Four Arizona cities made it onto a list of America’s least financially distressed cities.
Last month, WalletHub released the results of their comparison of the 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine key metrics. The personal-finance website determined cities are the most and least financially distressed in light of inflation making it more difficult for Americans to keep up with payments on their loans and lines of credit.
Glendale was 92nd on the list, followed by Chandler at 97, Gilbert at 98, and Scottsdale at 99.
“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat,” WalletHub Analyst Cassandra Happe said in a news release. “You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off.”
“People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control,” she continued.
Chicago, Illinois was the city with the most financial stress.
“It seems that in the Windy City, people’s financial security is also blowing away,” Happe said. “The share of Chicago residents who are allowed to skip debt payments due to financial difficulties went up by nearly 30% between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023.”
Additionally, Chicago residents had the third-most accounts in distress per person, according to Happe.
“Financial distress may increase further, too, as Chicago has some of the highest Google search interest in the country for terms like ‘debt’ and ‘loans,’ which indicates that people need to borrow even more,” she said.
After Chicago, Houston, Texas had the second most financial stress, followed by New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Riverside, and Jacksonville.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
Transnational organized crime is on the rise in the Valley; South American Theft Groups (SATGs) are the suspected culprits behind a string of burglaries in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Chandler, Gilbert, Peoria, and unincorporated areas of Maricopa County.
SATGs, also known as “crime tourists,” are nationals from Chile and other South American countries that exploit tourist visas in order to obtain and transport stolen goods internationally. Up until recent years, SATGs were known to operate mainly in Los Angeles and New York City.
Federal agents have offered different estimates on the emergence of SATGs. An FBI special agent toldVanity Fair in 2022 that California’s troubles with SATGs began in 2016; in that same spate of interviews, another special agent claimed that the SATG plague began in 2014 after Chile joined the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program. Chile is the only South American country in the program.
The ESTA program automatically grants 90-day visas to South American countries’ citizens with clean background checks. These program authorizations are valid for multiple trips over a period of two years.
As agents told Vanity Fair, these SATG criminals likely have “clean” background checks because they use “fictitious documents, IDs, residency cards” to claim legal presence. As a result, SATG members generally register no criminal record.
Scottsdale Councilwoman Tammy Caputi advised in a press release last week that law enforcement agencies across the cities and towns are running surveillance operations to apprehend the SATGs including cameras, fixed and moving positions, aircraft, and K9 units.
The agencies also plan to convene for further coordination efforts on Wednesday, with the possibility of a multi-agency burglary task force.
Further, the FBI assigned an agent to coordinate response efforts to the crime trend.
In December, the FBI testified on SATGs at a congressional hearing regarding the uptick in organized retail crime. In order to address SATGs, the FBI leads task forces through its Major Theft Program (MTP).
In last week’s press release, Scottsdale Police estimated that this recent string of robberies began around last October. Police estimated at least 22 burglaries were the result of SATGs, with the latest occurring last week.
Scottsdale Police reported that it had conducted seven surveillance operations to apprehend the burglars, with an eighth planned for Tuesday night. Law enforcement also disclosed that they obtained physical evidence as well as camera footage from several of the burglaries.
Law enforcement noted that the burglaries were usually occurring Thursdays through Saturdays from 5-10 p.m. The burglars have primarily targeted homes adjacent to a wash.
One of the earliest to speak out on the burglary spree was Scottsdale City Council candidate Jan Dubauskas. On Monday, Dubauskas issued a press release warning of the import of the sudden uptick in crime.
“This is a crime spree and it’s not happening in a far-off blue city like San Francisco. It’s in our own backyard,” said Dubauskas. “Scottsdale is being targeted. We chose to live here because of the sense of safety and protection and that has been shattered.”
Dubauskas further urged the community to engage in neighborhood watches, and expressed confidence in local police’s ability to apprehend the perpetrators.
“We need to come together to protect our homes and ensure these thieves are caught and brought to justice,” said Dubauskas. “Thankfully, we have an all-star Police Department here in Scottsdale that is bringing the community in and making this a top priority. They’re some of the best in the country.”
Valley law enforcement are becoming more familiar with recognizing and catching SATGs. Around this time last year, 12 News reported on Scottsdale investigators prosecuting a crime syndicate that reportedly hit homes in Arizona, California, Texas, Nevada, and Utah in 2022.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Two Arizona cities are among the top ten in America for military veterans to live, according to a recently released survey.
WalletHub issued its findings for its latest installment of the Best and Worst Places for Veterans to Live, showing Scottsdale and Gilbert among the highest-ranked municipalities in the nation. Scottsdale clocked in at the sixth-ranked city, and Gilbert as the eighth highest.
Chandler (#11), Mesa (#29), Glendale (#37), Tucson (#46), and Phoenix (#58) also appeared on the list of 100 cities.
WalletHub used four dimensions as determining factors for its report: Employment, Economy, Quality of Life, and Health.
Scottsdale received two top-ten marks in the “Economy” and “Quality of Life” dimensions. Gilbert received one top-ten distinction in the “Employment” dimension and an eleventh-ranked notation for “Economy.”
The Veterans Association estimates that there are more than 18 million veterans in the United States. WalletHub releases this annual study “to help military veterans find the best places in which to settle down.”
