(Tom) Hello and welcome to Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

Today we join you from the AZPM control room, a little behind the scenes for you.

You know we've just learned that this station won a record nine regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and this show won five of those awards.

Today we will be showing you some of those award-winning stories so stay tuned.

Our award-winning stories include the making of an All-American gymnast, Sirena Linton.

(Taylor) Sirena has grown tremendously over the past few seasons.

I think she's really come into her own and become more comfortable leading.

I think that she has a bright future ahead.

(Tom) An in-depth investigation into the increase of US citizens arrested as gun smugglers in Mexico.

(Rafael) 80% of the crimes committed in Mexico are related to guns.

Guns that came from the US.

(Tom) And a heartfelt look into the life and legacy of the Tucson original, Al Foul.

(Hannah) Losing Al was horrible enough but losing him that way was just so much worse.

In 2022 gymnast Sirena Linton was named University of Arizona's Athletics Junior of the Year.

In this next story she talks about what it means to be a first generation Mexican-American student athlete, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and an NCAA All-American.

This profile won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Sports Reporting.

So congrats to our recently graduated student Ashland Johnson who produced the story and videographers Nate Huffman and Zach Harns.

[music] (Sirena) When I was young, my parents just threw me in.

They wanted to get me out of the house because I jumped around like a like a monkey.

And I was just climbing on walls and I was able to, like, get out my energy that way as a kid.

And I really just fell in love with it and I stuck with it ever since.

(Taylor) Sirena's freshman year was 2020.

I officially met her in 2019.

I went to recruit her at her home gym, and the first time I saw her, I just knew that I wanted that routine.

(Sirena) It's been really interesting, especially earning like a full ride academic scholarship, not having a lot of people who have been in my shoes before, in my family.

And so it's been really something that I've had to navigate and pave my own path for.

(Taylor) The team culture is really special here.

We have a group of girls that really want to be here and make the program better.

(Sirena) Regardless of where we all come from, we're able to come together and really set out a goal and go achieve it.

It's like a sisterhood and it's a family.

(Gymnastics team) Bear down!

(Sirena) It was a shock to just be here in general and to get a spot on the team.

I came in as a walk on and I really just earned my way here.

(Taylor) Something that makes Sirena excellent at what she does is her attention to detail.

She's just consistently wanting to get better.

(Sirena) My brother definitely inspires me.

He passed away at the end of my sophomore year and that was just a turning point for me.

It was definitely a really hard thing for me and my family.

I'm not going to lie.

It was a struggle I had many times where I just wanted to redshirt.

I wanted to quit.

I didn't want to go to class.

I couldn't even get out of bed just from grieving.

I had to also remind myself what my brother stood for and use that as motivation to get myself out of bed, taking things day by day and just being able to say, I just made it here.

I made it into the gym was like a win for me every single day.

Was just like a little bit more.

A little bit more, a little bit more.

He's just a really strong soul that I've always looked up to.

(Taylor) Serena has grown tremendously over the past few seasons.

I think she's really come into her own and become more comfortable leading leading by example, you know, leading by voice in the gym.

She's really good at keeping everyone together, and I think that she has a bright future ahead.

(Taylor coaching) Come on Sirena.

Walk out the back like a little bit more on the second back handspring.

(Sirena) So I'm like training in the gym with Taylor and I'm looking at the wall with her on it.

I'm like, I want to be right next to you, Taylor.

And she's like, You got to get All American.

Like, Well, we got to get All American.

(Taylor coaching) You listen, though.

You listen to what I said because I didn't want you to try and stick and go small and be here.

So that was better.

(Sirena) From then, I just worked really hard and kept giving that little 1% every single day.

I had a really great season.

Went to regionals.

I set my sights out for that top spot because that top spot was going to get me to nationals.

And obviously focusing on my team, still focusing on our success.

(ESPN announcer) This is an exciting moment for Sirena.

It really is, it's her only opportunity qualified as a specialist on this event.

(Sirena) I think it's one thing to qualify to the national championships and it's another to do well and to be able to show what I worked really hard for.

And it was really important for me to go and represent, you know, not only Mexican-Americans, but, you know, first gen, students of color, LGBT communities.

And I remember shaking all over the place.

My warmups were not good.

I was falling off super nervous just because I'm on the national stage.

And right before I competed, my coach came up to me and he said, Remember what you've been training all this year for and immediately thought of my brother.

