CHANDLER, AZ — He thought he was ready to walk away, but his customers had other plans.

After nearly three decades in restaurants, the owner of a beloved South Chandler burrito shop, Rita’s Burritos, decided it was time for a new chapter and announced he was closing for good.

What happened next stunned him.

Within hours, his phone lit up nonstop with texts, calls, and messages from a community that wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

The overwhelming response didn’t just save a restaurant; it reignited a passion.

In the video player above, ABC15’s Cameron Polom shows how a neighborhood rallied around a small business owner to make a big impact.

Three cases of measles have been confirmed among federal immigration detainees in Arizona, according to health officials.

The Pinal County Public Health Services District on Jan. 16 reported its first measles case in a decade and has since confirmed two more. All three cases “are associated with individuals in federal custody,” Pinal County Public Health Services District spokesperson Jassmin Castro wrote in a Jan. 27 email to Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The potential outbreak comes as migrants in other detention centers in the United States describe sick children and a lack of health care resources while inside, and cases of the measles are on the rise in other states.

More details on the confirmed cases of measles in Arizona

Pinal County is located in the central part of Arizona between the cities of Tucson and Phoenix.

Castro would not say whether the confirmed cases are linked. Congregate settings such as jails and prisons are vulnerable to outbreaks if not enough people are vaccinated and public health protocols aren’t followed.

Castro would not provide other details about infected individuals, including detention facilities and locations, “in order to protect patient privacy and comply with medical confidentiality laws.” But the Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a Jan. 27 email to The Arizona Republic that at least one case was a Mexican citizen being held at the Florence Detention Center in central Arizona.

The DHS email also stated that ICE Health Services Corp. “immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread and infection, ceasing all movement within the facility and quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected.”

Officials with ICE did not immediately respond to The Arizona Republic on Jan. 27. At this time, the overall risk to the general public is low, Castro wrote.

More news: Nation’s measles-free status in jeopardy. How doctors are handling it.

Measles cases on the rise in Arizona and nationwide

The Pinal County cases are part of an overall spike in measles cases in Arizona. There have been 25 in Arizona to date in 2026: three in Pinal County, three in Maricopa County, two in Pima County, and 17 in Mohave County. The Mohave County cases are part of an outbreak on the Arizona-Utah border that has been ongoing since August 2025.

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Republican state Sen. Carine Werner from Scottsdale introduced a new bill Thursday to fix the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), our state’s Medicaid system, that’s been plagued by fraud.

“The system is so broken that there’s no going back. I believe that AHCCCS has failed,” said Werner.

Arizona’s Family has extensively covered the sober living home scandal, which led to preventable deaths and one of the biggest fraud cases in Arizona history.

Werner says AHCCCS cannot go on like this, and at this point, a major overhaul is the only way to solve the deep-rooted systemic issues.

If Senate Bill 1611 were to become law, it would allow AHCCCS to retain oversight authority, but all administrative and care coordination would be managed by another outside entity.

Thursday marked the fourth Senate oversight hearing meant to hold AHCCCS accountable after billions of dollars of fraud and fake sober living homes scamming the system were uncovered over the past few years.

Werner says she is still concerned about a lack of data, inaccurate reporting, prolonged payment delays to Indian health care providers, and unresolved complaints related to patient care.

“As a result of the fraud, you know, all kinds of actions had to be taken in order to stop it and that’s important and we have to continue to take actions and use our tools and our processes to ensure that we are mitigating as much as possible fraud, waste, and abuse in the system,” said Virginia Rountree, director of AHCCCS, during the hearing.

“Despite public exposure, investigations, lawsuits, media coverage and legislative attention, the same harmful practices remain active. The system has not been fixed; it has only adapted,” said Reva Stewart, an advocate with the Turtle Island Women Warriors during the hearing. “We really do need change. We don’t need any more excuses.”

During the hearing, concerns about everyone having to suffer for the actions of bad actors were discussed.

A few senators and a lawyer for legitimate behavioral health facilities say some changes AHCCCS has made have punished operators doing the right thing.

They say that’s forced many providers to close their small businesses which creates gaps in care for vulnerable people.

It’s a complex problem involving a critical system that serves nearly 2 million people in our state.

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