PHOENIX — From Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoing three education bills to the Phoenix police sergeant being put on leave, here are some of the top Arizona news stories from April 10-12.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes 3 Republican-backed education bills
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed three Republican-backed education bills this week, including one that would have required districts to be more transparent about top officials’ salaries.
HB 2075 would have compelled all public and charter school districts to submit the contracts for their superintendents, assistant superintendents and chief financial officers to the Arizona Department of Education as public records.
In her veto letter, Hobbs said she rejected the bill because it doesn’t cover all education options in the state, citing its “robust school choice environment.”
“This bill fails to ensure that all options in the marketplace are held to the same level of transparency,” the Democrat wrote.
She didn’t directly mention Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, or ESAs, the voucher program that lets families use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition or homeschooling expenses.
However, Hobbs and Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne have clashed over accountability for ESAs in the past. Hobbs has called for the state to “tackle the waste, fraud and abuse” in the voucher program.
A sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department was put on administrative leave Friday as his off-duty actions at a January student protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chandler are being investigated.
ABC15 reported that Sgt. Dusten Mullen showed up fully armed and masked to an ICE protest that was conducted by Hamilton High School students, according to a Chandler police report.
The report also stated that Mullen confronted students despite police intervention and said he was going to call other armed individuals to the area.
“As law enforcement professionals, we are held to higher standards of conduct — both in and out of uniform,” Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano said in a statement Friday. “Our community expects integrity, accountability and sound judgment from every member of this department, and I expect the same. When we fall short, we must be accountable, and we will not tolerate actions which undermine the trust the community has placed in the department.”
Motorcyclist dead at the scene after collision in central Phoenix
A motorcyclist was killed in a Phoenix collision on Friday morning, authorities said.
Officers with the Phoenix Police Department responded to the scene near 35th Avenue and Thomas Road before 5 a.m.
They found the motorcyclist — later identified as 22-year-old Elijah Payton — unresponsive. The Phoenix Fire Department pronounced Payton dead at the scene.
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Man who trafficked almost 140 pounds of methamphetamine on I-10 sentenced to prison
A man who trafficked almost 140 pounds of methamphetamine in Arizona last year has been sentenced to seven years in prison, authorities announced Thursday.
Anthony Perez was sentenced last week and ordered to pay more than $5,000 in fines and surcharges, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
On December 8, 2025, a trooper with the Arizona Department of Public Safety pulled him over after seeing him break multiple traffic laws on westbound Interstate 10.
One of those violations was driving without a license. In fact, prosecutors said he never was issued a driver’s license. As a result, the vehicle was subject to towing and an inventory search.
During the search, officers found 138.8 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in duffel bags in the back seat.
Controversial West Valley data center wins approval despite 225 opposition letters
A controversial data center project in the West Valley is moving ahead.
Maricopa County’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a military special use permit for Project Baccara – a massive data center campus and accompanying gas power plant during an April 9 meeting.
The developer on the project, Takanock LLC, is a Michigan-based data center firm with four sites in three states. Across those sites it is investing $36 billion to prepare the land and build out massive new campuses, according to the company.
The 160-acre site it’s working on in the West Valley is adjacent to Luke Air Force Base and just outside the city limits of Surprise and Glendale.
Arizona Democrats shocked by conditions at ICE holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport
Arizona’s three Democratic U.S. House members said they were shocked by what they saw during their unannounced visit to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport on Thursday night.
“What we saw inside the facility tonight was shocking — overcrowding to a level that was completely unacceptable,” Rep. Greg Stanton said during a news conference after witnessing the conditions at an ICE facility called the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center with Reps. Adelita Grijalva and Yassamin Ansari.
Stanton said people are being held for multiple days in a facility meant for short-term stays for detainees before their deportation flights. He said the ICE facility was well over capacity, with detainees lying side by side on a concrete floor and more being bused in.
Grijalva said the visit was part of their congressional oversight responsibilities.
“The overcrowding situation is frightening. And you have people that are sick, people that are sweating, … women that need sanitary napkins and were asking me if I could get some for them,” Grijalva said in a video posted to social media.
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