KTAR News 92.3 Reporter Stories

The country of Peru is celebrating Pope Leo XIV as the new pontiff. ASU History professor Matthew Casey lives in Lima, Peru. He says there are celebrations planned in Lima, in Chiclayo where Robert Prevost was a Bishop, and Trujillo where he was the head of the Augustinian seminary and served as a missionary in the 1980's. 

20 Arizona students received funding from the Helios Education Foundation's 20th anniversary pathway scholarship. 

This is the first international trade deal since President Trump imposed global tariffs.

You now need a REAL ID to fly in the U.S., so what do you do if you don't have one?

Legislative District 8 Democrat Chair Steven Jackson says he drafted a letter calling for Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Robert Branscomb to resign. He says the goal is to see if anyone else was interested in running. But Jackson explains there is still potential for reconciliation if Branscomb could win back the trust of statewide elected officials. 

It's Juror Appreciation Week at Maricopa County Superior Court. Jurors are offered refreshments in the assembly area and some even get a gift card to cover lunch. Judge Danielle Viola says they're also passing out stickers, stress balls and gavel shaped pencils. 

Teacher appreciation 5: Katie Stell

A new law expands the Arizona Department of Education's school safety program. The bill was signed by Governor Hobbs this week, permitted the use of grant money already set aside for schools to be used for door locks, safety training, and the hiring of retired law enforcement officers as school resource officers. 

Teacher appreciation 4: Anna Andrews

Arizona schools and students have been cleared to start receiving federal funding again after a court ruled in favor of the state's Attorney General. 

It's teacher appreciation week, and we're featuring a different Valley teacher each day of the week! Today we take a look at Efrain Casillas, a music teacher who proves educating kids comes full circle.

It's teacher appreciation week, and we're featuring a different Valley teacher each day of the week! Today we take a look at Sara Daffe, an art teacher that teachers her students that they 'can'.

It's teacher appreciation week, and we're featuring a different Valley teacher each day of the week! Today we're taking a look at Nerwin Balilu, a resource teacher in Maricopa.

A new West Valley school is looking to fix an overcrowding issue and honor a local pilot. 

The Trump administration will now pay a thousand dollars and help cover travel expenses for anyone in the country illegally who "self deports." 

The 2025 report on Alzheimer's from the Alzheimer's Association shows more than 7 million people are living with the disease in the United States.  We hear from the Desert Southwest Chapter on how Arizona is being impacted by dementia and the changes the state must make to address it. 

By Kate Ourada

Hines is the first of seven facing charges for killing East Valley teen Preston Lord during a group attack outside of a Halloween party in 2023.

All In Education's annual MAPA report measures the difference between Latino student's test scores, and scores of other races and ethnicities. Anaiis Ballesteros with the organization explains the problem boils down a lack of community representation, and the language gap created by a 25-year-old piece of Arizona legislation.

This is Tempe's fourth annual "Project Connect"--a one day event connecting people facing homelessness with a wide range of services.

The University of Arizona’s school counseling degree is getting an update, switching departments and raising the student capacity.

With more patients hearing the claim Ivermectin is a cancer cure-all, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center Division Chief of Cancer Medicine Dr. Madappa Kundranda explains what the drug actually helps with and why he's concerned about these claims. 

By Kate Ourada

President of the Arizona Farm Bureau John Boelts says he hopes the cage free egg rule never goes into effect because it will raise the price of eggs indefinitely. Governor Katie Hobbs delayed the rule for seven years that would require cage free chickens in Arizona by 2027. Boelts says a similar rule was implemented in California and almost all of their laying hen facilities have left the state. 

The vote on Arizona’s potential new empowerment scholarship account handbook was pushed off again.

Students at high schools across Mesa got the opportunity to meet with over one hundred businesses and companies looking for interns or part time workers. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is asking the governing board of the Phoenix Union High School District to reconsider a decision that denied funding for armed officers at two of its schools.