SanTan Sun News 07-19-2020

Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler

July 19, 2020 | www.santansun.com

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

Feds poured millions into Chandler to save jobs

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AND KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writers

The federal government pumped a staggering amount of money into 3,988 Chandler businesses, nonprofits, churches, private schools and other entities to hold on to more than 78,000 jobs as the economy began reeling during the first few months of the pandemic.

Records released by the U.S. Small Business Administration earlier this month show that the agency gave

Chandler entities – some with addresses at private homes – at least $545.6 million and as much as $841.3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Most of those loans likely won’t have to be repaid, under SBA guidelines, though the agency states: “Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels.

Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.”

The loans to Chandler entities

did not disclose the specific amount they got.

The incomplete data was released by the SBA after weeks of pressure from Congressional Democrats and government watchdogs about the lack of transparency in 4.9 million loans totaling $520.6 billion that it has approved so far nationwide. The agency also extended the deadline to Aug. 8 for applying for some of the estimated $130 billion that remains unspent.

ranged from as little as $88,325 to as much as $5 million, the SBA data show.

The number of jobs the borrowers said they were saving didn’t necessarily reflect the size of the loan they received, with six recipients of seven-figure loans listing no jobs saved, according to the SBA data.

The SBA did not identify the 3,435 Chandler entities that each borrowed less than $150,000.

And while it did provide names and addresses for 553 entities that obtained loans of at least $150,000, the agency

See

LOANS on page 2

S. Chandler residents in line for cheap Lyft rides

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Laurie Croswhite, Kerry’s wife and assistant coach has provided daily updates on his condition and said she was overwhelmed by the over $40,000 raised by the community to help with medical costs. (Courtesy Laurie Croswhite)

Chandler swim coach fighting COVID-19 in ICU

BY ZACH ALVIRA Sports Editor

Chandler High School head swimming and diving Coach Kerry Croswhite is in a fight for his life inside an East Valley intensive care unit after contracting COVID-19 in late June.

The 61-year-old coach has been on a ventilator in the ICU at Banner Desert Medical Center since July 8 after his oxygen levels dropped as a result of double pneumonia caused by the virus.

It was at that point he was put on a ventilator to support his breathing. At one point during the intubation process, he flatlined.

“It only took them one chest compression and an EpiPen to bring him back,” said Laurie Croswhite, his wife and assistant coach. “That made me feel better, and it shows he is trying to fight. It’s so important he doesn’t give up that fight.”

See

SWIM on page 12

South Chandler residents can look forward to better access to public transportation, thanks to a new partnership between the city and Lyft.

The ride-sharing company intends to contract with the city to offer discounted rides to Chandler residents living south of Pecos Road.

Neighborhoods located in this part of the city have only a couple of bus routes that can transfer residents to other parts of the Valley; hardly any other transit options exist for individuals unable to drive.

The city is hoping to remedy this deficit by partially subsidizing rides that are requested through Lyft’s mobile app.

According to a contract drafted between Chandler and Lyft, the city will pay 50 percent of a Lyft fare if the driver drops a Chandler resident off at a pre-designated “transfer point” that’s within close distance to one of Valley Metro’s local bus routes.

The city has identified several transfer points along Arizona Avenue and Dobson, Alma School and Gilbert roads where a Lyft patron can ask to be dropped off and receive the half-off discount. All the transfer points are positioned near bus routes 96, 112, and 136.

In order to qualify for the cheaper fare, the trip must originate or end

within a quarter-mile of a transfer point.

The trip can start or end anywhere within the Chandler city limits that’s south of Pecos Road.

After more than a year of planning and negotiation, the city expects to start its one-year service agreement with Lyft on Sept. 1.

“We’re pretty excited about this partnership with Lyft and think it’s a good way to utilize technology,” said Jason Crampton, the city’s senior transportation planner.

It would cost the city up to $900,000 to extend a Valley Metro bus route through the south part of Chandler, Crampton said, which is a substantially larger cost than the $49,000 that’s been budgeted for the first year of the Lyft program.

The city is expecting pay on average no more than $6 on each Lyft ride that qualifies for a discount. A new bus service in south Chandler is estimated to cost the city up to $12 per passenger boarding.

“It provides a much more cost-efficient service,” Crampton said. “As well as a convenient service for our residents.”

Instead of scheduling their days around a rigid bus schedule, Crampton added, Chandler residents could decide when they want to be picked up and where their destination will be.

F E AT U R E STO R I E S

See page 20

City to aid small businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . . Page 6 Bungee salon confronts pandemic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BUSINESS . . . . . . . Page 34 ADs hope for fall sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SPORTS . . . . . . . . . Page 41 Chandler yoga master wheels around. . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . Page 44 Local woman named to Cultural Foundation. . . . .ARTS . . . . . . . . . . Page 49

Clip It ...............................................Center Section

See

LYFT on page 3

More Community . . . 1-32 Business . . . . . 34-39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 41 Opinion . . . . . . . . 43 Neighbors . . 44-47 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Directory . . . . 52-53 Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

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COMMUNITY NEWS

LOANS

from page 1

The PPP loan funds – described by the SBA as “a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll” – are part of the $2 trillion pandemic relief package approved by Congress in March that also included other assistance to individuals, businesses and local and state governments.

PPP loans are aimed at preserving jobs by helping borrowers maintain their payroll and stay afloat by using some of the money for rent, mortgage interest or utilities.

The loans comprised the largest portion of the multi-aid effort, accounting for $670 billion, or 26 percent, of the total package.

Arizona’s share of the PPP money totaled between 6.5 billion and $12.5 billion.

If you’re wondering why the loan amounts aren’t more precise for large borrowers and why the identities of thousands of smaller ones remain a secret, it’s because the SBA wanted it that way.

For weeks, the SBA and the Treasury Department squabbled with Congress and others over the paucity of data it had been releasing about the way it was doling out taxpayers’ money as the economy buckled beneath the weight of business shutdowns.

Treasury and the SBA officials said they were protecting the borrowers’ privacy.

Lobbyists for organizations like the

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

National Federation of Independent Business were reported to be concerned that businesses would be hurt competitively or subjected to “public shaming” if identities were disclosed.

While refusing to list much information beyond an itemization of the amount of each below $150,000 and the number of jobs supposedly being saved, the SBA included the names and addresses of those that borrowed $150,000 or more.

But it listed those recipients only within one of five categories of loan ranges: $150,000-350,000, $350,000-1 million, $1-2 million, $2-5 million and $5-10 million.

So, the identities of 3,435 Chandler recipients of loans totaling just over $343.5 million remain a secret. The total number of jobs saved by those recipients was 50,703, according to the data.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the way the loan data was released “strikes the appropriate balance of providing the American people with transparency, while protecting sensitive payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors.”

But in a June 25 report, other problems with the program were cited by the federal U.S. Government Accountability Office, the federal government’s primary auditing agency.

“SBA moved quickly to establish a new nationwide program, but the pace contributed to confusion and questions about the program and raised program integrity concerns,” the GAO said.

It said borrowers and lenders “raised a number of questions about the program and eligibility criteria” and noted that the agency issued multiple rules to address confusion among prospective borrowers.

Moreover, the GAO warned, “to help quickly disburse funds, SBA allowed lenders to rely on borrower certifications to determine borrowers’ eligibility, raising the potential for fraud.”

The data related to Chandler PPP recipients lists no recipients in the $5 million to $10 million range; 24 in the $2 million to $5 million range; 47 in the $1 million to $2 million category; 174 that received between $350,000 and $1 million; and 308 that got between $150,000 and $350,000.

Among those categories in Chandler, the 174 recipients of loans between $350,000-$1 million accounted for the most jobs saved at 9,831. The total amount borrowed by those entities ranged between $60.9 million and $174 million.

The 308 recipients in the $150,000$350,000 range received a total of between $46.2 million and $107.8 million and saved 8,020 jobs, according to the SBA data.

In the $1 million to $2 million category, the 47 entities obtained a total $47 million to $94 million and saved 5,052 jobs, the data show.

The 24 recipients in the $2 million to $5 million category saved 4,628 jobs after obtaining loans totaling $48 million to $120 million.

For six recipients of seven-figure

loans, the SBA data show either a 0 or a blank under the category for jobs saved. Two of those companies, Hawkeye Electric and DBSI, Inc., each received loans of between $2 million and $5 million.

No job information also was listed for four companies in the $1 million to $2 million category: Advanced Materials Technologies, Aerospec, JC OPS Co. and ITS. The Chandler data also has a number of private and charter schools and companies that provide services to them among the recipients.

They include The American Virtual Academy, which operates Primavera Online High School, and Vertex Education, which provides services to charters. They each received loans of between $2 million and $5 million to save a combined 377 jobs.

Legacy Traditional School received four loans totaling $1.4 million to $4 million for four Valley campuses and reported saving 347 jobs.

Valley Christian School reported saving 45 jobs for the loan of $1 million to $2 million it received while the Autism Academy for Education and Development claimed 208 jobs saved for its loan in the same category.

Two other schools, Seton Catholic, saving 77 jobs, and Skyline Academy, claiming 50 jobs, were in the $350,000 to $1 million category while St. Dominic Savio received between $150,000 and $350,000 to save 47 jobs.

See

LOANS on page 3

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

LOANS

from page 2

Loans of $350,000 to $1 million went to three churches: Cornerstone Christian Fellowship had no job information while Compass Christian Church reported 62 jobs and Tri-City Baptist Church said it saved 144 jobs.

Six other Chandler churches were all in the $150,000 to $300,000 category:

LYFT

Faith Family Church (34 jobs), St. Mary’s Catholic Church (75 jobs), St. Andrew the Apostle (19 jobs), Grove Bible (28 jobs), Antioch Community Church (50 jobs) and Crossroads Church of the Nazarene (34 jobs).

While many restaurants presumably received less than $150,000 and are therefore unidentified, 11 chains and independent restaurants and bars were among recipients of loans greater than that – including state Rep. Jeff

Weninger’s Arizona Sandwich Shops, which was in the $350,000 to $1 million category.

Someburros and San Tan Brewery received the largest loans – $1 million to $2 million each – to save 348 and 105 jobs, respectively.

Receiving loans of $350,000 to $1 million were Top Line Restaurants, which saved 280 jobs at its Denny’s eateries, and Desert Subway, which saved 126 jobs.

from page 1

As part of the agreement, Lyft will be obligated to share data with the city on the rides it provides in south Chandler. Crampton said the city will be regularly reviewing this data and using it to assess whether the Lyft’s contract should be renewed at the end of August 2021.

Chandler is not the first city to partner with Lyft to offer cheaper rides to its residents. Several cities across the country have formed similar partnerships to fill a service gap in neighborhoods that have few public transit options.

Phoenix conducted a six-month trial run of the Lyft program – known commonly as “First Mile Last Mile” – in 2017.

Councilman Mark Stewart said he was pleased the city had found a creative way to expand transit services without paying for an expensive bus route.

“This is innovation. This is thinking

People in ths part of south Chandler who have no wheels of their own will be able to get cheap Lyft rides to bus routes under an agreement between the company and city.

(City of Chandler)

Other restaurants are listed in the $150,000-$350,000 category, including the relatively new Hidden House restaurant downtown, which saved 40 jobs; Ginger Monkey, with 44 jobs; Majerles, with 33 jobs; the Brickyard with 20 jobs; and Helluva Brewery, with two jobs.

Besides the churches, two other nonprofits – AZCEND with 42 jobs and ICAN with 28 jobs – received loans of $150,000-$350,000 each. outside the box,” he said. “It allows those who are underserved to get to the bus stops.”

Chandler’s decision to partner with Lyft fulfills some of the goals outlined in the city’s newly-updated transportation master plan, which strongly advocated for finding more flexible types of transit.

“Students and younger working populations are not inclined toward driving,” the 2019 master plan states, “and need demand-responsive mode alternatives like carpool, micro-transit, and ride-hailing services.”

As part of the master plan, the city surveyed 900 Chandler residents and 44 percent of respondents thought the city should invest more resources in public transit options.

Looking ahead to the future, Crampton said his department will be attempting to use more technology to rejuvenate how public transit is delivered and, in turn, will ideally encourage more local residents to consider using it.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Hospitals, business groups target 2 initiatives

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Business groups are trying to keep Arizonans from voting on proposals to hike taxes on the wealthiest residents and give hospital workers a pay hike.

One challenge, filed by a group financed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, alleges that the legally required 100-word description given to initiative petition signers about the effects of the tax increase to generate nearly $1 billion a year for K-12 education fails to adequately describe how it works.

Foes contend that those who were asked to put the measure on the November ballot were never told it was an entirely new tax and how it would result in “a near-doubling’’ of the marginal tax rates owed by many businesses.

If that claim sounds familiar, it should.

The chamber used it successfully two years ago in its bid to keep a similar measure off the 2018 ballot.

The other from a group financed by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association contends that the initiative process was flawed because it never identified as Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West as its sponsor and source of its funds.

Foes of this measure also claim that the 100-word description on petitions is See

SUITS on page 5

Healthcare workers delivered thousands of signature petitions recently to get an initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot that would raise the pay of thousands of hospital employees. (Capital; Media Services.)

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

SUITS

from page 4

“highly misleading.’’

David Lujan, the director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress and the author of the tax plan, said the challenge by the chamber is “disappointing but not surprising.’’

“The chamber has continually shown that they’re more interested in protecting well-paid CEOs rather than helping Arizona schools,’’ he said.

The proposal imposes what the initiative calls a 3.5 percent “surcharge’’ on incomes above $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for married couples. Put another way, it would only be the earnings above that point that would be affected.

Challengers say that obscures the fact that people in that tax bracket already are paying a 4.5 percent state income tax on earnings at that level.

“Yet by saying the initiative ‘establishes a 3.5 percent surcharge’ on this income, the summary gives signers the misimpression that the income is currently untaxed,’’ wrote the attorneys for Arizonans for Great Schools and a Strong Economy, the chamber-financed group formed to fight the initiative.

They said it should have been portrayed to petition signers as an 8 percent tax rate on incomes above the threshold.

“A voter might be willing to tax their fellow citizens 3.5 percent but not 8 percent,’’ the attorneys are telling the judge. They said that should be listed as an 80 percent increase.

Lujan, however, said there’s nothing misleading about it.

For example, Lujan said, a couple

earning $501,000 would pay the same tax as now on the money they earn. Then, there would be an additional 3.5 percent additional levy on $1,000 – the amount at which the tax kicks in, or $35.

Challengers also contend there are other misleading statements in that 100word description, like the claim that the money would be used to “hire and increase salaries for teachers.’’ But they said the ac-

affordable prices if the federal Affordable Care Act ultimately is voided by the courts or repealed by Congress.

Attorneys for the hospitals, in attempting to keep this off the November ballot, are relying in part on what appear to be technical issues with wording and the failure to define some of the terms.

But the lawsuit also takes aim at the claim that the measure, if approved “sets

The chamber has continually shown that they’re “ more interested in protecting well-paid CEOs rather than helping Arizona schools, ’’

– David Lujan

tual texts reveals the cash could be spent on those who “support student academic achievement,’’ a definition they say could include custodians and bus drivers.

There also is a claim that the measure would have a harsh effect on small businesses whose income tax is reported on their owners’ individual tax forms.

But Lujan said that ignores the fact that the tax is imposed not on the gross income of a business but only on what the business owner brings home after paying all expenses.

The measure the hospitals are seeking to quash would guarantee 20 percent raises over four years to certain hospital personnel, impose new infection-control standards on hospitals and put a provision in Arizona law designed to ensure that individuals with pre-existing health conditions can purchase insurance at

new minimum wages for direct care workers at private hospitals.’’

“A reasonable voter would interpret ‘direct care workers’ to mean that wage rates will be adjusted for those directly involved in the care of patients such as a physician, nurse, or an imaging technician,’’ wrote attorney Brett Johnson.

In fact, he said, the text of the initiative instead refers to “direct care hospital workers.’’ And it defines that to include nurses, aides, technicians, janitorial and housekeeping staff, food service workers and nonmanagerial administrative staff.

Johnson also faults the claim that the initiative “prohibits insurers from discriminating against pre-existing conditions.’’

But he said that doesn’t make it clear that it would apply only to health and disability insurance and not things like life or

5

property and casualty insurance.

“This broad overstatement is fraudulent and/or would cause a significant danger of confusion to a reasonable person,’’ the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also takes aim at the wording of another provision designed to protect patients from “surprise out-of-network bills.’’

Holly Ward, spokeswoman for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, said a measure like this is a bad idea in these “extraordinary times,’’ mentioning that staffers “are working tirelessly to care for everyone who comes in for care.’’

“We don’t need to drive costs up for hospitals and ultimately patients,’’ she said.

Rodd McLeod, spokesman for the initiative, said, “This lawsuit is just an admission by the hospitals that they’re not going to be able to convince Arizonans to vote against affordable health care at the ballot box so they’re going to try to deny voters a chance to have a vote at all.’’

McLeod also took a separate swat at state Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, who signed on as a plaintiff with the hospitals.

He said that Leach opposed legislation pushed by then-Gov. Jan Brewer to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

“So, it’s no surprise to see him standing with millionaire CEOs and against ordinary families that get stuck with surprise bills,’’ McLeod said.

Leach declined to comment.

Both lawsuits now head to Maricopa County Superior Court where judges will consider the merits of the arguments. But in both cases the final decision is likely to have to come from Arizona Supreme Court.

6

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

City’s virus-relief plan to aid businesses, others

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

The City of Chandler will award grants to pandemic-stressed local businesses with some of the $30 million it received from the state to ease the economic repercussions caused by COVID-19.

According to a plan presented to the City Council last week, the city has proposed dividing the relief funding into five categories: $9.5 million for local businesses, $7.7 million for improving the city’s technology, $1.6 million for community support, $1 million for protective gear and $10 million to be saved in the city’s reserves.

The grants – capped at $10,000 – will go to local businesses in the retail, health care, manufacturing, remediation and food service industries.

The city picked those industries based on the number of unemployment claims that have been filed since the pandemic began impacting businesses in March. The sectors that have had the highest rates of job loss were given priorityfor the money.

Only small for-profit businesses with fewer than 100 full-time workers would be eligible and recipients would have to prioritize the funding for keeping jobs.

Data collected by the city indicates there are more than 1,900 businesses who could potentially qualify for re-

City Councilman Matt Orlando listens to the administration outline its plan for spending $30 million in pandemic relief funds from the state.

(Kevin Reagan/Staff)

ceiving a grant.

Nicknamed the “I Choose Chandler” initiative, the grant program will be administered by a separate entity or individual who will contract with the city to review applications and award the money.

This third-party vendor would have to judge applications based on guidelines set by the city, according to

Economic Development Director Micah Miranda and be expected to provide weekly updates to the city on the program’s operations.

The grant program will be a “novel solution” to helping the local businesses most hurt by the pandemic, Miranda added.

While Mesa and Phoenix started handing out business grants months

ago, smaller communities like Chandler had to wait significantly longer because the money was in the state’s hands.

Arizona’s three largest cities and three largest counties got a direct allotment from Washington D.C. but Chandler and scores of other municipalities had to wait for the Ducey Administration.

Even after Gov. Doug Ducey dispersed $441 million of Arizona’s federal funding to local cities and counties, Chandler still had to wait for further guidance on how it could spend its allotment without violating any state laws that prohibit the gifting of public dollars to private entities.

After a legal review of options, the city’s staff believes the grants can legally serve industries hit hardest by COVID-19.

The city’s Neighborhood Resources Department will spend $1.6 million of the CARES money to support local food banks, after-school programs, senior citizens as well as help residents prevent eviction from their homes.

Neighborhood Resources Director Leah Powell said some of the money will also assist nonprofits in providing relief for homeless individuals who can’t find a place to escape from the summer heat.

Local shelters are already full, she See

CARES on page 14

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

4 seek 3 seats on Chandler Unified school board

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

The field has been set for candidates running in the Nov. 3 election for three open seats on the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board.

Among them are two longtime incumbents are seeking another four-year term in what appears will be a four-way race for the three seats.

