Tortosa resident Mike Ponce was anything but a happy motorist this morning. He and thousands of others leaving Maricopa via John Wayne Parkway northbound shared the frustration. All arteries connected to the city’s main vein were also backed up. Ponce, like thousands of other angry commuters heading north toward Phoenix, were upset about the situation and wanted to know what happened. Morning lane restrictions arise from paving complications. Photo taken April 18, 2024, by Bryan Mordt. Ponce’s commute to Chandler was delayed an hour. He said he took several U-turns trying to avoid backups on ..read more

D.R. Horton took another step toward building the city’s newest single-family subdivision last week. The home builder submitted elevation renderings to city planners for a neighborhood south of the Volkswagen Arizona Proving Grounds, according to documents obtained in a public records request yesterday. This includes 14 different floor plans with four elevation styles per plan. The developer closed the land sale in February to create the subdivision, which will consist of 456 homes across 111 acres on the southeast corner of Murphy and Farrell Roads. Details on when paperwork may be reviewed ..read more

Maricopa police arrested a father accused of entering his wife’s home through a doggy door and unlawfully imprisoning their children Saturday night.  Cops arrested 32-year-old Gaston K. Gordon on counts of domestic violence assault, disorderly conduct, endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and preventing the use of a phone in an emergency, according to a probable cause statement.  Officers responded to the home on West Tamara Lane in Desert Passage just after 11 p.m. after Gordon’s wife reported the man squeezed through the dog door at her home and refused to leave.  Gordon repor ..read more

A culinary strip at Maricopa Community Center was floated to much fanfare last year. Now, the project has attracted an accompanying apartment complex. Georgia-based Paces Preservation Partners wants to build an affordable housing development near Maricopa City Hall, according to documents obtained in a public records request yesterday. The developer submitted pre-application paperwork to city planners last week for a 150-unit affordable multifamily development on 8.35 acres of a 22-acre parcel near the southeast corner of White and Parker and Bowlin Roads. While details are scant on what the ..read more

Ka’zia Delco was just 6 when she collapsed on the playground at Maricopa Elementary School in December.  She was airlifted out of Maricopa to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. There, she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, or severe cardiac heart block, a progressive disease.   Today, her Alterra parents, Andrea Delco, a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, and Bashu Delco, a longtime employee with Southwest Airlines, tensely await a heart transplant for their little girl.   Hanging over their heads is the threat — Ka’zia is at risk of dying at any time.&n ..read more

The city’s newest fresco is nearly complete.  Casa Grande artist Mauriel “Mory” Morejon was spotted today finishing his newest mural he titled “By the River.” He started spraying his acrylic paint Monday.  The freehand mural is painted on a Global Water Resources tank just south of West Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Santa Rosa Parkway. It features wild horses drinking water out of a river, with saguaros and jagged Arizona mountains in the background.  “This spread is without any projection,” Morejon told InMaricopa Monday. “It’s just out of my mind straight to the ..read more

Maricopa police Saturday tased an armed man who barricaded himself inside his car and refused to identify himself.  Cops arrested 50-year-old Desert Passage resident Mark D. Hanson on charges of resisting arrest, weapons misconduct, failure to comply and failing to give a truthful name.  Police stopped Hanson in his 2001 Honda Accord at North John Wayne Parkway and West Maricopa Market Place for a suspended license plate, according to a probable cause statement.   Hanson refused to identify himself and refused to answer if he was armed, according to the police report. That’s wh ..read more

A police chase ended when a motorcyclist crashed into a Maricopa Meadows roundabout this morning.  Arizona State Troopers, Maricopa police, fire and medical responders were spotted at the roundabout at West Honeycutt Avenue and Hogenes Boulevard around 9:15 a.m., just after class began for Maricopa Wells Middle School students across the street.  Arizona State Trooper Lugo told InMaricopa he saw the motorcyclist speeding southbound on North John Wayne Parkway and running the red light at Honeycutt Avenue.  “I tried initiating a stop on it,” Lugo said. “[He] didn’t want to ..read more

Lowe’s Home Improvement at Southbridge Marketplace should get final approval to put shovels in the ground when Maricopa City Council meets tomorrow. The council will consider and discuss the final plat for Lowe’s on 10.7 acres of the 16-acre commercial development expected to include a supermarket to be named and retail spaces, including a marijuana dispensary. The council meets at 6 p.m. in its chambers at City Hall, 39700 W. Civic Center Plaza. The proposed commercial replat will maintain two points of access along West Honeycutt Avenue, and the West Edwards Avenue extension. It is anticipa ..read more

If the sky looked like it had a few extra clouds today, don’t worry, your eyes didn’t deceive you.   This morning Casa Grande artist Mauriel “Mory” Morejon started work on the city’s newest mural — this time enveloping a Global Water Resources tank just south of West Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Santa Rosa Parkway.  He’s the artist behind another mural at the Maricopa Museum and Visitor Center that debuted last July. He has painted more than 200 backyard murals in the city.  When it’s done, the acrylic fresco will cover a 25-square-foot area of the water tank’s north side ..read more