Arizona
Arizona Democrats bar press from convention events, defying norms
CHICAGO – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, fresh from Kamala Harris’ vice presidential short list, kicked off the morning for Wisconsin Democrats on Tuesday with a plea to avoid complacency and get voters to the polls.
“We cannot allow Donald Trump to get within a mile of the White House again,” the former astronaut told the breakfast crowd on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention. “This is not rocket science. It isn’t. If it was, I could help you with that.”
Kelly’s remarks were aired on C-Span and open to journalists, as state delegation breakfasts typically are at the parties’ conventions every four years.
But in 2024, the Arizona Democrats and Republicans both denied access to journalists, puzzling some delegates who said there was nothing sensitive – just the usual speechifying and daily pep rally.
“It’s a good way for the Democrats from Arizona to see who else is there and meet each other because in a venue like this, people are from all over the country,” said Ellen Ferreira, one of the Arizona Democratic Party’s 91 delegates in Chicago and president of the Sedona-area Democrats of the Red Rocks. “Nothing high level or secretive went on. I don’t see any reason why the press wasn’t (there).”
Other delegates also had no explanation for excluding news media from the Arizona delegation’s breakfast meetings.
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The state Democratic Party’s spokeswoman, Patricia Socarras, said by email that while delegates would be available for interviews, the breakfast was “not open to the press.” She provided no explanation, or speaker lists.
Arizona Republicans similarly refused to let in reporters at the GOP convention in Milwaukee in June.
For both Arizona parties, barring news media from delegation breakfasts is a departure from previous national conventions – and from the tradition of openness continued by other state delegations this year. These morning gatherings are a major focus on the delegates’ day, an opportunity to hear from state and national party luminaries and size up future contenders.
New York delegates, for instance, heard Monday morning from Empire State VIPs – Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – and from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, according to the American Prospect and other news reports.
The Georgia delegation heard from Sen. Raphael Warnock.
“Donald Trump tried to steal Georgia’s votes,” he said, according to Politico, referring to a call pressuring the state’s top elections official to somehow find enough votes to tip the 2020 election his way. “Kamala Harris is trying everything she can to earn our votes.”
Wisconsin delegates heard not only from Kelly but also from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – Harris’ choice for running mate.
Walz also made a surprise appearance at the Pennsylvania breakfast, according to MinnPost, though Minnesotans had to make do on Monday with Klobuchar and the state’s lieutenant governor.
The Illinois delegation heard from Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz, according to Axios, plus their own governor, JB Pritzker, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
That’s a sampling of the breakfast events open to the press in Chicago this week.
On Wednesday, Gov. Katie Hobbs headlined the Arizona breakfast, along with Booker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a rising Democratic star, spoke to the Arizona delegation along with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
That’s all according to delegates in the room who provided that information to Cronkite News; the state party itself has declined even to identify speakers.
At the Arizona breakfast on Monday, delegates heard from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego – and they were “amazing,” according to a social media post by delegate Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community.
“It was nice, kind of building up the energy because everyone is tired and it was early,” said Llama Habern, a first-time delegate and co-founder of the Rural Organizing Initiative. “It was fun that we all have the Arizona shirts.”
Habern said the state party chair, Yolanda Bejarano, also addressed delegates, that Fontes “was really good at getting a room going,” and that delegates rallied around the goal of “taking back the Senate.”
Asked later why the event wasn’t open to reporters, Gallego said she was “happy to share anything I said.”
“We have had reporters around all the time,” Gallego said. “When Arizona landed, most of our delegation did interviews at the baggage claim. So I feel like it’s been great representation for the Arizona media.”
Tom Morrissey, a former chair of the Arizona Republicans, said he allowed reporters into the delegate breakfasts at the 2012 convention, but times have changed.
“I don’t recall my keeping the press out because I believe in open discussion, but the temperature of the country and the landscape has shifted substantially,” he said by phone. “It’s a judgment call. I guess if I were chairman today, there might be times or circumstances where I wouldn’t allow somebody in that I thought might compromise the integrity of the meeting.”
Kansas Democrats closed their Monday breakfast to the media but said that was an isolated decision.
