SanTan Sun News 02-12-2023

395 CUSD kids considered suicide since July

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Nearly 400 students in the Chandler Unified School District have considered killing themselves since July.

And those are the ones that district officials know about, admitting students first reach out for help to their peers before they will go to an adult.

Brenda Vargas, CUSD’s director of counseling and social services, disclosed that number during a study session for the Governing Board on Feb. 8.

“I want to bring everyone’s attention to that number, 395,” Vargas said. “From July of this school year till December, our school counselors and social workers completed 395 suicide assessments this year in one semester – that is, students with thoughts of suicide that in some way, shape or form, shared that they wanted to die.

“That’s 395 lives.”

Board President Jason Olive had requested the study session to get an update on what the district has done to address student mental health.

That became a major issue for the district at the end of the 2021-22 school year after three CUSD students took their lives in a 10-day period in May. Another suicide involving a Chandler Unified student occurred at the start of this school year.

Vargas and her staff gave the board a presentation of all the steps they have taken to address the problem. One board member, however, wondered if they have gone too far and tried to do too much.

“It looks like we’re doing diagnoses and treatments on our campuses, essentially providing health care for kids,” member Kurt Rohrs said. “Not disputing there’s a need. OK.

“But I’m starting to wonder if there

are other government agencies that specialize in this type of work. And you may not be satisfied with the way they are performing …, but I’m starting to wonder if we’re really starting to get away from our primary objective, which is educating kids; teaching them to read because nobody else does that.”

Rohrs was reacting to the news that the district intends to open up a Hope Institute on the Perry High School campus to serve its students in the southeastern portion of the district map.

Another Hope Institute is planned for its new Chandler Care Center to serve the northern half of the district.

The Hope Institute is a new model and the first in the nation. The Ohio company was one of three that won a bid to provide mental health services to CUSD students.

As planned, students would be able to see a professional within 48 hours.

Vargas said some patients currently wait between six-to-eight weeks to see a mental health professional. She said at some places you must wait close to 12 weeks.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t share that Phoenix Children’s and other partners are watching closely in order to replicate this model statewide,” Vargas said.

Vargas responded to Rohrs’ question by pointing out that if a student is in crisis, it is going to be impossible to teach them anything until that is addressed.

“We know what’s not in our wheelhouse,” said Dr. Craig Gilbert, the district’s associate superintendent of preK-12 educational services. “We know what we feel we’re not experts in, and so we’re bringing the experts in, so that we can have a comprehensive care plan from intervention to post-vention.

See SCHOOLS on Page 10

Chandler Council addresses how it conducts business

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

During December’s Chandler City Council meeting, there was a moment when the body didn’t know what to do.

Council was in the process of listening to residents who wanted to speak about a proposed proclamation opposing an affordable housing project in South Chandler.

Vice Mayor Terry Roe, who was attending his last full regular meeting as a member of the body, called for the question.

Mayor Kevin Hartke said they still had

six speakers to hear. Councilman Matt Orlando said he couldn’t do that, because there was no motion on the table to extend the comment period. Roe persisted. Hartke looked to City Attorney Kelly Schwab for guidance.

Schwab told Council that she had concerns about hearing from some speakers, but not allowing others to speak. Roe then made a motion to approve the proclamation so that he could then call for the question.

Eventually, the remaining speakers were allowed to address the body and Council voted unanimously in fvor of the

Chandler lawmaker withholds vote on GOP budget move

BY HOWARD FISCHER

Capitol Media Services

A new Chandler lawmaker brought to a screeching halt her Republican colleagues’ plans to enact a “skinny’’ budget and send it to Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Rep. Liz Harris voted “no’’ on one of the main bills to fund the state for the new fiscal year beginning July 1.

All final House actions require 31 affirmative votes. But with the GOP having just 31 members and Democrats refusing to go along, that left the plan short. Harris would not discuss her decision. Neither would House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria.

See HARRIS on Page 5

proclamation. There are laws that dictate some of the ways that Council must do its work. But, they don’t cover everything. Council gets to set its own rules for how it operates, and those rules have not been updated in more than a dozen

years.

Council met in a two-hour work session Feb. 6 to change that.

A four-person subcommittee has been meeting since December to look at the

See COUNCIL on Page 8

Chopstick challenges

Tarwater Elementary’s Dual Language Mandarin Immersion Program hosted its ninth annual celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year Feb. 3 with a public event that drew hundreds of people. To prepare students for global citizenship, Tarwater’s dual language program serves more than 300 students from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade who spend half the school day in the Mandarin classroom and the other half in English. Among the Toros who joined in the fun celebration this month were fourth-graders Victoria Clark and Alexa Schicke, both 10, who tried to use chopsticks to move candy from one bowl to another. For more photos from the event, see page 31 (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

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A more robust Spring Baseball season beckons this year

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

There were times in the past three years when Huss Brewing Company considered getting out of the Spring Training business.

“We did have some hearts-to-hearts about it,” said Chip Mulala, the director of operations for the company, which sells its local craft beers at seven of the 10 Cactus League stadiums.

The past three years have hurt businesses and frustrated baseball fans who like to visit Arizona in March for the nice weather and Spring Training games.

First, the COVID pandemic forced an end to nearly all sports in mid-March 2020, abruptly ending a strong Cactus League season. In 2021, stadiums had to deploy social distancing, limiting capacity to 50%. Plus, they started late and had fewer games.

COVID was not a problem last year, but Major League Baseball’s labor dispute was. The owners locked players out until they reached a new collective bargaining agreement, forcing a late start and fewer Spring Training games.

In 2019, there were 220 Spring Training games played in Arizona, drawing 7,900 fans per game. The number of games dropped to 143 in 2020, hit 208 with the limited capacity in 2021 and bottomed out at 135 last year.

The impact those three years had on the state’s tourism and the industries that support it is still being felt.

“It made something abundantly clear,” said Steve Chucri, the president/CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association. “Spring training is crucial to a lot of restaurants.”

The Cactus League schedule begins on Feb. 24, and for the first time since 2019, a full slate of games awaits with no capacity restrictions.

“In 2023, we are looking forward to a ‘normal’ season,” said Bridget Binsbacher, executive director of the Cactus League. “Combine that with an upswing in tourism and I’m optimistic we will see much higher attendance. Everywhere I go, people tell me how excited they are to get back out to the ballpark.”

There are 15 Major League Baseball teams that train in the Valley, playing their games at 10 stadiums. Five ballparks are home to two teams.

Most of the stadiums are supported by local charity groups, such as the Thunderbirds in Scottsdale and the HoHoKams in Mesa, that raise money and then spread it around to local charities.

The charities’ ability to do that has

been hurt during the past three seasons.

Binsbacher said before 2020, the Cactus League generated $644 million annually for the local economy. In 2020, that dropped to $363.3 million. The league does not have the numbers for the past two years yet.

One Scottsdale based-business, Bella Palazzo Collections, rents out private homes. Owner-operator Margie Van Zee said MLB’s labor issue last year was the hardest on her business.

Many of the people renting some of the 80 homes in her collection are ballplayers.

“We had to have a cancellation clause in our contract so that if MLB continued to obstruct the ballplayers, then they could get out of it,” Van Zee said, adding that it forced her to be more flexible.

Ironically, the pandemic’s onset in 2020 led to an increase in business.

“2020 was the best year we’ve ever had, even during the pandemic,” she said.

“What happened was nobody wanted to go back to their hometown. They were already here for spring training, COVID happened. A lot of them would have to go back to their cold weather climates and areas that were still shut down.

“So, a lot of the ballplayers just said

we’re extending, many of them extended and stayed till the beginning of the year.”

Mulala said Huss Brewing Company decided to stay in the Spring Training business. In fact, they just opened a new location – Papago Brewing Company, close to Sloan Park in Mesa where the Chicago Cubs play.

“We actually have it set up that we’re going to have a shuttle that is going to be taking people to the games on game day for most games that start at one o’clock,” he said.

While the past three years have been difficult, right now is a great time to be in the restaurant business. In addition to Spring Training, the Super Bowl and Waste Management Phoenix Open are also in town.

All those events bring a lot of tourists.

Chucri expects to see between a 20to-25% increase in sales just because of the Super Bowl.

“The restaurant economy, for all of our hopes and desires this February and March, is going to be very, very much needed,” Chucri said. “[We’ll] really get a huge boost when it comes to these these big events coming to the state, especially Spring Training.”

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Chandler Chamber meets with city’s legislative

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Chandler’s representatives at the State Capitol were hopeful Feb. 3 that both legislative chambers will approve an override of a constitutional spending cap that could force school districts to cut about 17% of their current budget in the last two months of the school year. And a week later, both legislative chambers voted – with just weeks to go – to lift the Aggregate Spending Limit.

As of the SanTan Sun News deadline last week, the Senate had yet to take up the measure.

The votes in both the House and Senate were not unanimous and among Republicans who voted against the waiver was Chandler Rep. Liz Harris. All the five other legislators representing Chandler voted to waive the spending cap..

In the Chandler Chamber meeting, one member of the local delegation said she is attempting to end this annual exercise of jeopardizing school budgets across the state with a more permanent fix.

“We don’t want to be in the situation where every year, we have to address the same issue,” said Rep. Jennifer Pawlik, a Democrat from LD 13, which covers South Chandler, Sun Lakes and part of Gilbert.

Pawlik said there are a lot of bills that have been introduced to do away with the AEL altogether, but the face significant hurdles.

So she has introduced two bills that would reform the AEL, updating it for current needs.

The Aggregate Expenditure Limit was adopted as a Constitutional amendment by Arizona voters in 1980 and it sets edu-

cation funding based on a formula.

Had the waiver not been approved, schools would have had to stop spending 17% of money they already have.

In Chandler Unified’s case, that meant an estimated $62.3 million would have been frozen, according to state estimates.

Pawlik said her bills would do several things. First, they would exclude Prop. 301 funds, which are voter-approved bonuses to teachers, from counting against the AEL.

Second, Pawlik proposes adding a weighted student count.

“It doesn’t cost the same amount to educate all children,” Pawlik said. “For some students, especially those with special needs, it’s more expensive to educate them. So we should consider that is a formula.”

She also is proposing is to update the formula.

“Things were much different in classroom,” she said of 1980, when the law was adopted. “I was 8 years old that year. And we had blackboards in the classroom. We didn’t have computers.

“I don’t think my teachers even had a telephone in the classroom. Now many of our classrooms have one-to-one technology. We have these great CTE programs in our high schools. It’s much more expensive to educate students now.”

To fix that, she would change the year they base the formula on to the current year instead of the 1979-’80 school year. Republican Sen. J.D. Mesnard of South Chandler, who chairs the Senate Finance

But nearly a week after the election, Harris posted on Instagram that she would withhold her vote on any bills this session until there is a new election.

“There are clear signs of foul play from machine malfunctions, chain of custody issues and just blatant mathematical impossibilities,’’ she wrote.

For example, Harris noted that Kimberly Yee, the successful Republican contender for state treasurer, got 1,390,135 votes.

Yet GOP gubernatorial contender Kari Lake got just 1,270,774 votes in falling to Democrat Kari Lake. And Blake Masters picked up 1,196,308 votes as he lost to Democrat incumbent Mark Kelly.

“How can a Republican state treasurer receive more votes than a Republican gubernatorial or Senate candidate?’’ she asked.

