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Health care changes could make ballot in Arizona

PHOENIX — Arizona voters could get to decide on some major changes in health care policies and new mandates on hospitals even as the state continues to grapple with COVID-19.

Remember the suburbs? They are coming back, experts: Shift away from urbanization is afoot

They say life is cyclical, and such is true in the housing business. Ten years ago, developers were rushing to build apartment communities in the urban areas of the country, Valley of the Sun not excluded.

Phoenix metropolitan medical marijuana dispensaries brace for 2020 ballot initiative result

If there’s going to be an initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, it may as well have 420,000 signatures to get it on the ballot.

Arizona reaches 100,000 mark in COVID-19 cases

Arizona has joined a handful of states in the U.S. reporting over 100,000 cases of COVID-19.

COVID-19

Lack of persuasion as a failure against virus

COVID-19

Lack of persuasion as a failure against virus

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NEWS ACROSS THE VALLEY

Valley and State

The Latest: India overtakes Russia, now 3rd in virus cases

NEW DELHI — India has overtaken Russia to become the third worst-affected nation by the coronavirus after reporting 24,248 new cases Monday. India has now confirmed 697,413 cases, including …

Serbian military opens field hospital amid coronavirus spike

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Troops in Serbia set up an emergency 500-bed field hospital Monday, a day after neighboring Kosovo re-imposed a nighttime curfew in four cities, as the Balkans battled to …

CD8 candidates to meet in virtual town hall

Congessional District 8 Democrat candidates Michael Muscoto, Bob Musselwhite and Bob Olsen will be squaring off in a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday July 7.

Public funding for religious schools goes way back

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing state funds to be used for parochial school scholarships in Montana cements in place a system that has existed here for years, all with the blessing of courts.

Voter registration deadline is end of day July 6

Eligible Maricopa County voters have until the end of Monday, July 6 to register to vote in the August Primary Election. Voters can go to Register.Maricopa.Vote to find information on eligibility …

Town of Gilbert celebrates 100 years

The Town of Gilbert is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2020, and Mayor Jenn Daniels is taking residents on a virtual party through Gilbert Good News, a 13-minute virtual birthday party inspired by John Krasinski’s Some Good News.

Stores focus on cleaning to get shoppers back to spending

NEW YORK (AP) — Forget about making shopping fun. As clothing retailers and others try to stay viable during the coronavirus pandemic, they're hoping steps like cleaning during store hours, …

July 15 is deadline to file and pay taxes

The Department of the Treasury and the IRS are not postponing the already revised tax filing and payment deadline of July 15, so it's time to file if you haven't.

Latino, Black neighborhoods struggle with test disparities

PHOENIX (AP) — A Latino cook whose co-worker got COVID-19 waited in his truck for a free swab at a rare testing event in a low-income neighborhood in Phoenix. A Hispanic tile installer queued up …

Phoenix among recipients of housing project grants

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco awarded $37.7 million in Affordable Housing Program grants to 50 projects that will construct or rehabilitate 3,514 units of housing that is affordable to lower-income families and individuals in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

First responders

Assault at Scottsdale park could be hate crime

The Scottsdale Police Department is asking for the public’s help with information about an assault at a local park.

Phoenix police identify man killed in officer-involved shooting

Phoenix police have released body-worn camera footage of the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting in the Maryvale area.

Suspects in custody after double homicide in El Mirage

Two people were arrested in connection with a double homicide in El Mirage, according to police.

