Scottsdale, AZ page presently under construction...ENTRY QUESTION:  how do you spell "Scottsdale?"  G-O-L-F.  Or was that H-O-R-S-E ?
Where is Scottsdale?  Answer:  outside Phoenix (read more)

Major newspaper: 



Ariz. City Cops Ask Citizenship Proof
NYTIMES
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 23, 2007
Filed at 1:39 p.m. ET

PHOENIX (AP) -- Police in suburban Scottsdale have begun routinely asking for proof of citizenship from every suspect they arrest and turning those who are in this country illegally over to federal immigration officials.

The procedure was started Oct. 15, a result of the September killing of Phoenix police officer Nick Erfle by an illegal immigrant, Erik Jovani Martinez.

Scottsdale police had arrested Martinez on a misdemeanor charge 16 months earlier but they released him then because they didn't know he was an illegal immigrant who had been twice deported.

Erfle's killing ''caused us to look at what were asking suspects,'' Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said. ''If we arrest someone and then find that we called ICE (Customs and Immigration Enforcement) and they put a hold on them, then we know they have been deported and are back again.''

Martinez was later killed by police after he stole a car and took a hostage, authorities said.

Now police in the affluent suburb ask every suspect about their citizenship, have ICE agents pick up those who are in this country illegally, and keep a database of possible illegal immigrants in case they turn up again.

Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross supports the policy change and said that because every suspect is asked about citizenship, police are not engaged in racial profiling.

''I would not tolerate that,'' Manross said. ''I think the chief has struck the right balance to do what we want to achieve.''

Clark said that in the past Scottsdale officers didn't routinely call ICE about illegal immigrants because the agency was short-handed and could not always respond.

That's changed, said Eduardo Preciado, an assistant ICE field officer in Phoenix. The agency was short-staffed until about a year ago when it added agents to man phones and to assist local law enforcement agencies, he said.

''Now we respond to every call,'' Preciado said.
Scottsdale city guide:  http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale

Another local on-line newspaper:  http://www.scottsdaletribune.com/

Downtown Scottsdale map:   http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/downtown/updates.asp

Google Scottsdale here:  http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Scottsdale,+AZ

 City of Scottsdale, AZ:  http://www.ci.scottsdale.az.us/

Julian Bond (pictured), current NAACP Chairman, political activist, and an active participant in the movements for civil rights and economic justice will be the keynote speaker at this year's MLK Celebration. Make plans to attend "Living the Dream" Monday, Jan. 9, 5:30 p.m. at Chaparral Suites, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road. Tickets are $60. To reserve your seat or to get more information, call (480) 312-3030.


Fans can still find Stones, McCartney tickets
By Albert Ching, Tribune
November 22, 2005

This week’s Paul McCartney and Rolling Stones shows at Glendale Arena are sold out — something to be expected with legendary rock acts of their caliber.

Yet as savvy concertgoers know, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get in to their shows, just a little trickier. Several independent ticket brokers, who sell tickets above face value, still have some available, although perhaps not for long.

“Both shows, we’re sold out,” said Bruce Genzburg of Jack’s Ticket Agency in Tempe. “They could have gone as high as — for the Stones — probably about $1,200 to $1,300,” and “maybe $1,000” for McCartney.  Tickets for Wednesday’s Paul McCartney concert had a face value of $55 to $205, and Sunday’s Rolling Stones show originally went for $65 to $355.

J. Cobb of Team One Tickets in Scottsdale declined comment on just how much their ticket prices were, but said he’s observed “no demand for Paul McCartney,” and reports the only requests they’ve been getting are from people looking to sell their tickets to the former Beatle’s show.

“The Stones is actually a decent show, it’s been selling well,” said Cobb.  Online sources are also an option.  On auction Web site eBay, tickets for the Rolling Stones Valley show range from slightly below face value for the upper level and $3,000 for floor seats.

eBay sales for McCartney fall between $200 and $500, but don’t fetch quite the same premium as tickets for Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company.

Classified ad Web site Phoenix.Craigslist.com has more people looking to sell than buy for both shows, although there are still pleas from those in need. A pair of McCartney tickets was advertised as low as $100, and $350 for two Stones tickets.

CITY PLANNER LINKS:
http://www.ci.scottsdale.az.us/projects/downtown/default.asp

Scottsdale Tribune Editorials:
Scottsdale’s Old West image
November 7, 2005

Perhaps there is no greater truism about life in the East Valley than that change is the only constant.

Even in staid Scottsdale, that has meant some beloved locales of the past — the Carefree Studios, the Round-Up Drive-In Theater and Scottsdale High School, among others — have closed and been demolished to make way for so many more red (now also sandstone-colored) roofs.

At least Rawhide Western Town & Steakhouse isn’t becoming extinct. It is merely making room for those roofs by moving to a part of the Valley where a stylized replica of Old West life in the 1880s can provide somewhat of that illusion. Rawhide will reopen in December on the Gila River Indian Community southwest of Chandler after closing in north Scottsdale this week after more than 30 years.

There’s some lamenting about how growth has taken away much of Scottsdale’s “Western heritage,” which isn’t really a heritage but an image; its famed slogan, “The West’s Most Western Town,” was a creation of mid-20th-century promoters, not late-19th-century settlers. Before anyone pulls out a guitar to strum the chorus of “O, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie,” it must be remembered that Rawhide’s heading south is just another example of our adjusting to inevitable change.

For Scottsdale, part of that change is to recognize its status as among the 80 or so largest cities in the U.S., a place that displays Old West-style art, has some Old West-style bars and restaurants, but doesn’t and shouldn’t pretend to be a frontier town than it could have back in 1947 when that slogan was invented to lure tourists. Scottsdale offers far too much more now in entertainment, recreation and retail to ever want to go back.

Clearly north Scottsdale could no longer provide a commanding view of pristine desert, as long-time owner and operator Jerry Hirsch told the Tribune’s Amanda Lee Myers. Because civilization ultimately surrounded the formerly remote location, now, Hirsch told Myers, the view from the old Rawhide property is of a Safeway grocery store.

The Old West lives in today’s urban Arizona less in Stetsons and boots as it does in the people who follow its credo of hard work, fair play and neighborliness. There will be plenty of Old West image at the new Rawhide, plenty of people dressing up like cowboys and cowgirls, plenty of thick steaks and beans.

To be sure, there will be image. The question with the less certain answer is, will there be enough people to live those ideals?
New Town ideas in AZ:
Malls being built with condos above stores
By Beth Lucas, Tribune
October 21, 2005
The malls of the future are coming to the East Valley. And for some people, they’ll become home — literally. Joining a recent national trend, local developers are building malls in Gilbert that have condos and lofts, and may add them to older malls such as Scottsdale Fashion Center and Fiesta Mall in Mesa...

Media Sources (major newspaper office location below):  http://www.abyznewslinks.com/uniteazsc.htm

Arizona Republic
16277 Greenway Hayden Loop 200
Scottsdale, AZ 85260 - 1058
(480) 444-6812