PHOENIX (Reuters) – Illegal immigrant Maria Duran sat up all night outside the Arizona state capitol and prayed for an immigration overhaul before welcoming news Monday of a proposal that could give her legal status but left her wanting more clarity.

A bipartisan group of Republican and Democrat senators announced “tough but fair” steps that they hoped could be passed by Congress this year to give 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become American citizens.

CAVE CREEK, Arizona (Reuters) – Retired salesman David Bennett sits in a patrol car, armed with a semi-automatic Glock pistol and a shotgun, watching as parents drop off their children at a kindergarten in a desert community a few miles north of Phoenix.

Bennett is volunteering his time to join a posse organized by controversial lawman Joe Arpaio, who styles himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff.”

WASHINGTON/PHOENIX (Reuters) – A new gun control group led by Gabrielle Giffords, the former U.S. congresswoman wounded in a Tucson shooting rampage, wants to raise $20 million for the 2014 congressional elections, matching the National Rifle Association’s spending in last November’s elections, the group’s treasurer said on Wednesday.

Giffords and her husband, former U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly, have turned to Houston trial lawyer and Democratic donor Steve Mostyn to act as treasurer. He gave $1 million of his own money to help kick start a campaign launched on Tuesday calling for what Giffords and Kelly describe as common-sense measures to curb gun violence.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Ten states kicked off the new year with a minimum wage rise of between 10 and 35 cents, modestly boosting the incomes of nearly 1 million low-paid workers.

The rises went into effect on Tuesday in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

/PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) – Diego Canil Ordonez was just 16 years old when he realized he needed to get out of Guatemala after gang members arrived at the store where he worked to shake down his boss for money.

His boss didn’t show up for work the next day, but the gang members did. They demanded cash from Canil Ordonez, who had seen his job at the store as a step up after spending years shining shoes to support his family, starting at age 9.

/PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) – Diego Canil Ordonez was just 16 years old when he realized he needed to get out of Guatemala after gang members arrived at the store where he worked to shake down his boss for money.

His boss didn’t show up for work the next day, but the gang members did. They demanded cash from Canil Ordonez, who had seen his job at the store as a step up after spending years shining shoes to support his family, starting at age 9.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – A Norwegian man plunged about 1,000 feet to his death when his parachute failed to open after he struck a vertical cliff and spiraled out of control during a recreational “BASE” jump near the Grand Canyon, authorities said on Wednesday.

Eiliv Ruud, 37, was with two other BASE jumpers from Norway who were planning to jump at Salt Trail Canyon, in northern Arizona, on Tuesday, said the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.

By Tim Gaynor

(Reuters) – The Los Angeles County sheriff will no longer honor federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants nabbed for low-level crimes like petty theft and graffiti after new state guidelines noted the practice is voluntary, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced the change a day after California’s attorney general issued a directive, welcomed by immigration activists, that compliance with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests was discretionary.

PHOENIX, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Winning tickets bought in
Arizona and Missouri matched numbers drawn for a record
Powerball lottery jackpot of $588 million, the Multi-State
Lottery Association said.

Holders of the two winning tickets in the Wednesday night
draw will share an estimated $385 million after tax if they opt
to take it as a lump sum. Alternatively, the $588 million can be
paid out to them as annuities over three decades, the
association said.

By Tim Gaynor

(Reuters) – A combination of human error and a severe “microburst” during a thunderstorm caused a military air tanker to crash while fighting a South Dakota wildfire in July, killing four airmen, according to an accident report released on Wednesday.

The U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules crashed on July 1 while battling a blaze near Edgemont, South Dakota, killing four North Carolina Air National Guard airmen. Two others were seriously injured.