KJZZ's Stories You Don't Want to Miss

Arizona’s Executive Tower, which houses the Governor’s Office and Secretary of State, was evacuated Thursday afternoon after staff received an envelope filled with white powder. Attempts to curb wall construction in Arizona haven’t found the same success as in Texas. ASU’s hockey coach is officially out amid a probe into a player’s collapse during practice. Plus the latest politics, business, metro Phoenix, and water news.

New Medicaid rules took effect October first, leaving thousands of refugees in the U.S. without health coverage. The Scottsdale Unified School District’s governing board voted to close two more schools. A protest against the Trump administration’s border wall construction is ongoing in Lochiel. Plus the latest politics, business, metro Phoenix and tribal natural resources news.

New federal rules for the Colorado River officially went into effect Oct. 1, but they won’t change the amount of water flowing to Arizona quite yet. A land developer and film producer wants to turn 13-hundred acres in Maricopa County into a complex featuring a film studio, amusement park, and golf course. ASU is placing its head hockey coach on paid administrative leave just days before the start of the season. Plus the latest Fronteras Desk, metro Phoenix, and indigenous affairs news.

President Trump’s One, Big Beautiful Bill is front and center in the race to represent southern Arizona’s Congressional District Six. APS is looking to nearly double its natural gas supplies to meet growing energy demands. Monarch butterflies are once again passing through the Phoenix-area as they migrate south from Canada and the northern U.S. Plus the latest tribal natural resources, Fronteras Desk, education, and metro Phoenix news.

Katie Hobbs and Andy Biggs — the Democrat and Republican nominees for governor— have wildly different plans for Arizona’s water future. To commemorate those lost in the 9/11 terror attacks 25 years ago, the North Valley Symphony Orchestra is partnering with North Valley Chorale in a special benefit concert. The Navajo Nation Council took a major step toward protecting one of its most precious water resources. Plus the latest education, science, water and Fronteras Desk news.

Four Phoenix metro police agencies have launched investigations into potential officer misuse of the ALPRs. Grand Canyon experts say flash floods there are common, but this weekend’s deadly mudslides were unusual because of where the rain fell. The Trump administration has just green-lighted a plan that could let the Navajo Nation dig up more than half a billion tons of coal by extending the life of a New Mexico mine over the next century. Plus the latest education, business, and Fronteras Desk news.

New rules for sharing water from the Colorado River are here, and Arizona stands to take the biggest hit. The Tohono O’odham Nation says the Trump administration is sending Border Patrol agents to their tribal lands where contractors are preparing to erect a border wall. The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix has a special program helping people with memory loss recall happier times. Plus the latest education, business and science news.

As the number of data centers across the U.S. continues to increase, so does public opposition to them and that has some Arizona leaders looking for new standards for what acceptable data center development could look like. An election is underway on whether to form a union at Banner Health, which calls itself Arizona’s largest employer. The West Valley NAACP says it’s filing a complaint with the Peoria Unified School District. Plus the latest Fronteras Desk, business and politics news.

Celebrated sites in Arizona are slated to see a double border wall. The water level in Lake Mead is now the lowest it’s been since the nation’s largest reservoir was filled, about ninety years ago. The Arizona Healthy Schools Act recently took effect as students across the state filed back into classrooms. Plus the latest tribal natural resources, business, metro Phoenix, and technology news.

In the first of a three-part series, KJZZ explores the Navajo Nation’s complicated history with the coal industry. Plus, a non-profit in Surprise is bringing military veterans together through the art of theater, Arizona researchers are looking into ways to keep desert dust on the ground, and leaders of the Colorado River Indian Tribes say the federal government didn’t consult them enough while drawing up new plans for sharing Colorado River water.