In November 2008 voters in Arizona will address Proposition 100, sponsored by No New Home Tax (Arizona Association of Realtors).

From the Arizona Secretary of State web site: "This Initiative prohibits the government from charging any new tax on the sale or transfer of real property in Arizona. Currently, there are no real property sales or transfer taxes in Arizona. However, the government could enact a real property sale or transfer tax at any time. This Initiative would prohibit the enactment of any new real property sales or transfer tax by a constitutional amendment."

Click on "Read more" to see a synopsis of the pros and cons and find more information about this ballot measure.

Will you vote in favor of Proposition 100?

1) Yes, Arizona's Constitution should include such a prohibition.
2) No, the State of Arizona doesn't charge it now, so a constitutional amendment isn't necessary.

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In November 2008 voters in Arizona will address Proposition 102, sponsored by the Arizona Legislature. That measure would amend the Arizona constitution by adding the following wording to the existing section on marriage:

Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.

Click on "Read more" to see a synopsis of the pros and cons and find more information about this ballot measure.

Will you vote in favor of Proposition 102?

1) Yes, I think it should be part of Arizona's Constitution.
2) No, marriage is already defined in Arizona as one man, one woman and the voters already rejected this once.

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It has taken me a while to come up with the home price data for the period ending June 30, 2008. One of the reasons for the delay is that there is so much foreclosure activity going on that the standard data seems to have taken a back seat! For example, in June 2008 there were 3,275 foreclosed homes and 4,565 traditional residential real estate transactions. Compare that to June 2007, when foreclosures accounted for a mere 660 houses and 4,080 were regular sales. The 2008 year-to-date total for Greater Phoenix is 18,060 foreclosures and 25,755 traditional sales. That means that 41% of the homes sold in the Phoenix metro area this year were foreclosures!

Here are the new home and resale home figure for April 1 thorugh June 30, 2008. When will we start to see those median prices inch upward again?

It isn't often that I get to say something positive about Maryvale. Maryvale, which is actually an urban village within the City of Phoenix, isn't known for much that is good. It is considered a rough neighborhood, lower income, an area to be avoided if at all possible. Maryvale garnered dubious fame in the late 80s when an investigation arose as to why there was an unusually high incidence of cancer reported there. There are plenty of negative things to say about Maryvale. This week, though, Phoenix in general, and Maryvale in particular, have reason to boast. They have a gold medal winner.

Henry Cejudo spent some of his younger years in the Cartwright Elementary School District and joined a wrestling club at the age of 10. He subsequently attended Maryvale High School (2002 - 2003) where he got serious about wrestling before going off to Colorado for specialized training. That would eventually pay off in gold. On Tuesday, at the age of 21, he won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 121-pound freestyle wrestling category.

Henry came from anything but a privileged background. His mother was smuggled into the United State illegally when she was 14 years old. She worked multiple low-paying jobs over the years to support herself and her seven children. His father was in and out of prison, and not a part of his life. Henry grew up in tough neighborhoods and under difficult circumstances. He found a place for himself, and a passion, in wrestling. He has persevered.

Henry is a U.S. citizen. After the medal ceremony, Henry Cejudo is reported to have said, "As a Mexican-American I'm thrilled to represent the United States. It's the land of opportunity."