PHOENIX (AP) — A 12-year-old boy is being treated for a gunshot wound after he was accidentally shot near the Ben Avery Shooting Range in north Phoenix Saturday morning.

Phoenix police say the boy was wounded in the arm and the torso.

A medical helicopter flew the boy to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

No foul play is suspected. The boy is reported in serious condition.

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Information from: KTAR-FM,

PHOENIX (AP) — State officials are considering arrangements to at least temporarily avert the scheduled closings of some state parks because of budget cuts.

The Parks Board on Wednesday will consider endorsing intergovernmental agreement for Payson to subsidize operations for Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, allowing its closing to be postponed to Sept. 27 from the currently scheduled June 3.

The Parks Board also will consider endorsing outlines of intergovernmental agreements for four state historic parks: Fort Verde in Camp Verde, Yuma Territorial Prison, Tombstone Courthouse and Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff. Tombstone Courthouse is scheduled to close June 3, the others on March 29.

The board also will consider a staff recommendation that the state continue to operate Lake Havasu State Park.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say the body of a Cameron man missing since last month has been found near Flagstaff.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office says the body of 53-year-old Roger Jones Cowboy was located in a rocky area behind a trading post about 27 miles north of Flagstaff.

Investigators said Friday that there’s no obvious signs of foul play or trauma. An autopsy will be scheduled to determine the cause and manner of death.

Authorities say Cowboy was last seen in the area of Cameron on Highway 89 North on Feb. 18. He told a friend he was headed to the store at Gray Mountain to purchase alcohol. Authorities say that friend did not report Cowboy missing until March 2.

But recently, another friend told the family he had been drinking with Cowboy in the rocky area behind the trading post sometime around Feb. 18. Family members checked the area and discovered Cowboy’s body.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona has been hammered by wildfires over the past eight years but this year it looks like the state may catch a break.

Bureau of Land Management National Fire Weather Program manager Rick Ochoa (oh-CHOH’-ah) said heavy winter rain and snowfall from El Nino should shorten the wildfire season.

Ochoa, based at the National Fire Center in Boise, ID., said things are looking good in the high country of Arizona.

However, Ochoa said there may be fire issues in some of the desert areas, depending on how hot it gets.

The two biggest fires in Arizona history were the Rodeo-Chediski blaze in 2002 that burned almost 475,000 acres.

The second largest, the Cave Creek Complex fire north of Phoenix, burned almost a quarter of a million acres. It followed the last major El Nino event in 2005.

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Information from: KTAR-FM,

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Board of Regents on Thursday approved hefty increases in tuition and fees at the state’s three public universities for the next school year.

Incoming Arizona State University students will see their tuition and mandatory fees jump by 18.8 percent — a hike of $1,288 that will raise the annual costs for in-state students to $8,128 starting this fall. Current ASU students will face increases of 11.9 percent to 12.7 percent, or $783 to $817 a year, depending on when they started.

The regents, meeting in Tucson, also approved an increase of 20.5 percent for in-state undergraduate students at the University of Arizona — bringing tuition and fees to $8,245 beginning in the fall semester.

Freshman at Northern Arizona University will pay $931 more a year, or an increase of 15.2 percent. Annual tuition and fees for in-state students at the Flagstaff campus now total $7,053.

NAU officials said new students’ tuition would be frozen at that level for the next eight semesters, though they could pay more in future years via fee increases. About half of the undergraduate students at NAU’s Flagstaff campus are already on fixed-tuition payment plans and won’t see a tuition increase this fall, but their fees will increase by about $167.

Tuition for out-of-state students went up 10 percent at the University of Arizona — to $24,596 per year for undergrads and $24,889 for graduate students. At ASU, out-of-state tuition rose to $20,257 a year for undergrad students and $22,058 for graduate students. It’ll now cost $18,023 per year for non-resident graduate students at NAU’s Flagstaff campus and $20,067 for new out-of-state undergrads this fall.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic