Laurie Roberts

Andy Biggs' daughter is right. She really shouldn't run for the Legislature | Opinion www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

ASU's reason for helping Katie Hobbs is enough to make Cookie Monster gag | Opinion Who cares about objectivity? ASU officials didn't like Kari Lake, so they put their thumb on the scale for Katie Hobbs in the 2022 election.

ASU shattered the rules and tradition and gave Katie Hobbs the stage after she refused to debate Kari Lake in 2022. Now we know why, and the reason should make us all gag. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

RIP, First Amendment, if an Arizona senator's ICE alerts are illegal | Opinion Arizona's GOP Senate president wants an investigation of Democratic Sen. Analise Ortiz for posting where ICE agents have been seen in public.

Is an Arizona state senator's ICE alert really a federal crime? www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

It's an outrage that this 10-year-old girl died on DCS' watch | Opinion An uncle and her school repeatedly reported suspected child abuse to the Arizona Department of Child Safety. And now, a 10-year-old girl is dead.

Twelve times, the school called the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Twelve times over the last year, school staffers raised the alarm about what was happening to one of their students. Now, she's dead. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Expect payback from Trump over Arizona's immigrants in 5, 4, 3 ... | Opinion Federal prosecutions for immigration-related crimes have sharply dropped in Arizona this summer. Trump cannot be happy about that.

Trump says vicious criminal immigrants are everywhere. Yet his administration appears to be having a hard time finding people in Arizona to prosecute, even for the crime of being in the country illegally. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Trump should keep his hands off the Grand Canyon mule train | Opinion There are good reasons the Postal Service uses mules to deliver food and supplies to the Grand Canyon's Supai village. Nixing them would be stupid.

For more than a century, mules have delivered the mail to the Grand Canyon's Supai village. It is not, as one senior Trump official called it, 'stupid.' www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Justin Heap should welcome an investigation into whether he has a 'lying mouth' | Opinion A county election official promised honesty in office. But now a county supervisor is calling for an investigation over statements he has made.

This wouldn’t be the first time that Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, the MAGA flag bearer who vowed to “restore honesty, transparency & integrity in our elections”, has played fast and loose with the truth. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Former Arizona senator wants Tucson to pay her $8 million. Sure, that'll happen | Opinion Justine Wadsack is suing Tucson police for writing her a speeding ticket. Even odder than the lawsuit is how much she wants in damages.

Ex-Sen. Justine Wadsack, having left reality in her rear view window, wants Tucson to pay her $8 million for daring to cite her for speeding. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Hiking Camelback on a triple-digit day is just stupid (You listening, RFK Jr.?) | Opinion Eight out-of-town hikers were rescued in extreme heat while hiking Camelback Mountain, a week after RFK Jr. posted his ill-advised trek to the summit.

Here are eight more reasons why Arizona needs a Stupid Hiker Law. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

This district just gave Arizona lawmakers even more fuel to burn public schools | Opinion Dysart slashed bus service for kids, then sent nearly 200 employees to Las Vegas - and made it harder for other public schools to ask for more money.

This Arizona school district district has money to send several hundred employees on a three-day junket to Vegas but not enough for school bus rides for kids. This is a bad look. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Who's watching how $1 billion is spent on ESAs? Answer: Hardly anybody | Opinion Arizona's universal school voucher program has exploded since 2022. Yet the same 12 staffers are reviewing ESA expenses. What gets through the cracks?

Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account program is exploding. But curiously, the staff to review how our money is being spent isn't. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

Gov. Katie Hobbs needs a better answer for her pal's job as others lose theirs | Opinion Why is Dana Allmond still on the payroll for $170,000 when other Arizona employees are losing their jobs? It's a fair question to ask.

Gov. Katie Hobbs' former appointee has snagged yet another cushy state contract at DES. This, as DES employees are being laid off. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Is the right message enough to make an unknown Arizona senator president? | Opinion Ruben Gallego has six months in the Senate. But he's already making the pilgrimage to Iowa, presumably to get a jump on the competition for president.

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego is heading to the Iowa State Fair in August. With six whole months in the Senate, he certainly doesn't lack ambition. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Thousands of Arizona parents are hoarding your cash. Think they'll give it back? | Opinion Arizona parents have stockpiled nearly $450 million in unused public funds in their ESAs. Yet we can't get it back.

Arizona parents have stockpiled nearly $450 million in unused public funds in their Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. If they don't need public money to educate their kids, shouldn't we get it back? h/t to @CraigHarrisNews www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Rep. Abe Hamadeh says no Medicaid cuts? He's not fooling anyone | Opinion Technically, the Big Beautiful Bill Act doesn't kick poor people off Medicaid. But it adds red tape meant to push them off, and that hurts Arizona.

Rep. Abe Hamadeh insists the One Big Beautiful Bill Act 'includes no cuts to Medicare.' He must think his constituents are really stupid. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

These 4 Arizona Republican legislators are traitors? Turning Point USA said so. | Opinion According to Turning Point Action, Arizona's Republican officeholders are mostly 'former patriots' ... or worse.

