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.
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: Hey, happy Friday! We’ve made it. This is KJZZ’s Sun Up, your daily news update from here in Phoenix on our state and region. I’m Phil Latzman. We bring you this podcast as a daily digest of Arizona news as reported by our KJZZ News team. Yeah, we’ve made it. You’re here. It’s October the 2nd, 2026, and here comes the news on a Friday.
Arizona water officials are working on a plan to deal with Colorado River cutbacks by tapping into an underground water savings account. As Alex Hager explains, cities in the Phoenix area can volunteer to use less from the river in exchange for water from the backup supply.
ALEX HAGER: Arizona proposed cutting back on Colorado River use statewide by a certain amount. So now, water managers are passing the hat to water users, asking if they can take a little less and help contribute to the total water savings the state suggested. Greg Adams with the Central Arizona Project says, so far, it’s working.
GREG ADAMS: “We’re looking at the couch cushions here, but I think this does show broad commitment from water users within the state.”
ALEX HAGER: Cities and private utilities have tentatively offered to save a little water here and a little water there. In exchange, they’ll get water from a savings account they’ve been paying into since the ’90s. The plan is only expected to save a relatively small amount of water, and bigger agreements where utilities save water in exchange for money will be needed to reach the statewide total. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, it continues to be debate season ahead of the elections in November, and Arizonans will decide on a measure that proponents say will improve election security, but that opponents say is a veiled attack on mail-in voting. Both sides made their case in a debate held last night, and from the politics desk, Camryn Sanchez was listening in.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Greg Blackie works for the conservative Arizona Free Enterprise Club and spoke in favor of Prop. 144. He says it won’t kill vote-by-mail, but would add some new security requirements. Currently, Arizonans who vote by mail show ID when they register to vote. They also sign their ballot envelopes. The signatures are then verified by election workers.
GREG BLACKIE: “With this measure, they would provide some sort of identification, whether that is writing four digits on the envelope where they currently sign and then covering it with a privacy flap, or who knows. In the future, maybe you can go to my.arizona.vote and upload a picture of your ID, and then your ballot is verified.”
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: The measure doesn’t clarify how mail-in voters would show identification before casting their ballots. In 2022, Arizona voters rejected a similar measure that would have added voter ID requirements to mail-in voting. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Arizona has joined about 20 other states suing the Trump administration over its efforts to eliminate emissions standards for fossil fuel-powered plants. Greg Hahne has more on that.
GREG HAHNE: Last month, the EPA got rid of its rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying it would save the energy industry $300 billion. Now, Arizona and other states and cities are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to strike down the EPA’s decision, arguing it was made illegally. In a statement, Attorney General Kris Mayes said the state is already experiencing extreme heat, and eliminating those standards puts Arizonans’ health at risk. The repeal of those rules comes as Arizona’s utilities have about a dozen new natural gas power projects planned for the coming years. Greg Hahne, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A Navajo Nation community near Page passed a resolution in August denying a controversial copper mine proposal. Chris Clements reports from Flagstaff the denial means the mine likely will not be able to move forward for now.
CHRIS CLEMENTS: The resolution says the community of Copper Mine unequivocally opposes any company digging for copper due to concerns about public health. David Kelley is the CEO of Chacana Copper, the Canadian mining company tied to the proposal. He says he’s aware of the resolution.
DAVID KELLEY: “We want a project that’s wholeheartedly endorsed by the community. Until such time that it gets to that point, then there’s not going to be a project.”
CHRIS CLEMENTS: That comes as a big relief to tribal members like Destinee Bigman, who opposed the mine because she’s worried about environmental impacts.
DESTINEE BIGMAN: “Our land holds a lot of meaning to us as a family. I mean, we ranch out there, everything. We do our traditional ceremonies there.”
CHRIS CLEMENTS: Bigman says she doesn’t think the community will ever allow the mine to move forward. That is Chris Clements reporting.