Board President Barbara Mozdzen is seeking her third consecutive term while David Evans, who’s been serving on the board since 2005, is seeking re-election to a fifth term.

But board member Karen McGee apparently is not seeking reelection.

Although she filed a statement of interest in running again, she apparently did not meet the July 6 deadline for filing petitions to get on the ballot, according to the list of candidates maintained by the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools.

Among the two newcomers attempting to join the board in 2021 is a former Chandler Unified administrator.

Joel Wirth, Chandler Unified’s former chief financial officer, submitted petitions to get on the ballot, as did architect Jason Olive, a parent to two CUSD students.

Wirth has decades of experience working as a certified public accountant for various government agencies. He

Chandler Unified Governing Board candidates include, from top left: former district CFO Joel Wirht, inclumbents Barbara Mozden and David Evans, and architect Jason Olive.

(Special to the San Tan Sun News)

worked for the state Auditor General’s Office and Phoenix’s Roosevelt Elementary School District before starting his 37-year tenure at CUSD. He also essentially oversaw all of Chandler Unified’s finances and spearheaded various lobbying efforts. Before his retirement in 2018, the district acknowledged Wirth’s extensive service by naming Casteel High School’s sports

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Wirth said he’d like to give back to his former employer by using his financial experience to guide CUSD through

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10

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

No deficiencies found at Chandler facility with 16 virus deaths

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

State regulators found no operational deficiencies at a Chandler assisted-living home where numerous residents contracted COVID-19 and 16 died from the virus.

Pennington Gardens, near Pecos and Dobson roads, reported counted 16 virus-related fatalities and more than 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 back in April, making it one of the deadliest hotspots in the state for the disease at that time among Arizona’s many assisted-living communities.

Federal data shows at least three other Medicare-funded nursing homes in Arizona recorded more than 16 resident deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March. More than 250 of Arizona’s nursing homes residents have so far died from the virus.

While the federal government has begun citing some Arizona nursing homes for infection-control violations during the pandemic, state regulators found no major deficiencies that might explain why Pennington had a high rate of infection.

Pennington’s managers claim its facility has been free of COVID-19 since May, thanks to new protocols that include requiring staff to wear face masks, social distancing and screening residents each day for COVID-19 symptoms.

“We continue to keep the safety of our residents and team members our

At least 16 residents at Pennington Gardens in Chandler lost their lives to COVID-19 but the state found no deficiencies in its operations.0 (Special to SanTan Sun News)

absolute priority,” said Amira Fahoum, a spokesperson for Pennington. “We are in regular communication with our residents, their families, and our team members to provide them with clear information and updates to any protocol or procedural changes.”

On May 20, the Arizona Department of Health Service conducted an onsite investigation at Pennington after receiving some complaints about the facility.

Public records show inspectors found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

Chris Minnick, a spokesman for the state Health Services Department, said the agency is not able to disclose the details of unsubstantiated complaints.

Only allegations that are supported by deficiencies found at a facility can be made public, he said.

On June 10, the Health Department cited Pennington for leaving out information in its rulebook for how it was combating COVID-19.

According to the agency’s records, inspectors noted Pennington did not mention in its policy protocol whether staff was regularly disinfecting chairs, tables or light switches.

Pennington’s protocol provided a cleaning checklist that staff was expected to complete multiple times throughout the workday.

Though the checklist mentioned sanitizing handrails and doorknobs, health inspectors faulted Pennington for leaving out other surfaces that can be carriers for the virus.

“The deficient practice posed a risk as policies and procedures reinforce and clarify standards expected of employees,” records state.

A Pennington employee later informed inspectors that the facility’s staff had been cleaning these surfaces and promised to update Pennington’s rulebook. The Health Department said this citation was corrected on June 23.

Pennington did not immediately respond to inquiries asking whether it has had more cases of COVID-19 over the last couple months.

The state will not disclose the identities of homes and assisted-living facilities that have had outbreaks of the virus due to privacy concerns, allowing the facilities to decide how much information will be made public.

Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury ruled in favor of the state earlier this summer by concluding state law allowed for this information to remain confidential.

“Although difficult in the face of this devilish virus, fidelity to the Constitution and the laws of the state of Arizona must prevail,” Coury ruled.

The federal government has taken a different stance than Arizona, choosing to publicly disclose which MediSee

PENNINGTON on page 14

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12

COMMUNITY NEWS

SWIM

from page 1

Laurie said her husband began feeling ill with a fever, chills and body aches on June 22 – the day after Father’s Day. Out of precaution, he isolated himself in the bedroom of their home and took Tylenol and vitamins.

He was tested for COVID-19 by his doctor shortly after symptoms began, but the test came back negative.

Then, on June 30, he told his wife he could feel the illness had moved into his chest and his cough was becoming worse. Using a home monitoring device, Laurie found her husband’s oxygen levels had dipped into the 80s. Typically, levels should remain in the high 90s.

Croswhite first went to a Valley hospital on July 1 but was released 45 minutes later after his oxygen level rose. Laurie declined to identify that hospital.

On July 3, his oxygen dipped again and he was admitted into Banner Desert, where he received a positive test for the virus. He was placed on a BiPap machine before being moved to the ICU on July 7 and put on a ventilator the next day.

“He was reluctant to go to the hospital the second time because he was afraid of being sent home again,” said Laurie. “But he knew he needed to go because each day was getting worse.

Laurie, who has tested negative for the coronavirus, said she doesn’t know where her husband may have contract-

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

ed the disease.

Croswhite has been a staple in the prep swimming community in Arizona during his 15 years leading the Wolves.

He coached at Highland High for a number of years before Chandler and had his own swimming career at Western State University.

Croswhite has also become wellknown for the bagpipes he plays before every competition while leading his team onto the pool deck as well as at events across the Valley.

But it’s his love and admiration for his swimmers that make him a beloved coach.

During a swim practice in 2008, Croswhite jumped into the water to save one of his swimmers that had a seizure and was at the bottom of the pool. His quick action saved her life.

“One of the gals had epilepsy and had a seizure,” Laurie said. “He noticed she was at the bottom and wasn’t playing around. He jumped in and got her out.”

Laurie believes the strength of his lungs from swimming and the bagpipes have helped him in his fight that eclipsed the 19-day mark on July 14.

Croswhite has, for the most part, remained in the prone position on his stomach since he was intubated.

There have been times where his blood pressure fell below normal levels and his kidneys have taken a beating as a result of the virus.

He received his third round of dialysis on July 13 but overall has showed stability and some improvements, his

Chandler High School head swimming and diving coach Kerry Croswhite is fighting for his life inside the ICU at Banner Desert after testing positive for COVID-19. (Courtesy Laurie Croswhite)

wife said.

The family has been able to FaceTime him on occasion. Laurie said Croswhite has smiled and even teared up at times, signaling that he is able to recognize their voices.

On Monday morning, he opened his eyes and moved his head during their call.

“It means the world to me,” Laurie said, fighting off tears. “I know he can

Covering their safety takes more than a mask.

Even in times like these, your child’s healthcare needs don’t stop.

At Phoenix Children’s, we’re making it safer for you to see us, with telehealth appointments and enhanced precautions for in-person visits.

Whether your child requires vaccines, an appointment with a specialist or a scheduled surgery, don’t let being careful stop you from getting your kids the care they need.

Vaccines. Scheduled surgeries. Specialist visits.

Visit phoenixchildrens.org or call 602-933-KIDS to schedule an appointment.

hear us and he’s trying so hard and he’s fighting. I know he’s on a lot of medications and is confused but we know it is helping him.”

Megan Jarvis, Laurie’s sister, set up a GoFundMe Friday, July 9 in an effort to assist the family with the cost of Croswhite’s treatment. Laurie said she does not have an estimate as to how much will be covered by insurance but she knows bills will be high.

Within hours of the GoFundMe page launch, thousands of dollars were raised. As of Tuesday, nearly $43,000 had been donated.

“This truly shows how much he is loved and the influence he has made on people’s lives,” Laurie said. “I can’t wait until he wakes up and sees all of this, reads all of this, sees the donations. It’s amazing.”

Despite Croswhite’s improvements, his fight is long from over. Doctors at one point turned his ventilator setting down to 90 percent but it had to be turned back up to 100.

No matter what lies ahead on his road to recovery, Laurie is confident the support from friends, family and the high school swimming community will continue motivating him to fight.

“We are immensely thankful for everybody’s love and prayer, oh my goodness the prayers,” Laurie said, “I think those are so important. And then the donations, just everything. It’s amazing.”

To make a donation: gofundme. com/f/medical-expenses-for-kerry-croswhite.

13

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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14

COMMUNITY NEWS

CARES

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Another $500,000 will be allotted for local businesses looking to get reimbursed for buying masks, gloves and face shields.

The Chandler Industrial Development Authority, a nonprofit that operates independently from the city,

recently established its own reimbursement fund for businesses that have had to spend hundreds of dollars on protective gear.

The IDA has so far awarded about $12,000 in reimbursement grants.

After reviewing how the city intends

to divvy up the CARES allotment, City Council members seemed to generally approve of the plan and expressed a desire to quickly get the money out into the community.

Mayor Kevin Hartke approved of the plan and said he appreciated its flexibility by allowing for some of the $30 million to be saved in reserves.

“I think this is a good first step,” the mayor said. “It will give us the opportunity to be nimble with future funds.”

But Councilman Mark Stewart said the $10 million being saved in the city’s reserves is money he’d like to be spent sooner rather than later.

“I don’t think that we should be using much for reserve,” Stewart said. “I think we should be pouring it into the marketplace. That’s what it was intended to be used for.”

The city said it chose to save a significant amount in reserves in order to prepare for any unexpected future needs that may arise as the pandemic continues to unfold.

City Manager Marsha Reed said Council still has discretion to later change how and when the money held in reserves can be utilized.

about these facilities that the state may wish not to reveal.

Chandler is home to at least five Medicare-certified nursing homes and one was recently cited for not following the government’s infection-control guidelines.

Desert Cove, near Frye and Dobson roads, has had at least nine residents die

from COVID-19 and six staff members contract the virus, according to federal data. Some of the state’s other Medicare-certified homes have had up to 30 residents succumb to the coronavirus.

On May 13, health inspectors cited Desert Cove after they observed an employee failing to inform visitors they

needed to wash or sanitize their hands before walking through the facility.

The employee screened the visitors for symptoms of the virus, inspectors noted, but did not offer them any hygiene products before allowing them to move freely about the building. Desert Cove reported correcting this error by June 10.

from page 6

said, and the places homeless individuals used to frequent to get out of the heat – such as public libraries – have been limiting their access due to COVID-19.

Powell’s department plans also to hire two full-time community “navigators” who can help homeless individuals find resources and stay off the streets.

The rate of homelessness has been increasing in Chandler for the last few years and the city is projecting that rate to grow by another 40 percent during the pandemic.

“I believe we’re already there,” Powell said about the projection. “We may have even already surpassed that.”

The $7 million in CARES funding Chandler has reserved for technology upgrades would be spent on replacing the city’s desktop computers with laptops, improving network security and modernizing the city’s video capabilities.

The city’s plan also allots $500,000 for purchasing protective masks and gear for Chandler’s public safety workers.

PENNINGTON

from page 10

care-certified nursing homes have had confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Because some facilities are regulated

by Medicare, the federal government has authority to release information

Aboput a third of the $30 million in pandemic relief funds that Chandler received from the state will be held in reserve for virus-related emergencies. (City of Chandler)

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

15

Senior facility honors vets with special wall SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

North Chandler Place, a senior living community, now has a permanent tribute to residents who served their country – and some spouses who made a sacrifice of their own.

With some fanfare provided by a local scout troop and VFW Post, North Chandler Place earlier this month dedicated a veterans’ wall of honor, The wall features photos of about 15 residents who served in the military – including Don Bowers, the only World War II veteran and resident who will turn 100 on Aug. 1– and five honorees’ spouses.

Three shadowboxes, two containing uniforms and the other an American flag, along with framed portraits of the vets have been mounted on a decorated wall in one of the common areas of the senior living complex on Price Road.

One uniform is an Eisenhower Class A Dress Uniform jacket that belonged to a master sergeant who served in the 9th Army Air Corps in World War II and had been serving in the 5th Army Infantry when last worn.

The other is 1950’s Class A Officers Uniform worn by a lieutenant colonel in the Signal Corp Branch of the Army that has ribbons representing theaters of operations he served in during different conflicts.

“Our team has worked collaboratively with the veterans who reside at North Chandler Place to make this possible,” said Christopher Frere, exec-

The Veterans Wall of Honor at North Chandler Place, a senior care facility, was unveiled around Independence Day, saluting residents who served their country.

(Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

utive director, “The photos, stories and memorabilia collected are a remarkable representation of the bravery and sacrifice these men and women have made for our country.”

Frere said the idea originated with the facility’s enrichment director, Robin Everett, who worked with the in-house veterans club to organize the tribute.

“For us it was quite the honor to be able to dedicate the wall to the veterans and for the service and dedication that they provided to our country,” Frere said, adding the wall occupies “a significant amount of space” in an area where residents gather for entertainment or visit with guests.

He said the residents were pleased

with the way it turned out as well.

“They’ve talked about how proud they were that North Chandler Place was willing to put forth the effort and the money and the time to organize such a nice space to dedicate to them,” he said of the residents who are veterans.

“Every visitor that comes through is able to see that space,” he added.

RN U T RE

Experience Matters • Chandler City Council, 2009-2016 • Planning &Zoning Commission, 2000-2007, 2017-2020 • Co-Chair Successful Chandler Bond Election, 2007 • President AMWUA Regional Water Authority • Parks and Recreation Board, 2007-2008 • Started Chandler Education Coalition and Started Read On Chandler • Treasurer Desert Cancer Foundation of Arizona, 2007-2020 Board Member EVJCC, 2010-2019 • Board Member Chandler Chamber of Commerce 2017-2020

Rick Has The Experience Standing For: Strong Public Safety Strong Fiscal Policies Strong Neighborhoods Strong Sustainability in Development Strong Relations with our Education Community Strong Relationships with our Business Community

Endorsed By • Chandler Chamber Commerce • WeServe-Southeast Valley Realtors Association • Professional Firefighters of Arizona • Chandler Law Enforcement Association • AZ Cops • Mayors, Council Members and Community Leaders from the East Valley

Vote in person on August 4 or by early ballot.

Rick4ChandlerCouncil.com Paid for and authorized by Rick Heumann for Chandler Council 2020.

16

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Around Chandler Chandler opening centers for early voting this week

As Chandler registered voters get closer to the Aug. 4 Primary Election, four sites in the city will open July 22 where they can vote early.

Early voting started July 8 and will continue through July 31.

Voters can visit City Hall 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or drop by voting centers at Chandler Fashion Center, 3111 W. Chandler Blvd.; Chandler-Gilbert Community College, 2626 E. Pecos Road; or Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road.

On Election Day, voted ballots may also be dropped off at City Hall from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To vote in person early or on Election Day, registered voters must present identification. A list of acceptable IDs is available at chandleraz.gov/elections, under Frequently Asked Questions.

Voters have until July 24 to request an early ballot be mailed to their home address for the Primary Election. To request an early ballot by mail, call 602-506-1511, or go to recorder.maricopa.gov/earlyvotingballot/earlyvotingballotrequest.aspx.

Voters may request a one-time ballot by mail or sign up for the Permanent Early Voting List. Once a on that list, voters will automatically receive a ballot 27 days prior to any election.

Registered Independent voters are eligible to vote in the Primary Election.

Independent voters must choose a

ballot for the Republican or Democratic slate, or a City issue-only ballot. City of Chandler ballot measures will appear on the ballot for both parties. Information: 480-782-2181.

Chandler Elks help local food bank with donation Chandler Elks Lodge #2429 recently donated $5,000.00 to Mathews Crossing, a Chandler food bank who is assisting families impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lodge members used two grants they received from the Elks National Fund. The first grant of $2,500 was a Spotlight Grant, designed to give every Elks Lodge the opportunity to shine a light on family literacy and homelessness among the nation’s veterans.

The second grant, called a Gratitude Grant, was awarded as a thank you to the members of Chandler Elks Lodge for meeting the Elk’s National President’s Per-Member goal for giving to the Elks National Fund. The fund helps Elks build stronger communities by helping young people develop lifelong skills, send students to college, meet the needs of today’s veterans, support the charitable work of the state Elks associations and fund projects that improve the quality of life in local Elks communities.

An additional $500. was raised and donated by the members of the Chandler Elks Lodge.

Chandler Elks Lodge #2429 is a

50-year-old fraternal order with over 600 members of good moral character.

Chandler seeks feedback on municipal airport’s future

The City of Chandler is seeking community feedback on the recent findings of the airport master plan. Residents are encouraged to view the update through an online video presentation at chandler.airportstudy.com/public-meetings/.

Due to the pandemic, this video presentation replaces the second open house originally scheduled for input.

After viewing the video, residents are encouraged to answer a few survey questions as well as share additional input. The link to the survey for public feedback also is provided on the website, and will be accepted through July 10.

The plan is a comprehensive, long-range study of the airport that describes a course of action for the facility to provide a safe and efficient environment to accommodate future aviation activity in Chandler.

The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that public-use airports prepare a new plan every seven to 10 years, or as necessary, to address local changes at the airport.

The goal is to provide the framework needed to guide beneficial airport development that will cost-effectively satisfy aviation demand, while considering community development and

potential environmental and socioeconomic issues.

At any time, the public is encouraged to share comments on the project online at chandler.airportstudy.com/comments/.

Information: chandler.airportstudy.com.

Hadassah chapter seeks all interested women

The Devorah chapter of Hadassah is looking for new members.

“If you’d like to connect and join, we would love to have you,” a spokeswoman said. “Even though we’re not holding regular activities in the traditional way at this time, we are doing Zoom events such as a book club and some meetings.

"We are also looking to put something together to play mahjong, meet as social groups with varying interests and to just see each other.”

The group also has a monthly food drive to help people during these challenging times.

The group prides itself on offering members both social opportunities and a way to help the community. Interested women can contact ann.hadassah@gmail.com.

Stormwater survey open to all Chandler residents

The City of Chandler is required to prepare and maintain a Stormwater Management Program to ensure it complies with state and federal regulations.

See

AROUND on page 19

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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DPS sues to ground Chandler tutor with shaky past

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State law enforcement officials are attempting to stop a Chandler teacher who has been arrested 10 times on suspicion of inappropriately touching children from being able to work in local schools.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Heston Silbert filed a civil complaint in court on June 24 aimed at thwarting other state agencies from granting a fingerprint clearance card to 37-year-old Brett James Smith, who has been criminally convicted in other states for touching the backs of children.

Smith, who changed his name from Brett Zagorac, had been tutoring children in the Chandler area and was waiting to receive a fingerprint card in Arizona – which would grant him the ability to be hired in most school districts.

But then DPS stepped in and exposed his lengthy criminal history.

In his 27-page complaint, Silbert outlines the sordid details of Smith’s 10 prior arrests and his recent interactions around Chandler that have raised the suspicions of some local residents.

His suit alleges that it would be a mistake for Smith to be given a fingerprint card.

DPS had denied Smith’s applications for a card in the past but he appealed to the courts to obtain a “good cause exception” – a legal remedy offenders can be given if they’re found to be rehabilitated from their prior misbehavior.

The DPS director condemned an unidentified judge and the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting for thinking Smith had reformed himself and ultimately recommending he be given the “good cause exception” to obtain a fingerprint card.

The board was “arbitrary” and “capricious” in voting to give Smith a fingerprint clearance in January, Silbert’s suit states, and should hold another hearing to review evidence demonstrating Smith’s pattern of behavior.

“Smith has engaged in a prolonged series of inappropriate acts against children -- even twice violating his probation conditions,” Silbert’s complaint states.

Smith’s repeated contacts with Chandler Police and “pushy” tactics to tutor local school children should further disqualify him from obtaining a fingerprint card and prove his inability to change his behavior, Silbert’s complaint argues.