Tthere is evidence of “ticket splitting’’ by Republicans who voted in November, with some party members apparently deciding they could not support Lake or Masters.

Harris, however, has made up her mind.

“I will be withholding my vote on any bills in this session without this new election in protest to what is clearly a potential fraudulent election,’’ she said in her post.

During a meeting the Chandler Chamber of Commerce held with all six legislators from the two districts covering Chandler, Harris on Feb. 3 said election security is the most important issue for her.

“The last committee I am on, which is most near and dear to me, is municipal oversight and elections,” she said then. “One thing I’m constantly told is, well, Liz, the courts have not rendered any decision that there was something wrong, and until it goes through the court system, I’m sorry, I’m not buying it. So my personal experience over the last two years, all I have done with my life is investigate this. And once you have seen things you can’t unsee them.”

She said that the main problem with the courts is there is no discovery, or the chance to get the evidence needed. The

bill she is sponsoring, she said, would fix that.

“I hope that this can be a nonpartisan issue,” Harris said. “How it currently works is after it gets certified, you have five days to challenge an election. After that five days, you have 10 days to bring all of your evidence forward, but you do not have discovery, the only thing we might consider discovering is you have an opportunity to send typically one person in to look at the ballots.

“What I am proposing in my bill is basically to reverse that, to allow people discovery to allow depositions of up to 10 people. And then when it comes to any ... challenges of the courts for it to go straight to the supreme Arizona Supreme Court. A lot of you are like, ‘you’re this right wing conspiracy theorist.’ …Now that I’ve studied what I’ve studied for two years, this has got to be as big of a priority for me as the budget.”

Fellow Republican Sen. J.D. Mesnard of Chandler did not speak on election integrity.

Republican legislative leaders had no immediate comment about what they intend to do next to try to get the necessary 31 votes for their budget – which is largely symbolic because Hobbs has said she will veto it if it gets to her desk.

The proposed $15.1 billion budget that failed Monday essentially consists

of existing programs, with adjustments for inflation and growth in things like numbers of students and people in the state’s Medicaid program. But other than $200 million set aside in a bid to settle a long-standing lawsuit over school capital funding, there are no additions.

GOP leaders said this is designed to be in place should they be unable to reach a deal with Hobbs before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

She is advancing a $17.1 billion spending plan with new money for public schools

and a tax credit for low-income parents, along with defunding last year’s expansion of a voucher program to allow all students to attend private or parochial schools with taxpayer dollars.

Republicans call the skinny budget a standby plan. They note that if there is no deal – and no standby plan – as of July 1, there is no authority in law for the state to spend money beyond that date to operate even basic services.

Managing Editor Ken Sain contributed to this report.

Housing affordability has many categories in Chandler

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

The neighbors who are opposing the controversial Paseo Crossings and Sonoran Landings affordable housing projects have cited many reasons against building what had formerly been called Ocotillo Landings.

A complex with more than 500 new apartment units likely will generate more traffic than an empty field. There is no doubt that Hamilton High School, the largest in the state, doesn’t have enough space for all of its students to sit inside the cafeteria already, even when broken into three different lunch hours.

So the capacity of the schools is a worry, even if Chandler Unified officials have said they can support more students.

But some opposition reflects a misunderstanding of what affordable housing is, and what it is not, the Landings developer said. About a dozen times at a Jan. 25 neighborhood meeting, they referred to the project as either “Section 8” or “government-subsidized” housing.

The proposed project is neither.

“There has been no Section 8 housing built since the early ‘80s,” said Owen Metz, a senior vice president and project partner in the Mountain West Region for Dominium Apartments, the proposed builder. “Section 8 is something that didn’t go well. Public housing didn’t go well. There’s been a lot of examples of how public housing is done, and how not to do it.”

Metz said Section 8 housing was terminated under President Reagan.

Dominium’s project is also not government-subsidized. Every tenant would pay their own rent without government help.

Dominium is also getting no capital from the federal government to build the project. Metz said the company gets tax credits and that help secure private funding.

Dominium calls the project “workforce housing” while the City of Chandler calls it “affordable housing.”

In an online forum the neighbors have established to organize their opposition, one person wondered why the city needs the Landings when it is committed to building more affordable housing

units.

The city is in the process of adding more public housing units, not affordable ones. There is a difference. Here is a look at the different types of housing available and the status of each in Chandler.

Public housing: The city currently owns just over 300 apartment units that were built in 1972 and are starting to show their age.

“They have very similar infrastructure challenges with plumbing and electric, and especially energy conservation,” said Leah Powell, city neighborhood resources director. “They’re cinderblock walls, they don’t have insulation. So, some of our families, especially in the larger units, are paying very high electricity bills in the summer.”

Because of a U.S. Housing and Urban Development program, the city can now get outside funding to build new public housing. Its first such project, the Villas on McQueen, is expected to open in 2025. Construction is expected to begin early next year near McQueen Road and Chandler Boulevard.

When that project is built, residents at two current public housing sites will move into it. The city then hopes to build new complexes at the site of their former apartments. Powell said officials have not determined how many units they will be adding, but there will be significantly more Public housing: residents pay 30% of their income to live in that unit.

Amy Jacobson, the city’s housing and

redevelopment manager, said they have about 2,800 people on the wait list to get into public housing. She said the average stay in public housing is seven years and serve households below 50% of the area median income (AMI).

Powell disputed commonly held ideas that public housing breeds high crime and requires dedicated police patrols.

“Most people don’t realize they’re public housing,” Powell said of the people who live next to the existing sites. She said the city employs a private investigator to monitor the sites.

And the people who live there are monitored constantly.

“We have a lot of eyes on families there,” Powell said. “And it’s unfortunate that there is that stereotype of families that live in either Section 8 or HCV, or public housing, that there unfortunately is this stereotype out there.”

Housing Choice Vouchers: HCVs, which people in housing often slip and call Section 8, differ from public housing in one main way: Tenants are living in privately-owned buildings. Landlords agree to rent units, often because of incentives, at affordable a reasonable rent for the market area.

Jacobson said the city currently has a wait list of 3,200 for that program, which has a total 495 units. They serve families with at 60% or below of the area median income. Currently 30 families that have qualified for vouchers, but are waiting for landlords willing to rent to them.

Affordable housing: This is the type of housing Dominium is hoping to build in

South Chandler. It is privately owned, privately financed and the rent is controlled so that it is affordable to people who make 60% of the area median income.

In Chandler this year, that income would be $47,000 for a single person. The rent for a one-bedroom apartment would be $1,000 a month.

The city itself owns 11 affordable housing units, Powell said.

In each category, the person seeking housing must qualify based on their income. Even then, there is a long waiting list and for public housing and HCVs you have to hope your name comes up in a lottery to get on the waiting list. The waiting list is currently closed and it only opens up every couple of years.

Community Land Trust: The city also has another type of public housing where it partners with a company, in this case Newtown Community Development Corporation, to build affordable homes for first-time home buyers.

Newtown will sell the home to qualified first-time buyers, but not the land that it sits on. That remains in a trust, lowering the cost of buying the home.

Many of the people who graduated out of public housing end up buying homes through Community Land Trust, Powell said.

Newtown often buys an older home, then renovates it before selling it. All buyers are required to be earning no more than 80% of area median income.

Jacobson said the city has also partnered with a private company to offer rental units to people earning no more than 80% area median income.

No matter what type of housing it is, a few of the neighbors at the Dominium meeting on Jan. 25 at Hamilton High expressed views that they don’t want anyone moving in who is getting help.

“I’m getting pissed off because I’ve worked so many hours to live in this lifestyle,” one resident said.

“And that’s a choice I have as an American. But for you to come in and put this kind of a project, it’s not right to do this. We’ve worked so hard to put our kids in a school like this, and in the private schools around here. It’s not what we want.”

Construction on Chandler’s newest public housing project, Villas on McQueen, is expected to start in early 2024 and people will probably begin moving in at the start of 2025. (City of Chandler)

body’s rules and suggest changes.

“There’s a lot of things that change in 14 years’ time, 12 years’ time in terms of technology,” said City Manager Joshua Wright. “So a lot of these things were also an opportunity to update for more modern times and (update) these policies to reflect the business environment we’re in today.”

The biggest change regulates how Council members use staff resources. The current rules are very vague, Hartke said.

The proposed rules would force Council members to get the approval of a majority of the body before they could use staff for more than four hours for a project.

The most debated issue was the timing for the distribution of meeting agendas.

Councilman Mark Stewart said multiple times that he’s been trying for five years to get the agenda earlier so that each member has time to look at it in detail.

The city posts the agenda for its Monday meetings usually about 5 p.m. Thursdays. Wright, said the agenda is mostly put together on Tuesdays, but may be missing many of the supporting documents that are usually attached.

Council members discussed getting earlier access to that version or moving the deadline up so that it was complete at least a week before the meeting. But they did not reach consensus on the issue and agreed to talk about it more in the future.

A couple of changes would impact the public.

First is addressing the council.

Council members plan to codify their current practice of allowing scheduled speakers to address the body before

CHAMBER

dealing with the consent agenda. Unscheduled public speakers would be allowed to make remarks after the consent agenda is voted on.

The timing of the agenda release could also impact the public, especially citizens who might not be able to have an item meet the earlier deadline.

In other action, members were briefed on the new HUD-VASH program from the U.S. departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs. It’s designed to help get homeless veterans off the street and into safe housing.

It’s a voucher program and the City of Chandler was awarded 10 vouchers. Before the city can assist in finding housing for an unsheltered veteran, it must get approval from the VA. Once approved, the veteran can rent a home from private landlords who sign up for the program with the federal government paying a percentage of the rent.

The only other item on the Feb. 6 agenda that the Council spent time on was the installation of two 1,000-gallon propane tanks at Queen Creek Road and Hamilton Street.

Stewart said he wanted to make sure this would be safe since there are residential neighborhoods close by. Derek Horn, the developmental services director, assured him it would be.

The request was made by Horsepower Automotive Group, which moved into a new facility in Chandler. The company manufactures after-market accessories for trucks and SUVs and said it needs large quantities of propane for burners to cure the powder finish it uses for coatings on its products.

Horn said the tanks are more than 1,000 feet from any home and will be surrounded by a block wall. They will also be surrounded by barriers to guard against any vehicle that heads in their direction.

from Page 5

Committee, expressed optimism the issue would be resolved.

The highly-partisan nature that has become state politics sparked during the Chamber session when LD 12 Democratic Sen. Mitzi Epstein took aim at the “skinny budget” Republicans tried to pass last week.

Mesnard caleld it an attempt to keep

the state government from shutting down if lawmakers and the governor can’t agree on a 2023-24 spending plan by July 1.

South Chandler Republican Rep. Liz Harris said education and water are important, but her passion right now is on election integrity. She said it should be a bipartisan issue.

LD 12 Democratic Reps. Patty Contreras and Stacey Travers both listed education among their priorities.

Chandler senator proposes new curb on voter initiatives

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Republican legislators are moving to throw another roadblock in the path of people to make their own laws, approving legislation by a Chandler senator.

SCR 1015, approved last by the Senate Government Committee and proposed by Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, would modify existing constitutional provisions that allow a new statute to be proposed and voted on if they gather the signatures equal to 10% of the people who voted in the last governmental election. Based on 2022 turnout, that would be 255,867 to put a measure on the 2024 election.

