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. 31 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: Hi there, this is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman. Good day to you. This podcast, a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. And hello, it is Monday, the last day of August as we’re kicking off a new week. Thanks for being here, and let’s check the news.
Unfortunately, bad news first. Severe flash flooding in the Grand Canyon on Saturday closed the Colorado River, forced the evacuation of over 60 people. One person has now been confirmed dead and about 15 more remain missing or unaccounted for. Connor Greenwall has details.
CONNOR GREENWALL: A significant flash flood event near Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch has destroyed several structures and damaged other infrastructure and utilities. At least 62 people have been evacuated to the South Rim by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and National Park Service, according to a release by NPS. Nearly all footbridges crossing Bright Angel Creek were destroyed by the flooding, and several trails, including the North Kaibab Trail, are closed. There is no estimated time for reopening. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The National Weather Service says more thunderstorms are possible today, and there is a flood watch in effect until midnight for the Grand Canyon area.
Arizona saw a 5% drop in traffic fatalities last year, the third year in a row of declines. Katherine Davis-Young has some good news.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: In spite of the downward trend, traffic fatalities in Arizona last year were still near the all-time high, and Kelsey Mo with the Arizona Department of Transportation notes many of the 1,156 deaths on the road last year were related to driver behavior: speeding, alcohol use, distracted driving, or not wearing a seatbelt.
KELSEY MO: It should be a reminder for all of us that we can make better decisions behind the wheel to help reduce preventable crashes and deaths on Arizona roads.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Mo says one encouraging sign is that the number of fatalities involving alcohol fell slightly in 2025. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Tempe is developing a new 25-year transportation plan. The goal is to make basic essentials like shopping, school, and healthcare services accessible to all residents within a 20-minute walk, bike ride, or by public transportation. Eric Iwersen is the Transportation and Sustainability Director for Tempe. He says a key factor is to make streets safer.
ERIC IWERSEN: Our bicycle program at the city, our bicycle infrastructure at the city has led us to be one of the biggest bike commute cities in the state. We have highest per capita transit ridership in the state.
PHIL LATZMAN: City officials are considering feedback as residents recommend increases in transit frequency, expanding shade coverage, and filling in gaps in the transit network.
Well, there won’t be any citizen initiatives on the ballot this November. Consultants say that is the result of years of Republican lawmakers’ efforts to weaken the process. From the Politics Desk, Camryn Sanchez reports.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Those changes include banning the practice of paying signature gatherers per signature and increasing the standard of legal compliance. GOP Majority Leader John Kavanagh acknowledged legislative changes may have had a chilling effect on the process, but he says they were justified.
JOHN KAVANAGH: I am not losing any sleep over this because, quite frankly, the populist citizen initiative that the founders of this state adopted has mutated into a situation where the only people who can put initiatives up are well-funded groups or individuals, often out of state.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Kavanagh says the legislative changes have made it harder for those out-of-state groups to quote "hijack" Arizona’s citizen initiative process. As for small, in-state efforts, he says they can’t afford to do it anyway. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, last week Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, settled for $17 billion after several states, including Arizona, sued over child safety concerns on social media. Part of the settlement includes daily items—limits rather—for teens, notification blocks, and required breaks. Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes says the new rules will be enforced by an independent monitor, but Meta has a responsibility to ensure the harmful content will not reach teens.
KRIS MAYES: That independent monitor is going to need to have or hire the kind of expertise needed to make sure that Meta is not allowing the harmful content on.
PHIL LATZMAN: Mayes says teens may attempt to circumvent the age restrictions, and regular audits are required as part of the enforcement. Arizona received $233 million of that total settlement, which Mayes says will go towards public schools.
A community leader in the town of Guadalupe alleges the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has not done enough to repair trust broken from a long-running racial profiling case, and there’s concern the erosion has kept about a dozen murders going back to early 2024 from being solved. Matthew Casey has details.
MATTHEW CASEY: The Sheriff’s Office is contracted to patrol Guadalupe, a town of about 5,000 residents of Latino and Yaqui heritage. The agency last week held a town hall, partly to give an update on efforts to satisfy court orders. Former town council member Andrew Sanchez said people who saw killings are scared to talk with deputies, and it shows bonds have not been repaired.
ANDREW SANCHEZ: And I kid you not, there was eyewitnesses. You know, I hear the stories and I see the crosses, you know, littered throughout the town. It is scary out there.
MATTHEW CASEY: Sanchez said those murders date to when Paul Penzone held office. Current Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said agency leaders will meet with victims’ families.
JERRY SHERIDAN: I don't think I'm saying anything out of school. We do have a gang problem here in Guadalupe, and a lot of times people that witness a crime don't want to talk to the detectives.
MATTHEW CASEY: Few residents were present because there was also a town council meeting taking place. Sheridan apologized for scheduling his agency's event on the same night. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Arizona’s first primary care clinic designed specifically for children with autism and developmental disabilities recently opened in central Phoenix. As Trenton Ashdown reports, the clinic takes a unique approach to practicing healthcare.
TRENTON ASHDOWN: Arizona Autism Family Medicine opened its doors through a partnership between Via del Sol Community Health and Arizona Autism Charter Schools earlier this month. Healthcare consultant Robert Hess III says general clinics can be extremely difficult sensory ordeals for children and young adults with autism.
ROBERT HESS III: They're much more thoughtful about how patients are engaged and the types of interactions that they have. So low light, less sound, there's more soundproofing, and then there are tools and resources inside the clinic that are specifically designed to address sensory needs.
TRENTON ASHDOWN: Hess said that general clinics anywhere can apply accessibility techniques such as dedicated quiet hours later at night or private waiting rooms to service neurodivergent patients. Trenton Ashdown, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, and now a new study from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix sheds light on exactly how smoke might damage the brain. Adam Schuller is one of the study’s authors. He says smoke leads to intense inflammation.
ADAM SCHULLER: Inflammation is our body’s natural response to bad things coming into our body, but sometimes the level of that inflammation can be so high that it can actually cause damage. And in this case, we saw that it has the potential to damage neurons.
PHIL LATZMAN: Schuller says neuron damage could have impacts on memory or motor function.
Meanwhile, symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats are often those most associated with menopause, but a new study from ASU found that elevated blood pressure could be a common part of the menopause transition. Kathy Ritchie has more.
KATHY RITCHIE: Researchers at ASU looked at the relationship between menopause and blood pressure among women in the U.S., where the average American lifestyle is more sedentary, and Tsimane women, an active forager-horticulturist community in Bolivia. Madeline Getz is a Ph.D. student in global health and a lead author of the study.
MADELINE GETZ: We found that systolic blood pressure increased more rapidly with age after menopause, and women’s diastolic blood pressure actually decreased more rapidly as they aged after menopause.
KATHY RITCHIE: Getz says the data seems to indicate that menopause is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk regardless of a woman’s lifestyle. Kathy Ritchie, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, Sunday off for local teams after splitting a day-night doubleheader on Saturday to end four games with the Giants. The Diamondbacks back in Phoenix tonight to begin a crucial series with the Phillies. Arizona’s a half-game up on the Padres for the final National League wildcard spot.
Basketball, the WNBA is currently on a 17-day break for the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup. The Mercury, who beat Toronto at home on Saturday, won’t play again until September 17th. Kelsey Plum will not be playing for the Mercury either, as she’ll sit out to try to nurse a leg injury. She will not play in the FIBA championships either, though the Mercury have already been eliminated from postseason contention.
And that’ll do it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Monday, August 31st. I’m Phil Latzman. Enjoy the day, and we’ll be back at you tomorrow to start September fresh. Talk to you then.
