By Councilmember Barry Graham
Guest Editorial: Cause and Effect
By Larry Kush Today, I needed to drop off a document at the state land department on West Adams in Phoenix located just a block East of the Arizona State Capitol. This neighborhood has become the settlement area of a major portion of Arizona’s Homeless population. Lining most of the cross streets in the area are countless tents housing individuals … Read More
Smoke Tree Redevelopment Off to a Great Start
Paradise Valley has earned the reputation of one of the best places to live in the entire country for numerous reasons: between its unique zoning rules, its natural beauty and its incredibly successful residents, it is truly special. Yet it does have one relatively glaring eyesore (using that phrase very liberally): the Smoke Tree Resort. The Smoke Tree Resort was … Read More
Guest Editorial: Public Safety is the City’s Job
By Councilmember Solange Whitehead The City’s foremost responsibility is public safety. Scottsdale has over 1,000-lane miles and our traffic engineers are tasked with improving traffic flow and keeping those using the roads safe. Over the past few weeks, residents have written with concerns about road diets because the language in the Transportation Action Plan is ambiguous, there are no timelines, … Read More
Artificial Intelligence Scams Hitting Scottsdale: Do You Need to Worry?
The further development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been one of the biggest tech stories, perhaps even one of the biggest societal developments, of the last 12 months. The development and usage of ChatGPT, the software that threatens to leave Google search in the dust with its nuanced and detailed ability to answer queries, has proven to be potentially disruptive … Read More
Coyotes Fighting Back Against City of Phoenix: Is a Battle Turning Into a War?
In what is turning out to be a highly contentious issue for a non-election year, the battle lines have been painted recently in the Coyotes desire to not just bring the team to Tempe, but also an entire entertainment ecosphere. You can get up to date on the topic here. Most recently, the city of Phoenix has joined the fray … Read More
The Phoenix Police Department Wins 1st in the Worst Category: Why They Deserve Scrutiny
By Tim Peeler Earlier this month there was a report that placed Phoenix #1 on a list of highest deadly police incident rate among the 10 most populous cities in the nation. Not a list that you want to find your city in the top spot. According to data compiled by the organization Mapping Police Violence since 2013, Phoenix not … Read More
The Dynamics of the SUSD Board Start to Form: How Is It Playing Out
The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board has had a rather, shall we say…interesting job over the last few years (check out our coverage on it here). In the midst of those interesting times, the voters voted in two conservative board members in the last election, altering the dynamics of the board significantly. We are now gaining some insight as … Read More
Phoenix Demonstrates Sour Grapes in Fight to Kill Arizona Coyotes Deal
The proposed move of the Coyotes to Tempe and the building of the proposed Tempe Entertainment District is to be one of the biggest game-changers in our area’s recent history. Unfortunately, any good idea will have its fair share of opponents. We wrote recently about how a small group of Tempe residents are seeking to tank the proposal. Now there … Read More
Gov. Hobbs’s Spokesperson Forced to Resign: A Cautionary Tale of Chasing Clout and Failing Up
Governor Katie Hobbs has generally done a good job of hiring department leads who are not idealogues, who have a significant amount of experience and don’t appear to be the result of political favors or seeking the path of least resistance. But for the choice of her Spokesperson, that did not seem to be the case, it blew up in … Read More