As we greet 2024, the Arizona Luminaria staff is grateful for you — thank you for reading, following and supporting! Here are some of our favorite stories from 2023.
Like all Arizona Luminaria articles, these are available to read for free as part of our nonprofit mission, and many are available to read in English and Spanish.
Some of our most impactful reporting was our in-depth coverage of deaths and medical care conditions at the Pima County jail. See the full series here.
We also deeply covered Tucson’s conversation in the early part of the year about whether and how to make public transit free to ride. See those articles here and watch for more community discussion and coverage in 2024.
Carolina Cuellar’s favorites
Why Tucson could lose thousands of affordable housing units
Por qué Tucson podría perder miles de viviendas asequibles
As a reporter, one of my goals is to help our communities better understand the things they know they want to fix. Reia’s story did just that. I frequently hear frustrations about the lack of affordable housing and the growing unhoused population. Still, the mechanisms for addressing these problems can feel overwhelming and difficult to understand. Reia tells a thoughtful and easy to navigate account of a flaw in the system. While the federal housing program drives the story, it’s people like Marilyn Gustin who make it real. Marilyn finds herself in an impossible situation that many of us may have to face if there is no reform to our local and national housing system. For many people, a stable place to live is a basic unmet need. It would be easy to paint property management in broad strokes, depicting them as the “bad guys.” Instead, I found myself sympathizing with those trying to navigate a difficult system to make housing more accessible. Housing is a profound human need. I’m grateful we have reporters like Reia, raised in Arizona, listening to people of the communities most affected and covering it responsibly.
Voluptuous creations of iconic Colombian artist Botero adorn Arizona Desert Botanical Garden
As an immigrant from Colombia, this article was deeply personal for me. I learned about the Desert Botanical Garden exhibit after hearing Arizona Luminaria reporter Beatriz Limón was covering the opening. I excitedly texted my parents. Growing up, I resigned myself to the reality that drugs and violence dominate the public discourse around my home country. Amid the obsession with Pablo Escobar and the drug trade, it’s rare to read something that sparks a sense of pride in my nation and the beauty that emanates from a collective soul. Beatriz’s story did just that. I loved the opening scene and its sensual, yet humorous descriptions — evocative of Botero’s art. She captured the whimsy of his work, while acknowledging the fraught societal and political context that shaped it. Though Fernando Botero died three days before the exhibit’s opening, I’m glad it didn’t somber Beatriz’s piece. It’s empowering to read something that highlights Colombians’ talents and resilience. As a journalist, I know it is vital to feature diverse narratives in my work. In this instance, I felt it firsthand.
John Washington’s favorites
Carolina Cuellar’s series on a medicaid scam that pushed vulnerable people out of housing and into the streets brought much-needed nuance to what could have been a flash-in-the-pan story. Carolina captured not only the experiences of this particular set of residents forced out of their homes, but contextualized the spiking problems with housing unaffordability, mental health, and drug abuse. Carolina referred to the victims in this case as “collateral damage in a government crackdown that is not their fault.”
Profiling people going through such painful and volatile situations is not easy. It requires context, empathy and discretion in order not to merely raise lament about an event, but understand it, and give readers and public officials enough understanding and awareness to also act. Carolina achieves exactly that with this series, and especially so with this article.
Record-breaking Juan Gabriel Ballet Arizona show is back, thrilling audiences who vow to return
And an easy pick for a year’s favorite, Beatriz Limón’s follow up to her previous piece on iconic Mexican divo Juan Gabriel. Beatriz tracks how dedicated followers of Juan Gabriel committed to watching the ballet. The story captures the thrall of art, and features a link to a classic Juan Gabriel performance.
Both the ballet and Beatriz’s articles obviously resonated with viewers and readers, and that’s due to a sharp eye and ear for detail, limpid writing, and her own passion surging through the page in this update. “The most important character in this ballet was the audience,” costume-designer Carla Fernández said. That redirected gaze is the same spirit Beatriz grasps in her writing and reporting, zeroing in on the passion of the audience. It’s what the best journalists can do: understand and enliven their readers.
