PHOENIX — Chandler residents may be one step closer to ending about $1.7 million a year in property taxes paid to the Roosevelt Water Conservation District after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the city’s water agreement.

The court ruled that Chandler’s water agreement with the Roosevelt Water Conservation District remains enforceable through 2086, ending a yearslong dispute over water deliveries and taxes paid by thousands of property owners.

“Nearly 27,000 Chandler households have paid Roosevelt Water Conservation District property taxes for years without water benefits. That ends with this ruling,” Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said in a Wednesday announcement.

Why were Chandler and RWCD in court over a water agreement?

City officials said the dispute began when the district, known as RWCD, stopped honoring its agreement to provide water to Chandler. The most recent version of that deal was signed in 2002.

Last year, Hartke told KTAR News 92.3 FM that RWCD would sometimes let water go to waste rather than sell it to the city.

RWCD was formed more than a century ago to irrigate about 40,000 acres of farmland in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and southeastern Maricopa County. As those lands urbanized, Chandler continued purchasing water through the district’s water rights.

The court rejected RWCD’s argument that Chandler waited too long to sue.

“Water is a critical public resource, and this ruling restores a key component of Chandler’s 100-year assured water supply,” Hartke said.

Follow @serenaeosully

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Two months since the war in Iran began, the conflict shows no clear ending in sight.

President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran is in a “state of collapse” but offered no additional context for what that means. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

The ripple effects of the war are felt around the world, with changes in gas and fuel prices impacting consumers.

Gas prices climb

In the days before the war began, the average price for a gallon of gas in Arizona was $3.59. On Tuesday, April 28, the average is $4.63. That price is even higher in Maricopa County, sitting at $4.76.

“My husband has a diesel truck, and that’s just outrageous right now. I put premium in my car, so it’s very expensive, too,” said Kathie Nunn, who lives in Phoenix.

Airline costs soar

It’s not just drivers feeling the pinch. Flyers are too.

“I would say roughly 15 or 20 percent more is what I’ve noticed that I have to pay more,” one traveler said.

The week before the war started, the price of jet fuel was $2.50 a gallon. On Tuesday, April 28, the price is $4.26, according to Airlines for America.

“I fly Southwest mostly. I was able to get a straight flight home and two from here. It was higher than normal, for sure,” said Patrick Foy, who was flying from Phoenix to Louisiana.

Major airliners have already raised checked baggage fees because of the rising fuel prices, while some of the smaller, budget airlines are asking the federal government for billions of dollars in assistance.

“It’s obviously frustrating. It affects our family’s budget,” Foy said.

Gas experts have said even when the war in Iran ends, the full relief people see at the pump or when buying a plane ticket will most likely not be immediate.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

• A large-scale fight at an Arizona prison in Florence left multiple inmates injured.
• The incident was a gang-related altercation, not a riot, and that staff were not targeted, officials said.
• One inmate remained in critical condition, while about 10 others were hospitalized but stable as of April 28.

A large-scale fight at the Arizona State Prison Complex–Eyman in Florence, left multiple people injured and at least one person in critical condition, officials said.

Reports of the fight went out on April 26, and according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, the “inmate-on-inmate altercation” was related to gang violence, a news release said.

Ryan Thornell, director of the department, spoke about what he classified as a “disturbance” on April 28 to reporters. He confirmed the incident left several incarcerated people injured and required some to be taken to off-site hospitals.

“Roughly a third of them have come back treated,” Thornell said, adding that about 10 people remained hospitalized as of April 28, with all of them in stable condition except for one person who was still in critical condition.

Thornell did not give an exact number of people involved but described the incident as “sizable.”

He said the fight started in the kitchen and spilled into other areas, contributing to the number of people involved. Thornell said what happened was not a riot and that officials would not classify it that way, because at no time was the motivation to destroy property, and the staff was not targeted.