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

Maricopa County officials voted March 29 to give their lawyers permission to file a lawsuit to determine whether a $456,000 bus that the sheriff's office bought to transport inmates was a legal purchase.

The argument for environmental protection and sustainability often centers on the oil that powers our cars and heats our homes. Routinely left out of the discussion is the oil that sizzles our french fries.

Recycling printer cartridges gives applicants two points. Setting copiers to print on both sides of the paper earns three. Donating food to soup kitchens or charities equals 10 points. The goal is a minimum of 100 points, which is the threshold for resorts in Arizona to earn the new statewide Certified Green Lodging recognition, provided by the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association in partnership with the Arizona Office of Tourism.

A walking tour of the Maricopa Solar generating facility, billed as the "world's first commercial-scale SunCatcher plant," is like taking a step into the future. It's not as striking as the movie "Avatar," which is set at a time when Earth's resources have been depleted, but it provides a glimpse of what is being done to deal with the depletion of nonrenewable energy sources.

The Board of Regents, which oversees the three state universities, failed to meet the 2008 deadline to decrease energy use by 10 percent, instead achieving a meager 1.3 percent reduction.

The Arizona Legislature has redirected money away from the education department's school accountability program, a move that potentially guts what a ranking Republican senator called the "spinal cord" of the education system.

Representatives Chad Campbell and John McComish joined Mesa lobbyist John MacDonald and Phoenix Councilman Claude Mattox March 26 for an hour-long debate hosted by the Valley Citizens League at the Irish Cultural Center. Sitting at a table with peanuts and Cracker Jacks, the four talked about possible solutions to keeping the Chicago Cubs in Mesa without making fans of other teams in the Cactus League pay an unfair amount to keep them here.

Most Americans won't see any real impact from the new federal health care law for several years, but the effects will be immediate for the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who were about to lose Medicaid coverage.

A grassroots movement began several years ago to amend the state Constitution to allow Arizona residents the freedom to make all health care decisions without interference from government. But after years of pushing on the state level, the federal government has pushed back by passing a law that requires most Arizonans to buy health care insurance.

The mayors of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler say years of bad planning by Arizona's government threatens the financial future of their cities and others around the state.