Fire damage, ‘smoke taint’ add to challenges for Napa wineries during peak of harvest
LOS ANGELES – Napa Valley wineries have combated smoke taint, coronavirus restrictions and wildfire destruction in 2020, requiring experts to look at the future of wine and the impacts of climate change.
Arizona farmers can legally grow industrial hemp, but will they take the risk?
CASA GRANDE – Paco Ollerton, a third-generation cotton farmer, is carefully looking at growing industrial hemp – a crop that has attracted many with its environmentally friendly claims – this summer, as it will be legal to grow in the state May 31.
Capitol Hill internships always paid off – this summer they’ll pay, too
WASHINGTON – Students heading to Washington for Capitol Hill internships this summer will see something that many haven't seen there in decades - a little pay for their long hours and hard work. Congress this year set aside money to pay interns, and most Arizona lawmakers said they plan to do so.
Same report, different take for state lawmakers eyeing Mueller report
PHOENIX - Arizona lawmakers looked at the same 448-page Mueller report and saw two different things, with two very different reactions, depending on which side of the aisle they are on. If there was a common thread, it was that nobody's mind appeared to be changed by the report.
Phoenix officials pleased with cancer screening program for first-responders
PHOENIX – A cancer screening program for Valley police and firefighters has detected several cases of cancer, but all were caught early enough to successfully treat.
‘It could be me’: Native American teen teaches self-defense to keep indigenous kids safe
MESA - Kylie Hunts-in-Winter, 16, teaches self-defense classes, part of a community effort to lower the risk of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Arizona food banks prepare for possible government shutdown – again
PHOENIX – Food banks that helped furloughed federal employees learned lessons that will help if the government shuts down again.
‘Enough is enough’: State considers cellphone ban for drivers weeks after officer’s death
PHOENIX – Three weeks after Officer Clayton Townsend was hit and killed at a traffic stop, allegedly by a motorist who was driving and texting, state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee introduced a “hands-free” bill to prohibit the use of a cell-phone in a moving vehicle.
Educators hope that ‘Year of the Teacher’ could be first of many
WASHINGTON - Sparked by movements like Arizona's "Red for Ed," a record 1,800 teachers were on ballots across the U.S. this fall and an estimated 1,100 won, not a perfect score but what educators believe is the start of a movement toward more activism and more attention to their issues.
Buckle up? Not in every seat in Arizona, which some experts frown on
WASHINGTON - Buckling up saves lives, particularly during the busy holiday travel season, but safety experts saw Arizona's relatively lax seatbelt laws leave a lot to be desired. One state expert disagrees, saying Arizona actually does better on seatbelt use than many states with stricter laws.
Scottsdale firefighters pitch in to battle Woolsey Fire near LA
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management has sent more than 160 Arizona firefighters to Southern California to help contain the Woolsey Fire. Capt. Al DiBenedetto with the Scottsdale Fire Department and three crew members are working in the hills and the mountains in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Flake threat to scuttle judicial nominees is scuttled by delayed vote
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed votes on 15 judicial nominees - including one from Arizona - temporarily scuttling a plan by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, to force a vote on the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act by opposing all judicial nominees until a vote on the act is allowed.
