Early ballots will determine next week’s City Council winner
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
ith Election Day in Phoenix City Council District 6 officially six days away, historical data suggests the outcome will be decided before then.
In that race – the only contest among the four council seats up for election –incumbent Sal DiCiccio is seeking his third, and final, consecutive four-year term with business executive Kevin Patterson hoping to topple him.
City Clerk records for the last two District 6 elections show that the overwhelming number of ballots were cast before Election Day. Only around 5 percent or less of the votes came at city voting centers.
In 2009, for example, a scant 1,526 votes were cast on Election Day out of the total 22,408 ballots received by the City Clerk in a four-way contest. DiCiccio received 47.5 percent of those total votes, well ahead of second-place finisher Dana Marie Kennedy’s 29.2 percent.
Gridiron opening night
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)
For a while Friday night, it was all smiles at Desert Vista High School’s stadium as the Thunder varsity football team opened its 2017 season by hosting Perry High. Students, who wore camouflage as part of a themed dress for the evening, didn’t stay happy for long as Perry whipped their team. Mountain Pointe High had plenty to cheer about after thumping host Sandra Day O’Connor High School. For details of both games, see page. 44.
In 2013, DiCiccio won a second term by taking 54.2 percent of the vote over his sole opponent. In that election, 31,122 of the total 33,012 total votes were early ballots.
That might explain why both Patterson and DiCiccio in recent weeks have been mounting aggressive campaigns on social media to court early voters.
If neither DiCiccio nor Patterson get more than 50 percent of the vote, they will head into a runoff in November.
ABM apologizes for, rescinds board election screening
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
ACenter Court widow who challenged her exclusion from the Ahwatukee Board of Management’s annual elections earlier this year has won a settlement that eliminates its candidate-screening process for the 2018 board election.
The board also agreed to formally apologize to Karin E. Gray, a private investigator and mother of two, on the ABM website, and reimburse her for the $500 she spent on filing fees for her complaint.
In a formal complaint to the state Land Department
earlier this year, Gray said the screening panel was created to eliminate her candidacy because she opposed The True Life Companies’ plan to replace the defunct Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course with about 270 singlefamily homes and duplexes as well as a farm, private school and other amenities.
The selection panel reduced the number of candidates for four seats to four people, several of whom “were hand-picked” by the board, she said.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Gray, who had served for nearly 10 years as the board’s treasurer,
KEVIN PATTERSON
SAL DiCICCIO
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS
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(Special to AFN)
Ashley Robota, who graduated from Desert Vista High School in 2003, hopes to raise $6,000 so she can participate in the Ironman Kona World Championship in Hawaii in October.
DV grad eyes world Ironman championship
AFN News Staff
Ashley Robota, a 2003 Desert Vista High School graduate, is hoping to get to Hawaii in October, but not for a sightseeing trip.
The daughter of Susan and Ed Robota of Ahwatukee and a 2007 Arizona State biology grad is planning to participate in the Ironman Kona World Championships.
Only 1 percent of all finishers in Ironman competitions around the world qualify for the Kona World meet, which involves a 2.4-mile swim, 112mile bike race and a 26.2-mile run.
A member of Racelab Endurance Training since 2007, Robota qualified by placing first place in her age group, third female amateur overall, at Ironman Canada with a time of 10 hours, 38 minutes.
A dental hygienist, the 32-year-old participated in numerous sports at Desert Vista, winning multiple state tournaments and the state doubles badminton championship.
“I got into triathlons while at ASU and volunteered at the Ironman and knew it was something I wanted to try one day,” she said.
She’s been training for the Kona for nine years at a grueling weekly pace – swimming about 16,000 yards, cycling 160 miles and running about 23 miles. And there were double workouts as well as weight training.
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“Thanks to the amazing coaching and personalized training provided by Racelab, I was able to train and recover correctly without injury or burnout,” said Robota, who has competed in numerous other marathons and biking events.
To join some 2,000 other competitors in the world championships, Robota hopes to raise $6,000 through gofundme.com/ashleyrobota. She is about a fifth of her way there.
“It is an absolute dream come true and is validation that all of my hard work has paid off,” she said.
“Unfortunately, due to timing, I have less than three months to raise the funds, book my flight and hotel.
At this point, most everything is sold out, hence the gofundme account to help, as all the discounted rates are gone.”
Survey: Brain studies trigger decline in high school boys playing football
BY GREG MACAFEE AFN Sports Editor
The Barrow Neurological Institute released its newest findings on concussions in high school sports with a poll showing that onethird of the parents around the Valley will not allow their kids to play football.
The survey results stand consistent with the participation levels in football throughout Arizona. According to the National Federation of State High School Association, 17,858 athletes played high school football last year, a 15 percent decline from the previous season, in which 20,929 played.
While the participation rates show a decline, the survey also showed that 85 percent of parents in the Valley would still allow their kids to play other contact sports.
Dr. Javier Cardenas, the director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, said that parents continue to view football as more dangerous than other contact sports.
Cardenas serves on the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee, working as an unaffiliated neurotrama consultant and sideline observer at Arizona Cardinals home game. He also serves as a sideline concussion observer at Arizona State University home football games.
Cardenas said that there is no question that football is the spotlight sport for concussions.
“In terms of CTE and the evaluation of deceased football players and recording this incidence,” Cardenas said. “That indeed has the greatest concern for the people who are participating in athletics.”
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease found in those with a history of repetitive brain trauma. In CTE, a protein called tau forms clumps that slowly spread, killing brain cells.
Even though participation in football is declining, high school athletes continue to play because of the protections and policies that are being implemented to prevent concussions.
Since 2011, the Barrow Neurological Institute and the Arizona Interscholastic Association have partnered up to provide concussion education to more than 350,000 Arizona high school athletes via Barrow’s Brainbook.
The AIA has also been one of the nation’s leaders in implementing policies relating to the prevention of concussions.
In 2011, the association developed a helmet dislodgement rule that was later adopted by the NFSH in 2012. The NFSH also adopted Arizona’s blindside block rule that the AIA established in 2016.
Even though parents know the risks that playing football brings, they still feel safe allowing their children to play
ELECTIONS
from page 1
District 6 has the largest number of registered voters among any of the city’s eight districts, according to city records.
Its 117,724 voters are among 737,392 registered voters in all of Phoenix. Of that 117,724, about 13,800 are considered “inactive” because they did not vote last year.
District 6’s total voter registration also is nearly 11,000 above the 106,743 who were registered four years ago. That’s also above the 101,960 voters registered in District 6 eight years ago.
Committee and an endorsement by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
Patterson also has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona and local and national gay and lesbian organizations that include Equality Arizona, an LGBTrights organization of which he is the president.
Patterson, vice president of leadership development for Banner Health, Patterson made Arizona history several years ago when he and his partner were married in the state’s first gay wedding.
City Clerk data also shows a marked increase in the number of ballots cast between 2009 and 2013, with a turnout of only 22.1 percent eight years ago and 31 percent in 2013.
His campaign website boasts of having “firsthand experience in the importance of neighborhood safety, community programs and access to city services to our most vulnerable populations.”
He grew up in Ahwatukee and lives with his husband and their two adopted daughters in Central Phoenix.
Among District 6 neighborhoods, DiCiccio in 2013 won Ahwatukee, Arcadia and Biltmore but lost North Central and Papago Park.
Voters who have not yet cast early ballots still can do so – but city officials advised that they may not want to trust the U.S. Postal Service with getting their votes to the clerk’s office postmarked by 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
Instead, Ahwatukee voters can drop their ballot off by Friday, Aug. 25, on the 15th floor of Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St.
In recent weeks, Patterson has intensified his assertions that DiCiccio has shown no leadership in helping to solve some of the major problems confronting Ahwatukee, including the impasse involving the defunct Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course and the impact of the South Mountain Freeway on the community’s quality of life.
Or they can drop it off at Pecos Community on 48th Street south of Frye Road – the only voting center in Ahwatukee – 10 a.m.-4p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, or 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28. On Election Day, voting centers are open 6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Votes can be cast at any voting center, regardless of where a voter lives. Information on other voting centers is at phoenix.gov/cityclerk/services/electioninformation. People who need help by phone can call 602-261-8683.
But DiCiccio asserts that he has worked with other community leaders to resolve various issues involving the freeway, including a wide Chandler Boulevard Extension and a permanent bike path that will be built along the freeway.
He also points to his past efforts in securing the Pecos Community center’s development in Ahwatukee and his ongoing effort to find a permanent source of cheap water for the beleaguered Club West Golf Course.
Both candidates also have traded barbs over other issues.
Patterson has struck out at DiCiccio for blocking critics, including some constituents, from his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
This year’s election in District 6 pits the fiery conservative DiCiccio against an opponent who has won the support of liberal and progressive groups and individuals.
Though municipal elections in Arizona are run on a nonpartisan basis, Patterson has received the endorsement of the Maricopa County Democratic Committee and the Young Democrats Committee while DiCiccio has picked up support from the county Republican
DiCiccio has hit Patterson for never attend a Phoenix City Council meeting and for voting only once – in 2015 – in a Phoenix election.
DiCiccio lives in Ahwatukee and Patterson grew up in the community. Prior to his election in 2009, DiCiccio served on City Council between 1994 and 2002. He will be termed out if he wins next week.
THEIR FINAL PITCH
Diciccio, Patterson weigh in with their final columns. See page 34
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Foothills
Attorney for freeway opponents encouraged by appeals court order
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
The lawyer for a group trying to halt further work on the South Mountain Freeway said he is encouraged by the latest order handed down by an appellate court panel.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week ordered that Protect Arizona’s Resources and Children should identify areas in Ahwatukee that would be subjected to blasting before a panel of judges hears oral arguments in the case on Oct. 19.
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“I took the order as a very good sign,” PARC attorney Howard Shanker said. “It means that somebody is actually thinking about the environmental harms we are alleging. They also gave us an open-ended invitation to make our reply brief as long as we want.”
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The reply brief involves responses by PARC and the Gila River Indian Community to briefs filed last week by federal and state highway agencies that asked the court to reject a request for a temporary halt of bridge work and blasting in Ahwatukee until the appeal is decided.
Lawyers representing the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration said “no damage to nearby structures will occur” from blasting tentatively scheduled this month in areas west of 24th Street and beyond Desert Foothills Parkway. Both Ahwatukee-based PARC and the Gila Community have claimed that bridge work and the impending blasting will irreparably damage the environment along the Pecos Road corridor.
Ahwatukee Chamber urges approval of
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
The Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce board has urged voter approval this fall of Kyrene School District’s operating and capital budget overrides and a bond authorization.
The board said in a prepared statement it “is confident” the three measures “are in the best interest of the Ahwatukee community.”
Board Chair Laurie McCartney said in an additional prepared statement:
“In order to continue the longstanding, quality reputation of the Kyrene Schools and the strength of the Ahwatukee community, it is important that these measures are continued/ extended.”
Ahwatukee voters will be casting ballots in an all-mail election beginning in Oct. 11 for the Kyrene measures and a separate override request by the Tempe Union High School District. Registration to vote in that election ends Oct. 9.
All three measures continue existing
overrides and bond authorization and no increases are being proposed.
The maintenance and operations
budget override totals $12.8 million a year and funds about 200 teacher positions.
“Without continuation of the M&O override, the continued implementation of the employee/teacher compensation plan will be interrupted,” according to a position paper put out by the committee.
It said the loss of that money “will result in increased class size” and pose a risk to the continuation of special elementary enrichment classes such as music, art and physical education.
“Course offerings in coding, foreign language, culinary and performing arts, music, PE, art and STEM – which was recently restored – will also be at risk,” the fact sheet states, adding:
“Loss of M&O override will also jeopardize the instructional supports for students (reading and math interventions) and school-based support services (library, speech and hearing, etc…).”
Based on a home with an assessed value of $238,270, the estimated average annual cost of continuation of the override would be $152 annually.
The $6.8 million capital budget
(Special to AFN)
The Keep Kyrene Strong political action committee, which had an organizational meeting recently, will be campaigning for passage of Kyrene School District’s two budget override and bond measures this fall.
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OVERRIDE
from page 12
override “will risk elimination of Kyrene technology program” and adversely impact school safety and parent services, the panel said.
Failure to approve the measure –which costs $80 annually in taxes on a home assessed at $238,000 – also would cause a “loss of funds to maintain school buses and maintenance vehicles.”
The bond authorization would enable the district to borrow up to $116.9 million.
Voters last authorized a Kyrene bond measure seven years ago.
“Loss of bond authorization will severely impact the district’s ability to move forward with much-needed repairs and maintenance of school facilities,” the committee fact sheet states.
It also said failure to approve the bond measure would adversely impact Kyrene’s expansion of early-learning and preschool centers as well as the
ability to buy books and other education materials.
Bond authorization means a continuation of about $87 a year in taxes on a home assessed at $238,000.
Voter registration forms are available in the front office of all Kyrene schools.
The Kyrene Governing Board already has adopted a statement urging voter approval of all three measures.
“This governing board has made teacher compensation a priority and we have worked hard to adopt a longterm strategy for increasing teacher salaries,” it says. “Continuation of our (maintenance and operating) budget override will allow us to continue that important work and honor our commitment to our teachers.”
In a separate draft statement urging approval of the capital budget override, Kyrene board members warn that without it, they would be forced to finance vital technology upgrades by taking the money from the district’s operating budget and “displacing funding for teacher compensation.”
GOT NEWS?
Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@ahwatukee.com
BRAIN STUDY
from page 4
because of the policies and precautions that are being implemented to make the game as safe as possible.
Jodi Haire, the mother of Mountain Pointe High player Will Haire, said he loves playing football, so she would never pull him away from the sport. She said that he has become smarter about playing football and preventing concussions because of the education he has received on brain injury.
“He knows about the concussions. He always has, but he’s smart about it, or at least he’s much smarter now,” Haire said. “With the concussion testing in school and teaching them to be safer with their helmets. I tell him all the time, ‘If you feel something in the game, like you have a concussion, then you need to take yourself out.’”
David Campbell, a father from Sandra Day O’Connor, and his son play at the recreational level. Campbell said his son knows the risks, but if he wants to keep playing he is going to allow him to do so. He thinks it’s just about playing the game as safe as possible.
“I’m sure parents will pull their kids out of [it],” Campbell said. “But, I think,
more than anything, it’s just about being safer, you know learning how tackle correctly instead of bashing their helmets together like they’re used to.”
Barrow has delivered more than 150,000 baseline concussion tests and 23,000 post-injury concussion tests to Arizona high school athletes.
Cardenas said the Barrow Neurological Institute also estimated a total of $2 million in health care savings for athletes in the Valley. Arizona was also the second state in the nation to offer a concussion health insurance policy to all AIA athletes.
The participation numbers for football in Arizona are declining, but according to the NFSH overall participation numbers for all sports throughout the United States increased for the 28th consecutive year.
With the increase in numbers, Cardenas is set out to make every sport safe.
“We continue to endorse participation in athletic activity and we continue to do our best to make it as safe as possible and work on prevention education and working on treatment to provide for the Arizona Community,” Cardenas said. “Lastly, we continue to be leaders in this field and try to set an example for the nation.”
Area residents come together to help two food banks
BY JIM WALSH AFN Staff Writer
While white supremacists were marching on Charlottesville, Virginia, and Americans were mourning an increasingly divided country, Ahwatukee and East Valley residents were uniting behind a simple but important cause: fighting hunger.
Tempe residents opened their hearts by donating 6,000 pounds of food to a food bank where supplies had run low. The shortage at the Tempe Community Action Agency’s Food Pantry was at least partially related to the catastrophic failure of a compressor at United Food Bank’s freezer in Mesa.
When United employees returned to work on Aug. 7, they found 21,650 pounds of spoiled food, including frozen meat, dairy products and fruit products. Defrosted turkeys and other food that could be salvaged was sent immediately to East Valley soup kitchens and food banks to avoid waste, while deliveries to food banks in Gila, Navajo and Pinal counties were postponed.
United Food Bank’s primary mission is to distribute food to 222 food programs in the East Valley, including Mesa’s Paz de Cristo soup kitchen and the Tempe food bank, and counties around the state. United still operates an emergency food box program on Fridays at its former location at Mesa Drive and Javelina.
But United’s emergency quickly became
an opportunity for caring as East Valley residents and businesses responded by contributing $10,000 to repair the freezer. Now, there is a new hashtag campaign (#fillthefreezer), and a GoFundMe page aimed at replenishing the spoiled food, expected to cost more than $38,000.
It was a great relief to Dave Richins, United Food Bank’s president and CEO, when he walked into the large freezer Tuesday morning and noticed that the temperature was a frigid 12 degrees.