Most recent

MLB releases pandemic-shortened schedule amid testing delays

Major League Baseball released its pandemic-shortened schedule Monday, featuring a tantalizing season opener between the New York Yankees and World Series champion Washington Nationals, even as some …

Puerto Rico braces for political upheaval involving governor

China criticizes US joint carrier drills in South China Sea

Samsung projects profit jump for 2nd quarter

Magnitude 6.6 earthquake rocks Indonesia; tsunami unlikely

Facebook, others, block govt requests on Hong Kong user data

Trump-connected lobbyists reap windfall in COVID-19 boom

Sports jumps on PPP bandwagon, but big leagues take a pass

Top sports story

Betts: Baseball didn't do good job with response to Floyd

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts wasn’t moved by Major League Baseball’s response in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody, and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ newest star has a goal …

NHL, union announce plan to resume play on Aug. 1

The National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association have reached a tentative agreement to return to play this season and extend their collective bargaining agreement. The four-year extension …

Chiefs agree to 10-year extension for Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to a 10-year contract extension with Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs had Mahomes under contract for the next two seasons but wanted a long-term deal …

More sports

PGA Tour, Memorial scrap plans to have limited spectators

The PGA Tour and the Memorial scrapped state-approved plans to have limited spectators next week because of what it described as rapidly changing dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Memorial, …

Nationals cancel workout because of COVID-19 testing delay

WASHINGTON (AP) — The defending World Series champion Nationals canceled their workout Monday because of COVID-19 testing delays that general manager Mike Rizzo worried could endanger the baseball …

WNBA players to spotlight female violence victims on jerseys

NEW YORK (AP) — WNBA players will wear uniforms for the opening weekend of the season featuring the names of women who have died because of alleged police brutality or racial violence — including …

Trump lashes out at NASCAR, Bubba Wallace over flag, rope

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a weekend spent , President Donald Trump on Monday went after NASCAR's only Black driver and criticized its at its races and venues. Exploiting racial tensions, Trump …

Daily Independent

Nation

Judge blocks auction of so-called Hawaiian princess' things

HONOLULU (AP) — An auction of a 94-year-old Native Hawaiian heiress' belongings can't go forward until a conservator is named to handle her finances, a judge ruled Monday. Abigail Kawananakoa's …

Maxwell moved to NY for Epstein-related sex abuse charges

Jeffrey Epstein's longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred Monday to New York to face charges that she recruited women and girls, one as young as 14, for him to sexually abuse, the …

White woman charged after racist Central Park confrontation

NEW YORK (AP) — A white woman walking her dog who called the police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false report. In May, Amy Cooper …

Supreme Court deals blow to Keystone oil pipeline

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has handed another blow to the disputed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada by keeping in place a lower court ruling that blocked a key permit for the …

Army identifies buried remains as missing Texas soldier

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An Army commander confirmed Monday that dismembered remains found last week buried near Fort Hood belonged to a 20-year-old soldier who vanished more than two months ago from …

NY count: 6,300 virus patients were sent to nursing homes

NEW YORK (AP) — New York hospitals released more than 6,300 recovering coronavirus patients into nursing homes during the height of the pandemic under a controversial, now-scrapped policy, state …

World

Death toll from flooding in Japan rises to 50, dozen missing

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's disaster management agency says the death toll from recent flooding has risen to 50 and at least a dozen others are still missing. Pounding rain since late Friday in Japan's …

Brazil's Bolsonaro says he will be tested for COVID-19

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he will be tested for COVID-19 after having an X-ray of his lungs on Monday. He didn't say whether he was showing symptoms of the new …

Disaster agency says death toll from flooding in southern Japan has risen to 50 and at least a dozen are missing

TOKYO (AP) — Disaster agency says death toll from flooding in southern Japan has risen to 50 and at least a dozen are missing.

Czech volunteers develop functioning lung ventilator in days

PRAGUE (AP) — Tomas Kapler knew nothing about ventilators — he’s an online business consultant, not an engineer or a medical technician. But when he saw that shortages of the vital machines had …

N. Korea rejects talks ahead of US envoy's arrival in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday repeated it has no immediate intent to resume dialogue with the United States hours before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun was to …

AP Photos: Argentines have balcony parties amid quarantine

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A few days of the silence and solitude of quarantine was all that Marcela Álvarez could stand. She went to the balcony of her house in Buenos Aires' Villa Devoto …

Entertainment

FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday, March 6, 2018, Italian composer Ennio Morricone directs an ensemble during a concert of his "60 Year Of Music World Tour", in Milan, Italy. Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and the soundtracks such classic Hollywood gangster movies as “The Untouchables,” died Monday, July 6, 2020 in a Rome hospital at the age of 91. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)