Instead, under SCR 1015, initiative proponents would need to get 10% of those who voted in each of the 30 legislative districts. And that effectively would mean that something unpopular in even just one legislative district could not be placed on the ballot, no matter how much support there is in the rest of the state.

Mesnard, whose district includes south Chandler and west Gilbert, declined to call it a veto power. But he said that any measure should have a certain

amount of statewide buy-in before going on the ballot.

And Mesnard said that’s particularly true given that nothing in his measure changes the fact that a simple majority at a general election is all that is needed to approve an initiative. And that means residents of just a few areas -- or perhaps just one county -- can impose their will on the rest of the state.

At least part of what is behind the measure is that legislative Republicans and the business interests that support them generally do not like voters making their own laws. Instead, they prefer a process of lining up votes at the Capitol, a process that for decades has been pretty much dominated by Republicans.

But the legislative process also has worked to block measures that business interests do not want. And that, in turn, has forced voters to go to the ballot.

Mesnard said his proposal simply provides some balance. Consider, he said, the fact that more than 60% of Arizona residents live in Maricopa County.

“So they can put something on the ballot, ram it through, and the rest of the state may not like it,’’ Mesnard said. “And it’s sort of like, too bad.’’

Requiring a proposal to get a certain number of signatures from each of the 30 districts before being placed on the ballot, he said, shows “interest in a broader appeal from the start.’’

That sentiment was echoed by Jenna Bentley, lobbyist for the generally pro-business Goldwater Institute.

“Usually what we end up seeing is proponents (of initiatives) will gather signatures in the largest cities,’’ she said.

“That’s a little bit problematic,’’ Bentley told lawmakers. “Then we see our rural counties have very little say of what appears on the ballot.’’

Complicating matters, she said, is the Voter Protection Act, a constitutional provision that precludes lawmakers from repealing or tinkering with what has been approved at the ballot. And that pretty much makes the only way to make major changes is to take the issue back to the voters.

And Mesnard said it’s not like one legislative district would get to veto what everyone else wants. He said SCR 1015 simply requires backers of an initiative to fi nd at least 10% of voters in each district willing to put a measure up for a vote.

But Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said it’s not that simple.

“I still do have some concerns, though, about the ability for something that might be really necessary statewide to be held up by one particular legislative district in which they might be completely out of step with the rest of the state or perhaps in a different position of interest,’’ she said.

And then, Sundareshan said, there is the administrative burden.

Arizona law already requires initiative petitions to be separated by the county in which they are collected. That is designed to facilitate checking signatures for validity.

With this, Sundareshan said, circulators would have to further divide petitions into batches by legislative districts. And some legislative districts span multiple counties.

In getting Republican lawmakers to approve his measure, Mesnard pointed out that voters would get the last word in 2024. That’s because the change in SCR 1015 amends the Arizona Constitution and constitutional amendments can be made only with voter approval.

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SCHOOLS

from Page 1

“That is why it was so important that we did the RFP that we did, because there were gaps that we needed to make sure that we’re addressing.”

The answer did not seem to sway Rohrs.

Later, during the regular board meeting, the members were asked to approve a memorandum of understanding with Paper Cranes Healthcare LLC, another community partner to which district officials could refer students when needed.

Rohrs again expressed misgivings, stating:

“We’re an educational institution, we’re not a healthcare institution. And we’re walking too far down the path here, we’re starting to lose focus on what our primary goal is, which is to educate kids.”

Rohrs abstained in the voting as the measure passed with the support of the four other board members.

Chandler High senior Riana Alexander, who is the co-founder and president of Arizona Students for Mental Health, said she was happy with the presentation. Her group has been highly critical of the district since forming last summer.

“I think the improvements that the board and the district is putting on is very exciting,” she said after the presentation. “I’m excited to see, mostly about the student partnerships.

“They’ve come a long way since we

came here to first speak in June, and I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Her group, in partnership with the Valley Interfaith Project, is planning an outreach event at 6:30 p.m., March 13 at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. They invited district officials to be part of it.

Following an examination of the teen mental health crisis in Arizona, a State House task force last year found an urgent need for more to be done to help students.

State Rep. Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, who co-chaired that task force, has introduced HB2600, which would allocate create a Teen Mental Health Program within the state Department of Health Services and provided a so far unspecified amount of funding .The measure has not yet been assigned for a hearing.

The measure would enable funding for school districts and nonprofits for training on mental health first aid, youth resiliency and substance abuse for staff, parents and peers.

It also would provide school districts with funding to create a 24/7 way for students to request and receive mental health help anonymously and require the Health Services Department to make an annual report on projects it funded and the outcomes they achieved.

Grantham's bill follows the task force's findings, which cited 17 areas that needed to be addressed to improve mental health services to children and teens.

During the task force's final meeting in December, Grantham warned his panel

colleagues “Everybody now is going to have to be patient and be happy with any victories we get out of these recommendations."

“And I’ll do my best to put as much of this forward as I can with other members’ help because I can’t do it all by myself," he said at the time. "And I just want you all to know that your work here matters and even something in here is the most important thing to you or this group doesn’t happen this year, it might very well happen next."

The recommendations represented the culmination of hours of hearings by the panel, which comprised educators, a variety of medical and behavioral experts, social workers, parents and teens whose testimony buttressed dozens of reports on the perils facing teens' mental health.

Task force co-chair and now-former Rep. Joanne Osborne, R-Goodyear, said the crisis "is an all-hands-on-deck.”

Osborne said that finding solutions needs the involvement of parents, medical experts and educators, law enforcement and teens themselves. She pointed to the 400-page report the committee is issuing and ticked off a variety of actions that need to be taken not just on a governmental level but in homes and schools as well by businesses.

“Those are the things that we need to be doing. There’s so many great people that are doing it but we need more of them to do it,” she said.

Executive Editor Paul Maryniak contributed to this report.

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Volunteers sought for foster care review board

SANTAN NEWS STAFF

The Foster Care Review Board, a program within the Dependent Children’s Services Division of the Arizona Supreme Court, is seeking volunteers.

Statewide, the FCRB has about 108 boards and a little over 500 volunteer positions that advocate on behalf of children in Arizona’s foster care system.

In Maricopa County – including Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Chandler, Queen Creek, Mesa and Scottsdale – the FCRB facilitates 56 boards that each have five people appointed by presiding judge of Juvenile Court.

“We have an urgent need to fill vacancies in this county,” a spokeswoman said.

Volunteers commit to meeting one weekday a month to review the cases of children who are in out-of-home care. The meetings are completed via video conference. The board makes recommendations to the Juvenile Court and interested parties involved in the case.

Currently, boards in Maricopa County are reviewing the cases of about 5,200 children. Volunteers receive training.

In preparation for a board meeting, volunteers receive court documents and other case materials via a secured website about 10 days before the meeting. Board members prepare questions to clarify and gather information.

Interested parties for each case can appear before the board and speak about their concerns, successes, wants and needs and the board members are allowed to ask questions. A program specialist prepares a written report with the board’s recommendations and statements by the interested parties.

Volunteers must be at least 21 and pass a fingerprint background check. Apply at AZFCRB.org or 602-452-3400. You can also email RPTFCRB@courts.az.gov to request an application.

Another way to get involved is a program with similar requirements called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), in which volunteers are appointed by the Court to advocate for a specific child with whom they are paired. To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer: AZCASAVolunteer.org.

Chandler faces $25M revenue loss from state tax cuts

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

State lawmakers are moving to strip cities and towns of their ability to tax residential rentals and grocery store food – a move that would cost the City of Chandler about $20 million.

In addition to a vote Feb. 1 by the Senate Commerce Committee on that measure, Senate Republicans also are considering a cut in the corporate tax that would cost the city at least another $5 million. That cut passed a Senate committee last month.

The Commerce Committee’s approval of the food and rent tax cuts came despite objections from mayors and lobbyists for the majority of communities that have the levies. They told senators that their budgets are dependent on these revenues.

A legislative analysis says the $10.2 million the city collected in 2022 from the food tax and the $9.8 million in revenue from the rent tax each represent about 5.5% of total sales tax revenue that Chandler received last year.

The municipal officials’ claims of hardship drew derision from Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, who said most cities and towns have a surplus. And he rejected the claims that these surpluses are appropriate, even if the state itself has a “rainy day’’ fund, money set aside to protect against future economic downturns.

And Sen. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix, the sponsor of the measure to phase out the

tax on rentals, said it is crafted in a way to ensure that tenants get the benefit of the mandated reduction.

But that drew a skeptical response from Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, whose district includes northern and western Chandler.

“Whatever the market price is, that’s what the rent will be,’’ she said. All SB 1184 will do, she said, is allow landlords to pocket what they no longer have to forward to cities in taxes.

Nick Ponder, lobbyist for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, told lawmakers that SB 1063, the companion measure to eliminate local taxes on food purchased for home preparation and consumption, won’t reduce overall taxes.

He pointed out that state lawmakers, facing an initiative, voted in 1980 to exempt the state sales tax on food.

But three years later, facing a deficit, Ponder noted the Legislature raised the overall state sales tax on all remaining items from 4 percent to 5 percent, an increase that never was repealed. He suggested that cities, facing a similar loss of one source of revenues, may have to follow suit.

And he said that cities where the decision was made to eliminate these taxes have a higher overall sales tax rate than others where the levies remain. He cited in particular Tucson where shoppers pay 3.5% on everything else they buy.

Ponder said the decision on what to tax

is best left to local elected officials and their voters.

Not all communities levy rent or food taxes.

But they can be a big part of what communities collect. And the impact is particularly great on the smallest towns.

In Nogales, for example, the tax on food is nearly 14% of total sales tax collections. It’s close to 16% in Cottonwood, 17.6% in Douglas, 18.5% in Safford, 19.9% in San Luis and 35.2% in Taylor.

Overall, the levy amounts to more than $161 million a year statewide.

Rental taxes are a smaller percentage of sales taxes in most communities, though they total nearly $180 million statewide for affected communities.

The food tax repeal is being proposed by Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City.

“To be taxing food, essential items that are consumed at home, not only is it unreasonable, it’s outrageous,’’ he said.

But Globe Mayor Al Ganeros told lawmakers that the levy, which is paid not only by residents but folks from outside the city who drive into town, helps his community cover its costs. And he said there are costs, citing, for example, the $1.5 million to $2 million it will take to replace a 35-year-old ladder truck at the fire department.

Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland said revenues from the food tax amount to 7% of the total city budget.

“I struggle to understand why the Legis-

lature feels the cities are the one who are robbing from our citizens,’’ he testified.

“We are where the rubber meets the road,’’ McFarland continued. “We are where citizens rely on the services that we provide.’’

One argument by proponents of both measures is that the cities are getting more money now from the state.

Ponder said it is true that lawmakers are now giving local communities 18% of the revenues they collect, up from 15%.

But he pointed out that occurred only when lawmakers voted two years ago to cut income taxes by more than $1 billion a year by enacting a flat income tax. All the higher share did, Ponder said, is keep the actual revenue sharing dollars from declining.

Lawmakers also approved a measure several years ago allowing the state and local sales tax to be levied on online and phone purchases. Ponder said, though, much of this simply makes up for the taxable sales no longer being made at brickand-mortar stores.

Not every local official who testified was opposed.

“We have a regressive tax on a fundamental human need,’’ said Allen Skillcorn, a member of the Fountain Hills City Council, said speaking specifically about the rental tax. “That’s just mean.’’

