****A MESSAGE TO ARIZONA******* From Anonymous

In the interest of public information here is the Anonymous video referred to in reports.

Article in East Valley Tribune at 6:30 a.m. today http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/mesa/article_140d8180-d70a-11e5-b74c-57ff4384bf07.html 

FYI: The Mayor + The Mesa City Council > Tell Me Again How's That Supposed To Work?

According to The City of Mesa webpage , Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.

Mesa's councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members being elected every two years. The mayor is elected at-large every four years. The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis. The vice mayor is selected by the City Council.
The Mesa City Council believes that its people not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process. That's the lip-service out in the public domain [italics for emphasis by your MesaZona blogger].

Hello! Mesa! WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Less than 50% of registered voters actually turned out to vote on issues in 2014 and less than 28% turned out to vote for the mayor and City Council members in the last primary election [the same seats to be filled in this year's election]:

Voter Turnout Statistics [from the city clerk's office for 2014]]
Voter Registration 222,290
Ballots Cast 96,646
Voter Turnout 43.5%
Voter Turnout Statistics [in the August 28, 2012 Primary Election Results]
Voter Registration 223,295
Ballots Cast 61,879
Voter Turnout 27.7%

• Mayor Scott Smith got 53,302
• District #1 Councilmember Dave Richins got 10,511
• District #2 Councilmember Alex Finter got 8,668
• District #3 Councilmember Dennis Kavanagh got 6,227

Mayor John Giles is up for re-election after one year in office.
City Councilmember terms expire in District #1, District #2 and District #3.

How to Have a Good Conversation | Celeste Headlee | TEDxCreativeCoast

Published on May 7, 2015. 228,190 views to date. Run time:12:07

When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have great conversations – and most of us don’t converse very well. A great conversation requires a balance between talking and listening. This balance is important because bad communication leads to bad relationships, at home, at work, everywhere.

Celeste Headlee has worked in public radio since 1999, as a reporter, host, and correspondent. She was the Midwest Correspondent for NPR before becoming the co-host of the PRI show The Takeaway. She also guest hosted a number of NPR shows including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Weekend All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

Celeste holds multiple degrees in music and still performs as a professional opera singer. She's the granddaughter of composer William Grant Still, the Dean of African American Composers. Celeste is an avid hiker, biker, paddler and dog walker.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

For an  an interactive transcript of this talk please use the underlined link

Play Ball! Athletics > The Boys of Spring Training + A Female Sports Reporter

Once Upon A Time Long Ago  . . .  isn't that how some great fiction and high-imagination stories used to start?-  in a place called Rendezvous Park in downtown Mesa there were  what's now called "neighborhood recreation facilities" -  a swimming pool and a baseball field. While that land was "cleared" to build the City-owned Mesa Amphitheater and Mesa Convention Center and the adjacent Phoenix-Mesa Marriott Hotel with a large tract of vacant property now called Site 17 "ripe for development", sports and athletics have morphed into multi-million dollar powerhouse investments.
That didn't happen in a blink-of-the-eye on the playing field of economic development. Nor did it come from City Hall's so-called "vital industries of opportunity" H.E.A.T. [Healthcare, Education, Aerospace/Defense, Tourism and Technology] - there is no S for Sports in that industries line-up from the self-named "professional economic developers' who came up with the acronym HEAT that did not include sports.Sports = BIG BU$INE$$.accounting for a large chunk of revenues to city coffers and it's not "chump change". [see other posts on this site for details]

Readers may want some context for today's post about the renaming of a street [photo by Bill Mitchell featured in this report by Kim Contreras yesterday in Oakland Clubhouse.
It took place at the newly-remodeled last year Hohokam Park.
Originally constructed in 1997 as the new spring home of the Chicago Cubs, the city of Mesa contributed $17.5 million toward the new renovations, with the Oakland A’s chipping in another $9.4 million.


