August 8, 2018 • Vol. 16, 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 | Vistancia
Caurus Academy opens new high school in Anthem BY: TARA ALATORRE
ANTHEM – Caurus Academy’s inaugural high school class walked into their new 204,000 square-foot facility on Tuesday, August 7 for the first day of school, and entered in red carpet style with teachers and faculty cheering on the ninth and tenth grade students to the area’s newest public high school. Pictured left: Caurus Academy’s inaugural high school class of ninth and tenth graders walking into their first day of school and red carpet celebration on August 7, at Caurus’ new campus near the I-17 and Anthem Way. The new high school will add grades 10-12 in the next two years. Photo courtesy of Caurus Academy
With Caurus Academy’s addition of the new high school campus this year comes a new public high school option for families in the Anthem and New River areas, which until now only had the option of Boulder Creek High School and Anthem Preparatory Academy. Although this year Caurus will only be adding grades 9-10 while it expands in phases; it recently announced placing an earnest deposit on 10-acres of land near the New River Post Office so it can continue growing with the community in the future. The school is a public charter with free enrollment, sports, honors, dual enrollment, extracurricular activities and
is an “A” ranked school that has seen tremendous growth in the last four years, retaining its students at rates of 90 percent or higher. The school originally served only grades kindergarten through eighth, according the Arizona Charter School Association. “We weren’t planning on a high school but there is a legitimate need for another quality high school in the Anthem area, and we did this for the community,” said Caurus Academy Director Dameon Blair in an interview with The Foothills Focus. “We CAURUS HIGH SCHOOL continued on page 13
Carefree’s primary elections Lori Piestewa, 11 others to be inducted underway, early ballots mailed into first Native American Hall of Fame BY: TARA ALATORRE
CAREFREE – The early ballots for the Carefree Primary Elections were mailed out this week to voters registered in the town, and the elections will be held on August 28 at the Town Council Center on 33 Easy Street. There will be early election opportunities August 20-24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Town Council Center, which is one block east of the Carefree Town Hall and the Sundial. A ballot drop box will also be available for completed mail-in ballots only from now until August 28, during normal business hours at the Carefree Town Hall located at 8 Sundial Circle.
There are six town council seats and a seat for the mayor on the Carefree primary municipal ballot. Running for mayor is the incumbent candidate Mayor Les Peterson, who is being challenged by Councilman Mike Farrar. Farrar has served two terms as a councilman in Carefree and is now seeking a new leadership role as the town’s mayor. Peterson has served the town as a councilman since 2013, before becoming the mayor in 2015 (peterson4Carefree.com). Farrar has served on the Carefree Town Council for seven years CAREFREE PRIMARY’S continued on page 17
BY: RACHEL BETH BANKS CRONKITE NEWS
Pictured: Piestewa died in March 2003, making her the first woman to die in the Iraq War and the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military.
Photo by Piestewa Family/Getty Images
NEW RIVER:
PEORIA:
NORTH VALLEY:
Woman pleads guilty to child
Police Department
Giordano’s is gving away
pornography charges
celebrates gold standard
68 deep-dish pizzas
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PHOENIX – After 10 years, 30 nominees and decades of discovery, the first National Native American Hall of Fame will induct 12 honorees in October. Arizona’s Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat as a member of U.S. military, is among those who will be celebrated. Many of the inductees, such as Olympic star Jim Thorpe, astronaut John Herrington and Maria Tallchief, the first Native American to be a prima ballerina, are well known and have been lauded with awards PIESTEWA INDUCTION continued on page 7
OTHER : • Bluhm Column
6
• Service Directory
15
• Classified Ads
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