ARIZONA'S IMAGE: DO POLITICS, EVENTS DRIVE IT?

posted by Michael Chihak

Friday's debut program of Arizona Week will take a look at how recent news events and political developments may be shaping Arizona's image as a state.

The program will include interviews with Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce and Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams and commentary and analysis by two journalists, Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb, via satellite from Phoenix, and Arizona Public Media online producer Gisela Telis, joining us in Studio A.

Arizona has been in the national spotlight on an almost ongoing basis of the recent past for a series of political decisions, precedent-setting court cases and culminating in last week's tragic shooting rampage in Tucson.

Other issues that have called attention to Arizona: passage of SB1070 last year by the Arizona Legislature requiring local officers of the law to enforce immigration laws; a court decision that the state's voter-approved Clean Elections system is unconstitutional; a court challenge to the state's tax-credit program for private schools; introduction earlier this month of proposed legislation to challenge the precedent that the 14th Amendment grants automatic citizenship to those born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally.