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LEGISLATIVE LIMITS

PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court is being asked to overturn the Legislature's use of budget laws to set state policy on topics ranging from teachers' seniority rights and immigration enforcement to mortgage lawsuits and municipal building codes. A teachers union and other groups contend in recent lawsuits that lawmakers crossed the state Constitution's rules for lawmaking, including ones intended to have legislation considered on its own merits and in the light of day. By Paul Davenport.

MCCAIN-VOTING RECORD

PHOENIX — Arizona Sen. John McCain missed more votes than any other U.S. senator in 2007 and 2008 as he ran for president, but he's on track to be one of the Senate's top performers on that measure this year. McCain has missed only nine of the Senate's 353 roll-call votes this session.

WHITE HOUSE DINNER

PHOENIX — The brother of an Indian immigrant murdered in Mesa just days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has met President Barack Obama and dined at the White House. Rana Singh Sodhi, of Gilbert, and his wife were among 338 people at a state dinner Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Also note:

— CASKET MISHAP — — A suburban Phoenix family is suing after their father's body slipped from a shattered casket when it was dropped into a grave during a burial ceremony.

— MULTIPLE DEATHS-ACCIDENT — The Yavapai County Sheriff's Department has released the names of the four male members of a church group who were killed after the vehicle they were in plunged 100 feet off a roadside cliff.

— SCOTTSDALE-MANAGER FIRED — Firing Scottsdale's city manager came with a price. The city paid John Little more than $120,000 in severance including wages, vacation time and other benefits.

— AVRA VALLEY-FIRE CHIEF — The fire chief of Avra Valley northwest of Tucson has been placed on paid leave.

— ARPAIO INTERVIEW — A live interview with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in downtown Phoenix has drawn so much interest that organizers are making it available on a large video screen and the Internet.

TOPIC: GOLD PROSPECTORS

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. — As gold prices skyrocket, metal detectors are flying off shelves as more and more people are looking to gold mining and prospecting as a hobby. Gold prices recently hit record highs, according to the Associated Press. As a result, local merchants are flooded with consumers looking to sell old jewelry and lone earrings to make a few bucks in a tight economy. The rush has been on for quite some time, local sellers said, but now prospecting and mining are seeing surges as well. By Nathan Bruttell, Today's News-Herald.

AP Photo of Nov. 27, AZLHC101.