Chelsea Curtis’s favorites
Native teachers build nations: More Indigenous people are training to be teachers in Arizona
I tend to gravitate toward stories about Indigenous communities. But Noor Haghighi’s story about Native teachers grabbed my attention when I wasn’t expecting it. The story first draws you in with an anecdote about an aspiring Indigenous teacher who used to pretend to be an educator as a child growing up on the reservation. We learn the need for Indigenous teachers in Arizona is great with only 2% of all public school educators in Arizona identifying as Native American. In an effort to go beyond focusing on the problem, Noor highlights the University of Arizona’s Indigenous Teacher Education program. The effort strives to support future Indigenous educators and foster a curriculum that embraces Indigenous cultures. Noor’s story not only reveals an inequity I hadn’t known before but also inspires hope that inequities like this are being corrected for future generations.
‘Everybody likes a little sparkle and shine’: Two-Spirit Powwow returns after two-year hiatus
As a seasoned reporter, I find it difficult to cover annual events because they’ve usually been written about extensively. Finding fresh angles is hard to come by. But Chad Bradley navigated this expertly with his story about this year’s annual Two-Spirit Powwow in Phoenix. Chad could’ve easily focused this community story on the fact that this year’s Two-Spirit Powwow marked its return following a two-year hiatus – that was news in itself. But he opted to dive even deeper by highlighting the lack of Two-Spirit representation in society and a growing advocacy to elevate the voices and needs of LGBTQ+ Natives. Apart from diving into an important issue, Chad also does a beautiful job of weaving vignettes from this year’s Two-Spirit Powwow throughout the story. He writes and shares our communities’ stories so you feel like you were there, too.
Yana Kunichoff’s favorites
250 Tucsonans face eviction at sober living program amid statewide Medicaid scam
I love this story by Carolina because it is beautifully written and so effectively centers the people most impacted by the sober home crisis at Ocotillo Apartments and Hotel. The details about the lives of Georgitta and Erik Koernig Sr., and of course their dog, Hope Rose, shows both the ways the couple do their best to retain agency in a bad situation, but also the true difficulties they face after an unexpected eviction. In doing so, the story helps illuminate what is one of the biggest humanitarian crises in America right now, and the ways that the lack of stability in institutions like Ocotillo exacerbate already harrowing situations. The story keeps a clear accountability thread without breaking its narrative power, noting state and local governments knew about program suspension in advance. I’m so glad that Carolina has continued to follow the thread of this story. So many of the systemic dynamics our state struggles with come after the big news-worthy headlines, and in the small ways people struggle to live their daily lives after interest in headlines fade. Heartbreaking, but essential, work.
Pinal Sheriff Mark Lamb’s office spent $200K on guns and ammo from an ‘inmate welfare’ fund
The hard-hitting data analysis in this story makes it one of my favorite Arizona Luminaria stories of 2023. I appreciate that John wove together two areas that give an insight into how incarceration functions in Arizona — the struggles that jailed people have around commissary funds they themselves pay for but also the responsibility of an elected politician with a growing national profile. The context in the story that compares how much money Sheriff Mark Lamb’s office spends on ballistics with how much is spent on books for detained people is crucial because it offers readers a way to assess other uses for the money. And while this story focuses on Sherrif Lamb’s office, it also helpfully points out the broader landscape of accountability by noting that the country board of supervisors has auditing authority of commissary operations. Overall, I’m very impressed by Arizona Luminaria’s ongoing investment in data-driven journalism that helps keep some of the most powerful actors in the state accountable.
Noor Haghighi’s favorites
Two-year federal audit finds Southwest border wall destroyed sacred Native American sites
Carolina did an amazing thorough job of reporting on the destruction of sacred Indigenous land caused by the border wall. Her explanations and source material for the laws that were bypassed with the construction of the border wall — including environmental and humanitarian — made the story complete and unfortunately more sad. The Southern Arizona story holds people accountable for their destruction of sacred Indigenous sites and helps the public understand why that land is vital to Native communities. One of the details she included that particularly interested me was the significance of the saguaro for Tohono O’odham people. Something that surrounds us Tucsonans everyday, and perhaps is taken for granted, plays a special essential role for the O’odham Nation and is also protected by law. Still, U.S. government officials ignored the livelihood of the sacred saguaro and the Indigenous peoples who rely on it were neglected. Despite the losses Carolina reported, I appreciated seeing a conclusion full of solutions. Rep. Raul Grijalva looked at those losses as a lesson to include “‘the right stakeholders’” in future mitigation efforts to preserve our state’s heritage.
