by Matthew Holloway | Jul 27, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
In an announcement on Tuesday, Gannett Co., Inc., the parent company of the Arizona Republic, revealed that the newspaper will no longer be printed at the company’s Deer Valley Printing Facility in North Phoenix. The facility will be shut down with its 117 employees laid off.
According to AZCentral, the last copies of the Arizona Republic will roll off the presses at the 300,000-square-foot plant on October 5th, and the newspaper will be printed, packaged, and distributed from the company’s Las Vegas facility.
Lark-Marie Antón, Gannett chief communications and brand officer, explained in a statement, “Where our newspaper is printed does not impact our ability to deliver outstanding journalism. The Arizona Republic will continue to provide readers with quality, local content that matters most to them, and to connect our valued advertising partners with the customers they want to reach.”
Antón did not address the impact on Phoenix except to say that all of the facility’s employees involved in printing and packaging would receive severance packages: “We deeply appreciate the years of service our knowledgeable, skilled staff has dedicated to our Phoenix facility and the local community.”
The outlet reported that the 20-acre property where the plant stands has been acquired by Atlas Capital Partners of Scottsdale and New York-based DRA Advisors, with Atlas CEO Chris Walton saying, “The location, distinctive building characteristics, lower coverage and proximity to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) all added to the allure of this acquisition.”
One employee who spoke to Fox 10 said, “After Oct. 1, it’s no longer a local paper. The amount of papers that we were doing, the amount of work we were doing for the 117 people there, it doesn’t make sense why they would cut our positions.”
The anonymous employee with almost 15 years at the facility told the outlet, “I’ve held almost every position they’ve had from an insert machine…to maintenance machinist supervisor,” he added that the announcement was “jarring.”
According to KTAR, the Deer Valley Facility also printed the Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff), as well as out-of-state publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, and other newspapers delivered in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. The move by Gannett will leave the Yuma Sun as the largest daily newspaper by circulation still printed in Arizona.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 26, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
Tolleson Union High School District Superintendent Jeremy Calles found himself the subject of intense grilling at the hands of Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) Co-Chairmen Matt Gress and Mark Finchem during a three-hour hearing this week. Following the exchange, Gress told reporters that he and Finchem “will be reviewing our options with the Auditor General.”
The fiery hearing came about in response to concerns over a Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) leaseback deal with the Isaac Elementary School District that would see TUHSD purchase Isaac Middle School for $25 million with the elementary district then leasing the building at an interest rate of 6%.
Calles revealed in the hearing that he holds two professional roles, one as a consultant and the second as Superintendent, and he confirmed to the committee that initial conversations on the deal began in his role as a consultant.
He told the JLAC, “The first conversation I had came from a text message from, yes, the prior superintendent, Mr. Mario Ventura, who texted me and asked if I could take a look at his finances.”
Calles explained that when his district became involved, his role in the deal changed, although he claimed to have never billed for the conversation and never contracted with Isaac Elementary School District as a consultation client.
“This is not a new concept; the only thing novel on this idea is that both sides of the transaction, you have a school district. Everything else about this transaction, both sides of the transaction are not unseen,” he told lawmakers.
The Superintendent said that the agreement between the districts lacked a prepayment penalty, had no lock-in requirement, and aided the district in a financial crisis. He suggested that the benefit for TUHSD students was in generating up to $7 million in funding for the district. However, committee members balked at this suggestion, noting that although the district holds a “B” letter grade from the Arizona State Board of Education, only 30% of its students are proficient in Mathematics, English, and Language Arts.
Gress challenged him, “Here, you have not been able to demonstrate the $25 million financial transaction benefiting Tolleson Union students directly, given that you have no square footage, you’re not providing any learning services. It’s not even in your district so this is far beyond novel. I think you’ve made a mockery of our state law.”
He added, “I think you should be ashamed of yourself for the way you’ve mistreated taxpayers of Tolleson Union.”
The Superintendent was later asked by Rep. Carbone, “Why doesn’t every school district now just follow your lead and start making money and become a bank?”
In a reponse that appeared to show defiance, he said, “I don’t think every school district has a superintendent willing to stand in front of you like this.”
