Arizona teachers will apparently not face new rules this coming school year on how they can teach about race and ethnicity because a Scottsdale Republican lawmaker was absent Friday on the last day of the legislative session.

The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park received a financial boost last week with a $1 million donation by the Scottsdale Railroad & Mechanical Society. The money will be used to build a new indoor play facility, part of a new project to expand indoor options for families to enjoy the park year-round.

Fireworks shortages have forced the cancelation of many Valley Independence Day displays but Scottsdale isn’t among them.

Scottsdale Unified School District students scored higher than the state and national averages on the standardized test scores this spring.

Thanks to the leadership of DC Ranch and the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, voters will have a second chance to hear the seven City Council candidates give their positions on issues during another live forum July 20.

The legal woes for the Scottsdale Unified School District and Governing Board member Jann-Michael Greenburg continued to stack up last week as state Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed suit against Jann-Michael Greenburg and the district for allegedly violating the state’s open meeting law.

Part of the massive 1,864-unit Gentry on the Green apartment complex has taken a step toward becoming reality.

The number of women serving on Chandler’s City Council is likely to double or more after this year’s election.

The woman leading the effort to address mental health concerns at Chandler Unified Schools says there are many factors impacting youth today.

The City of Chandler will celebrate the Fourth of July this year, but will do so without fireworks.

Each year Chandler City Council members get a contingency fund to spend money on projects they deem important for the community.

The owner of a home that became the focal point of a standoff between Chandler police and a felony suspect wants the city to pay him $131,180 for damages during that encounter.

As the countdown continues toward the July 6 start of early voting for the Aug. 2 Primary Election, an Ahwatukee lawyer seeking one of the two Democratic nominations for the Legislative District 12 House race has been victimized by repeated – and somewhat deranged – vandalism of his political signs.

Chandler Unified School District students are not the only ones who get a report card at the end of the school year. The district grades itself in some key metrics as a way to gauge its progress in improving the overall experience for both students and staff.

Eight Maricopa County burn survivors, including a former Gilbert man, successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, in six days.

Gilbert will light up the night skies with its annual July 4 celebration tomorrow while three Valley cities are foregoing firework shows for their Independence Day events.

A developer last week presented a revised mixed-used project that now includes 274 apartments, down from the 308 proposed earlier this year, near Higley and Ray roads.

Higley Unified School District made some slight adjustments such as increasing spending to support and retain staff for its last allotment of federal pandemic relief monies.

With Gilbert council expected to decide in August whether to spend $288,760 for a study to look at locating transit centers in town, a few residents last week made it clear where they stand with commuter rail – a resounding no.

Gilbert is the latest Valley municipality to activate the first stage of saving water during a worsening drought, namely through educating businesses and residents on how to voluntarily conserve.

People wanting to come onto Gilbert Public Schools elementary and junior high buildings will soon need to clear a new security check first via a video intercom system.

Early voting for the Aug. 2 Primary Election begins Thursday, July 6, and endorsements in the Mesa City Council races are stirring things up.

Two internet service providers, Google Fiber and SiFi Networks Mesa, are seeking licenses from the City of Mesa to install fiber optic cable beneath city roads for delivery to residents.

After two years of modified celebrations due to the pandemic, Mesa’s Titan Solar Arizona Celebration of Freedom returns to its traditional size on July 4.

The Mesa Police Department has put citizens on notice: there will be a higher level of illegal fireworks enforcement this holiday weekend compared to years past.

Mental health provider Acadia Healthcare is seeking city planners’ approval for a 100-bed behavioral health hospital north of Elliot and Ellsworth Roads in southeast Mesa.

Americans’ desire to travel is currently strong, but there will be fewer flights leaving and arriving at the East Valley’s major airport this summer. 

Residents of the northeast Mesa community of Las Sendas have voted to dramatically reduce homeowners’ options for renting out their houses.

Early voting in an election that will change the face of Queen Creek Town Council begins this week and residents have only until tomorrow to register if they haven’t already.

Queen Creek can celebrate the 4th of July with the “biggest” bang at Schnepf Farms.

Only days after Queen Creek, Pinal County officials and company representatives assured residents plans for the lithium battery plant were proceeding, LG Energy Solution indicated the project’s future might be up in the air.

Americans’ desire to travel is currently strong, but there will be fewer flights leaving and arriving at the East Valley’s major airport this summer.

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is throwing 270-acres of vacant land into the economic development feeding frenzy taking place in Southeast Mesa.

With no more public input required, the LG plant construction will continue as planned, local and county officials said last week.

Higley Unified School District has hired an outside investigator to look into allegations that officials were made aware of a former teacher recently accused of inappropriate behavior with two underage students but did nothing.