Good Wednesday morning! Hope you're enjoying the cooler weather — but don't get used to it!
We're staying on top of the latest happenings from across the Valley, state, and our nation for Wednesday, May 6; here’s what you need to know as you start your day:
From Meteorologist Jorge Torres - Big warm-up coming to Arizona heading into Mother's Day weekend
Temperatures today top out in the mid-80s with abundant sunshine and lows in the 60s tonight. Then, the heat builds fast, into the 90s by Thursday, and 100 degrees by Friday.
Tempe middle school assault: Family considers legal action after video shows violent attack
A 13-year-old boy was punched and kicked repeatedly at a Tempe middle school, and his family is now considering legal action against the district.
A dispute over a dodgeball game led to a violent assault at Geneva Epps Mosley Middle School in Tempe, according to a police report, and the victim's family says campus security failed to intervene.
In April, Yessica received a text from her 13-year-old son saying something was wrong.
"They tell me he's been assaulted," Yessica said of her first interaction with the school that day.
Video of the assault spread quickly on social media. According to a police report, another 13-year-old hit Yessica's son from behind, knocking him to the ground. The report states the other boy "punches him on the side of the face approximately 10 times with a closed fist" and "got off the ground and kicked him in the face/neck 3 times while he was on the ground."
"He started kicking him, really, really strong, and at that moment I could no longer watch it," Yessica told ABC15.
More than 30 missing and endangered kids located by U.S. Marshals in Phoenix operation
More than two dozen missing and endangered children were located during a three-week operation in the Valley, the U.S. Marshals Service announced Tuesday morning.
The Marshals Service partnered with multiple agencies and organizations for "Operation Desert Dawn," focused on locating youth at risk of exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking.
In three weeks in April, officials located 31 "critically missing children, including endangered runaways," according to the Marshals Service.
According to a press release, some of the victims who were safely located included:
- A 16-year-old female suspected of being a victim of sex trafficking in Glendale
- An 11-year-old female with mental health concerns
- A 16-year-old experiencing homelessness and substance use challenges
- A 17-year-old who had been missing from Phoenix for 18 months
- A 14-year-old missing from Phoenix, located in Tucson
- A 17-year-old female suspected of being a victim of sex trafficking in Phoenix
If you have any information about a missing or endangered child, officials ask you to contact local police or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes Republican-proposed state budget
Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a 16-bill budget package passed by the Arizona Legislature a day earlier.
Republicans, who have majorities in both chambers, introduced the budget package last week, more than a month after Hobbs walked away from budget talks because of a dispute over whether to renew Proposition 123, a now-expired K-12 funding mechanism.
The legislation on how to fund the state government starting July 1 would have added all the tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Arizona’s tax code, including deductions on tips and overtime and business tax breaks.
“This budget is unbalanced and reckless,” Hobbs said in a statement announcing the vetoes. “With it, Arizona would default on our debt obligations, endanger vulnerable children, slash critical public safety funding, and pay for tax breaks to billionaires, data centers and special interests by kicking Arizonans off their healthcare and taking food off their tables.”
Republicans had touted the tax cuts, which would have added up to a $1.45 billion income tax cut over four years, saying it would bring relief to Arizona families struggling with high prices and ensure taxpayers would not need to file amended returns for this tax year.
“This is a good budget,” Senate President Warren Petersen said after the Senate passed the bills Monday. “It should have been a bipartisan budget.”
County Attorney faces questions about ABC15’s ‘A Shot in the Dark’ investigation
Maricopa County Rachel Mitchell is standing by her office’s decision to seek years in prison for a Valley trauma surgeon despite significant concerns from the court and outside experts.
Weeks before trial, the county attorney’s office has not budged from its offer of five to ten years in prison for Dr. Kris Johnson, who is willing to plead guilty but not to aggravated assault charges that would put him behind bars.
To learn more about Johnson’s case and the chaotic chain of events leading to his arrest, ABC15’s three-part investigation can be found here.
Ahead of ABC15’s investigation, Mitchell and her office declined interview requests and would not answer questions about the case. But during a recent press conference about a different Phoenix police shooting, ABC15 was able to ask the county attorney several questions.
ABC15: County attorney, Mitchell, I'm here for Dave Biscobing as he's out of town on assignment. We wanted to ask you about Dr. Kris Johnson. Why do you feel this doctor deserves prison time?
Mitchell: This case is set for trial, actually, fairly soon. I'm not going to make any comments about it… I have ethical responsibilities to not engage in pretrial publicity-type situations where I am tainting the jury pool, so I'm not going to do that, but we will obviously present our case in court.
