A growing unsheltered community in Phoenix receives help from Project Connect

PHOENIX – Volunteers with Project Connect helped hundreds of unsheltered people receive health care, housing and ID services as homelessness continues to rise.


Joe who must not be named: Democrats steer clear of Biden in campaigns

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden's name is being invoked a lot in Arizona campaigns this year - by Republicans, who routinely criticize Biden, who is all but invisible on Democratic websites. Experts are not surprised, noting Biden's low approval ratings in a midterm election.


Capitalizing on capital’s draw, street vendors peddle to protests, tours

WASHINGTON - Whether it's icy bottles of water out of a cooler in the summer, or hats and T-shirts in the winter, when political movements come to Washington they are invariably trailed by an army of vendors who capitalize on the protesters' need for food, water and souvenirs.


Housing options limited for migrants forced to wait in southern Mexico

TAPACHULA, Mexico – Migrants seeking housing in Tapachula, one of Mexico’s poorest cities, have three choices as their immigration paperwork is processed: stay in a shelter and follow its rules, rent a room if they have money, or sleep on the streets. More often than not, their accommodations depend on circumstances and the social environment.


A special routine: Schweikert a top user of House ‘special order’ speeches

WASHINGTON - Arizona GOP Rep. David Schweikert, a self-described "accountant on steroids," is one of the biggest users of "special order" speeches, the end-of-day time when lawmakers are free to address an empty chamber - and C-SPAN cameras - for pet issues or peeves.


Can’t hurt to ask: Arizona lawmakers raise earmark requests by $194 million

WASHINGTON - For a second straight year, Arizona Republicans refrained from requesting any funding for local projects in Congress, while Democrats boosted requests by $194.5 million, a 43% increase over last year, when earmarks were restored after a decade-long hiatus.


‘Five-alarm crisis’: Teachers face mental health crisis due to low pay, pandemic stress, scant support

Navigating low salaries, pandemic worries and burnout: Many teachers will tell you this is the job description of modern educators. The result is an expanding mental health crisis among U.S. teachers – a problem so dire that many are leaving the profession.


Arizona donors double down after Jan. 6 panel questions Trump election fund

WASHINGTON - Thousands of Arizonans gave a total of $1.5 million to former President Donald Trump's election defense fund, but the Jan. 6 committee said that money went to other Trump funds in what it called "a big rip off." But Arizona donors say they don't feel ripped off.


D.C. services stressed by migrants bused in from Arizona, Texas borders

Washington, D.C., officials are asking federal and regional governments to help area nonprofits stretched thin by busloads of migrants who are being sent to the city by the governors of Arizona and Texas.


Arizona GOP censures Bowers a month after his testimony to Jan. 6 panel

WASHINGTON - The Arizona Republican Party formally censured House Speaker Rusty Bowers Tuesday as "unfit to serve" the party, less than one month after he testified to the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.


Senate fundraising keeps up blistering pace; Kelly’s $52 million leads pack

WASHINGTON - Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., reported raising almost $52.5 million as of June 30, putting him well ahead of the pack of would-be Republican challengers who are locked in the final days of a bitter primary fight.


House advances two abortion-rights bills, but prospects dim in Senate

WASHINGTON - Arizona lawmakers split on party lines Friday as the House passed a pair of bills guaranteeing a right to an abortion, exactly three weeks after the Supreme Court overturned that right.