The party-line 4-3 votes by the Republican-controlled committee send both measures to the full Senate.

Barbershop crooners ready for Valentine’s Day

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

With Valentine’s Day just a couple days away, a local group of singers expects to be. busy delivering some harmony to special someones across the region.

Members of the East Valley Harmonizers Barbershop Chorus will deliver Singing Valentines throughout the East Valley.

The Mesa-based singers have been singing love songs since they organized in 1993.

Four tuxedo-dressed men visit homes, offices or restaurants to sing love songs from yesteryear – such as “Heart of My Heart”, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart, or “I Love You Truly.”

For a lesser price, people can order a video card and the quartet will sing at any time of day or night. These greetings have a customized card sent with a personal message delivered via a link using text or email.

Quartets will deliver the Singing Valentines on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

The price is $50 for a three-hour delivery window. In addition to singing the songs, the men hand the recipient a card with the sender’s message, a fresh red rose, and a box of chocolates. Video

Cards are $20.

Terry Morrison, Singing Valentines program chairman, said that “customers make the most of the requests.”

“The loved ones who receive them

move through every emotion – surprise, happiness, gratitude – and may even cry; - but all of them say that it is the best Valentine’s Day gift they have ever received,” he sai, adding:

“It’s like a command performance, up close and personal. “e spread joy through harmony.”

Barbershop harmony music is an American art form with a small-town flavor. The four-part harmony and ballads, some more than 100 years old, is music that brings back memories of the good old days.

The East Valley Harmonizers are a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, an international non-profit organization founded in 1938 with over 20,000 members.

To order a Valentine: ordersingingvalentine.com/Mesa.AZ.

For more information about the chorus and the upcoming spring show: evbarbershop.com.

Chandler sailor in Super Bowl ceremony today

SANTAN SUN NEWS

A Chandler native is playing a part of today’s Super Bowl National Anthem performance.

Three Navy tactical squadrons will conduct a unified flyover and Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariana Scott is one of the sailors maintaining the aircraft for Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122.

Scott is a 2009 Hamilton High School graduate and a 2012 University of Phoenix grad.

Skills and values similar to those found in Chandler are important to succeed in the military.

“Growing up in my hometown, I worked different jobs since I was 15 years old,” said Scott. “The one thing that always stuck with me was the advice my father gave me. It was to give each day at work you’re all and have pride in the job you have to do.”

Scott joined the Navy three years ago.

“It was always my dream to be able to serve my country,” said Scott. “Not too many members of my family have served in the Navy, so I was excited to be one of the first to do so in my generation.”

Today, Scott serves as an aviation

structural mechanic - safety equipment (AME).

“My favorite part about being an AME is getting to work on the aircraft, and helping to train our pilots on cockpit safety,” said Scott.

According to Navy officials, naval aviation is the best in the world because of its ability to harness the entire ocean as a runway.

“Serving in the Navy means so much to me because it has given my life more purpose,” added Scott. “Being able to protect my loved ones is an incredible feeling.”

The East Valley Harmonizers Barbershop Chorus is preparing to present singing Valentines this Tuesday. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

Super Bowl gambling poised for history this year

BY JAMES DALPINO Cronkite News

For bettors, the Super Bowl is the holy grail of sports betting, as it is the biggest sporting event in the United States.

In 2022, a record 31.4 million Americans wagered a record $7.61 billion on Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles, according to the American Gaming Association.

The 2023 Super Bowl differentiates itself from any other when it comes to the betting world. This year marks the first time where the big game is hosted in a state where sports gambling is legal. Arizona is expected to bring in a historic amount of money on Super Bowl Sunday.

What makes the Super Bowl special in the eyes of sports bettors are the various prop bets that are only available during the game. This includes an over/ under on the length of the national anthem, bets on heads or tails on the coin toss, and even what celebrities will be shown during specific advertisements.

The variety of bets during the Super Bowl keeps a gambling audience engaged throughout the entire game.

“The Super Bowl is the major wagering event of the year for sportsbooks in the U.S.,” said Geoff Zochodne, a sports betting reporter for Covers, a company that provides information analysis and statistics about sports betting. “Bettors just want to wager on everything that has to do with the game for entertainment purposes, and so you have those Super Bowl-specific markets that get a lot of attention.”

One of the biggest beneficiaries of legalized gambling in the Super Bowl is BetMGM, which opened its on-site location at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, where Super Bowl 57 will be played.

Fans who attend the game will be able to bet on-site, something that can only happen in a state where sports betting is legal. According to the Arizona Department of Gaming, the venue produced $2 million in revenue during October.

“The fact that it’s in Arizona means you’re probably going to see more interest in betting at some of these in-person facilities,” Zochodne said. “It’s those in-person venues that are going to have tourists coming through that might see an uptick in the amount of handle for the game.”

Since Arizona’s legalization of sports betting in 2021, the number of sports bettors in the state per month has consistently increased. According to Arizona’s Department of Gaming, bettors in November of 2022 wagered nearly $617 million. Compared to the numbers in November 2021, this represents a 32.2% increase.

However, big numbers in the gambling industry came from last February, which included money generated from Super Bowl 56.

“We, in February, actually had $491 million wagered in the state during the month of February, which would encom-

pass the Super Bowl last year,” said Max Hartgraves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Gaming, “And I will say, generally speaking, we’ve seen continued growth going into this year.”

With a combination of a growing sports betting community in Arizona along with the state hosting the big game, Arizona could be set to shatter betting revenue records for the weekend.

On top of that, the state hosts its annual Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale, another major sporting event that takes place in the Valley during Super Bowl weekend. Sportsbooks across Maricopa County are hoping that these two big events will generate huge revenue throughout the entire weekend.

Since the legalization of sports betting, Arizona has already seen a large impact in its economy, receiving millions of dollars in revenue for the state. However, the opportunities for revenue in the state are even bigger throughout Super Bowl weekend.

From the events leading up to the Super Bowl along with the flock of tourists coming to the game, this year’s Super Bowl could be record-breaking. With that increase in betting, the state is expected to also benefit from unprecedented revenue.

“It’s brought in millions of dollars to the state, and patrons are now able to enjoy it legally and have consumer protections,” Hartgraves said.“So I’m excited to see how the Super Bowl does impact our February figures here in the state.”

Generally, the NFL normally picks warm weather cities to host the Super Bowl. The last three Super Bowl cities –Miami, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles – all fall into this category.

In 2024, the Super Bowl will move to Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world. As the NFL decides host cities for future Super Bowls, could the legalization of sports gambling become a major factor in choosing which city hosts the Super Bowl?

“It really is just another indication that the NFL has gotten very comfortable with the legal gambling industry that it sees it not as part of the game, but it’s part of the culture around the game,” Zochodne said.

“Depending on how things go in Las Vegas the following year, it could just be consideration of legal sports, it just isn’t considered at all anymore, that it’s just become something that is sort of secondary to the venue itself.”

The Super Bowl could possibly return to Arizona sooner than later. The last time State Farm Stadium hosted the Super Bowl was in 2015, only eight years ago, showing the NFL has strong connections and preferences to Arizona and the Valley.

If the Super Bowls in Arizona and Las Vegas bring in greater revenue for the NFL, sports betting could become a ma-

on Page 18

last year.

Local museum will celebrate Arizona Railway Day this month

The Arizona Railway Museum plans to celebrate Arizona Railway Day in Chandler from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25 at the museum, 330 E. Ryan Road.

There will be artifacts and memorabilia on display, tours of vintage railcars and goods available for purchase. The museum will not charge its standard fee for this event.

City hosting Golden Neighbors events this month and next

The City of Chandler is hosting another of its Golden Neighbors events from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Feb. 28 at the Chandler Public Library on Delaware Street.

Host Keystone Law Firm will be there to give information about deeds, trusts, wills and more.

They also plan to host a giveaway event from 10 a.m. to noon, March 8 at the Chandler Senior Center. Call 480782-4362 for information.

Four local students advance as Flinn Scholarship finalists

Four students who attend classes in the Chandler Unified School District have advanced as finalists for the 2023 Flinn Scholarship. There are 39 finalists across the state. About 20 will be selected for the scholarship, which is valued at about $130,000.

The CUSD students remaining are: Cameron Bautista of Basha High; Carol Chen of Hamilton High; Richa Chirravuri of Hamilton High; Sofia Llanos of Basha High.

Banner Ocotillo Medical Center recruiting volunteers

Banner Ocotillo Medical Center seeks volunteers to work in its nursing and medical imaging units. They also need help in the gift shop, patient waiting areas, and at the front desk greeting visitors.

BETTING

“We ask that our volunteers commit at least four hours each week,” said Alyssa Trebil, guest services supervisor. “We’re also flexible when it comes to scheduling our volunteers, and we are willing to work with you to make sure it’s a schedule that best meets your needs. Time is one of the most valuable things we can give, and we so appreciate volunteers donating their time to help our hospital patients and staff.”

Call 480-256-7086.

City officials urge residents to apply for commissions, boards

The City of Chandler is urging residents to apply for its citizen commissions and boards.

Applications are being accepted until Feb. 15 at chandleraz.gov/boards. The city has dozens of boards and commissions available, from airport to arts, planning and zoning to parks and recreation.

Descriptions of each board or commission and their meeting dates can be viewed online at the city’s website. Mayor Kevin Hartke will review the applications and nominate people for the Council to approve.

Chandler seeks nominations for its top volunteers of the year

The City of Chandler is asking residents to nominate worthy friends, family and neighbors for its Volunteer Recognition Awards.

Deadline is March 1. You can nominate that at chandleraz.gov/VolunteerAwards.

The city has eight categories for nominations.

Chandler Chamber accepting Community Awards nominations

The Chandler Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for its annual Community Awards through April 7.

This will be the 36th year the Chandler Chamber has recognized top businesses, educators, and public servants. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 1.

For information on how to submit nominations, email info@chandlerchamber.com.

from Page 17

jor deciding factor in determining future host cities.

“I think the fact that Arizona has legal sports betting gives the NFL more

comfort and having the games in a legal wagering jurisdiction,” Zochodne said. “I think if anything, it probably will depend on how it goes and maybe deliver more support, perhaps for (a) return to Arizona and in future years if everything goes smoothly.”

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

It’s not a secret that the jobs of the future are going to require a heavy dose of science, technology, engineering and math education.

“We have to keep producing more career technical education, more STEM, STEM, STEM, STEM, STEM, STEM,” Chris Camacho, the executive director of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, told Chandler City Council in January. “That is critical for our state’s competitive position.”

A new after-school business has opened up to help.

iCode held its grand opening in Chandler on Feb. 4, with other schools planned in Gilbert, Scottsdale and Goodyear.

iCode started in 2015 and began offering franchises in 2018. Five years later, it has about 70 locations and the Chandler school is the first in Arizona.

“It’s meant to supplement, not take the place of, the regular school,” said Misty Ellis, who owns both the Chandler and Gilbert locations with her husband, Daniel.

“What we provide here is something that most schools don’t provide. It’s education, but really with the technology.

We do a huge focus on soft skills.”

Misty, whose husband works in cybersecurity, said they wanted to own their own business and started shopping around for franchise opportunities.

“When he saw the iCode curriculum, he was like, ‘This is it. This is what I want to do,’” she said.

That curriculum is the main drawing

card.

The school hires college students who are finishing up their STEM degrees as instructors. Ellis said her instructors have said they wish they would have had an iCode school when they were young.

