KNAU and Arizona News

By Laurel Morales

Flagstaff, AZ – Grand Canyon Youth NEEDS: Computers, plastic bins, shelving, Paco pads, side boxes, buckets, ammo cans, rope, cam straps, Grand Canyon and San Juan River related books, oar locks, oar stands, tools of any kind, fun box items like decks of cards, finger nail polish, art supplies and financial donations.

By Daniel Kraker

By Daniel Kraker

By Daniel Kraker

Flagstaff, AZ – The down economy has resulted in fewer tourists visiting northern Arizona this spring. Grand Canyon National Park is no exception. Visitation there is down more than ten percent. Now park officials are moving forward with a controversial new plan they say is necessary to keep the park financially solvent.

Hikers and rafters who travel through the Grand Canyon usually only hear the roar of whitewater. But soon, they may also hear the sound of slot machines.

By Laurel Morales

Flagstaff, AZ – Poet Jimmy Santiago Baca has had a lot to write about. Orphaned at a young age, Baca was raised first by his grandmother and later sent to an orphanage. He ran away when he was 13. It wasn't until he was sentenced to a maximum security prison that he discovered poetry and turned his life around. Baca reads in Flagstaff March 27 at the Coconino Center for the Arts. He tells Arizona Public Radio's Laurel Morales that poetry saved his life.

By Laurel Morales

Seligman, AZ – Building materials titan Cemex plans to build a cement plant 50 miles from the Grand Canyon. The move would bring jobs and a tax base to Seligman, a small rural town that hasn't seen much action since travelers got their kicks on Route 66. But environmentalists are concerned about air quality and Seligman is divided over how growth would affect their quaint community. Arizona Public Radio's Laurel Morales has the story.

By Daniel Kraker

Flagstaff, AZ –
Republican legislative leaders were in Flagstaff today to brief business and community officials on the state budget crisis. State Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams stopped by KNAU's studios while they were here. Adams told Arizona Public Radio's Daniel Kraker the budget deficit is the worst crisis Arizona has ever faced.

By Laurel Morales

Flagstaff, AZ – Crisis phone lines are jammed and beds are full at domestic violence shelters across Arizona. Lay offs and other economic pressures make for more incidents of abuse, and often times they're more severe. And as Arizona Public Radio's Laurel Morales reports, the state has cut funding to domestic violence shelters at a time when their services are needed most.

AMBY: women's shelter

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – Republican state senators had a press conference Monday to talk
about what they were doing to promote openness in government. But it didn't exactly
go the way they wanted.

By Gillian Ferris Kohl