The Chandler Arizonan - 01-26-2020

EVIT chief's criminal case hits snag PAGE

Girl Scouts hit the streets with cookies

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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

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January 26, 2020

Deaf couple takes on Chandler hospital in court

INSIDE

This Week

BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

NEWS ............................... 8

Chandler's war on sex traffickers never ends.

COMMUNITY ...........18 Aprende students take suicide prevention lead.

A

n Ahwatukee couple is taking Dignity Health and its Chandler Regional Medical Center to federal court over what they consider to be a lack of interpretive services for deaf patients.

Mitchell and Dawn Siegel have been waiting more than five years to resolve a civil complaint they filed against the medical provider for practices they think are discriminatory against the deaf community.

Dawn Siegel visited Dignity’s Chandler Regional Medical Center in 2014 for severe stomach pains and claims she was not provided a sign language interpreter who could translate what doctors and nurses were telling her.

She was instructed to write down what she needed to tell hospital staff or commu-

Mitchell and Dawn Siegel's lawsuit against Dignity Health's Chandler Regional Medical Center heads to trial next month. (Chris Mortenson/Arizonan Staff Photographer)

nicate through an off-site interpreter via webcam video.

Siegel found the video service ineffective due to poor visual quality and the interpreter’s inabilities. She claims her requests for a certified, in-person interpreter were not granted during her nineday hospital visit, resulting in Siegel never wanting to return.

“I should be able to go to whatever hospital I want to,” Dawn said through an interpreter. “It’s not fair.”

The Siegels were among a group of deaf individuals who joined together in 2014, to sue Dignity Health for violating protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act obligates health providers to “effectively communicate” with deaf people.

The other plaintiffs told similar stories

see DEAF page 4

Scammer steals $172K from Chandler, contractor

BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

SPORTS ....................... 28 Chandler champs abound in flag football.

NEWS ........................................3 COMMUNITY ........................14 BUSINESS ..............................20 OPINION ............................... 23 SPORTS..................................24 GET OUT ...............................26 CLASSIFIEDS .........................30

T

he City of Chandler fell victim to a scammer who stole $172,000 that was supposed to be paid to a construction company for repairing the city’s roads.

Vincon Engineering Construction, based out of Mesa, submitted multiple invoices to the city last summer for roadwork costing $171,888. When the company didn’t receive payment on time, Vincon notified

Chandler of its unpaid debt.

While the city is paying the company $100,000, Vincon will be out $72,000. The company’s lawyer did not reply to an Arizonan request for comment.

The city initially responded to Vincon’s claim by stating it already paid its invoices.

But the company assured Chandler no payments was wired to Vincon’s bank account.

A subsequent investigation revealed someone claiming to be with Vincon emailed the city, asking all future payments to Vincon be deposited into a new account

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through an automatic clearinghouse network.

The email appeared legitimate to city staff and they obliged by rerouting Vincon’s payments to the scammer’s account.

“The city and Vincon essentially were defrauded,” said Matt Burdick, a spokesman for the city, adding the suspected scammer has not been apprehended and its unlikely Chandler will get its money back.

Vincon filed a notice of claim against the

see SCAMMER page 13

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CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

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Memorial service Feb. 1 for former Chandler mayor

BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

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F

ormer Chandler Mayor Jerry Brooks, who led the city during times of immense growth and advocated for the creation of an arts center, died on Jan. 14 at the age of 89.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 1 at the: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave. Mr. Brooks served as Chandler’s mayor from 1984 to 1988 – a period when the city’s population doubled in size and its boundaries expand down south to Sun Lakes.

Among his most notable accomplishments was spearheading the city’s effort to open the Chandler Center for the Arts in 1989.

CCA General Manager Michelle Mac Lennan said Mr. Brooks was instrumental in getting the facility built and remained involved with the center for the rest of his life.

“He was a vital advocate and supporter of arts and culture in our community,” Mac Lennan said. “Mayor Brooks’ vision, leadership and passion is an inspiration to all of us.”

In a 2005 interview, Mr. Brooks said he wanted an arts center to make Chandler more attractive to businesses looking to relocate their headquarters, but the city didn’t have enough funds in the 1980s to build one.

The former mayor knew Chandler High School needed an auditorium and thought he might be able to persuade school board members to build a facility to serve both parties.

“So, I kind of waited in the bushes until they got elected and then I went over to the superintendent and city manager and got everybody together,” Mr. Brooks said in 2005.

The plan worked and the two groups made a deal to build the arts center together. High school students would use the center during the day and the city would host events in the evening.

More than 30 years later, the center’s emerged as an active venue for events and performances throughout the year.

In 2011, Mr. Brooks was recognized by CCA when it established the Jerry Mr. Brooks Legacy Foundation, which man-

Mayor Kevin Hartke and former Mayor Jerry Brooks shared a happy moment recently. Above, the late Mr. Brooks is flanked by former Mayor Jim Patterson, left, and Justice of the Peace Jay Tibshraeny. (Special to the

Arizonan)

ages the financial contributions that support the center’s programs.

Mr. Brooks was born in Texas in 1930.

His father was M.L. Mr. Brooks, Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction during the 1950s.

The family grew up around Phoenix and Mr. Brooks enlisted in the Marines after World War II. He was later sent to Vietnam during the 1960s and didn’t have the best memories regarding how the military treated locals during the war.

“I just always felt we pulled the rug out from under them – sold out – and I’m still bothered by it somewhat,” Mr. Brooks said in 2005.

He moved to Chandler in the 1970s and got a job at Waste Management of Arizona. During this time, he crossed paths with Sen. John McCain, who had recently returned from the Vietnam War and was starting his political career.

Mr. Brooks quit his job and offered to manage McCain’s first campaign for Congress in 1982. McCain won the race and spent the rest of his career in Congress until his death in 2018.

Mr. Brooks remembered traveling with McCain around the East Valley to make campaign stops in Chandler and Sun Lakes.

“That’s how I got a taste of politics,” Mr. Brooks recalled in 2005.

His motivation for getting involved in local government stemmed from turmoil he saw going on at City Hall. There was a feud boiling between Chandler’s police department and the City Council, Mr. Brooks said, and threats were made to recall council members.

Mr. Brooks thought he could calm the tensions and was elected to a seat on the council in 1982. He resigned two years later to run for mayor and won. His first priority in office was to improve Chandler’s roads and infrastructure so the city could handle more development.

“When I got in I wanted to build a feather nest and make it real nice and fluffy and inviting for any high-paying employers we could get,” Mr. Brooks said in 2005, “so we pushed hard to upgrade standards of development.”

He remembered fighting with the Maricopa Association of Governments over its plans to have the Loop 101 stop at the U.S. 60 and not pass through Chandler.

“I could envision the growth in Chandler warranting that freeway – it was obvious to me,” Mr. Brooks said in a 2016 interview.

Loop 101 was extended by the time voters approved funding for its construction in 1985.

Despite not considering himself a “very good politician,” Mr. Brooks thought the city made important decisions during his mayoral tenure with a lasting impact.

“We set some standards that have been followed through the years we can all be proud of,” Mr. Brooks said in 2005.

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CITY NEWS

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DEAF from page 1

of not having access to in-person interpreters at the Chandler hospital or being forced to use the video services.

One plaintiff alleged Dignity’s video service was not working when doctors needed to tell him he needed emergency surgery. Staff had to deliver the news through the patient’s relative over the phone, court documents show.

All the plaintiffs chose to settle their claims with Dignity last year, except for the Siegels.

The hospital offered to pay $25,000 to resolve the case, Mitchell Siegel said, but he and his wife declined.

“It was insulting,” Mitchell said through an interpreter about the offer.

The rights of deaf people are the same as anyone else, Mitchell added, so they decided it was time for a jury to hear their story.

Elizabeth Tate, a Phoenix-based attorney who will be representing the Siegels at trial – scheduled to begin Feb. 4 – will try to convince a jury Dignity acted indifferently to Siegel’s needs by providing webcam translators the plaintiffs considered to be “woefully inadequate.”

“I think it’s a really inhumane way to address the medical needs of the deaf community,” Tate said.

In response to questions by the Arizonan, a hospital spokesperson said the facility always has interpreters available “to help make important medical conversations with its patients and their companions as clear as possible.”

“Chandler Regional employs qualified interpreters and also provides telephonic and video interpreter services in more than 80 languages - available at any time,” the spokesperson added.

The Siegels are not the first deaf people to sue a hospital for not providing onsite interpreters.

There have been several lawsuits filed across the country by deaf patients claiming their health was jeopardized by faulty webcam interpreters.

A reoccurring complaint among plaintiffs the quality of the video service, which is often blurry, delayed or simply doesn’t work when needed.

A Pima County woman claims her deaf husband died at Oro Valley Hospital in 2016 as a result of not having an onsite interpreter.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the widow al-

This is how one deaf patient asked the hospital to see a doctor. (Special to the Arizonan)

leges she didn’t know her husband was about to die because the staff couldn’t communicate with her through sign language.

The National Association of the Deaf criticized hospitals that rely too much on video technology to communicate with deaf patients.

In 2016, the association advised medical providers to only offer video translators if onsite interpreters were not immediately available and with the patient’s consent.

“The deaf and hard-of-hearing community has become increasingly concerned about the over-reliance on this new technology without a thorough examination and dialogue on the appropriateness of the service,” the association stated.

During their multiple visits to the Chandler hospital, the Siegels began documenting their frustrations with webcam translators.

In one video they allegedly recorded in 2015, Dawn Siegel tries speaking sign language with a woman she sees through the webcam. The woman is on the phone and doesn’t respond back.

The woman then holds up a whiteboard to the camera with a message stating, “I need to speak to a nurse doctor.” The Siegels try to get the attention of a nurse before the video ends.

Mitchell Siegel said the problem with video interpreters is - they are scaring deaf people away from getting the medical treatment they're entitled to receive.

see DEAF page 6

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DEAF from page 4

“There are a lot of people that are not even wanting to go to the hospital for fear of the communication breakdown,” he said through an interpreter.

Dignity’s lawyers argued hospital staff met their legal obligations by having deaf patients write notes in English.

U.S. District Court Judge Steven Logan has questioned this argument, finding the plaintiffs in the Siegel case might claim they couldn’t articulate complex medical issues through notes.

“Plaintiffs’ actual English proficiency and defendant’s choice of written communications presents issues of fact as to whether communication between hospital staff and the (plaintiffs) was truly effective,” the judge wrote in a 2019 ruling, “as well as whether written communication in those circumstances was appropriate.”

Janine Stanley, a counselor and deaf advocate for the Siegels, said doctors need to better understand why it’s not permissible to communicate through notes and gestures with deaf people.

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mally American Sign Language and not English, Stanley explained. So, having a sick person write in their non-native language should not be considered effective, she said.

“Your brain is not working the right way when you’re sick,” Stanley said.

“This shouldn’t be this way.”

The language barrier prevents deaf people from receiving other types of important services, Stanley added.

She’s one of the few licensed counselors in Arizona who also speaks American Sign Language, yet most deaf people have insurance plans not even covering Stanley’s practice.

This leaves deaf people not wanting to seek out help, Stanley said, because they want a counselor they can communicate with directly.

“There are many people out there not getting the mental health they need because of this reason,” she said.

The Siegels’ attorney did not provide a monetary value of damages they may ask a jury to award them. The attorney said she will determine the number during the course of the eight-day trial.

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CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

War on sex trafficking in Chandler is never-ending

BY CECILIA CHAN Arizonan Staff Writer

O

livia Holcomb was 9 when her parents divorced and her life turned topsy-turvy.

The Texas girl lived with her mom, who began bringing men home. Holcomb said growing up associating having a man around equated to happiness as she watched her mom swing from being happy to being upset, depending on if she had a man or not.

“In the summer of 2018, my mom and I lived with her boyfriend at the time,” she said. “He was abusive and very mean to her.”

Both adults drank and Holcomb said she was miserable when the boyfriend would start hurting her mom.

“I refused to stay there,” she said. “I ran away.”

At 16 and with no money, Holcomb started meeting significantly older men through a dating app. She learned giving sexual favors would earn her food, drugs and a place to sleep.

She said she met about two dozen men who paid her for sex until police arrested her after her mom reported her as a runaway. Police went through Holcomb’s cellphone and discovered she was a victim of sex trafficking.

Holcomb, who now lives in Chandler, shared her story in a video Jan. 12, at the second annual Night of Hope event, hosted by 19 East Valley churches to bring awareness to sex trafficking and encourage the public to get involved.

The event, attended by over 300 people at Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, also highlighted National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

“This is a problem that does not know borders,” said Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg, who was at the event representing law enforcement. “It’s international; it’s throughout the country; it’s throughout the state and it’s throughout our local community.”

Soelberg said Mesa Police Department led the charge against sex trafficking in the last five to seven years and he got involved with the issue while working there. Soleberg became Gilbert’s chief in 2017.

Law enforcement agencies in Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Tem-

pe – in conjunction with the Maricopa County and Arizona attorney general’s offices – conduct at least one operation a month in the East Valley to combat human trafficking, according to Soelberg.

“It’s amazing, once we start our operation within a matter of hours we basically have a backlog of people trying to get access to not only girls but boys, adults, minors, babies – you name it,” he said.

“There are no boundaries. So, it’s a problem not going away.”

Soelbert said as a patrol officer, he would scout for these types of crimes by watching the streets and hotels and for people walking the street.

“This still happens to a slight degree,” he said. “But everything is now online.”

He said when the agencies stage one of their operations, officers would make 10 to 15 arrests a day.

“Through our activities we’ve done everything we can and we will continue to fight but we need your help,” the chief said.

He asked the crowd to support financially or through volunteering with the nonprofits at the event such as CeCe’s Hope Center and Streetlight USA, which helps sex trafficking victims heal. And, he said, if people see something suspicious, report it.

“This is not about making arrests and putting people away but rescuing those forced into this,” he said. “We’ve got to combine our forces and make sure we do everything we can to combat it.”

According to the state Attorney General’s Office, the average age of entry into the sex trade in Arizona is 14, though law enforcement officers have seen girls as young as 9 sold for sex.

Many of the factors making Arizona a popular tourist destination also fuel sex trafficking – including the warm weather, close proximity to the border and interstate highway networks, an array of conferences and professional sporting events and close proximity to other tourist destinations such as Las Vegas and San Diego, the Attorney General’s Office said.

“We have to pay attention to this,” Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said.

“We can’t turn a blind eye. This is an issue happening in our community. When we ignore it, we are complicit.”

She said her office will hold perpetrators of this crime accountable. She added

Maricopa County was the fourth-largest county in the nation and the third-largest, behind Los Angeles and Chicago, in trafficking prosecutions.

“We are committed to protect victims and survivors,” she said.

State Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, also asked the crowd for help.

