Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

WASHINGTON – Sen. Jeff Flake’s vote against expanded background checks on gun sales earlier this month caused his approval ratings to drop, making him one of the “most unpopular” U.S. senators, a new poll says.

A delegation of Arizona state and local officials came to Washington Wednesday to press for comprehensive immigration reform, saying the time for action is now while the nation is paying attention.

Arizona’s metal mining and manufacturing industries produced about 84.5 million pounds of toxic chemicals in 2011, a nearly 34 million pound increase from just two years earlier, the Environmental Protection Agency reported.

President Barack Obama’s Tuesday declaration of a disaster on the Navajo Nation will provide relief directly to the tribe, something that would have been impossible as recently as two months ago.

WASHINGTON – A Tucson lawyer told a Senate committee Wednesday that a proposal to limit the sale of semiautomatic weapons is a misguided response to recent headline-grabbing mass shootings.

About $42.8 million has been paid out to Native Americans in Arizona since December, and another $109 million could be distributed starting next month as part of a multibillion-dollar settlement of a lawsuit against the government.

Indian Country made huge strides toward flexing its sovereign authority during President Barack Obama’s first term but it still has a long way to go, the president of the National Congress of American Indians said Thursday.

Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt called for more active land preservation by the federal government Tuesday, criticizing what he called Washington’s neglect of public lands.

WASHINGTON – A consortium of federal and tribal agencies reported Jan. 24 that a five-year, $110 million project to clean up uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation had addressed the most urgent risks there.

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s vehicle-safety laws continue to be among the worst in the nation, according to a report released Tuesday by a national highway safety advocacy group.