by Staff Reporter | Feb 1, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A committee within the Arizona Senate approved a bill banning fluoride additives in public water systems.
The Senate Committee on Government advanced SB 1019 solely through Republican support. Democratic lawmakers voted against the bill based on the opposition of certain major health organizations.
The bill would prohibit individuals and political subdivisions from adding fluoride or fluoride-containing compounds to public drinking water.
State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-LD29), a registered nurse, sponsored the bill.
Shamp argued that water fluoridation is no longer necessary for public health due to the widespread availability of fluoride in dental products and treatments. Shamp also cited research connecting adverse health effects to ingesting fluoride: neurodevelopmental harms resulting in IQ reduction, weakened bones, arthritis, and thyroid dysfunctions.
“It’s more effective when applied to the teeth rather than ingested,” said Shamp during a committee hearing on Wednesday. “If there is absolutely any possibility that their child could have their neurodevelopmental [development] delay[ed] because they’re ingesting systematically a product that works better topically, I would question anyone who is against stopping [this ban].”
Shamp dismissed opposition to the bill from certain healthcare organizations as the typical resistance to change among institutions. Among those opposed are the Arizona Dental Hygienists Association, Arizona Dental Association, and Arizona Public Health Association.
“As we move forward with the science, we have to make sure we’re staying up to date with evidence-based practice,” said Shamp. “The evidence is showing this is not the way to decrease tooth decay in the population.”
State Sen. David Farnsworth offered his own anecdote on the matter. Farnsworth said he was diagnosed with fluoride sensitivity after suffering headaches while using the first formula for Crest toothpaste to brush his teeth.
Jessica Robertson on behalf of the Arizona Dental Association and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry said water fluoridation was necessary because certain communities, especially tribal communities, were too poor to afford toothbrushes or toothpaste. Robertson credited water fluoridation for her not coming down with cavities in her youth.
Valerie Brady on behalf of the Arizona Dental Hygienists Association argued against the bill as a “significant risk to public health.” She said that thousands of studies and decades of scientific evidence back the perception that fluoridated water prevents tooth decay. Brady said fluoridated water was significantly impactful to communities with poorer dental hygiene habits or inconsistent dental care.
“It is the ability to provide consistent low-level exposure to fluoride ions in the mouth, helping prevent tooth demineralization and promoting enamel remineralization,” said Brady.
Shamp questioned why those opposed to the bill don’t factor in the variable levels of fluoride people might ingest — or the disparate impacts those variable amounts could cause. The senator claimed this was the opposite of informed consent.
“The fact of the matter is this is a chemical that is added to water and there is absolutely no one out there telling people, ‘Well, you should use this much toothpaste if you drink this much tap water,’” said Shamp. “You don’t know how much someone is ingesting. You don’t know if their only source of water is tap water. You don’t know if they’re using mouthwash three times a day.”
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by Staff Reporter | Jan 31, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Anti-ICE activists have been vandalizing the ICE Phoenix Field Office with death threats.
The office has become a site for weekly protests against federal law enforcement, frequently crossing over from protests to rioting as activists ignore orders from agents.
“Nuremberg 2 for ICE Nazis,” read one graffiti referencing the trials of Nazi war criminals. “Hang ‘em high.”
“Pigs enter here,” read another.
“Kristi Noem is a dog-killing b*tch,” read another.
At the beginning of this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported an 8,000 percent increase in death threats. DHS blamed “sanctuary politicians” for this jump in actual and threatened violence.
DHS also reported assaults on ICE agents had increased by over 1,300 percent and vehicular attacks increased by over 3,200 percent.
Last year, DHS tallied just under 300 assaults and 66 vehicular attacks.
The state’s chief law enforcement leader has been accused of worsening the tensions between federal law enforcement and progressive activists.
Attorney General Kris Mayes made the case for shooting ICE agents in a media interview last week. Mayes claimed Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law and ICE agents’ regular habit of wearing masks made it reasonable for an individual to shoot ICE agents.
“It’s kind of a recipe for disaster. Because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” said Mayes. “[The] law says that if you reasonably believe your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property that you could defend yourself with lethal force.”
Mayes followed up her remarks with another video statement stating that she wasn’t advocating for Arizonans to shoot ICE agents, but did call ICE enforcements “increasingly chaotic and dangerous.” Mayes blamed federal law enforcement for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Good and Pretti died while attempting to interfere with immigration enforcement actions.
“Arizonans do not want masked agents entering their homes without warrants,” said Mayes. “It is un-American and it threatens the rights and safety of everyone in our state.”
Days after Mayes made the case for the justified shooting of ICE agents, her police liaison resigned.
