PHOENIX — Happy Tuesday! Temperatures are trending down through the end of the week, so enjoy the double-digits while they last!
We're staying on top of the latest happenings from across the Valley, state, and our nation for Tuesday, May 26; here’s what you need to know as you start your day:
From Meteorologist Jorge Torres - Cooler end to May in the Valley
The Valley dries out today. Temperatures slowly cool down as well. Expect sunny skies, a high of 97, and a breezy afternoon. More of the same the rest of the week.
Three found dead, including two children, after connected shootings in Glendale and Phoenix
Warning: This story contains some details that may be graphic.
Glendale and Phoenix police are investigating a series of connected shootings that began overnight near 59th Avenue and Bell Road and ended at a home in Phoenix where officers found three people dead, including two children.
According to Glendale authorities, officers responded just after midnight Monday to a bar near 59th Avenue and Bell Road for reports of a shooting. Before officers arrived, a man told dispatchers his wife had shot at him at the location.
When officers arrived, they found a 36-year-old woman, who police say was not the suspect, who had been shot in the back of her head. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive.
Investigators say the man told officers his wife arrived at the bar, opened fire, and then fled the scene.
A short time later, the man reportedly began receiving text messages from the suspect, 38‑year‑old Andrea Davis, claiming she was going to harm their children. He then told officers she was with the children at a home near 48th Avenue and Paradise Lane in Phoenix.
Authorities say the man later received a photo showing one of the children bleeding from the head. Glendale and Phoenix officers then responded to the home, where they found Davis and both children, a 10-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl, dead from apparent gunshot wounds to the head.
Chandler American Legion Riders observe Memorial Day with annual honor ride
American Legion Riders from Post 35 and Post 91 in Chandler kicked off Memorial Day with a motorcycle ride to honor fallen service members, an annual tradition.
Riders lined up two-by-two and rode through the streets of Chandler to the Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetery Memorial Day Celebration, where they paid their respects alongside many others in the community.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, Republicans say state budget deal near the finish line
With the budget clock ticking, Gov. Katie Hobbs says she and Republicans in the Arizona Legislature are close to a deal.
Just three weeks ago, Hobbs vetoed a Republican budget proposal she called “unbalanced and reckless.” But now, five weeks before the new fiscal year begins, the Democratic governor said she’s confident a deal is near.
“We've done this for the past three years,” she said on Monday. “I'm confident we'll get to a bipartisan, balanced budget that works for Arizona.”
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen agreed, telling ABC15 in a text message Friday: “We have closed out most of the line items. But the last details can be the hardest.”
Missionaries work to open Gilbert's first heat relief and respite center for the summer
The Williams Field Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is opening its first-ever heat-relief and respite center in Gilbert this Tuesday, offering a cool refuge for anyone in need, including the town's most vulnerable residents.
Without a permanent all-day respite facility of its own, Gilbert says the partnership with the church fills a critical gap.
"I think it's important because we're showing that we care about other people and that other people are going through hard situations," Sister Hansen, a missionary from the Arizona Gilbert Mission, said.
Missionaries from across the Arizona Gilbert Mission have been working to get the center ready. Elder Fritz said the effort brought people together around a shared challenge.
"I think it's just, it's really cool that we can all come together and work on one thing, especially because we all have a common problem with it being hot," Fritz said.
Gilbert's latest Point-in-Time Count showed a rise in homelessness, adding urgency to the center's opening. The doors will be open to anyone looking to cool off.