Lawyers representing Smith have accused DPS of creating a “false narrative” in order to smear Smith’s reputation.

In a statement, his attorneys claimed DPS’ portrayal of Smith’s arrest record is “false and misleading” and characterized his prior interactions with children as not being “sex crimes.” He’s never been convicted or accused of touching a child’s genitals, the lawyers stated.

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Chandl;er resident Brett James Smith has been arrested 10 times for inappropriate touching of children but a judge still allowed him to teach. (File photo)

Smith was first arrested in 2002 after a fourth-grader in Indiana accused the then-teacher of sliding his hand under the student’s shirt and rubbing their back. More students then came forward with similar allegations but the charges were later dropped due to uncooperative witnesses.

Over the next 13 years, Smith was arrested several more times for similar incidents involving rubbing the backs of girls and boys. He was convicted at least three times for misdemeanor offenses and spent some time in jail, court records show.

During one arrest in 2010, police in northern Indiana uncovered numerous school badges and teaching certificates that had been altered to display a fake name. Local authorities warned Smith to stop trying to tutor children in the area by advertising his services online.

In 2015, an Indiana court granted Smith’s request to have one of his arrest records expunged after prosecutors dropped the charges after a former student declined to testify against him out of fear of being in the defendant’s presence.

Smith eventually relocated to Arizona, changed his last name and started looking for new tutoring clients.

None of his prior arrests were known

by Kim Kriesel when she hired Smith earlier this year to tutor her 11-year-old son at their Chandler home.

The mother was looking for someone who could help supplement her son’s education while the local schools were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kriesel saw Smith’s advertisements on Facebook a few times and decided to contact him.

Smith seemed to have an impressive resume, the mother recalled, and claimed to have earned several college degrees.

She hired Smith to come to their See

FINGERPRINT on page 19

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FINGERPRINT

from page 18

house a few times per week and the arrangement seemed to work out well in the beginning.

Smith and Kriesel’s son got along well, she said, adding they could often be heard laughing and joking from the family’s dining room table.

But then Kriesel saw a post on social media that suddenly changed her opinion of Smith.

Another local parent had published Smith’s mugshot and warned other parents not to hire him. Kriesel then did some internet sleuthing and confirmed Smith’s extensive criminal history.

“I was in total shock,” Kriesel recalled, “I was disgusted.”

She asked her son if anything strange had ever happened between him and Smith. There had been some touching on his back, the son told his mother.

Kriesel said she immediately called the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and claimed an officer told her the touching was not enough to count as a crime in Arizona.

A Sheriff’s Office representative said it currently has an open investigation involving Smith and did not elaborate on the details of the case.

Not feeling satisfied with the actions of law enforcement, Kriesel did some more digging and came across Director Silbert’s recent complaint against the Board of Fingerprinting.

In the document, she found out there were other people in Chandler who have known about Smith’s behavior since 2018.

According to Silbert’s complaint, a woman contacted Chandler Police in 2018 after finding Smith’s tutoring advertisements online. They seemed suspicious to the mother who then unearthed Smith’s criminal history online.

The ads also mischaracterized Smith as a special needs teacher in the Phoenix Unified School District, which was not true.

The Chandler Chamber of Commerce reportedly interacted with Smith

around this same time and staff felt there was something “not right” with him. The Chamber told Chandler Police that Smith was “pushy” about staff introducing him to local businesses and school administrators.

The Chandler Unified School District also told local authorities Smith had asked for permission to place flyers advertising his tutoring service in the backpacks of the district’s students.

“The school district reported that Smith was persistent about being allowed to put flyers in the backpacks and became upset that he was unable to do so,” Silbert’s complaint states.

Kriesel said she was disappointed to learn so many institutions around Chandler had encountered Smith and did nothing to warn parents about his behavior or criminal history.

“I don’t even know who to trust now,” she said. “I’m guessing I will rely more on moms in the area.”

Smith is not listed on Arizona’s registery of sex offenders and has never been arrested nor convicted of a sex crime in the state, court records show.

Kriesel said she’s hopeful the Board of Fingerprinting will reconsider its previous decision and not recommend a clearance card to Smith.

In a recent letter written to the board, Kriesel accused its members of failing to protect Chandler’s children by not carefully reviewing Smith’s history.

“It is my opinion that the AZ Board of Fingerprinting has been extremely neglectful in their role and share complete responsibility along with (Smith) for the assault on my son in what should have been the safety of his own home,” Kriesel wrote.

The Board has not yet filed a response to the DPS complaint in court.

Regardless of what happens between DPS and the Board, Krisel thinks there’s a good chance the Chandler community won’t be encountering Smith again.

His tutoring website is down, his online advertisements removed, and he was quick to cancel his upcoming sessions with Kriesel’s son.

“I have a feeling this guy is long gone,” the mother said.

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Stormwater is the runoff generated from rainfall. Chandler’s storm drain system is designed to move that stormwater along conveyances like city streets and gutters where it is directed into storm drains or spillways constructed along the street and eventually deposited into retention basins, greenbelt areas, parks and lakes within the community.

The city’s program meant to help residents understand the effects of stormwater drainage and to educate them on how to reduce pollutants into the storm drain system.

David Verhelst, Chandler’s stormwater program coordinator said, “It’s important for us to get feedback from Chandler residents to learn where program improvements can be made.”

The current plan is at chandleraz.gov/ stormwater comments should be sent to david.verhelst@chandleraz.gov.

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

School board members seek Oct. 1 reopening date SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

More than 80 members of school boards across Arizona – including two from Chandler Unified – have called on state officials to delay opening campuses until at least Oct. 1.

David Evans and Lindsay Love signed their names on the letter to Gov. Doug Ducey, Superintendent of Instruction Kathy Hoffman and the State Legislature has the district prepares for an Aug. 5 start to the new school year, beginning with all online instruction.

Love has long been outspoken about her concerns with reopening schools too soon and voted against a plan that would have started in-person instruction at CUSD schools during the first week of August.

By contrast, Evans was one of three board members who voted in favor of that reopening plan during a meeting last month.

ENROLLMENT STILL OPEN

“Positive cases in Arizona are trending upward, not downward,” the letter states. “We cannot reopen our schools for on-site learning until we experience a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period.

“We want to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, not contribute to higher and higher numbers of outbreaks and deaths in our communities.”

The letter, which does not represent official school board positions but rather the individuals on those boards, makes a series of other requests beyond keeping campuses closed until Oct. 1.

Ducey has delayed the opening of campuses until Aug. 17 – a date he reiterated last week as “aspirational” rather than set in stone.

Asked whether he has reversed his thinking on when classrooms should reopen, Evans said it’s a decision he’s been “struggling” to make since the pandemic began.

It’s vital students be provided an environment where they can socialize with their peers, Evans said, yet it’s equally important their routine not be interrupted and shut down again by circumstances out of the district’s control.

Evans said his decision on Chandler Unified’s reopening plan was based on providing some assurance to the community that CUSD students were going to get a quality education during the upcoming school year.

“But we have to provide students and their families with a schedule,” Evans said. “That schedule should begin earlier rather than later. That means it will have to begin online for us.”

Evans said he’s focused on strategies and practices that CUSD can control and he concluded that the district can restructure online learning to be an enriching education experience.

Online school won’t be a permanent

solution, Evans said, because CUSD will eventually need to find a way to safely reintroduce students back to the classroom.

“We have to get students back into the social environments they need, when we have determined no one is personally risking themselves, their classmates, teachers and the families they return to at the end of the school day,” Evans added.

The letter from board members to state officials also asks the state officials to set a COVID-19 case data point for districts to use in determining when to reopen campuses as well as establish uniform safety protocols.

It also seeks equal per-pupil funding for both online and in-class students; a waiver of the 180-day instruction requirement; suspension of standardized state assessment tests for the school See

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year with allowance for districts to use their own student-performance measurements; and permission to distribute breakfasts and lunches even when campuses are closed.

“We need real goals and plans so we can focus on instructional, facility and transportation planning,” the letter states, adding: “Let administrators and teachers plan for and excel at teaching the first quarter remotely. If there is a reduction of risk and infection in our communities, this natural break in our academic calendar will be an ideal time to consider returning to in-person learning.”

In their request for suspending state achievement tests, the board members wrote: “We ask that our focus this academic year be offering high-quality remote-learning and a measured return to safe in-person classes, rather than on reaching higher levels of academic success as measured by a single assessment.

It said there is not study that “indicates that the number of infections will have decreased by any certain day on the calendar, and administrators, teachers, and families across the state are very nervous about returning to our school buildings and classrooms.”

The letter two weeks ago came during a week in which President Trump, members of his cabinet and other leading Republicans demanded

During a July 9 briefing on the surge in COVID-19 on July 9, Gov. Doug Ducey said he would not reopen schools for political reasons but rather on the basis of student and staff safety.

(Capital Media Services)

that schools reopen for in-class learning.

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, led a group of Republican lawmakers who demanded that schools reopen as usual in the fall, stating, “It would be more harmful to keep children locked out of schools and less harmful and less risky for children to go back to schools.”

During a press conference July 9 in which he acknowledged that COVID-19 cases were exploding in Arizona, Ducey said he won’t play politics in deciding when campuses can reopen.

On the same day of his press confer-

ence, Scottsdale Unified became the first district in Arizona to announce it won’t reopen their schools before Sept. 8.

Arizona Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman also said on July 9 that while she wants to get students back in the classroom, “we cannot ignore the severity of COVID-19 in our state and how that impacts adults and children alike in our school communities.”

“Those valued members of our schools need more assurances that schools and communities have the resources they need to stop the virus from spreading widely throughout

21

their community,” her tweet said. “I cannot provide those assurances to the adults and students who are medically vulnerable in our school community at this time.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines aimed at helping school systems determine how best to reopen schools this fall.

But those guidelines – which include social distancing, sanitizing, wearing masks and more – were attacked by Trump and his supporters as too strict.

Trump tweeted that the CDC should reconsider its guidelines, which he called “very tough & expensive.”

Speakers at the event organized by the House Freedom Caucus, which Biggs chairs, called the CDC guidelines “ridiculous” and “extremely harmful” for students’ emotional and physical wellbeing.

They repeatedly noted that that being kept out of school is bad for children’s emotional health and that COVID-19 is neither dangerous to children nor easily spread by them.

Meanwhile, Snowflake Republican Sylvia Allen, who chairs the State Senate Education Committee, told Cronkite News she doubts Ducey has the power to delay the reopening of campuses.

She said Arizona should not be governed through executive orders, noting that “the legislative branch makes policy and budget allocations, not the executive branch.”

“It is time to stop, call a special session, and get back to the constitutional See

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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Several companies offer education online programs, but it is still important that parents don't let kids remained glued all day to a computer screen. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

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As families try to establish a new normal, balancing screen time for kids has become not only especially challenging, but more important than ever.

“It’s only natural that children will be spending more time on digital devices than usual these days in order complete school work, attend remote classes and communicate with friends and loved ones,” says Michele Havner, director of marketing at Eturi Corp., a company with a mission to empower parents to guide their children through a balanced use of technology.

“Restrictions about screen may need to be rethought in many cases, but they should not be completely eliminated.”

Here are a few insights and tips that can help parents create sensible, effective screen use guidelines for their children during the COVID-19 outbreak: • Rethink leisure time: According to ReelGood.com data, March saw a whopping 70 percent jump in weekday streaming of kids’ movies and television shows.

While there may be more time on kids’ hands and fewer options of what to do with it, it’s important to emphasize alternative ways to relax and have fun so that kids are not spending all their waking hours looking at screens.

Leisure time will ideally include a mix of physical activity, creative projects, board games, reading and more.

• Prioritize Online Safety: Unfettered access to the internet and social media sites can put children at risk for a number of online threats.

The United Nations has warned that the increased unstructured time online has put millions of children at greater risk of both cyberbullying and of being exposed to harmful content.

Experts note that in the same way financial scammers have been working in overdrive to exploit the current crisis, the internet has also seen a surge of online predators targeting children.

Try to spend time in the same room as your kids during the day so you can keep tabs on them. Parents should have a respectful discussion with children about what kinds of activities they are engaging in online and who they are communicating with. This discussion should include what constitutes inappropriate content.

• Steer children to quality content: From free educational gaming apps to the online educational resources offered by museums and your local library, actively encourage your kids to explore the wealth of positive content designed for students and young people.

• Update Devices: Be sure to keep your family’s devices safeguarded from hackers and malware by installing the latest updates. New tools can help parents effectively keep screen time in check. For example, by using OurPact, a screen time management solution, parents can limit app access automatically for recurring activities like school or bedtime and can block or grant internet access on a child’s device any time.

Parents can view screenshots of kids’ digital activity on Apple devices. This feature will be available on Android soon. Information: OurPact.com.

• Check in: During your own free hours, spend some time checking in with your kids to see how they are coping with the current situation, how they are spending their free time and whether they are facing any struggles with remote learning.

• Online resources: Through the LeapFrog Learning Path, an online portal featuring free resources to keep children learning at home, parents can find valuable advice from learning experts on a variety of topics, such as preparing kids with 21st century skills and learning to read.

In addition, the portal provides a See

ONLINE on page 23

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

23

Father, son team up with CGCC on AI program had about 20 students when it originated, he recalled, and now more than 500 pupils enroll in engineering courses annually at the Chandler-Gilbert campus.

There already have been a number of inquiries about this AI degree, Matar added, and the college’s students seem eager to know more about how this program can benefit their future job prospects. Within a couple days of registering the college’s first AI course online, Matar said he noticed a handful of students had already enrolled in it.

The first AI class at Chandler-Gilbert

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Chandler-Gilbert Community College is preparing to offer one of the first known degree programs that specializes in artificial intelligence.

In collaboration with Chandler-based Intel, the college plans to start offering courses this fall semester that will prepare students for entry-level jobs in advanced technology.

“I am pleased to announce our partnership with Intel,” said Steven Gonzales, interim chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges.

“This program will train our students for a competitive workforce, strengthen Arizona’s economy as well as help close the opportunity gap we see across the state and be a model for educational institutions across the nation.”

Though the college’s governing board has not officially authorized the program yet, Chandler-Gilbert is expecting to create at least six new AI courses that will cover a variety of topics in computer science, business solutions, and technological applications.

The AI field of study is generally defined as technology that’s capable of perceiving its own environment and solving problems with limited human interference.

As more businesses have become dependent on these intelligent machines over the years, the academic world has begun pondering how it can meet the industry’s needs by educating students in AI curriculum.

According to research by Maricopa Community Colleges, knowledge in AI subject areas is already in high demand from several top employers and job growth for AI-related jobs in the local area is projected to expand by 22 percent over the next decade.

Chandler-Gilbert’s new two-year, associate’s degree program will ideally teach students specialized skills for future careers as a business analyst, java developer, data engineer or marketing manager.

Bassam Matar, who has been teaching engineering courses at Chandler-Gilbert for several years, will be teaching the college’s first AI course alongside his son, Habib, an Arizona State University graduate and current Intel employee.

There’s a great amount of excitement for this program, the elder Matar said, because there’s nothing similar to it being offered at any other communi-

ONLINE

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suggested daily schedule, a curated list of educational websites and free printable activity books to help parents maximize their children’s time outside the classroom and keep them engaged.

Families can also access an extended free trial of the LeapFrog Academy educational app, as well as reduced costs on the six-month and 12-month

This program will “ train our students for a

competitive workforce, strengthen Arizona’s economy as well as help close the opportunity gap we see across the state and be a model for educational institutions across the nation.

Bassam Matar, left, and his son Habib Matar will work side by side teaching a new artificial intelligence program at Chandler Gilbert Community College. (Courtesy of Habib Matar)

ty college campus.

“It’s going to be a unique program that does not exist anywhere in the nation,” Matar said.

The Matars have been involved with developing the AI program since Intel first approached the college a couple years ago about introducing this type of curriculum in Chandler.

Intel had apparently devised some AI programming and been testing it out elsewhere before seeking out Chandler-Gilbert’s help at implementing the curriculum for the local workforce.

The program will additionally offer a certificate option for workers and graduates looking to add some additional skills to their resume.

Habib Matar, who notably earned an associate’s degree from Chandler-Gilbert at the age of 16, said they’re designing these new courses to help students get a better understanding of how modern technology works.

These classes will hopefully “clear the fog” on some of the complexities surrounding new AI technology, he added, and possibly push students to pursue more advanced degrees at a plans. An interactive learning program filled with over 2,000 engaging games and activities for 3-6 year olds, the app can be used on any device with no Wi-Fi required.

Whether a parent is looking for a role-play toy for their child that loves pretending to be a chef, a desk to practice writing skills or an interactive learning system to get kids excited about reading, personalized toy recommendations will make it easier for parents to keep children engaged and learning.

four-year university.

“It will really push for more beginner students to be able to get kind of a first taste,” Habib said.

The Chandler-Gilbert campus has spent the last couple years introducing innovative programs in cybersecurity and drone aviation, which have worked to revamp the college’s image as an institution that’s progressive about higher education in the 21st century.

The AI degree adds to that spirit of innovation, Bassam Matar said, because it creates another opportunity to learn about a form of technology that continues to change and develop from one day to the next.

Matar has been teaching courses at Chandler-Gilbert since the college first decided to form an engineering program in the early 2000s.

The engineering department only

”

– Steven Gonzale

will be taught online due to restrictions the college has in place to protect staff and students from the coronavirus.

Matar said the course will still have a “live” element to it and still allow for one-on-one instruction.

One of the overall goals of the program will be to explore the many sectors that utilize AI technology in their daily operations, Matar added. Aerospace, automotives, and health care are all industries that regularly depend on AI, he said, and students will learn how their degree can be useful within these various sectors.

“There’s a lot of things you could use AI for in all these different areas,” Matar said.

More information about the AI program can be found at maricopa. edu.

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operations of our state,” Allen said.

Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, a teacher and chair of the House Education Committee, doubts that a special legislative session is feasible and she worries how many legislators would actually show up because of COVID-19 concerns and obligations to family members who may be sick or at risk.

“Calling a special session would end up with a bunch of people running in different directions, which is not going to help,” Udall said. “I don’t think we have enough consensus to get anything done.”

Despite such reservations, Udall said, she “would love” to hold a special ses-

BOARD

from page 8

of another high school – Wirth said he wants to help the district prepare for a scenario where enrollment might suddenly drop and state funding subsequently falls with it.

Districts also face some uncertainty in the next few years as Arizona grapples with declines in sales tax and income tax revenue brought about by unemployment and business shutdowns resulting from the pandemic.

“It is imperative that the Chandler Unified School District look for other sources of revenue to support the future budget,” Wirth said. “When enrollment starts to decline, it nega-

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

sion to address education issues in the state – under different circumstances.

However, she and Allen both support giving schools the authority to delay the start of in-person classes.

Allen said she recently worked on her own legislation that would have provided, among other items, “local control and flexibility for schools opening and determination of health protocols.”

A survey by the Arizona Education Association released this month found an overwhelming number of educators believe schools should only reopen when it is deemed safe to do so.

Of 7,651 educators surveyed by the association, 68 percent opposed returning to classrooms at this point.

The survey also showed 60 percent of

the respondents believed their districts were not prepared to reopen schools.

More than 90 percent of the respondents also expressed concerns about themselves, colleagues and even students contracting COVID-19.

As far as what social distancing measures districts should enact, smaller class sizes were the most popular, with 96 percent in favor.

But most respondents believed there aren’t enough teachers to achieve social distancing in classrooms or even employees to provide food service and adequate cleaning of facilities.

Expect More Arizona also released the second part of a May survey of 11,000 teachers on their observations and experiences related on online

learning that districts began when schools were shut down for the fourth quarter of the last school year.

According to the survey, 41 percent of teachers felt they were “somewhat” prepared for the transition to an online setting last spring while 35 percent of teachers felt they were not prepared at all.

Only 14 percent of teachers felt three-quarters or more of their students were fully engaged in online work.

Of the survey respondents, it said 69 percent reported that students had an adult or sibling at home to help them with online schoolwork.

