The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality declared today that one of its 36 superfund sites is safe, nearly 15 years and $12 million after the project began.

Arizona lawmakers are going after teenage drivers who use wireless devices. A Senate committee advanced a bill Wednesday seeking to prohibit teenagers from using cellphones and other wireless devices while they have their learner’s permit and during the first six months of their license.

Motorists in Arizona can continue to be prosecuted for driving under the influence of marijuana even if the only proof is a blood test that shows a chemical compound that doesn’t cause impairment but can remain in the blood for a month, a state appellate court has ruled.

Allies of former senator Russell Pearce secured a critical step in pushing for legislation that creates the framework for reimbursing officials who face recall elections.

The proposal could pave the way for Pearce getting a reimbursement of more than $260,000 — the amount his campaign spent defending him last year, when he was ousted from the senate in a recall election.

As Republican lawmakers begin to receive briefings on the budget deal that GOP leaders and the Governor’s Office agreed to in principle April 25, details are beginning to emerge.

The major sticking point between the two sides has been revenue projections — not just for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, but also for the following two years. Though Gov. Jan Brewer had been unwilling to adopt the Legislature’s more cautious revenue estimates, it appears she had a change of mind.

Following the damning news that the House Ethics Committee formally recommended his expulsion, Tucson lawmaker Rep. Daniel Patterson resigned his seat today, before the full House could take a vote on the motion to expel him.


With no fanfare, House Speaker Andy Tobin announced that he accepted Patterson’s resignation.

Investigators with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office today raided the office of lobbyist Gary Husk, who has been implicated in the Fiesta Bowl scandal.

Republican lawmakers’ dormant war with the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is flaring up anew, as House Speaker Andy Tobin has introduced a host of measures that would set a special election so voters could decide whether to use legislative and congressional maps drawn by the Legislature instead of those approved last month by the volunteer panel.

President Barack Obama will be in Arizona the day after the State of the Union address as part of a five-state, three-day tour.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who is wrapping up an eight-month investigation into the Fiesta Bowl scandal, will ask lawmakers to overhaul the state’s lobbying laws, saying financial reporting requirements are confusing and out of touch with what he believes the public demands of its elected officials.


“If it’s too much of a burden for an elected official to keep the public informed … they shouldn’t be in office,” the county’s top prosecutor told the Arizona Capitol Times. “If you don’t want to do this, then go do something else.”