PHOENIX — From a new corporate headquarter for Valley-based Sprouts to a brush fire causing a highway closure and more, here are some of the top Arizona news stories from April 25-27.
Karrin Taylor Robson reacts to Donald Trump’s split Arizona governor endorsement
Karrin Taylor Robson said Thursday it’s an honor be one of the two Republican candidates President Donald Trump is endorsing for Arizona governor.
“I am honored that he reaffirmed what he told me in December from the rally stage when he urged me to run,” Taylor Robson told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show. “That’s in large measure why I’m running, to support him.”
During a Dec. 22 speech in Phoenix, Trump, then the president-elect, said he wanted Taylor Robson to be the next Arizona governor.
At the time, no major GOP candidates had declared their intention to run.
Sprouts Farmers Market to build new HQ campus in north Phoenix
A huge new corporate campus is sprouting up in north Phoenix.
Sprouts Farmers Market, the Phoenix-based specialty grocer, closed Thursday on a deal to build a brand-new corporate headquarters campus.
Sprouts will be developing a 180,000-square-foot mixed-use project on seven acres in the CityNorth development near 56th Street and the Loop 101, close to its current headquarters at High Street in north Phoenix.
Both directions of State Route 87 reopen south of Payson after brush fire
State Route 87 reopened south of Payson after being closed due to a brush fire on Saturday, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced.
The northbound closure began at milepost 299 and the southbound closure started just north of State Route 188. About two hours later, ADOT announced the northbound closure had been extended to start at Bush Highway, much closer to the Valley.
The closure lasted roughly 5.5 hours.
Army control of U.S.-Mexico border buffer zone may funnel migrants to tribal land in Arizona
Some Arizona border officials have welcomed President Donald Trump’s order for a military takeover at the U.S-Mexico border.
But migrant advocates fear that by sealing hundreds of miles of border in the Southwest, the troops will effectively funnel migrants to far more dangerous crossing points. And environmentalists warn of damage to habitats that support nearly two dozen endangered species.
“Militarizing the border has historically only ramped up deaths,” said James Holeman, founder of Battalion Search and Rescue, a group of volunteers who hike through desolate regions of Arizona and New Mexico searching for remains of migrants who couldn’t survive the desert.
“You’re talking about vulnerable people that are making very deadly choices,” he said.
Why is Phoenix ranked 4th worst in nation for air quality?
A recent American Lung Association study found that Phoenix has the fourth worst air quality in the U.S.
The city also has the highest number of ozone days, according to Bradley Busby with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). He joined Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday to discuss some of the reasons Phoenix struggles with air quality.
“One is wildfires, wildfire smoke and the gases that wildfires put off definitely influence our ozone here. And we’ve seen a lot of wildfires in the West, even up in Canada that have blanketed much of the U.S., including Arizona at times. And that can influence are ozone negatively for sure,” Busby said.
The post Weekend wrap: Here are the biggest Arizona news stories from April 25-27 appeared first on KTAR.
