Airport, TSA officials say as passengers return, so do security delays
PHOENIX - Due to the low volume of air travelers at the height of the pandemic, getting through security was quick and easy. But passengers are coming back and travelers now should come prepared for a process that's a bit more difficult, officials say.
Red tape and the ‘mask god’: Group looks back on successful PPE drive
PHOENIX - Sam Wang's "anti-epidemic diary” shows photos of grateful medical personnel, police and firefighters around stacks of boxes that hold some of the 158,000 masks secured for them at the pandemic's start by a volunteer group of Chinese Americans in Arizona.
‘Boots on the ground’: How Phoenix plans to help small businesses
PHOENIX – During Tuesday’s Phoenix City Council meeting, members approved a variety of ways to spend $193 million the city received last month from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Ducey to terminate federal unemployment benefits for Arizonans
PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and about half of other state governors have decided to prematurely end the increased unemployment benefits that President Joe Biden had promised would be in place until Sept. 4. Starting July 10, Ducey will end the extra $300 per week benefit for Arizonans.
Vet touts Arizona efforts to help veterans get jobs, despite COVID-19
WASHINGTON - A employment program for veterans that began in the days after 9/11 paid off last year when the COVID-19 pandemic rattled employment for vets in the state and across the country, an advocate told House lawmakers Wednesday.
Do voting laws protect or restrict access? House echoes state debate
WASHINGTON - House members stuck largely to talking points at a hearing on the effect that voter ID laws have on election access, with Republicans dismissing suggestions that they hit minority voters harder and Democrats citing a string of studies that say they do.
Phoenix police keep tabs on social media, but who keeps tabs on cops?
PHOENIX - Police took to monitoring activists' social media in a year that saw Black Lives Matter rallies, anti-lockdown events, election protests and the Capitol riot - but experts worry that many agencies are operating under barebones surveillance guidelines.
Fight over Oak Flat mine draws support of diverse religious groups
WASHINGTON - The Oak Flat copper mine battle has gone from an environmental to a religious fight, with groups ranging from the Sikh Coalition to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints backing a White Mountain Apache claim that the mine will destroy sacred lands.
Travel nurses, staffing industry pushed to the limits by COVID
PHOENIX – After more than a year of witnessing relentless death on the front lines, the critical workforce of travel nurses is burning out – with lasting repercussions on the health care industry.
Analysts say ‘America First’ flap not likely to hurt Gosar in long run
WASHINGTON - Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar has tried to distance himself from reports he was backing a caucus that would defend “Anglo-Saxon political traditions,” but political analysts say the flap is unlikely to harm the conservative Republican’s re-election prospects.
‘It’s about everybody’: Joe Black, Jackie Robinson’s roommate, also was MLB trailblazer
PHOENIX - The late Joe Black was the first Black baseball player to win a World Series game, in 1952. The Arizona Fall League MVP award is named after him.
5 gun bills – 3 from Democrats – are on different paths in the Arizona Legislature
At least five gun bills introduced in the Legislature show the tension between Second Amendment supporters and gun safety advocates. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers narrowly carry the day.
