Dunkin’ Donuts grand opening features free donuts
Dunkin’ Donuts grand opening of its first Laveen location at 5225 W. Baseline Road, Suite #104 (51st Avenue and Baseline Road) takes place Saturday, April 16. To celebrate, the first 100 guests in line at the restaurant on April 16 will receive one free traditional donut. As an added bonus, the restaurant will continue the excitement by […]
Fairfax student name state poetry champ
Hunter Hazelton, a senior at Betty Fairfax High School was named 2016 Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Champion at the state finals competition held on March 11, 2016 at the downtown Phoenix studios of Arizona PBS. As State Champion, Hazelton will represent Arizona at the 11th annual Poetry Out Loud National Finals competition in Washington, D.C., […]
Laveen Residents Re-Launching Neighborhood Patrol
(This article first appeared in the print edition of the South Mountain District News on March 7, 2016) After a six-year hiatus, Laveen residents are relaunching this month a Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol to drive through multiple neighborhoods at least once a month in an effort to deter crime and report suspicious activity. PNPs are partnerships […]
Laveen Village Voice: Countdown to parade and barbecue
In less than a month we celebrate our agrarian heritage with the Laveen Community Parade on Feb. 6 and the Annual Laveen Pit Barbecue on Feb. 21. Hundreds of community volunteers, local business and local leaders pitch in thousands of hours to make these events enjoyable successful. “Laveen is a unique, close-knit community,” says Jeff […]
City and community leaders predict growth, freeway in 2016
As the dust settles on 2015, residents in South Mountain and Laveen Villages can say goodbye to a year of transition and welcome 2016, the year of inevitable and dramatic transformation for their community, from added police officers to the first stages of construction on the South Mountain Freeway. While neighborhood crime, housing prices and […]
Laveen Village Voice: Community says goodbye to Laveen activist
One of Laveen’s most active residents and staunchest community supporters announced last month that she would be moving to Henderson, Nevada due to her husband’s career. Stefany Scovell served for more than six years on the Village Planning Committee and was a founder of the Laveen Meadows Block Watch. Scovell also was an active administrator […]
Muslim Community Building Mosque in Laveen
Members of the Muslim community in Laveen are building a 3,000-square-foot masjid at the southeast corner of Dobbins Road and 51st Avenue on county land near the Laveen Post Office. Naveed Ahmed, a board member and treasurer for the Islamic Center of Laveen, said the facility will give nearly 500 families from Laveen and nearby […]
SMCC, Ahwatukee Chamber Launching Young Entrepreneurs Academy
Rose Tring for the South Mountain District News Eight aspiring business leaders of the future are getting their starts this month as members of the inaugural class of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, sponsored by the Ahwatukee Chamber Community Foundation and South Mountain Community College. “We’re launching it this month,” said Anne Gill, president and CEO […]
O’odham and Supporters Protest Meeting of South Mountain Freeway Bidders
To ready more about the protest, visit Akimel O’odham Youth Collective’s Blog
Residents say lousy drivers are worst traffic issue in Laveen
Whether it is rude drivers or four-lane thoroughfares that abruptly drop to two lanes, residents in Laveen find plenty to say about driving in the rapidly developing urban village. The South Mountain District News asked residents to sound off on the topic and more than 80 people responded with what they considered the biggest traffic […]