The couple hopes to open up their Gilbert school by the end of February with a grand opening there likely hap-

pening in March.

iCode offers programs for students from kindergarten through senior year of high school, separating the programs by using the martial arts belt system. A white belt is for robotics; yellow, app development; orange, web development; red, game development; green for drones, blue for networking and black for cloud computing.

The key to making this succeed, Ellis said, is that the students have to want to learn. So iCode makes the programs fun so they look forward to coming to class.

“This makes it fun, it makes it engaging,” Ellis said. “And the kids have a great time. We really focus on soft skills problem solving. They are always learning how to give presentations and to share what they’re learning.

So they’re not just sitting in front of a computer, they’re learning how to write code.”

iCode has a number of options. Most regular classes meet for two hours once a week though there also is an option with two one-hour classes. In addition, it provides special camps during the summer and breaks in the usual school-year

See STEM on Page 23

New EV business enhances STEM learning Merchant Marine opens unique salon for men

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Matthew Huyter said the traditional strip mall barber is designed to get people in with low prices, give them a quick cut, and then move onto the next.

It’s all about volume.

“They’re on-the-books standard is 11 minutes from walk-in to being done,” said Huyter, who chose Chandler as the first Roosters Men’s Grooming Center in Arizona. “In 11 minutes, you can’t get that attention to detail.”

Huyter said Roosters is different.

“People walk out that door knowing they’ve gotten the best haircut in years,” Huyter said. “And I’m not I’m not exaggerating by saying that. They say ‘I can’t believe it.’ I’m like, ‘Well, that’s what you get when someone takes a half an hour to cut your hair as opposed to the standard 9 to 11 minutes.’”

Huyter is in the Merchant Marines and said he wanted to own his own business that was somewhat familiar to him. Since he stands on his feet all day, he was attracted to men’s grooming.

He chose Roosters to get licenses for up to three shops in Arizona because they are a throw-back to what barber shops used to be. There was no rushing you in and out.

A shampoo, head massage and hot towel were part of the whole service –they aren’t extras that have a separate

price tag.

He said he also liked how Roosters is designed, with each station set up as its own all-inclusive area. There is no walking through the shop to get a shampoo at Roosters. It happens at the same part of the salon where a customer gets a haircut.

But the biggest difference is the stylists have the time to do a quality job.

“The neckline takes a lot of time to do,” he said. “It takes some serious neck work and shave to make it look good.”

The price for that additional time, services and quality is about double what the strip mall shops charge. The club cut is $39. Roosters offers a discount for active military and first-responders that they call a “hero’s cut” for $34.

For boys 13 and younger the price is

$24, and there is a $34 senior price before 3 p.m. on weekdays.

He said he did his research and decided Chandler residents were looking for barbers who gave better service and that they would be willing to pay for it. And he decided the location at Alma School and Ray roads was perfect.

As for his other two licenses, he said he’s looking at locations in Queen Creek and Tempe, but hasn’t settled on any place yet.

Huyter said he does offer a special deal to any World War II veterans who need a haircut. He will give them excellent service for $1.

“They’re living legends,” Huyter said. “I don’t feel right collecting their money. The only reason I ask for the dollar, is because I want their autograph, so I ask them to sign that dollar.”

So far he hasn’t had any World War II veterans take advantage of the offer.

“I guess there’s not many left,” he said. “I might have to give it a few more years, and then go to Korean and maybe Vietnam.”

Matthew Huyter is a member of the U.S. Merchant Marines and owner of Arizona’s first Rooster’s Men’s Grooming Center, located in Chandler. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Huy Tao teaches a lesson about simple machines at iCode, where kids can learn STEM skills like coding, programming drones and robotics, and digital arts. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Chandler duo’s pop-up aims for better health, earth

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Amy Liu-Sanders, a teacher in the Chandler Unified School District, and her friend Nela Vascones went to visit Vascones’ daughter in Colorado.

The problem is she lives in a special community that grows its own food and is very careful about the products they bring in. Residents don’t want any toxins to get into the groundwater that they use to grow their food.

That got both women interested in researching which everyday products have toxins that are both bad for the planet and bad for a person’s health.

That, and a trip by Vascones to a Colorado refill store led to an ah-ha moment: They decided to open their own refill store in the East Valley.

And they are well on their way to doing just that.

Love Sustain Refill is a pop-up store for now, appearing at farmers’ markets in Queen Creek, Mesa and Gilbert. Liu-Sanders said they are now confident there is demand for a brick-and-mortar store and will begin pursuing that.

They said the only refill store in the Valley is Desert Refillery in Central Phoenix.

So, what is a refill store?

Customers bring in their own empty bottles or containers, then weigh them. They write the weight on the bottle. Then, they can refill them with whatever

product they need, taking as much, or as little as they like, paying by the ounce. There are two major benefits. For one, instead of putting more plastic bottles into the oceans and landfills, people can reuse the ones they already have.

“I think it’s less than 10% of plastics that are actually being recycled,” Liu-Sanders said. “So it’s nasty. Americans are like only 5% of the population, and we create 40% of the waste. It’s gross.”

But that is not their top reason for opening this business. After their experience in Colorado, they became concerned about toxins in everyday products and started looking for alternatives.

They were struggling to find them at the local stores.

She started using an app called Yuka, which tells users how healthy, or unhealthy, products are by scanning a barcode.

“A lot of them will score low if they have fragrances in them,” she said. “And preservatives. So those are two of the things that you have to watch out for.”

The two women personally test every product they sell, scrutinizing the ingredients to make sure there are no toxins. Their shop sells products for body, face and hair; laundry, the bathroom, kitchen and household goods.

Liu-Sanders said she likes the non-toxic products more than the mainstream brands. For example, she said she had bought a large container of laundry detergent just before making the switch.

She said she is forcing herself to use that even though she prefers the brand she and Vascones sell, called Root & Splendor.

“I love it, it’s super amazing,” she said. “It gets out stains, it smells great, it softens your clothes. Like we’ve had such great feedback from our customers and I don’t want to use the rest of my other stuff up.”

They started attending farmers’ markets on Jan. 11 and say the reception has been terrific. This being a new concept, only one person brought empty containers to be filled that first day.

The store offers a bin of empty containers for those who don’t have their own that have been donated by other customers.

“We’re not trying to sell you something, we’re trying to educate,” Vascones said.

The pair said finding the products that are toxin-free has been the hardest challenge, but they’ve received a lot of help from other refill stores.

“What really helped us was going into other refill shops,” Liu-Sanders said. “You can see their brands, what their good sellers are, why they liked them. The refill community is such a welcoming community because the mission isn’t to beat out your competition, it’s ‘we need this’ and so they’re like ‘we need more of you.’”

Follow them on Instagram to know where they will be setting up shop next: love_sustain_refill

Nela Vascones, left, and Amy Liu-Sanders opened a pop-up store called Love Sustain Refill to help reduce the number of plastic containers polluting earth. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

New ER vet lets people, pets stick together during visits

BY GERI KOEPPEL Contributor

An innovative veterinary emergency clinic has opened near the border of Ahwatukee Foothills in Chandler, filling a need in those communities and many more.

Veterinary Emergency Group opened its 38th location in the nation and first in Arizona last month at 7210 W. Ray Road just east of the I-10 freeway, near Bevmo. Though there are 24-hour urgent care vets in Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and elsewhere, there was nothing close to the Ahwatukee area.

“That’s what we heard when we landed here is there’s no hospital to serve this little pocket,” said Dr. Tara Murphy, medical director for Veterinary Emergency Group—Chandler. “I think we definitely served a need in this location.”

Not only is the hospital more convenient for those in Ahwatukee and west Chandler, it also offers a new, peopleand pet-forward approach to care. The founder of Veterinary Emergency Group, Dr. David Bessler, has been an emergency veterinarian since 2003 and started the business in 2014 with an open concept plan.

“He saw that that stress was there when people had to hand over the pets to the back room,” Murphy said. “Being able to keep them together was his vision.”

When a pet and owner arrive, they walk into a large, open room with exam tables, kennels, a pharmacy and staff all visible—there’s no whisking away pets behind closed doors, which raises anxiety for them and their owners. Instead, they see a veterinarian immediately.

“It helps to know that even if there’s a wait,” Murphy said, “there’s a doctor who will see you and have eyes on you from the moment you get in.”

Another difference is that the vets often sit on the floor with patients. “Most animals are more comfortable on the ground, rather than trying to put them on the table, which is scary and unnatural to them,” Murphy noted.

People stay with their pets through-

out the process. If surgery is necessary, they can watch through a large window or even scrub up and enter the surgical room, if they wish. If a high-strung pet is more comfortable in a private exam room—like cats, for instance—those are available.

On a recent afternoon, Mickey Casto and Stephanie Cosand of Arizona City were at the clinic with their Chihuahua mix, Teddy, whom they brought in two days prior with gastrointestinal upset from an unknown cause.

“He came in on his side almost non-re sponsive and now he’s walking,” Murphy said, adding that Teddy was weak, with low blood sugar. “We had to rehydrate him and supplement glucose.”

Cosand said they’ve taken their pets to other good vets in the East Valley, but they prefer Veterinary Emergency Group because it’s not only the closest to them, which is important when an animal is in distress, but they like being able to stay as long as they like.

“They’ve never told us it’s time to go home,” Cosand said. “Yesterday, we were here for nine hours.”

Casto was also impressed with the treatment, adding, “We’ve seen some really bad cases come in. It’s unreal how quick and efficient everything is.”

The hospital can dispense many medications to patients from its on-site pharmacy and works with primary care vets on sharing records, Murphy said. “People are more comfortable when they know there’s that collaboration,” she remarked.

Veterinary Emergency Group only does emergency care—no speciality or primary care—and wait times fluctuate, as does pricing.

The cost is “so dependent on what the concerns are,” Murphy said. “We’re really open to working with people, and we’re really transparent. We will always provide full estimates of cost before proceeding with anything and discuss it with pet owners.”

The clinic accepts exotic pets as well as

Veterinary nurse Courtney Brown (left) and Dr. Tara Murphy, medical director of the Chandler location of Veterinary Emergency Group, take Teddy’s vital signs.

(Geri Koeppel/ Contributor)

STEM from Page 19

schedule.

Ellis said they would also like to partner with local schools, running an event at their campus at no charge to give parents a chance to know about their program and see what the program offers.

She said so far, they’ve had more luck partnering with charter schools than they have with public school districts.

The most popular hub at iCode, Ellis said, is the gaming hub. She and her husband choose games specifically for the education value, such as Minecraft and Roblox.

“We don’t just set a kid in front of Minecraft and say, ‘oh, have fun,’” she explained. “We teach them how to modify it, how to do mods, how to change different things in the game.

“Then we can teach them how to create their own games. So just it’s a really great supplement to what they would get at school.”

Ellis said the goal of the program is to give students a solid STEM foundation by making learning fun.

“They really work hard to make it engaging, because we don’t want any kid coming in and sitting here and just being like, ‘Oh, I hate this, like, my dad’s making

me do this, because he’s a computer science guy,’” she said.

“We want it to be fun, and very hands on. So, you know, we added a lot of hands-on activities.”

iCode School

1960 W Germann Road, Chandler 480-222-8991

3115 S Val Vista Drive, Gilbert 480-222-8990 icodeschool.com

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cats and dogs, and has seen guinea pigs, hamsters, birds and a couple of bearded dragons so far, Murphy said. They do everything from treating ear infections to performing surgery to remove foreign objects.

