WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans on Wednesday scuttled an attempt by Sen. Hillary Clinton to establish an independent, bipartisan panel patterned after the 9/11 Commission to investigate what went wrong with federal, state and local governments' response to Hurricane Katrina.

The Arizona Corporation Commission has hit Qwest Communications International with what commissioners believe is the largest fine ever imposed by the utility regulating panel.

The purveyors of vast amounts of fraudulent, uninvited e-mail are causing a major traffic mess in one of the great, new communication tools of modern times. They are a daily nuisance and worse, and they are cheating many people. These crooks belong exactly where Virginia wants to put them — in the slammer — but there is a problem with a law enacted by the state this week. It won't work.

Members of the Independent Redistricting Commission want a federal court to block them from being questioned about the legislative maps they drew.

Nerdvana: The Federal Communications Commission is investigating Apple's recent refusal to allow a Google Voice application for the iPhone to be sold at its online App Store.

WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday his agency has all the authority it needs to prevent Internet service providers from discriminating against Web surfers and that new legislation is unnecessary.

WASHINGTON - The government proposed a fine of $3.6 million against CBS and dozens of its stations and affiliates Wednesday in a crackdown on what regulators called indecent television programming.

WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is disputing Democratic assertions that a new rule loosening restrictions on media ownership is full of loopholes and will lead to a wave of mergers and fewer choices for consumers.

A  proposal to require the firing of teachers who provide partisan classroom lessons is apparently dead.

I think we should all support Senator Lori Klein and her well-thought-out SB 1065. This bill would bring much needed liberty and freedom from oppression to dog guardians and the precious dogs they care for. I firmly believe that the current laws, and regulations of HMOs etc., concerning dogs, are full of tyranny and harsh persecution.

Learn about the nationwide transition to digital television at a free program 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation's new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet.

PHOENIX - Qwest Communications says it recently reached an agreement to pay $20 million to settle Arizona Corporation Commission cases that have been impeding company efforts to offer long-distance service in the state.

State highway patrol officials say they expect two photo-enforcement vans to be back in service as early as Friday.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators agreed Thursday to let states decide whether to spur competition between the regional Bell phone companies and their rivals, in a move that drew sharp criticism from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Friday eased rules governing high-speed Internet services offered by phone companies, saying they hope it will speed Internet growth.

When it comes to communications services, Phoenix is one of the most competitive cities in the United States. Crack open the Phoenix telephone directory and see for yourself.

In this business, we are a priori and ex officio committed to communication, the more the better. Let the First Amendment soar!

Radio students at the East Valley Institute of Technology will sign on to their new live radio station for the first time in January at the EVIT Expo.