Arizona is not the only state where political parties are taking their elected officials to task, a change that analysts and former lawmakers attribute to the politically polarized times and now almost a rite of passage for some prominent politicians. Read more»

Cindy McCain, whose late husband served more than 30 years in the Senate, and former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who served on Foreign Relations, faced light questioning during their confirmation hearing to be ambassadors to the United Nations food programs and to Turkey, respectively. Read more»

"Arizonans sent me here to have their backs. And to work towards a brighter future for our growing state." — U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly delivered his first speech on the floor Wednesday, in a Senate tradition of "maiden speeches." Read more» 1

President Joe Biden’s choice of former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican never-Trumper with no formal diplomatic experience, to be the next ambassador to Turkey was “risky” – but is still likely to win confirmation, analysts said. Read more»

President Joe Biden on Wednesday tapped Arizona's Cindy McCain, the widow of former U.S. Sen. John McCain, as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, with the rank of ambassador. Read more»

Federal officials on Tuesday named a 58-mile stretch of the Lower Salt and Gila rivers an Urban Waters Federal Partnership location, a designation that could bring millions in funding to efforts to revitalize the stressed Valley waterway. Read more»

Officials at a forum on human trafficking said Arizona is “leading at the state level” on prevention, but warned that people need to remain vigilant to what one speaker called a trafficking “epidemic” in the state. Read more»

While former colleagues have added John McCain’s name to legislation and one Arizona district plans to name an elementary school for him, other tributes have stalled. Among those are a measure to name a human rights commission for the late senator. Read more»

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has steadfastly refused to discuss a replacement for Sen. John McCain until after the senator’s funeral, but political consultants say the governor faces an “unenviable” task when he does name an appointee. Read more»

John McCain wore it all on his sleeve, collar, shirtwaist, slacks and shoes. He wanted to be above the game but succumbed to it regularly. We knew exactly what he was thinking because he was so bad at hiding it. Read more»

A plaque dedicated to two Arizona icons who have championed the Grand Canyon – Sen. John McCain and the late Rep. Morris Udall – was unveiled in an emotional ceremony last week on the South Rim. Read more»

Sex-trafficking in Indian Country is a significant problem, with tribal women and children suffering at higher rates than the general population, a panel of experts and activists told a Senate committee Wednesday. Read more»

Proponents say the bill would allow courts to vigorously enforce federal and civil laws relating to online sex trafficking, but critics say it could do more harm than good. Read more»

Executives of the online classifieds site Backpage.com refused to answer questions from a Senate committee investigating claims that the site facilitated child sex trafficking through its adult ads section. The hearing last week came one day after the site – whose former owners Michael Lacey and James Larkin co-founded the Phoenix New Times – removed its “adult” ads pages because of what it called unconstitutional censorship. Read more» 2

U.S. Sen. John McCain joined the wave of Republicans withdrawing their support from Donald Trump in the wake of the release of taped comments in which the GOP nominee joked about sexual assault. "Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump." Read more»