Rep. Gabrielle Giffords left the hospital and boarded an airplane Wednesday to travel to Florida to see her husband's space shuttle launch in another important step in her long recovery from a bullet wound to the head suffered at a political event nearly four months ago.

NASA astronaut Mark Kelly says doctors have given his wife, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, approval to travel to Cape Canaveral this week to watch him fly into space Friday on the next-to-last shuttle mission.

Even the most traumatic events fade with time. As the months pass since Jan. 8, our attention is increasingly captured by the remarkable recuperation of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the approaching trial of accused shooter Jared Loughner. It’s natural to want to let go of disturbing memories, both of the violence itself and of the troublesome questions that it raised.

Conservative lawmakers who rose to power following the last election set the tone for this session and left significant marks on major pieces of legislation that have come to define the achievements and failures of Arizona’s 50th Legislature, which wrapped up the annual legislative session just as the sun was rising this morning.

Grijalva's calls for prospective Dem candidates to stop playing the waiting game with Giffords and jump into the Senate race were met with nods of approval among Arizona Democrats.

Aides to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords have been preparing for her to travel to Florida to watch her husband's space shuttle launch at the end of the month, although doctors have yet to clear her to go, her office said Friday.

As Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spends her days relearning how to speak, walk and care for herself, her therapists are carefully tracking every moment and often posing one critical question: When can she go home?

The man who won praise for going to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords aid immediately after she was shot says he has spoken to the injured congresswoman several times on the phone and is amazed by her recovery.

House Minority Whip Matt Heinz suddenly resigned his leadership post this afternoon, citing a need to spend more time and energy on legislation.

An Arizona veteran who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq has given part of his award to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.