PHIL LATZMAN: After a lengthy legal challenge, a massive copper mining project is poised to begin at a sacred Apache site in the Tonto National Forest. This week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the latest pleas to save the area known as Oak Flat, but not without pointed remarks from dissenting judges. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: In March, the U.S. Forest Service transferred 2,400 acres to Resolution Copper, following a 2-to-1 ruling by the 9th Circuit that cleared the way for the deal. When the 9th Circuit declined to once more revisit that decision this week, Resolution touted it as yet another ruling in the company’s favor. But 11 judges from the 9th Circuit are now urging the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, including Chief Judge Mary Murguia, who wrote that the 9th Circuit missed a second chance to fix what she calls a “tragic error.” Gabriel Pietrorazio, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, Casa Grande held its first public hearing on a data center, but it did not go how residents expected. Now, a data center, battery, and natural gas facility roughly the size of New York City’s Central Park will take shape eight miles from the city’s downtown. Taylor Griffith reports.
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: The meeting began with reminders that planning and zoning commissioners are volunteers, and another on the role of public comments when considering if an applicant has met the city’s conditions. Here’s Dan Coxworth, the city’s planning director.
DAN COXWORTH: “Public comments help identify relevant impacts, but decisions should be supported by facts tied to the standards, not simply support or opposition to the use.”
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: Groans and loud protests were heard as the commissioners voted 6-to-1 to approve. Commissioner Garrett Aldrete, who introduced a new condition regarding the facility’s exterior design, spoke directly to the upset crowd.
GARRETT ALDRETE: “This use specifically, again and I think it’s been reiterated by the attorney, by our planning director, is a conditional use which has already afforded them some right to try to have that approved by meeting the standards of our code.”
TAYLOR GRIFFITH: But speakers were disturbed by the facility’s intended water use amid major Colorado River cuts that have impacted farmers in the community and across Central Arizona. Taylor Griffith, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
PHIL LATZMAN: A private prison company has been awarded almost $26 million to open a new detention facility in the town of Marana, just northwest of Tucson. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick has more.
ALISA REZNICK: The Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, or MTC, detains thousands of people at several prisons and ICE facilities around the U.S. This Marana site is an old state prison that was run by MTC before Arizona severed that contract and shut it down in 2023. It was sold back to the company last year. MTC says it signed a contract with ICE this week, and the facility is expected to open within the next two months with a 775-bed capacity. The prison’s former capacity was just over 500. The Department of Homeland Security has awarded MTC almost $73 million in contracts this year, all told. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
PHIL LATZMAN: Well, the 12,000-acre Chiricahua National Monument in Cochise County may soon become the nation’s next national park. It comes after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bill this week. Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani, who championed the bill, is optimistic President Trump will sign it. The state currently has three national parks: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, and most recently, Saguaro, which was designated in October of 1994.
JUAN CISCOMANI: “So October has become a great month to designate national parks in Arizona. 32 years apart, but nevertheless, it happened in the fall. Beautiful time of the year. I encourage everyone listening to go check out the Chiricahuas, and a lot more people are going to find out about them soon.”
PHIL LATZMAN: There are 63 national parks nationwide.
In sports, baseball news first: Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo will be staying in Arizona with a new two-year contract. The 61-year-old Lovullo’s future with the club was in flux after the D-backs missed the playoffs for a third straight year, but his team did finish 10 games over .500 and just barely missed the postseason. Lovullo returns for an 11th season on the Arizona bench. He’s the winningest manager in franchise history and led the team to a World Series appearance in 2023.
In football, the Cardinals are trying to get back on the winning track in New Jersey on Sunday against the Giants. They’ve lost two straight since an opening day win, and part of the problem has been penalties, Arizona averaging eight of them per game in the first three weeks. Cards receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. says the unforced errors have stifled the offense and let down new head coach Mike LaFleur.
MARVIN HARRISON JR.: “Frustrating for sure, because I feel Mike has kind of harped all season and all off-season about having a good operation. And obviously, players have not done a good job enough to make that come to life. And obviously, we’re going to continue to work on it.”
PHIL LATZMAN: Kickoff Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
In college football, an important Big 12 test at home for both the Sun Devils and Wildcats on Saturday night. Coming off a bye week, ASU takes a 2-1 record back to Tempe to host 3-1 Baylor, while Arizona, winners of three of their first four, hosts unbeaten Cincinnati in Tucson. Go Wildcats! Go Sun Devils!
And that does it for this edition of KJZZ’s Sun Up, Arizona’s morning news podcast this Friday, October the 2nd. I’m Phil Latzman. Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll be right back at you here on Monday. Talk to you then.
