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.
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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/nonprofitforaz.
PHIL LATZMAN: Welcome to Wednesday. This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on Arizona’s State Region. I'm Phil Latzman. We bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our award-winning KJZZ news team. It is Wednesday, September the 16th, rolling through the week and over the hump we go with a check of the news.
Candidates for superintendent of public instruction sparred over the best way to administer private school vouchers in a debate held last evening. From the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez was listening in, and she reports that Republican nominee Kimberly Yee said accountability needs to be different for ESA families.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Democratic nominee Teresa Leyba Ruiz supports adding guardrails to the program. She says that since private schools are receiving taxpayer dollars, they should be subject to academic accountability and reporting, like public schools are. But Yee says asking private schools to report that kind of information could be illegal.
KIMBERLY YEE: Many of these children are students with disabilities. So once you start digging into their educational environment and their educational needs, you start violating the HIPAA laws, the health-related privacy laws for those young children.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Yee said reporting requirements could also violate parents' privacy rights under federal law. She didn't clarify how the accountability and reporting requirements that public schools comply with are not themselves a violation of those same federal laws. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A coalition of business groups from across the West is calling on the federal government to give at least $2 billion for Colorado River projects. As Alex Hager reports, that includes nearly a dozen chambers of commerce from here in Arizona.
ALEX HAGER: In a letter to federal officials, the business groups say long-term investment is needed to help the Southwest adapt to dry conditions on the Colorado River. It includes business groups from all seven states that use the river's water. Republican State Senator Tim Dunn of Yuma is part of the push for federal dollars.
TIM DUNN: We need to save the system, so that's the lens we're looking at. And when you come together trying to figure out how we can collectively do that in a bipartisan and a bi-basin, complete basin way, that's what—we've had some great conversations on that.
ALEX HAGER: The money could be used for a wide range of projects, from adding to dams and accessing groundwater, to reducing wildfire risk and preventing leaks in city pipes. Business groups say reliable water infrastructure is foundational to the region's economy. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Police in Peoria are crediting automatic license plate readers with helping them find an 82-year-old man who left home Monday for a doctor's appointment, but never showed up for it. Matthew Casey tells us more.
MATTHEW CASEY: The man is in cognitive decline, and his wife called Peoria police for help after he didn't return home for several hours. Investigators narrowed their search for the man using license plate readers, which showed he'd been to Paradise Valley and returned to the area around Sun City. Here's Peoria Police Commander Jason Tarrant.
JASON TARRANT: Within two hours and thirty minutes of us getting the call, patrol officers were able to find that vehicle, stop it, get help to this individual, who ended up going to the hospital to get some medical attention.
MATTHEW CASEY: Peoria has about 80 license plate readers made by the company Flock. Nearly a dozen Arizona cities have terminated Flock programs, citing public concerns the surveillance tool can be misused. Matthew Casey, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Three border wall protesters were arrested Monday along a remote stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is building a double steel wall. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick has the latest.
ALISA REZNICK: The Cochise County Sheriff's Office says protesters were arrested on disorderly conduct charges just east of the Santa Cruz County line, where a group had gathered inside a wall construction zone. Video shared by protesters show a person dressed in a jaguar costume, and another dressed as a local migratory bird called a yellow-billed cuckoo. Both are cross-border endangered species environmentalists say would be cut off from water and mates in Mexico if the walls are built. Protesters have been sitting in an old-growth cottonwood tree several miles west of where this week's arrests took place for weeks to prevent its demolition. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: Democratic congressional candidate Amish Shah is touting an endorsement from the Arizona Independent Party, but legally speaking, there is no such party in the state. Here's Camryn Sanchez again from our politics team.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Shah is running against Republican Jay Feely in Arizona's 1st Congressional District, one of the most competitive seats in the country. His campaign spokesperson confirms he's referring to the No Labels Party, which is a third party actively trying to change its name to the Arizona Independent Party. The party chair, Paul Johnson, says he doesn't think Shah is misleading voters by calling the party by another name.