“It’s amazing what pets will eat,” Murphy said. “Socks, underwear, pieces of their toys, rocks. Really, they’ll eat anything. And if it doesn’t pass through and it gets stuck in the intestines or the stomach, sometimes we have to go in and take it out.”

To help avoid a trip to the emergency vet, Murphy advises owners to look around their house and be aware of any-

thing pets can get into. Many plants and foods are toxic to pets, and common household objects, like rubber bands, can be dangerous.

“If there is ever any concern, give a call to an emergency vet if you’re not sure if your pet is in an emergent condition,” Murphy said. “We can often direct you.”

The response to Veterinary Emergency Group’s opening from the community has been “really positive,” Murphy remarked.

“I think people really appreciate being able to stay with their pets,” she said. “It’s so stressful when your pet is not feeling well. So being able to stay with them the entire time takes one little piece of stress away. And so far, people have been really grateful for that.”

Students at iCode progress through different color-coded knowledge and skill levels similar to a martial arts program. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Valley Christian eyeing another deep run in 3A playoffs

BY SPENCER DUROSE Contributor

The Valley Christian boys basketball team looks to create the same magic they did just a year ago.

The defending 3A state champs have established themselves as the top dog of the conference once again this year, holding a record of 25-1 heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Trojan’s only loss came during early-season tournament play against Vista Murrieta from California. Aside from the lone blemish, the Trojans have been dominant. They are 17-0 in power point games, which are the main factor used by the Arizona Interscholastic Association for seeding in the state tournament.

Head coach Greg Haagsma acknowledged the growth and leadership of his young squad. The Trojans lost last year’s key contributor in Caleb Shaw, but retained several others, including his younger brother Luke. This year’s group has helped keep them afloat all season and has excelled at a similar, if not higher, level.

“We’ve been pretty close to the top, if not at the top all season long,” Haagsma said. “We returned a lot of players from last year, obviously we graduated our

best player, but we were so young around him that coming back with as much leadership and our guys got a year older it was really nice.”

Haagsma believes this year’s team is even more well-rounded than last year’s state championship roster. Which would be a monumental feat to out-do a team that went 27-3 overall with their only losses to 6A Centennial and a surging American Leadership Academy – Gilbert North team.

“We’re deeper, we’re more balanced, and we still have stars in like a Luke Shaw,” Haagsma said. “And so, it’s been a really fun team to coach.”

Shaw currently leads the team with 26.4 points per game. The 6-foot-2 junior is averaging just over double the points he did last year while also leading the team in steals per game.

He’s had to become more of a facilitator on the court with Caleb having graduated last year. It’s forced him to adjust his style of play, but only slightly. He found himself with the ball in his hands on numerous occasions last year, this year it’s just been amped up a bit.

He credits the team’s work ethic and relationships as the main reason for their success this year.

“I think having a lot of players on this team play together last year as well, I think that really helped with the bond and the teamwork,” Shaw said. “I think teamwise we’re ready and locked in for playoffs.”

The Trojans are no strangers to the playoff atmosphere. They were the No. 1 seed in the 2021 tournament before they were upset by Gilbert Christian in the second round. In 2020, just before COVID took over and shut down sports, they made a run to the quarterfinals.

In total, the Trojans have won seven state titles under Haagsma. They’ve been in the championship game nine total times and have made the playoffs on a regular basis.

Valley Christian knows how to play in February and into March. Simply put, Shaw knows what it will take to hoist yet another state championship trophy this season.

“We all know what it’s like to win, and we know what it takes to win,” Shaw said. “We’re all doing that every day to put in the work and to get back to that winning level.”

Austin Wallace, another member of last year’s state championship-winning roster, believes that the team is right where they need to be in order to win it all again.

He said even a self-proclaimed “slow streak” didn’t do much in the way of slow them down.

“We started good and then we had a little bit of a slow streak, and now we’re building momentum back again and playing fast again, playing the Valley Christian basketball that we know,” Wallace said of the season.

Though familiar with the winning feeling, Wallace knows how important it is for the team to be focused heading into playoffs.

“I feel like we just gotta play as hard as we can because they got nothing to lose and we got something to lose,” Wallace said. “We go into every game playing as hard as we can and know we need to win.”

Valley Christian wrapped up its final games of the regular season this past week. The Trojans are the favorite to enter the tournament as the top-ranked team yet again and to win the title when the 3A Conference tournament begins on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Valley Christian coach Greg Haagsma said this year’s team is more well-rounded than the one that captured the 3A state title last season. Much of that is due to the growth of younger players from last season.

(Dave Minton/Staff)

Chandler artist’s work therapeutic for her, others

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Contributor

Artist Karolina Adams’ work offers themes of emotions and is a therapy of sorts for her.

“People find themselves in my work. When someone looks at an art piece, they are forced to look at their own feelings,” the Chandler resident said.

“My work shakes the viewer up and opens them up emotionally. The stuffed emotions surface. I’ve seen people cry looking at a piece or pieces because it touched that raw spot in them.”

Adams has a piece titled “Sitting with my emotions long enough to understand them.”

“That’s precisely what I do,” she said. “I tend to sit with my emotions, feeling them, and instinctively sketching. I let it be what it is without judging or analyzing.

“Once on paper, that’s when my mind analyzes and tries to digest it. It helps me to understand the feelings. Is it fear? Is it excitement? Or, maybe apathy?”

Viewers may judge for themselves if they attend the Downtown Chandler Fine Art and Wine Festival 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 17-19. Thunderbird Artists part-

ners with the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership to present 125 juried fine artists.

At her booth, Adams will show 25 original ink and graphite works and 200 prints, reflection cards and blank greet-

ing cards. All work will be available for sale.

“I used to show at galleries until I discovered art festivals,” she said. “I love art festivals because it gives me the opportunity to connect with the viewers. My

work is very personal and I want to know who buys my work and how they relate to the pieces. This, in turn, connects me to them.”

Adams is of Polish origin, and immigrated to Chicago with her family as a teenager. She moved to Arizona 16 years ago.

“When I first moved here, Chandler felt small and stagnant for a city bug like myself. I wanted to be in the midst of a city scene where life happens. That mental stimulation is what creates my work. It challenges me and makes me grow,” she said.

Over time, Chandler changed.

“Today, the city of Chandler feels fresh and vibrant, with colored lights accenting the buildings, new bars, cafés and restaurants being open in downtown and public art being used all throughout

Musicians get Knox Academy students all jazzed

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Bart Salzman asked the more than 100 fourth and fifth graders sitting in front of him if they knew which city is called the birthplace of jazz. A few did, correctly identifying New Orleans.

He then pointed to a photo of a Black man playing the trumpet and asked if they knew who that gentleman was. Quite a few knew, shouting “Louie Armstrong.”

Not bad for a group of students who were all born more than 50 years after Armstrong died in 1971 and who probably listen to a lot more rap and pop than they do Miles Davis, Charlie Parker or John Coltrane.

Salzman is artistic director for the Chandler Jazz Festival and a member of the Arizona Classic Jazz Society. The society sponsors a class at six area schools, teaching students a little of jazz history

and the music before inviting them to join the band.

He and four others were at Knox Gifted Academy in Chandler on Feb. 3. Each student left with their very own jazz kazoo at the end of the hour that they had used to play a couple of closing numbers with the band.

“The band loves doing this,” Salzman said. “And they all work pro-

fessionally at night, so they’re available during the day. I get the cream of the crop.”

He said he loves exposing children to a form of music that began in the United States.

“We love playing the schools because we get a chance to introduce a genre of music that kids typically don’t get exposed to, certainly not on the radio, or most of their CDs. We found over the years I’ve been doing this that when we expose fourth graders to these instruments, it ups the interest in fifth grade band. Kids all want to play instruments.”

Knox Principal Kristy Braaksma agreed that the class is beneficial to students.

“Anytime we can put community

members who have authentic skills then it’s an opportunity for them to learn and grow,” Braaksma said.

“We ask our kids to think outside the box, to be creative, to be imaginative. And music does all of those things.”

Salzman introduced the students to one of the key components of jazz, improvisation. His five-person group played “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” both the traditional way, and a more jazzedup version they improvised.

As the band played, students clapped along, at one point swaying with the music after being told they could stand. Many of the song, such as “When the Saints Go Marching In,” they recognized.

But the highlight came when Salzman handed out hundreds of kazoos to teachers to hand out to students. It took a few minutes to get everyone playing the same tune, but they got there eventually for the grand finale.

He even taught them how to improvise. After a stern warning about playing their kazoos during the rest of their classes and what would happen, the jazz hour was over.

But if the interest in music remains, Braaksma said they can help their students channel it.

“We have a great band and orchestra here,” she said. “When kids get into music, they have a pathway that they can find their people all the way through high school. It gives them something to really offer.”

Karolina Adams finds it natural to create art introspectively. (Inset) “Letting it Go” is an original ink and graphite work that will be on show during the Chandler Arts Festival. (Courtesy of Karolina Adams)

See ADAMS on Page 28

Bart Salzman plays a trumpet solo for kids during a workshop at Knox Gifted Academy.

Musician Bart Salzman talks with students as the Arizona Classic Jazz Society puts on a jazz workshop at Knox Gifted Academy, teaching elementary school age students about different instruments and music styles. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Alzheimer’s Association offers free conference

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America will launch its 2023 Educating America Tour in the East Valley this week.

At 10 a.m. Thursday. Feb. 16, the association will present a free Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Educational Conference at the Ahwatukee Event Center, 4700 E. Warner Road,Ahwatukee.

The free conference, which is open to everyone, will allow participants to learn from experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, and caregiving. Attendees can register at alzfdn.org/tour.

“Knowledge is a useful and powerful tool that can help make any situation easier to navigate, especially something as challenging as caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease,” said association President/CEO Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.

“Connecting families with useful, practical information and support that can help them now and be better prepared for the future is what this conference is all about,” he added, noting this conference is for anyone who is somehow affected by the disease either as a family member, or caregiver or are generally interested in brain health.

The topics include “Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease: From Cradle-to-Grave: with Dr. Jeremy Pruzin, MD, providing an overview of the disease and discussing two important areas in prevention: modifiable risk factors such as lifestyle choices and vascular risk factors.

He also will discuss promising, presymptomatic, pharmacological strategies that are currently being tested in clinical trials. There is currently no proven cure for Alzheimer’s.

Pruzin is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a behavioral neurologist with the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix.

Also being presented is “Aging in Place Along the Alzheimer’s Spectrum” by Dana Kennedy, state director of AARP Arizona. She will discuss options for care and the criteria that should be considered when making the decision to transition from a home to a professional care setting.

Belinda Ordonez, a board-certified

nurse practitioner in the dementia care program at the Dementia Care and Education Campus in Phoenix and co-director for the Hospice of the Valley Dementia Fellowship, will discuss, “What Happens Next? Best Practices in Palliative Dementia Care.”

Ordonez will talk about the conversations and advanced planning that need to be made in order to navigate common challenges and end-of-life decisions in ways that honor and uphold what matters most to each person. Palliative care can include education, symptom management, advanced care planning and links to community resources.

