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MANY FARMS – On a hazy weekday morning, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and about two dozen masked volunteers pull into the parking lot of a local chapter house. For as far as the eye can see, cars and trucks line up along Indian Route 59. The volunteers, including representatives from World Central Kitchen, hustle.

PHOENIX – They’re often labeled the “model minority,” a misconception surrounding the nation’s 20 million Asian Americans that assumes financial stability, high levels of education and better health across the board. But experts say that myth can mask higher rates of some chronic illnesses and hinder efforts to improve early detection and treatment of certain.

Gov. Doug Ducey emphasized his commitment to keeping the state open in a “safe and healthy way” during a news conference Thursday, with no current plans for “dramatic changes” to be made despite “a gradual rise in cases.” “Arizona’s economy is open, Arizona’s educational institutions are open, Arizona’s tourism institutions are open,” the second-term Republican.

PHOENIX – For the past six months, high school athletes have been left holding their breath. Ever since the World Health Organization (WHO) classified COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, the future of Valley sports in the fall has been uncertain. “One day we’re playing, one day we’re not … now we are playing.

WASHINGTON – COVID-19 may be getting the headlines but it’s not the top health care issue on the minds of voters in a number of battleground states, including Arizona, according to a poll released Thursday. The poll by the Commonwealth Fund found voters in seven of 10 battleground states said they were more likely to.

WASHINGTON – The number of Arizonans without health insurance jumped to more than 800,000 last year, the third consecutive year of increases for the state, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau. The number of uninsured also rose nationwide, but not as sharply as in Arizona. Nationally, the share of people without insurance.

PHOENIX – The Whiteriver Indian Hospital in eastern Arizona is combating health disparities among Native Americans by teaching new mothers strong breastfeeding practices, which research shows improves such ailments as obesity and Type 1 diabetes in kids. The medical center on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation is one of about 10 hospitals under the Indian.

PHOENIX – With the presidents and chancellors of Big Ten universities voting to resume football last week, players and fans called on Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott to join other Power Five conferences and allow the football season to kick off. However, Scott said in a statement that universities in California and Oregon do not.

PHOENIX – In March, teams in the NBA and NHL were closing in on the playoffs, spring training was in full swing in Arizona’s Cactus League and Florida’s Grapefruit League. March Madness was about to unfold as college basketball teams competed in conference tournaments. Then it all came to a stunning, abrupt halt because of.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s decision to adjust a key COVID-19 metric opens the door for more high school football teams to start football on Sept. 30 and follows an outcry by parents upset by the original positive case ratio. The AIA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee announced Thursday that the ability to safely participate.

PHOENIX – Arizona has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in young people in the nation – driven in part, experts say, by a large population of children of color, who are more likely to have underlying health conditions that make them susceptible to the disease. As of Sept. 10, youth made up 10%.

David Mayer is on a mission, a longstanding quest to prevent those from dying at the hands of medical mistakes. A retired doctor and CEO of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Mayer’s decades-long crusade has him crisscrossing the continental United States, meeting those dealt the unimaginable blow of losing their loved one to an error..

PHOENIX – As researchers race to produce an effective COVID-19 vaccine, medical professionals are urging Latinos and Black people, who are at higher risk of contracting and dying from the disease, to participate in clinical trials. But because of a long history of racism and unethical experimentation, people of color may be hesitant to roll.

WASHINGTON – Federal health officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that limited amounts of a COVID-19 vaccine could be available as early as November – but that doesn’t mean Arizonans are willing to try it. A poll this week of likely Arizona voters showed them evenly split, with 38% saying they would get vaccinated and.

PHOENIX – Ivanka Trump on Wednesday made a case for her father’s reelection, saying he is committed to business deregulation, tax cuts and supporting businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic, and she praised Arizona as a model for its response to the deadly disease. Ivanka Trump spoke at an in-person business roundtable in downtown Phoenix hosted.

TEMPE – Arizona State University researchers are working on a home-based coronavirus test that could deliver results within 10 minutes rather than 24 to 48 hours, university officials said Wednesday. Researchers want to create a rapid, saliva-based test that can “quickly determine whether the virus is present,” said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of the ASU.

WASHINGTON – Just more than two in five Arizona adults got a flu shot last year, a number state officials are desperate to improve on before the onset of both influenza and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this fall. State officials late last month announced plans to increase Medicaid funding for flu shots, let some pharmacists.

PHOENIX – Refugees living in Arizona are struggling to navigate the impacts of COVID-19. In response, nonprofit organizations boosted assistance programs after they noticed more refugees losing their jobs or having their hours cut. Families say they also are struggling with complicated government aid applications written in a language in which they may not be.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, students are adjusting to their new normal when it comes to online classes, virtual events and social distancing to prevent the spread of the disease. But for deaf and hard of hearing students in Arizona public schools, as well as for many more enrolled in private schools, these adjustments introduce new.

SCOTTSDALE – Signs of a new normal for Arizona sports were apparent even in the parking lot outside Casino Arizona Field on Friday night, when for the time since COVID-19 swept the world, an Arizona professional sporting event took place before a live crowd. Cars of fans attending the Phoenix Rising FC and Las Vegas.

Surrounded by choking smoke and fire-scorched trees near Oroville, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters Friday that wildfires ravaging the West this summer are a direct result of climate change, and he called for swift and serious changes to federal environmental policy. Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, has been ravaged by the North.

LOS ANGELES – The death of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, 43, after a four-year private battle with colon cancer has raised fresh concerns about how the illness disparately harms Black men, and it highlights what some experts call a shocking rise in the number of younger patients. For fans who emulated the man and.

PHOENIX – Arizona State University President Michael Crow defended the accuracy of the school’s updates on COVID-19 infection rates during a virtual news conference Wednesday, promising that cumulative numbers of cases would be added to the data sets going forward. Crow was joined by other ASU officials after the school’s numbers were questioned by news.

PHOENIX – Phoenix Rising FC will make history Friday as the first professional sports team in Arizona to allow fans to experience in-stadium live sports since the COVID-19 shutdown. The Rising announced that the club will start allowing a limited number of fans – about 1,000 season-ticket holders – to attend home matches at Casino.

PHOENIX – Only one new case of COVID-19 was reported across the Navajo Nation in the previous 24 hours, the lowest number of daily cases on the reservation since an initial spike in May, tribal leaders said Tuesday in a virtual town hall. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the sole case was in the.

Editor’s Note: Coronavirus has devastated Native American communities and put a spotlight on some long-standing problems in Indian Country that have made this pandemic that much worse. But at the grassroots level, everyday heroes have stepped up to help. Part of a series. PHOENIX – In March, Tawny Jodie was preparing to travel to Israel.

PHOENIX – The Labor Day weekend is starting, the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, and travelers are flying out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which has furiously prepared for an uptick in passengers. The airport has installed germ-zapping tech on escalators, placed the now-ubiquitous social distancing signs on floors and throughout terminals and has workers.

PHOENIX – On the heels of Arizona reporting at least 13 positive COVID-19 cases among its sports teams, Arizona State said it has no plans to release athlete-specific data. Seven Pac-12 schools share athlete results. Another, Colorado, has released limited findings, while UCLA numbers have been reported by L.A. County’s public health department. Only ASU,.

Most kids entering juvenile detention have been disadvantaged by poverty and lack of resources, and more than 70% have mental health disorders that often go unseen and untreated, experts say. Mental health resources vary widely among states and often fail to treat underlying issues said Charlene Taylor, a senior researcher for the National Council on.

PHOENIX – As Arizona bars have reopened after months of being shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, owners and managers are struggling to comply with state health department regulations that require logistical twists. One Phoenix bar owner has adapted by moving operations outdoors while another said he has three bars with different limitations. “You’re allowed.

TEMPE – Arizona State University President Michael Crow told students Thursday that the school is prepared to go remote if needed, and they were working to address the spread of illness. During the hourlong online forum, students from across the university’s campuses raised concerns ranging from their medical privacy to tuition refunds if in-person instruction.

In August, fans were told Pac-12 athletics would have to wait until the spring of 2021 to resume. On Thursday, a decision was made that could change that. “This agreement is a major step in the safe return of sports competition in the Pac-12,” commissioner Larry Scott said. The conference’s partnership with Quidel Corporation, a.

PHOENIX – High school football is back. The Executive Board of the Arizona Interscholastic Association voted Wednesday to endorse the latest guidelines proposed by the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for the safe implementation of a return to sport and activity. Football, as well as other fall sports, will continue as scheduled. Football can begin practice.

PHOENIX – For more than three decades, André House just west of downtown has provided food, showers, temporary housing and other services to Arizonans experiencing homelessness or poverty. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of families seeking such services has almost doubled, said Ash Uss, the faith-based nonprofit’s coordinator of advocacy and.

WASHINGTON – State officials Monday laid out a plan for “aggressively” combating the upcoming influenza season as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, with the first step being to urge people to get a flu shot as soon as possible. The state plans to increase funding for Medicaid recipients to get flu shots, combine flu-shot sites with.

For decades, researchers have looked to human genetics for linkages to mental illness, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Patterns of inheritance are murky, but it is clear that “stuff runs in families,” says Dr. Douglas Gray, a psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Utah School of Medicine. His 2018 study – published.

WASHINGTON – Arizona passed 200,000 COVID-19 cases this week and the death toll from the disease topped 5,000 Saturday, but despite those somber milestones experts said the numbers are all moving in the right direction – for now. Rates of infection and death are down sharply from just a month ago and hospital bed availability.

PHOENIX – A month ago, the Arizona Coyotes left their families behind to begin the long-awaited postseason journey at the NHL bubble in Edmonton, Canada. The Coyotes, one of 24 teams to qualify for the National Hockey League’s Phase 4 Return to Play, were quarantined in preparation for the expanded postseason format. As part of.

School environments that rely on harsh punishments to control classrooms often leave children with learning and behavioral disabilities more likely to be suspended, fall behind in school and enter the juvenile justice system. Although they made up less than 13% of all public school students in the 2015-16 school year, according to the most recent.

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Allie Smith was three months shy of high school graduation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and students were sent home to finish the year remotely. The problem is, Smith doesn’t really have a home. The 18-year-old is one of an estimated 1.5 million students classified by the.

Children in the justice system face towering impediments to their legal right to education, often hindering the development of thousands of the nation’s most vulnerable and underserved students. The lack of consistent and uniform policies, along with a dearth of available data, conceal how – or if – young people learn in juvenile detention facilities..

More than 1,600 incarcerated children across the country have tested positive for COVID-19 as of mid-August, leaving experts and youth advocates raising questions whether authorities are prepared to handle this and future public health crises.  Joshua Rovner, a lead researcher for the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy center, is tracking the number of reported.

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. At the beginning of the pandemic, Tiffany Cordaway’s biggest struggle was finding a place to shower. She worked two jobs in Northern California, disinfecting medical equipment during the day and caring for an elderly couple overnight. When she finally clocked out, she just wanted to clean up..

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Four months after Congress rushed $4 billion to help the nation’s homeless population cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of those funds still have not made their way to local communities, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found, and even those with access to the money have.

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. PHOENIX – Nearly 200 tents stand inches apart on the scorching gravel lots, many covered in blankets for an extra layer of relief from the desert sun. Outside, their occupants sit on hot ground or in folding chairs, nearby palm trees providing no shade. Despite 12-foot-square sections.

When Arizona native Kristin Urquiza wrote her dad’s obituary after his June 30 death from COVID-19, the Democratic National Convention was probably the furthest thing from her mind. But that’s where Urquiza found herself Monday night, telling a national audience that her dad’s “only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid.

PHOENIX – Arizona has failed to conduct robust contact tracing, which was considered a vital tool to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and proved effective in other parts of the world, public health experts say. And it’s not just Arizona. Contact tracing has “largely failed in the United States” because of long waits for test.

