Our editorial picks for local personalities and media consumables.
THE STAPLES
Athlete
Corbin Carroll
Who doesn’t love the recent PHOENIX mag cover model? mlb.com/dbacks
TV anchor/reporter
Jaime Cerreta, Scott Pasmore (tie)
KTVK stalwarts split the staff vote. azfamily.com
Public servant
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly
“Astronaut-Senator” still the most unbeatable CV on the planet. congress.gov/member/mark-kelly
Podcaster or blogger
Jaime’s Local Love, Jess Harter (tie)
AZFamily lifestyle queen, East Valley food insider share the BOV podium. @cerretanews, mouthbysouthwest.com
Influencer/social media personality
Aiesha Beasley, Wizard of Za (tie)
Find the former on page 164 as our BOV Taste Test beer judge. @aieshabeasely, @wizardofza
Best Sports Turnaround
Phoenix Suns
On the heels of losing superstar Kevin Durant and the collapse of the Bradley Beal experiment, few had a Suns playoff run on their NBA bingo card this season. But thanks to head coach Jordan Ott focusing on defense and Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks stepping up, along with another All-NBA-caliber season from Devin Booker, the team became relevant in the Western Conference much faster than anticipated. suns.com
Best Logo Refresh
Phoenix Mercury
Some fans weren’t impressed by the Phoenix Mercury’s logo overhaul, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. In addition to the modernized M at its center, the letter and the eight lines around it are tilted at a 19.97-degree angle, which represents the year the team was founded: 1997. Nothing but net. mercury.wnba.com
Best Local Memoir
Dora: A Daughter of Unforgiving Terrain by Dora Rodriguez
When she was just 19, the founder of the nonprofit Salvavision fled civil war in El Salvador, ultimately trekking across Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in 1980, where she encountered new hardships and threats. Considering how immigration continues to dominate headlines, this memoir is an essential read. dorarodriguez.org
Best Local Coloring Book
Delightful Desert by Tanner Christensen
Some of Tanner Christensen’s artwork features language you wouldn’t want young kids to repeat. However, it was his nieces and nephew who inspired his latest project, a coloring book homage to the Sonoran landscape titled Delightful Desert. The Phoenix artist’s love of the desert scenery shines through on every page. tannerlukeart.com
Best Deep Dive into the Blues
Those Lowdown Blues with Bob Corritore
This long-running Sunday night show on KJZZ caters to both blues aficionados and new-to-the-genre listeners. Hosted by local bluesman Bob Corritore, the five-hour program exclusively plays Corritore’s own blues-record collection – which numbers in the thousands – and is punctuated by his encyclopedic knowledge. 91.5 FM, Sundays at 6 p.m., kjzz.org/show/those-lowdown-blues
Best Local X Account
Johnny Melton
If you’re looking for some honesty from a politician, you should follow “His Excellency Lord of District 4,” aka Surprise councilmember Johnny Melton. The Navy veteran and local GOP organizer is known for his hilarious takes on everything from the state governor’s race to his city possibly being the future home of an ICE facility. x.com/rinolivesmatter
Best Blues Diva
Francine Reed
The self-described “baby girl” of a musical family of seven and Arizona Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Reed performs the first Sunday of every month at The Nash in Roosevelt Row and sporadically at venues across the Valley. She’s shared stages with Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson and Etta James, and recorded with legends like Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Bob Corritore and longtime collaborator Lyle Lovett. She describes her singing style as “fun, love and a good time.” azblueshof.com
Best Business Comeback
Carvana
When the Tempe-based used-car retailer’s stock crashed 99 percent in 2022, it looked like the car automotive vending machines for which it became known for were about to get out-of-order signs. But instead of filing for bankruptcy, Carvana controlled its costs and reduced its debt. Then, to cap its remarkable turnaround, the company joined the S&P 500 index last year. carvana.com
Best Storyteller
Kim Porter
Porter has a story for you – and are you ever lucky, Phoenix. In a world where “storytelling” has been usurped by advertising execs and politicians, this accomplished writer, playwright and teacher is here to make you laugh, cry and marvel at how stories can connect you to other people. facebook.com/kimporterwriterperformer
Best Pre-Broadcast Ritual
Kaley O’Kelley at ABC15
Before taking the mound, MLB pitchers go through a personalized routine to get their head in the game. The hard-working ABC15 Mornings anchor is the same way, except her ritual involves unscripted, behind-the-scenes social media teasers of the broadcast to come, often sharing her personal thoughts, stresses and impressions – one of the ways the disarming news personality cultivates a personal connection to her viewers. @kaleyokelleyTV
Best Advocate for Young Journalists
Valeria Fernandez
The former La Voz reporter and PBS contributor isn’t just a fantastic journalist. As creator of Altavoz Lab – designed to support journalists taking a non-traditional path with initiatives like the Nick Oza Visual Fellowship, named for the late Arizona photojournalist – Fernandez is helping the next generation take root in the increasingly complicated world of local journalism. valeriafernandez.net, altavozlab.com
Best Book About a Journo
Murder in the Fourth Estate: The Assassination of Investigative Journalist Don Bolles
It’s amazing that it took 50 years for someone to write this book – but no surprise that it comes from local journalist Jeremy Duda. An Axios reporter by day, Duda spent untold hours of free time poring over archives and compiling a must-read for any Arizona news consumer or history buff. bloomsbury.com
Best Artsy Oddball
Paul Wilson
Anyone who claims this metropolis lacks creativity hasn’t encountered this dynamo of the outré. Part set designer but mostly performance artist, the Phoenix native is known for remaking the classic film The Poseidon Adventure with himself as the star and cultivating a long-time crush on Lee Harvey Oswald. Keep making Phoenix weird, Paul. youtube.com/watch?v=jLur9Sgm0uU
Best Withdrawal
Justine Wadsack Drops Out of LD 14 Race
Not content to spread her far-right views across Southern Arizona, the high-profile Elvira-esque former state senator ditched the Tucson-area district she lost two years ago for a 2026 state representative race in Gilbert, only to drop out four days later. Ooops.
