Phoenix's top stories of 2023: World Series run, historic heat and heated Senate race
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Emmanuel Rivera , Ketel Marte and Christian Walker celebrate their Game 7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. Photo: Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
What kind of year has it been? A busy one (especially for those of us in the news business).
- From unbelievable sports seasons to scorching heat and 2024 campaigning (already), here's a look back on the biggest stories that shaped our community:
Sports:
🏈 Super Bowl: The Valley showed off as Arizona hosted the Super Bowl for the fourth time. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in the third highest scoring Super Bowl ever.
🏀 Kevin Durant: In the Suns' biggest trade since Charles Barkley came to the Valley in 1992, new owner Mat Ishbia started his tenure with a splash by trading for the 6-foot-10 superstar.
⚾ World Series: The Diamondbacks shocked the world and "embraced the chaos" with their underdog run to the World Series. They fell to the Texas Rangers in five games.
👋 Buh-bye Pac-12: The Pac-12 Conference disintegrated amid a dispute over a new TV deal, prompting ASU and UofA to leave the conference they'd been members of since 1978 and join the Big 12 instead.
Politics:
🥊 Hobbs vs. Legislature: After 14 years of Republican control, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' inauguration marked a new era of divided government at the Capitol. Hobbs shattered the single-session veto record by rejecting 143 bills, while Senate President Warren Petersen created a new committee to grill Hobbs' agency director nominees. The governor circumvented the committee by naming her agency heads as "deputy executive directors."
🔥Senate race heats up: Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego in January announced his campaign to challenge independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. In October, presumptive Republican nominee Kari Lake, who lost last year's gubernatorial race, launched her bid for the seat. Sinema has yet to announce whether she will seek reelection and Republican Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is also running.
⛔ Border issues: A surge of migrants crossing the border after the federal Title 42 policy expired in May overwhelmed Arizona border communities. As of November, the state transported 26,513 asylum seekers from Tucson to other destinations.
- Earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the port of entry at Lukeville to redeploy resources to apprehend, transport and process a surge of migrants illegally crossing the border
⛺ Homelessness: The number of unhoused people in metro Phoenix grew again, while Phoenix faced a court deadline to clear the largest encampment in the state. The city failed to open more than 400 planned shelter beds because of construction delays and environmental issues.
🗳️ Abortion: Advocates filed a ballot measure that, if approved by voters next year, would expand access to abortion and protect those rights in the Arizona Constitution. Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court is expected to rule early next year on whether abortions are permitted through 15 weeks of pregnancy, per a 2022 law, or banned almost entirely by a law that's been on the books since 1864.
Environment:
🌡️ Historic heat wave: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded recorded 31 consecutive days of at least 110° from June 30 to July 30. It was the longest heat wave ever recorded in Phoenix. We became the first major city in the country to reach an average monthly temperature higher than 100, with an average July temperature of 102.7°.
💧 Water woes: Arizona, California and Nevada faced the prospect of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation imposing a settlement on water cuts due to a 23-year drought that's depleted the Colorado River. But the states were able to agree on a proposal to conserve 3 million acre-feet through 2026.