The rate of women in Arizona who died during or after pregnancy nearly tripled from 1999 to 2019, with the most dramatic increases among the state’s minority populations: Native American mothers died at more than triple the rate of their white counterparts in 2019, while Black maternal deaths occurred at a rate almost five times that of white mothers.
Posted inLaw Enforcement
Border vigilantes are blurring the lines of law enforcement
All along the border, organized vigilante groups are filming themselves conducting patrols, taking photos of themselves alongside law enforcement, and sharing footage online to solicit donations, promote their work, and recruit new members. They’ve also forged relationships with local and federal law enforcement, particularly in several border counties in Arizona and Texas, raising questions about the extent to which vigilantes are illegally attempting to do the work of law enforcement or violating other laws.
Posted inEducation
Suspensions for missing class prevalent beyond Arizona, data shows
In 2022, a first-of-its-kind investigation by AZCIR and The Hechinger Report revealed that Arizona schools frequently suspended students for tardiness and truancy. Now, a new review of a dozen other states that track attendance-related suspensions shows the controversial disciplinary tactic is pervasive throughout the country.
Posted inEnvironment
Groundwater regulation weaknesses exploited by industrial-scale agriculture
Over the past 15 years, even with groundwater restrictions in effect that limit new irrigated land, at least several thousand acres of dormant farmland have again started siphoning groundwater to sustain new crops in Arizona’s Douglas basin, often under industrial-scale owners that consolidated the land—and the grandfathered water rights tied to it—into massive operations.
Posted inMethodology
Our methods: Groundwater regulation weakness exploited by large farms
To understand the growth of active farmland and groundwater declines in the Douglas basin, AZCIR analyzed data from local and state agencies, including the Arizona Department of Water Resources, as well as satellite data compiled by federal agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.