Morgan Fischer expects to graduate in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication and a minor in political science. Fischer has worked as politics editor for The State Press and interned at RightThisMinute.
WASHINGTON - The abuses of tribal boarding schools are in the past, but the schools are not, entirely. Arizona, once home to 47 federal Indian boarding schools, has eight tribal boarding schools today. They aren't perfect, advocates say, but a far cry from past horrors.
WASHINGTON - Arizona GOP Rep. David Schweikert, a self-described "accountant on steroids," is one of the biggest users of "special order" speeches, the end-of-day time when lawmakers are free to address an empty chamber - and C-SPAN cameras - for pet issues or peeves.
WASHINGTON - Advocates say a Supreme Court ruling that said the EPA cannot force power plants away from fossil fuels cost the agency an effective tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - but it's not the only tool, and help may be coming from an unlikely source.
WASHINGTON – Hualapai Chairman Damon Clarke told a Senate committee Wednesday that getting access to Colorado River water is "the only feasible solution" for his tribe, whose wells are failing under the stress of the continuing drought.
WASHINGTON - It's been a good month for former Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords. She saw the signing last month of significant gun-control legislation she long sought, was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom last week - and a movie about her life opened Friday.
WASHINGTON - Republican senators on Wednesday grilled Arizona attorney Roopali Desai, a nominee to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, over her history of working for progressive causes and her work fighting claims of 2020 election fraud.
WASHINGTON - NASA released "stunning" full-color images showing thousands of far-away galaxies, a dying star, a star being born and a grouping of five galaxies. The images came from the James Webb Space Telescope, which several Arizona researchers have had a hand in.
WASHINGTON – Advocates waiting for the Biden administration to end the "remain in Mexico" immigration policy could be waiting weeks, or more, despite the Supreme Court ruling last week that the administration has the authority to do so.
WASHINGTON - In a sometimes somber, sometimes jovial event Thursday, President Joe Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 17 Americans - including the late Sen. John McCain and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords - whom he called "the soul of our nation."
WASHINGTON - "¡Presente!" opened last month in the National Museum of American History in Washington, the first exhibit by what will eventually become the National Museum of the American Latino - approved in 2020, but still years from opening a standalone museum.
WASHINGTON – Arizona icons Gabrielle Giffords and the late John McCain were among the 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom announced Friday by the Biden administration.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Biden administration can terminate a Trump-era policy that let the U.S. turn away asylum seekers at the southern border and force them to wait in Mexico for their court proceedings.
WASHINGTON - A pandemic-era program that greatly expanded access to school lunches won a last-minute extension through the summer, "fantastic" news for the tens of thousands of Arizona kids who have relied on those meals, advocates said.
WASHINGTON - The House Friday gave final approval to a bipartisan gun-reform bill that is the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades, voting just hours after the measure cleared the Senate.
WASHINGTON - Advocates welcomed the announcement that federal firefighter pay will increase by as much as $20,000 this year, a potentially "life-changing" step for the chronically underpaid crews. But they say more still needs to be done to attract and retain firefighters.
WASHINGTON - A plain shirt, a pin, a number. For the past 41 days, basketball legend Dawn Staley has posted that photo to her social media accounts, just part of the outpouring of support for Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner, who has detained in a Russian jail since Feb. 17.
WASHINGTON – A House committee gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would create a commission to investigate Indian boarding schools, despite Republican concerns over the scope and power of the commission.
WASHINGTON – Federal officials this week declared the Arizona eryngo, a rare wildflower, an endangered species, a move advocates hope will also help boost efforts to save the San Pedro River where the plant is found.
WASHINGTON – Arizona legislators voted on party lines this week as the House rushed through a pair of sweeping gun reform bills just weeks after a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school left 19 students and two teachers dead.
WASHINGTON - With little hope that state lawmakers will pass gun-control measures in the wake of the latest school shooting, Arizona educators find themselves balancing the competing goals of hardening schools while making them welcoming places.
WASHINGTON – Higher prices for gas, airfares and just about everything else do not appear to be holding back travel this Memorial Day weekend, which is “falling back to pre-pandemic levels,” experts said Friday.
ARLINGTON, Va. - As an honor guard member, Airman 1st Class Connor Zierse spends his days at Arlington National Cemetery, but Thursday was different, The former Buckeye resident was there for the “Flags-In” ceremony, helping decorate the 260,000 graves ahead of Memorial Day.
WASHINGTON - Arizona was again among the worst states in the nation for per pupil spending on K-12 education in 2020, according to a recent Census Bureau report, a ranking that advocates said was embarrassing but not surprising.
WASHINGTON - Arizona traffic fatalities hit their highest level in 15 years in 2021, when the state saw a 6.5% increase in highway deaths that experts blame in part on bad driving habits made worse during the pandemic.