The City of Scottsdale has an online page dedicated to military events, giving these American heroes easy access to resources and organizations they might need. The foreword for the page states, “No matter when you served or where you served, we honor your service, your sacrifice and your dedication to the United States of America. The people of Scottsdale have a great admiration and the utmost gratitude for the men and women who selflessly served – and serve – this country.”
The Town of Gilbert also has a webpage for military veterans, which is “intended to boost engagement with veterans and their families in our community, provide for recognition, and connect them with needed resources.” Gilbert’s Veterans Advisory Board seeks to “create a supportive Town atmosphere and examine issues affecting the health and well-being of service members, veterans, and their families.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Earlier this year on July 20th, a small group of moms and residents gathered together for the first time at the Chandler City Council meeting. They simply wanted to share their thoughts on some of the books in the Chandler Public Library system that they found while at the library with their kids.
One of the books brought by Chandler Unified School District candidate Carley Morgan was It’s Perfectly Normal, a picture book labeled “Juvenile”—meaning for kids. The book contains images of nude men, women, and children. It also explains in detail how sex happens including talking about “When the penis enters the vagina, the wall to the vagina stretches open and around the penis.” Carley’s son Riley, a 13-year-old also spoke about how no one wants to have these “awkward” conversations with their children before they are ready to. Parenting should always be in the hands of the parents and not the library.
Andrew Adams, the Chair of Republican Legislative District 14, also spoke saying his 1-year-old daughter was with him and if someone showed his daughter the images in these books, they would be dealing with him “personally.”
On the night of September 19, 2023, many concerned citizens, parents, and residents gathered together again to express their dismay for the books that were found in the juvenile section of the libraries.
Some of the same citizens at the previous council meeting came out yet again—this time to speak to a seven-person board appointed by the Mayor and Council called the Library Board. The President of the Board, Beth Brizel, a former City Council candidate, said “I have taken notes and will definitely discuss with library staff on the possibility of this.”
The citizens who spoke were loud and clear while talking to this board. The first speaker Aubrey Savela, who is with Turning Point Action, read from the book What’s Going on Down There? On page 116 of that book, what is especially concerning is a question that is prompted by a young man, “If I get my girlfriend pregnant can I make her get an abortion even if she doesn’t want to?” Should public libraries really be used to promote getting an abortion in such a way to innocent and unsuspecting minors?
Another speaker, Jenine Cortes, who is a mother of four and is also running to serve the Chandler Unified School District board, told the board that she used to “live in the library” with her kids when her oldest child was younger. But now, she fears bringing her children to the library because they might go to the wrong shelf and find pornographic materials.
These books not only contain graphic words, but they also include graphic illustrations: pictures of women bending over to see themselves in the mirror, a penis entering the anus, and many other graphic images that have no place in the juvenile section of a public library!
Carley and Andrew also discussed how they both sat down with the Library Manager named Rachele. They shared that they asked Rachele what kind of content filters there are on the library’s computers in the youth section. According to Carley and Andrew, Rachele replied that “there are none” because the library does not want to “restrict access of their patrons.” But this is highly concerning, especially given the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case United States v. American Library Association, which stated that libraries that implement software for content filtration is NOT a violation of the Constitution.
To wrap up the night, the Library Board watched footage of the City Council meeting which drove the parents’ points home again! Now, the board needs to make the right decision before its next meeting in November to ensure that kids don’t get unfettered access to pornography in public libraries.
Joseph Yang is a young community leader and grassroots activist. He currently runs a community organization and serves on the Chandler Police Review Panel. Joseph is the Founder of the East Valley Young Republicans and current assistant state advisor for the TeenAge Republicans. He hosts a show called “The Conservative Seoul Show” that you can find here.
The day before five people died Thursday in a horrific vehicle fire on Interstate 10 near Riggs Road, Arizona officials learned that the U.S. Department of Transportation denied a request for $360 million to widen another dangerous stretch of the interstate through Pinal County.
Last year the Arizona Legislature approved $400 million for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) as part of a project to widen 26 miles of the interstate to three lanes in each direction from Casa Grande and Chandler.
The three-year project, which will include a new bridge over the Gila River, was funded enough with the allocation and other state money to complete about 20 miles.
Meanwhile, ADOT applied for $360 million through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance grant program. Those funds would have ensured the widening work and other safety improvements extended farther south into Pinal County, an area which has experienced a high rate of residential and commercial growth in recent years.
Arizona Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) and Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-Casa Grande) were disappointed to learn the grant application was denied. Both say they intend to introduce new legislation to use state funds to cover the $360 million so the full project can be completed.
The lawmakers are also encouraging ADOT to seek other funding options which could lower the amount of the second allocation.
One of the biggest advocates for the interstate improvement project is Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland, who believes construction must begin sooner than later.
“We can’t wait for us to get all the money and begin the process,” McFardland said, adding he is looking forward to feedback on why ADOT’s grant application was rejected.
Various guesses have been put forth by some parties for rejection of the application, which had the support of U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly. Some are pointing to the fact Arizona was seeking nearly one-third of all the funding available nationwide in the current award round.
Others suggest the Biden administration is prioritizing more “green” transportation projects. More information is expected to be released soon, including possible tips on what ADOT can do differently if it reapplies for the next funding cycle.
Kelly issued a statement affirming his support for the I-10 improvements.
“Arizonans rely on the I-10 to connect them to jobs, educational opportunities and their families, which is why improving and expanding this highway is still a top priority for me,” the statement reads.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
