Glendale’s Community Newspaper
Vol. 75 No. 32
INSIDE
This Week
www.glendalestar.com
Coyotes introduce new majority owner BY ERIC NEWMAN
Glendale Star Staff Writer
SPORTS ........ 12 ‘Mediocre’ golfers form association
August 8, 2019
While many young American kids grow up dreaming of playing in the big leagues, Alex Meruelo’s goals were a bit different. He wanted to be the owner of a professional sports team. Now, his lifelong aspiration has come true. On August 1, the Arizona Coyotes held a press conference to introduce the reported billionaire with business ventures such as casinos, media, restaurants, a bank and more as its new owner. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was 6, 8 years old — knowing it would be very difficult — that I would succeed, and here I am. I want to tell everybody (I’m) a His-
panic kid from Brooklyn, New York. So, if I can do it, anyone can do it.” Meruelo, 55, is the son of Cuban immigrants, making him the first Hispanic majority owner in NHL history. He said the title comes with a lot of gratitude — much of his family attended the press conference and cheered nearly his every word — but also pressure as a trailblazer into hockey culture. An issue Arizona has had, though, is reaching people with similar backgrounds to his. “We haven’t done a good job of reaching out to the Hispanic community,” Coyotes President and CEO Ahron Cohen said of a demographic that makes up about 42.5%
Man’s ‘cold-blooded’ murder conviction upheld
of the Phoenix metropolitan area, according to a recent U.S. Census report. Meruelo acknowledged that a larger Hispanic following could increase sales, something he believes the team needs. He said it is “not a secret” that the Coyotes have had recent financial struggles. However, he explained he has history of taking dying or unsuccessful businesses — in far worse state than he said the Coyotes are — and making them profitable. Another main problem the team faces financially is where it will play home games. Rumors have swirled about moves to Tempe or other areas in the past few years, but the team has remained in GlenSEE COYOTES PAGE 3
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Special to The Glendale Star
YOUTH .......... 20 Glendale teen receives Merit Scholarship
OPINION....................... 8 BUSINESS.................. 10 CALENDAR .................11 SPORTS ...................... 12 FEATURES.................. 14 RELIGION ................... 18 YOUTH........................ 20 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 23
A federal court rejected the appeal of a former Glendale resident who is on death row for murdering four Phoenix family members in their home in retribution for a petty theft by another of the family members. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said late last month that the crimes committed by Richard Djerf presented “one of, if not the, strongest” arguments for imposition of the death penalty it had seen in years. The court rejected Djerf’s arguments that his attorneys had failed to present evidence of a troubled childhood, noting that while Djerf’s childhood might not have been “idyllic… there was no evidence of severe abuse, trauma or othSEE MURDER PAGE 4
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