As many parents of school-age children know, Arizona schools have a major looming deadline coming up. Revenue to our schools has increased significantly, as has the population, but due to an old constitutional rule regarding increasing spending caps many school districts will need to drastically cut their budgets unless this antiquated cap is lifted. In Arizona, this issue could turn … Read More
Mayor Ortega Earns Heat from State Legislators Over Rio Verde Foothills Water Crisis
As you know by now, the water crisis in the Rio Verde Foothills has gotten a lot of attention with powerful parties lining up on both sides of the debate (get up to date here). Mayor David Ortega has received heat for being strongly against using Scottsdale city resources to help alleviate the crisis, and now that heat seems to … Read More
You Only Have a Few More Days to Make Your Voice Heard: Help Shape the Future of Old Town
We always welcome a robust conversation and debate about the future in our comments section, on other online platforms and in real life. But chatting with each other, while useful, isn’t always productive insofar as making an impact in the real world is concerned. This is precisely why we are gigantic advocates for getting involved in your local politics and … Read More
Ruben Gallego is Running for the US Senate: What a Potential Three-Way Race Means
Senator Kyrsten Sinema has been quite the magnet for attention. She has relished her position as a swing Senator, one of the very few of the 100 senators that is a genuine question mark on many votes. She seems to enjoy the spotlight, with her fashion and mannerisms often getting the press’s attention. But one very clear point of attention … Read More
Guest Editorial: Old Statements from Superintendent Scott Menzel are Released. Did He Fool Us All?
By Ronald Sampson Have you ever felt like someone you knew was living a lie? That you would talk them up but then you realized that you had made a mistake? I am now starting to feel that way about Scottsdale Unified School District superintendent Scott Menzel. This blog has covered Menzel quite a bit, and frankly, mostly in a … Read More
Scottsdale is Leading the Way in Water Conservation: Plenty of Pain is Left Though
Photo Credit: azcentral.com Water is the most critical issue in our area, as nearly everyone knows (you can get up to speed on our perspectives about it here). To that end, we had some good news recently, but it also comes with concern and potentially even dread at what is to come. We found out recently that the city of … Read More
Both State Parties Chooses Their Leadership. What Differences Will We See?
Photo Credit: AZCentral.com This past weekend was the culmination of the post-election festivities in Arizona: the state party reorganization meetings. They serve as a referendum on the performance of the party and provide insight into where the parties might go for the next few years. We outlined the candidates for party leadership in a recent article that you can read … Read More
Guest Editorial: Personal Responsibility and Nature vs. Man – Why Do We Always Blame Nature?
By Tim Peeler Anyone who has lived in the Valley long enough has probably seen our beloved NHL team’s namesake prowling around streets, parks, or even in their own neighborhoods. Coyotes are one of the most adaptable mammals on the planet, evidenced by their large-scale residency in many major North American metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and many … Read More
Rio Verde FootHills Water Update: They’re Suing the City, and It Could Have Been Avoided
Regular readers are well aware of the water crisis that’s been unfolding in the Rio Verde Foothills on the outskirts of Scottsdale; if you have not kept up you can get up-to-date here. Now that the water cut-off deadline has come and gone the situation has gotten ever more tense in the unincorporated municipality, with the desperation of the citizenry … Read More
The Scottsdale State of the City Address: What Can We Glean From Mayor Ortega?
Any political observer is well accustomed to State of the Union addresses from presidents, and many observers are also aware of State of the State addresses from governors. But we also recently had a State of the City address from Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, and since it is the first such address since the most recent city council elections, this … Read More