Went up, hit my routine, nailed it.

(ESPN announcer) Good showing for her on her special event.

So exciting!

Oh, I love that.

(Taylor) And she ended up becoming an All-American.

So she has a picture on the wall now.

(Sirena) It really came full circle for me.

And from then I was like, Well, I made it.

So now what's next?

(Announcer) Sirena Linton!

(Sirena) My goal ultimately is to not only go back, but to bring my team.

I walk in the gym every day and I, you know, encourage uplift with my teammates and say, you know, we've got to get here.

We all have to.

Something that my coach asked me at the end of last season was, What are you most proud of?

They expected me to say, Oh, All American national championships.

And I looked at them and I said, like, I'm proud that we hosted our first pride meet.

and hosted the first like Diversity Inclusion, LGBTQ themed competition, because we're one of maybe like three or four schools who have ever done that.

Being an advocate and representing those who want to be in my position, that's been what's special to me and that's been my biggest accomplishment.

And I just hope that I can continue to do that.

(Tom) Mexico has much stricter gun laws than the US and as gun violence there continues the Mexican government is stepping up enforcement.

Now recently we've seen a rise in the number of Americans arrested as smugglers.

So this next story looks at the reason behind the trend, officials reactions and families pleas to the Mexican government.

This next piece won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting.

Congrats to contributing producer Liliana Soto videographers John DeSoto and Robert Lindberg and editor Diana Cadena.

(Voiceover) At first glance, this road looks like any other Southern Arizona highway, but in reality it's one of the corridors the smugglers used to illegally traffic assault and sniper rifles, firearm magazines, among other weapons, into Mexico daily.

It's been reported gun smugglers often recruit U.S. citizens.

According to the Federal Public Defenders Institute, between June 2021 and May 2022, half of foreign people committing federal crimes in Mexico were from the U.S..

Majority of those crimes were against the federal law on firearm and explosives.

El trafico de armas.

Gun trafficking.

It's a big American business that's leading to a vicious cycle, helping fuel some of the most violent transnational criminal organizations in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

(Rafael) 80% of the crimes committed in Mexico being homicides or other types of crimes are related to guns.

Guns that came from the U.S.. (Rafael) It is very important for every government and every part of the society to fight against violence and having a rational restriction on how you buy weapons, particularly if you know those might be taken for illegal trafficking.

(Voiceover) Unlike in the United States, there's only one gun store in Mexico, which is located at an army base in Mexico City and managed by the military.

(Voiceover) Gun laws are so strict in Mexico that the moment you cross the border with a gun or even a bullet.

(Rafael) You are committing automatically a felony and you will be in a mandatory detention because of that.

So while the trial is being conducted, you will be detained.

(Ira) I forgot to take my gun out of the vehicle.

(Voiceover) Ira Beavers was traveling with his family to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, when his gun was found during a customs search in Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.

(Ira) Honest mistake.

Honest mistake.

They make they make an honest mistake.

Cost so much.

(Voiceover) He spent seven months at a mexican prison on gun trafficking charges.

Unable to support his wife and children.

(Ira) They gave me two charges because I had two clips.

We reached out to the U.S. consulate asking about the number of Americans arrested in Mexico for gun possession at the Arizona-Mexico border.

Or the number of those currently detained at the federal prison in Hermosillo for gun charges.

They said in part that they were unable to provide exact numbers.

However, records show up to May 2022, U.S. citizens were the highest population among foreign prisoners in Mexico.

Ira did gain his freedom back, however.

(Ira) A week before I got out, my mom passed away.

So, that that that really, that really hurt because my mom was my everything.

(Rafael) We have an increase of people that have been detained because they seize an arm that was with them, but also because for Mexicans, the control of guns, it's even more relevant each year.

(Tony) Teachers, doctors, former priest, truck drivers, everyday good people because they forgot they had a weapon in their vehicle.

(Voiceover) Tony Harrison's son Drew Harrison has been incarcerated at a federal prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, for almost nine months now.

He was detained and taken into custody at the checkpoint at the border in Sonoyta, Sonora after officials found two guns in his vehicle.

The family was on their way to Puerto Penasco, Sonora.

(Tony) He was like, what's going on?

I'm not trying to hide them.

These are mine, but what's the problem?