PHOENIX – High school athletic directors and football coaches are eager to kick off the season – assuming the season even happens – but the COVID-19 pandemic likely means no fans in the stands, tough safety protocols for players on the field and tighter budgets for high school sports. That could lead to cuts to.

PHOENIX – After winning the title of Miss Navajo Nation in September, Shaandiin Parrish immediately got to work on the cultural preservation and advocacy efforts central to the role. At times, she attended five or more events in a single day, traveling across the 27,000-square-mile reservation to speak to elementary school students and attend conferences..

Editor’s Note: Coronavirus has devastated Native American communities and put a spotlight on some long-standing problems in Indian Country that have made this pandemic that much worse. But at the grassroots level, everyday heroes have stepped up to help. One in a series. SCOTTSDALE – Indigenous tribes have their own cultures, languages and customs, but.

PHOENIX – Black-owned businesses were particularly hard-hit when the spread of COVID-19 shut down or restricted nonessential activity throughout the country last spring, leaving many to wonder whether they could survive the plummet in daily customers. COVID-19 had shuttered 41% of Black-owned businesses by April, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, compared with.

PHOENIX – When Ray Anderson, Arizona State’s vice president for university athletics, first heard about the possible long-term heart issues connected to coronavirus, it immediately made him think of his father’s sudden death from a heart attack when Anderson was just 9 years old. Anderson feared a similar outcome might await an ASU athlete if.

PHOENIX – Former ASU Men’s basketball player Eric Jacobsen continues to make a living overseas, even as it remains uncertain when that happens. Jacobsen has agreed to re-sign with the Sendai 89ers in the B2 League in Japan, according to a report from asia-basket.com. The 6’10″ power forward, who graduated from ASU in 2016, is.

WASHINGTON – The number of people on Arizona’s Medicaid rolls topped 2 million this summer, after a five-month surge in enrollment that coincided with COVID-19’s hit to the state’s health and its economy. Almost 1.88 million people were covered by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System – the state’s Medicaid program – on March.

PHOENIX – As social distancing and isolation continue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many states across the country are reporting an increase in reported drug overdoses and suicides, including Arizona. The Arizona Department of Health Services has observed an increase in deaths due to suicide and drug overdose during the COVID-19 epidemic, according to Dr. Cara.

PHOENIX – Singing, dancing, socializing, sharing food – the elements that make powwows an essential part of preserving Indigenous culture are the same ones that make them a coronavirus risk. Native communities throughout the country have cancelled the traditional gatherings indefinitely as a result. But Tiny Rosales, a member of the Ojibwe tribe, has found.

Editor’s Note: Coronavirus has devastated Native American communities and put a spotlight on some long-standing problems in Indian Country that have made this pandemic that much worse. But at the grassroots level, everyday heroes have stepped up to help. Part of a series. PHOENIX – Before COVID-19, Joshuaa Allison-Burbank spent his days traversing the Navajo.

The latest police data show reported crimes fell in Phoenix and Tucson during the second quarter of the year, a period in which Arizonans were largely confined to their homes by the governor’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order. But while property crimes in both cities fell, violent crime in Phoenix rose sharply in the quarter, driven largely.

PHOENIX – In the six months Maria Chávez’s husband has been detained at La Palma Correctional Center, he has been quarantined twice after being exposed to suspected cases of COVID-19. And quarantine, for him, has meant solitary confinement. Andrés gets 20 minutes a day outside his cell, Chávez said, which he first uses to call.

PHOENIX – By now, you’ve probably heard it more times than you can count: One of the simplest ways to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection is to wash your hands. But for the nearly one in three Navajo Nation households without indoor plumbing, that’s easier said than done. “People (here) call it a luxury.

Tracking coronavirus pandemic could soon be a bit easier because of one simple fact: Everyone poops. Around the world, wastewater plants have become unlikely sentinels in the fight against the virus, allowing scientists to track the disease’s spread at the community level. The practice of testing sewage samples is spreading across western U.S. states as.

Editor’s Note: Coronavirus has devastated Native American communities and put a spotlight on some long-standing problems in Indian Country that have made this pandemic that much worse. But at the grassroots level, everyday heroes have stepped up to help. Part of a series. PHOENIX – From a traditional hogan in a remote area on the.

PHOENIX – Six months after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Arizona, the disease is well on its way to becoming the third-leading cause of death in the state this year, following cancer and heart disease, according to state data. As of Sunday, July 26, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 3,305.

PHOENIX – Research into sports-related concussions started with football injuries but has since spread to other activities where hits and falls are routine, such as hockey, soccer and cheerleading. The long-term effects of concussions, however, are still being studied. It is a subject important to Stephanie Cahill. She played club volleyball from 14 to 16.

PHOENIX – Thousands of gallons of wasted milk. Unpredictable, zigzagging prices. Abrupt dips and surges in demand. The past four months have been a roller coaster for Arizona dairy farms, as the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way some of their biggest clients did business. The ride isn’t over yet: Arizona is a COVID-19 hotspot,.

PHOENIX – As Arizona State University prepares to re-open its campuses in the fall, school leadership has warned students that off-campus parties are subject to the school’s health and conduct policies, which say the university can intervene with off-campus activity if it threatens community health. Some social media users already have responded by asserting students.

PHOENIX – Phoenix Rising FC found itself on the positive end of an unfortunate situation. The team was scheduled to play New Mexico United on Aug. 8 in New Mexico, but travel restrictions and a mandatory 14-day quarantine because of the coronavirus have halted those plans. The teams are still scheduled to play, but the.

PHOENIX – April Reed remembers what it used to be like before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. Reed remembers her father, who wears hearing aids, telling her how he was turned away from a job interview. She remembers a colleague hoping every day that the bus would be wheelchair-accessible when it came by,.

PHOENIX – A research center in east Tucson is one of the 87 clinics in the country chosen to participate in phase 3 of a COVID-19 vaccine trial, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The Quality of Life Medical and Research Center is actively recruiting Arizona volunteers to participate in the trial and national study, it.

PHOENIX – As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted practice schedules and cut short seasons, Ray Anderson challenged Arizona State coaches to find a way to make their programs stronger. Swimming and diving coach Bob Bowman came up with a unique solution: He is having every member of his team redshirt for the 2020-21 season. “The biggest.

PHOENIX – As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the state, testing sites have experienced inconsistencies in the number of Arizonans seeking tests and in the time it takes to get results. Some testing sites, such as one in west Phoenix and another in south Phoenix, have appointments available and wait times as short as.

When he announced an extension Thursday of his order closing bars, gyms, movie theaters and more, Gov. Doug Ducey acknowledged that “businesses and employees have sacrificed” as the state fights the spread of COVID-19. But some of those businesses are tired of sacrificing. A lawsuit filed with the Arizona Supreme Court by 50 owners of.

PHOENIX – After Gov. Doug Ducey unveiled his plan Thursday for schools to reopen, the Arizona Interscholastic Association continued to prepare for a season of fall sports. Ducey’s plan calls for school districts and charter schools to begin distance-learning by the first day of their traditional instructional calendar. Schools will then use data from public.

PHOENIX – Arizona schools must open their doors to at least some of their students on Aug. 17, state officials said Thursday, but districts will have the flexibility to offer alternative schooling to students who want to stay home. The announcement by Gov. Doug Ducey and State Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman follows weeks of uncertainty.

PHOENIX – Gyms, bars, nightclubs and more will remain closed past next week as the state continues to fight a disease that is “highly contagious and in every part of the state,” Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday. But even as he urged people to stay home and practice safe hygiene, Ducey declined to require the.

PHOENIX – The WNBA and NBA have allowed players to choose a variety of social justice messages they would like on the back of their jerseys once regular season basketball resumes. The Phoenix Mercury will be honoring the life of Breonna Taylor by showcasing her name on the back of every player’s uniform when their.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey has asked Arizona’s congressional delegation to focus on unemployment and other matters important to Arizonans in the next federal COVID-19 relief package. Ducey’s July 21 letter seeks funds to guarantee the unemployed will be eligible to receive at least 100% of their weekly earnings, and to replenish the state’s $1.

PHOENIX – Phoenix Suns center Aron Baynes learned quickly that the coronavirus is no joke. “It put me on my butt for a good week,” he told Stadium on Wednesday. “I slept for four days straight.” Baynes revealed Wednesday he had tested positive for COVID-19 after it was reported Monday by the Arizona Republic that.

Navajo leaders said the tribe could begin moving toward the phased reopening of the reservation as early as next week, but they continued to urge members to take precautions to keep the number of COVID-19 cases trending downward. Despite the optimism, the Navajo Nation already announced it will continue a reservation-wide weekend lockdown for at.

PHOENIX – Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement Tuesday that fans will not be allowed to attend college sporting events in the state of New York during the fall shed light on an interesting discrepancy between New York and Arizona. One has a lot of colleges. The other does not. New York has 102 schools that sport.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks caught their first glimpse of pandemic baseball. Cardboard cutouts and piped in fan noise were among the oddities as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 9-2 in an exhibition game Sunday at Dodger Stadium. It was the first time Diamondbacks fans saw the team in game action since March.

GILBERT – Arizona on Saturday set a record for coronavirus-related deaths reported in one day, with 147, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. This comes on the heels of Thursday’s publication of an internal White House document declaring Arizona a “red zone” for rising cases. States were deemed to be in the red.

PHOENIX – Arizona is one of 18 states in the coronavirus “red zone” that should take stricter action to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, according to an internal White House report unveiled Thursday. The document, first reported by the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, categorizes states as being in the red zone if.

PHOENIX – Coach Monty Williams and the Phoenix Suns continue to prepare for the NBA restart at Walt Disney World in Orlando. The team has held several intrasquad practices but has not yet scrimmaged or played simulated games against other teams. Until that happens, Williams said the team’s readiness for the restart is unknown. “I.

PHOENIX — Melissa Calles used to walk her dog to the park every day, and she was part of a dance group. Life changed for the 26-year-old Phoenix resident on May 15 when she fell ill. After tests, her doctor informed her she had COVID-19. “I lost my sense of smell, that was the first.

As COVID-19 began to spread across the Southwest in March, lawyers representing incarcerated Arizonans reported “unsanitary conditions,” “inadequate medical staffing and treatment” and a “failure to take strong and sensible precautionary measures” in state prisons. The combination left prisoners “highly vulnerable to outbreaks,” the attorneys wrote in a letter to the state before asking a.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey extended the state’s eviction moratorium and announced an additional $5 million for renters and measures to prevent foreclosure as the state continues to grapple with unemployment and housing problems caused by COVID-19. “Today’s plan protects families and individuals impacted by COVID-19 while empowering them to keep making rent payments,” Ducey.

PHOENIX – On the same day the NFL Players Association reported 72 positive tests for league athletes, it shared a map that tagged Phoenix as the No. 2 hotspot for the virus among the 32 metropolitan areas where the NFL plays. The NFLPA has voiced concerns about players reporting to training camp on July 28.

PHOENIX – Strewn across parking lots, in rivers and washing up on beaches, disposable face masks, gloves and other personal protection equipment are turning up everywhere except where they should be – in the landfill. With the production and use of PPE surging during the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts are worried this new type of.

PHOENIX — Arizona’s U.S. senators are pushing legislation to renew a federal program that fights diabetes in Indian Country – an initiative tribal leaders say is vital amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Special Diabetes Program for Indians is critical in our fight against diabetes and viruses such as COVID-19,” Navajo President Jonathan Nez said in.

PHOENIX – The head of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute painted a glum picture Wednesday of current COVID-19 trends in the state, but he also suggested that the trend could be slowly improving. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the Biodesign Institute, noted that virus cases are soaring across the country, and that Arizona is one.

PHOENIX – Phoenix Rising FC is set to play its first away match of the season Thursday. The opponent is Orange County FC in California, which was shut down Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. This included a number of things, but maybe most important, restaurants. “There are three things a football player needs: a good.

