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

A decade ago, a team of auditors embedded themselves in the agency charged with protecting Arizona’s children and found that some reports of child abuse or neglect weren’t properly investigated. Other cases lacked the relevant information necessary to ensure children’s safety. Ten years, hundreds of millions of dollars and a new agency later, the problems that plague the Department of Child Safety echo those that caseworkers faced a decade ago.

Gov. Doug Ducey is getting his first chance to put his imprint on the state's high court. A dozen attorneys and lower court judges have applied to replace Rebecca Berch who is retiring. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments will meet later this month to winnow down the list and decide who to interview and, ultimately, who to nominate.

Arizona has more than 200 boards and commissions whose duties range from licensing cosmetologists and dental examiners to promoting research on grain and iceberg lettuce, and Gov. Doug Ducey is looking to trim that number.

The State Board of Education filed suit as promised today to force Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas to follow its orders.

On the heels of a nearly $100 million cut in state aid to universities, Mark Killian is quitting the Arizona Board of Regents.

A crime novelist and poet quit his job teaching creative writing at Phoenix College because of a longstanding state requirement for public employees to sign a loyalty oath.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas is set to unveil her comprehensive education plan Thursday at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Max Goshert has gone from being a political onlooker to the leader of a statewide campaign to unseat Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas in a matter of months.

An unnoticed amendment to an uncontroversial bill may have vastly expanded Gov. Doug Ducey’s ability to fire board and commission appointees who don’t toe the company line.

Arizona Public Service dropped its bid to increase its solar fee today, claiming "attacks and distortions' from rooftop solar groups muddied the request to increase the fee.