If you’ve ever wandered beyond the first floor of the Arizona Senate, you’ve likely seen the work of Jim Covarrubias, a Phoenix-based artist whose paintings have adorned the hallways of the second and third floors for more than a year. Covarrubias, whose downtown Phoenix studio is full to the brim of paintings, has a wide variety to choose from, and has curated and adjusted the work on display in the Senate over that time. He has plans to feature other artists as well, with a gallery planned for the walls outside Senate President Andy Biggs’ office, to be displayed as early as in May.
Read More »Jim Covarrubias: Adorning hallways of the Senate
Juan Ciscomani: Keeping governor’s focus on southern Arizona, Sonora 
Juan Ciscomani’s dual roles as director of Gov. Doug Ducey’s southern Arizona office and the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s Sonora office seem like a natural fit.
Read More »Rep. Matt Kopec: He’s the new kid on the block 
As Democratic Rep. Matt Kopec was being sworn in as the newest member of the Arizona House of Representatives on Jan. 20, his fellow Tucson Democrats jokingly suggested that the 27-year-old had his entire life ahead of him, and shouldn’t throw it away as a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature.
Read More »Celeste Plumlee: New lawmaker advocating for liberal changes 
Celeste Plumlee came to the Legislature following a domino appointment process to fill former Sen. Ed Ableser’s seat in the east Tempe and west Mesa Legislative District 26, and she filled former Rep. Andrew Sherwood’s seat when he moved to the Senate.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Clarence Carter: Adding a trampoline to the safety net 
Clarence Carter came to Arizona in 2011 to put his ideas for reforming the way government runs human services into action, but he found a backlog of child welfare cases that became synonymous with his time as the head of the Department of Economic Security.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Tony Bouie: Bringing New Life to the Arizona Lottery 
Tony Bouie, the former NFL-player-turned-politician-turned bureaucrat, is shaking things up at the Arizona State Lottery, where as executive director he has hunkered down to privatize some of his agency’s work, posting subcontracting jobs online and increasing the percentage of contracting work that’s being done by in-state firms.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Charlie Levy: Cultivating an Arizona-centric mix of cocktails and politicians
A vital cog in the Arizona music industry for two decades, Charlie Levy is the owner of the promotions company Stateside Presents, which books acts for various venues throughout the Valley and Tucson.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Tomi St. Mars – A career built on preventing injuries and death 
Tomi St. Mars is the chief of the Office of Injury Prevention at the Arizona Department of Health Services. She started as a medic and emergency nurse 25 years ago, but after seeing the trauma people suffer from easily preventable conditions, moved into the injury prevention field.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Petra Falcon – ‘We promised that we would keep fighting’ 
Petra Falcon is a woman of stories. Stories not just her own, but of the thousands of people she has connected with over the more than 20 years she has spent as a community organizer in Arizona, working with farmworkers, in border towns, and rallying the Hispanic community around civic engagement.
Read More »Cap Times Q&A: Leah Landrum Taylor – Karaoke, taekwondo and no more politics 
After 16 years in the Legislature, Leah Landrum Taylor is enjoying her time away from elected office just fine. She has zero plans to throw her hat back into the ring – she’s having too much fun doing karaoke and watching her three kids grow up.
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