Jen & Friends | Jen's Two Cents.

Arizona cattle rancher Casey Murph joins me for a wide-ranging interview examining a growing battle over land, wildlife habitat, and the future of rural Arizona. Murph argues that policies accelerating renewable energy development could reshape generations of ranching and change how open land is used across the state. “I really hate to make this political because I don’t really think this has to b...

A Republican primary battle is taking shape in Arizona Legislative District 27.  Former State Representative and Senator Anthony Kern is challenging incumbent Senator Kevin Payne for the Republican nomination in a district that includes portions of Peoria, Glendale, and northwest Phoenix.  In this exclusive interview, Kern sits down with Jen's Two Cents to discuss his recovery from a devastat...

Small Towns to Big Cities: Women Challenge America's Surveillance Systems From suburban moms to retired professionals, women across the political spectrum are questioning how rapidly surveillance cameras and vehicle-tracking systems have expanded into their communities. Read the Report In this report, we hear from concerned women across Arizona, including voices from Chandler, Flagstaff, Sedo...

The Women Questioning America’s Expanding Surveillance State  From the serene farming community of Paonia, Colorado to the rapidly growing city of Chandler, Arizona women are showing up at public meetings with increasingly urgent questions about surveillance technology spreading through American communities.  Women, mothers, and longtime residents are taking the mic to question AI-powered license...

FOIA Restrictions on ALPR Records: Republicans Clash Over Transparency in Arizona  What happens when the government builds a growing surveillance network — and then moves to prevent the public from seeing how it’s being used?  That question is now at the center of an escalating political battle inside Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature, where lawmakers are divided over public access to Au...

From Arizona to New York, the miniaturization of surveillance cameras could transform everyday spaces into increasingly invisible networks of automated monitoring.  Scarsdale, New York never installed its proposed Flock Safety license plate reader network.  But the village is fighting to keep the camera locations secret anyway.  At the center of the dispute is Josh Frankel, a 25-year Scarsdale res...

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly raising urgent questions about child safety, digital privacy, and the future of the workforce. How are these issues affecting Arizona and the nation? In this exclusive interview , I sit down with AI and digital privacy advocate Julie Barrett to discuss what these changes could mean for families, children, and society. Read the Report Watch the Interview...

Goodyear Police Department Sgt. Mayra Reeson, the department’s Public Information Officer, sat down for a one-on-one discussion about community engagement, evolving technology, and GYPD’s new Virtual Block Watch Program .  Goodyear Virtual Block Watch Link Sgt. Reeson joined Goodyear PD in January 2025 and brings 18 years of law enforcement experience, including time with Phoenix Police Department...

In a move that is already reshaping the political landscape of Legislative District 4, Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board Member Sandra Christensen formally announces her candidacy for the Arizona House of Representatives — and she sits down for her first exclusive interview with Jen’s Two Cents . Read the Report Please send news tips to jen@news2jb.com.

❓ Are license plate readers compatible with the freedoms our Founding Fathers fought for?  🎙️ This week, I sit down with Surprise, Arizona Councilmember Johnny Melton to break down the city’s audit of its Flock Safety ALPR system, what it uncovered, and what it means for privacy rights, public safety, and government accountability in Arizona.  ➡️ As an independent journalist, these are the conver...

Scottsdale City Councilmember Barry Graham granted Jen’s Two Cents an exclusive interview to discuss the city’s 2026 Legislative Agenda — a document I located in last week’s council Consent Agenda. Councilmember Graham played a key role in proposing an amendment , and in our conversation he breaks down why it mattered, what changed, and what residents should know moving forward.  “The Legislative...

After leading an in-depth audit of Surprise, Arizona’s Flock Safety license plate reader network, Councilmember Johnny V. Melton sits down with Jen’s Two Cents to reveal what he discovered. From data practices to AI concerns, he walks through the findings and what residents should know. Enjoy this latest episode of “Jen & Friends” with host Jen Barber. Please send news tips to jen@news2jb.com.

