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MENTAL HEALTH-BREWER
PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer says the state's severe budget crisis may jeopardize current funding for health services for the seriously mentally ill, let alone allow increases needed to satisfy court orders for improvements. Brewer's lawyers also said in a court filing Friday that she doesn't regard Arizona's behavioral health system for the Phoenix area to be "in crisis" or in need of an overhaul. By Paul Davenport.
CITIES-CHALLENGE
PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court late Wednesday dismissed the League of Arizona Cities and Towns' constitutional challenge to budget law provisions on immigration enforcement and other topics. The immigration enforcement provisions toughen and expand existing prohibitions on providing services to illegal immigrants. Other challenged provisions deal with development impact fees and building codes. All were included in a bill approved during a summer special session largely devoted to the state's ongoing budget crisis. By Paul Davenport.
FIDELITY-COLLEGE SAVINGS FEES
NEW YORK — Fidelity Investments says it is slashing maintenance fees on the 529 college savings plans it runs in five states. Fees on indexed plans will be cut in half, while fees on actively managed and advisor-sold plans will be cut by a third, the firm said. Fidelity manages plans sold in Arizona, California, Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. By Personal Finance Writer Candice Choi.
POLYGAMY TRUST
SALT LAKE CITY — The governing body of a southern Utah-based polygamous church is asking a judge to remove a court-appointed accountant from his job managing the group's land trust. Leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints object to Bruce Wisan's management of the United Effort Plan Trust and want a judge to appoint someone "less controversial" to the post. Wisan has managed the trust since 2005, when the Utah courts took control of its assets amid allegations that church president Warren Jeffs — then a fugitive from Arizona on criminal charges — had used trust assets for personal benefit. There were also concerns Jeffs left the trust vulnerable to liquidation from default judgments in civil lawsuits filed in 2004. By Jennifer Dobner.
IMMIGRATION-ZERO TOLERANCE
EL PASO, Texas — Immigrants who have been arrested in zero-tolerance zones along the Mexican border must not be tried at mass criminal immigration hearings because the proceedings violate federal rules, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that a federal court in Tucson, Ariz. — where mass hearings have been held for defendants arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents — had violated Rule 11, which requires that each defendant be read their rights and be given an explanation of what a guilty plea means. By Alicia A. Caldwell.
PRAIRIE DOGS
BILLINGS, Mont. — Black-tailed prairie dogs were denied protection under the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday after federal officials concluded the once prevalent species shows signs of rebounding. Decades of poisoning, shootings, the plague and loss of habitat to agriculture are blamed for a dramatic drop in prairie dog numbers since the early 1900s, from roughly one billion animals to an estimated 24 million today. Federal officials say the most common species of prairie dogs now occupy about 3,750 square miles within a range that stretches from Montana and North Dakota south to New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. By Matthew Brown.
Also note:
— CONGRESSMAN INDICTED — The trial for former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi on money laundering, insurance fraud, racketeering and other charges has been postponed until March 16.
— GROCERY STRIKE-ARIZONA — About 25,000 Fry's and Safeway workers in Arizona are being asked to approve a new three-year contract that was worked out last month to avert a grocery strike.
— SEX OFFENDER PLEA — A man convicted of restraining a 4-year-old girl inside a Tucson church is facing up to 7½ years in prison after pleading guilty to failing to register as a sex offender.
— FATAL STABBING-SEARCH — Phoenix police say they are continuing to search for a man suspected of killing the mother of his children during a domestic dispute.
— BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED — A federal appeals court has ordered a new sentence for a Texas businessman convicted last year of lying to a Sherman bank. James W. Sandlin also is under indictment with former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi on conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and extortion counts in Arizona.
— ECONOMIC OUTLOOK — Experts say Arizona's economy will gradually recover next year but the pace will be anemic with continuing high unemployment, weak construction and slow retail sales.
— TAX INCREASE-PARKER — A prospective primary election opponent to Gov. Jan Brewer is launching a new effort to oppose a possible tax increase to help balance the state budget.
— BIKERS ARRESTED — An Arizona Department of Public Safety task force has served seven felony arrest warrants for members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
— IDENTITY THEFT INDICTMENT — Maricopa County authorities say a man has been indicted on charges of identity theft and forgery.
— BURGLARIES ARREST — Police in Prescott Valley say they have arrested a teenager in connection with at least 85 burglaries at a housing development over the past four months.
— LIGHT RAIL ACCIDENT — Two people were taken to Phoenix-area hospitals after a van collided with a light rail train.
— SLAYING ARRESTS — Phoenix police say two men have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a woman last month.
— BODY FOUND — Chandler police think it was natural causes or an accident that led to the death of a 75-year-old man found in a fountain in front of a $1 million home Wednesday morning.
— VETERANS DIRECTOR CHARGED — The Arizona Department of Veterans Services' former director is pleading not guilty to felony charges.
— SCHOOL DISTRICT-ALIENS — A search for space aliens has been a very costly experience for the Higley Unified School District.
TOPIC: OPERA MARQUEE
PRESCOTT — Fortunately for the Elks Opera House, the workmen of days-gone-by usually took the most expedient route in their renovations. "They tended to just add things, and they didn't subtract," local architect Bill Otwell said of the construction work that occurred through the years on the 1905 Elks building. Otwell speculates that the add-on tactic was simply the easiest way for workers to get the job done, rather than an attempt toward preservation. Even so, it is good news for the current Elks restoration — especially the marquee that sits out front. By Cindy Barks, The Daily Courier.
AP Photo of Dec. 2: AZPRE101
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