Joy, history, sizzling pork fat at Chinese Chorizo Fest
I had never heard about Tucson’s Chinese Chorizo Festival until I read Reia’s delightful story. The history of this food was fascinating to learn about and Feng-Feng Yeh’s personal connection to it made for such a touching read. As someone who connects with their culture through food, I was inspired by Yeh’s boldness and the symbolism that this one food holds for so much of her identity. Yeh’s drive to create something so fresh, yet so grounded in cross-cultural history is honestly mind blowing and so is Reia’s ability to perfectly focus this grand story on one person.
Stories like this one make me appreciate my hometown more and more. Tucson is full of visionaries like Yeh who have fostered the city into a lively, artful place. Expanding my knowledge of Tucson through these person-focused reads on Arizona Luminaria has been so valuable for me as a young journalist still getting to know the ins and outs of community journalism. Reia’s storytelling certainly inspired me to seek more subjects for profiles because everyone has something unique to share.
Teressa Enriquez’s favorites
As journalists, all you can do is be a lens for others to peer into the world of others. But you can’t do that work if your right to our country’s constitutional First Amendment is violated. I really liked this story because being behind the scenes and seeing our Arizona Luminaria team work together was energizing. They were so quick to help one another with sources and information, it was like watching a giant puzzle come together in a matter of minutes.
There was concern from one reporter to another but more so over a journalist’s right to report. As a journalist, your right to the First Amendment is vital and to see it being tested by local law enforcement serves as a sharp reminder that those kinds of violations can happen closer to home than you think.
The role of local watchdog journalism comes with risk but whether as a civilian or reporter, enduring this era, in this century, life can be filled with helplessness, exhaustion and constant vigilance. Still, it is better than living in the dark.
How an ecologist from Nogales is using fire to protect forests in Tucson
This is one of my favorite Arizona Luminaria stories because it shows the importance of understanding something to its fullest. I would have never thought of fires being beneficial to forests, much less Arizona’s desert forests. To read reporting about the idea of “good fire,” the way Indigenous people managed and lived with desert blazes. And understanding that natural fire is important to ecosystems and how this could play a role in lessening climate change-caused wildfires was an intriguing lesson.
It also was cool to read about someone from my hometown of Nogales and the impact their research has had and will have for other generations to come. I really liked the theme of letting go and accepting change, something that the ecologist, Pepe Iniguez, came to terms with and implores others to do so. That in spite of chaos – a raging fire – we must not only learn to adapt, but accept that it will allow for change and for a better understanding of our relationship to nature.
Becky Pallack’s favorites
As someone who has covered local news in Arizona for 25 years, including local politics off and on, I’m always impressed when politicians can work together, come up with bipartisan solutions, or, at the very least, behave civilly toward each other. So this story about veteran Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva and freshman Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani was fun to write. It was interesting to see how these two engaged with each other and how they are alike (and in some ways not so much) at a local civic event hosted by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
In 2023, your Arizona Luminaria team tried to cover local elections in a different way, asking candidates about key community issues – going deeper than the political slogans and hashtags. More to come in 2024, of course, with your support.
Before we launched Arizona Luminaria, we asked a lot of civically-engaged people what they thought was wrong with local news. Over and over we heard people say they wanted less coverage that makes every problem seem like a crisis and more coverage of the smart and caring people who are working hard to solve these problems in our communities. This story is one of those. It shows us one program that’s truly working to close the gap in educational outcomes and disparities between Latino students and White students in Arizona. It centers the experiences of people who help us imagine a more equitable future. The reporting by Beatriz Limón shares the stories of multi-generational immigrant families who are empowered, resilient and working together. Covering education equity for Latinos was a key focus area for Arizona Luminaria this year. This story exemplifies the need for more of this in-depth local nonprofit news.
Beatriz Limón’s favorites
UA plans to dismantle iconic architect Paolo Soleri’s hidden-gem chapel in Tucson
It was a delight to translate Dianna and Carolina’s piece about iconic architect Paolo Soleri’s chapel in Tucson into Spanish.
