ike any community Scottsdale must maintain and upgrade infrastructure.  But unlike most communities voters have largely rejected recent efforts to do so.  It’s a bit confounding really why such a progressive city in areas like the arts and desert preservation is falling behind on the basics. Over the past year Scottsdale City Councilwoman Virginia Korte, in particular, led an important … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop It’s happening! Arizona teachers, parents and support staff have decided to take a step outside the classroom and fight against Arizona’s State Capitol for higher teacher pay and adequate school funding. Today, teachers are banding together in a state-wide walkout strike, leaving many Arizona lawmakers questioning what to do next. By now, Arizona’s first teacher walkout in … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop Here we go again. Once again, the future of a potential bond measure relies on the verdict of an indecisive City Council. What should have been an easy discussion to address many of Scottsdale’s infrastructure needs turned into a brawling match between City Council members – drawing political lines in the Arizona sand.  There’s no doubt that … Read More

By Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center In addition to being home for 13 Mexican gray wolves, Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, hosted their annual fundraiser Dinner with Wolves sponsored by My Sister’s Closet. Congratulations to the organizers Ann Damiano, Pam Wugalter and our own Director of Education Nikki Julien. Thanks to their planning and hard work, the event raised over $45,000 to be … Read More

You know who we are talking about.

By Scottsdale Pinetop A war hero, an Arizona Senator and a presidential candidate. The legacy and political career of Senator John McCain has become a staple of Arizona’s pioneering identity. Diagnosed with brain cancer last summer, the Senator has been in and out of hospital treatments for the past year. With the future of McCain’s health uncertain, so is the … Read More

Once again, the ill-conceived Desert Discovery Center/Desert Edge (DDC) is dividing and hurting Scottsdale. That’s the only clear takeaway after last night’s Scottsdale City Council hearing. To explain what happened allow us to provide a little history. Scottsdale Stadium has been an integral part of downtown for decades.  It’s there that legions of baseball fans from San Francisco and the … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop What a shame. Across the state, thousands of Arizona public college DACA students are reeling from Monday’s news. Recently, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled that in order for DACA recipients to attend any of the state’s three universities or community colleges they’re going to have to pay a higher tuition. Unfortunately for many of these Arizona … Read More

Over the past two plus decades in Scottsdale there have been two epic campaign contests for Mayor.  In 1996 Diana Smith (wife of former Councilman David Smith) spent a major chunk of her own change to almost upset the presumptive frontrunner, Sam Campana.  Almost.  And then in 2008 then Councilman Jim Lane challenged a vulnerable Mayor Mary Manross, very narrowly … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop When it comes to charter schools people either celebrate them as an alternative to underachieving public schools or accuse them as a flawed outcome in failed education reform. Regardless of opinion, it’s hard to discredit charter schools’ growth throughout the U.S. Leading the way is the BASIS Curriculum Schools network, regarded as the best charter school system … Read More