1,512 high-resolution images of Mars from the viewpoint of an airplane passenger. Previous photos: 1 2 3
posted by msalt on Sep 4, 2009 - 14 comments

To Degree or Not to Degree? President Obama will get an honorary degree from Notre Dame but not Arizona State University during commencement ceremonies this year. ASU finds the first black American president's "body of work" insufficient. The East Valley Tribune disagrees. And some enterprising ASU students have found a way to profit from Obama's appearance at their commencement. [more inside]
posted by etaoin on Apr 11, 2009 - 67 comments

The town of Jerome was incorporated on March 8, 1889 when Arizona was still a territory. A mining town of the real 'wild west' variety, Jerome was incorporated after three devastating fires within an eighteen month period that nearly destroyed the town. Jerome was a wild town with little law enforcement, building codes, or real government. It earned the title "The Wickedest Town in America" by the New York Sun in 1903 for being a hotbed of gambling, prostitution, and vice. [more inside]
posted by Bageena on Dec 2, 2008 - 23 comments

Los Angeles-based photographer Andrew Bush mounts a camera on the side of his car to capture freeway drivers in the southwestern United States. [more inside]
posted by dhammond on Jun 24, 2008 - 33 comments

Seven minutes of terror. A short video on describing how the Phoenix probe will land at the North Pole of Mars on May 25th. Follow updates to the mission via Twitter and the blog. Previously
posted by Brandon Blatcher on May 14, 2008 - 38 comments

Federal and state government officials and border activists say the garbage dumped in the Sonoran Desert by illegal immigrants and their smugglers is staggering. The cleanup is costing taxpayers millions. The Southern Arizona Project(pdf) is a multi-year program setup by the Bureau of Land Management to mitigate the impacts to the ecology by illegal immigration and smuggling. In 2006 alone, more than 1.18 million pounds of trash was collected along the southern Arizona border.
posted by netbros on May 7, 2008 - 22 comments

Arizona Then and Now -- When paired with vintage images of the 19th and 20th centuries, Arizona photographers Allen Dutton and Paul Scharbach's modern-day images reveal the changes that have shaped the state's landscape during the past 100-plus years. They searched the state to locate the precise spots from which to rephotograph the scenes captured by their predecessors, endeavoring to achieve the same angles, perspectives, and lighting as in the early photographs.
posted by netbros on Apr 28, 2008 - 17 comments

Melrose Place, Governor Napolitano, and Freshly Baked Chocolate Chips: social entrepreneurship to combat meth and sell art. Is Belleza Gallery, wholly owned nonprofit gallery of Renaissance House, the coolest little pocket of altrusim-meets-art that almost no one has ever heard of? [more inside]
posted by yellowcandy on Apr 10, 2008 - 3 comments

Any fool can hire an architect to draw up a plan for a house, but it takes a truly inspired fool — which is to say, an artist — to start building and see where the earth and driftwood and shards of broken pottery take him. [Slideshow.] [more inside]
posted by dersins on Feb 5, 2008 - 19 comments

Could giant magnetically levitated windmills be the solution to the worlds energy problems? Chinese scientist have reported 20 percent increase in capacity over traditional wind turbines using maglev turbines, and now Arizona-based based Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies claims their turbines will have 1000 times the capacity of a traditional turbine. Not everybody is convinced.
posted by Artw on Nov 26, 2007 - 84 comments

Two executives of the alternative newspaper chain Village Voice Media were arrested last night after running a story about grand jury subpoenas [PDF] they received seeking reporters' notes and information on who visits their Phoenix New Times Web site. The article, titled "Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution," claims that the grand jury investigation stems from a long-running feud with controversial county sheriff Joe Arpaio (who calls himself "America's toughest sheriff"). The subpoenas demand New Times turn over all notes, tapes and records of the reporters who have ever written about Arpaio. The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper's Web site since Jan. 1, 2004. Also sought is information on what Web users did while on the site. [more inside]
posted by ericb on Oct 19, 2007 - 58 comments

Mare Tranquillitatis outside Flagstaff. "With high explosives, they terraformed a lunar surrogate right here on the surface of the earth." The excellent Pruned reports on the earth-bound moon model. USGS report.
posted by OmieWise on Sep 18, 2007 - 16 comments

Visiting Northern Arizona? Well, of course you should see the canyon. However, you might want to skip that sky walk nonsense. Instead you might want to visit Walpi village on the Hopi Lands. The Hopi have lived out there on three mesas (an island inside another reservation) since the first century A.D. They were never moved to other areas or reservations, and spent a lot of time defending their land in many important ways over the ages. These days you can have a very intimate visit to the oldest, most continually occupied place in North America, if you don't mind a little drive. Don't bring your camera.
posted by BrodieShadeTree on Jul 20, 2007 - 17 comments

Just Coffee is a vertically-integrated coffee cooperative with a mission to provide the training and resources to create a sustainable small-scale international coffee company fully owned and controlled by the coffee growers. Could they also provide a model solution for the immigration problem?
posted by carsonb on Feb 18, 2007 - 17 comments

