Valley 101

There's a tower and dome-shaped building south of Interstate 10 near 16th Avenue that seems to always be under construction. It's a church called La Luz del Mundo, or in English, The Light of the World Church. So what is the church and what do the members believe? And why is their church leader, Naasón Joaquín García facing 26 felony charges in Los Angeles County? Reporter Uriel Garcia and produce...

Executive Order 9066 lead to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Two of the largest incarceration camps were located in Arizona.  In last week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we examined the history of the camps and what it was like to live in one. In this week's episode, we'll explore what life was like for Japanese...

Signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, Executive Order 9066 incarcerated almost 120,000 Japanese-Americans without due process.  Internees were sent to one of 10 incarceration camps throughout the country, including two in Arizona. Named the Poston Relocation Center and Gila River War Relocation Center, the camps would become the third and fourth largest cities in Arizona at the time. Thi...

How have Latinos shaped Phoenix's development? Who are the Latinos that led the fight for civil rights in the Valley? It's a broad question, and an essential one: About one third of the people living in Maricopa County are Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data. We're looking at three stories that illustrate the impact Latinos had in the Valley and continue to have. We take a look into...

Which Arizona team are we in the Valley the most loyal to? And why? People often talk about how long a team has been around or how much they're winning, but there's so much more to it than that. Which team do you love the most and why? Let us know on Twitter @valley101pod. And sign up for our email newsletter at valley101newsletter.azcentral.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

The American Lung Association ranked Phoenix the seventh most ozone-polluted metropolitan area in the United States in April. If you've ever seen a brown haze hanging over the Valley, you too may have questioned the safety of our air quality. While all residents can experience side effects of poor air quality, there are certain groups of people who are particularly sensitive and will endure more s...

What do you think of when you picture a palm tree? For some, palm trees bring to mind images of beaches, sand and the ocean waves — not the desert. But you can spot the high-rising plant pretty much anywhere you head to in town. That begs the question: Are palm trees native to Arizona? Why does Phoenix have so many? In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azce...

Arizona is home to an array of wildlife unique to the southwestern U.S., including the often-misunderstood javelina. As Mesa resident Jim Albany asked, "Are javelina really dangerous?" This question took us on a journey to the Phoenix Zoo, a taxidermy-filled office room, and the Ben Avery Outdoor Archery Range in Phoenix. If you've ever run into a javelina in your neighborhood and not known how to...

Odds are you’ve driven through the part of Interstate 10 in downtown Phoenix that dips into a tunnel. Phoenix natives call this the Deck Park Tunnel. But that is that is not its real name, and it’s technically not a tunnel. The real name is the Papago Freeway Tunnel and it's a series of 19 bridges. Big surprise, right? To dig in to this controversial history, listen to this episode of Valley 101,...

Legend City was an 87-acre Arizona theme park located between Phoenix and Tempe near Papago Park from 1963 to 1983. At its best, Legend City was a family oasis filled with fun western rides, talented performers and nostalgic penny arcades. At its worst, it had shoddy maintenance and only remnants of its original western theme. Despite Legend City's tumultuous history, filled with financial mismana...

Built before statehood, the Arizona capitol building grew in conjunction with the state's population. By 1954, the state legislature realized a third addition to the original structure was necessary. The state contracted with a group called the Associated State Capital Architects, but not everyone was pleased with their designs. Insert Frank Lloyd Wright. The famed architect offered an unsolicited...

If you drive around the Valley you're likely to see electric scooters on sidewalks, in neighborhoods and in popular areas like Mill Avenue in Tempe or Scottsdale Fashion Square. Bike-share programs that have docking stations have been in metro Phoenix since 2014. But once dockless bikes popped up in 2017 and dockless scooters in 2018, they immediately drew criticism. You might be wondering: Why ar...

Many major cities across the U.S. have a Chinatown, Little Italy or some other ethnic enclave where immigrants have settled together. Did we ever have an ethnic enclave in metro Phoenix? Yes! We had one. Or, well, two. Listen to this episode of the Valley 101 podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From its time as "Apacheria" to rumors it was once brimming with camels, metro Phoenix is rich with history and myths. In this episode of Valley 101 podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we answer four of your questions about the history of Arizona and the Phoenix area. These include:What state in Mexico was Arizona before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo? Who named Camelback Mountai...

As housing across metro Phoenix becomes more expensive, Valley residents are questioning whether it’s become a crisis, and how effectively cities are tackling the issue. Reporters from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.comhave covered this crisis extensively, finding that eviction rates and homelessness rates are rising every year in Maricopa County. In part, that’s because of an affordable-housi...

Phoenix was built on agriculture. Without the efforts of early settlers to revive the Hohokam canal system to grow crops, we wouldn't be here today.  But the abundance of land, good climate and accessible water drew new residents and businesses en mass. The more the population grew, the more land was converted to from agricultural land to residential land.  The result? The west valley lost 31% of...

Other big cities across the U.S. have been shaped by housing segregation and redlining, but did that happen here? Host Kaila White looks into this issue that reaches back to before Arizona was a state and it still impacts Phoenix today, maybe even affecting your neighborhood. References: - FDR recording “NNV 169-59 [dig].” from 1940 from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. -...

Have you ever noticed a clear wire, strung between poles in different parts of the Valley? You can see it at the intersection of Scottsdale and Camelback roads, crossing diagonally along the canal, near Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall. That's an Eruv. A boundary for observant, usually Orthodox, members of Judaism. The wire, which surrounds parts of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, allows th...

It took months of planning, but on the night of December 23, 1944, 25 German prisoners of war POWs escaped from Camp Papago Park in Phoenix. They crawled through a handmade tunnel with hopes of heading home via Mexico.   Later known as "The Great Papago Escape," it was the largest POW escape on American soil during World War II.  And it happened in our backyard — literally. There are houses now wh...

If you love restaurants or cooking shows, or you care about Arizona’s farmers, ranchers, or tourism, or you just want people to know our state is cool, you should know about the James Beard Awards. Considered the "Oscars of the food world," the James Beard Awards are the top award American chefs can win. So why did Arizonans stop winning? In this episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona R...

If the saying goes, "You are what you eat," then Chicagoans are deep-dish pizza or Chicago dogs, Philadelphians are Philly cheesesteaks, and perhaps New Mexicans are green chiles. But what about Arizonans? Does the Valley have a food to call its own? And if it does, what does it say about our culture? Producer Taylor Seely finds out on this episode of Valley 101. And be sure to submit your questio...

Almost two million people in Arizona live in some sort of community association. How did we get here? The answer goes back to how the city developed after World War II. Valley 101 editor Katie O'Connell talked to real estate experts to find out the answer on this episode. Want your question answered? Submit it at valley101podcast.azcentral.com. Follow Katie O'Connell on Twitter: @katieoc. Follow V...

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the federal government systematically took Native American children from their homes and shipped them to boarding schools across the U.S. to assimilate them into western society. Arizona is home to one of those boarding schools. How did it change from 1891 to 1990, to become more academic and even a point of pride for Native American students? And what was it lik...

Legend has it, the concrete pad and stone wall are all that's left of an upscale restaurant called Cloud Nine that mysteriously burned down in the 1960s. Who built a restaurant up there and how? What was it like in its heyday? And what led to its demise? Valley 101 host and producer Kaila White dug into newspaper archives and public records to find the truth, encountering some interesting characte...

As we talked about in last week's episode, the Valley is going to grow. For part two in our exploration of our population, we're looking ahead. Just how many people are we talking about adding? And what will that additional population mean for our economy and housing? What about our transportation and water? Want your question about metro Phoenix answered? Submit it at valley101podcast.azcentral.c...