Tempe Beat

Rural Road’s westbound on-ramp to U.S. Highway 60 will be closed nightly, starting tonight and lasting on and off through next week.
Construction work is requiring the closure from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. The dates are tonight through Friday morning, and Sunday night through the morning of Friday, Dec. 12.
For more information call, (480) 350-2775.

100 years of Tempe history will come to life later this month.
The Tempe Old Settlers Association will hold a Centennial Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 18. The event will take place at the Arizona Community Church Social Hall, 9325 S. Rural Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Members typically come from all over the Valley for this annual event, which will include socializing, a potluck lunch, entertainment, the election of association officers and exchanges of stories.
There are an estimated 600 current Old Settlers. Members must have been born in Tempe or have lived in the city for at least 30 years.
To reserve a spot at the potluck or for more information, call (480) 838-2895 or visit www.tempeoldsettlers.com.

I don’t know much about finance, but even I can get the ramifications of Wall Street’s meltdown after reading a lede graf like this:

Cities, states and other local governments have been effectively shut out of the bond markets for the last two weeks, raising the cost of day-to-day operations, threatening longer-term projects and dampening a broad source of jobs and stability at a time when other parts of the economy are weakening.

As the Tribune’s beat reporter for Tempe, I felt it necessary to ask if Wall Street’s meltdown was inflicting this sort of harm upon Mill Avenue.
Tom Duensing and Jerry Hart from the city’s finance department responded:

*-We only issue bonds for capital projects; therefore, day-to-day services should be relatively unaffected.
*-We typically issue bonds in the late part of each fiscal year and we believe the markets will settle down by the time we go to market.
*-We have always been and should remain a strong credit with highly rated bonds.
*-The main issue is not our ability to repay but a possible reduced demand for bonds; therefore, higher interest rates that would have to be paid.
*-We have a large capital projects’ budget in FY 2008-09 which depends on bond financing. A weak demand for our bonds could equate to higher interest rates when we go out to the market.
*-If, for whatever reason, there is not a market for our bonds (very unlikely), we would have to make tough choices on capital projects such as scaling back or delaying projects.

OK, then.

Emergency work on Rio Salado Parkway is forcing the street’s closure between Rural Road and McClintock Drive tonight.
The closure begins at 7 p.m., and is expected to last until 6 a.m. Friday.
For more information, call (480) 350-2775.

Some Tempe residents soon will be asked about their feelings on everything from parks and streets to police and fire service.
Starting next week, a three-page, confidential survey will be mailed to 2,400 randomly selected citizens. The questionnaire takes an estimated 10 minutes to complete, and included is a self-addressed, stamped envelope to mail back responses to the company administering the survey: ETC Institute, of Olathe, Kan.
The survey’s questions deal with the level of satisfaction residents have with police, fire, parks, public works, communication and more. ETC Institute will compile and present the results to the City Council later this year.
“We hope that Tempe residents will take a few moments to tell us how we’re doing to provide services and improve quality of life,” said Mayor Hugh Hallman. “Residents’ feedback gives our City Council important information to consider when making decisions for the betterment of the community.”
Some residents may receive a telephone call reminding them to complete the survey. Results remain completely confidential and the city will not be informed which residents received or completed surveys.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman’s teenage niece, missing since last weekend, was found in good condition and reunited with her family Friday morning.
Police said they are investigating the disappearance of Paige Hallman, 16, as a possible runaway incident. She has a history of running away from home, according to authorities
Hallman had gone missing last Sunday night.

If Mayor Hugh Hallman is seeking the national spotlight, perhaps he should leave Tempe more often.

While at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. last week, Hallman was the subject of a feature on Minnesota Public Radio. The reporter, Jim Gates, is an old high school friend, and so tagged along with Hallman as he executed his duties as a GOP delegate.

That interview comes on the heels of Hallman’s appearance in a national blog. But the mayor wants to make something clear: He was not an attendee at the Utne Reader party. Apparently, after that alternative magazine’s soirée ended, some revelers went to the St. Paul Hotel to continue to merry-making - and that’s where the cameras caught Hallman.

In the last few weeks, the Tempe Beat-nik has been hearing rumors growing louder a supermarket may be coming to the downtown area. Close to downtown, anyway.

Here’s the skinny:  Visit the intersection of Mill Avenue and Broadway Road, and look to the southwest corner. There’s a Walgreens under construction, and after the holidays it will replace the existing Walgreens on the southeast corner.

And moving into the now-vacant property will be Fresh & Easy, the British grocer that is aggressively expanding throughout Arizona.

Fresh & Easy opened three new stores (Tempe, Mesa and Queen Creek) Wednesday, bringing the Valley’s total to 24.

At the grand opening ceremonies of the store at Baseline Road and Kyrene Road, the Beat-nik took the opportunity to ask F&E officials about the rumor. For a non-denial denial, try this on: “If we’re not looking at it, we should be.”

Stay tuned.

Chris Wilson has resigned as the Downtown Tempe Community’s vice president of operations.
In his resignation letter, Wilson gave no reason for his exit. His last day is Friday.
Wilson has led the DTC’s operations for 12 years. The organization manages Mill Avenue improvements, activities and marketing, which are funded through city taxes raised within an enhanced multiple services district.
Wilson’s decision, made public Monday, is the second recent high-profile departure at DTC; president and executive director Pam Goronkin announced in July she was stepping down.
Next Monday, Nancy Hormann takes over as the DTC’s top executive.