Southeast Valley Development News

[Vicelord John]

I think i remember hearing that though the ftv house is on 18th street and orangewood so not sure what they would have the lambo in chandler for.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

I think i remember hearing that though the ftv house is on 18th street and orangewood so not sure what they would have the lambo in chandler for.

Maybe this just finished an shooting of an on-site video in a S. Chandler mansion?

[ljm]

This article just came out on the AZ Republic

"Superstition Vistas planning advances despite economy

If you plan it, they will come.

But if you don't plan it, they will come anyway, turning a vast swath of Pinal County into a cancerous blob of urban sprawl with up to a million new residents.

That's the thinking behind a $1.7 million exercise that's about to produce its first report on possible ways to develop Superstition Vistas, a 275-square-mile tract of state trust land in the far southeast Valley.

The effort is moving forward despite the near-collapse of the Arizona home-building industry and a change at the helm of the Arizona State Land Department, which owns the approximately 176,000 acres and, over time, will sell them to developers.

Nobody expects the land to instantly sprout a new community. Early discussions of Superstition Vistas envisioned a timetable of 50 to 60 years or more, depending on the economy and other factors.

But Mike Hutchinson, a former Mesa city manager who is overseeing the planning process, said temporary economic hiccups won't affect the big picture.

As the nation's population grows, he said, Arizona's will grow with it.

"There's going to be, over the next 40 years, 6 million more people (in Arizona), most of them going into central areas," Hutchinson said. His years in Mesa government taught him that even though "we'd have some slowdowns, people still want to come here in large numbers."

That prospect led Roc Arnett president of the East Valley Partnership, to cobble together money from private and public sources to hire Hutchinson and enlist the services of Robert Grow, a nationally known urban planner from Utah.

Their efforts over the past 18 months have yielded four possible development scenarios that will be rolled out during public meetings Sept. 1 and 2 in Pinal County. The aim is to winnow those down to one proposal that eventually will become part of Pinal County's master plan.

"Our goal is to really have this as a showpiece of sustainability," Hutchinson said. With new building designs, new land-use patterns and good transportation systems, planners hope to avoid past practices that have planted large subdivisions in areas with shaky resources and infrastructure.

Arnett admits it's a tall order.

"We've got some heavy-duty challenges," he said. Water supplies are not assured and there is, as yet, no plan for governing the huge area.

Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter, worries no matter how much planning is done, Superstition Vistas is just another name for more Arizona sprawl.

"We talk about changing, and we talk about looking for ways to do things differently, but it seems there is a real strong status-quo force in this state," she said. She fears Superstition Vistas developers would profit at the expense of taxpayers, who she said typically subsidize Arizona's construction industry.

"We want them to think about whether this is a good place to develop at all," Bahr said. "There are patterns of development that are much more suitable . . . for the desert landscape and also more energy-efficient."

Bahr said the Valley needs more infill projects and less outward growth.

Mark Winkleman, the department's former director, strongly supported the Superstition Vistas planning effort.

His successor, former Phoenix City Council member Maria Baier, concurs, said her top deputy, Jamie Hogue.

"The Land Department doesn't have the resources on its own to engage in a planning exercise of this magnitude," Hogue said.

But she said the exercise now under way "could definitely be a kind of poster child" to demonstrate the benefits of advance planning to promote sustainability and enhance the value of state lands before they're sold."

[Vicelord John]

ick

[TAZ4ate0]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

ick

Yep. That about sums it up.

[Sonoran_Dweller]

Originally Posted by ljm

But she said the exercise now under way "could definitely be a kind of poster child" to demonstrate the benefits of advance planning to promote sustainability and enhance the value of state lands before they're sold."

Such bull.

[vwwolfe]

http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...eyard0911.html

Council Grants Waveyard More Time


With a do-or-die deadline only four months away, a mixed-use project pitched to be the Valley's No. 1 tourist destination got a new lease on life Thursday.

Meeting behind closed doors, the Mesa City Council decided to give Waveyard an additional 18 months to pull its financing together, financing that has been estimated at anywhere from $250 million to $750 million. The resort would feature a whitewater-rafting river, scuba pool, surfing and other outdoor-sports amenities, as well as a huge indoor water park.

