The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) has confirmed an independent review of the Arizona State University (ASU) hockey team coaching staff will take place.
Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD4) and Sen. Hildy Angius (R-LD30), who called for the independent review last week in their respective roles as chairs of the House and Senate education committees, thanked ABOR in a joint press release on Monday.
Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old Canadian, collapsed from heat stroke during a workout with the ASU hockey team in August. Mayich had recently transferred to ASU and had only been in the Valley for about a week before he was subjected to an outdoor workout let by an outside workout instructor with a military background. Mayich is currently in a coma and on life support; while his family holds out for a recovery, his lawyers say it would take “a miracle.”
ASU acceded to requests from lawmakers and Mayich’s family for an independent review and last Friday appointed Scott Bales, a former chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, to lead it.
ASU is maintaining a dedicated page addressing the incident and all related updates.
“The Board has confirmed that Chief Justice Bales will examine what happened to Matthew Mayich on August 20 and what happened afterward,” said Gress. “That is what we asked for. Chief Justice Bales is highly respected, and we appreciate the Board of Regents and ASU giving him the independence and access he needs to get the facts.”
Bales was tasked with reviewing the facts identified by ASU, the Mayich family attorneys, ASU hockey team members’ attorneys, and law enforcement agencies.
Members of the ASU hockey team issued a statement of facts through counsel that largely disputed the initial analysis published by ASU.
Additionally, Bales will make recommendations on planning and approval of outdoor athletic activities; staffing, policies, and procedures for outdoor athletic activities; preparation for and response to adverse events or reactions occurring during outdoor activities; and use of outside consultants in the planning and delivery of strength and conditioning and practice activities.
ASU requested Bales complete his review by early December, and promised that additional updates would be provided as they become available.
ABOR Chair Doug Goodyear told Gress and Angius in a letter on Monday that President Michael Crow provided ABOR with updates and a plan for Bales’ independent review.
Per Goodyear, Bales will have full access to university information including staff, records, and policies, with full cooperation of university staff. The review will allow for anonymity to prevent reprisals, and Bales has license to hire any and all outside help he feels is necessary to complete the review.
“Justice Bales is a man of unquestioned integrity and independence,” said Goodyear. “As an Arizonan, he has a real commitment to helping this community understand the circumstances of this tragic event, and he will have both the access and the resources to do this job well.”
Mayich’s family issued a statement through lawyers contending that the independent review already falls short because it doesn’t address who bears responsibility for Mayich’s collapse. One of their lawyers, Rob Carey, stated as much to CBC News.
“What is necessary, and what the Mayich family has asked for and deserves, is an investigation of what went wrong on that field and who is responsible,” said Carey. “Justice Bales has not been asked to answer those fundamental questions.”
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More than one million Arizonans had personally identifiable or sensitive information stolen from the state’s court system during a recent cyberattack.
New information from the Arizona Supreme Court reveals the attack began when a court employee fell for “a common phishing attack” and clicked a malicious link in an email.
The court has set up a portal enabling Arizonans to check whether their information was accessed in the cyberattack. Individuals impacted may also receive official court communication via email from no-reply@courts.az.gov or via text from 83958.
The information accessed by the attackers did not include information on jurors, witnesses, or court employees. No court records were deleted, altered, or erased according to the Arizona Supreme Court, and the attack won’t affect the progress or status of any pending case.
Sensitive information copied by attackers came from nearly 30,000 records involving active and inactive protective orders, as well as the Fines/Fees and Restitution Enforcement (FARE) Program which maintains Social Security numbers. Regarding the FARE Program, approximately 1.3 million individuals were impacted.
The Arizona Supreme Court is encouraging individuals whose information was held within the FARE Program to put a hold or freeze on their credit files with the three major credit reporting agencies.
Alberto Rodriguez, Arizona Supreme Court spokesman, said the copied FARE Program data was from a backup server where it was highly compressed.
Rodriguez also said that there has been no evidence the stolen data has been rendered to be readable, and has not been used or shared.
Additionally, more than 150,000 current and past Foster Care Review Board recommendation reports dating back to 2010 were copied in the attack. Addresses and phone numbers weren’t included in those copied reports.
The Arizona Supreme Court announced in a September 25 press release that a cyberattack targeted the state court system and copied personally identifiable information for “many Arizonans.”
The cyberattack occurred the previous day, on September 24 at around 11:30 a.m. Court IT staff shut the attack down less than two hours after it was identified, according to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer called the attack “outrageous” and assured the public that she had pulled together a team to formulate a response to the breach. Timmer revealed that federal authorities are investigating the cyberattack, and that the court had contacted Arizonans whose data was targeted by the attackers.
