KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the stories you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up for Aug. 14, 2026 Transcript
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 for this podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. It is Friday. You did it, you've made it. It is Aug. 14. Let's jump right in with a check of the news.
A judge has rejected a conservative legal group's claim that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes tried to mislead voters about a Republican election reform ballot measure. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky starts us off.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Adèle Pons said Arizona law requires the secretary to prepare language explaining the effects Prop 144 would have if approved. That came after America First Legal, a firm aligned with President Trump, complained that the description Fontes prepared for ballots is misleading. For instance, it said Fontes never mentioned a part of the law that explicitly says only citizens may register and vote in Arizona elections. Pons acknowledged that Fontes did not mention each and every provision in the ballot measure, but concluded he did not break the law. Fontes argued the citizenship voting requirement is already in state law, and nothing in Prop 144 would change that. Pons said that was his decision to make. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: As Arizona prepares for a future with less Colorado River water, some Valley cities are working on cutback deals with the federal government. As Alex Hager reports, cities can get paid to use less water.
ALEX HAGER: Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, is at a record low. With Mother Nature putting less in, taking less out is a way to preserve the reservoir as a backup for the future. Haley Paul is a water expert with the nonprofit Audubon Society.
HALEY PAUL: As we've had these terrible, back-to-back, low-water years, it's—it's the only thing we can do at the moment is to simply use less, take less out of the reservoir and keep it up there in the river. And it's nice that we have this incentive for cities to do so.
ALEX HAGER: Cities from Gilbert to Glendale have worked with the Interior Department to cut back on use, get millions in federal money and put it towards infrastructure projects like fixing leaky pipes and building new wells. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Pinal County officials will soon decide whether to approve the county's first large-scale data center known as La Osa, but they want to gather more expert opinions before doing so. Taylor Griffith has more on Wednesday's special session.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Pinal County supervisors asked specialists to help address community concerns about data centers. Dr. David Ebert, a computer scientist at the U of A, explained data centers were making energy efficiency gains for years, but the integration of AI into most web applications and jobs is driving new and historic energy demands at these facilities.
DR. DAVID EBERT: The systems that are being deployed have very dense circuits, require a lot of computation, and that generates a lot of heat and a lot of electrical use.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The supervisors said community members are concerned data centers could strain the grid or drive up energy costs. Scott Charley with SRP said the utility initially thought the same, until they began requiring stronger contracts for data centers to cover energy generation and transmission needs or repairs. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In consecutive weekdays now, four Metro Phoenix police departments have announced queries into misuse of controversial license plate readers, also known as LPRs. Matthew Casey's been following and has the latest.
MATTHEW CASEY: A Surprise police officer is on paid leave and under internal investigation after an abnormality was discovered during an LPR system audit. A Chandler police officer resigned before a formal investigation was complete after their LPR account was linked to unusual system usage. In Goodyear, an officer is under criminal investigation in connection with a potential department policy violation that was also found during a system audit. In Apache Junction, an officer resigned after investigators said he improperly used the system to locate a family member. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: At a hearing today, the executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will ask commissioners to continue withholding campaign funding from Republican Ralph Heap. Here from our politics team once again is Wayne Schutsky.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: The commission was withholding Heap's public campaign funding because he would not sign a sworn affidavit confirming his financial reports are accurate, amid allegations he has not reported who paid for hundreds of signs placed throughout the state. In a letter to commissioners, executive director Thomas Collins says Heap has now signed that form. But Collins says there is still evidence Heap violated campaign finance laws because he hasn't filed reports disclosing who paid for the signs. Heap's attorney says the campaign bought the signs using an undisclosed line of credit from Mesa Sign Shop. But Collins says that also violates rules barring Clean Elections candidates from taking on debt that exceeds the amount of money they have in the bank. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Mexican government is launching a new phase of cleanup on the Rio Sonora, 12 years after a mining operation spilled more than 10 million gallons of copper sulfate into the watershed. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more on that.
