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Supporters of recreational marijuana use will turn in hundreds of thousands of signatures Thursday morning to get an initiative to legalize marijuana on the November ballot in Arizona.

A GOP candidate once touted by the Arizona Republican Party as tough-to-beat in the Democratic stronghold of Legislative District 7 won’t even be on the ballot in August.

The Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee filed a challenge against Republican Candace Begody-Begay’s nominating petitions to run for the Senate in Legislative District 7.

Active professional athletes rarely speak against the policies of the leagues for which they play. But for Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Eugene Monroe, the dangers of opioids prescribed to NFL players for pain management – and the potential for a healthier alternative in medical marijuana – is too important to stay silent.

The wife of Sen. Carlyle Begay is running to fill the Arizona Senate seat he’s vacating to run for Congress. Candace Begody-Begay, 28, filed nominating petitions on Wednesday morning to run for the Senate in Legislative District 7.

Bills that sought to clamp down on when and how doctors can administer medication abortions, as well as requirements that they tell women their abortions can be reversed, were repealed this year.

After 14 years as a state legislator, Senate President Andy Biggs won’t be returning to the Capitol next January, and instead seeks higher office in Congress. The Gilbert Republican has much to reflect on after another chaotic session and years in the Legislature, where he went from a stubborn no-voter in the House to the leader of a Senate chamber that’s grown more conservative over the past decade.

In Sen. Katie Hobbs’ second full session as minority leader of Senate Democrats, she had fewer votes to count – a headcount of merely 12 lawmakers claiming loyalty to the party after Sen. Carlyle Begay, R-Ganado, switched parties in 2015. Yet the Phoenix Democrat still watched her chamber approve KidsCare and approve the “least bad” budget she’s seen pass the Legislature.

Showing a commitment to improving outcomes for Arizona children in the state’s care, lawmakers made child welfare one of the greatest beneficiaries of the $9.6 billion budget adopted earlier this month.

The budget proposed by GOP leadership in the House and Senate dips into a massive budget surplus to make hundreds of millions of dollars in one-time expenses and millions in tax cuts, but makes few commitments to ongoing spending.