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Phoenix faces dueling lawsuits over homeless crisis as advocates scramble for more shelter
Phoenix is facing dueling lawsuits as it tries to manage a crisis of homelessness that has converted its downtown into a tent city housing hundreds of people as summer temperatures soar.
2024 spending spread from schools to a rodeo and more
The budget crafted by Gov. Katie Hobbs and state lawmakers includes a tax rebate, big-ticket spending packages and – in a break from tradition – funding for scores of small, local projects.
City of Phoenix to appeal ruling compelling it to clear out homeless encampment
The City of Phoenix filed notice it would be appealing a ruling compelling the city to clear out the homeless encampment known as “the Zone” by July and filed a motion to stay the ruling amid the appeal.
Housing reform bipartisan across country, can be in Arizona
We are at a crossroads with our housing crisis in Arizona. We can either take action to mitigate the crisis or we can continue with status quo. For us, the answer is clear. This is not a question of politics or partisanship. This is about helping human beings achieve their dreams and improve their daily lives. It’s about fairness and acting with grace. We need reform – and we need it now.
Farnsworth’s story of homelessness prompts Senate committee chair to pull Kavanagh’s proposal
A Republican state senator from Mesa's personal experience with mental illness and homelessness derailed a bid by another GOP lawmaker, this one a former cop, to make sleeping on a sidewalk a state crime. Sen. David Farnsworth's extended comments about his struggles led the chairman of a Senate committee to pull Republican Fountain Hills Sen. John Kavanagh's proposal from consideration during a he[...]
Federal judge orders stop to enforcement of camping ban at homeless zone
White dump trucks outfitted with City of Phoenix emblems and street sweepers lined the roads near the concentrated homeless camp dubbed, “the Zone,” this morning as part of their new... […]
ACLU sues Phoenix over homeless ‘sweeps’
Frank Urban and Faith Kearns, who used to be unsheltered, are co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Fund for Empowerment against the city of Phoenix, alleging constitutional violations and municipal liability for alleged “sweeps,” subsequent seizure of property and the use of city statutes, “criminalizing homelessness.”
Woman sues over ban on feeding homeless people in parks
A woman who was arrested for feeding homeless people in northwest Arizona is suing over a local ordinance that regulates food-sharing events in public parks.
Heat deaths in Arizona’s biggest county outpace last year’s
This summer was the deadliest on record for heat-associated fatalities in Arizona's largest county amid a growing wave of homelessness. Public health statistics this week confirmed a record 359 such deaths just days before the end of the six-month heat season.
Heat deaths in state’s largest county hit half-year record
Heat associated deaths in Arizona's largest county have hit a half-year record as more homeless people live unprotected outdoors in the arid desert while summer temperatures soar well into triple digits.
AZ needs courageous leaders, not rescuers, saviors
We don’t need rescuers and saviors to address homelessness and the housing crisis. We need courageous leaders who will listen to those with lived experience and people on the front lines. We need to implement evidence-based best practices and proven solutions.
Take care when sweeping property of unsheltered
These people living in the streets are our neighbors, and we have a duty to treat them like neighbors. Trash and waste can be thrown away. Things that are broken can be replaced. But human lives that are lost on the streets of our city cannot be brought back.
