We’d be here for all of 2025 if I shared each of my favorite Arizona Luminaria stories from 2024. It’s hard to pick because I am beyond grateful to each of you who trusted us with the privilege of sharing your stories. And because I’m honored to work with a team of local journalists who care deeply about serving our communities.
Last year, AZ Luminaria reporters dug into investigations to hold those who abuse their power accountable. I love that you’re just as likely to find an Arizona Luminaria reporter at a community gathering as you are to see them at a civic meeting — we go where you tell us cool things are happening and where you worry there’s not a bright enough spotlight.
Please enjoy Arizona Luminaria journalists sharing a mix of their favorite 2024 stories.
Some stories are a first look at unraveling a complex issue, while others take months to deliver a deep understanding of longstanding problems and people working toward solutions.
I hope you reach out to us this year so we can all understand and support each other better. Your stories are the heart of AZ Luminaria’s local journalism.
— Dianna Náñez
Carolina Cuellar’s favorites
Beatriz Limón’s story about the mental health crisis among Latino students resonated with me on a personal level. It highlights the ways in which Arizona’s policies have negatively impacted generations of Latinos through Zabdi Hernández’s beautifully-told story. From lack of support in the state’s educational system to fear of strict, xenophobic immigration laws, Limón documents the ripple effects of Arizona’s controversial laws and attitudes towards immigrants. Hernández’s experience is a common one; one that parallels conversations and interviews I’ve had with other Latino immigrants. Límon ties in the crisis caused by the state’s counselor deficit and how that contributes to Latino students’ educational inequities, tying in the facts and data with human emotion.
One of the things I appreciate most about Límon’s writing is its narrative strength, something exemplified in this story. The complexity of the trauma faced by these students and the lack of recourse made me deeply emotional and despite its length, I couldn’t stop reading — and that’s a feat within itself.
La historia de Beatriz Limón sobre la crisis de salud mental entre los estudiantes latinos resonó conmigo a un nivel personal. Resalta cómo las políticas de Arizona han afectado negativamente a generaciones de latinos a través de la hermosa narración de la historia de Zabdi Hernández. Desde la falta de apoyo en el sistema educativo del estado hasta el miedo a las estrictas y xenófobas leyes de inmigración, Limón documenta los efectos en cadena de las controvertidas leyes y actitudes de Arizona hacia los inmigrantes. La experiencia de Hernández es común; una parecida a las conversaciones y entrevistas que he tenido con otros inmigrantes latinos. Limón conecta esta crisis con la escasez de consejeros en el estado y cómo eso contribuye a las desigualdades educativas de los estudiantes latinos, uniendo hechos y datos con la emoción humana.
Una de las cosas que más aprecio de la escritura de Limón es su fuerza narrativa, algo que se ejemplifica en esta historia. La complejidad del trauma que enfrentan estos estudiantes y la falta de recursos me conmovió profundamente, y a pesar de su longitud, no pude dejar de leer — y eso ya es un logro en sí mismo.
John Washington and Becky Pallack’s story about a mysterious Green Party candidate was one of my favorites from this year. Pallack came across Athena Eastwood’s name in a casual candidate search. I enjoyed reading about the journey to discover Eastwood, an elusive figure in the year’s election cycle. From a name change to a run based on 26 votes, the story takes readers through a ride as Washington scours records and visits Eastwood’s house to piece together information that is valuable for voters. It also informed me about the history of the Green Party and aspects of the election process I didn’t know about.
John Washington’s favorites
One of the most delightful stories of the year was Carolina Cuellar’s portrait of a mountain, I’oligam Du’ag, or Manzanita Bush Mountain, on which sits the series of telescopes collectively known as Kitt Peak National Observatory. Cuellar deftly celebrates the Indigenous history of the mountain as early Tohono O’odham inhabitants had — long before any colonizers made it to modern-day Arizona — been “reading the constellations.”
Celebrating the contemporary approach to studying such phenomena as “wobbling stars and dark matter,” Cuellar tells the story of Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, and how she has fought to keep the ancient history of these lands present and foster relationships between today’s astronomers and locals. In this tight, moving article, Cuellar shows how Ramon-Sauberan focuses on maintaining the “traditional ecological knowledge” of the locals, critical for moving forward with future astronomical discoveries.
One of the best of the year is Chelsea Curtis’ deeply moving story on the identification of an Apache teenage girl, Lori Long Chase who had been missing for 41 years. Curtis pieces together what remains known of Lori by speaking to her adopted sister, Memory Long Chase, who has few but sweet memories of Lori, such as her purchase of a Snow White book the kids marveled over. Part of what makes Lori’s saga so devastating are the enormous delays: her body was discovered soon after her death, but it was never properly identified; and a missing person report wasn’t filed until decades later.
