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Recent Articles from Victoria Pelham, Cronkite News Service
Senators urge action on water-rights bill in meeting with tribal leaders
WASHINGTON – Arizona’s senators urged tribal leaders Thursday to move quickly on a proposed settlement of water-rights claims so they can push the bill through Congress before this session ends. In separate closed-door meetings with Navajo and Hopi leaders in Tuba City, Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain stressed the importance of quick action, said those who attended the meetings.
Feds, tribal officials call for efforts to settle, not sue over, water rights
Federal, tribal and legal officials agreed Thursday that all sides would be better off if they worked to settle water-rights claims rather than continuing to litigate them.
A year into emergency, Arizona federal courts still face ‘dire’ situation
WASHINGTON – Federal courts in Arizona are still in “dire circumstances” as an emergency declaration that was supposed to help judges keep pace with a crushing caseload is set to expire. The judicial emergency declared last year in the wake of the shooting death of Chief Judge John Roll runs out Monday, but officials say the U.S. District Court for the state still faces many of the same c[...]
Arizona Supreme Court justice moves closer to federal judgeship
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Hurwitz’s nomination to a federal appeals court Thursday, brushing aside concerns over his 2002 law review article on the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights ruling.
Mohave County official urges Congress to lift Grand Canyon mining ban
The chairman of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors called on the federal government Tuesday to revoke a recently imposed 20–year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.
Tribes back bill to ease federal oversight of Indian-land energy projects
Tribal officials told a House committee Wednesday that federal regulation of energy projects on Indian lands is a “major bottleneck” that is stifling their economies and needs to be changed.
Federal appeals court criticizes U.S. attorney’s office for Arizona
A federal appeals court Tuesday criticized the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona for failing to “acknowledge and take responsibility” for the courtroom behavior of a federal prosecutor the court had chided last month.
Federal judges demand to know prosecutors’ plans in immigration cases
A federal appeals court has taken what some attorneys called the unprecedented step of demanding to know if the government plans to prosecute seven illegal immigrants who have no other criminal record.
Census: Few among Arizona’s tribes claimed to be multiracial
The number of American Indians who claimed to be multiracial jumped sharply over the last decade, but not so much in Arizona, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Arizona lawmakers give State of the Union speech mixed reviews
President Barack Obama called on Washington to work together in his State of the Union address Tuesday night and lawmakers crossed the aisle to sit with each other in a show of bipartisanship.
But reaction to the speech from Arizona’s congressional still split mostly along party lines.
Napolitano tells sheriffs group that border security is a priority
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the government’s decision to funnel most of a federal border-security grant program to the southern border, telling a national sheriffs group Thursday that the government is “very serious” about stopping illegal traffic.
Federal court panel questions conduct of prosecutor in Arizona
A U.S. appeals court panel criticized a Tucson federal prosecutor who it said “presented a falsified version” of testimony in a drug-smuggling case to make the defendant look as if she had lied on the stand.
