Verde River ranchers worry about safety in Arizona’s newest state park

VERDE RIVER – State officials plan to open Arizona’s newest state park along the Verde River but neighboring landowners fear crowds will compromise safety.


Tips to save your home from monsoon damage

PHOENIX – Monsoons can be tough on homes. Debbie Hernandez of Home Depot offers tips to keep a storm from wrecking a house or yard:


1.4 million weigh in on administration’s review of national monuments

WASHINGTON - An Interior Department plan to review recently designated national monuments has drawn more than 1.4 million public comments, a "phenomenal" number that one advocate said he had not seen in 25 years of environmental activism.

Land Feud

Arizona official: EPA rule puts ‘extraordinarily high’ burden on mines

WASHINGTON - Proposed federal rules that would require mining companies to have cash sufficient to clean up any environmental problems they might cause are "duplicative and unnecessary," an Arizona environmental official told a House panel Thursday.


GOP, Democrats spar over best way to save Endangered Species Act

WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans agreed Wednesday that everybody wants to prevent extinction of endangered species - but they differ sharply on how to do that.


Out of nowhere: Flash floods strike with deadly ending

PHOENIX – Flash floods are second only to heat as a weather-related killer in Arizona, said meteorologist Daniel Henz of Maricopa County’s Flood Control District. Nine swimmers died and a 10th is missing after a flash flood on Saturday near Payson.


Storm damage to Burton Barr library sends patrons, staff to other branches

PHOENIX – Storms that flooded Burton Barr Central Library over the weekend will leave it closed indefinitely, sending patrons and staff to other library branches in Phoenix.


Customers regain power, crews clean up damage from weekend monsoons

MESA – Phoenix area residents, utility companies and city officials spent Monday cleaning up from weekend monsoons that flooded streets, toppled trees, cut off power to thousands of homes and forced the closure of a water-drenched central Phoenix library.


Arizonans at ‘play-in’ still bring serious clean-air message to Capitol

WASHINGTON - Sounds of toddlers laughing and playing echoed around her, but on stage the message from a Mesa teen was serious: Act on climate change, or we will suffer.


Arizona farmer testifies regulators hinder, more than help, organics

WASHINGTON - An Arizona organic farmer told lawmakers Thursday that an advisory panel that is supposed to help the Agriculture Department develop standards is instead creating a sense of "uncertainty" in the future of the organic market.


Researchers study urban heat from the sky, with hopes of a slightly cooler future

PHOENIX – One researcher takes to the skies, while another is rooted to the ground.


Urban hydroponic farms offer sustainable water solutions

BERKELEY, Calif. – Tucked behind a Whole Foods in a corner warehouse unit, Ron and Faye Mitchell grow 8,000 pounds of food each month without using any soil, and they recycle the water their plants don’t use.