Bertha spent 17 days in her bedroom after testing positive for COVID-19. There, she made the soup and the “hot, hot tea” that helped her endure the headaches and coughing fits associated with the contagious respiratory disease. Bertha, an agricultural worker, said she couldn’t risk going to the kitchen or other parts of the house.

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s interstate highways are in generally good shape, but they experienced the highest rate of fatalities in the nation in 2018, according to a national report released Tuesday. The report by The Road Information Program said that Arizona recorded 1.09 highway deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled on the state’s interstate highways.

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Mercury have been inside the WNBA’s “bubble” at IMG Academy for about a week now and, despite the chatter from other players on social media, they seem to be adjusting well. Mercury guard Diana Taurasi sounded excited when asked how life inside the bubble was treating her. “It’s really like the.

PHOENIX – Advocates are concerned the looming end of the state’s eviction moratorium will put thousands of Arizonans at risk of homelessness. Gov. Doug Ducey put a pause on evictions for small business, nonprofits and renters until July 22, but when that window closes, the number of people living without shelter could shoot up, advocates.

PHOENIX – On the heels of a report that the NFL Players Association is concerned about opening training camps in “hot spot cities,” season ticket holders for the Arizona Cardinals are awaiting news on their options for 2020. The Washington Post reported the NFLPA is concerned about beginning practices in places that have been hit.

PHOENIX – Boutique fitness clubs are suing to stay open after a judge last week denied a lawsuit by another gym owner challenging Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order closing gyms and bars. Ducey’s June 29 order shuttered gyms and bars for 30 days, which led several popular fitness franchises to challenge the order in court..

PHOENIX – With the Suns inside the NBA’s Orlando “bubble” for almost a week now, Devin Booker is adjusting to a new lifestyle pace. While some players have shared images on social media of fishing or participating in other activities, Booker told reporters on a Zoom call Monday that his days “just consist of practice.

Here is a timeline of COVID-19 developments and the responses by Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona health officials and Navajo leaders. As the pandemic continues to unfold, the timeline will be updated. Here are the latest numbers for COVID-19 related illnesses and deaths in Arizona: Cronkite News reporter Sarah Donahue contributed to this report.

PHOENIX – From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts have pointed to smoking as one of several risk factors that could worsen the disease and potentially lead to death. Now an analysis of available research shows just how dangerous tobacco use might be during COVID-19 – nearly doubling the risk of disease progression.

TUCSON – A day after he imposed new restrictions to curb the steep increase in COVID-19 cases in the state, Gov. Doug Ducey was still coming under fire Friday for not doing enough. Mayors of Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Tempe and Tolleson said in a letter to the governor that they were “deeply concerned with the.

PHOENIX – Following the lead of the Big Ten and others, the Pac-12 Conference announced its football teams will play only conference games in 2020. “Arizona State University and Sun Devil Athletics support the Pac-12’s announcement of a strictly conference schedule for the 2020 football and fall sports season,” said Ray Anderson, ASU’s vice president.

PHOENIX — Even before the smoke, Neko Wilson’s anxiety was high. As a 38-year-old with hypertension and asthma, he had been pushing for weeks to get information about COVID-19. As people around Wilson began contracting the deadly disease, he sought masks and testing, fearing for his health and possibly his life. Then smoke from the.

PHOENIX – Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs led a group of Republican lawmakers Thursday who demanded that schools reopen as usual in the fall, the latest salvo in a days-long campaign by the Trump administration on the issue. “It would be more harmful to keep children locked out of schools and less harmful and less risky.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey stood by Arizona’s past and present response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, despite harsh criticism from other politicians and growing concern from health experts as the number of deaths in the state topped 2,000. “My decisions are not going to be influenced by any attempt to please the press, and.

PHOENIX – When his high school coach reached out for a jersey donation, Arizona Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez was on board. Soon, however, he decided it wasn’t enough. As he watched the COVID-19 pandemic affect families financially in his hometown of Deer Park, Texas, Gonzalez, a former standout at Arizona State, decided to provide scholarships.

PHOENIX – The isolating effects of business shutdowns and stay-home orders may be taking an especially high toll on an already vulnerable demographic – LGBTQ youth, who suffer disproportionately from behavioral health problems because of discrimination, harassment or lack of emotional support. For these teens, social distancing could worsen such mental health conditions as depression.

PHOENIX – Arizona health care advocates said they are bracing for a flood of people seeking contraceptive care after the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that employers can deny the coverage on religious or moral grounds. The 7-2 ruling upholds a sweeping exception to the Affordable Care Act, which originally required employers to include contraceptive coverage.

PHOENIX – Arizona led the U.S. in the growth of confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday, and if states were viewed as their own countries, the Grand Canyon State would lead the world, according to an alarming analysis by The New York Times. State officials pushed back against that characterization Wednesday, but Arizona doctors fear the situation.

PHOENIX – A White House panel of parents, teachers and school administrators said Tuesday that reopening schools this fall should be the nation’s top priority, for the wellbeing of students and parents and as a move to “stabilize our society.” But while the panel pushed for schools reopening “quickly and beautifully in the fall,” as.

PHOENIX – A Maricopa County judge on Tuesday refused to block Gov. Doug Ducey’s order closing gyms across the state, ruling that Mountainside Fitness could not show that the abrupt shutdown order violated the law. Mountainside CEO Tom Hatten said in a statement that the company’s 18 gyms would close at 2 p.m. Tuesday in.

PHOENIX — As the number of Arizonans who have contracted COVID-19 has raced past 100,000, testing for the novel coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease has become a priority. Some of that testing now is being done through saliva, a process that’s easier and less expensive. Arizona’s first saliva test – designed by scientists at.

PHOENIX – Arizona’s number of COVID-19 cases has doubled in the past two weeks to surge past 100,000 confirmed cases, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. It took from February to June 21 for Arizona to reach 50,000 coronavirus cases; it has taken only about two weeks to double that number. Gov. Doug.

PHOENIX – Jenaye Coleman, a former Division I lacrosse player at Marquette University, saw many teammates experience gruesome knee injuries in practice and games. During her four years playing on artificial turf, it created a dark cloud of fear about stepping onto the field. “Once we saw probably like, I don’t know, four girls tear.

PHOENIX – With grocery stores picked over by panicked shoppers and relief checks slow to arrive in mailboxes, Arizonans are coming together to distribute goods and services to those in need through grassroots “mutual aid” groups that target the most vulnerable. The idea of mutual aid is not new, and it’s not the same as.

PHOENIX – When Gov. Doug Ducey announced this week that school reopenings would be pushed back to Aug. 17 because of concerns over COVID-19 infections, it raised as many questions as it answered for parents and school administrators. While they now have a start date, school leaders are faced with the task of reopening in.

PHOENIX – In many Arizona towns, this Fourth will be a first. The first time fireworks are replaced by sparklers. The first time fireworks displays become a drive-through or an online event. The first time that holiday events are observed with masks from a socially responsible distance. But Fourth of July event organizers like Judy.

PHOENIX – As Arizona broke records Wednesday for new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported in a single day, Vice President Mike Pence flew in to assure Gov. Doug Ducey that the federal government “will spare no expense” in helping the state. Pence’s trip originally included a visit to Tucson and a rally with supporters, but.

PHOENIX – The news that gyms would be shut down as part of Gov. Doug Ducey’s latest executive order to slow the spread of COVID-19 has blindsided those who work in the fitness industry. “We had just been getting things going,” said Maddi Briguglio, a personal trainer at Jab Fitness in Tempe. “Clients had just.

PHOENIX – The number of new COVID-19 cases on the Navajo Nation is on a downward trend, but tribal leaders said Tuesday that does not mean they are ready to ease up on health restrictions. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a Facebook live town hall that the tribe will continue its 57-hour weekend.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday ordered the shutdown of Arizona’s bars, gyms, water parks, movie theaters and river tubing for 30 days. The executive order takes effect at 8 p.m. and lasts through July 27. “Our expectation is that next week our numbers will be worse, it will take several weeks for the.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks announced their 60-man roster for their upcoming summer training camp Monday, but the biggest news was which player on that list would not be joining the team. Mike Leake, a key rotation piece and pending free agent, notified the club that he will exercise his ability to opt out of.

PHOENIX – A global pandemic and then weeks of flight restrictions have left many of the 370,000 Chinese students who study in the U.S. caught in a dilemma – stay put, or pay thousands to try to get home. Yang Jiao graduated from Arizona State University in May but has been stuck in the United.

PHOENIX – Several Scottsdale bars and restaurants labeled “bad actors” by Gov. Doug Ducey have shut down temporarily, and they’re pushing back on his allegations that they disregarded safety protocols meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. Ducey labeled eight Scottsdale establishments “bad actors” at a news conference Thursday. The admonishment came after city authorities.

PHOENIX – Changes in lifestyle associated with COVID-19 have heightened concerns among health professionals about anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating and other eating disorders. But one demographic is drawing particular attention: Black women, who have long been overlooked in this specialized area of treatment. “We’re underserved. We’re poorly served. We’re served through bias and ignorance,” said Shelby.

PHOENIX – The 2020-21 school year for Maricopa County community colleges may not include sports, as administrators from the district await a decision to be made next week by Chancellor Steven Gonzales. Despite reports of the cancellation being completed Thursday morning, Matt Hasson, the chief communications officer for the Maricopa County Community Colleges District, said.

PHOENIX – A somber Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday addressed Arizona’s record surge in COVID-19 cases, urging individuals to slow down and “do the right thing” but taking no new actions. “This is Arizona’s first wave and it will not be our last wave,” he said in a teleconference. “Where we are right now and.

PHOENIX – First it was the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Coyotes. Now, just as sports were beginning to start up again, players on the Phoenix Rising and Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team have tested positive for COVID-19. Phoenix Rising FC General Manager Bobby Dulle announced Wednesday that four players on the team tested positive.

TEMPE – Arizonans will face a 14-day quarantine if they travel to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut, whose governors announced the restriction Wednesday to keep people from COVID-19 “hot spots” from bringing the infection with them. The quarantine, which took effect at midnight Wednesday, applied to nine states with positive virus test rates above.

PHOENIX – When Major League Baseball canceled the remainder of spring training games on March 12 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was with the initial hope of holding Opening Day for the 2020 season on April 9. That hope never manifested as the spread of the coronavirus forced the league and its players.

Arizona on Wednesday broke its record for the number of COVID-19 deaths reported in a single day, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported. The 79 deaths did not occur on the same day, but they represent the most reported in a single day. The record comes as federal experts are warning about a surge.

PHOENIX – Arizona set a record Tuesday for the number of new COVID-19 cases in a day, the second record in less than a week, with 3,591 new cases confirmed by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The department also reported 42 deaths since Monday, one of the highest death tolls since the first case.

PHOENIX – President Donald Trump’s scheduled rally in Phoenix on Tuesday will go ahead as planned, and Mayor Kate Gallego has pledged not to enforce local face mask requirements. The announcements came as Arizona’s COVID-19 cases surpassed 50,000 over the weekend. On Friday, Phoenix City Council approved requirements of wearing face masks but Gallego told.

PHOENIX – For many people who are deaf or hard of hearing, lip reading, facial expressions and body language are vital to communication, but protective face masks and remote work and school meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 have made it more difficult. More than 1.1 million people in Arizona are hard of hearing,.

PHOENIX – Face masks will be required in Phoenix for people who are outside the home or in restaurants and businesses starting Saturday, June 20, after a 7-2 City Council vote in favor of the policy. “We are in the midst of a pandemic,” Mayor Kate Gallego said Friday, the same day health officials reported.

