100 South Mill Avenue

From Washington Post, via this intro from the Nation’s Restaurant News:

“Editorial: Ariz. to serve as testing ground with strict immigration law
Arizona will begin enforcing one of the toughest state immigration laws in the U.S. in January. The new law suspends the business license of any company that knowingly hires illegal immigrants for up to 10 days. The license will be revoked upon a second offense”

There is little clarity about the law itself, which is being challenged in court by major business associations, Hispanic groups and the American Civil Liberties Union. The statute was sloppily drafted[.] While [Gov.] Napolitano believes the law applies only to workers hired after Jan. 1, Andrew Thomas, the Maricopa County (Phoenix) prosecutor whose purview includes most of the state’s population and workforce, says it applies to any employee on a firm’s payroll, regardless of hiring date.

[...]The system of verification that employers will be required to use to check workers’ status relies on a federal database whose error rate regarding non-native-born Americans is believed to be as high as 10 percent — and for which Congress has appropriated no funds beyond next year. All in all, a recipe for chaos and confusion.

OK I am notorious for my ill-tempered and bombastic reaction to any restriction or closure of streets in Downtown Tempe a.k.a the Mill Avenue District.  This case is no exception. Mill Avenue should never be closed to traffic. Ever.  Period. (I will probably revisit this topic sometime soon.)

However, having been on the losing end of this battle for many years, I am resigned to making the best of it. Thus below I invite you to peruse our special New Year’ Eve Block Party packages below, followed by information from the City of Tempe on the logistics of the event, traffic and access, and parking options.

I wish all a happy and safe New Year,

MLM

New Year’s Eve Packages

Event: Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party

Event description: As Arizona’s biggest and most exciting New Year’s Eve
bash, the Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party is a jam-packed evening of fun
and entertainment for the entire family. More than 100,000 party-goers
annually celebrate in Tempe’s Beach Park and Mill Avenue District amidst
spectacular fireworks displays and Arizona’s official midnight countdown
drop. With more than 40 local bands and entertainers, a national
headlining music act, beer gardens, dueling pianos, freestyle motor
cross jumpers and more, this is one fantastic celebration you won’t want
to miss!
Date: 12/31 - 01/01

Contact: Kevin Koziol 602-620-3351, Rich Ripley 602-809-5556

Set-up: 12/27 - 12/31

Event Hours: 4 pm - 12:15 am

Take Down: 01/01 - 01/02

Road Closures: Mill Avenue - University Dr. to Curry

Rio Salado - Hardy to Suncor (just east of Mill)

See traffic link for more details: http://www.tempe.gov/streetclosures/

Lane Restrictions: See traffic link for details:
http://www.tempe.gov/streetclosures/

Downtown Tempe Community (DTC) Parking and Access Link

Marina Impact: During the event, the marina will be open to lake users
east of the marina.

Area of Park: Tempe Beach Park and Downtown Tempe

Admission Cost: $20 in advance/$25 day of event, Tempe Residents may
purchase 4 tickets at $5 each at various Tempe facilities

For Public information: http://www.insightbowl.org/

Staff: Contact # 480-250-5445

Jared Wilson
Assistant Recreation Coordinator
City of Tempe | Special Events
480-858-2199 (p)
480-350-5845 (f)
jared_wilson@tempe.gov

Here are two mostly-conflicting stories that demonstrate the confusing churn of the economy at this time. Food, fuel and labor costs are rising. Home values are falling off. The repercussions of the mortgage crisis continue to work their way through the finance markets. Which way will it all shake out in 2008?

Olive Garden is Darden Restaurants’ cash cow, historically outperforming brands such as Red Lobster when times get tough. If the staying power of casual dining’s Italian stallion runs out, it’s a sure sign of a larger and more deeply rooted economic crisis, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
http://email.rimag.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/m1hB0RABDt0DO30Ew2b0Fg

On the other hand…

Consumer Spending Surges in November
Friday December 21, 5:20 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer Consumer Spending Surges in November, Reducing Fears of Imminent Recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers put aside worries about slumping home sales and soaring gasoline prices and headed to the malls in November, pushing spending up by the largest amount in 3 1/2 years. The better-than-expected surge lessened fears of an imminent recession.

