PERMANENT FORECAST FOR ARIZONA: HOT, DRY

posted by Michael Chihak

Much of Arizona got a reprieve from the drought last month. No, it wasn't a big cloudburst that suddenly filled the dry arroyos and riverbeds, not to mention the once huge lakes -- Mead and Powell -- on the Colorado River.

The reprieve came in the form of a political/bureaucratic/water management decision to allow 40.5 percent more water to flow out of Lake Powell down the Colorado and into Lake Mead and beyond. From there, Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico can use more water.

The increased flow is the result of a 4-year-old river management system agreed to by the states that use Colorado River water. It's administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which has concluded based on last winter's big snow pack in the upper basin that there will be enough water.

For five years.

That means the lower basin states and Mexico get their agreed-upon allocations, without having to endure cutbacks and the possibility of rationing, for the next five years.

What will happen after that? Rainfall, the future snow pack, population growth and other factors will determine it. But one thing is for certain.

We'll still be in a desert.

Arizona Week on Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST on PBS-HD will delve into short-term water management and supply issues and the long-term outlook.

TAKING THE EDGE OFF HARD NEWS

posted by Michael Chihak

Sandra Martinez was born in Mexico, came to the United States at age 4 and moved to the Phoenix area at age 11. From the time she arrived in the Valley of the Sun, she had her eye on college.

But other things came along -- two children, for example. Her boys are now 12 and 9, and they will celebrate next week with her and her husband when Martinez gets her bachelor's degree in communication from ASU.

She enrolled five years ago, determined to better her life and set an example for her children that getting an education is the key to success in life.

"My 12-year-old told me when I started my education at ASU, I started with one class," Martinez said in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week. "I did find it very intimidating coming back after so many years. He told me, 'Wow, I'm going to get my Ph.D. before you at that rate.' So I had to kick it up a notch.

"I think with that they have kept me going and inspired me to take it on and finish it within five years."

Martinez works in the ASU business office working on student accounts. She hopes to continue that work after graduating, but said she will be happy with anything in the world of higher education, where she can help others achieve the dream she has worked hard for.

JOB ACTIVITY FOR CLASS OF '11 LOOKS STRONGER

posted by Michael Chihak

The numbers on college campus job recruitment in Arizona this year are looking good so far, but the final and most significant numbers -- how many grads got job offers -- aren't in yet.

But there is higher hope this year than for any in the last thee years, UA Career Services Director Eileen McGarry told Arizona Week.

McGarry said the Eller College of Management has reported soon-to-graduate business majors getting three times the offers that came in the last couple of years.

She also said unique job listings on campus were up 12 percent from the previous year, internships rose 55 percent and campus interviewing was up 26 percent.

Businesses looking to hire are attracted to the UA because of the quality of students, McGarry said. They have well developed skills, leadership abilities and a well-rounded education, she said.

Business, engineering and the hard sciences are most attractibve, but social science majors also receive attention because of the broad nature of their education and the thinking skills it develops in them, McGarry said.

Her interview will be part of Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, at 8:30 p.m. on PBS-HD and at www.azweek.com.

COLLEGE RECRUITING ACTIVITY POSITIVE ECONOMIC SIGN

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona's three public universities will graduate more than 21,000 students next week, sending the vast majority of them out in search of work.

Some have jobs waiting for them, many in the state. For others, the future is no more certain than the shaky state of the economy, both in Arizona and nationally.

However, campus career service officials at all three universities report increased business recruitment activity this school year, and at least one is calling it better than in the last two years. That is clearly a sign of economic improvement.

A report last week from the state Department of Commerce projected that the state will add 17,300 jobs in 2011, not nearly enough to absorb this year's graduates.

Next year is projected to be better, at 34,000 new jobs, but how many of those will be at the level to sustain college graduates or to pay them enough so they can begin climbing out of their educational debt is uncertain.

We will review the prospects for Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, speaking with university career services officials, recruiters and students.

READY TO TAKE ON OTHER ISSUES

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona Week is poised to take on a wide range of topics in the coming weeks and months, now with the official business of the state Legislature having been concluded.