Frozen food was stored for a week in a refrigerated truck that ran constantly in United’s parking lot for a week. Employees used forklifts to move the perishable items into the freezer.
“The generosity of the community has been truly incredible,” Richins said. “I feel like Jimmy Stewart at the end of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ It’s really humbling.”
He said no one wants to see someone, especially a child, go hungry and that the cause of fighting hunger transcends politics.
“While politicians argue, people sit there hungry,” said Richins, a former Mesa City Council member. “Feed them first.”
Boeing, Cox Charities and the Walmart Foundation were among the charitable donors to United, along with many individuals. One promising sign was that about half the donors had not made contributions to United before.
“The United Food Bank has been here for many years. People believe in the mission of this organization. It’s the reputation this organization has established for many years,” Richins said.
Although the Tempe food bank receives food for several sources, United is a primary provider. The cupboard was so bare at the Tempe food bank that officials took the unusual step of appealing to the public directly, scheduling a food drive that collected 6,000 pounds of food at Daley Park in only a couple of hours.
“It’s a really good sign. We were really happy, ecstatic, that the public responded to this,” said Deborah Arteaga, executive director of the Tempe Community Action Agency.
“It will help us get through the week.”
She said United’s broken compressor percolated down to her food bank, which experienced a shortage of milk, eggs, cheese and frozen foods.
“We saw, definitely, a decline in what we had to offer,” Arteaga said. “We had no meat last week.”
Ed Baker, president of the Tempe food bank’s board of directors, said people
look at the glittering buildings along the city’s waterfront and forget that one out of four children qualifies for free or reduced lunches. Richins said west Mesa has the same problem, with 80 percent of children at some schools qualifying.
Summer is typically a bad time for food banks, which are often forgotten by donors with other things on their minds until Thanksgiving and Christmas, the traditional season for remembering the less fortunate, Baker said.
In addition, demand from low-income people, living paycheck to paycheck, grows when children are home and not receiving two free meals a day at school.
Items containing protein, such peanut butter, tuna fish and canned meats, are highly prized as donations.
“We were in a dire situation. It was a perfect storm,” Baker said. “It is incredibly reassuring that we had individuals who were previous clients, who wanted to give.”
Richins said the biggest impact of United’s freezer breakdown was on the rural food banks because they were scheduled to receive deliveries that week and got nothing instead. He said he hopes to resume deliveries as quickly as possible, after the freezer is restocked.
Renea Shaffer, site manager for the Gila Community Food Bank in Globe, acknowledged that United’s freezer breakdown had an impact on her operation, but she said she was able to obtain enough food from other sources to get by, using salvage from grocery stores and available funds to buy items that were otherwise unavailable.
“We’re doing OK,” she said. “There’s nobody without food. United takes care of us really well. We were pretty well stocked.”
– Reach Jim Walsh at 480-898-5639 or at jwalsh@timespublications.com.
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer)
Randy Land loads food into United Food Bank's repaired freezer. On Aug. 7, 21,650 pounds of food, including frozen meat, dairy products and fruit products, spoiled when the freezer broke.
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer)
Joe, Manavy, Joey and Vikki Gleb (from left) bring a trunk full of food donations to the Tempe food bank. Tempe residents donated 6,000 pounds of food when supplies ran low.
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer)
Steven Cassa grabs food donations and puts them in a truck. The Tempe Community Action Agency’s Food Pantry asked for donations when supplies were running low.
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Tempe Union board hoping to name new district chief by Sept. 13
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
Tempe Union High School District might have a superintendent-elect as early as Sept. 13 if the governing board likes one of two internal candidates who are seeking the job.
The board last week set Sept. 13 for closed-door interviews with Associate Superintendent Kevin Mendivil and Anna Battle, assistant superintendent for operations, and is poised to approve one if members can agree.
The board is fast-tracking its search for a replacement for Superintendent Kenneth Baca, who has already submitted his resignation, effective June 30, 2018. Baca gave no reason for his resignation except to say that it was “time to say goodbye” after six years at the district’s helm.
The board already has indicated a preference for saving an estimated $50,000 for a search firm and casting a nationwide net for Baca’s replacement.
Members said there were qualified candidates within the district’s administration and that they should be considered before the board expanded its search.
The board also indicated that it will not make any formal request for public input into the type of candidate who should be considered.
Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board also is looking for a superintendent and posted an online survey for parents that has drawn more than 5,000 respondents.
“We fully realize that if we put questions out to our public and get answers from 100 people, we’re likely to have 50 of them who will feel like we didn’t listen to them,” said board President DeeAnne McClenahan, adding:
“We are a very active board. We talk to people all the time and we will continue to seek input.”
McClenahan said the board will use the superintendent profile it compiled for the search that ended with Baca’s selection. That profile listed desirable qualifications it sought for a superintendent.
It also is using a retired district lawyer to interview the candidates and compile a confidential report. And it will develop Sept. 6 in a closed-door meeting a set of questions to ask each candidate in the private interviews that will be held a week later.
The board also plans to have each
candidate write answers to a few questions in a timed closed-door session.
“We are trying very hard not to string this out for months and months,” said board member Michelle Helm. “It’s not only uncomfortable for our wonderful interior people, but it can be very uncomfortable for the rest of our staff wondering what we are going to do and the vision and direction the district is taking. We are trying our best to get this done in a very reasonable time.”
Board member Bernadette Hodge wants to know if the board would release to the public and Tempe Union staff the questions and profile it will be using to assess the two candidates, but McLenahan indicated that at best, the public could expect the release of its candidate profile early next month.
(Tempe Union High School District)
Anna Battle, associate superintendent for operations, is a candidate for Tempe Union’s next superintendent.
(Tempe Union High School District) Kevin Mendivil, associate superintendent for Tempe Union, also is seeking the top job.
CHIEF
McLenahan indicated it made little sense to release its questions, or the questions for the written portion of the interview, before the candidates had a chance to answer them.
“We did not want this to be a popularity contest,” she said of the selection process, saying the board wanted to avoid a “last man standing” process that resembled the TV variety show “American Idol.”
She added that the board had approach five Tempe Union administrators who have state-issued school superintendent certificates and invited them to apply. She did not elaborate on the apparent decision by three of them not to seek the post.
In addition to the interviews, the board also asked the two candidates for updated resumes and three letters of recommendation.
McLenahan indicated that if the board is unable to agree on one of the two leading contenders for the position, it likely will widen its search to include the region and possibly the nation.
-Share your opinion on this issue with a letter to the editor. Write pmaryniak@ahwatukee. com.
Both groups and other environmental organizations are appealing a federal judge’s ruling in July 2016 that cleared the way for the $1.7 billion project to begin.
The 22-mile freeway will connect the 59th Avenue I-10 interchange in the West Valley with the Chandler Interchange, giving an estimated 140,000 vehicles a day a bypass around downtown Phoenix and chronically congested Broadway Curve.
“This court has expressly declined to adopt a rule that any potential environmental injury automatically merits an injunction,” the Arizona Attorney General’s Office said on behalf of ADOT.
It said PARC sought “a third bite of the apple” to stop the work, referring to denials of previous injunction requests by both the appellate panel and U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa.
“The only change since this court’s prior ruling is that the previously disclosed construction in the Pecos Road Segment is further along,” the attorney general said.
“The blasting activities will be conducted in accordance with stringent regulations adopted by the City of
Phoenix and recommended by the U.S. Bureau of Mines,” it said, citing an expert’s testimony that “no damage to nearby structures will occur.”
“Controlled rock blasting using modern technology and methodology ensures that ground vibrations are well below thresholds that could result in even cosmetic cracking,” it added. “Crews will monitor all controlled blasting activities to ensure that such activities do not result in any harm to structures.”
The agencies also warned that even a temporary halt in construction of the freeway, scheduled to open in late 2019, “has the potential to cause substantial harm to the public.”
“The harms to the public include an increased cost to the public of $188,000 for each day the project is delayed; increased costs to the traveling public in the form of additional travel time delays; delay of project benefits, including improved regional air quality, reduced energy usage, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, increased traffic safety, and projection of cultural resources.”
They also contended that as many as 9,900 jobs would be affected, although the actual number of construction workers totals around 1,400.
“These harms are in stark contrast to
the insignificant and speculative harms claimed by PARC,” the attorney general said.
They also said PARC knew blasting would occur and that it “never asserted injuries from blasting or bridge construction in its earlier motion, or at any time in the eight months since that motion was denied.
“PARC’s tardiness in alleging injuries from these planned activities undercuts its plea for urgent action by this court,” the attorney general said.
The agencies’ lawyers also noted that “construction commenced on Sept. 12, 2016 with elaborately sequenced activities common to highway projects – surveying, utility identification, plant salvage, clearing, grading, utility relocations, paving, drainage, retaining walls, noise walls and bridge construction.”
The court did not indicate when it might rule on the injunction request, but said that any reply by PARC and the Gila Community to the government agencies’ assertions “shall specifically address the location of the blasting that is anticipated to take place before the scheduled oral argument.”
-Share your opinion on this issue with a letter to the editor. Write pmaryniak@ahwatukee. com.
UPGRADE TO A SMART GARAGE
overseeing a budget that now exceeds $1.8 million.
Stressing that she is not a part of Save the Lakes, the residents’ group that wants the golf course restored.
“I am not a golfer,” she said. “I just like open space. I don’t agree with everything Save the Lakes is doing either.”
“I never did get a lawyer for this thing,” said Gray, adding that she received invaluable advice and counseling along the way from Realtor Jeff Hall, a Save the Lakes member and retired lawyer.
Hall and two other Save the Lakes members resigned from the board last fall over what they called dictatorial and abusive treatment by their colleagues.
In her complaint to the state Real Estate Department, Gray accused the board of conducting the election in a “careless, arbitrary and capricious way.”
Gray said ABM board President Dan Smith told her that the board’s selection committee decided it wanted only four candidates for four positions and that it had reviewed the five contenders for “conflicts of interest.”
this year.
complaint and not press further action against the board.
A private detective, Gray moved to Ahwatukee from Texas more than 10 years ago after her husband died so she could live near her parents and raise her two sons.
She recalled the frustrations she encountered in pressing her complaint with the department, including three hearing postponements requested by the board, some members’ efforts to duck service of a subpoena and a puzzling response to her request for emails and other records related to the election.
In response to that request, the board gave her 62 nearly blank pages, redacting most of the information on grounds it involved matters covered by attorneyclient privilege.
Yet, one email that wasn’t whitedout came from Smith. “It said I was a troublemaker,” Gray said
“All he kept saying is, ‘It’s legal. It’s legal. It’s legal,” she recalled Smith telling her.
The only problems, she said, is that the board never formally created a selection committee by amending its bylaws in public and it won’t identify the members.
“My fight wasn’t against the whole board,” Gray added. “The whole idea of having a nominating committee was Dan Smith’s way of keeping anyone who disagreed with him off the board. It was a personal vendetta.”
An ABM staffer said Smith is out of state and not available for an interview.
The settlement also requires the ABM board to “strongly consider” Gray as a replacement for any board member who resigns before the next election.
The precise wording of the board’s apology that the settlement requires on ABM’s website reads:
“At the February 2017 meeting of the ABM board, prior to the annual election conducted in April 2017, the board of directors decided to create a nominating committee to screen potential election candidates. The board will not be utilizing a nominating committee for the next annual meeting, and any and all interested ABM members in good standing will be placed on the ballot. If there was any confusion or ill will that resulted from the use of the nominating committee, ABM apologizes.”
The settlement allows a future board to reinstitute a screening panel, but Gray’s complaint has asserted such a move should come by amending the HOA’s bylaws.
In exchange, Gray will drop her
She added that the Real Estate Department rebuffed the board’s efforts to dismiss the complaint, including an allegation challenge the hearing officer’s expertise. That drew a sharp rebuke from the hearing officer’s supervisor, she said.
Gray said some board members she talked to did not even know a settlement was being discussed – another example, she asserted, of the “high-handed way Dan Smith is running the board.
“When Dan started as president, he was a great guy,” she said, adding that in recent years the fight over the golf course’s fate has changed the way he presides over board activities. She said he often silences homeowners at meetings who object to board actions.
Gray said she holds little hope that the board would select her if a vacancy occurs before the next election.
But she said she intends to run for a seat next spring.
“I want to be a voice of reason on the board,” she said. “I want one person as a counterbalance who is not afraid to look at the way the board is acting and question it. I like the staff. I like most of the board members.”
She also said she is encouraging HOA residents to call her for more details on her case. Gray can be reached at 480226-6868 or
-Share your opinion on this issue with a letter to the editor. Write pmaryniak@ ahwatukee.com.
Share Your Thoughts
Send your ideas and letters on local issues to pmaryniak@ahwatukee.com
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)
Karin Gray, a widow and a private investigator, won her battle with the Ahwatukee Board of Management over its exclusion of her as a candidate in board elections earlier
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National craze hits village with Ahwatukee Rocks
BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA
AFN Contributor
From East Coast to West Coast, a trend that promotes random acts of kindness while combining them with creativity is this summer’s craze, an unplugged and heart-satisfying alternative to last July’s Pokémon Go.
In the past month, an Ahwatukee woman and two children have brought the craze local with a Facebook group page, “Ahwatukee Rocks.”
“I was on Instagram and saw friends in other states showing rocks they’d found, and it sounded like a fun and inexpensive way to spread a little joy and get a little creative time with the kids,” said Sara Fehling.
Fehling, who moved to Ahwatukee with her husband, Bradley, and two children Kelly, 5, and Sawyer, 8, in February, added:
“When I didn’t see anything like that in our area, I decided to take the initiative and start one instead of waiting for someone else to do it.”
The rock-painting craze is much more
BY DAVID M. BROWN
AFN Contributor
Afew years ago, retiree Stan DuFrane lurched backward returning a tennis ball.
After a few hours in the emergency room and follow-up treatment, his medical provider, Iora Healthcare, told him about the Still Standing Fall Prevention Outreach at A.T. Still University (ATSU), just a few blocks away in Mesa.
He’s playing recreational tennis again.
“The program made me aware of the dangers of falling. I’m more careful now,” said DuFrane, a full-time Mesa resident for 20 years.
The largest and longest-running program of its kind in Arizona, the Still Standing Fall Prevention Outreach has served 4,000-plus people who have either
Ahwatukee Rocks founder Sara Fehling leads daughter Kelly and son Sawyer in a rock-painting session. The two Monte Vista Elementary students find the pastime fun and relaxing.
than merely painting rocks. It involves decorating the painted rocks with words of encouragement or hearts or happy faces – anything to promote a
been injured in a fall or want to learn how to avoid dangerous situations that can cause one.
Apache Junction’s Don and Judy Link also heard about the fall prevention program from their Iora provider, Dr. Kimberly Shipman.
“The program helped us recognize some of the fears that people might have after falling and how with positive thinking we can work through and overcome the fear of falling again,” Don said. Illinois natives, the couple retired to Arizona three years ago.
The painted rocks are then hidden – or placed sometimes in plain view – to be discovered by a passerby.
“The importance of exercise to help with strength and flexibility was emphasized, and there were also discussions on fall hazards in our homes and our environment and action plans to correct and avoid these problems,” he added, commending the two ATSU students hosting the program.
“And, we were able to discuss falls with others who actually had experienced them, and their insight was beneficial in our discussions throughout the course,” Don Link added.
Entering its 10th year this fall, the free program is part of the Aging Studies Project at the university and partners with East Valley businesses and municipalities.
“The goals of the program are to provide a substantive interdisciplinary service learning experience for our students and our community members with an effective, evidence-based falls prevention program,” said Elton Bordenave, director of the Aging Studies Project and associate professor in the Department of Audiology.
The need is significant. Each year, 2.8 million older people in the United States are treated in emergency departments for
fall injuries, and at least 300,000 of them are hospitalized for hip fractures.
Adjusted for inflation, the direct medical costs for fall injuries are $31 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
And, in 2014, the average length of stay for Arizonans in the hospital was 4.6 days and the average charges for inpatient visits were $56,510, totaling $678.9 million, the Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Injury Prevention said. Emergency department hospital visits resulted in charges exceeded $245.2 million,
The ATSU Aging Studies project began in 2003, and work began in 2004 with various trial efforts. For the students, this became today’s Matter of Balance curriculum at ATSU.
The fall prevention program followed in the 2008-09 school year with 30 students participating in classes at 15 sites throughout Phoenix and the East Valley. More than 1,000 seniors participated that first year.
For its 10th year, the program will expand with 200 students participating, serving 70 sites across Maricopa County, a third in the East Valley.
From an initial two community
partners, the program now has more than 50, including major health systems and most Valley municipalities, said Bordenave, an East Valley resident for 30-plus years.