PHOENIX – With COVID-19 taking an especially heavy toll on Native Americans, tribal leaders and mental health experts have stepped up efforts to address the emotional suffering brought on by ongoing lockdowns and so much loss. “Please stay connected with relatives and neighbors by phone or video chat and remind them that they have support,”.

PHOENIX – Tom Zemites hasn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic stop him from pursuing his hobby – fishing. “I’ve probably fished more than five times,” the Chandler resident said. “I fished at Fool Hollow up by Show Low a couple times, fished Willow Springs twice. And then, we’ve fished right over here at ASU Research Park,.

PHOENIX – Gila River Hotels & Casinos has shut down for two weeks to review safety standards and disinfect properties after the COVID-19 related death last week of a security employee. “The decision came after a careful evaluation of the growing enterprise’s current safety plan with the Gila River Indian Community Council and feedback from.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey is recommending Arizonans wear masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19, but he stopped short of issuing a statewide mandate. Instead, Ducey on Wednesday said city and county governments can implement and enforce their own mandates. After entering the news conference wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer.

PHOENIX – With COVID-19 cases rising by more than 1,000 a day since June 10, more than 800 Arizona medical professionals have signed letters urging the state to require the use of face masks in public. Lee Ann Kelley, president of the Maricopa County Medical Society, told Cronkite News on Wednesday that wearing masks in.

PHOENIX – Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona rose by nearly 2,400 on Monday alone, breaking Friday’s record of 1,600 by almost 50%, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services. As of Tuesday, June 16, health officials reported 39,097 cases of COVID-19 and 1,219 deaths in the state. There have been 489,286 tests.

PHOENIX – Arizona State, determined not to suffer a similar fate as the University of Houston, is testing all its athletes for COVID-19 as part of the protocol for them to return to campus. Members of ASU’s athletic administration detailed plans for resuming voluntary workouts in a Zoom call with news media on Friday. Athletes.

PHOENIX – Since the reopening of Arizona last month, several businesses have closed their doors once again, citing exposure to COVID-19 among employees. On Saturday, ABC 15 news reported that in the previous seven days, popular Phoenix area restaurants have announced closures, including Chelsea’s Kitchen, the Porch, Hash Kitchen, SanTan Brewing, Spirit House, Floridino’s Pizza.

PHOENIX – The disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on minorities underscores the longstanding failure of federal officials to respond to the needs of Native Americans, Rep. Betty McCollum said Thursday in a subcommittee meeting on the Indian Health Service. “Five tribes are experiencing more instances of coronavirus per 100,000 citizens than any states, including New.

PHOENIX – It happened in March, in the middle of the night. Jeff Zhou, a teaching assistant at Arizona State University, was asleep when he heard a kick on his apartment door and then a shouted slur: “Chinese virus!” The 30-year-old international student from China reported the incident, but it has stuck with him even.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey defended his plan to reopen the state Thursday, attributing concerns about the stark increase in the number of positive cases to misinformation and increased testing. “We put the stay-at-home order in place so that we can prepare for what we’re going through right now,” he told reporters at a news.

PHOENIX – Masks during workouts and daily health checks are among the phase 1 requirements the University of Arizona has put in place for its athletes to return to sports participation. Members of the school’s athletics administration spoke Thursday via Zoom about a re-entry plan that is scheduled to begin Monday. “Our plan as a.

LOS ANGELES – Higher rates of asthma and other health issues among LGBTQ people are adding to the unique mental and physical stresses the community faces during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary symptoms of the disease are respiratory. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends those with moderate to severe asthma take extra precautions,.

PHOENIX – As COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout the state, there has been a spike in the number of inmates in Maricopa County jails who have tested positive. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that 203 inmates have tested positive as of Monday evening, according to jail officials. By comparison, there were 30 reported.

Surging numbers of COVID-19 cases in Arizona have pushed some hospital intensive-care units to their limits in recent weeks, but health experts around the state said hospitals still have room to adapt – for now. The Arizona Department of Health Services has recorded 8,360 new cases of the coronavirus so far this month, almost 30%.

SCOTTSDALE – Federal funding has reached the Navajo Nation, and President Jonathan Nez is urging tribal leaders to move quickly to approve the distribution of $50 million in funds from the CARES Act. The proposed legislation would help the tribe distribute services and equipment, Nez said in a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday. The legislation,.

PHOENIX – The $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package that Congress passed in March has provided medical and financial relief to millions of Americans, including allocations for low-income, rural and uninsured populations. Many immigrants, however, have been excluded from benefits under the CARES Act – leaving local advocacy groups to step in to provide economic, medical.

PHOENIX – Arizona’s state health officials urged hospitals to fully activate emergency plans to cope with a surge of COVID-19 patients in a Saturday letter, the Arizona Republic reports. Dr. Cara Christ asked hospitals to prepare for crisis care and suspend elective surgeries if they face any shortages in capacity. An executive order from Arizona.

PHOENIX – The COVID-19 pandemic means Arizona’s heat-relief programs have added hand sanitizer, gloves and masks to the mix of survival items – water, lip balm, sunscreen and more water – they provide to homeless and vulnerable populations each summer. Thursday marked the 15th day of excessive heat warnings in Arizona this year, an early.

WASHINGTON – Coronavirus-related deaths in Arizona passed 1,000 on Friday, as 16 new deaths brought the state’s total to 1,012 since the first death was reported in mid-March. The grim milestone came as the number of new COVID-19 cases continued to soar in the state, with daily increases setting four records in the past week.

PHOENIX – Navajo leaders on Wednesday canceled this year’s Fourth of July celebrations in Window Rock as the tribe continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. President Jonathan Nez announced the cancellation Wednesday during a Facebook Live town hall in which he also lifted the 57-hour weekend curfew “unless we see numbers increase once again.

Public spaces around the state may have been closed overnight by a statewide curfew this week – but the casinos have stayed open. After being closed for months by COVID-19, casinos around Arizona had just started to reopen when Gov. Doug Ducey on Sunday imposed a statewide dusk-to-dawn curfew in response to protests over George.

PHOENIX – Arizona tribal leaders told House lawmakers Tuesday that moves to reopen national parks are being made without needed health safety measures to protect tribal members or park visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The comments by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Havasupai Council Member Carletta Tilousi come as the Interior Department is moving.

PHOENIX – A 65-year-old man with underlying health conditions became the first person to die of COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County, county health officials said Tuesday. After expressing his condolences in a statement Monday, county health director Jeff Terrell said, “COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, especially to those individuals with underlying health conditions, regardless of.

PHOENIX – Derek Stepan was ecstatic over the news that the Arizona Coyotes would be returning to the ice this season. “We got a second chance, and we get to play in the playoffs,” the forward said. “I’ve been saying it since I got down to Arizona. This type of series hockey is just so.

PHOENIX – Despite promising trends last week, the Navajo Department of Health reported a spike in COVID-19 cases Monday, with 98 new cases and five additional deaths. As of Sunday, the total number of deaths on the Navajo Nation reservation was 246. Officials said 5,348 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, and they estimated 1,840.

WASHINGTON – Mayors around the state said they welcome the $441 million in COVID-19 relief funding released by the state this week – they just wish they could have welcomed it sooner. “The fact that this has taken so long, it’s sad,” said Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans, one of several local leaders who said this.

PHOENIX – In the days since Gov. Doug Ducey announced the reopening of Arizona schools this fall and youth sports this summer, the Arizona Department of Health Services has reported 2,173 new cases of COVID-19, with Friday and Saturday setting successive single-day records of 702 and 790 cases, respectively. The state has issued guidance on.

TUCSON – For 17-year-old Fran Howard, receiving medical care has not always been easy. Howard identifies as nonbinary gender queer and uses they/them pronouns. Years ago, Howard began seeking treatment to help transition but found it difficult to find a doctor who respected the decision and Howard’s medical needs. “I felt like I had to.

PHOENIX – Arizona schools will reopen this fall, and youth sports will return this summer, Gov. Doug Ducey told reporters Thursday. The move comes despite the fact Arizona remains in phase one of federal guidelines for reopening. Although different schools will have different needs and reopen dates, Ducey said, “we can tailor guidance to meet.

PHOENIX – Eliminating high fives, coaching in groups of 10 people or less and administering regular temperature checks are among the recommendations the Arizona Interscholastic Association is endorsing for high school athletes as they begin practice for the fall sports season. The AIA, the state’s governing body for high school sports, is following guidelines produced.

PHOENIX – After weeks of grim news as the pandemic tore through the Navajo Nation, the curve of positive COVID-19 cases has begun to flatten, President Jonathan Nez said Thursday. The rate of hospitalizations peaked April 25, Nez reported during a town hall on Facebook Live, nearly a month ahead of the mid-May date projected.

As the pandemic affects communities all over the state, a look at how many new cases and deaths are reported by the Arizona Department of Health Services. This data is updated daily. Unable to see the chart? Click here.

PHOENIX – Although the Pac-12 has suggested an on-time start to the college football season is possible, the conference still must wait to see how the six states where the teams are located are handling the pandemic. The league said in a statement Tuesday that it will allow voluntary in-person athletic workouts for all sports.

PHOENIX – Mahleej Zara woke up worried Sunday that celebrations for the end of Ramadan would be dampened by COVID-19 restrictions – but that was before the “car parade” let the Islamic Community Center in Tempe celebrate together while remaining safely distanced. It was just one of the changes that Arizona Muslims made this year.

Memorial Day weekend crowds that one official said were “off the charts” at Arizona vacation spots have health experts worried that tourist behavior could lead to an increase of COVID-19 of cases. With the state’s stay-at-home orders largely lifted this month, tourists flocked to sites like Lake Havasu, Scottsdale and Lake Pleasant, according to news.

PHOENIX – Organizers said they worked hard to make sure Memorial Day ceremonies at Arizona veterans’ cemeteries this year stay true to tradition, with guest speakers, a moment of remembrance and the singing of the National Anthem. Except that the audience for this year’s ceremony will not be graveside but will be watching online. In.

SAN CARLOS – As she looked at the Disney characters decorating the walls of the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Dental Clinic and at the smiling, laughing children watching dental health demonstrations, Suzanne Haney thought back to what a trip to the dentist used to be. “Back then, it was so different, it was in the.

PHOENIX – About this time eight years ago, Justyce McClain, a 15-year-old softball standout at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in north Phoenix, sealed her path to higher education with a verbal commitment to attend McNeese State University in Louisiana on a full-ride athletic scholarship. Her sister, Syd Williams, who’s 12, aspires to follow in.

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon will reopen on a limited basis for Memorial Day weekend, a move critics call “premature” during the COVID-19 pandemic and “tone-deaf” in the face of startling infection rates on the neighboring Navajo Nation Reservation. The opening, from Friday to Monday, is just the second at the park, which was completely.

The travel forecast for this Memorial Day weekend is fuzzy – just another victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in 20 years, AAA has canceled its Memorial Day travel forecast as COVID-19 has affected the way it collects data for its survey. Experts say the traffic is not likely to be anywhere.

PHOENIX – About half of low-income Latino households and just as many Latino-owned businesses said they have not received any support from the massive COVID-19 relief bills, according to a nationwide poll released Wednesday. The survey of 1,800 Latinos across all 50 states oversampled residents of six states, including Arizona. What it found was 48%.

WASHINGTON – The financial and health effects of COVID-19 have been well documented, but Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane said Wednesday that he is just as concerned about the impact the pandemic has had on the American psyche. “It was a gut punch to go from a strong economy to shutdown,” Lane said during a webinar.

PHOENIX – Sharing meals is generally frowned upon in the socially distanced, stay-at-home world of COVID-19, but one aid group is embracing the notion – figuratively, at least. “Share a Meal With a Refugee,” a program run by the Welcome to America Project, collects donated gift cards to share with refugee families, a group that.

