Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle acted to make life tougher for Arizona criminals during this year’s legislative session by passing a slate of criminal justice bills.

Although Maricopa County was assigned a grade of “F” for ozone pollution and a grade of “C” for 24-hour particulate pollution in the American Lung Association’s recently released 2012 State of the Air Report, air quality professionals contend that the simple letter grade doesn’t tell the entire story of the Valley’s air, and that progress has been made during recent years in reducing air pollution.

Doug Ducey brought 13 years of experience running a business in the private sector, including time as CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, to his post as Arizona state treasurer. Now, as he and his staff are responsible for managing the state’s $11.4 billion portfolio of taxpayer money on a daily basis, he shares what the state is — and is not — doing effectively in recovering from the Great Recession.

As Californians Rob Owens and Ian Au-Yeung took in an early April spring training game between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers at Peoria Sports Complex, they may have felt a bit more crowded by the fans this year at the ballpark.

Recently elected Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and architectural sustainability consultant Bill McDonough held a conversation with the downtown Phoenix community last month to figure out ways to put the empty lots that dot the city to work.

Zimmerman Diary has been operating in Arizona for nearly 90 years, but its long-lasting success doesn’t mean its third-generation owners haven’t had to innovate to survive along the way.

Facing rising costs, in March 2011 the Zimmermans installed a shiny new fixture they say will enable them to continue to stay in business regardless of electricity rates.

Theresa Mattern, a Glendale-based Realtor, listed a four bedroom single-family home for a client on a Friday in February for $95,000. Within 72 hours, she had seven offers and it sold for $109,000 cash.

“At the end of the weekend it sold for $14,000 over the asking price,” Mattern says.

Six years ago, it was common for buyers to wait in front of new home sales offices to see who would win the privilege of purchasing one of the several lots the builder had selected to release for sale that day.

As Rep. Debbie McCune Davis enters her 26th year of service as a lawmaker, she reveals how losing a Corporation Commission race helped her career and the issues that keep her coming back to the Legislature, even when she’s at odds with how it’s functioning.

As Sen. Linda Gray’s final term at the Legislature winds down this year, she fondly recalls the friendships and accomplishments she will take with her. What she isn’t fond of is being forced to go.

“It’s the only ‘profession’ in which when you become good at it, you’re asked to leave,” Gray says.