More than one year after voters in Coconino County opted to allow judges to be appointed through merit selection, the commission to nominate them has taken shape.

Flagstaff Rep. Bob Thorpe announced this week he will abandon his run for the state Senate, bowing out of a contentious Republican primary in a northern Arizona district Democrats view as one of their best shots at flipping the state Legislature.

This election cycle, Coconino County became the first Arizona county to voluntarily switch to a merit selection system for choosing judges.

The Navajo Nation has dropped a legal claim that could have delayed formal certification of the general election results.

The Navajo Nation is claiming that the state and several counties illegally discriminated against tribal members and kept them from having their votes counted.

Republican Justin Olson will be taking the second open spot on the Arizona Corporation Commission, and Democrat Katie Hobbs is making headway in her bid to be the next secretary of state.

A legal bid by Republicans to change ballot-counting procedures - presumably in their favor - may be too late to help any of their candidates in close races.

Attorneys for the state want a federal appeals court to allow it to deny public contracts to those who boycott Israel, saying Arizona has a legitimate interest in denying support to the Palestine Liberation Army and its "unsavory -- and frequently murderous -- ends.''

More volunteers are being sought to advocate for students with special education needs who have no one in their lives to see that those needs are being met.

In 2015, the state budget included $9.2 million for a new veterans state home in Yuma. In 2017, $10 million was designated to build a state home in Flagstaff. However, construction is stalled on both projects because this state funding makes up only 35 percent of total costs.