Mike Russell is KTAR's resident outdoorsman. His passion for the outdoors is the engine behind KTAR's hit show Get Outdoors with Mike Russell. Get Outdoors focuses on the world of hunting, fishing, camping and conservation. Mike's special features, The Outdoor Minute and the KTAR Timeline, can be heard each weekday on two of Arizona's highest rated shows, Arizona's Morning News and Arizona's Evening News. Mike hurries home each night to his amazing wife of 11 years, Jodi, and their two children Jillian (9) and John (7). His 95 pound puppy, Champ, is always there to greet him as well. The thought of loading up the truck for some fishing, hunting and camping keeps Mike motivated throughout the week. When he can't hit the lake or get out on a hunt, well, let's just say that none of us want to see that.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 22, 2017Opinion: Five things to watch for during Trump’s Phoenix rally
Mike Russell lists the five things that he expects to see when President Donald Trump holds a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 16, 2017Opinion: Give-A-Thon for Phoenix Children’s hits close to home
Mike Russell writes that the Give-A-Thon for Phoenix Children's Hospital is something that he holds near and dear to his heart.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 14, 2017Opinion: Five news stories from the weekend you may have missed
A lot happened over the weekend. Mike Russell gives you the five news stories he thinks you should be caught up on heading into the workweek.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 10, 2017Opinion: Taken fawn shines light on good done by Arizona Game and Fish
Someone took a fawn from its mother in Arizona and claimed it was abandoned. It was dumb, but it shows the good the Game and Fish Department does daily.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 8, 2017Opinion: Clinton investigations should be cautionary tales for Trump
The amount of dirt unearthed by investigations into President Bill Clinton should serve as cautionary tales for President Donald Trump.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Aug 7, 2017Opinion: Five reasons parents can’t stand back-to-school week
Back-to-school time is always exciting for kids, but for parents, it's a mixed bag of emotions. Here are five reasons we can't stand it.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Jun 20, 2017Opinion: No more plans to fix Arizona schools until we track the money
Dear legislators: Mike Russell doesn't want to see a single plan to fix Arizona schools unless it has a plan in place to track exactly where the money goes.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Jun 1, 2017Opinion: Trump’s decision to leave Paris Climate Agreement good for America
President Donald Trump did not deny science or doom our planet by leaving the Paris Climate Agreement. He did what was best for America.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 31, 2017Opinion: Don’t freak out about Griffin, Colbert rants because it’s what they want
I encourage all of you that are so offended by Kathy Griffin's picture or Stephen Colbert’s rant to stop posting, reposting and commenting about them.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 30, 2017Opinion: Stop buying into the political health care scare tactics
Let's wait and see what is actually going to happen to health care without speculating what could possibly happen. Stop buying into the scare tactics.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 26, 2017Opinion: Best way to remember fallen is to celebrate Memorial Day like Americans
I can't think of anything more American -- or a better way to honor fallen soldiers -- than to live our lives, to be Americans on Memorial Day.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 25, 2017Opinion: Before we slam Trump’s $4.1T budget, let the experts look at it
Before we all hit the panic button over President Donald Trump's proposed $4.1 trillion budget, let's give the experts time to have their say.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 24, 2017Americans can thank FBI, CIA for luxury of being desensitized to terror attacks
There's a reason why Americans become desensitized to terror: Our intelligence community and our men and women in uniform have been keeping us safe.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 18, 2017Opinion: It’s time to make voting mandatory in America
Mike Russell thinks if we can set up the voting system very similarly to the mandatory jury system, we can have a true representative republic in America.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 17, 2017Opinion: Trump administration needs to get handle on White House leaks
Let's be real: The White House does not have a leak problem, the White House has a fire hose of unauthorized information shooting from the wings.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 11, 2017Ducey thrown a few softballs, one curve at end of 2017 Arizona Legislature
As the 2017 Arizona State legislative session ends, Gov. Doug Ducey was handed 14 softball pieces of legislation and one high heater.
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UNCATEGORIZED | May 10, 2017Here’s hoping we get to bottom of Comey firing sooner rather than later
There are a lot of questions about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. Here's hoping we get answers sooner rather than later.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 26, 2017It’s nice to see the Arizona Legislature passing common sense gun laws
I can't be happier to say the Arizona Legislature has finally managed to put some solid, common sense gun legislation on Gov. Doug Ducey's desk.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 25, 2017The money is there for Arizona teachers, it just goes to the wrong place
Bottom line: The money is there, it’s just not going to the right place and that is why Arizona is failing our teachers and kids.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 18, 2017Phoenix’s new recycling programs are garbage
This week, the city of Phoenix unveiled another program that is a piece of garbage: new recycling efforts! You see what I did there?
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GENERAL NEWS | Apr 11, 2017Reason prevails! Arizona Senate shoots down firearms and snakes bill
The Arizona Senate struck down a bill that seemed to be on its way to Gov. Doug Ducey's desk. A bill that would allow residents to shoot a firearm within city limits to save them from, wait for it … snakes!
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 10, 2017Scottsdale company’s free body camera offer leaves police departments little choice
Thanks to Scottsdale-based Axon for eliminating one of the few excuses that police departments are giving to not try out body camera technology.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 7, 2017Trump’s decision to launch cruise missiles into Syria was the right call
Syria used chemical weapons on its citizens. President Donald Trump sent a message via airstrikes that didn't cost an America life. It was the right call.
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UNCATEGORIZED | Apr 5, 2017Penzone showing his smarts by shutting down Arpaio’s Tent City circus
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone is shutting down Tent City. Joe Arpaio and his fans may not like it, but the circus had to end.