The project's creators, Richard Mladick and Jerry Hug, announced 2 1/2 years ago their plans to build on about 125 acres
now occupied by Mesa's city-owned Riverview Golf Course and four ballfields.


The land lies at Mesa's northwestern gateway near Dobson Road and Loop 202.

Mesa voters approved the deal and tax incentives to facilitate the project by an overwhelming margin in November 2007.

But as Waveyard worked on the intricate site plan and other details, the global credit markets crashed.

That made it all but impossible to meet the most important condition of Waveyard's development agreement with Mesa: By Jan. 11, 2010, Hug and Mladick had to prove to City Manager Chris Brady that they had enough money to not only begin the project but finish it.

Now, they have until July 2011. The council also agreed Thursday to grant additional six-month extensions after that if Waveyard can show tangible progress, such as hotel or retail partnerships.

If granted, the further extensions would give Waveyard until January 2014 to get off the ground.

In the meantime, Mesa retains ownership of the land. If Waveyard fizzles, the city can either sell the property to other developers or decide to keep its golf and softball facilities.

"It puts us in a position where we have the opportunity to be successful," Hug said. "We were not afforded that over the past two years, given the credit crisis."

Although news this week is full of stories recounting the spectacular financial crisis that exploded a year ago, things are improving, Hug said.

"We're starting to see some semblance of normalcy," he said. "There are signs of thawing in the financial markets."

Mayor Scott Smith also was hopeful, though more cautiously so.

"I'm as optimistic about this as anything in this economy and this world right now," he said. "Any of us have a very uphill struggle. . . . It's a good project, if the economy cooperates and the financial markets cooperate."

Smith said the 2007 election, which backed Waveyard by 65-35 percent, played a big part in Thursday's decision.

"We should give the project every reasonable chance to succeed, which is what the citizens of Mesa want," he said.

Waveyard's backers said the facility could become Arizona's second-leading tourist attraction, trailing only the Grand Canyon.

[TAZ4ate0]

^Cool. I like this project and I am glad Mesa granted them more time.

[Leo the Dog]

I would be absolutely amazed if Mesa could pull something like Waveyard off.

Unfortunately, their record is against them.

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...teway0918.html

Mesa struggles with first impressions from freeway views
48 comments by Jim Walsh - Sept. 17, 2009 11:52 AM
The Arizona Republic
Few would argue that Mesa's western gateway on the Loop 202 makes a good first impression.

While Scottsdale has freeway walls decorated with artistic cactus and geckos and Tempe has Town Lake, drivers entering Mesa are treated to views of a wastewater treatment plant, cement companies and sand and gravel operations.

The difference is that Scottsdale and Tempe paid for the upgrades, which Mesa can't afford. The result is that in a culture where image is everything, the first image thousands of people see when they enter the nation's 38th largest city each day isn't pretty.

Heading east on the 202, drivers coming into Mesa pass a pockmarked landscape of barren river bottom dominated by large piles of rock and heavy equipment on the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community to the north.

On the south side is the treatment plant, large stretches of bladed desert and a massive gravel pit. The only relief in the first two miles is the Mesa Riverview shopping area.

"You're right, it's ugly," said Stephanie Wright, co-chair of the Mesa Grande Community Alliance neighborhood group.

Tanya Collins, Mesa Grande's other co-chair, said that one of the biggest eyesores is "the big hole," a 100-foot deep gravel pit run by Johnson Stewart company south of Loop 202 and west of Alma School Road.

"We'd love to see it become more attractive to make that entrance to Mesa look better," Collins said.

Collins, a retired Mesa city employee, said the area needs to think big to have an appealing future. For instance, she'd love to see the gravel pit turn into a lake.

"It's been there a long time and it's been a nuisance to the neighborhood a long time," she said, recalling a time years ago when operation of a batch plant at night would create dust and noise.

A spokesman for Johnson Stewart said the 100-foot deep pit would probably be mined for another five years. Reclamation already is underway, with the part nearest Alma School getting filled with concrete and dirt.

The spokesman said the mine, which dates back to 1946 in the Johnson family, has tried to be a good neighbor by planting eucalyptus trees to block the view from nearby neighborhoods. The mine donated materials to build McLellan Road between Alma School and Country Club Drive and a runway at the former Williams Air Force Base, now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

"These are responsible operators and they're doing a great job," said Steve Trussell, executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association.