One of the students participating this year is Mesa’s Dalton Ishmail, who is enrolled in ATSU’s Physician Assistant Studies program.
Classmates and students from other university programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and osteopathic medicine are also involved.
For eight weeks, Ishmail and his fellow students visited a local senior center and worked with the elderly, who are at a particularly high risk of falls in their daily life and suffer more intense, even fatal injuries.
“We were able to have open discussions about plans and practice exercises that can help prevent future falls from happening,” said Ishmail, an ultrasound tech before entering the P. A. program.
Individual efforts and collaboration create success.
“An important part of this program was the opportunity it gave the participants to discuss their fears about falling and how to overcome them both individually and as a team,” Ishmail said.
“It was great to see the participants
implement changes in their lives weekly and share inspirational stories with the group the next week. What really stood out to me was the effort each member put into exercising in class and at home and seeing the difference it made by week eight.”
ATSU’s fall prevention program has been recognized locally with a Community Impact Award from the Living Well Institute in 2015 and was nationally profiled in the Wall Street Journal the following year.
In 2015-16 the program received a $95,000 grant from the Baptist Hospitals and Health Systems Legacy Foundation.
The outreach helps improve the quality of life not only for the participants but also for the coordinators.
“By the end of the program, they have become more knowledgeable and confident to make necessary changes in their own lives,” Ishmail said. “A big takeaway for me was that we were able to forge friendships with the participants and also see them make friendships among themselves.”
To participate, contact a local senior center, such as the Red Mountain Multigenerational Center or the Mesa Senior Center.
Why Haven’t Senior Homeowners Been Told These Facts?
Keep reading if you own a home in the U.S. and were born before 1955.
It’s a well-known fact that for many senior citizens in the U.S. their home is their single biggest asset, often accounting for more than 50% of their total net worth.
Yet, according to new statistics from the mortgage industry, senior homeowners in the U.S. are now sitting on more than 6.1 trillion dollars of unused home equity.1 With people now living longer than ever before and home prices back up again, ignoring this “hidden wealth” may prove to be short sighted.
All things considered, it’s not surprising that more than a million homeowners have already used a government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage or “HECM” loan to turn their home equity into extra cash for retirement.
However, today, there are still millions of eligible homeowners who could benefit from this FHAinsured loan but may simply not be aware of this “retirement secret.”
Some homeowners think HECM loans sound “too good to be true.” After all, you get the cash you need out of your home but you have no more monthly mortgage payments.
NO MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS?2 EXTRA CASH?
It’s a fact: no monthly mortgage payments are required with a government-insured HECM loan;2 however the homeowners are still responsible for paying for the maintenance of their home, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and, if required, their HOA fees.
Another fact many are not aware of is that HECM reverse mortgages first took hold when President Reagan signed the FHA Reverse
Mortgage Bill into law 29 years ago in order to help senior citizens remain in their homes.
Today, HECM loans are simply an effective way for homeowners 62 and older to get the extra cash they need to enjoy retirement.
Although today’s HECM loans have been improved to provide even greater financial protection for homeowners, there are still many misconceptions.
For example, a lot of people mistakenly believe the home must be paid off in full in order to qualify for a HECM loan, which is not the case. In fact, one key advantage of a HECM is that the proceeds will first be used to pay off any existing liens on the property, which frees up cash flow, a huge blessing for seniors living on a fixed income. Unfortunately, many senior homeowners who might be better off with HECM loan don’t even bother to get more information because of rumors they’ve heard.
That’s a shame because HECM loans are helping many senior homeowners live a better life.
In fact, a recent survey by American Advisors Group (AAG), the nation’s number one HECM lender, found that over 90% of their clients are satisfied with their loans.
While these special loans are not for everyone, they can be a real lifesaver for senior homeowners like Betty Carter, who recently took out a HECM loan with AAG so that she could finally get the extra cash she needed to fix up her house.
“With the help of AAG, I have been able to repair my home’s foundation that I had been putting off for several years, refinish the hardwood floors, paint the interior and will have the exterior painted within a few days. My house is starting to look like my home again and it feels good,” says Carter.
The cash from a HECM loan can be used for
any purpose. Many people use the money to save on interest charges by paying off credit cards or other high-interest loans. Other common uses include making home improvements, paying off medical bills or helping other family members. Some people simply need the extra cash for everyday expenses while others are now using it as a “safety net” for financial emergencies.
If you’re a homeowner age 62 or older, you owe it to yourself to learn more so that you can make an informed decision. Homeowners who are interested in learning more can request a free 2017 HECM loan Information Kit and free Educational DVD by calling American Advisors Group toll-free at 1-800-397-2933.
At no cost or obligation, the professionals at AAG can help you find out if you qualify and also answer common questions such as:
1. What’s the government’s role?
2. How much money might I get?
3. Who owns the home after I take out a HECM loan?
You may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover when you call AAG for more information today.
FACT: In 1988, President Reagan signed an FHA bill that put HECM loans into law. 1Source: http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2016/06/21/seniors-home-equity-grows-to-6-trillion-reverse-mortgage-opportunity. 2If you qualify and your loan is approved, a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) must pay off any existing mortgage(s). With a HECM loan, no monthly mortgage payment is required. A HECM increases the principal mortgage loan amount and decreases home equity (it is a negative amortization loan). AAG works with other lenders and financial institutions that offer HECMs. To process your request for a loan, AAG may forward your contact information to such lenders for your consideration of HECM programs that they offer. Borrowers are responsible for paying property taxes and homeowner’s insurance (which may be substantial). We do not establish an escrow account for disbursements of these payments. A set-aside account can be set up to pay taxes and insurance and may be required in some cases. Borrowers must occupy home as their primary residence and pay for ongoing maintenance; otherwise the loan becomes due and payable. The loan also becomes due and payable when the last borrower, or eligible non-borrowing surviving spouse, dies, sells the home, permanently moves out, defaults on taxes or insurance payments, or does not otherwise comply with the loan terms. American Advisors Group (AAG) is headquartered at 3800 W. Chapman Ave., 3rd & 7th Floors, Orange CA, 92868. (MB_0911141), V11082016
Rocks. Finders who prefer to take it home are encouraged to paint one themselves and hide it somewhere.
It is a never-ending, and altruistic, treasure hunt.
As Norma Riggs posted on Facebook, “We need love and kindness everywhere.”
Since beginning the Facebook group, Fehling, who has lived throughout Arizona since she was 3, has garnered nearly 100 new friends – most of whom she doesn’t know outside social media.
“I’m really excited to see how its caught on here already,” she said. “Ahwatukee is its own community. That’s why I didn’t start a Phoenix Rocks. This is its own special place.”
The stay-at-home mother says it’s also a great pastime for her children. So enthusiastic has been their response to the task, that their father, Bradley, has been known to join them weekends at the craft table.
“He painted nerdy things like Eye of Sauron,” laughed Sara Fehling, referring to the chief villain in the “Lord of the Rings.”
Five-year-old Kelly, who just entered kindergarten at Kyrene Monte Vista, prefers simpler ideas for her stone canvases.
“Well, I like to paint, so painting rocks is fun. I think my favorite part was when I painted one that looked like candy (peppermint), and one that looked like a little strawberry,” she said.
Sawyer finds the hide-and-seek part intriguing.
“Painting is relaxing, but I like hiding the rocks the best,” said the Monte Vista Elementary third-grader. “Some people may spot them, and some may not. I hope they take pictures if they do find them.”
Since starting Ahwatukee Rocks on FB, Fehling’s group continues to grow, some photographing what they’ve found.
Others post their painted rocks and offer hints as to where they might be hidden – as did Ahwatukee’s Nadine Patton, who posted two photos, writing, “Clue for these two: My grands left them somewhere close to pool when swimming at the Mtn. Park HOA 40th Street Pool.” And the search was on.
Lenee McDonald, a two-year Ahwatukee resident, has also found Ahwatukee Rocks to be a great art activity for her two sons, ages 6 and 10.
“April Zehr referred me to the page when I re-posted a general Facebook post about the new rock craze,” said McDonald, who
moved here with her family from Florida.
“I thought this was a great idea to give them a summer art activity coupled with bringing the community together to make someone’s day,” McDonald said.
“We’ve painted and planted 20 rocks so far, but we haven’t been lucky enough to find one yet.”
Summer art fun was the reason for local mom Be Mai Ward’s involvement in Ahwatukee Rocks.
“My daughter loves painting and we’ve done rocks, but we’re not very experienced,” Ward said. “I wanted to give her a purpose and the adventure of hiding a treasure for someone else to find.”
Ward, who also has 2-year-old twin boys, added:
“Now that’s she’s 5, we can do Feed My Starving Children as well – part of life lessons to be kind and generous because our family is very fortunate.”
Inexpensive acrylic paints are the medium of choice for rocks, with either paint-on or spray-on sealer to keep the paintings safe from the elements.
“I use Apple Barrel acrylics to paint and seal with Delta Ceramcoat satin finish.
A bottle of acrylic paint is under a buck while paint pens are a lot more,” said Fehling. “I have to admit I do take great satisfaction in pulling off anything with fine lines that come out neatly – not a lot of people can do that.”
Fehling likes to hide the painted rocks in places she can see when driving by.
“For instance, I left one in the crook of a tree in the parking lot at Sun Ray Park and it was there a few days before someone got it. I checked anytime I drove by,” she said.
Fehling says she hopes more locals get involved, but hopes they remember to write or paint “Ahwatukee Rocks” on the back of each.
“I want this to be a community project,” she said. “If you look online and see someone has found one, it really makes your day. And hopefully theirs, too.”
(Special to AFN)
One of Sara Fehling's painted rocks points to the Facebook page where she displays her work.
Medicare covers many options related to diabetes treatment
BY GREG DILL AFN Guest Writer
At a recent meeting of my staff, the topic of diabetes came up.
When we went around the table, it turned out that 25 percent of them have problems with blood sugar. That figure exactly matches the percentage of Americans 65 years old and older who have diabetes or a condition called prediabetes.
I’m shocked that such a large number of Americans are affected by this disease, because it’s a nasty one. If left uncontrolled, diabetes can lead to some really bad outcomes, including kidney problems, glaucoma and other eye disorders, foot ulcers, amputation of feet or legs, stroke, diabetic coma, and even death.
The good news is that people with diabetes can avoid many of these negative outcomes if their disease is diagnosed, treated and controlled. At Medicare, we’re committed to preventing diabetes
as much as possible and treating those who are diagnosed with it.
If your doctor thinks you’re at risk for diabetes, Medicare covers screening tests for it. And if you develop the disease, Medicare covers a wide variety of medications, home testing equipment, supplies and self-management training to help you cope with it.
Screening tests are used to detect diabetes early. Conditions that may put you at risk for diabetes include: high blood pressure, obesity, impaired glucose (blood sugar) tolerance, high-fasting glucose and a history of abnormal cholesterol and triglycleride levels.
Medicare will pay for two diabetesscreening tests in a 12-month period.
After the initial screening, your doctor will determine when to do the second test.
Medicare covers this one-time review of your health, including counseling on any screenings, shots, or other care you may need. (You must have this visit within the first 12 months you’re enrolled in Medicare Part B.)
In addition, Medicare covers an annual wellness visit with your doctor, during
which you can develop or update a personalized prevention plan based on your current health and risk factors.
If you do develop diabetes, Medicare pays for self-management training to help you learn how to successfully manage the disease. Your doctor must prescribe this training for Medicare to cover it.
The training covers topics including the risks of poor blood-sugar control; nutrition and how to manage your diet; options to improve blood-sugar control; exercise and why it’s important to your health and how to take your medications properly.
Medicare also covers medical nutrition therapy services to help you learn which foods to eat and how to follow an individualized diabetic meal plan.
Generally, Medicare Part B covers services and supplies needed by people who have or are at risk for diabetes. Medicare Part D (the prescription drug program) helps pay for supplies for injecting or inhaling insulin.
These items are covered under Part B: home blood-sugar monitors and related supplies, foot exams and treatment needed by people with diabetic peripheral
neuropathy and loss of protective sensation, glaucoma tests, external insulin pumps and insulin the devices use and therapeutic shoes or inserts. Items covered under Part D include drugs for maintaining blood sugar and insulin that isn’t administered with a pump.
If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) or other Medicare health plan, your plan must give you at least the same benefits as Original Medicare, but it may have different rules.
Your costs, rights and choices for where you get your care might be different if you’re in one of these plans. You may also get extra benefits. Read your plan materials or call your benefits administrator for more information.
For more information on Original Medicare and diabetes, read the brochure “Medicare’s Coverage of Diabetes Supplies & Services” at medicare.gov/ Pubs/pdf/11022-Medicare-DiabetesCoverage.pdf.
Greg Dill is Medicare’s regional administrator for Arizona. Infcormation: 800-633-4227.
AROUND AHWATUKEE
Attention, shoebox stuffers
(Special to AFN)
The Ahwatukee-Chandler contingent for Operation Christmas Child is holding a shoebox-wrapping party at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 at Mountain View Lutheran Church, 11002 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee, to help gather more than 15,000 shoeboxes of Christmas gifts for poverty-stricken children around the globe. Participants are asked to bring a few empty shoeboxes, scissors, and three colored t-shirts to cut up for homemade jump ropes. RSVP on Facebook Occ Phoenix/Southeast Valley or to bottsearle@gmail.com.
Village Planning Committee cancels August session
The Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee won’t be meeting this month. The panel canceled the meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 28. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at Pecos Community Center.
College nights scheduled by Tempe Union high schools
Tempe Union High School District has set three sessions related to college for students and parents. “College Prep” is for sophomores and juniors and will be held at 6:30 p.m. today, Aug. 23, at McClintock High School, 1830 E. Del Rio Road, Tempe; and at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Mountain Pointe High, 4201 E. Knox Road, Ahwatukee. Students from any district high school can attend either session.
Those sessions will cover a variety of topics, including how to have a strong high school career, entrance exam preparation, financial aid, athletics and in-state universities.
Monte Vista Elementary still needs crossing
guards
Monte Vista Elementary School in Ahwatukee is still seeking two crossing guards to work 7-8 a.m. and 2:15-3 p.m. five days a week. The latter shift on Wednesday is 12:15-1 p.m.
“This is an opportunity to be part of an amazing staff and make a difference for our students,” the school said in a release. Interested people should email evilla@kyrene.org.
God’s Garden slates ‘toddler time,’ other activities
God’s Garden Child Development Center, 1401 E. Liberty Lane, Ahwatukee, has scheduled a variety of activities for the fall, starting with the first session of an ongoing program for the community called “Mommy and Me Toddler Story Time” 9-10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25. The free program also will be held at the same time on Sept. 29 and Oct. 20.
In addition, chapel time will be held two a month at 9 a.m., beginning Aug. 28-29.
Meanwhile, juniors and seniors as well as their parents can attend the Arizona Private College and University Night at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Desert Vista High School, 16440 S. 32nd St., Ahwatukee.
That session will cover topics such as financial aid and athletic programs as well as offer an opportunity to meet college admissions representatives from Benedictine, Embry-Riddle, Grand Canyon, Arizona Christian and Ottawa universities as well as Prescott College.
An ice cream social will be held 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 15 and an open house/curriculum night is planned 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 27.
An outreach of Horizon Presbyterian Church, God's Garden says it is “is dedicated to providing a positive and supportive Christian learning environment which nurtures spiritual, physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth through a child-centered, discoverybased curriculum.”
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THURSDAY, AUG. 24
Desert Lawn Care
Get practical advice for maintaining a healthy, beautiful and water-efficient lawn. This free workshop presented in partnership with City of Phoenix Water Department.
DETAILS>> 6:30-7:30 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Register online in the calendar section at phxlib.org.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26
Back-to-school party is on Back-to-school party! Join us for craft, snacks, and Smash Bros.
DETAILS>> 2-4 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Open to teens ages 12-17. Free, no registration required.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
SAT practice test available
High school students can prepare for SAT exams by taking a practice exam at Ironwood Library. This free practice test will be administered by Princeton Review.
DETAILS>> 12-4 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Free. Register in the calendar section at phxlib.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
Border security discussed
ASU Professor J.T. Davis will deliver this FRANK Talk, a face-to-face conversation with the goal of inspiring people to practice the skills of citizenship, on border issues and balancing government protection and civil liberties.
DETAILS>> 6-7:30 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Free. No registration required.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Tukee Talks slated
Officers from the Phoenix Police Department’s South Mountain Precinct will meet with Ahwatukee residents at Tukee Talks, a quarterly session that enables people to ask questions about crime trends in the community and other public safety matters.
DETAILS>> 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Ahwatukee Event Center, 4700 E. Warner Road, Ahwatukee. Free. Refreshments provided.
