CASA GRANDE -- It’s become one of the hottest Mexican food restaurants since coming to Casa Grande over a year ago.

T he global spread of the coronavirus changed the way many companies, government institutions and other organizations do business overnight.

FLORENCE -- W illiam “Mac” McWilliams visited the Windmill Winery one day while he was looking for a house to buy in Florence. The 79-year-old former Navy diver, who had worked for oil companies in Alaska in civilian life had just become a truck driver.

T here’s an anecdote behind how St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery found it’s spot not far from the town of Florence that says much about the place that eventually became a key hub for members of the church.

Just a year ago, the Future Forward Foundation had evolved beyond its previous passion for planting backyard gardens. The group and its volunteers were focused on big production on larger plots of land to grow as many vegetables and squash to share with as many people as possible. But now, i…

COOLIDGE -- COVID-19 has changed a lot of things. Long-awaited events have been canceled, many are working from home and schools have put off campus reopenings.

I ’ve always viewed the fall as the start of new beginnings. Growing up in Northern California, I loved watching tree leaves turn colors before eventually drifting down to the earth. In Central Arizona, our experience of autumn is usually more like an encore of summer — but for me, the fall …

MARICOPA -- As if there were storm clouds rising from the horizon, Jim Schoaf could see trouble coming. The reports were coming out of Asia and Europe of a highly contagious virus that was upending entire societies, putting the stability of civilization to the test. In its wake, the coronavi…

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

Editor’s note: Interviews for articles in this issue of Pinal Ways were conducted in early or mid-May, and reflect the state of the industry at that time.

The December groundbreaking at the Lucid Motors plant in Casa Grande officially cemented Pinal County as a hub for the budding electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

I f an area is lucky, a massive company will move in and bring thousands of jobs with high wages. That company’s economic impact will be immediately felt, and if it can stay in business growth and prosperity will continue for generations.

FLORENCE — As the new Florence hospital on the north side of Anthem continues to grow into its community role, it began offering surgery early this year.

F arming is difficult, even when there is plenty of water. The historic, long-term drought that has parched Pinal County and cut farmers’ access to water here has made it even tougher.

It is the dawn of a new decade, which brings any number of emotions. Some are excited about what’s to come while others dread the future. Some are flat-out terrified of the unknown. Whichever camp you fall in, it’s difficult to not feel something strong when that third number in the year cha…

There is perhaps no place out there more aware of the constantly changing world than Biosphere 2. Those changes, after all, are what it’s all about.

I t’s pitch black at the bottom of a copper mine, hundreds or thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. That’s true now just as it was for the miners who worked in the Superior area a hundred years ago.

During the holiday season, we are all bombarded with million-dollar marketing campaigns pushing the bulk distribution of the hottest gifts. That’s what it takes for major corporation to grow their profits. But for the many still remaining mom-and-pop shops in Pinal County, the key to keeping…

COOLIDGE — On a Friday in early November, the normally workmanlike atmosphere at The Tire Factory in Coolidge was noticeably different. There was a party going on.

CASA GRANDE -- Even in his young adulthood, Bob Brutinel had no idea he was going to be a plumber, or that he was going to live in Casa Grande. Yet now his name, and indeed his face, have become synonymous with both.

CASA GRANDE — Life has a way of throwing curveballs. In the late 1970s, Janie Garza Brown was looking for work and found a job at an insurance shop. She had no idea that one day she would be running that business.

W hile the lifespan of a business can see many different people and directions, the same can be said for a building.

B uilding a relationship with the local community can be tough for any business, especially a car dealership.

There wasn’t much in Maricopa in the mid-1980s when C.L. and Debbie Chitwood drove through town, looking for rural property where they could live with their new baby and their animals.

T here’s no shortage of places to buy groceries in Pinal County and the surrounding areas.

Florists have good days and they have bad days. The good days come with weddings; funerals are the bad days. Sometimes they come the same day. Molly Ralston has this all figured out as owner of Three G’s Flowers at 200 E. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande. And in running the floral shop for 28 y…

ORACLE -- Oracle was in its infancy as a mining and cattle ranching community around 1891 when it was mentioned in a medical journal. The article stated that the area north of Tucson was a great place for people with respiratory problems and diseases like tuberculosis. That was a big deal at…

Miguel Sfeir remembers the first time he visited the small town of Superior. He had driven by on Highway 60 while riding his motorcycle, and a friend, Curtis Pierce, had a connection to the town and recommended Sfeir take a look. Sfeir exited the highway and drove down Main Street, past the …

The world-famous Heard Museum in Phoenix has about 130,000 square feet of space. Then there’s the World’s Smallest Museum in Superior, which has about 130.

When my wife and I go on vacation, I normally make the schedule for the week and then buy airplane tickets and rent a car.

Frank Pinkley was 19 years old in 1900 when he arrived in Arizona on a train from Missouri. He was scheduled to stay six months to recover from a mild case of tuberculosis. He never left.

In a sense, the people of the Ak-Chin Native American community have always been involved in gambling. Translated, Ak-Chin means “mouth of the wash” and refers to farming that relies on the desert washes in the area. Even today, most of the reservation is covered with agricultural fields.

ELOY -- At the Dust Bowl Theater on Main Street, J.W. Tidwell could watch two movies and a cartoon, eat popcorn and a candy bar and drink a soda for the dollar in his pocket. He even left with a little change.

MARANA -- You don’t know how big a 747 jet airplane is until you are standing on the ground next to it, looking up. It’s not the same as looking out the terminal window at an international airport. The plane’s length and wingspan are both more than 200 feet. The gap between the bottom of the…

For some people a car is just a way to get around. For others, it’s much more than that.

The Great Recession 10 years ago destroyed a lot of businesses, but in the dusty desert southwest of Maricopa, it helped start one.

They’re a group of military veterans who belong to the American Legion and regularly visit their local post, and they enjoy riding motorcycles together. Whatever you do, though, don’t call the American Legion Riders a motorcycle club.

Pinal County is more than 5,000 square miles, so it’s a difficult place to get around for people who don’t own a car.

ORACLE -- The Saddlebrooke Cyclemasters ride their bicycles around.