Search result for Kate Peifer

Fighting the heat: Arizona officials petitioning for federal aid in extreme heat situations

PHOENIX – Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Rep. Ruben Gallego are petitioning for FEMA to declare extreme heat a major disaster and taking measures to curb the number of heat-related deaths in Arizona.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Rep. Ruben Gallego address media questions on the proposed Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act outside Phoenix City Hall. (Photo by Josh Bootzin/Cronkite News)

Stars in the Valley? Phoenix City Council favors hosting NBA, WNBA showcases in near future

PHOENIX – The Phoenix City Council will be working with the Suns and Mercury to place bids for the NBA and WNBA for hosting future All-Star games after a unanimous vote during Wednesday’s city council meeting.

Phoenix last hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 2009, when Footprint Center transformed into a stage for the league's biggest stars. After the Phoenix City Council's 9-0 vote Wednesday to support its return, the showcase could return in 2025. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

On the clock: Countdown to the 2024 Men’s Final Four underway

PHOENIX – With the 2024 Men’s Final Four set to be in Arizona, the countdown for the event begins at Sky Harbor International Airport, early Thursday morning.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, center, flanked by Gov. Katie Hobbs, left, and JoAn Scott, the NCAA’s managing director of men’s basketball championships, shares her excitement about what the 2024 Final Four will mean for the Valley. (Photo by Robert Crompton/Cronkite News)

Are Olympics next? With NFL’s support, flag football booming in Arizona high schools, internationally

PHOENIX – In the fall, girls flag football will become a sanctioned sport in Arizona, just part of an international explosion of the sport. Backed by the NFL and the International Federation of American Football, supporters hope the sport will be part of the Olympics by 2028

Casteel High School wide receiver Khali Boller runs along the sideline past an Arizona College Prep defender. Girls flag football will become an AIA-sanctioned sports in the fall. (Photo by Aidan Richmond/Cronkite News)

Phoenix turns to residents to come up with innovative solutions for providing chilled drinking water in public places

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Office of Innovation partnered with Venture Café to host the first Innovation Challenge. Five teams competed to come up with innovative solutions to provide chilled, drinking water to public places.

The judges decide a winner of Phoenix's Innovation Challenge on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego prioritizes homelessness, climate, infrastructure in state of city address

PHOENIX – Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego stressed the importance of homelessness, climate change and infrastructure in her annual State of the City address on Wednesday.


As heat-related deaths soar in Arizona, cities, businesses and environmental activists launch tree-planting initiatives

PHOENIX – Deaths related to heat have soared in recent years in Arizona. Several cities, businesses and environmental groups believe that planting trees should be part of the solution.

The blue palo verde is Arizona's state tree. Several are shown in a neighborhood in North Phoenix. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)

Arizona LGBTQ+ hockey league leads the way, offering inclusive safe place to play

Arizona Legacy Pride Hockey Association, an LGBTQ+ hockey league, is working to make the sport more inclusive and accessible. In conjunction with the Arizona Coyotes, ALPHA has created a safe space for growth.

Arizona Legacy Pride Hockey Association is the state's first LGBTQ+ hockey league, where members learn to skate and play hockey in an inclusive environment. (Photo courtesy of Nate Engle)

Arizona’s $58 billion in manufacturing investments among most in nation

WASHINGTON - Arizona has attracted more than $58 billion in private investments for manufacturing since 2021, among the most in the country. The White House says it shows the president's economic plan is working, but analysts say there's likely more at work there.


Game changers: Two years after historic broadcast, rise of women shakes up industry

PHOENIX – The first all-women’s NBA basketball broadcast happened in 2021 and two years later, women continue to make names for themselves, but sometimes change is still glacially slow.

Ann Meyers Drysdale, left, and Cindy Brunson are trailblazers helping to change the makeup of the broadcast industry while inspiring the next generation of women. (Photo courtesy of Ann Meyers Drysdale)

Navajo artist’s work featured on skateboard Forever Stamp

GLENDALE – The U.S. Postal Service unveiled the skateboard Forever Stamps to celebrate the community and culture the sport creates. It brought on Indigenous artists to design the stamps, one of whom was Arizona native and Navajo artist Di’Orr Greenwood.


Phoenix council member and former U.N. climate adviser Yassamin Ansari pushes for climate action and sustainable energy

PHOENIX — She began her career as a policy adviser at the United Nations advocating for climate change. Now, as a Phoenix City Council member and vice mayor, Yassamin Ansari says that true progress toward a sustainable future starts at the local level.

Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari speaks at the unveiling of a mural to honor Iranian women titled “Woman Life Freedom” in downtown Phoenix on Feb. 3, 2023. (Photo by Jack Wu/Cronkite News)