Opinion

Finding a home is only half the dream

OPINION — Long before a home is permitted or built, someone has imagined a life inside it. Sometimes that dream arrives at 28. Sometimes at 68. It may mean a first set of keys, a smaller home for retirement, a few quiet acres or remaining in a house that has grown unsafe without becoming any less loved.

Opinion

Horrified at Dysart’s minimum passing grade for sports

OPINION — I honestly read in disbelief that the pass-to-play athletic-eligibility floor at Dysart Unified School District is a D grade. Is that really what we want to communicate to our children and students?

Opinion

Goodyear is building; D.C. keeps getting in the way

OPINION — Goodyear is one of the fastest-growing cities in America. Every month we approve homes, break ground on employment sites and work to keep power and water ahead of demand.

Opinion

Why I’m voting Scianna over Montenegro for LD 29 House

OPINION — Legislative District 29’s Steve Montenegro has used his power as speaker of the state House to promote the nation’s most expensive voucher system at the same time Arizona is second-to-lowest in support of education.

Opinion

Why I’m voting Coniam over Densmore for DUSD board

OPINION — I agree with Bob Doyle that Bill Coniam’s national political views are unwanted. He is running for a local office and should stick to the issues confronting the Dysart Unified School District.

Question of the Week: How are you observing Hispanic Heritage Month?

Arizona’s population of Hispanic or Latino heritage is 32.5% — nearly one-third, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. President Lyndon B. Johnson established Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 and …

Opinion

Your politics won’t protect you from the 'surveillance state'

OPINION — Erica Schwartz, the newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control, made federal priorities clear during her recent confirmation hearings: “Abortion surveillance is absolutely a critical component of what the CDC is currently doing.” She assured members of Congress that she would ensure that states weren’t “hiding abortions” under the auspices of “emergency care.”

Opinion

Combating hunger in Arizona requires effort from all of us

OPINION — More than 1 million Arizonans currently face inadequate access to food. In some communities, about 1 in 4 residents experience food insecurity.

Opinion

AI is already making Valley travelers’ lives miserable

OPINION — All this talk about pacing the frontier of artificial intelligence overlooks a reality that travelers experience every day. An algorithm already determines your airfare. Another sets the hotel's rate. And another answers your complaint with a non-answer, hoping you'll give up.

Opinion

Arizona lawmakers should kill the legislative subpoena

OPINION — According to Arizona law, a subpoena can be issued by the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House and the chairman of any committee. The Legislature has over 30 committees.

Opinion

Dysart candidate should set a better example for students, reader says

OPINION — I recently saw a photo that appeared to show Dysart Governing Board candidate William Coniam wearing a “No Kings” shirt.

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Your Community Your Voice

Arizona’s water providers are preparing today to protect our water tomorrow

OPINION — With federal cuts reducing Arizona’s Colorado River allocation by 27% each year through 2028, many people are coming to us concerned and asking: “Will I still have water?” “Will my tap run dry?” “What should we do?”

Question of the Week: Are Valley communities planning wisely?

Metro Phoenix remains among the fast-growing areas in the country. But are its communities doing the best job of regulating growth and development? Are they planning wisely for housing, schools, …

Gen Z women don’t owe America babies

OPINION — Gen Z women like me are having fewer babies. That shouldn’t be a surprise. With prices for everything going up, our parents’ steady jobs, white picket fences and retirement packages feel much less attainable for us.

Reader agrees Congress must fund defense innovation

OPINION — I recently read Todd Jackson’s letter to the editor, Don’t forget local Army Reservists after 9/11 remembrances. I have to say I had no idea about many of our modern defenses such as the Integrated Battle Command System that are being built and designed to protect not only our nation, but our service members as well.

The grandparents no one asks about

OPINION — There is a photograph on a refrigerator in Sun City that stopped updating four years ago. The child in the photo is 9. She is 13 now. Her grandmother knows this because she counts.

Data center incentive moratorium risking one of Arizona’s labor success stories

OPINION — Arizona earned its title as a national leader in data center development through smart, innovation-focused policies, a highly skilled workforce and union members who have proven they can build some of the most advanced infrastructure in the world. However, the Legislature’s three-year moratorium on data center tax incentives now risks the very momentum making Arizona one of the country’s greatest labor success stories.

What will the Valley of the Sun look like in 2035?

OPINION — Greater Phoenix’s architectural landscape is ever-changing. For decades, we’ve seen business developments, lifestyle hubs and communities sprout up across the desert. But as we look toward 2035, the next chapter of Valley growth may look very different from the last.

