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Group files signatures to get recreational marijuana on Arizona ballot

Backers of a campaign to legalize recreational use of marijuana submitted about 420,000 signatures on petitions Wednesday to put the issue on the November ballot.

Business leaders react to Arizona governor's new order

As the governor rethinks reopening Arizona’s economy, local business leaders are concerned state-level restrictions may complicate their recovery in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 public …

Peoria officer dies after crashing at Liberty High School

Peoria police said an officer has died after crashing his motorcycle while leaving a youth citizen academy demonstration at Liberty High School.

Arizona back-to-school assignment tackles ‘social-distance’ learning amid pandemic freeze

Like an old-fashioned game of freeze tag, many norms synonymous with going back to school are at a standstill until things can somewhat melt back to normal.

COVID-19

Gila River casinos reopening after coronavirus death of employee

COVID-19

Gila River casinos reopening after coronavirus death of employee

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NEWS ACROSS THE VALLEY

Valley and State

CORE Industrial Partners Announces Investment in Arizona Natural Resources

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 2, 2020-- CORE Industrial Partners (“CORE”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, today announced it has completed an investment in Arizona Natural Resources …

Pressure mounts over Confederate monuments in Arizona

New pressure is building on Gov. Doug Ducey to reverse his defense of having monuments to the Confederacy on state-owned property.

The Latest: Tokyo Disneyland reopens, but no Mickey photos

TOKYO — Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea reopened after being closed for four months due to the coronavirus pandemic, with hundreds of visitors applauding as they were let in Wednesday. The two …

Group says it has ample signatures to get pot on ballot

PHOENIX (AP) — Proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana in Arizona said Wednesday they turned in 420,000 petition signatures — far more than needed to get the measure on the November …

Watching Sun Belt spikes, other states back off on reopening

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City and states that likewise seemed to have tamed their coronavirus outbreaks are hitting pause on some of their reopening plans because of the alarming surge in reported …

Pence to stop in Arizona as state hits new virus records

PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Arizona Wednesday as the state sees skyrocketing coronavirus infections and hospitals prepare for a surge in patients. Pence is scheduled …

Man charged with conspiring to hide kids' bodies in his yard

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors accused a man of conspiring with his new wife to keep the bodies of her children hidden on his rural Idaho property, adding to the charges he faces in the strange …

Little evidence that protests spread coronavirus in US

NEW YORK (AP) — There is little evidence that the protests that erupted after George Floyd’s death caused a significant increase in U.S. coronavirus infections, according to public health …

Valley Metro boards of directors elect new officers

The Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority and Valley Metro Rail boards of directors have elected officers for the fiscal year of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Arizona faces new closures as hospitals prep for virus surge

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona hospitals are hiring out-of-state nurses, squeezing in more beds and preparing for the possibility of making life-and-death decisions about how to ration care as they get …

First responders

Glendale officials locate nearly 4,000 pounds of illegal fireworks

A tip from a citizen led to Glendale officials discovering nearly 4,000 pounds of illegal fireworks. The seizure took place June 25 near 75th and Northern avenues. According to a release, a …

Arizona flags to fly at half-staff for fallen firefighters

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings Tuesday to honor the elite firefighters from Prescott who died in 2013 while battling a wildfire …

Avondale Fire near Phoenix Raceway forces evacuations

Over 30 homes have been evacuated as crews from multiple agencies battle a brush fire near Phoenix Raceway.

Most recent

The Latest: Swiss soccer player positive after Serbia visit

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: ___ Swiss soccer club St. Gallen for coronavirus after visiting family in Serbia. The Swiss league leaders …

The Latest: India virus count tops 600,000 amid recent surge

Russia denies supplying weapons to Afghanistan's Taliban

American and 4 other airlines reach loan agreements with US

Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher on vaccine hopes

Justices keep hold on secret Russia investigation material

Supreme Court declines to hear Equal Pay Act case

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell arrested

Top sports story

Novak Djokovic and his wife test negative for coronavirus

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Novak Djokovic and his wife have tested negative for the coronavirus, his media team said Thursday, 10 days after announcing they had contracted the disease. The …

Trio of former UConn greats leading social justice charge

NEW YORK (AP) — Renee Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes appreciated what former UConn teammate Maya Moore was doing when the All-Star forward stepped away from basketball two years ago to focus on …

Watkins Glen open again, optimistic for NASCAR weekend

The roar is back at New York's Thunder Road. Three months after its opening day was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, Watkins Glen International is hosting car clubs again as NASCAR weekend …

More sports

Formula 1 season starts 4 months later in a different world

SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Four months after the opening race was called off at the last minute, the Formula One season finally gets underway this weekend on another continent and in a …

The Latest: Russian soccer league calls of another game

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: ___ The Russian soccer league says another game involving FC Orenburg has been called off following an outbreak …

Missouri man freed from prison with help from WNBA's Moore

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man was freed from prison Wednesday after a county prosecutor declined to retry his case, punctuating years of work by WNBA star Maya Moore and other …

MVP plaque presenters to discuss Landis' name on MLB trophy

NEW YORK (AP) — The baseball organization that presents the annual MVP awards will consider whether the name of former commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis should be pulled from future …

Daily Independent

Nation

Court could end claims Nestle, Cargill abetted child labor

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider ending a lawsuit that claims Nestle and Cargill facilitated the use of child slave labor on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast, a case that could further …

Whipping post removed from Delaware courthouse square

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) — An 8-foot (2.4 meters) tall whipping post was removed from a Delaware county courthouse square Wednesday after activists said the post was a reminder of racial …

Officials delay decision on Kentucky Confederate statue

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Officials in a Kentucky county have delayed a vote on whether to remove a Confederate statue from the grounds of a courthouse. Members of the Daviess County Fiscal Court …

Bishop: North Carolina priest kept on leave on abuse claims

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A Catholic priest in North Carolina will remain on administrative leave after allegations of sexual abuse against him were revealed last year, the Charlotte diocese's bishop …

U.S. trade deficit rises 9.7% to $54.6 billion in May; exports and imports fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. trade deficit rises 9.7% to $54.6 billion in May; exports and imports fall.