SUNDAYS
‘TinkerTime’ open for kids
A makerspace for children to design, experiment and invent as they explore hands-on STEAM activities through self-guided tinkering.
DETAILS>> 1-4 p.m. every Sunday, Ironwood Library 4333 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Ages 6-11. Free; No registration required.
Little Bytes helps kids
Think your child is too young to code? Children as young as 4 can learn logic and sequencing before they can write or spell, laying the foundation for more advanced coding! Join us for fun activities, apps and games to teach your child the fundamentals of the coding language.
DETAILS>> 2-3 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 4-7. Free. No registration.
Learn code and have fun
What do video games, robots and self-driving cars have in common? Code! You can become a coding master in this fun interactive program. Join us to learn with Code.org, Kodable, Scratch, Tynker, HTML and more as you expand your coding genius. Beginners welcome.
DETAILS>> Sundays, 3-4 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 6-17. Free, no registration required.
Learn gardening from pros
Learn desert gardening by getting your hands dirty with the Ahwatukee Community Gardening Project. Share in the knowledge, the produce, and the smiles. All ages welcome Bring sun protection and water, tools optional. DETAILS>> 7-9 a.m. in the northwest corner of the park at 4700 E. Warner Road, Ahwatukee.
Information : acgarden.org or 480-759-5338
MONDAYS
Chamber offers networking
The Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce networking and leads group is open to chamber members. DETAILS>> Noon, Native Grill and Wings, 5030 E. Ray Road, Ahwatukee. Devida Lewis, 480-753-7676.
LD 18 Dems meet monthly
Legislative District 18 Democrats gather monthly, usually the second Monday, to share news, opportunities, food and laughter. Meetings include guest speakers, legislative updates, how-to sessions and Q&A. Volunteer or just enjoy an evening with like-minded folks.
DETAILS>> For times and places: ld18democrats.org/ calendar.
TUESDAYS
Yoga explored
Discover ways to increase flexibility and muscle strength through yoga. Experience relaxation in a fun and welcoming environment. New to yoga? Beginners very welcome!
DETAILS>> 10:30-11:30 a.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Adults only. Free. No registration required.
Editing to be examined
Professional editor Mary Moore will discuss self-editing options for indie authors and describe her “Three Passes to Perfection” method.
DETAILS>> 6-7:45 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Free. No registration required.
STEM for kids available
Join us at the library for this fun, hands-on STEM based program. Kids will create a different project each week including: Circuit Bugs with LEDs, straw rocket ships, binary code keychains, wobblebots, turtle weavings and robotic hand building.
DETAILS>> Free. 4-5 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 6-11. No registration required. Does not meet Tuesday, July 4.
Chair yoga featured
Inner Vision Yoga Studio offers chair yoga to help seniors and people recovering from injuries to stay fit.
DETAILS>> 1:30-2:30 p.m., 4025 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. $5 per class. Information: donna@ innervisionyoga.com or 480-330-2015.
Toastmasters sharpen skills
Improve your speaking skills and meet interesting people at Ahwatukee Toastmasters meetings
DETAILS>>6:45-8 a.m at the Dignity Health Community Room, 4545 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee.
Power Partners available
The Ahwatukee Chamber launched a new Power Partner Group on Aug. 22. On the second Tuesday of the month, attendees are encouraged to attend the Wake Up Ahwatukee Morning Mixer. Unlike our Monday Power Group, this group will be non-category specific, meaning you can have more than one member in each business category.
DETAILS>>7:45-8:45 a.m. Early Baker, 15645 S. 40th St., Ahwatukee. Free Information:. Gina Jenkins, 480-990-5444.
page 29
WEDNESDAYS
Watercolor
classes available
Watercolor classes that teach both bold and beautiful as well as soft and subtle approaches to the art are available twice a week for beginners and intermediate students who are at least 15 years old. Step-by-step instruction and personal help are provided.
DETAILS>> 2:30-5 Wednesdays and 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays at Hobby Lobby, 46th Street and Ray Road, Ahwatukee. Cost: $25 per class, $80 for four classes. Registration required: jlokits@yahoo.com or 480-471-8505
Montessori holds open house
Ahwatukee Foothills Montessori holds an open house weekly. It includes a short talk about Montessori education, followed by a tour of its campus.
DETAILS>>: 4 p.m. Wednesdays, 3221 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Information: 480-759-3810
AROUND
from page 27
LiveStrong program returning to Ahwatukee YMCA Sept. 20
The Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA will run another LiveStrong Program beginning Sept. 20. The free small-group fitness program is open to adult cancer survivors and tries to ease them back into fitness and improve their quality of life. Each 12-week session is composed of classes that meet for 75 minutes twice a week. A free Y membership is included for the duration of the session.
Grief support is free
Hospice of the Valley offers a free ongoing grief support group for adults and is open to any adult who has experienced a loss through death. No registration required.
DETAILS>> 6-7 p.m. first and third Wednesdays, Pecos Community Center, 17010 S. 48th St. 602-636-5390 or HOV.org.
Foothills Women meet
An informal, relaxed social organization of about 90 women living in the Ahwatukee Foothills/Club West area. A way to escape once a month to have fun and meet with other ladies in the area. Guest speaker or entertainment featured.
DETAILS>> 7 p.m. second Wednesday of the month, Foothills Golf Club, 2201 E. Clubhouse Drive. Contact Shelley Miller, president, at 602-527-6789 or essentiallyshelley@gmail.com
Parents can ‘drop in’
Parents are invited to join a drop-in group to ask questions, share ideas or just listen to what’s going on with today’s teenagers.
Class size is limited to six participants per session.
Information: Debbie Mitchell at 602-212-6081
Line dancing, Muscle Mania registration underway
Ahwatukee dance instructor Carrie McNeish will again offer beginner and intermediate/advanced line dancing classes at Pecos Community Center this fall.
Evening classes are on Tuesdays and daytime sessions on Thursdays. The six-week session starts the week of Sept. 11. Register in person at phoenix.
DETAILS>> 5:30-7 p.m. second Wednesday of each month. Maricopa Cooperative Extension, 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix. Free. RSVP at 602-827-8200, ext. 348, or rcarter@cals.arizona.edu.
‘Dems and Donuts’ set
Legislative District 18 Democrats gather for an informal chat.
DETAILS>> Free and open to the public 7:30-9 a.m. the third Wednesday of the month at Denny’s, 7400 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. RSVP: marie9@q.com or 480-592-0052.
LD 18 Dems meet in Tempe
The Legislative District 18 Democrats meet the second Monday of the month.
DETAILS>> 6:30 p.m. social time, 7-8:30 p.m. meeting time. Because the location may be different from month to month, see ld18democrats.org. Information: ld18demsinfo@gmail.com. Free and open to the public.
THURSDAYS Kiwanis meets weekly
gov/PARKS.
McNeish also leads Muscle Mania classes, aimed at strengthening and toning up muscles and core with small-group personal training. No experience is necessary. These sessions also begin the week of Sept. 11 and are held Mondays and Wednesdays. Information: 480-221-9090, cmcneish@cox.net, or dancemeetsfitness.net.
Local professor’s homeless outreach downtown is Aug. 26
Project Humanities’ year-round outreach led by an Ahwatukee professor to help the homeless
The Ahwatukee Kiwanis Club meets weekly and welcomes newcomers. Speakers will include Kyrene School Board President John King on Aug. 24, state Rep. Mitzi Epstein on Aug. 31 and Sylvia Lopez, Kyrene Foundation spokeswoman, on Sept. 14.
DETAILS>> 7:30 a.m. Biscuits Restaurant, 4623 E. Elliot Road, Ahwatukee. Information: mike.maloney2003@gmail. com.
Mothers of Preschoolers gather
Free child care for ages 0 to 5.
DETAILS>> 9 a.m. second and fourth Thursday, Foothills Baptist Church, 15450 S. 21st St. Call Kim at 480-759-2118, ext. 218.
‘Gentle yoga’ offered
Inner Vision Yoga Studio offers “gentle floor yoga” for core strengthening and healthy backs. The class moves to Thursdays from Fridays beginning Aug. 24.
DETAILS>> 1:30-2:30 p.m. 4025 E. Chandler, Ahwatukee. $5 per class. Information: 480-330-2015 or donna@ innervisionyoga.com.
in downtown Phoenix will be held 6:45-8:15 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. Volunteers are welcome to meet on South 12th Avenue between West Jefferson and West Madison streets to help homeless people pick out clothing, shoes and toiletries.
Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University and the founder/director of ASU’s Project Humanities, also reminds residents they can donate bottled water at AZ Spine & Disc, 4530 E. Ray Road, Ahwatukee during normal business hours. Other items can be donated at Project Humanities’ Tempe headquarters.
Information on donating and volunteering: 480727-7030 or projecthumanities@asu.edu.
Enrich your family with another culture. Now you can host a high school exchange student (girl or boy) from France, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Italy or other countries. Single parents, as well as couples with or without children, may host. Contact us ASAP for more information or to select your student.
Giorgio from Italy, 16 yrs. Loves to play baseball and spend time with his dogs. Giorgio also plays the guitar, and his dream is to join a drama club at his American
Real Estate Guide
It’s anyone’s guess just how much higher home prices will go and if they'll ever slow down, according to one of the nation’s top real estate groups. Across the Phoenix metropolitan area, prices are rising, but not as high or as fast as they are nationwide.
Nationally, the median existing-home price for single-family abodes zoomed up to $255,600 in the second quarter of the year, according to the new quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors.
That was up 10.1 percent from the first quarter of the year and represented a 6.2 percent rise from the second quarter of last year.
The quarterly median sales price in Maricopa County for existing singlefamily homes was $243,000 in the second quarter of this year and $230,500 in the first three months of 2017 – a 5.6 percent increase.
To gauge the uptick, consider this: The median price for existing homes in the second quarter of last year was only $600 less than what it was in the first quarter
Mike Mendoza
of 2017.
Prices are continuing their steady climb because there simply aren’t enough homes on the market to go around, Realtor.com said. “As the economy has improved, more people who held off on becoming homeowners or trading up to bigger, better abodes are getting into the market.”
Added Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national Realtors group:
“Household incomes may be rising and giving consumers assurance that now is a good time to buy. But these severe inventory shortages will likely continue to be a drag on sales potential the second half of the year.”
The cost of buying a single-family home increased in about 87 percent of the metros that NAR looked at. Prices dropped in just 23 markets.
That might explain why sales of all existing homes, which include single-
family residences and condos, fell 0.9 percent in the second quarter. They hit 5.57 million, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in the report.
“With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets,” Yun said. “An increasing share of would-be buyers are being priced out of the market and are unable to experience the wealthbuilding benefits of homeownership.”
Even the median prices of lower-priced condos and co-ops shot up to $239,500. That's up nearly 9.5 percent from the first quarter of 2017 and represented a 5.4 percent rise from the second quarter of last year.
The most expensive metros were, unsurprisingly, primarily in California.
Silicon Valley’s San Jose topped the list with a median price of $1,183,400 for an existing single-family home, according to the report.
Silicon Valley buyers are “commonly very well-to-do people in their mid-20s
to mid-40s. Most typically are working in high tech,” said Realtor Avi Urban of Keller Williams Palto Alto. “Many of them are making enormous amounts of money.”
But prices fluctuate during the year depending on the season as well as the local job market, he said.
“As long as the Silicon Valley economy is doing well, I do not expect prices to go down,” Urban said. “I expect prices to continue with more gradual, moderate appreciation.”
San Jose was followed by its neighbor to the north, San Francisco, at $950,000; Anaheim at $788,000; Honolulu at $760,600 and San Diego at $605,000.
The cheapest cities were Youngstown, Ohio, at $87,000; Cumberland, Maryland, at $98,200; Decatur, Illinois, at $107,400; Binghamton, New York, at $109,000; and Elmira, New York, at $111,600.
Rates for home loans slid to a six-week low as mounting geopolitical worries drove investors into safe-haven bonds, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Meanwhile, prospective homebuyers may be finding cheaper mortgages.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.9 percent two weeks ago, down from 3.93 percent, according to Martketwatch.com.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.18 percent, unchanged during the week. The five-year Treasuryindexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.14 percent, down one basis point during the week. Those rates don’t include fees associated with obtaining mortgage loans.
The 10-year Treasury note yield slid as investors snapped up assets perceived as less risky in the wake of growing worries over the U.S.-North Korea standoff. As demand drives up bond prices, their yields fall. Mortgage rates track the benchmark U.S. government bond yield.
With this latest decline, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now just two basis points above its lowest level for 2017, Marketwatch reported.
Tuscan Hills home a rarity
is a butler's pantry off the kitchen and a
retreat with an office and private balcony.,
Profit From Our Experience
(Special to AFN)
This six-bedroom, 4,500-square-foot two-story on S. 23rd Way recently sold for $750,000 and is one of only nine houses in the Tuscan Hills gated community in Ahwatukee. The stunning backyard features a huge sunken outdoor kitchen and a swim-up bar. It also sports a small basketball court, sandbox, two herb gardens and a wraparound patio. Inside, there
master
‘Zestimates’ wreak havoc for buyers and sellers
BY STACEY LYKINS AFN Guest Writer
“Zestimates” are one of a Realtor’s worst nightmares.
Zestimates are rarely accurate. It is such a problem that “CBS This Morning” recently just did a piece on them.
Co-host Norah O’Donnell asked the chief executive of Zillow about the accuracy of the website’s automated property value estimates, known as Zestimates, she touched on one of the most sensitive perception gaps in American real estate.
Zillow is the most popular online real estate information site, with 73 million unique visitors in December.
Along with active listings of properties for sale, it also provides information on houses that are not on the market.
You can enter the address or general location in a database of millions of homes and probably pull up key information square footage, lot size, number of
bedrooms and baths, photos, taxes plus a Zestimate.
Almost every adult routinely quotes Zestimates to realtors and each other as gauges of market value. If a house for sale has a Zestimate of $350,000, a buyer might challenge the sellers’ list price of $425,000.
A seller might challenge potential listing agents when they say a property should sell for just $595,000 when Zillow has it at $685,000.
Disparities like these are daily occurrences and a real problem for Realtors and the market. Unfortunately, consumers often take Zestimates as gospel.
And if either the buyer or the seller do not budge off Zillow’s estimated value, it can kill a deal.
So, are Zestimates accurate, and if they aren’t, how far off are they?
Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff answered that they’re “a good starting point” but that nationwide Zestimates have a “median error rate” of about 8 percent. That is high, because on a $500,000
house, that would be a $40,000 disparity, which is a lot of money on the table and could create problems.
However, here is the most important thing and why you need to higher and consult a local realtor with expertise in your market: Localized median error rates on Zestimates sometimes far exceed the national median, which raises the odds that sellers and buyers will have conflicts over pricing.
Though it’s not prominently featured on the website, at the bottom of Zillow’s home page in small type is the word Zestimates. This section provides helpful background information along with valuation error rates by state and county some of which are stunners.
Kenneth R. Harney
Do American homeowners think their properties are worth less than the actual market value, as measured by professional appraisers?
Highly unlikely, you'd probably say. Everybody knows that owners tend to have optimistic impressions of what their
homes are worth. They know how much money they’ve...
I did my own looking at the accuracy levels of Zillow in Ahwatukee Foothills by using my own home.
I live in 85044 and it listed the following zip codes as nearby 85008 and 85018. It did not even list the other two zip codes in the Ahwatukee Foothills of 85045 and 85048. It showed the nearest cities as Alhambra.
It also says Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert are close, but Alhambra is definitely not nearby and would have no bearing on home values in Ahwatukee Foothills.
Also, there are so many homes in our area that Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert are not comparables for our local market. My house was listed as having one bathroom, which is an 80 percent error on the number of bathrooms in my house.
In our market, Zestimates can be off by more than 40 percent. This creates a huge issue with perception and expectation when buying and selling a home.
So what do you do now that you’ve got
See ZESTIMATESon page RE7
Ahwatukee homes sold
$160,000
$255,000
$280,750
$289,000
$300,000
$304,000
$323,099
$341,000
$620,000
$685,000
For most people, there’s an implicit understanding that buying a home will nearly drain their bank accounts.
But the bank isn’t finished with them yet – for the next 30 years, in fact. And 30 years of paying 4 percent interest on a $200,000 mortgage can seem like indentured servitude – especially when you consider that those interest payments add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.
What if you could pay off your mortgage in less time – and whittle down that crazy interest you’re forking over each month? Apparently, it can be done – and you don't have to go broke in the process.
Here are four expert-approved tips:
Make one extra payment each year.
Have a bonus coming up? Did you get a windfall from a beloved grandparent?
If you make one full payment at the end of the year and apply it to your mortgage principal, you could knock off a few years from your loan, said Elise Leve, senior loan officer with Citizens Bank.
