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25 July 2022
Fountain Hills, Arizona, located in the Greater Phoenix Metro area, doesn’t boast that name lightly; it actually has a world-famous fountain! On the hour every hour, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., this celebrated fountain runs for 15 minutes seven days a week. A fountain at the center of a desert is a celebration of life and water.
Robert McCulloch built the fountain in 1970, making it one of the largest in the world. At the top of the hour, the fountain sprays water for 15 minutes from the center of an artificial lake, and a concrete water lily sculpture emits the plume.
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Fountain Hills’ fountain stands higher than the Washington Monument at its full height of 560 feet. As a result, it is possible to see the white plume of Fountain Hills’ famous fountain from a distance. It can be seen as far away as the Superstition Mountains and Carefree. Special occasions extend the fountain to its full height; it reaches 330 feet for everyday viewing.
Viewings of the full height only happen three times a year:
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Every year, on St. Patrick’s Day, this acclaimed fountain turns green to the delight of onlookers. However, be advised that if the wind speeds exceed 10 miles per hour, the fountain pump may shut off automatically, preventing the fountain from coming on or reaching its standard height.
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The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is one of the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America and a symbol of both ecological resilience and conservation success. Once nearly extinct, this small gray wolf has become the focus of one of the most closely monitored wildlife recovery efforts in the United States. advertisement A Species on the Brink By the late 1970s, only seven Mexican gray wolves remained in captivity. Their disappearance from the wild was driven by habitat loss, hunting, and predator control programs. The survival of this subspecies depended entirely on careful intervention and breeding programs.
Tucson is taking a bold new step to support its most vulnerable residents. The city has announced plans to create its first city-sanctioned outdoor sleep area, named Star Village, aimed at providing unhoused Tucsonans with a safe place to sleep at night. advertisement A New Approach to Homelessness For many people living on Tucson’s streets, “home” is constantly shifting. Park clear-outs, law enforcement patrols, severe weather, or conflicts can force unhoused residents to move frequently. City officials hope Star Village will provide not just shelter but stability, a stepping stone toward permanent housing. “This was a really bold step,” said
Living in Arizona means accepting a fundamental truth: as one desert dweller puts it, “everything in the desert hates you.” The Sonoran Desert’s plant life seems designed to leave its mark on anyone who dares to venture too close. But what happens when these prickly cactus encounters become unavoidable, and how do you deal with the aftermath? advertisement The Reality of Arizona’s Cactus Encounters Jumping Cholla Despite its name, jumping cholla doesn’t actually jump. However, its segments are so loosely attached and the barbed spines so effective at grabbing onto anything that brushes against them, it certainly seems like an
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