He said the industry has helped power Arizona's growth, supplying concrete for highways, foundations for houses and other purposes. The mines need to be near transportation and markets to keep costs down.

"There are things we might not be excited about but are necessary," Trussell said.

Although Mesa may never have the money decorative sound walls along the Loop 202, the city has at least two long-term hopes for the area's transformation, but neither is a sure thing.

Drivers could be greeted by such refreshing images as kayakers navigating whitewater or surfers riding a wave if the Waveyard water resort is built near the water treatment plant.

"It's an extremely unexpected scenario," said Richard Mladick, Waveyard's co-founder. "We view all this as a tremendous opportunity. The visibility is one of things that make it such a great site."

And Va Shly'ay Akimel, a major Salt River ecosystem restoration project that has been a dream for nearly a decade, is inching closer with a major assist from $645,000 in federal stimulus money.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are hiring a consultant to design the first leg of the 14-mile project between the Loop 101 bridge and Alma School Road.

However neither Waveyard nor Va Shly'ay Akimel are certainties.

Waveyard is behind schedule from the recession and just received an extension of a development agreement from the Mesa City Council. Va Shly'ay Akimel is a $161.2 million project and whether it gets built depends on future federal expenditures.

Mike Ternak, Va Shly'ay Akimel's project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, has never been more optimistic. He said the project was authorized by Congress in 2007 through the Water Resources Development Act, clearing a path toward eventual construction.

The dusty gray scar that stretches through the east Valley would gradually turn greener and would have actual wetlands.

"I think it's going to be a great opportunity visually to improve what the river looks like," Ternak said.

Planned to reverse 100-years of degradation, the project would rechannel the river, provide reliable water sources to restore natural vegetation and create a trail system on the south side.

Even if the federal money kept flowing, it would take 10 years to gradually build Va Shly'ay Akimel in stages, Ternak said.

Ternak said the Johnson Stewart mine is outside Va Shly'ay Akimel's footprint, however other operations, particularly on the north side of the freeway, including CEMEX, Maricopa Ready Mix and Salt River Mining Group, could be affected.

I hadn't heard of this Akimel plan before but it sounds nice. The Salt River like I've said before is this amazing untapped resource and really should be a giant linear park and wetlands area through the entire stretch of urbanized area in the Valley, its nice to see Mesa planning ahead for once and perhaps doing something to make that a reality.

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...9cubs1009.html

Gila River talks with Chicago Cubs angers Mesa mayor
33 comments by Jim Walsh - Oct. 9, 2009 12:30 PM
The Arizona Republic
Representatives from the Gila River Indian Community met with the Chicago Cubs about building a new training facility for the team, a move that upset Mesa Mayor Scott Smith.

Alia Maisonet, a Gila River spokeswoman, confirmed the meeting but denied the community has entered into the bidding process for the Cubs, the Cactus League's meal ticket as perennial attendance champions.

"We have looked at the Cubs," she said. "No, we have not entered into a formal bidding process. No formal offer was discussed."

The Cubs have trained in Mesa for the better part of 50 years and the city has built the team three different stadiums, but the team can opt out of its contract early next year.

Smith said he was told by the Cubs that the Gila River tribal representatives had met with them in Chicago. He said he's not happy about the tribe trying to "steal" the Cubs.

"I think it's counter-productive to the Cactus League. I think this hurts our region," Smith said.

Smith and other Mesa officials have been working to put together a proposal to build a new spring training complex that would be presented to the Cubs at a meeting in November.

"For another community to interfere is very troubling to me," Smith said. "When it comes to Arizona, I think the real risk is that we beat each other up."

Smith said he doesn't want competition between Arizona communities to create opportunities for the Cubs to move to Naples, FL., or elsewhere in the Sunshine State.

He said wealthy investors in Florida have offered to help make a Cubs move to Naples happen.

"Whenever you have that kind of firepower, it's a threat," Smith said.

The Gila River community also made attempts to land The Arizona Diamondbacks, who eventually chose a site near Scottsdale on the Salt River-Pima Indian Community.

But Maisonet said the Diamondbacks proposal never made it to the Gila River Tribal Council for approval and any offer to the Cubs also hasn't come before the council.

