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 Transcript for Sept. 17, 2026
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: This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman. Good morning. We bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news, as reported by our KJZZ news team. It is Thursday, Sept. 17, Friday Eve. Hope you’re thinking about some fun weekend plans, and we’re drying out after some rain here in the Valley. So let’s jump into the news.
Three people are dead, speaking of the rain, after they were washed away Wednesday in a flood on the Navajo Nation. Chris Clements has more from Flagstaff.
CHRIS CLEMENTS: Navajo police responded to reports that two adults and a juvenile were swept away by floodwaters near the Newcomb, New Mexico, area shortly after midnight. Search and rescue crews found the three dead after searching the area into the early morning hours. Investigators say they drowned. Several Navajo communities are dealing with flooding, including Chinle and Many Farms. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed an emergency declaration in response to the flooding. He said tribal members should use extreme caution around flooded roads and washes, adding that conditions can change quickly. I’m Chris Clements in Flagstaff.
PHIL LATZMAN: Congressman Andy Biggs has released a list of health policy priorities in his campaign for Arizona governor. The Republican nominee says he would work to end medical mandates, require schools to provide more information about vaccine exemptions, and prohibit universities from requiring vaccines. Katherine Davis-Young reports.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Public health experts say requiring vaccines in schools is one of the most effective tools for preventing outbreaks of dangerous diseases. But Will Humble with the Arizona Public Health Association points out Arizona already has one of the nation’s highest rates of kids with exemptions from vaccine requirements.
WILL HUMBLE: It’s just as simple as saying, “I don’t want to vaccinate my kid and I’m going to send them to school anyway.” That’s the way it is now. He wants to loosen it even from that?
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Some of the vaccine policies Biggs lists in his Make America Healthy Again platform are similar to bills that have actually been passed in the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature in recent years, but those were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who’s running against Biggs. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A woman accused of using fake court documents to get her father out of prison in Arizona last year has now been indicted by a Texas grand jury. She’s facing allegations she used a similar scheme in an attempt to win a child custody dispute. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky has the latest.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Last June, an Arizona prison released David Cramer decades early after his daughter, Haven McQueen, presented fraudulent court documents purportedly ordering the release. Now McQueen is facing potential prison time after a grand jury in Texas indicted her on one felony count for allegedly filing a fake document to secure emergency custody of her children. That comes after a Maricopa County judge struck fake documents from a custody case in Arizona, saying they included a forged judge’s signature. McQueen is facing a second-degree felony in Texas, which can carry a sentence of between two and 20 years. Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: APS is looking to nearly double its natural gas supplies to meet growing energy demands. Clean energy advocates say it’s neither the most reliable or affordable fuel source available. Taylor Griffith has more.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The Sierra Club and Synapse Energy Economics studied spikes in natural gas prices from extreme weather or global conflict and compared this to APS’s plans. In a worst-case scenario, they say APS could end up paying more than $430 million for fuel, and 100% of that can be passed on to the consumer. Sandy Bahr is with the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter.
SANDY BAHR: APS’s proposed buildout of gas generation, again, will harm our air, our health, our climate, and really hit APS ratepayers in the wallet.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Bahr says this buildout is mostly to serve new data centers, but will be paid for by all. APS says its proposed methods would place costs tied to large customers, including fuel costs, onto those customers. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: AAA says diesel costs have hit record highs in Western states with the highest prices per gallon in the country. At the same time, regular gas prices are rising as well. Doug Johnson with AAA says drivers can take steps to manage fuel costs.
DOUG JOHNSON: If your tires are running a little flat, there’s more friction with the road, you’re needlessly wasting gas. And then, get all the excess weight out of your vehicle, make it as light as possible. And lastly, go the speed limit. Not only safer, it can actually help you save on your fuel economy up to 15%.
PHIL LATZMAN: According to AAA, the most expensive gasoline prices are in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and here in Arizona, with the average cost per gallon at about $4.57.
The city of Peoria has signed a $100 million agreement to buy water from a private company as Arizona faces cuts to its supply from the Colorado River. Greg Hahne has more.
