The “Five C’s” that traditionally made the bulk of Arizona’s economy – copper, climate, cattle, cotton, citrus – may need to make room for a sixth: casinos. Revenue from Arizona’s 22 casinos far surpassed cattle, cotton and citrus in the most recent figures available. Read more» 1

Five months after the U.S. and Mexico ended a stalemate on long-haul international trucking, the agreement has led to a handful of cross-border deliveries — all by the same truck. Read more»

Express Scripts' CEO said Tuesday that the company's 1,700-worker Tempe site is "critical" to the pharmaceutical benefits manager, which is in the midst of a $29.1 billion bid to purchase its biggest rival. Read more»

President Barack Obama told tribal leaders Friday he is “a president who’s got your back,” in a speech that promoted sovereignty and pledged improved federal cooperation. Read more»

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly told a Senate committee Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency “ignores reality” by insisting on the most-advanced pollution control technology to update coal-fired power plants. Read more»

The Interior Department outlined a series of changes Monday on how it leases Native American reservation land, moves that it hopes will promote renewable energy and increase homeownership. Read more»

A House committee Thursday approved a bill to block a planned Tohono O’odham casino in Glendale, the latest in three years of so–far unsuccessful legislative and legal battles to stop the project. Read more» 1

A proposed solar energy project in the West Valley needed a city’s worth of water from a nearby reservoir and a backup natural gas system to operate. A year later, it didn’t. Shifts in solar technology have driven down costs far enough that Sonoran Solar will drop its proposed steam-powered turbine and go with an all-electronic photovoltaic system that uses 95 percent less water. Read more»

A bill that would open 1 million acres near Grand Canyon National Park to new uranium mining was hailed Thursday as an economic boon and derided as a threat to the park’s wilderness and tourism value. Read more»

The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal this week to hear an Arizona tribe’s land case could erode Indian governments’ sovereign right to enforce access to their property, the Gila Indian River Community said. Read more»

A strong Mexican economy is helping Arizona keep pace with other states in export sales this year. Mexico accounted for more than a third of the state’s international trade in the first half of 2011, when Arizona’s total export sales jumped $1.2 billion. Read more»

The Department of the Interior has dropped one of three proposed “solar energy zones” in Arizona because of environmental concerns about the site, the department said Thursday. Read more»

A bill to legalize Internet gambling might take little, if any, of the nearly $2 billion Arizona’s tribal casinos gross annually, experts say – but that does not mean that tribes don’t have concerns. Read more»

Hopi Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa would like to see more money for special-needs students in tribal schools and federal aid for Native language programs. The Native Culture, Language and Access for Success in Schools Act could address at least some of the complex long-standing issues that Arizona tribal leaders say plague their schools, supporters say. Read more»

Navajo leaders clashed at a Senate hearing Thursday over who should control a $30 million trust fund for oil and gas royalties after the Utah government gave up control of it in 2008. Read more» 1