One of the stars of the new NFL season will make its debut this Sunday. It's not a player - it's Arizona Cardinal's stadium. It's got a retractable roof, and a movable grass field that can roll out of the facility where it will reside most of the year and get its nourishment, maintenance and grooming. First of its kind in North America. NPR audio piece.
posted by jaimev on Sep 8, 2006 - 37 comments

Sherri Finkbine --as reported by BBC News, on this day in 1962 (video clip too)--her travails and travels, the law, publicity, and what happened afterwards. (more here from American Prospect in 05: ...A Gallup Poll taken that year showed that the majority of Americans supported Finkbine, and her case was a turning point ...)
posted by amberglow on Aug 26, 2006 - 16 comments

KCDX: Five years of non-stop rock. "There is no discipline at KCDX, where the song choices are as chaotic as a schoolyard at recess... The signal, which started broadcasting throughout central Arizona and much of Phoenix in 2002, played an eclectic mix that included hits by Huey Lewis and the News and an obscure 1971 tune about cannibalism by the Buoys. There were no commercials, no DJs, no way the station made money."
posted by rkent on May 1, 2006 - 29 comments

Son of Senate president offered plea deal in assault case Clifton Bennett, 18, the son of Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett, and his co-defendant, Kyle Wheeler, 19, were charged in January with 18 counts of aggravated assault and 18 counts of kidnapping for the incidents, which happened at a youth camp last June. The younger Bennett confessed to police that he and Wheeler sodomized the 11- to 14-year-old boys with broomsticks and flashlights in at least 40 incidents, court documents show.
posted by headlemur on Apr 3, 2006 - 76 comments

Character Counts! Last year, Arizona State Treasurer David Petersen stood in front of the International Building Cities of Character Conference to deliver a keynote address. Inside the Character Training Institute's headquarters, Petersen took to the conference podium to tell how his state's Family Services Committee passed "Character Education Legislation." "All schools now have it implemented," he said. "We're fighting for the soul of this nation." Petersen added that he attributed his passion for character to a personal meeting with evangelist Bill Gothard, founder of Institute in Basic Life Principles. Petersen is now the focus of a theft and fraud inquiry alleging that he used his position and state funds to promote the character education program, a program to which he had financial ties. Is your city a City of Character?
posted by Otis on Mar 23, 2006 - 17 comments

If you're going to to break into the cowboy business, this is as good a place as any to do it. [more inside]
posted by mr_crash_davis on Oct 30, 2005 - 8 comments

Quicktime virtual reality panoramas of thousands of picturesque places in the Western United States and Canada. Feast your eyes on The Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite, Mossbrae Falls, Monument Valley, a Ghost Town, the Cascades, Palm Canyon, Joshua Tree, Las Vegas, Redwood Forests, poppy fields, palm groves, and Bumpass Hell. (via Highways West) (previous Mefi appearance)
posted by euphorb on Jan 31, 2005 - 8 comments

When the Glen Canyon Dam was completed, it took 18 years for the waters of the Colorado River to flood 186 miles of the most beautiful canyonlands in the world. David Brower called it America's "most regretted environmental mistake." But now Glen Canyon is coming back.
posted by alms on Nov 2, 2004 - 20 comments

Becoming what you hate : Nathan Sproul, case study in moral relativism on the Religious Right "former head of the Arizona Republican Party and of the Arizona Christian Coalition....Sproul is connected with the Republican National Committee-funded voter registration organization, Voters' Outreach of America Inc." - Sproul's firm is accused of fraud and the destruction of voter registration forms. He also failed to pay his workers and his office rent. Rick Perlstein, in the Village Voice, comments on the Sproul scandal : "Both sides are not equally bad, and any reporters who don't recognize that conservatism's very core has become shot through with a culture of mendacity should turn in their press badge..... It used to be that we could count on the conscience of conservatives to protect our democratic institutions."
posted by troutfishing on Oct 22, 2004 - 37 comments

Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer. President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.
The jounalist's name was Mamta Popat. She sure sounds like a terrorist.
posted by JeffK on Jul 31, 2004 - 30 comments

Mayday Mystery. At the University of Arizona, a series of ads has been placed in the school's newspaper, the Arizona Wildcat. These ads have shown up every year around May 1st for the last 20 years or so, and seem to be cryptic puzzles relating to some sort of secret counterculture organization. Bryan Hance, the former webmaster of the Wildcat, noticed the ads, and has been trying to track down what's been going on ever since. He is chronicling his findings at www.maydaymystery.org. (via ARGN)
posted by quibx on Jun 24, 2004 - 23 comments

Four Corners - A Literary Excursion Across America "There is no experience that compares to being on all fours in four states at once while waving ones behind toward a blinking camera. Even Columbus would have appreciated this." Good reading here.
posted by WolfDaddy on Jan 30, 2004 - 1 comment

"Want to get arrested? Walk home with me." It's LawForKids, the site devoted to giving the kids the education they need about drinking and other kewl stuff through the aid of really, really, really crappy cartoons. Plus, enjoy the intellectual and grammar-rich discussion on hard knocks in Juvie, plus Flash games about being a good citizen. Not sure about discouraging kids from crime, but I sure as hell want to stay away from a life of web design now.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Dec 14, 2003 - 29 comments