Question of the Week: Are freeways the best way to get from here to there?

Since the mid-1980s, the Valley has built its regional freeway system, which moves tens of thousands of people every day. Population continues to grow. Lane expansion is inevitable. New freeways are …

As Valley heat keeps rising, it takes all hands to keep pace

OPINION — A few weeks ago, a family of four was brought to our doors by a Phoenix firefighter who had responded to a heat-distress call in a parking lot where the family had been living out of their car. That handoff, from first responder to shelter provider, happens more often than most people realize.

Grandparents shouldn’t have to choose between running A/C, enjoying retirement

OPINION — Many Arizonans spent decades working, raising families and planning for a retirement they hoped would bring some financial security. But for too many, retirement has become another exercise in stretching every dollar. Housing, groceries, prescriptions and utility bills all compete for the same fixed income.

9/11 memories: The Valley looks back on terror attacks

You didn’t have to be in New York City, Washington, D.C, or rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, to be profoundly impacted by the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and changed both America and the world forever. Here are memories shared by 14 current and former Valley residents.

Arizona should get rid of grades for schools

OPINION — Since 2011, the state, pursuant to legislation, has given a grade to individual public schools on the familiar A-F spectrum. The idea was to provide parents and taxpayers with an understandable assessment of the quality of education provided by individual schools.

Don’t forget local Army Reservists after 9/11 remembrances

OPINION — This Sept. 11, we bow our heads to the many we lost on that fateful day. Anyone who was alive that morning remembers not only what they were doing but the emotional toll it took on our entire nation.

Couldn’t Dysart Unified sell assets to raise money instead of going for a $71M bond?

OPINION — This fall, Dysart Unified School District is attempting to obtain funding for their schools via Proposition 421. I am not against a good-quality education, and I recognize it takes money for a good-quality education.

Dysart Unified needs to share academic successes to support bond request

OPINION — I read Delarita Ford’s front-page article: DUSD teaches voters about latest bond proposition. We have lived in Surprise for more than a decade and I believe few district propositions have been successful.

Question of the Week: Should the Trump administration move forward with its border wall project in Arizona over a Native American tribe’s objections?

The Trump administration has resumed construction of a stretch of border wall in southern Arizona along part of the Tohono O’odham tribal land, despite protests from the tribe. U.S. Customs and …

Congress must prioritize accessibility in housing supply

OPINION — The United States has witnessed a historic level of legislative commitment to address the national housing crisis. In July 2025, Congress expanded the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to fund an estimated 1.22 million affordable rental homes over the next decade.

Young Arizonans can contribute to their college savings — here’s how

OPINION — School is back in session across the state, making September a busy time for many Arizona families. September is also College Savings Month, and the start of the seventh-annual statewide essay writing contest where students can jumpstart college dreams by winning $529 for their AZ529 education savings plan.

Valley kids’ psychological assessments should be accessible, affordable

OPINION — When a child struggles in school, some of the first advice they, and usually their parents, may hear is to study harder, pay closer attention or spend more time on homework. For many students, those strategies help. For others, the problem has nothing to do with the effort being made.

Military families shouldn’t be collateral damage in PBM reform

OPINION — America asks a great deal of those who wear the uniform and their families. In return, the country makes a promise: military families will have dependable access to healthcare, and that promise is called Tricare.

Question of the Week: Should Arizona gubernatorial candidates cross the political aisle in selecting running mates?

For the first time, Arizonans will select a lieutenant governor in November. The new office will be the No. 2 position in state government. Gov. Katie Hobbs raised eyebrows when she named former Mesa …

Next foreign policy frontier is the stars — and West Valley stands to gain

OPINION — Artemis II’s crew inspired us all, flying farther than any humans before, looping the moon ahead of a future landing. Among them was Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the first non-American to reach the moon. He likely won’t be the last. “Foreign policy” conjures embassies and negotiating tables. But our era’s most consequential competition is unfolding in a domain without borders or rules. Space is not an afterthought, it is an arena of geopolitical power.

It’s a constitutional duty to protect all Americans from toxic chemicals

OPINION — Some people describe military deployments like scenes from an action movie. Hollywood tends to glorify war and service. That was never my experience serving in the Middle East. When …

How to spot an AI-powered scam

OPINION — Early this summer, an “advertisement” about a big sale — $1 books at Barnes & Noble — was all over social media. Any voracious reader would hoist an eyebrow. Last spring, there were widespread “offers” on the internet of deeply discounted tickets and travel packages to see the University of Arizona men’s basketball team play at the Final Four.

