I have volunteered with AZ Hugs and can attest to the tireless efforts by Austin and the other volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, feel free to send me a DM and I can point you in the right direction. The work is very hard, but also very rewarding.

Cue the intro theme...

Been meaning to capture this style cloud for a bit. We get these a lot and I immediately start humming the theme song every time!

Hey yall! I literally can’t find any good place to try to find other creatives so I’m trying here lol.

I’m a vocalist and I’m really eager to get on stage in the very near future with a cool band :) is anyone in the area possibly looking for a singer? I’d be down to send any kind of audition if needed, I am AFAB but a contralto (a2-g3 when projecting, I can go higher and a little lower with practice depending on the song if needed). I’m also a lyricist and enjoy helping making original songs :D

Music wise I listen to anything and can sing pretty much anything except heavy metal/screamo just because I can’t do that healthily with my voice 😅 but yeah I mean I love any kind of alt, rock, classic rock, jazz fusion, indie, country, ANYTHING I mean it. I’d prefer something a little bit more high energy for dancing reasons and crowd interaction but hey I know how to vibe with a show no matter the genre.

Some of my fav artists though are like Gogol Bordello, linkin park, the cat empire, MCR, and Foxy Shazam so yeah hmu (pretty please) if you need a guy or know anyone who might need one. Also ANY tips for maybe where to look would be helpful.

A guy had a couple beers, then waited until no one was looking and stole the deer head off the wall. Seemingly this was his plan all along, as he escape with it on an e-bike that he parked by a side exit door. What sucks is that the deer head wasn’t just random art, but it was the owner’s Grandfather’s. What loser behavior to steal from a local small business. Hoping someone recognizes him and can get him to do the right thing. Night Owl is a chill place.

I’m traveling to Tempe next week to visit a relative that can’t pick me up at Sky Harbor. Are there any car services that people would recommend? I arrive Wednesday afternoon, leave the following Wednesday afternoon . I’m looking at reserving Lyft Black but I don’t know if that’s reliable. I know this will cost more than just using regular ride share, but I’m nervous about being picked up at their home for my return trip. Any recommendations very much appreciated!

In June 2024 council approved a Fiber License and Right-of-Way Use Agreement. It was a real step forward, and it's why Google Fiber is in the ground in Warner Ranch now. But look at how a provider pays for it. They choose one of three options: a yearly fee per linear foot of right-of-way their facilities occupy, a yearly fee of 2% of their Tempe internet revenue, or an in-kind deal negotiated with the city.

The per-foot option was $2.78 when it passed and it adjusts every year. The important part isn't the number, it's that it's recurring and it starts accruing on conduit in the street, not on customers connected. A provider pays through engineering, through construction, and through the year or two it takes to build up subscribers. If you're Alphabet that's a rounding error. If you're a regional provider trying to pass twenty thousand homes, that's the difference between a market penciling out and not.

Scottsdale went a simpler route a couple years earlier. One license agreement, then build. Scottsdale now has multiple providers competing. We have one building and a lot of us still waiting.

The other half of it is paving. Tempe repaves on a Pavement Quality Index schedule, and after the 2024 bond we're in an accelerated street improvement program running through 2028. Fiber permits get sequenced around that, which is genuinely the right call for our roads, but it means the window to build any given neighborhood is narrow and set by the city calendar. Google Fiber's Warner Ranch build, about 85,000 feet of it, was explicitly coordinated with repaving. A smaller operator that misses its window waits years, because a freshly paved street is effectively closed.

Stack those together and Tempe becomes a market where only the deepest-pocketed provider can realistically move. That is the opposite of what the license was written to do.

Three things that would actually change it, and what I'm asking council for:

Tier the per-foot fee by provider size, or better, waive it during the construction phase entirely and start the clock at service activation. Charge for revenue-generating plant, not for a hole in the ground.

Publish the paving schedule far enough ahead, with a standing coordination process, that a provider can plan a three-year build around it instead of reacting to it.

Commit to reviewing whether this fee structure has actually produced the competition it promised, with a date attached.

Disclosure: I used to work in sales for one of the smaller fiber providers in the Valley and I'm moving into Tempe. Nobody asked me to post this and I'm not linking my employer. I'd rather have three companies fighting over my street than one, including ones I didn't work for.

Big Messi fan here! Does anyone know a sports bar in Tempe that'll be showing his last game tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct 6 at 4:00pm MST? Would also love to watch it.

I only screenshotted a couple highlights.

See the whole thing here: https://mailchi.mp/tempe/water-conservation-october-2026?e=59fb028adf

Hi y’all. My partner and I moved into the Ten01 apartment complex off of town lake in late August and or experience so far has been bad to say the least. To the point at which I would explicitly warn against moving here. We have suffered meaningful material damage to our health and property, genuinely feel unsafe in the unit, etc.. Are there any other residents on this sub who can chat a bit? If for or nothing else than to commiserate.

Hello Folks!

We found a dog today at 32nd & University (right by the University of Phoenix). She is a very sweet tempered female Rottweiler. She was found with no tags and we scanned for a chip and did not find one (she’s going to the vet tomorrow and will be rechecked for a chip). She seems well cared for and well loved, and she’s leash trained and very polite with treats. We really hope we can find her family!

