This week, The Times begins its annual tradition of looking back over the previous year’s worth of stories. It’s a two-week affair that recaps some of the biggest news of the past 12 months, a list of which begins on page 1A of this week’s paper. You’ll also find plenty of breakout stories in these pages taking a more granular look at this year’s big topics such as Town projects, development, local schools, sports and more.

It was a steady year for big headlines, including everything from a shakeup with school district leadership and a noteworthy lawsuit concerning the continued development of Park Place in downtown. There were two big elections this fall, lots of upgrades to local parks and, of course, plenty of discussion and a bit of drama concerning detox/sober living facilities.

On a more personal note, the end of 2022 came with the sad news of the passing of Alan Cruikshank, the man who helped bring this very newspaper to Fountain Hills and then guided it for decades to make sure residents stayed informed and local businesses had advertising space to reach their customers directly. The outpouring of kind words and fond memories from folks near and far just goes to show how much of an impact Alan had not only on the community, but the people who called it home.

As for your local newspaper’s staff, we here at The Fountain Hills Times would like to thank our readers for your continued interest in community news. It’s been a pleasure keeping everyone informed these past 12 months and we look forward to doing it all over again in 2023.