Editor: It’s a pleasure to tell your stories of a great community

Hello, Maricopa!

This is my first direct message to you as the new InMaricopa editorial director, and I have to say I am so impressed with the community. It’s diverse. It’s engaged. And it’s growing.

I don’t have to tell you that, though. Is there a bigger issue around here than State Route 347? Everywhere I go the sentiment seems to be, “We’ve identified the problem, now just widen it and build the Riggs Road overpass already.” Well, as we detail for you in a transportation story in our October issue of InMaricopa magazine, you can help make that happen when you go to the polls or fill out your early ballot in the coming weeks. Our story talks about Proposition 469 and how crucial its passage is to improving SR 347.

Another concern to everybody is health. This month, we give you a healthy dose of local stories on that topic in our annual Health Guide. Take care of yourselves, folks. There’s nothing more important.

Water also is a pretty big deal here. Maricopa is in a unique place in that it relies solely on groundwater. I’m told that there is a guaranteed 100-year supply. Will the proposed surf park really use less than a subdivision would if built on that land? Be sure to check out our story this month for all the details.

From Friday Night Lights at Maricopa High to success in college football: Jacob Cowing is catching on at the University of Arizona. We take a look.

So, who is this new guy in charge of your magazine? I became a journalist because I didn’t become a rocket scientist. It’s true!

After my junior year in high school, I’d exhausted the math offerings (I was a year ahead in math when we moved to Tucson from Ohio). I’d applied for early admission to Rice University, which had a nice relationship with the Johnson Space Center, intending to become an aerospace engineer, a rocket scientist.

In my senior year, because there was no more math to take, I needed another class to be eligible for sports. An English teacher recommended I take Student Newspaper for a credit.

It sounded like an easy “A,” exactly what I was looking for, and — voila! — I was hooked. I went to journalism school at the UofA.

I still love the profession. I enjoy connecting with the community and telling its stories. This is what I’m made to do.

Although, I confess: When my son was a Cub Scout, I helped him build his rocket.

 

This editor’s letter was first published in the October edition of InMaricopa magazine.