“Some folks do not want press there for various reasons, whether it’s to protect their identity, job security, that kind of stuff, but they might have really compelling stories or history that is motivating to our delegation, so we still want them there,” said Matthew Lang, communications director for Kansas Democrats. “Otherwise, we open up the space to the press.”
In 2016, Arizona Democrat and Republican delegation breakfasts provided insights into how the conventions intersected with Arizona issues and campaigns, as documented by Arizona news outlets.
Black Lives Matter discussions stood out in the Democrats’ meeting that year, soon after Dalvin Hollins, a Black robbery suspect in Tempe, was shot and killed by police.
That year, Arizona GOP leaders called for party unity after the divisive primaries that led to Trump’s nomination. They discussed outreach to independent voters and previewed campaign strategies.
Graham Rossini on Arizona State’s continued investment in track & field
Rossini said work is underway to rebuild the “track and field infrastructure” at ASU.
Arizona State is making a change at the head track and field coach position.
Dion Miller, the director of cross-country and track and field at ASU, has been let go, a school spokesperson confirmed to The Arizona Republic.
A national search is now underway to find the new coach to lead the program.
Miller was hired as director in July 2019, his second stint with the school. During his time with ASU, Miller — who primarily focused on the sprints — helped coach 36 All-Americans across the men’s and women’s programs.
ASU’s track and field team also just lost record-breaking junior sprinter Jayden Davis, a homegrown talent who recently entered the transfer portal.
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@usatodayco.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LSscribe.
A NASA mission to rescue its Swift Observatory from the brink has relied on Arizona, with Flagstaff’s Katalyst Aerospace supplying the spacecraft due to reach orbit and boost the telescope’s orbit.
Arizona plays a central role in a daring NASA mission: It will soon attempt to stave off the death of one of its space telescopes in danger of falling back to Earth.
The Swift Observatory has been scanning the cosmos for more than two decades while orbiting Earth. But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the crucial satellite has been unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Now, the U.S. space agency is on the cusp of mounting a rescue mission later in June – the likes of which has never before been attempted – that stunningly came together in less than a year.
The daring venture has recently reached the final stages, with the spacecraft that will fly in orbit – manufactured by an Arizona aerospace company – being mated with the rocket and the aircraft that will deploy it to orbit. If all goes to plan, the mission will soon send the spacecraft on a trajectory to intercept NASA’s telescope and reverse its decaying orbit by boosting it to a higher altitude, extending the observatory’s life.
Here’s what to know about the mission, and Arizona’s integral role in ensuring everything came together to save the observatory in time.
What is the Swift Observatory?
Launched in 2004, NASA’s Swift Observatory has spent more than two decades orbiting Earth while studying a variety of cosmic phenomena. The satellite’s primary objective, though, is to observe gamma-ray bursts – events triggered by the catastrophic deaths of massive stars and considered to be the most powerful types of explosions in the universe.
The satellite is equipped with three multiwavelength telescopes that are able to collect data in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light.
Swift space telescope falls faster to Earth than expected
NASA to mount rescue mission for vital space telescope named Swift
NASA and commercial partners will launch a spacecraft in June to boost Swift Observatory’s orbit, staving off its destruction and extending its life.
The Swift Observatory is in a region of space known as low-Earth orbit nearer to the atmosphere, which is also where the International Space Station resides.
All spacecraft in that region can expect to fall to lower altitudes if they don’t have propulsion systems to counteract atmospheric drag and maintain their orbits. But the Swift Observatory has fallen faster than NASA has anticipated because of increased solar storms since fall 2024.
NASA plans mission to rescue Swift
NASA could allow the Swift Observatory to fall back to Earth, where it would harmlessly burn up as it careened into the atmosphere.
Instead, the space agency is planning a mission to rescue the telescope and extend its mission for several more years.
A successful mission would mark the first time that a commercial robotic spacecraft captured a government satellite that – unlike other spacecraft like the Hubble Space Telescope – was never meant to be serviced in space. The unprecedented venture, NASA leaders say, would also test a new capability that could be used on other missions while negating the need to spend even more money to replace the observatory.