When I read each paragraph with its magnificent narrative I thought: “This is art.”
Here is a fragment that gave me goosebumps: “Through dull gray doors, past a generic brick exterior and beyond a concrete awning, the building feels lonely in the rare chill of a winter desert breeze.
Inside, beyond two sets of badge-only-access doors is a quiet space for solace. The building is virtually inaccessible to most people on the public college campus. Yet, Soleri’s chapel itself has no doors. Here, you were safe to bear witness to cancer.”
This story moved my heart, because my mother Rosita lost her fight against cancer, and during her long process in the hospitals, I never had the comfort of a chapel to ease my grief. This reporting exhibited the insensitivity of the university authorities for trying to erase Soleri’s history and art. For trying to remove a space of peace for those who suffered.
Now, there’s hope for the Soleri chapel, and its bronze cascading bells, to have a new opportunity to live on in Arizona.
Fue un deleite traducir al español la nota de Dianna y Carolina sobre la capilla del icónico arquitecto Paolo Soleri en Tucson.
Cuando leía cada párrafo con su magnífica narrativa pensé: “Esto es arte”.
Aquí un fragmento que me erizó la piel:
A través de puertas grises y opacas, más allá de un exterior de ladrillo genérico y más allá de un toldo de concreto, el edificio se siente solitario en el raro escalofrío de la brisa invernal del desierto.
En el interior, más allá de dos juegos de puertas de acceso exclusivo con credenciales, hay un espacio tranquilo para el consuelo.
El edificio es prácticamente inaccesible para la mayoría de las personas en el campus de la universidad pública. Sin embargo, la capilla de Soleri no tiene puertas. Allí, estabas a salvo como un testigo del cáncer.
Esta nota removió mi corazón, porque mi madre Rosita perdió la lucha contra el cáncer, y durante su largo proceso en los hospitales, nunca tuve el consuelo de una capilla para atenuar mi pena. Este trabajo de denuncia exhibió la insensibilidad de las autoridades universitarias por intentar borrar la historia y el arte de Soleri. Por pretender remover un espacio de paz para los que sufren.
Ahora, la capilla de Soleri, y sus herrumbrosas campanas, tienen una nueva oportunidad para perpetuarse en Arizona.
I remember it was a cold December afternoon when I interviewed teacher Felina Rodríguez. I heard her story about what it was like growing up speaking Spanish in Arizona schools.
I identified with her, because I know what it is like to emigrate without mastering a new language in a state with policies hostile to Spanish-speakers and Latinos.
Felina told me about her childhood ambitions to one day be president of the United States so she could change the laws that discriminated against immigrants and Latinos. After listening to her for over an hour, I knew she could do anything.
Felina decided to be a teacher and activist to help children not feel alone and intimidated in Arizona classrooms. To remind children that Spanish is a source of pride, not shame. To tell them that they can become president of the United States.
Writing about Felina and the challenges of bilingual education and teacher retention in Arizona was a huge lesson. I feel the responsibility to continue reporting and writing about that topic, as Felina took on the responsibility of continuing to educate her students so that they can achieve their dreams.
Recuerdo que era una tarde fría de diciembre cuando entrevisté a la maestra Felina Rodríguez. Escuché su historia sobre cómo fue crecer hablando español en las escuelas de Arizona.
Me identifiqué con ella, porque sé lo que es emigrar sin dominar un nuevo idioma en un estado con políticas hostiles hacia los que hablan español y los latinos.
Me contó sobre sus ambiciones de niña de ser algún día presidente de los Estados Unidos para poder cambiar las leyes que discriminaban a los inmigrantes y latinos. Después de escucharla por más de una hora, supe que podía lograrlo todo.
Felina decidió ser maestra y activista para ayudar a niños a no sentirse solos e intimidados en los salones de clases. Para recordar a los niños que el español es motivo de orgullo y no vergüenza. Para decirles que pueden llegar a ser presidentes de Estados Unidos.
Escribir sobre Felina y los retos de la educación bilingüe en Arizona y la retención de maestros, fue una enorme lección. Siento la responsabilidad de seguir informando y escribiendo sobre ese tema, como Felina asumió la responsabilidad de seguir educando a sus alumnos para que alcancen sus sueños.
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