Madison Vega
Madison Vega MA-duh-sin VAY-guh (she/her)
News Reporter, Phoenix

Madison Vega expects to graduate in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in communication. Vega, a digital reporter for Cronkite News this semester, has interned at NewsBreak and is currently working with The State Press.

Latest from Madison Vega

New Phoenix medical center to provide health care to people who are blind or visually impaired

PHOENIX – The Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Terros Health will work together to have members of the program and surrounding community get access to health care. The new center is scheduled to open this summer.

Kathy Zwald, an orientation mobility specialist, demonstrates a screen magnifier used by people who are visually challenged. Photo taken on April 12, 2023. (Photo by Izabella Hernandez/Cronkite News)

Have health needs, will travel: ADHS delivers vaccines, tests to underserved communities

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services takes COVID-19 tests and vaccines to low-income and other underserved communities, from migrants to Indigenous residents, across the state. Mobile units and pop-up sites offer temporary help, where needed.

Sample tubes for COVID-19 testing are lined up at a Foundation for Senior Living facility in Phoenix on March 1, 2023. (Photo by Paula Soria/Cronkite News)

Autism rates rise in U.S., along with awareness in communities of color

PHOENIX – Autism rates in children ages 4 and 8 are rising as more children are evaluated and tested, with Black, Hispanic and AAPI children more likely to be diagnosed than white children, according to the CDC.

Autism in Arizona and across the U.S. is on the rise as awareness has led to earlier detection in communities of color, health experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. (File photo by Mindy Riesenberg/Cronkite News)

From ‘lonely’ to Lily’s Pad: Tempe playground to give immunocompromised kids a chance to be a kid

PHOENIX – Children with weakened immune systems or other disabilities often can’t play with other kids. Lily’s Pad, a new playground scheduled to open in Arizona in April, is designed to help immunocompromised children build their physical and emotional health. It’s among other recreational areas across the U.S. meant to accommodate children with disabilities.

“We knew almost right away that there was something wrong within the first six hours of his birth,” Christine Buckrucker said about her 4-year-old son, Colton Buckrucker. Colton and his father, Chris, build a toy. Colton has a weakened immune system that’s led to several surgeries and medical procedures. (Photo by Sierra Alvarez/Cronkite News)

Dementia’s dangerous rise leads legislators to ask up to $500,000 for Alzheimer’s

PHOENIX – Arizona legislators and Alzheimer’s advocates call for the state to step up in dementia care, proposing several bills, including one to bring $500,000 to AZDHS. Arizona has the fastest growth rate in the U.S. of people 65+ diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a national Alzheimer’s Association 2023 report.