The Diamondbacks training facility "at that time was not a good fit for us," she said.

The Cubs drew more than 203,000 fans to home games at Hohokam Stadium this spring. Their average home attendance is 10,690, compared to 5,819 for other Cactus League teams, according to a study commisioned by Mesa this summer.

The study concluded the Cubs are worth at least $31.1 million in direct spending by fans at games and have an overall economic impact of $52.2 million on the state's economy.

I rarely agree w/ Mesa leadership but Im totally with them on this. Valley cities/tribes shouldnt be competing with each other for Cactus League teams, they should be working together and against the Grapefruit league.

Im all for the Gila River reservation adding a stadium, it would be great right next to the new casino tower theyre building off the I-10. But why not try to pick of the St Louis Cardinals from the Grapefruit league? The Cardinals have a huge and loyal fanbase, and having them in the same spring training league with their hated rivals the Cubs would be great for revenues and attendance. The Twins and Astros are the other two teams west of the Mississippi also going to Florida, they should become targets for the Cactus league to pick off, not moving around the teams we currently have and perhaps leaving HoHoKam Park empty.

[Leo the Dog]

I agree Hoover, but I understand why the Cubs would flee Mesa. Look what has happened to that city? Besides, fans could stay at Wild Horse Pass and walk to the games....I like it.

[Vicelord John]

I hate HoHoKam... not the stadium as I've never been.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

I agree Hoover, but I understand why the Cubs would flee Mesa. Look what has happened to that city? Besides, fans could stay at Wild Horse Pass and walk to the games....I like it.

Mesa stinks but the area around HoHoKam park is fine, and just a short shuttle ride away from Downtown Mesa which during the day is a nice little downtown and good place to hang out and grab a bite. Personally Id rather hang out there than in the casino anyday.

EDIT: In more East Valley news it looks like Chandlers trying to fix their downtown up now too. Its good to hear places like Mesa, Chandler, Goodyear, etc all start making plans for creating walkable urban downtown cores while the economy is down. Hopefully they can get their code in place by the next upswing in the market and see some changes:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/c...azave1010.html

Chandler leaders have plans to spruce up Arizona Avenue
4 comments by Edythe Jensen - Oct. 12, 2009 07:55 AM
The Arizona Republic
As construction of the six-story Chandler City Hall changes the downtown skyline, city leaders are taking another step toward shaping the area around it: new design guidelines for buildings and streetscapes along Arizona Avenue.

If the guidelines take effect, future downtown visitors will likely walk among buildings that are four stories or taller, dine in outdoor cafes and visit friends in high-rise condominiums. The picture is in stark contrast to the one-story businesses, vacant lots and older homes that dot most of the street today.

A lengthy draft proposal goes before the Planning and Zoning Commission at a special meeting Tuesday night and could get a City Council vote before the end of the year.

Behind the push is a desire to transform downtown into an urban mixed-use environment that encourages pedestrian activity with clusters of tall buildings, interesting architecture, shaded walkways and a place that lures new businesses and residents, planner David DeLaTorre said. The guidelines also heavily promote "green" buildings and sustainable design that favors solar energy and shade.

He stressed that they are separate from Arizona Avenue improvements that have already been approved by the City Council. Those will include narrowing a portion of the road from six lanes to four, widening sidewalks and adding signs, landscaping and crosswalks. Work is expected to start early next year.

The new design guidelines would require developers to follow a long list of rules governing the appearance of future buildings, shade, walkways and setbacks. But they will be able to get more use out of smaller parcels because the plan encourages multiple-story structures with commercial operations on ground floors and apartments or condos above, DeLaTorre said.

Recent news that Arizona State University is considering a branch campus downtown "is very exciting" and could jump-start development in the area, he said. The proposed design guidelines fit a campus' needs with plenty of housing for students and places within walking distance for dining and shopping, he said.

The city is set to help with redevelopment by upgrading water and sewer lines and making street improvements. The biggest stumbling block will be one facing developers: They must buy clusters of small parcels from private owners and assembling them for larger projects, DeLaTorre said. The area currently contains an eclectic mix of older residences and businesses.

At the special meeting, commissioners will see examples of recommended building styles, including photos of Roosevelt Square in downtown Phoenix at 121 W. Portland St. DeLaTorre said the square exemplifies what would be good for downtown Chandler: interesting architecture, a pedestrian-friendly frontage close to the street and apartments over shops and restaurants.

