It's often referred to as the "Mother Tree." For more than 100 years this tropical tree, which is native to Central America and Mexico, has managed to survive in the Arizona desert by the grace of Mother Nature. Just northeast of Tucson on a private ranch lives an Aravaipa avocado tree. Although no one can definitively say how this tree found its way into the Arizona soil, it hasn't stopped people from speculating. So, how has this Aravaipa avocado tree managed to survive and can other Aravaipa ...
Jul 12, 2021•11 min
For the first time in 28 years, the Phoenix Suns are playing in the NBA Finals. Their appearance in the NBA Finals is unexpected since it was only two years ago that the team won only 19 games. After that disappointing season, the Suns brought in a new head coach, Monty Williams, who managed to end last season on an exciting 8-0 run in the NBA bubble. The Suns finished just under .500. This season, with a 51-21 record, the Suns are different. Adding future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul to ...
Jul 08, 2021•16 min
Have you ever wondered what traditional Japanese sushi and Mexican food create? Several years ago in Mexico, a combination of Mexican food ingredients and Japanese style were used to create a fusion dish known as Sonoran sushi. Traditional Japanese sushi’s main ingredient is vinegared rice. Sonoran sushi rolls have those base ingredients like rice and seaweed, but with their own twist. In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we're diving into ...
Jul 05, 2021•17 min
When Marshall Shore first came to Arizona 21 years ago, he was told that Arizona had no LGBT+ history. But every time he would venture around the state, whether by car, bike or foot, he would hear stories of people and places that he thought were amazing. Shore is most known by his moniker, "The Hip Historian," a name given to him in 2009, as a way to distinguish him from Marshall Trimble, the state's official historian. Through his work as project manager for the Arizona LGBT History Project, h...
Jun 28, 2021•20 min
The history behind the Christown Spectrum name spurred Valley 101 listener David Thelen to ask: “What is the background and history of the man who served as the inspiration of the part of Phoenix named after him?” In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we’re diving into Christown’s namesake and the cultural impact the mall had on Phoenix after opening in 1961. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 21, 2021•11 min
Tempe Town Lake sits as a small oasis in the middle of the desert, alongside a freeway. The shimmering body of water is one of Arizona's most visited public attractions, but is more than just a place for music festivals, marathons and regattas. It all began with James W. Elmore, the founding dean of the College of Architecture at Arizona State University. He challenged the College faculty in 1966 to transform the Salt River, a dry riverbed, from an eyesore into a greenbelt attraction. One year l...
Jun 14, 2021•16 min
Highways and roadways impact Valley drivers on a daily basis. Valley 101 listeners often submit questions to the Arizona Republic's podcast team to dive into these topics. In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we’re answering three of those questions. We'll take a brief dive into the history of Arizona toll roads, a look at the future of Interstate Highway 11 and then how Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway has impacted the Valley. In this episo...
Jun 07, 2021•15 min
Whether you celebrated the long Memorial Day weekend by getting out of town, exploring Phoenix or relaxing at home, the Valley 101 team has a few suggestions of past episodes to listen to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 31, 2021•5 min
As Maricopa County continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, interest in the Valley expands. More travelers and potential new residents want to check out all the unique destinations of the desert. One Valley 101 listener plans on making Phoenix their new home. They asked us to put together a bucket list of activities and places they should check out in the Valley. In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we’re doing ju...
May 24, 2021•18 min
In a dried up flood zone just south of Buckeye once lived a lively and vibrant community. Despite nearly 500 residents at one point, the community was absent of good water and sanitation. The community lacked stores, mail delivery, streetlights or even stop signs. This was the town of Allenville. In the 1940s when part of the town was sold by Lee North to John Allen, the town's namesake, it was the only area of town where Black people could own land. In today's episode of Valley 101, a podcast f...
May 17, 2021•22 min
Corrections and Clarifications: In a previous version of this episode an incorrect date was given for the Long Walk and treaty signed by Navajo leaders. Those dates are 1864 and 1868. Valley 101 listener Genevieve Hall asked: "What's the best Native American restaurant in the Valley?" That depends. There are 21 federally recognized tribes in Arizona and more than 500 in the United States. Each have their own traditions and nuances. However, there is one restaurant that stands out. In this week’s...