The survey also showed 39 percent of teachers felt that few special education students had their educational needs met during online learning.

tively impacts everything in the school district budget.”

“I will help CUSD actively research and implement solutions now to reduce the impact of projected budget reductions in the upcoming years,” Wirth added.

Olive briefly worked in education early on in his career and said he is now looking to get more involved in the community.

The Chandler resident said he decided to enter the race to add a parental voice to the school board from someone who still has a child attending CUSD schools.

“I am happy with the way that the district has been run,” Olive said. “I hope to help and contribute to the culture that so many people around the district have worked so hard for.”

Olive said he’s always been a strong supporter of public education and would like to guarantee the district continues to serve every child in the community.

“When we invest in our kids the entire community benefits,” he added. “I would like an opportunity to make a positive contribution to our children’s education.”

Like all other districts across Arizona, Chandler Unified’s elected representatives have been forced to make some tough decisions over the last few months while navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mozdzen, Evans, and the other board members have sat through lengthy meetings discussing all the complex logistics that come with trying to educate 46,000 students amid the health crisis.

In a rare move last month, the CUSD board was notably split on deciding how and when the district should reopen its 42 campuses for the upcoming semester. Mozdzen, Evans, and McGee voted in favor of a reopening plan that allows for in-person instruction while the board’s two other members voted against it.

The school board race had at least four other individuals express interest in running for a seat this year, but none of them are listed as official candidates.

The election is nonpartisan and candidates are elected by earning a simple majority of votes cast. Early voting for the general election starts Oct. 7 and the last day to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 23. There is no primary race for school board candidates in Arizona.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

CITY OF CHANDLER INSIDER

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

City offers many ways to play and have fun

BY THE CITY OF CHANDLER

July is Park and Recreation Month, an initiative of the National Recreation and Park Association celebrated each year in Chandler.

But 2020 is a year like no other and this month, residents are invited to explore Chandler amenities in a whole new way.

Andy Bass, Chandler’s Community Services director, describes Chandler’s approach and response to COVID-19 in its parks and recreation areas.

“As we watched the global pandemic unfold, we felt compelled to not just shut our doors and cancel our programs. We’d rather encourage play and exploration, with practical and enriching programming for which we are so well known,” he said.

Chandler Rec At-Home was introduced to support children and adults alike in keeping boredom at bay and helping them thrive. Team members pulled together the signature programs offered by the City to turn them into entertaining live streams, DIY videos and action-packed activity sheets all available on the City website — chandleraz.gov/recathome.

Here is an overview of some of the ways you and your families can celebrate this year’s Park and Recreation Month and learn more about the status of Chandler’s parks and recreation

Chandler Rec At Home is a digital resource for families and caregivers looking to fill the day-to-day with practical, educational, inspiring, and entertaining content.

Mesquite Groves Aquatics Center is just one of Chandler’s fantastic aquatics centers and pools that provide fun, safe, quality aquatic programs for residents.

facilities.

Chandler Rec At-Home: The free hub comes stocked with lessons from the instructors you know and love, handson activities, downloadable games and a vibrant mix of pre-recorded and live content.

Many of your favorite instructors are now offering classes that are live streamed. From yoga to watercolors, story time crafts to Tai Chi, classes are offered at various times for all ages.

Check the schedule and join classes at chandleraz.gov/recathome.

If you’d rather have activities on your own schedule try out the pre-recorded videos and activities available online which include: a seed bomb gardening project; how to create your own geode; and play water safety BINGO. Watch for more videos and activities as the pages are updated with new content.

Parks: Chandler has more than 60 parks, providing you with plenty of options to be physically distant from others while still being able to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Cool off at one of the three spray and splash pads, test your skills at the

bike or skate parks, or take your fourlegged friends out for a stroll at any of the four dog parks.

Visit chandleraz.gov/parks for the Guide to Chandler’s Parks tool to discover the amenities provided at each of Chandler’s parks – from the largest regional parks to community and neighborhood parks and special use facilities, The City encourages everyone to be considerate, maintain a physical distance greater than six feet from others while enjoying Chandler parks, and please wear a face covering if you can’t be distant.

Reservations for park pavilions and athletic fields are currently limited to groups of 50 people or fewer in compliance with the governor’s most recent executive orders.

Aquatics: Chandler’s six aquatic centers and neighborhood pools offer year-round hours of water fun and double as water classrooms.

Chandler’s aquatic centers and pools are currently open for regularly scheduled classes and programs, and open swim sessions are available at a reduced capacity.

Reservations are required and Chandler residents receive priority for open swimming.

When visiting, guests should do their part to stay distant from others outside their party. Lifeguards will help to limit the number of people congregating around pool amenities (i.e. diving boards, slides, lazy river, etc.) to abide by state orders to limit groups to 10 people or less at pools. To make a reservation, visit chandleraz.gov/aquatics.

Classes, activities and events: Explore the latest Break Time Recreation Guide at chandleraz.gov/breaktime for a complete list of classes, activities, and events that are scheduled for the fall.

All the activities and programs featured in this issue are tentatively scheduled as we are prepared to take any needed precautionary measures during these unprecedented times.

So, while things keep changing, Chandler Parks and Recreation is here to help you continue to discover, imagine and grow together.

We continue to do our part to bring joy to your backyard or living room through our new online platform. And we are committed to welcoming you back into our facilities when it is safe – we will be ready for your return and for the next adventure to begin.

Know before you go what’s open, closed Chandler’s recreation centers, except the Chandler Senior Center, are currently open only for regularly scheduled classes and programming with strict criteria in place to ensure safety and distancing.

The Senior Center remains closed until further notice, but continues to provide carryout or delivery of hot meals to senior residents who depend on this service.

The Tumbleweed Recreation Center (TRC) has been affected by the gov-

ernor’s executive order pausing gym operations on June 29.

This has resulted in the closure for 30 days of the TRC fitness floor, gym, exercise studio, Child Watch Tree House and Lounge.

While no one knows for sure if the order will be lifted immediately after the 30-day closure on July 27, staff is implementing many measures to ensure safety for all guests in preparation

of its eventual reopening.

The Tennis Center continues to be a popular amenity enjoyed by all ages in Chandler. Capacity at the Chandler Tennis Center has been reduced in order to ensure guests would have ample space for distancing.

A new online reservation system was recently implemented for open play. Reservations can be made online at chandleraz.gov/registration or by

calling 480-782-2650.

Chandler’s Environmental Education Center is known for being an in-town oasis for exploration, and a place to discover learning through adventure.

To keep the adventure going while we’re staying home and staying safer, team members have designed “To Go” Packs that will be available later this month. Check chandleraz.gov for more information coming soon.

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

27

Mask requirement likely rest of 2020

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Gov. Doug Ducey expects that Arizonans will need to continue to wear masks through at least the end of the year.

And forget about going to a bar, at least for the foreseeable future.

“We do know that those are places to congregate,’’ said Daniel Scarpinato, the governor’s chief of staff told Capitol Media Services July 15. “And the last thing that will open in this atmosphere will be areas that result in congregation.’’

Those assessments come as there are the first inklings that Arizona may finally be on the right track in trying to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Researchers say what’s called the state’s R-naught number is once again below 1.0.

That value, calculated by Rt.live, is the average number of people who become infected by an infectious person.

If that number is above 1.0, the virus will spread; values below that indicate it will stop spreading.

On Wednesday, the figure was 0.97.

Arizona actually got its infection rate below even that figure during the governor’s stay-at-home order and his restrictions on business. But after those were lifted, it rose to 1.25.

This isn’t the only positive sign.

New figures from the Department of Health Services show the number of patients in hospitals with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 appears to be leveling off. And there was the largest one-day drop in the number of patients in intensive-care units.

All that occurred after Ducey gave local governments permission to impose mask requirements and again shuttered bars, movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers, imposed stricter limits on in-house dining at restaurants, and limited crowds to no more than 50, effectively precluding spectators at sporting events.

But Scarpinato said Arizonans should not see the latest bid of good news as an indication that these restrictions will disappear anytime soon. “The virus continues to be widespread,’’ he said.

“What we don’t want is for anyone to think that because there might be some leveling off or because that R-naught number has dropped, that that means that we can let up or that means you don’t have to wear a mask any more.’’ Scarpinato said. “It means that those policies are working and we’re going to have to continue doing it for the foreseeable future at least through the end of the year and probably beyond.’’

That starts with masks. Put simply, he

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said, wearing a mask is “part of the new normal in Arizona.’’

Scarpinato pointed out that Arizona is headed into flu season.

What that means is trying to ensure that the state has sufficient doses of this year’s version of the vaccine. It also means trying to convince more Arizonans than the 30 to 40 percent who get the annual inoculation that they should participate.

All that, Scarpinato said, is related back to COVID-19.

“The flu season stresses our hospitals to begin with,’’ he said. “So, to have that happening at the same time as the coronavirus could create stress.’’

“Guess what? All the mitigation strategies that are in place for the coronavirus also happen to help prevent the spread of the flu – which also does take lives,’’ Scarpinato said. “So, wearing masks, socially distancing, staying home, not having opportunities for people to congregate like in a bar or at major events or large events, all of those things will help on both fronts.’’

That, for the time being, means that bars are going to stay closed.

“What we’re trying to do is create as much sustainable kind of steady policies for the business community as possible so they’ve got some predictability and we’re not having to change the rules on them every week or every

two weeks or every month,’’ Scarpinato said. “Right now, given our cases and given the advice of public health we know there are a few things that just can’t be opened right now, bars being one of them.’’

Does the governor believe there is a safe way of reopening bars?

“Not at this time,’’ Scarpinato said.

Restaurants and the occupancy limits on them pose a different issue.

Scarpinato said Ducey is aware of how some of this is being handled elsewhere in the country, with regulations crafted to essentially allow restaurants to spill out into the open air. While that may not work now in much of Arizona – that triple-digit heat coupled with humidity is not conducive to al fresco dining – he said that may work here, with capacity limits, as the weather moderates after the summer.

In the meantime, Scarpinato said the governor’s office is having discussions with business owners, asking them what measures they can put in place to create a safe environment. Those talks, he said, include public health officials who can say which of these suggestions work and which do not.

That also includes gyms and fitness centers which are supposed to remain closed, at least through July 27.

“We want to see what their vision of opening would look like,’’ Scarpinato said.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Lawmaker questions state COVID data

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

A Southern Arizona lawmaker is claiming that a new study he commissioned shows no correlation between the rising number of people being infected with COVID-19 and the number who wind up in the hospital.

Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, is accusing the state health department of withholding the raw numbers that will let he and other lawmakers decide whether the trends being cited by Gov. Doug Ducey to justify his actions are merited.

Finchem last week said it is wrong to focus on the rising number of positive test results as a reason to impose restrictions on individual and business activity. He said that fewer than 10 percent of people who test positive are hospitalized.

The study done for Finchem by the Tennessee firm of Anchor-Helm also claims that “daily hospitalizations peaked June 16 and (have) fallen dramatically since.’’

That means, the report says, there is “no reason to expect a dramatic increase in cases will be associated with a dramatic increase in hospitalizations.’’

But former state Health Director Will Humble said the most obvious flaw in the report is that the person who did the analysis – Finchem’s brother, Kirk – did not recognize that there is a delay in the data.

Rep. Finchem claims that the data produced by the health department on its daily public “dashboard’’ and used

by Ducey to support his actions may be skewed.

“The agency is refusing to release the data to me as a legislator so we can attempt to replicate their work,’’ he

State Rep. Mark Finchem, left, doubts the correlation between hospitalizations and the rise in COVID-19 cases overall, but former state Health Director Will Humble disputes the lawmaker's assertions.

(File photos)

told Capitol Media Services. Instead, Finchem said, what’s produced for public consumption is “the preferred narrative from the agency.’’

No one from either the governor’s office or the state health department would comment.

Humble, currently the director of the Arizona Public Health Association, dismissed the contention that the real numbers are being hidden.

“I find no reason to believe that,’’ he said, saying there are people at the agency now who were there when he was director, prior to 2015, whose judgment he trusts.

Humble has not been a defender of the governor, saying that Ducey moved too quickly to lift restrictions in May. It’s not just Humble who is noticing the delays in reporting and how that affects the numbers – and the conclusions that can be drawn.

Joe Gerald, an associate professor at the Zuckerman College of Health at the University of Arizona, concluded in a recent report that it can take time to actually record deaths.

Gerald said that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 went from a plateau of 1,093 on May 22 – a week after the governor lifted his stayat-home order – to 4,834.

Gerald reported that as of July 10, 3,485 of Arizona’s 7,971 general ward beds were occupied by patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection, a 16 percent increase from the week before.

So, there is a trend toward increased hospitalizations.

Kirk Finchem concedes there are weaknesses in his report.

He said any relationship between tests and hospitalization is masked by the time lag between the two as well as

the average duration of hospitalization, all numbers he said he has been unable to get.

Rep. Finchem has accused Ducey of continuing to overreact to the virus even after the main danger had passed.

“The original premises of ‘flatten the curve’ was to smooth out the usage of critical care hospital beds by slowing the transmission of the virus,’’ Finchem said.

“The effort was never about preventing the transmission of it,’’ he said. “But that seems to be the new objective.’’

Rep Finchem said that’s why he requested what he called “an independent, objective analysis’’ from Anchor-Helm, a firm at which his brother is listed as the sole director of the limited liability company.

He said what was produced comes from “a disinterested third party based on what the Arizona Department of Public Health has published.’’

“I also find it interesting that the graphs from the last governor briefing were attributed to the New York Times,’’ Finchem said.

Humble said there are reasons that the increasing number of COVID-19 cases is not yet creating a crisis at hospitals. One, he said, is that there are fewer elective surgeries being conducted.

And fewer people end up in Arizona hospitals in June and July.

Humble figured that average hospital population is 1,700 below the yearly average in June and 1,100 below in July.

“We are just darn lucky that this exponential growth in hospitalizations happened during the very two months where we have dropping admissions for all other reasons,’’ he said.

“That’s not going to be working in our favor when August comes,’’ Humble continued. “Because August goes back up to the annual average.’’

Legalized weed headed for November ballot to oppose the 2020 measure.

Campaign Chairman Chad Campbell said the concern by the business community has been taken into account. He said this year’s version contains specific provisions allowing employers to enact and enforce policies “restricting the use of marijuana by employees or prospective employees.’’

But chamber lobbyist Garrick Taylor pointed out the Arizona Constitution specifically prohibits lawmakers from tinkering with anything voters have approved unless it “furthers the purpose’’ of the underlying initiative. And even then, it takes a three-fourths vote of both the House and Senate.

“We should not pass a new law by initiative that will be impossible to ever change or undo,’’ Taylor said.

Efforts by some lawmakers to have the Legislature address the issue in a way where it could be altered if necessary have gone nowhere as Republican legislative leaders have refused to even

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Backers of a campaign to legalize recreational use of marijuana submitted about 420,000 signatures on petitions Wednesday to put the issue on the November ballot.

The filing by Smart and Safe Arizona is far more than the 237,645 valid signatures needed to send the issue to voters. That provides plenty of wiggle room if some of the petitions are declared invalid.

But it becomes only the first step in trying to convince Arizonans once again that they want to allow adults to buy and possess up to an ounce of marijuana or 12 plants.

A similar measure failed four years ago by about 4 percentage points amid an extensive campaign over whether easier access by adults leads to greater teen use. There also was a fear by employers that it would allow workers to show up on the job stoned.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry already has positioned itself

Petitions were delivered last week to the Secretary of State with more than enough signatures to get a proposition to legalize recreational use of marijuana on the Nov. 3 ballot. (Capitol Media Services)

See

WEED on page 32

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

31

Chandler bar, 21 others sue over Ducey closures

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

A Chandler bar owner and 21 other tavern operators from around the state are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that Gov. Doug Ducey does not have the constitutional authority to shut them or any other business down.

Attorney Ilan Wurman is not contending that there is not an emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

But Wurman, an associate professor at Arizona State University, said the law that gives Ducey the unilateral power to do things like close down certain businesses “unconstitutionally delegates the legislative power of this state to the governor.

Among the owners he is representing is Peter Sciacca, owner of Chandler’s QuartHaus, as well as Charrles Jenkins of the Office Sports Bar on Gilbert Road in Mesa.

Located in the heart of downtown Chandler, the QuartHaus is offering a popular courtyard area where patrons can play lawn games while sipping on their specialty beers.

Sciacca, a member of the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership’s board of directors, declined to comment on his suit. The suit likely won't be heard by the high court before August.

Wurman wants the justices to not only void the law giving the governor those powers but also declare that any orders Ducey already has made under that law are illegal and cannot be enforced.

The outcome of the legal fight would affect not just the owners of the 20

bars around the state who are challenging his authority over them but every other kind of business that Ducey has ordered shuttered or whose operations he has directed be curtailed.

And it also could affect the governor’s future ability to impose a new stay-at-home order as well as any directives he issues about when schools can and cannot open.

The action is the third challenging Ducey’s powers to close businesses.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge earlier this month rejected a challenge by the Mountainside Fitness chain and last week a federal judge rebuffed a bid by Xponential Fitness to allow it to reopen its 50 facilities around the state.

“The court does not doubt the earnestness of plaintiffs’ desire to open their businesses, generate revenue, earn a living, and employ – and as importantly pay – others,’’ wrote U.S. Judge Diane Humetewa, adding that she recognizes “the economic and emotional hardships’’ that the closure orders can impose on people and individuals.

But Humetewa said she was powerless to simply void Ducey’s orders.

“In our constitutional republic, the decisions of whether, when, and how to exercise emergency powers amidst a global pandemic belong not to the unelected members of the federal judicial branch, but to the elected officials of the executive branch,’’ she wrote.

Humetewa said a crisis like that created by the coronavirus calls for “quick, decisive measures to save lives.’’

“Those measures can have extreme

costs – costs that often are not borne evenly,’’ she said. “The decision to impose those costs rests with the political branches of government, in this case, Gov. Ducey.’’

Alex Weingarten, the attorney for Xponential, argued that other businesses that remain open would be more likely places where the virus could spread – a contention the judge called irrelevant.

“COVID-19 is highly contagious and continues to spread at alarming rates, requiring public officials to constantly evaluate the best methods by which to protect residents’ safety against the economy and a myriad of other concerns,’’ Humetewa said.

Xponential has franchise operations around the state operating around the state as Club Pilates, Stretch Lab, CycleBar, Pure Barre, Yoga Six, AKT, and Row House.

Central to the bars’ case is the law that both allows the governor to declare an emergency and then gives him “the right to exercise ... all police power vested in the state by the constitution and laws of this state’’ to deal with that emergency.

“Petitioners have suffered great harm from being unable to operate their businesses in pursuit of their lawful occupations and ordinary callings,’’ Wurman told the justices. “They have no idea when they will be able to reopen.’’

“The ‘police power’ of a state is, in effect, its legislative power: its power of the health, safety, welfare, and morals of the people,’’ he wrote.

The law that Ducey is using, Wurman said, is “a naked delegation of the state’s legislative power to the governor and is therefore unconstitutional.

“There are no standards whatsoever,’’ he said. “There is no sufficient basic standard, no definite policy and rule of action which will serve as a guide for the governor.

And what that means, Wurman told the court, is that the law gives Ducey unfettered authority.

He argues Ducey could order students to attend school only every third day.

“There is, in short, literally no standard by which to judge the governor’s actions under the statute, and it therefore must violate the nondelegation doctrine,’’ Wurman said.

Wurman also told the court that declaring the state’s general emergency powers statute unconstitutional would not leave Ducey or future governors without the power to deal with emergencies, including the pandemic.

He pointed out – and is not challenging – various other laws giving governors powers to deal with public health emergencies.

But those powers, Wurman said, are limited. “Nothing in (health law) authorizes the governor to close down petitioners’ businesses,’’ he said.

The lawsuit also raises an equal protection argument, saying Ducey cannot decide that some businesses are permissible while other are not.

“If the purpose of the governor’s order is to mitigate the spread of a pandemic by ensuring that businesses follow particular sanitary measures, then the governor must permit all businesses to operate who can meet those standards,’’ he wrote.

