Special thanks
to our supporters

  • Elizabeth Edson
  • Barry Friedman
  • Mark Jones
  • Donna Evans
  • Barbara Kelly
  • Lara Rubio
  • Lincoln Steffens
  • The Water Desk
  • Hunter S. Thompson
  • Ernie Pyle
  • NewsMatch
  • & many more!

We rely on readers like you. Join them & contribute to the Sentinel today!

Hosting provider

Proud member of

Local Independent Online News Publishers Authentically Local Local First Arizona Institute for Nonprofit News
 1 2 >
Some of the collection of Native American artifacts at the Arizona State Museum.

Tribes had hoped the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act would bring the return of sacred items and human remains from museums. But 25 years later, more than 70 percent of tribal remains haven't been turned over. Critics say the law is falling short. Read more»

A new analysis of substance abuse counselors by state shows that Arizona had the sixth-lowest rate in the nation, with just about 20 per 1,000 adults in need of treatment.

Changes to health care law in the past year gave millions of Americans access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, but did nothing to address a 'critical' shortage of professionals who can provide that care. Read more»

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the U.S. needs 'a disciplined, reasonable and internally consistent set of measurements' to determine if border policies are succeeding or not.

Border agencies know all about miles of fence and officers on the ground, but such "brute force" numbers do little to show the actual success or failure of border security policy, experts said. Without that data, border spending decisions are little more than "a shot in the dark." Read more» 1

Riders in the New Lands, part of the Navajo Nation where Navajo families have been relocated after being moved off what became Hopi lands.

A plan to end an age-old land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi was supposed to take five years and $41 million, but 30 years and $564 million later families are still waiting to be moved. No one seems happy with the relocation effort. But few want to see it go away – yet. Read more»

Coconino County Supervisor Elizabeth Archuleta, shown in a September photo, said her county decided to join a lawsuit in support of President Barack Obama's immigration reform actions because "county officials are focused on solving issues on the ground" even if national officials will not.

The two Arizona counties joined dozens of local governments on a court brief urging immediate implementation of the president's orders on immigration - orders Arizona is suing to block. One county official said suing to back immigration reform was the "right thing to do." Read more» 1

A federal appeals court upheld the conviction Monday of a Tucson contractor who set off a homemade chlorine bomb at a former customer’s home in 2009, creating a noxious cloud that forced a neighborhood evacuation. Read more» 1

House members repeatedly patted themselves on the back Thursday for passing a permanent fix to a broken Medicare funding formula, after years of “kicking the can down the road.” Read more»

Federal bureaucracy, a lack of resources and cultural concerns about the removal of Indian children have all contributed to delays in getting tribes access to a federal foster care program, a GAO report says.

When the federal government opened foster care assistance to Native American tribes in 2008, more than 80 expressed interest in the program. By 2014, however, just 27 tribes had applied and only five had been approved for the federal program, their efforts hobbled by a lack of resources, inflexibility by federal bureaucrats and cultural insensitivity. Read more»

Around 885,000 Arizonans owe more than $22.6 billion in federal student loans – numbers that students and advocates fear will only get worse as a result of sharp cuts to university funding in the state budget. That debt is part of more than $1.1 trillion owed by more than 43 million Americans. Arizona’s average college loan debt – $25,618 for each student, past or present – was near the middle of state rankings, according to national student debt loan numbers recently released by the White House.

Around 885,000 Arizonans owe more than $22.6 billion in federal student loans – numbers that students and experts fear will only get worse under a 13 percent university funding cut in the just-approved state budget. Read more»

The Arizona Department of Health Services mySmokeFreeAZ app gives information on the state ban on smoking in public places and lets users report violations.

The number of state-run mobile apps connecting citizens to government services has increased steadily in recent years, but Arizona still trails many states in its efforts to develop government-on-the-go. Read more»

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords urged members of Congress to 'be courageous' and approve an expansion of background checks on gun purchases.

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to Washington on Wednesday to urge Congress to have “the courage to do what’s right” and pass a bill that would require background checks for all commercial gun sales. Read more»

Arizona technology companies and rural broadband providers expressed concerns about the Internet regulations approved Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission – partly because they don’t have all the details, which makes the ultimate impact unclear. Read more»

Rep. Raul Grijalva said efforts to weaken the Antiquities Act are being driven by 'special interest groups with an agenda cloaked in economic recovery and jobs.'

A conservation group held a mock “auction” of the Grand Canyon Wednesday to illustrate what they said could happen if Congress strips the president’s authority to identify and protect national monuments. Read more»

Attorney General Eric Holder said the ruling that blocked the president’s immigration action was a decision “by one federal district court judge” that would ultimately be decided by a higher court.

Arizona is one of 26 states suing to block President Obama's expanded immigration reforms, and state GOP lawmakers hailed the order delaying those policies two days before they were to take effect. Immigration advocates were unfazed, confident the order will be overturned. Read more»

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, where he said the federal government’s failure to protect U.S. borders has led to increased crime.

The charged hearing on immigration enforcement came as Congress grappled with Department of Homeland Security funding, which ends this month. A House bill to fund the agency without money for the president's immigration actions is stalled in the Senate. Read more» 7

 1 2 >