Valley 101

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What is xeriscaping? And what are its benefits? Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden boasts more than a mile of native plants. Every step of the way, you’ll find plants that are uniquely attended for survival in the hot, dry desert.

In fact, there are more than 200 plants that thrive in our desert climate.

“One of my favorites is the chocolate flower, that spring or fall will grace your morning grand with the aroma of sweet chocolate,” said Kirti Mathura, the Smartscape Program Coordinator at the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension.

Using local or adapted plants like the chocolate flower, in favor of turf or non-native plants, is a type of gardening called xeriscaping. Xeriscaping not only helps conserve water, but it’s beneficial for local wildlife as well.

In this week’s episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, podcast editor Katie O’Connell digs into xeriscaping. You’ll find out the benefits of having a xeriscaped space, as well as some hints for achieving one.

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What legacy did Betty and Jean Fairfax leave behind in Arizona? Mar 29, 2021

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In honor of Women’s History Month, we're highlighting the story of two women who dedicated their careers and retirements to educational equity. Their names were Betty and Jean Fairfax.

Those names might sound familiar. Betty H. Fairfax High School in the Phoenix Union District is named after the oldest sister. She’s the only former educator in the district with a high school named after her.

How did that happen? What kind of legacy did the Fairfax sisters leave in Arizona?

In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we're diving into their lives and how they inspired students to strive to higher education.

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How did Arizona become a hub for the LDS Church? Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

The Valley is full of transplants. Many of us moved here or our parents moved here, perhaps our grandparents.

Then there's Candice Copple, whose family has been in Arizona for six generations. Copple's ancestors came to Arizona in the 1800s as a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Her great-great-great grandfather was Charles Innes Robson the 1st. He’s considered a founding father of Mesa in the East Valley. Charles came to Arizona with his father-in-law Francis Pomeroy and two other families under Brigham Young’s direction.

Today, Arizona has the fourth highest population of LDS members in the United States. We’re just behind Utah, California and Idaho. And Arizona’s history with the LDS Church stretches back before Candice’s family.

In today’s episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we find out more about the Valley’s connection to the LDS Church. Producer Amanda Luberto explores its history and why Arizona continues to have such a large LDS population today.

In this episode of Valley 101, our voiceover said, “A quick heads up for those who may be interested in exploring the Mormon history of Arizona: Non-members can go to any of the LDS Temples in the Valley during Christmas to look at the lights or Easter time to be a part of festivities, but only members are allowed inside.”

However, the only temple in Arizona to have a Christmas light display and an Easter Pageant is the Mesa Temple. Those events have been suspended during its renovation but will recommence once the renovations are completed.

The best way to listen is to subscribe to Valley 101 on your favorite podcast app, but you can also stream the full episode below.

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Why aren't sirens used during dust storms? Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Dust storms can create a wall of dust that miles wide and thousands of feet high. When one hits, visibility can drop down to a quarter of a mile or less.

When that happens, the local branch of the National Weather Service will send out a weather emergency alert. Odds are you've received one on your phone. Sirens, however, are not part of the messaging equation.

It turns out there are a few reasons why sirens aren't used during dust storms. Part of it has to do with infrastructure. The other has to do with which type of messaging is most effective during moments of hazardous weather.

In today's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we're catching up with the National Weather Service and the Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management about dust storms and emergency messaging.

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What's a vanity license plate? How many are on the road in Arizona? Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

When you're on the road, odds are you'll see plenty of our standard Arizona license plates. You know, the ones with a purple saguaro and mountain under a blue and yellow sky. But you'll also see a fair number of plates that look different.

Valley 101 listener Harold Lohner noticed this too. He asked why Arizona cars have so many vanity license plates? Is it more than other

In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we're diving in the trend of vanity license plates in Arizona.

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Why is recycling different city to city? Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

When you go to recycle, what you can put in your bin depends on a few different factors, including which municipality you live in.

Different cities within the Valley have different rules. Why is that? Why is there not an across-the-board set of items you can and can’t recycle?

In this episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we break down the reasons why where you live affects how and what you can recycle.

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How did the Phoenix Bakery, one of the city's oldest buildings, end up at the Phoenix Zoo? Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

The Phoenix Bakery was a downtown staple in the city’s earliest days. German immigrant Ed Eisele Sr. started working there in 1881, purchasing the shop at West Washington Street and Center Street (now Central Avenue) three years later.

As the city grew, the bakery grew, leaving its original location in 1929. But the red-brick building that housed the original operation is still around today. There’s just one catch: it now resides at the Phoenix Zoo, miles away from its original location.

How did it get there? In this week’s episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we’ll look at the history of the building, starting with the unlikely journey its owner took to immigrate to the U.S. and ending with its reconstruction at the Zoo.

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What's the story behind Phoenix Sky Harbor's fly-in chapel? Feb 15, 2021

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Before Las Vegas became known as the quickie wedding hotspot, people flew to Phoenix. Or at least that's what Phoenix's Junior Chamber of Commerce hoped for.

The story dates back to 1937. The city had purchased Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport two years prior in 1935. Most states across the U.S. at this point had laws mandating a 3-day waiting period for couples wishing to wed. But Arizona didn't.

Capitalizing on that lack of regulation, the airport built a chapel and advertised fly-in weddings. The hope was to draw in Hollywood celebrities who wanted to marry quickly and under-the-radar, hopefully without paparazzi.

It wasn't a total success, but it wasn't a failure either. Listen to this week's episode of Valley 101, an Arizona Republic and azcentral.com podcast answering questions about metro Phoenix, to uncover the history of Phoenix's fly-in chapel.

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Who was Paul W. Litchfield and how did he help develop the West Valley? Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Today, the West Valley is home to 1.7 million people, according to data collected by the Western Maricopa Coalition.

And it’s still growing. The coalition anticipates that over the next 25 years, 49.5% of the growth in Maricopa County will happen in the West Valley.

That's vastly different from what it was like in the beginning of the 20th century. Before Arizona had towns like Avondale, Goodyear and Litchfield Park, the West Valley was barren.

In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we're diving into the history of the Southwest Valley. What took it from the desert to what it is today? And we're doing that thanks to a question from listener Dale Arel, who asked how Paul Litchfield shaped the Valley

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Meet Richard E. Harris, the first Black reporter at The Arizona Republic Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

In 1964, at the age of 51, Richard E. Harris became the first Black reporter at The Arizona Republic.

His tenure came during a momentous and tumultuous period in our nation’s history. The year before, thousands were arrested while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Among them was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who would deliver his famed “I Have A Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that same year.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The following year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Phoenix was segregated at the time. Years of redlining and restrictive covenants had left their mark on the city. Harris was assigned to cover poverty in the city, telling the story of some of its most vulnerable citizens.

Later in life, Harris wrote that he “detested some of the paper’s ultra-conservative editorials and stories slanted in favor of the Establishment.” Still, he was proud of his tenure there and what he accomplished. In his 2004 autobiography "The American Odyssey of a Black Journalist," Harris wrote that he “proved to be as capable as most white peers and soon found news stories outside the stereotype bounds.”

Today, Harris is remembered by those who came after him as a modest, humble man.

“And what I’d like to say about Richard Harris is that, you know, he wasn’t a physically large guy. But he had very broad shoulders, figuratively speaking,” said Art Gissendaner, who worked as the sole Black reporter at The Republic a decade after Harris. “And something I tell a lot of young people now is that where we are now, we all are standing on someone else’s shoulders.”

In this week’s episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, Executive Editor Greg Burton explores the story of Harris’ life and legacy.

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