PHOENIX — 89-year-old Robert Young is battling Arizona State University in court over the Louis Emerson home, one of the oldest remaining houses in the Phoenix Churchill area.

At the corner of 4th and Pierce streets sits a home that pre-dates Arizona statehood, and now sits at the center of a legal battle between its owner and Arizona State University.

ASU wants the land where the Louis Emerson home stands. The university is planning a medical and technology school nearby and says it wants to exercise its right of possession over the property.

But Young, who has owned the home since 1975, is not backing down.

“It’s not gonna happen. That’s what I thought then and that’s what I think today. I will not let it happen,” Young said.

Marshall Shore, known as the Hip Historian, says the home is one of the oldest remaining houses in the Phoenix Churchill area, built before Arizona was even a state.

“This house was here before statehood, before Arizona even thought of becoming a state; this house was here, and so it deserves to tell that story and continue on,” Shore said.

Shore says the home’s history is rooted in everyday life.

“It was an everyday man’s house. He was a butcher,” Shore said.

Young says he and his wife lived in the home for 8 years before renting it out. He calls it an architectural and historic treasure that is irreplaceable. He says the legal battle is taking a toll on both of them.

“It’s stressful. You don’t know from day to day if you’re gonna find the house on the corner,” Young said.

Young says the university offered him between $290,000 and nearly $1 million for the property. Maricopa County Superior Court records show the Arizona Board of Regents sued Young for the home earlier this month.

According to the Arizona Republic, ASU gave a written statement explaining that they made several offers to Young on his home. Their final offer was based on an appraisal, and it was not accepted.

Shore says the home does not need to come down and has a vision for how it could coexist with the planned medical school.

“I mean there’s nothing more sustainable than keeping a house where it is. Create a pocket park around it, so that way people can come and enjoy that little pocket park and make it really a gem in the community,” Shore said.

Shore says an online petition in support of preserving the home has gathered more than 10,000 signatures.

Young wants ASU and the public to understand what is truly at stake.

“It’s the way it’s placed on the corner, and it’s the fact that this corner itself is historic,” Young said.

Young is expected to appear in court on Sept. 4 to explain why the home should not be torn down.

A look at where the Arizona Cardinals rank in new NFL power rankings based on level of interest.

We are in the dead of the offseason in the NFL, when we are simply waiting for training camps to start. It is a good time for more lists and rankings.

AZCentral Sports’ Bob McManaman put together NFL power rankings for all 32 teams, but based on interest level.

Where do the Arizona Cardinals fall?

As you can probably imagine, it is near the bottom. They find themselves in the tier of “watch at your own risk,” which includes the five lowest-ranked teams. The Cardinals come in at No. 30.

Who’s going to emerge as the starting quarterback and will it even matter? At some point, rookie Carson Beck is going to get his shot and by then, the season might already be heading toward a disaster. Stay tuned to learn how rookie Jeremiyah Love and the running backs will split time, how the defense hopes to rediscover itself and how first-year coach Mike LaFleur plans to get things off the ground.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A missing and endangered child from Arizona was found at the homeless encampment known as “The Jungle” in Olympia, after investigators received information that the child may have been a victim of sex trafficking. U.S. marshals said.

The girl had been reported missing to the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department in May, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

On June 18, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the agency that the child was potentially being sex trafficked in Washington state.

A deputy U.S. marshal assigned to missing children investigations in the Western District of Washington developed a lead that brought authorities to the 3200 block of Martin Way East, a 20-acre homeless encampment known as “The Jungle.”

The agency described the area as having high rates of violence and community safety concerns. Back in 2023, a woman was found dead at the homeless encampment.

The city’s estimate of the number of people at the encampment generally ranges from about 100 to 250 people, with additional visitors sometimes coming to the site during the day. Overall, the number varies throughout the year, Olympia city officials said.

City staff visit the site several times each week, while service providers offer food, water, clothing, sanitation services, and other basic assistance.

On Thursday, U.S. marshals, assisted by the Washington State Department of Corrections, canvassed the encampment and found the missing child. The female juvenile was transferred to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Olympia Police Department for treatment and victim assistance.

“Protecting our nation’s children is of the highest importance,” Acting U.S. Marshal Donrien Stephens said in a statement. He credited local, state, and community partners for helping safely recover a youth at elevated risk of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

A photo of an Olympia homeless camp, where a man was arrested by police after allegedly throwing “softball-sized rocks” at firefighters who were responding to an active fire. (KOMO News)

The U.S. Marshals Service said the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 expanded its authority to help law enforcement recover endangered missing children, regardless of whether a fugitive or sex offender is involved, and led to the creation of its Missing Child Unit.

Since the law’s passage, the agency said it has contributed to locating or recovering 5,281 missing children.

The child’s exact age was not made public by U.S. marshals, just that she had been found safe.

The Marshals Service asked anyone with information about wanted fugitives to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or the agency’s Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.