Jimmie Johnson test drives NASCAR’s Next Gen car in Phoenix Raceway return
AVONDALE – It was a big week in the world of NASCAR at Phoenix Raceway. Not only was NASCAR testing new modifications to the Next Gen 7 car, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson got behind the wheel of the new race car for the first time before his return to the sport.
‘We were always sovereign’: Hia-Ced O’odham seek federal recognition as a tribe
PHOENIX – In Arizona, 22 federally recognized tribes inhabit nearly every region of the state, but the Hia-Ced O’odham community isn’t one of them. Some members are working to change that, and others believe it may be too difficult to achieve.
Big shoes to fill: New Saguaro football coach Zak Hill up for the challenge
SCOTTSDALE – New Saguaro football coach Zak Hill will have his hands full with one of the best high school football teams in the state. The former ASU offensive coordinator comes in after former coach Jason Mohn’s extraordinary 11-year run with the program.
Derrick Michael Xzavierro’s history-making odyssey lands him at GCU
PHOENIX – Derrick Michael Xzavierro’s journey to GCU has led him across the world from his home of Indonesia. Though he is taking a redshirt year this season, Xzavierro has already made an impact and history as Indonesia’s first Division I basketball scholarship player.
From NFL to high school sidelines, Conrad Hamilton has found success revitalizing Desert Mountain
SCOTTSDALE – In his fourth season at Desert Mountain, former NFL player Conrad Hamilton has reinstituted a winning culture as one of many former pro football players finding success in the high school coaching ranks.
SRP researches cloud seeding in White Mountains to create snow amid historic drought
PHOENIX – SRP is researching cloud seeding along the Mogollon Rim as Arizona continues to struggle with its worst drought in 1,200 years. The partnership with the White Mountain Apache Tribe could bring Arizona its first cloud seeding operation.
Climate change and drought are muting bright fall colors as we know them
FLAGSTAFF – Visitors travel far and wide to view fall colors in northern Arizona, but climate change and ongoing drought are affecting fall foliage as we know it. The PhenoCam Network, based in Flagstaff, is tracking these changes.
Arizona students come to lobby as courts, Congress, fight over Oak Flat
WASHINGTON - A group of Arizona high school students and alumni was in Washington this week to lobby for a bill that would block development of a copper mine at Oak Flat, land that is sacred to the San Carlos Apache.
Southern border apprehensions hit record 2.4 million in fiscal 2022
WASHINGTON – Border officials encountered a record of almost 2.4 million migrants at the southern border in fiscal 2022, shattering the old record of 1.7 million set just a year earlier, according to numbers released late Friday by Customs and Border Protection.
Hamilton football star Terrell Suggs stayed home; it led to ASU Hall of Fame
TEMPE – Terrell Suggs, who still holds the NCAA Division single-season record for quarterback sacks, recently was inducted into Arizona State’s Athletics Hall of Fame and Distinction along with eight others. Suggs, who played at Hamilton High in Chandler, believes keeping the best local prospects at home is the key to future success in the ASU football program. He said interim coach Shaun Aguano is taking steps to make that happen.
Prop 132 called both rational tax safeguard, anti-democratic power play
WASHINGTON - When Arizona voted in 2020 to increase school funding by raising income taxes on higher earners, they did so by a comfortable 52-48% margin. Too comfortable for backers of Proposition 132, which would require 60% approval for any initiative that raises taxes.
DACA suffers another court setback, but program remains in place for now
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that DACA, the deferred deportation program for young migrants, was unlawfully created in 2012 but that protection for current DACA recipients can continue for now.
