Independent Journalism for the Valley

THE MARICOPA MERIDIAN

Maricopa County, Arizona · Established 2026

Vol. 1 · Issue 1 · Inaugural Edition

THE RECORD | THE RACKET

THE FRONT · LOCAL NEWS · SPORTS · VICE · REVIEWS · HEY RUBE · PUBLIC NOTICES

NEWS ANALYSIS

THE REVOLUTION CAME THROUGH A BROWSER WINDOW

At a courthouse window in Phoenix, a $69 filing and a conversation about Frankenstein led toward a larger question: What if the next Industrial Revolution is already underway — and we are measuring it with the wrong numbers?

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LOCAL NEWS

Tempe shuts off Flock as Scottsdale weighs safeguards

Tempe pulled the plug on Flock Safety’s surveillance network while Scottsdale weighs what safeguards, if any, it wants.

SPORTS

Sun Devils in London: Bangers and Mash

ASU traveled to Wembley and gave England something to talk about.

VICE

BlackCoconut: The Phoenix Drug Market That Fit Inside a Mailbox

A Phoenix dark-web vendor case shows how modern drug trafficking can hide inside ordinary commerce.

HEY RUBE | OPINION

THE REVOLUTION CAME THROUGH A BROWSER WINDOW

Sun Devils Stay Close for Three Quarters, Then Unravel at Texas A&M

BlackCoconut: The Phoenix Drug Market That Fit Inside a Mailbox

The Legend of Chico Malo

Phoenix Has Always Been a Bet Against the Desert

Sports, Politics & Other Dangerous Games

Everybody Loves Growth Until the Bill Arrives

Maricopa County keeps betting on growth. Data centers, subdivisions and power demand keep coming. The question is who pays when the infrastructure bill arrives.

Read Hey Rube →

THIS ISSUE

LOCAL NEWS

City Government · Development · Water · Schools · Transportation · Neighborhoods

LOCAL NEWS

Tempe Shuts Off Flock as Scottsdale Weighs Safeguards

Neighboring cities are taking different paths on license-plate surveillance. The debate turns on investigative value, personal misuse and whether the public can measure the trade-off.

Read the full story →

Sun Devils in London: Bangers and Mash

ASU traveled to Wembley and gave England something to talk about. Whether it mattered back home is another question.

Continue reading →

ASU / COLLEGE

PRO SPORTS

SPORTS BUSINESS

Stadiums, Ownership & Money

Where the games are played, who owns the team, who built the arena, and who wrote the check. Sports business coverage starts here.

BETTING & ODDS

→ HEY RUBE covers the intersection of sports, money and power.

BlackCoconut: The Phoenix Drug Market That Fit Inside a Mailbox

A Phoenix dark-web vendor case shows how modern drug trafficking can hide inside ordinary commerce.

Continue reading →

FRAUD & SCAMS

LAW ENFORCEMENT

CORRUPTION

STRANGE ARIZONA

The desert produces a specific genus of story that does not occur anywhere else. This column is for those.

NIGHTLIFE

The Legend of Chico Malo

At a roadside mariscos stand in Cajeme, Sonora, Andrew orders the camarón mignon and earns a sombrero. A dispatch from the border, where the shrimp is cold-smoked and the legend is still being written.

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BOOKS

Phoenix Has Always Been a Bet Against the Desert

Paolo Bacigalupi imagined Phoenix dying of thirst. Reading The Water Knife from Maricopa County makes the novel feel less like dystopia and more like a warning.

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MUSIC

FILM

FOOD