These and other details drive home how thoroughly missing and murdered Indigenous women have been overlooked. Curtis’ project of creating a database of Arizona’s missing and murdered Indigenous women, as well as telling some of their stories, seeks to address that. The stories can be excruciating, but they are critical to understanding the reality of some of the most historically marginalized people in our society. Reading such profiles is also key to bringing about justice and working towards a more equitable and rights-based society. “I was kind of wanting to focus on her life more than her death but … I think highlighting her death is equally important because she died horribly,” Memory says. Curtis underscores for us that important reading is not always easy reading.
Chelsea Curtis’ favorites
Yana Kunichoff and John Washington’s story about a power outage and heat-related death at a Tucson mobile home park is among Arizona Luminaria’s best of the year. Their story highlights the vulnerability of mobile home residents to extreme heat, particularly in a region like Tucson experiencing record-breaking temperatures. The tragic death of Paul Dacon after an 11-day power outage at the Hummingbird Harvest mobile home park underscores the lack of support and resources available to vulnerable communities during heat waves. Kunichoff and Washington expose the inadequate response from the park management, leaving residents feeling neglected and unsupported. “It was a nightmare,” Lynette Curtis, a resident at the park, tells them. “They left us here, trying to cheap out and not pay for the hotel.” Overall, the story raises crucial questions about responsibility and accountability in ensuring the safety of vulnerable populations during extreme heat events.
I also thoroughly enjoyed John Washington’s story about jaguar conservation efforts in Sonora and Arizona. Through compelling narrative writing, Washington highlights the success of the Northern Jaguar Project in Sonora, México, where jaguar populations have rebounded due largely to working with ranchers to change their perception of the animals. The story showcases the apex predator’s important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and the cultural significance of jaguars to Indigenous communities. “If you have jaguars on the landscape, your ecology is healthy,” Miguel Gómez, a wildlife biologist, tells Washington. “Things work better when they’re here.” Washington examines the challenges of jaguar conservation and reintroduction in the United States, including political obstacles and the threat of border wall construction. This story’s powerful message of collaboration, cultural understanding and the interconnectedness of nature makes it a standout piece of environmental journalism.
Yana Kunichoff’s favorites
As I was reading Chelsea Curtis’ heartbreaking story on the death of Rhia Almeida and her family’s ongoing heartbreak and action, I felt like I was seeing this young child in front of me: “In the summer of 2009, Rhia Almeida stood about 4 feet tall. On her tiptoes, she reached her mom’s chest, and when she leaned in for hugs her chocolate brown hair danced over her shoulders.”
The beautiful narrative makes the story of Almeida’s killing — and the decades of its aftermath in her family and community — a finely-drawn portrait to help understand the impacts of murders like that of Almeida on Indigenous people in Arizona. Curtis’ story weaves deftly between history, emotional pain and the way the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender People, also known as MMIWG2T, has helped guide the family of Rhia Almeida forward.
It’s a powerful reminder of how collective action can help even unimaginable pain, and underscores the importance of what Curtis is capturing in an Arizona Luminaria database that maps some information about where Indigenous people have gone missing or were murdered. Elayne Gregg, Rhia’s mom, told Curtis: “I remember feeling this fire reignite inside of me that had dimmed out when Rhia was gone,” she says. “I was just like, wow, I really felt like I was supposed to be there for a reason.”
I really appreciated Beatriz Limón’s coverage of the Arizona Dreamer and activist running to become México’s first migrant senator, and her subsequent swearing in. The story really made me think about the ways that being a community with many immigrants also means that how politics happens in other countries impacts all of us. Many immigrants in the U.S. don’t have a voice through the traditional routes of voting here, and so watching ways that people gain that in different places was really instructional.
There are so many thoughtful details in this story, such as the way Karina Ruiz’s office represents her background and dreams: “Pictures of loved ones, paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe, posters for migrant rights, and now documents about the historic June 2 Mexican election.”
It’s also helpful to learn about how other countries’ political systems work, and to read journalism that makes clear this understanding can help us become more educated about the possibilities of how our world could look: “The 2024 elections in México are the first in which the country’s new affirmative action measures demand proportional representation in Senate candidacy nominations for underrepresented communities,” Limón writes.
Rafael Carranza’s favorites
One of my top Arizona Luminaria stories this past year was John Washington’s story about Arivaca firefighters having to saw through the border fence to save a man — injured by a fall while migrating to Arizona — waiting for help after more than 24 hours.