“Try as we might to pass the greatest laws in the state, there’s always people out there trying to exploit others,” said Mesnard, who represents District 17, which includes most of Chandler, part of Gilbert and Sun Lakes.

He said when the slave trade consumed the country before it was abolished, some 13 million people were sold into slavery.

“Thirteen million, that’s a lot,” he said.

“There are twice as many people in the sex-trafficking exploitation, which is a form of slavery. It’s not as obvious because it’s in the shadows.”

He stressed the importance of people being the eyes and ears of the community to help fight sex trafficking and used Uber driver Keith Avila as an example.

One December day in 2016, Avila picked up a teen girl and two women for a trip to a motel in California. He eavesdropped on their conversation and after taking them to their destination, called police with his suspicion of child prostitution.

“Police showed up and rescued the girl and arrested the two women who took her to be exploited,” Mesnard said.

“None of us know who Avila is because he is an everyday guy. He was sensitive to what was around him and as a result he saved a 16-year-old girl.”

Holcomb also was eventually saved.

A month after police picked her up, she had already been in and out twice to a psychiatric hospital for depression and suicidal thoughts.

Police then contacted an advocacy agency in Texas and placed her at Refuge Ranch, a long-term residential program for domestic minors rescued from sex trafficking.

It was there, Holcomb said she found love she never felt before, not through sex or men.

“It was a pure love I can’t even describe,” she said. “I graduated high school early and fell in love with myself again. It was an amazing experience.”

She re-established her relationship

with her dad in Arizona and eventually moved out here.

Holcomb’s sex trafficking story is not unique, according to athleen Winn, executive director of Project 25 VAST, which fights sexual exploitation.

Holcomb thought she only had two choices: stay with her mom and the abusive boyfriend or run away, Winn said.

She didn’t know there were people out there who cared and wanted to help her and could give her other choices, Winn added.

Instead, Holcomb came across people who said they would help her but at a cost – a loss of innocence and “something that could never be undone once it was done,” according to Winn.

“Sex trafficking and sexual exploitation is a problem and is pervasive in all our communities,” she said. “It’s a problemdriven by men unfortunately, 99 percent of our buyers are men.

“We as a people need to change our culture, we need to stop this surge,” she continued. “I believe God is calling forth an army and we are part of it. You are not here tonight by accident. It’s not a coincident. We all need to find the Olivias in our communities and we need to let them know we are here to help. We are here to change the future.”

Winn said when she embarked on this crusade a decade ago, she was told sex trafficking didn’t exist in this country and to sit down and be quiet.

Today, looking out at the audience, she was encouraged so many people are aware of the problem.

She said she made a promise to God - by 2025, she would do whatever she could to end sexual exploitation and pointed to progress being made against sexual predators.

“Mr. Weinstein is on trial, Mr. Epstein is no longer with us,” she said. “Dr. Larry Nassar is in prison and on one is selling children on Backpage.com. I know we as a community have done what we needed to do but I know there is more to do.”

The public can also get involved by becoming a mentor or a parent to a child in foster care, said atie O’dell, state director of Arizona 1.27, an organization engaging local churches in the Arizona

see SEXTRAFFIC page 11

CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Seton Catholic Prep to hold day-long retreat Tuesday

Seton Catholic Preparatory students and staff will take the day Tuesday to reflect and worship during the school’s first Sentinel Summit.

Catholic evangelist Amanda Vernon will kick off the all-school retreat, whose theme is “Take Courage,” based on the Gospel scripture from Matthew 14: 27: “Take courage, it is I; do not fear” as well as “Courage” also is Seton’s focus charism of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton for the 2019-2020 school year, Seton Principal Victor Serna said.

“The retreat is conference-style with breakout sessions to serve Seton faculty, staff and students,” he added. “The breakout sessions include a variety of topics such as Leaning into the Lord,’ ‘Courage in Discernment’ and ‘Courage in Faith’ to name a few.”

The retreat also will include a presentation by Rev. John Parks, Vicar for Evangelization in the Diocese of Phoenix; mass and a “closing challenge”; and a performance by the Chandler performance group, ImprovMANIA. The retreat is part of Seton’s observance of National Catholic Schools Week, whose theme this year is “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”

Schools typically observe the annual celebration week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members, Serna said.

A 2017 National Blue Ribbon School, Seton Catholic Preparatory is a diocesan, coeducational high school open to students of all faiths with a focus on academic excellence, leadership and service to others.

The 65-year-old school is the East Valley’s only Catholic college preparatory high school.

Vernon has shared her faith across the U.S. and in six foreign countries.

An accomplished recording artist, the Phoenix mother of four co-authored the memoir “When God Wrecks our Romance: Orthodox Faith, Unorthodox Story.” Information: setoncatholic.org.

Chandler Symphony slates performance today

“The Russians are Coming” is the title

of a concert by the Chandler Symphony Orchestra to be held at 3 p.m. today, Jan. 26, at Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Aveene, Chandler.

Anna Han will perform a solo of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 18” and there also will be a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant ije Suite” and Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 1 in F minor.”

Admission is by donation.

City Council names René Lopez new vice mayor

The Chandler City Council voted unanimously elected Councilmember René Lopez as the new vice mayor – a largely ceremonial position through which council members traditionally rotate annually.

Lopez, who has lived and worked in Chandler since 2007, was first elected in 2015 to the council and reelected in 2018.

The East Valley native graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering, with a minor in direct energy conversion. He also is a third generation U.S. Navy veteran.

Intel offering STEAM grants to area teachers Intel and the Intel foundation are offering 40 grants for teachers focused on STEAM initiatives in celebration of the 40th anniversary of its presence in Chandler.

The company and its foundation have partnered with the Arizona Educational Foundation to award 40 grants of up to $2,500 to public school teachers to support science, technology, education, arts and mathematics projects and initiatives.

Any full-time certified Pre -12 grade teacher working in an Arizona district public school, public charter or Bureau of Indian Education school is eligible to apply. Grants are open to teachers, arts, special education, early childhood education, and physical education for projects that will be undertaken between April 1 and Dec. 1.

Applications are due March 6 and are available at azedfoundation.org intel40for40.

see AROUND page 12

Limited Time Offer

First Month FREE

*No placement/referral fees available with this special

Celebrating 40 years of service

9

10

CITY NEWS

Nikita Bharati

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Stan Szarek

Joe Gaylord

Dr. Scott Nelson

tary.’ And he did,” Nelson said.

The 67-year-old school counselor has been working continuously in East Valley schools since then and began volunteering his services at Willis Junior High in Chandler.

He conducts counseling sessions a few times a week at the middle school campus and facilitates a diversion program meant to keep students away from electronic cigarettes.

“I’ve tried to use all the meaningful experiences I’ve had and give it back,” Nelson said, “it doesn’t do any good unless I give it away.”

Nelson moved to Arizona in the 1970s to study computer science at Arizona State University. The Michigan native quickly changed his major to psychology after realizing he was better suited for a career in the humanities.

He went on to earn his doctorate degree and spent most of his career counseling middle school students at Mesa Public Schools.

“I like to tell people I have three college degrees and I never got out of junior high,” Nelson joked.

He’s got lots of stories about the students he tried counseling over the years and some of them still get Nelson emotional.

He recalled counseling a group of students several years ago who had been referred to a drug diversion program.

One girl told the group her mom was go-

ing away for the weekend and she’d be left home alone.

The other students instantly started planning a party, Nelson recalled, and deciding who would bring what to the girl’s house. Then the girl chimed up and said, “I just want my mom.”

The group went silent, Nelson remembered, and all the planning stopped.

“I think people forget kids in trouble don’t have any other needs than the rest of us,” Nelson said, “and the trouble they’re in is not the trouble they want.”

Nelson left Mesa Public Schools a couple years ago; he started feeling like administrators no longer valued his services. So, he found a school in Chandler welcoming Nelson’s expertise and style of counseling.

Willis Junior High Principal Jeff Delp said Nelson volunteers a significant amount of his time on campus and the students have come to think of him as a member of the staff.

The school already has two other counselors, but Delp said Nelson’s presence provided an opportunity for the school to assist students needing extra support.

“Junior high can be a challenging time for any kid and Dr. Nelson provides an additional layer of social-emotional support for students in need,” the principal said.

Nelson hosts special group sessions for students of refugee families and stu-

dents who speak English as a second language.

The vaping program he helps to facilitate aims to provide students with constructive activities to replace their urge to use the smoking devices.

Four Chandler residents who make a difference

BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

C

handler’s four nominees for this year’s People’s Choice Award comprise a diverse lineup of volunteers who give back to their community in varying ways.

Some are teachers, some are helpers and some are leaders. They range in age from high school students to retirees. Some are nearing the end of their professional careers and others are just starting theirs.

The public will only pick one to walk away with the award on Feb. 6. et each of them has said they already feel like they’ve been rewarded enough through their volunteering.

The Counselor

Scott Nelson still remembers the warning a school administrator gave him when he was starting his education career in the 1970s.

At this point in his life, Nelson was permanently disabled and reliant on crutches due to a childhood sledding accident.

No school district in Maricopa County would ever hire a physically-handicapped person, Nelson recalled an administrator telling him, yet the administrator was willing to take a chance on Nelson.

“He said But I will figure out a way for you to get a position for Tempe Elemen-

The Helper

Joe Gaylord has been serving the residents of Chandler in one way or another for more than 30 years.

He’s spent most of this time working for the Chandler Police Department before retiring as assistant police chief in 2010.

Gaylord currently provides security to the state’s water canals through Central Arizona Project and spends his spare time helping Chandler residents keep their homes and yards in compliance with city codes.

His church partners with For Our City Chandler to help low-income or disabled residents rehabilitate their homes. Gaylord said he enjoys getting to know his neighbors by pulling their weeds or repairing air conditioners.

“You get to talk to these people who are really down on their luck or medically can’t do it,” Gaylord said.

He recalled helping one elderly man who was at risk of receiving a bunch of fines from her homeowner’s association for landscaping violations. After Gaylord

see VOLUNTEERS page 11

CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

VOLUNTEERS from page 10

did some trim work, the resident got ready to pull out her purse and Gaylord explained there would be no charge.

“She couldn’t believe people would go out and do it for free,” he recalled.

Gaylord got his start in public service working in jail back in Minnesota.

By constantly being around suspected criminals, he learned how to talk to unruly characters and this helped to advance his law enforcement career.

After becoming a police officer, Gaylord remembered getting called out to the scene of a 30-car pileup in the dead of winter. It was so cold the ink in Gaylord’s pen froze and he had to write his police report in pencil.

He decided then it might be better to be a cop in a warmer climate and moved out west to Arizona. Gaylord arrived in Chandler in the early 1980s, back when it was a small suburb of about 35,000 residents.

He watched the city grow rapidly over the next decade and got the chance to work a variety of positions within the police department.

Homicides, child abuse, and sex crimes were all assignments Gaylord got to work during his 28-year tenure with the agency.

One of his most memorable incidents was getting called out to an infant drowning in a bathtub. It was the 1980s and Gaylord remembered pulling the child out of the water and performing CPR before a helicopter transported the baby to the hospital.

There’s normally never any follow-up after a traumatic call like this, Gaylord said, the officer moves on and doesn’t get to know what happened to the child.

But Gaylord did find closure: About seven years later, he received a gracious note from the child’s family and a picture of the much older child.

“What people don’t understand in law enforcement is how much you really do touch the community when you’re in

SEXTRAFFIC from page 8

child welfare system.

“What we don’t realize about trafficking, especially in the United States, is there is a common factor at play,” she said. “And it is kids who find themselves in the foster care system in the United

law enforcement,” Gaylord said. “What they don’t see is how much compassion cops put into their jobs.”

The Scientist

Basha High School student Nikita Bharati heard of the gender inequities common in science and engineering fields.

The 16-year-old knew of the statistics showing how boys tend to enroll in science classes at much higher rates than girls, but Bharati didn’t really think these numbers applied to her.

Then at the beginning of her sophomore year, she walked into her physics class and noticed a significant imbalance among the genders. Bharati counted only six girls in a class of 27 students.

“I was definitely not ecstatic to see the environment,” Bharati recalled.

She realized something needed to be done to fix these statistics and she might be the person to do it.

In 2018, Bharati co-founded Girl STEMpowerment, an organization comprised of young women who encourage girls to consider careers in science and technology.

The organization goes around the East Valley teaching free science workshops to elementary students. The volunteers will demonstrate how to extract DNA from a strawberry or how to write computer code.

Bharati said the goal is to prove to the girls science can be learned and practiced by anyone.

“They should feel confident going into those fields and not be burdened by the feelings of self-doubt,” she said.

By having young women teach these workshops, Bharati said, Girl STEMpowerment has already begun changing the younger generation’s perceptions of the science field.

“When they think about what a scientist is, it’s not just an old white guy like Albert Einstein in a lab coat,” she added.

Bharati aspires to pursue a career in States are 60 percent more likely to end up to be victims of trafficking.” nowing this, she added, preventative steps such as engaging with a child in foster care can help ensure they never end up a victim.

In this country, traffickers prey upon children in the foster care system and

11

Stanley Szarek admits he was not always the most physically active back when he taught classes at Arizona State University.

“I always took the elevator to the sixth floor,” he recalled.

After he retired in 2009, Szarek suddenly had lots of free time and wanted

to find ways to be more mobile.

“I didn’t want to spend my time sitting at home,” he said.

He signed up for an exercise class at Chandler-Gilbert Family YMCA and quickly got hooked to strength training and cardio circuits.

When his instructor left, the gym needed to find a quick replacement and Szarek volunteered to the do the job.

He currently teaches multiple classes each week for groups that sometimes reach up to 30 participants. Szarek said his students keep him connected to the community and prevent him from feeling too isolated.

“I know everybody’s name and I know something about them,” Szarek said.

When Szarek is not at the gym, he’s often driving around Chandler doing errands for the city’s elderly residents. He volunteers for About Care, a nonprofit that assists homebound residents in Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek.

Szarek knew the value of having this type of service after seeing his aging family members lose their ability to drive.

Volunteers coming out to visit his relatives not only helped them on a practical level, he said, but it raised their spirits.

“We saw the benefit they derived from having people come to the house help out and talk to,” he said.

It made Szarek want to return the favor for the people of Chandler.

He remembered one About Care client who became disoriented after losing his wife. The widower didn’t know how to pay bills or do all the errands his wife had done, Szarek said.

Szarek guided the client through how to pay for utility bills online and helped him become financially independent.

Szarek appreciates the city for recognizing his volunteer efforts as important enough to warrant an award nomination and hopes it inspires other Chandler residents to give back in their own way.

“It’s a feather in the cap and I’m grateful that it’s happened,” he added.

recent reports consistently indicated a large number of victims of child sex trafficking were at one time in the foster care system, according to a U.S. State Department report in 2019.

