Free Republic

PHOENIX – Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she is prepared to use state money to send National Guard troops to the Arizona-Mexico border to crack down on illegal immigration if the Pentagon declines to pick up the bill. It was the first time the governor has said she would be willing to use state money. In December, Napolitano said her plan would be impossible without complete federal funding. But Republicans have since charged that her position gave the Democratic governor an escape clause, allowing her to talk tough in an election year while not actually doing anything about the border...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's former fiscal officer was sentenced to three months in jail for embezzling more than $65,000 in state money he spent partly for trips to Hawaii and a down payment on a Nissan 350Z sports car. Michael Keolanui, 34, also will make restitution and serve an additional three months of home confinement. He had faced up to a year in prison under a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in September to forging two checks totaling $53,700, felonies that could have carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. He...