Unemployment falls to 11.1% as US added a record 4.8 million jobs in June, but pandemic dims outlook for further gains

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment falls to 11.1% as US added a record 4.8 million jobs in June, but pandemic dims outlook for further gains.

World

More than 80 reported killed this week in Ethiopia's unrest

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — More than 80 people have been killed in unrest in Ethiopia after a popular singer was shot dead this week, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation says. The …

Photo of toddler sitting on slain grandpa angers Kashmiris

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A photo of a toddler sitting on the chest of of his dead grandfather has outraged residents of Indian-controlled Kashmir after the victim’s family accused government forces …

Somali officer sentenced to death for shooting civilians

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A military court in Somalia sentenced a police officer to death on Thursday in the fatal shooting of two civilians while enforcing coronavirus restrictions in April. The …

Post-Brexit talks deadlocked after latest negotiating round

BRUSSELS (AP) — EU and U.K. negotiators in charge of finding a post-Brexit compromise resumed in-person talks this week, but the result remained the same, with no progress achieved on a range of …

US paratroopers injured in German training accident

BERLIN (AP) — Several American soldiers were injured in a training accident in Germany when they drifted off course during a parachute drop, the military said Thursday. The accident occurred at …

U.S., South Africa report new record coronavirus rises

BERLIN (AP) — The United States and South Africa have both reported record new daily coronavirus infections, with U.S. figures surpassing 50,000 cases a day for the first time, underlining the …

Entertainment

A view of the Trevi fountain in Rome, Saturday, June 20, 2020. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

European jobless rise contained by government help

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The unemployment rate in the 19 countries that use the euro currency inched higher to 7.4 % in May from …

Health workers arrive on a bus to conduct a free medical checkup at residential building in Mumbai, India, Thursday, July 2, 2020. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a live address Tuesday that the country's coronavirus death rate is under control, but that the country is at a "critical juncture." But since the lockdown was lifted, the caseload has shot up, making India the world's fourth-worst affected country. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Asia Today: Outbreak grows in Australia's 2nd-largest city

A coronavirus outbreak in Australia's second-largest city continued to grow Thursday and the Northern Territory detected its first …

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 21, 2020 file photo, actor Johnny Depp arrives for the screening of the film Minamata during the 70th International Film Festival Berlin, Berlinale in Berlin, Germany. A British judge on Thursday July 2, 2020, rejected an attempt by tabloid newspaper The Sun to quash a libel suit from Johnny Depp over an article claiming he abused ex-wife Amber Heard. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

UK judge rejects tabloid's bid to throw out Depp libel suit

LONDON (AP) — A British judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by tabloid newspaper The Sun to quash a libel suit from actor Johnny …

An aerial view of the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul's main tourist attractions in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Saturday, April 25, 2020. The 6th-century building is now at the center of a heated debate between conservative groups who want it to be reconverted into a mosque and those who believe the World Heritage site should remain a museum. (AP Photo)

Court considers status of Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s highest administrative court on Thursday began considering a request to turn Istanbul’s iconic …

A Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol honor guard carefully folds the retired Mississippi state flag after it was raised over the Capitol grounds one final time in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The banner was the last state flag with the Confederate battle emblem on it. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Mississippi retires its rebel-themed former flag to museum

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials held a ceremony Wednesday to retire the former state flag and send it to a history …

Business

Social media companies face revenue hit from boycotts

Verizon's decision to join the growing boycott against Facebook and Twitter risks hurting the social media giants where it hurts most: their advertising revenue. Advertising accounts for nearly …

Tesla 2Q deliveries rise over 1Q despite factory shutdown

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla says it delivered more electric vehicles worldwide in the second quarter than it did in the first. The increase came even though coronavirus restrictions forced it to shut down …

A predicted surge in US job growth for June might not last

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers likely rehired several million more workers in June, thereby reducing a Depression-level unemployment rate, but the most up-to-date data suggests that a resurgent …

US trade deficit rises 9.7% in May to $54.6 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit rose for the third straight month in May. Both exports and imports fell as the coronavirus outbreak continued to take a toll on world commerce. The …

Travel

Atlantic City casinos reopen in a changed pandemic world

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — For the first time in 108 days, slot machines will beep, dice will tumble and cards will be dealt at Atlantic City's casinos Thursday as they reopen amid a coronavirus …

Yellowstone park to reconsider controversial bison plan

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials plan to reconsider how they manage Yellowstone National Park's famous wild bison herds following longstanding complaints over thousands of the animals …

Report: Tourism to Latin America hammered by COVID

MIAMI (AP) — With the coronavirus keeping Americans at home during the summer, countries south of the U.S. border are bracing for an economic reckoning from a decline in tourism. A t Wednesday …

Countries eager for tourists, Tokyo Disneyland reopens

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Wednesday related to the national and global response, the work place and …

Things to do

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.

Gila River Hotels & Casinos reopening its locations May 15

Gila River Hotels & Casinos announced Monday that it will reopen its doors Friday, May 15. The Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva properties will open at noon to the public, according to a release.

Opinion

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