United States
Journalist, podcaster and multimedia producer. Freelance editor, ghostwriter and AI prompt writer. MA in American Journalism from NYU & ASU Walter Cronkite School graduate. AZ native from the coolest town in the state. Veteran flight attendant with a serious case of wanderlust. Off-duty: Fast car lover, occasional cigar smoker and a little foul-mouthed at times.
Books
"The Widow's Tale" is an intimate journey through trauma, grief, and the life-changing power of resilience. Navigating the depths of soul-crushing heartbreak, Fitzloff confronts not only the trauma of her past―surviving childhood incest and later date rape―but also the overwhelming sense of loss ...
Articles
Can an EV be unadulterated driving fun? I feel the suction to the road before the speedometer clocks 110 mph. If my Burmester sound system weren't near live-concert decibels, I'd probably hear the 4.8-liter V8 engine of my 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS . I it - the same with my Pirellis' grip on the asphalt.
Laughter and advocacy journalism do mix and when combined, these powerful tools become a potent cocktail for change.
(WAIKIKI, Honolulu) - Green palm fronds flutter high above the empty northern end of Waikiki Beach. A warm breeze floats the fragrance of plumeria tinged with sea salt through the air. No longer do exhaust fumes from tourist-laden buses nor the rank odor of sweat-drenched bodies running to and from the ocean taint the atmosphere.
(MADRID) - Spain's Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport in Madrid is a ghost town. No more strategizing or jockeying for space while dragging your luggage through crowds of tourists; navigating one of the world's busiest airports is now a walk in the park.
(PHOENIX) -- On any given afternoon, downtown Phoenix is a madhouse of traffic and pedestrians heading home, to the gym, or to happy hour. The busy one-way streets share space with the light rail. But not today. It's 4:30 p.m. in the sweltering heat, and few people cross the street or crowd the buses and rail.
An intimate profile of a struggling single mother in Arizona during the Great Recession of '08
(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) - Before we settle down to participate in the live-streaming stargazing event, my husband, 13-year-old son, and I head outside to look at Mars. It shines as bright as an autumn moon. Tonight (Oct. 13) is the Lowell Observatory's interactive stargazing and "Mars at opposition" event on YouTube.
Environmental Coverage
Companies looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions are turning to mass timber as a climate and building solution. With efforts to find new ways to lock up carbon, developers, architects and net zero committed companies are asking, "is wood the new concrete?"
As any good wine maker or wine lover knows, terroir has a major impact on a wine’s taste. Vintners agree that through chemical-free, sustainable farming the wine will be more authentic by picking up the true essence of the land.
An A-list of Hollywood celebrities and Wall Street investors are scaling up vertical urban farming in a quest for big returns and climate action. In 1999, an environmental and health sciences professor at Columbia University challenged his graduate students to figure out how much food they could produce on rooftop gardens in New York City.
Bowery Farming is not the only hot vertical farm opportunity. Five U.S. vertical farming companies alone have raised over $1 billion to grow their operations and place their products with major supermarket chains including Kroger, Albertsons, Walmart and Whole Foods.
By Barbi Walsh impact. Made up of 13 small homes-or humble homes, as they are often referred to-the Tempe Micro Estates is a scaled-down version of a master-planned community with a huge LEED-certified development is leading the way into sustainable housing and communities.
A beef lovin' journalist from ranch country tries an "alternative."
BY BARBI WALKER Historically, low-impact travel has referred to ecotourism and meant traveling to fragile rural or wilderness areas to learn about preservation, ecology and the indigenous people. Today, it's viewed as incorporating sustainable practices to leave a smaller 'footprint' regardless of destination.
Keeping our beaches clean means keeping our oceans clean, too.
Ghostwriting/Corporate
Recycling plastic began in the 1970s, 20 years after the material's ubiquitous acceptance into everyday life. But yesterday's recycling couldn't keep up with our plastic consumption then-and it can't keep pace with the fast-moving world of today.
Sustainability is the uppermost business imperative for many industries right now-and for good reason. The need to conserve resources, find more environmentally responsible solutions and lessen the impact on the planet has never been more crucial.
Community News
By Barbi Walker-Walsh. Liberty Wildlife is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to solve conflict between humans and wildlife through the rescue and rehabilitation of injured wildlife, education of the public and conservation. From humble roots, they are now a shining example of what true conservation can be.
BY BARBI WALKER We've long known that eating too much sugar isn't smart-but scientists are now finding that eating too much sugar actually makes people less smart. Most people have heard that a diet high in sugar can lead to insulin resistance, hyperactivity in kids, sluggishness in adults, and weight gain for people of all ages.