Best Friend?
Ruben Gallego
Sometimes you hang out a lot with a guy and still have “no knowledge of predatory behavior, sexual assault or harassment.” Apparently, the now-former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell is also now-former BFF of U.S. Senator Gallego, who couldn’t have run faster in the other direction, once things got sticky.
Best Case for Not Trying Psychedelics
Kyrsten Sinema
After leaving office, the former U.S. Senator became a psychedelics advocate. She also gave her former bodyguard “molly” (aka MDMA) to help with his PTSD and had an affair with him. Then, earlier this year, a federal lawsuit was filed against Sinema by the bodyguard’s ex-wife, alleging she is responsible for their breakup. Sounds like a bad trip!
Best Reminder That Endorsements Mean Squat
Rob Schneider Endorses Andy Biggs
In an “only happens in Arizona” way, gubernatorial candidate Biggs is just one of the latest local GOP politicians to be blessed with the endorsement of an Arizona man best known for his role as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. When will Schneider revive his own gubernatorial candidacy? Don’t answer that.
BEST OF THE VALLEY
HALL OF FAME
Johnjay & Rich
Best Morning Radio DJ/Team
(2011-2016, 2022-2026)
KIIS FM 104.7’s legendary morning radio team, Johnjay Van Es and Rich Berra, has been entertaining Valley audiences for 25 years with their well-caffeinated antics. “We have honest conversations. Sometimes we’re funny or vulnerable or ridiculous,” says Van Es, who grew up in Chandler. “We don’t try to sound like a radio show. We’re just like friends on the microphone.” Despite running a nationally syndicated show, Johnjay and Rich talk a lot about Valley happenings on the air. “We’ve merged into Phoenix and made it our life. We raised our kids here and our listeners have grown up with us, too,” says Berra. The show is just one aspect of this dynamic duo’s portfolio. They are also stewards of two local nonprofit organizations: LoveUp, benefiting children in the foster care system; and LovePup dog rescue. “They are both very close to our hearts,” Van Es says. Valley listeners will be happy to know the 11-time BOV winners just signed a new five-year contract. “We still love doing the show,” Berra says. johnjayandrich.iheart.com
Worst Newsroom “Restructuring”
The Republic Opinion Desk Bloodbath
Hey, times are tough. As fellow print-journalism fossils, we get that. Painful cuts must sometimes be made. But the whole damn Arizona Republic opinion desk? Forget the “opinion” part – cutting lose BOV mainstay E.J. Montini, moderate firebrand Laurie Roberts and conservative opiner Phil Boas, whose classic Goldwaterian viewpoint provided a welcome counterweight to all the port-side cargo in the good ship AZR, created a basic news-gathering deficit last summer. Who else is going to perform their hyper-local watch-dogging? The mail room kid at Gannett? In one fell swoop, the AZR became a shell of iself. azcentral.com
Worst Boondoggle-y City Branding
The “Mill Ave” Sign
The city of Tempe is $24 million in debt – but who’s counting? Not the folks who recently spent $40 million renovating Mill Avenue. Again. The difference: None of the previous revitalization efforts involved hanging a giant sign over the alleged main drag proclaiming “MILL AVE.” Who knows? Maybe the $2 million objet will bring in some business. Just make sure you look at it facing north, because the other side reads backwards (see above). Also: In a city known for drunken activity and graffiti artist Penis Man, does the City of Tempe need something else for the frat boys to destroy? downtowntempe.com
Worst Catty Comment
State Senate President Warren Petersen
Please, someone give the Arizona Legislature a pay raise, so we have a hope of ever getting some actual leadership in those hallowed halls – instead of the likes of Petersen standing on the Senate floor and announcing “I’m a cat… I identify as a cat” to make a point about identity politics. You have a point to make about over-reach? Fine, make it – but spare us the dopey, mirthless insult to transgender people. You’re no Rob Schneider, bro.
