What is Tempe Independent (yourvalley.net) and what does it cover?

Updated

Tempe Independent is the Tempe, Arizona edition of the Daily Independent community newspaper network, published at yourvalley.net. It covers local news for Tempe alongside business, sports, valley and state news, education, entertainment, obituaries, opinions, and puzzles, and it sits within a group of more than a dozen neighborhood-specific editions across the Phoenix metro area. If you live in or follow Tempe, it is a source for city-level reporting; if you need coverage of a neighboring city, the same site lets you switch to that city's edition.

Who publishes it and how the network is organized

The site is built as a hub of local editions rather than a single city paper. The navigation lists editions including Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Cave Creek/Carefree, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Litchfield Park/Goodyear, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Scottsdale North News, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, and others such as Upper Westsider, Wrangler News, and Sun Life Magazine.

Each edition carries its own name — Tempe Independent, Mesa Independent, Chandler Independent, and so on — while sharing the same site structure and menu. A "Select a newspaper" control lets you move between them.

What content it covers

The main menu organizes coverage into these sections:

  • News — general local reporting
  • Business
  • Nation
  • Sports
  • Valley and State — regional Arizona coverage
  • World
  • Education
  • Solutions — solution-focused journalism
  • Entertainment
  • Obituaries
  • Opinions
  • Puzzles
  • Sponsored Content

Beyond articles, the site also offers:

  • Calendar / Things To Do — a community events calendar, plus a "Top 10 Places to Visit" feature
  • E-Newspapers — digital editions of the papers
  • Free Newsletters
  • Special Sections
  • Submissions — reader-submitted content
  • Arizona Voters Guide 2026 — election-related coverage

What the Tempe edition actually reports on

Tempe Independent's front page mixes city-specific stories with regional ones. Examples visible on the homepage include:

  • A report that ASU Hockey did not submit a training plan prior to a player's collapse
  • A Tempe Tavern story about the business closing after a fight to keep its liquor license
  • Local business and arts items, such as a Scottsdale gallery exhibition
  • School-related coverage, including hundreds of SUSD parents opposing school closures

This mix shows the edition is not limited to strictly Tempe city government — it also carries Arizona politics, regional education news, and metro-area business and arts stories.

Practical details

  • Advertising and classifieds: The site has dedicated Advertise and Classifieds sections.
  • Donations: A Donate link appears in the main navigation.
  • Login and subscription: Log in and Subscribe links are present, and the site promotes a digital subscription ("Start a digital subscription"). Some content may sit behind a subscription, but the homepage does not state which articles are restricted.
  • Weather: A local forecast (Phoenix, AZ) is displayed in the header.

When to use it

Use Tempe Independent if you want Tempe-focused local news inside a broader Phoenix-area network, or if you want to read the same style of coverage for a different Valley city by switching editions. If you need statewide or national reporting specifically, the Valley and State, Nation, and World sections are the relevant entry points rather than the Tempe edition alone.