The rural way of life that drew Ladona Stallings to a patch of desert outside the northwest Valley may be the reason she and her neighbors could lose a battle pitting mountain views and saguaro cactus against the addition of 200-foot-tall power lines.
The 69-year-old woman and her husband are among fewer than 800 residents in Wittmann, which has a post office and an elementary school but isn’t quite a town. No mayor, no elected council, no homeowners associations.

Spring training is big business in the West Valley — business that city officials say is worth the multimillion dollar annual tab passed onto taxpayers.
Municipal records examined by The Republic show Peoria, Surprise and Goodyear lost a combined average of $1.7 million over the past five years. Glendale is the outlier, losing less than most cities because the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, which call Camelback Ranch Glendale home, operate the ballpark.