GREG HAHNE: Peoria says it will receive about 175,000 acre-feet of water and storage credits to help shore up the city’s supply. That’s roughly enough to provide half a million homes with water for a year. The city says it bought a 120-acre campus that includes two wells from Vidler Water Company in the Harquahala Irrigation Area in La Paz County. When all permitting is finished, Peoria plans to pump groundwater into the Central Arizona Project canal and eventually into a treatment facility for the city’s use. The deal is expected to close in October. The city says the agreement will add 1.5 million gallons of water per day to its portfolio for the next 100 years. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A Republican legislator is subpoenaing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes to grill them about an alleged incident of pay-to-play. From the politics team, Camryn Sanchez reports they’re being called in front of a GOP-led panel which will meet later this month.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The state granted a favorable rate increase to a contractor called Sunshine Residential in 2023 after the provider donated to Hobbs’ campaign and the State Democratic Party. Mayes recently wrapped up an investigation into Hobbs which didn’t result in any criminal charges. GOP Lawmaker Jake Hoffman says the investigation must have been a farce.
JAKE HOFFMAN: When political donors receive government favors, that demands a public investigation. And what we have seen has every appearance of a pay-to-play corruption scandal at the highest levels of our state government.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Hoffman says this will be an impartial investigation. He is the head of a communications company that’s being paid by Congressman Andy Biggs’ campaign. Biggs is running against Hobbs for governor. Neither Hobbs nor Mayes would say whether they’ll appear before the committee. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: SRP is investing $3 million into research projects at Arizona’s three public universities this fall. From the education desk, Bridget Dowd reports.
BRIDGET DOWD: The 34 research and development projects span a variety of topics, including sustainability, power reliability, wildfire mitigation, and energy efficiency. Alejandra Mendez is a senior engineer at SRP. She says the grants are designed to find solutions to some of the challenges the company faces as it tries to maintain reliable power and water delivery for its customers.
ALEJANDRA MENDEZ: We have a project with NAU where they are using soil moisture sensors across an area of the forest to help us identify the areas that are more susceptible to wildfire, and that will help us address those risks.
BRIDGET DOWD: Each project proposal is overseen by an advisor at SRP and evaluated by subject matter experts across the company. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Trump administration carried out a record number of deportation flights last month to countries that have agreed to take nationals other than their own. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick has details.
ALISA REZNICK: These so-called third-country removal flights are a Trump-era practice that force immigrants and asylum seekers to countries they have no ties to. Often these deportees have been granted protective orders by a judge in the U.S. that prevent them from being sent back to their home countries because of specific dangers they’d face there. The advocacy group Human Rights First says last month they tracked 16 of these flights to 13 countries. Earlier this year, an Arizona man originally from Egypt who had been in the U.S. since he was 4 was sent to Equatorial Guinea, where he reported being imprisoned in a decommissioned hotel and subject to abuse by guards. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: In sports, baseball, it is just not looking good for the Diamondbacks’ postseason chances. They lost again at home to the Marlins last night, 4-3, to fall three and a half games back in the race for the final National League wild card spot. Miami’s Jakob Marsee hit a two-run homer, and ace Sandy Alcantara earned his first career save. Arizona got all three of their runs on solo homers from Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno, and Nolan Arenado. With nine games left, the desperate D-backs have today off, then they’ll start a weekend series against the Yankees, who are in town starting tomorrow.
Basketball, the WNBA back from a three-week break for the FIBA World Cup. The Mercury return to play tonight in Portland, but Phoenix has already been eliminated from postseason contention with a disappointing record of 14 and 26 on the season.
And in football, University of Arizona’s team is off to a 1-1 start after a loss in Provo to BYU last Saturday. The Wildcats are back in Tucson this week to host Northern Illinois, and head coach Brent Brennan is calling on the U of A faithful to step up their game.
The Cats are five-touchdown favorites over the NIU Huskies. It’s a nationally televised game airing on TNT, kickoff 7:30 on Saturday night.
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast on this Thursday, Sept. 17. So nice to have you along. I’m Phil Latzman. We’ll do it again tomorrow when it is Friday, and we’ll talk to you then.
