Stories - AZPM

Opioid overdoses in Arizona spiked during March, the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hit a high of 500 in August. Advocates worry that the epidemic, involving both prescription and illicit opioids, is both aggravated by pandemic conditions and masked by them.

With focus on COVID-19, experts fear opioid crisis may worsen unseen

Local and national experts say a growing number of opioid overdoses and deaths is being overlooked.

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. during congressional testimony in February. Norris is one of three tribal leaders, with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, on the slate of 11 diverse electors who will cast the state’s Electoral College votes December 14, 2020, for President-elect Joe Biden.

Three Arizona tribal leaders on diverse slate of 11 electoral voters

What one former Arizona elector called a "sweet irony" was no accident.

Arizona election officials on Saturday finished counting the more than 3.4 million ballots cast by voters in this election, a voter turnout rate of 79.9%, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Despite legal and political challenges to the results, state officials vowed to have the count certified by the Nov. 30 deadline.

Ballot count complete in Arizona, but Republicans press ahead with challenges

Despite legal and political challenges, officials have vowed to certify results by the Nov. 30 deadline.

Republican Martha McSally, left, and Democrat Mark Kelly.

Arizona Senate race breaks record, pulling in whopping $133.7 million

By Sept. 30, Martha McSally had raised $50.9 million and Mark Kelly had raised $82.8 million, according to FEC reports.

Fire officials say they were able to contain the spread of COVID-19 in crews through commonsense measures as well as some precautions specific to their work, even though it made their jobs more challenging at times.

Fire officials claim success in fighting COVID-19 while fighting fires

Officials reported only a handful of positive test results on their crews, and they believe many of those came from exposure off the job.

Legislation making its way through Congress aims to reaffirm that tribal epidemiology centers should have access to state and federal health data. Tribal leaders have had trouble accessing information to help fight COVID-19 and other diseases in places like the Navajo Nation, where this sign stands.

Bill pressures CDC to give Native Americans better access to federal health data

Experts say the pandemic has further exposed limits to Native American communities' access to accurate health data.

A federal court temporarily blocked a steep increase in fees for citizenship and asylum application and other fees set to take effect Friday. That’s good news for migrants, but poses a challenge for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which gets almost all of its budget from fees for services.

Judge halts fee hike that would have nearly doubled cost of citizenship

Arizona advocates welcomed the action, saying the increases would have put the cost of citizenship out of reach for many.

The McLean family, photographed through a window, spends the afternoon together in their Phoenix home earlier this month. After mom Katie and dad Reese tested positive for COVID-19, they took baby Jay for a swab test. It was negative, but they’re convinced he had the disease.

As schools reopen, Arizona confronts high rates of COVID-19 in youth

The state’s youth case rate was the third-highest among 48 states reporting, according to a report.

Arizona officials are urging people to get flu shots this fall to avoid the double threat of flu and COVID-19, which they fear could overburden state hospitals. But the state’s vaccination track record is not great, with just 42.6% of adults getting flu shots last year.

Arizona pushes flu vaccinations to avert flu-and-COVID-19 ‘perfect storm’

Health officials are hoping to head off the possibility of a surge in hospitalizations from one or both of the viruses.

Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward snaps a selfie with supporters of President Donald Trump at a Latinos for Trump event in Phoenix, Monday, Sept. 14. Like Ward, most of those attending the roundtable were maskless.

As polls show him trailing in Arizona, Trump stops in Phoenix to woo Latino voters

Events aimed at winning over Hispanic voters illustrate expectations that the demographic could make or break the November election.

Experts say signs like this one could become more common this fall, as state and national moratoriums on evictions in the face of COVID-19 are lifted. Arizona already has one of the highest rates of housing losses in the nation, a new report says.

Report: Arizona had highest ‘housing loss’ rate; more evictions coming

Trends in Arizona do not bode well for the fall, experts said, as drivers of housing loss are are amplified by the pandemic.

A Census Bureau plan to move up the deadline to end “enumeration,” the process of counting U.S. residents, from Oct. 31 to Sept. 30 was put on hold by a federal judge. Critics, including the Navajo and Gila River tribes, had sued to block the move, which they said would lead to an undercount, particularly for minority communities.

Judge halts plan to end Census early, as Arizona, tribal responses lag

The order said plaintiffs in the case had raised "serious questions" about the bureau's plan to stop counting.

Democrats again grilled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over changes to Postal Service operations that they say have led to reduced service and could threaten mail-in ballots this fall, which DeJoy called a “false narrative” and Republicans called Democratic “misinformation.”

Republicans defend Postal Service, accuse Democrats of scare tactics

Democrats say the postmaster general's changes have led to reduced service and could threaten mail-in ballots this fall.

The number of Medicaid recipients in Arizona rose to more than 2 million this summer, after a five-month surge that mirrored the impact of COVID-19. Experts said the increase was not as large as they had feared, but also said there’s no way to predict what happens next.

Arizona Medicaid recipients topped 2 million after five-month surge

The surge follows skyrocketing unemployment in the state, as COVID-19 shutdowns have shuttered industries.

Crimes in Tucson, Phoenix fell in second quarter, as COVID-19 took hold

While property crimes fell, both cities saw an increase in aggravated assaults.

The memorial to Arizona Confederate troops at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the Capitol was erected in 1961.

Two Confederate monuments removed in Arizona amid broader push

The monuments were removed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who requested the state "regift" them for repairs.

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