Troy Hill graduated in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in film production. Hill worked for the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation and is working for the Phoenix news bureau.
PHOENIX – Amid climate change and an affordable housing crisis in Arizona, organizations have developed housing solutions, including using 3D printing and plastic foam, to make buildings better for the environment and for tight budgets.
TEMPE – Valley Metro is expanding the reach of public transportation across the Phoenix area, including a recently opened streetcar in Tempe and light rail expansions northwest to Metrocenter mall and south to Baseline Road.
PHOENIX – Catalytic converter thefts are rising across the U.S. The pollution-control parts, which can cost more than $1,000 to replace, don’t come with a serial number, but one Phoenix dealership has a way to increase the likelihood of recovering a stolen converter, and police recommend drivers be intentional about where they park.
PHOENIX – Concerns about the impact of the climate crisis on health are driving doctors, nurses, medical students and others to advocate for change. The American Medical Association recently declared climate change a public health crisis and said it would push for more policies meant to limit global warming.
PHOENIX – TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users, has helped two Valley businesses take off. Viral videos for Jump Into Bliss, which rents bounce houses, and Decor by Jess, which makes party decorations, gave the businesses much-needed exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic and led to new customers.
Navigating low salaries, pandemic worries and burnout: Many teachers will tell you this is the job description of modern educators. The result is an expanding mental health crisis among U.S. teachers – a problem so dire that many are leaving the profession.
PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed a bipartisan bill allocating more than $1 billion for water projects and reestablishing the authority of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona.
PHOENIX – A new Phoenix shelter, run by St. Vincent de Paul and funded by the city and Maricopa County, offers people experiencing homelessness more than just an overnight bed. It’s designed to give people a stable transitional situation, three meals a day and case managers to help them find permanent housing.
PHOENIX – Health care clinics in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington and other states are preparing to become “safe havens” for pregnant people living in states where abortion is restricted or banned, like Arizona.
Activists and organizations on both sides of the abortion debate are figuring out how best to help pregnant people after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 ruling that had legalized abortion.
PHOENIX – Planned Parenthood Arizona announced Friday it had shut down abortion services in the state, citing “Arizona's tangled web of conflicting laws” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion opponents, meanwhile, said “life has won a great victory.”
PHOENIX – Members of the Arizona Education Association rallied Tuesday at the state Capitol to again call on lawmakers to funnel a bigger chunk of the state’s $5 billion budget surplus into public school spending.
FLAGSTAFF – Spring water is a huge part of the Arizona ecosystem, feeding all the state’s perennial streams. NAU professor Abe Springer, who has been studying springs and groundwater for over two decades, talks about how they affect all the inhabitants of Arizona.
PHOENIX – The Pipeline Fire has burned over 20,000 acres just north of Flagstaff and prompted some evacuations. Before the fire broke out, the National Fire Prevention Education Team was in Arizona to talk about what Arizonans can do to prevent wildland fires, including being intentional about where you park and how you secure trailer chains.
PHOENIX – Former Vice President Mike Pence visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Monday, then addressed a crowd at the Arizona Commerce Authority in Phoenix on his vision for U.S. border security and immigration. Pence is expected to run for president in 2024 – potentially against his old boss.
PHOENIX – Health officials announced Tuesday they were working to confirm a probable case of monkeypox in Maricopa County. It would be Arizona’s first case of the virus, which is transmitted primarily via skin-to-skin contact.
PHOENIX – Judge Lee Jantzen of Mohave County Superior Court ruled Monday that mail-in voting does not violate the Arizona Constitution’s ballot secrecy requirements. He cited state statutes that keep mailed ballots private and secure.
PHOENIX – The WearTech Center, GoX Labs and Arizona State University collaborated to develop an exoskeleton suit called the PhenEx. The suit is designed to reduce the strain on workers as they lift heavy objects.
FLAGSTAFF – A Northern Arizona University engineering team has created a prototype sensor and network that can detect damage along bike paths and alert city officials to needed repairs.
SEDONA – Tourists looking for outdoor activities with social distancing flocked to Sedona during the pandemic, adding to traffic congestion and prompting the city to expedite plans to make its tourism more sustainable, including a shuttle for hikers and deterrents to off-road vehicles in certain places.
PHOENIX – Dozens of Arizona artists are expanding their creative horizons, thanks to 30 $5,000 research and development grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. The grants were for artists at any stage of their careers to help them experiment with techniques, create new works and more.
PHOENIX – A new study shows that almost half of bald eagles in the U.S. suffer from chronic lead poisoning. The main culprit is lead bullets and shot used in hunting, which break apart in animal carcasses. The carcasses are scavenged by the birds, who then ingest the lead.
WASHINGTON - Arizonans went from filing 6,600 complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2020 to filing nearly 8,000 the next year, the most on record. And almost half of those were complaints about what consumers found on their credit reports, CFPB says.
MESA – After being left for dead in 2010, the Arizona film industry has grown the past few years, thanks to a network of indie filmmakers, the Phoenix Film Festival and the revived Arizona Film Office.
PHOENIX – Advocates for people with disabilities are concerned about a bill in the state Senate that would prohibit drive-up voting and curbside drop-off boxes for ballots, saying more options – not fewer – are vital for helping people exercise their right to vote.
GOLD CANYON – The Arizona Renaissance Festival stopped in 2020 and didn’t return in 2021 because of the pandemic, but it made its comeback this year. Crowds and workers were eager to return.
PHOENIX – The Arizona Humane Society’s Healthy Tails mobile clinic offers free veterinary services, from surgery to vaccinations, deworming treatments, flea and tick prevention and microchipping.
