Mebbe not so soon, but you can call Mesa City Hall to find out . . .
San Luis is the first city to fly an ADEQ Air Quality Flag to protect health in their community
Brightly colored flags signal daily air quality conditions, allowing residents to take action
PHOENIX (September 24, 2018) – San Luis is the first city in Arizona to join the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) Air Quality Flag Program. Brightly colored flags raise awareness of air quality conditions within the community. By staying informed, residents can make choices to protect themselves and their families from the impacts of air pollution.
“Protecting the health and well-being of the people who live, work and play in San Luis is a priority for this city,” said Gerardo Sanchez, Mayor of the City of San Luis. “The flags are an easy and visible way to make sure the residents know when they may need to take extra measures to avoid bad air.”
Each day, a flag will be raised matching the colors of the Air Quality Index (AQI). ADEQ issues a daily AQI forecast which shows if the air will be polluted with PM10 (dust) or ozone. By comparing the colored flags to the AQI, residents will know what actions to take to protect their health. Green signals good air quality, yellow is moderate, orange means unhealthy for sensitive groups (like children and people with asthma) and red signals unhealthy air for everyone and outdoor exertion should be limited.
The flag will be flown at Joe Orduño Park in the City of San Luis. The park is located along Highway 95, which is a major thoroughfare through San Luis. The flags will be visible to thousands of residents as they go about their daily activities.
On Sept 14, 2018, the Kasten Long Commercial Group (KLCG) in partnership with American Title Service Agencyhosted a unique educational event at SkySong. Some of the best speakers in their field defined the economic engines and planned activities in and around South Scottsdale that will produce many JOBS projected to result in a very strong demand for housing. This demand is anticipated to significantly increase residential and commercial property values.
SRP – Water Resource
While the activities in southern Scottsdale are about to drive property values higher, the most important presentation may have been the long-term water resource for the entire Valley. Colette Moore, Senior Water Planning Analyst for SRP, acknowledged that many folks believe our growth may not be sustainable, but she assured everyone that because SRP has been providing and planning our water supply for more than 100 years, we have a reliable, abundant and well-managed water supply for the future. In addition, she noted that between 1957 and 2016, the population for metro Phoenix increased 504% while the annul water use dropped 2%. Another dramatic point made was that water from the Salt and Verde Rivers that run directly into the Valley come from a huge drainage basin that include Prescott, Flagstaff, Payson, Show Low, Alpine and Globe – all areas receiving much more precipitation than the Valley. Companies considering expanding or locating to our area need to know we have plenty of water for the future.
Hmmm...this might be why ASU can't fork-over the funds for one $130M building here in Downtown Mesa. They've got HUGE development plans elsewhere. The 330-acre Novus Innovation Corridor located just east of the ASU Tempe campus The 42-acre SkySong Facility at the corner of McDowell and Scottsdale Roads The planned total buildout for the Corridor is 8 million sf office, plus retail, dining, lodging creating more than 34,000 JOBS.
ASU's Innovation Zones
In the southern portion of South Scottsdale and within two miles of Scottsdale’s south border, there are two areas within ASU’s Innovation Zones with huge development plans. Todd Hardy, the Managing Director of ASU’s Innovation Zones, described the planned development of the 330-acre Novus Innovation Corridor located just east of the ASU Tempe campus and the 42-acre SkySong facility at the corner of McDowell and Scottsdale Roads. The planned total buildout for the Corridor is 8 million sf office, plus retail, dining, lodging creating more than 34,000 JOBS. SkySong is only partially built-out and already has more than 2,000 employees.
Mark Paratore, City of Scottsdale’s Economic Dev. Project Manager, provided insight on many proposed apartments, condos, hotels, mixed use facilities and a 200,000+ sf office complex – all located from Chaparral Road to just below McDowell Road. A very significant mixed-use project will be in Museum Square (Marshall Way and 2nd St) that has been approved for 190 ft height. With more projects of this height, the skyline of southern Scottdale is about to change and land able to be zoned with this height will dramatically increase in value.
- Thanks to Kasten Lang Commercial Group for the heads up on this information
Made on Main Street - Celebrating Heatsync Labs and Mesa’s Innovative Spirit
Join us Saturday, October 13 from 10-2 pm as OneMain Financial hosts a party to celebrate downtown Mesa’s innovative spirit! In celebration of the Made on Main Street Grant ($25,000)received by RAIL Mesa to support Heatsync Labs’ new, expanded location.
