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

The candidates hoping to become Arizona’s next mine inspector agree that mining safety for workers and the public needs to be increased. How to accomplish that goal, just like everything else between the candidates, is a matter of debate.

The lion's share of the inside information gained from Bas Aja's 22 sessions lobbying at the Arizona Legislature is contained inside a large file cabinet at the Arizona Cattlemen's Association office. About five years ago, the longtime cattle industry lobbyist knew the time was coming to share the keys to this treasure trove with a younger, future industry leader.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill into law earlier this year to ban an Hispanic studies program in one school district while simultaneously crafting an exemption for culture-based classes for other minority populations.

With early voting starting next week, the three candidates in the Republican primary for state superintendent of public instruction are trying to distinguish themselves from their opponents who hold similar beliefs on improving schools in Arizona.

To Penny Kotterman and Jason Williams, it only makes sense that the superintendent of public instruction should be classroom educator. For years, though, that hasn’t been the case.

When students return to schools in a month or less they will encounter bigger class sizes, fewer teachers and librarians, bus routes eliminated, and classrooms and corridors that aren’t quite as clean as they’ve been in the past.

Mike Colletto, a lobbyist for the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona who has been in a wheelchair for 32 years, dealt with depression until waking up one morning and deciding to look at the “positive side.”

Joe Kachuroi, a 42-year-old commercial land developer who has been volunteering for 20 years, including through Phoenix Volunteers for the past six months, writes pricing labels for donated books during an event at nonprofit organization Treasures4Teachers.

Cynthia Bowers’ experience with donating a kidney to save a dying child at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 2008 drove her to establish her own volunteering organization.

In Arizona, power generated by the sun is the darling of many renewable-energy advocates, solar-power based companies and the governor. There is, however, another less cost-intensive player trying to gain a foothold in the renewable power game: wind.