Shannon Mitchell was one of the hundreds of people who showed up for the event.

The 47-year-old Chandler resident said she herself was unaware of the problem until she heard about Night of Hope event.

“When I learned about it, it did surprise me,” she said. “Many don’t know it’s happening in our neighborhoods.

“I love the community is coming together to bring this awareness.”

environmental science and help make policy changes to protect the Earth’s climate. She’s involved in Basha High’s sustainability club and organizes protests put on by the Arizona Youth Climate Strike.

Her relatives in India are impacted by droughts plaguing the country’s economy, Bharati said, so she knows the drastic consequences coming with not taking action on climate change.

“It’s gonna be my generation that’s gonna really make the change and really make people start holding their politicians accountable for issues like these,” Bharati said.

Her climate activism sparked Bharati’s interest in other types of civic engagement, resulting in her joining the Mayor’s Youth Commission in Chandler. She and other commission members make policy recommendations to the city on issues affecting Chandler’s youth.

Bharati admits she has not always been comfortable speaking out publicly and being the center of attention.

It was not until she joined Basha High’s Science is Fun Club Bharati was pushed to come out of her shell and share her love for science with the community. The club has students teach kids and adults how science is relevant to everyday life.

Getting in front of strangers and explaining how batteries work boosted Bharati’s confidence and taught her the importance of engaging with the community.

Now, Bharati doesn’t mind speaking out loud and proud on issues she’s passionate about.

The Instructor

12

CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

AROUND from page 9

Kyrene School District slates job fair for teachers fair 8 a.m.-noon Feb. 22 at yrene Traditional Academy, 3375 W. Galveston Streete, Chandler, for teachers, school psychologists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists On-site interviews will be conducted. Due to high demand, educators are encouraged to make an appointment ahead of time.

Information: kyrene.org/jobfairs or kyrene.org/careers

Boys Scouts will be hitting the streets to collect food

Scouting for Food, the annual food drive organized by the Grand Canyon Council of the Boy Scouts of America, began this weekend and will continue through next week in Chandler.

Scouts will canvas their home neighborhoods to deliver notices about the drive, then return a week later to collect

donations from their communities to support their local food banks and pantries.

Community members who get a notice are asked to leave nonperishable food items on their doorsteps at 7:30 a.m.

Feb. 1 at 7:30 a.m. and a local Scout will stop by to collect them.

People who do not receive a notice are encouraged to deliver food donations to United Food Bank, 358 E Javelina Avenue, Mesa or make a financial contribution at give.unitedfoodbank.org ge scoutingforfood.

ronmental Education Center will have a limited number of complementary youth and adult licenses available.

The clinic will include a wide array of activities, including fish-related arts and crafts, and educational booths highlighting outdoor safety. Patrons can make first aid kits, participate in outdoor shelter activities, and play water safety bingo hosted by Chandler Aquatics.

Additionally, the Chandler Fire Department will have a fire engine on display from 9-11 a.m. and Chandler Police will have a motorist assist vehicle.

Information: facebook.com/ChandlerEEC, or call 480-782-2890.

The art of fishing – how to rig a rod and reel, cast a line, hook a fish and other tips – will be discussed by expert anglers from Arizona Game and Fish Department at the Chandler Recreation Division’s free Family Fishing Clinic 8 a.m.noon Feb. 15 at Veterans Oasis Park, 4050 E. Chandler Heights Road.

Children 10 and older are required to have a fishing license to fish. The Envi-

Chandler special election registration deadline nears

Get hooked on fishing at Chandler family clinic

DESIGN CENTER

Chandler will hold a Special Election March 10 on a proposed amendment Proposition 426 to the City Charter that would change the dates of the city to conform with election consolidation dates per state law. The deadline to register is Feb. 10.

Chandler residents who have an Arizona driver license or ID card may register at servicearizona.com. Residents also may access the online registration website through Maricopa County Elections at recorder.maricopa.gov elections registrationform.aspx.

Information: chandleraz.gov/SpecialElection or 480-782-2181.

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The 32nd annual Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival will feature the charttopping nineties pop band 98 March 13 and Grammy Award-winning American rock band Blues Traveler March 14.

Tickets will go on sale Friday, Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. MST at OstrichFestival.com. The March 15 headliner has not yet been announced.

98 is an American pop and R&B vocal group consisting of four vocalists that earned its first No. 1 hit and a Grammy Award nomination with “Thank God I Found ou,” a collaboration with Mariah Carey.

Blues Traveler’s work spans a variety of genres, including blues rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul and Southern rock.

Tickets are on sale at OstrichFestival. com. Adults are $15, seniors and children 12 and under are $8, and children 3 and under are free. Adult VIP tickets start at $50 and VIP tickets for children will be $30. Adult ticket prices on Saturday and Sunday will increase to $20 at the gates after 2 p.m. Ride tickets and all-day ride passes must be purchased separately.

Family Packs and individual all-day ride passes will be available for purchase at a later date.

Chandler man takes over dad’s air-co company

Bodie Bryan has taken over his father’s Precision Air & Plumbing company in Chandler, which was founded in 1995.

Bodie grew up studying under his father, working alongside him since he was 12, the company said in a release.

The company in 2016 started NewACunit.com, which Bryan said enables customers to “easily compare savings, talk to an expert and purchase the unit in just 10 minutes without ever having to pick up the phone or leave the couch.”

Buyers enter their information from their current air conditioning units and homes to compare the efficiency of new models and the differences in price.

From there, they place their order.

“So many consumers have confusion about makes and models, uncertainty about fair pricing, and how to know if an installer is trustworthy, but newACunit. com allows consumers to see everything upfront,” he said.

Units can be installed in three days.

PENTAIR SPECIAL!

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

SCAMMER from page 1

city in October in order to recoup the money it should have been paid. The company argued it was not at fault for the scam and felt Chandler should pay all of its outstanding invoices.

On Thursday, the Chandler City Council unanimously agreed to settle Vincon’s claim by paying the company $100,000.

About 75 percent of the settlement will be paid by the city’s insurance provider, making the city liable for paying a $25,000 deductible.

“Our losses could have been much greater,” said Councilman Terry Roe, “I’m happy this wasn’t worse than what it was.”

Dawn Lang, the city’s management services director, said this is the first time Chandler has fallen victim to this type of scam.

When the city first got the scammer’s

email, Lang said a city employee emailed someone from Vincon to verify it wanted to change where payments were being deposited. But the city did not get an immediate response, Lang said.

As a result, the city has added a protocol requiring staff to now call contractors over the phone to verify any requests like this.

“The whole experience absolutely caused us to reevaluate all of the electronic methods and make sure we add this additional step,” Lang said, “and got changed immediately when we realized what had actually happened.”

The city will now only send physical checks to Vincon through the mail instead of using an automated clearinghouse.

Most of the city’s contractors receive payments electronically, Lang added, because it’s thought to be safe, quick, and convenient.

The city’s information technology de-

13

partment regularly trains employees on how to protect sensitive information and spot suspicious emails.

Lang said she often gets emails from scammers impersonating other city employees and is able to detect them pretty quickly.

The scammer, in this case, presented themselves very legitimately, she said, raising the city’s alarm to be a little more vigilant.

“This is the first time this has ever happened in the city of Chandler and we take it very seriously,” Lang added.

Steve Pass, a Chandler resident, thinks the city is more at fault for the scam and urged the council to reimburse Vincon all $172,000.

“It’s a monumental screw-up,” Pass told the council last week.

Chandler is not the only city in the country to be recently tricked into sending money to online scammers.

Two cities in Florida mistakenly gave away more than $700,000 last year to someone pretending to work for a construction contractor.

Last month, a Colorado town lost more than $1 million in funding intended to pay for a new bridge. Town employees wired the money to an account they thought belonged to the contractor.

The City of Chicago almost lost $1.5 million last year in a phishing scam, but authorities managed to recover the money.

Like in Chandler, these other municipalities had been duped by an email convincingly looking like it was from a contractor.

Data collected by the FBI shows the amount of money lost to email scams has increased by 136 percent. More than $12 billion was lost worldwide between 2013 and 2018.

Charges against EVIT superintendent withdrawn

BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

E

ast Valley Institute of Technology Superintendent Chad Wilson won a major – but possibly temporary – victory after the Arizona Attorney General’s Office agreed to dismiss criminal charges against him.

But the dismissal of theft and misuse of public monies charges against Wilson is without prejudice – leaving open the possibility that they could be pursued by prosecutors at some future time.

Wilson was indicted on the charges stemming from his tenure as Apache Junction Superintendent of Schools. The indictment came down only a month or so after the EVIT Governing Board promoted him to superintendent.

Wilson had served in the job on an interim basis prior to the EVIT board’s ouster of longtime superintendent Sally Downey.

The indictment on the theft charge automatically cost Wilson his state fingerprint clearance card, a requirement of the superintendent’s position at EVIT. But the EVIT board accommodated Wilson, moving him to the position of director of external affairs – which did not require the clearance card – until his

legal problems could be addressed.

Before that move, Wilson had been forced to take vacation time and his future appeared in doubt.

Dana uhn, an assistant principal, was promoted to serve as acting superintendent, although Wilson was still eligible to participate in leadership meetings.

“We applaud the Attorney General’s decision to withdraw these unprecedented charges and reconsider the Auditor General’s flawed investigation. No crime occurred here. The Auditor General proposed a novel theory that would criminalize the state educational budget process,’’ said Mark okanovich of Ballard Spahr, one of Wilson’s defense attorneys.

“They are matters to be handled within a school district, not the criminal justice system,” okanovich added. “Chad looks forward to continuing to work with educators from across the valley to change the lives of the students and communities he serves.’’

In a court filing, the Attorney General’s Office conceded that the defense had raised substantial issues in a motion to remand the case back to the grand jury and that further investigation is required.

“Counsel for the defendant raised issues and possible defenses in it’s motion to remand that require additional inves-

tigation before the matter can proceed to the state grand jury,’’ a prosecutor wrote.

“The parties acknowledge this investigation will likely exceed the 15-day timeframe normally imposed for a remand, so for these reasons, the state requests that the case be dismissed without prejudice to allow this investigation to take place,’’ the prosecutor’s motion stated.

The state Attorney General’s Office used an audit by the Arizona Auditor General to obtain charges of misuse of public monies, alleging that Wilson arranged for $133,223 in payments not authorized by the Apache Junction Governing Board to administrators from 2012 to 2016.

The $126,000 in “performance payments’’ went to 11 to 15 administrators, while another $3,880 was spent on “professional development instruction’’ and $2,550 was spent on paying three administrators to attend athletic events on Friday nights.

Wilson received $480 in unauthorized payments, according to the audit.

In the motion to remand, Wilson’s attorneys argued that prosecutors provided the grand jury with misleading evidence. They wrote that investigator Tina Mann testified that the board needed to approve expenditures in advance.

However, Mann did not mention that

some expenditures could be approved afterwards while others did not require any form of board approval.

The motion said that the state did not provide the grand jury with the Apache Junction policies that Wilson was accused of violating.

“Instead, the state’s presentation relied on a witnesses’ flawed and misleading interpretation of district policy, a mischaracterization of interviews with district employees related to district policy, and a withholding of evidence that suggests Dr. Wilson actually complied with district policy,’’ the defense motion said.

The defense motion also implied that political interference may have played a role in Wilson’s indictment.

It noted that a policy advisor for the state Legislature initially requested that the Auditor General’s Office investigate the case.

The defense motion said the Auditor General’s initial response was that the mere violation of district policies did not necessarily rise to the level of committing a crime. evin oelbel, the district’s director of legal services, said the EVIT board will not consider giving Wilson his superintendent’s job back until he obtains the fingerprint clearance card.

It is unclear how quickly that may occur.

14

CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Just Announced An Evening with Amy Grant | MAR 27

Lucia Micarelli FEB 23

PICK 5 SHOWS & SAVE $6 PER TICKET!

Boz Scaggs: Out of the Blues Tour 2020 | MAY 17

Nellie McKay - Sister Orchid FEB 8

Ladysmith Black Mambazo | FEB 9

Jonny Lang FEB 14

Bernadette Peters MAR 7

Buddy Guy MAR 13

Cherish the Ladies MAR 15

The Tap Pack MAR 21

Meow Meow APR 11

LP & The Vinyl APR 24

La Santa Cecilia MAY 10

Bollywood Boulevard The Folk Legacy Trio MAR 28 MAR 29

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480-782-2680

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15

Chandler native trains for grueling fundraiser

he also was on the wrestling team.

He then went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he also wrestled and graduated.

Now 29, he entered the year-long SEAL selection process but fate prevented him from making it to the end, “There are multiple physical tests throughout the year,” he said, adding he

was injured in some training accidents and medically disqualified.

Eckert was in the Navy for three years and retired in 2017.

“My parents, siblings and nephews all live in Chandler, Mesa and Gilbert,” said Eckert, who now lives in California. “I still stay in close touch with all my friends, multiple teachers and coaches from Hamilton High School as well as Matt Orlando of the Chandler City Council.”

Eckert and his buddies, all three of whom have seen numerous overseas deployments as SEALS, have been training hard for the run.

“We hope to finish in five days,” he said, adding, “Our plan is to push 20 hours a day and rest four hours. We will be pulling all of our supplies in sleds attached to our weights.”

But Eckert is no stranger to long runs, having done two 200-mile races and one 243-mile race.

“I have completed four 100-mile races with my fastest 100-mile time being 23 hours and 40 minutes. All of the team members have participated in Navy SEAL Hell week. The three other team

members have been to Winter Weather Warfare training in Alaska where they trained in extremely cold and miserable conditions.”

Eckert last summer completed his first “ultra-distance swim” – 16 miles took him nine hours – to raise money for another charity, SEALs for Sunshine.

He said training for the Iditarod involves “a lot of leg- strengthening exercises and running a minimum of 60 miles a week.”

“The idea is to train only enough to where we do not injure ourselves before the race,” he added.

Eckert calls the SEAL Future Foundation “an outstanding organization that has personally helped a dear friend of mine and former Navy SEAL diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.”

“The right cause is one worth fighting and struggling for,” he added. “This race will no doubt test our physical and mental fortitude. That is why we are doing it. Who knows? Maybe we will inspire others to test their physical and mental limits.”

To sign up as a donor: sealff.org/ iditarod-trail-invitational/.

“We feel like it’s a little more fair to everyone,” Powell said. “It doesn’t mean everyone has to get their application on day one.”

The waiting list will hold up to 4,000 applicants in an order determined by the lottery. An applicant not picked to be on the waitlist will have to wait until Chandler accepts applications again.

Preferences will be given to households with disabled or elderly residents. An applicant with a preference will receive a voucher before applicants without one.

The city will begin accepting applications again for a two-week period starting Jan. 27 – the first time Chandler’s opened up the voucher system since 2016.

