Tempe This Week: Sept. 19, 2022
Freestyle Festival, free childhood immunizations and a new slider place!

Welcome Dr. Velicia Humes,
Tempe's new Chief Diversity Officer

The City of Tempe will welcome its first Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Velicia Humes, beginning Oct. 17.

“Dr. Humes has a long, impressive background in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. The City of Tempe has a long record of successful leadership in this area. We believe that Dr. Humes will guide our efforts to ensure Tempe is a welcoming and inclusive city and spread the principles of DEI throughout the community,” said City Manager Andrew Ching.

Read more about Dr. Humes

Upcoming street restrictions

Make sure you're aware of any street restrictions or bus detours by visiting tempe.gov/StreetClosures and signing up for event email alerts at https://mailchi.mp/tempe/inmotion.

Intermittently in September: University Drive, between Rural Road and McAllister Avenue, will be closed from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. intermittently while ASU works on finalizing its pedestrian bridge. Details: https://mailchi.mp/tempe/uniclosure0922

Until March 2023: The bike lanes and sidewalks along northbound Mill Avenue, from Ninth Street to University Drive, and eastbound University Drive, from Mill to Myrtle avenues, will be closed until March 2, 2023. Details: https://mailchi.mp/tempe/milluniclosure0922

Wed., Sept. 21: Baseline Road, between Mill Avenue and Kyrene Road, will be closed to through traffic for Union Pacific Railroad work from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Details: https://www.tempe.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/73489/633

Sat., Sept. 24: Freestyle Festival will have street restrictions starting at 7 a.m. Details: https://mailchi.mp/tempe/freestylefestival22  

Sat., Sept. 24: Sun Devils football game beginning at 7:30 p.m. Details: https://mailchi.mp/tempe/asufb0922-dates

Free childhood immunizations and vision screenings

Protect your family from childhood illnesses. Get free vaccines. Children up to age 18 who are not covered by insurance, who are on AHCCCS or whose insurance does not cover vaccinations are welcome at the Thrive to Five Family Resource Center at Thew Elementary School, 2130 E. Howe Ave. Appointments are required for the Tuesday, Sept. 20 opportunity. Vision screenings are also available. Questions? Call 480-728-2004.

College Connect FAFSA Prep Steps
Calling all high school students and parents! College Connect Tempe is hosting a virtual FAFSA Prep Steps Workshop on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 6-7 p.m. Get an overview of FAFSA, learn important deadlines and find out how College Connect can help guide you through the process.

Students who attend a workshop are entered for a $1,000 College Connect Scholarship sponsored by the Ramsey Social Justice Foundation. 
Register

Be a Good Neighbor Breakfast

Be a good neighbor and have a good breakfast on Friday, Sept. 23. 

Get your tickets for the Tempe Community Action Agency breakfast fundraiser supporting senior independence programs. Help people receive lunchtime meals, transportation, food, case management and home-based support. Chef/owner Jeff Kraus of Tempe's Crêpe Bar is cooking so you know breakfast will be delicious.

Get breakfast tickets

Saturday: Freestyle Festival - '80s flashback

Like totally for sure you want to go. It's time for shoulder pads, big hair and red leather jackets. Check out some of the funkiest fun bands of the '80s at the Freestyle Festival at Tempe Beach Park this Saturday.

Details and tickets

Oct. 2 - Tempe Tardeada returns

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with us at Tempe Tardeada. This long-running family favorite event took a break during the heaviest COVID-19 outbreaks but returns this Oct. 2 with mariachis, dancing, tortilla-making, Game Truck, inflatable bounce houses, face painting and so much more. 
Check out the schedule of entertainment. See you there!

Tardeada details

Small business webinars

If you have a small business or are thinking of opening one, Arizona Commerce Authority offers more than 250 webinars designed to help entrepreneurs.

Learn new skills in just an hour! Webinars are taught by experts in marketing, accounting, finance, legal issues and management. Content is available on demand. New classes are available every Tuesday – attend live to ask questions.  Details

Work for Tempe

Work for the city you call home. The City of Tempe has openings for every skill level and nearly every kind of occupation from arts  to water quality. See them all at tempe.gov/jobs. Every week we will spotlight an open position. 

The Tempe Community Development Department has a variety of open positions right now, ranging from Deputy Director for Building Safety to Plan Check Engineers. This is one of Tempe's larger departments, with 75 employees.

Plan Check Engineers keep people safe by ensuring that commercial and residential buildings meet safety standards. Those interested in the position should have three years of building construction or design experience, especially with general building code review including structural components, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

Apply for a job

Covid News

Column 1: COVID-19 Cases by zip code are defined as new positive COVID-19 test results reported to Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) within the last month. These figures, as well as overall total cases, may still be found at AZDHS. Home tests would not be included in this figure.
Column 2: Percentage of the total number of people in each zip code who have received both doses of vaccine. This weekly data is provided by Maricopa County.

Check Tempe's COVID-19 dashboard for wastewater data and more.

A round-up of interesting events and workshops taking place this week.
For more events visit tempe.gov/calendar.

Click here for More Information