May 10, 2021•12 min
If you lived in Phoenix in August 2020, you probably remember waking up to what felt like an unusually cloudy day. The sun was bright orange and looking directly at it didn't hurt your eyes. But those were not unseasonable clouds, it was smoke from fires in Northern Arizona and California that traveled into the Valley. With the majority of the state in a drought, the potential for an active fire season and big dust storms blowing into the Valley this summer, has one Valley 101 listener asking wh...
May 03, 2021•15 min
Picture this: you’re headed to Sedona from downtown Phoenix. As you drive north on Interstate 17, you pass the Outlets by Anthem. What you might not know is that the section of Anthem with the outlet mall — the western section — is actually part of the city of Phoenix. The larger portion of Anthem, its eastern counterpart, is in unincorporated Maricopa County. There’s no such thing as the city of Anthem. In this week’s episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com,...
Apr 26, 2021•13 min
On 52nd Avenue and Glendale Avenue, a five-story building stands empty. It's fenced off from the public with faded red brick and bordered-off windows. Arizona Republic readers picked the Beet Sugar Factory as one of the worst West Valley eyesores. The factory captured the interest of Valley 101 listener Garret Godfrey. He asked us about the history of the Beet Sugar Factory and about future plans for the building. It turns out that building has a connection to the development of Glendale. In thi...
Apr 19, 2021•11 min
If you drive downtown Phoenix, it's likely you have turned down Van Buren Street, Roosevelt Road or another roadway named after a President. Phoenix famously has a grid system for its roads. Roads running North to South are numbered and roads running East to West are named streets. But one of our listeners asked why the streets in Central Phoenix are named after United States Presidents. They grew up on Portland Street, one street over from Roosevelt and always wanted to know why names of past P...
Apr 12, 2021•13 min
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 loca...
Apr 05, 2021•13 min
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...
Mar 29, 2021•18 min
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 ...
Mar 22, 2021•17 min
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 ...
Mar 15, 2021•14 min
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 va...
Mar 08, 2021•11 min
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...
Mar 01, 2021•13 min
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...
Feb 22, 2021•14 min
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 w...
Feb 15, 2021•12 min
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 fro...
Feb 08, 2021•17 min
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, ...
Feb 01, 2021•28 min
Winter in Arizona means peak hiking season. The weather is beautiful, the landscapes are breathtaking and, because of COVID-19, the fact that you can socially distance in the open air while getting in some exercise is an added perk. But if you take your dogs with you, there are some things you need to know. Maybe you’re new to the Valley and your transplant dog isn’t used to the desert terrain. But even if you’re a long-time resident, we’ve got some tips that you might not know. Consider this we...
Jan 25, 2021•16 min
There are the normal highway signs, ones that feature messages about travel times or road conditions. Then there are the funny ones. Ones that say things like, "Cut off? Don’t get bad blood. Shake it off” in reference to a Taylor Swift song. Or “Aggressive driving is the path to the dark side,” a nod to “Star Wars.” Arizona isn't unique in having signs like that. The trend started with the Iowa Department of Transportation, but Arizona Department of Transportation spokesperson Doug Pacey thinks ...
Jan 18, 2021•12 min
If you fell down the TikTok rabbit hole in 2020, odds are you probably came across one or two videos of people roller skating. It's a trend and hobby people took up to get outside during the pandemic. Valley 101 listener Antonio Moody is a teacher and heard about the exact same trend from his students. Some of them even thought of taking up roller derby. Moody asked the podcast team if there was a roller derby scene in Metro Phoenix. In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizo...
Jan 11, 2021•21 min
If you're a transplant to Arizona from New England, you may have been surprised at the seeming absence of cemeteries in the Phoenix area. After all, they feel like they're located at every corner in some northeastern states. That's how Christopher Bunce felt when he moved to the Valley in January of 2020. So he submitted a question to Valley 101, our newsroom podcast dedicated to helping Phoenicians better understand the place they call home. He asked, "Why does Phoenix have so few cemeteries?" ...
Jan 04, 2021•17 min
Hey Valley 101 listeners! We're taking a week off for a little rest and relaxation. Thank you for all of your questions this year! We look forward to answering more of them in 2021. Let us know what's on your mind at valley101podcast.azcentral.com or on Twitter @Valley101pod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 28, 2020•2 min
