Good morning, Mesa.

Drone as a Service, a ZenaTech subsidiary, is scouting (20,000 sqft) in the East Valley for a Mesa manufacturing facility to support trailer and defense drone projects and has viewed several sites but not picked one; it would start with about 45 jobs and could grow to hundreds.

The Joeys and The Rebel Set have reached the championship round of The Arizona Republic’s Battle of the Bands; voting is open online through 9:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov.

1, and the winner will be featured in a USA TODAY Network Acoustic mini-concert filmed at The Republic.

Innings Festival announced a lineup headlined by The Strokes, Pitbull and Alanis Morissette for Feb.

26-28, 2027 at Tempe Beach Park and Arts Park, with three days of no overlapping sets and acts including 5 Seconds of Summer, Train, and Death Cab for Cutie.

A state audit shows Arizona ranks 49th in per student spending at about $14,983–$16,013, with districts spending 52.1% of operational budgets on instruction; Mesa Public Schools spent 51.3%, highlighting tough choices between classroom funding and campus operating costs.

The National Park Service reopened several trails Monday (Bright Angel, South Kaibab, Plateau Point and Tonto), while North Kaibab, the Colorado River bridges and Phantom Ranch remain closed for repairs; water stations are off for the winter, so hikers must pack water and filtration and expect changing conditions.

This summer Arizona Public Service said customers used about 90% of planned capacity as data centers made up half of the demand growth, pushing utilities to plan about 15 new natural gas projects.

APS forecasts peak demand could rise about 40% by 2031, and regulators say gas will help meet that need.