To accomplish the risky feat, NASA will need a spacecraft designed to capture and raise the orbit of the Swift Observatory, and a rocket to launch it into space, according to the agency. In the meantime, mission teams on the ground are keeping Swift at least 185 miles above Earth, where the boost mission has the best chance of success, NASA said.
Arizona aerospace company races to develop rescue spacecraft
The spacecraft that will attempt to rescue the Swift Observatory was developed by Katalyst Space, an aerospace company based in Flagstaff, Arizona, which was awarded the $30 million contract in September 2025.
With less than a year to help NASA mount a rescue mission, Katalyst developed the LINK robotic servicing spacecraft intended to latch onto a space telescope that was never meant to be captured.
Because Swift has no docking ports or grappling fixtures to grab onto, Katalyst built LINK with a custom robotic capture mechanism that will attach to a feature on the satellite’s main structure. The process is meant to mitigate the chance of any sensitive instruments being damaged, Katalyst said in a press release.
Why such a quick turnaround? Because Swift is falling – and falling fast.
According to Katalyst, the satellite has a 50% chance of making an uncontrolled reentry by mid-2026 without intervention, with those odds increasing to 90% by the end of 2026.
Northrop Grumman to launch LINK spacecraft
LINK will hitch a ride to space with a rocket manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a Virginia-based aerospace and defense company. At about 55 feet tall, Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL is classified as a small-lift rocket regarded as the world’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle.
In mid-June, LINK was securely encapsulated in a payload fairing inside the Pegasus XL rocket at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, according to Katalyst.
The Pegasus XL was also attached around the same time to the belly of Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer aircraft tasked with deploying the rocket, NASA said in a press release. The Stargazer aircraft then took off June 18 from Wallops bound for the Marshall Islands, where the mission is due to commence.
When, where is launch?
The Pegasus XL rocket is due to launch later in June from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the South Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines, according to NASA.
Rather than get the rocket off the ground vertically on a launch pad, Northrop Grumman deploys an air-launch strategy to send the Pegasus to space. The approach will require the company’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to take off and climb to approximately 40,000 feet over the ocean, where Pegasus will be released.
After several seconds in free-fall, the Pegasus XL will then ignite the first of its three-stage rocket motors, delivering LINK into orbit in about 10 minutes, according to Northrop Grumman.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona is launching a statewide task force aimed at cracking down on cargo theft.
CargoNet estimates $725 million was lost in cargo thefts nationwide in 2025. Arizona is among the states where cargo theft happens most often.
Cargo thefts rise in Arizona
State Sen. Kevin Payne was the sponsor of Senate Bill 1452, which created the Cargo Theft Task Force and was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday.
“There’s a lot of cargo theft going on,” Payne said.
The bill creates a statewide cargo theft task force made up of six investigators, legal staff, and any law enforcement designated by the Attorney General’s office. The task force will investigate cargo theft and track new criminal trends.
“I don’t think that people thought it was as serious as it actually is,” Payne said.
Scott Cornell, chief risk officer for SPG Cargo and Logistics and chair of the Transported Asset Protection Association, said he has investigated cargo theft for three decades and that cases have become harder to solve lately
“These large, sophisticated international crime rings have taken over cargo theft in the United States, and they pull the strings from a dozen or two dozen different countries,” Cornell said.
Cornell said addressing cargo theft directly through a specialized task force at the state level could have more impact.
“I think when you address it directly, like Arizona is with a cargo theft task force, you’re bound to have much more impact than a state that doesn’t have that specialization,” he said.
In Arizona, expensive shoes, watches and electronics are among the items stolen from semitrucks and trains in the last couple of years.
“We pay for it,” Cornell said. “The cost is absolutely going to be passed on to the consumer. There’s no question about it.”
Payne said the goal of the task force is to reduce cargo theft in Arizona.
“I sure would like to eliminate a lot of it,” Payne said. “You know, cut it down a lot. Make it to where it’s not profitable for them to do this so they’ll stop.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is in charge of establishing the task force. In a statement, the AG’s office says Attorney General Kris Mayes looks forward to continuing the ongoing work to combat retail theft and cargo theft through this task force, and it will coordinate efforts with law enforcement statewide.
The task force’s first report is due to the governor, Senate president and House speaker by July 1, 2027.
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