What next–red meat? Is this still America?

What Sluggish Gun Sales Say About the Economy
Spending power is shrinking, and guns are taking the hit.
Autumn should be a robust time for gun makers and vendors–[...]shares of the well-known gun manufacturer have slid in the past three months. Similarly, outdoor chain Cabela’s stock has tumbled this fall as investors worry about future sales. And Gander Mountain of St.Paul, Minn., another chain that specializes in hunting and fishing, saw
its same-store sales fall in the latest quarter against the same period last year.

I was pleased to see this recent story about the old hangars from the WWII pilot training program at Falcon Field. There is a connection to Monti’s. From approximately 1943 to 1947 the bar/restaurant portion of what is now my establishment was leased and operated by Eugene and Lucille Paine. Eugene is deceased, but Lucille visited me a few years ago and gave me the following photograph, now displayed on the wall at the East end of our bar. The photo shows Gene Paine attaching a British military flag to the wall behind the bar in honor of his many British pilot-trainee customers from Falcon Field.

For more on this general subject read the piece by Ed Taylor linked below.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/104812

December 20, 2007 - 9:13PM
Historic Falcon Field hangars find new life
Ed Taylor, Tribune

Two historic hangars at Mesa’s Falcon Field, the original ones used to train British pilots in World War II, have returned to their roots, once again serving as pilot training and aircraft
refurbishing centers. [...] Although the hangars, which are located on Fighter Aces Drive, look unremarkable from the outside, they have witnessed plenty of interesting history. Falcon Field was built in 1941 and operated under government contract by Southwest Airways, a private company backed by Hollywood stars such as Henry Fonda, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, according to the Mesa Web site.
The company operated several fields as World War II heated up, including
Thunderbird in Glendale and Falcon, which was designated to train
British pilots.
The field opened in September 1941, before Pearl Harbor and the U.S.
entry into the war. It trained British pilots, and a few Americans,
throughout the war.

Letter From Michael Monti Appealing for Community Support

If you click the link below you can easily send an email to the Mayor
and Council all at the same time.
http://www.tempe.gov/elected/councilcommunicator.aspx

And here are the letters from the ingrate executives at US Air (then AWA) thanking me for supporting their building –which was controversial at the time. And now they stab me in the back…thanks, guys.

USAIR1

USAIR2

Apparently our neighbors haven’t filled out all the proper paperwork…

Letter to City Staff Demanding Revocation of US Airways Certificate of Occupancy

TRIBUNE: US AIRWAYS BLASTED FOR OPPOSING 300-FOOT-TALL TOWERS

(That were approved by the FAA and Development Review Commission.)

Contact Councilmember Ben Arredondo:

ben_arredondo@tempe.gov (480) 350-8797

Subscribe to my newsletter–I have a lot to get off my chest.

Barry Goldwater said, “Extremeism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”

Sky Harbor is not the only aviation option: For starters, we can develop Phoenx-Mesa Gateway Airport Harry Mitchell’s Article on Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport

JAZZ TO CONTINUE AT MONTI’S BACK DOOR (From Woody):

Live Jazz Continues at Monti’s Back Door through January ‘08.

 

After six months and 25 weekly shows, the Monday night JAMN happy hour jazz series at Monti’s Back Door will continue into 2008.

“We never thought we’d last this long,” said Tempe architect and JAMN co-founder, Stu Siefer. “The Back Door series was only supposed to be a summer experiment to see if we could develop an audience for live jazz in the Mill Avenue District. Our intention was to build a program and turn it over to a club, or venue that could keep it going. We were fortunate to find the venue in Monti’s La Casa Vieja, but we also discovered booking, promoting and managing the shows was something we just couldn’t walk away from. It was too much fun”

In 2008, the JAMN series will begin again as it did in July of 2007, a month at a time. However, after the previous six months and a sizable learning curve, some changes will be made to enhance both the musical experience and the presenter’s bottom line.