Lawmakers unhappy with emergency powers

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Some lawmakers want to revisit Arizona laws that give the governor broad powers in cases of emergency.

Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, wants a constitutional amendment sent to the ballot to require governors to get the “advice and consent’’ of the legislature within a certain period of declaring an emergency. He said the state’s chief executive would need to provide “evidence that an emergency exists.’’

Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said she’s not willing to wait to have voters consider constitutional restraints on the power of the governor.

Saying Ducey’s emergency declaration “has authorized him to govern this state as a monarch,” Townsend wants a special session of the legislature this fall to reconsider the powers that were given to governors, some in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, doesn’t see the need for such a rush. But she, too, thinks that once this crisis is over, legislators need to consider exactly how much unilateral power they have given governors.

But House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, said voters elected Doug Ducey to do a job and that they and lawmakers should give him the latitude to do what he thinks is necessary.

Those interviewed by Capitol Media Services say this has nothing to do with Ducey, the emergency he declared in March and the ways he has exercised those powers over everything from what businesses can be open to when people need to stay at home.

“We obviously respect the tough position that the governor is in,’’ Fann said.

“It’s kind of a no-win situation for him.’’

But in some ways, it is about Ducey since he is the one who declared the emergency.

Fann said that, with the knowledge now of how all that works, that requires a new look at those laws and how they fit into the constitutional balance of power that’s supposed to exist between the executive and legislative branches of government.

“They probably thought it would be 30, 60 days,’’ she said of those who crafted the laws. “But I seriously do not think that this was intended to go on for three, five, six months.”

Daniel Scarpinato, the governor’s chief of staff, said what’s happening now with COVID-19 shows the law is working the way it was designed.

“The virus is widespread and its spreading and the numbers are increasing,’’ he said.

“So, to have a date certain of when it would end would be really irresponsible because this is going to go on for some time,’’ Scarpinato said. “There’ll be additional public health decisions that need to be made.’’

What that also means is that under current law, Ducey’s power to make those without legislative input continues as

long as he wants.

So, what would be wrong with a requirement for the governor, after some period of time, to go to the legislature and seek permission to keep the emergency in place?

“Our perspective would be that the way to determine whether a public health emergency should continue would be based on public health, the recommendation of public health (officials) and the facts on the ground’’ Scarpinato said. “In this case, the crisis is escalating, the cases are growing.’’

Finchem said Ducey’s stated goals in declaring the emergency appear to have morphed.

“It was to flatten the curve on hospitalization,’’ he said.

“It was not to flatten the goal on transmission,’’ Finchem continued. “Now we’ve moved the goalposts.’’

And that, he said, is where constitutionally required legislative oversight would fit in.

Scarpinato said that confuses two separate issues: the declaration of emergency which was issued first and then the stay-at-home order which he said was aimed at slowing the spread.

Finchem still believes that, at some point, the governor should have to come to the Legislature, explain the decision to declare an emergency and detail exactly what metrics he is using to determine when that declaration and his expanded powers are no longer necessary.

And, absent legislative blessing, the

emergency declaration would cease.

He stressed this isn’t about Ducey.

“This is against the idea that a governor, any governor, can have unlimited, unrestrained power without the people intervening and saying, ‘Not so fast there, cowboy,’” Finchem said.

Townsend said something like this would restore the balance of power.

“The legislature is a co-equal branch of government, not subordinate to the executive,’’ she said.

Townsend is looking at what other states are doing to find a model that might work in Arizona. One, she said, would limit the number of days the governor can have a declared emergency without getting legislative consent.

Some of the powers, Townsend said, followed the terrorist attacks in 2001 “when fears of biological warfare were cresting.’’

“I believe the entire state now realizes that this is not a good idea, and the people in each district want their voice to be heard and desire the representative government that they were promised,’’ she said.

Townsend pointed out that lawmakers can call themselves back to the Capitol with a two-thirds vote of each chamber.

That, however, would require at least some Democrats to go along with the Republican majority.

For the time being, though, Fernandez See

LAWMAKERS on page 32

32

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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LAWMAKERS

sees no reason to act.

Fernandez said she doesn’t believe that Ducey has used those powers

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consider legalizing marijuana.

Gov. Doug Ducey has hinted in the past that he would veto any attempt to do so.

“I don’t think any state ever got stronger by being stoned,’’ the governor said during the 2016 campaign. There was no immediate response from Ducey on Wednesday.

A 2010 voter-approved law allows Arizonans with certain medical conditions and a doctor’s recommendation to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. These conditions range from glaucoma and HIV to severe and chronic pain.

At last count there were more than 245,000 individuals who were qualified.

This measure seeks to follow in the path of 11 states, including California, Nevada and Colorado, where voters or lawmakers have decided that it should no longer be a crime for adults to purchase and use marijuana for recreational purposes.

There are some provisions designed to entice backers or blunt opposition.

It would impose a 16 percent tax on sales which proponents say would generate $300 million a year in new revenues to fund community colleges, public safety, health programs and construction and repair of roads.

enough to deal with the current pandemic “as well as he could.’’

“But I feel comfortable knowing that he could,’’ she said.

That 2002 law, crafted in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, gave the chief executive broad

new powers to order medical examinations and even isolate and quarantine people without first getting court approval.

And it even empowered the governor to use the National Guard to enforce those orders.

There also is a prohibition on sales to anyone younger than 21. And the measure would bar the sale of marijuana products that resemble humans, animals, insects, fruits, toys or cartoons or sell or advertise marijuana with names or designs that imitate food or drink brands marketed to children.

But Lisa James, heading Arizonans for Health and Public Safety, said none of that ensures that items won’t be marketed to kids.

She said the list of what’s prohibited in designs leaves a whole host of what remains legal, like gummies with marijuana in the form of sports cars.

James also said it will lead to more accidents as motorists who are high get behind the wheel.

Campbell said the measure contains a ban on driving while impaired.

But he conceded there is currently no technology similar to a breath test that can determine the level of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in someone’s blood.

And even if such a device becomes available, there is no standard in the proposal to say that a specific THC level is a presumption of driving impaired, the way someone with a blood-alcohol level is presumed to be driving drunk.

Another possible objection could come from the fact that the measure is

crafted in a way to pretty much guarantee that the first of the limited number licenses to sell marijuana for recreational use will be given to existing medical marijuana dispensaries.

Campbell said that is justified.

“We don’t want a Wild Wild West implementation,’’ he said.

“We want proven operators that have operated safely who have established trust with the Department of Health Services and other agencies here,’’ Campbell said. He said they “will be able to hit the ground running and safely and effectively sell this product.’’

That preference, however, shows up in who is funding the initiative.

Virtually all of the $2.77 million reported raised in the most recent campaign filing – mostly to hire paid circulators – has come from companies that sell marijuana.

More than $1 million alone came from Harvest Enterprises, which has been buying up dispensaries and cultivators in Arizona and across the nation.

Campbell said there will be opportunities for others as the number of allowable shops increases due to population growth as well as what he said is a set-aside for “social equity licensing,’’ described as promoting ownership “from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws.’’

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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34

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

Bungee studio confronts pandemic’s ups and downs

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Cherith Pruitt bought her fitness studio at perhaps one of the most chaotic times imaginable.

She took over ownership of Tough Lotus at 3050 N. Dobson Road in Chandler in late May as Arizona began lifting executive orders that closed most businesses and gyms in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.

But then Gov. Doug Ducey shut down gyms and fitness studios again on June 29 until July 27.

Tough Lotus had only been open for about three weeks when Ducey’s latest executive order was signed – throwing a major curveball at the plans Pruitt had lined up for her new business.

“It’s been insane,” she said. “That was not what I envisioned when I decided to buy a studio.”

The whole ordeal has been confusing, Pruitt added, since it’s not completely clear what the government is asking businesses to do during this time.

Some of the Valley’s bigger gyms took Ducey to court, claiming they’re being unfairly targeted and accusing the governor of abusing his executive

This has allowed Pruitt to feel safe about continuing to offer scaled-down fitness classes throughout the summer.

But she still feels some uncertainty about how Arizona’s fitness industry will be treated in the coming weeks, especially when Ducey’s shutdown order expires at the end of July.

In order for gyms and studios to fully reopen, Ducey’s order mandates them to fill out forms with the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services that attest to their compliance with protocols intended to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Pruitt said when she Cherith Pruitt took over ownership of Tough Lotus, a bungee studio in Chandler, in May in between the time gyms were called the Department of allowed to reopen and when they were closed again. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer) Health about this mandate, nobody could helpfully of a grey area since it’s technically not powers. explain what these forms would require considered a gym.

A Superior Court judge recently her to do.

Tough Lotus is licensed as a business ruled in favor of Ducey and determined “They don’t have that information,” all gyms were legally obligated to follow offering amusement and retail services, she said. “So, you don’t even know if so it’s not seen as a gym in the eyes of the shutdown orders. the government.

Pruitt said her studio is stuck in a bit See on page 35

BUNGEE

Chandler man’s business gets kids jumping for joy SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Scott Karlin found a way around the pandemic to keep kids jumping around.

As owner of JumpBunch, a Chandler-based mobile sports and fitness program for kids 18 months to 12 years, Karlin since 2008 provides physical education and after-school programs at schools and rec centers throughout the East Valley.

But all that driving around came to a sudden halt when schools were closed in March. And so Karlin pivoted to provide virtual exercise programs.

“Like other small businesses, we are working hard to keep our employees working and, of course, continue to fulfill our commitment to our customers,” Karlin said.

JumpBunch Fitness at Home NOW! Enables kids “to keep some familiarity and structure in their lives during this uncertain time,” Karlin said. Students can participate once a week or attend a virtual camp Monday-Friday.

The 45-minute sports and fitness classes on Zoom start with a warm-up, then move to instruction and participation in a featured activity of the week before ending with a cool down.

“We keep our classes small to allow for interaction between the coach and students,” Karlin said, who boasted of a lot of positive reaction to his offerings.

“We hear from parents that children who typically don’t participate well in Zoom classes love our virtual program because it has the feel of a live class,”

into “thisI got business

because I love working with children, I love sports and I love knowing that what I do is making a positive impact in the lives of many children.

”

– Scott Karlin

Chandler resident Scott Karlin gets kids like the one on the right jumping for joy and fitness with his unique Zoom classes through his company, JumpBunch. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

he said. “We have heard how much kids have enjoyed participating at home each week and how it has helped them get through this challenging time.”

In less uncertain times, JumpBunch provides 80 different activities at schools and rec centers and “is the only program that exposes children to such

a wide variety of sports and fitness opportunities,” Karlin said.

That diversity in programming enables him to tailor each JumpBunch program to a school’s particular needs.

Describing himself as “a huge football and baseball fan” who is an avid racquetball player, skier and hiker, Karlin

got interested in teaching physical education to children after coaching his kids in t-ball when they

were 3.

“I got into this business because I love working with children, I love sports and I love knowing that what I do is making a positive impact in the lives of See

JUMP on page 35

BUSINESS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

BUNGEE

from page 34

you’re going to be able to comply because they can’t even tell you what you have to do.”

Tough Lotus has gone ahead and begun making changes that Pruitt thinks should be able to keep her clients and instructors safe.

Her studio is known for offering aerial exercise classes involving bungee cords and parachute linen. Clients suspend themselves in the air using harnesses and contort their bodies into configurations intended to stretch out specific muscles.

This style of fitness is designed to target back pain or spinal issues, Pruitt said, and can result in some high-intensity cardio despite the limited body movement.

The Tough Lotus studio already had its harnesses and bungee cords spaced

JUMP

from page 34

many children,” he said.

“I was able to see what a positive impact sports have on kids at a very young age,” he said. “Not only do sports benefit their physical development, but sports builds confidence in kids and it teaches them that being physically active can be fun.”

He was introduced to the Jump-

apart by about six feet, allowing clients to participate in a class while maintaining a safe distance from each other.

Pruitt said she’s stringent to not allow the sharing of any equipment among clients or instructors. Harnesses are sanitized and switched out after every class, she said, and yoga students are instructed to bring their own mats.

“We were already perfectly set up to be active -- even during the pandemic,” Pruitt said.

The studio requires every visitor to come in wearing a face mask, but allows clients to remove them while exercising.

Temperatures are checked for everyone walking through the door and all hands must be sanitized before a class can begin.

The goal is to ensure no one is ever making hand-to-hand contact with another person, Pruitt said, and the studio’s current arrangement should be able to accomplish that.

“There’s essentially no contact from

the moment you walk in the door,” she said.

To make her clients feel even more comfortable, Pruitt recently bought a COVID-19 testing kit and recorded herself swabbing her own nose. She then posted the video online for all of the studio’s customers to see.

It boosts the studio’s transparency a bit, she said, and sends a message that Tough Lotus is taking this pandemic seriously.

In order to allow for more cleaning time throughout the day, Tough Lotus has had to shorten the runtime of its classes and cut its room capacity from 16 clients down to nine.

Though Pruitt enjoys the opportunity to still offer classes during a stressful time, she can’t help but notice the revenue her business is potentially losing each day due to the pandemic.

Smaller class sizes translate into a smaller revenue stream and there’s not much Pruitt can do to work around it.

“It still hurts income-wise because we’ve had to cut our class sizes in half,” she added.

The studio owner said she’s been attempting to apply for the financial relief offered through the government’s COVID-19 stimulus packages.

But because Pruitt has only owned Tough Lotus for about a month, she said she doesn’t qualify for most of these benefits.

Pruitt said the studio is looking at other ways of bringing in some extra cash; its ramping up sales of new merchandise, has set up a GoFundMe.com account, and is forming partnerships with other small businesses.

Tough Lotus will do whatever it takes to stay open, Pruitt added, because these classes offer such a valuable benefit to the community at a time when most residents are probably looking for an escape.

Information: toughlotus.com or 480-886-8823.

their JumpBunch class each week.”

JumpBunch charges $48 a month for the weekly program and $50 a week for the weekly camp. Siblings are free and fees are prorated if starting late. Instructions for logging into the class are emailed to parents once they have registered.

Parents can get a free trial to see if the program is the right fit for their children.

Information: jumpbunch.com/ phoenix-east-valley or 480-664-1187.

Bunch franchise and “knew immediately that I wanted to bring this dynamic program to the Valley.”

“It has been extremely rewarding hearing from parents, school directors, and teachers over the last 12 years what a positive impact the program has had on their children,” he added. “Kids get incredibly excited and look forward to Kids can engage in fun fitness exercises in the safety of their home with JumpBunch’s video exercise programs. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

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BUSINESS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Gilbert couple’s water bottles a market success

BY CECILIA CHAN Staff Writer

A Gilbert couple has come up with a portable invention that not only hydrates people but keeps their hands clean.

Suds2Go is a dual water bottle that comes with an integrated soap container and pump in the lid, allowing people to drink and wash their hands wherever they go.

“We have sold about 6,000,” Gabe Trevizo said. “We sold the first 4,000 in six weeks. With COVID, it kind of took off really quick for us.”

Trevizo said hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes each have their drawbacks.

“Hand sanitizers are very limited,” Trevizo said. “It doesn’t work on dirty hands. Any barrier on hands like dirt will turn into mud and it stings when you have cuts.”

Hand sanitizers may not be as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy from activities such as playing sports and handling food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends handwashing with soap and water instead.

Lather wet hands with soap for 20 seconds and then rinse.

Hand sanitizer is effective against COVID-19 only if it has at least 60 percent alcohol, according to the CDC, but even then Trevizo eschews it.

“There’s lot of health reasons we chose not to use hand sanitizers,” he said. “It kills everything on your hands whether it’s good or bad and there are some healthy bacteria that need to stay on your hands.”

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers may kill good bacteria but it doesn’t create superbugs like antibiotics do, experts say.

A study in 2018 in Australia found strains of bacteria showing resistance to alcohol-based disinfectants unless it was composed of 70-percent alcohol.

Soap doesn’t kill bacteria, but rather removes them.

Wipes also weren’t an option for Trevizo.

“Wipes for us seemed like someone

Cindy and Gabe Revizo of Gilbert are finding success in the marketplace with their dual water bottle called Suds2Go that allows users to quench their thirst and sanitize their hands. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

left them open and they always dry out,” he said. “And it always seemed wasteful. For a family of six, we would take an entire packet.”

Trevizo, who is a real-estate appraiser by trade, said the idea for the bottle started in 2018.

“We had a really bad flu season,” he recalled. “Obviously it’s nothing like we are facing right now. My wife and I have four kids and at that time we just had

our fourth child, an infant. It was high flu season and dangerous.

“At that time my wife was dealing with postpartum depression and anxiety and it drove our fear that we can’t get this sickness, we can’t bring this in the home and we can’t allow our infant to get it.”

The family attended a birthday party at Freestone Park in Gilbert and the children rode on the amusement park rides and played on the monkey bars.

Trevizo said his daughter, who was being potty trained, had to use the restroom and when they went to wash up there was no soap. They ended up using hand sanitizer and then eating pizza with their hands.

The couple upon returning home began searching the internet for a mobile hand-washing system but to no avail.

“I assumed there had to be some but there was nothing there,” Trevizo said. “Since then it’s been our mission to bring this product to market for families and active individuals.”

Trevizo and his wife, Cindy, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $12,000 to develop their idea. With 255 backers, they received $12,567 to help bring their project to life.

“That money went into research and development and we worked with design engineers to make the product as sleek and easy to use as possible,” Trevizo said. “And we also had to use a pattern attorney to protect our idea.

It took nearly two years to go from an idea to ‘Hey, here’s your first run of products.’”

The 25-ounce, double-sided steel bottle has a BPA-free plastic spout for drinking and a restrictive-flow valve for rinsing hands. The refillable foaming soap pump head never comes into contact with the water.

The bottle, which comes in three color choices, retails for $36.99 and is only sold online at this time.

“We get eight to 10 washes per bottle and the soap pumps 60-70 pumps of foaming soap,” Trevizo said.

If foaming soap is unavailable, people can mix water with five to six drops of dish soap like Dawn and shake well, he said.

The couple received the first batch of 4,000 bottles in January and packaged and shipped from their garage.

Shipments are now handled by a company in Colorado.

“We’ve ordered another 12,000,” Trevizo said. “We are just trying to keep up with demand right now.”

Trevizo said about 80 percent of the buyers are parents with young children.

The bottle is racking up positive reviews.

“In these days where washing hand brings more peace of mind, this bottle has saved me and the kids more than once,” one buyer wrote on the company’s website.

Wrote another; “Suds2Go is easy to use and very handy for errands, car trips, and outdoor recreation. I love being able to wash my hands with soap and water after leaving a store, pumping gas, on a picnic, or anywhere without running water accessible.”

The company also sells Suds2Go caps that fit on any disposable bottle of water.

A pre-filled disposable cap delivers about 30 pumps of foaming soap and retails for $10.99 for a two-pack.

Trevizo isn’t done yet with his ideas.

The couple is looking down the road into expanding the product line to include soap tabs that can be dropped into a container and filled with water for washing and towels that attach to the bottles.

Trevizo doesn’t just sell the bottles, he and his family and his family rely on them.

“They are in our car doors,” he said.

“That is where we use them the most.

We keep them filled in our car. And whenever we go out and about, we go back to the car and wash our hands. If it’s a day trip I put it in my backpack or my wife puts it in her daypack. It’s always with us when we leave the house.”

Learn more To find more information or to purchase Suds2Go, go to mysuds2go.com/ products/blue-bottle

BUSINESS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

37

3D print companies develop special mask gear for SRP SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Two 3D printing companies helped Salt River Project get more than 200 specially designed custom-fit face mask gear for critical personnel who work in the field.

Athena 3D Manufacturing, was formed last year by inventor-entrepreneur Memo Romero, and played a critical role in the development of the masks, SRP said.

Romero, an Ahwatukee resident and a mechanical engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, has 28 years experience in semiconductors, power systems, thermal engineering and product development and over 20 U.S. patents. He has designed products for NASA, the International Space Station and a number of industrial and auto companies.

