July 31, 2019 • Vol. 17, No. 37
POSTAL PATRON CAVE CREEK
www.thefoothillsfocus.com
ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
Anthem | Black Canyon City | Carefree | Cave Creek | Desert Hills | New River| North Phoenix | Tramonto | Peoria
New River’s Angels: Bike shop bump-starts a life BY TOM SCANLON STAFF
Pictured left to right: Joe Simental (fabricator), Jon Ritzheimer (owner of Gremlin Garage and technician), Dan Walker and Ricky Brough (technician), standing in front of Walker’s donated Harley Davidson Sportster on July 27. (Photo courtesy of Gremlin's Garage)
NEW RIVER – It was Friday, July 5. A skinny, rough-looking man is trying to get back to Lake Pleasant, where he has been staying in a cave. “I call it camping,” he later says. “It sounds better than ‘homeless.’” It’s late in the day, he’s over by the Wild Horse West Saloon off Lake Pleasant Parkway, and his old motorcycle stalls. He pulls over, tries to start it up. No go. Out of gas. So, he’s homeless, out of work, having medical problems and now he’s on the side of the road, in the blazing sun. As they say, after losing jobs and finding his health fading, he thought he’d hit rock bottom -
until he found out rock bottom had a basement. Who would blame this prison alumni for thinking that trying to be on the straight and narrow just wasn’t working out? Watching uncaring drivers zoom by to their nice cozy homes, why wouldn’t he ponder about returning to his “bad ways,” boozing, doing drugs, maybe even funding a run by robbing another bank ... Then one little thing starts a chain of events that told Dan Walker that he might be down, but he wasn’t out. Jon Ritzheimer happens to be driving by on his way home from the Gremlin Garage, the motorcycle shop he owns and operates in New River.
The code of bikers is you always stop to help, so Ritzheimer pulls over and asks Walker, dejected next to his old bike, what was up. Out of gas? No problem. Ritzheimer heads off to a gas station and comes back with a gallon container. That doesn’t solve the problem, as the old bike wouldn’t start, due to battery issues. But the two were able to “bump start” the motorcycle (pushing the bike, then one jumping on popping the clutch out to get ignition). During the process, Ritzheimer – who also served
MOTORCYCLE continued on page 13
$90 million federal grant to expand Incorporation efforts revived: PAC requests annexation from I-17 will bolster improvements north of Phoenix, Peoria, Scottsdale Phoenix starting by 2021 BY TARA ALATORRE
NEW RIVER – This June incorporation efforts by residents in the New River and Desert Hills area were stopped in its tracks after the City of Phoenix declined to give its permission, which is required by state law because the communities share a common border. Phoenix’s denial came as a blow to the residents that had worked diligently for almost two years on getting an incorporation measure to the local ballot, especially because petition signatures had already been filed with Maricopa County.
And just when locals in the rural community thought incorporation efforts had evaporated like a puddle in the sizzling summer heat, the Let New River Desert Hills Decide Political Action Committee (PAC) came whirling on to the scene like a dust storm. The new PAC is already making waves and has filed annexation requests with the cities of Scottsdale, Peoria and Phoenix, which is the next legal step for the territory in Arizona’s
INCORPORATION continued on page 3
PHOENIX – The Governor’s Office and the Arizona Department of Transportation today announced Arizona has won a highly competitive $90 million federal highway grant to help expand and improve Interstate 17 north of Phoenix, including a flex lanes system between Black Canyon City and the Sunset Point Rest Area. The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant, awarded to the Arizona Department of Transportation A federal grant awarded to Arizona will help construct the flex lanes system between Black Canyon City and Sunset Point.
Photo courtesy of ADOT
I-17 GRANT
continued on page 17
OTHER :
ANTHEM:
BLACK CANYON:
SCOTTSDALE
Anthem Seniors provides
Upcoming well-owners
Volunteers needed to support
• Bluhm Column
award-winning care
workshop in BCC
students in reading and math
• Service Directory
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• Classified Ads
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