News

Flagstaff, AZ – Earth Notes: Utah's Dinosaur Tracks

190 million years ago a carnivorous dinosaur no larger than a robin hopped across a patch of damp earth in what would eventually become southern Utah. Its tracks were buried and eventually turned to stone. Today, thanks to a lucky discovery, they've turned up again near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park west of Kanab.

By Theresa Bierer

Flagstaff, AZ – Surgeons at Flagstaff medical center have a new tool called the da Vinci Surgical System. One week ago it was used to perform the first robotic surgery in the region. Arizona Public Radio's Theresa Bierer has the story.

Flagstaff, AZ – Earth Notes: Forests and Carbon Dioxide

People have long looked to forests as our allies in the effort against climate change. Trees and other plants live by absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that's produced by the burning of fossil fuels. If more trees grow in more forests, then, they absorb more carbon, right?

They do but only up to a point. That's because most forests burn at some time. When they do, they release much of that trapped carbon back into the atmosphere.

Flagstaff, AZ – Almost three years after Arizona Public Service decommissioned the Childs and Irving power plants on Fossil Creek, a restoration success story has blossomed.

Fossil Creek starts from springs below the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona. It's one of just a few streams in the Southwest with the chemistry to produce travertine, which can form beige dams and pale blue pools that look like paradise. But its waters had been diverted for hydroelectricity for nearly a century.

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – The presidents of the state universities came to the
Capitol Wednesday to plead against drastic mid-year
budget cuts. Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer was
there.

Flagstaff, AZ – Many land managers are combating unwanted invasive species. On the Colorado Plateau, they decided to fight one of them by introducing another new species.

The unwanted plant, in this case, is tamarisk, the thirsty plant that crowds out willows and cottonwoods along southwestern watercourses. Entomologists went to its native land - China - to find a bug that eats these brushy shrubs.

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – A Flagstaff couple is hoping to
translate their personal tragedy
into legislation to protect others.
Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer explains.

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – A new study suggests that legal workers
in this state are being harmed by those
who entered the country illegally.
Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer
reports.

By Laurel Morales

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – Host Intro: Governor Janet Napolitano released her plan Thursday to balance this year's state budget. But Arizona Public
Radio's Howard Fischer reports that key Republican legislators say there's less there than meets the eye.