LATEST ARIZONA NEWS
DPS task force uncovers Glendale drop house
Eleven men who paid $2300 to be in this country illegally are in state custody Wednesday. Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said members of a DPS task force served a search warrant Wednesday morning on a Glendale home near Cardinals Stadium.
Roads restricted around Mesa water main break
Mesa officials say a water main break Wednesday has forced a lane restriction on McLellan Road from Upland Circle to Beverly Street. McLellan is restricted to one lane eastbound.
5 hour barricade in Tucson ends peacefully
Tucson police are holding a 36-year-old man following a five hour standoff Wednesday morning inside a westside apartment complex. The incident happened at Riverview Boulevard and Gila Street near I-10 and Speedway Boulevard.
Nursing assistant arrested for alleged sex abuse
A nursing assistant is behind bars accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old patient. Phoenix police say they were contacted by St. Luke's Hospital about the incident that allegedly happened Feb. 28 and involved several contacts between a young girl and the health care worker.
Police bust chop shop operation in No. Phoenix
A law enforcement task force has uncovered and shutdown an auto chop shop in a west Phoenix home. Detectives with the Vehicle Theft Task Force found the illegal chop shop cutting up vehicles into pieces then selling off the parts.
AZ trust fund for jobless benefits running dry
The state trust fund that pays for jobless benefits is expected to run dry this week. That will force Arizona to borrow money from the federal government until unemployment subsides. The Arizona Department of Economic Security anticipates that it will borrow $250 million from the U.S. Treasury in 2010 to continue paying unemployment benefits.
Gateway names field after 2 Hall of Famers
A grassy courtyard at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport has been named after baseball Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Ferguson Jenkins. The two pitchers were on hand Tuesday to dedicate the Fergie & Feller Field and unveil a bronze plaque that passengers will pass by on their way to boarding planes. Airport officials say March is their busiest month, partly due to Midwesterners flying to Arizona to watch spring training.
Glendale 4th grader suspended for knife at school
A Glendale fourth grader has avoided expulsion but will have to serve a nearly three-week suspension for accidentally carrying a pocket knife to school in a backpack. The governing board of Pointe Schools voted 3-2 on Tuesday to suspend 10-year-old Bay Perry until March 29. The Pinnacle Pointe Academy student could have faced expulsion under the school's zero tolerance policy for weapons.
Winning numbers drawn in AZ '2 BY 2' game
The winning numbers in Tuesday night's drawing of the Arizona Lottery's "2 BY 2" game were: - Red Numbers: 6-2
Residents vote to incorporate Grand Canyon town
Early results show residents of a small Arizona community that serves as a gateway to the Grand Canyon's popular South Rim have voted to incorporate. Tuesday's election was the second attempt to incorporate Tusayan (TOO'-say-ohn) after a September 2008 effort failed.
Still no set spot in Texas lineup for Murphy
David Murphy has started in every slot of the Texas batting order - one through nine. Only teammates Michael Young and Ian Kinsler have played more games for the Rangers the past three seasons. "He is ready for anything. He should be commended for it," manager Ron Washington said. "You've got a guy who feels like he can be an everyday guy. But when you look at our situation, he has to get his at-bats how he gets his at-bats."
DMX back in jail for alleged probation violation
Authorities in Arizona say rapper DMX has been arrested for allegedly violating his probation by using drugs. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had served about half of his 18-month supervised probation when he was booked Tuesday night into the downtown Phoenix jail. The rapper was released from jail in May after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts.
Rapper back in Ariz. jail for violating probation
Maricopa County authorities say rapper DMX has been arrested for allegedly violating his probation by using drugs. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had served about half of his 18-month supervised probation when he was booked Tuesday night into the downtown Phoenix jail. The rapper was released from jail in May after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts.
All 6 dead in Ariz. crash were Mexican citizens
Authorities say all six people killed in last week's pre-dawn bus crash on an Arizona interstate were Mexican citizens. The bus - operated by Van Nuys, Calif.-based Tierra Santa Inc. - was traveling from the central Mexican state of Zacatecas to Los Angeles. It was headed to Phoenix on Friday to change drivers when it hit a pickup truck, veered onto the left shoulder of the road, overcorrected and rolled.