OneMain Financial, in association with Main Street America is throwing a celebration!
Blogger Note: Heat Sync Labs re-located from a previous location on Main Street to what was the space for Asylum Records @ 108 W Main. In earlier times it was named Chandler Court - marked by a bronze plaque on the outside - an open-air courtyard that can be seen in this old image between the original Spanish Mission Revival architecture details, along with the unique original Colonnades and the overhead ramada at the NWC on North Main Street & N Macdonald. Note that the original arched windows have been retained in the corner property now owned by Corinne Brooks
Families, friends and neighbors can learn more about Heatsync Labs and downtown, enjoy free food and entertainment and celebrate the best their community has to offer. Macdonald will be full of family activities, Heatsync Labs will be open for tours and interactive activities, and Mesa’s innovative spirit will be on display for the entire community to experience!
Come to Macdonald & Main Streets in downtown Mesa for:
Music from local bands
Activities for the entire family:
Photo booth and temporary tattoo station
Games
Obstacle course
Arts and crafts, including an interactive mural project
Local craft and artisan vendors
Free food (while supplies last)
Live mural painting
Hands-On projects
3D printers printing
Laser cutter cutting
Tesla coil
Battlebots
. . . and more!
This Project is supported by a grant from the Made on Main Street program, administered by the National Main Street Center, Inc. and funded by OneMain Financial.
V E N D O R S W A N T E D
Celebrating Heatsync Labs and Mesa’s Innovative Spirit
Date: Saturday, October 13th Load in time: 7am (vehicles must be off grounds by 9am and completely set up by 9:45AM) Event time: 10am-2pm Tear down/load out time: 2pm Address: Entrance at N. Macdonald and W. Main Street
OneMain Finanical and Main Street America are proud to team up with RAILmesa to bring new community classes, upgraded tools, and an expanded workspace to the makerspace, HeatSync Labs, and we invite you to come celebrate this with us at the upcoming community Street Fair, Made on Main Street!
This free event will have free food, live music, kids activities, photobooth, HeatSync lab tours, and more, and we are looking for downtown businesses, organizations, and other innovative companies and makers from across Mesa to share their mission and products.
If you are interested in being a vendor Made on Main Street, please contact us at madeonmainstreetmesa@gmail.comwith the following information:
Business/Organization Name and location
Description of Organization/Items Being Sold
Business/Organization Website Address or Facebook Page
Contact Person's Name
Contact Person's Email Address
Contact Person's Phone Number
Being a vendor is FREE, but space is very limited!
For a newbie candidate challenging that old questionably corrupt political machine here in Arizona, Kiana Maria Sears stands out a fresh outsider from New Orleans who moved here to Mesa with her family in 1995. She's in the race to join the taunting mission to change the Arizona Corporate Commission as a female Democrat up against a cast of all-male Republicans in the November 6 General Election. Your MesaZona blogger first met Sears two years on the ground for Free Speech in front of the Mesa Public Library in the midst of paid petitioner-signer collectors doing her own gathering of supporters to get elected to the governing board of the Mesa United School District. She won then. According to this report by Elizabeth Whitman in Phoenix New Times last week on September 20, 2018
". . . Sears has passed major milestones on her way to potentially becoming a Corporation Commissioner next year. In August, she defeated former commissioner Bill Mundell, whocampaignedwith Sandra Kennedy as “The Integrity Team,” in the Democratic primaries. Sears took 219,011 votes to Kennedy’s 351,561, with both of them beating Mundell, who received just shy of 209,000 votes.
