The decades of compacts, laws, contracts and regulatory guidelines that are supposed to manage bordering states’ use of the Colorado River have come to be known collectively as the “Law of the River.” But the Law of the River could soon bump up against the laws of physics. Read more»

Navajo Nation and Zuni tribal leaders Thursday asked the federal government to step in and mediate a dispute over how to divide an inactive Army base that sits between the tribes’ lands in New Mexico. Read more»

A divided federal appeals court Friday ruled that lower courts did not act unreasonably or erroneously when they convicted Gregory Scott Dickens in two 1991 rest-stop murders east of Yuma. But the three-judge panel did order a new hearing, saying he should be allowed to raise arguments that he was poorly represented by his attorney at sentencing. Read more»

A federal appeals court Wednesday rejected convicted child killer Roger Scott’s request for a new sentencing hearing based on his claim that he did not have adequate representation at trial. Read more» 1

Pascua Yaqui tribal leaders asked a House committee Tuesday for the same right that most other tribes already enjoy – the ability to decide who’s a member of their tribe. Read more» 1

Arizona had the third-lowest per-pupil spending on public elementary schools in the country in 2010, topping only Utah and Idaho. Arizona schools spent an average of $7,848 per grade school student in that year, well below the national average of $10,615 per pupil. Read more»

Fueled by state budget cuts to higher education, tuition increases of 49 percent at the University of Arizona and 44 percent at Arizona State University landed the two schools in the top 20 for tuition hikes from 2008 to 2010. Read more» 1

Navajo lawmakers voted Thursday to reject a congressional plan to settle tribal water-right claims in the Little Colorado River basin, capping months of debate by the tribe. Read more»

School officials boasted that nearly 72 percent of Arizona fourth-graders scored “proficient” or above on a state reading assessment in 2010. A year later, a national assessment put the number of proficient fourth-grade readers at just 26 percent. So do Arizona administrators have a math problem or a reading problem? Neither, it turns out. Read more» 1

Hopi lawmakers gave new life Thursday to a congressional plan to settle the tribe’s water-rights claims in the Little Colorado River basin, apparently backtracking from a vote last week to reject the plan. Read more»

Tohono O’odham leaders vowed to continue their fight for a Glendale-area casino after the House overwhelmingly approved a bill blocking their plans Tuesday. Read more»

The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bill to block a proposed Tohono O’odham casino in Glendale, after an emotional debate Monday in which each side accused the other of setting a dangerous precedent. Read more»

Tribal officials asked a Senate committee Thursday to block taxation by the Internal Revenue Service of government benefits to the tribes and their members. Read more»

Arizona high schools have increased their graduation rate by 24 percentage points in the last decade, the biggest increase in the country, according to a national report released Friday. Read more»

Rio Salado Community College and Arizona State University were cited Thursday as schools that are taking tentative steps toward “competency-based education." Read more»