Good morning, Tempe. Sunny and 113 today, with lows near 90.
- 🕯️ Harry Mitchell has died. Tempe High government teacher, then mayor, then a U.S. Representative.
- 🌡️ Schools open at 113 today. Fall sports tryouts start at 4:30 this afternoon.
- 🍽️ Roman God of Fire opens in Tempe. Statues, marble, and a heavily decorated dining room.
- 🏠 167 new listings hit the Tempe market last month.
- 🎓 ASU football and Stray Cat Theatre release fall calendars. Both start soon.
- 🚌 Busing problems at EVIT. Routes are an issue as the career school starts classes.
- ⚾ Three Valley picks. Padres at Chase Field, Passion Pit and Hedwig at The Van Buren.
Harry Mitchell has died
Harry Mitchell, who taught government at Tempe High School before serving as Tempe's mayor and then representing the East Valley in Congress, has died.
Key facts:
- He taught government in the Tempe Union High School District at Tempe High School, where students knew him as a teacher long before they knew him as a public official.
- He served as mayor of Tempe from 1978 to 1994, the stretch that covers most of the city's modern build-out.
- He later served in the Arizona State Senate and then in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.
Few people in Tempe held that combination of jobs: classroom teacher, mayor of the city, and member of Congress for the district that includes it. The through line was the same set of streets for decades.
What to watch: service arrangements, and how the city marks it.
Schools open into a 113-degree day
Tempe's school year is starting during the hottest stretch of the summer, and heat safety for students and teachers is the question following it.
Key facts:
- National Weather Service forecast for Tempe: high near 113 today, with lows around 90.
- Fall sports tryouts start this afternoon. Cheer tryouts at Corona del Sol begin at 4:30 at 1001 E Knox Rd, and Tempe HS holds its cheer tryouts at the same time in the dance room.
- Three districts overlap inside the city: Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) runs the six high schools, Tempe Elementary School District (TESD) covers downtown and central Tempe K-8, and Kyrene covers south Tempe and parts of Chandler.
The 4:30 start time is the detail worth noting. That is the hour when the pavement has been baking all day and the temperature has not started dropping yet. Statewide, keeping students and teachers safe in record heat is drawing coverage as campuses reopen across Arizona. Details.
The week
Most of the early week is indoors, which tracks.
- 📷 Teen art gallery, Monday at 4. Tempe Public Library, ages 12 to 18. Build a viewfinder with the library's cardboard cutting tools. Details.
- 🃏 Pokemon hour, Monday at 5. Tempe Public Library, ages 6 to 16. Bring a deck or borrow one. Details.
- 🍳 Cook the books club, Monday at 6. First Monday of the month at Tempe Public Library. Adults cook to a theme, then compare notes. Details.
- 🧱 Level Up LEGO, Tuesday at 4. Tempe Public Library, ages 12 to 18. Engineering and computer science builds. Details.
- ✍️ Writing workshop with Duane Roen, Tuesday at 6:30. Virtual session through Tempe Public Library on what hindsight teaches. Details.
- 🎲 Board games at Panera, Wednesday at 5:30. The East Valley group moved its night to Wednesdays. Newcomers welcome. Details.
- 🎤 Powerful Voices open mic, Thursday. Music, comedy, and poetry on one bill in Tempe. Details.
Around Tempe
🏛️ A new restaurant called Roman God of Fire is open in Tempe. Statues, gilding, and a dining room designed to be photographed. Phoenix New Times walked through with a camera before the crowds found it. Details.
🏠 167 new listings came on the Tempe market last month. Details.
🎓 ASU & Mill Avenue
Campus events, Sun Devil sports, and what's playing down on Mill.
🏈 The 2026 ASU football schedule is out. Big 12 play returns to Mountain America Stadium this fall, which means game-day traffic and full patios on Mill Avenue on the Saturdays it lands at home. Worth checking the dates before booking anything downtown. Details.
🎭 Stray Cat Theatre set its 2026-27 season at Tempe Center for the Arts. Four shows: "Eureka Day," "Infinite Life," "Downstate," and "Teeth." That is a sharper-edged slate than most local seasons. Details.
🍺 Hundred Mile Brewing keeps a full calendar downtown. Summer Fest Sundays, Puppy Pilates, and wellness workshops run alongside the taproom hours. Details.
🎵 Two Marquee Theatre shows land mid-month. House of Funk on August 14 and Bingo Loco on August 15, both at 730 N Mill Ave. Details.
From the schools
🚌 Busing is a problem at the East Valley Institute of Technology. The career and technical school, which East Valley high schoolers attend for trade programs, is dealing with transportation issues as classes get going. Details.
🪶 The Native American Program parent committee meets August 12 at 6 PM. Tempe Elementary hosts at Sanchez. Details.
Around the Valley
A few picks worth leaving Tempe for this week.
⚾ Diamondbacks vs. Padres, tonight at Chase Field. First pitch 6:40. A division rival on a Monday means tickets are still around. Tickets.
🎬 John Cameron Mitchell brings the Hedwig 25th anniversary movie tour to The Van Buren tonight. The film's writer and star, in the room, for one night. Tickets.
🎹 Passion Pit plays The Van Buren on Wednesday. The Pretty Penny Tour, one Phoenix date. A good room for that band. Tickets.