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Consumer Reports: Weatherproofing your home for Arizona heat and storms

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Consumer Reports: Weatherproofing your home for Arizona heat and storms


(CONSUMER) —Summer isn’t all fun in the sun. It increasingly includes dangerous heat and severe storms, but there are ways to protect yourself and your home.

Consumer Reports explains that a good defense against Mother Nature’s warm weather wrath starts with DIY projects around the house.

Climate change brings more frequent and destructive weather from coast to coast. That’s led to a dramatic increase in many homeowner’s insurance policies. But that price hike doesn’t mean you’re getting more coverage.

Homeowner’s insurance generally doesn’t cover water from outside your house, so supplementing your insurance with a flood policy is not a bad idea.

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Even without a flood, extreme heat can damage water in surprising ways, specifically with your plumbing. Take metal pipes: They can expand and contract and, over time, leak.

You should inspect your plumbing routinely or have a plumber do it regularly. You could also consider installing a leak detector. They’re a little expensive upfront but can save you tons of money in the long run.

Consumer Reports recommends the leak detector, Flo by Moen Smart Water Shutoff System 900-001, which costs $500.

Extreme heat can wreak havoc on your roofing even when the weather is dry. It’s essential to inspect it and look for damaged shingles or tiles and replace them before they leak and cause more damage.

The heat could overtax your air conditioning system. Regularly replacing the air filters and scheduling routine professional maintenance will help avoid pricey repairs later.

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High heat and humidity can also create ideal conditions for mold and mildew. To prevent this, you should keep the humidity inside your home between thirty and fifty percent.

Anything higher and mold and dust mites can thrive. A dehumidifier can help with that.

Consumer Reports tested dozens of dehumidifiers and found that the Midea MAD50C1ZWS, priced at $250 for larger rooms, does a great job of removing water from the air, which helps maintain the ideal humidity in your home.

If you’re concerned about power outages, a portable generator can help power the essentials in your home.

You’ll want to store a generator in a clean, dry, and ventilated spot that you can access easily and that is NOT attached to the house.

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You’ll want to have at least 10 gallons of fresh gasoline on hand in a safety container, adding fuel stabilizer to help it last as long as possible.



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Arizona

NFL mock draft: 4-round projections for Arizona Cardinals

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NFL mock draft: 4-round projections for Arizona Cardinals



In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.

We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?

Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.

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Cardinals 4-round mock draft

Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.

  • Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
  • Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
  • Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
  • Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber

What we think of the picks

The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.

Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.

Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.

Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Detroit Lions NFL Draft Injury Report: Arizona State CB Keith Abney

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Detroit Lions NFL Draft Injury Report: Arizona State CB Keith Abney


Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.

Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:

(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)

Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State

Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.

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Concern level 0/10

There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.

His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.

He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.

For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a likeFollow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD

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Arizona baseball drops low-scoring series opener to Kansas State

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Arizona baseball drops low-scoring series opener to Kansas State


Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.

In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.

Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.

Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.

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“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”

Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.

It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.

Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.

Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.

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Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.

A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.

AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.

With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.

As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.

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“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”



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