When the city opened up its waitlist four years ago, residents from all over the Valley flocked to Chandler and stood in long lines to fill out an application.

Powell said the city got at least 4,000 applications in 2016, and expects to receive just as many this year, if not more.

“There is certainly a demand for hous-

ing,” she said.

In a recent community assessment done by the city, affordable housing was ranked as the most pressing need of Chandler residents. A city survey of 600 residents discovered about 29 percent of them were living on less than $25,000 a year.

The number of Chandler residents living below the poverty line increased by 78 percent over the last 19 years.

The federal government supplies Chandler with 486 housing vouchers for low-income residents to use to supplement a portion of their rent. Applicants living alone must earn less than $25,500 to be eligible for a voucher.

Other Valley cities receive a significantly higher number of vouchers. Mesa’s public housing authority handles 1,523 vouchers, Glendale has 1,054, Tempe processes 1,052, and Scottsdale disperses 735 vouchers.

Congress amended the Section 8 program in the 1970s to offer more free-

dom for low-income residents to decide where they want to live. Instead of the government building and maintaining public housing, the Section 8 program would shift poorer residents over to the private market, where they ideally have more options.

But recent studies indicate most voucher recipients in Arizona were being segregated to the poorer regions of the Valley.

More than 41 percent of Maricopa County’s vouchers are being used in 15 zip codes that have an average poverty of at least 28 percent, according to a 2017 analysis by the Arizona Republic.

Because landlords are not required to accept a voucher, renters often have limited options on where they can use the subsidy and are relegated to cheaper parts of the Valley.

Powell previously said her department’s has tried to find more landlords in Chandler willing to accept Section 8 vouchers.

ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

K

eith Eckert is hoping his old buddies from his high school days in Chandler and the people who know his family in the city will help him run 350 miles through freezing temperatures.

Actually, Eckert doesn’t need help running the grueling Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska, but rather financial support for the organization he and three active Navy SEALS are doing this for – the SEAL Future Foundation, which helps former SEALS transition to civilian life.

“Initially our focus was on scholarships, job searches, placement and mentoring,” co-founder Jonathan Wilson says on the group’s website. “We were the destination to ensure SEALs a successful personal and professional transition, but we also wanted to help them live a life of purpose and fulfillment within their communities.”

The group has since expanded its mission to provide wellness, mental health and family well-being services.

Eckert grew up in Chandler and graduated in 2009 from Hamilton High, where

Former Chandler native and Hamilton High School grad Kieth Eckert is training for a grueling 350-trek through the frozen Alaskan wilderness to help Navy SEALS transitioning to civilian life.

(Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

Chandler is using lottery for housing vouchers ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

T

he city of Chandler is changing how it determines which families will receive vouchers to pay for affordable housing.

Local applicants seeking Section 8 vouchers handed out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will now be randomly drawn and placed on a waiting list.

In the past, applicants were ranked in chronological order based on when they applied.

The former method resulted in families camping outside city buildings so they could be first to apply, according to Chandler Neighborhood Resources Director Leah Powell.

The new lottery system is meant to “level the playing field” among applicants, she added and revamps the application process to be more accessible to residents.

16

CITY NEWS

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Tracy Lindbergh of Chandler realized her longtime dream last weekend with Arizona's first pinball tournament for women. (Haley Lrenzen/Arizonan Contributor)

Chandler pinball wizards compete in women’s tourney

BY HALEY LORENZEN Arizonan Contributor

A

mong rows of flashing pinball machines and the sounds of the flippers and bumpers reverberating throughout Starfighters Arcade in Mesa, 16 women competed to become the first Arizona women’s pinball champion.

But only one would claim the crown: Sun City resident Lee Ann Scardina, with Chandler resident Tracy Lindbergh taking second place, Terri Boyd in third place, and Chandler resident Mary Lopez in fourth place.

The Arizona Women’s Pinball State Championship, the first specifically for women competitors in Arizona, was organized by a local women’s pinball group, Belles & Chimes.

“We’re both all trying to win and yet so supportive of each other getting better and playing well. It’s pretty exciting.

It’s a pretty wonderful group of women,” said Lindbergh, the Belles & Chimes

Phoenix founder.

Lindbergh, who founded the chapter in 2017, who has been playing pinball for most of her life.

“I was playing as a teenager. I was very drawn to pinball, but in hindsight, I had no clue what I was doing,” she said.

The first Belles & Chimes chapter was founded in Oakland, California, in 2013 and has since grown to 21 chapters worldwide.

Until the Phoenix chapter was founded, Lindbergh said there weren’t a lot of options for playing competitive pinball in the Valley – especially for women.

Lindbergh said when she began dating her husband, they began playing pinball together and were soon looking for competitions to enter.

“When we started dating, he loved pinball,” she recalled. “So, it was just sort of a natural thing we would play pinball.

We would go out, but machines were very hard to find when we were dating.

see PINBALL page 17

CITY NEWS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

PINBALL from page 16

“There were not a lot of places to play in the Valley. There would be like one machine in this bar, and it was broken, and one over there, and it was broken,” she said.

She added, “There was very little pinball here, though, maybe one tournament a month. And so, we started to travel, we would go to Vegas, or we’d go to California for tournaments, just because we wanted to play more.”

Eventually, Lindbergh heard about the Oakland chapter of Belles & Chimes and contacted them to see if they minded if she started one in Phoenix.

Since then, Belles & Chimes Phoenix has grown to almost 60 members who get together each for monthly tournaments. The women not only compete with each other, but they also teach, learn and form new friendships.

“It’s the community, the friendships.

Belles & Chimes is a way for, not that there’s an advantage or disadvantage for being a male in pinball, but I think the relationships we build in a smaller group of just women is different,” said Mesa resident athy Lovato, a Belles & Chimes member who owns Starfighters Arcade.

“The environment itself is just different and it becomes more friendly competition and like family, like sisters, not just competitors,” she added.

Starfighters Arcade is one of the few spots Belles & Chimes meets each month to practice and compete. The arcade itself, located in East Mesa, was founded in 2014 by Lovato and her husband.

Lovato said she was never a huge fan of pinball, as she preferred playing traditional upright arcade games, but said she was encouraged to join Belles & Chimes by her husband.

“When we opened, we had a few pinball machines, and then we had some pinball people coming in saying we can help you fix games, you know, pinball is getting big,” she said.

“I think Tracy started coming in and then I think we just kept buying pinball machines and more people came in, and then Tracy said, I’m going to start a league.’ And I’m like, Oh, cool.’ And my husband said I should play. I’m very competitive. It doesn’t matter what it is, I’ll compete,” Lovato said.

Although interest in competitive pin-

ball is growing, the International Flipper Pinball Association reported in 2016, fewer than 10 percent of competitive pinball players are women.

“When I first started, the first tournament I went to there was one other female,” Lindbergh said, adding: “If I hadn’t been there with my husband as my support system, I would have felt very nervous in a room full of a bunch of guys I don’t know. It’s like an interesting challenge for women which maybe isn’t evident to men, how hard it might be to just walk into a room of guys and try to join the competitive landscape.”

As groups such as Belles & Chimes have continued to grow, the number of women involved in competitive pinball has skyrocketed, with the IFPA reporting a 14 percent increase in female representation. irsten Drozdowski, a Chandler resident and member of Belles & Chimes, said she has been playing pinball as long as she’s “been alive.”

Her favorite part of playing pinball with Belles & Chimes is the learning experience, as she said she isn’t a super competitive person.

“As an adult, I think it’s a little harder to find stuff you’re interested in and take a courageous step to go out and try it. And, you know, it would be my message to everybody is it’s such a low-risk activity to try. I mean, it’s pinball. Come just have fun,” she said.

Michelle Pack, one of the co-founders of Belles & Chimes, also said she enjoys being a part of a group in which not only is there healthy competition, but which also provides a safe learning environment.

“We coach each other. If someone doesn’t know how to do something, we help them. I’ve learned a lot from these women, everybody here is like a family,” she said.

Although this year’s championship, sponsored by Scottsdale law firm Davis Blase Stone & Holder, has come to a close, the women of Belles & Chimes hope to compete in many more championships as the group grows.

“It’s amazing how different and how wonderful it is. It’s very supportive, even while we’re being competitive, it’s like, I want to win, but I’m so happy for you when you win. Like if you beat me, I’m so happy you did that,” Lindbergh said.

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COMMUNITY

Community

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Aprende kids learn to take lead in suicide prevention

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor

W

hen you ask Chandler eighthgraders Bella Rios and Zach Albanese and seventh-grader Rishabh Naimpally about what’s on their peers’ minds, you’re likely to get a disturbing answer.

But when you ask the Aprende Middle School students what they are doing about it, you likely will feel hopeful.

The three students were among nearly 100 yrene middle school students who joined about 5,000 of their peers Jan. 21 at Grand Canyon University for the fourth annual Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life Conference hosted by Grand Canyon University.

Its purpose, as explained by Jennifer Johnson, GCU director of academic alliances, is to empower “younger students to build a positive school community, develop quality relationships among all students and staff, and take action when a classmate

The Aprende Middle School delegation to Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life included, from left, counselor Brook Norris, Rishabh Naimpally, Zach Albanese, Bella Rios and Principal Renee Kory. (Pablo Robles/Arizonan Staff)

needs help.”

“Suicide and bullying are serious issues affecting every community,” she added.

Ask Bella, Zack and Rishabh about pressures their peers are under – and they echo the same ones that high school students

have been telling school boards about.

“It’s like they’re doing too much at one time,” Zach explained. “They’re biting off more than they can chew and they’re like, they’re trying to do more and then when like all of a sudden it becomes too hard.

They don’t know what to do. They become too stressed out. They want to feel like quitting whatever it is they’re trying to do.”

Added Bella: “They’re pushing themselves to the point where they get so stressed out. They push themselves in schoolwork to try to maintain their grades and all - because of that, they start lacking, thinking they aren’t doing what is right for them, thinking they’re not good enough for it and then they get super-stressed out.

That’s usually like a common topic I have witnessed.”

Since July 2017, at least 40 teens and at least one pre-teen in Chandler and neighboring communities have taken their lives.

see STAND page 16

“Homegrown” features only Chandler artists ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

T

he five artists featured in the Vision Gallery’s latest exhibit all have something in common: roots in Chandler.

“Homegrown: Generations” presents the ceramic work of five artists who have lived in Chandler at one point or another and all graduated from Chandler High School. In fact, some were each other’s classmates. athleen Escobedo, who graduated from Chandler High in 1964, is showcasing some of her nature-themed ceramics in the new exhibit. She went to school alongside fellow artist Al Pace, who later became Escobedo’s instructor.

Escobedo had mainly focused on twodimensional art before taking a ceramics class taught by Pace at Chandler-Gilbert

Artist Tom Budzak is one of five Chandler artists whose work is on display at Vision Gallery. (Special to

The Chandler Arizonan)

Community College.

She remembered him encouraging his students to never copy other artists and to find a style distinctly representing their own identity.

“Al taught us to look for our own voice in clay,” Escobedo said. “And all of our work is markedly different.”

Pace also ran Chandler High’s art department for several years where he taught the exhibits three other artists: Clay Martinez, Darrell Thomas Menlove, and Tom Budzak.

Budzak is a notable member of the Valley’s art scene, having contributed ceramic art for other shows in Mesa, Chandler, Tempe and Phoenix.

His ceramic portfolio ranges from porcelain vases and to Batman-themed coffee mugs.

The Vision Gallery regularly hosts artwork made by Chandler residents, but it’s not often a whole exhibit is represented by creators with connections to the city.

Peter Bugg, the Vision Gallery’s coordinator, said he wanted the “Homegrown” exhibit to highlight the diverse talent originating out of Chandler.

“We want this exhibition to show citizens and visitors there are artists who live here, work here, and are from here, and they have a variety of styles, but are still united by their medium of choice,” Bugg said.

The ceramics made by each artist represent different themes, styles and perspectives. Some have elaborate textures and designs, while others present a mish-mash of different colors.

see HOMEGROWN page 17

COMMUNITY

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

19

Chandler Girl Scouts ready to start selling cookies ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

G

irl Scout troops in Chandler are descending on neighborhoods and supermarkets over the four weeks in an effort to sell thousands of cookie boxes.

Among them are Suzanne oung and her Troop No. 1411 of five girls who pre-ordered 2,800 boxes of Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Do-Si-Dos – with a goal of selling twice this amount.

The troop exceeded its goal last year by selling more than 5,000 boxes, oung said, and the girls wish to match the number this year.

The girls will be knocking on doors, standing outside businesses and navigating their own social network to find potential buyers.

“They work very, very hard,” oung said. “They’re not getting any large corporate orders. No one’s buying hundreds of boxes from them.”

It’s a process often met with lots of

Mackenzie MaDan, Catherine Young, Elizabeth Young, Mady Thompson, and Alorah Zarnick of Troop No. 1411 took a trip to San Francisco last year with the help of money from selling cookies. They hope to raise enough money during this year’s cookie season to visit Georgia.

(Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

rejection. But oung said her scouts are trained to be persistent and not let one turndown interfere with their business goals.

“This is such great training for them,” oung said. “It’s more than just buying a box of cookies,” Thin Mints have traditionally been the troop’s most popular cookie, but the scouts are hoping the addition of new flavor this year may boost the interest of Chandler residents. LemonUps, a crispy, shortbread cookie with inspirational messages baked on its surface, has replaced Savannah Smiles on the cookie menu.

The Chandler troop is part of the Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, which collectively sold 2.8 million boxes of cookies last year.

The council of 10,000 scout members aims to sell three million boxes in 2020.

Each troop in Arizona manages their own money and decides how to spend its profits from selling cookies.

“Not only is every cookie sale a teachable moment, but because all proceeds stay local, girls are able to enjoy summer camp, robotics programs, field trips and even adventures out of state in a safe environment,” said AZPC CEO Tamara Woodbury in a statement.

The thousands of dollars earned by oung’s troop last year allowed the scouts to take a five-day trip to San Francisco. If the troop meets its goal this year, oung said they will visit the Girl Scout headquarters in Georgia.

Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts in her hometown of Savannah in 1912. More than a hundred years later, the organization has grown to 1.8 million girl members. oung was a scout herself during child-

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COMMUNITY

STAND from page 14

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

In each of the last six years Principal Renee ory helmed at Aprende, there was one suicide involving either a student at her school or Corona del Sol High.

So, it may come as no surprise ory takes a group of 20 students to Speak Up, Stand Up every year since it started.

Her example inspired yrene’s other middle school principals to follow suit so they, too, now take a student delegation to Speak Up, Stand Up. “I would say every year it seems there are more pressures every year, more issues kids are facing,” ory said. “So we’re just continually trying to find ways to reach them and support them.”

Moreover, she and counselor Brook Norris noted, the student delegates to the conference give them more eyes and ears so they can help troubled children far earlier than they might have.

