Happy Wednesday! On this day in 1981, Arizona's own Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated to become the first woman Supreme Court justice.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 109.

This newsletter is 1,078 words — a 4-minute read.

A wide-ranging measure to curtail the state's school voucher program is dead after a legal challenge left it without enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Why it matters: The Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program has become a political lightning rod and partisan dividing line.

• Critics assail it as an attack on public education and are harshly critical of abuses in how some parents spend ESA money.
• Supporters hail it as a landmark school-choice program that provides opportunities for students whose needs aren't met by public schools.

Driving the news: The Arizona Supreme Court yesterday upheld key portions of a trial court's ruling on Proposition 212, also known as the Protect Education Act.

Zoom in: The case revolved around the method for invalidating signatures of voters who signed more than once.

• Prop 212 needed at least 255,949 valid signatures.
• The legal challenge left the measure with about 240,000, attorney Kory Langhofer, who represented the plaintiffs, tells Axios.

How it works: The ESA program provides money to parents whose children don't attend public schools, which can be used for private school tuition, instructional materials and other educational purposes.

• Prior to universal expansion, the program was limited to students with disabilities and other groups, like those in failing schools and children of active-duty military parents.
• Legislative budget analysts expect the program to cost as much as $1.2 billion this year, with more than 113,000 enrollees.

State of play: Prop 212 would have made several major changes to the program. It would have:

• Limited ESAs to families with household income up to $150,000, exempting students with disabilities and other groups that qualified prior to universal expansion.
• Mandated that materials purchased with ESA funds be required or recommended by state-approved curriculum, explicitly banning luxury and non-educational items.
• Required families to return unspent funds, which can currently be saved for future use.

Read more

Fans of Arizona's newly opened Seafood City in Chandler haven't yet received the full experience the Filipino grocery chain has to offer: Late Night Madness.

Why it matters: The California-based franchise periodically extends its hours to host boisterous community parties with local DJs and street food — and the Chandler store is expected to host its first such event this fall.

Catch up quick: The Chandler location opened on July 30, offering customers 66,000 square feet of food products from the Philippines and other Asian countries and a 10,000-square-foot food hall that can be used for events.

• The marquee event is Late Night Madness, at which "attendees eat Filipino street food, buy merch and, of course, dance the night away to live DJ sets," per the San Francisco Standard.
• Seafood City spokesperson Patricia Francisco tells Axios that the marketing team dreamed up the event a year ago, which quickly became a viral sensation.

What to expect: Francisco says Seafood City is tentatively planning to host the Chandler store's first Late Night Madness in October, which is Filipino American History Month.

• Seafood City will partner with local artists and DJs, which the chain is "still doing our homework" on, and offer lots of Filipino street food.

The bottom line: While the events already planned by Seafood City make it much more than a grocery store, the Chandler location won't have fully arrived until the first Late Night Madness event kicks off.

Catch the madness

🚨 Two Phoenix police officers suspected of not reporting use of force have been put on leave amid a criminal probe into their involvement in a Aug. 5 traffic stop. (AZCentral)

🛣️ Sen. Mark Kelly is pushing the Federal Highway Administration to allow preparatory work on the long-planned Interstate 11, which would connect Phoenix to Las Vegas, while an environmental review is underway. (KJZZ)

💰 Kurt Huzar, the CEO of a nonprofit that runs the 225-student Arizona Preparatory Academy charter school, earns $520,000 a year.

• Huzar says he serves many roles, including "investment manager... teacher, registrar, controller, human resource manager, grants manager, and as the receptionist." (ABC15)

😡 Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes lashed out at federal officials during an election security call. (Votebeat)

In 77% of the Phoenix area’s ZIP codes, sellers listed their homes in July for less than they did last year.

Why it matters: Some home buyers could be getting better deals than they did last year when mortgage rates were at comparable levels.

Zoom in: In about two-fifths of the area’s ZIP codes, listing prices are at least 5% lower than they were last year, according to Realtor.com. ZIP codes with the biggest drops in listing prices:

• Scottsdale | 85251, down 27.6% — Homes typically spent 78.8 days on the market, with a median listing price of $488,500.
• Phoenix | 85014, down 26% — 77 days and $444,575.
• Scottsdale | 85258, down 25.6% — 68 days and $807,500.

What we're watching: Elevated mortgage rates could continue to slow home sales. The average 30-year rate was 6.67% on Aug. 13, near a one-year high.

Dig into the market

Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte was a no-show for Monday's game, and now a mystery swirls about his absence.

Why it matters: This is the second time in as many years that Marte has gone AWOL and left the team answering uncomfortable questions.

Catch up quick: Marte traveled with the team to Boston, and per the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks held out hope he'd play until minutes before first pitch.

• Team officials have said only that he was healthy and they had expected him at the park.

Yes, but: Yesterday, the Republic reported that Marte was heading to Arizona for testing on his knee.

Flashback: Marte also missed three games last season after his Valley home was burglarized, flying to his native Dominican Republic without telling the team.

• Marte apologized, and despite rumors, the Diamondbacks opted not to trade him.

The bottom line: As they shoot for their first postseason berth since 2023, the Diamondbacks need Marte in the lineup and out of the headlines.

📕 Jeremy is reading Ron Chernow's phone book-sized biography of Ulysses S. Grant, so that's going to keep him busy for a while.

🫆 Zach is slowly but surely making his way through every episode of "Columbo."

This newsletter was edited by Astrid Galván.