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MUSICAL CALLING
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
. 17 NEW FIRST TIME BARBEQUE NOVELIST
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Phoenix gears up for critical census BY GARY NELSON AFN Contributor
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@AhwatukeeFN |
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t’s going to be easy to overlook a little postcard that will arrive in your mail next March. Between the kids, the rent, the job and the busted washing machine, it won’t seem like a big deal. Plus, it’ll probably be hard to find among all the pizza coupons and dental implant ads. All that notwithstanding, your city is hoping you’ll treat that card like a piece of gold. Because in a way, it is. The card is going to come from the U.S. Census Bureau, and it’s going to ask you some questions about how many people live in your
home, your ethnicity and similar stuff. Whether you respond could help determine how many federal dollars will be used to improve your hometown, and your answers will have a bearing on who ultimately represents you in Congress, the Legislature or even your City Council. The financial stakes are huge. According to the Maricopa Association of Governments, the federal government distributes $675 billion a year to cities and states, depending on their populations. Arizona gets $13.5 billion of that, and the more people your city counts, the more money it gets. Phoenix officials estimate that for each person counter, the city receives $533 in state and federal funding for a total $866 million
annually. Based on how many people live where, Arizona’s congressional and legislative district maps will be redrawn after census results are in. The count will also affect the boundaries of Phoenix’s City Council districts. The official date for the 2020 census is April 1. That seems like a long way off, but some Phoenix and many Valley cities already have been preparing for months. After President Trump backed off trying to include a question about citizenship in the Census questionnaire, Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski called the decision “a victory for our community.”
see CENSUS page 6
Neighborhood is bringing speeders to heel BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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or the Ahwatukee residents who worry or get angry over motorists speeding through their neighborhood, Trent Marchuk has some advice: You can do something about it. It may not be easy, said Marchuk, but with persistence and close attention to the detailed instructions laid out by the Phoenix Streets Transportation Department, residents can band together to put the brakes on the everyday motorized lawlessness that make many fear for their lives in their own neighborhoods. Marchuk organized an effort to curb speeders along 44th Street and Piedmont Road between Elliot Road and 48th Street. He began in April 2018 for a very personal reason. “We were expecting our third child,” explained the insurance company executive, “And we were just noticing a lot of cheaters
see CUSHION page 11
Janet Crance will now take up the mantle from Trent Marchuk in securing the next steps toward making the streets safer in the Aliso Canyon community. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)
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