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 for Aug. 18, 2026 Transcript
ANNOUNCER: KJZZ's Sun Up is supported by Banner Health, Arizona's largest non-profit healthcare system. Last year, Banner reinvested more than $1.1 billion in community health and charity care. Banner Health, Non-profit for Arizona. bannerhealth.com/nonprofit4az.
PHIL LATZMAN: This is KJZZ's Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on Arizona 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. Glad you're here today. Hope the week's off to a good start for you, and here's what's going on on this Tuesday, August the 18th. Water levels in Lake Powell have reached a new record low. As Alex Hager reports, the Colorado River reservoir is now about 22% full.
ALEX HAGER: The nation's second largest reservoir covers parts of Utah and Northern Arizona. If it drops much lower, that could force the shutdown of hydropower turbines that send electricity to about 5 million people. Lower than that, the dam could have trouble sending water downstream at all, jeopardizing the supply for major cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. This news comes after another water milestone: just downstream, Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, hit a historic low last week. The records are the result of drought, climate change, and steady demand for Colorado River water. Policymakers are trying to agree on a new plan to rein in demand for the river over the next two years. It's expected to be released in the coming weeks. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: When Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, picked former Republican John Giles as her running mate last week, her campaign pitched the move as an olive branch to voters from across the political spectrum. But beyond their voter registration, Hobbs and Giles appear in lockstep on most major issues. From the politics desk, here is Wayne Schutsky.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: At a recent campaign event, Giles, who is now a registered Independent, couldn't name a single point of disagreement with Hobbs.
JOHN GILES: Remarkably little or nothing, because we're focused on these nonpartisan agenda items: transportation, education. There's not a partisan approach to these very important challenges that Arizona's facing.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: GOP gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs's campaign accused Giles of losing his Republican bona fides years ago, pointing to the values he shares with Hobbs and his past support for Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Appealing to voters across the political spectrum is critical for Democratic candidates running for statewide office in Arizona, where Independent voters make up more than one-third of the electorate and Republicans are the single largest voting block. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A federal judge has ruled against a bid from the Tohono O'odham Nation in southern Arizona to stop border wall construction on their land. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick reports 62 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border are inside that tribal nation.
ALISA REZNICK: And the federal government hasn't tried to build a wall there, but now the stretch is included in the Trump administration's multi-billion dollar smart wall project. The tribe's suit argues that it violates its sovereign boundaries and asked the court to grant a preliminary injunction to stop construction. Robert Miller is a law professor at ASU and a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. He says while the court acknowledged the tribe's ability to bring the suit—
ROBERT MILLER: Court thinks they are not liable to win. They think that it's not in the public interest to stop the federal government from building this wall. Of course, they referenced the drugs that have crossed the Arizona border and the illegal immigrants—
ALISA REZNICK: Miller says preliminary injunctions are hard to win because they must meet strict stipulations. A spokesman with the Tohono O'odham Nation says the tribe is weighing its legal options. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: Mexico and the U.S. have signed an agreement allowing the Mexican military access to the U.S. drone and anti-drone system market. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, Nina Kravinsky has more.
NINA KRAVINSKY: The document, signed by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on a visit to Mexico, opens up the U.S. Army's marketplace of drones and anti-drone systems to its southern neighbor. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a post on social media that the agreement will enhance the two countries' ability to combat drug cartels. Mexico-based drug cartels have increasingly leveraged drone and anti-drone technology. The criminal organizations use the technology to fight against rival groups and law enforcement as well as for surveillance and contraband smuggling. Nina Kravinsky, KJZZ News, Hermosillo.
PHIL LATZMAN: A new report shows housing construction's picking up in Arizona, but the state still faces a shortage of homes, and many Arizona households remain cost-burdened. Katherine Davis-Young has details.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The annual State of Housing in Arizona report from the state's three public universities shows a few encouraging signs. Rent prices appear to be leveling off after years of skyrocketing increases, and home construction is at its highest point in a decade. But Alison Cook-Davis, who co-authored the report, says solving the state's housing shortage isn't just a matter of building more.
ALISON COOK-DAVIS: It's also about creating enough housing choices that people at different incomes and stages of life can find a place that they can afford.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Cook-Davis says the housing shortage is most acute for Arizona's lowest-income renters. The report notes housing costs in the state are still outpacing wage growth. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: An unfair labor practice lawsuit is near the center of an ongoing vote on whether to form a labor union of around 250 doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants at Banner Health. Matthew Casey reports.