“Everyone should know this series would never have happened without Monti’s,” said JAMN marketing director, Woody Wilson. “They have been absolutely fantastic to us and to the musicians who have played at the Back Door. With a $5 cover, free appetizers and inexpensive drinks, the series has not been a huge money-making enterprise for either JAMN, or Monti’s. But Michael and Eddie have continued to support us. Virtually all the money coming through the door is paid out to musicians. And, if we are going to continue bringing live jazz to Mill Avenue, we’re going to have to make some adjustments.”

Beginning Monday, January 7th, Monti’s will offer a new “supper club” menu in the Back Door that will include Monti’s famous steaks and other dinner entrees. “From the beginning” adds Wilson, “our patrons have asked for the steak dinners, but the limited number of servers precluded full service meals. That will change in 2008, and the Back Door will become an early supper club. Additionally, the unlimited free appetizers will be discontinued and replaced with a special 1/2 price appetizer menu. Another change will be a modest increase in the cover charge from $5 to $7.”

From a programming perspective, Monti’s Back Door will be booking the Valley’s best headliner performers. “After 25 shows,” said Siefer, “we know who and what works and what doesn’t. If we’re going to continue providing a quality live music experience for our patrons, these are all things we have to do.”

The January Monti’s Back Door lineup will include Margo Reed and the Joel Robin Trio on Jan. 7, The Judy Roberts Trio on Jan. 14th, Armand Boatman and the Bebop Revolution on Jan. 21, and the Ioannis Goudelis Quartet on Jan. 28. Shows are Mondays, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Monti’s Back Door is located at 100 S. Mill Avenue (in the back of the building), Tempe, AZ 85283. Call 480.345.2392 for more information.

New Skyline Blog / Downtown Tempe/ William Hermann:

“It’s 1968, I’m driving home from teaching in downtown Phoenix—there were riots in the streets, plenty of trouble, and I was whipped—and I’d stop on Mill Avenue.

Stop for a beer, that is, at the Casa Loma Bar—a dive by anybody’s measure. [Now Cafe Boa--mlm]

But Nat King Cole sang Mona Lisa on the juke box, and even if most of Mill was a dreary nowhere-land, and the hotel above the bar was inhabited by bikers who sometimes rode their hogs into the bar itself, and even if the local citizenry sometimes ventilated each other with bullet or blade in broad daylight, it was a place to unwind and alternatives were few.”

For lexically-challenged elected officials and airline executives, from dictionary.com:

com·pro·mise /ˈkɒmprəˌmaɪz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kom-pruh-mahyz] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -mised, -mis·ing. –noun

1.	a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.

2.	the result of such a settlement.

3.	something intermediate between different things: The split-level is a compromise between a ranch house and a multistoried house.

Well, I had hoped to have a clear take on our future by now, but thanks to Ben Arredondo we will all have to wait for next month. I said it at council and I will say it here: I am under siege by the nation’s fourth largest airline. (The brass, not the rank and file.) Here is the first piece to hit the web. I am sure that there will be more detail tomorrow.

Vote on Tempe high-rise project postponed (AZCENTRAL)

“Councilman Mark Mitchell and Mayor Hugh Hallman attempted to craft a proposal that would require slightly shorter buildings. They even added restrictions that would require design reviews and put money into an affordable housing pot. But Councilman Ben Arredondo was vocal about his refusal to sign on to the concept. With Ellis absent, that would have left the project with, at best, a 5-1 vote — not enough to meet the six-vote requirement. As a result, the developer asked to postpone any decision-making..”

Tempe delays vote on towers over Monti’s(TRIBUNE)

Watch rebroadcasts of hearing on streaming video or Tempe Channel 11:

http://www.tempe.gov/tempe11/ (program guide and schedules)

http://www.tempe.gov/tempe11/video/ (Streaming video links)