He founded Athena 3D with a vision of how 3D printing could impact product design and partnered with HP to give engineers and designers access to bulk parts in less time.

Athena worked with SRP and Bellus 3D, a California company that has developed the Mask Fitter, a head frame that more firmly secures a mask to a person’s face.

“The men and women working on power lines, in distribution operations

centers, interacting with customers and ensuring water delivery, must have access to masks that achieve a near-perfect seal around each person’s nose and mouth,” SRP spokeswoman Erica Sturwold said.

SRP’s early mask models were full-respirator style, compatible with many different filtration materials and included a silicon face-seal solution.

“The full-size masks with silicone seal kept out particulate matter, but were ultimately time consuming to produce and did not always seal across all face shapes and sizes,” Sturwold said.

The utility also was running out of N95 masks for service crews and did Athena 3D Manufacturing of Ahwatukee and Bellus 3D of California worked with SRP to make custom-fitted frames that keep a mask more securely on the face. (SRP)

Facial scans helped two companies, Athena 3D Manufacturing of Ahwatukee and Bellus 3D of California, develop head gear for protective masks that keep them more tightly sealed to the phases to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (SRP)

not want to further deplete Arizona healthcare organization’s supply of those masks, which are certified by the Food and Drug Administration as capable of blocking 95 percent of all particles.

“Our Health Services team has been conducting COVID-19 tests and health screens for employees and we were nervous when we noticed our supply of N95 masks was getting low,” said Jodie Broderick, manager of health services at SRP. “We’ve tested a lot of mask solutions the Transportation Services team came up with and the 3D-printed solution with the Mask Fitter attachment is clearly the best. Even for women or people with smaller faces, these pass the fit test.”

SRP had a surplus of KN95 masks, which are manufactured in China and are just as effective in blocking out air particles, according to Smart Air, a certified B Corporation that “promotes cost-effective, data-backed air filters as a solution to indoor particulate air pollution,” according to Smart Air’s website.

B Corporations are companies certified as producing products and services that balance profit with legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. There are more than 2,500 around the world.

Athena helped SRP in several ways.

The company helped the utility test its fitted mask concepts and also recommended that it check out Bellus’ app, which scans a person’s face for measurements of their facial contours.

Those measurements are then used by Bellus to produce a head cradle that holds mask more closely to the face and allows a person to swap out used masks without worrying the replacement won’t fit properly.

“A lot of research and development

person’s face.

Sturwold said SRP’s joint project with Athena and Bellus is “an impressive effort that other local companies can replicate to address the N95 shortage,” “The combination of the Mask Fitters, head cradles, brackets and removable filters make this solution ideal for SRP employees who have been working onsite and in the field throughout the COVID-19, she said. “They tested 3D designs made publicly available on the National Institute of Health 3D print exchange website and made hybrid solutions from there.”

“Working closely with SRP’s safety services team, the goal was to develop a mask that works as well as an N95 mask and is practical for SRP employees to wear while working in all various job functions across the organization,” she added.

Now in full production, the SRP Transportation Services team is getting

has been done in my house,” said Chad Barrett, strategic operations manager for transportation services at SRP. “We have worked on four different iterations of the mask concept since coronavirus set in. Each iteration required improved design changes, printing prototypes as well as smoke testing on different face shapes and sizes to make sure the masks were keeping unwanted particles out.”

While the Food and Drug Administration will only certify the N95 mask as capable of capturing 95 percent of all air particles, Smart Air said there’s little difference between the American-made mask and its Chinese counterpart.

“Among the minor differences, only KN95 masks are required to pass fit tests while N95 masks have slightly stronger breathability standards,” it says on its website, adding that its tests show the NH95 mask is equally effective at capturing air particles.

Athena printed 900 straps that secure the Bellus Mask Fitter to a

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

Bellus 3D developed an app that digitally scans and measures the contours of an individual’s face for production of face mask harnesses that keep a mask more tightly secured to a person’s face. Above left, Chad Barrett, SRP’s strategic operations manager for transportation services, demonstrates how the finished product works. (SRP)

MASKS

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ready to deliver its first shipment of 200 Mask Fitters to SRP employees.

Members of SRP’s Health Services team were some of the first to wear mask prototypes to determine which mask could endure smoke tests.

“They were the first to embrace the Mask Fitters for mass use,” Sturwold said.

John Hughes, supervisor of field and shop operations at SRP, said employees who tested the Mask Fitters and Athena’s straps were pleased with the project’s accomplishment.

“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from our teams who have tested the masks and we know these are much more durable and easier to work with than N95’s,” he said. “They don’t slide around your face, and they are much easier to breathe through.

“Our crews in the field like to be able to keep the mask around their neck when alone in their vehicles, and position it back onto their face when they are coming in contact with residential or commercial customers,” he added.

Sturwold said that while the initial shipments of the gear will go first to “critical service” personnel, “the goal is to deploy them to more of SRP’s employees.”

She added that SRP may be the first utility company in the country to de-

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ploy 3D printed Mask Fitters for a large number of employees.

“The beauty of these Mask Fitters is their simplicity, and they can be worn an unlimited number of times if well cared for,” said Barrett. “They can be wiped down and filters can be swapped out whenever damaged or soiled.

We’re happy to give a comfortable, long-lasting solution to SRP employees during a time when additional safety precautions are necessary.”

BUSINESS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

39

This school aims to teach all dogs new tricks

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor

You might call Brenda Dreyer a dog whisperer. At the very least, her Foothills Canine Academy does more than just train dogs.

“There are so many aspects to dog training,” the Club West resident explained. “Learning how your dog learns and communicates is crucial. I don’t just focus on basic commands. I teach people how to understand their dogs and how to communicate with their dogs.”

It’s no wonder, then, that Dreyer doesn’t look at dogs as her students as much as their owners.

Indeed, she stressed, that her school is “not a board and train.”

“The owners are 100 percent involved in training their dog. I think it is instrumental to the owner and dog to form that bond through training. I basically teach the owners to train their dogs. This is also beneficial to the owner if they were to ever get another dog.”

“I sincerely love helping people learn about their dogs,” she said. “It gets to me in my heart when I see a student who has been struggling with their pet finally have that breakthrough.”

There are four stages those breakthroughs can occur since Foothills Canine Academy offers four levels of training: a class for puppies 10 weeks to 6 months old; a beginner class, those older than that; an intermediate class for dogs with a strong foundation in basic commands that focuses on impulse control and building on the three Ds of dog training: distractions, distance, duration.

That means having the dog learn to ignore distractions; getting the dog to respond to commands at increasingly greater distances from the owner; and building the dog’s ability to keep a command for increasingly longer periods of time.

Dreyer even has an advanced class for dogs that have excellent impulse control and have mastered the three Ds. It adds obedience skills such as dumbbell work (fetching) and other moves that are often part of dog show evaluations.

“My goal is to provide you with the necessary knowledge and tools for

Brenda Dreyer, left, stands with CJ and and an AKC judge after the dog was dubbed highest scoring dog in two rally classes. Rally is an AKC obedience sport.

(Special to the SanTan Sun News)

Brenda Dreyer of Ahwatukee is flanked by two of her dogs, CJ, left, and Yaeger.

(Special to the SanTan Sun News)

training your canine companion,” she says on her website. “Whether it be for a well-mannered dog or a dog you want to compete, obedience training and learning how your dog thinks is crucial.”

Dreyer, who moved to Ahwatukee from West Virginia a year ago, does all this in a 1,700-square-foot air-conditioned facility in an industrial park not far from Sky Harbor International Airport.

She had wanted to set up her school closer to home.

“It definitely was a challenge to find a place that would accommodate a dog training facility,” she recalled. “As soon as I said ‘dog,’ many property owners wouldn’t even consider it.: She ultimately couldn’t find an affordable place in Ahwatukee and is grateful she found one that’s only a 20-minute drive from her home.

She accepts any breed, though she cautions that some breeds, such as terriers, can be are among the more challenging students.

“Terriers are genetically built to be independent thinkers,” she explained.

“They tend to get bored very easily if a trainer keeps drilling the same command over and over again.”

Not allowed are aggressive dogs, she said, adding they “need more than obedience training.”

Dreyer talks about dogs as if she has been around them all her life, but she got her first one as an adult – an Australian Shepherd named Ozzy – only in 2002.

“I brought him to obedience classes because we wanted a well-mannered dog that we could bring places and do things with, like camping, jeeping and hiking.”

She had “boundary trained” Ozzy so that he learned to stay in the front yard and not cross the sidewalk – which amused the neighborhood kids who loved having him chase them, only to stop when they crossed past the walk.

Ozzy died and she and her husband

got CJ, a now 8-year-old Red-Bi Australian Shepherd. He’s since been joined in her family by a 4-year-old Red Merle Australian Shepherd and a 14-year-old Cockapoo.

But CJ is special, Dreyer said – and became her doorway into what she calls “Dog World.”

“Being introduced into the Dog World was one of the best things that has ever happened to me and it is all because of CJ,” Dreyer explained. “CJ is an extremely intelligent dog…but he was also very challenging to train.”

She kept working with CJ and eventually also hired a trainer who happened to be an American Kennel Club obedience competition exhibitor.

“Honestly, I never knew of such a thing,” she said, explaining how he introduced her to agility training – putting a dog through an obstacle course within a specified time limit.

“CJ and I had tons and tons of fun learning and practicing agility for two

years all while continuing my obedience training,” Dreyer said. “My exposure to Dog World was growing and CJ definitely loved it, as did I. “There are so many of these fun sports to keep you and your dog active and more importantly truly helps build and strengthen your relationship with your K9 partner.”

Over time, CJ and Dreyer got so good as a team doing AKC sports with names like “barn hunt,” “fast cat,” “flyball” and many more that they’ve competed six different sports – and won a few ribbons.

“I am so grateful to have been exposed to the Dog World as it literally has changed my life and certainly CJ’s life,” she said. “There is no greater gift than working as a team; seeing and feeling the moment when human and canine finally make that special connection.”

To help people and their dogs develop that special connection – as well as her own with her dogs – Dreyer on average trains dogs six days a week.

“This isn’t something I dabble in as a hobby,” she said.

She advises dog owners to start training when they are puppies. “Puppies, up to 16 weeks of age, go through an ‘imprinting phase,’” she said, describing it as a period when they develop “the foundation of their personality.

Her students attend an hourlong class once a week and she runs the different classes for the different training levels multiple times to accommodate the pet owners’ schedule.

She also offers private lessons both at the academy and at owners’ homes. The group classes cost $125 for a seven-week series while private lessons start at $60 for an hour and go up to $250 for five classes.

Dreyer also said she is “continuously trying to learn.”

“I truly believe performing in those AKC sports has been extremely helpful and beneficial in learning about dogs,” she said. “There are 101 different ways to teach a behavior. One way might work for one dog but not another, so I am constantly looking to fill my skill box.”

The academy is located at 2323 East Magnolia St. in Phoenix. Information: 602-642-1202, Foothillsk9@gmail.com or foothillsk9academy.com.

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

School athletic directors hoping for fall sports

BY ZACH ALVIRA

Sports Editor

East Valley high school athletic directors continue to do their part to navigate sport programs through a tenuous summer filled with uncertainty surrounding a fall sports season.

After Gov. Doug Ducey delayed in-classroom to Aug. 17, the Arizona Interscholastic Association pushed back the start date of official practices to the same day, led to several schools shutting down athletic summer training sessions on campus. Some schools hoped to resume conditioning workouts last week, including Chandler Unified.

Chandler’s return-to-play plan called for four nine-day phases that would eventually allow teams to practice without limitations.

Chandler teams should currently be entering the fourth and final phase, which involved playing other teams in traditional 7-on-7 tournaments.

But schools never made it out of the first phase. The morning of its scheduled transition to the second phase, teams were told to essentially press pause on any advancements.

“It was a combination of guidance

Hamilton’s athletic programs, like others in the Chandler district, suspended activities as cases began to surge and hope to get back to conditioning exercises on Monday, July 20. (Zach Alvira/Staff)

to again begin camps on July 20.

Football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball and cheer all began workouts at Hamilton this summer. Though most have already decided not to return when given the green light by district and school officials.

“

Personally, I hope we can get something going knowing it is going to be super different than in year’s past, I think me, and the coaches are hopeful to allow kids to compete in sports. They are going stir crazy. They all want to compete, but we have to do it in a safe manner.

”

– Brett Palmer from the district and our own decision,” Hamilton Athletic Director Brett Palmer said in regard to not moving into the second phase. “We want to do what is best for our athletes.”

Palmer said the Chandler district had hoped to allow teams to begin practices again on Monday, July 13. But that was since changed and teams now aim

Palmer reflected on the possibility of sports not taking place in the fall, explaining his desire to allow athletes to play if it is deemed safe to do so.

“Personally, I hope we can get something going knowing it is going to be super different than in year’s past,” Palmer said. “I think me, and the coaches are hopeful to allow kids to compete

in sports. They are going stir crazy. They all want to compete, but we have to do it in a safe manner.”

Schools advanced to the second phase before camps were shut down. Athletic directors from all schools have met weekly to discuss the resuming workouts.

Several school districts have already explored ways to give students an option to resume school in the fall completely online, fully in person or a combination of the two.

The AIA allows students to complete online schoolwork as long as it is registered through a district and one of its respective schools and compete on an athletic team. Executive Director David Hines said that will remain the case this year if students choose to only conduct online coursework.

“Kids taking virtual classes through a third-person, Primavera type are not eligible,” Hines said. “If the governor says we can go back to in-person school, regardless if a kid decides to stay online, go in-person or do a combination of the two, they are eligible at that school.

“For example, if a kid takes online classes through the Mesa district and some are through Mountain View, they are eligible to compete for Mountain View.”

Arizona isn’t alone when it comes to uncertainty surrounding the fall sports season or in-person learning.

Michael Hinojosa, the superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District in Texas, told multiple news outlets last week that he has doubts football can be played. Other states such as New Mexico have already moved football and soccer to the spring.

Doing the same in Arizona is unlikely.

However, Hines said the association is weighing a number of different options, including delaying and shortening the fall sports season.

As it stands, the AIA said if kids are allowed back into schools by Aug. 17, golf is likely to begin Aug. 24, badminton Aug. 31 and all other sports, including football and volleyball, will begin the week of Sept. 7.

Even if school is delayed further, however, Hines said the association has discussed several backup plans.

As it stands, if kids are allowed back in schools sports will be played.

“Plan ‘A’ went out the window, but we have a plan ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D,’ and so on,” Hines said. “We have the ability to do a number of different things in order to not lose out on another season.”

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For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

Technology helps foster kids maintain human bonds

BY CLINT WILLIAMS Guest Writer

Ron Adelson knows relationships matter.

“That’s not just warm and fuzzy poster material,” says the CEO of Aid to Adoption of Special Kids. “It’s science.”

Positive relationships change the biology of the brain, regulate the brain’s stress response system and promote healthy development in children, Adelson says.

“Secure, loving relationships repair of the brains of children scarred by trauma and that healing can be seen with medical imaging,” he says.

In a time of uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, establishing and strengthening relationships has never been more important for children in foster care. AASK professionals have adapted to meet that need using technology and imagination.

The AASK Sibling Connection program brings together brothers and sisters separated by foster care – usually through monthly events such as roller skating or a trip to a water park. Since the COVID-19 related safety restrictions went into effect, Amanda Gonzales has brought fun to the children.

Gonzales coordinates weekly online visits and virtual fun and games for the children in the program. It’s important work, she says.

“Sibling relationships are among the strongest bonds any of us have, but most children in foster care who have siblings are separated from at least one of their siblings,” Gonzales says. “Sibling relationships are especially important for children in foster because they share common experiences.”

Gonzales sets up video chats between separated siblings, often delivering a board game to each place so the

kids can play a game.

“It’s always fun to see them together,” Gonzales says.

Some siblings are now pen pals, sending each other hand-made cards, letters and care packages with Gonzales serving as courier to deliver envelopes and boxes to siblings across the Valley.

“We’re doing a lot of little things to keep everyone connected,” Gonzales says.

While the visits are virtual, the greater frequency – once a week instead of a monthly outing – seems to meet the needs of the children, Gonzales says.

Adults and teens in the AASK Mentoring Program are also making more frequent connections thanks to technology, says Mentor Program Coordinator Mike Weddle.

One mentor dropped fast food off at the group home of a teen and the two enjoyed lunch together through FaceTime as the mentor sat in his car

outside the house. Another mentor dropped off the board game Battleship and the two now have regular naval battles via Zoom.

Because everything is now being done remotely, Weddle says, mentors are more able to participate in – or at least watch – court hearings and meetings conducted by state Department of Child Safety case workers.

Without having to budget travel time and such, Weddle says mentors are able to participate more fully in the child’s case and learn more about the child.

“Mentors can be more effective because they can understand why the kid sees the world the way they do,” Weddle says.

For more information about adoption, foster care, mentoring and volunteer opportunities, call Aid to Adoption of Special Kids (AASK) at 602-930-4900, or visit .aask-az.org.

How businesses can survive uncertain times

BY MARK STEWART Guest Writer

There is no debating that Arizona is a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic. With cases rising, some businesses have been ordered to close once again, just two months after Governor Ducey began reopening the state following the expiration of the stay-at-home order.

After the initial executive order to close nonessential businesses, the federal government began multiple waves of economic stimulus to help small businesses that might not otherwise survive closures.

Now with some businesses facing another order to close and no certain plans for additional stimulus, how can local government and owners work together to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic?

Government should be a facilitator.

Rather than regulating every move of businesses, the government should fa-

cilitate options for owners to stay open and do so safely.

We cannot afford to shut down the economy again, so we must get creative and find solutions that keep consumers safe while keeping businesses open.

One way that Chandler has done this is by providing PPE grants to local businesses. Each company that bought PPE for their employees or customers is eligible to receive a $500 grant to offset costs, which encourages them to practice CDC guidelines.

In addition, relaxing laws that allow for more sales, like allowing alcohol to be purchased via takeout, is another great way to use the government to facilitate more opportunities for businesses.

Remove the stigma behind government assistance. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has provided huge opportunities for businesses to apply for funds including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and more.

There is currently more than $100

billion in funding available through PPP. With new guidance giving businesses up to 24-weeks to use funds and the added flexibility to include eligible payroll and non-payroll expenses, it should be a no-brainer to apply before the new Aug. 8 deadline.

Despite having a desperate need for funds, some owners are afraid to apply for assistance due to fear of not having the PPP loan forgiven or receiving pushback for accepting money from the government.

Businesses cannot let those concerns deter them from applying. These programs were created to help businesses keep their doors open and to protect the enormous effort that has gone into the business success.

As a community, we should not vilify companies who use these programs.

Businesses should invest in themselves. If you received money from government programs or have been successful during the pandemic, now is the time for smart invests in your business that support this unforeseen

changing landscape.

Do you need a new system to help online orders process more smoothly?

Do you need additional space to maximize adding takeout opportunities for your restaurant? Take this time to upgrade your business model and prepare yourself for what the “new normal” may hold.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has hit small businesses harder than we could have ever imagined.

Owners have tried their best to weather the storm, but not all have been able to survive multiple closings.

The government can be a facilitator for growth and opportunity, providing help while staying out of the way of business owners.

If we work together, I believe we can make it through these unprecedented times stronger than before.

Chandler Councilman Mark Stewart is a state ambassador for the Jobs Creator Network and co-founder of micro- and small-business accelerator Concept2Completion.

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Chandler woman brings yoga to homes, offices than all of last year,” said Fonovich. “We were struggling the first of this year, and with so many people unemployed and the economy shutting down, we didn’t know what to expect. And then, halfway through March, bang! Business!

It was such a surprise, such a blessing.”

She said owning and operating Nicole Anne Yoga has brought great joy to her life.

The unexpected and surprising boom in business allowed her to help her own team members, many of whom found themselves hurting due to the loss of their own businesses’ customer base.

Enter virtual and telephonic services through Nicole Anne Yoga.

