Plan to forgive public-service workers’ student loans off to rocky start
WASHINGTON - The government promised college students in 2007 that if they took their degrees into a public-service profession, they could apply to have their remaining student debt forgiven after 10 years. But in the first year, just 0.33 percent of 29,000 loan forgiveness applications were approved.
Crossing a line: Military encounter at border sparks Trump threats
WASHINGTON - A peaceful border encounter between U.S. and Mexican soldiers earlier this month became a political issue Wednesday when President Donald Trump picked up the incident and threatened in a tweet to send armed soldiers to the border in response.
Phoenix bishop brings anti-abortion, traditional marriage message to D.C.
WASHINGTON - Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted was a featured speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, telling a packed room that abortion is "an unspeakable crime," that leaders must open their hearts to Jesus Christ and that there is a "weakening of marriage" in the U.S.
McSally draws on history, calls on colleges to stop sexual assaults
ANNAPOLIS, Md. _ In a different year, Sen. Martha McSally might not have been on a U.S. Naval Academy stage urging college officials to step up and stop sexual assaults on their campuses. But that was before the Arizona Republican revealed she had been raped by a superior officer in the Air Force.
Gila River leader says feds’ inattention to roads drives other problems
WASHINGTON - Road problems caused by poor maintenance by the Bureau of Indian Affairs is more than an inconvenience for tribes, who say poor roads make it hard for people to get to school, jobs and health care, but there is little they can do to fix the federally owned roads.
Water officials press Senate on urgency of Colorado River drought plan
WASHINGTON - The director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources joined other state and federal water officials who told a Senate panel that there is an "urgent need" to authorize a multistate drought contingency plan for the Colorado River basin.
Republicans blast Green New Deal, Democrats say GOP is playing politics
WASHINGTON - Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was one of just three Democrats to vote against the "Green New Deal," as the expansive environmental bill faced its first test vote in the Senate and a renewed round of criticism from Republicans who called it a job killer
For most Arizona lawmakers, Mueller report is not the end of the issue
WASHINGTON - Arizona lawmakers' reactions to the report on the Mueller investigation were much like the summary itself - open to interpretation depending on which side of the aisle was talking and far from the last word on the topic.
Trump attacks on McCain seem to be stirring up support for late senator
WASHINGTON - It's no secret that President Donald Trump is not a fan of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, but instead of weakening the McCain fan club the president's latest string of attacks, from weekend tweets to a speeh Wednesday, may be having the opposite effect.
Tribal officials worry Bears Ears cuts leave sacred spaces vulnerable
WASHINGTON - A Hopi leader joined officials from the Pueblo of Zuni and the Ute Indian tribes to tell the House Natural Resources Committee about worries over cultural stes at Bears Ears National Monument after the president slashed its size from 1.35 million acres to about 200,000.
Democrats unveil bill to give DACA, TPS recipients path to citizenship
WASHINGTON - House Democrats unveiled legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 2 million immigrants protected under the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, Temporary Protected Status and other immigrant protection programs targeted by the White House.
Title X fund limits would have ‘huge impact,’ Planned Parenthood says
WASHINGTON - A Trump administration plan to bar federal family planning funds from facilties that provide or endorce abortions will have a "huge impact" on Planned Parenthood Arizona, but the group said it will not back down for the "gag rule" that drew legal challenges this week ffrom 22 states.
