The Arizona State Parks Board voted to close 13 parks last month, but cost estimates show that closing the parks might be more expensive than keeping them open. Closing Fort Verde Historic State Park, for example, will cost taxpayers $141,000 -- about $46,000 more than it would cost to keep the park open for another year. To obtain funds to keep the parks open, Parks board members are lobbying for a House resolution that would ask voters to pay a $9 surcharge on vehicle registrations to help fund the parks, and the Senate is considering a bill that would allow park boards to lease parks to public or private entities...The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of 35 suspected illegal immigrants yesterday. The Sheriff's Office says the arrests were the results of three separate traffic stops in which deputies identified vehicles used to smuggle illegal immigrants across the United States. The MCSO says these immigrant arrests bring their tally to 141 in the past month...
A House committee passed a bill that would lower Arizona's minimum wage for people younger than 22. The bill proposes dropping minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $5.44 an hour. Labor unions oppose the bill, and say they may sue if it passes, because minimum wage was set by voters, not the Legislature. The bill must still be approved by the full Legislature and signed by the governor...