The Downtown Chandler Community Partnership, a non-profit that advances downtown development, has not yet weighed in on the proposal. Partnership board member and former City Councilwoman Patti Bruno said she had not yet seen the plan but plans to attend the 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday. The group is supporting the city's efforts to improve Arizona Avenue through downtown.

I dont think I had heard about a ASU branch campus in downtown Chandler until this article. I assume its part of the "Colleges @" plan.

[combusean]

I didn't even know Chandler had a tower crane downtown building that city hall. Unusual to see the downtown of the place I grew up in advance so far.

[mwadswor]

East Valley Tribune to shut down Dec. 31
Comments 61| Recommend 21
Ed Taylor, Tribune

November 2, 2009 - 11:35AM , updated: November 2, 2009 - 6:35PM

Digg| Save| License| Print| E-mail|


The front of the East Valley Tribune offices in Mesa photographed Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.

Jayson Peters, Tribune

Mesa city reporter Garin Groff sits and listens Monday, Nov. 2, as management tells East Valley Tribune employees that the newspaper will be shutting down as of Dec, 31, 2009.

Thomas Boggan, TribuneThe Tribune Newspapers will cease operations on Dec. 31, parent company Freedom Communications said Monday.

Read the company's news release (PDF)

Freedom officials made the announcement to Tribune employees Monday morning, citing the economic recession and changes in the newspaper industry that have caused many publications to close and others to file for bankruptcy protection.

Freedom, which itself is operating under Chapter 11 reorganization, had been attempting to sell the Tribune, but no acceptable offers have come forward, said interim Chief Executive Burl Osborne.

“We have received a number of inquiries, but none at a level we would remotely consider,” he said, adding, “This is a terrible day for the company, a terrible day for the Tribune.”

Osborne said the company would consider any other offer that might be presented before Dec. 31, but the company is moving ahead with winding down the operation in expectation of closing.

Severance packages will be provided to employees, but a few jobs may be available in other parts of the company for some employees, said Publisher Julie Moreno.

Two other Freedom-owned newspapers in the Valley, the Sun City Daily News-Sun and Ahwatukee Foothills News, will continue to publish, as will Freedom Interactive in Chandler, which publishes the Clipper coupon book.

About 140 employees work at the Tribune. Most are located at the company’s main plant at 120 W. First Ave. in Mesa.

The Tribune publishes editions in Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek. It distributes 100,000 free papers in driveways and racks three times weekly.

In addition to ceasing publication of the print edition, the company also will close its evtrib.com Web site at the end of this year, officials said.

During the transition time the Tribune will continue to publish its print and online products as usual and will continue to support customers, advertisers and the community, the company said. Employees and suppliers will be paid for the work they perform and goods they provide during the transition, officials said.

In addition to advertising cutbacks caused by the recession, the newspaper industry has been hard hit by technology changes that have altered the way many people receive their news.

Many readers are using the Internet as their primary news delivery source, but news organizations have had difficulty operating Web sites profitably.

Jon Segal, vice president of Freedom Newspapers, said the company made a major effort to adjust the Tribune to the changing media landscape, including adopting a new business model that focused on free distribution of the print product and enhancing advertising revenue.

Also Freedom purchased a new press that allowed the Tribune to publish separate editions in tabloid format for each of the four communities.

In a sound economy, the business model would have worked, Segal said, but in a sharp economic downturn the task was too great.

“Readership was up, we won awards, acceptance of the product by readers was good,” he said. “In a normal economy it would have been successful, but overlaying it was that perfect storm.”

According to Freedom’s filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Tribune has not been profitable in the past two years.

At the end of last year, the Tribune laid off more than 40 percent of its staff to drastically cut costs in an effort to stay alive. But that also was not sufficient.

Osborne said Freedom will retain ownership of the press and other assets of the Tribune. The company’s building in downtown Mesa will be available for sale, he said.

East Valley civic leaders reacted to the announcement with sadness.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Mesa Mayor Scott Smith. “The Tribune has been a part of Mesa for decades, for generations. Heck, I was a paperboy for the old Mesa Tribune when I was young, so I’ve had a connection with the paper, too.”

