O M M U N I T YP.27| P. 2 5 | O P I N I AF O NP.31 P. 3| 6OPINION | B U S I NP.34| E S S BUSINESS P. 4 2 C H AP.37 M B E|REAL R P. 4ESTATE 3 | G EP.RE1| TO U T GETOUT P. 4 6 | P.41 S P O|RT S P. 5 3P.45| | C L ACLASSIFIED S S I F I E D P.P.47 56 INSIDE: AROUND SPORTS INSIDE: CCOMMUNITY
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GUITAR MAN
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
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Attorneys clash over Lakes course future BY JIM WALSH AFN Staff Writer
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n attorney told the Arizona Court of Appeals last week that the former Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course can lie fallow, “in it’s natural state’’ that owner Wilson Gee does not need to rebuild it. “The intent was, if you are going to use the property, it has to be a golf course, but you don’t have to use the property,’’ said Dan Maynard, an attorney representing Gee. But two out of three judges hearing the case noted that the deed restrictions on the property specifically require a golf course, echoing the ruling of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah who handed homeowners seeking the course’s rebirth a major victory in January 2018.
Gee has challenged Hannah’s ruling in the Court of Appeals, vowing to never rebuild a course that he closed in 2013 because it was losing money during a downturn in the saturated golf industry. The hearing before the three-judge panel in Phoenix marks the latest chapter in the five-year-long litigation filed by a group of homeowners to force Gee into restoring the moribund course, which he closed in 2013. In appellate courts, judges meticulously review the transcripts and documents from the lower court case and pepper attorneys with pointed questions. Last week’s hearing was no exception. Judges Randall Howe and David Weinzweig had plenty of questions for Maynard, while Judge Jennifer Perkins silently listened to the arguments.
Weinzweig, reading from the deed restrictions, said, “the property must be used for no purposes other than golf courses.’’ He also challenged another part of Maynard’s argument in which he cited a portion of the deed restrictions that allows the owner to abandon improvements on the property. Maynard said the clause gives the owner the right to abandon all facilities, including the golf course, while Weinzweig said he interprets that clause to mean it only relates to improvements related to the clubhouse or a restaurant. “It falls squarely out of the use of the word golf courses in the first sentence,’’ Weinzweig said. “Our job is to determine and en-
Local nurse helps A star is about to be born moms, newborns’ drug withdrawal
see LAKES page 14
BY CECILIA CHAN AFN Staff Writer
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onique French was taking prescribed psychotropic medication and Subutex to treat an opioid addiction when she became pregnant in November 2017. She had been on prescription opioids since 14 to treat chronic pain from endometriosis but ended up abusing her medication, at one point using heroin. She was switched to Subutex for pain management. French said she had a normal pregnancy and there were no red flags — until her son, Malachi, was born on Aug. 4. “My son was in the hospital for two months,” the 33-year-old Mesa mom said. “He has neo-
see BABIES page 8
MEDICATION ASSISTED DRUG & ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY TREATMENT
At age 7, Kamryn Smith of Ahwatukee is about to hit the big time as she and her mom are among the featured stars in the Lifetime Network hit “Dance Moms,” which starts its eighth season next Tuesday. Her parents, Cameron Smith and Adriana King, have watched their daughter blossom in dance competitions, including one last year where she won a trophy bigger than her. Details: page 22. (Kimberly Carrillo/ AFN Staff Photographer)
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