Kim Tran

Heads up, Mesa residents and marathon enthusiasts: The annual Mesa Marathon is hitting the streets again on February 8. The event, which celebrates its 13th iteration this year, is bringing a change in scenery with a new route adjustment moving one mile west from Val Vista Drive to Lindsay Road, according to an article by the City of Mesa. Participants and onlookers should be ready for road closures starting bright and early at 4 a.m., all the way through to 2 p.m. on race day.

Attention, parents in Tempe and the surrounding areas: the much-acclaimed Tempe PRE preschool program is poised to welcome your applications. Launching into its next school year cycle, the application window for this full-day early childhood educational haven swings open on January 16, at the bright start of 8 a.m., offering hope of empowering growth for the area's youngsters. Families are encouraged by the city to seize this educational opportunity. Tempe PRE boasts perks from certified educators to small class sizes, bound to kindle a love for learning in your child, according to the City of Tempe.

Residents of Tempe looking to further their education, now have a new financial lifeline. Through a partnership between the City of Tempe and Rio Salado College, adult learners with significant financial needs can apply for the newly minted Tempe Promise Program. According to the City of Tempe, eligible students will receive funds to cover tuition fees and associated costs like books.

In a recent address that underscored the intersections of education, safety, and politics, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, delivered his 2025 State of Education speech with a firm call to expand the presence of armed law enforcement in schools—the impetus being a recent incident in Tucson where a police officer thwarted an armed threat on a school campus, as reported by AZED News.

The legal saga of Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell, embroiled in a series of horrific cases involving murder and conspiracy, saw recent developments challenging the proceedings of their respective trials. Lori Vallow Daybell, the mother convicted for the murder of her two children in Idaho, has pushed to get her Arizona case dismissed. She claimed her constitutional right to a speedy trial has been violated. According to

Prepare for a bit of a headache if you're planning to drive through parts of Arizona this weekend. Westbound Interstate 10 is going to be completely closed between Loop 202 (Santan/South Mountain Freeway) and I-17 starting from 10 p.m. on tomorrow, until 4 a.m. Monday. The reason behind this disruption is to facilitate a traffic shift, which will hopefully make things smoother in the long term but is bound to cause quite the inconvenience over the weekend, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Amidst financial turmoil in the Isaac School District, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is taking steps to ensure that the district's operations continue uninterrupted. In a recent correspondence, Mayes pressed Maricopa County officials to keep the financial lifeline to the district open, emphasizing that the support is vital for the over five thousand students and their families relying on the district's services.

The City of Tombstone is reaching out for a significant financial boost, setting its sights on federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the tune of $515,855 for the fiscal year 2025. According to the City of Tombstone's official website, these funds, sourced from the Arizona Department of Housing Regional Account, are earmarked to augment the living conditions of low-income residents, to rectify areas in the grip of blight, or to address other urgent needs that may arise within the community.

In a recent statement, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has officially turned down the case against an individual noted only as Ms. Scalero, citing insufficient evidence "to prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that the harrowing events detailed in Scalero's diary regarding the torture and killing of dogs actually occurred. As reported by Maricopa County Attorney's Office, despite the graphic nature of the descriptions, the legal system requires hard evidence to bring someone to court.