Drew, a father of three boys, a financial adviser who graduated from the University of Arizona with no previous criminal record, received a seven year sentence before trial.

The Harrison's lawyer is fighting to get Drew's sentence reduced to less than four years so he can qualify for a release on probation.

But just like Ira's case... (Tony) Our family is still living a nightmare we're just hoping it's over soon.

We sympathize with the people that get into those troubles without knowing what they were happening without a bad intent.

(Tony) Mexico, what they're doing to try to protect their citizens from guns is great, but on the same deal, I mean, don't don't penalize people that just simply forgot that they had a gun coming into your country.

(Voiceover) About a million people cross into Mexico through the Lukeville-Sonoyta port of entry every year.

Mainly Arizonans traveling to the beaches of Puerto Penasco.

Just steps away from this port of entry is where Ira and Drew got arrested.

(Peter) They feel like victims, but by the same token, they'll say ‘all we wanted to do was protect our family while we were at the beach.'

My advice is, if you're going to feel uncomfortable in Mexico without a weapon, then stay home.

(Voiceover) Peter Bachelier is a director at the Port of Entry in Lukeville, Arizona.

He says outbound searches at this port of entry are now taking place daily.

(Peter) As our technology comes in, especially the, the x-ray systems and non-intrusive inspection systems, outbound is going to become a regular process.

(Rafael) For people trying to conceal the weapons into Mexico, I would suggest think twice.

(Voiceover) Because once an officer finds a weapon.

(Rafael) He or she is in an obligation to report you to the attorney general's office.

Once that happens, the process cannot be stopped.

(Voiceover) On the other hand, CBP says they're trying to do what they can to prevent arrests of everyday Americans by adding more signs like this one.

Officials say there are other signs on the road.

However, we only noticed two and one was blocked.

(Bob) There's a lot of signs on the side of the road, you know, that have to do with Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, you know, your speed.

(Voiceover) Bob Bushell is a former Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor.

(Bob) Those signs that that warn you about, you know, firearms or ammunition going into Mexico.

They look just like a traffic sign.

(Ira) And everybody's like, ‘oh, you didn't see the sign saying no guns?'

Like, no, I didn't see the sign because I wasn't looking for the sign.

(Bob) I think it might be a combination of, yeah, let's get some bigger signage out there, but let's change it up.

Let's, so they so they catch your attention more.

Nobody's special.

You're not going to talk your way out of it.

You're going to get arrested and you're going to spend a lot of time in jail.

(Ira) As Americans, we're so used to carrying our guns all the time because we're allowed to, you don't think about it.

(Tom) Alan Lewis Curtis, affectionately known by his stage name of Al Foul, died of laryngeal cancer back in May of 2022.

One of his dying wishes was that his wife Hannah would raise awareness of end-of-life options that are now legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia, but not in Arizona.

This next story won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary.

Congratulations to producer Cáit NíSíomón and videographer, editor Nate Huffman for capturing this challenging story so humanely.

[Music] (Hannah) He told me a long story about these two kids he's here with.

They were being mercilessly bullied.

And his teacher saw that Al had a big heart.

but was also fiercely protective.

So she asked him to watch out for them.

Not just really sweet evidence of his character, but the reality is he'd been dressing like this forever.

Always had his shirt tucked in and always shined his boots.

All that old-fashionedness, though, sort of belied the fact that he was extremely interested in looking at everything with a very inclusive lens.

You know, there are a lot of things I could say about Al that they sound like cliches, but they just aren't when it comes to him.

He was truly one of a kind.

He was called the one, the only Al Foul for a reason.

[music] He worked within a pretty classic vernacular of like classic country, classic rock and roll, like Americana, but it really didn't sound like anything else.

[music] (Hannah) We got engaged in December of 2018, and then had to reschedule a couple of times, and the pandemic happened.

And then he got sick, and we just, you know, didn't know what we were going to do.

And then one night we were talking about it, and we decided we still wanted to get married.

When he was first diagnosed, the estimate we were given by the oncologist was that he had an 80% chance of survival.

We thought this was going to be a rotten thing that he was going to go through, and it was going to be a hard year, but that when we'd be on the other side of it, it would just be another difficult thing that Al lived through in his difficult life and triumphed over.

People really believed that about Al for good reason.

He seemed like someone that you couldn't knock down with something like that.

We had to wait for him to heal from surgery, and then he started radiation, and he was getting daily radiation treatments for a couple of months.