“It’s easy to pay off a mortgage earlier
now because most lenders don’t have prepayment penalties,” Leve said. “Making just one extra payment a year on a 30-year loan shaves about four years off your loan.”
You can opt to make the extra payment at the end of the year, or any time you get a lump sum of money, Leve said. Just make sure to indicate it should be applied to your principal.
Add a little extra to each monthly payment. If making smaller, more manageable payments is more in line with your comfort level and budget, you can do that, too. For example, let’s say you have a $200,000 mortgage with a fixed interest rate of 4 percent for a 30-year term.
The total amount you’d pay for that 30year loan in interest alone is $143,739.
But say you made an extra $100 payment toward your principal each month over the lifetime of your mortgage. You’d shave five years off your loan and pay nearly $27,000 less in interest.
As with extra annual payments, make sure you earmark these additional monthly payments specifically for your principal. Otherwise, the extra money will get absorbed into the following month’s mortgage payment, said Ethan Vickery, a real estate agent.
“Call to make sure your lender applies those extra principal payments correctly; otherwise, you won’t get the benefit you’re looking for,” Vickery said.
Keep in mind this strategy is not the same as setting up biweekly payments, splitting up your monthly payment into two smaller ones. While biweekly payments will help you reach your goal faster, you're locked in.
Miss a payment, and you'll be hit with fees and/or hefty penalties.
In most cases, experts suggest simply making an extra payment when you can – whether that's once a year or every other month – instead of committing to a biweekly schedule.
Refinance to a shorter-term loan.
If you bought your house when interest rates were higher, refinancing from a 30year mortgage to a 15- or 10-year loan will save you a huge chunk of change on interest, said Tim Beyers, a mortgage analyst with American Financing. However, although shorter-term loans tend to have much lower interest rates, you generally need to have at least 20 percent equity, based on your home’s current market value. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with private mortgage insurance, Beyers said.
Moreover, with a shorter-term loan, monthly mortgage payments will go up considerably, and you’ll have to pay closing costs to refinance your loan, too. Ask your lender to crunch the numbers to determine when you’ll break even on those costs, especially if you don’t plan to stay in your home for the long term, Beyers said. In that case, refinancing is probably not the best move.
Refinancing a loan backed by the Federal
gourmet kitchen includes: s/s appliances, quartz countertops, double ovens, 2 dishwashers, cooktop, subzeros, etc
large family room
master suite w/sitting room
master bath w/steam shower, jacuzzi tub, and his/her closets
guest house
resort backyard w/pebbletec divingpool, waterfalls, slide, volcano, firepit, fp, spa, sport court, grassy play areas, & outdoor kitchen
4-car a/c garage
most desired location in the ahwatukee custom estates! A true masterpiece!!! Listed for $2,299,000
Exquisite Tuscan living with stunning mountain views. Abundant custom features including 24” Travertine flooring with inlays, inviting open floor plan, elegant library, soaring coffered ceilings, art niches, three fireplaces and custom builtins throughout. Gourmet kitchen boasts granite countertops with backsplash, custom mahogany raised-panel cabinetry, Dacor six-burner cooktop, two ovens, warming drawer, Sub Zero refrigerator and walk-in pantry. Spacious master suite with walk-in shower and Jacuzzi tub, plus den and two secondary bedrooms upstairs. Huge theatre room, three bedrooms, steam room and game room with wet bar in basement. Resort-style backyard complete with Marbella Stone patio entertaining areas, pool and spa with dual water features, built-in Dacor BBQ, fireplace and lush landscaping.
Listed for $1,395,000
ZESTIMATES
from page RE3
the scoop on Zestimate accuracy? Most important, take Zillow’s CEO’s advice. Look at Zestimates as no more than starting points in pricing discussions with the realtors in your local real estate markets. Zestimates are hardly gospel and
MORTGAGE
from page RE5
Housing Administration, or FHA, has the added perk of eliminating mortgage insurance premiums. The annual premium can range from 0.45 to 1.05 percent of the original loan amount (depending on the length and size of the loan). And, generally, FHA borrowers are stuck with those premiums for the life of the loan, Leve said.
“Refinancing from an FHA to a conventional loan as soon as you possibly can once you meet loan-to-value requirements [for refinancing] will save you a significant amount of money,” Leve said.
Create your own amortization schedule. You don’t have to refinance in order to pay off your loan early at the same rate. With an amortization schedule, you can skip the fees and closing costs of a refinance and figure out the monthly payment you’d need to pay off your loan within your desired time frame.
An amortization schedule is a more aggressive (and structured) tactic than simply tossing a little extra cash at your mortgage principal each month.
If done with the lender's help, an amortization schedule will mimic the effect of refinancing from a longer-term loan to a shorter-term period, minus the fees and paperwork.
Keep in mind that it won’t change your
-To get answers about any real estate questions, call Ahwatukee resident and Associate Broker Stacey Lykins, West USA, 602-616-9971 or at S.Lykins@ LykinsProperties.com or visit her website at www.LykinsProperties.com.
regular monthly payments or cut down your interest right away, but it will lessen your repayment time perhaps by as much as 10 or 15 years. That, in turn, heaps on interest.
This method will take a lot of discipline and consistency on your part in order to work. Ask your lender to help you crunch numbers and figure out a precise target payment amount.
Can I really afford to pay off my mortgage early? Being debt-free is undoubtedly appealing. Being able to achieve it largely depends on your financial goals and income. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Is my income stable enough to make higher monthly payments if I refinance to a shorter-term loan? Am I meeting other financial goals? Have I paid down high-interest credit cards? Do I have an emergency fund if times get tough? Is my credit score solid? Do I plan to stay in my home for at least 20 or 30 years?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you’re in a great position to focus on knocking down mortgage debt. If not, talk to a financial adviser for some direction, Beyers said.
“Really examine what you’re trying to achieve,” Beyers said. “Sure, you’ll take 10 or 15 years off your loan by refinancing. But if you’re diverting that money away on a monthly basis from your child’s education or other financial obligations, is that what you want?”
$699,500
www.ahwatukee.com
Taking a tiny step toward meeting a massive need
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
It has been at least a decade, if not longer, that I’ve handled occasional stories about a Christian organization called Feed My Starving Children.
Between the organization’s own announcements and news releases from groups that have helped further its mission, I’ve always been impressed not only by the zeal of FMSC but by its seeming efficiency.
Last week, I experienced both firsthand. I felt like I was part of a Swiss watch. Joining my colleagues from Times Media Group, publishers of AFN and about 20 other community newspapers and magazines, I learned why so many individuals and organizations – from scout troops to church groups – so enthusiastically embrace FMSC. It’s not only because Feed My Starving Children for 30 years has been fixed on
one goal: easing the hunger that afflicts untold millions of kids around the world. It needs people to physically help do it.
FMSC has perfected a recipe of four high-protein ingredients that volunteers
assemble into life-saving bags. Volunteers measure the ingredients for each bag, seal the bags, pack the bags in boxes and tape up and stack the boxes on pallets that end up in dozens of poverty-stricken countries
around the world.
Located in a small, empty shopping center across from Fiesta Mall in Mesa, FMSC’s packing center for the East Valley has a “kitchen” that probably is cleaner than many Valley restaurants’. Its approach to handling those bags of life certainly seem a lot more sterile than the food-handling techniques I’ve seen in others.
Donning hairnets and latex gloves and guided crisply by the directions of a tiny staff, dozens of volunteers form miniassembly lines that engender a camaraderie and proficiency that become a marvel to behold – and even more marvelous to be a part of.
Before and after a packing session, you not only get schooled in the suffering that you are joining FMSC to help alleviate. You also get to check out and buy crafts and products from the countries you are helping – coffee from Nicaragua and Haiti, bracelets from Uganda, beaded toys
Confederate memorials should remain – but only in museums
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
The first time someone ever mailed me a swastika was back in my New Jersey days, when I made a full-time living peddling opinions in newsprint. Some members of the Aryan Nation announced an upcoming rally to protest gay rights and, to honor the event, I explained that Neo-Nazism seemed to me like a disease begging to be cured at the business end of a Louisville Slugger.
We didn’t have email back then, which was a blessing because people who hated you had to draw memes by hand and spend 40-some cents on postage. The mail was more of an event then, full of misspelled vitriol and chicken-scratch hate. Rest assured, when your last name is Leibowitz and you anger the Hitler Youth, you will see swastikas. The ugly symbol
never made much of an impression on me. I used to tell myself it was a German mark denoting idiocy – an emblem that said more about the drawer’s lack of intellect than anything about the viewing audience.
Easy for me to say, I see now. Because the hateful images people mailed were not commissioned as statues displayed on public grounds. I did not have to walk past, say, the Nazi equivalent of the memorial to Confederate soldiers that sits across the street from the Arizona state Capitol. Nor have I ever had to drive on a public highway named after the Third Reich equivalent of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy who has been honored with a stretch of the U.S. 60 southeast of Apache Junction.
That’s why I support the idea of banishing these Civil War memorials to a museum, and erasing Jefferson Davis Highway and also Robert E. Lee Street, which cuts east-west across north Phoenix and Scott-
sdale north of Bell Road.
You say, “Gosh, people are way too sensitive these days. It’s just a statue, just a street name, just a reminder of America’s history.” I say, “To you maybe. But to other people, these things are scars, reminders of wounds so deep they still ache generations later.”
Let me be as clear as I know how to be.
General Lee and those Confederate soldiers we’re honoring took up arms against this nation in the support of slavery and secession. They were not heroes. They were traitors. Slavers. They killed Union soldiers – Americans.
In a few weeks, when our country pauses on September 11 to honor and recall the civilians, firefighters and police officers murdered in cold blood on that awful day in 2001, we won’t also offer a few kind words and prayers for the 19 murderers who brought the terror.
To do so would be unseemly, unpatriotic, un-American.
Not unlike, say, flying the Rebel flag over the state Capitol – an event that actually happened in 1961 – to mark the 100year anniversary of the Civil War. That was also the year the Confederate memorial was erected in Wesley Bolin Plaza.
We’re a different Arizona today than we were almost a half-century ago – though perhaps not yet different enough when it comes to the issue of race. You say, well, they’re only statues, markers, streets names. Great. If they’re “only” meaningless words and objects, then let’s remove them. Most of us will never notice the difference. And most of those who do notice will fall into one of two categories: People who see these memorials as hurtful, unnecessary celebrations of America’s ugliest legacy. Or idiots who think General Lee, Jefferson Davis and those Confederate war dead were a bunch of great guys. So, friend, which are you?
(Pedro Pablo Pirella/AFN Staff)
Times Publications employees fill bags of food at Feed My Starving Children's packing center in Mesa.
See NEED on page 32
No simple solutions to American race relations
BY NEAL LESTER AFN Guest Writer
Ihave been in a blue funk since the Charlottesville uprising. I have been in this kind of funk too many times now.
If in fact Black Lives Matter, how do we explain and morally reconcile the deaths of Tamir Rice holding a toy gun (2014), of Jordan Davis playing music too loud (2012), of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones (2017), of pregnant Charleena Lyles (2017), and of Korryn Gaines shot as she held her infant (2016)?
If Black Lives Matter historically, why the atrocity of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment by the US Public Health Service (1937-1972) and the miscarriage of justice for the nine Scottsboro Boys (1937)?
I did not have to live through each of these moments in our American past and present to experience the psychological trauma and spiritual funk their reality creates for African Americans and socially conscious others.
Because I have taught, studied and published on American race relations for over
30 years, deep racial and political division in our “United” States in responses to Charlottesville and these other tragedies listed above – and countless others not listed – does not surprise me.
I am out of sorts now because of the sheer repetition of these tragedies, myths, misrepresentations and injustices.
I am tired of the continued expectation and presumed responsibility that people of color – the alleged “race experts” and culture leaders – provide “a solution to American racism” and too often in a 15-second soundbite, a two-minute TV new segment or a 700-word essay.
As for Charlottesville, I have declined several media interviews about American race relations, violence, progress, Confederate monuments, and even culturally derogatory street names locally because I am actually sick and tired and sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I am declining not because I have nothing to say, but rather because I have nothing new to say about the “same ol’ problem” of white privilege and white supremacy – both overt and covert.
Among them are lynching, Jim Crow, American slavery, Confederate flags and monuments, “colorblindness,” the N-word, black church bombings and burnings, racial profiling and swastikas. I live in America. Vestiges and
manifestations of white privilege and white supremacy are ubiquitous: School-to-prison pipeline, mass incarceration, Eurocentric curricula, English-only initiatives, American minstrelsy, Arizona attacks on ethnic studies, race crises as “teachable moments” with people of color as the teachers, white paternalism, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, bootstrap theory, indigenous mascots, cultural appropriation, anti-immigration policies and “post-racial” America since 2008.
If we are to resolve the problem of American race relations, the voices of those directly impacted must be front and center. However, people of color should not be expected to do the work of solving a problem people of color did not create. Moreover, I am not at all convinced that white people really need people of color to tell them that American race relations are bad.
Racial and social inequalities have existed since the inception of this country.
And as playwright Eugene O’Neill reminds us: “The past is the present… It’s the future, too. We all try to lie out of that, but life won’t let us.”
Furthermore, as one millennial podcast host pointed out, the optics of Charlottesville are significantly different from the interracial confrontations and marches we typically witness.
volunteers, who took him to a doctor. The doctors didn’t think he would make it, had all but given him up for the grave.
Whites against whites makes it difficult from afar to know exactly which side is fighting for what.
Working for social justice is risky and dangerous business. It’s spiritually, psychologically and emotionally draining, and can certainly take its physical and psychic toll on those who, not by choice but by birth and circumstance, are continually on the frontlines even when the headlines of the moment move to the next new story.
In times like these, though, I meditate on author Audre Lorde’s words: “[People of color] are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men…
“The oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their actions. There is a constant drain of energy which might be better used in redefining ourselves and devising realistic scenarios for altering the present and constructing the future.”
Herein is my truth. For now, and I am choosing to live in it.
-Share your opinion on this issue with a letter to the editor. Write pmaryniak@ ahwatukee.com.
-Neal Lester, Ph.D., has been an Ahwatukee resident since 1997 and is the Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University and founding director of its Project Humanities.
from Swaziland, to name just a few.
Volunteers also get an introduction to the vast global network through which FMSC distributes those bags of life and the other ways it helps rescue at least some of the suffering little ones.
During a brief video following our 90-minute packing stint, we heard the story of a 4-year-old Haitian boy whose mother could not care for him while tending to his three siblings. He had rickets and couldn’t walk. So, day after day, she just left him sitting outside in the mud, under the hot sun with no one to even talk to, let alone play with. He came to the attention of FMSC
Flash forward two years. The boy was in a classroom, writing on a blackboard, running around and looking healthy.
After watching that video, I thought about the little boys and girls in dirtpoor regions of the globe who can’t run to the fridge for a glass of milk, sit down at breakfast to a bowl of Cheerios or run over to a cupboard for a snack.
I thought about how our company took two hours of its time away from covering news and serving advertisers to join the finely tuned watch that is Feed My Starving Children to show those kids a little love – indeed, give them life.
I wondered what would happen if every
business in Ahwatukee, the East Valley, the Phoenix metro region organized its employees into groups that could head over to Mesa and spend two hours packing bags of food.
For a mere two hours, business owners, supervisors and employees could join the countless church groups, civic organizations and individuals who have done the same thing and help the millions of children among the estimated 161 million people in the world who are starving every day.
We were told that by the end of our shift, we helped feed 69 children for a year.
Seemed to me like a heartbreakingly tiny fraction of the need out there.
Maybe it’s time that you head over to fmsc.org and sign up.
DiCiccio, Patterson have their final say as council election nears
With the City Council District 6 election next Tuesday, Aug. 29, these are the final columns by candidates Sal DiCiccio and Kevin Patterson. Both candidates were invited to write four columns during the campaign, two being their choice of topic – including today’s. All four columns are at ahwatukee.com
Sal DiCiccio: ‘Look to what I have done’
BY: SAL DICICCIO AFN Guest Writer
Elections allow you, my boss, the ability to review my work. I hope you will take the time to reflect on the many successes we have been able to get accomplished for our community together, a community my family and I call home.
These successes haven’t occurred in a vacuum – we made them happen, working together to solve big and little problems.
We have a great community, made up of fantastic people who care and have put in personal time and effort improving our quality of life.
As your councilman, I have spent almost every waking hour fighting for you. We worked together to bring in the first police substation and senior center.
Pecos Park, Mountain Vista Park and Desert Vista Park were just empty lots without any imagination until people like Pastor Don Schneider, Mary Conant, and the Ahwatukee Board of Management worked with me to bring life to these great accomplishments.