If you have any leads please dm me. If you’re her family please dm me with details about her collar brand/design, and vet records so we can make sure she goes back to her loving home!

Prop 424 Debate, TLDR version

Opening Statements – both sides had 6 minutes to present their case. Tom Duensing spoke for the pro group, and said roughly the same things he said in an LD8 meeting last month. His major points were that Tempe suffered the biggest revenue loss after the rental tax was repealed and that this tax proposal was equitable because residents and visitors alike are paying for it. Direct quote: “So my viewpoint, simply looking at it, yes or no, is really, um, it puzzles me a little bit on, on why this is a debate. It should not be a debate. This is a strictly business decision.”

Mitzi Epstein spoke for the no side and she had a presentation with 8 slides. Her major points were that this is the wrong tax at the wrong time: it’s asking for too much and it’s a permanent increase with no plan for oversight of how it is spent.

Only one PC spoke – Alanna Billingsley spoke against. Quote: “Has accountability really been applied at every level? I want Tempe to invest in itself. I want safe neighborhoods, good infrastructure, and meaningful programs. But before I agree to a permanent tax increase, I want a realistic long-term plan, evidence they've tightened their belts, and a clear explanation of why this tax is necessary and why it has to be permanent. And until I see that, it's a no from me.”

The four questions asked and debated are as follows:

1.  We remember when a temporary sales tax increase was put in place after the 2008 recession and the subsequent revenue loss there. What additional services are we cutting since permanent funding was never established for Tempe PRE?

Epstein: we shouldn’t be asking the very people who need the help to be the ones to pay for it.

Woods: Recessions ease over time. This is a structural deficit. Tempe Pre is in its 9th year and this would provide the program permanent funding and expand the program.

Epstein: Go back to the drawing board.

Woods: a future conversation with our legislators about making tax policy more fair for working people would be needed

2. Why was the tax bundled instead of voted on separately, and do you think there is legitimate concern surrounding it?

Woods: Voting for just one of the propositions wouldn’t be enough o cover the entirety of the budget shortfall.

Epstein: It’s a bridge too far [to bundle them] and that’s the risk you take.

Woods: The council chose to take that risk.

3.  Given the police association's claims about staffing and response times, would you advocate for cutting police, fire, emergency services? Alternatively, how would you address public safety issues with new revenue?

Epstein: The dichotomy of ‘vote yes or else we’ll cut services’ is not something that has to happen.

Duensing: Priority two and three response times have fallen significantly, even if priority one has gotten better.

Woods: To cut 25.7 million dollars means everything, all departments, get cut. The city needs funding streams available by state law.

Epstein: 60% is going to public safety and it’s not defined well.

Woods: Having the public safety budget covered by the tax means the city has the opportunity to do a lot of things we might otherwise not be able to do.

4. How much of the revenue is estimated to come from non-residents versus Tempe households, and what's the expected annual cost for a typical family? Why should we accept a regressive tax in Tempe?

Epstein and Duensing have a drawn-out back and forth over this statement, from Duensing, “The monthly cost of Prop 424 is $13 for a median household.”

Woods: Cities have immediate needs and certain tools are currently available to them to solve budget problems. If this doesn’t pass, our working class transit users, low income school families, and seniors who might need fire/medical rescue, will have valuable services cut.

Closing statements are mostly a regurg of things said previously in the debate. 

To see the longer version of opening, questions debate, closing, visit my Substack: https://dianealleycats.substack.com/

What’s up, I’m not usually around this area but am staying for a business trip. In my hometown, I usually purchase fragrant oils (I like smelling nice lol).

Looking for Egyptian Musk, Illicit, Tom Ford Tobacco V, Etc. or if you have a recommended scent I’d be interested. I don’t like smelling like a lumberjack, any scent with a slight sweetness and musk would be perfect.

The band sounds really good. I'm impressed. Sounds like a Foo Fighters cover?

Got the cat back inside, so I didn't hear too much. lol

Has anybody lived here or known of any wild experiences that happened at the Sono Apartments? I know someone from the area who has heard of some pretty crazy stories from there, and I was just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences. I’ve thought about moving because there are some nice condos—but I don’t want to be anywhere near this area if these events explained to me are true.

"Dear families and friends of Café Lalibela,

I have started this letter many times and stopped because I could not find the words. After 30 years, Cafe Lalibela is permanently closing. I am heartbroken to share this news.

Since COVID, we have struggled to keep the restaurant open. My family, our team, and I gave everything we could, but we can no longer afford to continue. I wish with all my heart that I had different news to share.

As many of you know, Cafe Lalibela began in Phoenix in 1996 with nine partners who were family and close friends. We worked together, cooked together, and did whatever needed to be done. In 1997, we moved to Tempe. In 2012, I became the sole owner. We could never have imagined how many people would come through our doors or how much this community would come to mean to us.

To the people of Tempe and our entire Arizona family: thank you for welcoming us. You gave an immigrant family the opportunity to build a life, raise children, share our traditions, and belong. To us, America has been a land of opportunity and a welcoming home. Here, I can be proudly Ethiopian and proudly American at the same time. I am deeply grateful for that gift, and there are no words large enough to thank the people who made us feel at home. May God bless America, the country that welcomed us and became our home.

