“If you don’t allow politicians to redeem themselves once they make a mistake, what good are you doing?” — Todd Rathner, a member of the NRA’s board of directors, explaining his organization’s decision to endorse Sen. John McCain over J.D. Hayworth.

A Republican running for the Arizona Corporation Commission says people here illegally should not have use of utilities like power, gas and phones.

It’s been a dozen years since Arizona voters passed the landmark Citizens Clean Elections Act, allowing candidates to seek office without depending on corporate brass, labor unions and deep-pocketed special interests. Clean Elections has given community leaders, teachers and small business folk the chance to run for office and govern answerable not to Big Money, but to Arizona’s voters.

When the slop is the trough all the pigs will be there. And many were there recently at Tom's Restaurant & Tavern for a panel discussion on renewable energy standards, specifically the 15 percent mandate passed by the Arizona Corporation Commission. Actually, the discussion was more about government subsidies than renewable energy standards; especially with respect to the notion that "everyone knows" these subsidies are needed to promote Arizona's nascent solar industry.

The Arizona Corporation Commission decided three years ago that homebuilders should pay the cost of extending power lines to new houses, but some lawmakers now want to go back to the way things used to be and force utility companies to foot the bill.

A pair of bills designed to upend the Arizona Corporation Commission's requirement on renewable energy could force a court battle over whether the Legislature has the power to tinker with the commission's decisions.

Duncan Mayor M.C. Holiday has nothing against renewable energy. But as the state and federal governments look toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he hopes officials will keep in mind that his remote town has a high unemployment rate and many residents on fixed incomes.

When drafting reports to show the impact of 15 percent cuts to their budgets, some state agencies described how their services would be gutted. Some simply explained why such cuts aren't feasible. And others, such as the Governor's Office, which ordered the reports, don't seem to know where to even make the cuts.

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted on Oct. 5 to close a division office in southern Arizona as it grapples with funding woes resulting from the governor's budget veto and from legislative inaction to fix the problem. That office processes the papers of businesses that want to form new corporations in the state.

FLAGSTAFF - An administrative judge recommended Sept. 22 that Flagstaff be allowed to proceed with a plan to prevent train engineers from blasting their horns in town. The Arizona Corporation Commission, which stepped in earlier this year to say the city needed its approval, tentatively is scheduled to consider the recommendation at its Oct. 8 meeting.