The transition strategy presented in this report describes a set of coordinated interventions necessary to create sustainable housing in the Midtown District. The current state of housing in the District is not sustainable for housing options and affordability. There is a clear need for effective interventions to achieve a sustainable state of housing in the future.

The transition strategy presented in this report describes a set of coordinated interventions necessary to create sustainable housing in the Uptown District. The current state of housing in the District is not sustainable for housing options and affordability. There is a clear need for effective interventions to achieve a sustainable state of housing.

The transition strategy in this report is a set of coordinated interventions necessary to create sustainable green systems in the Uptown District. Sustainable green systems strive for fully functional stormwater, biodiversity, and resource management practices, as well as sustainable levels of thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and access to green spaces. The assessment of green systems indicates concern for high temperatures, low vegetation, and insufficient stormwater management. This strategy is based on achieving four specific goals of sustainable green systems, derived from sustainability and livability principles (HUD, 2009). Goal 1. Reduce stormwater loads and harvest water onsite; Goal 2. Reduce potable water consumption; Goal 3. Reduce daytime temperatures; Goal 4. Increase green systems benefits to health, mobility, and the economy.

Report takes a look at the pros and cons of three propositions that will be on the November 2014 ballot.
* Prop 122: a constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to ignore any federal law or action they think is unconstitutional.
* Prop 304: would increase legislator's salaries to $35,000/year.
* Prop 303: would permit a manufacturer to give or sell investigational drugs, biological products, and medical devices to terminally ill patients even though the FDA has not cleared them for general use.

Dark money. The name itself carries ominous undertones, undertones that critics of this relatively new campaign-finance phenomenon claim reflect a genuine threat to democracy. Its defenders, on the other hand, argue that the dark money approach to funding political campaigns is merely an extension of Americans’ basic right to free speech. In other words, the issues at hand could hardly be more profound.

The author writes about Arizona's longstanding belief in direct democracy via referendum, initiative and recall. The Legislature continues to grapple with election reform and strike a balance of how much binding authority should remain in the hands of voters in terms of initiative, referendum and recall, but Arizona’s penchant for people power has been demonstrated since before statehood. In the midst of his campaign for Congress in 1911, for example, Arizona’s Carl Hayden noted that everywhere he went he found voters eager to take control. "The people want their own kind of government,” Hayden told reporters. “They want to be the dictators.”

Since statehood in 1912, Arizona has been among the nation’s leaders in using the initiative process to either adopt a statute or amend the state constitution by placing a measure on the ballot. But such efforts are anything but easy. In fact, organizers have found it to be an expensive, time-consuming and exhausting process – and one that is unlikely to end successfully.