Medicare Advantage plans for seniors dodged a major financial bullet as government officials gave them a reprieve for returning hundreds of millions of dollars or more in government overpayments — some dating back a decade or more. Read more»

After both Intuit and H&R Block left the Free File program, the future of the program is unclear, and it’s still difficult to find truly free tax filing options. The IRS created a tool to help you find this year’s Free File options as it looks into creating a public filing system. Read more»

The San Carlos Apache Tribe is set to receive more than $166,000 in funding to help it address contaminated brownfield sites that threaten environmental and public health of the tribe. Read more»

The city of Tucson received 15,000 pre-applications for housing and Section 8 voucher waitlists in January. About 2,000 residents will be randomly approved to move ahead with full applications this year, with the first to be notified by Feb. 15. Read more»

The EPA denied the requests of six coal plants - including the Salt River Project’s Coronado Generating Station - to keep dumping toxic ash into unlined or inadequately lined pits, signaling the agency’s commitment to enforce the 2015 federal coal ash rules. Read more»

The PCC Governing Board will discuss the next in a long line of action steps required to get right with the Higher Learning Commission, which put the college on probation in 2013. Plus, OV wants bigger parks, and more in local government meetings this week. Read more»

Arizona lags behind in policies that prevent and reduce tobacco use and the state received failing grades in three of five categories and did not improve on any of its grades from last year, according to the American Lung Association’s annual “State of Tobacco Control” report. Read more»

Undocumented immigrants enduring abuses such as wage theft, safety infractions and gender discrimination can now obtain deportation relief when they report workplace violations to a government agency, and gain temporary legal status when cooperating with investigators. Read more»

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed her sixth executive order Wednesday, establishing an independent prison oversight commission to improve the transparency and accountability of Arizona’s corrections system. Read more»

A record number of Arizonans signed up for health insurance this year under the Affordable Care Act, as enrollment in the program continues to rebound from the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress coverage. Read more»

Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her team spent more than $530,000 on what one GOP consultant said were “vanity projects” designed to boost her ego instead of winning races on an election that ultimately ended in disaster for Republicans in Arizona. Read more»

Arizona school boards would have broader power to fire superintendents they believe are failing to meet the job’s responsibilities under a proposal that critics say could put board members at odds with the person they hired to run the districts — to the detriment of schools they oversee. Read more»

Tucsonans will be able to vote on a new 25-year franchise agreement with Tucson Electric Power that could raise monthly utility rates by .75%. The Tucson City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to hold a special election in May for residents to decide on the agreement. Read more»

Former television news anchor turned MAGA star Kari Lake raised $2,515,169 after the Arizona governor's election to continue her legal fight against her election loss - but less than 10% of her post-election haul was spent to contest the election. Read more»

President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders called on the House GOP to “show us their plan,” with lawmakers sharply divided on the debt limit and short on time after the country reached the limit earlier this month. Read more»