“Of course, they have their teachers and they have Mrs. Norris,” ory explained.

“They have administration and parents.

But their friends are who they look to first.”

It means, she continued, with students like Bella, Zach and Rishab school staffers are “not only having them be those

U R N U F

N

positive influences but also having them be sometimes a voice or help saying, Hey, this needs to go to Ms. Norris or we need to go talk to somebody.’ We need to get you help.’

“It makes all the difference,” ory added.

“We’re building capacity here and in the district.”

And this capacity is needed more now than ever, she and Norris added, particularly in light of how social media has exacerbated bullying and feelings of insecurity among teens and even younger kids.

For Bella and Zach, this was their second conference.

As all the students will again this year, they came back from last year’s day-long retreat and had to develop a project.

The year before they went, the students who attended developed and executed an idea to make and distribute suicide awareness prevention rubber bracelets. Last year, Bella, Zach and the others developed stickers.

Rishabh was so impressed he wanted to join the effort this year.

“Those stickers were huge because everybody was like slapping them on their water bottles,” Rishabh recalled. “And then the girls liked the bracelets. Some had like

21

tons of them on their wrists and arms.”

In turn, the kids who saw the stickers or the bracelets asked about them. And the student leaders like Bella and Zach could then tell them about how to be aware of suicidal tendencies among their classmates and what to do when they sense something is amiss.

The three Aprende students and the others who attended the conference were selected on the basis of the criteria conference leaders suggested.

“They ask to please select students who are positive leaders and are influential because they have to do an outreach project afterward,” ory explained.

“So, they need to be confident enough to speak to their peers and to impact change and have tough conversations with kids because the kids listen to them more than us,” she continued, adding: “So, we picked the ones we know are able to be positive leaders and are comfortable talking to their peers.”

Bella said even before she and her group last year made the stickers, kids were asking her about the conference and what is involved.

Rishabh said he was eager to go because he sees the need.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do because like now in our society, there’s so many people on drugs,” he said, adding: “There are so many young people who are dying from suicide. I just wanted to go to the conference to see the messages so I can help in a bigger way. I needed more information to actually raise awareness to other people.”

All three students are eager to build on some of the ideas they picked up from their peers and from the inspirational speakers who addressed the entire crowd.

“There are some things you don’t really notice,” Zach said. “And I feel like if you know those warning signs, you’d know a lot more of like how you can help somebody.”

Bella recalled how one speaker noted doing even a small thing “may not change your life but may save a life.”

Which is why ory feels the conference and its aftermath are so critical.

“It is building leadership capacity in these amazing young people we take to the conference every year because their outreach is so much greater than ours will ever be,” she said.

“The kids, to them, they are their people and they are more influenced by them at this age than anyone else.”

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COOKIES from page 15

Chandler artist Kathleen Escobedo’s works, including the vase in the top right photo, are among the works featured in the exhibit. (Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

HOMEGROWN from page 14

One of Escobedo’s ceramics almost appears to be in the shape of an egg with the top cracked off; a blue floral design is painted around the ceramic’s exterior.

Escobedo said most of her works have some sort of connection to the natural world.

She’s constantly amazed the beautiful landscape surrounding her and often uses the Arizona desert as a source for artistic inspiration.

Though Escobedo prefers painting watercolors, she appreciates the painstaking labor required to make ceramics.

The medium takes a long time to learn, she said, but can almost become addicting once the artist masters it.

“Once you get hooked on clay, it’s hard to leave. It was so very difficult to do and I do like a challenge.”

“Homegrown” will remain on display at the Vision Gallery, 10 East Chicago Street, until Feb. 14. Admission is free.

hood. But admits she was not as successful at selling cookies as her troop, which includes her daughters Catherine and Elizabeth.

“I never sold as many cookies as my girls do,” the troop leader said.

Serrano’s Mexican Restaurants in Chandler is one of 36 eateries competing in this year s annual Cookie Dessert Challenge. Chefs from each restaurant will create a sweet dish inspired by a Girl Scout cookie flavor and add them to their menu in February.

Girl Scouts has expanded its cookie program to go beyond in-person sales. Girl members can now learn about e-commerce, digital applications, and how to use online marketing to sell their products.

There are so many great entrepreneurial skills being taught through this program, oung said, and is teaching her scouts how to be more confident and self-sufficient. The residents and businesses of Chandler know this cookie program is not really about cookies, oung added, it’s about giving girls realworld experience.

“Everyone in Chandler is so supportive and so generous,” oung said.

On Jan. 25, the Girl Scouts is inviting 100 girl cookie bosses to pitch their business ideas in front of 25 local executives at the organization’s first Cookie Fast Pitch. If an executive likes an idea, they will buy $500 worth of cookies from the scout. The event will be from 8:45 to 11 a.m. at Tempe’s University of Advancing Technology.

The Cactus-Pine Girl Scouts’ sales help local Girl Scouts’ Take Action projects for the community and fund girl-led adventures.

The council also uses some proceeds to provide a variety of programs ranging from STEM to life skills, cover the costs of the cookie program itself and maintain the four camps in the state while providing scholarships for needy Scouts to attend them.

The cookies also play into another fundraising effort.

More than 30 restaurants in the Valley have joined the seventh annual “Desert Challenge,” in which chefs concoct a dessert from one or more cookies. Patrons can see participating restaurants and vote for their favorite at girlscoutsaz. org dessert-challenge.

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Film fest shines

4

The Chandler International Film Festival brought glamor to the city throughout last weekend.

At the Jan. 17 opening night festivities were, all from left: 1) Lee Chambers, Bryan Sacca, Jessica Bastin and Bernard Johnsen; 2) Producer Bryan Sacca; Film Fest President Mitesh Patel; 4) Chuck Franciscus and Darieth Chisholm; 5) Sarah Busic and Jimmy Marino; 6) Leonardo Martinez and Amber Ford; and 7) Mackenzie Clark, Dejah Bradley and Joseph Milton.

All photographs by Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

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BUSINESS

Business

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

EV Housing stock gets gloomier by the day

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor

T

he year started bad for homebuyers in the East Valley and it didn’t take long to get worse.

So said the Cromford Report, which closely analyzes the Valley’s housing market.

It reported three weeks ago while Maricopa County is welcoming new residents by the thousands, active listings of homes are down by 30 percent from where they were when 2019 began.

Two weeks later, Cromford had even more distressing news for buyers looking in the East Valley, saying that while the Valley barely held onto the pattern of having more homes listed by Jan. 15 than there were on Jan. 1 of any year, “significant segments of the market have broken the rules and reported lower active counts on Jan. 15 than on Jan. 1.”

It specifically cited every community in the East Valley, as well as Maricopa – which 10 years ago had trouble giving away homes, wracked as it was by the Great Recession. Last week Cromford put said that situation had not changed.

Overall, the fact that listings were higher by mid-January than they were when the year began Valley-wide wasn’t all that much to cheer about either, according to Cromford’s data.

Inventory this month rose a paltry .8 percent between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15 – a far cry from the 7.2 percent increase in available homes for the same time period in Jan. 2019.

“Not only are they not getting a flood, new listings are well below what we would normally expect,” Cromford said.

“After two full weeks, we have seen fewer than 4,000 new listings across all areas & types – down 15 percent from last year at this time.

“This is an unexpected turn for the worse for supply and if it keeps up, we are going to see unusually weak supply during the key buying season that kicks off in February. The competition for the listings that do exist will be intense.”

Even scarier for homebuyers in 2020 is rising price.

For the first time in Maricopa County, Cromford reported, one community registered a shocking statistic: The average price of single-family active listings in Cave Creek exceeded $1 million.

While homes on the perimeter of the metro area, such as Florence, are seeing square-foot price increases of 10 percent, others closer to the center are seeing prices rise by 8 percent.

“Most of the larger cities are around 6 percent at present but heading higher,” Cromford reported.

The imbalance between supply and demand is driving prices, but so too is

the rapid increase in people moving to Maricopa County, particularly from other states and especially from California.

“The lack of supply can only be described as shocking,” the Cromford Report said of the overall situation confronting buyers in the county, noting the 30 percent decline puts inventory at the lowest level since Aug. 2005.

“Anyone who thinks this severe shortage will not result in a significant rise in prices is going to have another thought coming pretty soon,” it added, noting: “The median sales price is already up 11 percent over the last 12 months and the average price per square foot is up almost 9 percent and probably heading for a double-figure appreciation rate.

Stating analysists “are clutching at straws here to find something indicating a little cooling in the market,” the website

has donated well over $200,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions to the East Valley chapter of Assistance League.

Those contributions include renovating the building for the organization’s upscale thrift shop at 2326 N. Alma School Road in Chandler.

The store helps fund the Assistance League’s programs in the East Valley.

The East Valley chapter Chandler real estate mogul Michael Pollack has donated more than $200,000 over the year to the Assistance League East Valley. (File photo)ç is among 120 chapters nationwide.

He and his affiliated entities are one “Assistance League East of Arizona’s largest privately-held shop- Valley is a tremendous organization and ping center owners and operators. has helped and continues to help thouOver the years, the real estate mogul sands of hard-working families and chil-

dren right here in the East Valley,” said Pollack.

“I encourage everyone to donate and lend a hand to this organization so they can continue helping Valley families who desperately need our assistance and care,” he added.

The all-volunteer group provides new school clothing for more than 10,000 children each year, as well as 12 college scholarships and over 5,000 clothing and hygiene kits for victims of assault or crisis.

The organization also has expanded its efforts to help homeless teenagers who are on their own, without support from parents or guardians.

“The incredible success of our thrift shop, and much of our community endeavors, would not have been possible

see INVENTORY page 21

Pollack puts his name and money toward fundraiser ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

C

handler real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Pollack is again helping the Assistance League East Valley.

Pollack is the title sponsor of the nonprofit’s Mardi Gras Casino Night and is donating $10,000.

The Assistance League’s mission is to “improve the quality of life of children and adults while fostering self-esteem.”

The casino night starts at 5 p.m.

Feb. 22 at Oakwood Country Club in Sun Lakes.

Pollack over 46 years has built his business largely around reviving rundown shopping centers and their surrounding neighborhoods across Arizona, Nevada and California with more than 11 million square feet of real estate projects.

see POLLACK page 21

BUSINESS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

INVENTORY from page 20

reported demand remains higher than normal.

“The big hope for buyers must be for a surge in new listings arriving over the next 12 weeks,” it said. “Perhaps sellers will be tempted by the higher pricing they can achieve. However, if they are staying around Phoenix, they will have to pay more for their new home too.

“Phoenix is currently the strongest large-city housing market in the USA and this is fueled by inter-state population movements. Retirees are a big part of this, but so are people moving here from California and other Western states for work and the lower cost of living. Demand is likely to remain healthy despite the rising prices.”

Buyers who are prepared to spend more

POLLACK from page 20

without the continued support of Michael Pollack,” said Janifer Gorney, president of Assistance League of East Valley.

“As our landlord for many years, he helped us find a bigger and better space for our shop in 2016, reducing the rent-

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES AND SUDOKU

than they want on a house have to pray for a change “in the meager supply of homes” within the next three months, Cromford said.

But it dampened hope by reporting last week, “Unfortunately, early indications are exactly the opposite, with the weakest start to the year we have recorded since 2005.”

The market’s condition also has impacted iBuyers, whose purchases of homes last month fell 13 percent from Dec. 2018, it added.

While Opendoor and OfferPad prefer homes under $250,000, “these properties are an endangered species in Phoenix.”

That’s because they’re competing “for a rapidly diminishing pool of homes with additional competition from buy-to-rent investors,” Cromford observed.

While many iBuyers’s sales have gone al rate, supervising and contributing toward its renovation, providing contractors’ names and support, donating jewelry counters and storage, even participating in the painting day,” she added.

“Michael paved the way for our Assistance League chapter to realize our

up by more than half over December 2018, it added, their sales “cannot continue to grow indefinitely if purchases are declining.”

“The biggest problem facing buyers is the shortage of homes for sale,” it said.

“The problem gets worse the lower the price range, but exists at all price levels up to $1 million.”

While conceding “it is a little too early to be drawing firm conclusions,” Cromford said initial signs in the market “suggest the supply problem will intensify rather than get resolved.”

It noted when calendars flipped to a new decade, numerous East Valley ZIP codes showed alarmingly low listings – including Gilbert 85296, with 20; Mesa 85208, 19; and Chandler 85224 and 85225, both around 25 homes each.

“If you are house-hunting in these areas dream of a beautiful shop that better serves the community.”

The Casino Night will feature casinostyle gaming, music, live and silent auctions and a sumptuous buffet. A $75 registration fee includes dinner, game chips, free drink and entertainment.

25

you will find very few homes to choose from,” Cromford said, noting listings in those ZIP codes typically exceed 120.

On the other hand, anxious buyers might find better conditions elsewhere in the Valley – if they’re prepared for long commutes.

Places like Carefree, far North Scottsdale, Wickenburg and Paradise Valley all have more listings, but they “tend to fall into one of two camps – very expensive or very remote from the center of the Valley,” it said.

“The only exception is 85034 which is an inexpensive ZIP code close to Sky Harbor, but overwhelmingly dominated by commercial property and with very few residences,” Cromford added, identifying Casa Grande, Florence and Queen Creek as areas “where supply is not as big a constraint.”

Professional dealers provide blackjack, roulette and craps tables.

Auction items include trips and events, including premium tickets to an Eagles concert at Talking Stick Arena.

Reservations can be made at assistanceleagueeastvalley.org or at the thrift shop.

from Page 33

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OPINION

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Opinion

27

Prescott HOA board’s heartlessness all too common

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Columnist

T

he story of a Prescott homeowners association demanding the eviction of an orphaned 15-year-old boy who moved in with his grandparents reaffirms one of my most deeply held convictions.

There are two kinds of people in the world: Nice, normal people and the members of HOA boards.

The sad tale of Colin Clabaugh begins in California, in Riverside. Last year, when Colin was 14, the boy suffered an awful double whammy: First, his mother succumbed to organ failure, a complication from ongoing health problems. Two weeks later, Colin’s grief-stricken father committed suicide.

It was around Christmas 2018 that Colin

moved to Prescott to live with his paternal grandparents, Melodie and Randy Passmore.

The Passmores have lived for the past four years in the Gardens & Courtyards at Willow Creek, a 55-and-over community.

May of last year was when the fighting and the letters from the HOA’s lawyer began to fly.

The community’s bylaws permit residents 19 and older. The Passmores have asked that Colin be allowed a special exception until then.

As Melodie put it in a Facebook post a few days ago: “This isn’t a little whiney kid running up and down the street screaming and causing trouble.

This is a young man who helps his neighbors and is rarely seen outside of going to and from school. They allow 19-year-olds, so allowing him under special circumstances for a couple more years isn’t the end of the world.”