Come November 6, in the general election, Sears will be one of four candidates competing for two seats on the five-member commission. She’ll be up against Kennedy, a longtime Arizona lawmaker and former commissioner, as well as Republicans Rodney Glassman, who received 218,130 votes in the primary, and Justin Olson, a current commissioner who got 240,825 votes. . . During a period when the Corporation Commission is beset with allegations of corruption, Sears and her passions could represent a glimmer of possible change. A shortlist of those allegations include: bribery charges against former commissioner Gary Pierce, although the case ended in a mistrial; suspicions that APS funneled $3 million to two Republicans running for the commission in 2014; and the resignation in July of the commission's executive director after regulators discovered that his wife worked for a lobbying firm hired by APS. “Most Arizonans don’t know the duties of our Arizona commissioners and how it affects their pocketbook,” Sears said. “The Corporation Commission determines how much you’re paying for regulated utilities. The company doesn’t raise your rates — it’s our commissioners.” She added, “This office is actually supposed to be protecting you. . . Sears is a relative newcomer to politics in Arizona. To her advocates, she’s a breath of fresh air. A black woman, she became the first person of color to win a seat on the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board, on which she began serving her four-year term in January 2017. She bills herself as a champion for children and consumers, a staunch advocate for the people. In her messaging, she promises not to cater to special interests and instead to advocate for impoverished and minority communities. That idea, and especially the authenticity with which she delivers it, has clearly resonated with her supporters. Sears seems earnest, eager, and filled with idealism. . . If elected to the Corporation Commission, she’d certainly bring a different perspective to a five-member board that, right now, is solidly white, male, and Republican. _______________________________________________________________
The four of them will took the stage in a 59:00 minute debate
Republicans Rodney Glassman and Justin Olson will face off against Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Kiana Maria Sears in November’s general election as they vie to gain the two available seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission. The four candidates will debate for an hour about commission issues such as utility regulation on Arizona Horizon. This debate is sponsored by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. _________________________________________________________________________ Cathy Nichols, the political director of Arizona List, a network that supports pro-choice Democratic women candidates and which endorsed Sears, said that Sears’ commitment to renewable energy was one of the reasons the List endorsed her. “She had extraordinarily strong preparation for this race and her platform resonated with our endorsement committee,” Nichols said. “What I see in Kiana is somebody who works very hard, and so if there is an issue that she’s not familiar with, she will educate herself.” Nichols added, "She’s never run a statewide campaign before, but she’s running an excellent campaign. She beat a former commissioner based on pure hard work.” Others praise her ability to collaborate, like Dennis Kavanaugh, a former Mesa city councilmember who endorsed Sears for school governing board and is endorsing her for Corporation Commission. . . Kavanaugh argued that Sears’ weakness — her lack of history as an elected official in a partisan position — was, in fact, her strength. It meant that she didn’t have “some of the baggage of the past,” especially during a time when public trust in the Commission has faltered. Last August, two-thirds of 400 voters surveyed by HighGround Public Affairs Consultants answered “yes” when asked whether they believed that the Corporation Commission had been “corrupted by outside influences and contributions to their election campaigns by the utilities they are supposed to regulateREAD MORE from these excerpts >> Phoenix New Times
The private social network Nextdoor is definitely filling a void here in Mesa. However it's not grappling with the gap in that long-empty disconnect between government and people or the failure to engage residents to make city government more effective. Nextdoor was founded in Menlo Park, California in 2010 by venture capital companies and other angel investors and was of course designed to generate income launching its first money-making products and "to help citizens strengthen local ties and enhance neighbor-to-neighbor communication." Right!
What the City of Mesa's partnership is, or what financial arrangements there are is not stated in this news releaseon September 18, 2018 from the city's newsroom. Mesa celebrates fifth anniversary of successful partnership with Nextdoor What is stated is that it took five years in a city of over 475,000 to gain more than 56,000 users:" " . . There has been nearly a 2,000 percent increase in the number of residents using Nextdoor with membership increasing to more than 56,000 residents. . . " _______________________________________________________________________
According to numbers provided to How Stuff Works by Kelsey Grady, director of global communications at Nextdoor, the most popular section on Nextdoor is "Classifieds" (items for sale or giveaway), which makes up 32 percent of posts followed by "Recommendations" (24 percent). Here, posters ask for help finding the best restaurant, mechanic or plumber in their area to name just a few requests. Turns out, homeowner's associations, supermoms, and empty nesters are the earliest adopters of Nextdoor.
Nirav Tolia, Nextdoor's co-founder and CEO, told CNET, "People are using the technology to bring back a sense of community." And that's a good thing considering the majority of Americans only know some of their neighbors names and 28 percent don't know any of their neighbor's names, according to a Pew Research report.
According to this report by Ben Popper in The Verge on June 23, 2016, "Drama is mostly traffic, speeding, and dog waste related. Very good for local recommendations. . . a great place to get recommendations about dentists, doctors, contractors, gardeners." In the near future, it will begin allowing local businesses to join the service and create their own profile pages, much the same way residents and local government agencies can join now. Merchants may then be allowed to pay-to-place sponsored posts in the newsfeed.
