Lawmaker wants a system for evaluating online courses

A state lawmaker wants to create an institute that would recommend whether online courses offered by private companies meet state standards before public schools decide whether to use them.

Officials: Budget cuts will increase boating dangers

The latest plan to address the state’s budget deficit would sweep a fund that helps law enforcement patrol Arizona’s waterways, something that two local officials say would endanger boaters.

Senate passes legislation expanding definition of domestic violence

The state Senate passed two bills March 8 intended to curb abuse in family and intimate relationships by expanding the list of crimes that qualify as domestic violence.

With budget decisions looming, teachers union organizes rally to support education

Katie Barnes said state lawmakers should spend time with her and other teachers before making deep cuts to education funding.

Proposal for public notices committee clears House

The state House passed a bill March 3 that would establish a committee to examine the most cost efficient and effective ways for local governments to publish legal notices as required by statute.

Brewer, proponents tout home schooling at State Capitol event

Amie Oetter said she teaches her two sons, ages 10 and 12, more than the education staples of math, science and reading.

For example, Oetter has been teaching them Greek, Latin and Spanish since they were each in first grade, she said.

Bill would preempt local ordinances involving carrying, manufacturing knives

PEORIA - D’Alton Holder loves knives.

Since 1966, he’s been crafting hunting knives with handles of amber, marble, ironwood and more in the workshop behind his home, selling them at trade shows throughout the U.S.

Tucson set to require new commercial developments to harvest rainwater

TUCSON - Rain falling on the roof of this new QuikTrip gas station trickles into pipes that water willow acacia trees and native shrubs.

The parking lot slopes, directing water into deep gravel that keeps it around for the desert landscaping rather than having it run down East Speedway Boulevard.

Demonstrators: Health care funding cuts would hurt business

A plan to cut $800 million next fiscal year from state programs providing health care would cost tens of thousands of jobs, and the losses would extend far beyond those in the health care field, business leaders said Feb. 24.

Closing Homolovi Ruins has residents, archaeologists, Hopi worried about security

WINSLOW - Wandering across her parents’ cattle ranch in the 1950s, Georgia Nagel often found pottery shards, petroglyphs and other remnants of an ancient Anasazi village along the Little Colorado River. Unfortunately for Homolovi Ruins and its treasures, so did a lot of people with less honorable intentions.