Read the Report Jen’s Two Cents makes no claims or determinations regarding any of these statements. This exclusive interview is being presented solely to inform the public of viewpoints expressed by candidates and elected officials during the 2026 Goodyear mayoral race. Mayor Pizzillo remains welcome to provide a written statement or appear on the Jen’s Two Cents podcast at any time. All statemen...

In this exclusive, former Councilmember - now mayoral candidate - Bill Stipp says Goodyear residents deserve a public conversation about the city’s rollout of AI-driven surveillance cameras. Read the Report Please send news tips to jen@news2jb.com.

On March 4, 2025, Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo spoke with me following the launch of the Buckeye Union High School District Education Foundation — a new nonprofit dedicated to supporting students through enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities. Western Maricopa Education Center ( West-MEC ), which partners with 15 public school districts and 2 charter districts, offers innovativ...

What happens when a citizen pushes back against government secrecy? In this exclusive interview, we talk with the man who refused to accept “denied” for an answer — and won. His fight to access the surveillance records tied to his own license plate location reveals just how much the government knows about your movements… and what it takes to get that information. I thank Josh Frankel for his insig...

Read the Report: Who's Protecting the Taxpayers? In the news lately, several Arizona school districts have faced controversy over superintendents being terminated early or released from their contracts long before they expire.  Many walk away with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, leaving governing boards under fire as they navigate some of the most difficult decisions in public educ...

Sandy Boyce of LiveFreeAZ.com breaks down how residents in Sedona successfully pushed to have Flock Safety surveillance cameras removed — and what it takes to do the same in your own city. From uncovering contracts to pressing city councils for transparency, Boyce explains the exact steps communities can use to challenge automated license plate readers and reclaim control over local surveillance p...

I sat down with Surprise Vice Mayor Jack Hastings to discuss current events, and our conversation turned to competition in education and the future of school choice in Arizona. Hastings, who was first elected to the Surprise City Council in 2020 and re-elected in 2022, has served as Vice Mayor since January 2025. A longtime Surprise resident, Assistant Principal in the Dysart Unified School Distri...

Josh Frankel, a 25-year resident of Scarsdale, New York, has been raising awareness about Flock Safety cameras and spoke with me about how the technology is spreading nationwide. Read the Report Please send news tips to jen@news2jb.com.

Cut, Slash, or Eliminate? Surprise to Reconsider Its Business License Mandate Surprise City Council will weigh cutting its $168 business license fee Tuesday — Vice Mayor Jack Hastings says it’s about competition and investment. Read the Report Please send news tips to jen@news2jb.com.

In this exclusive Jen and Friends  interview , Parental Rights Advocate Anna Van Hoek joins us to talk about the sharp decline in public school enrollment across Arizona — and what it means for families, funding, and the future of education in our state. The schools expert lays out exactly why 92,000 students — and their tax dollars — are now choosing education outside Arizona’s public school syst...

🎙️ New Episode of “Jen & Friends” — Now Streaming!  This week on Jen & Friends, we shine the spotlight on a conservative voice making waves in Arizona’s public education system: Anna Van Hoek, a Higley Unified School District Governing Board Member.  In this candid conversation, Van Hoek opens up about why she got involved in public service, the realities of being a minority voice on her s...

Not Just a Seat—A Statement: School Board Member Challenges Superintendent’s Role at the Dais Does seating the superintendent at the dais blur the separation of roles — and make it harder for the public to catch side comments, facial expressions, & subtle cues revealing how decisions are made? Read the Report here. At the July 8th Higley Unified School District governing board meeting, tension...

Every school year, parents are buried in a blizzard of consent forms—medical releases, media waivers, technology agreements—most of which go unread in the rush to get kids back in class. Buried in the fine print is a decades-old policy that allowed schools to quietly hand over students' personal information to outside vendors—unless parents knew to opt out. But a new Arizona law changes that,...