Governor Katie Hobbs criticized ICE enforcement as “indiscriminate roundups” of “contributing citizens in their communities.” Deported individuals aren’t citizens.
“It’s not making communities safer,” said Hobbs.
Rather than scale back federal enforcement, DHS has hardened its resolve to ramp up deportations. The Trump administration increased the financial incentive for self-deportations by over $1,000 last week.
Additionally, on Tuesday DHS rolled out a new website to feature the “worst of the worst” of criminal illegal immigrants apprehended by ICE. The searchable database enables users to narrow data based on country of origin and state. Many of those listed on the site were convicted of murder, child cruelty, assault, and battery.
As of this report, the website has over 650 illegal aliens listed that were arrested in Arizona. The website has over 20,200 illegal immigrants on the searchable database.
An enforcement action on Tuesday left one person in critical condition. The Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced that a federal officer was allegedly assaulted, and that the FBI is investigating the incident.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 31, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The first statement from the new chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Sergio Arellano, focused on the “radical” recent actions by Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Arellano addressed Hobbs’ repudiation of Mayes’ remarks concerning ICE agents and protesters.
“Governor Katie Hobbs is so radical that she just vetoed tax relief for struggling families, but even she finds Kris Mayes too radical,” stated Arellano. “Voters elected President Trump on the promise that he would deport criminal illegal aliens, and he is keeping that promise, including thousands of violent offenders, rapists, and murderers. Our ICE officers are following orders and protecting our communities. We stand by our officers and urge these violent agitators and leaders, like Mayes, who encourage them with reckless rhetoric, to stop putting our men and women in blue in harm’s way.”
Arellano was elected over the weekend despite low party attendance, prolonged delays, and organizational challenges, as AZ Free News reported. Arellano is an Army combat veteran and Republican activist.
Earlier this month the attorney general claimed in an interview with 12News that Arizonans had the right to shoot masked federal law enforcement based on the state’s stand your ground law.
“[I]f you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property that you can defend yourself with lethal force,” said Mayes.
In the days that followed the airing of her legal defense for would-be shooters, Mayes’ law enforcement liaison resigned. Now, the governor has some criticism for the attorney general.
In an interview with Capitol Media Services on Thursday, Hobbs refused to defend Mayes’ remarks. She said the attorney general’s comments were “inappropriate” and advised her to retract her statement. The governor indicated Mayes’ remarks were endangering law enforcement officers.
“It is the responsibility of every elected official to turn down the temperature and do everything we can to be very careful with our language about ramping up the potential for violence,” said Hobbs. “We are seeing across the county people’s fear increasing and the potential for violence.”
Mayes’ spokesman Richie Taylor responded that Hobbs misunderstood the attorney general, that her positing a defense of lethal force against a masked ICE agent doesn’t equate to making it legal to shoot a cop.
Taylor said Hobbs should be more concerned about the alleged public safety threat posed by President Donald Trump’s mass immigration enforcement efforts.
“The actions of Donald Trump’s federal agents are endangering public safety and putting local and state law enforcement and the public in danger,” said Taylor. “And that is what should concern the governor.”
Following widespread bipartisan flak over her rhetoric, Mayes issued a video defending her remarks as a mischaracterization by “right-wing media.” Mayes said her remarks had more to do with speaking out against alleged ongoing abuses of power and violations of the Constitution.
“Arizonans do not want masked agents entering their homes without warrants. It is un-American and it threatens the rights and safety of everyone in our state,” said Mayes. “We have all witnessed the increasingly chaotic and dangerous activity of ICE agents in cities across the country.”
Republican lawmakers in the state legislature have advanced a resolution urging Mayes to resign over the comments. The Senate passed the resolution on Thursday.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 30, 2026 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program grew to over 100,000 enrollments this week.
As of Monday, the Arizona Department of Education (AZED) reported the ESA program had nearly 100,500 enrollees.
Superintendent Tom Horne said in a statement on Tuesday that the milestone represented “a remarkable endorsement” of school choice by Arizona parents. Horne offered an example of a typical scenario in which a family enrolls in the ESA program.
“Consider a family with three children. Two of the children are doing just fine in district schools. The third child’s needs are not being met. Now, the parents can find another school that meets the child’s needs,” said Horne. “I do not understand how anyone can say parents do not have a right to find a school that meets their child’s needs, unless people are so immersed in ideology that they lose sight of what is best for students.”
When Horne took office in 2023, the ESA program had about 11,000 students. That represents an average annual growth of nearly 30,000 students in the program for the past three years.
