State Glance

Wildfire in Cave Creek deemed under control, 70% contained

PHOENIX — A windwhipped brush fire that grew to more than 2 square miles was 70 % contained by Tuesday afternoon and authorities were getting ready to lift evacuation orders.

More than 130 homes were evacuated Monday as a precaution with some of the homes less than a mile from the fire.

But crews got control of the blaze with the containment figure rising from 20% by Monday afternoon to 50% by nightfall.

Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management officials said if crews continue to have the upper hand, evacuation orders should be lifted Tuesday evening and about 250 people could return home.

The fire, which is under investigation and believed to be human-caused, started Sunday in the community located 33 miles north of downtown Phoenix.

Winds picked up, causing fire to spread through a green space, into the desert, over a mountain and toward neighborhoods.

Authorities said another complicating factor was the density of vegetation, which had grown significantly thicker due to heavy rains last year.

Senate OKs appointment of Pima County judge to US court

TUCSON — The U.S. Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s appointment of Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash as a U.S. District Court judge for Arizona.

The Senate’s vote Tuesday on confirmation of

Rash’s appointment was 7420..

Trump nominated Rash last September to fill a vacancy created in April 2018 by Judge Cindy Jorgenson’s shift to senior status.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Rash’s appointment last year and formally endorsed it in January.

Then-Gov. Jan Brewer appointed Rash as a Superior Court judge in 2010. He previously worked in private practice with a Tucson law firm and before that as an Arizona assistant attorney general.