Category: Articles
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ACA enrollment uptick a ‘pleasant surprise’ after years of declines
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – After years of steady declines, enrollment in Affordable Care Act coverage ticked up in Arizona and held steady in the U.S. this year in what one advocate called a “pleasant surprise” after a challenging year. The six-week open enrollment period that ended last Tuesday showed enrollment going from 153,020…
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State posts new COVID-19 case record, as possible holiday surge looms
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Arizona reported a record 10,322 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, more than twice the previous high, as cases surged ahead of a holiday season that one health expert said could be a “real scary time.” State health officials were quick to point out that Tuesday’s numbers were artificially high because…
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Holiday travel down this year, but millions still hit roads, airports
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Thanksgiving travel is expected to be down sharply this year because of COVID-19, but as many as 50 million Americans are still expected to travel this week despite pleas from health experts to stay home. And those people who do travel could run into a bewildering array of restrictions…
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Arizona comes up short on report on lung cancer screening, treatment
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Arizona was in the bottom tier in three of six categories in a new American Lung Association report, which put the state dead-last for the number of patients who receive treatment after getting a diagnosis of lung cancer. The 2020 “State of Lung Cancer” report released Tuesday also said…
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COVID-19 vaccine test subjects weighed risks, rolled up their sleeves
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – With Santa Cruz County facing one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases in the state, Tubac Fire Department Fire Chief Cheryl Horvath knew that a vaccine is what’s needed to bring an end to the pandemic. But a vaccine requires human volunteers as test subjects. Horvath had never…
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Soldiering on: After layoff, guardsman wins ‘best warrior’ competition
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Daniel D’Ippolito’s situation was hardly unique in March when he was laid off from his job renting heavy equipment, one of the tens of thousands of Arizonans who lost jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic that month. What he’s done since then, however, is unique. After he was laid…
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State tops 250,000 COVID-19 cases, 6,000 deaths, renewing safety calls
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – State officials repeated calls for Arizonans to take commonsense health measures, as the state passed two grim milestones this week in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that the state surpassed 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths Tuesday, one day before it reported that total…
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As COVID-19 cases surge anew, some towns lift mask mandates
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Payson Mayor Tom Morrisey thinks mask-wearing is one of the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 in his town – but he doesn’t want to force residents to do it. Payson is one of a number of local governments that have lifted facemask ordinances in recent weeks,…
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Air Trump: Cost of trips to campaign events still hard to pin down
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News Oct. 27, 2020 WASHINGTON – When Air Force One touches down in Arizona for President Donald Trump’s campaign visits to Bullhead City and Goodyear on Wednesday, it will be at least the 20th campaign stop for the jet in the past eight days. Who pays for those trips? You do. Maybe.…
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University of Arizona team cheers success of asteroid-contact mission
By Josh Ortega/Cronkite News WASHINGTON – After more than a decade of work, $800 million and 200 million miles of space travel, it all came down to six seconds. That’s how long OSIRIS-REx spent on the surface of near-Earth asteroid Bennu, collecting a small sample of soil before lifting off again for a return trip…
Josh Ortega 