Horseshoe Chamber Blog

The city of Phoenix is still in recovery mode after a massive storm decimated the surrounding area last Tuesday, leaving tens of thousands without power for more than a day. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a severe monsoon swept through central Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale just after sundown on Sept. 1. Winds of up to 65 MPH were recorded while flooding reached a whopping one-and-a-half inches, making travel almost impossible. The Arizona Public Service Co., which provides power to a majority of those affected, said in a statement that it first focused on clearing downed lines and restoring service to essential facilities such as schools and hospitals. Despite the power company's efforts, several schools were closed the day after the storm. Even a local foodbank, St. Mary...

Americans love going camping, and even spent a total of 516.6 million days doing so back in 2013. However, not everyone knows how to go camping, or even has the equipment to do so. Camping isn't much fun if you can't properly pitch a tent, build a fire, or cook outdoors. Luckily, the Arizona Family Campout program can help. Arizona State Parks' new program introduces families who have no -- or next to no -- experience camping with the great outdoors. It's so basic, a tent isn't even needed. For just $70, trained coordinators from Arizona State Parks will teach a family of four campers (an additional five dollars per person for larger groups) how to set up a tent, build a fire, cook, shoot archery, mountain bike, hike, fish, and geocache. Everything is provided, too -- tents, sleeping m...

Hospitals in Tucson are getting rid of their $115 million electronic health records system as clinicians across the nation grow more and more dissatisfied with electronic health record systems. The Arizona Daily Star reports that Banner Health announced two hospitals will not keep the Epic system, because the electronic health records system was one of the key reasons for struggle in 2014. Instead, Banner will transition both Banner-University Medical Center Tucson and Banner-University Medical Center South to a system called Cerner. The investment in Epic turned out to be so expensive that the University of Arizona Health Network -- which Banner acquired in March -- experienced unprecedented operating losses in the 2014 fiscal year, including about $32 million in unbudgeted costs. Accordi...

Currently, there are approximately 20,000 physicians practicing urgent care medicine, and that number is only expected to increase -- especially in the West. According to Yourwestvalley.com, Peoria, AZ will be the location of a new multi-specialty medical center opening under Cigna Medical Group. A MedPost Urgent Care center soon-to-be-constructed in Avondale, AZ, as reported by azcentral.com, signifies that the healthcare industry is continuing to move towards the walk-in emergency care style. The facility designed by the developer Irgens and Cigna will cover 60,000 square feet, have two floors, and a drive-in patients can be dropped off at. The President and General Manager of Cigna in Arizona, Edward Kim, spoke at the initial groundbreaking of the site on Tuesday: “We could not be mor...

Canadian County, OK, sheriffs recently arrested two Arizona men after discovering 15 pounds of cocaine and 1.2 pounds of black-tar heroin in the trunk of their vehicle. According to NewsOn6.com, a sheriff's deputy stopped the car's driver, Rafael Luna of Glendale, after observing him driving erratically on Interstate 40. Luna, 56, is a fourth grade school teacher. Luna and his passenger, Jose A. Lopez, 50, of Phoenix, told deputies they were traveling to Missouri for Luna's son's U.S. Army training graduation. However, officers noticed inconsistencies in the two men's stories, leading them to suspect criminal activity. Officers brought Drug Detector K9 “Pickles” to the scene to sniff around the vehicle. The canine alerted the deputies to the presence of narcotics in the trunk of the sil...

In 2014, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the bill known as SB 1062 after a massive national outcry. The bill would have allowed business owners to cite their religious beliefs when denying service to customers, and critics said it was a thinly veiled attempt to legalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Now, the pendulum appears to be swinging the other way, with Arizona cities like Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Tempe extending discrimination laws to include the gay community. Now, Glendale could be set to join their ranks as well; the city is considering legislation that would enact a non-discrimination statute that includes protections for genetic characteristics, veteran status, physical and mental disabilities, marital status, and controversially, sexual orientation and ...

Donald Trump knows a thing or two about real estate. For example, he could probably inform you that over 50% of home buyers and home builders seek a property with a two-car garage. Yet when it comes to politics, Donald Trump has an undeniably more questionable background. The real estate tycoon has been on the scene in the presidential primaries as a Republican candidate, and has thus far been received with less than open arms by most states. In Arizona, however, this is not the case at all. In a recent poll conducted by MBQF Consulting, a Phoenix-based consulting firm, Trump is showing up as one of the top 10 leading GOP candidates in Arizona. For the survey, participants were asked to give a choice among a list of top 10 candidates, as determined by a story recently published in Poli...

A new ranking of the best places in the U.S. for retirees has placed Arizona cities in three of the top four spots, based on their crime rates, weather, taxes and a number of other factors. According to ABC15 Arizona, the ranking, conducted by Bankrate.com, looked at 196 cities across the country and evaluated them in seven liability categories. Mesa, Prescott and Tucson came in in first, third and fourth places, respectively. Arlington, VA, came in second place. Chris Kahn, a spokesman for Bankrate, said these Arizona cities possess a wealth of outdoor activities for seniors to enjoy, including golf courses, parks and cultural attractions. These recreational opportunities play a vital role in quality of life for retired individuals. “If you look at surveys from people of retirement age in...

It’s something we see far too often: an innocent person killed due to someone who chose to drive rather than take a taxi after a night of drinking. It’s an unfortunate reality that many people get behind the wheel, believing that they’re fine to drive home, but they put not only themselves in danger, but others on the road as well. Take the example of an Arizona man, Abraham Delgadillo Castro, who is now charged with the death of his girlfriend Jeanette Ruiz and the injury of two others. According to the Arizona Republic, he ran a red light in Phoenix, resulting in a violent crash which fractured the vertebrae of the other driver and injured their passenger. Ruiz, who first suffered a head injury, died later. Castro's blood alcohol level was .18%, which is more than twice the legal limit...