Scottsdale Is Setting the Table: The Newest Culinary Must-Eats in the City

There has always been something quietly confident about Scottsdale’s dining scene; the sense that the desert knows how to throw a party. But 2026 is different. This year, the city isn’t just keeping pace with the country’s best food cities…it’s making a genuine argument for the top of the list. The most talked-about arrival so far is Cielito, the new … Read More

Lisa Sette: A Valley Arts Institution Gets Her Due

There are people who work in the arts, and then there are people for whom the arts are simply how they exist in the world. Lisa Sette is the latter, and the recognition she is receiving right now, through the spotlight cast on her current exhibition and the broader acknowledgment of her four-decade legacy, is long overdue. A Career Built … Read More

Travel Spotlight of the Week: the Relaxed Perfection of Malta and Sicily

By Bedouin Bourdain There are destinations you visit, and then there are destinations that visit you, that take up permanent residence somewhere behind the eyes. Malta and Sicily are the latter. Malta arrives like a movie set no one told you was real. Baroque gold drips from the ceiling of St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, a vault of painted heavens so … Read More

The Axon Question That Still Needs an Answer

By Alexander Lomax An Unfinished Investigation By now, most Scottsdale watchers are familiar with the broad strokes of the Lamar Whitmer matter. Whitmer, who served as Mayor Lisa Borowsky’s Chief of Staff, was let go in March following a 65-day city investigation that examined seven categories of alleged misconduct. Five of the seven allegations were substantiated. Two were not. It … Read More

Guest Editorial: Water – Lifeblood of the Desert Southwest

By Betty Janik & Sonnie Kirtley The desert southwest has suffered sustained drought since the mid 1990’s and this condition is expected to continue.  Recent winters experienced record setting heat which intensifies the condition. Water from the Colorado River is hurting and by extension, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal. The CAP delivers water to the most populated regions in … Read More

Bear Down, Arizona: Why the Wildcats’ Final Four Run Matters Beyond Basketball

When Jaden Bradley’s driving layup tied the game at 42 in the second half Saturday night in San Jose, something shifted. Not just the momentum in a tight Elite Eight against Purdue, but something larger, something that coursed through living rooms and sports bars from Tucson to Flagstaff. The University of Arizona was going back to the Final Four for … Read More

Arizona Axon Bill Constitutional Challenge To Be Heard April 10

Arizona’s Unconstitutional “Axon Bill” Heads To Court April 10 As Voters Defend Their Rights Lawyers, Lobbyists And Legislators Colluded With Axon To Shield Controversial Zoning Decisions From The Voters. The Voters Are Fighting Back (Scottsdale, Ariz.)  Senate Bill1543 also known as the “Axon Bill” makes it impossible to challenge certain rezoning decisions at the ballot box. It was approved by … Read More

So…How’s That Landfill Working Out for You, Tempe?

By Ronald Sampson In May 2023, Tempe voters had a decision to make. On the table was a privately funded, $2.1 billion entertainment district built on 46 acres of city-owned land near Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive. The plan included a 16,000-seat NHL arena, two hotels, a 3,500-person theater, restaurants, retail, and residential units. The project’s rallying cry said … Read More

The Yankees in the Desert: A Perfect Ending, and a Worried Goodbye

It was a moment worth savoring. The New York Yankees wrapped up their spring slate last week with an exhibition series against the Cubs at Sloan Park in Mesa, their first games played in Arizona since 1951, when they briefly called Phoenix home after swapping training locations with the New York Giants. Seventy-five years is a long time between visits, … Read More