Photo: Cathedral Rock overlooks the Verde Valley School Farm in Sedona. The first frost came to the Verde Valley School Farm in Sedona in October, five weeks ahead of schedule. The following day, as the sun beat down from a serene sky, Michael Spielman stood amid the wreckage and pulled out blackened stalks of cherry…
In the middle of May, Graham Hoffman will become president and CEO of both the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Graham has held the position at the Foundation since 2018 and will be taking over at the Federation for Stuart Mellan, who has been president and CEO…
Many people living in Arizona today grew up with the “fenceless” neighborhoods in other parts of the country, where one could look out their kitchen window and see acres of green grass or wooded hillsides. In Phoenix and its surrounding cities, the norm is to have a fence surrounding your property. These fences are usually…
Photo: The ExtremeMist Personal Cooling System. By Jane Larson Walking at night to avoid 140-degree daytime heat wafting up from the fiery ground, feet sinking in the soft sand, Ron Laikind was partway through a 1,000-mile trek across the Sahara when his guide introduced him to a trick that sparked what’s become a new and…
Pictured above: Sigal and Ronny Urman Sigal and Ronald “Ronny” Urman are a dynamic duo who are very involved in the Israeli-American community in the Valley and are business partners at Urman Investments. The two are also the founding partners of Illumination, Symphony of Light, the world’s largest drive-through animated light show that will be…
Pictured above: Jeff and Wendy Cohen. Photo by Leni Reiss He is the dean of humanities at Arizona State University; she is the executive director of Experience Matters. Jeff and Wendy Cohen, relative newcomers to the Valley, already are making a mark in their respective fields. The couple met in 1986, both seniors at the…
Pictured above: Dr. Abraham Lieberman (right) with Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Walker, founder, president and CEO of Celebrity Fight Night, in 1999. Photo courtesy Barrow Neurological Institute Dr. Abraham Lieberman will retire at the end of December after more than 20 years at Barrow Neurological Institute. He has been an internationally recognized leader in the…
Pictured above: Fred Fingerhut with a 1973 limited edition of a Leroy Neiman serigraph. There are sports fans – and fanatics – and then there’s Fred Fingerhut. When I phoned the longtime, now retired gynecologist/obstetrician here in the Valley, he was at home, on his treadmill. He was engrossed in watching a taped replay of…
It’s apparent that Mark Einhorn is one of those people who doesn’t require much sleep. He is a husband, father of four, vice president of information risk management, rabbi, gabbai at Ohr HaTorah synagogue, paper cut artist and magician. So when he saw the Alexa Skills Challenge: Kids contest, naturally he just had to create…
Pictured above: Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance members from riding clubs across the country stop in Needles, CA, with the Colorado River in the background. From left, Ilan (Eli) Navon (NY), Ilan Nahum (NY), Doug Faigel (AZ), Nico Berlin (Charleston), Jeff Chernoff (FL), Nevin Heitner (AZ), Michael Feldman (MI), Jodii Zimmerman (AZ), Max Heeres (AZ), Harvey Wershbale…