MATTHEW CASEY: The Union of American Physicians and Dentists represents Dr. Syerra Lea in her case against Banner Health. Sebastian Gomez is an organizer for the union.
SEBASTIAN GOMEZ: What happened to Dr. Lee was an example of the conditions under which these clinicians have to work.
MATTHEW CASEY: When she was the site lead at a Gilbert clinic, Lee says she was reprimanded and retaliated against for sending what management told her was an inappropriate group chat about providers having been wrongly scheduled to work every Saturday this year.
DR. SYERRA LEA: It seemed to be just kind of an emotional response to me speaking up about something.
MATTHEW CASEY: Months later, Lee filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, then gave 90 days notice that she'd found a new job. Within a week, Lee says Banner made her leave the clinic and cut her off from patients she knew for 15 years.
DR. SYERRA LEA: That was probably the most upsetting and harsh reality of them just dismissing me and making me go home that day.
MATTHEW CASEY: Banner did not reply to an interview request. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Arizona Senator Mark Kelly wants the federal government to give the green light to more work on portions of Interstate 11, which is planned to connect Phoenix to Las Vegas. Also, former politics team Camryn Sanchez has that.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The I-11 project is designed to ultimately be a corridor stretching all the way from Canada to Mexico. In Arizona, it will ideally lessen reliance on the I-10. The Federal Highway Administration is working on an environmental impact statement for southern sections of the proposed Interstate. Kelly reached out to the agency on Monday to ask whether ADOT can get started on any preparatory work on the portions of the corridor between Wickenburg and Casa Grande. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Across the West, extreme drought is leaving rivers low, threatening fish and recreation. As the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen tells us, some water managers are finding some creative ways to keep them flowing.
RACHEL COHEN: Anglers have encountered fishing restrictions this summer on rivers in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado as warm water stresses fish. Wildlife and water officials wanted to avoid that on the Upper Arkansas River in central Colorado. Following an emergency agreement this month, more water is being sent from Twin Lakes Reservoir into the river. Blake Mamich works for the Colorado Water Trust, which helped put the deal together.
BLAKE MAMICH: Basically make sure that the fish are, if not happy, at least have kind of their basic needs met.
RACHEL COHEN: The extra water will help cool things down for fish and keep the river flowing for rafting through the end of the summer. Mimick says the deal came together fast. To him, it shows how flexibility can help keep water in rivers during tough years. For the Mountain West News Bureau, I'm Rachel Cohen.
PHIL LATZMAN: ASU's new Center for Agriculture and National Security will provide research and policy guidance to secure food supply chains. Greg Hahne reports.
GREG HAHNE: Geopolitical conflicts like the war with Iran have disrupted food supply chains worldwide. A report from the International Food Policy Research Institute shows prices of the fertilizer chemical urea doubled between January and April of this year, and that follows a similar spike in fertilizer prices after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Alicia Ellis is director of the new center. She says the program will help provide teaching and research for securing food systems in the U.S.
ALICIA ELLIS: Agriculture is traditionally an enormous strategic asset, so I want us to start thinking how we protect that strength, how we make it more resilient, and ultimately, how we use it more deliberately as an element of American national power.
GREG HAHNE: ASU says it has already partnered with the federal government to research how adversaries could take advantage of food vulnerabilities. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, a very strange story for the Diamondbacks. They have placed All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte on the club's restricted list after he went AWOL last night in Boston. He did not show up for the series opener against the Red Sox. Here's manager Torey Lovullo.
TOREY LOVULLO: All I know is that he's dealing with a personal issue. We're trying to figure that out, and he didn't show up today and he was put on the restricted list. That's as much as I know right now. I'm sure in time we'll start to uncover and unravel some information.
PHIL LATZMAN: Marte also went on the restricted list last year after his home in the Dominican Republic was broken into during the All-Star break. With Marte missing, the D-backs were blown out by the Red Sox 11 to 1 last night in the first of three. The D-backs fall a game behind the Padres for the final National League playoff spot. They'll try again this evening in Boston with Marte's status unknown. Basketball: the Mercury off till Saturday when they will host the Atlanta Dream. And that will do it for this edition of KJZZ's Sun Up, Arizona's morning news podcast this Tuesday, August the 18th. I'm Phil Latzman, thanks so much for being with us, and we'll do it again tomorrow. We'll talk to you then.