BY BARBI WALKER Good eats are just around the corner, thanks to the food truck revolution. Food trucks or "street eats," as they are often called, have taken the country by storm in the last few years. Downtown Phoenix now has a regular fleet of them and will be celebrating the first anniversary of Food Truck Friday this November 4.
BY BARBI WALKER If you think of golf and yoga simultaneously, you'll probably imagine Bill Murray in Caddyshack explaining how, after a round of golf, the Dalai Lama promised him total enlightenment on his deathbed.
Tempe and West Chandler residents who aspire to build careers in the thriving construction industry have a new reason to celebrate. A $1 million Lowe's Foundation grant to the Maricopa County Community College District will enhance construction trades programs at Mesa, South Mountain and Rio Salado community colleges, conveniently accessible to Kyrene Corridor residents.
Lillian Herbert is more than just a salon business owner; she's an artist who seamlessly blends hairstyling with artistic creativity. For decades, Herbert has transformed her clients' hair into intricate, three-dimensional art pieces. Her unique approach has not only garnered a following but also led to the sale of one of her pieces for $10,000, [...]
On a sweltering 114-degree Saturday morning, July 6th, St. James Episcopal Church in Tempe welcomed the Most Reverend Marinez Santos Bassoto, the first female bishop in South America. Bassoto spoke on Christians' call to be good stewards of the climate and planet. Christians must also protect the Amazon and the Indigenous people living in the [...]
Chandler is strengthening its bond with Westside and other city residents through a neighborhood registration program, an initiative designed to foster communication and collaboration between homeowner groups and city officials. The program offers a range of benefits for registered neighborhoods, including financial aid for community projects like graffiti removal, educational resources such as neighborhood management [...]
Freely Taproom & Kitchen, nestled in the vibrant NW corner of McClintock and Warner, draws locals to its buzzing hub with a unique blend of great drinks, delectable food, and a strong sense of community. The thriving restaurant has become the pride of the neighborhood and its owner, Paul Gillingwater.
Corona del Sol's AZTECH robotics team didn't get the victory they hoped for this year. Still, they became champions in their own right while competing in the Aerospace Valley Regional FIRST Robotic Competition. Dubbed the varsity Sport for the Mind, the competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology.
Oskar Knoblauch wasn't like the others waiting for their diploma on a warm May day at his high school graduation ceremony. He already had an eight-page resumé summing up a lifetime of experiences that are a massive part of history - history that graduating students had learned in class.
Two determined Valley mothers with children on the autism spectrum, Denise Resnik and Cindy Schneider, united with their developmental pediatrician over 25 years ago to establish the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center. In 1997, when Resnik's 2-year-old son Mathew received an autism diagnosis, people initially misunderstood, assuming she was referring to his "artistic" abilities.
Photo by Emily Carroll Photography She knows I'm here before I step up to knock on her door. She's sitting at her kitchen table, watching for me through her front window. Her wide smile is brighter than the cheery pink tee that engulfs her petite frame. "Hello, darlin'!"
While National Library Week has drawn to a close, Sunset Library in West Chandler continues to be a thriving hub of activity, offering a plethora of engaging programs and services for all ages. Now, with an updated patio area, patrons can not only broaden their access to reading materials but get a refreshing breath of [...]
South Tempe teen revs up driving skills while connecting to a community Watching your child chase a dream is exhilarating, but when that dream involves high speeds and negotiating a 15-turn race track, it's also nerve-wracking. Those moments of gripping the armrest and mashing on a non-existent brake in the passenger side floorboard come flooding [...]
How TUHSD is preparing students for college in an ever-evolving testing arena The pandemic disrupted the testing landscape for college applicants, sparking debates over the fairness and validity of the SAT and ACT. Test scores are optional, but are they obsolete, and are these tests really the best way to measure students' potential?
Sitting in the corner by the window of the local coffee shop with his laptop open and working both his phone and keyboard, Ryan Bastuba almost doesn’t stand out against the other locals doing the same that morning at Steve’s Espresso in Tempe. Almost. Bastuba isn’t your average college student. The 22-year-old ASU senior isn’t ditching class or scrolling through ego-deflating social media feeds. He’s working and working hard. The uber-focused young entrepreneur, dressed in the typical...
Incoming VP vows to reinforce campus' focus on inclusion, diversity Students from Corona del Sol and Marcos de Niza high schools may get a glimpse of a new era at Mesa Community College as Dr. Jeannetta Hollins takes the helm as the school's vice president of student affairs.
Navigating the scorched remains and heaps of debris in the sweltering 1,000-degree plus heat, Glenn Jordan recalls the sensation of his back seemingly ablaze when a natural gas leak triggered a colossal explosion one early August morning. His first attempt to escape the inferno was through the back, but it was blocked.
