In this economy not many are willing to work free for five years. Not Lisa Schnebly Heidinger.
The Arizona native spent half a decade compiling 100 years of Arizona’s history into the official book of the Arizona centennial, Arizona: 100 Years Grand.
“Since I was a kid I had always been excited about being alive during the centennial,” said Heidinger, who serves on two centennial committees and is the author of five other Arizona books.
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This February Arizona celebrates turning 100 and people all over the state are gearing up to pay tribute.
“Communities small and large are celebrating because this is something that people have looked forward to and been planning for years,” said Roger Myers, Associate Librarian and Archivist at the University of Arizona. “Now comes the time to enjoy it.”
Myers and his colleagues put together the exhibit Becoming Arizona: The Valentine State in the university’s special collections section to share primary documents dealing with Arizona’s journey to statehood.
It was indeed quite the journey.
From outlaws and warriors to activists and politicians, Arizona’s 100-year history stands as the home for infamous lovers and happy endings.
Here are three stories of love in the desert.
Solar energy is Arizona’s up and coming renewable resource, and the state’s energy companies are making good use of it.
In keeping with other states, Arizona’s energy companies are required to utilize renewable energy resources by the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff, or REST.
REST was approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2006 and took effect in 2007. It requires that Arizona utility companies produce 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025, 30 percent of which must come from residential or commercial sources, according to the ACC website.
In order to comply, Arizona’s utilities implemented incentives and energy programs for customers who wish to use renewable energy to power their homes or businesses.
Arizona Public Service, a large electric company with 100,000 customers in the Phoenix area, and Tucson Electric Power, a company with 402,000 customers in the Tucson area, offer incentives for business and residential customers for services like solar water heaters, solar space heaters and solar panel systems, according to the APS and TEP websites.
Salt River Project, the country’s third-largest utility with 935,000 customers in the Phoenix metro area, similarly offers business and residential incentives for solar water heaters and solar panel installations, according to the SRP website.
In an era where every school in every state is battling budget cuts, electives such as, physical education, music and art jump to the front of line when cutbacks need to be made.
With the rise of childhood obesity in Arizona, the cutback of physical education is diminishing the daily exercise that children need to be healthy.
Arizona was ranked 15th out of 50 states for childhood obesity in 2007, according to the “F as in Fat Report 2010” by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
It’s no secret that there’s a childhood obesity crisis in the country and the number of reasons is too long to list. Video games, television, computers and fast food all play factors in obesity, but the time of physical activity for children is hardly ever mentioned.
