WICKENBURG – Meet Jerry Tyra, one of only two abandoned-mine supervisors in Arizona. The pair face an uphill battle trying to identify the estimated 100,000 abandoned mines in the state and render them safe, or at least safer.
PHOENIX – Arizona has an estimated 100,000 abandoned mines, according to the Arizona State Mine Inspector’s Office. However, officials have only identified about 19,000 of them. As more people move to and visit Arizona – many eager to explore the state’s more remote lands – the chances of people coming across one of these hazardous mines only increase.
TONTO NATIONAL FOREST – In the wake of the Oak Flat protests, Resolution Copper funds a program in which Native Americans record culturally significant sites with an uncertain future.
CHINLE, Ariz. – Mariah Bahe dreams of becoming the first Navajo boxer to win Olympic medal.
PHOENIX – The Arizona sports scene suffers another blow after the Diamondbacks decide to trade the most popular player on the team, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
TUCSON – Fueled by climate change and prolonged drought, the establishment of young saguaro cactuses in Saguaro National Park has nearly ceased for decades.
SOLEDAD, Calif. – The number of California condors has steadily grown over the past 30 years, from 22 left in the wild to about 500 now. Through recovery programs and collaborations in California, Arizona and Idaho, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, endangered California condors are bred in captivity and released into the wild. In December, three birds will be freed at Pinnacles National Park.
SHOW LOW – To fulfill their program requirement, foreign physicians are choosing to work in underserved areas, aiding many communities and people in need of medical services while these areas struggle to find more primary care physicians.
WASHINGTON - A recent study estimated that as many as 212,170 Arizonans were not able to cast a ballot in this year's elections because of a felony conviction in their past. Former felons can regain the right to vote in Arizona, if they pay their debts, but many are not aware of the process.
WASHINGTON - James Bond and Cesar Chavez are on the ballot this year - just not the James Bond or the Cesar Chavez most people think of. The two Arizona candidates are among the many around the country whose names may make voters to a double-take, including JFK, Elvis and Chuck Norris.
WASHINGTON - Open enrollment began Thursday for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, with most Arizonans seeing more choices and better prices, a sharp change from recent years when the state was the poster child for Obamacare problems. Open enrollment runs through Dec. 15.
WASHINGTON - Arizona election officials are optimistic they will have the thousands of poll workers trained and ready to go on Election Day, but said that long days and an aging pool of workers is making it harder to staff up at the polls every year.
