Arizona hate crimes bounced back in 2019, experts fear a surge in 2020
WASHINGTON - Hate crimes in Arizona bounced back in 2019 after a sharp drop the year before, and advocates say they fear the numbers are only going to continue to rise when the tumult of 2020 is reported.
‘Pushing a rock up the hill’: Former Valley star Tank Johnson leads fight against private prisons
LOS ANGELES – Former NFL player and McClintock High’s Tank Johnson now looks to end prison privatization
A free ride: Erick Cedeño cycles 2,200 miles to experience the Underground Railroad
PHOENIX – Cyclist Erick Cedeño retraces footsteps of the Underground Railroad on wheels.
After years of lowered refugee admissions, Biden plans sharp reversal
WASHINGTON - After years of steadily slashing the number of refugees it will accept, President-elect Joe Biden has said that he plans to raise the number of refugees who can be admitted.
Gun sales hit record in 2020, driven by pandemic, protests, politics
WASHINGTON - Background checks for gun purchases in Arizona hit their highest level ever in 2020, driven by an unprecedented convergence of a pandemic, a summer of national unrest and a presidential election, experts said.
With focus on COVID-19, experts fear opioid crisis may worsen unseen
WASHINGTON - With the world focused on COVID-19, local and national experts say a growing number of opioid overdoses and deaths is being overlooked, an increase they fear may be driven in part by the pandemic's upheaval to lives and our livelihoods.
Phoenix PD offers officers mental health training; community members say that’s not enough
The efforts, and backlash, of Phoenix Police Department’s handling of mental health scenarios is being highlighted.
‘Yelp’-like reviews for social justice? ASU civil rights center seeks ways to target systemic inequality
PHOENIX – Ehsan Zaffar, a federal civil rights lawyer, is leading the initiative for a civil rights center at Arizona State University.
‘I wanted to do more than hold a sign’: Street medic crew forms out of Black Lives Matter protests
PHOENIX – Desert Action Medical Network is a group of street medics – from paramedics to people with basic first-aid knowledge – who have attended more than 80 protests in metro Phoenix, offering medical care to more than 60 people.
Invisible chapters: Writing the Black community into stories of libraries, bookstores and publishing
TUCSON – The Kindred program at Tucson’s main library is one solution to a lack of African American representation in libraries, on bookshelves and at publishing houses.
‘I am that character’: New Marvel heroes battle underrepresentation of Native Americans in comics
FLAGSTAFF – Marvel releases new comic book about indigenous heroes
Appeals court upholds child pornography conviction of Tucson man
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a Tucson man's conviction and sentence on child pornography charges, rejecting his argument that procedural problems at trial kept him from presenting his defense.
