INSIDE: INSIDE:
CCOMMUNITY O M M U N I TP.27| Y P .AROUND 1 8 | O P AF I N P.31 I O N| OPINION P . 3 1 | BP.34| U S I BUSINESS N E S S P . P.37 3 2 ||REAL G E TESTATE O U T P.RE1| P . 3 5 GETOUT | S P O P.41 R T S | PSPORTS . 3 9 | CP.45| L A SCLASSIFIED S I F I E D P .P.47 43
www.ahwatukee.com
NEVER FORGOTTEN
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
.3 FIRST TIME LAST CONCERT NOVELIST
24 . 18
P P
VENDELLAS IN AHWATUKEE
. 35
P
NBA BOUND
. 39
P
A New Beginning Can Start Today!
@AhwatukeeFN
Lakes Course tax case also is dragging on BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
P
@AhwatukeeFN |
A
s Ahwatukee Lakes homeowners and golf course owner Wilson Gee await the Arizona Court of Appeals ruling on their five-year-old legal fight, a less publicized battle involving the site and county taxpayers has grinded to a halt. That case pits Maricopa County against the course’s former owner, The True Life Companies Ahwatukee Lakes Investors, LLC, over more than $1.3 million the county says is owed The county says that when True Life paid its 2015 tax bill, it improperly deducted a $1.3 million penalty the county had assessed
because the land was no longer being used as a golf course. True Life has contended from the start that it has always been entitled to the golf course discount for Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course even though it was closed in 2013. But it also is fighting a county effort to throw its suit out of court entirely. The county claims True Life never paid its whole tax bill and therefore has no legal standing to now challenge the levy. True Life asserts it did pay its entire tax bill and the $1.3 million is an illegal levy by the county. But both the county and True Life lawyers do agree on one thing: they can’t fully argue the case until the homeowners’ lawsuit is re-
solved. Lawyers for both sides in May 2017 first cited that separate case in asking the judge to delay a schedule for submitting briefs in the tax fight. Since then, Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten on eight separate occasions has granted similar requests. Most recently, Whitten on May 14 set new deadlines for briefs that extend to the end of September and has tentatively set a hearing for Nov. 22. Each time an extension was requested, lawyers for both sides cited the ongoing lawsuit by homeowners Linda Swain and Eileen
DV grad plumbing youth issues in India BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
I
t may be impossible to overstate how Hailey Dickson’s life has changed from what it was only six years ago. Starting in 2013 when she was a junior at Desert Vista High School, the Ahwatukee woman began suffering spasms that left her disoriented and in intense muscle pain around her neck and head. They became so severe that she had to drop out of school for almost her whole senior year. Up until then, Dickson had been a model student. She was a member of Desert Vista’s marching band and wind ensemble, a volunteer at
St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center as well as participant in Health Occupations Students of America and the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. During a summer trip to Nepal, she taught kindergarten children and volunteered at a hospital. As recounted in a story aired last month by the British Broadcasting Corp., Dickson had been felled by a Chiari malformation. The anatomical condition occurs when adolescent growth shapes the skull in a way that it pushes the lower part of the brain that controls balance into the space where the spinal cord passes through. Experts quoted by the BBC say
see INDIA page 10
see TAX page 12
MEDICATION A DRUG & ALC DEPENDENCY TR
Ahwatukee native Hailey Dickson has been living in India, documenting the mental and social pressures on young people there through words, photos and videos. (Special to AFN)
ADDICTION TREATMENT TODAY • FRIENDLY • DISCREET • DETOX AT HOME
We offer evidence-based solutions customized to our patients’ needs • Out-patient • Suboxone, Vivitrol available • Individual & Group Counseling - Most Insurances accepted -
7331 E. Osborn, Suite 410, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 www.truesolutionshealth.com
CALL (480) 550.7842 For a confidential Consultation