Cultivating Art  Nicole Royse aims to showcase Valley artists in a fresh light. By Emma Suttell Nicole Royse has spent her career moving between art shows and galleries and writing about emerging artists for North Valley Magazine. Now the owner of her own gallery, Royse Contemporary, she’s extending her art network to showcase Valley artists in a new light. Raised in Orange County, California, by her grandp ...

D-backs utility player Chris Owings brings talent and humor to the ball field. By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Photos Sarah Sachs/Arizona Diamondbacks Arizona Diamondbacks utility player Chris Owings had a powerful start to the 2017 season. With the game versus the San Francisco Giants tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth on Opening Day, Owings slugged a single to bring in Daniel Descalso and win the game. ...

Red Dragon Wings  Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these savory wings are delicious. By Leann Jordan   Red Dragon Wings       Yield: 10 wings Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes   10        chicken wings, trimmed 4          Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1          tsp. kosher salt 1          tsp. cracked black pepper 3          Tbsp. gochujang paste 2          Tbsp. soy sauce ...

Fresh Reads    AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION By Alyssa Cole An Extraordinary Union is a vivid romance novel. Set during the early years of the Civil War, Elle is a free black woman living in the north. She is a Union spy for the Loyal League and has a photographic memory. McCall, a white man, is also a Union spy and a stealthy Pinkerton detective. Both end up working against and with each other––Elle posing a ...

A Chance of Meatballs  The forecast for the Maggiore Group’s new Sicilian Butcher looks bright. By Niki D’Andrea Photos by Debby Wolvos “This is sooo good! It’s sooo good!” The woman at the table across from us is talking to her male dining companion, pointing emphatically with her fork at the dish in front of her. I don’t know what she’s eating, but that doesn’t matter, because we are at The Sicilian Butch ...

Truck Solid  The Honda Ridgeline goes mainstream. By Greg Rubenstein Americans love buying pickup trucks—so much so that the top-three best-selling vehicles in the U.S. for 2017 were trucks (ditto for 2016). U.S. buyers have long loved trucks, too, with Ford’s F150 topping the best-selling charts for the last three-and-a-half decades. So Honda, a manufacturer that consistently scores top-10 annual sales for ...

Forging Ahead  Amy Pieh carries on a family tradition with Pieh Tool Company. By Becky Antioco Photos by Shannon Fisher Amy Pieh is living proof that there’s no such thing as an overnight success, even when you have a 40-year history in your favor. Her business, Pieh Tool Company, is an overnight success 15 years in the making, the result of circumstance, know-how, and hard work. Her two locations sell blac ...

Enchanted Island  Charming amusement park delights young and old. By Julie Carlson One of the Valley’s simple pleasures, Enchanted Island is a charming amusement park. Nestled in the heart of Phoenix’s picturesque Encanto Park, listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top 12 Best City Parks in America, Enchanted Island is designed for children ages 2 through 10 and their families. An oasis in the city, Encha ...

Putting Probabilities Golf pro Scott Sackett talks putt data points. There’s no hiding that putting great can lead to lower scores. How good are PGA professionals from various distances? Am I going to three putt? What are my chances of making a putt? I recently read the book, Every Shot Counts, by Mark Broadie. This book outlines the strokes gained statistics from driving, iron play, short game, and putting ...

What a Catch!  A Scottsdale couple runs a lodge…in Kenai, Alaska By Michelle Talsma Everson To say that local businessman and entrepreneur Terry Johnson has lived an adventurous life would be an understatement. Alongside his wife Angelyn and family, Johnson spends part of his year in the North Valley and part in Kenai, Alaska, where he owns and operates the award-winning Salmon Catcher Lodge. “I opened the ...

Five-Syllable Henry Arizona state historian Marshall Trimble recounts the tale of Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst. By Marshall Trimble Arizona has been blessed with a remarkable assemblage of U.S. Senators including Carl Hayden, Barry Goldwater, Ernest W. McFarland, Paul Fannin, John McCain, and Jeff Flake that any other state would be proud to claim as their own. Henry Fountain Ashurst, one of the baby stat ...

Leading the Pack  Girl Scout alumni in Arizona soar. By Alison Bailin Batz In Arizona, Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) serves more than 22,000 girls in grades K-12 with the help of more than 10,000 adult members who act as troop leaders, mentors, program assistants, consultants, and board members. And, as many of our readers with a sweet tooth (or daughters) already know––for six weeks each ...

Ideal Conditions  Cool and clear weather continues here in Arizona, which means February and March are a great time to look skyward. By Steve Kates It’s going to be a great year for all of us to get ready for one of the most amazing close encounters with the planet Mars. Out of all the planets in the solar system, Mars has excited the minds of mankind for many centuries because of its similarity to Earth an ...

All the Pretty Horses  Scottsdale hosts the largest Arabian horse show in the world. By Leisah Woldoff The largest Arabian horse show in the world began as a small event for Arizonans who owned Arabian horses. The 1955 inaugural show, organized by the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona (AHAA), was held at the Arizona Biltmore and featured 50 horses and more than a dozen exhibitors from Arizona and neighbo ...

The Sole of PHX  Area artists come together to celebrate the Suns’ golden anniversary. Photos by Tim Sealy By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski A Grand Canyon State native, artist Isaac Caruso has fond memories of Compass Arizona Grill—the never-ending view of the Valley, the colors and the Mother’s Day brunches. “I recall looking out through the window and seeing the whole downtown skyline,” Caruso says. “It was ...