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 Sept. 28, 2026 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: Greetings, friends. This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on Valley 102.1 FM. I’m Phil Latzman, and we bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ news team. Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and we are expecting some tropical moisture around the state as the monsoon season’s going out with a bang. Sept. 28, 2026. Let’s get back to it with a check of the news. Well, climate change is prolonging the heat season in Phoenix and around the globe. That is according to new research from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Katherine Davis-Young tells us more about it.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Climatologist Casey Ivanovich is one of the study’s authors. She says it’s important to track the way seasons are shifting because extreme heat events outside summer months can have serious human health impacts. Heat waves in the spring, she says, can be especially dangerous.
CASEY IVANOVICH: “This tends to be because people are caught off guard. They are not ready physiologically to deal with the heat. Their bodies haven’t acclimated yet.”
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Researchers used recent record-shattering heat waves in Phoenix in March and October as case studies. Ivanovich says spring and fall temperatures are warming even more than might be expected just from climate change. She says more research is needed on the impacts of urbanization and other factors driving increased heat. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Arizona water planners need accurate data about snow to understand how much water they’ll get from the Colorado River. And as Alex Hager reports, a new study found that some measuring programs were wildly inaccurate, but the University of Arizona runs one of the best.
ALEX HAGER: Some modeling software wasn’t fine-tuned enough and couldn’t give precise estimates of how much water would end up in reservoirs. Jessica Lundquist at the University of Washington authored the study. The good news, she says, is that forecasting programs are developing really quickly, especially in drier places where every drop counts.
JESSICA LUNDQUIST: “I was impressed at how much recent progress there has been on really quantifying the amount of snow in the Colorado, and a lot of the available products right now did a lot better than I expected going into the study.”
ALEX HAGER: Lundquist says the best modeling programs are the ones that combine satellite data with physical sensors on the ground. Most important water managers in the Southwest, she says, are using that more accurate data. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: The Tucson Unified School District held several community meetings last week as it considers options for school consolidations or closures. From the education desk, Bridget Dowd has details.
BRIDGET DOWD: Like many other districts across the state, TUSD is facing enrollment declines. The district had about 60,000 students in 2006. It now has about 39,000. At one of the community meetings, facilitator Bill De La Cruz said the district is spending too much money to maintain schools that are half-full.
BILL DE LA CRUZ: “When we talk to the principals, they talk to us about schools that leak when it rains. They talked about portables that have holes in the floors. And so when we have so many buildings, it’s hard to do the infrastructure repairs that are needed to keep these buildings in top shape.”
BRIDGET DOWD: He said the district would prefer to put money into programs that support students rather than aging facilities. Bridget Dowd, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: New laws affect how motorcycles can be registered and operated in Arizona. Connor Greenwall tells us more about that.
CONNOR GREENWALL: A new law that took effect earlier this month allows motorcycle operators who lane split to be charged with reckless driving. Lane splitting is defined by the American Motorcyclist Association as traveling between lanes of moving vehicles, and is distinct from lane filtering: traveling between stopped cars, which has been legal in Arizona since 2022. A new law taking effect in January requires registered owners of motorbikes to have a valid motorcycle license or endorsement to renew their registration. Motorcyclists have before the end of the year to become compliant. Connor Greenwall, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Last year’s Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and last month’s floods that restricted lodging on the South Rim have been a major disruption for local businesses. As Emma Bradford reports, the drop in tourism is setting them back worse than during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EMMA BRADFORD: Stoney Ward, the general manager of Buck Wild Hummer Tours in Tusayan, is urging prospective tourists not to be diverted from visiting the Grand Canyon just because lodging on the South Rim is closed. He says there’s still much to do.
STONEY WARD: “There’s all this false information that the South Rim was closed. It was never closed. And the thing is, it’s actually been beautiful out there. The tourism is way down right now, and we want to educate people this is the best time of the year to come out.”
EMMA BRADFORD: Lodging closures have been extended through October, and the National Park Service anticipates operations to start up again around Thanksgiving. Emma Bradford, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Hundreds of volunteers gathered along the banks of the Salt River on Saturday to celebrate National Public Lands Day by removing trash and invasive species. Nicole Corey is executive director of Natural Restorations, which has hosted the annual cleanup event for more than a decade. She says tiny pieces of trash can have a big impact.