There will also be a special presentation, “Highlights of a Baseball Reminiscence Program,” an initiative designed to promote socialization and improve quality of life for individuals living with dementia and their caregivers, by the Phoenix-based Society for American Baseball Research.

Free, confidential memory screenings will be conducted throughout the day.

Those who cannot participate in the conference or have immediate questions about Alzheimer’s disease can connect with licensed social workers seven days a week through AFA’s national toll-free helpline by calling 866-232-8484 or web chatting at www.alzfdn.org

Why

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SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Sun Lakes Community Theatre back in schools

SUN NEWS STAFF

SANTAN

Sun Lakes Community Theatre’s popular Children’s Theater is back in Chandler Unified School District 80 Elementary Schools and a spokeswoman calls the reaction of students and teachers “overwhelmingly positive.”

“Thank you notes are piled up on the director’s desk, with brilliantly colored pictures of Horton the Elephant in a tree or the Clown doing magic tricks (among others,) all sent from grateful students who enjoyed the 25-minute, brightly costumed, energy-filled live theater performance,” said Kate King Turner.

Prior to appearing, the group sends the classroom teachers an Arizona Standards-Aligned Enrichment Lesson Idea packet with lessons in math, vocabulary, reading and writing. Teachers can use it after the performance to help students get the most from the experience.

This year’s play, based on a Dr. Suess book, is “Horton Hatches the Egg.”

“It provides a moral about keeping promises and the kids are involved in telling the story with lots of interactive shouts and laughter,” King Turner said.

Three teachers are recruited into the story as well, helping Mayzie the Bird to play on the beach while Horton the Elephant sits on Mayzie’s nest to hatch her baby bird.

“Lots of animals are involved, as are a group of hunters who are intent on cap-

turing Horton,” King Turner added. “The kids love it.”

Out of 30 Chandler Unified elementary schools, 22 will see the play by May 2, the birthday of Dr. Suess and Read Across America Day.

The cast has a minimum 11 actors, many of whom are double cast. That allows actors to explore their abilities as different animals or as the narrator.

Director Sandy Bocynesky has been involved in the show since 2013 and directing it since 2016.

She said she’s thrilled to get back in

the classrooms after the pandemic shut out the group for two years.

“When you see the reaction of these kids, you can’t stop smiling,” she said. “Once one of our senior citizen actors does one show, they are hooked because it’s just so fun and fulfilling to see the children’s joy.”

The show is self-contained and takes 15 minutes to set up and tear down.

The school provides a multi-purpose room or stage, a music stand and a chair and the theater company provides everything else. All the actors are volun-

ADAMS

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the city,” she said.

“The downtown area is booming with energy. And, as I got older, I appreciate quiet space a lot more, and Chandler offers both.”

She considers America her home as she has lived here longer than in Poland.

“I grew up here, but I have the best of both worlds. I do my ‘American’ life here at home with my husband, and I do my Polish life when I’m with my family. We speak Polish, eat Polish and celebrate our Polish traditions,” she said.

She is also an animal lover. She treasures her 2-year-old Goldendoodle, Molo. “I am a bit obsessed with him,” she said, adding that if she was not an artist, she would have operated a farm for rescue animals.

But the calling to art came young. She painted, drew, sculpted, played with wax and took photos during her early days.

It was the precursor to becoming a full-time artist, although she also obtained a degree in architecture while in Chicago.

“Art is how I make a living,” she said.

“I’m very introspective in life, not just art, so it’s just natural to me to create from that perspective,” Adams said. “I’m constantly checking in with myself to

teer residents of Sun Lakes and members of Sun Lakes Community Theater.

Two sound technicians are involved and another volunteer to hauls the equipment and costumes. There is no fee for the performance.

The Greater Sun Lakes Community Foundation awarded a grant a few years ago to help support the program and SLCT does it as a service to the community.

Information: slctinfo.com

understand how I’m feeling, what those emotions mean to me and how I can grow from them.”

Her work has minimal color, mainly black brushstrokes with splashes of red.

“I ‘talk’ about complex emotions in my art, and I want the focus to be on that, as opposed to the viewer trying to analyze the brush strokes or the colors used in a piece.”

Her earlier work was dark in subject matter as she was dealing with anxiety and depression. “Today my art is light and happy, which is a reflection of the space I’m in at this time,” she said.

“This process helps me heal, work through the issues. This is not to say I don’t face challenges. I still experience the same emotions, but in different situations and scenarios. And I feel each time a new challenge arises, my reaction to it is on a lesser scale.”

“Sketching helps me purge my emotions,” she added. “I find it healing to let those feelings out in that way and I urge people to find an outlet that will allow them to unload their feelings, especially the ‘icky and sticky’ ones.”

“Our heavier emotions create stress which eventually will turn into physical illness,” she added. “So, best thing to do is let them pass through us without getting stuck, by sitting with them and feeling them to let them out.”

The Sun Lakes Community Theater will have performed in 22 of Chandler Unified’s 30 elementary schools by May 2. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

Sun Lakes Rotarians help nonprofit aid the homeless

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Rotary Club of Sun Lakes members and their foundation supported The Bridge for Community Service’s Bike Ride at Desert Wind Harley in Mesa.

Between the two groups, checks totaling $1,500 were presented at the second annual bike ride to aid unsheltered people in ‘The Zone’ in Phoenix.

The Bridge describes its mission as “nourishing the spirit, mind, and body specifically focused on the homeless population in the Phoenix-metro area.”

Each Sunday morning regardless of the weather, Bridge volunteers gather at 1118

W. Madison St. at 12th Avenue to provide meals and conduct non-denominational faith service offering music, prayer and encouragement to those seeking spiritual help.

“This good work is only possible through the donations of our sponsors and other individuals who hate to see anyone go hungry in this country of plenty,” said Bridges President Carolyn Cochran. “The Bridge welcomes volunteers and contributions of any sort to continue the mission”

People can find more information at thebridgefcs.org.

Carolyn Cochran, board president of the Bridges For Community Services, displays the checks her nonprofit received from the club and the Rotary Club of Sun Lakes Foundation with Rotary Club President Stephen Phair and member Stan Kaufman. (Honora Norton/ Rotary Club of Sun Lakes)

CUSD addresses rapid changes in technology

BY MURRAY SIEGEL Contributor

In today’s world, advances in technology occur at such a rapid pace that schools face two concerns: Using technology to maximize learning and preparing students to adapt to future technological changes.

Chandler Unified School District says it has acquired technology to answer both concerns.

Recently the district bought 59 computers loaded with zSpace software that uses augmented reality/virtual reality to provide innovative hands-on learning in science technology engineering mathematics classes.

Students can use advanced technology to see and manipulate learning in 3-D without 3-D glasses.

Dr. Debbie Posniack, a STEM teacher at Chandler Traditional Academy Independence Campus, a K-6 school, was recently recognized by zSpace Technologies as a “Teacher of Distinction.”

Posniack has 26 years of diverse experience, having been a classroom teacher, an administrator and a curriculum leader.

She developed an induction program for her school and reduced new teacher

attrition to zero. For her master’s thesis, while at Pepperdine University, she delivered professional development for second language acquisition strategies to thousands of teachers.

She was then hired to help create a new charter high school in Gilbert.

She has been with CUSD for three years and at her current school for the last two years. She left her administrative position to join CUSD when she realized that she missed day-to-day work with students.

Her experience developing curriculum, including designing a year-long K-6 curriculum aligned with the state standards, signaled to CUSD that she was could create a learning environment where new technology would be of maximum benefit to the students.

With the software purchased by the district, a fourth grade science unit on rocks enables the class to see how rocks are formed over long periods of time. A second lesson was utilized in a second-grade science unit studying erosion.

The AR/VR experience allows students to experience the erosion process over the decades as a river flows and to understand the dynamics of seashore erosion from jetties to breakwaters to deposition.

Dr. Debbie Posniack is a STEM teacher at Chandler Traditional Academy Independence. (Murray Siegel/Contributor)

Tarwater greets a new lunar year

With cultural activities like lion dancers, music, lantern making, red envelopes, paper cutting and calligraphy, the Tarwater Elementary Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Program’s Lunar New Year celebration Feb. 3 was a feast for the senses for students and visitors alike. An the events at the event were varied. 1) Sharon Zhen helped second grader Kaia West, 7, make an edible yuanbao good luck coin as (2) Aryana Gutierrez helped fourth grader Ezra Brewer, 10, staple his paper lantern together as his brothers Elliot, 5, and Emyson, 4, cut theirs out and (3) other kids made rabbit faces out of paper plates. 4) Lanterns decorated the playground covered area on the campus. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Farewell, my son: May God grant you eternal life

BY RABBI IRWIN WIENER Coumnist

It is so di cult to say goodbye. Thoughts of missed opportunities, of dreams that were never realized, of hurts that never mended, all come to the surface when someone close to us dies. And we don’t want to say goodbye because it is so final.

It is especially distressful with the loss of a child.

We try to find the words that will o er comfort. We attempt to rationalize the time allotted so that it has some meaning. We soothe our pain by accepting words of encouragement from friends and family.

The ancients attempted to o er some insight by stating that every man has three friends – his children, his money, and his good deeds. So, when the time comes to leave this world, he calls to his children who inform him that no one can conquer death.

Next is his money. He then cries out to his savings, asking them to save him, and the money replies that wealth cannot

save you from death.

Finally, he calls on his good deeds, and they offer an understanding that upon his arrival in the world to come, his good deeds will precede him to o er help to his soul.

Saying goodbye has three aspects - that which we say to our friends and families, that which we say to ourselves, and horror of horrors, what we say to a child.

What we say to others conveys the regrets and wishes that were never fulfilled, the sorrows of a life that was filled with tragedies, and the joys that gave us laughter and happiness.

To ourselves we often express feelings of guilt and remorse: Have we been a true friend or a loving companion? But we’re also thankful for having been part of that life.

Most of all, to say goodbye to a child is the most harrowing experience because it is not what is expected. Memory mingled with sadness overcomes our ability to fully comprehend the magnitude of the devastation.

While we attempt to say goodbye, we

want to know that it is not final. Perhaps each year, we light a candle to remind us of that special relationship that continues. The flame of a loved one’s existence is never extinguished.

The glow from the candle reminds us of the brightness that our child, my child, brought with him as he breathed his first breath.

In the final analysis, what we attempt to do in saying goodbye is to keep the memory alive, for that is the essence of immortality. Most of us will never have a monument erected to remind everyone of our sojourn here on Earth.

Most of us will not have poems or sonnets written about us for future generations to read. But some will have a section of a piece of land dedicated to our sacred voyage. Some will be scattered to the winds confirming the eternalness of life.

And we search for answers to why. Why he left so soon, why we su er, why is death so final and life so temporary? In one instant we open our eyes and the next they close – never to be opened again until God touches his face and the glory of God fills his soul.

We are immortal because eternity is the natural succession of our existence today. We are immortal because life never ends. We are immortal because memory remains the link between life and death. We are immortal because we are created in the Divine image and as God is forever, so are we.

Saying goodbye is painful because we su er a loss, and there is a void that seems irreplaceable. Saying goodbye seems so final. Perhaps that is why we should say farewell, not goodbye. Farewell doesn’t appear to be so decisive, giving us an opportunity to never forget.

Perhaps we should try to understand that while there is a loss, there is also thankfulness. We should be thankful that the one we lose has been part of our life and for us having had the opportunity, forever how long, to share the journey of life even as we say farewell.