PAUL JOHNSON: No, not at all. I think, to be honest with you, I think, and we've said this during the whole trial, most people see us as being the party that represents independents anyway.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The No Labels Party tried to rename itself last year, but was blocked in court after both Democrats and Republicans sued. Johnson says he'll continue the appeals process after the midterms. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Arizona Attorney General's Office and Glendale Police believe they have identified who killed Jim Chafey back in 1987, resolving a nearly 40-year-old cold case. But questions remain about the circumstances surrounding the death. Wayne Schutsky reports.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Chafey's body was discovered in the early morning hours in August 1987 in the Resthaven Cemetery in Glendale. Investigators say his throat was cut and he was badly bruised. For 39 years, the case remained unsolved, but the Attorney General's Office says its Cold Case Unit used DNA from cigarette butts and beer bottles found near the body to place Gary Wayne Billups at the scene. Attorney General Kris Mayes praised Glendale PD for making that possible.
KRIS MAYES: They collected evidence, they preserved that evidence, they handled it correctly for nearly four decades.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Billups committed suicide after investigators took his DNA swab earlier this year. DNA evidence also linked two other men who died years ago to the scene, but the AG declined to say whether they, too, were culpable in the murder. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: This summer was the hottest on record across the contiguous U.S., and climate scientists say that was clearly linked to human-caused carbon pollution. The impacts of climate change were especially evident here in Arizona, as Katherine Davis-Young reports.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: A new analysis from the research group Climate Central shows summer temperatures across Arizona were nearly 3 degrees hotter than normal. Christina Dahl with the organization says carbon pollution loads the dice in favor of extreme conditions.
CHRISTINA DAHL: A place like Phoenix has always had warm temperatures in the summer, and climate change is making those hottest of temperatures more likely.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Climate Central compared this summer's temperatures to historical data to measure the impact of climate change on any given day across the country. The study found 56 days in Arizona when conditions showed a strong climate change impact. That's more than double the nationwide average. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Arizona Humane Society treats thousands of animals each year, and now they're on track to bring in more pets in 2026 than it has in a decade. As Kathy Ritchie reports, to accommodate that demand, the organization recently reopened a trauma hospital at its old Sunnyslope campus in Phoenix.
KATHY RITCHIE: Dr. Steven Hansen is the president and CEO of the Arizona Humane Society.
STEVEN HANSEN: So the reason that we decided to redo this hospital is because it gives us much better access to the West Valley.
KATHY RITCHIE: And he says the remodeled facility gives them more space to treat these pets who might have more complex medical needs. The Arizona Humane Society also operates a 24/7 trauma hospital at its Papago Park facility. Hansen says they expect to take in roughly 28,000 animals this year alone. And one reason for the rise in demand for these services is they've seen an increase in owners relinquishing their pets.
STEVEN HANSEN: Veterinary care has gone up substantially faster than the cost of living over the last few years.
KATHY RITCHIE: As of August this year, more than 4,000 pets have been surrendered. Kathy Ritchie, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, Diamondbacks miss a golden opportunity to gain on the Padres. They lost to the Marlins 4-2 in 11 innings last night at Chase Field after nearly winning the game in the bottom of the 10th. A three-run triple in the 11th by Miami's Estury Ruiz off D-backs reliever Taylor Clarke was the difference. Arizona left 15 men on base in the game. It was a blow to their postseason chances as they missed a chance to gain on the Padres who saw an eight-game win streak snapped. They'll remain two and a half back of San Diego. 10 games left. The D-backs finish the series with the Marlins, the rubber match of three tonight in Phoenix.
In college football, ASU goes international this week. The Sun Devils will travel to London for the first-ever college football game in England on Saturday against Kansas, in what's being called the Union Jack Classic. The jet-lagged Devils never came back to Tempe after a road loss to Texas A&M Saturday, while the Jayhawks had an extra day of rest following a home loss Friday to Missouri. Not ideal for head coach Kenny Dillingham, who's trying to make the best of it.
KENNY DILLINGHAM: Nobody's going to feel any better or worse for us. There are no excuses. You either get it done or you don't get it done. You know, I'm excited to get back on the football field and try to play a cleaner game than we did last week.
PHIL LATZMAN: Kickoff Saturday morning at 9:00 AM Arizona time at London's historic Wembley Stadium. And that will do it for this Wednesday edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast, this September the 16th, 2026. I'm Phil Latzman. Thanks for being here. We'll do it again tomorrow, and talk to you then.
