By james art PHOENIX — From a Tempe man arrested for hiding a body in his freezer for more than four years to more daily heat, here are some of the top stories in the Valley from Oct. 25-27.
Scottsdale’s neighborhood renovation is attracting big-name retailers
The popular shopping and dining destination known as the Scottsdale District has reopened several current locations while expanding with multiple retail brands.
The popular neighborhood restaurant Etta is under new ownership and has been remodeled with new TVs and an updated audio system for live DJ entertainment, according to a press release. The restaurant has a wood-burning stove and offers seasonal dishes.
Beauty retail giant Sephora has reopened its doors as it undergoes renovations.
ASU Teams Up With City of Phoenix, Releases Latest Cool Pavement Test Results
Arizona State University partnered with the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department to evaluate the new CoolSeal 2.0 pavement coating, an extension of the city’s Cool Pavement Program.
Last week they presented the results. ASU researchers found that using this cool pavement reduced the surface temperature of some roads by as much as 12 degrees.
In addition, research shows that cool pavement can reduce road maintenance needs and costs, and the impact it has on air temperature appears to be small but beneficial.
Daily heat record in metro Phoenix for second day in a row
Metro Phoenix’s historically late fall heat wave continued Saturday as another daily heat record was broken.
The thermometer at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service (NWS) uses for the city’s official records, reached 99 degrees at 1:50 p.m., 14 degrees above normal. The previous record of 98 degrees was set in 2001.
By 3:10 p.m., the temperature reached 100 degrees, making October 26 the second-last occurrence of a triple-digit day (100 degrees on October 27, 2006).
Hobbs, water officials trying to regulate groundwater pumping in rural Arizona
Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources have taken the first step toward regulating groundwater use in the state’s rural southeast, which is rapidly declining due to agricultural use.
The state agency said Wednesday it will hold a public hearing Nov. 22 to present data and hear comments on the possibility of designating what’s known as an “active management area” for the Willcox Groundwater Basin in Cochise counties and Graham in Arizona.
Meanwhile, the basin is closed to new agricultural use while the department decides whether to create a management area southeast of Tucson that will allow it to set goals for the well-being of the basin and its aquifers.
A Tempe man has been arrested for hiding a corpse in a freezer for more than 4 years
A 51-year-old Tempe man was arrested Tuesday after authorities discovered the remains of a dead body in a freezer in the man’s backyard, according to the Tempe Police Department.
Officers detained Joseph Hill Jr. after receiving a tip and were initially denied access to the freezer. Tempe detectives then exercised probable cause for a search warrant and the suspect informed them the body was that of his father, who had died more than four years ago.