Samantha Chow expects to graduate in spring 2023 with a master’s degree in mass communication. She has interned as a photographer at The Arizona Republic, Phoenix Magazine, Mesa Public Schools and Arizona Highways, and is taking pictures for ASU Media Relations.
TUCSON – A two-year search for Joyce Maryanna Williams led to Maricopa County’s final resting place for the unclaimed, unidentified and indigent. Between September 2021 and August 2022, 718 people in Maricopa County died alone, meaning next of kin were unable to be located or refused to handle arrangements.
GLENDALE – As the world moves slowly away from fossil fuels, Cactus High School in Glendale is teaching automotive students how to build an electric vehicle from scratch.
GILBERT – Gilbert Fire and Rescue’s arson dog, Zeta, is their best investigator of suspicious fires. The 4-year-old Labrador can quickly and precisely locate accelerants, saving the fire department time and money.
AVONDALE – The vertical farm OnePointOne has opened in Avondale and is growing a variety of leafy greens and strawberries. Among its benefits, vertical farming uses 99% less water than a traditional farm – which could significantly affect Arizona’s water supply.
MESA – Mesa and Chandler offer xeriscape incentives for homeowners to convert their grass lawns to more desert-friendly landscaping.
LITCHFIELD PARK – André House of Arizona held its annual Thanksgiving Eve candlelight vigil for the indigent and unclaimed buried at White Tanks Cemetery in Litchfield Park, which is Maricopa County’s potter’s field.
MESA – Grounded No More, a Mesa nonprofit that takes veterans on “honor flights,” took its 500th flight with 100-year-old WWII veteran Ted Giannone, who joined the Navy at 19.
PHOENIX – Proposition 211, the ballot measure requiring disclosure for political spending, has passed, according to the Associated Press.
PHOENIX – Voters across Arizona headed to the polls to make their voices heard this midterm election. Their votes on candidate races and propositions will determine the future of Arizona. This year, tensions are high as Arizonans decide on a new governor as well as a U.S. senator, among other races.
Pumpkin drives are becoming a popular way to give your Halloween pumpkins a second purpose while keeping them out of landfills, where they rot, generating greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change. Better Piggies Rescue and Rover Elementary School are among the groups hosting donation drives to collect pumpkins to feed them to animals or to be composted.
WASHINGTON - Proposition 129 asks just one question: Should all future ballot initiatives ask just one question"? Supporters say limiting initiatives to a single subject will make it easier for voters, but critics call it another attempt to increase legislative power at voters' expense.
WASHINGTON - Proposition 128 backers call it a commonsense plan to make it easier for the Legislature to amend voter-approved measures later found to have legal flaws; opponents call it a direct assault on the Voter Protection Act that "just reeks of trying to upend democracy."
TUCSON – More than seven decades after his death in the Korean War, an Army private from Douglas has finally been identified and laid to rest. Military scientists and the niece of Felix Yanez worked for years to put a name to this unknown soldier and bring him home.
WILLIAMS — Fat Bear Week started at Alaska’s Katmai National Park as a way to help people understand the importance of bears and healthy ecosystems. In northern Arizona, Bearizona has its own Fat Bear Week to show off the park’s black bears as they prepare for winter hibernation.
SCOTTSDALE – The summer Arizona monsoon doesn’t just bring dramatic storms, it’s a signal for such desert animals as rattlesnakes and toads to reproduce.
PHOENIX – From mini-micro cows to horses, Cronkite News journalists take a look at how different animals around the Valley are helping people with a variety of ailments.
FLORENCE – Burrowing owls, ground-dwelling birds that are listed as a species of concern in Arizona, continue to be at risk from ongoing development. As more open desert and farmland is developed across the state, one group is relocating burrowing owls to new sites.
PHOENIX – Dmytro Kushneruk, the consul general of Ukraine in San Francisco, detailed the horrors of war in Ukraine and asked for assistance for citizens of the country during a special joint session of the Arizona Legislature.
APACHE JUNCTION – Arizona’s wildflower season has been affected by our dry winter. This year’s color show is a far cry from the “superbloom” of 2019.
CAVE CREEK – Vietnam War veterans were honored at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Cave Creek on Tuesday, National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
SCOTTSDALE – Artist Robert Sutz casts the faces of Holocaust survivors, liberators and righteous gentiles into “life masks” to preserve their stories.
PHOENIX – Hundreds of demonstrators marched from the Ukrainian American Cultural Center to Colter Park in Phoenix in support of Ukraine.
PHOENIX – The Arizona Pioneers’ Cemetery Association is working to preserve Pioneer Military & Memorial Park, where more than 3,700 people are believed to have been buried with only 600 grave markers.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Jewish Historical Society continues to remember Holocaust victims through exhibits and events.