Turning Point Action called these Arizona GOP legislators traitors to the country. Well, goodness. Next we'll find out they think it's OK for women to work. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Arizona's GOP congressmen deliver one big, beautiful pile of hypocrisy | Opinion Arizona's Republican congressmen were against increasing the national debt ...until Donald Trump said jump and they proceeded to leap with abandon.

With Arizona’s GOP congressmen now having voted for Trump’s massive budget, walk with me now on a big-beautiful stroll down memory lane. It's a pleasant trip, if you can avoid stepping in the steaming piles of hypocrisy. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Nothing says 'freedom' like MAGA pushing for an Arizona concentration camp | Opinion The Arizona Republicans pushing for a desert version of Alligator Alcatraz seem eager to throw immigrants with no criminal record to the rattlesnakes.

Move over, alligators. Sen. Wendy Rogers and her MAGA warrior pals want an Alligator Alcatraz, too. But with snakes and scorpions. (Pay no attention to the fact that most detained immigrants have never even been convicted of a crime.) www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral.com

Just how high will Arizona Republicans jump to hike our big, beautiful debt? | Opinion Trump's Big Beautiful Bill will increase the national debt by trillions. But that doesn't bother Arizona's self-professed fiscal hawk Republicans.

Every Arizona Republican member of Congress rails against the soaring national debt. Then, they vote to boost it. Tell me again why we should believe a word they say? www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Imagine the howling if a non-MAGA elections chief had made this mistake | Opinion Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap mistakenly told 83,000 voters they would be kicked off a list, yet the election conspiracy crowd stayed silent.

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap vowed to restore voters' trust in elections. I doubt these 83,000 voters probably are buying it. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

More idiot hikers rescued? Arizona needs a Stupid Hiker Law | Opinion The families rescued from hiking in the heat should not have to pay for their stupidity with their lives. But they should have to use their wallets.

Ah, summertime in the Arizona desert, where the temperature is passing blast furnace and approaching jaws of hell. What a perfect time to take a hike! Isn't it finally time for a Stupid Hikers Law? www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Arizona has 2 words for firefighters shot in Idaho | Opinion The murder of 2 firefighters in Idaho comes as Arizona mourns the anniversary of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, who died battling wildfire.

The story of Idaho firefighters ambushed while battling a fire hits particularly hard in Arizona on a grim anniversary. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Making laws in Arizona was a dumpster fire. Here's who got burned | Opinion Arizona's legislative session culminated with a weeks-long budget showdown that could have transpired in Tombstone.

Arizona's legislative session has (mercifully) ended. But not before winners were crowned and losers got burned. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

The 2025 Arizona Legislature was a dumpster fire | Opinion Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Legislature don't have much to show for the 165 days of what should've been a 100-day legislative session.

Now that the House has approved the budget, the dumpster fire that is the 2025 Arizona Legislature will soon head home with a list of accomplishments that is embarrassingly small. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Kari Lake's smear of Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton is vintage Lake | Opinion When Rep. Greg Stanton confronted Kari Lake with facts, she deflected with insults and went on the attack. Arizona has seen this many times before.

The world got a good look at Kari Lake at a congressional hearing on the Voice of America. All I can say is, sorry world. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Don't blame Gov. Hobbs for Arizona's sham budget or the shutdown it will cause | Opinion Arizona House leaders are trying to blame a state government shutdown on Gov. Katie Hobbs, despite refusing to negotiate with her on the budget.

Arizona state government is five days away from a shutdown, and House Speaker Steve Montenegro is still living in fantasyland. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

That DBacks giveaway isn't really $500 million. It's A LOT more | Opinion The Arizona Diamondbacks just held us hostage for $1.2 billion. And Gov. Katie Hobbs says she's 'thrilled.'

The Arizona Diamondbacks has scored a massive victory, snookering the state of Arizona into giving the team a grand slam of a subsidy that's worth far more than advertised. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

7 days until Arizona government shuts down. Here is who to blame | Opinion Arizona's House speaker is so terrified of one GOP senator that he's willing to shut down state government instead of approve a negotiated budget.

If Arizona state government shuts down, blame the House speaker and its shadow speaker. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

House Republicans should depart 'fantasyland' and pass Senate budget | Opinion The Arizona Freedom Caucus must be feeling run over after their Republican colleagues in the Senate passed a budget negotiated with Gov. Katie Hobbs.

The Arizona Senate passed a bipartisan budget, one negotiated with ... gulp ... Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. House GOP whining to commence in 5, 4, 3 ... www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral

Our leaders hoping to sneak a $215-a-day pay raise into the budget. Not cool | Opinion Maricopa County lawmakers hoping to give themselves an outrageous pay boost | Opinion

It's goodie time at the state Capitol, where Maricopa County Republican lawmakers are hoping to sneak into the budget a $514% boost in daily pay for their non-existent expenses. www.azcentral.com/story/opinio... via @azcentral