Have health needs, will travel: ADHS delivers vaccines, tests to underserved communities

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services takes COVID-19 tests and vaccines to low-income and other underserved communities, from migrants to Indigenous residents, across the state. Mobile units and pop-up sites offer temporary help, where needed.

Sample tubes for COVID-19 testing are lined up at a Foundation for Senior Living facility in Phoenix on March 1, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Parents of transgender athletes file lawsuit over Arizona transgender athlete ban

PHOENIX – The parents of two transgender youth athletes have filed a lawsuit over Arizona’s ban on transgender girls participating in girls sports.

Sports balls with the transgender pride flag superimposed over them are pictured on a yellow background.

‘I was wrongfully convicted’: Exonerated Arizonan fights to change criminal justice

PHOENIX - Khalil Rushdan spent 15 years behind bars before being exonerated with the help of the Arizona Justice Project. He and others will share their stories at a Phoenix conference of the Innocence Network, which includes groups like the Arizona Justice Project.


LA’s Black firefighters museum marks its 25th anniversary, but the equality fight goes on

LOS ANGELES – The African American Firefighters Museum celebrates its 25th anniversary by honoring retired Black firefighters while discussing the ongoing fight for equality.

A band plays outside in front of a banner for the African American Firefighter Museum's 25th anniversary.

Question for victims, court, is not if Aaron Gunches will die, but when

WASHINGTON - Aaron Gunches was supposed to die Thursday night. But instead the convicted murderer will spend at least two more months on Arizona's death row while courts decide if the state can be forced to carry out an execution it says it is not ready for.


State begins to shed thousands from Medicaid, push them to other care

WASHINGTON - Arizona started purging people from the pandemic-inflated Medicaid rolls this month, a process that could end up pushing more than 600,000 people off the plan, health officials and advocates said.


Phoenix community market creates space to support women entrepreneurs

PHOENIX - Heart and Soil People's Garden works to provide fresh produce for the south Phoenix community. The garden hosts monthly markets to support entrepreneurs, mostly women of color, and their businesses.

Kaila LePage picks an onion from the produce at the Heart and Soil People’s Garden in Phoenix on March 18, 2023. (Photo by Lauren Kobley/Cronkite News)

Kris Mayes, other AGs support FDA proposal to make donating blood easier for LGBTQ population

PHOENIX – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined 21 other state attorneys general in supporting a Food and Drug Administration proposal that would make it easier for LGBTQ individuals to donate blood and plasma.

The Food and Drug Administration is considering a proposal to make it easier for men who have sex with men to donate blood and plasma. (File photo by Genesis Alvarado/Cronkite News)

Nowruz celebration hails women fighting for their rights in Iran and Afghanistan

PHOENIX – Nowruz, the Persian new year, was celebrated with an event in Phoenix this month that also commemorated women’s rights movements in the Middle East. Event organizers honored women who are advocating for their rights in Iran and Afghanistan.

Taiba Hussain showcases clothes and jewelry at the Nowruz Phoenix celebration on March 18, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Storytellers say LA River can become tool against climate change

LOS ANGELES – In Los Angeles' Frogtown, eco-minded activists gathered around at the local brewery to hear storytellers share their personal connection to the Los Angeles River, a once thriving and unifying water source for the people and wildlife was lined with concrete and fenced in 1938.

The LA River story slam was held at the Frogtown Brewery. Guests were encouraged to shop, eat and drink. In the back were a frog-themed taco food truck and an “artist's alley.” It included art from Margaret Gallagher, Kris Mukai, Nova Community Arts and Emily Wallerstein. (Photo by Ayana Hamilton/Cronkite News)

Women entrepreneurs focus on business, personal growth in new program

PHOENIX – A new business growth mentorship program provides women entrepreneurs with tools and resources to run a successful business. The program is run by the ImagiNexGen Institute of Excellence and the Chicanos Por la Causa Prestamos Women’s Business Center.

Raquel Solis is one of 12 graduates of the business growth mentorship program put on by the ImagiNexGen Institute of Excellence and Chicanos Por la Causa Prestamos CDFI Women’s Business Center. Solis says the “program really focused us on ourselves as women first,because in order to run our business, we need to be self-sufficient and make it a habit to prioritize our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness first.” Photo taken on March 13, 2023, at Lash Bottega Salon in Phoenix. (Photo by Izabella Hernandez/Cronkite News)

Attorneys say Resolution Copper Mine would ‘destroy’ worship at Oak Flat

WASHINGTON - Attorneys for Apache Stronghold told a federal appeals court Tuesday that the proposed Resolution Copper Mine would lead to the "complete physical destruction" of sacred lands at Oak Flat, a clear violation of religious liberty laws.