"We have a society that is moving very rapidly to the super-, super-, super-consumptive," says architect Paolo Soleri. "And I'm proposing that might not be the final answer. So I'm saying, why don't we try a leaner alternative?" (via PBS; more inside.)
posted by .kobayashi. on Nov 16, 2003 - 21 comments

Images of the Southwest. The American southwest, that is. The Bisbee Deportation of 1917 - 'an event specific to Arizona that influenced the labor movement throughout the United States'; early cartography of the southwest; a rural school newspaper; mission churches; folk arts - Easter eggs, murals and so on; War Relocation Authority camps (some photos ; and more.
posted by plep on Jul 14, 2003 - 6 comments

Arizona may ignore the next Homeland Security Orange Alert "It creates incredible problems: overtime, financial, functional," said Frank Navarrete, the state's homeland security director. "It's not quite to the point where it creates havoc, but it's quite disruptive."
posted by thedailygrowl on Jun 4, 2003 - 22 comments

The city of Peoria, Arizona has a problem with a car dealership flying too many American flags. They have threatened thousands of dollars in fines and even jail time if the flags aren't removed. The perpetrator pleads guilty of patriotism.
posted by MrAnonymous on Apr 14, 2003 - 42 comments

Does this seem incongruous to anyone else? (-cnn) Two professors were shot and killed Monday at the University of Arizona's College of Nursing A student was "disgruntled" at the professors and shot at them. I am (sadly) not too surprised that something like this would happen on a college campus, but it does seem strange that it would happen at the College of Nursing.
posted by valval22 on Oct 28, 2002 - 48 comments

Student fails, and parents threaten to sue. Teacher stands firm. Alas, the School Board caves in and the underachieving brat gets to graduate. This is: (A) a sad sign of our times, (B) a ridiculous travesty, (C) a terrible precedent for teachers and students alike, or (D) all of the above. Discuss.
posted by Fofer on Jun 12, 2002 - 77 comments

Deserts are dry? Sue. "The families of 11 immigrants who died [while] illegally crossing into Arizona from Mexico have filed a $41 million claim against two federal agencies, saying the government's refusal to put water out in the desert contributed to the migrants' deaths." Do they have a case?
posted by darukaru on May 11, 2002 - 53 comments

The new Mormon Temple in Snowflake Arizona is temporarily open to the public before its dedication next month, however the Masonic-like rituals that take place inside are still top secret. Shhh, don't tell.
posted by johnnyace on Feb 7, 2002 - 24 comments

Arizona want to pay teachers what they are worth A new basis for pay puts aside tradtional contractual salaries in favor of pay according to worth. Second state in nation to try this system. How is worth decided and by whom?
posted by Postroad on Dec 2, 2001 - 17 comments

I thought they were content to just sit at home and watch Matlock?! "Community officials in Sun City West, Arizona, have reported that over a dozen senior couples have been caught having sex in public in recent weeks. Sexual incidents of heterosexual and homosexual couples engaged in amorous affairs in parking lots, park benches, and swimming pools."
posted by Brilliantcrank on Jun 25, 2001 - 25 comments

Has John McCain gone too far? There's a grassroots movement in Arizona intent on yanking John McCain out of office. Apparently, the last straw for the conservatives there is that he supposedly dissed the President by not showing up to a picnic. They need 300,000 signatures in order to have a recall vote in November. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this.
posted by crunchland on Jun 12, 2001 - 49 comments

Jail Cam Raises Hackles and a Lawsuit When Links to Porno Sites Are Discovered

Yuck. Remind me not to get arrested in Arizona...
posted by preguicoso on Jun 6, 2001 - 3 comments

Roden Crater is an extinct volcano in Arizona and doubles as a $7M land art project by James Turrell. I look forward to visiting the site on my next trip to the Southwest.
"If you're not an optimist, forget being an artist," Mr. Turrell said. "I've been lucky. I never felt any entitlement. I'd hoped interest in this work would get going sooner because it wasn't meant to occupy my whole career." The sun was going down and the sky was red and purple. "But that's fine. I have nothing better to do."
posted by gen on Apr 9, 2001 - 2 comments

This article is rather interesting. I moved to Arizona last year and have noticed and commented on the high amount of female construction workers both here and in New Mexico compared to the amount you see in other states. If Arizona is 1% ahead of the national average, and still needs to hire more to meet requirements, I wonder how many states are far below requirements and just what they're doing about it, if anything. How often do you see a women workers in your state?
posted by crushed on Feb 26, 2001 - 10 comments

No more POP? And on a weekend too...How unfortunate.
posted by bluechief on Jun 4, 2000 - 2 comments

If you're in Arizona, you'll be able to vote online for your Democratic Primary candidate this year. Nuts! I can't wait to see how this works out. All I can think is that it will be a security nightmare and hell on server resources to do that many writes to a database in a short period of time. I hope it's a success, and spreads to my state, so I won't have to go through the trouble of finding my polling place, waiting in line, and getting to work on time. You want voter participation to go above 20%? Make it easier.
posted by mathowie on Jan 18, 2000 - 4 comments