A unanimous Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has endorsed a $2.2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, some $82.4 million lower than the county currently spends. The budget approved today is likely to produce a modest property tax decrease for Valley homeowners but also a merit-based salary increase for county employees, who have gone without permanent increases for five years.

Dear Debt Adviser: I own my home and have no mortgage or note. I have no debts except a student loan of about $11,000, and I can pay that off right now. I’ve always wanted to be debt-free, and I could write a check tomorrow and do that.

Most of us already realize “normal” is relative. Yet, we are only human. And as such, we can scarcely stop ourselves from the very-human behavior of seizing every available opportunity to try to quantify and define the term.

After years in the doldrums, the housing market appears back on track. Home sales and prices are up, and mortgage rates remain near historic lows, reinvigorating the appeal of home ownership.

The 2013 legislative session began with a unanimous vote in the House and the Senate to appropriate emergency funding for additional Child Protective Services staff. With that vote, lawmakers affirmed child safety as a top priority.

A survey shows U.S. home prices rose 10.5 percent in March compared with a year ago, the biggest gain since March 2006.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation Thursday to allow foster children to be placed in homes with youngsters who are not immunized.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose 9.3 percent in February compared with a year ago, the most in nearly seven years. The gains were driven by a growing number of buyers who bid on a limited supply of homes.

WASHINGTON — Americans are more optimistic the job market is healing and will deliver higher pay later this year. That brighter outlook, along with rising home prices, cheaper gasoline and a surging stock market, could offset some of the drag from the recent tax increases and government spending cuts.

No one can deny the Great Recession left a permanent mark on our nation and its economy. But what effect did it have on the American Dream of Home Ownership? That’s the question we set out to answer by asking Phoenix-based Benchmark Research Technologies to survey nearly 1,700 Arizona new home shoppers about their attitudes surrounding home ownership in the post-recession era.

U.S. homebuilders broke the 1 million mark in March for the first time since June 2008. The gain signals continued strength for the housing recovery at the start of the spring buying season.

Thousands of students in poorly performing public schools could soon get what amounts to a voucher from the state to go elsewhere -- or even get educated at home -- a move that could remove hundreds of millions of dollars a year from public schools.

Recent images of a cruise ship limping back to port after an engine malfunction didn't do the cruise industry any favors heading into the summer vacation season. And cringe-worthy accounts from passengers who had to make do without power or working toilets for five days may have turned some travelers off cruising for good.

Saying a loving home trumps the chance of disease, state lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to allowing foster children to be placed in homes where other youngsters are not immunized.

Centennials are normally cause for celebration, a chance to applaud some thing or person standing the test of time. But not so for the income tax. Even the IRS is declining to mention that this year is the 100 year anniversary of the 16th Amendment of the Constitution, which authorized the tax.

Arizonans who have to seek protection from creditors in bankruptcy court soon will be able to hang on to more of what they own.

New unemployment numbers released Thursday suggest the state's economic recovery is weakening.

LONDON — Tesco, Britain's largest retailer by sales, is to pull out of the U.S., selling off its lossmaking Fresh & Easy supermarket chain after it failed to transfer its winning formula from the U.K. to the western states.

Repeatedly rebuffed in court, the state and multiple Indian tribes are now banking on last-minute federal legislation to block the Tohono O'odham Nation from building a casino on the edge of Glendale.

Mesa

WASHINGTON — This may be the year Congress decides what to do about the millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. And this may be the week when a bipartisan group of senators makes public details of the overhaul plan it has been negotiating for months.

Barrett-Jackson is home to the world’s most profitable car auction. Its main event, held every January in Scottsdale, kicked off its 2013 season by tying its 2007 record sales of close to $100 million.

“Don’t call me Mister. Even in high school, my dad had my friends call him Eddie. There are no misters here.”

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is designating five new national monuments, using executive authority to protect historic or ecologically significant sites — including one in Delaware sought by Vice President Joe Biden.