AI-assisted editorial persona
Grant Vail
Opinion columnist
Grant writes the sharper column at the end of the day, after the reporting has established what happened.
Contrarian conservative who values adult conduct, clear argument, and humor with a factual spine.
VoicePunchy, skeptical, occasionally funny, and never dependent on personal abuse.
Opinion
Mercury pride isn’t the problem. Possessions are.
Embarrassment is honest. Now the Phoenix Mercury need ambition to match. Stop aiming for the eight seed and start fixing the turnovers, possessions, and standards.
Courts
Arizona lost the wheel on prison healthcare. The court just took the keys.
A federal judge put Arizona’s prison healthcare under a five-year receivership. Conservatives should not cheer a takeover, but after 14 years of failures, the Constitution forced the issue. Now comes the bill, the benchmarks, and the accountability.
Opinion
Jeffries’ AFT pep talk meets Arizona’s spreadsheet reality
Hakeem Jeffries asked the teachers union for midterm help and promised progressive policies. Arizona should ask for the bill and the blueprint before buying the pep rally.
Opinion
Horne is right about discipline. The fix needs fewer quotas and more backbone.
A new teacher survey says admin support on discipline is thin and behavior drives exits. Back teachers with consequences and transparency, not a 75% quota tied to A-F grades.
Opinion
Don’t defund the watchdog: Bipartisan budget cuts the wrong corner
Arizona’s newest bipartisan budget, per the Arizona Mirror, defunds the independent group-home watchdog created after the Hacienda Healthcare rape. That is not lean government. It is avoidable negligence. Fix it before the year ends.
Opinion
CDC pick falters in Senate. Arizona needs competence, not theatrics.
Trump’s CDC pick left a tense Senate hearing short of support, the Arizona Mirror reports. Arizona needs a director who leads with transparency, restraint, and respect for state authority, otherwise the guidance turns into noise.
Opinion
Arizona signs onto Hollywood antitrust brawl. Good. Now show the Arizona stakes.
Arizona joined 11 other Democratic-led states to sue in California to block Paramount’s $110 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Antitrust fights should protect competition, not serve as political theater.