Cuts in refugee admission defended as necessary, decried as ‘disastrous’
WASHINGTON - Three months after the Trump administration cut the number of refugees the U.S. will accept to the lowest level since 1980, aid groups in Arizona say they are already feeling the effects of the move they call disastrous but supporters say is necessary.
In rural Pennsylvania, family detention a world away from the border
WASHINGTON – A former nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania has been converted to a family detention center immigrants, one of three such facilities in the country. Protesters want the facility shut down, but federal officials are eyeing ways to expand the number of such facilities.
Going solo: These women find hiking alone to be empowering
PHOENIX – More women are getting outdoors to hike and camp, but not with a group and not with a man. They’re striking out alone. We talk to three of them.
Grijalva could bring dramatic shift as head of resources committee
WASHINGTON - After six years as the ranking Democrat on the House Naturall Resources Committee, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, is in line to be its next chairman and he's promising vigorous oversight of the department whose secretary, Ryan Zinke, resigned before Democrats could take over.
Same record, different culture: On heels of bowl loss, ASU players optimistic
LAS VEGAS – Even after ASU’s loss in Las Vegas Bowl, players are confident football culture is better in Tempe.
Challenges to law could redefine Native American foster care, adoptions
PHOENIX - The Indian Child Welfare Act is designed to keep Native American children in Native families and communities, and in touch with their heritaage, but 40 years after its passage the law faces rising numbers of legal challenges and a critical courtroom loss.
In a hole: Arizona officials lack funds to find, secure at least 100,000 abandoned mines
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.
Population boom in West putting humans closer to devastating wildfires
DENVER – Nearly half the population of the West lives in an area with potential for wildfire danger. And both the risk of fire and the population in harm’s way are rising in this fast-growing part of the nation. Eighty-four percent of the risk area has not yet been developed.
Dewey-Humboldt Town Council condemns coyote-killing contests
FLAGSTAFF – The Dewey-Humboldt Town Council passed a resolution Nov. 20 condemning animal-killing contests. The resolution comes three weeks before a coyote contest in central Arizona.
ASU, Arizona make effort to enroll Chinese students
TEMPE – The Arizona Office of Tourism and Arizona State University specifically market to Chinese international students to attend school in Arizona, hoping to encourage friends and family to visit.
U.S. Forest Service under fire for cutting old-growth trees in eastern Arizona
FLAGSTAFF – The decision to cut more than 1,300 old-growth trees last summer in an Arizona forest has been criticized for breaking trust with the thinning project's backers. This at a time when forest management is receiving national attention for the role it plays in preventing catastrophic wildfires like the ones we're seeing in California.