“The growth of Nicole Anne Yoga during the pandemic was a win-win for all of us. Not only were we able to help people who were now stuck in their homes, but some of our own team members had to close down their own businesses. And now they were able to work from home,” she said. “I’m so grateful I’ve been able to provide work for them.”

Her team members, independent contractors, offer a wide range of services

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA Contributor

Nicole Fonovich, owner of the mobile Nicole Anne Yoga, came to the practice of yoga at age 22 after living with chronic pain throughout her childhood and youth.

She was born with a degenerative disc disease and after innumerable hospital visits and multiple surgeries, she’d been told she had no reason to expect she could live a normal life.

“All my doctors said I’d be bedridden,” she recalled with twinkling eyes.

“But it’s turned into a blessing.”

After advanced yoga and holistic health training combined with her ‘can do and will do’ philosophy, Fonovich founded her Chandler business.

Her team of 41 dozen holistic practitioners – specializing in a plethora of yoga and holistic services – go to work with individuals in their homes or groups at businesses and schools.

Nicole Anne Yoga’s clients range in age from children to seniors.

And when some businesses faltered during the shutdown, Nicole Anne Yoga found itself doing better than it had in previous months.

“We’d made more by the end of May

Chandler resident Nicole Fonovich runs a business, Nicole Anne Yoga, that brings a yoga master right to your door or in-home sessions. (Special to the San Tan Sun News)

See

YOGA on page 45

Chandler author busy as state’s poet laureate

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Contributor

If someone had told Alberto Alvaro Rios when he was a teenager growing up in a borderland community that he would become Arizona’s first poet laureate, his response would have been mirth.

“Ironically, I did not actually read much poetry as a teenager. I was too busy living it,” Rios said. “I did not come to poetry from reading; I came to it as a constant act of my own discovery.”

When he did start reading poetry, he sensed something of his own voyage in those words. That serendipitous discovery has propelled his life’s work and platform.

The Chandler resident, who also directs the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, has published 12 poetry collections, three collections of short stories and a memoir – all sandwiched between hundreds of poems in national and international journals and anthologies.

The most recent poetry collection, published by Copper Canyon Press in May, is titled “Not Go Away Is My Name,” and a first novel, titled “A Good Map of All Things,” published by University of Arizona Press, is due out in the fall.

Like much of his work, both were inspired by growing up in the American part of Nogales and hailing from

understanding how community is generational as well as geographic, and community is what has given me so much of my work,” Rios said.

To him, place is far more than a mapped entity.

“For me, it is animals, desert, rain, wild plants, and so much more, things you have to walk among and through, things you have to taste and run from, things you have to respect and understand intimately,” he said.

Of his latest work, some contain experiences while others are imagined. However, they could only have been imagined by someone who has gone through the experiences of growing up between cultures and languages, he said.

“I think the border is the most American place in America because it is a place where you have to choose or For Alberto Alvaro Rios, Arizona’s inaugural poet laureate, poetry is a you get to choose every day,” he said. “That’s the premise constant act of discovery. (Arizona State University) of America.” a family that has been in the region of Rios wonders at the choicnorthern Mexico/southern Arizona for es available to Americans. many generations.

“In most of the world, there’s no ‘or,’ He also straddles cultures: his moth- you get what you get or do what you er is from Lancashire, England, and his do. Growing up on the border, you have father is from Chiapas, Mexico. to choose every day. What word am I “What is important about that is going to say when I’m looking at a pen:

Am I going to say pen or am I going to say blue mark? And what am I going to think of, when I think of the color blue: Am I going to think of an American blue or the inexplicable blue that you see in houses that are painted in Mexico?” he said.

Those on the border get to choose “all the time, every day” and that extends to languages.

“Even in choosing, you’re not choosing one thing or the other, sometimes you’re choosing both simultaneously.

That’s exciting. I find it thrilling. I think that’s the essence of the border; it’s choice. It’s not limiting in any way,” he added.

The duality nurtured his poetry.

“Now when I sit down and I look at words, I know there’s always more than one way to say something, there’s more than one way to look at it and more than one way to think about it. And I think that is the essence of what being a poet is,” he said.

“A Good Map of All Things” has a similar theme and the story takes place just south of the border, in northern Sonora.

“It’s a compendium of all the small towns that I grew up either visiting or hearing about or my great aunts lived in,” he said. “There is no one main character; the town itself is the character.

Everybody comes in and they tell their story, creating again their own comSee

RIOS on page 46

NEIGHBORS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

YOGA

from page 44

to fit the client’s stage in life or special needs, such as limited range of mobility.

“Some of the most popular services, besides yoga and meditation, are neuropathic emotional therapy, nutrition coaching, life coaching and Reiki,” she explained.

Yoga is more than a career for Nicole Anne, it is a way of life that has served her well for two decades. It has helped her maintain her mental and physical health.

She knows of what she speaks when she tells others that yoga and meditation can help with depression and pain management. In her early years, as directed by her physicians, she relied on multiple pain medications.

Yoga changed that cycle of dependence.

Last August, at age 42, Fonovich underwent her fourth major back operation.

“And I’m fabulous,” she said emphatically. “Most people don’t know about me and my ongoing physical problems.

This back issue is something I live with, and physically, yoga has made me both more flexible and balanced. And yoga has made it possible for me to work through my depression surrounding my back issue, and has helped me manage my pain naturally.”

A Nicole Anne Yoga team member and good friend Donna Lewen of Ahwatukee works with Fonovich weekly.

They met on a trip to India in 2019 and Lewen started a healing circle with a

group of women at her home after that.

“We offer different healings monthly for each other,” said Lewen. “Nicole and I became fast friends. Beyond the Healing Circle, we practiced our new holistic modalities on each other every Thursday. I received Integral Breath Therapy Sessions, and Nicole received AumaKhua-Ki sessions.”

Lewen praised Nicole’s business acumen and ability to create a team spirit among the scores of disparate personalities.

“Nicole is a very bright businesswoman as well as a gifted holistic practitioner,” she said. “As Nicole says, It’s always important to have self-care.’

And that’s what we do for each other and others for whom Nicole Anne Yoga provides services for,” said Lewen.

“She’s a warm, caring person and goes the extra mile so her team can get to know each other.”

Chandler’s Kerri Wade, a hypnotherapist, Reiki master and a Nicole Anne Yoga team member, echoed Lewen’s praise.

“Nicole is always very upbeat and works really hard to bring our personal services front and center,” said Wade, owner of East Valley Therapy. “She’s passionate about building us all up.”

Fonovich was born and raised near Chicago, and received her bachelor’s degree in business/leadership and advocacy at Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois. She earned her master’s in education at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

She’s also a graduate of the southwest institute of holistic arts in tempe,

where she received her holistic practitioner degree, specializing in advanced yoga training (500 hour certified), integral breath therapy, Yoga Nidra, sound healing, restorative yoga, holistic nutrition, and life coaching.

She’s accomplished that despite her physical issues, explaining, “I’ve never let my disease define me in anyway.”

She admits there have been times when physical movement was impossible.

It was during one of those periods she discovered sound healing and meditation.

“Once I learned about sound healing and meditation – and the incredible transcendence it allowed me to feel – I was truly never the same,” she said.

From 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Friday on Facebook, Nicole Anne hosts a donation-based sound-healing session.

It’s free to veterans, active military members and, after COVID-19 hit, was expanded to include free lessons to healthcare providers and first responders.

“Sound healing uses the power of sound to restore one’s mind, body and spirit back to a state of balances,” she explained. “The sound waves from different instruments creates a harmonic resonance that trains the brain to move into deeper brain wave frequency.”

She also hosts a Live Meditation Mondays on Facebook Live.

“We want to make inner peace accessible to everyone,” she said, adding that was one of the major reasons she opted to start a mobile yoga business rather than open a brick and mortar studio.

Through her own trials, which in-

r o n I Dine o To-G 3 4 4 2 3 3 2 0 2 5

45

cluded years helping her father move through his battle with leukemia, Fonovich said, she became passionate about holistic nutrition. It is among the classes she teaches.

“It’s my privilege to offer my knowledge and education about holistic nutrition to others, and to guide them on the healthy and natural path we were born to live,” she said.

As businesses clients are more comfortable having team members come to their homes to provide services – whether one-on-one or with a small group – Nicole decided to continue offering virtual classes permanently.

She said many people told her they appreciated the convenience of learning yoga and meditation online as well as and receiving one-on-one nutrition coaching, life coaching, and more via Facebook Live.

Fonovich said she’s looking forward to the increased opening of schools and offices as she’d previously presented many classes in those sites.

In addition to being the president of Nicole Anne Yoga, Fonovich is also a children’s eBook author and app developer.

To honor her son Lucas, 11, she co-authored and co-created with her husband Damir, nearly 40 “Luca Lashes” eBooks and apps. She is also the president of Luca Lashes, LLC. For more information on her mobile yoga and meditation company visit her website at NicoleAnneYoga.com.

She also can be reached by phone at 847-840-7277.

NEIGHBORS

46

RIOS

from page 44

munity. There’s no one way to describe their community. Everybody has their version.”

Rios values the lifelong experience that makes us singular as authors and poets.

“We each, every one of us as human beings, have an innately particular story to tell,” he said.

Which is what he’s nurturing at the Piper Center.

“As a poet, I see my directorship of the Piper Center as a chance to let dreams be realized. It isn’t so different from what I talk about as poet laureate,” he said. “Hoping that what I bring to the table is strong, responsible, imaginative thinking, I get to shepherd both the center and my readers in positive, magical directions.

“Some of those directions are publication, of course, but everything stems from actualizations of the self. This is where the electricity is.”

Rios was appointed Arizona’s inaugural poet laureate by Governor Jan Brewer in 2013. He has organized several literal events and done outreach in rural areas, but he thinks of his tenure as “the poetry of a thousand encounters.”

“That is, I don’t think poetry happens only at a big event,” he said. “For me, it has to happen every time I speak, everywhere I go, and with everyone I meet. It is a life lived, not simply a role served. To that end, it is now more like poetry of ten thousand encounters.”

Rios expects that the next poet

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

while who they are is a mystery, that they exist is not,” Rios said.

“I always try to remember that. I am speaking to somebody. There is always someone you’re in conversation with at the other side of the kitchen table.”

He will continue to enrich the world with his words. But not everyone chooses to pick up a poetry collection at the end of a long day. Does he have some parting words to entice a reader?

“Poems can be exhausting, on the one hand, if you are reading to study and analyze. But I also think they can dazzle just as read, just as entertainment, letting the language do its magical work,” Rios said.

“There is no one way to do this, and a poem never provides just one experience. The best advice is to prepare for—and expect— surprise. And, expect a Alberto Alvaro Rios of Chandler, who is Arizona’s poet laureate, has published three collections of short stories, 12 volumes of poem to be different every poetryand a memoir. (Special to SanTan Sun News) time you read it.”

Read more at piper.asu. edu/staff /alberto-rios He knows that his work is well laureate would be appointed soon. But To buy the books: for him, the work of his designation was received, if judging by the many correuapress.arizona.edu/book/a-goodsecond nature even before the title and spondences that arrive.

“Who they are, however, is a mystery map-of-all-things/ he would continue it. coppercanyonpress.org/books/notto me—the correspondences are far “In that sense, it is definitely a lifego-away-is-my-name-by-alberto-rios/ and wide, from all over the world. But long role,” he said.

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Ex-NFL player in Chandler sets out new career

BY KRISTINE CANNON Staff Writer

Five years after retiring from the NFL, former Cardinals tight end John Carlson of Chandler is taking what he’s learned on the field and applying them to his new venture: owner of Christian Brothers Automotive.

“Great football teams have clear goals, team members in appropriate roles, and winning processes – we plan to operate the business under that same mentality,” said Carlson, who with his wife, Danielle, opened the business in Scottsdale.

The Carlsons’ new business joins more than 220 other Christian Brothers Automotive locations across 30 states.

John and Danielle discovered Christian Brothers in 2015 as customers of the Ocotillo location.

They’ve lived in the southern Chandler area with their four kids and labradoodle for the past six years.

“We’ve always been impressed with their outstanding customer service,” John said, adding that they were also impressed with the high-quality repairs they received from the shop, which also offers free digital inspections with pictures and videos.

While the new shop is far from their home, they see an opportunity.

“North Scottsdale is a vibrant, growing area with residents that we believe will see value in the Christian Brothers automotive repair experience,” John said.

“Our location is also the first Christian Brothers in the northeast corner of the Valley, so we have an opportunity expand brand awareness by delivering excellent service to North Scottsdale customers.”

What also sets Christian Brothers apart from other auto shops is its brand mission: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“When evaluating franchise opportu-

Former Cardinals tight end John Carlson lives in Chandler with this wife, Danielle, and their four kids and labradoodle. John and Danielle recently opened up a Christian Brothers Automotive shop in northern Scottsdale in June. (Christian Brothers Automotive)

tenance in J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. Aftermarket Service Index Study.

According to Donnie Carr, president of Christian Brothers Automotive, the company’s goal is to provide guests with reliable transportation.

“And we have faith in each location to meet their guests with honest and dependable service,” Carr said.

“Christian Brothers Automotive has

We are humbled and inspired to have the “ opportunity to prioritize our faith and loving our neighbors through business ownership, and we look forward to welcoming guests into our shop and servicing their vehicles to ensure their safety on the road.

”

nities, Danielle and I were attracted to the Christian Brothers Automotive brand because of their emphasis on serving their customers, employees, and vendors with both excellence and integrity.

Now that we’re open, we work every day to uphold that standard,” John said.

John and Danielle run the business as a team, with Danielle working on the shop’s social media presence as well as occasionally working in the shop, cleaning, picking up parts and driving the courtesy shuttle.

“She has also maintained her role of chief supervisor of our four kids, one dog, and 10 chickens,” John added.

Founded in Texas in 1982, Christian Brothers earned the No. 1 ranking in customer satisfaction for general main-

– John Carlson

assisted countless individuals and families with their auto service, and John and Danielle will offer drivers in Scottsdale the chance to get back on the road as conveniently as possible.”

Following his seven-year career in the NFL as a tight end for the Seahawks, Vikings, and Cardinals, John completed a master’s degree in sports psychology.

He then spent three years working with athletes on performance skills and strategies.

It was during this time that John and Danielle started their search for the perfect business opportunity.

“We are humbled and inspired to have the opportunity to prioritize our faith and loving our neighbors through business ownership, and we look forward to welcoming guests into our shop and servicing

their vehicles to ensure their safety on the road,” John said of Christian Automotive.

Since the Scottsdale’s opening, John said they’ve received “tremendous” support from area residents and fellow business owners.

John and Danielle’s goal for the Scottsdale shop is to build long-term relationships with their customers by delivering superior customer service experience, building trust and standing behind their work with their three-year/36,000-mile Nice Difference warranty.

“We will also do whatever it takes

to streamline the repair process for our customers, including pickup and drop-off service in our courtesy shuttle, after-hours key drop, digital inspections delivered via text and email, pay by text service, and a comfortable lobby with bottled water, hot coffee and snacks if customers choose to wait with their vehicles,” John said.

Christian Brothers Automotive is located at 7225 E Williams Dr. and is open Monday through Saturday.

Information: cbac.com/ north-scottsdale

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

49

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

Artists can submit work for online auction

SANTAN SUN NEWS

Artists in Chandler and throughout the country have a chance to make some money and help a worthy cause by joining the fall Creative Connections Fine Art Auction.

Artists can to submit up to three pieces of fine art by Aug. 9 to take part in the auction, which runs Sept. 20-27.

Artists retain 70 percent of the purchase price while and 18 of the total sale will go to support the nonprofit World Central Kitchen. Entries must have a minimum value of $100 and there is no maximum value.

Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen believes in “the power of food to heal and strengthen communities through times of crisis and beyond.”

In the past it has helped devastated communities recover and establish resilient food systems and has served over 30 million meals to those impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world in countries including Albania, The Bahamas, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Mozambique, Spain, Venezuela, and the United States.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, its team of “food first responders” has activated hundreds of restaurants and kitchens to feed marginalized and vulnerable communities with individually packaged, fresh meals in communities that need support – including children and families and deliveries to seniors who cannot venture outside. WCK is now active in dozens of cities providing over 150,000 fresh meals a day.

“Traditional safety nets like school feeding programs, city services and food banks are struggling to meet

basic needs,” the nonprofit says on its website. “#ChefsForAmerica is making a key connection between people who need meals and restaurant workers and drivers who need to earn a living.”

The online auction is the second organized by artist Nancy Breiman of Scottsdale, which resulted in more than $5,000 in art sales in May. “This is a great opportunity for collectors to find new artists and buy fine art at an affordable price without leaving your home,” said Breiman. “And for the artist, Creative Connections fosters community among the artists and an opportunity for greater exposure and visibility during this pandemic.”

Up to three pieces of art, with three images each, may be submitted for $15.

Breiman says she started Creative Connections to provide marketing support for fine artists as well as to provide fine art for art collectors.

And she said she’s happy to be partnering with World Central Kitchen.

“Since the pandemic hit, they’ve been helping hundreds of restaurants and kitchens to feed marginalized and vulnerable communities as well as medical professionals,” she said.

Eligible art can be 2D or 3D and include all media, jewelry, fiber art, and sculpture.

The online auction will run from 6 a.m.

Pacific Time Sept 20 to 8 p.m. Sept. 27.

All artwork must be original, not created during a workshop or class and be for sale. Artwork can be a reproduced print or giclee but must be identified as such.

ALL Submissions are online: Information: creativeconnectionsfineart.com.

For details, email Breiman at nbreiman@ gmail.com.

These pieces featuring silver black discs by Chandler artist Laurie Fagen will be on sale during the Creative Connections Fine Art Online Auction Sept. 20-27. Artists have until Aug. 9 to submit up to three pieces, (Courtesy Laurie Fagen)

Local resident name to Chandler Cultural Foundation SANTAN SUN NEWS

A Chandler resident with a long history in strategic planning and community engagement has been named to the Chandler Cultural Foundation.

LaTricia Harper Woods has been named to the non-profit, the managing board for the Chandler Center of the Arts.

Woods has a 25-year career in public relations, public affairs, marketing, crisis communications, internal communications and multicultural communications for government agencies, nonprofits and small businesses.

A resident of Chandler for the last 12 years, she will serve will serve a threeyear term on the foundation and “will focus on broadening the reach and awareness of the board’s programs and events,” according to a release.

Woods is founder and president of Mahogany Xan Communications, LLC, a public relations firm working with a

Public relations powerhouse LaTricia Harper Woods of Chandler has been tapped for the Chandler Cultural Foundation board. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

variety of clients to develop and implement their communication strategies.

She has been recognized in both the Valley and Wichita her professional

achievements and community involvement and is an adjunct professor for the Maricopa Community Colleges, leading courses for marketing and advertising for small businesses.

Prior to the creation of her firm, Woods worked in the city governments of Wichita and Maricopa as a public information officer and as the assistant to the city manager for the City of Scottsdale.

She served as a volunteer for the Chandler Museum, developing the strategy for the launch of the new facility which opened in 2018. She is a 25-year member of Public Relations Society of America and serves on the executive committee for the Counselors Academy Section was a member of Valley Leadership’s 28th Class.

Woods also is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and a sustaining member of Junior League of Phoenix. In 2019, she was appointed National Public Relations Chair for the Top Ladies of

Distinction, Inc. “The Chandler Cultural Foundation Board is comprised of such an impressive array of community leaders, who each bring their expertise and unique perspectives to help us serve the cultural community,” said Jeanne Forbis, Chandler Cultural Foundation chair, adding: “LaTricia is a true powerhouse - her understanding of city government, her passion for the arts and social service, her expertise in communications and her vast history of community involvement will be of immeasurable value to the Board. We are thrilled to have her join us.”

Woods said that as a longtime Chandler resident, “I was searching for a way to serve in the community that we love.

I also know that I serve with a spirit of an exceptional community servant, Janet Tobias, always with me. As such, the work that I do as a member of the Board not only is done to shine a spotlight on our brilliant community but to honor her memory as well.”

