Scottsdale Journalism, Jumbo Shrimp

“Scottsdale Journalism?” Is that even still a thing? I’m reminded of the George Carlin shtick about “jumbo shrimp,” “military intelligence,” and “business ethics.” More on that last phrase momentarily. Did you know that Carlin was a US Air Force veteran? He was also court-martialed three times. The USAF apparently doesn’t have a sense of humor. […]

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“Gastropub” by any other name is… a bar

With this headline, “Bitters cocktail bar and restaurant to open at SkySong in Scottsdale,” we see what I believe is the bar district’s camel nose under the tent at the taxpayer-subsidized SkySong office park gulag. And if bar district princess (and city councilwoman) Suzanne Klapp is tweeting about it, you can be sure that Klapp […]

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Scottsdale Parking Solution? Quit Causing Parking Problems!

According to Daniel Davis, who wrote a letter-to-the-editor on the subject of parking that was recently published: Overlying our parking woes is something called “parking minimums.” Parking minimums are laws requiring developers to build specified amounts of free parking spots. These parking minimums are often totally arbitrary and inflate the costs of building housing and […]

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Diamond Green Backs

In an article I posted last week (Bookshelf Intellectualism) about the utter failure of the Scottsdale Planning Commission to live up to it’s mission of serving the citizens of Scottsdale, I referenced a letter-to-the editor by political entrepreneur, Jim Bruner. You may also remember that Bruner was a driving force in bringing taxpayer-funded professional baseball to […]

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Bookshelf Intellectualism

In a column that ran recently in “the other so-called newspaper” in Scottsdale, the editor regurgitated nonsensical remarks by Jim Bruner, which Bruner had delivered at a reception for city board and commission volunteer appointees. Scottsdale’s boards and commissions are SUPPOSED to vet issues and provide citizen-oriented recommendations to the mayor and City Council when […]

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Virginia Korte: Horse Troughs and Horse Hockey

In a recent example of press release journalism in the Scottsdale “Independent,” Virginia Korte is quoted: “Putting horse troughs in front of downtown stores is not going to keep Scottsdale the ‘West’s Most Western Town.’” That one dishonest statement sums up Korte’s sincerity about the so-called “Community Conversation” about the future of Scottsdale she’s proposing. […]

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