KJZZ's Stories You Don't Want to Miss

A recent survey by the Center for the Future of Arizona sought to buck the conventional wisdom about election year politicking. The athletic conference to which Arizona State and the University of Arizona belong may be headed for disintegration. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states can prosecute non-Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal land when the victim is Native American. Plus the latest science, Fronteras Desk and metro Phoenix news.

The latest Jan. 6 hearing in Washington, D.C., shined an even brighter spotlight on Arizona on Tuesday. A physician shortage is affecting the country. Women with an intellectual or developmental disability are 12 times as likely to experience sexual assault compared to those without a disability. Plus the latest Fronteras Desk, business and metro Phoenix news.

The number of Valley fever cases is on the rise, but what happens when Valley fever and COVID-19 collide? It’s been a decade since the Dream Act was put in place to protect DACA kids. In less than two months, Phoenix police officers will collect bigger paychecks, making the Phoenix Police Department the highest paid law enforcement agency in the state. Plus the latest education, metro Phoenix and business news.

The Scottsdale-based company Axon, best known for developing the Taser, announced its halting plans to develop drones equipped with Tasers. A drowning in Tempe Town Lake has raised issues around the role of the police. The latest update on COVID-19 in Arizona has some scientists worried. Plus the latest in education, metro Phoenix and Fronteras Desk news.

The concerns over water across the Southwest are growing. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality recently granted an aquifer protection permit for a uranium mine located less than 10 miles from a tribal community in the Grand Canyon. And we are celebrating graduates from kindergarten to college in 2022. Plus the latest in Fronteras Desk and metro Phoenix news.

For the second year in a row, Arizona enters June facing the threat of a government shutdown. Asylum restrictions at the border are still in place after a court in Louisiana ruled the CDC could not repeal Title 42 as planned earlier this week. Arizona recorded more than 11-thousand new COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to the health department. Plus the latest in education, business and metro Phoenix news.

Researchers have completed a study of body-camera use by Phoenix police.  A growing global debate over an energy source with a deadly past is playing out amidst the sweet sage and pine trees of the forests right by the Grand Canyon. COVID-19 is on the rise again in Arizona, but the state is seeing a steady increase in influenza cases, too. Plus the latest in education, metro Phoenix and Fronteras Desk news.

Arizona resumed executions after a nearly eight-year hiatus. Clarence Dixon died by lethal injection Wednesday at a state prison in Florence. This month, the Phoenix Police Department should place its first order for drones. Groups that challenged the voter-approved tax to fund education are now asking for $1 million in legal fees from the state and initiative organizers. Plus the latest science and tribal resources news.

The biggest concern across the Southwest is water and the future of water. The pandemic shone a light on the limits of the healthcare system, but it also illuminated the distress that has long beleaguered doctors and nurses. The City of Tucson wants some funding from the bipartisan infrastructure package passed by Congress to go towards cleaning up groundwater contaminants. Plus the latest in tribal resources, business, education and metro Phoenix news.

Plans for the former Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix have grown since KJZZ first reported the deal last December. The Phoenix City Council recently approved a heat response plan for this summer. The fires burning near Flagstaff and Bisbee signals the start of the Arizona wildfire season.  Plus the latest education, Fronteras Desk and metro Phoenix news.