The chair of the Government Operations Committee stepped down at Friday's USGD meeting. A new chair was nominated and unanimously approved. Three Senate Bills and one President Bill were also passed, including President Bill 15, which implemented a new internship program.

Local artists J.B. Snyder, Jeff Hoopes and Zachary Glover are the co-owners of the newly opened Fifth Street Paint Supply. The shop offers a wide variety of paint and art supplies for the artists that call downtown home.

In a long anticipated move, the University of Arizona’s Rural Health Professions Program has expanded to the university’s medical center in downtown Phoenix. Two of the program’s main focuses are increasing the number of graduates who practice in a rural setting and developing collaborative relationships with rural communities and faculty.

A poet whose work has been adapted into film and a poet who adapted his work from film gave readings Friday at {9} the Gallery as part of the Phoenix Poetry Series. The series, kicking off its eighth year, featured old and new poems from local poets James Sallis and R.S. Mengert.

Phoenix officials provided a workshop Thursday to educate residents on how to fight illicit graffiti spraying in their neighborhoods, including how to address the issue in a courtroom setting.