NINA KRAVINSKY: At an event on Wednesday, representatives from Mexico's federal government announced a nearly $40 million investment to clean up polluted soil and sediment in the Rio Sonora. The 2014 copper sulfate spill at Grupo México's Buenavista copper mine contaminated much of the critical waterway. Mexico now considers the spill the most serious environmental mining disaster in the country's history. Many communities along the Rio Sonora say the federal government and Grupo México's response to the disaster has been lackluster. A citizen group for people affected by the spill called for more public participation in response to this week's announcement. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: A new drug is showing promising signs for treating Valley Fever. Dr. John Galgiani directs the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona. He told KJZZ's The Show expanding treatment options for the fungal infection would be significant.
DR. JOHN GALGIANI: Nothing cures the disease. Some of them help, and they put the fungus to sleep, but if the immune system doesn't keep it under control, it comes back when you stop the drugs. So any new drugs have the potential that it can do better than that.
PHIL LATZMAN: Galgiani said patients with severe cases of Valley Fever stabilized in early trials of the new drug. It does not yet, though, have FDA approval.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company announced more frequent service between Phoenix and Dallas. BNSF says their expansion lays the groundwork for the railway's new intermodal facility under construction in Wittmann. The company says the new service will help deal with increased demand, and the expanded service will run six days a week. And that service lays the groundwork for additional growth and capacity in Arizona. The Wittmann facility is expected to open early next year.
In other news today, Senator Mark Kelly is one of more than two dozen lawmakers asking the State Department to address processing delays for international students applying to study in the U.S. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick has more.
ALISA REZNICK: In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Kelly and the other senators say their constituents and other stakeholders report a lack of timely visa appointments for students and scholars ahead of the academic year. They say the delays exacerbate uncertainty for international students who supported more than 355,000 jobs last year and contribute nearly $43 billion annually. They're asking the agency for processing times, the number of applications rejected under new vetting guidelines, and other data. The Trump administration revoked more than 6,000 student visas last year as part of an ongoing immigration crackdown, including over 100 in Arizona. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: Ahead of Diana Taurasi's Ring of Honor induction this weekend, the Phoenix Mercury updated a street sign with her name and unveiled a new mural in downtown Phoenix. Bridget Dowd was there.
BRIDGET DOWD: Taurasi spent 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury and is the most decorated Olympian in women's basketball. A street sign outside the Mortgage Matchup Center was symbolically renamed Taurasi Way in 2017 after she surpassed Tina Thompson to become the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. On Thursday morning, a new sign went up to reflect her 10,646 total career points. Here's Taurasi speaking at the press conference.
DIANA TAURASI: And I just hope when people see that last name, it symbolizes all the things that it takes to really make it, and that's hard work, discipline, consistency. And not only that, a great community.
BRIDGET DOWD: Taurasi will be inducted into the Phoenix Mercury's Ring of Honor as the team hosts the Portland Fire at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, football: the Cardinals pulled out a 27-14 preseason win over the Raiders last night in Vegas. Their offense looked good. Quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and backup Gardner Minshew combined to go 15 of 15 for 123 yards and three touchdowns in the first half to build the lead, and rookie Jeremiyah Love, drafted third overall by the Cardinals, made his preseason debut and rushed for 58 yards on 11 carries. Here he was afterwards.
JEREMIYAH LOVE: I got in a little bit of a groove, kind of wish I would have played just a tad bit longer, but I think I played enough for people to see.
PHIL LATZMAN: The bad news is the second-round pick, rookie offensive lineman Chase Bisontis, suffered what would appear to be a serious knee injury. The Cardinals continue the preseason a week from Saturday against the Cowboys.
Baseball: Diamondbacks had Thursday off. They were traveling to Atlanta to begin a weekend series with the Braves. With the Phillies' win though last night, Arizona's dropped a half game behind the Phils for the final National League wild card spot.
Basketball: the Mercury, as we heard earlier, off till Sunday when they induct Diana Taurasi into the Ring of Honor and they host the Portland Fire.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast for Friday, Aug. 14. I'm Phil Latzman. Hey, and this is Five-Dollar Friday, give to the station to support this podcast at kjzz.org. Have a great weekend and we'll do it all again on Monday.