It stood out to me because it’s such an unusual thing to happen along the border fence, most injuries happen on the U.S. side of the fence. But also because it’s a relatively small incident that I believe would otherwise not have gotten as much attention, had John not reported about it. I think it speaks to the strength of developing and maintaining good relationships with sources, while also holding federal agencies accountable for their action or lack thereof.
When this story was first published, I was working at another publication in Arizona. Immediately, my editors acknowledged how unique of a story this was and tasked us with confirming John’s reporting so that we could write up our own version. This story and the subsequent coverage, including former commissioner Chis Magnus’ criticism of CBP, is just another example of John’s and AZ Luminaria’s impact and reach, especially on border coverage.
Los bomberos de Arivaca utilizaron sierras para cortar los bolardos de metal en la frontera para llegar a un hombre gravemente herido en el lado sur del muro. Credit: Photo via an aid volunteer.
Una de las notas más impactantes que leí este año en Arizona Luminaria es el reportaje que escribió John Washington sobre el rescate de un migrante que se cayó del muro fronterizo donde los bomberos de Arivaca tuvieron que cortar un hoyo en el muro para llegar al hombre.
Me impresionó esta nota porque es un acto relativamente pequeño (hay decenas de caídas a lo largo de la frontera cada año), pero al mismo tiempo es muy inusual. No recuerdo ningún incidente donde la Patrulla Fronteriza haya hecho algo similar.
El hecho de que John reportó sobre este incidente, incluyendo la foto de los bomberos cortando el muro, recalca la importancia de no solo conectar con fuentes pero también mantener el tipo de relación que permita que se sientan cómodos compartiendo este tipo de información que no tendríamos de alguna otra manera.
En aquel entonces yo trabajaba para otro medio en Arizona, e inmediatamente después de que se publicó la nota, mis editores nos encargaron a mi equipo de confirmar este reportaje para poder escribir nuestra propia versión. Mediante esta nota, John y Arizona Luminaria demostraron lo influyente que ha sido su cobertura de la franja fronteriza.
I also want to shout out Yana’s reporting about Democrat Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos placing his GOP election opponent on leave, and all of the fallout that came from that initial decision, including the attacks on Arizona Luminaria’s reporting.
I think this was a good example of holding elected leaders accountable for their actions, regardless of party affiliation. And it showed the depth of local, impactful coverage that AZ Luminaria provided in one of the most contested races on the ballot in Southern Arizona.
Beatriz Limón’s favorites
Siempre he pensado que el corazón del periodismo es la comunidad y la historia de Yana Kunichoff y John Washington sobre los cortes de energía en el parque de casas móviles al norte de Tucson, conocido como Hummingbird Harvest, es un claro ejemplo de periodismo comunitario. En ese reportaje las voces de los vecinos son la denuncia más clara de las necesidades y la falta de empatía ante las desgracias a las que se enfrentan las comunidades menos favorecidas.
El testimonio de la muerte de Paul Dacon, un vecino tranquilo y en edad adulta, quien fue víctima del apagón por falta de energía en el vecindario de casas rodantes enclavado en el desierto de Arizona, es una forma de devolverle un poco de justicia a esas personas, y sin duda, el solo hecho de ser escuchados, es el valor que engrandece este tipo de periodismo.
Y ya que hablamos de periodismo comunitario, del que tengo tanta sed de escribir, otra historia sencilla, donde la simplicidad de la vida rural nos muestra un lado positivo del que tanta necesidad tienen los lectores, es la historia de Carolina Cuellar sobre cómo las clínicas móviles mejoran la salud rural para los trabajadores agrícolas de Cochise. Cuando leía la historia, me imaginaba que estaba en una de esas clínicas y ser uno de esos trabajadores y deseaba, como ellos, poder tener acceso a un servicio de salud que se transporta hacia mí, más cuando eres inmigrantes y el servicio médico es un verdadero desafío en Arizona. Sin duda, mis compañeros me inspiraron a regresar a las calles, los campos y los vecindarios a realizar periodismo comunitario, será uno de mis propósitos para este 2025.
Irene McKisson’s favorites
In this exhausting, overwhelming election year, some of my favorite reader feedback was from Arizona Luminaria’s election stories, guides and results.
We produced four comprehensive voter guides — 26,788 words in English and Spanish for Arizona voters around the state and in Pima County. More than 35,000 people used Becky Pallack’s guide to the ballot propositions, spending 158,000 minutes with it and making it the most-read story for several weeks in a row. One reader told me it was the best guide on the topic they had found and they were sharing it with everyone they knew.
