Huge Arizona legislative districts spur debate about costs, meeting constituents’ needs

As lawmakers and hopeful candidates embark on their 2014 campaigns, many would probably be surprised to learn that they are running for some of the most populous legislative districts in the United States.

Congress is letting maintenance backlogs grow in national parks like the Grand Canyon while continuing to add new sites that the National Park Service cannot afford to maintain, a report Tuesday charged.

Arizona has been refunded the money it sent to reopen the Grand Canyon during the partial government shutdown but that wasn't used.

Challengers in Arizona congressional districts expected to produce the closest races of 2014 took varying tactics when dealing with the federal government shutdown.

Tusayan Mayor Greg Bryan told House lawmakers Wednesday that closing Grand Canyon National Park has devastated his town’s economy, and he criticized federal government officials for not acting sooner to reopen it.

Gov. Jan Brewer announced that Arizona will use state funds to keep Grand Canyon National Park open for an additional nine days if the federal shutdown persists.

Grand Canyon river-rafting guides were having a good season this year. And then the calendar turned to October.

Arizona will have to send more cash to the federal government by late Wednesday if Congress still hasn't passed a budget and the state wants the Grand Canyon National Park to remain open this coming weekend.

The Grand Canyon will reopen Saturday under a deal struck by Gov. Jan Brewer with the U.S. Department of Interior. After huddling with department officials on a conference call Friday afternoon, Brewer announced the national park would be reopened in full on Saturday. The state will pay $651,000, or under $93,000 per day, to fund the park’s operations for at least the next week, using a mix of state dollars and other monies, some pledged by Tusayan Mayor Greg Bryan, where businesses have struggled with the lack of tourism business at the Canyon.

Social media has seen a flurry of reactions to the #shutdown over #Obamacare, the #debtceiling, or whatever lawmakers, pundits and political observers choose to blame for the federal government closing its doors since Oct. 1.