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Northern Arizona University research team addresses disparities in access to autism services

FLAGSTAFF – Olivia Lindly, an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University, is leading a research project highlighting disparities in access to autism services. This work will focus on inequitable care experienced by Latino, Black or American Indian and Alaska Native children with autism.

Families with autistic children gathered at a collaborative event put on by the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix and the Arizona Coyotes Foundation in July 2022. (Photo courtesy of Olivia Fryer)

Cracks in the blacktop: How Peoria maintains basketball courts in spite of Arizona’s environment

PEORIA – Outdoor basketball courts in the Valley face unique circumstances when it comes to weathering and climate, which Peoria officials and specialists have to keep up with.

Sonoran Mountain Ranch Park in Peoria has three basketball hoops on its court and is nestled near the Eastwing Mountain Preserve trails. (Photo by Lauren Kobley/Cronkite News)

Globe detective, private investigator work to solve missing-person case

GLOBE – After Natalie Jo Sebastian went missing in Globe in December, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office got to work. Sebastian’s husband also hired a private investigator, who has been feeding leads to the detective.

A sign about Natalie Jo Sebastian’s disappearance is outside of Dave’s Fast Stop on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Mariah Temprendola/Cronkite News)

Indigenous advocates work to combat fake sober living homes in Arizona

PHOENIX – After Arizona legislation targeting fake sober living homes failed, tribal advocates across the state are working to combat the $2.8 billion Medicaid scheme that targets vulnerable Indigenous individuals.


Quiet heroes: Meet the Valley animal lovers tending to feral cat colonies

PHOENIX – In the Phoenix area, there are a number of feral cats, prompting efforts to address the situation through Trap, Neuter, Return, commonly known as TNR. Numerous volunteers throughout the Valley commit their time and resources to address the issue.

A Saving One Life volunteer feeds a cat colony on Feb. 20, 2024, at Tempe Marketplace. (Photo by Mariah Temprendola/Cronkite News)

Fiebre del valle afecta de manera desproporcionada a poblaciones minoritarias

TUCSON – La fiebre del valle es una enfermedad que proviene de las esporas de un hongo que se encuentra en los suelos de Arizona y de otros estados del país. La enfermedad afecta principalmente a comunidades de color.

Patches of dirt in both city and rural settings can contain the spores of the fungus that causes Valley fever and are released whenever the ground is disturbed. (Photo by Jack Orleans/Cronkite News)

Deaf community is divided over how cochlear implants affect deaf identity and culture

PHOENIX – Cochlear implants have sparked controversy about deaf culture and identity for decades. Some say they treat deafness as a disability that needs to be fixed and undermine the use of American Sign Language. One woman who got the implants says she was grateful to alleviate some of the hearing loss she’s suffered from her whole life.

Adult Loss of Hearing Association’s (from left) executive board member Sue Vardon, donor match partner Pat Clinch and Board President Cynthia Amerman pose for a portrait at the Adult Loss of Hearing Association in Tucson on May 11, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Cynthia Amerman)

‘No dull days’: Pages get front-row seats, help keep the Capitol running

PHOENIX - They sit on the sidelines of legislative hearings in their blazers, ties and khakis, or bustle around the House or Senate delivering papers to lawmakers. They are the Legislature's pages, quiet but essential workers called "the oil in a machine that keeps things running."


‘A tangible difference’: Phoenix Zoo scientists work to save native species

PHOENIX – Phoenix Zoo scientists are working to save species under threat. The zoo’s website lists nine native species conservation projects that scientists are working on, including the black-footed ferret, Chiricahua leopard frog, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, desert pupfish, narrow-headed gartersnake, Huachuca water umbel, springsnail, Mount Graham red squirrel and Gila topminnow.

A juvenile narrow-headed garter snake at the conservation center at the Phoenix Zoo on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Mariah Temprendola/Cronkite News)

Texas Tech Health El Paso program helps high school students go to medical school in state, aims to relieve statewide doctor shortage

EL PASO, Texas – As Texas faces a doctor shortage, a new program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso gives prospective medical students resources to encourage them to pursue their education and practice in state.

Makena Piñon, right, and Luke Briggs, freshmen at the University of Texas at El Paso, in a medical simulation lab at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. (Photo by Jack Orleans/Cronkite News)

A new intermediary: How AI may impact libraries, research and information retrieval

PHOENIX – Cataloging and research are major areas in librarianship that artificial intelligence can automate and potentially improve. But librarians are grappling with the impact of AI on the fundamental role of librarians, user privacy and information literacy.

A computer used to find books and media at Litchfield Park Library on April 18, 2024. Integrating artificial intelligence into library services may change the way information is retrieved and categorized. (Photo by Kayla Mae Jackson/Cronkite News)

Minneapolis to Phoenix: George Floyd protest offerings displayed at ASU Art Museum

TEMPE – ASU Art Museum partnered with Arizona State University’s Center for Work and Democracy and the George Floyd Global Memorial following a professor’s acquisition of a collection of offerings gathered during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis.

Nana Osei-Kofi looks at signs displayed at the “Twin Flames” exhibit in Tempe on Feb. 2, 2024. “It is an honor to be able to steward what other people have offered as their protest, as their pain, as their own,” says Jeanelle Austin, executive director of the George Floyd Global Memorial. (Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio/Cronkite News)