A brief rundown on some topics under consideration. We are open to viewers' ideas and guidance on these and other topics as we move forward planning our programming.

-- College graduation is upon us. What are job prospects for Arizona grads this year? Can the state retain its best and brightest with meaningful and well-paying jobs?

-- Wildfire season has begun with a big fire on the Arizona-Mexican border near Nogales. Forecasts are for a worse-than-normal fire season in the southern half of Arizona and other parts of the West.

-- Arizona foreclosures and malaise in the housing industry continuje. What's the trend line, and can we expect to see improvement -- in fewer foreclosures, construction uptick and reduction of inventory -- any time soon? What's the impact on the commercial real estate market.

-- Water supply in the desert remains an issue. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which supply Phoenix and Tucson with water via the Central Arizona Project, are being slowly refilled after a special allocation approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation because of a big spring snow melt. It delays for five years the need for stricter rationing.

-- Two dozen young, ambitious Arizonans are nearing completion of work in the first Arizona Civic Leadership Academy. We will look at this effort to educate and encourage future state leaders with "the commitment, knowledge and skills to carry out creative, long-term solutions to pressing problems."

-- The Arizona Commerce Authority is diving into its work to reinvent the state's economy by attracting businesses that offer high-paying jobs that contribute to economic growth and stability. How is business recruitment going? What are the opportunities and obstacles?

-- We're approaching budget season for Arizona's counties and municipal governments. What's the big picture and how will they balance their budgets going into fiscal 2011-12?

VIEWER QUESTIONS AND GOV. BREWER'S ANSWERS

posted by Michael Chihak

Gov. Jan Brewer gave Arizona Week a 30-minute interview at the Arizona Capitol Executive Tower this week. In preparation for it, we asked viewers to submit questions to be asked of the governor. Here are viewer questions that we were able to ask and obtain responses to:

From Leslie Lee: I would like to ask the governor if the state will be losing Federal Medicaid funds due to Arizona reducing AHCCCS benefits? As a follow up, has the state computed what the taxpayers will be paying for emergency room visits to treat those who will not have access to a doctor's office or urgent care clinic because they are no longer covered by AHCCCS?

Brewer said she didn't know how much matching federal money the state would lose. Other sources estimate it to be approximately twice what the state cuts will be; state cuts will be about $510 million, meaning federal matching fund reduction would be about $1 billion. Brewer acknowledged that increased emergency room visits likely would drive taxpayer and insurance rate costs, but she did not say by how much.

From Martha Conyne: As the 100th anniversary of Arizona statehood approaches in 2012, I would like to ask that Governor Brewer, as our leader, give us a motto to celebrate and look to the future. Something short, simple and optimistic that we can use to sum up our pride and solidarity as Arizonans. What would you say, Governor, that we can repeat and build on the “can do” spirit of Arizona?

Brewer said she is optimistic about the state's future and said Arizonans "have wind beneath our wings, and Arizona is going to get out of this economic crisis ... and we will be prosperous again."

From Maria Swartz: If AHCCCS health care for Arizona’s poor adult citizens is eliminated, these people will end up using the emergency room for health care. These costs will then be passed by the hospitals to Arizona citizens who have health insurance, who will have to pay higher costs for their medical expenses. What exactly does the state expect to gain by moving this expense from all tax payers to only tax payers with health insurance?

We asked Brewer questions related to this, and she responded as above, adding that the state simply doesn't have the money to cover what she called some of the most generous health-care benefits in the nation.

From Matthew Knatz: Do you see higher education as a luxury or a necessity? If the former, why do you see it as luxury? If the latter, what are you doing to ensure that higher education remains available to students from lower income communities?

Brewer said she recognizes that education is absolutely necessary to support job growth and economic development. She said that for low-income students, "there are still scholarships, there are still grants, there are still loans -- different ways to make that possible ... And, they can get a job just like a lot of the kids going to the universities do to help out themselves."

Watch the full interview at www.azweek.com to see and hear Brewer's responses to these nd other questions that were similar to what viewers proposed.