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On January 17, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) approved the final versions of its Congressional and legislative maps, which have now been sent to the Department of Justice for pre-clearance to ensure that they do not run afoul of the Voting Rights Act. The commission proved incapable of coming to a full consensus and adopted the final draft maps on a 3-2 vote, in which the Commission's Independent Chair, Colleen Mathis, sided with its two Democrats to move the process for

The Sierras have had practically no snow this year. Lake Tahoe, which relies on skiing for income, has no ski areas operating at full capacity. Some only have 30% of their lifts open. Last year, they had 50 feet of snow in some places. The Sierra Nevada is at a mere 14% of normal snowpack. The southern California Metropolitan Water District (MWD) says this could be the driest year on record. This isn’t just happening in California. It’s been exceptionally warm and dry across the nation. Flowers

Arizona Sen. Scott Bundgaard's alleged invocation of a state law, which gave him immunity to arrest last February when he was faced with misdemeanor domestic violence charges, has spawned legislation to amend a provision in the Arizona Constitution that grants partial immunity to lawmakers during and right before session. Bundgaard resigned last Friday as a result of an ethics complaint filed by state Sen. Steve Gallardo. The former republican state senator from Peoria denied that he claimed le

Several proposed big solar projects, including one in California, have switched from concentrated solar power (CSP) to the more familiar photovoltaic (PV). The trend now seems irreversible. Photovoltaic will now be the dominant technology used for big solar plants. CSP, with one notable exception, is losing out everywhere. CSP reflects the heat of the sun off parabolic mirrors to a central tower where it creates steam to power turbines and thus create electricity. Its big advantage is that exce

On December 29th, the Arizona Green and Libertarian parties filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of Arizona charging that the state's new voter registration forms violate their First Amendment right to freedom of association and their Fourteenth Amendment right of equal protection under the law. The state's former voter registration forms included a box prompting registrants to specify their party preference by writing that name in the space provided. In the most recent session of Arizona's

Despite the influence of small government advocates like those in the Tea Party movement, the size, role, and influence of government on a federal, state, and local level is set to grow significantly in 2012. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), about 40,000 new laws will go into effect in 2012, and that doesn't include laws and provisions within laws that will also take effect this year on a federal level. Though in some ways, some of the new laws to take effect mi

In a move sure to be controversial and which has already received national attention, Arizona legislators have redrafted legislation to allow guns to be carried at public colleges and universities. Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a previous attempt, not because she was particularly opposed to the idea, but because it was unclear and murky. She hasn't voiced an opinion on the new bill but is known to be pro-gun. Existing Arizona gun law says colleges and universities can allow guns but, so far, none

Arizona received its fourth unmanned aircraft system (UAS) Tuesday in the form of a Predator-B drone. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials say that the new military aircraft will assist three others based at the National Air Security Operations Center (NASOC) in Sierra Vista with counter-drug trafficking operations and other Homeland Security missions along the Southwest border. According to CBP spokeswoman Gina Gray: "Basing a fourth UAS in Sierra Vista will best posture CBP for rap

The federal government has approved a 300 MW photovoltaic solar plant to be built in Maricopa County on public land in the Rainbow Valley south of Buckeye. The Sonoran Solar Energy Project will be the first solar project on federal land in Arizona and will provide enough power for 90,000 homes. What’s more, they seem to have done everything right. It wasn’t rushed. They consulted with Indian tribes and historical agencies first. The scale and design of the project was revised to lessen environme

Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently faced withering criticism for ignoring over 400 cases of sex crimes against mostly Latino children. Last week, the US Department of Justice released a scathing report after a lengthy investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO). It concluded that Arpaio has overseen the worst pattern of racial profiling by law enforcement in US history. Ponder if you will the implications of that. DoJ is saying MCSO is more racist and biased than any police agency in