Spaghetti Western movie composer Ennio Morricone dead at 91

ROME (AP) — Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western “The Good, the …

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2016 file photo, Charlie Daniels appears at the Charlie Daniels 80th Birthday Volunteer Jam in Nashville, Tenn. Daniels who had a hit with “Devil Went Down to Georgia” has died at age 83. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died Monday due to a hemorrhagic stroke. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

Country rocker and fiddler Charlie Daniels dies at age 83

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country music firebrand and fiddler Charlie Daniels, who had a hit with "Devil Went Down to Georgia," has …

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, students walk near the Widener Library in Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The Ivy League school announced Monday, July 6, 2020, that as the coronavirus pandemic continues its freshman class will be invited to live on campus this fall, while most other undergraduates will be required learn remotely from home. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

New rules: Foreign pupils must leave US if classes go online

International students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online …

FILE - In this June 30, 2020 file photo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Treasury Department said it is releasing on Monday, July 6 the names of more than 700,000 companies that received funds from the government’s small business lending program, a massive effort intended to support the economy as states shut down in April to contain the viral outbreak (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP, File)

Treasury names 650K small businesses receiving govt loans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Monday released the names of more than 650,000 companies that received funds from the …

Executive turmoil at Essence, Ebony magazines prompt changes

NEW YORK (AP) — Two storied magazines that focus on news and culture in the Black community, Essence and Ebony, are in the midst of …

Business

Governors' companies among recipients of virus relief loans

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Governors who ordered shutdowns as their states responded to the coronavirus pandemic were among millions of beneficiaries of the loan program created to help small businesses …

California Assembly delays session after virus outbreak

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A coronavirus outbreak in the California Legislature has indefinitely delayed the state Assembly’s return to work from a scheduled summer recess. Speaker Anthony …

Seattle City Council approves new tax on big business

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council on Monday approved adopting a new tax on large businesses, two years after the council repealed a big business tax amid pressure from corporations such as …

Court overturns order to have GM, Fiat Chrysler chiefs meet

DETROIT (AP) — An appeals court on Monday said the CEOs of General Motors and Fiat Chrysler don't have to meet to settle a lawsuit between the two automakers. The court overturned an by a …

Travel

Israeli airline El Al reaches bailout deal with government

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli airline El Al said Monday it had reached a bailout deal with the Israeli government that could lead to its nationalization after being crippled by the coronavirus …

In Russia and Ukraine, no social distance on crowded beaches

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Tens of thousands of vacation-goers in Russia and Ukraine have descended on Black Sea beaches, paying little heed to public health measures despite the numbers of reported …

Mona Lisa back at work, visitors limited, as Louvre reopens

PARIS (AP) — The Mona Lisa is back in business. Paris' Louvre Museum, which houses the world's most famous portrait, reopened Monday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown. Face masks are a …

Africa starts opening airspace even as COVID-19 cases climb

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As COVID-19 cases surged in many parts of the world, the island nation of the Seychelles was looking good: 70-plus straight days without a single infection. Then the planes …

Things to do

Gila River casinos reopening after coronavirus death of employee

Gila River Hotels & Casinos is reopening its Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva locations this week after the implementation of enhanced safety procedures and health protocols. The …

Free Fishing Day in Arizona is June 6

The Arizona Game and Fish Department invites you to fish at the state's waters for free Saturday, June 6, according to a release. Arizona’s Free Fishing Day is celebrated as part of National …

Desert Diamond casinos are reopening June 5

The Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise will resume gaming operations at 1 p.m. Friday, June 5 at all four of its Desert Diamond Casinos near Glendale, Tucson, Sahuarita and Why (Ajo). The TOGE …

Fort McDowell Casino plans to reopen May 15

Fort McDowell Casino and the Wekopa Resort and Conference Center will tentatively have a reopening day of May 15. Casino doors will open at 10 a.m., according to the casino's website.

Opinion

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