Telegraph Pass, the addition and preservation of over 144 acres of our mountain preserve off of 19th Avenue and Chandler Boulevard and the $26 million in improvements now slated for south Mountain Park were accomplished by our hard work –preserving our open spaces and with a keen eye on enhancing our quality of life.
When the Lakewood community and the Foothills Country Club were under threat of losing their water, volunteers from both of their HOAs worked tirelessly at the endless meetings we had with ADOT to preserve the critical water supply. Mission accomplished.
And, yes, for those who live at Club West, we are still working on your problem. The other two were difficult, but we got them done, and yours will get done as well – that will happen. I do not think a day goes by that I
am not in communication with Mike Hinz of your association and Chad Blostone, our village planning chair, working through ideas and solutions.
We’ve gotten most of my district lined up for repaving over the next three years, both in the north and south. I put in as much time solving problems in the northern side of the district as I do here.
Whenever you – the people I serve –have asked me to take on an issue, large or small, I have.
And I’m not stopping now. This fall, the council will be dealing with issues ranging from the halfway houses creeping into our neighborhoods to providing public bus service for kids to get to and from after school events to major fiscal reforms to our budget and pension system.
These aren’t the kind of things that can be addressed with campaign one-liners, no matter how much my opponent believes otherwise.
Actually, he has made statements on Channel 15 admitting to never attending a single council meeting, and he is on record of consistently not voting in city elections. That is a first in any election I have ever seen.
Good work takes time, community engagement and effort. And, well, voting and attending maybe one meeting would be a good start.
Would you trust a person who never shows up for meetings to solve our problems? The Lakes? Club West? Lakewood? Foothills?
This isn’t the narrative you hear from my opponent, but it’s the truth. And the truth of this election is that our communities, our city, can’t afford to have incurious, unengaged representation – not now.
We have too much still to do. Remember, if you want to know what I will do, please look to what I have done.
That’s why I am, once again, asking you, my boss, for your vote.
Kevin Patterson: ‘Bring leadership to Ahwatukee’
BY KEVIN PATTERSON AFN Guest Writer
Iwas at a meet-and-greet in Ahwatukee a few weeks ago listening to folks talk about some of the major issues that are affecting their everyday lives.
Were there enough police keeping their neighborhoods safe? How badly is the 202 expansion going to affect their commute to work? How do we keep home values around the Lakes and Club West golf courses from falling even further, with no solution in sight?
As I sat and listened to more than a dozen residents go around the table, passionately detailing their concerns, I was struck with a single thought.
Where is the leadership in District 6? And how do we get it back?
At Banner Health, my job is director of leadership development. Every day, I am tasked with making sure that physicians, executives, nurses and staff are trained, kept accountable and developed into leaders we can be sure will take exceptional care of hundreds of thousands of patients around the state.
I know that without good leadership, without constant accountability and a commitment to get better every day, our system of providing healthcare would simply fall apart.
District 6 is no different.
I understand that Councilman DiCiccio is a well-known career politician in Ahwatukee. I respect and admire the work he has put in on issues important to residents, to constantly engage with them and make sure that they feel informed.
Yet, as a constituent and an engaged citizen, something critically important to me is results, and across District 6, we just aren’t seeing them.
The Lakes golf course is dead, and Club West looks to be next without drastic leadership changes, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in your home values are at stake.
Despite “banging on the desk and making a lot of noise,” the situation has not improved in years. A new leader can
bring folks to the table to build consensus and actually solve this problem without rehashing old views.
Ahwatukee has only three police patrol cars on at one time, but Sal voted against the budget that funded the police increase we need to keep our streets safe. He claims to have won 500 police officers for this community, but we know that that is a blatant lie. Leaders who bring home results to their constituents don’t have to mislead voters about their record.
I promise to never lie about my record, and throughout this campaign I have been honest, even to a fault.
The 202 construction has begun in Ahwatukee, but where is the leader advocating for our residents?
Construction near Lagos Elementary is dangerous for kids, but under Sal’s watch, we still do not have barriers up to protect children from heavy machinery, or neighborhoods from intense noise pollution.
To make the 202 work for you and your family will require constant attention and close working relationships with the appropriate state and federal agencies. Every day, District 6 does not have a leader; the dangers only increase.
I elect my public servants to lead, to have a well-researched and inclusive vision for our community built on shared values.
As your councilman, I promise to do just that. I have put in the time and the work to learn the issues, to connect with residents, to find solutions to the issues, even if they might not be the popular sentiment. I have released an extensive policy platform based on real numbers and facts, not empty promises.
I am ready to serve you and your family and bring representation back to District 6.
I ask for your vote Aug. 29 because I believe in an Ahwatukee and District 6 that we are all proud of. I am ready to take the next steps forward with fresh leadership. Are you?
Business
Ahwatukee attorney turning business from law to advocacy for seniors
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
In a world of caretakers, guardians and probate lawyers, Don Scher sees a near void.
He doesn’t see many trustworthy friends and advocates for people too old or infirmed to handle their financial and lifestyle affairs.
That’s why the Ahwatukee resident is giving up his Chandler law practice to devote himself to a new business, hiring himself out as a “personal counselor, agent, advocate and protector” for elderly people who want to protect themselves in the future and caring relatives or friends of elderly and other people who cannot take care of themselves.
The Southern California native, a father of five and grandfather of 11, has been a lawyer for 30 years, gravitating to the profession because he wanted “to protect my clients’ interests, both personally and financially, and in business matters as well.”
“I have emphasized in my practice, protection of the elderly, with particular interest in combatting elder abuse and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults,” he explained.
“My law practice involves wills, trusts, estate planning, guardianship, conservatorships, probate and trust administration, in addition to corporations, real estate, entity formation, franchise, contracts and general business matters.”
But while taking care of his widowed mother, he saw the ravages that time and dementia can exact.
Recalling how in that time spent his mother “went from an independent widow of 77 to age 92 and didn’t know who she was or where she was,” Scher said he saw “the challenges facing seniors, how they are treated by the community and how they are exploited.”
are crooks.”
And now he’s somewhat more cynical of the odds of being scammed.
“Thirty years ago, people used to think that 10 percent of the people were dishonest honest and 90 percent were honest. Now, it’s 10 percent of the people are trustworthy and 90 percent
Scher said his clients “are parents and grandparents who want to protect themselves by effective estate planning” or “by anticipating the challenges in their families.”
They also include “children who find that their parents have been exploited by a family member or some third party, and want to stop the exploitation, or family members who need legal authority
Zzeeks adopts special glasses supporting businesses
Zzeeks Pizza has become the second business to engage an Ahwatukee couple’s idea of using glasses to support local stores, eateries and services.
Rebecca and Rob Previte brought the idea with them from Ohio when they moved to Ahwatukee earlier this year.
Last week, Zzeeks owners Jody and Mark Pectol debuted the glasses.
“It turned into big networking party and everyone had a chance to get up and brag about their business,” Rob Previte said.
Realty; Angie Christopher, AZ Spine
Disc and Sport; Ted Tamez, PakMail Superstore; Jennifer Cleenan, The Book Balancer; Damien Ludwig, Foothills
Pool Care and Repair; Malinda Malone, Diamond Cut Pet Spa; Kevin Cash, All Good Shutter and Blind; Rachel Gledhill, Edible Emotions Bakery; Tariq Khan, Lush Brush Designs; and Rebecca Previte of Rodan and Fields.
Advertisers pay upfront for the year to have their information baked on the glasses, which are built to withstand chillers, dishwashing and everyday use.
The eight ads are divided into four large ones and four smaller ones and cost between $50 and $75 a month.
Mark and Jody Pectol are the majority
owners of Zzeeks, with Ed Mielke as a minority owner of the Tempe location.
The Pectols hold major fundraisers at their locations and are involved in raising money for charity causes.
Previte said the Pectols ordered the first glasses in a 20-ounce size – “which is four ounces bigger than normal, but it let us get 10 local businesses on it.”
Jody Pectol said the glasses will be used at their Ahwatukee and Tempe pizzerias.
“We decided to go with the glasses so we could help promote other local businesses” she said, adding they’ll be used for draft beer and root beer floats.
Previte said he’s almost ready to debut
to care for a parent or family member, both medically and financially, or the surviving widow or widower, who is without friends or family support who wants to be sure that there is someone to step in to take care of them if they become ill or lose the capacity to make medical and/or financial decisions.”
His goal for them all: “I want to keep them out of the court system. I want their golden years to actually be golden and pleasurable.”
“That’s why I am starting this new practice,” he added. “I want to be able to act as their best friend and confidante, someone they know who is in their corner.”
As an advocate, Scher said he acts as his client’s “advisor, agent and representative, working with family members and their own CPA, attorney, insurance and financial advisor.
“I will be first and foremost protecting my clients’ from abuse and exploitation as their shield from anyone asking for money in any form,” he said, adding he also plays other roles as well.
“I will be there to resolve family disputes, to help deal with family
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)
Chandler attorney and Ahwatukee resident Don Scher has decided to drop his law practice and become an advocate for seniors and dependent individuals.
The sponsors of the glasses include James Goodman, the Goodman Team
Company drives mobile urgent care to patients’ doorsteps
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY AFN Staff Writer
Colorado-based Dispatch Health has brought its mobile urgent care platform to Tempe with plans to expand service to the rest of the East Valley later this year.
The company provides mobile urgent care units staffed by a board-certified physician assistant or nurse practitioner and an EMT who can treat patients at home or work. The Honda Priuses used by Dispatch are preloaded with a litany of supplies that allow the team to handle various low-level injuries and illnesses.
The teams are equipped to treat a range of issues, including common illnesses, joint and back pain, allergies, rashes, eye infections, gastrointestinal distress and respiratory issues.
They also can provide on-site services like IV placement, rapid infectious disease testing, Foley catheter insertion, splints, medication and advanced blood testing.
Potential patients can reach the service by phone, online or using smartphone apps for Android and iOS.
The company began service in Tempe and select areas in Phoenix and Scottsdale on Aug. 15, marking its first foray outside its home state.
The company is the first mobile urgent care service in Tempe, though similar services exist in other parts of the Valley.
Dispatch Health plans to add an additional car in the Phoenix metro area in October and expand its coverage area.
“We will likely (pursue) East Valley expansion first and then move into the West Valley,” chief strategy officer Kevin Riddleberger said.
Dispatch Health launched in 2013 in a small area in Denver in partnership with the local emergency management system. It started as a service to respond to some
point to health care,” Riddleberger said.
“This is not redundant care; (it) fills in the gaps.”
For instance, the company claims it can save users money by avoiding costly emergency room trips for less-critical health issues that do not require that level of care.
SENIORS
members who have special needs, to mentor family members about how to handle wealth and about education for business and financial matters, and to educate the clients about their options to enjoy life and to facilitate that enjoyment, without regard to age, mobility or other limitation,” he said.
less-critical calls to 911 that did not require an emergency room transfer in order to free up resources for high acuity calls, Riddleberger said.
The company now has six vehicles in Denver and one in Colorado City and expects to see 10,000 patients in Denver alone in 2017. In Colorado, it accepts Medicare, Medicaid and many major insurers.
In Arizona, Dispatch Health works with Medicare and Medicaid and will begin accepting insurers Humana and United Healthcare in September with plans to work with other insurers in the future, Riddleberger said.
It is also currently in talks with fire agencies in the Phoenix area to potentially be an option for less-critical calls.
The company has targeted the senior demographic as a primary user for its services, though cares for all age groups.
Rather than a replacement for traditional medical services, Dispatch Health is positioning itself as a complement to things like emergency services, hospitals and primary-care physicians.
“We’re not another fragmented access
The median charge for the 10 most common emergency room outpatient conditions in the U.S. is over $1,230, according to an article published in the multidisciplinary open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The uninsured rate for Dispatch Health customers costs a flat fee of $275, said Riddleberger.
This is part of a larger trend in the health-care industry, which is “experiencing a shift toward preventive and value-based care,” according to Stanford Medicine 2017 Health Trends Report.
Urgent care services, specifically, are experiencing growth. There were 6,400 urgent cares in the U.S. in 2013 versus over 7,100 in 2017, according to a report from physician employment and consulting company Merritt Hawkins.
The company leverages its dual roles as medical provider and technology platform to gather patient data in an attempt to increase the quality of care and reduce repeat visits for the same condition.
It does this by checking in with patients three days after a visit and then checking with local health information exchange 14 and 30 days after care to determine whether the patient visited a hospital for that same complaint.
ASU Prep Compadre High School
His background positions him well. With a bachelor’s degree in accounting and law degrees from two universities, he has managed several businesses, developed an office complex and consulted for the state Land Department. He is dismayed by the number of firms and solo practitioners who offer free dinners and lunches under the guise of giving advice, but then end up selling products such as life insurance. His services just aren’t aimed at seniors. There can be issues, for example, that parents can face in caring for a specialneeds child or even a son or daughter who has become addicted to drugs or alcohol.
“My intention to do personal advocacy business,” Scher said. “I want them to know my sole purpose is to advise them, counsel them.”
Information: dscher@cox.net, 602478-3555.
ZZEEKS
from page 35
his third glass, sponsored by the Ginger Monkey in downtown Chandler.
“We are looking for one more in downtown Chandler to do and then one in Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale,” he said.
Information: Rebecca@Pintspace.com or Rob@pintspace.com.
Join us at our information session to learn more and you’ll be entered into a raffle for virtual reality goggles:
• Tuesday, Aug 29, 6 – 7 p m
(Special to the Tribune)
The Honda Priuses used by Dispatch Health are preloaded with a litany of supplies that allow the team to handle various low-level injuries and illnesses.
BY RABBI DEAN SHAPIRO AFN Guest Writer
Iwas horrified recently to see an elderly lady, bags hanging from her arms and out of breath, struggling to board a train. The cabin attendants just stood there doing nothing, so I set down my suitcase, picked hers up and brought it inside.
No big deal.
I believe in good manners. More than mere social niceties, manners indicate that we see the humanity in another person, that we recognize their need and that we’re prepared to tax ourselves – just a bit – to help them out.
I like what manners say about civil society: that we all take turns giving,
and we all take turns taking, and that we are in this world together. Manners convey that the other person matters.
When you do someone a favor, you look into their eyes and recognize them as a child of God. You lift a bag for an old woman and you see a bit of your own grandmother. You give a sandwich to someone who’s down and out, as you hope someone else would feed your child if they needed help.
The invisible husk that divides me from you dissolves away and our shared humanity remains.
Judaism’s rules require this, through both negative and positive behaviors.
For example, when an outsider settles in your community, don’t take advantage of them even though you can. Even if we don’t help, Leviticus 19:33 insists, at least do no harm.
But disengagement is not nearly enough.
The positive commandments (in Hebrew, “mitzvot”) describe the affirmative actions we are obliged to take on behalf of our fellow people –and, may I add, animals as well. They sound quite basic, the stuff of civil society, but they are more profound than that.
The Prophet Isaiah describes the societal harm that comes from such minor misdeeds.
“Your silver has turned to dross; your wine is cut with water. Your rulers are rogues and cronies of thieves, every one avid for presents and greedy for gifts; they do not judge the case of the orphan, and the widow’s cause never reaches them.” (1:22-23)
Isaiah observes that small, undetectable infractions sow distrust among people. They signal the upending of civil society, leading to avarice among leaders and, ultimately, an unjust society. The prophets Amos, Hosea and Micah all repeat the message. Good manners do not make a society just, but they are a sign of a healthy society, where the lives of others matter. Good manners are expressions of God’s lovingkindness coursing through the Universe.
We are God’s eyes and hands. When we take care of each other, lovingkindness pours through our actions and flows out into the world. Kindness has cosmic importance.
— Rabbi Dean Shapiro is the spiritual leader of Temple Emanuel of Tempe. Contact him at rshapiro@emanueloftempe.org and visit his “Rabbi Dean Shapiro” page on Facebook.
“You shall not falsify measures of length, weight or capacity” (Leviticus 19:35-36). It would be so easy, wouldn’t it, for a butcher to put his thumb on the scale, or for someone selling cloth to short you by just a few millimeters. Or, conversely, for a customer to pop a walnut or two in her mouth at the bulk food bins at Sprouts. What’s the harm? Well, it adds up, millimeter after millimeter, over time.
SUNDAYS
BIBLE EXPLORED
This biblical scripture study embraces a spirit-filled, intellectually honest, and understandable exploration of God’s Word. Lessons will combine Christian and Jewish theology along with Bible history, archaeology and linguistics for a rich learning experience.
DETAILS>> 9:15 a.m. Mountain View Lutheran Church. 11002 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee. 480-893-2579, mvlutheran.org.
