Cronkite News

Azteca Bridal, a Phoenix wedding and quinceañera dress store, closed after 60 years....
Alyssa Bickle /Cronkite News

Azteca Bridal closes doors in Phoenix after 60 years of family-operated business

Azteca Bridal closed its doors for the last time after selling quinceañera and bridal dresses for 60 years.
3 days ago
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that more than 900,000 Arizonans owed $32.5 billion in s...
ADRIENNE WASHINGTON/CRONKITE NEWS

Latest student debt relief plan could save 11,700 Arizonans $840 million

A student debt relief program approved by the Biden administration could help nearly 11,700 Arizonans save around $840 million.
2 months ago
Arizona schools started another school year with large numbers of vacant teaching positions, a new ...
Adrienne Washington/Cronkite News

Nearly a third of Arizona teacher slots vacant for current school year

Nearly one-third of teaching positions in Arizona public and charter schools were still vacant one month into the school year, according to a new report.
2 months ago
Kathleen Allen lifts light weights during an exercise activity at the FSL ReCreación Center on Sep...
Angelina Steel/Cronkite News

A national caregiver shortage strains organizations and families across the Valley

The Foundation for Senior Living (FSL) ReCreación Center provides full-time care for Kathleen five days a week.
2 months ago
FILE - Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., waits for a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, on July ...
Adrienne Washington/Cronkite News

Gosar back in spotlight with call for general to “be hung” over Jan. 6

Two years after he was formally censured for a video that appeared to espouse violence against lawmakers, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar has again grabbed headlines by saying the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would be hanged in a “better society.”
2 months ago
Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs, left, and Eli Crane are seen together in a file photo. They were among fi...
Alexandria Cullen and Adrienne Washington/Cronkite News

Arizona Reps. Biggs, Crane vote to block defense bill as shutdown looms

Two Arizona lawmakers were among five GOP House members who broke ranks Thursday and voted to block the defense authorization bill.
2 months ago
Sky Harbor Strike...
Reagan Priest/Cronkite News

Phoenix Sky Harbor workers file complaint, vote to strike over dangerous working conditions

Two groups of airport workers are speaking out about what they say are dangerous working conditions and low wages at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
3 months ago
Critics of a Bureau of Land Management plan to make conservation a classification for consideration...
Liam Coates/Cronkite News

Lawmakers spar over BLM plan to weigh conservation in land-use decisions

A Bureau of Land Management rule that would, for the first time, count conservation as a legitimate use for public lands, along with mining, logging and other uses, is an “offensive” overreach of federal authority, Republicans said Thursday.
6 months ago
Rich Nickel, president and CEO of Education Forward Arizona, has spent nearly 30 years helping stud...
Ole Braatelien/Cronkite News

Arizona education leaders unveil campaign about importance of post-high school education

Education and business leaders on Wednesday unveiled an “Everything to Gain” campaign, with a goal of helping to increase the number of Arizonans with college degrees or certificates by 2030.
6 months ago
Girls Ranch is a residential facility for pregnant and parenting teens. Pictured is the back of the...
Jacinda Palomo/Cronkite News

Girls Ranch group home provides safe haven for teen moms in Scottsdale

Nestled in a quiet Scottsdale neighborhood is Girls Ranch, a residential group home that has become an environment of love and support for pregnant and parenting teens.
6 months ago
Evan Darzi, co-founder and CEO of ElectraTect, writes the molecular compound for Delta-9 THC on Apr...
Jacinda Palomo/Cronkite News

Phoenix company ElectraTect creating marijuana Breathalyzer to detect consumption

Scientists at Phoenix-based company ElectraTect are working to create a marijuana Breathalyzer to detect recent consumption of THC.
7 months ago
Glen Canyon Dam holds back Colorado River water to create Lake Powell on April 15, 2023 in Lake Pag...
Alex Hager | Cronkite News