And then he started chemotherapy on top of that.

All of those things combined were as difficult as it sounds.

I mean, I think they certainly prolonged his life a bit, and in between that we tried immunotherapy treatments.

Those actually kept it at bay for a little while.

We bought a little bit of time, and during that time that he was on immunotherapy, that's when he was getting into painting and able to get a little bit of quality of life.

He was very depressed.

Who wouldn't be if you're someone that loves life that much?

You know?

He was...we were really happy.

We bought this little house and fixed it up and filled it with beautiful furniture he made.

Life was really beautiful.

(Al) Still going?

(Hannah) No it's not.

Okay.

We eventually asked, you know, about all the questions about end of life, including, What would our options be if the suffering was so great that Al wanted assistance with dying?

And unfortunately, it's not available to people in Arizona.

We looked into possibly going to New Mexico or going to Oregon, which would have been close to my family.

And very quickly, it became clear that we actually didn't have any options, and Al was disintegrating rapidly.

His condition was getting worse and worse all the time.

(Mary) Many people have a personal story that makes them interested in the right to die movement.

With me, it was a former spouse who became paraplegic due to cancer.

He had 16 months in hospice.

The basic definition, it's a medical practice for terminally ill patients who have less than six months to live, who ask for a prescription filled by a compound pharmacy to end their life if and when they choose.

It's not something that happens easily, even in the states where it's legal.

In the states where it's not legal, you know, people end up ending their lives in very violent ways.

We're a big gun culture.

The opposition says, "If you have hospice and you have palliative care, you don't need medical aid in dying."

People say, "Well, we have pain management."

(Hannah) Sort of an early painting of his that turned into kind of mixed media This was certainly at a time when he was absorbing the fact that the cancer that he had was going to kill him.

And pain was becoming a really big issue.

And so this is his prescription bottle for morphine.

There are a number of different medications you can take to control terminal agitation.

We were trying to calm him down so that his body could do the work that it needed to shut down and die peacefully.

But we could not get that under control.

Most people, when they're in the process of dying, sleep constantly.

Al was not sleeping.

He was awake and in pain.

One of the hardest, hardest moments for me was when he was in this state of terminal agitation.

And he was really kind of out of it.

And all of a sudden, he became more lucid for a moment.

And he looked at me in the eye and he said, "Am I dying?"

And I had to say, "Yes, yes, my love.

I'm afraid that you are."

So he was very cognizant of this descent into death and this pain.

So, for a lot of people, it's a line in the sand that they qualify and they're going to take the medication if they get to a certain point.

(Hannah) Our lack of literacy around death makes this conversation that much more difficult.

So I think opening up a dialogue about the realities is only going to get us closer to making humane choices.

(Mel) If this option is something that people would like to have, even if it is a choice you would not make for yourself, try to extend your circle of compassion.

Like, where is that circle around you?

How far out can you extend that?

(Hannah) I made a promise to Al when he was sick that I would be his biggest protector.

That I would do everything I could to make him feel empowered about any decisions around his care.

And I did that to the best of my abilities.

But taking care of someone who's dying is, I think, much more difficult than a lot of people realize.

Unfortunately, not only did he suffer horribly, his worst fear around that was realized in that I was traumatized.

I am traumatized.

I can just be going through about my day and all of a sudden a film loop will be playing in my head of what I witnessed.

So it's going to affect me for the rest of my life.

I'm trying to do everything right.

I'm in therapy.

I'm taking it very seriously and I'm back to work.

I'm your host, Hannah Levin, here with you every weekday from 3 until 6 PM.

Thanks so much for joining me.

Losing Al was horrible enough, but losing him that way was just so much worse.

[music] It's something that's going to affect everyone in one point or another in their lives.

Al told me in no uncertain terms, if I'm able to end my life when I want that in my obituary, I want people to know that medical aid in dying is a human right.

He wanted that to be a public awareness component.

[music] For a brief moment in time, we thought we might at least be able to control the suffering.

and that he could end life on his own terms.

in line with who he was.

[Music] (Tom) We're very proud of the work we're producing here on Arizona Illustrated and it's an honor to be recognized with these awards but we're even more proud of the fact that the stories we're fortunate enough to tell are resonating so well here in our own community.

So thank you for joining and trusting Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara and we'll see you again next week.