HORIZON SEEKS YOUNG PEOPLE
High school and middle school students meet to worship and do life together.
DETAILS>> 5 p.m. at Horizon Presbyterian Church, 1401 E. Liberty Lane. 480-460-1480 or email joel@horizonchurch.com.
KIDS CAN LEARN JEWISH LIFE
Children can learn and experience Jewish life. Chabad Hebrew School focuses on Jewish heritage, culture and holidays.
DETAILS>> 9:30 a.m. to noon, for children ages 5-13 at Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life, 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler. 480-855-4333, info@chabadcenter.com, or chabadcenter.com.
SUNDAY CELEBRATION SERVICE
Inspirational messages and music to lift your spirit. A welcoming community committed to living from the heart. Many classes and events offered. We welcome you!
DETAILS>> 10 a.m. Sundays at Unity of Tempe, 1222 E. Baseline Road, Suite 103, Tempe. Information: 480-7921800, unityoftempe.com.
FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
The Foundations of Faith Bible study embraces a spir-
it-filled, intellectually honest, and refreshingly understandable exploration of God’s Word. Lessons will combine Christian and Jewish theology along with bible history, archaeology and linguistics for a rich learning experience.
DETAILS>> 9:15 a.m. Mountain View Lutheran Church. 11002 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee. 480-893-2579. mvlutheran.org.
MONDAYS
JOIN CHRIST-CENTERED YOGA
This Flow 1-2 class (intermediate) is free and open to the community.
DETAILS>> 6-7 p.m., Mountain Park Community Church, 2408 E. Pecos Road. Greg Battle at 480-759-6200 or gbattle@moutainpark.org.
CLASS TARGETS THE GRIEVING
Classes for those grieving over death or divorce.
DETAILS>> 6:30 p.m., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 739 W. Erie St., Chandler. 480-963-4127.
TUESDAYS
GRIEFSHARE
Mountain Park Community Church is offering an ongoing GriefShare programs to help people deal with the pain of losing a loved one.
DETAILS>> 6:30-8 p.m., 2408 E. Pecos Road, Ahwatukee. To register: mountainpark.org and click on Launch. Information: Alex at 480-759-6200
FINDING HEALING FOR PAIN
HOPE, an acronym for “Help Overcome Painful Experiences,” offers support for men and women who seek God’s grace and healing.
DETAILS>> 6:30-8 p.m. Mountain Park Community Church, 2408 E. Pecos Road. mountainpark.org.
SENIORS ENJOY TUESDAYS
The Terrific Tuesdays program is free and includes bagels and coffee and a different speaker or theme each week. Registration not needed.
DETAILS>> 10-11 a.m., Barness Family East Valley Jewish Community Center, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. evjcc.org or 480-897-0588.
WEDNESDAYS
AWANA clubs meet
AWANA Children’s Clubs build lasting faith foundations for children, with games, Bible stories, learning God’s Word. DETAILS>> The clubs meet at Bridgeway Community Church, 2420 E. Liberty Lane, Ahwatukee, starting Sept. 6. 6-7:30 p.m. for kids 3 years old through sixth grade. Register at bridgewaycc.org or 480-706-4130.
CELEBRATE RECOVERY
Celebrate Recovery is a biblical 12-step program that helps you find hope and healing from all of life’s hurts, habits and hang-ups. Whether it’s addiction, loss, anger or stress, you can find the freedom you’re looking for today.
DETAILS>> 6:20 p.m. Mountain View Lutheran Church. 11002 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee.. 480-893-2579. mvlutheran.org.
DIVORCE CARE
Don’t go through one of life’s most difficult times alone. Divorce Care is a friendly, caring group that will walk alongside you and provide support through divorce or separation.
DETAILS>> 6:30 p.m. Mountain View Lutheran Church. 11002 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee. 480-893-2579. mvlutheran.org.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY OFFERED
Living Word Ahwatukee women’s Bible study and fel-
lowship that offers “a short, low-key time of praise and worship in music and message.” It’s also an opportunity to meet other Christian women in Ahwatukee. DETAILS>> 10-11:30 a.m., Living Word Ahwatukee, 14647 W. 50th St., Suite 165, Ahwatukee. Free child care.
THURSDAYS
SLEEPING BAGS FOR THE HOMELESS
Ugly Quilts has made more than 15,500 sleeping bags for the area homeless, and continues to do so at First United Methodist Church every Thursday. Quilters stitch donated fabric, comforters, sheets and blankets into sleeping bags. Those are then distributed to the Salvation Army, churches and veterans’ organizations. DETAILS>> 8 a.m.-2 p.m., 15 E. 1st Ave., Mesa. Information: 480-969-5577.
KIDS CAN FIND SUPPORT
Support group for children ages 6 to 12 coping with a separation or divorce in the family. One-time $10 fee includes snacks and workbook.
DETAILS>> 6:30-8:30 p.m., 1825 S. Alma School Road, Room C202, Chandler. Pastor Larry Daily, 480-963-3997, ext. 141, larrydaily@chandlercc.org or chandlercc.org.
FRIDAYS
NEFESHSOUL HOLDS SERVICES
Congregation NefeshSoul holds Shabbat services the second Friday of every month on the campus of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation. DETAILS>> 6:15 p.m., 6400 W. Del Rio St., Chandler. Information: nefeshsoul.org.
‘Rick and Morty’ goodies are driving this weekend
BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI GET OUT Editor
Inspired by the Wienermobile, the animated Adult Swim sci-fi series
“Rick and Morty” is driving into Alamo Drafthouse in Chandler from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26.
Cynical mad scientist Rick has been fashioned into a truck that will follow pop-up shops in 40 U.S. cities, including Tucson and Flagstaff on Friday, Aug. 25, and Sunday, Aug. 27, respectively. The times and locations have yet to be determined.
“It’s a real spectacle,” says Jim Babcock, Adult Swim’s vice president of consumer marketing. “It’s built on a Ford chassis. Early on, we saw a sketch that showed it as a glorified taco truck that could be a rolling Rick and Morty store. We called it Trader Rick’s at the very beginning.”
Babcock adds that the pop-up shop offers a “great combination of items created by licensees,” ranging from socks to a Monopoly game. There will be T-shirts, a pool float and, of course, backpacks with a “profane phrase on the back.”
“Morty always tells Rick to get his (stuff) together and put it in a backpack,” he says.
“Seriously, though, the Monopoly game is something that everyone’s excited about.”
Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the series follows the adventures of Rick and his grandson, Morty, who split
their time between domestic family life and interdimensional adventures. Like the show, the Rickmobile and its appeal is simple, Babcock explains.
“It’s corny, but it does bring happiness to
people,” he says. “People are really excited to stand in line to take pictures with it.
“I remember seeing Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile driving down the street. Hopefully, we’re creating memories like that for people. It was definitely a big inspiration. Two of the people touring with us, actually, are veteran Wienermobile pilots, as they call them.”
The show has heart, says Babcock, adding that it’s well written, well drawn.
“The relationship between Rick and Morty is real,” Babcock says. “There’s true emotion and it’s a funny show. There are great jokes. It’s not just a throwaway bunch of fart jokes. There’s some depth to it.”
IF YOU GO
What: Rickmobile Appearance Where: Alamo Drafthouse, 4955 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler, When: 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. Free Info: 520-213-8129, drafthouse.com/ phoenix, rickmobile.com.
Swedish, Polish and Canadian food meet at Beaver Choice
BY AVID M. BROWN GET OUT Contributor
Three culinary roads – Swedish, Polish and Canadian – meet at Beaver Choice in Mesa, and if you’re searching for great ethnic food, take whatever highway, avenue, road or trail you can to get there.
Hanna and Marek Kowalski’s family restaurant at Baseline and Extension roads honors Canada’s national animal, noted for its pluck and persistence, and their inspired strip center business exudes that spirit and serves food that has won consumer kudos and high fives from food critics.
Here you can enjoy Svenska Köttbullar –Swedish meatballs with cardamom, cream sauce and lingonberry preserves; schnitzel cordon bleu, a pork cutlet stuffed with ham and French Brie and topped with mushroom sauce; and Quebec poutine, a
plate of French fries with cheese curds and hot beef gravy.
“Our students at Queens University used to tell us that the poutine sliders we offered there slid right down into their bellies,” says Hanna.
In 2002, she and Marek rolled out Freja H & M, the first gourmet food truck in North America, winning a prize for best business concept, she said. “We wanted to have something both Swedish and Canadian, so we chose ‘beaver’ for Canada’s national animal and put a Swedish hockey jersey on it with that country’s signature three crowns.
Born in Poznan, Poland, Hanna left for Stockholm in 1982, her home for the next 18 years. She was studying math at Stockholm University and saw an ad for a server job at
Inspired by the Wienermobile, the animated Adult Swim sci-fi series “Rick and Morty” is driving into Alamo Drafthouse in Chandler.
Hanna and Marek Kowalski specialize in Canadian and Polish cuisine at their Beaver Choice restaurant in Mesa.
the Stadshuset – Stockholm’s famous city hall, where the Nobel Prize banquet is held annually.
She went in three hours earlier than necessary to learn from the chef, who cooks for King Carl XVI Gustaf as well for the Nobel laureates. She learned the basics of preparation and presentation from “Chef Johnny” – slicing, cubing, dicing and plating – as well as about combining multitextures and tastes.
“That’s how I discovered my passion for cooking and that I was capable of making fancy food and serving it to the table or catering,” she said.
Next stop was Vienna, where she lived from 2000 to 2002, learning its culture and great food traditions. She came to Canada in 2002, first to Toronto, where she learned about food trucks, and then on to Kingston for three years.
“Toronto is wonderful, but it is very hard to establish a new food truck there,” she said. “Individual spots are licensed by the city, and being such a big city and a great food city, it’s difficult to get started there.”
In 2010, she and Marek moved to the Valley and founded the original Beaver Choice, a four-table restaurant in Tempe.
They opened the Mesa location four years ago in the space previously home to Ripe Tomatoes, on Baseline and Extension roads. The couple, now living in Chandler, have been married 16 years.
Beaver Choice has made newspapers and television with its famous dishes.
First are the pierogi, the national dish of Poland: dumplings filled with a choice of sautéed bacon, porcini mushrooms or sour cream. Hanna and Marek recently bought a pierogi maker from Poland. “It pops 4,500 pierogis per hour,” she said.
Every Thursday, Beaver Choice offers an all-you-can-eat pierogi, soup and salad buffet, and you can take home frozen pierogi home by the dozen.
“They are awesome,” she explained. “The secret to good pierogis is the casing. It took me three months, night in and night out, to adjust the recipes to achieve ours, a mixture of three imported flours.
“They melt in your mouth, and we use real potatoes, not potato flakes like most of the frozen disasters you find in grocery stores,” she added.
She noted that she discovered Arizonans’ love for pierogi when her employees wanted to eat them all the time.
Hanna loves scallops, and the Beaver Choice versions are maple-glazed and seared and served with Brussels sprouts, kale
chiffonade, mushrooms, seared potato dumplings and beurre blanc.
“I experimented for over a year to nail my recipe. My scallops are fabulous,” she said.
Skomakarlåda (Shoemaker Box) is a traditional Swedish dish centered by a slice of pork loin served with gravy and mashed potatoes and garnished with diced bacon, mushrooms and chopped leeks.
“It looks like a shoemaker’s box, if it’s served right,” she says with a smile.
“I am really a down-to-earth person,” Hanna said. “I don’t like fancy restaurants and their ‘creations.’
“All this ‘vertical food’ makes me just laugh, and the same goes with those spots of sauces around on the plate. It’s so unnatural and silly. Food is food and should fill the plate with a lot of sauce on side or on top. That’s exactly what a Shoemaker Box is.”
The elk stew (Älgskavsgryta) “is so good and so unique and so Scandinavian,” she said. “Everything in it comes from the farm and from the forest: the elk, the juniper
berries, the mushrooms, the cream. Only the wine is of foreign origin.”
For dessert, the Beaver Supreme is the star: chocolate meringue with walnuts, mandarin oranges and whipped cream.
Hanna and Marek would like to open two or more places in a fast-casual concept, one for sure in Gilbert.
As with Beaver Choice, the European model of preparation will be used: “Everything is made from scratch. We even make our own sauerkraut. I promise you,” she says, with typical candor, “you never had sauerkraut like ours.”
Lunch is Thursday-Saturday, and dinner Tuesday-Saturday.
(Special to AFN)
Pierogi are a big hit at Beaver Choice restaurant in Mesa.
‘My Favorite Monster’ Exhibit
Experience the whimsical side of monsters at the i.d.e.a. Museum. Through fun art and hands-on activities, “My Favorite Monster” looks at the popularity of these imaginative creatures in pop culture and their roles in storytelling.
DETAILS>> Times vary, through Sunday, Sept. 10. i.d.e.a. Museum, 150 W. Pepper Place, Mesa. Tickets: $9. 480.644.5552. ideamuseum.org.
East Valley Chorale
The Christian chorale rehearses weekly in Chandler, and performs regularly in surrounding communities. The East Valley Chorale is under the leadership of director Bruce Cochran.
DETAILS>> v5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20. College View Baptist Church, 1810 S. Longmore, Mesa. 480-540-4238. eastvalleychorale.org.
Eclipse watching
Mesa Community College is hosting eclipse-watching events at its Red Mountain and Southern and Dobson campuses. At Red Mountain, there will be concessions, free solar viewers, demonstrations and solar eclipse information. Meanwhile, the school at
Southern and Dobson will have eclipseviewing telescopes set up and free planetarium shows.
DETAILS>> 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Aug. 21. Mesa Community College Red Mountain Campus, Saguaro Building Lobby, 7110 E. McKellips Road, Mesa. Tickets: Free. 480-461-7015. mesacc.edu. 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Aug. 21. Mesa Community College Southern and Dobson Campus, Clocktower Courtyard, 1833 E. Southern Ave., Mesa. Tickets: Free. 480-461-7015. mesacc.edu
Rancid and Dropkick Murphys
Co-headlining the From Boston to Berkeley Tour, Rancid and Dropkick Murphys will perform separate sets and then come together for an encore. Special guests are The Selecter and Kevin Seconds.
DETAILS>> 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22.
Rawhide Western Town and Event Center, 5700 W. North Loop Road, Chandler. Tickets $35.50-$36.99. 480-502-5600. rawhide.com, luckymanonline.com.
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’
Check out the biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors, featuring lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
DETAILS>> Times vary, Friday, Aug. 25-Saturday, Oct. 7. Hale Centre Theatre, 50 W. Page Ave., Gilbert. Tickets: $20-$32. 480-
497-1181. haletheatrearizona.com.
Jessica Fichot Band
While her hometown is Paris, Jessica Fichot draws musical influences from her multi-ethnic French/Chinese/American upbringing. Backed by her band, Fichot brings a fusion of styles and languages and promises numbers ranging from gypsy jazz to exotic rumbas, combined original songs and pop classics from Hong Kong.
DETAILS>> 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25. Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler. Tickets: Free. 480782-2680. chandercenter.org.
‘Rosencrantz
& Guildenstern Are Dead’ Screening
Mesa Community College brings one of National Theatre Live’s most high-profile shows of the year to Arizona. This screening of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” broadcast from London, features Daniel Radcliffe, Joshua McGuire and David Haig.
DETAILS>> 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25. Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Ave., Mesa. Tickets: $9. 480-461-7000. mesacc. edu.
Cinematic Pop
With a full orchestra and a 100-voice choir, Cinematic Pop made its mark on “America’s Got Talent” with its classical
renditions of pop hits like “Everybody Wants to the Rule the World” and “More Than a Feeling.” After selling out two shows last summer, the crew returns to perform songs from its latest album and new arrangements.
DETAILS>> 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. Tickets: $20-$39. 480-644-6500. mesaartscenter.com.
Cibecue Canyon Excursion
Leave from Chandler to enjoy a canyoneering-style hike. Be prepared, your feet will get wet, thanks to rock jumping. Permits, guide and transportation from the Environmental Education Center are included.
DETAILS>> 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26. Leave from the Environmental Education Center, 4050 E. Chandler Heights Road, Chandler. Call for charge. 480-7822895. chandleraz.gov.
Next Generation Weekend
Bring the kids this weekend and get them excited about hunting at Bass Pro Shops. This weekend, the store celebrates hunting with activities for kids and adults.
DETAILS>> Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, and Sunday, Aug. 27. Bass Pro Shops, 1133 N. Dobson Road, Mesa. Tickets: Free. 602606-5600.
Ahwatukee Animal Care Hospital is proud to welcome Dr. Nichola Ray to our practice!
Dr. Ray is a compassionate, experienced veterinarian and joins our established practice that is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association.