Smith said losing different voices in turbulent times for the media business is troubling.

“The community needs different voices, and it’s healthy when you have multiple outlets,” Smith said. “Losing one is a detriment to all of us.”

Losing the Tribune’s presence downtown also will be “unfortunate,” Smith said. “It’s been a part of downtown for so many decades.”

State Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-Chandler, also said the Tribune’s closure will mean a loss for public dialogue and will be a blow to media competition.

“The Tribune and the East Valley are kind of synonymous. There’s going to be a real hole there,” he said.

Gilbert Vice Mayor Linda Abbott, who teaches government at Mesquite High School, said the Tribune and all newspapers are essential to a functioning democracy.

“Any time there is a newspaper that is extinguished, that is something that is a sadness for all of us,” she said. “It is imperative that with public policy that you have the press as the guard for our citizenry, and with the closing of the Tribune, that’s one less critical oversight on public policy.”

Officials in Queen Creek said the Tribune will be missed because it has been the community’s primary source of local news.

“The Tribune’s kind of been our go-to place to get information to people,” said Queen Creek Mayor Art Sanders. “I’m without words.”

Queen Creek Town Manager John Kross said the announcement was disappointing.

“Frankly, from Queen Creek’s perspective, we’re not getting any coverage from the (Arizona) Republic or other traditional media services. We’re doing what we can on our own on our Web site and on Facebook and Twitter,” Kross said. “But to have a third party covering our community, to have that go away, is going to be challenging.”

Roc Arnett, president of the East Valley Partnership, a regional business group, said his first memories of the newspaper date back to 54 years ago as an 11-year-old paperboy.

The job allowed him to get a loan to buy a saxophone, which he paid off during his year as a paperboy, he recalled.

The Tribune played a significant role in the East Valley’s growth, in Arnett’s view, when then-publisher Chuck Wahlheim coined the term “East Valley” about three decades ago.

Wahlheim was a founding member of the East Valley Partnership, which was a counterbalance to a group of influential business leaders dubbed the Phoenix 40. The East Valley needed a greater voice, Arnett said, because the Phoenix 40’s primary interest was Phoenix.

In addition to setting up the partnership, Wahlheim said two of his biggest accomplishments as publisher were to start a Sunday edition and move from evening to morning delivery at a time when evening papers were disappearing around the country.

He said his bosses at Cox Newspapers in Atlanta, which owned the Tribune at the time, resisted the move to morning delivery.

“I had to put up some strong arguments to get their permission,” he said. “Then when we did it, our circulation took a jump.”

He also expressed dismay at the loss of the newspaper.

“My heart and soul has been in the Tribune,” he said. “The thing that is so tragic is I don’t know who is going to be the Fourth Estate.”

Former managing and executive editor Jim Ripley said the loss of the Tribune’s voice will hurt the communities it has served.

“What stands out in general in my mind is the hardworking watchdog journalism and the very competitive journalism we produced,” he said. “This is important to every community. The loyalty of the Tribune was always to the welfare of the East Valley. … I don’t know if that will ever be replaced.”

Stephen Doig, a professor at the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, said he was “appalled” by the development, citing a Pulitzer Prize won earlier this year by two Tribune reporters as an example of the paper’s tradition of good investigative journalism.

“I think any time we lose a newspaper, either by a death of a thousand cuts that has been going on or the outright termination we now see, the only winners are the crooks and incompetents who won’t be exposed because there will be fewer reporters watching them.”

He believes journalism will survive but in a very different form.

“There will be experiments,” he said. “A lot will fail, a few will be successful. Ten years from now we will have a very different landscape where news will still be produced.”

The closing of the Tribune will bring an end to nearly 120 years of newspaper publication in Mesa. The Tribune’s forerunner, the Evening Weekly Free Press, began publication in 1891.

In recent decades the newspaper has gone through several ownership changes, passing from Cox Newspapers to Thomson Newspapers to Freedom Communications, which acquired the property in 2000.

Reporters Sonu Munshi, Ari Cohn, Blake Herzog, Amanda Keim and Garin Groff contributed to this story.

Tribune timeline:

1891 — Mesa’s first newspaper, the Evening Weekly Free Press, is founded by attorney Alfred P. Shewman and Judge W.D. Morton.

