‘I shall never come back to Arizona’ – Zane Grey
Western novelist Zane Grey (1872-1939) wrote this dramatic sentence to his wife, Dolly, in a bitter letter penned from his Tonto Basin cabin. He complained about other things, as well, and the above statement was followed with : “…the country has been ruined by motorists. The Navajo are doomed. The beauty and romance of their lives dead.” Dolly and Zane had honeymooned at El Tovar Hotel at[...]
McCain, Flake vote to ban workplace discrimination for sexual orientation
WASHINGTON – Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake joined an overwhelming majority of senators Thursday to pass a bill banning workplace discrimination based on an employee’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Senator Yee: Personal finance instruction will lead to better choices
When Mitch Ruttenberg teaches economics at Trevor G. Browne High School, he ends each semester with lessons on credit cards, taxes, budgeting and other aspects of personal finance.
Ousting Lowell: Misdeeds of miscreant Flagstaff officials
Flagstaff’s first two decades were managed by a sound City Council determined to guide the growing town into a solid, respectable community. However, in 1906, several miscreants, led by farmer/rancher Ben Doney, got themselves elected to the City Council.
Arizona’s ‘Billy the Kid’
William Floyd Claiborne, called Billy the Kid (not to be confused with the original “Billy the Kid” whose given name was William H. Bonney), was born in Mississippi on Oct. 21, 1860. He came to Arizona in the early 1880s and worked as an amalgamator at mines in Charleston (a town a few miles southwest of Tombstone) and at the Neptune smelter in Hereford. Claiborne eventually fell in with a gro[...]
Attorney: Huppenthal failed to identify any illegal TUSD ethnic studies courses
Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal failed to indentify a single course that makes Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies program unlawful and he relied too heavily on quotes lifted from textbooks and the program’s website, an attorney for the district asserted in an appeal filed June 22.
Arizona officials gather to honor Hopi Code Talkers
The Hopi Code Talkers are being honored in a ceremony Monday.
Mortgage bill striker draws ire for Reagan and McLain
A pair of Republican lawmakers was on the defense yesterday after bloggers began weaving a tale of conspiracy, alleging a piece of real estate legislation was killed in exchange for a lawsuit against one of the lawmakers being settled.
But according to the two lawmakers, the issue is an overblown case of coincidence and ignorance about the mechanics of how bills move through the Legisla[...]
Critics fear ‘jobs bill’ will cut school money
Nine days after he unveiled an ambitious plan to improve the state’s public schools, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal had a vision of elephants and Alps and Roman legions.
Gilmore and Salisbury’s ‘custom’ smelter
Benson was established in June 1880 by the Southern Pacific and became an important maintenance center for the railroad and the shipping point for the Bisbee and Tombstone mines, neither of which was served by rail. The town was less than three months old when, according to the Tucson Citizen, “the first shipment of copper bullion from Bisbee (arrived) in Benson, where it (was) shipped to San Fr[...]
Pioneer Days
For several decades, Arizonans held a grand, multi-day celebration of those who came to the territory before Dec. 31, 1890, called Pioneer Days.
Times Past: Light’s Golden Jubilee
More than 7,000 Arizona residents celebrated “Light’s Golden Jubilee” in downtown Phoenix on Oct. 21, 1929. The more than five-hour celebration was considered “the greatest honor ever accorded an inventor during his lifetime.”