Our Hospital is Open Monday – Friday: from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm Saturday: from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm
Green chile chicken casserole is comfort in a dish
BY JAN D’ATRI
AFN Contributor
How does comfort food Southwest-style sound?
This green chile chicken casserole is perfect for Sunday Supper or a makeahead-and-freeze-for-later dinner.
It’s a favorite dish in the Kerr Dairy Farm kitchen! Arizona dairy farmers Bill and Sine Kerr have had their dairy farm in Buckeye, Arizona through fourgenerations, and this scrumptious and hearty recipe has been passed along through the ages.
By the way, we’re right in the middle of Hatch chile season, so this dish is a great way to take advantage of one of the Southwest’s edible treasures. If not, a can of green chile works just as well. Thanks, Kerr family, for a tasty dish for supper tonight!
Ingredients for casserole:
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (4-5 thighs or breasts or 1 large rotisserie chicken)
2 cups homemade cream of chicken soup or 2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
4 oz. (1/2 package) cream cheese
1/2 cup diced fresh roasted green chiles or (7-10 oz.)
canned green chiles
1 cup green chile enchilada sauce
Directions:
1/2
cheddar or combination)
Ingredients for homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk, divided 1/3 cup flour
Salt, pepper or seasons like garlic salt to taste
Make cream of chicken soup. In a medium saucepan, combine chicken broth and 1/2 cup milk. Bring to a boil. In a small bowl whisk together flour, 1/2 cup milk and seasonings until thickened. To avoid lumps, sprinkle flour into milk slowly and whisk briskly.
Pour flour mixture into the saucepan with broth mixture and cook over low heat, whisking often. Continue to simmer and stir for 10 minutes. Note: If you choose to use canned cream of chicken soup, heat in medium saucepan.
Place shredded chicken on bottom of 9” x 13” baking dish.
To the cream of chicken soup, 1/2 cup milk, sour cream, cream cheese, green chiles, enchilada sauce and green onion. Mix to combine, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour over the chicken. Top with the shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve over cooked rice.
ACROSS
cup green onions, chopped 2 cups grated cheese (colby Jack, Monterey Jack,
Sports & Recreation
The Pride makes early statement with rout of O’Connor
BY EDDIE POE
AFN Contributor
The Mountain Pointe Pride wasted no time Friday showing why it’s the No. 2-ranked high school football team in Arizona.
Gary Bragg and Jakim Mckinney ran through and around the defense of Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor with ease, combining for 235 yards on the ground as the Pride cruised to a 46-6 rout at Jack Dillard Stadium in the team’s season opener.
“I’m really proud of the way we came out and played,” coach Norris Vaughan said. “We had a few dropped balls, a few miscues here and there, but I thought we played really well.”
It looked at first like Mountain Pointe was going to be faced with a challenge as it was forced to punt the ball on the first
two drives.
The challenge was short-lived as Bragg took a handoff from quarterback Nick Wallerstedt on the following drive, made two O’Connor defensive players miss and sped down the left side of the field for a 47-yard run. It later set up Wallerstedt for an 11-yard quarterback draw to score the first points of the game.
From that point, Mountain Pointe controlled the flow of the game and never looked back.
“It was good to be able to come out and control the game like we did and go at our own pace,” Bragg said, who finished the game with 131 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, the Pride defense mauled opposing quarterback Christian King to the tune of no first
Perry’s gunslinger quarterback shoots down Desert Vista High
BY GREG MACAFEE
AFN Sports Editor
Desert Vista High School’s varsity football team may have one of the best defenses in Arizona in 2017 and on Friday it was stacked against one of the best quarterbacks it will see all season.
Last season, the Thunder missed out on facing All-State quarterback Brock Purdy when it played Perry in the first week of the season.
The two teams battled into overtime, with the Pumas coming out on top to kick off one of their best seasons in school history, led by Purdy’s 3,333 passing yards and 42 touchdowns.
It looks like 2017 will be no different for Purdy and the Pumas, as they came out quick and strong on Friday, jumping out to a 28-10 halftime lead.
In the end, Purdy finished with 380 passing yards and six touchdowns as the Pumas defeated the Thunder 49-17.
While the score didn’t reflect it, Desert Vista’s strong defensive front of James Stagg, Caleb Humphrey, Larry Davis
and company, generated pressure on the 6-foot-1 gunslinger.
But the pressure that the Pumas were able to create presented even more
problems for longtime head coach Daniel Hinds and his defense.
“The problem with that kid is, with most quarterbacks if you get that kind
of pressure it’s going to turn into a sack, but that kid is slippery and he gets out of things really well and gets out of pressure really well,” Desert Vista coach Daniel Hinds said, adding:
“On top of that, once you get him flushed out of the pocket he throws as good, if not better than, when he’s in the pocket.”
Although the season opener ended in a loss, the Thunder can find a positive in the fact that the Pumas may be one of the best teams that it will play all year. On top of that, Hinds said, a lot of the mistakes made Friday can be fixed for the future as they move forward.
“I’m glad we opened up with them. They are a really good team, and they exposed some things for us that we can fix and move forward,” Hinds said.
On the offensive side of the ball, Nevada transplant Derek Kline impressed in his first game under center for the Thunder.
He threw for 148 yards and used his feet when the defense gave him the
(Carmen Jollineau/AFN Contributor) Mountain Pointe High wide receiver Kenny Churchwell scores a touchdown as a Sandra Day O’Connor High defender goes head over heels trying to stop him.
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)
Desert Vista High School junior running back Travon Offutt makes a break in the game with Perry High.
MOUNTAIN POINTE
from page 43
downs allowed in the first half.
One of the questions for Mountain Pointe coming into its season opener was whether its defense would present the same type of aggressiveness and force without star defensive lineman Matthew Palo-Mao, who was lost for the season to injury.
“I wish we had him, but we had a number of other guys behind him step up and really perform,” Vaughan said. “A guy goes down, other players step in and do their job. That’s all you can ask for.”
After putting its first points on the scoreboard, the Mountain Pointe defensive line broke through the offensive front, sacking King in the end zone to extend its lead to 9-0 early in the contest.
Although the Pride’s defensive effort held O’Connor to just one score, last year’s state runners-up are set for matchups with stronger offenses in the coming weeks.
With a week off before its next game, Mountain Pointe will begin preparing for the national stage as it will travel to California on Aug. 31 to take on
Chaminade High School in the UA Brothers in Arms Classic in Mission Viejo.
The following week, the team will return home for a matchup with Chandler — a game that’s been marked on its calendar since last season’s state final loss.
Last season, the Pride entered its contest with Chandler without a handful of starters. It had beaten the Wolves earlier in 2016 by 45 points in a game where
Gary Bragg ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns before tearing his ACL.
The reality of two early-season games on a national stage is crucial for Mountain Pointe’s success in the long run.
“[Those] games are definitely going to help us later on in the season,” Wallerstedt said. “We’ll see two of the better teams in the country, and after that, it’ll just be about treating every game like we’re playing [Chandler] or
[Chaminade] because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Although the preparation for those two matchups will be fairly similar to any other game, there’s no arguing the heightened importance of them, Vaughan said.
“We always want to play the best teams to start off the season,” Vaughan said. “We think [they] will help us tremendously for the rest of the season.”
“But, they’ll both be just like any other game.”
(Carmen Jollineau/AFN Contributor) Quarterback Nick Wallerstedt fends off an attack by Sandra Day O’Connor linemen as he led the Pride to a whopping victory.
(Carmen Jollineau/AFN Contributor) Wallerstedt decides to keep the ball and try a run during the game Friday.
DESERT VISTA
opportunity. Although Kline did throw two interceptions, Hinds was impressed with his starting quarterback.
“I thought he played good. He ran the offense well,” Hinds said. “I mean, if you look at the two picks he threw, they weren’t bad balls. There were guys making plays on them, so you know we’re going to get better.”
With a strong opponent out of the way, the Thunder will have an extra week to prepare for another 6A Premier region opponent in Basha High. The Bears won their first game of the Rich Wellbrock area defeating Westview 2720.
Along with a new coach, the Bears will sport a new quarterback in 2017 after five-star recruit Ryan Kelly departed for Arizona State University. In their season opener win, Collin Collins threw for 132 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 72 yards on the ground for the Bears.
With over a week and a half to prepare, Hinds is confident that come Sept. 1, the Thunder will be ready to take on the Bears.
“We are going to have our hands full
with Basha. And like I said, we have to fix some stuff going into that week and fortunately we have a bye week to do that.” Hinds said.
- Contact Sports Editor Greg Macafee at gmacafee@timespublications.com or 480898-5630. Follow Greg on Twitter @greg_ macafee
September 7th, 4:30pm-7:30pm
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer) Thunder players try to stop a run by Perry High running back Jordin Sweatt.
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer) Thunder quarterback Derek Kline tries to break free of some Perry linemen.
Club sports provide access to recruiters but are costly to families
BY GREG MACAFEE AFN Sports Editor
Every February, hundreds of teams and thousands of spectators from around the United States converge on Reach 11 Sports Complex in north Phoenix to compete in one of the largest soccer tournaments in the country.
With more than 400 teams, the President’s Day Tournament has established itself as one of the premier club soccer events in the nation (along with the Dallas Cup in Texas and the Surf Cup in Southern California), attracting college coaches and recruiters.
“I have been down here every February for probably 15 years, probably even more than that, recruiting at that event,” said Grand Canyon University assistant men’s soccer coach Kevin Doyle, who recruited for Air Force, Virginia Tech and Creighton before coming to GCU.
“We primarily focus our recruiting efforts on club events. It’s a lot more efficient. You have one of those events where there’s a couple hundred teams in town that are made up of good players,” Doyle said.
Massive club tournaments in a variety of sports pit the top athletes against each other and draw top recruiters, but participation can cost families thousands of dollars a year, potentially
“What we do probably more than anyone else is we break it down to the team,” said Sereno executive and technical director Brent Erwin of their scholarship program. “We break it down so that each team is able to provide opportunities for kids.
“Sometimes you picture financial as being a downtrodden, but everyone goes through challenges. Everyone goes through good times and bad times. So we try to be there and be flexible and be able to help people when they need it.”
Sereno is affiliated with the Major League Soccer team Real Salt Lake and on occasion receives help from the organization. In the past year, Erwin said Sereno has spent more than $50,000 in scholarship money.
putting the important pathway to a college scholarship out of reach of those who cannot afford the fees and travel expenses.
Gilbert High School twins Danny and Robby Baca have played for Phoenix soccer club Sereno for the past seven years. In February, the two brother’s signed to play soccer at Fort Lewis College in Colorado. Danny said he received a lot of scholarship offers from Division I colleges and doesn’t think he would have if he didn’t play club soccer.
“Most of my looks and offers came from club,” Danny said. “It is a very good way of showcasing yourself in front of these coaches while they are there, so I believe that it is very beneficial.”
Their father, Pat, said the family paid about $6,000 per year in fees and travel expenses. They made multiple trips to cities like Dallas, Denver, Southern California and Las Vegas. In the end, Baca said it paid off for his twins.
“We feel the expense is just a temporary thing and since we’ve got it, we might as well share the wealth when we can,” Baca said. “Were there sacrifices on our end? Certainly. Did we forego certain things or vacations because of club soccer? Absolutely. But those tournaments became our vacations.”
The Bacas were able to afford the club and tournament fees and often helped other players on the team when their parents could not afford to travel. That’s not always the case for players who can’t afford to play club soccer, but many clubs do offer scholarship opportunities.
They are not the only club to follow this philosophy. SC del Sol executive director Mark Lowe said the club’s scholarship fund totaled $140,000 in the past year and is awarded based on need, not just ability.
Other clubs offer different options to make sure money isn’t a problem as well. Chicago-based club F.C. United travels more than 1,700 miles every year to compete in the President’s Day Tournament. Senior boys director Baer Fischer estimated that the cost was $600-$700 per player for travel costs, accommodations and the tournament fee.
“We make sure that every player is included,” Fischer said. “When you join our club there is other avenues you can take if you can’t afford it. Players can fundraise, they can work it off at the club. There’s opportunities to ref for the younger teams games or helping out at the indoor facilities. We always find a way to make sure every player attends.”
Playing club soccer doesn’t guarantee that athletes are going to be able play at the next level, but it does increase a player’s chance of doing so.
According to NCAA.com, 86 percent of student-athletes played club soccer before moving on to the collegiate level. That percentage of participation in club sports was consistent across sports with a large club scene.
In sports like football, where a club scene is almost nonexistent, athletes primarily played just high school football.
The same NCAA study says 75 percent of collegiate football players played just
(Greg Macafee/AFN Sports Editor)
Reach 11 Sports Complex in north Phoenix has 18 soccer fields. The complex is home to SC del Sol’s President’s Day Tournament every February.
for their high schools, while only 23 percent played both high school and club.
In football, because of the lack of a club scene, coaches are stuck traveling to high schools on a consistent basis to scout players individually. But in sports like soccer, basketball, and baseball, coaches have the ability to see multiple players in one day at major tournaments.
Doyle said that’s one of the reasons that even though he will still scout at high school games, scouting at large tournaments is more efficient.
“As a Division I program, the kids that we focus on are the top players on their teams,” Doyle said. “So, these club teams are comprised of the top players from the high school teams and once again, it’s more efficient for our time. We could spend every minute of our day out recruiting, and watching games, but I wouldn’t have a wife anymore if I did something like that.”
Club teams don’t just provide the opportunity for players to play in front
of college coaches, they also conduct off-the-field work as well. Lowe employs a college advisory program that puts players in touch with colleges around the country.
Sereno offers both academic advisement and college placement advisement for the soccer portion as a part of their organizations.
“The new side we’re bringing in is that we’re providing SAT and ACT prep, as well as helping athletes with class selection for college,” Erwin said.
The goal is to put together the top club that can compete at an elite level and send its players to the next level, which in turn attracts the next crop of athletes.
“The thing that’s going to get you into college is if you’re not good with the books, you aren’t playing college sports,” Lowe said.
“Second, as well as being bright, you have to be a good soccer player. And if you’re not a good player, it doesn’t matter how much you pay me. If you’re not bright and if you’re not a good player, I can’t get you into college. End of story. And we make that very clear to all our players.”
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I Want to Believe, You the Voter, Do Not Embrace Bigotry. But a Vote for DiCiccio Makes You Complicit. In light of recent hateful events, when do you stand for others.
Your Choice, A Consequence for All. Paid for by P. Hopkins Your Ahwatukee Neighbor for Over 20 years (Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Candidates’ Committee)
Mary L Dixie, age 76, went home to be with the Lord on August 9th, 2017 where she was immediately re-united with her husband Bill
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Mary is survived by children Ruth (Scott) Woody, Bill Dixie, Judy Dixie and Doug Dixie, grandchildren Sarah, Andrea, Zachary, James, Matthew and Elisabeth, and beloved dogs Lucy and Maggie Throughout her life Mary never gave up on those she loved and provided us with an unwavering example of unconditional love and respect for others She was beautiful inside and out and would frequently light up the room with her sassy sense of humor
Join us in celebrating her life Visitation will be from 3:00-8:00 P M on S u n d a
W Burdick St, Oxford, MI 48371 Church services will begin at 11:00 A M
1825 E Square Lake Rd , Troy, MI 48085 Graveside Service will follow at Christian Memorial Cemetery, 521 E Hamlin Rd , Rochester Hills, MI 48307, where she will be laid to rest Reception will follow
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the K9 Stray Rescue League, 2120 Metamora Rd, Oxford, MI 48371
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detail oriented, & dependable Computer knowledge a must Duties include; Payroll AR/AP, Staffing, Scheduling Social Media & Catering experience a plus Send resume to Tim@PicnicSpecialties com or fax (480) 961-5915
KYRENE is
DIXIE, Mary L.
Meetings/Events
Overeaters Anonymous Tuesday's at 10:30 AM Esperanza Lutheran Church Ray & Thunderhill
AMERICAN LEGION AHWATUKEE Post #64 We Meet Every 3rd Wed at 3pm at the Ahwatukee Retirement Center At 5001 E Cheyenne Dr, Phoenix, Az 85044 Contact ED MANGAN Cmdr 602-501-0128
Ahwatukee Foothills Friends and Neighbors (AFFAN) is a women s organization, dedicated to cultivating friendships, and goodwill AFFAN promotes social, charitable and educational events all year long AFFAN holds monthly luncheon meetings with varied speakers We offer over 40 monthly activities including Book Clubs, Canasta, Bunco, Euchre, and Bridge Other monthly activities are Dining Out, Stitch and Chat, Explore Arizona, and Garden Club Significant others/ spouses can attend some events For more info contact Teresa Akrish Phone: 480-518-5788, teresaakrish@gmail com Check our website at affanwomensclub com