PHOENIX – Jennifer Pastrana calls her mom a traditional Hispanic mother, working multiple jobs to provide for her family and save some money, and leaving little time for visits to the doctor – much less CPR training. But it’s not just Pastrana’s mom. A study last year found bystander CPR – given, as the name.

PHOENIX – At 26, Phoenix artist Amanda Adkins was diagnosed with an invisible illness that caused her excruciating abdominal and pelvic pain. During laparoscopic surgery, doctors found that the tissue lining her uterus had penetrated her bowels and bladder. She had stage one endometriosis. The menstrual disease often is thought of as “just a bad.

AUSTIN, Texas – In a charter school gymnasium on the city’s north side, dozens of families fill the bleachers as four pairs of Latina mothers and daughters talk about emotions too often considered taboo in their culture. Building strength. Having courage. Forming bonds, as parent and child, to overcome any hardships that may come their.

The “Coronavirus Chronicles” takes viewers through a timeline of stories about upended lives and the innovations Cronkite News journalists employed to tell those stories. PHOENIX – When COVID-19 began spreading around the globe, schools and universities shifted to remote learning as a safety precaution. For journalists at Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS.

PHOENIX – Graduating college is a milestone for all, but it’s an especially momentous time for those who are the first in their families to receive a diploma. Commencement is just one of the watershed events upended by COVID-19, prompting colleges and universities across the nation to cancel or postpone ceremonies or create a virtual.

WASHINGTON – It’s a familiar ritual to anyone who has donated blood – after the finger prick and before the needle stick comes a medical history form that includes a long list of factors than can exclude or defer a donation. The list is still long, but in an era of COVID-19 the deferrals are.

Cronkite News is reporting on acts of humanity, sharing the big and small ways people are helping each other in the era of coronavirus. PHOENIX – As Miss Shoshone-Bannock, Stormie Perdash has represented her people all across the United States. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, she’s representing them in a different way. Growing up on.

WASHINGTON – As many as four inmates may have died from COVID-19, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, which critics charge is not doing enough to protect prisoners and guards from infection in the tight quarters of a prison. The department reported Friday that 45 inmates had tested positive for the.

PHOENIX – Days after extending the state’s stay-at-home order until May 15, Gov. Doug Ducey is getting resistance from the state’s top prosecutor over health restrictions that allegedly infringe on religious rights. In an opinion issued Thursday, Attorney General Mark Brnovich challenged the mandatory 6-foot social distancing minimum in the context of religious services. “This.

A White House official confirmed Wednesday that President Donald Trump will visit the Phoenix Honeywell facility for an industry event May 5, despite Gov. Doug Ducey extending his stay-at-home order to May 15. The visit marks the first time the president has traveled outside Washington, D.C., since the end of March. The visit is meant.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led some Arizona companies to redirect their business plans in pursuit of a common goal – supporting the state’s first responders as the effects of supply shortages and other needs reverberate across the country. Providing assistance for essential workers ranges from making personal protection equipment, such as hospital gowns and masks,.

Gov. Doug Ducey has extended the state’s stay-at-home order until May 15, imploring Arizonans to continue physical distancing at a press conference Wednesday. “It’s 15 more days, I’m asking for some patience,” Ducey said. Ducey outlined reasons for the extension and limitations, such as continued travel restrictions to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “We.

TEMPE – Native American tribes have been severely hit by the coronavirus but have received only a fraction of the help they need from the federal government, said lawmakers, who called the impact on businesses and health on reservations “particularly worrisome.” The National Congress of American Indians town hall on the congressional response to COVID-19.

PHOENIX – During an online roundtable discussion Tuesday, four Arizona mayors discussed economic challenges facing their cities as they await Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision on reopening the state. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has requested that Ducey allow mayors to be a part of the decision process on whether to extend or keep the stay-at-home order,.

PHOENIX – To increase statewide testing for COVID-19, Gov. Doug Ducey announced a plan Monday to test up to 60,000 Arizonans over the course of three weekends. Starting May 2, the state and its health partners plan to mount an Arizona Testing Blitz, with onsite and drive-thru testing. Testing sites include some Banner Health facilities.

With Arizona schools closed indefinitely, children have plenty of time on their hands – and parents are looking for teachable moments. One subject that’s not taught in most schools is money and how to earn it, spend it, share it and save it. Gregg Murset of Scottsdale, a certified financial planner and father of six,.

The Arizona Department of Health Services is expanding its criteria for COVID-19 testing beyond high-risk people and those with symptoms of the disease, according to a blog post Thursday. “Today, we issued updated standing orders, expanding the criteria for testing to anyone who thinks they have been exposed to and could be infected with COVID-19,”.

Despite health officials’ projections that Arizona won’t see its peak in cases until the middle of next month, Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order Wednesday lifting restrictions on health facilities conducting elective surgeries as of May 1. Ducey signed the order after saying that hospitals have reported an increased availability of personal protective equipment,.

PHOENIX – Phoenix Suns broadcaster Tom Leander said he’s proud his daughter, an intensive-care nurse, stood up to demonstrators protesting stay-at-home orders at the state Capitol this week. In photos that have gone viral, Lauren Leander is seen in her scrubs silently facing down protesters who arrived at the Capitol to demand Gov. Doug Ducey.

PHOENIX – COVID-19 has swept through an assisted living facility in Chandler, where 13 residents have died due to complications from the disease and 28 others have tested positive, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday evening. “Our condolences and hearts go to the families of these residents. We are grieving each one as we have cared for.

Cronkite News is reporting on acts of humanity in Arizona communities, sharing the big and small ways people are helping each other in the era of coronavirus. PHOENIX – “Stay at home” takes on a whole new meaning when you live on the streets with no regular meals, shelter or aid. Before coronavirus, Chandler nonprofit.

PHOENIX – With Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina starting to reopen businesses, Arizona approaches next week’s end of the governor’s stay-at-home order with no clear indication of whether it will be extended. But on Monday – after protesters at the Capitol called for the state to reopen – Gov. Doug Ducey told KVOA he is.

PHOENIX – Hundreds of protesters gathered Monday in a so-called Patriots Rally, waving signs and cheering as speakers near the state Capitol demanded that Gov. Doug Ducey reopen the state despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the participants in the rally at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, which was organized by a Facebook group called Operation.

PHOENIX – Bailey Scalise said she hasn’t seen her family in about a month. Scalise, a registered nurse, first worked with COVID-19 patients in Arizona and had to self-isolate. Then late last month, she volunteered to help treat COVID-19 patients in hard-hit Greeley, Colorado. She was among 10 nurses from three Banner Health hospitals in.

PHOENIX – Arizona researchers have come together to gain insight into COVID-19, which has killed tens of thousands around the globe. The Translational Genomics Research Institute on April 8 announced the formation of the Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union, dedicated to understanding the evolution and spread of the novel coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease. They.

PHOENIX – The Navajo Nation has the country’s third-highest rate of COVID-19 infections, but it has had to watch as funds go to less hard-hit areas in a “very slow” federal aid process, Navajo President Jonathan Nez said Friday. Nez was one of several tribal leaders from around the country participating in a virtual House.

PHOENIX – New research from leading scientists raises questions about President Donald Trump’s assertion that summer temperatures will drive away the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. At a New Hampshire rally on Feb. 10, Trump told Americans the virus would, “go away in April, with the heat,” later saying it was Chinese President Xi Jinping.

PHOENIX – A Phoenix blood service provider is treating patients with donated plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19, KTAR reports. The first person in Arizona to have donated is Jack Schmittlein, 21, of Scottsdale, who had the disease in March but was tested negative in April. Doctors call the blood donated convalescent plasma,.

PHOENIX – Public health officials who use certain “execution drugs” to treat COVID-19 patients face competition from states that use those drugs to end lives rather than save them. The sedative and paralytic drugs are in high demand because they’re used to treat COVID-19 patients who rely on ventilators in intensive care units, a group.

PHOENIX – The CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion package of federal relief for Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, included $349 billion in loans for U.S. small-business owners to sustain payroll, pay rent and meet other obligations. But those funds already have run out. The federal Small Business Association said 10,898 small businesses in Arizona.

TEMPE – Joshua Carden had reason to be nervous as he argued his first case before the Arizona Supreme Court this week – never mind that he also had to argue that case over video from an office in his basement. Carden was one of the first attorneys to argue before the justices via video.

LOS ANGELES – For many kids, the era of COVID-19 is no walk on the playground. No school, no playing with friends and leaving the house means risking contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to family – a problem that’s tougher to control for children of divorce, who often have two houses and two families. Arizona’s.

WASHINGTON – Arizona hospitals are facing “dire financial consequences” and furloughing staff, as cutbacks meant to prepare for COVID-19 cases have instead cost them as much as $575 million a month, about 30-40% of normal revenues statewide. The cancellation of elective procedures meant to free up beds for potential coronavirus patients, combined with a drop.

PHOENIX – Arizona soon will have access to two drive-thru testing centers and the capability to test first responders and health care workers for COVID-19 antibodies, Gov. Doug Ducey said at a press conference Tuesday. The state so far has conducted more than 45,000 tests for the disease, according to the latest numbers released Wednesday,.

PHOENIX – Whether speed-dating on Zoom or making plans for a virtual movie night, couples are getting creative in making and maintaining romantic connections during these times of social distancing. Even those already in long-distance relationships and accustomed to communicating virtually are finding the forced quarantines and physical separation challenging. Mireya Treviño, a senior at.

The Navajo Nation’s 57-hour weekend curfew to combat the spread of COVID-19 on the reservation “went very well,” Police Chief Phillip Francisco said Tuesday in a town hall on Facebook. “This was the largest coordinated operation for the Navajo Police Department that has ever taken place,” he said. Authorities said 177 citations were issued on.

PHOENIX – Hundreds of thousands of Arizona schoolchildren rely on free or reduced-price lunch programs, so when schools closed last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many districts moved to grab-and-go offerings and drive-thru windows at schools. In the Laveen Elementary School District, leadership looked at the logistic challenges and chose to take meals to.

PHOENIX – New COVID-19 data released Sunday by the Arizona Department of Health Services breaks down cases by ZIP codes, race and ethnicity, although the data is incomplete in some areas. The state produced a map that indicated Scottsdale and Tucson are seeing many cases, as are the areas around Flagstaff and Page in northern.

Cronkite News is reporting on acts of humanity in Arizona communities, sharing the big and small ways people are helping each other in the era of coronavirus. PHOENIX – With COVID-19 keeping children at home, one Arizona business owner started cleaning playgrounds during the pandemic – free of charge. Ryan Johnson owns Thee Window Ninjas,.

PHOENIX – Arizona processed a record 82,771 background checks on would-be gun buyers in March, as fears of the coronavirus drove people to gun shops in what one shop owner called “panic time.” It was twice as high as any March in the state since FBI background checks began in 1998 and almost one-quarter of.

PHOENIX – Border agents turned away 6,306 migrants at the southern border in just 10 days after President Donald Trump authorized the immediate return of immigrants and asylum seekers under a 1944 law to check communicable diseases like COVID-19. Critics charge that the spread of coronavirus was merely a pretext to the administration’s real goal.

PHOENIX – Leaders of the Navajo Nation are self-quarantining after being exposed to a COVID-19 patient amid an outbreak that has killed more than 20 members of their tribe. President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer were in close proximity to a first responder on Tuesday who later was confirmed positive for the novel.

PHOENIX – Social distancing and self-isolation have become the primary tools to curb the continued spread of novel coronavirus, but those practices force many to remain in unsafe and abusive homes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced sexual or physical violence.

PHOENIX – Arizona food-stamp recipients may soon be able to buy their groceries online, after the federal government’s swift approval this week of the state’s request in the face of coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders. Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture came less than a week after Arizona asked to be part of a pilot.

PHOENIX – Social distancing is starting to show signs of flattening the curve on hospitalizations in Maricopa County, and state health officials are urging the public to continue taking all necessary precautions, 12News reported. There are 1,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maricopa County alone, the highest number in any of Arizona’s 15 counties. The.

