President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday expanding the number of background checks conducted before gun sales, imposing harsher penalties on violations of federal firearms law and directing a study of how firearm manufacturers market to minors. Read more»

Some of the pandemic relief funding from the federal government will expire later this year, and Arizona school advocates worry extra counselors brought on by schools using the funding may be let go if a way isn't found to keep the positions. Read more»

As the American West battles its worst megadrought in over 1,200 years, lawmakers in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington state are rethinking how groundwater is used and who gets access to it — with some even targeting foreign-owned companies. Read more»

U.S. drinking water standards will for the first time include limits on the presence of cancer-causing substances known as PFAS, according to new regulations that will be overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. Read more»

Arizona Republican legislative leaders have been given the go-ahead by a federal judge to defend a 2021 abortion law in court after Attorney General Kris Mayes said she wouldn’t. Read more»

With water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead at record lows, federal officials are ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to get farmers and other water users to conserve in 2023 and keep the reservoirs from falling farther. Read more»

After the largest U.S. bank failure in more than a decade, the federal government blamed the bank failures in part on the 2018 law that rolled back regulations for smaller and medium-sized banks, and rushed to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system was stable. Read more»

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined nearly two dozen other states last week in defending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on behalf of more than 30,000 Arizonans DACA recipients. Read more»

The Pima Community College women’s basketball team is heading back to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament next week in Port Huron, Mich., as the NJCAA announced the seedings and brackets. Read more»

Prior authorization was designed decades ago to prevent expensive tests or procedures that are not needed but now prevents patients from getting the vital care they need - now, the federal government has proposed changes that would speed up the pre-certification process. Read more»

If you have no idea where to go for St. Paddy's Day, well you're in luck. Here's a list of Tucson places to visit — responsibly. Read more»

As states have seen traffic fatalities and pedestrian deaths climb in recent years, many jurisdictions are reconsidering right turns on red, and safety advocates transportation planners to reconsider a custom so ingrained that few drivers remember a time when it wasn't allowed. Read more»

Analysts estimate the anticipated growth in sports gambling may reach over US$167 billion by 2029 - and many are concerned the increase of sports betting could potentially put athletes in danger of threats from disgruntled gamblers who blame them for their gambling losses. Read more»

The Arizona Jewish Historical Society is opening a new interactive activity as part of its exhibit “Stories of Survival: An Immersive Journey Through the Holocaust,” utilizing virtual reality to guide visitors through the Netherlands home of Anne Frank. Read more»

Senators from the seven Western states in the Colorado River basin - including Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly - have been quietly meeting “for about a year,” to facilitate difficult discussions between the states over the future of the river. Read more»