Regular readers of the Arizona Progress & Gazette likely know of the saga with Banner Health. It is attempting to unnecessarily build a hospital in North Scottsdale despite strong coverage by existing facilities and little community support for their plans (get up to date here). A recent national trend is now giving even further evidence as to how Banner’s plans … Read More
Guest Editorial: Statement from County Supervisor Thomas Galvin on Return of Reliable Water to Rio Verde Foothills
By Supervisor Thomas Galvin “I am grateful that water is once again flowing to Rio Verde Foothills (RVF), but I am still baffled why it took this long. After all, my solution to this unnecessary crisis has been on the table for the past year. Instead, there was ten months of unnecessary pain to the Rio Verde Foothills. And City of Scottsdale residents were not … Read More
Superintendent Menzel Named Superintendent of the Year from a Partisan Source, Reinforcing Battle Lines
Scottsdale Unified Superintendent Scott Menzel has had a relatively turbulent time leading the helm at SUSD. District meetings have had disruptions regarding COVID-related mitigation and content, and he has been the target of activists (you can read more about it all here). When you have plenty of enemies, it’s always good to have friends that have your back, and a … Read More
Why is Banner Health Looking to Short-Change Arizona? A Story of Zoning Chicanery
The world of zoning rules and regulations can be arcane, byzantine, and frankly…boring. That said, there are times when it truly matters, as it can impact quality of life both locally and for the entire state. A couple of recent developments demonstrate exactly how, and how some of our potential business neighbors may not be the best of neighbors. A … Read More
Creepiness Alert: The Patch May Be Collecting and Selling Your Information Under the Guise of News…and Banner Health is Sponsoring it in Scottsdale
Articles from The Patch have been everywhere recently; for those who haven’t seen them, they are positioning themselves as a news aggregator that sells themselves as a hyper-local news source. They are aggressively using the Nextdoor app in order to get their stories out to a wider audience. No issues there…at the Arizona Progress & Gazette, we also consider ourselves … Read More
Finally! The New Scottsdale Civic Center is Done: What Can You Expect?
It has been a long and winding road when it comes to the much ballyhooed Scottsdale Civic Center upgrade. It has been behind schedule with early reviews being less than generous, especially with regards to shade. However, it would seem that early unveilings were a false start of sorts, and the completed project is now finalized and ready for the … Read More
Is Low Growth Here to Stay in Scottsdale?
It has been no secret that the current make-up of the Scottsdale City Council has been what could be called “growth hesitant”; that there is a concerted effort to focus on what are deemed to be unimpeachably high-quality projects to the detriment of overall growth. We have labeled them “the Council of No” before, where they sometimes seem to look … Read More
Pushes and Pulls in Scottsdale City Council as Water Delivery is Resumed to the Rio Verde Foothills
The water crisis in the Rio Verde Foothills has been the political football that keeps getting punted back and forth.(get up to date here). Politicians at all levels of government have weighed in, and the result has been slow progress. It now appears as though the stand-off is in its final stages, as the city of Scottsdale has voted to … Read More
Best Hospitals to Work For: Notable Scottsdale Appearances and One Notable Absence
It should be no surprise to any of our readers that healthcare is an incredibly important industry here in Arizona, and perhaps even most so in Scottsdale. The combination of Americans collectively living much longer than they have in the past and the fact that very many of them choose to live their golden years in our city has led … Read More
Battle Lines are Being Drawn Over Homelessness in Scottsdale
Recently the city of Scottsdale took a more open and assistive approach to homelessness, taking advantage of a grant offer by opening its doors and helping house a number of them (read the full story here). While it was a move that would clearly be seen as empathetic and compassionate, it is not one that comes without potential ramifications, both … Read More