The flip side of this positive community building has bouts of paranoia or racial profiling. The service has a tab dedicated to reporting crime, and advocacy groups were concerned that it was being used to report people of color as suspicious simply for being in the area.
being in the area. The site has responded by rolling out several changes, including a crime reporting form, a warning screen prior to posting, a racial profiling flag, and updates to member guidelines. According to a spokeswoman, racial profiling has been reduced by 40 percent in the test markets where these changes have rolled out.
To its credit, Nextdoor responded by completely revamping its crime and safety reporting system and creating a Racial Profiling Resource Center. Now, before a user can post a report, they're prompted to consider whether they'd report the same activity if it was done by somebody of a different race. And reports must include specific identifying characteristics of the suspect, not just race or sex.
"We are very proud of our work to address racial profiling on Nextdoor and have seen a tremendous response from our community," Kelsey Grady, director of global communications at Nextdoor, writes in an email. "We have seen a significant reduction in problematic posts and this number continues to decrease."
In her research, Farzan found that while safety is definitely one of the motivating factors for wanting to connect with your neighbors online, it's not anywhere near the top. And Nextdoor's own user data bears that out.
As it gets ready to try and launch its first money-making products, the company is also planning to roll out its first big international expansion.
It's also good when taxpayer-funded public city assets are not the first responders as related in this one story:
Mesa celebrates fifth anniversary of successful partnership with Nextdoor
September 18, 2018 at 10:35 am
The City of Mesa will celebrate the five-year anniversary of its partnership with Nextdoor, the free and private social network for neighborhoods established to improve citywide and neighbor-to-neighbor communications.
An awards ceremony will be held Saturday, Sept. 29 to recognize "Good Neighbors" and Mesa neighborhoods dedicated to building stronger and safer communities through the use of Nextdoor.Blogger Note: One researcher found that while safety is definitely one of the motivating factors for wanting to connect with your neighbors online, it's not anywhere near the top. And Nextdoor's own user data bears that out. The City's awards event will take place from 5:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Chelsea Park, 145 S 40th St. The program will celebrate the progress of the Nextdoor partnership and recognize residents and five neighborhoods that use Nextdoor in their commitment to build stronger and safer communities: Nextdoor Neighborhood Champion: West Greenbelt Most Connected Neighborhood: Encore at Eastmark Most Engaged Neighborhood: Suhuaro Hills/Granite Reef Neighborhood with the Most Growth: Dobson Ranch West First Neighborhood to Join Nextdoor: Hermosa Vista
Nextdoor and More: The Good, Bad and Ugly of Neighborhood Social Networks
by Dave Roos Feb 27, 2018 Here's one story when public taxpayer-funded city assets were not the first-responders: After an elderly couple's basement flooded in Columbus, Ohio, in 2014, they posted urgent requests for assistance on Facebook, Twitter and the neighborhood-based site Nextdoor. But it was the Nextdoor connections who actually showed up. "It was like living in an Amish community, and somebody had rung a bell, 'cause people just came out of the woodwork to help,"the grateful husband told The Verge. Stories like these explain the draw of locality-based online social networks - and how California venture capital firms plan to make-money
Nextdoor: First private social network for neighborhoods
Nextdoor, which goes lives today, helps citizens strengthen local ties and enhance neighbor-to-neighbor communication.
by Laura Locke
Writer Walter Kirn tweeted something mid-summer that rang so poignant and true, I immediately "favorited" and re-tweeted: "The brilliant dark governing insight of social media is that most people prefer socializing alone. Sure, all of this newfound sharing and real-time communication is awesome indeed. But the very same digital tools that heighten our reach and accessibility are somehow alienating us from each other more so than ever before. Human-to-human connection and communication, it seems, tends to get too intermediated by gadgets and gizmos. Today, there's a new social network rolling out nationwide to help bridge the distance between folks who couldn't be physically closer: neighbors. READ More > CNet
NEW YORK NEW YORK START SPREADING YOUR WINGS .... Published on Sep 13, 2013 Views: 115,910
Enhanced audio and video in this restored version -- Liza Minnelli blasts her way through one of the most over-the-top performances of her career, singing to a vast crowd at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on live national TV, Sunday, July 6, 1986, when she was at the peak of her powers as a live entertainer. Completely ridiculous and tremendous fun -- watch as Liza grimaces, pumps her arms, and slings imaginary spit from her chin to bring the showstopper home. This concert was the last in a series of events held over the weekend of July 4, 1986 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. From an original 27-year-old VHS tape of the live broadcast.
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