Wet winter allows for rare ‘high-flow’ Lake Powell release to help river

An extra pulse of water was sent through the Grand Canyon this week, part of a Bureau of Reclamation “high-flow experiment.”
7 months ago
Midwestern University’s Animal Health Institute Mobile Clinic gives doctors and students the abil...
Sarah Min Heller/Cronkite News

Arizona’s veterinary medicine grads aid shortfall of vets in nation, state

There has been a recent decline in veterinarians and vet technicians nationally, a problem Arizona graduates are helping with.
7 months ago
Drunken driving deaths in the U.S. rose 14% from 2020 to 2021, and Arizona drunken driving deaths r...
Alexis Waiss/Cronkite News

Arizona increase in drunken driving deaths among highest in nation in 2021

A surge in drunken driving deaths on Arizona’s highways that year was among the highest in the nation in 2021.
7 months ago
Verrado High School installed high-tech weapons detectors on its campus this year. Photo taken in B...
Autriya Maneshni/Cronkite News

Metro Phoenix high school installs weapons detectors in student-safety push

Verrado High School is one of the first schools in the Agua Fria Union High School District to install weapons detectors on campus.
8 months ago
(Cronkite News Photo/Izabella Hernandez)...
Abigail Scott | Cronkite News

Glendale complex is first to use state affordable housing tax credit

Construction is underway on an affordable housing complex in Glendale funded in part by a state low-income housing tax credit.
8 months ago
(File photo by Tynin Fries/Cronkite News)...
Sarah Min Heller | Cronkite News

Arizona bill would require schools to offer firearms training to students

The bill's sponsor says she wants Arizona schoolchildren to learn proper firearms handling from experts to stop accidental deaths.
10 months ago
(File photo by Samantha Chow/Cronkite News)...
Emilee Miranda | Cronkite News

Arizona’s new dark money law touted as model for other states

Experts are already hailing Arizona Proposition 211 aimed at exposing “dark money” in politics as a model for the rest of the nation.
11 months ago
Proposition 209's backers said it was aimed at medical debt, the No. 1 cause for calls from debt co...
Tori Gantz | Cronkite News

Arizona’s Predatory Debt Act seen as important protection, but not a cure-all

Proposition 209 makes changes to state law that supporters said will protect Arizona consumers from debt that can lead to economic ruin.
11 months ago
The city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico sits just across the border fence from Nogales, Arizona,. It is...
Caitlin Thompson I Cronkite News

Border communities, Border Patrol brace for migrant surge as Title 42 ends

Humanitarian organizations and border officials are bracing for a new surge of migrants with the end of Title 42 next week.
12 months ago
A vendor makes change for cannabis sale at a Los Angeles marketplace in this photo from 2020, when ...
Ryan Knappenberger I Cronkite News

‘C’ you later: Cannabis sales soar, but don’t threaten Arizona’s 5 C’s yet

While retail sales of cannabis are strong, the crop is far from being added to the traditional “5 C’s” of Arizona’s economy, experts say, as production still trails far behind other states.
12 months ago
Activists in this file photo rally outside the Arizona Capitol in June, 2022, after the U.S. Suprem...
Haley Smilow | Cronkite News

Judges grill both sides in hearing about Arizona abortion laws

Arizona Court of Appeals judges quizzed attorneys Wednesday as they tried to figure out how, or if, they can square competing abortion laws.
1 year ago
Shannon O’Leary has been a civilian investigation specialist for the Mesa Police Department for n...
Salma Reyes and Nathan Collins | Cronkite News

National and Valley police departments hire more civilian investigators to fill vacancies

Hiring civilian investigators isn’t a new concept, but the movement recently gained steam as departments work to fill vacancies.
1 year ago
Ryan Knappenberger | Cronkite News

Angry at other states, Arizona towns, tribes rethink planned water cuts

Tribes and local governments in Arizona are increasingly talking about backing off earlier offers to give up some water.
1 year ago