PhoenixNewsAndTalk

Phoenix: Yes, restaurant workers can ask if you’re vaccinated.

Phoenix: Yes, restaurant workers can ask if you’re vaccinated.

Priscilla Totiyapungprasert | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   The highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading in Arizona, prompting some restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale to ask diners for proof of vaccination. Though those businesses are in the minority, they join a slew of other establishments across the United States that require proof of vaccination, including hundreds of bars in San Francisco. Some critics of such policies have falsely argued that this rule is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, a federal law that protects people from having their personal health information shared without their consent. The law, however,…
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Phoenix: Secondhand store opens in tony Biltmore Fashion Park

Phoenix: Secondhand store opens in tony Biltmore Fashion Park

Russ Wiles | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   When Ann Siner opened her first store 30 years ago, she recalls that a lot of people didn't want to admit that they shopped secondhand. The perception of resale outlets was that of tired, dusty stores piled high with all sorts of bric-a-brac — the types of enterprises relegated to dingy strip malls or bleak storefronts. "Even five years ago, Biltmore Fashion Park probably wouldn't have had anything to do with us," she said. It does now. My Sister's Closet, part of the consignment chain Siner owns with her sister Tess Loo, in July opened a store at…
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Phoenix: Woman found dead after hiking Camelback Mountain

Phoenix: Woman found dead after hiking Camelback Mountain

Audrey Jensen | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   A woman in her 30s who was visiting Phoenix from out of town was found dead on Friday after she hiked up Camelback Mountain, officials said. At about 1 p.m., a man called 911 after he returned from hiking Camelback Mountain and said he could not find the woman. Fire officials said the two started their hike together on Echo Canyon Trail earlier in the day but at one point, the woman turned around halfway because she was overheated and the man continued to the top of the mountain. Capt. Rob…
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Phoenix: Despite Arizona ban, Phoenix Union High School District announces indoor mask mandate for classes

Phoenix: Despite Arizona ban, Phoenix Union High School District announces indoor mask mandate for classes

Lita Nadebah Beck | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   Phoenix Union High School District will require masks to be worn indoors when students head back to school next week — despite an Arizona law that bans mask mandates. Citing the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and updated federal health guidance, the district said students, staff and visitors must wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. "Recently, we have heard from our staff, students, and families that they want us to realign our mitigation practices with the guidelines and recommendations of national and local health agencies," the district said…
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Phoenix: Post-vaccination travel rebound: Here’s how busy the Phoenix, Mesa airports were in June

Phoenix: Post-vaccination travel rebound: Here’s how busy the Phoenix, Mesa airports were in June

Melissa Yeager | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   If airline passenger numbers are any indication, the pent-up demand for post-vaccination leisure travel has been unleashed. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport inched closer in June to a near return of its pre-pandemic traffic, while Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport saw its first increase in 2021 compared to 2019.  Sky Harbor reported 3.6 million passengers in June 2021. That's down just 5% from June 2019, when it welcomed 3.8 million. Overall, passenger traffic at Sky Harbor is still down significantly in 2021 compared to  2019. So far this year, 16.8 million passengers have used the airport,…
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Phoenix: Why chefs and bartenders from top Phoenix restaurants are going solo with pop-ups

Phoenix: Why chefs and bartenders from top Phoenix restaurants are going solo with pop-ups

Andi Berlin | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   A man in a shark costume is moonwalking in front of a barking dog. It's industry night at the Golden Pineapple in Tempe and the "Beach Boys" pop-up event, organized by Sink or Swim, feels more like a concert than a dinner. The bar is packed when I arrive. People are throwing beach balls. There's an unmanned merch table at the front door filled with stickers, homemade hot sauces, tortillas and $20 T-shirts. There's also a photo of the organizers, two mixologists who've stood behind some of Phoenix's top bars, posing with bartender friends in silly shark hats and Hawaiian leis. I recognize…
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Phoenix: 5 things we learned from Trump’s 1st post-presidential visit to Arizona

Phoenix: 5 things we learned from Trump’s 1st post-presidential visit to Arizona

Ronald J. Hansen | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   Former President Donald Trump returned Saturday to Arizona, a state that has been central to his political rise and fall. Trump focused on casting doubt on his electoral loss and lobbed barbs at his political foes — Democrats and Republicans alike. Meanwhile, most Republican contenders for the U.S. Senate, governor and secretary of state races sought to impress Trump voters as they talked to the nearly 5,000 in attendance at the Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix. Here are five things we learned from the event, which was hosted by the conservative,…
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Phoenix: Gov. Doug Ducey should get back in his lane, let schools decide how to handle COVID-19

Phoenix: Gov. Doug Ducey should get back in his lane, let schools decide how to handle COVID-19

Robert Robb | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com Arizona schools should be open. But they also should be free to make their decisions to mitigate COVID-19 transmission risks. In managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Doug Ducey has gotten the balance between open and shut generally right. Given current conditions, he and GOP lawmakers are correct to require schools to be open for in-person instruction. However, they are wrong to micromanage how schools operate safely or preclude options for doing so. Ducey is having a row with two school districts, Peoria here in Maricopa County and Catalina Foothills in Pima…
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Phoenix: The delta variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in Arizona, researcher says

Phoenix: The delta variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in Arizona, researcher says

Stephanie Innes | Alison Steinbach | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for PhoenixNewsAndTalk.Com   The highly contagious delta variant appears to be the dominant strain of the COVID-19 virus in Arizona, mirroring what's happening nationwide. "We are finding delta pretty much everywhere now," said David Engelthaler, director of the infectious disease branch of the Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute. "It is officially our dominant strain and likely will remain that way until and unless another variant shows up that can spread even faster than delta." What that means for Arizonans who aren't vaccinated or don't have immunity to COVID-19 is that they are at higher…
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Phoenix: ‘A true watchdog reporter’: Lois Boyles, longtime Phoenix Gazette journalist, dies at 93

Phoenix: ‘A true watchdog reporter’: Lois Boyles, longtime Phoenix Gazette journalist, dies at 93

Amaris Encinas | Arizona Republic Troy Warren for CNT   The only thing Lois Boyles loved more than chasing a news story was her family. After all, she did raise three kids all on her own: Vance, Bill and Marja. Even while on deadline, the longtime Phoenix Gazette reporter and editor always made time to do last-minute debate prep with her son, give advice to her daughter about the best way to run the high school newspaper, or clean up ketchup her son put on their garage floor to mimic blood in hopes of charging visitors 25 cents to look at their house…
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