Stories - AZPM

Jobless claims in Arizona jumped to more than eight times their normal level last week, to 29,000, as the first wave of layoffs from businesses affected by COVID-19 changes hit the state. In a typical week, about 3,500 claims are filed, state officials said.

Arizona jobless claims skyrocket, as coronavirus starts to hit economy

The Department of Economic Security says it's working to get benefits to people, as claims neared almost 30,000 last week.

The lights are on, but not everybody’s home. Congressional offices, like many around the nation, are turning to teleworking to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Capitol Hill offices adapt to teleworking

Arizona lawmakers, like the rest of Congress and much of the nation, are learning to telework in the face of COVID-19.

Sen. Bernie Sanders took several swipes at his rival for the Democratic nomination for president, former Vice President Joe Biden, noting that Biden supported the Iraq War and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Sanders reaches for inclusiveness, slams Biden at Phoenix rally

Democrats and Republicans expect Arizona to be up for grabs in the November general election.

Students walk on campus at the University of Arizona.

Universities implement travel restrictions, self-quarantines amid spread of COVID-19

Some schools are restricting nonessential campus-related travel and requiring students who have traveled to self-quarantine.

Only 20 of the nearly 1,200 sworn officers with the Arizona Department of Safety have body cameras, and they paid for them out of pocket, according to the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budget.

Plan to equip all DPS officers with body cameras has some public advocates skeptical

Some groups want assurances that DPS will use the cameras for the public good, not solely to protect officers.

Some of the clean power the Navajo Nation hopes to sell to Los Angeles will be produced by the sun.

Clean energy produced on Navajo land could help power Los Angeles

With the recent closure of the Navajo Generating Station, Navajo leaders are looking to jump start the tribal economy by partnering with Los Angeles.

Just days after it ruled that a Mexican family could not sue the Border Patrol agent who shot from Texas and killed their son across the border, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to reconsider its ruling that a Sonoran family could sue an agent for a similar shooting in Nogales.

Supreme Court vacates ruling in Nogales cross-border shooting

The high court’s order followed its 5-4 ruling last week in a nearly identical case from Texas.

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., at President Donald Trump’s rally in Phoenix in February, faces a difficult election in the fall to fill out the remaining two years of the late Sen. John McCain’s term, who she was appointed to replace in 2018.

Court rejects claim that Ducey’s pick of McSally was unconstitutional

A 9th Circuit panel found the governor can make "temporary" appointments and that the time between the appointment and the election is not unreasonably long.

The NOAA says Northern Hemisphere snow coverage in January was the 18th-smallest in 54 years of keeping records.

January 2020 was warmest January in 141 years of records, NOAA says

The four warmest Januaries documented in the climate record have occurred since 2016, the agency said.

Raising concerns that the board rushed to a decision too quickly, Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo was the only member who voted against the “gun sanctuary” resolution.

Maricopa County becomes largest to approve 'Second Amendment sanctuary' measure

The county joins a growing movement of places adopting resolutions to counter policies that could be seen as infringing on gun rights.

Attorney Cristobal M. Galindo outside the Supreme Court in November, after the court heard arguments in the case of Sergio Hernández, a Mexican 15-year-old who was on the Mexican side of the border when he was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent standing in the U.S. The court Tuesday ruled that Sergio’s parents, Mexican citizens, do not have the right to sue the agent.

Court says Mexicans cannot sue Border Patrol agents in fatal shootings

A ruling on Tuesday about a cross-border shooting in Texas could affect a decision on a similar case that took place in Arizona.

The Supreme Court rejected Arizona’s bid to challenge what it says is California’s practice of unfairly assessing taxes on thousands of out-of-state businesses for “doing business” in the state, even though they may only own a stake in a company operating in California.

Supreme Court refuses to hear Arizona challenge to California tax law

The challenge came over a tax California collects from Arizona companies "doing business" in that state.

Workers in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Operations Center, which was activated to work with the World Health Organization, federal, state and local public health agencies and others responding to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus victim out of quarantine, officials see ‘no risk’ of spread

Arizona was one of a handful of states to record a confirmed case of the disease since it was first reported earlier this year.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had a strong lead in campaign donations from Arizona donors among the Democratic field of presidential hopefuls, raising $768,054 as of Jan. 31, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

FEC filings show Arizonans favor Trump, Sanders with campaign dollars

Arizona numbers saw Sanders leading No. 2 Democratic fundraiser Warren. The biggest fundraiser in the state was Trump.

An image from a video camera in a Customs and Border Protection immigrant processing facility in the Tucson-area shows the overcrowding, with detainees forced to wrap themselves in Mylar blankets and sleep on the floor or sitting against a wall.

Judge caps time CBP can hold migrants in ‘degrading’ Tucson centers

The ruling noted overcrowding, a lack of sleeping areas or blankets, a lack of showers and other problems.

Here comes the boom: Arizona girls high school wrestling participation nearly doubles

While boys wrestling numbers are dropping, girls' participation has grown rapidly in two seasons.

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