Good day Tempe! We're here again with what you need to know today. Grab a cup of coffee and read on. ☀️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: The18th Annual Gospel Explosion Out of Africa Prophetic Conference and 6 more events.
Today's riddle: What gets bigger the more you take away? 🤔 (Answer below!)
1. Flock Is Freaking People Out (rsn.org) — Tempe has decided to shut down Flock Safety's license plate cameras and stop collecting plate data, citing privacy and misuse concerns despite police saying the system helped solve crimes. The move comes amid a growing national backlash against automated license plate readers, vandalism of cameras, and bipartisan political scrutiny of Flock's massive surveillance network.
2. Tempe Covers Its 33 Flock Cameras While the Company Arranges Removal (motorbiscuit.com) — Tempe's 33 city-run Flock cameras are now covered and offline while the company schedules their removal, finalizing the city's decision to abandon automated license plate readers. Officials say the system aided more than 1,200 investigations but raised unacceptable privacy and misuse risks, leaving ASU's separate campus cameras as the only Flock devices still operating in Tempe.
3. Get Flock'd: Liberal Tempe, Deep-Red Cave Creek End Camera Contracts the Same Day (californiaglobe.com) — Tempe has shut off its 33 Flock license plate cameras, ordered their removal, and says it will not replace the system, citing privacy and misuse concerns despite police crediting the technology with many investigative assists. Cave Creek made the same move the same day, and Arizona's attorney general has launched a statewide review, putting Tempe at the center of a broader debate over surveillance and civil liberties.
4. Arizona Projects 08-28-26 (azbex.com) — New move-ins are underway at Rambler Tempe, a 14-story student housing tower on Apache Boulevard serving Arizona State University students and other residents. The statewide roundup also notes major transportation, housing, retail, and hospitality projects in cities like Phoenix, Scottsdale, Flagstaff, Tucson, Mesa, and Kingman, offering a snapshot of development momentum across Arizona.
5. TikTok star 'Heston James' pleads guilty to Tempe social media pranks (fresnobee.com) — A TikTok creator known as Heston James has pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal impersonation after staging takeover-style prank videos inside several Tempe businesses, including a Chipotle near Elliot and Loop 101. Under his plea, he must remove related videos, avoid the affected businesses, and pay restitution, with sentencing set for Oct. 1 in Maricopa County Superior Court.
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Ok Tempe! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: A hole (Thank you Netty W. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!
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