All 6 killed in AZ bus crash were Mexican citizens
Authorities say all six people killed in last week's bus crash in Arizona were Mexican citizens. Officials with the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson coordinated with the Pinal County Coroner's Office to identify the five women and one man who died in the rollover accident on Interstate 10 last Friday some 25 miles south of downtown Phoenix.

Navajo Code Talker Begay dies at age 88
Funeral services were being held Friday for a member of the Navajo Code Talkers. Willie K. Begay died Monday in Polacca, Ariz., at age 88. His daughter, Kristy Kescoli Begay, said he had been ill with cancer.
Navajo Code Talker who battled cancer dies
A second Navajo Code Talker has died within a week. Thomas Claw died Tuesday after a battle with cancer at age 87.
1 of last original Navajo Code Talkers dies
A Navajo Code Talker who was part of the original group recruited to develop what became an unbreakable code that confounded the Japanese during World War II has died. John Brown Jr. died early Wednesday morning at his home in Crystal, N.M., according to his son, Frank Brown. He was 88.
Navajos largely unscathed by recession
Talk at the community center in this small Navajo town isn't as focused on the economy as it is in many places off the reservation. That's because the people living on the largest American Indian reservation have been largely unscathed by the recession.
Arizona gears up for wind power
The state's first wind farm is beginning to take shape along the northern plains between Holbrook and Heber in Navajo County. When the huge windmills belonging to the Dry Lake Wind Project begin spinning in the breeze later this year, they'll be sending energy to customers of Salt River Project.
Development ban on Navajo lands formally repealed
President Barack Obama signed legislation on Friday that officially repeals a decades-long development ban on the western edge of the Navajo Nation. The construction ban was lifted in late 2006 after the Navajo and Hopi tribes reached an agreement in a land dispute and a federal judge signed off on it.
Group says coal plant pollution fouls Grand Canyon
A group of conservationists says pollution from a coal-fired power plant is clouding views of the Grand Canyon, and they want the federal government to do something about it. A petition filed by the conservationists Tuesday asks the National Park Service to declare that particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions from the Navajo Generating Station near Page are harming air quality.
Native Americans being recruited for medical field
For a young Hopi medical student, the problem was overcoming her culture's view of handling a dead body. For a Navajo student, it was learning to believe that he could become a doctor when every other kid in his graduating class was going to a trade school.
Navajo Council bans cell phone use while driving
The Navajo Nation is the latest place in which drivers will be prohibited from using their cell phones unless they're handsfree. The Tribal Council voted 37-21 during its spring session on Wednesday in favor of the ban. It also covers text messaging.
Navajo lawmakers to meet for council sessions
Navajo lawmakers are scheduled to meet in a special session Friday, just days before their five-day spring session starts. Lawmakers have nearly 20 bills to consider during the two sessions, including a measure to ban text messaging while driving or talking on a cell phone unless it's handsfree. Violators would be fined $20 on the first offense and $50 for any subsequent offense.
Wall Street falls ahead of earnings reports
Wall Street retreated Monday as investors awaited a flurry of earnings reports and readings that could provide insight into the direction of the economy. Major stock indicators fell about 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 100...
Longtime KTNN announcer dies at 57
Longtime KTNN broadcaster Ernie Manuelito - the first person to ever broadcast on the Navajo Nation AM radio station - has died at age 57. Manuelito died Friday in Albuquerque. Marcia Peshlakai, promotions coordinator for the Window Rock, Ariz., station, said he had been on medical leave since October for ongoing health problems, but she did not know the cause of death.
Navajos want to run river trips at Grand Canyon
The Navajo Nation is lobbying for one of its businessmen to run coveted river trips through the Grand Canyon. With only one American Indian tribe currently doing so, the director of the Navajo Nation's Division of Economic Development says its time to open the door to others.
Senate agrees to lift ban on Indian development
The U.S. Senate has voted to lift a decades-old ban on development on about 700,000 acres in Arizona's Black Mesa region that both the Navajo and Hopi tribes claimed as their own. The Senate unanimously approved a bill by Arizona senators John McCain and Jon Kyl on Thursday night to lift a ban on development in the "Bennett Freeze" area. The ban had prevented about 8,000 Navajos who live there from putting in electric lines, repairing leaky roofs and running water lines to their homes unless the...