1899 — Judge Morton sells out to Alfred Shewman.

1910 — Frank T. Pomeroy and Harry D. Haines buy the paper and convert it into a daily publication, The Evening Press.

1913 — The name is changed to Mesa Daily Tribune.

1925 — Paper is renamed the Mesa Daily Journal.

1928 — The name is changed again to Daily Mesa Evening Journal.

1932 — Southside Publishing Co., a venture of Mesa and Chandler businessmen, acquire ownership. Over the next seven years stock is purchased by P.R. Mitten and his son Charles.

1939 — Charles Mitten buys out his father’s share. Mitten begins printing the paper five days a week after World War II under the name Mesa Daily Tribune.

1950 — Mitten sells Tribune to David W. Calvert.

1956 — The Tribune publishing plant on Macdonald Street is destroyed by fire. The company opens five months later at 120 W. First Ave.

1977 — Cox Enterprises in Atlanta, Ga., purchases the Tribune from Calvert.

1980 — Cox purchases the Tempe Daily News.

1983 — Cox purchases the Chandler Arizonan.

1990 — Cox starts the Gilbert Tribune.

1993 — Cox purchases the Scottsdale Progress.

1996 — Cox sells its newspaper holdings to Thomson Newspapers.

1997 — All five newspapers are combined into one newspaper, The Tribune, serving eastern Maricopa County with a separate edition serving Scottsdale. Also Thomson purchases the Daily News-Sun in Sun City.
1998 — Thomson purchases the Ahwatukee Foothills News.

1999 — Paper is renamed the East Valley Tribune.

2000 — Thomson sells its newspaper holdings to Freedom Communications.
2009 — On Jan. 1 the Tribune cuts more than 40 percent of its staff and withdraws from the Scottsdale and Tempe markets as newspaper industry hits a severe slump. The company relaunches separate tabloid editions for Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek and adopts new business model with free distribution.

In April, Tribune reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin are awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local news reporting for a five-part series about how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arapio’s enforcement of immigration laws detracted from enforcement of other laws.

On Nov. 2 Freedom Communications announces it will close the Tribune because a new buyer for the newspaper has not been found.

Lame. Their web design blows, but I always thought it was a better paper than the Arizona Republic.

[glynnjamin]

^They shoulda made a digital color e-ink edition... like in Minority Report. That would have saved them.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by glynnjamin

^They shoulda made a digital color e-ink edition... like in Minority Report. That would have saved them.

Are any/many papers doing that yet? With Barnes and Nobles new "Nook" and the Kindle it seems like a forward thinking paper would get on that. However I dont think the Nook or Kindle will really ever succeed until an open format for the e-books is adopted as a standard and the competition is left to be between the hardware. No one wants to get locked into buying a bunch of Kindle books only for a superior version of the Nook to come out later.

[glynnjamin]

^There already is an open format called e-pub which all of Sony's e-readers use as does the Nook. Actually, Amazon's POS is the only one that doesn't support it. We own a Sony eReader and love it. It accepts pretty much any file type and has SD & MS slots for expansion. It literally lasts for weeks before needing a re-charge. As much as I love it, the Nook makes it look like a stone tablet.

I think ultimately what will happen with the Nook is that newspapers will be sent to your e-ink screen and the bottom color screen will show ads. Newspapers will make money from the ad views and save money on publishing costs. Maybe I'm wrong but that seems to be the best model that I can think of.

Finally, as great as e-ink is, it doesn't do color and it doesn't do video. Until we get to that point (that is affordable) newspapers are going to have to hang on and make due with whatever they can. I'm pretty sure print is dead though.

[nickkoto]

I've always thought that the one thing the major newspapers should do is try to replace their coin-operated sidewalk newspaper machines with something that has a printer and a data connection, and could print out a 20-30 page paper in a matter of seconds. Then they could continuously update the content from the office throughout the day and rather than dispatching teams of drivers out to every machine/every morning to put in today's copy (and remove the previous day's waste), a relative handful handful of people could refill paper/ink as the machines signal a low quantity. Heck, a lot of Coke machines do that now.

I actually like the idea of grabbing a print copy of the paper to read in a diner or on the bus or wherever, and I think I'm far from the only one, but not if it has yesterday's news.