In the bustling robotics room at Corona del Sol High School, the sounds of machinery, buzzing conversations, and focused work create an energetic atmosphere. Ben Lewandowski, the president of the student-run robotics program, gives his team final instructions before they disperse to their respective stations.
Local businessman comes back stronger than before "When I woke, my nurse said we were worried about you; you're in Room 1," Glenn Jordan said of his first recollection after a hospital stay. "I was just out of a coma, but I'm doing the math, and 1 is a pretty low room number" - the [...]
Get messy and dive into a wild adventure at Life's a Zoo, a roaring fusion of fun and learning where families with young explorers will embark on a global animal safari through art, music and sensory play. Say program planners: Unleash your inner explorer and let the zoo come to you!
Arts Unite: Tempe's Dazzling Pact with the Official State Theater of Arizona Sets the Stage for a Cultural Renaissance Tempe Center for the Arts and Arizona Theatre Company have announced details of a five-year partnership to bring high-quality, professional theater to Tempe. The announcement came during an Oct.
Dan O'Neill, 68, arrived home to a surprise welcome of fanfare from family, friends, neighbors, the press and Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. O'Neill just completed a seven month, 13,000 mile bicycle trip around the perimeter of the United States, known as the loop. O'Neill did the solo trip without any support vehicle.
Story by Barbi Walker-Walsh While school bus driver shortages continue nationwide, Tempe/West Chandler schools seem to be bucking the trend and managing the challenge through planning and innovative strategies. The situation isn't new, but all three districts- Kyrene, Tempe Union and Tempe Elementary - are earning high marks for their efforts to avert possible shortages.
Op Eds
Last July, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and took investors' money along with it. Fong took to the internet. "I'm not much of a YouTuber, but I did just get f***ed by Celsius last week," she says in her first video.
(PHOENIX) - Millennial crypto billionaire Samuel Bankman-Fried caught people's attention when he donated more than $10 million to an unknown and first-time political candidate running a Democratic primary for Congress in Oregon. A self-professed follower of a social and philosophical movement known as effective altruism, Bankman-Fried claimed his goal was to give away all his money to charity and, more recently, political donations.
Personal Essays
Looking back, I wish I had captured more of my parents' stories - the love letters, conversations, and quiet sacrifices, as journalists, we hold a sacred responsibility: to be custodians of memories
Expert Advice/Opinion
Flight attendants play a major role in your experience on a plane. Here are the things the crew notices and ways you can make flying better for you -- and them.
Islands spoke exclusively with a flight attendant to learn about their mile-high bathroom pet peeves and how passengers can make their job easier.
We spoke with a flight attendant to find out what happens if a passenger on your flight has head lice and what you should do in that situation.
Flying with children can be stressful, but there are ways to help. We spoke exclusively with a flight attendant to learn the best tips for flying with kids.
Using the bathroom on a plane is never convenient, but sometimes you just can't help it. Certain times are even worse to get up for a bathroom break, though.
If you've ever wondered what a flight attendant is saying when they're headed "back to base," we've got the details on that phrase and other lingo.
No one likes that dreaded feeling when you're in an airplane bathroom and turbulence hits. We asked an expert what to do if you find yourself in that situation.
Bloating is a common problem for airline passengers. Fortunately, an expert is here to offer tips on how to avoid the bloat on your way to paradise.
If planes make you nervous, you aren't alone, but a veteran flight attendant has the answers to explain all those anxiety-inducing bumps and jumps.
We've all regretted our seat on an airplane at least once. If there's an enticing empty seat nearby, can you grab it? We asked a veteran flight attendant.
A popular TikTok hack recommends an innovative way to sleep more comfortably on a plane. But is it safe? We asked a veteran flight attendant to find out.
Learn why flight attendants sometimes ask you to keep your window shade open, and why you'll want to make sure you follow the rule on your next journey.
Nothing ruins a flight faster than little kicks on the back of your seat. Our veteran flight attendant has expert advice on navigating this common nuisance.
Blog Posts
As I tried to escape it, I actually started shaking. It was uncontrollable. It wasn't until my mom took the bird off the ceiling and pulled out its guts that the noise stopped. I was so shaken up. I tried to climb out of the window, but my mom found me and sat down on the sofa with me.
As a flight attendant, I get to see my share of quirky behaviors (yeah I'm talking about you guy, the one walking around the cabin in your sock feet, and yes into the shitter! Gross dude!). But I am increasingly shocked by how much people "overshare" information these days.
Podcasts
Photojournalism
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