Brain injuries from blasts driving too many young vets to suicide

OPINION — We all get a warm glow when we hear the airline gate agent inviting active-duty service members to board early. What isn’t said, isn’t known, is that some of those young men and women will die eventually by their own hands, and at nearly three times the rate of civilians in the same under-34 age group.

Question of the Week: Have rising prices affected your back-to-school spending this year?

For many Valley families, back to school means updating their students’ wardrobes, buying backpacks, assorted gear, books, electronics and school supplies. According to reports, the average …

Korean peninsula: One small step in the right direction

OPINION — “President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea,” Matthew Lee and Ben Finley write for the Associated Press, “does not just slight a longtime ally but raises broader concerns about the security interests of the United States in Asia and elsewhere.”

Asbestos, forever chemicals kill — Congress must renew Toxic Substances Control Act fees

OPINION — 9/11. The date is seared into our consciousness forever. We all know where we were and what we were doing when it happened. Some of us are still dealing with its aftermath.

Question of the Week: Should Arizona clergy be required to report privileged sex-abuse confessions?

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in July that religious institutions have the absolute right to define protected confessions, exempting clergy from mandatory child-abuse reporting if deemed necessary …

America made a promise to the Afghans that it's breaking on purpose

OPINION — We asked Afghans to translate for our patrols, guard our bases and stand beside our troops under fire. In return, we made them a promise, in writing: Serve with us, and we will not leave you to be hunted. For a while, we kept it.

Community health centers: A daily lifeline for Arizona’s most vulnerable

OPINION — The most-dangerous health problems often arrive without warning. Blood pressure climbs silently. Depression goes unspoken. Developmental delays go unnoticed until a child is already behind. That’s why a single appointment, a well-child visit, a primary-care check-up, a routine screening, can mean catching a problem early instead of confronting it as an emergency. But each of these outcomes depends on something easy to take for granted: having a trusted place to turn for care, regardless of your life circumstances.

The fight against Valley Flock cameras is just the beginning

OPINION — Government surveillance isn’t new, but new wide-ranging technologies that can detect our faces and track our movements are making it more ubiquitous. While the tools have changed, the purpose remains the same: to chill independent thought, free speech and dissent, bringing our country closer to 1984.

Biggs is campaigning for governor like it’s 1986

OPINION — In choosing a lieutenant governor running mate, Andy Biggs was boxed in. He didn’t have the political space to choose someone who might marginally improve his general election chances. …

Civility is a valuable, indispensable core value in these contentious times

OPINION — Kudos to Lee Shappell and the wonderful (as well as timely) article on civility. I teach a Humanities course entitled “Leadership and Ethics.” With the challenges we face in all sectors, Lee's article addressing the critical importance of civility serves as a valuable and indispensable core value.

ICYMI: Why civility matters

OPINION — We live in an era of normalized boorish behavior. It has become OK to call an opponent names. To sway an argument with inflamed, hateful and often false rhetoric. The result may elicit a response in kind. The exchange quickly spirals out of control.

Question of the Week: How can Valley schools keep students safe from sexual predators on campus?

Valley school districts are among those put on notice that they may lose funding if they fail to comply with federal laws on sexual predators in schools. During the past year: The investigation …

Policymakers should give women the maternal care they deserve

OPINION — Women nationwide are thriving in ways previous generations could only imagine, but in one area, progress has stalled: maternal health.

Every Arizona school should be prepared to save a life

OPINION — Each year, thousands of Arizonans experience sudden cardiac arrest, with the vast majority happening outside of a hospital setting. When the heart stops, blood flow to the brain is cut off, and every minute without cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival. Too often, the outcome depends on whether a bystander knows CPR and whether an automated external defibrillator is nearby.

We can't leave veterans behind as America makes progress against suicide

OPINION — For the first time in several years, America has encouraging news in the fight against suicide. New data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, based on the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that suicides have declined modestly since reaching a record high in 2022. Expanded access to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, greater public awareness and improvements in crisis response may all be contributing to that progress.

Question of the Week: How will higher Medicare Part D prescription drug plan premiums impact you?

The Trump administration has announced it is ending a temporary Biden-era Medicare Part D premium stabilization subsidy on Dec. 31, eliminating roughly $3.6 billion in insurer subsidies. That could …

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