Investigations

More than 81,000 emergency loans worth as much as $13 billion were made to Arizona small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program aimed at saving a reported 680,000 jobs, according to data released July 7 by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Arizona Department of Administration is looking into what kind of process may be needed to remove a monument to Confederate soldiers at the state Capitol, but state law leaves the decision up to the agency’s director, and, by inference, his boss, Gov. Doug Ducey.

Big Pete Pearson, Arizona’s King of Blues, writhed in pain every night before collapsing into an unsettled slumber. Markings from cotton burrs pierced his dark, rugged skin and burns from the blistering sun seemed to be tattooed on his hands.

Adrienne Bryant had called 911 for a mental health crisis with her son before, so in January, when she had to call the Tempe Police again, she wasn't prepared for the response: officers in riot gear, a K9 unit and rifles aimed at her front door.

More than 11,000 Arizona renters have sought emergency rental aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the state has given money to fewer than 550 people, and spent barely 10% of the $5 million set aside to help renters avoid eviction. 

The Tempe Police Department’s policy for releasing body worn camera footage dictates that all videos will be entirely blurred by default, something that open-government advocates say violates Arizona’s public records law. 

First came the crash, reverberating off the walls of the retirement community like a “mini atom bomb,” then a barrage of gunfire shattered the desert morning calm. Neighbors working in their garages and gardens scrambled...

Republican proposals to amend the state constitution to ban sanctuary jurisdictions would in essence force local law enforcement agencies to take direction from federal immigration officials to identify and detain people, according to local immigration experts.

Members of the extremist group Patriot Movement AZ have reached an agreement in a federal lawsuit brought by small Hispanic churches who sued them for disrupting their work of welcoming migrant families.

It took 220 years for us to elect our first African American president. Looks like it’ll take a bit longer before we elect our first Latino. When news broke last week that Julian Castro had dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination, I wasn’t terribly surprised.