Big COVID bucks remain / P. 4
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Inside This Week
Gallery pays homage to beloved artists
BUSINESS............ 24 Local nightclub group goes big time in Sin City
Students, parents weigh in on Menzel
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t high school sports playoff games, fans from both schools cheer their lungs out for their side, booing and hissing at the opposing side – kind of like the Scottsdale Unified Governing Board meeting last week. The Feb. 21 meeting again challenged the second word in the district’s name, continuing a divisive spirit that picked up steam during the pandemic. First, it was open campuses vs. remote learning. Then, it was encourage-masks vs. don’ttake-our-freedom.
Scottsdale Festival celebrates Italian heritage NEIGHBORS ............................... 19 BUSINESS ...................................24 ARTS ............................................28 CLASSIFIEDS .............................34
On Feb. 21, the verbal battle was praisehim vs. fire-him. Though the majority of the 50 who spoke in a public comment portion of the meeting at Coronado High School favored Dr. Scott Menzel, the smaller number of voices who decried the superintendent spoke out with unabashed fury. Cheers rang out from each “side” when an agreeable point was made. Aside from eye rolls and smirks, there was little overt booing in a meeting that was civil, yet wildly energetic and tense, with speakers arguing the very system of education was at stake. Some insisted the moral fiber of SUSD is
see BOARD page 6
A packed crowd filled the room as teachers show up to voice their support for – and criticism of – Scottsdale Unified School District superintendent Scott Menzel during a Governing Board meeting Feb. 21. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)
Water to flow to Rio Verde Foothills – maybe BY TOM SCANLON Progress Managing Editor
ARTS ........................ 28
Sunday, February 26, 2023
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ouncilwoman Betty Janik was both blunt and lyrical. “Water,” she proclaimed, “is life.” If so, Rio Valley Foothills now has a pulse. At the Feb. 21 Scottsdale City Council meeting, Janik, her five fellow council representatives and Mayor David Ortega voted unanimously on an agenda item titled “Temporary Water Supply Intergovernmen-
Andrew Bloom REALTOR®, Senior Partner Andrew@BVOLuxury.com VOTED #1 SCOTTSDALE TEAM FOR FOR2022 2018 VOTED #1 SCOTTSDALE REAL REAL ESTATE ESTATE TEAM
tal Agreement.” Though Janik said, “this is a wonderful, giant step forward,” and though Rio Valley Foothills residents generally praised the action, the council vote alone did not guarantee Scottsdale water will once again flow to the water-starved community. For decades, around 500 residents of an unincorporated “county island” just outside Scottsdale’s northeast city boundary have enjoyed Scottsdale water, provided to them by haulers given access to a Scottsdale
standpipe. On Jan. 1, their use of that pipe was shut down. Rio Verde residents say they have been scrambling since, eating off paper plates, begging neighbors for water and going without showers as they simultaneously pleaded with Scottsdale to resume service while looking for other alternatives. Hope came two weeks ago with an opinion by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes,
see WATER page 12
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