The ongoing measles outbreak along the Arizona-Utah border has surpassed 500 cases. It began last August and according to the states’ health departments, it reached 516 as of April 2nd—274 in Arizona and 242 in southwest Utah. The outbreak is centered in the Short Creek community that includes Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. More than 40 people have been hospitalized.
Arizona is among two dozen states that’ve sued the Trump administration over a recent executive order that exerts federal control over mail-in ballots. Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes call the order illegal and say it’ll disenfranchise tribal members, military families and the roughly 80 percent of Arizonans who vote by mail. They also point out that the Constitution gives states the power to administer elections, not the federal government.
Democratic lawyer and activist Herb Ely has died. The Arizona Republic reports, he was known for spearheading several progressive causes in the 1960s and ‘70s like low-income housing and civil rights. He said the best way to help marginalized populations was through the law. In 1965, Ely co-authored the Arizona Civil Rights Act which banned discrimination in public accommodations, voting, housing and employment. He was also a former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and was a cofounder of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. Ely was 92.
Governor Katie Hobbs has signed a bill into law that would force the Arizona Department of Child Safety to make attempts to form agreements with each of the state’s 22 federally recognized tribes. It requires the agency to identify a liaison for each tribe who’s responsible for providing technical assistance and coordination. Murdered San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike was in the care of DCS when she went missing from a Mesa group home last year. She was later found dead in the Tonto National Forest. The Hopi tribe and others are in talks with the agency and the Navajo Nation has finalized its agreement.
Republican state lawmakers are again trying to diminish the power of the State Bar. The Arizona House last week gave preliminary approval to a bill that would remove the requirement for Arizona attorneys to be members of the State Bar Association. Yavapai County Senator Mark Finchem sponsored the measure. He says attorney licensing is the responsibility of the Arizona Supreme Court alone. Democrats oppose the bill along with the Bar Association.
And a federal court has ruled that the Trump administration must restore legal status for thousands of asylum seekers who came to the U-S on a Biden-era program. The CBP One initiative allowed immigrants to apply for a fixed number of appointments in Nogales and some other border cities. President Donald Trump canceled the program on the first day of his second term.
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