NICOLE COREY: “One of the Salt River wild horses died in 2022 choking on plastic debris, so even the smallest amount matters. I’m sure we’ll probably have over 1,000 pounds of trash and invasive plants removed by the end of the day.”
PHIL LATZMAN: Similar volunteer efforts took place on public lands nationwide over the weekend.
Well, if you’ve driven down Interstate 17 near Northern Avenue lately, you’ve probably caught a glimpse of the construction site that was once a former Kmart. Kathy Ritchie recently had her own rubbernecking moment along that stretch of freeway and wondered what was going on.
KATHY RITCHIE: More than a year after the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the former big-box store, progress is being made. The site is called Innovation 27 and will be an affordable workforce development and education hub.
LASETTA HOGANS: “The front end of the building where you see the glass, that’s the main entrance. It’s very open.”
KATHY RITCHIE: That’s LaSetta Hogans, deputy economic development director for the City of Phoenix. She says the first 40,000 square feet of this reimagined site will be home to ASU, NAU and Skill Trades.
LASETTA HOGANS: “The goal is to have electrical, HVAC and more, including apprenticeship programs and OSHA. We’re also looking to have hospitality, tourism training in here as well.”
KATHY RITCHIE: Councilwoman Betty Guardado represents District 5, where Innovation 27 is located. She says she hopes this will be a launchpad for the people who live in this working-class community.
BETTY GUARDADO: “I want to make sure that when people leave Innovation 27 that they not just have a job, but they have a career, and that they are passionate about what it is that they’re doing.”
KATHY RITCHIE: Guardado has another hope for the area, which is to bring more economic development, affordable housing and rapid transportation. Kathy Ritchie, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Respiratory virus season is on its way, and health officials say it is time to schedule seasonal vaccines for flu and COVID-19. Katherine Davis-Young reports and returns with that story.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Respiratory viruses pose the highest risks to young children, adults over 65 and people with compromised immune systems. But annual flu and COVID vaccines are recommended for almost everyone, says Shane Brady with the Arizona Department of Health Services.
SHANE BRADY: “For flu and COVID in particular, it really does reduce your risk for severe disease. So even if you do end up getting sick, you’re less likely to get severely ill. And that also can help protect those around you.”
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: It can take your body about two weeks to build up immunity after a flu or COVID shot, so medical experts recommend getting those vaccines before the end of October, so that you’re protected well ahead of the peak of respiratory virus season, which is typically in December or January. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Living with HIV or AIDS can come with stigma, especially among Latino men, who may struggle with the disease itself, but also with traditional gender and cultural norms. Angel Algarin is with Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at ASU. He’s working on a long-term project that would help Latino men deal with the stigma.
ANGEL ALGARIN: “They are able to have skills to potentially fight back against stigma that’s happening within themselves, within their interpersonal relationships, and then also within their community.”
PHIL LATZMAN: According to a 2023 annual report from the Arizona Department of Health Services, Latinos accounted for nearly half of the 975 new cases of HIV and AIDS in 2022.
In sports news, baseball, Diamondbacks made a late charge. They were in it till the final day, but they were eliminated with two straight losses over the weekend. The Phillies clinched the final National League wild card with a win before the D-backs lost their finale 9-4 to the Padres yesterday in San Diego. Arizona finishes 84-78. They missed the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons. Afterwards, manager Torey Lovullo acknowledged his uncertain future after finishing a one-year contract.
TOREY LOVULLO: “Arizona’s my home. I love Arizona. The people and the fans are spectacular. The group that I work for is amazing. I love being around them every single day, and I don’t want that to change. And I want to win a World Championship with this organization. But I want to be wanted.”
PHIL LATZMAN: Lovullo led the D-backs to 93 wins and the Division Series as a rookie NL Manager of the Year in 2017, and an improbable pennant run back in 2023.
In football, Cardinals hung tough for a while. They almost came back from 17 down, kept it close before succumbing to the 49ers in Santa Clara yesterday 35-16 to fall to 1-3 on the season. Cards hit the road to play the Giants this coming Sunday.
Hey, that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Monday, Sept. 28. I’m Phil Latzman. Hope we get some rain. Be careful out there getting around, and may the good news be yours. We’ll do it again tomorrow. Talk to you then.