Signatures for Navajo ballot measures under review
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.'s office is reviewing thousands of signatures submitted as part of ballot initiatives to reduce the number of tribal lawmakers and secure a presidential line-item veto. The office began looking over about 9,000 signatures last week that the tribe's election office had disqualified, saying some of the signatures did not match up with voter rolls or had appeared more than once on a petition.
Feds reconsider Navajo power line decision
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is reconsidering a decision on a right-of-way easement for an electrical transmission line that is expected to carry energy from the Navajo Nation to areas across the Southwest. The federal agency granted the easement for a 3.4-mile stretch of the line near Shiprock, N.M., in September. A group of environmentalists later appealed, saying the bureau relied on an outdated environmental analysis in issuing its decision and that the analysis should include both the...
Navajo coal royalty case heads to Supreme Court
Coal has proved to be a valuable resource for the Navajo Nation, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue each year to the tribe and jobs to its people on a reservation where half of the work force is unemployed. But the Navajo Nation contends it could have received up to $600 million more in royalties over the years had the U.S. government not conspired with a coal company to cheat the tribe. The federal government says the tribe's contentions are unsupported.
Brewer plans visit to northern, eastern Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer is hitting the road, planning a trip next Tuesday to eastern and northern Arizona for what is called the first of several planned visits to the state's rural counties. Brewer's office calls the trip "an indication of her commitment to the people of greater Arizona" and said Wednesday it will take her to Navajo and Coconino counties.
Thousands of saguaros cut in power line project
Thousands of saguaros have been eliminated along an electric power line that runs 257 miles from the Navajo Generating Station near Page to a substation near Sun City. Arizona Public Service Co. said the cactuses and other vegetation were removed for safety and to avoid fines from federal regulators.
Navajo Council speaker wins 4th term
Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence Morgan has won a fourth term to the post. Morgan's selection by tribal lawmakers Monday means he'll preside over the Tribal Council and the legislative branch for another two years.
Navajo lawmakers to select Tribal Council speaker
When Navajo lawmakers convene Monday for their winter session, among the first orders of business will be to choose who will preside over their meetings for the next two years. Three delegates are seeking to become the next speaker of the Tribal Council - incumbent Lawrence Morgan, three-term lawmaker Harold Wauneka of Fort Defiance, and Leonard Tsosie, who resigned as a New Mexico state senator to be seated on the Tribal Council.
Power plant developers seek right-of-way approval
The developers of a proposed coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation are seeking the Tribal Council's approval of right-of-way easements, another step in what has been a long process to move the project forward. Four council committees already have signed off on the measure. It goes before the full council during the lawmakers' weeklong winter session that begins Monday in Window Rock.
EPA board to review Navajo coal plant air permit
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appeals board has agreed to review the approval of an air permit for a proposed coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation, but carbon dioxide emissions won't be part of that process. The EPA issued an air permit for the Desert Rock power plant in July. The state of New Mexico and a group of conservationists sought a review, citing concerns over air quality, carbon dioxide emissions and violations of the Endangered Species Act.
EPA board will review NM coal plant air permit
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appeals board has agreed to review the approval of an air permit for a proposed coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation. The EPA issued an air permit for the Desert Rock power plant in July. The state of New Mexico and a group of conservationists sought a review, citing concerns over air quality, violations of the Endangered Species Act and carbon dioxide emissions.
Navajo president among inauguration crowd
More than 30 people representing the Navajo Nation's executive and legislative branches traveled to Washington for President Barack Obama's inauguration. Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. says he stood about 500 yards away from Obama to witness an important part of history.
Gas company, Navajos reach deal on pipeline pay
A years-long fight between the Navajo Nation and El Paso Natural Gas Co. over a pipeline right of way easement has been settled with a deal that will pay the tribe about $350 million over 20 years. That's more than 10 times what the previous lease brought in for the tribe, which battled fiercely for higher payments when it expired in 2005.
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