Rogue Columnist

The omen

The international news that Rio Verde Foothills has seen its water cut off by the city of Scottsdale is a drama in miniature for how the Arizona Ponzi scheme is going to play out on a larger stage in the coming years.

From the BBC and New York Times, to the Washington Post and local media, Rio Verde Foothills is invariably described as a "town," "suburb," or using typical sales language, "community." The Times even gave "Rio Verde" its own dateline.

In fact, it is a subdivision in the desert of about 2,000 houses ("homes" is sales language) north of Scottsdale. It's a wildcat subdivision, built by several developers who never had to comply with the Groundwater Act, with a "100 year guarantee" of water (itself an elaborate hoax).

As I've warned you for years, the developers are gone to more hospitable climes, leaving the foolhardy owners of these houses holding the bag.

Hospitals of old Phoenix

Good Samaritan Hospital facing McDowell Road in the 1930s. Its history can be traced to Lulu Clifton, a deaconess in the Methodist Church who established Deaconess Hospital in 1911. In 1917, it was moved to remote 10th Street and McDowell and renamed Good Samaritan in 1928 (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).

Deaconess Hospital in the early 1920s before it was renamed.

The east wing of Good Sam in the 1930s. The shady, grass cooled grounds of the hospital lasted into the 1970s (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).

A color postcard shows the hospital in the same era.

Lies we tell on the border

The North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City came off with pledges of friendship and promises to address immigration, gangs, drug trafficking, economic cooperation, and  a nod to climate change.

“There can no longer be any question, none, in today’s interconnected world. We cannot wall ourselves off from shared problems,” President Biden said, in a news conference with his counterparts, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But many questions and lies linger.

It's a question and a lie that NAFTA was a total failure. Real personal gross domestic product for Mexico more than doubled since 1993. Mexico moved from a Third World nation to a First World nation. Did NAFTA cause disruptions? Yes, and on both sides of the border. Mexican agriculture was swamped by U.S. imports, while many U.S. manufacturing jobs were lost. But the authoritative studies show they were scrambled to other manufacturers exporting to Mexico. The big job losses can be blamed on the "China Shock" when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization.

Parks of old Phoenix

The original townsite set aside room for a park (plaza) on Block 23, site of today's downtown Fry's supermarket. You can click on each image for a larger view.

It became City Hall park, Phoenix's first, with a gazebo and shade trees (Brad Hall collection).

In 1905, the park was welcoming people for a concert. Easy access was provided by the Washington Street streetcar (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).

Carl Muecke's New Year's wish

The Central Arizona Project

The Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant, which draws water from Lake Havasu and vaults it 3,000 vertical feet over the Buckskin Mountains on the way 336 miles to Phoenix and Tucson. Wilmer and Charlie Reed were the lead lawyers in winning the landmark Arizona v. California lawsuit, guaranteeing the CAP. The plant accounts for 50% of the $4 billion CAP's energy use.

In 1922 the Colorado River Compact — cornerstone of "the Law of the River” — was signed by states of the Upper and Lower basins. Arizona didn't ratify it until 1944, complaining it apportioned water to the basins rather than to individual states.

Parker Dam, completed in 1938, impounding the Lake Havasu reservoir. California put the first "straw in the river" here with the Colorado River Aqueduct. It was conceived by the legendary William Mulholland and completed in 1939.

Sinema vérité

I suppose readers expect me to comment on Sen. Krysten Sinema's switch from the Democratic Party to independent. Entire digital forests have already been felled examining it, as shown on the Phoenix and Arizona links over the past several days.

She was obviously afraid of losing a primary to someone such as Rep. Ruben Gallego. This allows her a chance to split the vote among her, the Democratic challenger, and the Republican Senate candidate — and maybe come out on top. Arizona Democrats are furious with her for tag-teaming with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-Coal, to undermine President Biden's agenda, and will do everything to ensure her defeat.

But don't be so sure. Behind the sophisti-cute nerd girl eyeglasses and abundant looks privilege is an ambitious brain. Her hole card is that although she's a Jack Mormon, she earned her bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and the LDS never give up on their own. The Mormons remain a formidable voting bloc in Arizona.

The famous in old Phoenix

For a frontier town grown large, old Phoenix had its share of visiting statesmen, heroes, and celebrities. Here are a few (click for a larger image).

President William McKinley visited the capital of Arizona Territory in 1901, a few months before his assassination.

Dr. James Swetnam Winton with the first automobile in Phoenix, 1902.

President William Howard Taft passes Melinda's Alley in 1909.

Theodore Roosevelt at the Heard home in 1911, here for the dedication of Theodore Roosevelt Dam.