The latest enrollment data from AZED (2024-2025) reported nearly 1.1 million students across K-12. That’s about nine percent of the total student population.
AZED also reported the recovery of nearly $1.2 million in unallowable expenses through collections, repayments, or legal authority referrals. The program requires parents to document all purchases made, and any impermissible purchases result in a freeze on their accounts.
Parents do have recourse if they believe a mistake was made in the rejection of their expenditures. Horne reminded parents in his Tuesday statement that they are free to appeal rulings; to date, AZED has not lost an appeal.
“Some people have questioned my authority to insist that expenditures only be for valid educational purposes. I am not the final word. Parents have a right to appeal denial to an administrative law judge,” said Horne. “There have been 20 such appeals, and my authority to deny the expenditure was involved in everyone. We have 20 wins and zero losses. Administrative law judges have held unanimously that I do have that authority.”
Horne’s fellow executive branch leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with the continued growth of the ESA program.
In her State of the State Address earlier this month, Gov. Katie Hobbs accused the program of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse — a money pit funding many things other than “true educational purposes.” Hobbs recently proposed an income cap on ESA enrollment: anyone making over $250,000 a year would not qualify.
Horne’s response was a defense of the ESA program as a clear desire of Arizona voters. The ESA program was universalized through legislation passed in 2022 under Hobbs’ Republican predecessor, Gov. Doug Ducey.
“Arizona parents have made it clear they believe in being able to choose the best education for their children, whether districts, charters or Empowerment Scholarship Accounts,” said Horne. “By their loud display today, Democrats proved they want to take that power away from mothers and fathers who know their children’s needs best and return education to a government monopoly that parents do not want.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 29, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Tucson Pride organization will be shutting down after nearly 50 years of existence.
The organization maintained the third-oldest Pride entity in the country, and the first and oldest one in Arizona.
The announcement comes exactly a month before the organization was slated to have its annual pride festival.
The Tucson Pride Board of Directors said in an announcement that it would refund all funds received for this year’s festival within 30 to 90 days.
“This decision was not made lightly. We recognize the deep importance Tucson Pride has held in our community since 1977, serving as a space of visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades,” stated the organization on its Facebook page and website. “We are profoundly grateful to every volunteer, sponsor, artist, activist, and community member who has supported Tucson Pride throughout its history.”
Tucson Pride was founded following the murder of Richard Heakin in 1976 outside Stonewall Tavern.
The organization’s nonprofit status (Tucson Lesbian and Gay Alliance) was jeopardized in the recent past for failing to file on time. The IRS automatically revoked their nonprofit status in May 2024 for failing to file their tax returns for three consecutive years.
Tucson Pride said one of their prior board members “missed” the 2021 and 2022 tax filings. They did not name the prior board member allegedly responsible for the missing filings.
According to their latest available filing from 2020, the board of directors at the time included Rocque Perez.
Perez is a state senate candidate and a formerly appointed member of the Tucson City Council. AZ Free News reported on the recent discovery of Perez’s deletion of his pornographic and violent social media accounts.
Other directors per that last 2020 filing included Samantha Cloud (president), Jeff Myers-Fulgham (vice president), Stephen R. Myers-Fulgham (treasurer), and Matthew Taylor (secretary).
Tax filings revealed the Tucson Lesbian and Gay Alliance had a significant dropoff in revenue between its 2019 and 2020 filings. The 2020 reported revenue ($18,400) was $28,800 lower than its lowest revenue over the past decade of available reports, dating back to 2010.
Prior to 2020, the organization had reported a steady rise in revenue from 2015 to 2019, having a reported revenue high of $171,000 before the 2020 decline.
The organization had a steady rise in revenue from 2016 to 2019.
Last October, Tucson Pride leadership delayed its Pride festival due to financial problems and political pressures. The organization reported having over $50,000 in debt following a slash to ticket sales and donations after 2024.
“Nationwide, LGBTQIA+ nonprofits have seen donations and corporate sponsorships decline due to shifting politics and increased hostility toward queer causes,” said the board. “Tucson Pride has felt this squeeze firsthand, making local fundraising more challenging than in past years.”
A 2024 financial overview provided by Tucson Pride reflected that gross earnings totaled over $110,000, but their expenses totaled nearly $156,000: $37,000 on entertainment; $7,000 on food, beverage, and ice; $50,000 on infrastructure; $5,000 on logistics; $2,000 on marketing; $7,000 on permitting; $27,000 on public safety; $5,000 on tech; $1,000 on a Tihan donation; and $13,000 on supplies.
Cash sponsorships totaled just over $54,000, and festival sales totaled $63,000.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