WASHINGTON – Migrant farmworkers are in “serious danger” of contracting coronavirus because of ongoing poor conditions, such as overcrowded housing, buses and lack of access to health care, according to a new report. The report by the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante group surveyed 100 migrant workers from Mexico with temporary H-2A visas from.

PHOENIX – Two Arizona prison inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated and are receiving treatment, Arizona Department of Corrections officials told the Arizona Republic Tuesday. The first inmate tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes the deadly disease, despite twice testing negative in March. Where the inmate had been imprisoned and.

TEMPE – On any other Passover, Rabbi Mendy Deitsch would gather with 150 people to celebrate Seder, but that’s impossible in the face of COVID-19 social distancing. So Deitsch and his congregation came up with the next best thing – Seder in a box, to be delivered to hundreds of temple members to celebrate the.

Editor’s note: The mothers in this story agreed to speak only on condition that their last names not be used, due to the immigration status of some families served by VELA. AUSTIN, Texas – Five years ago, when her son was 4, Fabiola traveled to the United States from central Mexico to seek care for.

TEMPE – While President Donald Trump touts an anti-malarial drug as a possible coronavirus treatment, Gov. Doug Ducey is allowing its use in limited circumstances in Arizona – dividing advocates over whether he’s gone too far or not far enough. The debate comes just two weeks after an Arizona couple was hospitalized – and the.

PHOENIX – Three U.S. Customs and Border Patrol employees have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arizona, bringing the number of confirmed cases among CBP employees in the state to six as of Sunday, April 5. Nationwide, there have been 160 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among CBP employees, according to the agency’s website. No deaths have.

PHOENIX – Nearly half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and 4 in 10 adults cannot afford to cover an unexpected $400 expense without borrowing or selling something – and the coronavirus pandemic has added to the burden for people living on the edge. In Arizona, the COVID-19 crisis has triggered a surge of people.

PHOENIX – On the heels of dire warnings that America is entering the worst week of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona health officials Monday reported a surge in COVID-19 cases over the weekend, with 687 new cases bringing the total to 2,456 known infections and 65 deaths. On Sunday, Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Fox News.

PHOENIX – Doctors have stressed the importance of children remaining physically active in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to prevent kids from tumbling down a dangerous, unhealthy path due to the absence of school and structure. “The important thing that I would push is a schedule, a routine, trying to schedule a bit.

PHOENIX – More Arizona businesses face closure with a revised order from Gov. Doug Ducey, who is calling on salons, barbers, tattoo parlors, massage parlors, spas and other previously exempt businesses to cease operation by 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 4. Mayors in Arizona voiced criticism of the state’s list of essential services in recent.

PHOENIX – After more than a week of delays, the Arizona State University Biodesign Institute began its drive-thru testing for COVID-19 on Thursday, and it will not be open to the general public. Testing is reserved for selected essential workers, including first responders and hospital workers who face exposure more frequently, according to Joshua LaBaer,.

MESA – Bringing home a new baby is supposed to be a happy time. Parents spend months preparing the nursery, stocking up on diapers and formula, and waiting excitedly for their tiny addition. But Christina Loya-Moreno would lie awake at night while her husband and baby slept. For a while, she didn’t think much of.

PHOENIX – Arizona State University will conduct spring graduation ceremonies online rather than in person to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, upending a storied tradition where graduates stride across a stage before beaming families and friends and the ASU community to celebrate earning their diplomas. ASU President Michael Crow’s announcement on Thursday.

PHOENIX – A group of immigrant detainees have filed suit against U.S. officials, alleging federal inaction during the COVID-19 outbreak endangers those in detention and violates the Constitution. In a lawsuit filed March 30, four Cuban asylum seekers and one green-card holder facing deportation accused the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review and Immigration.

PHOENIX – The National Park Service abruptly closed Grand Canyon National Park on Wednesday, bowing to weeks of pressure after health officials expressed “extreme concern” about the potential for spread of COVID-19 in the park. The park has been open with reduced services – and no entry fee – for two weeks as the number.

PHOENIX – The state is adding $600 to the maximum weekly unemployment benefit of $240, and the first checks should go out as soon as next week, the Arizona Department of Economic Security said Wednesday. The money was added in response to the tidal wave of workers laid off because of the novel coronavirus, with.

PHOENIX – Empty store shelves symbolize the frustrations and fears of the COVID-19 pandemic, with toilet paper, rice, beans and water in scant supply and purchasing limits imposed so more customers have a chance to buy such staples. Mark Miller, president of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, in an email interview, discussed how panic led.

TEMPE – Gov. Doug Ducey’s “stay home” order had not even taken effect before critics were arguing Tuesday over whether it is enforceable and if it goes far enough to protect Arizona from the spread of coronavirus. The directive, which took effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, says state residents “shall limit their time away” from.

TEMPE – Arizona lawmakers joined local and tribal officials Tuesday calling on the Interior Department to reverse its “reckless” decision to keep Grand Canyon National Park open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Park lodging and concession services were stopped two weeks ago by coronavirus fears, but the National Park Service at that time waived park entry.

PHOENIX – On March 16, the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a public alert aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. The problem: For days, it was in English only – leaving millions of non-English speakers in the U.S. without direct guidance from the federal government amid the deadly.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey’s statewide stay-at-home order doesn’t go far enough to stop Arizonans from leaving their homes, some other elected officials say. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, who had called for Ducey to issue a stay-at-home order, questioned the list of what Ducey considered essential services and called it laughable. Hair salons and golf.

TEMPE – When Tucson Mayor Regina Romero ordered nonessential businesses in the city to close Saturday in an effort to halt the novel coronavirus, she could only urge barbershops and nail salons to go along. That’s because those businesses were declared “essential services” last week by Gov. Doug Ducey, a designation that will continue under.

WASHINGTON – Arizona hospitals are rationing and ordering workers to reuse protective equipment like masks, gowns and eyewear in an attempt to head off shortages expected with the surge in COVID-19 patients in the state. While some health care workers said they understand the reasoning, they worry that the shift in standard operating procedures will.

Gov. Doug Ducey issued a stay-at-home order on Monday to prevent further spread of deadly COVID-19, which has claimed 20 lives in Arizona to date. The “Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected” initiative will go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, and run through the end of April. “This decision was made with.

PHOENIX – The spread of COVID-19 has “deeply affected” Arizona animal shelters, which are discontinuing some services, cutting hours and trying to juggle between taking animals in and adopting them out to stretch resources while protecting pets and people. Humane Society of Southern Arizona CEO Steve Farley said shelters are essential services and that his.

Arizona public schools will not be required to make up days lost to the novel coronavirus, and statewide testing was extended to May 31 under legislation signed Friday by Gov. Doug Ducey. In addition, all school employees will be paid throughout the closure, and general education options for students and remote work for employees will.

WASHINGTON – Arizona did relatively well in a new study of social distancing, but the same could not be said of how well most counties in the state follow the practice, which is considered key to stemming the spread of novel coronavirus. Arizona was one of 21 states to earn a B in the national.

PHOENIX – Native Americans are seeking more help from the federal government to fight COVID-19, even as the Navajo Nation and other tribes take steps to combat the disease themselves – including raising money to help vulnerable citizens and issuing shelter-in-place orders. The Indian Health Service reported 83 cases of novel coronavirus, the respiratory virus.

PHOENIX – The spread of COVID-19 in Arizona communities rose from “moderate” to “widespread” on Thursday, meaning there were confirmed cases in 13 of the state’s 15 counties, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Gila and Greenlee were the two counties with no confirmed cases. Maricopa County leads the state with 299 confirmed.

PHOENIX – Cases of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation Reservation have risen to 49, up from the 29 reported Monday by the Navajo Department of Health. Forty-three cases are in the Arizona part of the reservation, according to the Navajo Epidemiology Center. Although Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has not yet ordered a shelter-in-place for the.

PHOENIX – Arizona mayors Tuesday questioned Gov. Doug Ducey’s inclusion of golf courses, pawnshops, laundries and other businesses in the definition of “essential services” that local governments would be barred from closing in response to the coronavirus. Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans, who wrote to Ducey along with mayors from Tucson, Somerton, Tolleson and Winslow, said.

TEMPE – Nearly 30,000 Arizonans filed unemployment claims last week, more than eight times the average weekly rate of 3,500 claims before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, state officials said Tuesday. The Arizona Department of Economic Security is “doing everything possible to get Arizonans benefits as soon as possible,” which includes hiring more workers, approving more.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey does not plan to order a shelter-in-place lockdown for Arizona, despite orders issued in neighboring states of California and New Mexico for residents to stay indoors, he said in a news conference Monday. “We’re following the facts related specifically to the state of Arizona,” the governor said. “The CDC isn’t.

TUCSON – Microbiologist Charles Gerba, a battle-scarred virus veteran, earned the sobriquet “Dr. Germ” based on his experience and expertise in researching and eradicating germs. He comes to the novel coronavirus crisis steeped in fighting such deadly viruses as Ebola and SARs, and he’s now using his microscope and petri dishes for a new challenge..

PHOENIX – Ella Johnston was a 13-year-old cheerleader when she suffered a concussion during practice that was so severe she needed speech, occupational and physical therapy. Months later, she returned to the mat while still working on her recovery – underlining the dangers and the joys of cheerleading. “It’s such a high leading moment. You.

PHOENIX – As testing efforts ramp up, state health officials announced the first two COVID-19-related deaths in Arizona, both in Maricopa County. State health officials Friday night confirmed the first death of a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. Another man with underlying health conditions, this one in his 70s, was reported dead.

WASHINGTON – Border officials will start turning away all undocumented migrants and asylum seekers beginning Saturday, in what President Donald Trump called an effort to protect “our border agents, migrants and to the public at large” from COVID-19. The move, announced in tandem Friday with new restrictions on travel to and from Mexico, was defended.

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday took additional measures meant to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the state, and Arizonans took to social media to respond with praise, concerns and frustration. As of Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona had jumped to 234 – more than five times the 44 cases.

WASHINGTON – A surge in COVID-19 patients could overwhelm Arizona hospitals in the coming months if action is not taken now to expand hospital capacity and curb infections, according to a new study by the Harvard Global Health Institute. And the state is not alone. The study, published Tuesday with ProPublica and the New York.

WASHINGTON – Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but the same cannot be said for lodging and food services in the park that will be shuttered for the next two months by concerns over the novel coronavirus. Grand Canyon Lodging on Thursday announced the “difficult decision” to suspend operations beginning at noon Friday and.

The Senate gave overwhelming approval Wednesday to a multibillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill, the second such bill in two weeks, and immediately turned its attention to a third bill that could have a $1 trillion price tag. Both Arizona senators voted for the bill that passed 90-8 after the House agreed to weaken language that would.

PHOENIX – The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant, far-reaching impact on sports, including baseball. The Cincinnati Reds announced Wednesday that one of the team’s employees who worked at the spring training facility in Goodyear has tested positive for COVID-19, which is caused by the novel coronavirus. The employee worked at the complex.

WASHINGTON – Business leaders pushed back Monday against a coronavirus relief bill the House passed over the weekend that calls for extended sick leave, as well as new funding for testing, school lunches, senior nutrition and more. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed the House early Saturday on a 363-40 vote, but was quickly.

TEMPE – The Democratic presidential primary will be held Tuesday as scheduled, despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has driven some other states to cancel in-person voting, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said in a statement Monday. The announcement comes days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended canceling or postponing in-person gatherings.

PHOENIX – At 19, Kristine Rhodes was diagnosed with noninvasive cervical cancer. That led to a year of uncomfortable procedures and another battle – facing the stigma that cancer can carry in Native American communities. “That was something that I didn’t talk about for many years,” said Rhodes, who is Anishinaabe and an enrolled member.