The HOA’s response? “(T)he Board will not extend its June 30, 2020

deadline at this time and expects the Passmores to be in compliance with the Association’s age restrictions by the deadline,” the HOA’s lawyer, Jason Miller, wrote. “If the Passmores would like to propose other options, the Board would be happy to consider those options. The Board is also willing to meet with the Passmores in person if necessary.”

Gosh, how magnanimous.

I don’t normally wish total septic failure on an entire community, but I’m willing to make an exception for these people. I mean, since they’re completely full of septic waste to begin with.

First off, the law that allows certain communities to create an age limit for residents typically mandates 80 percent of the community’s homes be occupied by residents above that age limit.

That leaves a buffer zone to accommodate special situations. And if this isn’t a special situation, I don’t know what it is.

Second, there’s not a law made by man that

shouldn’t be ignored under certain circumstances.

Most of us understand and embrace that principle – those who do not appear to run for HOA boards in overwhelming numbers.

I’ve met HOA “leaders” obsessed with the timing of recycling bin retrieval, the height of Bermuda grass lawns and the exact shade of beige used to paint over stucco walls.

Now the latest “issue” is a 15-year-old without parents who put up holiday lights for one neighbor and planted flowers for another. The lawyer for the Gardens & Courtyards at Willow Creek writes that some residents “may take action to see that the age restrictions are enforced.”

Allow me to suggest an action these smallhearted residents can take tonight before bedtime: Look in the mirror and ask yourself if this is really the type of human being you are, a person who values rules over compassion for a struggling teenage boy?

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SPORTS

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Sports

ocal flag foot all tea s co pete in lorida at nationals

BY ZACH ALVIRA Arizonan Sports Editor

E

ast Valley youth flag football teams traveled across the country to Florida this week to play in several national championship games.

The Elite, a team made up of 11 and 12-year-olds from Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert, are one of three teams from the area that departed for Orlando to take part in the NFL Flag National Championships. Tournament play began Friday, Jan. 24 and ran to Saturday, Jan. 25.

The Elite competed in the 12U tournament with a chance to play for the national title during halftime of the Pro Bowl Sunday.

“We’ve been trying to accomplish this for two years now,” said Elite coach Joey Gonzales. “Most of my team has been together for almost three years. It’s just amazing for me, the boys and their families to have this opportunity.”

ELITE PLAYERS

THE UNIT PLAYERS

Andre Gonzales Case Larsen Gavin Priest Michael Alvarado Gavin Kelly LJ Guzman Elijah Beamon Drace Wadlington Bode Wagner Taveon Sueing

Torrin Hill Titus Hill Blake Wells Zerek Sidney Tysen Aaron Kadin Johnson Quvohn Lewis Dra’zen Smith

The Elite’s run to the national championship tournament stemmed from its fall season in the Playmakers Gilbert League, one of the premier leagues in Arizona. After the regular season, the Elite took part in two of eight regional tournaments put on by the NFL. The team first competed in Las Vegas, Nev., where they fell to in the championship game. The team’s next regional test took place in Boston, where the Elite punched their ticket to the nationals.

“We strategically played in the two

Left: The NFL Flag National Championship was the second national tournament the Chandler Raiders played in during a two-week span. The Raiders competed in the National Flag Football Championships in Tampa, Fla. from Jan. 17-20. (Photo courtesy Harley Ely) Middle: The Unit, comprised of players from Chandler and across the Valley, qualified in Las Vegas to compete in the NFL Flag National Championship in Orlando, Fla. at the Pro Bowl this past weekend. (Photo courtesy Thomas Hill) Right: The Elite is one of four teams from Arizona competing in the NFL Flag National Championship in Orlando, Fla. at the Pro Bowl this past weekend. (Photo courtesy Joey Gonzales)

other tournaments,” Gonzales said. “We flew into Boston, went to bed and woke up the next day and won. We kind of wanted to try and bypass the Arizona regional because it is such a big market for flag football and is known as one of the most competitive states out there.”

The Elite were joined in Orlando by CHANDLER RAIDERS PLAYERS

Trey Knox Dash Blake Chase Dickson Mikey Vasquez Hayden Moon Bennett Juve Kamari Stanbury Jayden Meadows Caleb Ely Christian Walker Tucson Turf, the Chandler Raiders and The Unit, a team made up of players from across the Valley, several of which from Chandler. The Unit competed in the 10U bracket, while the Raiders had teams in the 11U and 12U tournament.

All teams compete against one another in the Playmakers league every season.

“These tournaments definitely showcase the talent level on the main stage,” Raiders coach Harley Ely said. “Just in our 8-team pool play there are three teams from Arizona. There are even

more teams that could have traveled and taken more spots. It’s a testament to not only the talent but what we are doing in Arizona.”

The NFL Flag games marked the second-straight national tournament the Raiders competed in during a span of two weeks.

From Jan. 17-20, the Raiders competed in the National Flag Football Championships in Tampa, Florida.

Ace’s 9 and 10U teams from Gilbert, the 9U Cave Creek Elite, the 8U AZ Ballhawks and the 10U Team Impact – both from Phoenix – also competed.

The 12U Raiders fell to the eventual champion in the quarterfinals. The 11U Raiders placed second overall as they fell just short of tying the game to send it to overtime.

“They battled back and got close,” Ely said. “We got to see two of the eight teams we will see at the Pro Bowl tournament while we were in Tampa.

The 12U team will play one of the teams that beat us, which after watching the film, we realized the mistakes they made. I think they’re hungry and want a little redemption for how they played in Tampa.”

The Raiders and The Unit qualified for the NFL tournament after winning the Las Vegas regional.

“I would sit and look at Instagram posts from previous pro bowls and I always thought how great of an experience it would be for our kids and families to experience this,” said Unit Coach Thomas Hill. “We showed our kids and their eyes lit up. They wanted to get to this point and everyone bought in. Now they’re enjoying the experience of being here.”

Hill brought his Unit team together a year ago. Previously, Hill ran a team called G-Unit, which was based near Anthem. But after taking his team to several tournaments featuring top teams from around the country, he realized it would take a collective effort from some of the best players in the state to compete at a national level.

He got in contact with several parents and “I told them I wanted to put together a group of kids to play a high level of football and go win a national championship. As dads, we put our walls down and decided to partner together versus trying to do it against each other.”

“For us to be able to have so many teams out there speak volume to the talent level, the commitment and the coaching.

“It means a lot to have that AZ’ on our backs and a Cardinal on our chest. Our goal is to bring back a national championship and make the state proud.”

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Chandler artists shine in Scottsdale exhibit DAVID M. BROWN GetOut Contributor

T

wo Chandler women are exploring the power of love through their fiber artworks at a new exhibition in Scottsdale.

Shachi Kale and Laurie Fagen are joining three East Valley artists at “Huggernaut, Fiber Arts of Love,” Jan. 13 through March 31, at the Civic Center Public Gallery in the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd.

A free opening reception is 6:30–8 p.m., Jan. 17, at the library. And, two workshops will take place 4-7 p.m. Feb. 6 and 3-6 p.m.

March 25 in its Copper Gallery.

A “huggernaut” is a force, an object or a person embracing all things because of love, such as the Buddha, explained Kale,

Chandler artist Shachi Kale, whose work is featured at Copper Gallery in Scottsdale, has been drawing since she was a child in India. (Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

Laurie Fagen writes crime fiction, sings, produces plays and musicals and makes jewelry and artistic quilts. (Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

who is also a graphic designer.

Earlier this year, she had a one-woman show at the Appaloosa Library in Scottsdale, exploring her emigration from native Mumbai, India, to the United States after marriage, and its attendant loneliness, despair, loss of self and, ultimately, reaffirmation and hope –– emotions also depicted in the new exhibition.

“It’s an exhibition of the many styles of fiber arts. The artists present personal artworks communicating the power of love and celebrating faith in humanity in the face of so much heartache, pain and fear in the world,” said Wendy Raisanen, curator of collections and exhibitions for the sponsor, Scottsdale Public Art The artworks incorporate wool, cotton,

see FIBER page 

Black Violin to appear at Chandler center

ALAN SCULLEY GetOut Contributor

A

ny music act with a unique sound – such as Black Violin’s fusion of classical music and hip-hop – is bound to sound familiar from album to album.

But violinist Kev Marcus has no problem seeing a difference between “Take the Stairs,” and especially the previous two albums he has made as one half of the duo, Black Violin.

In fact, he can sum it up stressing one word. “This is the most authentic album we’ve ever done,” he said.

Audiences will get a chance to see what he’s talking about when Black Violin appears Jan. 31, at the Chandler Center for the Arts.

“The album is who we are,” Marcus said. “That was the best part of it. It didn’t feel like we had to try to conform

Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste will be bringing their distinct sound of violins and keyboards to the Chandler Center for the Arts at the end of the month. (Special to The Chandler Arizonan)

or act like anything else and we were still able to make an album we feel very,

very proud about without necessarily compromising our ideas in any way – all

without being preachy.”

Marcus will allow the first Black Violin album was also authentic. But he sees several reasons why he and his partner in Black Violin, viola/keyboardist/ singer Wil Baptiste, were able to achieve start-to-finish authenticity on “Take the Stairs.”

“Our very first album was our life’s work,” he said.

“It’s everything up until the point where we were 23 years old and we put it out. But since then, this is the most authentic album and I think it’s because honestly, we had a long time to do it.”

After the previous album, “Stereotypes” came out in 2015, he added, “we were looking for producers, looking for different situations since we had to fight to get out of our deal with Universal. We had so many other things that were happening at that time.

see VIOLIN page 

GET OUT

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

VIOLIN from page  “Then last year, we got together with (producer) Phil (Beaudreau) in like September, and the album was done in like October last year. Since then, we’ve just sat on it and been able to fix this note, change this snare, fix this word. I mean, I’m more at peace with every note on this project than I’ve ever been on anything we’ve ever done.”

So, I think that’s some of it, just the authenticity of it,” Marcus added. “Everything that’s on the album, every note and every word, we both loved it and wanted it. Because of that, there’s this authenticity, there’s this real rawness, this genuineness about it.”

Beyond authenticity, Marcus sees musical growth in “Take the Stairs.”

And while the fusion of classical and hip-hop remains very much at the core of the duo’s sound, he refers to “Serenade” to explain what was different.

Drawn from classical composer Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade For Strings,” the song essentially turns the group’s usual approach to mixing hip-hop and classical on its head.

“Normally in pop or hip-hop, when

you sample a classical song, normally it would be like you open up Pro Tools or whatever you use to create music, and you’ll start a click (track), with the click being like 120 (beats per minute), and you take that classical piece and you match it to the click,” Marcus said.

“That’s how we’ve always done it.

That’s how everyone seems to do it when they want a sample or they want to use classical elements (and bring them) into a pop world. ‘Serenade’ we did it differently. We took London (Symphony Orchestra’s) interpretation of it and then we mapped out a beat to that, as if a conductor is conducting with a beat in the orchestra.”

“To me, that’s almost like a breakthrough song for us,” he said. “We found a new way to create and to blend classical and hip-hop that we had not done before, and for us, that’s a big deal.

While “Rise,” “Serenade” and “Elgar Nimrod” are decidedly classical, most of the other songs more equally blend hiphop and classical instrumentation and melody.

For instance, “One Step” starts out with a sonic blast that’s almost industrial before layering in hip-hop beats and an

R&B-leaning vocal melody. “Lost in the Garden” has a bit of Marvin Gaye in its soulful sound, while “Spaz,” “Showoff” and “Dreamer” are good examples of the melding of hip-hop and classical.

This musical hybrid is something Marcus and Baptiste first began forming in high school, when one day Marcus had an idea for how to incorporate violin into the Busta Rhymes song “Gimme Some More.”

That musical idea, however, was put on hold when, in 2004, after winning the “Showtime at the Apollo” talent competition, Marcus and Baptiste were introduced to the manager of Alicia Keys, and were then hired to join her band for a performance during the 2004 Billboard Music Awards.

This led to opportunities to tour, not only with Keys, but Jay-Z, Kanye West and Linkin Park, among the notable acts.

But the duo never lost sight of the idea of creating their own music, and eventually, they decided to stop taking touring gigs and pursue Black Violin in earnest.

With “Take the Stairs” out, Marcus and Baptiste returned to the road, bringing along drummer Nat Stokes and turntablist extraordinaire DJ SPS—both long-

time touring members—to create a unique live experience.

“It’s more dynamic than the show has ever been because of the new album,” Marcus said of the new show. “The first and last songs on (“Take the Stairs”) are the first and last songs of the show. So, it’s like we really frame the show around ‘Take the Stairs.’

“We wanted to kind of use the character of the album and start and end the show with the two kind of like classic kind of palate cleansers,” he said. “Of course, we tell kids to dream, tell people to dream, the impossible is possible, just run through walls for whatever you’re passionate about.”

If you go

What: Black Violin Where: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Avenue, Chandler When: 7:30 p.m. Jan 31. Kids program for $2 at 10 a.m. Jan. 31 Tickets: $36-$56. A special program for kids is 10 a.m. Friday Info: Info: 480-782-2680, chandlercenter.org,

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ART OF CHOCOLATE A’FAIR January 31 - February 2 • Gilbert Civic Center

Artisan Chocolates, Confections, Music and Gift Market

FOUNTAIN O’ GREEN

March 13 -15 • Fountain Hills Plaza Celebrate with Arts, Crafts, Food, Music and Gift Market!

Wrap Arizona Photography with Experience Fountain Hills

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32

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FIBER from page  nylon, sheepskin, corn husks and leather through quilting, weaving, felting and other sculptural techniques, she explained.

“I feel, more and more, how important it is to remember we all must love one another more to launch ourselves away from the divisiveness occurring in the world, like an astronaut escaping earth’s gravity,” she said, adding: “It’s interesting to me how varied the artists’ responses to the subject are. Each artist bears witness to the role love plays in their lives, from bittersweet to joyful.”

The artists’ creations derive from life experiences, some intensely painful.

Fagen’s “Life After Death,” is inspired by the death from cancer of her husband, Geoff Hancock, after 27 years of marriage. The 48-by-23-inch quilt comprises hand-dyed cotton fabrics, thread, beads, yarn, with commercial and artistmade polymer charms. “‘Life After Death’ shows the initial stage of grief, anger, pain and tears after my husband died, with irregular sides, slashes in the fabric and red yarn symbolizing the fury I felt with the unfairness of this horrid disease,” said Fagen,

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

a native of Earlham, Iowa, and an ASU alumna who moved to Chandler in 1999 from Ahwatukee.

“It progresses to more calming colors to represent the days when I could finally embrace the memories with smiles instead of so many tears.”

Cancer disrupted the family life, eventually leaving her a widow and her son, Devon Hancock, fatherless.

