICK: Lojero says that there’s a better chance of low desert storms later this week. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously certified the results of the primary election yesterday. From the politics desk, Camyrn Sanchez says there was no drama.
CAMYRN SANCHEZ: The primary election went pretty smoothly, and that’s something the supervisors and Recorder Justin Heap were able to agree on. The two entities have been fighting tooth and nail for months over the distribution of election responsibilities but resolved the issue in a court battle shortly before the election. Supervisor Thomas Galvin noted there were no allegations of stolen elections in the primary.
THOMAS GALVIN: Also what I heard today in the presentations is very important from our elections department and from our Recorder’s Office, is just as important what I didn’t hear. No allegations of fraud, no allegations of vote rigging, no allegations of fixed elections.
CAMYRN SANCHEZ: The supervisors say they hope this will be a blueprint for the November general election. Camyrn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is investigating Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for her alleged pay-to-play scheme. Says she’ll make an announcement ahead of the November election. Hobbs is accused of granting a favorable contract to a group home that donated to her campaign and the State Democratic Party.
KRIS MAYES: When we have a result in this investigation, we will make an announcement, and we are near the end of the investigation.
PHIL LATZMAN: Republican County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s conducting her own investigation of Hobbs on the same issue.
Well, a law firm aligned with President Trump is suing Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes over how he plans to describe an election reform proposal that will be on November’s ballots. Also from the politics team, here’s Wayne Schutsky with details on that.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: America First Legal, which was co-founded by Trump advisor Stephen Miller, accuses Fontes of using misleading language to describe Proposition 144, which would make a number of changes to Arizona election laws — including requiring all voters to present an ID to cast a ballot, even if they vote by mail.
The lawsuit says the ballot description crafted by Fontes doesn’t mention parts of the proposed law that would explicitly state non-citizens cannot vote in Arizona elections, something that is already illegal. It also challenges language that says a yes vote on Prop 144 may make it harder to challenge election laws in the future, which the lawsuit calls a contested legal conclusion and a mischaracterization. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the Loop 303 currently ends at the northern edge of Goodyear. Construction is now underway to extend the freeway further south into the city to help relieve traffic on the I-10. Taylor Griffith has more.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The state says, the 4-mile extension of Loop 303 into Goodyear will take around four years to complete. There’ll be three lanes going in either direction, connected by 10 overpass bridges. In an appearance on ADOT’s podcast, the department senior engineer, Jimmy Naujokaitis, previewed what drivers can expect.
JIMMY NAUJOKAITIS: You’ll still have frontage roads on either side. We will have local access along the freeway. But for the most part, Cotton Lane will be going away, and in its place will be a brand new highway.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The $613 million project is paid for through a regional freeway plan approved by voters in 2004. It will set up an eventual connection with a new planned freeway, State Route 30, which is scheduled for construction in 2027. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Coal power generation jumped 13% last year, driving up carbon emissions. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports searching electricity demand, including for AI data centers and air conditioning amid extreme heat, is helping bolster an industry that has been in slow decline.
KALEB ROEDEL: The Federal Energy Information Administration says power sector emissions rose about 4% last year. That comes as electricity use is rising again after decades with little change. Across the Mountain West, utilities are trying to keep up. But building new power plants and transmission lines can take years. In the meantime, some older power plants are staying online longer than expected.
ROB GRAMLICH: Coal plants were, by and large, on their way to retiring one by one, year by year. But I think in many cases, they’re being extended and the pace of retirements is slowing.
KALEB ROEDEL: That’s Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, an electric power consulting firm. He says renewable energy is still growing, but in the short term, utilities may rely more on fossil fuels as they race to add more power supplies. For the Mountain West News Bureau, I’m Kaleb Roedel.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the city of Tucson will help provide safe bus rides for students and families during the first weeks of school. Noor Haghighi reports.
NOOR HAGHIGHI: Starting Wednesday, more people will be staffed along Sun Tran bus routes for added safety. That’s in anticipation of the new school year, which begins on the 5th for Tucson Unified School District.
According to an announcement from Mayor Regina Romero, officials from the city will man key transit stops. Tucson’s Safe City initiative, launched last year, cites schools as partners in its effort to mitigate violence across town. In June, there was an alleged knife attack on a Sun Tran bus that left a man injured. The safe rides to school program will last until Aug. 14.
PHIL LATZMAN: That’s Noor Haghighi reporting from Tucson.
Well, this summer, the Federal Forest Service authorized the use of N95 respirators for wildland firefighters for the first time. For the Mountain West News Bureau, Rachel Sun reports on what experts say about that change.
RACHEL SUN: For years, scientists have known that wildfire smoke is especially bad in the high doses that wildland firefighters are exposed to. Heather Heward is a fire ecology instructor at the University of Idaho. She says new protective equipment can take a minute to gain traction in the field.
HEATHER HEWARD: On the fireline, there are people that wear N95 masks when they are exposed to smoke. I would say it’s definitely the exception more than it is the rule.
RACHEL SUN: Part of that is because respirators can be uncomfortable. It’s also because of workforce norms. Heward says when workers age up, they often reevaluate those decisions.
HEATHER HEWARD: As they get 10, 15, especially 20 years in, they’re having friends die of long-term illnesses, and it’s terrifying.
RACHEL SUN: She says more research is needed to implement practices that can improve health outcomes for wildland fire personnel. I’m Rachel Sun.
PHIL LATZMAN: And sports: Basketball, fresh off a blockbuster trade, returning from a leg injury in her Phoenix Mercury debut, Kelsey Plum paid instant dividends, made the go-ahead shot, scored 20 points to go with Kahleah Copper’s game-high 31 in the 106-101 win over the Sky last night in Chicago.
At an introductory press conference before the game, the five-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion said growing up, she was a big fan of retired Mercury legend Diana Taurasi.
KELSEY PLUM: Uh, it means everything. Um, you know, that was the reason I started playing basketball. She actually texted me today, um, and just said she’s, there’s no one she’d rather have. Um, and so I, that just feels, I’m just very honored.
PHIL LATZMAN: Alyssa Thomas added her WNBA-leading 27th career triple-double in last night’s win as the Merc, now with Plum on board, try to make a late charge for a playoff berth, their 12-19 on the season.
Baseball: Tim Tawa, three-run homer, Brandon Pfaadt carried a shutout into the seventh inning as the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 5-1 last night in the opener of a 10-game homestand. The victory moved the D-backs two games ahead of San Diego in the NL wild card race, the second of four in the series tonight at Chase Field.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Tuesday, August the 4th. I’m Phil Latzman, enjoy the day, stay hydrated and cool out there, and we’ll do this again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