FLAGSTAFF – On the second floor of Flagstaff Medical Center, bright colors and Native American symbols burst from the walls – in murals painted in yellows, greens and blues. In one, ocean waves roll peacefully. Another shows the sun piercing through deep green pines. The murals span most of the inpatient section of the hospital’s.

LOS ANGELES – Athletes and fans alike fear that the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo may be canceled or postponed because of COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease that has killed more than 3,200 people around the world. Opening ceremonies are slated for July 24, and the International Olympic Committee has announced it will have.

PHOENIX – Universities in Arizona and around the U.S. are implementing new travel restrictions and requiring some students who have been out of the country to self-quarantine to minimize danger related to COVID-19. Some schools have halted all nonessential campus-related travel to countries with high watch level ratings as outlined by the U.S. Centers for.

PHOENIX – As the world continues to deal with the impact of COVID-19, a novel strain of the coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people and infected more than 95,000 others across the world, concerns have seeped into the Arizona sports community. The 15 Cactus League teams that hold spring training in Arizona received.

WASHINGTON – The House late Wednesday approved $8.3 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus, passing the measure an overwhelming 415-2 vote – with an Arizona lawmaker counting for one of the two “nays.” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said after the vote that the original $2.5 billion request from the Trump administration was sufficient.

PHOENIX – Here’s what you need to know about the fast-spreading respiratory virus that causes COVID-19. As of March 20, Arizona health officials have confirmed

WASHINGTON – It was 3 a.m. Saturday when Arizona State University study-abroad student Jillian Schreck got the email: Leave Italy as soon as possible due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. “Everyone here is heartbroken,” Schreck said Tuesday. “Everyone has just been packing and sobbing.” Universities across the state are scrambling to bring students home from.

WASHINGTON – Dean Seneca didn’t mince words after the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s recent “damaging news” about the spread of the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, including nine in Washington state. “I want to make sure that I stated that tribes are not prepared for the coronavirus,” he.

TUCSON – Bandages, blood pressure machines and other medical supplies clutter a folding table as student volunteers from the University of Arizona provide patients with much needed care they might not otherwise get. Immigrants, some in the country legally and others not, came to a local resource center on this day to have their blood.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials have the go-ahead to test at the state level for coronavirus cases and are awaiting test results for a second potential case of COVID-19, a novel disease that has sickened nearly 89,000 worldwide and killed six in the U.S., public health officials said Monday. “We are taking precautions to protect.

WASHINGTON – Arizona health care advocates are confident that President Donald Trump’s plan to slash billions from health services is “dead on arrival” in Congress – but that doesn’t mean they’re not angry at the administration’s direction. The reductions are included in Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget request released last month, which includes $94.5 billion for.

LOS ANGELES – Study-abroad student Margaret Zheng was vacationing in Taiwan when she learned she had seven days to return to the United States, abandoning her studies in China, because of safety concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Panicked, the 22-year-old Arizona State University senior in biomedicine reached out to friends and family to decide.

PHOENIX – For more than two years, advocates for transgender people have alleged mistreatment of migrant detainees at the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico. Late last month, they say, their efforts partially paid off when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement temporarily closed the facility and transferred 27 transgender women to other detention centers..

WASHINGTON – The Maricopa County individual who tested positive for novel coronavirus has been released from quarantine after receiving multiple negative tests for the virus, the Maricopa County Public Health Department said in a statement Friday. People in contact with the unidentified individual were also cleared after a 14-day monitoring period for the virus, now.

LOS ANGELES – Passenger information gets checked and re-checked at airports all over the world, but when it comes to tracking COVID-19, that data has, at times, taken days to reach health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now requires airlines operating in the United States to collect and share personal data from.

SAN LUIS RÍO COLORADO, Mexico – Inside Casa del Migrante, the piercing screams of an 8-year-old boy echo from a room. Other children, curious and uncertain, look on as Jordan Ramírez battles two nurses trying to vaccinate him against influenza, chicken pox and measles. Jordan’s family arrived here 15 days earlier from their home in.

WASHINGTON – Arizona fared relatively well in a national report card on its level of care for people with developmental disabilities, but advocates fear those services are being threatened by low pay and high turnover rates for caregivers. And Arizona is not alone. The 2020 edition of “Case for Inclusion” said states across the country.

LOS ANGELES – Dozens of airlines have canceled flights to China in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, but at least one Asian American traveler is skipping his summer trip to the Philippines to avoid a spreading social illness: racism. University of Arizona sophomore Joseph Salvoro made his decision after his cousin was stopped.

PHOENIX – Blankets are tucked tightly on the beds. The bathroom sinks wait for faucets to be turned on. And the floors gleam in rooms, ready for patients to show up in a new mental health treatment center in west Phoenix. The center is in the old Maryvale Hospital, which shut down in 2017. Valleywise.

PHOENIX – Cynthia Aragon stands in an elementary school library in south Phoenix, facing a group of parents not so different from her own – 11 Latinas, some in the country legally and some not. One mother is talking about her third grader, who recently was diagnosed with autism. He struggles to speak and is.

PHOENIX – Elmer Ugarte, 33, copes with feelings of isolation by competing on the rough fields of rugby. Shaun Barlow, 40, escapes to the woods for hunting and camping to combat his feelings of depression and isolation. Jean-Paul Villont, 48, channels his hyper-alertness and paranoia by competing in jiu-jitsu. What they all have in common.

LOS ANGELES – Scientists in Flagstaff are working to develop a test that doctors and hospitals could use to diagnose coronavirus, which could help medical professionals respond to the global outbreak more quickly. For now, the only test available in the U.S. was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and medical professionals.

PHOENIX – The science and research to back cupping therapy, the popular recovery method, is still fuzzy, but it remains widely used. Those in the sports therapy industry are lauding its simplicity, which has allowed the method to spill into the high school scene. Cupping, sometimes referred to as vacuum therapy, suctions the skin using.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Arizona State University has canceled this summer’s study abroad programs in China, and nearly all students who were in China this spring have returned to the U.S. in light of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, university officials say. Of the eight ASU students in China this semester, “all have left China.

LOS ANGELES – Paloma Marolf had an active childhood with no major health concerns until she went into a diabetic coma at age 15. Her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes meant Marolf’s already struggling family gained a new financial burden, a monthly cost that ranged up to $2,000. There were times the University of Arizona.

PHOENIX – Cooking equipment at the ready, Mallory Smith stands before a table loaded with fresh greens, nuts and fruit. “Has anyone used the apple slicer before?” she asks the dozen people gathered this weekday morning at Native Health. “Might take a little bit of practice.” Over the next hour, Smith chopped, mixed and scooped.

PHOENIX – Concerns over the spread of novel coronavirus continue to grow after a Tempe resident was confirmed Sunday to have contracted the respiratory illness. In China – where the virus first was detected last year – more than 170 people have died, about 50 million have been quarantined in affected cities, flights out of.

PHOENIX – A Maricopa County resident who recently returned from Wuhan, China, is one of five confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the U.S., where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it is tracking 110 potential cases across 26 states. The Arizona patient was identified as a member of the Arizona State.

PHOENIX – As suicide rates continue to rise for children and teens across the U.S., students and teachers from more than 150 Arizona schools gathered this week to put a spotlight on the issue and talk over ways to prevent self-harm, addiction and bullying. “There’s nothing embarrassing about asking for help,” said Lily Matos DeBlieux,.

KYKOTSMOVI – Vanissa Barnes-Saucedo was 21 when military recruiters stopped her in a shopping mall, waving enlistment papers in front of her. Although she says she wasn’t entirely sure what she was getting herself into, she signed the papers anyway. For the next six years, Barnes-Saucedo was stationed around the world: Virginia, Colorado, South Korea,.

PHOENIX – Hispanic children are diagnosed with autism less often than white non-Hispanic children, in part because of language barriers, cultural differences and lack of awareness in the Latino community, according to experts in behavioral health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said autism is 1.6 times less likely to be diagnosed among Hispanic.

PHOENIX – Every two minutes, a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, but thanks in large part to early detection, breast cancer death rates have dropped 40% since 1989. Genetic testing has emerged as an invaluable tool in the early detection of breast cancer, which.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency doles out billions annually for recovery from tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters, but the deadliest disaster goes largely unfunded – extreme heat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that around 618 people in the U.S. die each year from exposure to extreme heat, and the numbers.

PHOENIX – Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among Arizonans ages 15-34, according to a 2019 study that attributes the toll to such things as exposure to social media, harassment and the pressure to succeed. The study, by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said there were 1,327 deaths by suicide in Arizona last.

WASHINGTON – After decades of steady increases, life expectancy in the U.S. ticked down slightly over three recent years, a drop attributed to a rise in “cause-specific” deaths like suicides and drug overdoses among those aged 25 to 64. The same was true in Arizona where, even though life expectancy was still higher than the.

WASHINGTON – Pick up the phone and give Grandma a call – advocates say more quality time with elderly citizens could help turn around Arizona’s faltering standing in a national report on senior health. Social seclusion was cited by the experts as one of the biggest factors affecting senior health, along with poor access to.

PHOENIX – Anxiety among children continues to climb, contributing to rising rates of depression and mental and behavioral disorders. More than 7% of children 3 to 17 in the U.S. have been diagnosed with anxiety, which can greatly alter “the way children typically learn, behave and handle their emotions, causing distress and problems getting through.

PHOENIX – Alex Alejandre lost 75 pounds in a year. His wife, Mary, lost 40. They want to set a good example for their 17-year-old son, Nathan, and take a personal stand against obesity, which can lead to diabetes and other serious health problems, especially in Native Americans. “The health of my child is everything.

WASHINGTON – Retailers and local leaders said they were “caught with their pants down” by a Food and Drug Administration announcement last week that it had raised the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. The higher legal age was slipped in to the final version of the fiscal 2020 budget that.

WASHINGTON – Uber to meetings, Uber to parties, Uber to work. Sure. But Uber to the doctor’s office? Not only is it a thing, but for some people in Arizona, Medicaid will pick up the tab. The state is just over six months in to a first-in-the-nation program that lets some Medicaid patients use a.

LAS VEGAS – An opening prayer welcomes 75 Native American men and women from across the nation, gathered at a hotel to learn how to use tradition to heal from trauma – and to help others heal, too. “My grandmother was killed by her husband,” said Lisa Rose Sanderson, a youth prevention specialist for the.

PHOENIX – Although the maternal mortality rate in the United States has continued to rise over recent years, California is one state working to reverse the tragic trend. The state’s maternal mortality rate declined 55% from 2006 to 2013, to 7.3 deaths per 100,000 births from 16.9 deaths per 100,000 births. Efforts to address the.

PHOENIX – Too many women are dying due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth – deaths that should be preventable with the proper intervention and care. Recent investigations have put a national spotlight on the issue, especially among black women, but Native Americans often are left out of the conversation. Here are five things to.

WINDOW ROCK – As the sun begins to set on a blustery fall day, the rugged buttes of Navajoland glow red in the soft light and swift gusts spiral dust through the air. About 40 women, most draped in traditional dress, stand in a circle as Melissa Brown, an indigenous midwife, asks the group to.

CERRITOS, Calif. – On good days, Emily Jenkins’ dad walks into their La Palma home with fresh hibiscus blooms from the yard. His eyes fill with recognition. He smiles and tells her the bouquet is for her. Those moments can sustain Jenkins – through the day, sometimes for a week – as a caretaker for.

LOS ANGELES – Between the sumptuous eats and endless sweets, the holiday season can turn into one long cheat day. Motivation to hit the gym can lag when it’s the perfect season to pull on a sweater and plant roots indoors. But athletes who train hard all year have to stay trim and resist the.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Arizona’s attempt to fast-track a case against the owners of Purdue Pharma in an effort to protect assets of the company for victims of the opioid crisis. The justices without comment turned down Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s motion that the court should consider the state’s.

