When the Cine Capri theater opened in the mid-1960s, going to the movies was a glamorous event. It was for families, but it was also for lavish decor and a deserved night out. Before the multiplex, one movie a night would be on display.  It was a high time for films. And here in Phoenix, George M. Aurelius wanted to expand his theater business as that type of theater was going out of style. They were ready to design a state-of-the-art facility that would blend in well in Uptown Phoenix and also adapt to the changing film distribution style happening at the time.  This week on Valley ..read more

April Fools' Day embodies the spirit of pranks, so in honor of the holiday, Valley 101 explored how a prank orchestrated by Arizona State University students went viral in 2015.  Four ASU students spearheaded the effort to prank the University of Arizona during the football season. It was the fall of 2015, and the Territorial Cup – the rivalry game between the two colleges – was approaching. Ben Kaufman, a senior at the time, was leading the charge and wanted to do something more creative than the usual rival banter. The students decided to take a page out of history and fool Wildcats ove ..read more

Sedona Miller was a well-to-do woman from Gorin, Missouri. She married Theodore Carlton Schnebly, or T.C. as he was commonly called, on Feb. 20, 1897. They moved to what would later be named Sedona in 1899. At the time there were only a few families homesteading in the red rocks region.  The story goes that T.C., who was the first postmaster of the area, applied to have it named either Oak Creek Crossing or Schnebly Station. But the names were rejected by the postmaster general for being too long.  The brother of T.C., Dorsey Ellsworth, suggested the community be named Sedona, a ..read more

When she started teaching in the late 1920s, teachers were only allowed to educate in English, even though her students were predominately Spanish-speaking. This was enforced so heavily that students and teachers would be reprimanded for speaking in their native language. Students were expected to learn English on their own time and teachers were expected to encourage Anglo culture in the classroom. Maria Luisa Legarra Urquides of Tucson decided to change that. As the first person in her family to get a college degree, Maria Urquides valued education above most things. Early in her career in t ..read more

Interest in women’s sports, particularly at the college level, is skyrocketing. According to Nielsen, which collects audience numbers across different media, the 2023 NCAA women's final drew nearly 10 million viewers – up 103% from the previous year.    But this is a recent development. The story of women's sports is long and hard-fought. And one of its champions is a woman who took no guff from anyone. In this second episode of Arizona HERstory, Season 2, Valley 101 explores the life of Ina Gittings − the "grandmother" of women's collegiate sports in Arizona.  Learn more a ..read more

Like much of the country, Arizona had revolutionary Black activists fighting for their community during the 1950s and 1960s. It may seem like a small scale compared to more famous names like Martin Luther King Jr or Malcolm X. But like how voting in a local election impacts your day to day more than voting for President, the civil rights leaders of Phoenix and its surrounding cities changed the way Arizona is shaped today. One such revolutionary, Dr. Lincoln Ragsdale Sr., was on the forefront of desegregation in the city, but his time fighting for racial freedoms went far beyond schools. This ..read more

Buried in Arizona's time capsule lies a story that continues to be dug up over time: the tale of the infamous "Trunk Murderess," or Winnie Ruth Judd, a woman accused of double murder who escaped a state hospital several times and told different accounts of the story through the years.  There's been speculation over the years about whether Judd committed these violent acts by herself and the motive that prompted her to kill her friends. Did she kill them due to a scandalous affair gone wrong? Was the murder out of self defense and facilitated by a lover? Different accounts over time, some ..read more

Science was forever changed, thanks to an observatory in Flagstaff named after Percival Lowell, one of the first minds to explore the potential of water on Mars and theorize about undiscovered planets. In 1930, the Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of a ninth planet at the end of the solar system: Pluto. Now, almost 100 years later, a state representative is proposing to make Pluto the official state planet. This week on Valley 101, a podcast about metro Phoenix and beyond, we dive into the history of Pluto, the scientific breakthrough in its findings and why an elected official wants ..read more

While the cactus makes a beautiful natural ornament in the Valley, the wild plant also provides nutritional benefits from its fruits and spiny pads.  Some of the cactuses, including the prickly pear and the Saguaro, bear fruit that can be eaten in a variety of ways.  Cactus is slowly seeping its way into food culture in Arizona, hidden in dishes across local restaurants and sold in grocery stores. Arizonans can also look one step closer for edible cactus: in their backyards. While removing a Saguaro cactus entirely requires a separate procedure, it is legal to pick the fruit off ..read more

When people think of Phoenix, they probably first think of heat. This goes for both Phoenix the city and Phoenix the mythological bird, said to have risen from the ashes after dying in an explosion of flames. The fire bird and the sweltering city not only have heat in common but the the concept of rebirth as well. When Jack Swilling stopped here in 1867, he saw opportunity for growth and revitalization — if only water could be found. Inspired, he moved his canal company to the Salt River Valley from Wickenburg, and crops came soon after. This early move launched Phoenix's growth. Now it's the ..read more