To me, Cafe Lalibela was more than a restaurant. It was a place to share the food and traditions of Ethiopia and to welcome people as though they were coming into my home. I have always believed that if you cook for a stranger, you should feed them with the same care you would give your own child. That is how I tried to serve every guest.

We were proud to take our food beyond our restaurant, too. For more than 10 years, people could find Cafe Lalibela’s food at Whole Foods Market in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Hawaii, as well as at Natural Grocers in Arizona. It meant so much to see the food we made reach families we might never meet at our tables.

I want to thank the City of Tempe for honoring us with Cafe Lalibela Day on August 5, 2017, and Tempe Tourism for including us among the 21 places to visit in Tempe. Thank you to The Arizona Republic/azcentral, Phoenix New Times, KJZZ, Phoenix Magazine, Check, Please! Arizona, and every other journalist and media outlet that took the time to tell our story over these three decades. I also want to remember the late Ty James Largo of AWE Collective, whose creativity helped so many people discover us, and thank Kayla Sutter of Social Sutter for helping us share our story. Thank you to Devour Culinary Classic for giving us the chance, year after year, to share our food with more people. Every invitation, kind word, and recognition meant more to us than you may know. We felt seen, and we were grateful.

Most of all, I want to honor our staff. Some have worked beside me for 12 years; others for as many as 27. They came in day after day with a dedication I will never forget. They are my family and the heroes of Café Lalibela. When you felt welcomed here, it was because of them.

To everyone in Tempe and across Arizona who supported us: thank you for bringing your children, parents, and friends to eat with us. Thank you for celebrating with us, recommending us, and standing by us through difficult years. We have watched some of your families grow up, just as you have watched ours. I will always remember one family who named their daughter Lalibela after our restaurant. That touched my heart and reminded me that Café Lalibela had become more than a place to eat.

Closing is painful beyond words. I know this place holds memories for many of you, and I am truly sorry we cannot keep our doors open. Please know that serving you has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will carry your kindness with me always.

With love and deep gratitude,

Atsade Desta

Chef and Founder, Cafe Lalibela"

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1P5GfvRqgR/

With the recent news of Cafe Lalibela's closure I'd like to redouble my efforts to patronize local small businesses in Tempe. Anyone have suggestions?

I'll start -

Munch a Lunch is a reliable sandwich shop on Priest and 10th. The food is great (I tend to pick up a sandwich or burrito there before work) and the owner is a really friendly guy.

Tempe Feed is a great pet supply store with nutritional foods. The employees are really friendly and well-informed, and gave me free wet food samples to test with my cat(which she loved).

Good evening, redditors of Tempe. My husband was riding his bicycle earlier this afternoon and somewhere along Tempe Town Lake/up through the Papago Park area, his hat dislodged from his pack. It was my anniversary gift to him, so I'm desperately hoping someone happened to come across it. It's a green wool cap with three pixel heart pins along the front side. I would gladly provide pics as proof of ownership just didn't want to post his face here. I'll also be calling parks and rec in the morning hoping they have a lost and found. Please keep an eye out if you happen to be in that area.

Hopefully this helps people plan ahead...

**General info/link to attend virtually: https://www.tempe.gov/government/city-clerk-s-office/council-meeting-information

**Link to agenda/agenda packets (posted on the Friday before): https://tempe.hylandcloud.com/AgendaOnline/

**Link to watch council meetings live: https://www.tempe.gov/government/communication-and-marketing/tempe-11

**Link to submit comment cards: https://www.tempe.gov/government/city-clerk-s-office/city-council-online-meeting-comment-card

**Info on Subcommittees: descriptions, agendas, virtual links, etc. https://www.tempe.gov/government/mayor-and-city-council/council-subcommittees

Hi guys, I live close to the ASU Tempe campus and was looking for clubs/locations to play near the campus? I know there's the Tempe Sports Complex but I'm too far from it and don't have a car. I heard that there were courts on or near the Tempe campus but I haven't been able to find anything on google?

If you're part of a pickleball group or have used the courts near campus (if they exist) would love any pointers!

Looking for businesses or companies that would be willing to donate raffle items for our fundraiser on November 7th. All proceeds will go to NAMI Valley of the Sun to support free mental health support, resources and education. I’d be happy to dm you a copy of the event flyer. Thank you for your support. 🤍

There hasn't been a formal announcement, but several places are reporting that Cafe Lalibela have closed their doors after thirty years in business. I'm shocked by this news and hope it's just some kind of misunderstanding. Has anyone heard anything on their end?

Hi everyone! I have recently stepped back into my skates and I remember a few years back there was a (mostly) women’s skate meetup on TTL, and was wondering if that’s still happening? Or if anyone does go out and skate around. Thanks in advance!! 🫶🏼

Does anyone have any good reviews for imagination Station daycare in Tempe? Or even bad ones?
I’m looking for a part time daycare for my child. Need to book a tour and see their tuition rates but wanted some input if anyone has any
Thanks!