Yet, during the travail, their love intensified, an emotional process incorporated in the quilt. “Our commitment to each other became deeper, and in the face of so much heartache, pain and fear, love gave me the strength to carry on after my dear Geoffrey’s passing.”

Now she pursues Fagen Designs in Chandler, writes crime fiction mystery novels, sings and has had her second original musical stage production performed at the Herberger Theater Center in Dec. 2019.

“My dear friends and family, including my 95-year-old mom, Lani, who is also a quilter in Chandler, gave me hope and brought laughter back into my life,” Fagen said, adding: Through giving back with my art and music, I have finally found the wisdom needed to move forward and created peace in my life.”

Kale will be showing three pieces: “Memories,” “Excavating Gold” and “Letting Go.” “They attempt to understand how love from our past shapes us and holds us together, how one must dig deep through our own layers and find buried gold and how letting go can be transformative, like a butterfly escaping its cocoon,” she said.

In “Memories,” she combines watercolor, fiber, embroidery and collage, using photographs printed on cloth.

“Memories of my past, people, places, sounds, smells and textures, remind me of who I was, how the love of family shaped me and how the warm embrace of ‘home’ continues to cast a soft glow on the rest of my life,” said Kale.

Kale, who has been drawing since childhood in India, credits her many teachers at Mesa Community College for mentoring her and husband Vikram Thatte for his support.

Chandler residents since Aug. 2001, they have two boys, Shantanu and Ishaan, and their dog is Buzz, after “Buzz Lightyear,” the cartoon character.

“Excavating Gold” also includes watercolor and embroidered collage with printed textiles from India. “Here I am exploring the root of the love that can

embrace everything in its path,” she said.

“We are all made up of layers of experience and life events, stories we tell ourselves or have been told, both about the world and ourselves,” she added.

“The first step to embracing the world with love is to dig deep through those rough and rocky layers and try to reach the glimmer of gold that resides within each of us.”

Embroidery on cloth is the method and material of “Letting Go.” “How can we embrace the world if we are unable to see the beauty and power of transformation that lies within us?” Kale asked, adding: “It’s only in allowing ourselves to acknowledge the beauty both outside and inside can we free our spirit to go out and embrace this world filled with variety and differences.

“Seeing love and its all-powerful embrace expressed by so many artists and their various interpretations will hopefully nudge viewers to think back to all the times they have felt this force of love in their own lives,” she said. “Huggernaut starts from within.”

The workshops are free, but an RSVP is required. This can be done at ScottsdalePublicArt.org/Events, where additional information can be found.

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

33

King Crossword ACROSS 1 4 8 12 13 14 15

17 18 19 20 22 24 25 29 30 31 32 34 35 36 37 40 41 42 46 47 48 49 50 51

Venomous viper Incense Pop Ball-bearing item Beelzebub’s doings From square one Supreme Court Justice Thurgood -Calm before the storm Comedian Rivers Refuge Downright Road’s shoulder Hard to find Almond confection “-- Got a Secret” Left-hand page Ostrich’s cousin Union Valhalla VIP Loathe Loses traction Drive away “Wozzeck” composer Summertime treats -- Thatcher Commandment starter Birthright barterer Historic period Huge amount of 50-Across See 49-Across Tarzan’s creator’s monogram

With JAN D’ATRI GetOut Contributor

Co pound the flavor of your dishes with this esty utter

36 37 38 39 40

Music transition Ceremony Canyon phenomenon Lowly worker Author Stoker

42 43 44 45

Sudoku

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 30 33 34

Encountered “-- was saying ...”

Mess up Bill

$ dispenser Vast expense Storyteller in court Detox center Terrible guy?

“-- Abner” Right angle Sandwich sausage Burden Place to buy 8-Down Piercing tools Slightly Ricelike pasta -- and proper Volcanic spillage Cleopatra’s boat Gaelic Vegan’s no-no Distinguished ancestry In the thick of Sisters Test tube Variety of macaque Gumbo base

D

o you love a great steak? A juicy piece of chicken? Savory seafood?

How about adding a ton of flavor to a baked potato or a slice of grilled French bread?

I’ve got the flavor bomb you need for all of these dishes and so much more.

It’s called compound butter and it just elevates the flavor of so many foods in a very simple way. Compound butter is a real restaurant secret.

It’s used a lot in high-end steak houses and many other establishments, and now you have the recipes to make your own right at home.

Compound butter is simply unsalted butter, extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs and spices mixed together and refrigerated.

For chicken, potatoes and bread 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon sage, chopped 2 tablespoons chives, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh dill 1 tablespoon rosemary 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper

For steak

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt) 2 tablespoons Italian Parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper

For shrimp

PUZZLE ANSWERS on page 25

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh dill 2 tablespoons capers, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper Zest of 1 lemon

You can make one basic all-purpose compound or create several compounds with ingredients that enhance certain foods. For my compounds I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt content, and besides, in my opinion, unsalted butter just tastes better.

Then you will add chopped fresh herbs, some spices and salt and pepper.

I love the idea of compound butters because once you make them, you just roll the butter combination into logs on parchment paper, keep them in your refrigerator and use them any time you want. Flavor bombs, for an explosion of flavor.

Watch my video: jandatri.com/recipe/compound-butters

For potatoes

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh chives (chopped) 1 tablespoon thyme (chopped) 1 tablespoon sage (chopped) 1 tablespoon rosemary (chopped) 1 tablespoon parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, add 2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter. Select the herbs for your compound and chop fine.

Mix until well combined. Spoon mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and shape into a log with your spoon. Roll the log up in the parchment paper and twist the ends to secure the paper.

Refrigerate or freeze to harden. When hardened, unwrapped the compound log from the parchment paper and slice off dollar-size discs and add to your foods.

Roll the compound log back up in the parchment paper and refrigerate. (I roll the logs in the paper, and then place in a zip lock bag to keep it fresh longer.)

Check out my recipes at jandatri.com.

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

The Chandler Arizonan

1620 W. Fountainhead Parkway #219 • Tempe, AZ 85282 480.898.6465 class@timespublications.com

Deadlines

Obituaries Mi ah amesElaine Medina Becerril Beatrice Shaner Passed away anuary 9, 2020.

Passed away on December ames was only 16 years and at13 2019. peacefully in her tended Red Mountain High in sleep. She was born in Mesa Ari ona. ames was tragicMichigan March 9 1928. On ally taken away from us and the May 10 1947 she married circumstances of this case are ames Shaner. In 1980 Becurrently under investigation. atrice and her husband moved to Ari ona. Her famNeedfollowed. help writing an obituary?

Beatrice will be dearly ily soon missed by those who knew her. She is surarticles willtwo help vivedWe by have her husband onethat brother sisters threeguide sons one daughter fourthe grandchildren you through process. five great grand children and nieces and nephews.

Deadline for obituaries is Wednesday Donald Stephen Citron at 5pm for Sunday.

All obituaries be AZ, Donald Citron, 79, ofwill Mesa, passed away on December approved by our staff prior to being21 at Banner Gateway Hospital in Gilactivated. Bebert, aware there be early AZ, aftermay a short struggle witharound pneumonia. deadlines holidays.

He is survived by his four children Becky Hypolite of Sac, CA CallWendy 480-898-6465 Citron ( onathan) of Santa Mon-Fri Zislis of 8:30-5 San Pedro, CA ayson Cru , CA Sandra Citron (Cheri) of Mesa, and his grandchildren, if you haveAZquestions.

Katherine Hypolite, Adrianna Citron, Mei Ling Citron, and Uri ah Citron.

Visit: obituaries.EastValleyTribune.com A small family service will be held per his re uest when his ashes are spread over the Sacramento Delta.

Sign the Guestboo at obituaries.EastValleyTribune.com

H E A D STO N E S OBITUARIES - DEATH NOTICES IN MEMORIAM

We are here to make this difficult time easier for you. Our 24 hour online service is easy to use and will walk you through the steps of placing a paid obituary in the East EVERLASTING MONUMENT Co. Valley Tribune or a free death notice online.

“Memories cut in Stone” Visit: obituaries.EastValleyTribune.com • MONUMENTS • GRANITE & BRONZE • CEMETERY LETTERING • CUSTOM Make yourDESIGNS choice

The Place “To Find” Everything You Need | ChandlerNews.com

Employ ment Employment Employment General General

Employment General TechMileage has openSeeking Young ings for theAfollowing Knowledgeable Female positions in Scottsdale, Caregiver Saturday/ A For area.

Sunday Nights 6pmreSoftware Engineers 6AM.s US Some Training Masters Will Be Provide Onor degree/foreign e uiv Site.degree For Information Bach + 5 yrs exContact 480-816-3553 perience w/ skills in

BE YOUR OWN Creative Innovation BOSS - Hair Stylist AZ) Leader Rental,(Chandler, busy E. Mesa ava/ script/SOAP/CSS/ to dvlp dsgn needed hair salon, work&your Clear Case to colpackaging own hours,products, private staHead of Finance Mandsgn/dev/implement/test laborate with internal & tion with sinks! Call or account receivables. age apps/systems.

Sr. Procustomers reexternal Te t 720-237-4610 for manResponsible grammer Analyst re s garding product re mts assets, contractuaging US Bachelors/e uiv (3 &Now dsgnhiring concepts & preanitors al statutory & orliabilities, 4 yr degree) in Comproduct sketches, pare for office cleaning in obligations, leases, tax merce/BusAdm/STEM illustrations, drawings various valley insurance coverage & field to & computer-aided locations. dsgns loan Conanalyagreements. e/resolve/test/refabricate workable & Please apply in perallonfinancial trols port IT related asInterested canmodels. son at ACE Building pects, maintain finanpro ects using skills in didates should 7020 send NreMaintenance records, financial cial EMC/MS/SQL/Excel/ Phoenix sumes 55th to AveHR, Glendale, reports, ensures ava/C. compliPackaging Operations, AZ 85301.

Deance.

EmailBachelor's resume to ca464 E. Chilton LLC, Se solita personal gree + 3 yrs reersin Finance techmileage.co Dpara r . , limpie C h a n dal ede r , OfiAZ in ref Finance Mgt. exp. m with 2020-19 8 5cina 2 2 5en. varias R e f localcode obsite Goodyear, for Software EngAZ. CIL19 in response. idades del valle.

APPLY Send ReTO 2020-20 for Sr. Prog Favor de aplicar en sAnalyst u m e t& o refF O N Dad. OEVT persona a ACE BuildMONTE AZ, 250 N. Clairvoyant has opening Maintenance 7020 Now hiringRd., anitors 101 Litchfield ings forAve the Glendale, following N 55th for office cleaning G o o d y e a r , A r i oinn a positions Chandler, AZ in 85301. valley 8 5 3 3various 8 A area. locations.

Software Engineers Please apply in perre s USEmployment Masters General son at ACE Building degree/foreign e uiv or Maintenance 7020 N Bach degree + 5 yrs ex55thAZ) Ave seeks Glendale, WEST Consultants, Inc. (Tempe, Water perience w/ skills in AZ 85301.

Engineer Data Analysis & Visuali aResources 2EE, ava, ML, SQL, Sescripts solita personal develop customi ed and tools to tion toand Unix novel to para limpie a analyses. de Ofihydrologic, hydraulic, & sediment perform analy e/dsgn/dev/implecina en varias localDevelop RiskRAS, in-house tool for risk analyses ment/test systems & apidades del valle. to understand reservoir/riverine (Monte plics. Sr.Carlo), Programmer Favor de aplicar en events hydraulic Analystusing re s US Bach- models. Re s MS in Civil persona ACE Engineering, 4 yrs exp, eligibility for aAZ PE Buildlicense. elors/e uiv (3 or 4 yr ing Maintenance 7020 ob description & application instructions, Complete degree) in N 55th Ave Glendale, see https //www.westconsultants.com/careers/waterCommerce/BusAdm/ST AZ 85301. resources-engineer-data-analysis-visuali ation/ EM field to analy e/resolve/test/report on IT related pro ects using skills in EMC/MS/SQL/Excel/ ava/C. Email your resume to obs clairvoyantsoft.c om with ref 2020-19 for Software Eng SPEND A LITTLE… 2020-20 for Sr. Prog Analyst & ref EVT ad MAKE A LOT!

HEADSTONES

Everlasting 480-969-0788

EVERLASTING MONUMENT Co.

Employment General

Employment General

PayPal, Inc. has the following openings in Scottsdale, AZ

PUBLIC NOTICE OF UPCOMING ACCREDITATION REVIEW VISIT BY THE ACEN

MTS 1, Systems Administrator (Re . 18-7070) Analy e users need & build infrastructure, support & monitor & bring in efficiency for production TIRED OF WORKING IN THE SUN dplymnt. Re s 8 yrs. exp.

The Carrington College wishes to announce it will Seniors oin Our Family host a site visitWelcome for initial- accreditation of its ReHealthy Habitsprogram is a leader supplementCominNursing by in thethe Accreditation gistered dustry with a proud history that(ACEN). spans 40 years. mission for Education in Nursing

SILENT-AIRE Would Like You to oin Us at Our Financial Analyst 2 (Re . 19-1902) Execute corp. audit assignments on a timely basis incl. special investigations. Re s MS(or e uiv.) OR BS(or e uiv.)+5 yrs. exp.

couple familytomembers to the our site customer support You are of invited meet with visit team and team in either a full-time or part-time capacity. share your comments about the program in person at The environment is casual, low stress & friendly. a meeting scheduled from 4pm to 5 pm on WednesGenerally you ll be taking customer orders & anuary 29, 2020, in Room 129 of the campus day, sales callproviding customer support.

No outbound at 1001 Southern Ave,relationships Suite 100, Mesa, located ing is re uired,W. & our customers are Ari ona.in the business because we re fair, honest & the best

ob Fair

SATURDAY, ANUARY 11th FROM 10AM 2PM

Must280 beEast legally authori edGilbert, to work the U.S. Germann Road, AZin85297 without sponsorship. Mail resume w/ ref. (include position) to ATTN Cube 10.3.561, Re . for Offering Competitive PayHR, & Benefits!

PayPal, HQ, 2211 North First Street, San ose, VisitInc. SILENT-AIRE.COM for More Details!

CA 95131. EOE TIBCO Senior Developer SME Ntelicor LLC seeks a Tibco Snr Developer SME in Tempe AZ w/Bach's deg in Comp Sci, Engrg or reltd field & 5 yrs proven exp w/the following architecture, design, develop, administration, performance analysis & tuning. Exp w/TIBCO BusinessEvents 5.x (EventProcessing & decision tables), TIBCO BusinessWorks 5.x, Nevada TIBCO BusinessConnect, TIBCO Robinson Mining Company EMS, TIBCO RV, TIBCO Hawk, TIBCO Administrator, SQL, SVN & TFS re 'd. Exp in complex Event Processing & Middleware Integration based solution design & implementation using TIBCO Suite of products is mandatory. Mstr's deg will sub for the above exp. Excel written & verbal skills re 'd. Send resumes to DR 5720 LB Frwy, Ste 410 Dallas Tx 75240.

