A year later, some efforts to honor McCain move forward as others stall
WASHINGTON - Senators have added the late Sen. John McCain's name to defense and veterans bills, and one Arizona school district plans to name an elementary school in his honor, but other tributes to the longtime Arizona lawmaker appear to have stalled in the year since his death.
Court upholds ruling that town conspired with fundamentalist church
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court upheld a lower court's finding that Colorado City, Arizona, had been run as an extension of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, violating non-members' rights in the process.
Protesters, proponents and the cultural clash over Phoenix police
PHOENIX – Police departments have looked to technology for solutions to criticisms, such as body-worn cameras to monitor police and public behavior and early-intervention software to sniff out bad behavior. Experiments with better community engagement, including civilian review boards with subpoena power, also are being considered or field-tested. Phoenix police plan to launch accountability procedures to document every time an officer draws a gun.
Without federal disaster aid, states are left to fend for themselves
BONDURANT, Wyo. – Without a federal major disaster declaration, FEMA assistance isn’t available. Either states pay to rebuild, or people are on their own.
Wildfire-vulnerable communities search for ways to live with growing threat
SHINGLETOWN, Calif. – Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold.
Goodyear mayor sides with Nike in dispute involving Ducey, controversial shoe
PHOENIX – Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord opts for Nike plant in her city.
Phoenix police roll out more body cameras; 950 officers now have them
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Police Department continued its rollout of body-worn cameras, issuing the devices to about a dozen officers Wednesday in the Cactus Park Precinct in north Phoenix.
Trump vows Census will ask citizenship; critics decry ‘scare tactics’
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump vowed that his administration is "absolutely moving forward" with a push to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, just hours after the Census Bureau said it would not do so, a reversal advocates dismissed as a "scare tactic" by the president.
Phoenix to look into new system to track, measure police conduct
PHOENIX – Phoenix will take steps to collect and analyze data on police performance, the City Council decided Tuesday. It also is considering a poll to measure community attitudes toward police and a civilian oversight board.
Protesters gather across Arizona to demand officials close immigrant detention centers
EL PASO, Texas – A group including Arizona Congressman Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, recently visited immigration detention facilities in Texas. Stanton said the facilities don’t meet American values.
Emergency border funds get final OK, after some odd political turns
WASHINGTON – Congress gave a final OK, and the president is expected to sign, a border funding bill that does not include many migrant protections the House wanted - but it does send $4.59 billion to border agencies that said they could run out of funds to handle the surge of migrants at the border.
Supreme Court rejects – for now – citizenship question on 2020 Census
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court handed a temporary victory to opponents of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, saying the government will have to go back and make a better case in court if it wants to include the question that critics say will suppress minority participation.