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

These difficult times can teach us valuable lessons

BY RABBI IRWIN WIENER, D.D. Guest Writer

In a small village was a wise man who told his followers, “Something can be observed and learned from anything.

And we may learn not only from the things God made. The creations of man can also serve as a teacher.”

“Then tell us, O man of wisdom,” said one of the townspeople, smiling, “What does a train teach us?”

“A train can teach us,” said the wise man, “that if a person is sometimes one second late, he can miss everything.”

“And, wise man,” asked another, “what possibly can a telegram teach us?”

“From a telegram,” said the wise

man, “we learn that in life every word is counted, and we are charged for every

word.”

Finally, another asked, “what in the slightest can a telephone teach us?”

“Ahh,” came the answer.

“From the telephone we learn that everything we say here is heard there,” said the wise man, pointing to Heaven.

There is much we can learn from this tale. Most notably is that everything we do or say teaches us about life. Life is one continuous lesson.

The most important lesson, to me, is that every moment presents an opportunity and, we have the ability to take each moment and make it count.

During these difficult times when we

are forced into isolation, it can present us with a perfect opportunity, to consider what is important in our lives.

It certainly is easy to despair, to concentrate on the negative aspects of what this means.

However, it can also give us insight into what we are capable of in the face of adversity.

We do not need a wise man to teach us the meaning of Social Media, or Zoom, or FaceTime, or the telephone.

These advantages are there to teach us various ways to adapt to the nightmare we are experiencing, but I believe it will also enable us to find a cure so we can once more breathe the fresh air supplied to us by a benevolent God. Just keep the faith!

Rabbi Irwin Weiner is spiritual leader of the Sun Lakes Jewish Community.

Google and a walk teach a memorable lesson baby name, I typed. Rather than the correct answer, poult or chick, Google gave me a list of the most popular names for girls in the country of Turkey: Beste, Canan and Defne. The site assured me that Turkish names for girls are typically short and deeply meaningful.

We laughed at the search engine response, but I was struck by the phrase: short and deeply meaningful. The list hadn’t been what I was looking for, but I understood the sentiment of the Turkish list-maker.

I pulled out my notebook and added a few more items to my list.

Aspen trees. Strawberry plants. Baby turkeys.

I gathered the memory of the day around me. Soon we would return to other lists and responsibilities, but for now we enjoyed a short, but deeply meaningful experience, one I would recall again each time I returned to my list.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 ESV Lynne Hartke is the author of Under a Desert Sky and the wife of pastor and Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke. She blogs at lynnehartke.com.

Chandler United Methodist Church Making and Deploying Disciples for over 100 Years.

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BY LYNNE HARTKE Guest Writer

Water. Check. Sunscreen. Check. Hiking snack. Check.

“Do you have everything?” my husband Kevin asked as he waited by the front door of our cabin. After thirty-eight years of marriage, he was used to my list-making ways.

“Yes,” I said, as I grabbed the last two items on my list—a small notebook and pencil—as we headed out to hike Mormon Mountain, a six-mile, out-and-back trek.

I looked forward to hiking an old growth forest with 200 to 500-year-old ponderosa pine trees, as well as snags (large standing dead trees), downed logs, clumps of younger trees, and small clearings.

The day was perfect, not yet seventy degrees, as we hit the trail at 8:00 am. A pair of ravens scolded us with raucous voices from the tall branches of their woodland sanctuary.

An acorn woodpecker, sporting a bright red cap, searched for breakfast in the bark of a nearby tree, while a curious mountain chickadee sang out morning greetings.

As we ascended, we discovered wildflowers that thrived in the 7000foot and higher elevation. The delicate purple hoary aster. The spindly firecracker penstemon. The beautiful golden columbine. I took out my notebook and began a list, adding the date and location.

The oak trees gave way to spruce as we continued to the summit, startling a pair of turkeys and their brood of young.

“What are baby turkeys called?” I asked as we stopped for a granola bar breakfast on a felled tree in a small grove of aspens. A patch of wild strawberries without any ripe fruit grew at our feet.

“Not sure,” Kevin responded.

With cell towers visible in the distance, I pulled out my phone. Turkey

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One Call, We Do It All! 602-339-4766 Owner Does All Work, All Honey-Do Lists All Remodeling, Additions, Kitchen, Bath, Patio Covers, Garage, Sheds, Windows, Doors, Drywall & Roofing Repairs, Painting, All Plumbing, Electrical, Concrete, Block, Stucco, Stack Stone, All Flooring, Wood, Tile, Carpet, Welding, Gates, Fences, All Repairs.

IRRIGATION

SPRINKLER DOCTOR Repairs - Installs - Modifications Timers/Valves/Sprinklers DRIP-PVC-COPPER Backflows & Regulators LANDSCAPE LIGHTING

25 years Experience & Insured Not a licensed contractor.

PAINTING

Lowest Prices * 30 Yrs Exp Serving Entire Valley

YOU’LL LIKE US - THE BEST!

Concrete Work • Patios • Sidewalks • Driveways • 30 years experience • Free Estimates

Call Dan

not a licensed contractor

480-516-8920

10% OFF

#1

We Beat Competitors Prices & Quality

Free Estimates • Home of the 10 Year Warranty!

480-688-4770

www.eastvalleypainters.com

Family Owned & Operated

Now Accepting all major credit cards

PEST CONTROL

Our family would be proud to be your pest control solution. ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

AZ Shield Pest Control

(480) 257-4640 Rodent Control Mosquito Control (480) 255-4949 Scorpion Control azshieldpestcontrol.com Ant Control PLUMBING azshieldpestcontrol@gmail.com • Owner Operated 24-HOUR SERVICE PLUMBING

480-892-5000 480-726-1600 24 HOUR SERVICE ABC Plumbing SAN TAN PLUMBING 480-726-1600 & DRAIN CLEANING &PLUMBING Rooter ABC & ROOTER 24/7

Best Senior Discount

20% OFF

A+

Since 1968

ROC#153202/213288

CURE ALL PLUMBING FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED

• Sprinkler/Drip Repairs • New Installs Poly/PVC • Same Day Service

NTY 5-YEAR WARRA

480.654.5600 azirrigation.com Cutting Edge LLC • ROC 281671

CONCRETE & MASONRY

Paint Interior & Exterior • Drywall Repair Cabinet Painting • Light Carpentry Voted Power Washing • Textures Matched Popcorn Removal • Color Consulting Pool Deck Coatings • Garage Floor Coatings

PLUMBING

Block Fence * Gates

602-789-6929 Roc #057163

East Valley PAINTERS

LANDSCAPE/MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPING

Remodeling License ROC #183369 • Bonded, Insured

General Contacting, Inc.

PAINTING

Bonded/Insured • ROC#153131

plansbydesignaz@outlook.com

Free Estimates with Pride & Prompt Service!

CONCRETE & MASONRY

arizonacactussales.com

www.miguelslandscapinginc.com

Licensed • Bonded • Insured • ROC118198

Weekly, Bi-Weekly & Monthly

Five Acres of Plants

480.266.4589

15 Years Experience • Free Estimates

CLEANING SERVICES

Free estimates at 480-802-1992 or dennis@ simplygrand cleaningaz.com

Since 1968

(480) 963-1061

David Cole • 480-215-4757

• Weekly, biweekly, tri-weekly, or monthly; same talented crew each visit • Flexible, customized services to meet individual needs of each client • GREEN eco-friendly products used to clean and sanitize • Move-in/move-out and seasonal deep cleans • Small, family-owned company with GUARANTEED high quality services • Always dependable, excellent references, bonded, and insured

CACTUS SALES

QUICK RESPONSE TO YOUR CALL!

josedominguez0224@gmail.com

Commercial & Residential • Licensed & Insured • Owner Operator

LANDSCAPE DESIGN/ INSTALLATION

IRRIGATION

Full Service Plumbing ★ No Job Too Small!

Interior Painting Color Consulting

480-825-2122 www.eagleridgepaint.com To learn more and view our work, please visit us on FB. ROC 296732

Bonded & Insured

Sprinkler & Drip Systems

• 20 Years Experience • 6 Year Warranty

480.345.1800 Repairs • Modifications • Installs ROC# 195213 • Licensed & Bonded

480-895-9838

ROC #204797

PLUMBING

PAINTING

Sprinkler Detective

• Drain & Sewer Cleaning • Water Heaters • Faucets • Fixtures • Electronic Leak Locating • Slab Leaks • Repiping - Free Estimates • Sewer Video & Locating - Senior Discounts!

• Backflow Testing & Repair RESIDENTIAL & • Sprinkler Systems & Repairs • Water Treatment Sales & Service COMMERCIAL

Affinity Plumbing LLC 480-487-5541

HOME IMPROVEMENT & PAINTING Interior/Exterior Painting 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE Dunn Edwards Quality Paint Small Stucco/Drywall Repairs

We Are State Licensed and Reliable!

Free Estimates • Senior Discounts

480-338-4011

affinityplumber@gmail.com

www.affinityplumbingaz.com

Your Ahwatukee Plumber & East Valley Neighbor • Anything Plumbing • Water Heaters • Inside & Out Leaks • Toilets, Faucets, Disposals • Same Day Service • Available 24/7 • Bonded & Insured • Estimates Available

35 OFF

ROC#309706

$ Any Service

Not a licensed contractor

DIRECTORY

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

53

Call us at 480-898-6465 or email classifieds@santansun.com PLUMBING 1 HOUR RESPONSE

480-726-1600 $

Four ads for $116.73 POOL/SPA SERVICES

5000 OFF

Work Completed!

ABC PLUMBING & ROOTER

SINCE 1968

WEEKLY SERVICE CHECKLIST: • Brush Walls & Benches • Remove All Debris From Surface Of Water • Empty All Baskets (skimmer, leaf canister, pump baskets, etc.)

• Inspect Equipment For Any Repairs, Leaks, Etc., and Report to Customer If Anything Is Needed • Backwash As Needed • Check & Balance Chemicals • Basic Chemicals Included With Monthly Service!

Monthly Service Starting at $89

EMERGENCY SERVICE www.abcplumbingandrooter.com

Lifetime East Valley Arizona Native!

Locally Owned & Operated • Honest & Reliable

TONY ALMADA OWNER

Lic. ROC153202/213278, Bonded & Insured *CALL OFFICE FOR DETAILS

602.574.7690 • WINGMANPOOLS@YAHOO.COM

PLUMBING

SEWER/DRAIN/SEPTIC

SEWER AND DRAIN

Kent Mortensen

ABC Plumbing & Rooter

480-726-1600 FREE

Plumbing C O • A licensed plumbing contractor for over 40 years • No Employees - Owner operated • Specializes in water heaters and all plumbing repairs • Located in Chandler

480-968-1371

ROC 035930

Hotwater Heater Flush Licensed/Bonded/Insured

48 YEARS In Business Since 1968 ROC#153202/213278

% Financing 0% Financing Fast* 020% Fast* 20% *Call for details. *Call for details.

Senior Senior Discount! Discount!

Classifieds CARPET CLEANING

LANDSCAPE/ MAINTENANCE

BIG JOHN'S CARPET CLEANING Our truck-mounted steam cleaning system will deep clean your carpets, ridding them of unwanted dirt, bacteria, fungus and chemical residues.

Upholstery cleaning also available.

Tile and grout cleaning.

For a clean and healthy carpet, call 480-786-6610 John Downs, Owner/Operator Ocotillo Resident.

Call for Monthly Specials.

A+ SPRINKLER REPAIR SERVICE Are you tired of fixing drip system leaks?

20 years exp repairing and replacing drip systems, valves, wire troubleshooting & timers. All repairs!

Honest and reliable.

East Valley Native.

Call and compare prices!

602-826-4717 www.AplusSprinkler Repair.com

HOME FOR RENT? Place it here!

81% of our readers, read the Classifieds!

Call Classifieds 480-898-6465

MANUFACTURED HOMES BRAND NEW NEVER LIVED IN 2 BED / 2 BATH HOMES $58,900 Financing Available 55+ Mobile Home Park in Great Chandler Loc. Call Kim 480-233-2035

AIR CONDITIONING/HEATING

Fully licensed, insured, and BBB A+ rated.

Locally and veteran owned company. Call us For service, repairs, or a replacement system.

Upfront pricing and no overtime charges.

No charge for service calls with repairs.

Call today for scheduling

480-386-1910

Ask about Senior Discounts ROC #220657

MOVING IN OR OUT MOVERS

Professional, hardworking, excellent service. No hidden fees.

Whether you are moving in or moving out LEAVE THE LIFTING TO US! Serving the East Valley. www.inoroutmovers phoenixmetro.com Call Terry at 602-653-5367

Classifieds 480-898-6465

WINDOW CLEANING

DIRTY WINDOWS? Call Fish Window Cleaning 480-962-4688 And you will have the cleanest windows and screens on the block.

Below is the list of services we offer: Windows – Interior & Exterior Screens – Sunscreens and Regular Tracks, Ceiling Fans, Light Fixtures Power Washing Your driveway, sidewalks and patios.

InstaGram @FISH_WCEAST VALLEYAZ

HANDYMAN A FRIEND IN ME HANDYMAN

Honey-Do List Electrical, Plumbing, Drywall, Painting & Home Renovations.

Not a licensed contractor.

Call Greg 480-510-2664 AFriendInMeHandyman@gmail.com

PLUMBING abcplumbingandrooter.com ROC 153202 Where Integrity Isn’t Watered Down.

Since 1968 - 480-726-1600 1 hour response Emergency Response 24/7 A rated BBB *Free flush of water heater *Best senior discount: 20% off labor *$50.00 off with work done mention this ad Flood restoration, Water heaters, drain clogs, faucets, toilets, slab leaks, leak locating, & water main.

Your Ad can go ONLINE ANY Day! Call to place your ad online!!

Classifieds 480-898-6465

SWITCH TO AT&T AND GET A $250 AT&T VISA® REWARD CARD* WHEN YOU BUY A SMARTPHONE ON A QUALIFYING INSTALLMENT PLAN!

Must port in new line of elig. postpaid wireless svc (min. $50/mo. after discounts start w/in 2 bills). *Ends 12/31/20. Remain active and in good standing for 30 days. After 30 days, you will be mailed instructions for claiming your card online. Claim w/in 75 days. If svc cancelled, device balance due. $30 Activation, add’l fees, taxes & other charges, & restr’s apply. See Sales Rep for details.

Call us, your AT&T Preferred Dealer.

Iv Support Holdings LLC

1-855-401-1184 *$250 REWARD CARD: Ends 12/31/20. Smartphone: Buy any new smartphone on qualifying 0% APR installment plan. Other installment options may be available. $0 down for well-qualified credit or down payment may be req’d. Retail price is divided into monthly installments. Tax on full retail price due at sale. Required Wireless: Port in new line w/ postpaid wireless voice & data service (min. $50/mo. for new svc with autopay and paperless bill discounts. Pay $60/mo. until discounts starts w/in 2 bills. Other qual. plans available.). Excludes upgrades and AT&T ports. If you cancel wireless svc, will owe device balance. Activation Fee: $30. Return: Return w/in 14 days (w/in 30 days for business customers). Restocking fee up to $55 may apply. Reward Card Redemption req’d.: Will be sent email or letter with redemption requirements. Redemption req’d w/in 75 days from reward notification mail date. Reward Card delivered within 3-4 weeks after redemption to customers who maintain qualifying service(s) from installation date and through reward fulfillment. Card expires at mon-end 6 months after issuance. For Cardholder Agreement, go to rewardcenter.att.com. The AT&T Visa Reward Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted in the United States, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. No cash access. The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC. Limits: May not be combinable w/other offers, discounts or credits. Purchase, financing & other limits & restr’s apply.

Participation in these offers may make your wireless account ineligible for select other offers (including select bill credit offers) for a 12-month period. Gen. Wireless: Subj. to Wireless Customer Agmt at att.com/wca. Svc not for resale. Deposit: Service deposit may apply. Limits: Purchase & line limits apply. Credit approval, activation (up to $45/line) and other fees, advanced payments and other charges apply. Additional monthly fees & taxes: Apply per line and include Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee (up to $1.50), Administrative Fee ($1.99) & other fees which are not government-required surcharges as well as taxes. Additional one-time Fees may apply. See www.att.com/mobilityfees for more details. Coverage & svc not avail. everywhere. You get an off-net (roaming) usage allowance for each svc. If you exceed the allowance, your svc(s) may be restricted or terminated. International and domestic off-net data may be at 2G speeds. Other restr’s apply & may result in svc termination. Pricing, promotions, programming, terms & restr’s subject to change & may be modified or terminated at any time without notice. ©AT&T svc is subject to AT&T network management policies, see att.com/broadbandinfo for details. ©2020 AT&T Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. AT&T, Globe logo, DIRECTV, and all other DIRECTV marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. Ask rep for details.

54

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

With JAN D’ATRI STSN Contributor

Winner, winner chicken dinner A tasty plate of fried chicken and summer just seem to go hand in hand.

I came across this fried chicken recipe in Cook’s Country Magazine. I was looking for a method that would yield an extra crispy on the outside, super moist on the inside version.

First let’s talk about what makes this chicken moist. It gets soaked in buttermilk and salt brine which helps the chicken retain moisture and also

gives it a wonderful flavor. What makes the outside crispy is the combination of flour and spices that the chicken is dredged in and then refrigerated for several hours or overnight.

When you get ready to fry the chicken, that coating has pretty much glued itself to the chicken making it the perfect crispy crust I was hoping for! If yours turns out the way I think it will, it’s going to be winner, winner chicken dinner.

Ingredients: 3 lb. bone in chicken legs and thighs 1 quart vegetable oil Brine: 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons Buttermilk 1 tablespoon salt Coating: 3 cups flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 3 tablespoons white pepper 1 tablespoon celery salt 1 tablespoon Italian spice blend 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon black pepper ½ teaspoon salt Directions: In a bowl, combine buttermilk and salt, whisking to dissolve the salt.

Wash and pat dry chicken.

Place chicken pieces in buttermilk brine, stirring to completely coat.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, prepare

coating. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, white pepper, celery salt, Italian spices, garlic powder, ginger, black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine. Add 6 tablespoons of buttermilk to the spice mixture and with your fingers, crumble to form craggy bits.

Prepare a rack inside a baking sheet. Remove pieces of chicken from buttermilk brine and dredge each piece in the flour/spice mixture turning pieces and pressing into the chicken to thoroughly coat. Place chicken on rack and refrigerate uncovered for several hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, heat oil in pan to 350-375 degrees. Fry the chicken, until deep golden brown and internal temperature is 165 degrees.

(You can finish off the chicken to reach the proper temperature.)

Place fried chicken on a rack inside a paper towel-line baking sheet to drain. Watch my how-to video: jandatri.com/recipe/best-friedchicken/

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55

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020

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tuition has remained unchanged for the last 11 years

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AVERAGE INCOMING GPA OF 3.55 Fall 2019 incoming students

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APPLY FOR FREE TODAY! 855-428-7884 | apply.gcu.edu

*2016 and 2017 ** GCU students graduate with less debt on average ($18,750 according to College Scorecard) than the average at public and private nonprofit universities ($28,650 according to 2017 data from the Institute for College Access and Success).

Please note, not all GCU programs are available in all states and in all learning modalities. Program availability is contingent on student enrollment. Grand Canyon University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (800-621-7440; http://hlcommission.org/). Pre-licensure nursing students who begin or resume attendance in Fall 2020 and beyond will be ineligible to utilize most GCU institutional aid/scholarships for tuition and fees once accepted into the clinical portion of the program. Important policy information is available in the University Policy Handbook at https://www.gcu.edu/academics/ academic-policies.php. The information printed in this material is accurate as of MARCH 2020. For the most up-to-date information about admission requirements, tuition, scholarships and more, visit gcu.edu. GCU, while reserving its lawful rights in light of its Christian mission, is committed to maintaining an academic environment that is free from unlawful discrimination. Further detail on GCU’s Non-Discrimination policies can be found at gcu.edu/titleIX. Š2020 Grand Canyon University 20GTR0232

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | JULY 19, 2020