EOE copper mine located 7 miles Robinson is an open-pit

JOB FAIR

from Ely, Nevada. Focused on Zero Harm for health, safety and the environment, Robinson Mine hasACCREDbeen the rePUBLIC NOTICE OF UPCOMING ITATION REVIEW VISIT BY THE cipient of awards for environmental efforts and ACEN continues to strive toward Zero Harm for employees.

The Carrington College wishes to announce it will Thursday, January 16, 2020 | 9am - 5pm host a site visit for initial accreditation of its ReHoliday Inn Suites program by&the Accreditation Comgistered Nursing 1600 Country Club Dr, Mesa, AZ 85210 mission forS. Education in Nursing (ACEN).

Entry level starting $23.50 perteam hour.and You are invited to meet wage with the site visit share your comments about the program in person ealt enefits effective n ire dateat a meeting scheduled from 4pm to 5 pm on Wednesanuary 29,Mechanics 2020, in Room 129Operations of the campus day,• Maintenance • Tailings Technician 1001 W.Tech Southern Ave, Suite 100, Mesa, located • RCMatMonitoring • Senior Supervisor Mill Ari• ona.

Truck Drivers • Electricians

Written comments • Process Operationsare also Technician directly to submitted • Senior Mine Engineer

MONUMENTS • GRANITE & BRONZE • CEMETERY LETTERING MISSED THE DEADLINE? • CUSTOM DESIGNS Call 480-898-6465 info@everlastingmonument.phxcoxmail.com

AllZero written should be received by the Harm forcomments our employees, community and environment is our14, highest priority.

ACEN by anuary 2020

“Memories cut in Stone” www.everlastingmonumentco.com info@everlastingmonument.phxcoxmail.com

480-969-0788 Make your choice Everlasting 75 W. Baseline Rd. Ste. A-8, Gilbert, AZ 85233

www.everlastingmonumentco.com Place your ad online!

Based in vibrant Scottsdale, we re looking to add a

friendly.

Written are also welcome andposition, should be If you comments d li e to learn more about this to visit website at submitted directly please www.HealthyHabits.com/ obs/

Dr. Marsal Stoll, Chief Executive Officer Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing 3343 Peachtree Road Northeast, Suite 850 PROMOTERS WANTED Atlanta, GA 30326 AVG. PAY $19.48 $27.33 Or email mstoll acenursing.org Large Home Improvement Company Looking AllFor written beFashion received by the Peoplecomments to Work at should Chandler Center, ACEN by anuary 2020 Superstition Springs14, Mall & Ari ona Mills Locations as well as Home Show Events to Schedule Appointments. Must be able to approach PROMOTERS WANTED people.

AVG. PAY $19.48 - $27.33

GUARANTEED HOURLY PLUS Large Home Improvement Company Looking COMMISSION For People to Work at Chandler (DEMO BONUS PLUS Fashion of sale)Center, Superstition Springs & Ari ona Mills LocPAIDMall TRAINING ations asPART well asTIME Home & Show Events to SchedFULL TIME BENEFITSMust FORbe FULL TIME ule Appointments. able to approach RETIREES & COLLEGE STUDENTS people.

WELCOME GUARANTEED HOURLY PLUS To SetCOMMISSION Up Interview Call, (DEMOTrainer, BONUS PLUS of sale) National Steve Bloechel PAID TRAINING 480-298-3688 PART TIME & FULL TIME BENEFITS FOR FULL TIME RETIREES & COLLEGE STUDENTS WELCOME

To Set Up Interview Call, National Trainer, Steve Bloechel OUR JOB BOARD HAS THE 480-298-3688

TALENT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR. FIND THE BEST TALENT. EASILY POST JOBS.

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Dr. Marsal Executive If unable to attendStoll, the jobChief fair please submit Officer your resume Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and cover letter to: RNMC.Recruiting@us.kghm.com 3343 Peachtree Road Northeast, Suite 850 and indicate the position you are applying for. If you have Atlanta, GA 30326 any questions or would like an application, please contact Or email mstoll acenursing.org Human Resources at (775) 289-7000.

75 W. Baseline Rd. Ste. A-8 Gilbert, AZ 85233

Classifieds: Thursday 11am for Sunday Life Events: Thursday 10am for Sunday

COMPETITIVE PRICING AND newspaper.

EXPOSURE

Your Your More info: community.

480-898-6465 Your planet. or email jobposting@evtrib.com

Most jobs also appear on Indeed.com

J BS.EASTVALLEYTRIBUNE.COM Please recycle me.

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Wanted to Buy

Motorhomes/ RVs 2002 35' Kountry Star

by Newmar 5 Wheel, 3 slideouts, many extras, great condition. W/D. $11,7000.

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Apartments

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Call 480-926-5957 for details

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Cleaning Services

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55+ yearly resort rental. Park model large AZ room. 2 baths, laundry room w/washer and dryer. Available April 1,2020.No children or pets. $1,100.00 mo. Contact Patrick 480-2424317

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THE LINKS ESTATES Why Rent The Lot When

MH 16X56, 2B/2B, 3 Ton Cent A/C, Concrete Drive W/Awning, Landscaped, Steps, W/D Hkups, 18 CF Fridge, Gas Range, Dishwasher Ready, Walk in Shower in a 55+ Resort Community in Apache Junction. Starting at $49,999. Does not include furniture. Call Bill at 480-228-7786

Business/Professional Services

Homes For Rent House for Rent.

Gilbert Area 3br/2ba Newly Remodeled, 602-618-6148

35

YOU CAN OWN THE LAND And Own Your New Home

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$50

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We Also Buy, Sell & Trade Used Appliances Working or Not

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Honey Do List Too Long?

Check out the Handyman Section!

36

CLASSIFIEDS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Concrete & Masonry

Fencing/Gates

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Block Fence * Gates

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Landscape Maintenance

Irrigation Repair Services Inc. Licensed • Bonded • Insured Technician

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CLASSIFIEDS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Remodeling

Pool Service / Repair

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CLASSIFIEDS

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

Public Notices

Homes For Rent

Notice of Public Meeting Town of Gilbert FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan & Annual Action Plan Public Meeting The Town of Gilbert will host a public meeting for Gilbert’s 2020-2025 CDBG/HOME Consolidated Plan and 2020 Annual Action Plan.

The public meeting is available to allow public input on meeting the needs and priorities of the community.

The 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan (CP) and Annual Action Plan (AAP) is required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to receive federal funds under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and HOME Investment Partnership Funds.

Anticipated resources, eligible range of activities, and needs will be outlined to be included in the five year and annual action plan (AAP). Focus areas will be on housing, community development and other programs designed to improve the quality of life for low and moderate income Gilbert Residents.

Public Meeting Thursday, February 5, 2020 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Heritage Center 132 W Bruce Ave Gilbert, Arizona 85233 Persons with disabilities or requesting information in other languages are encouraged to contact Melanie Dykstra at 480-503-6956, AZ Relay 711 or melanie.dykstra@ gilbertaz.gov to request information in an alternate format or language.

To the extent possible, additional reasonable accommodations will be made within the time constraints of the request.

Published: Gilbert Sun News, January 26,2020 / 27xxx

PUBLIC NOTICE The City of Chandler Housing and Redevelopment is re uesting comments on the proposed 2020-2025 Five-Year Plan and 2020 Annual Plan prepared for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The plans are comprehensive guides to the policies, programs, operations, and strategies for meeting local housing needs and goals. The plans are available for review at the Housing Office located at 235 S. Ari ona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on our website chandlera .gov/affordablehousing from an. 27, 2020 to March 12, 2020. A Public Hearing will be held at the Housing and Redevelopment Office on Feb. 12, 2020 at 6 p.m., located at 235 S. Ari ona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225.

Written comments must be addressed to Annual and Five-Year Plans at the address above and must be received by March 12, 2020 at 5 p.m. For more information, please contact Amy acobson at 480-782-3200. Persons with disabilities re uiring assistance or alternative forms can contact the Housing Office at 480-782-3211 or the Ari ona Relay Service at 800-367-8939 or TTY 7-1-1, TTY English 800-367-8939, or Espa ol 800-842-2088, or email chandler.housing chandlera .gov.

AVISO PÚBLICO La División de Vivienda y Redesarrollo de la Ciudad de Chandler está solicitando comentarios sobre el Plan a Cinco Años 2020-2025 y el Plan Anual 2020 propuestos, preparados por el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados Unidos. Los planes son guías completas a las normas, los programas, las operaciones, y las estrategias para satisfacer las necesidades y las metas locales de vivienda. Los planes están disponibles para su revisión en la Oficina de Vivienda ubicada en 235 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225, de lunes a viernes de 8 a.m. a 5 p.m., y en nuestro sitio web chandleraz.gov/affordablehousing del 27 de enero de 2020 al 12 de marzo de 2020. El 12 de febrero de 2020 se llevará a cabo una audiencia pública a las 6 p.m., en la Oficina de Vivienda y Redesarrollo ubicada en 235 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225. Los comentarios por escrito se deben dirigir a “Annual and Five-Year Plans”, enviarse al domicilio mencionado previamente, y deben ser recibidos a más tardar a las 5 p.m. del 12 de marzo de 2020. Para más información, por favor llame a Amy Jacobson al 480-782-3200. Las personas con discapacidades que requieran asistencia o formas alternas se pueden comunicar con la Oficina de Vivienda llamando al 480-782-3211 ó por medio del Servicio de Relevo de Arizona al 1-800367-8939 ó TTY al 7-1-1, TTY en inglés al 1-800-3678939, ó en español al 1-800-842-2088, ó escribiendo una nota electrónica a chandler.housing@chandleraz.gov.

Published: East Valley Tribune, January 26, 2020 / 27824

MISSED THE DEADLINE? Call us to place your ad online!

480-898-6465

39

Public Notices

Public Notices

CARE AND PROTECTION, TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS, SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION, DOCKET NUMBER 19CP0008HO, Trial Court of Massachusetts, Juvenile Court Department, COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Hampden County Juvenile Court, Holyoke Division, 121 Elm St., Holyoke, MA 01040 TO: Jesus Gonzalez or the father of Joilyn Aida Gonzalez born on 11/15/2011 to April Danielle Richard in Northampton, MA: A petition has been presented to this court by DCF Holyoke, seeking as to the following child: Joilyn Gonzalez, that said child be found in need of care and protection and committed to the Department of Children and Families. The court may dispense the rights of the person(s) named herein to receive notice of or to consent to any legal proceeding affecting the adoption, custody, or guardianship or any other disposition of the child named herein, if it finds that the child is in need of care and protection and that the best interests of the child would be served by said disposition.

You are hereby ORDERED to appear in this court, at the court address set forth above, on the following date and time: 02/24/2020 at 9:00 AM Other Hearing.

You may bring an attorney with you. If you have a right to an attorney and if the court determines that you are indigent, the court will appoint an attorney to represent you.

If you fail to appear, the court may proceed on that date and any date thereafter with a trial on the merits of the petition and an adjudication of this matter.

For further information call the Office of the Clerk-Magistrate at 413-322-6700 WITNESS: Hon. Lois M. Eaton, FIRST JUSTICE, DATE ISSUED: 01/14/2020, Donald P. Whitney, ClerkMagistrate Published: East Valley Tribune, Jan, 26, Feb 2, 9, 2020 / 27628

Notice of Categorical Exclusion For the Town of Queen Creek Encanterra Reclaimed Water Exchange Agreement The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA) has received a request for financial assistance from the Town of Queen Creek to purchase/exchange effluent from the Trilogy at Encanterra community for recharge that would enhance the sustainability of water for Queen Creek and provide quality water to the community.

WIFA staff analysis concluded that this project qualifies for a CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION following the requirements of A.A.C. R18-15-106, as amended.

The proposed project will not impact the environment either by itself or in combination with other projects, and the environmental information provided has met statutory intent of the WIFA’s environmental review requirements.

CW-007-2020 – Encanterra Reclaimed Water Exchange Agreement 22350 S. Ellsworth Rd, Queen Creek, AZ 85142-9311 Documentation regarding the proposed project is available for review at WIFA, 100 N. 7th Avenue, Suite 130, Phoenix, Arizona 85007.

WIFA complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Alternative formats for the project documentation are available upon request. Please contact Samantha Lemke, Environmental Program Specialist, (602) 364-1326 for any requests or inquiries.

Published: East Valley Tribune, Jan. 26, 2020 / 27707

Public Notices Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed SkyBridge AZ Business Park at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Pursuant to Title 49, United States Code, Section 47106(c)(1)(A), notice is hereby given that the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA) proposes to seek Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval of the Airport Layout Plan for the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport for the proposed SkyBridge AZ Business Park project. FAA will also approve the proposed taxilane, ramp, and hangar uses. The proposed project is a mixed-use development that includes a joint United States (U.S.)-Mexico Customs inspection facility and air cargo hub and consists of both aeronautical and non-aeronautical land uses. Anticipated businesses include air cargo, aerospace and auto parts, food processing (dry goods and refrigerated products), e-commerce, office/research and development (R&D), retail, and a hotel. A Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action and has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Section 509(b)(5) of the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, as amended. The FAA is the Lead Agency to ensure compliance with NEPA for airport development actions. The Draft EA was prepared in accordance with FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures and FAA Order 5050.4B, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Instructions for Airport Actions. Pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Department of Transportation Act, the Draft EA includes an analysis of prudent or feasible alternatives, potential impacts, and mitigation measures, as appropriate.

Beginning January 27, 2020, a copy of the Draft EA will be available for review at http://www.gatewayairport.com or at the following locations during normal business hours through February 25, 2020: • Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, 5835 S. Sossaman Road, Mesa AZ 95212-0919 • FAA Phoenix Airports District Office, 3800 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1025, Phoenix, AZ 85012 • Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st Street, Mesa, AZ 85201 • Southeast Regional Library, 775 N. Greenfield Road, Gilbert, AZ 85234 • Queen Creek Library, 21802 S. Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Any written comments on the Draft EA should be submitted to the following address: Mr. Carl D’Acosta, Environmental and Safety Coordinator Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority 5835 S. Sossaman Road Mesa, AZ 85212-0919 cdacosta@gatewayairport.com The cutoff date for comment submission is not later than 5:00 PM – Mountain Standard Time, February 25, 2020.

Please allow enough time for mailing. All comments must be received by the deadline, not simply postmarked by that date. Before including your name and telephone number, email, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment - including your personal identifying information - may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask FAA in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, FAA cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

Published: East Valley Tribune, Jan. 26, 2020 / 27756

40

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2020

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