As reported by State 48 News, Calles confirmed that he utilizes his district office to conduct personal business during working hours. The outlet noted that under questioning it was further revealed that two members of the school district are also employed by the Superintendent through his consultancy.
When pressed to answer questions from Tolleson City Manager Reyes Medrano Jr., along with Police Chief Rudy Mendoza and former Superintendent Kino Flores regarding his conduct, including an alleged request for Tolleson to pay Calles’ real estate broker an $85,000 fee related to the district’s purchase of city land, Medrano suggested this violated state procurement laws.
“The 85 was going to be on top of the purchase price, and then we were supposed to pay the broker with it,” he told the committee. According to Medrano, Calles told him “it would be cleaner” to do so.
Calles lashed out in response, claiming the allegation “borderlines defamation.” He said in full: “I believe that borderlines defamation, the way he made that implication as if something nefarious was happening.”
Speaking with a reporter, Calles rejected the allegations saying that “they’re all lies. Do you see our improvement on the letter grade system? You see that our schools are moving up on their performance?”
The Superintendent told 12News that he expected the committee to request review of his conduct by the Arizona Auditor General and said, “When the Auditor General’s Office finally sends me someone, I’ll give them the full story.”
In a statement following the hearing, Gress said, “The hearing today revealed deeply troubling information that shows a pattern of disregard for public transparency. Combining public service with private consulting work, including using Tolleson District facilities and employees to support superintendent Calles’s consulting company reeks of corruption. Chairman Finchem and I will be reviewing our options with the auditor general.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 26, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Congressman Andy Biggs’ gubernatorial campaign reported significant gains in fundraising during the second quarter of 2025 with a haul of $429,000. It marks the single largest fundraising quarter for Biggs in his career thus far.
The campaign reported that Biggs’ fundraising performance improved by almost $200,000 over the first quarter and noted, “This shows momentum and enthusiasm for his campaign with additional room for growth as his digital fundraising operation begins to build out.”
In a statement to AZ Free News, Biggs’ Campaign Senior Advisor Drew Sexton said, “We’re very pleased with our past quarter as Congressman Biggs more than doubled his cash on hand, received endorsements from President Donald J. Trump and Charlie Kirk, and continues his strong performance in every public poll with the set field of GOP candidates. We look forward to building on this in the coming months as the Congressman shares his vision for Arizona with voters from across the state.”
According to Capitol Media Services, Biggs’ primary opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson, narrowly outperformed Biggs in fundraising with $575,000 in individual donations and $2,500 from PACs in the second quarter. However, Robson also reported loaning her campaign over $2.2 million, which has been all but spent on advertising President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Robson.
The Biggs campaign made note of this in an email to AZ Free News stating, “The Biggs for Arizona campaign has an end of Q2 COH of $437K, more than doubling the campaign’s Q1 COH indicating a sustainable level of spending in comparison to the over $2.7M already spent by his primary opponent.”
According to Axios, the state of play as of this report is that:
- Democrat incumbent Governor Katie Hobbs, running effectively unopposed in her primary, has raised the most funds in the second quarter of 2025, netting approximately $1.3 million and held about $4.7 million cash on hand.
- Robson brought in $2.8 million, but as noted, $2.2 million was her own money. She has less than $900,000 remaining and is spending rapidly.
- Biggs however raised $429,000 and closed the quarter with about $437,000 on hand, showing consistent, steady growth.
As reported by AZ Free News in early June, Biggs’ advertising spend has been supplemented what Turning Point PAC declared “the largest launch event in Arizona gubernatorial primary history,” complete with a media campaign costing over $500,000, with the “Biggs for Governor” Rally hosted by Turning Point Action and Turning Point PAC itself counting for “an additional $780,000 in earned media value (EMV),” according to a press release.
Turning Point PAC said in a statement at the time, “Taken as a whole with Turning Point PAC’s $500,000 media buy announcement, the organization’s independent expenditures and organizing to support Biggs’s primary launch already amounts to over $1,400,000.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 24, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has launched his second attempt to unseat Republican Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ02). In response, the Congressman blasted Arizona Democrats, saying they “have hit rock bottom, which is exactly where they found Jonathan Nez.”
