Google is leaving the valley and taking with it the unfulfilled promise of high paying jobs. They opened their office in Tempe in 2006 and have since employed approximately 50 people as opposed to the originally projected 600. One of Google’s Senior V.P.’s , Alan Eustace, announced their departure via blog on Sept. 19th citing internal issues. Their official date of closure is Nov. 21st, 2008.

The Arizona economy is not in good shape mainly due to its reliance on housing and tourism – neither of which is generating much revenue these days. Phoenix Business Journal reported on Thursday that the city’s unemployment rate jumped half a percentage point in August from 5.1 to 5.6 percent. This demonstrates a frightening trend considering that the unemployment rate in July was reported at 4.6 percent. Loss of jobs has been reported in retail, construction, and trade-related fields in the month August.

AZCentral is reporting election turnout of 20% in Maricopa county. They chalk it up to several factors, but what stood out for me was this quote:

“We held an election, and nobody came,” said Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, who oversees the county’s Elections Department. “Whether it was because they weren’t interested or didn’t have time, I don’t know.”

My dear Helen Purcell, people didn’t come because they didn’t know. They didn’t come because they didn’t realize that the election was the day after a major holiday. They didn’t come because they didn’t feel they had any choices in their district. They didn’t come for many reasons that need to be examined and dealt with.

I have voted in every election since I was 18. It is something I am very proud of. What I didn’t realize was that everyday people can get involved in the political process instead of just bitch about it. Last major election cycle, I attended a town hall featuring Harry Mitchell and Wes Clark. It was put on by PACE, which is an arm of NASW-AZ. Meeting and speaking with the candidates was exciting, but much more exciting was meeting all the everyday people who put it together. Legislative days, spending time at the state capitol and working with PAFCO has made it easier to see the political process as something accessible.

I wonder if more people thought our system was accessible, would they participate? Does the average person even understand our process? Do they realize that you can make an appointment and meet with your councilman, legislator, governor and air your concerns and priorities?

“The World is run only by the people who take the time to show up”
– unknown

From Midnight tonight til Tuesday evening at 5pm, Downtown Phoenix is going to sound an awful lot like the Fast and the Furious or perhaps the Indy 500, as race-organizers test some new sound-muffling technology to protect a 911 call center downtown. Check out the course map for the tests, and note that tests will be during the day tomorrow, so get ready for some loud noises as part of the setup for this fall’s downtown rally.

I read this article about a lost 3 year boy roaming Phoenix: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1002brk-childfound1003.html

My heart goes out to him and being in a family that is separated by divorce. Being away from our family, it’s hard to raise my daughter without grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. I can’t imagine what this poor child is thinking about when he is walking by himself in the wee hours of the morning and what kind of man he will grow up into without that cohesive family core.

My very reliable source just informed me that President Jimmy Carter will be coming to Phoenix in December as guest of that fabulous independent bookstore Changing Hands. Carter has a new book he is promoting and will speak and sign books at a location, yet to be decided. You heard it first on Metroblogs.

Mark Goudeau has been arrested as a suspect in two of the assaults in the Baseline Killer series. This shot was released by Phoenix Police. People are commenting on the resemblance. Is there one? Or are we seeing what we want to see?

Just heard from a very reliable source that Sen. Barack Obama will be coming to Phoenix, guest of that great and favorite, Changing Hands Bookstore. For the curious, he delivered a strong and insightful keynote address at the 2004 Democrat National Convention. I look forward to the opportunity to hear him speak in person. Hope life in Washington hasn’t jaded his enthusiasm. He will be at the Orpheum Theater in October – date and time to be announced.

I’ll admit – I really love a good sandwich. I was so excited Sunday when I saw that the Quiznos that lives at Mill & Southern was open again! Now I can have toasty sub’s within walking distance!

Of course Quiznos isn’t the only place in Tempe to get a good sammich. Dilly’s Deli (414 W. University Drive) and Bison Witches (21 E. 6th Street #146 aka ASU Brick Yard) also know how to make a mean sandwich. Yum!

Where’s your favorite place for a good sandwich?

It was bound to happen. The azcentral article about our real estate market didn’t surprise me one bit.

The house I used to own back in California has now double its worth. I cringe everytime I check out the stats at a cool website called Zillow. But still, the houses here are much more reasonable than the ones in California even during the time of the housing boom. What I didn’t like about it during that time was the fact that communities selling their houses had a very snotty mentality about their fortune and made people sign up for lotteries to vy for a home.

I went back to the main office to take photos of landscaping ideas for our backyard project a couple of weeks back and found the place rather dead. The people working there were extremely nice though, even though most of them were new hires, they were much more pleasant than 2 years ago.

Apparently, pranksters released two live diamondback rattle snakes during a screening of Snakes on a Plane at a Phoenix theatre. Nobody was hurt. Full story on Yahoo!.