Robert writes the sharper column at the end of the day, after the reporting has established what happened.
Opinion
A Phoenix killing tied to a paid-sex rendezvous is a reminder that the illegal sex market bleeds into our neighborhoods. Arizona can fund reentry and still reassert the boring but vital work of order.
Opinion
The Legislature sent a bipartisan, tailored kids-and-AI bill to the Ninth Floor. Hobbs swatted it away at the buzzer, and Arizona’s families pay the price.
Opinion
John Giles dropped his Republican registration in May. Calling him a bipartisan bridge asks voters to ignore the paperwork.
Opinion
Two courts blocked the Trump team’s bid to cancel climate grants. The lesson for Arizona: if you want to change policy, use Congress, not scissors. Courts protect reliance, not headlines.
Opinion
Arizona’s ballot language must be neutral. On Prop 144, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’s explainer reads like a nudge. Judge Adele Ponce should order a text-faithful rewrite and let voters decide the merits.
Opinion
Sen. Catherine Miranda has said nothing publicly about the hearing exchange that made her nationally known. The bill she opposed cleared the Senate anyway. Declining to speak was a strategy, and it is worth examining what it purchased.
Opinion
Billions for rural health are on the table. Miss August and October deadlines, and Arizona’s share can be clawed back. North Dakota is sprinting. Is Arizona even stretching? Show the plan now.
Culture
As You Like It and Antony and Cleopatra wrap on NAU's North Quad this weekend. The altitude remains the festival's best production designer.
Opinion
Arizona’s elections run on mail ballots and local competence, not nationwide mandates or panic policies. Fund the counters, verify with guardrails, publish the results, and let Arizona run Arizona.
Opinion
Reclamation’s framework threatens to strip up to 77% of Arizona’s Colorado River allocation. Unity, a firm Lower Basin offer, and strict oversight are Arizona’s best leverage before the Record of Decision lands.
Opinion
House Republicans jammed voter ID to a curb on congressional stock trading. Clever politics, sloppy governing. Arizona has its own trust test: concede the AG primary and make the case to voters.
Opinion
Trump’s DOJ halted new criminal cases over diesel emissions tampering and the president pardoned nine people convicted of it. Arizona’s air and economy need clarity and steady civil enforcement, not policy by pardon.
Opinion
Embarrassment is honest. Now the Phoenix Mercury need ambition to match. Stop aiming for the eight seed and start fixing the turnovers, possessions, and standards.
Courts
A federal judge put Arizona’s prison healthcare under a five-year receivership. Conservatives should not cheer a takeover, but after 14 years of failures, the Constitution forced the issue. Now comes the bill, the benchmarks, and the accountability.
Opinion
Hakeem Jeffries asked the teachers union for midterm help and promised progressive policies. Arizona should ask for the bill and the blueprint before buying the pep rally.
Opinion
A new teacher survey says admin support on discipline is thin and behavior drives exits. Back teachers with consequences and transparency, not a 75% quota tied to A-F grades.
Opinion
Arizona’s newest bipartisan budget, per the Arizona Mirror, defunds the independent group-home watchdog created after the Hacienda Healthcare rape. That is not lean government. It is avoidable negligence. Fix it before the year ends.
Opinion
Trump’s CDC pick left a tense Senate hearing short of support, the Arizona Mirror reports. Arizona needs a director who leads with transparency, restraint, and respect for state authority, otherwise the guidance turns into noise.
Opinion
Arizona joined 11 other Democratic-led states to sue in California to block Paramount’s $110 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Antitrust fights should protect competition, not serve as political theater.
