Justin Pierce will be sworn in as the new District 19 representative on Wednesday during a ceremony on the floor of the House of Representatives. Pierce will be sworn in at 11 a.m. by Charles E. Jones, the retired chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Pierce was unanimously appointed to the seat last week by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The Republican will replace House Speaker Kirk Adams, who resigned to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pierce earned a law degree from Georgetown University and had been a clerk for Jones. He is a labor attorney at Jackson Lewis LLC. District 19 includes parts of Mesa, Gilbert and Apache Junction.

Ignoring a possible legal challenge, the state House voted Tuesday to require screening panels to give the governor more choices for her picks for the Arizona Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and the superior courts of Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties.

On a 39-17 vote the House approved a measure allowing businesses to shield certain information about their violations of health and environmental laws from those who might seek to sue them.

State lawmakers refused to give Gov. Jan Brewer anywhere near the amount of money she sought for education.

State lawmakers voted last week to give businesses a chance to escape from class-action lawsuits before the legal bills -- and potential verdict against them -- gets too large.

What do Justin Olsen, Justin Pierce, Frank Pratt, Cecil Ash, Steve Court, Eddie Farnsworth, John Fillmore, Tom Forese, J.D. Mesnard, and Steve Urie have in common?

The state House voted Thursday to slam the door on gun buyback programs -- even when the owners specifically ask that their weapons be destroyed.

State lawmakers launched what could be considered an end-run of last year's voter rejection of a change in how judges are selected.

Calling it an important part of Western culture, members of a House committee voted Monday to let schools teach the Old and New Testaments to students in public high schools.

A divided state House voted Thursday to expand the list of employers who can refuse to include contraceptive coverage in their health care plans for workers.

Saying it's none of the government's business, a House panel voted Wednesday to bar cities, counties and the state from destroying guns that are voluntarily surrendered to them.

It’s that time of year to hand out some honors for the year’s best. So it is without further ado that I bring you the Third Annual Hammer Awards.

An almost perfect day first day by defending champion Marcos de Niza wasn’t enough for the Padres to lead the 5A state wrestling tournament Thursday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

State lawmakers are moving to let Arizona businesses refuse to disclose to those who might want to sue them what the company knew about defective products.

A bid to keep students from dropping out of school before they turn 18 faltered Monday amid bipartisan concerns that all it would do is mean more disruptive kids in school.

A farmer would be horrified over the notion of an Arizona coyote being assigned to watch over his chicken coop. Arizonans should be worried that some public officials think they should be responsible for watching over themselves.

2008 All East Sky Region Baseball

BOSTON - Amare Stoudemire scored 42 points, Quentin Richardson added 23 and the Phoenix Suns won their fourth straight with a 128-119 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

TUCSON - Marcos de Niza has been the top team in 5A wrestling for the past two years. Tucson Sunnyside, owner of 21 state titles, is the preeminent power in 4A.

WASHINGTON – It was a sweltering-hot day in the nation’s capital, but the only thing the members of the Gilbert High School marching band could talk about was how cool it was.

The New York Giants understand what they are up against today - the "juggernaut of the NFL," as Justin Tuck called New England. They just do not care.

Robert Redford's latest film, "The Conspirator," explores a time in American history that most of us probably never knew about, or at least forgot: the 1865 trial of Mary Surratt, a boarding house owner whose son was suspected of helping John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln.