Esports state championship delayed but still on its way to Arizona high schools
SCOTTSDALE – The AIA will allow Arizona high school esports teams to compete for the chance of being named state champion in either Overwatch or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Tucson council votes to support Nogales in fight against razor wire
TUCSON – The Tucson City Council voted Wednesday night to support the border city of Nogales in its fight with federal authorities and the U.S. military over concertina wire strung along the border fence.
Betting on your favorite teams still on hold in Arizona Legislature
PHOENIX – With the reversal of PASPA, sports gambling has been a hot topic. What would it look like in Arizona and how much value does it really have to the state?
UA professor sues state over denial of health-care coverage to transgender employees
TUCSON – Transgender state employees in Arizona are excluded from insurance coverage of transition surgery and related medical treatments, according to a lawsuit filed by University of Arizona professor Russell Toomey. The ACLU-backed suit says the policy violates his civil and constitutional rights.
West Nile virus now is a permanent part of Arizona’s ecosystem, study finds
PHOENIX – A study from Northern Arizona University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute discovered the sometimes-fatal disease known as West Nile virus is in Arizona to stay. It also found that Maricopa County is a breeding ground for infestations in adjoining states.
‘Enough is enough’: State considers cellphone ban for drivers weeks after officer’s death
PHOENIX – Three weeks after Officer Clayton Townsend was hit and killed at a traffic stop, allegedly by a motorist who was driving and texting, state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee introduced a “hands-free” bill to prohibit the use of a cell-phone in a moving vehicle.
Opinions divided on whether former ASU standout Barry Bonds belongs in Hall of Fame
PHOENIX – Opinions are split on whether former Arizona State standout Barry Bonds will find his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In rural Pennsylvania, family detention a world away from the border
WASHINGTON – A former nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania has been converted to a family detention center immigrants, one of three such facilities in the country. Protesters want the facility shut down, but federal officials are eyeing ways to expand the number of such facilities.
Mountains around Phoenix formed by eons of pushing, pulling and hitting
PHOENIX – How did the mountains surrounding the Phoenix area form? Some blocks rose to become mountains while others dropped to form valleys. This was the birth of the undulating basin and range system that today wraps around the Colorado Plateau.
Population boom in West putting humans closer to devastating wildfires
DENVER – Nearly half the population of the West lives in an area with potential for wildfire danger. And both the risk of fire and the population in harm’s way are rising in this fast-growing part of the nation. Eighty-four percent of the risk area has not yet been developed.
Hikers discover oldest prehistoric footprints found at Grand Canyon
PHOENIX – Hikers at the Grand Canyon have found a set of 28 small footprints on a slab of rock that had fallen from the canyon wall. It turns out that the set of tracks is about 310 million years old – nearly 250 million years before the age of dinosaurs.
White House vows to fight ‘absurd’ ruling against asylum restrictions
WASHINGTON - The White House vowed to fight a federal judge's ruling that temporarily blocked restrictions on asylum seekers, who administration officials said threaten to "incapacitate our already overwhelmed immigration system."
