AZCIR

Dozens of people died in Arizona sober living homes as state officials fumbled Medicaid fraud response

Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they haven’t accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the ...
AZCIR

God-given rights: The nationwide spread of the ‘constitutional sheriff’

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club ...
AZCIR

‘Sovereign citizen’ filings flood Pima County, parallel national resurgence of controversial movement

A 63-page packet arrived at the Pima County Recorder’s Office in January, postmarked from Texas with unusual formatting identifying the sender: oddly hyphenated names, stray colons and bracketed-off ...
AZCIR

Suspending students for absences, tardies compounds learning loss

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. PHOENIX—Guadalupe Hernandez’s attendance problems started in kindergarten. The boy, who has two attention ...
AZCIR

Investors, cannabis corporations acquire more social equity licenses as deadline to open dispensaries looms

As Arizona’s remaining social equity license holders scramble to open marijuana dispensaries before a looming October deadline, private investors and major cannabis corporations have continued to ...
AZCIR

Groundwater regulation weaknesses exploited by industrial-scale agriculture

ELFRIDA, Ariz. — Elaine Bailey stood at the microphone at the Sunsites Community Center in southeastern Arizona, voice shaking as she described the massive scale of new agricultural development next ...
AZCIR

Arizona asset seizures net $200M in past five years

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. Civil asset forfeiture laws let Arizona police seize tens of millions of dollars in cash and property each ...
AZCIR

Border911: The misinformation network profiting off the false invasion narrative

Dark money and charity organizations led by former intelligence officers and ex-feds have been spreading propaganda and laying the groundwork for presidential election challenges. For a retired ...
AZCIR

In wake of pandemic, some districts take less-punitive approach to absenteeism

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. Pandemic-related school closures wreaked havoc on attendance. Strict quarantine periods and policies ...
AZCIR

Corporate marijuana dispensaries flex financial muscle, overtake Arizona’s social equity program

Denzel Mason was halfway through his Friday shift as an assistant manager at Phoenix Relief Center, a marijuana dispensary in southwest Phoenix, when his phone rang with the news. He had spent much of ...
AZCIR

IN THE SHERIFF WE TRUST

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which teaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing to ...
AZCIR

Experts warn of radicalization pipeline as Sedona wellness communities, anti-government groups share space

SEDONA—Natural light filtered through New Age tapestries covering skylights at the Ultimate Light Mission community center on the outskirts of Sedona, softening the afternoon sun as the woody ...