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

The Governor's Office and the Arizona Department of Health Services were pitted against each other during a hearing on the fractured condition of the county's mental health care system.

A Southwest environmental group put the Arizona Game and Fish Department on notice it intends to file a lawsuit over a jaguar capture that might have contributed to the animal’s death.

Gov. Jan Brewer on May 14 named Judy Lowe, the former president and owner of Realty Executives Southern Arizona, as the next director of the Arizona Department of Real Estate.

Lawmakers and budget officials have been estimating the deficit of the upcoming fiscal year at about $3 billion, even though the economy has continued a treacherous slide and state revenues have eroded at an alarming pace.

The actual cut to Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will be more than double than what appears in print if lawmakers approve the fiscal 2010 budget plan without including a routine funding adjustment to cover inflation in health care costs.

Arizona State Land Department Director Mark Winkleman has submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Jan Brewer and will stepping down from his position on May 22.

The U.S. Senate this week unanimously confirmed Yvette Roubideaux, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona, to head up the country's Indian health care efforts.

The World Health Organization has ratcheted up the threat alert for the Swine Flu epidemic. Along with the avian flu of a decade ago, the Hong Kong flu of 1968, and the Asian flu of 1957, Swine Flu has been traced to animal waste in a factory farm. Its H1N1 type virus is nearly identical to that of the Spanish flu, which killed more than 50 million people during a two-year period in 1918-1919.

Senate President Bob Burns wisely has chosen to make solving the state's budget deficit job one for the Arizona Legislature. And yet after four months, they still haven't reached an agreement. What's the holdup?

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has altered its policy on photo enforcement violations to allow criminal prosecution under certain circumstances.