With early voting starting in about three weeks for Arizona’s August 4th primary it’s about that time when the attacks start flying.  And, Scottsdale is no exception. Intruding on the orthodoxy of not attacking another in a multi-candidate field, Scottsdale City Council candidate Betty Janik took aim at former City Manager and fellow candidate John Little in this Scottsdale Independent … Read More

Politics and development can both be important aspects of life. And, like most everything else, it helps when you live and learn. That certainly appears to be the case for a recent redevelopment proposal, tentatively labeled The Scottsdale Collective, for an area of largely non-descript buildings east of Scottsdale Road and south of Camelback. It’s mostly known today for numerous … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Scottsdale needs to step on the gas and help small businesses as it looks at how to spend its $29.6 million allocation from the CARES Act. A presentation to the Scottsdale City Council shows $6 million slated to be allocated for business assistance. That amounts to 20 percent of Scottsdale’s planned distribution of its COVID-19 stimulus … Read More

By Recker McDowell — The debate over masks and the rise in COVID-19 cases in Arizona has become very political. It shouldn’t be. The motivation for wearing a mask (if it is not about protecting the health of seniors and your neighbors) should be about the economy and jobs. We get that the lectures and pushes for mask mandates from … Read More

Best Phoenix Suns Look: Becca Linnig Best Photo:  Scottsdale Marlboro Man John Little Best Glam Shot:  Lisa Borowsky Best Dropping Of First Name To Help People Think It Is My More Popular Wife Running For Mayor:  Bob Littlefield Worst Design That Looks Like It Was A Cocopah Middle School Student Council Sign:  Michael Auerbach Best Sign By Worst Mayoral Candidate:  … Read More

By Recker McDowell — The town of Gilbert and Gilbert Police are holding a series of ‘listening sessions’ with residents and business owners about race and policing. The Chandler Chamber of Commerce will join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as part of a national effort on the ‘inequality of opportunity’ and how to fix that. These are good moves and … Read More

By Recker McDowell — COVID-19 cases are up in Arizona with 3,000 new cases the past two days bringing the statewide total to almost 33,000. The concerning rise in cases in metro Phoenix, Yuma, Nogales and continued COVID cases on the Navajo Nation have restarted the debate over wearing masks and social distancing. The problem is there should not even … Read More

By Don Henninger — We now are in the thick of the race for Scottsdale mayor and City Council seats. Ballots for the Aug. 4 primary will be in our mailboxes within a month. SCOTT co-hosted forums recently for the five mayoral candidates and nine vying for three council seats. They were recorded and I encourage you to take a … Read More

By Shea Lincoln After watching the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce’s city council candidate forum last week, we are shocked, shocked we tell you, that Scottsdale’s repeat offending pet owner Michael Auerbach voted against the critical Scottsdale bond package in 2019, overwhelmingly passed by voters. Auerbach indicated his no vote during the forum. This bond package had something for everyone. Improvements … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop It’s a full slate for the upcoming Scottsdale city council elections as nine residents have thrown their names to fill one of the three open seats. Hosted by Scottsdale Progress’s noble Wayne Schutsky, here are the key impressions and highlights: *With so many candidates debating on a virtual platform, the discussion at times felt more like a … Read More