BILL RUSH (az)
PHOENIX - As Arizona lawmakers struggled to pass a budget, they pushed final votes on non-budget items to the last minutes of their legislative session and ended up sending Gov. Jan Brewer nearly 200 bills to consider in less than two weeks. The last day of session is typically busy, but the volume of last-minute bills this time is unprecedented in recent years and leaves Brewer's office with lots analysis to do before the July 13 deadline to sign or veto legislation. Without her action, bills become law automatically. The situation is complicated by Brewer's call for a special session to fix parts of the budget bills she vetoed. By Jonathan J. Cooper.
Sunday
RAINWATER HARVESTING (AZ, NM, possibly DSA)
TUCSON, Ariz. - Long dependent on wellwater and supplies sent hundreds of miles by canal from the Colorado River, this desert city will soon harvest some of its 12 inches of annual rainfall to help bolster its water resources. Rainwater harvesting is also catching on nationwide, with Georgia, Colorado and other states legislating to allow or expand use of various types. By Arthur H. Rotstein. AP Photos.
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NEW MEXICO:
Friday
PENSION PETITION (NM)
ALBUQUERQUE - A teachers' union has begun a petition drive asking lawmakers to repeal an increase in the amount state employees, including teachers, contribute toward their pensions. By Sue Major Holmes.
Saturday
NEW MEXICO DWI (NM)
SANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico has spent the last decade working to shake its infamous title as the state with the worst drunk driving record. But that didn't seem to matter this week, however, when a wrong-way driver suspected of being drunk plowed into a car near Santa Fe, killing four teenagers and gravely injuring a fifth. The driver faces vehicular homicide charges while officials wait for the results of his alcohol blood tests. The horrifying headlines, the string of funerals, the anguish of friends and families was a stark reminder of the work that remains to be done. By Deborah Baker.
Sunday
INDIANS SUMMER SCHOOL (NM, other Native American points)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Albuquerque public schools are offering a new Navajo language summer classes, hoping to help Navajo and Isleta Pueblo children stay connected to their languages and cultural heritage and thereby motivate them to achieve more academically. By Heather Clark. AP Photos.
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COLORADO:
Friday
FIREFIGHTING ACES (CA, COLO, WILDFIRE points)
PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - They dive-bomb wildfires with lumbering cargo planes designed to haul tanks and soldiers, not thousands of gallons of pink fire retardant. As wildfire season begins in earnest, some of these firefighters will be taking to the skies with new equipment that will allow them to drop more retardant on the fires and less on their planes. By Dan Elliott. Editor: Raghu Vadarevu.
Photos/Multimedia: AP Photos by Ed Andrieski.
Satuday
PORTS TO PLAINS (dsf, ami, cptor, MSA, TX, NM, Neb., Okla., Colo., Wyo., Mont., North Dakota, South Dakota)
LIMON, Colo. - To Joe Kiely, the drone of thousands of trucks signals economic prosperity for this town of 2,000 on Colorado's eastern plains that has long relied on its hotels, gas stations and restaurants. Limon, nearly destroyed by a 1990 tornado, sits on a 2,333-mile, mostly rural trade route from Mexico to Canada called the Ports to Plains project. Conceived in 1997 to capitalize on the North American Free Trade Agreement, it runs from the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, to the Port of Raymond in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its boosters point to billions of dollars in international and interstate trade and are lobbying for stimulus dollars to modernize the corridor. By Ivan Moreno. AP Photos by Dave Zalubowski. .
AP GRAPHIC.
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WASHINGTON:
Friday
HOME-GROWN ENERGY (wa)
SEATTLE - The feisty utility that uncovered audiotapes of Enron Corp. traders discussing gouging "poor grandmothers" is hedging its bet against another energy crisis. After being burned by market manipulations that sent electricity prices soaring in 2000-01, Snohomish County Public Utility District is cultivating its own locally grown energy. This year, it received nearly $1 million from the federal government for a pilot project to install tidal turbines in Puget Sound and to test-drill for geothermal hot spots in the region. By Phuong Le.
Sunday
ACHIEVEMENT GAP (wa)
SEATTLE - While students are doing slightly better each year on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, the success rates of African-American, Native-American, Latino and Pacific Islander students shows Washington has a long way to go in improving school achievement for everyone. Despite a lack of state money for new initiatives, the Washington Legislature wants to tackle the "achievement gap" and has formed a new committee to facilitate its efforts.
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OREGON:
Saturday
LEGISLATURE-ENVIRONMENT (OR)
GRANTS PASS, Ore.