May God receive the soul of Michael Alan Wiener and extend to him the gift of eternal life.

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D., is the spiritual leader of the Sun Lakes Jewish Community.

Abe Lincoln is church’s Tuesday topic

tion starts at 5:30 p.m.

The topic this month Abraham Lincoln and Lindsay Hall’s informal presentation will celebrate this president.

and the presenta-

Attendees are asked to call 480-8958766 to ensure there is enough food for everyone.

College exhibit captures beauty of Prague

BY SRIANTHI PERERA GetOut Contributor

Geoff Reed, a photographer and Chandler-Gilbert Community College adjunct professor, views Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, as “a magical place of enduring mystery and beauty.”

As the digital photography instructor of the Study Abroad Program in Prague, housed at the community college, he has made eight visits and plans to teach during a ninth visit this summer.

With its many churches and cathedrals, Prague has a beautiful silhouette and is known as the “City of 100 Spires.” Cobblestone streets, ancient bridges, and a hilltop castle, as well as architecture from every period and style have contributed to its reputation.

Reed’s photos, along with work by photographer Elizabeth Overall, titled “Prague Frames: Photographs by Geoff Reed and Elizabeth Overall,” are on display through Feb. 14 at the college’s Library Gallery.

On show are 17 works by Reed, created using digital cameras, processed using Photoshop and printed as chromogenic prints, and nine works in cyanotypes by Overall. Reed also launched a book of images that complements the show.

“The works are very engaging and attractive,” said Roja Najafi, Ph.D., exhibition curator and art history program fac-

ulty lead. “They give you a snapshot of the city of Prague, with landmarks, normal street life, closeups and long shots.”

As an important European city, Prague has a very rich history, politically, culturally and artistically. The exhibition gives exposure to the program and showcases the opportunity, Najafi said.

Adding to the energizing visual experi-

ence are the two different printing techniques in urban landscape photography: straightforward digital photography and cyanotype.

Reed noted the modern spirit of Prague contrasting with its darker, medieval element.

“It’s got a very interesting mix between being in the center of Europe with more

of an eastern influence,” he said. “Because it was a world heritage site, it was not bombed heavily at all during World War II. Most of the medieval architecture remains there.”

The Czechs, on the other hand, with its vibrant, young demographic, are quite modern.

“So, there’s an interesting contrast,” he added.

Reed teaches commercial and portrait photography at the Maricopa Community College District and digital photography for the Study Abroad program.

Any person of any age may participate in the digital photography class, provided they enroll in the community college and use a digital camera for the class. In the past, an 80-year-old enrolled, hence, age is not a barrier, according to Reed.

“It’s mainly community college students,” he said.

The five-week summer program begins with a week at the campus for basic instruction before leaving for Prague, where they meet four days a week for lessons and excursions.

A “fair amount” of free time is available for students to explore on their own, Reed said.

The digital photography course is aimed for beginners and intermediate

See PRAGUE on Page 36

Arabian Horse Show gallops into 68th year

BY SUMMER AGUIRRE GetOut Staff Writer

From chestnuts, to bays, to roans, hundreds of Arabian horses will be in the spotlight for the 68th annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.

The largest Arabian horse show in the world, the prestigious event attracts the best of the best owners, trainers and breeders from around the globe vying to snatch the blue ribbon in a wide variety of competitions with top Arabians.

Hosted by the nonprofit Arabian Horse Association of Arizona, the show will start at 8 a.m. each day running from Thursday, Feb. 16, to Sunday, Feb. 26, at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

“Scottsdale is the mecca for Arabian horses and each year we’re thrilled to have unique, beautiful horses from around the world come here for this event,” said Taryl O’Shea, executive director of the AHAA.

“The Arabian horse community helped shape what Scottsdale is today and has had tremendous impact both economically, culturally, and socially over the past six-plus decades. We’re grateful for the opportunity to welcome back the horse community, newcomers and enthusiasts this February.”

In 11 days, the 2023 show will feature

more than 2,000 horses and over 1,000 riders, some as young as 5 years old, competing for more than $3 million in prize money.

The Arabian breed’s beauty, versatility and elegance will be showcased in several hundred classes each day, ranging from dressage, horsemanship, side saddle, to English and Western pleasure.

This is also the first year that the Scottsdale show will include ranch horse classes, which test the Arabians’ ability to perform ranch tasks and demonstrate their adaptability for pleasure riding, working and agility.

Every discipline and age division will have normal classes pinned by place, in addition to larger classes having elimination rounds before the final championships.

Molly Schwanz, a 21-year-old competitor and Scottsdale resident, said she believes that the finals nights on the weekends are the best time to experience the show. The first weekend mostly consists of youth competitions, while the last features many championship events.

“They have the Liberty (class), where they let the horses go and they let them

run around, and then they have the jumping — that’s something that we’re not really known for,” Schwanz said.

“But it’s really cool to watch them jump the arena, and then it’s all the really amazing, exciting classes for people to watch that really show off the Arabian breed.”

Adding to the experience of watching the top equines and riders in the Arabian world perform, event goers can explore a shopping expo adjacent to the main arena.

There are expected to be over 300 artisans and entrepreneurs selling oneof-a-kind goods, products and services, including fine art, crafts, clothing and jewelry.

Returning this year is an immersive experience hosted by Phoenix-based organization HoofbeatZ USA, which offers event goers the opportunity to ride, interact with and learn about equines. The experience is included in the event ticket and introduces newcomers to the horse world.

Interacting with the horses on such a personal level is something that Schwanz said attendees don’t expect.

“I feel like every horse you meet im-

Teacher-student photographers Geoff Reed and Elizabeth Overall are holding an exhibition of images from Prague at the Chandler-Gilbert Community College, taken during its Study Abroad Program. (Srianthi Perera/Contributor)

The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show begins at 8 a.m. each day and will run from Thursday, Feb. 16 to Sunday, Feb. 26, at WestWorld of Scottsdale. (Evolve PR and Marketing)

Punk rockers Bayside to visit Nile Theater

BY ALEX GALLAGHER GetOut Staff Writer

For more than two decades, Queens, New York punk-rockers Bayside has become a house-packing, energetic live act.

However, the band has also fallen victim to the rigors of excessive touring, prompting the band to scale back its schedule, vocalist Anthony Raneri said.

“Over the last five to seven years, the band has been transitioning from touring all the time to doing one or maybe two tours a year,” Raneri said.

“We were at a point where we were on tour for 10 months out of the year, but now we’re on tour for maybe 10 weeks out of the year, which is cool, because every time we go on tour, it’s super exciting and we’re ready to go on tour again.”

Raneri said this also has increased fans’ appetite to catch the band in person at intimate venues – like the Nile Theater in Mesa, where the band plays on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

“As bands grow and progress in size, you have to change your strategy,” he said. “When we were growing in the early to mid-2000s, we had to sort of grind it out to develop the band.

“Now that we have the fans and the shows have gotten bigger and bigger, we have to leave space in between when we go to cities just to rebuild that hunger for the band.”

“Somehow we’ve been a band for going on 25 years now, and somehow I think that we’re playing the best that we ever have, from a live perspective,” he said. “I think that we’re putting out the best music we ever have, we’re writing the best songs we ever have and I’m

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pacts your life in some way that you have no idea about. They are such emotional, sensitive animals and they can really feel how you feel,” Schwanz said. “I just think that when these spectators come, they get to meet these horses and get to watch them perform, I feel like it’s such an incredible feeling that gets people excited.”

The AHAA will also celebrate the second National Arabian Horse Day on February 19, complete with special events and activities at the show.

Proceeds from the 2023 Scottsdale show will benefit several charities, including the Arabian Horse Promotional Fund, Arabian Horsemen’s Distress Fund, Friends of Vail Foundation, Healing Hearts Animal Rescue and Refuge, Horses Help TRC, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), March of Dimes, Scottsdale Community College, Scottsdale Rotary and Youth for Troops.

The Arabian horse show has been held at WestWorld of Scottsdale since 1989. Since then, it has expanded from 50 horses to over a few thousand.

The Scottsdale show was the first

hungry to be better and we’re constantly trying to get better.”

Raneri said Bayside’s live shows differ from other bands’ gigs because of their communal nature.

“Our show feels like a communal thing where things are a little bit more collaborative,” said Raneri, whose band will tour with I Am the Avalanche and Koyo.

“We recognize that going to shows is a night away from your problems and that’s what entertainment brings to the world, that’s the purpose that we serve.”

Because of this, Raneri is excited to treat fans to new tunes like “Go To Hell” and “Strangest Faces” off 2022’s “The

horse show that Schwanz competed in over 10 years ago, and she looks forward to it every year.

“It’s just something that you have to go and be there (the show) for to experience. You see it and it’s like, ‘wow, this is so incredible that all the hard work that these trainers and these riders put in throughout the year gets shown off here,’” Schwanz said.

“It really is just an amazing show, an amazing stay, an amazing city. WestWorld is such a beautiful venue to be at for this horse show and it’s just a great area. Overall, so many people come for it, it’s just incredible.”

If you go Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show

WHERE: WestWorld, 16601 N. Pima Road in Scottsdale

WHEN: Beginning at 8 a.m. each Feb. 16-26.

COST: $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors, children aged 10 and under are free. Military personnel and their families are free February 21.

INFO: scottsdaleshow.com

However, he expects to hear fans roar when he belts out the hit “Devotion and Desire” from the 2005 self-titled sophomore effort.

“We’ve been closing with ‘Devotion and Desire’ since it came out and that’s always when the set reaches the fever

Punk outfit Bayside will bring its “Just Like Home” tour to the Nile Theater on Tuesday, Feb. 14, with special guests I Am The Avalanche. (Courtesy of Alexandra Snow)

pitch,” Raneri said. “What’s cool about it is that we’ve been able to make that the last song for all this time because a lot of times it speaks to our catalog and how much our fans enjoy everything that we do.”

Info: baysidebayside.com, theniletheater.com

Red EP.”

PRAGUE

learners, while it can also be tailored to offer advanced studies.

Overall works in cyanotype, a process created in 1842. She starts with a digital image, which is then hand-printed using the cyanotype process with Prussian Blue, reflecting her visual and spiritual experiences of Prague.

“The Prussian Blue of cyanotype speaks to me on a heart level, evoking a sense of spirituality, melancholy, and peaceful beauty,” said Overall.

Anyone interested in joining the Study

In this 2015 photograph, inhabitants show solidarity with the LBGTQ movement while marching across the oldest bridge in the city. Kodak Endura Metal chromogenic “C-print.” (Geoff Reed)

Abroad program may like to visit the exhibition, Reed said.

“It’s a nice promotion for the study abroad program because we don’t always have exhibits of the work,” he said. Meanwhile, Reed, who participated in a collaborative photography show regarding a trip to Guatemala at HD South in 2021, relishes in the new opportunity. His body of work from Prague has been snowballing since 2006.

“Having an opportunity to get it out in front of people and making the book itself was a real project of love,” he said. “I have a lot more pictures I want to make in Prague; I haven’t finished there.”

Learn, see more

“Prague Frames: Photographs by Geoff Reed and Elizabeth

Overall” is open to the public at Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Library Gallery. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 7:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.

Details on the Study Abroad program: cgc.edu/academics/study-abroad

Upcoming virtual information sessions are held on Mondays from 4-5 p.m. Feb. 13 and Feb. 27, March 20 and March 27.

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