August 2015
Relentlessly local coverage of Gilbert and our neighboring communities
Back to school
Chance Lopez gives a ‘thumbs-up’ to firefighters Jesse Flocken and Justin Hawley.
Gilbert High student rubs elbows with first lady BY PATTY TALAHONGVA
Fifteen-year-old Josiah Lester is reveling in a summer vacation that most adults would envy. The Gilbert High School student spent the summer learning how to be a TV news anchor, visiting France and Germany and then returning stateside to attend a meeting in Washington, D.C., where he was hugged by first lady Michelle Obama who also offered words of encouragement. “‘Keep your grades up,’” Josiah recalled Obama telling him. “‘Don’t ever give up on what you want to be.’” Josiah is Navajo and was part of the first White House Tribal Youth Gathering held July 9 in Washington, D.C. He was one of more than 1,000 youth from 230 tribes and 42 states who attended the WHTYG. This SEE STUDENT PAGE 6
First lady Michelle Obama greets two students, including Josiah Lester. GSN photo by Patty Talahongva
Town wants drivers to stay safe BY KEN ABRAMCZYK
Gilbert officials have started a public safety awareness campaign to curb accidents caused by distracted drivers. The campaign reminds motorists to “Speed down. Eyes up. Drive Safely.” Mayor John Lewis said Police Chief Tim Dorn came up with the idea for the campaign when Dorn noticed the number of distracted-driving traffic collisions increasing. “Thirty-three percent of accidents were due to distracted driving,” Lewis said. In conjunction with the campaign, the Gilbert Police Department stepped up traffic enforcement on the Santan Freeway corridor between Val Vista and Williams Field roads, and along the Val Vista corridor between Baseline and Elliot roads. The chief created the idea based on the suggestion of a Gilbert youth taskforce
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who recommended a “don’t text while driving” campaign, Lewis said. Sgt. Jesse Sanger said he did not know why collisions increased in the two designated areas on Santan Freeway and Val Vista. “They are highly populated with more traffic,” Sanger said. He cited as an example two vehicles SEE DRIVERS PAGE 5
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