“I personally spoke with the top-ranking FBI leader in the state, and I pledged our full commitment to supporting their investigation and minimizing the likelihood that the information will be used to further jeopardize Arizonans,” said Timmer. “We’re in touch with those affected and will share more information as soon as we’re able.”
Rebecca Day, special agent in charge with the Phoenix field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has coordinated with Timmer on investigating the attack.
Authorities have yet to announce the entity or entities responsible for the cyberattack.
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The Trump administration greenlit another one of Maricopa County’s plans to incentivize clean air improvements.
The county plans to encourage the railroad and construction industries to voluntarily upgrade or replace their nonroad vehicles with cleaner emissions technologies through Maricopa County Rule 204.
The rule represents another effort to bring the county closer to compliance with the 2015 ozone standard of 70 parts per billion outlined by the federal Clean Air Act.
Maricopa County reported that it is currently designated as a moderate non-attainment area under the standard. Under the Biden administration in 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to consider whether the Phoenix area warranted reclassification as a serious non-attainment area.
However, the EPA determined earlier this year that the county would have attained standards had it not been for international emissions, namely from Asia and Mexico.
The Maricopa Association of Governments reported that it found through modeling with the EPA that approximately 80% of regional ozone originates from natural sources or outside Arizona.
The EPA determination from this year spared the county from the burden of additional air quality regulations, which would have slowed and potentially reversed industry growth in the region.
The region has reported reduced local emissions of air pollutants by 50% since 2000. The county also reported on Tuesday that total emissions statewide have fallen by more than 70% since 1990, despite the population more than doubling.
On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin participated in a press conference to announce the incentives alongside Maricopa County officials, including Board of Supervisors Chair Kate Brophy McGee and Republican attorney general nominee Warren Petersen.
Zeldin remarked that Maricopa County’s approach to emissions reduction has been successful.
“They aren’t increasing emissions,” repeated Zeldin. “They are not breaking federal requirements. They are finding new, innovative ways to work within their circumstances.”
NEW: @MaricopaCounty & @EPA announce innovative plan to improve air quality and protect jobs. We appreciate this chance to work together to prove that a healthy environment and growing economy can go hand-in-hand. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/QigWcvgheM
Brophy McGee pledged that the new county rule would maintain county residents’ quality of life and would not hinder economic development.
“This plan demonstrates how a healthy environment and growing economy can work together,” said Brophy McGee. “By incentivizing rather than punishing job creators, implementing Maricopa County’s Rule 204 will improve the quality of the air we breathe while enabling key industries to continue investing in our community. I thank Administrator Zeldin and the EPA for working with Maricopa County and our business community on this innovative approach.”
Danny Seiden, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, called the rule “smart policy” that ensured a win-win for the economy and air quality.
“For more than a decade, Arizona’s business community has worked to expand the tools available to reduce emissions while giving companies a workable path to invest, expand and create jobs,” said Seiden. “Rule 204 does exactly that: when businesses voluntarily replace older equipment with cleaner technology and achieve real, measurable emissions reductions, those reductions can help make continued economic growth possible.”
In April, the EPA approved Maricopa County Rule 205, another incentive which provides emission reduction credits to fleet owners and operators who upgrade or replace on-road vehicles with cleaner technologies.
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Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) is romantically involved with a 24-year-old Democratic influencer under investigation by her committee.
Ansari is dating Jack Cocchiarella, a progressive political commentator with more than two million followers across YouTube, X, Instagram, and TikTok. Cocchiarella turned 24 last Friday, and Ansari is 34.
TMZ was first to publish their report as an exclusive, reportedly minutes after the deadline given by another reporter, Juliegrace Brufke of Sources Say News.
"Neither Ansari nor her office responded to multiple requests for comment … We sent that request this afternoon with an 8 p.m. deadline. TMZ's story posted at 8:03."https://t.co/72LswHWS6v
According to TMZ, Ansari met Cocchiarella for an interview last spring. Cocchiarella is based in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Columbia University last year.
Ansari told TMZ that her personal relationships have no bearing on her standing as an elected official, and that other political issues are of far greater importance.
“I’m not commenting on my personal life, nor is it anyone’s business,” said Ansari. “Right now, ICE is terrorizing communities across the country with zero accountability, and Trump’s reckless war in Iran continues raging on. I’m focused on helping to flip the House so we can pass meaningful legislation — that’s what we should all be focused on.”
However, Ansari’s relationship with Cocchiarella does have some overlap with congressional affairs.
