Tom Scanlon

Cave Creek, Phoenix

Managing Editor at Scottsdale Progress

Managing editor of the Mesa Tribune. Recently launched HARK Valley (Facebook/Bulletin newsletter). Previously covered music at the Seattle Times

Articles

Scottsdale’s crime rate continues fall

5 days ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

It may not seem to be the case. After all, this time last year, North Scottsdale was collectively freaking out over “the dinner-time bandits” – a ragtag band of break-in artists from Chile using their tourist visas to plunder high-end homes. Add to that social media tales of road rage around the city, criminally rowdy behavior at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and the now-normal drunken brawls at the University District, topped with unsupervised teens racing around on ebikes.
Hobbs signs ‘Axon bill’ into law

5 days ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

After a referendum roadblock to its wild Scottsdale expansion plans, Axon successfully detoured through the State Legislature. Though she threatened to veto bills she received as part of an unrelated funding fight, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Senate Bill 1543 on April 18.This allows the Taser maker to bypass a planned Scottsdale rezoning election and build some 1,900 apartments and a hotel with a spaceship-themed office in North Scottsdale. Last month, at the request of Axon, Rep.
Ethics complaint against Graham continues

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

An attorney’s terming an ethics complaint against Councilman Barry Graham as “frivolous” was not enough to convince Judge Kenneth Fields to drop the case. Instead, Fields forwarded the complaint to a three-person panel for review and ultimate recommendation. On March 23, Laura Norton filed a complaint, alleging Graham violated city charter by directing staff to halt a planned sidewalk 68th Street sidewalk extension.
City of Scottsdale: Overall budget down, operating budget up

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

Is the glass 3.8% less full – or 16% overflowing? Pessimists and optimists can have a raging debate over Scottsdale’s initial 2025-26 budget, which goes into effect July 1. Before that, there is work to do.
Axon bill passes House, heads to Senate

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

State representatives who said they were trying to protect Scottsdale residents from an Axon-friendly bill failed miserably last week. Senate Bill 1543, also known as “the Axon bill,” sailed through an April 10 Arizona House of Representatives vote.
Roundabout out, Caton in

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

Before an April 8 meeting featuring a controversial intersection, Mayor Lisa Borowsky attempted to play traffic cop with City Council. But the other six Scottsdale elected officials repeatedly ignored her plea of “stop!”After Council again rebuffed Borowsky, the mayor was on the losing end of a 4-3 vote that “canceled” a planned roundabout in North Scottsdale.
Axon bill passes House, heads to Senate

1 week ago | eastvalleytribune.com | Tom Scanlon

State representatives who said they were trying to protect Scottsdale residents from an Axon-friendly bill failed miserably last week. Senate Bill 1543, also known as “the Axon bill,” sailed through an April 10 Arizona House of Representatives vote.
Short-term rentals remain a problem in Scottsdale

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

Being a veteran cop working weekends in Scottsdale can be as repetitious – and exasperating – as an Alain Robbe-Grillet novel. Race up to the Entertainment District to answer a bar fight call. Sort things out. Arrest an unruly inebriate. Just as the boozy brawler is being booked, another dispatch comes in for another bar disturbance. In two decades with the Scottsdale Police Department, Sgt. Eric Bolles has been there, cuffed that drunk – wash, rinse, repeat.
‘Party boys’ chase Scottsdale native away

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

Fight – or flight? After years of battling short-term rentals and watching her neighborhood become overrun by “Airbnb party boys,” one woman chose the latter. The Progress on Dec.
‘Axon bill’ passes House, heads to Senate

1 week ago | scottsdale.org | Tom Scanlon

State representatives who said they were trying to protect Scottsdale residents from an Axon-friendly bill failed miserably this week. Senate Bill 1543, also known as “the Axon bill,” sailed through an April 10 Arizona House of Representatives vote.