One of my favorite kinds of stories we produce are the “day at the poll” stories on election days. In 2024 we did several and each voter’s story was instructive and moving. Those stories filed by reporters from polling places around Tucson never fail to give me a better understanding of democracy in action.
Becky Pallack’s favorites
One of my favorite stories of the year was John Washington’s story about how the expansion of opioid addiction treatment in the jail is reducing deaths and hospitalizations. This felt like the capstone impact of John’s sustained coverage of deaths and other problems at the Pima County jail. Officials are taking action, and hopefully saving lives. More news to come in 2025.
I also want to shout out the work of Noor Haghighi and Kiara Adams. The two are students at the University of Arizona School of Journalism who were stationed with us at Arizona Luminaria as part of the Jamieson-Metcalf Family Fellowship for Public Affairs Journalism. It was a pleasure to host these rising stars.
Dianna Náñez’s favorites
Carolina Cuellar spent much of last year reporting on Arizona’s English-only laws. She wrote about the mountain of evidence that shows profound inequalities and how the restrictions negatively affect the postsecondary educational outcomes for students learning English — particularly our state’s substantial population of Spanish-speaking Latino children.
“I feel if I was able to learn many of the subjects in my language, I could have advanced very fast while I was learning English,” Ileana Salinas told Arizona Luminaria in Spanish.
I remain in awe of the breadth of election reporting our team delivered so voters would have information they needed to take informed action. Our team spent hundreds of hours on this critical civic coverage: There was John Washington’s accountability reporting on the background of candidates seeking to become Pima County sheriff. Yana Kunichoff’s in-depth reporting on the senate race and how independent voters shaped election conversations. And full-team efforts that centered voters in local civic reporting.
Chelsea Curtis’ spent 2024 getting to know Indigenous families who want justice for their missing and murdered loved ones. Their stories brought me to tears. What sticks with me most are the moments of undying, undeterred love from mothers, fathers, sisters, cousins and whole Native communities. Those moments speak to Curtis’ commitment to ensuring that Indigenous people are reclaiming their own stories.
“When an Indigenous woman goes missing, she goes missing twice. First, her body vanishes. Then her story.,” Yolanda Bydonie says, thinking about her own cousin. “I will not let this happen to Keisha. I want the community to know who Keisha is and to remember she is valued.”
Our team is dedicated to centering the most underrepresented and underserved among us with local journalism that is more ethical and equitable.
We proudly invest in publishing in-depth coverage about complex issues like Beatriz Limón’s reporting that showed how activism is an empowering emotional refuge for Arizona’s immigrant students and John Washington’s reporting — from across Arizona borderlands — about people in danger seeking refuge and asylum. Still, some of my favorite AZ Luminaria stories are breezier takes that introduce readers to people making a difference in their communities.
Washington transported readers to the Fort Yuma-Quechan tribal nation that straddles both sides of the Colorado River. There they met Tudor Montague, a Quechan citizen and entrepreneur who opened the tribe’s first coffee roastery. “Coming from an Indigenous rural community, I grew up seeing the lack of opportunity and the lack of recognition for what you do,” Tudor says between sips of his own Colombian cold brew. “I want youth to see that we can build something here on the rez.”
Los portabicicletas que deletrean la palabra “READ” se encuentran frente a la sucursal principal de la biblioteca del condado de Pima en Tucson el 24 de agosto de 2024. Crédito: Michael McKisson Credit: Michael McKisson
Sam Munsey’s favorites
Reflecting on the in-depth reporting the Arizona Luminaria team has published this year, I am beyond grateful to support the dedicated reporters and editors who work tirelessly to illuminate the people and stories that matter to Arizonans.
It’s not easy to pick just one story that resonates with me because everything I’ve read from our newsroom in 2024 has impacted and informed me in some way. However, one story I believe highlights the power of community journalism is the one Arizona Luminaria reporter and Report for America corps member Yana Kunichoff covered about the potential closure and downsizing of several Pima County libraries.
Yana was the first to break the story about the proposed closures — some planned to happen as early as the end of 2024 — uncovering key details after reviewing a memo and draft shared with the Pima County Board of Supervisors in August. Shortly after the story was published, an overwhelming response from Pima County residents called for greater community involvement in such an important decision. Thanks to this feedback, the Pima County Public Library administration decided to table the proposal and launch an extensive community listening project early this year to help guide future plans.
This is why local journalism matters—it strengthens readers’ involvement in their communities, empowering them to take action. Yana was there every step of the way, following the story from memo to meeting, interviewing library cardholders and decision-makers alike. She did an incredible job capturing all angles of such an emotionally charged issue.
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