Arizona

A 21-year-old student from Ariz., who was in a coma since a car crash over two months ago, woke up hours before doctors were to take him off life support and recovered enough to spend Christmas day with his family, including his mother who prayed.

Two days before he celebrated Christmas with his family at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, University of Arizona student Sam Schmid was the subject of a news conference at the hospital. He was able to walk with support and talk in brief sentences.

“Right now, I’m feeling all right ... except for the rehabilitation, I’m feeling pretty good,” The Associated Press quoted Schmid as saying. more >>

A senior at Arizona State University who had been missing for 10 days survived on candy and melted snow until she was found on Wednesday, authorities reported.

Though she was cold and hungry, Lauren Elizabeth Weinberg, 23, was discovered to be in good condition despite having been stuck in her vehicle for more than a week.

According to myFOXphoenix, U.S. Forest Service employees accidentally came across the missing student when they were checking the gates on remote forest roads. more >>

A Scottsdale, Ariz., gun club is offering families the opportunity to pose in holiday pictures with Santa Claus and a gun.

The Scottsdale Gun Club is hosting a “family event” in which people will be able to strike a pose in pictures with the man in the red suit and an $80,000 Garwood mini-gun as the backdrop to the photo.

Families can also choose to pose with additional firearms in hand with choices ranging from pistols to grenade launchers to AK-47s. more >>

In Trevin Wade’s mind, Jon Demeter was pretty persistent in his invitations to visit with him about spiritual matters. What he didn’t realize was the persistence was not really from Demeter but from God Himself.

When he finally “gave in,” the senior University of Arizona football player began a journey that has resulted in amazing spiritual growth and leadership opportunities that he credits with changing his life for the better.

Wade is a native of Round Rock, Texas, who came to Arizona to play football. While he was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal church, he admitted that once he got to college, like many students, he didn’t get plugged into a local church for a while. more >>

Arizona voters recalled the ranking lawmaker who authored the state’s controversial immigration bill, sending a message that residents prefer gentler ways of healing the nation’s immigration system.

As state Senate president, Russell Pearce led a two-thirds Republican majority in passing the nation’s toughest immigration reforms in 2010 and 2011. However, as of Tuesday evening, Pearce is unemployed.

Pearce conceded defeat after all 16 precincts in his Phoenix district reported that charter school executive Jerry Lewis had won 53 percent of the vote. more >>

Investigators are still searching desperately for 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley, of Glendale, Ariz., who has been missing since Oct. 11.

The little girl, who is African-American with brown eyes and shoulder length hair, stands approximately 3 feet and 5 inches tall.

According to investigators, Jhessye was last seen by her older siblings, who are 6, 9 and 12, and she was reportedly left in her home by her mother, Jerice Hunter, right before the woman left for an errand. more >>