WASHINGTON – Maricopa County is one of dozens of state and local governments tapped Tuesday to be part of a federal initiative to combat HIV infections, one step in an ambitious plan to end HIV in the U.S. by 2030. The Department of Health and Human Services’ “Ready, Set, PrEP” initiative will provide free access.

LOS ANGELES – California authorities are addressing the problem of lead in drinking water at public schools through a statewide program to test pipes and upgrade plumbing, but experts warn the threat goes well beyond schools – and nearby homes and businesses may unknowingly be affected. “The same water systems tainted by lead that feed.

WASHINGTON – The obesity rate among young Arizona children in the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program declined from 2010 to 2016 after the program changed its rules to require healthier food, a new report says. But Arizona was hardly alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said 41 states saw childhood obesity.

PHOENIX – Food insecurity – not having regular access to affordable, nutritious food – is a national problem, but it has dropped in Arizona over the past few years and now is at the lowest level in a decade, according to a federal report. Nearly 15% of Arizona households were considered food insecure four years.

PHOENIX – Is laughter really the best medicine, or could nature be the cure for what ails you? According to a new initiative in Phoenix, a healthier lifestyle can be a walk in the park – literally. The Arizona Community Tree Council received a $124,700 grant from Vitalyst Health Foundation of Phoenix to implement a ParkRx.

MESA – On a regular school night, the Abajian family gathers to prepare dinner. Deborah Abajian cuts cucumbers while her husband, Gabriel, teaches their 6-year-old daughter how to peel carrots. “You always want to go away from your body,” he tells Delainey, tucked into a black apron, her hair pulled safely back into a ponytail..

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Shanti Group, a nonprofit that has been serving HIV+ patients with a history of drug abuse or homelessness since 1987, will close next year. Lack of funding played a major factor in the closure, even with new cases of HIV, the virus That causes AIDS, on the rise in Maricopa County..

PHOENIX – The Department of Health and Human Services has distributed $1.48 million to six clinics in Arizona that help underserved communities to improve their dental programs. Affordable oral care can be difficult to obtain, leaving many people vulnerable to tooth loss, gum disease but also more serious issues, including cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, diabetes and.

WASHINGTON – Rising rates of preterm births in 30 states – Arizona included – are a sign that health care providers are “failing our many mothers and babies,” maternal and infant health advocates said Thursday. Their comments came as the March of Dimes released its 2019 report card that showed a slight increase in the.

PHOENIX – For more than three decades, Jill Guernsey de Zapien has fought to improve public health in underserved communities across the Southwest. She helped start a program in southeastern Arizona to bring better care to rural residents, and farmworkers in particular. She was inspired by her father, a labor organizer. Guernsey de Zapien, director.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – California and Arizona make up more than 95% of all U.S. cases of valley fever – an infection caused by a fungus that lives in soil in the Southwest – largely because they share arid climates and have an abundance of outdoor workers. New research finds that as climate change alters.

PHOENIX – A new health initiative is helping Arizona companies create and promote a culture of wellness among their Hispanic employees, some of whom may not speak English. The free initiative, Por Tu Salud, is the Spanish-language version of Wellness AtoZ, a health care program launched by the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation. Por Tu Salud.

PHOENIX – More medical services will be available to Native Americans in metro Phoenix, thanks to a $200,000 federal grant awarded to Native American Connections. The Indian Health Service grant will allow the organization to begin offering primary care services, such as immunizations and wellness checks. “This grant money will allow us to be able.

PHOENIX – Amid calls to end “period poverty,” dozens of activists from across Arizona convened for the first National Period Day protest to call for an end to sales taxes for menstrual products and more widespread availability of items to help those who can’t afford them. The “menstrual equity” movement has been gaining steam globally,.

PHOENIX – A new nonprofit, 100 Angels Foundation, provides medical supplies and health care to those arriving from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras – even Russia. Medical professionals volunteer their services and provide medicine and treatment for immigrants who get sick or injured during their arduous journeys to the U.S. border. Cecilia García, founder and.

WASHINGTON – The Phoenix metro area had the sixth-highest rate of firearm suicides among the nation’s urban areas, according to a new report tying the availability of guns to the prevalence of firearm suicides. The report, by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, said there has been a steady increase in such deaths since 2000,.

PHOENIX – Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans are most at risk for diabetes, with racial and ethnic minorities reporting the highest rates of the debilitating disease in the U.S. But experts say diabetes could be slowed if people were aware of the risks of prediabetes and took action. Marcia Angulo was devastated when she.

WHITERIVER – On a cool evening, crickets chirp in tall grass. A fresh breeze carries the songs of cicadas, and as members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe come together, a murmur of voices can be heard. Several dozen men, women and children form a circle around tribal elder Lenora Ethelbah, and she begins to.

WASHINGTON – No one disputes that Nicole Weber was injured – including losing some of her eyesight – by a leaking breast implant, but a federal appeals court ruled Friday that federal law protects the manufacturer from the Arizona woman’s lawsuit. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was.

This story was updated at 12:55 p.m. MT PHOENIX – The Trump administration’s proposed changes to the so-called public charge rule have caused widespread confusion among immigrant communities across Arizona and the U.S. Under the new policy, use of such benefits as food stamps, housing assistance and Medicaid would be among the considerations used to.

More than half of Americans 65 or older have a chronic condition, such as diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. Many have multiple conditions, which can make a trip to the emergency room a struggle for both patient and provider. But Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix and a handful of other hospitals are changing the.

WILLCOX – A handful of voices softly chattering in Spanish filter into a building that’s become the heart of Winchester Heights, a Willcox neighborhood filled with farmworkers. The community center is dedicated to connecting southeastern Arizona residents – with one another and with better health care. As the clock nears 6 p.m., more men and.

WASHINGTON – The number of people who showed up at at Indian Health Service facilities with health insurance rose from 64% of patients in 2013 to 78% in 2018, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report said growth in coverage was highest in states, like Arizona, that expanded their Medicaid.

LONG BEACH, Calif. – At least every other day, Selene Zazueta has to tell her 8-year-old daughter that she can’t play outside with her friends. As upsetting as that is, the girl has asthma, and the family lives just off Interstate 710 in Long Beach, in an area known as “Asthma Alley.” “It’s a nightmare,”.

PHOENIX – Spurred by a wet winter, cases of West Nile virus are at a record high in Arizona, with 156 cases and 16 deaths reported so far this year, state health reports show. The Arizona Department of Health Services blames the wetter winter for bigger mosquito populations this year. Mosquitoes carry West Nile, which.

PHOENIX – Native American advocates are seeking more funding and new ways to tackle the opioid crisis in Indian Country as overdose death rates continue to rise. Native Americans have the second-highest death rate related to opioid use in the nation – a number that’s been on the rise for nearly two decades. In 2017,.

WASHINGTON – The number of Arizonans without health insurance rose by about 55,000 people last year, according to new data from the Census Bureau, as a relatively strong economy was offset by hefty cost increases for coverage. The change from 2017 to 2018 raised the total number of uninsured in the state last year to.

PHOENIX – Moving boxes clutter the hallway, while family portraits rest unhung against a stark white wall. In the living room, two couches are positioned near one another; they’re some of the only furniture in the home. This little house in far west Phoenix is, in essence, a clean slate. It’s the beginning of a.

WASHINGTON – Arizona vape-store owners were alarmed by the Trump administration’s announcement Wednesday that it plans to begin enforcing rules that would drive flavored e-cigarettes out of the market, an industry official said. The surprise White House statement was in response to recent reports that vaping-related lung illnesses have been confirmed in 33 states and.

WASHINGTON – Despite repeated failures, Republican leaders rallied Tuesday in support of their latest version of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, called “the most important bill in Congress.” She was one of a score of GOP lawmakers at an hours-long hearing where lawmakers and health care providers called for.

WASHINGTON – Arizona will get more than $20 million in State Opioid Response grant funds from the federal government, part of $1.8 billion in grants the Trump administration said it was releasing to states Wednesday. The grants, now in their second year, are designed to give states the flexibility to “meet the needs of their.

MOORE, Okla. – After a natural disaster, research shows survivors can have psychological fallouts for weeks, months – even lifetimes. Xavier Delgado was 10 in May 2013 when an EF5 tornado hit Moore. He nearly was one of the town’s 24 fatalities as the storm, with its 210 mph winds, struck Plaza Towers Elementary School..

PHOENIX – Outside the Burton Barr Central Library on a sweltering summer afternoon, Yahshua McDuffie offers free water and soda from his ice chest. It’s 112 degrees, and the sun is baking the blacktop of the library parking lot. “A lot of people out here suffer from heat stroke,” McDuffie said. “I’m trying to prevent.

WASHINGTON – Officials called a $20 million grant for suicide prevention programs in state schools an important first step to deal with a growing problem, even as they said much more needs to be done. The Arizona Board of Education on Monday approved a $20 million plan to hire additional counselors, social workers or school.

WASHINGTON – As state and Flagstaff officials battle over who should bear the cost of the city’s higher minimum wage, service providers for people with disabilities say they feel caught in the crossfire. Under a law that took effect Tuesday, the state can charge Flagstaff for added costs to state contracts that result from the.

Arizona in Focus is a podcast from Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS. Each season we dive deep into a particular topic or story to bring you stories you haven’t heard elsewhere. Check out the rest of our episodes here, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. GOLD CANYON – Bobbi.

PHOENIX – For young people faced with poverty and unemployment, gang life can offer power and control. But the International Federation of Muaythai Associations wants Thai boxing to be the gang for disenfranchised youth. The federation, in collaboration with the Peace and Sport Organization, has conducted the “Sport Is Your Gang” initiative since 2011, focusing.

WASHINGTON – “Deaths of despair” have grown more slowly in Arizona than in the nation as a whole since 2005, but death rates in the state still exceed the nation in every category, according to a recent national survey. Deaths of despair – the catchall name for deaths from drug overdoses, alcohol and suicide –.

Arizona in Focus is a podcast from Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS. Each season we dive deep into a particular topic or story to bring you stories you haven’t heard elsewhere. Check out the rest of our episodes here, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. GILBERT – School’s out.

PHOENIX – Avoiding hot summer temperatures is impossible for Arizonans who make their living beneath the scorching sun. Earlier this month, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, introduced a bill that would establish a federal safety standard for workers who labor in the heat, both inside and outdoors. The bill is named after Asunción Valdivia, a California.

ARIZONA – Monsoon storms, haboobs, scorching temperatures: Let’s face it, summer in Arizona comes with some big hazards. So it could be easy to forget one of the tiniest perils. Yes, mosquitoes, those buzzing, blood-sucking little demon insects. The mere mention of the pests is enough to make your skin itch, triggering flashbacks of outings.

SCOTTSDALE – Drugs have been a part of half of Perie Prickett’s life, and she’s only 24. In addition to those 12 lost years, drugs have stolen most of the experiences and memories that come with adolescence and early adulthood. It started with peer pressure, wanting to fit in and be accepted by classmates. Drugs.

PHOENIX – While the debate around laws that would allow clean needle exchange programs to operate legally in Arizona continues, one organization continues working in a legal gray area to help stop the spread of disease. Shot in the Dark is a nonprofit that provides drug users with clean needles, educational materials, treatment referrals and.

WASHINGTON – Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to stop the Sackler family from “looting” Purdue Pharma of billions of dollars being sought by victims of the opioid crisis the company is accused of helping create. Taking a case directly to the court is highly unusual, but Brnovich said it.

WASHINGTON – Five years after the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix made national headlines for falsifying records about patient wait times, agency officials told House lawmakers Wednesday that the system has seen a “tremendous transformation.” Dr. Teresa Boyd of the Veterans Health Administration said wait-times are down nationwide, in many cases better than times in.