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Ahwatukee Golf Club on the block BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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ith a possible deal to sell Club West Golf Course in the making, owner Wilson Gee has put the Ahwatukee Golf Club on the market. Club West residents will likely know before the end of this month if their golf course will be restored this year. A new bidder has emerged in owner Wilson Gee’s nearly year-long effort to sell Club West Golf Course, though the prospective buyer’s identity is shrouded in secrecy. “They’re in the due diligence period right now,” Gee told AFN, noting that that period of deep inspection of the course and the cost of
restoration is scheduled to end in about two weeks with a tentative closing on the deal set for early September. With that possible deal in its final stages, Gee also is selling the Ahwatukee Golf Club on 48th Street just north of Warner Road for $3.2 million in cash. “It’s just to test the market, see if there’s any interest out there,” said Gee, who said that while the covenants, conditions and restrictions require the site remain a golf course, they do allow lodging. Gee said if a resort-developer saw the possibility of upgrading the course and adding a boutique hotel “it would benefit that whole area.” He said the 18-hole course itself — as
well as the 13,000-square-foot clubhouse — “needs a facelift.” Gee also cited recent reports in the Wall Street Journal and Golf Inc. magazine that he said showed “the interest in the game of golf has plateaued again and 500 to 1,000 courses across the country are likely to close this year. The Ahwatukee County Club course is irrigated by well water, eliminating the high cost of city potable water that has been a stumbling block in his efforts to operate — and, later, unload — the Club West Golf Course. The Ahwatukee Country Club is one of three golf courses in Arizona currently on the
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4 moms take new steps on teen suicide prevention BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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s Tempe Union and other area school districts take more action to address teen suicides and the deeper problems that lead to them, a quartet of mothers isn’t relying on teachers and administrators to do all the work. They’re planning to distribute door hangers throughout Ahwatukee and the East Valley next month that provide important suicide-prevention information — and they’re hoping other people will help circulate them. “We want to continue to spread the awareness for the signs of suicide and how easy it is to get help if you know of somebody that’s in trouble,” said Karianna Ritenour-Blanchard. “We decided that we would do a door hanger campaign, kind of like what the fire departments do it for drownings.” Ritenour-Blanchard, of Chandler, — together with Suzanne Whitaker of Ahwatukee, Eduarda Shroder of Tempe and Mountain Pointe High teacher Lorie Warnock — form the nucleus of Parents for Suicide Prevention and
Te quartet of moms who are somewhat of the nucleus of Parents for Suicide Prevention include, from left, Lorie Warnock, Suzanne Whitaker, Eduarda Schroder and Karianna Ritenour-Blanchard. They’re looking for people who can help them distribute suicide-prevention-related door hangers. (Jude Schroder/bluemakesvideo.com)
are starting their door-hanger campaign next month, which is Suicide Prevention Month. For Warnock, the problem of teen suicide is painfully personal: Her son Mitchell took his
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