Last November, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Oversight Committee), on which Ansari sits, opened up an investigation into Chorus, a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund which pays progressive content creators for political posts and on whose council Cocchiarella sat until recently.
Following reports of Cocchiarella’s relationship with Ansari, his profile page and inclusion on the creator council have been removed.
Chorus is alleged to have circumvented federal campaign finance disclosure requirements by paying content creators up to $8,000 per month to further Democratic messaging online in secret.
Chorus was established in the weeks following Kamala Harris’ loss to President Donald Trump in the November 2024 election. The New York Timescited Chorus charter members at length about Democratic efforts to match right-wing content creators that carried Trump to a delayed second-term victory.
Key organizers behind Chorus included Stuart Perelmuter, a Democratic operative paid by the Harris campaign; Josh Cook, former President Barack Obama’s digital strategist; Brian Tyler Cohen, another top YouTube influencer.
Chorus struggled to pull financial backing in its first few months of existence; then a report came out about these struggles last April, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund became the organization’s sponsor that same month.
In March, the Oversight Committee submitted a letter to those behind Chorus to address “a disturbing pattern of activity” to evade transparency about the Chorus project following the committee launching its investigation.
In May, the committee subpoenaed the Sixteen Thirty Fund to compel production of documents concerning Chorus.
So far, the committee’s investigation has found that Chorus-paid influencers created content advocating for candidates, ballot initiatives, and political parties.
Chorus has denied paying creators to support or oppose candidates.
The committee has not held a hearing on the investigation.
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Warren Petersen believes that Arizonans want their next chief law enforcement officer to prevent the extinction of female-only spaces, like girls sports and locker rooms.
Petersen, the Arizona Senate President and Republican nominee for attorney general, released a new, 30-second campaign ad on Tuesday featuring young female athletes declaring that “boys don’t belong in girls’ sports.”
“I work so hard. I practice every day after school. But some grown-ups think boys should be able to play against me, and use our locker rooms. That’s not right. Boys don’t belong in girls’ sports. Thank you, Warren Petersen, for fighting for me, at the capitol and at the Supreme Court, and for every girl in Arizona.”
Attorney General Kris Mayes, the Democratic incumbent, has had a “radical” and “extreme” tenure by refusing to respect the biological differences between genders and protect single-sex spaces, according to Petersen.
“Kris Mayes showed how radical she is by refusing to defend Arizona’s commonsense law to keep guys out of women’s sports and locker rooms,” said Petersen. “As Senate President I fought to protect girls. I will continue protecting girls as Arizona’s next Attorney General.”
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Kris Mayes showed how radical she is by refusing to defend Arizona’s commonsense law to keep guys out of women's sports and locker rooms. As Senate President…
The debate between Mayes and Petersen last month further illustrated the conflict between parties on law enforcement’s duty to define gender and police gender-based activities and spaces.
Petersen attacked Mayes for lacking the “common sense” to understand the biological differences between boys and girls.
“Talk about delusional,” said Petersen. “She thinks men can beat women, and boys are okay in girls’ sports.”
Mayes avoided the nitty-gritty of the more partisan political subjects like gender identity, instead arguing that the attorney general should be concerned with the areas where both parties could find more common middle ground, specifically naming fraud in the consumer, school choice, and Medicaid spaces; antitrust violations; environmental pollution; child support nonpayment; and drug trafficking as her examples of better office priorities.
“The primary objective of this office is to protect the people of Arizona and to make sure that corporations don’t take advantage of our state,” said Mayes.
Mayes declined to defend the Arizona Department of Education against a lawsuit filed in 2023 by the families of two transgender students challenging the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” a state law passed in 2022 requiring students to play on sports teams aligning with their biological sex. That lawsuit was dropped over the summer following the Supreme Court’s June ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J., affirming that biology, not gender identity, defines sex.
During Pride Month in 2023, several months after the transgender students sued, Mayes issued a press release condemning the Save Women’s Sports Act and all other “anti-LGBTQ bills” passed in Arizona and the nation. Mayes declared gender identity to be a civil right.
“With LGBTQ Americans – and particularly transgender Americans – increasingly targeted by extremist legislation designed to restrict their rights, I am reaffirming my office’s commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Arizonans,” said Mayes. “Federal and state civil rights laws protect the right of LGTBQ Arizonans to live, work, and freely access public accommodations without being subjected to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or threats of violence because of who they are. My office is fully committed to enforcing these laws.”
Following Mayes’ refusal to join the case, Petersen joined the case alongside Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-LD29) to defend the state law in the highest court through an amicus brief filed last September.
Petersen has fought in court in defense of the law for years.
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