The Navajo Democrat was handily defeated by Crane in a 9-point race in 2024, outperforming former Vice President Kamala Harris by 3.5 points and exceeding then-Democrat Senate candidate Ruben Gallego in Arizona’s 2nd District.
In a lengthy interview with the Arizona Republic, Nez told the outlet, “Reintroducing myself and introducing myself is going to be priority this time. It seems like it’s been a long time, but it’s only been seven months of this administration… but as you know, and the people in this country know, there’s a lot of changes with policies and laws that are negatively impacting people every day, hardworking people.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Crane wrote:
“The Democratic Party has no leader, no message, no policy agenda, and no candidates. They’ve resigned themselves to the same old, tired talking points being spewed by the same old extreme liberals.
“They have hit rock bottom, which is exactly where they found Jonathan Nez – still licking his wounds after learning the hard way rural Arizona does not want to be represented by a never-Trump radical. I welcome a rematch with Nez and relish the opportunity to remind voters just how out-of-touch he truly is on taxes, on spending, on border security, on crime, and on energy.”
Crane’s campaign noted in a press release that as far as fundraising is concerned, Crane outraised Nez by over $3 million in the 2024 campaign and has raised more than $2.65 million year-to-date with $1.2 million already in his war chest.
As reported by AZ Free News in April, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced that it is targeting the congressional districts of Congressmen David Schweikert (AZ-01), Eli Crane (AZ-02), and Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) in 2026, listing Congressional District 2 as among the “competitive” districts and classifying Rep. Crane as “vulnerable.”
However, the rosy projections of recently ousted former Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Robert E. Branscomb seemed to ignore that Rep. Eli Crane’s District 2 seat, which has historically seen zero Democrat wins in the last nine races, was designed by Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission to hold a 7.2% vote spread competitively. Crane beat that spread by nearly two points in 2024.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jul 23, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Representative Nick Kupper (R-LD25) has stepped up to the ongoing controversy surrounding the hacking of the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. The lawmaker has requested a formal briefing from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to account for the attempted breach of security to all members in the legislature, not merely the “select members” already discussing the matter.
The incident was reportedly carried out by Iranian hackers, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, who replaced images of the candidates on the website with images of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
In a letter to Fontes, Kupper wrote in part: “While I understand your office has communicated with select members of the Legislature regarding this issue, I believe that all lawmakers should be afforded the opportunity to receive a comprehensive briefing on the nature of the attempted breach, any data or system vulnerabilities identified, and the steps you have taken to ensure the integrity and security of our electoral infrastructure.”
Kupper referenced reported failures in the AZSOS candidate portal noted by Turning Point Action’s Tyler Bowyer last week, writing, “Since the incident, the candidate portal has experienced noticeable slowdowns, which have affected accessibility and overall functionality.”
In a statement released alongside the letter to Fontes, Kupper noted, “Arizona’s election systems should never be this easy a target for foreign adversaries. This wasn’t a prank — it was a politically motivated act of cyberwarfare, and we deserve answers. Every legislator has a responsibility to understand what happened and what’s being done to keep it from happening again.”
Kupper has called for “a comprehensive briefing on the breach, including how it occurred, what systems or data may have been accessed, and what steps are being taken to prevent future incidents.”
The Arizona Representative even offered to arrange the logistics of “a full in-person briefing that will be open to all Arizona House Members and State Senators,” with the reservation of a conference room in the Arizona House of Representatives. He added that the briefing should occur in the next two weeks.
Reporting from KJZZ revealed that the images uploaded by the hackers were also linked to social media accounts, including a Telegram account which wrote, “We were not looking for war or adventure. However, President Trump’s flagrant violation of the agreement, through his aggressive attack on the nuclear and civilian infrastructure of the great nation of Iran, has forced us to face a difficult and regrettable confrontation. Now the American people share in the consequences of his risky decision. Our erosion revenge has begun.”
The attacks persisted for approximately a week, according to Arizona Department of Homeland Security Spokesman Aaron Thacker: “What this incident has done is it’s created — it’s not just an attack on the Secretary of State’s Office. It’s also an attack on government as a whole. We are not the only agencies that are being attacked.”
Thacker added, “When it comes to our overall collective security, this isn’t really something we should be playing politics with, and there have been a few folks that are being unnecessarily critical.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
