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Recent Articles from Don Harris
Today’s Arizona encompasses lots of Cs
While Arizona’s legendary 5 Cs together claim a smaller piece of the state’s economic pie, their historical significance remains.
Shades of 1976
It has been 36 years since two of Arizona’s incumbent members of Congress squared off against each other, but the ultimate outcome of a similar match-up in 2012, regardless of how nasty it gets, is not likely to cost Republicans as dearly as it did in 1976.
Distressed Districts: Two laws help schools deal with aftermath of financial mismanagement
Even in good economic times, school districts struggle to meet their financial obligations, leading a few to slip into receivership while others are victimized by various methods of fraud. But in an era of cutbacks in state spending and tight budgets, vigilance on where the dollars are going takes on even greater importance for schools, whose primary role is providing kids with a quality education[...]
The Gold Standard: Barry Goldwater’s 30-year U.S. Senate career made him an icon in Arizona politics
Barry Goldwater was born three years before Arizona became a state. Who could have imagined that this toddler would become the man most associated with the Grand Canyon State? A five-term U.S. senator and the Republican presidential candidate in 1964, he epitomized the ruggedness of the Wild West and loved the state, with its magnificent vistas, as much as anyone possibly could.
Arizona at 100 A high-tech powerhouse of scenic vistas, natural resources and recreation
From the day that Arizona became a state on Feb. 14, 1912, its boundaries have remained unchanged, but if not for some political gamesmanship, today’s Grand Canyon State would have had a remarkably different portrait.
The Washington Connection: Four Arizonans figure big on Capitol Hill
Since statehood, the Arizona-Washington D.C. political connection has been unbelievably strong and uncharacteristically influential, especially for a state with a relatively small, though growing population.
Teaching tablets
Given the popularity and practical uses for technology, you’d be hard-pressed to find a school district in Arizona that isn’t giving students a taste of 21st century education.
The spread of laptops, hand-held devices and smart phones in classrooms is driven by rapid expansion of technology itself and by the fact that it’s the world that kids live in today.
Digital learning day
At least 28 states, including Arizona, will participate in the first Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1, to celebrate innovative teachers and instructional strategies focusing on the use of technology.
Arizona Ready
Even with the most up-to-date computers and other technology gizmos, key educators say schools will not be able to deliver quality education without effective teachers at the front of the classroom.
‘Fab Five’ Arizona makes history, elects women to top 5 posts
Ten years after an Arizona governor was impeached and barely a year after another governor was forced from office by a federal conviction – both of whom were men – the Grand Canyon State made political history.
The colorful and tumultuous political career of Evan Mecham
Evan Mecham occupies a place in Arizona political history that has all the earmarks of a Greek tragedy. How else can you explain the events of Mecham’s political life?
Barr & Giss: Practicing the fine art of legislative legerdemain
Burton Barr, who was memorialized when his name was given to the Phoenix Central Library, wrote the book on political wheeling and dealing in the Arizona Legislature.
But, even before Barr burst onto the Capitol scene in 1964, Harold Giss was pulling the legislative strings. Both were pragmatic practitioners of lawmaking.