Mayor John Giles and reporter Kim Contreras

The A’s signed a 20-year contract with the city of Mesa with two five-year options that could extend to 2045. A portion of the funds also were used to renovate the nearby Fitch Park baseball complex, which will serve as the year-round home for the A’s minor league training and player development operations.
Your MesaZona blogger first noticed Oakland A's reporter Kim Contreras's articles about spring training here in Mesa last year.

Yesterday she's back in Mesa and so is big-time baseball. She recalls a reaction from last year: . . . "On February 2, 2015, while doing one of my photo updates of the new facilities, I took 100 photos, and didn’t really look at details until I got home. That’s when I read the sign: “Welcome to the Lew Wolff Training Complex. Public Parking on 6th Place.” Ugh. This needed to changed. I had to say something. . . "
I approached the mayor of Mesa, Arizona – John Giles. I had never met him before last spring. . . There was nothing in it for him to even entertain my idea of changing the name of the road to anything but what it was. But he listened anyway.
At one point he reminded me that the Cubs had the same address for all their years at Fitch. I asked him how many championships the Cubs won during that time. We briefly discussed name options, . . Bottom line, it was clear that the mayor thought this could work. He said it would. But I’ve worked with enough elected officials to know that I don’t write in ink. . .
. . .  About a month ago I heard from the mayor and he said I would soon receive an invitation to the renaming of 6th Place. That was the first contact I’d had with him since the end of spring training – 10 months ago.
This afternoon, Tuesday, February 16, 2016, the unveiling of “Athletics Way” took place at the north east corner of Center Street and – what use to be – 6th Place.

That's the reporter's story about the renaming of a street in Mesa. Here's the press release from the City of Mesa yesterday:

Mesa street rename to Athletics Way

Post Date:02/16/2016 2:49 PM

A sign unveiling was held today to honor the return of Spring Training.  Sixth Place that runs along the practice fields for the Oakland A’s was renamed to Athletics Way.

accompanied with an image of "the boys" from City Hall and A's owner Michael Crowley.

Here's a link to the whole media-play page from the City of Mesa Newsroom >> http://www.mesanow.org/article.php?id=1596

Voting Starts Today > BEST OF MESA 2016 East Valley Tribune Readers Poll

How easy it is! YOU can start voting today for your favorites in Mesa in the annual readers poll sponsored by The East Valley Tribune in over 50 categories:
People & Places
Recreation
Food & Drink
Arts & Entertainment
Pets
Medical
Shopping & Services

You can register and log in here >>
http://evtrib.secondstreetapp.com/l/Best-of-Mesa-2016-1/Ballot

Please note there are some names nominated for online voting, but keep in mind you can write-in what you want - can't understand why but the Mesa Arts Center does not appear as a choice in Arts & Entertainment [?]
Some samples from the categories EVT readers can vote for best [space for write-ins]
People & Places: elementary school teacher, public/charter/private-parochial school and place to work
Recreation: Chicago Cubs Spring Training, Christmas Lights at Mesa, AZ Temple Grounds, Golf Course, Family Spot, Place to Get Married
Food & Drink: 17 categories
Arts & Entertainment: Arizona Museum of Natural History, Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Museum, I.D.E.A. Museum, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
Shopping & Services: Best Place To Shop Superstition Springs Center, Dana Park, Downtown Mesa, Mesa Riverview + 9 other categories

Official Rules [see complete list on link above]
No purchase necessary. One valid entry per contestant.
You must be 13 years of age or older at time of entry to be eligible for this contest. This contest is void where prohibited by law.
Winners will be notified by email. If a winner is unreachable after seven (7) days, or if that winner is unavailable for prize fulfillment, an alternate winner will be selected. If an eligible winner cannot be found for the prize, that prize will not be awarded.
This affiliate reserves the right to substitute any prize with another prize of equal or greater value.
This affiliate reserves the right to restrict the local winners to only persons whose primary residence is within a 60 mile radius of this affiliate's' office.
Employees of this affiliate, its respective parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising sponsors and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of each are not eligible.

OUT THERE In A Universe Far-Far Away > Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory

New York Times yesterday with video


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html?_r=0





EINSTEIN IS PROVEN CORRECT >> Merging Black Holes [720p]