INSIDE:
COMMUNITY P.21 | AROUND AF P.27 | OPINION P.34 | BUSINESS P.36 | FAITH P.42 | GETOUT P.43 | SPORTS P.47| CLASSIFIED P.57
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS www.ahwatukee.com
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
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@AhwatukeeFN
Water meter horror stories AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS W mount here BAKING FOR CJ
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Staying or going? ill this trophy stay another year at Mountain Pointe High School? Or will Desert Vista High claim the Ahwatukee Foothills News’ Tukee Bowl Trophy? Those questions will be answered definitively tomorrow, Sept. 28, at Desert Vista Stadium, 16440 S. 32nd St., as the 21st annual Tukee Bowl begins at 7 p.m. The Thunder and Pride are an even 10-10 in the crosstown rivalry, and both are 4-1 on the season. Tempe Union High School District also has established special parking and student/ drop off areas for the game. For a look at the game, its importance to Ahwatukee and some of the players to watch, turn to p. 47. You’ll find a complete preview of one of the community’s signature annual events.
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLSC NEWS FRIENDS IN NEED
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MAKING THE CASE
YES T . 34
GOING NATIVE
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WATER on page 18
Concern over teen-suicide cluster prompts Ahwatukee conference
BY JIM WALSH AFN Staff Writer
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omplaints about excessive and unexplainable spikes in water consumption continued to mount in Ahwatukee, and city Councilman Sal DiCiccio is calling for an investigation and a public meeting with city Water Services Department officials. Following an AFN report last week about customers reporting unusual spikes in meter readings – including one that showed a tiny HOA consumed 20,000 times what it normally uses in a month – social media sites lit
he suicides of seven East Valley teens in six weeks this summer has created momentum to mobilize a prevention effort that next will move to Desert Vista High School, as mental health experts say no community is immune from the heartbreaking problem. Aimed at helping educators recognize the warning signs and reduce the risks of teen suicide, the Ahwatukee conference on Nov. 6 follows a successful kickoff earlier this month in Gilbert, where parents, teachers and mental-health advocates addressed the uncomfortable topic head-on in the wake of the deadly cluster. Katey McPherson, executive director of the Gurian Institute, an educational consulting
firm that focuses on brain development and learning, said the unusual suicide cluster included six boys and a girl ranging from 13 to 18 years old. Six victims hanged themselves and one death was by shooting. The deaths started on July 24 and ended on Labor Day weekend. The teens lived within 10-12 miles of each other. They did not know each other, but one boy knew another boy who killed himself in May. The victims were described as highachieving students with plenty of friends See
SUICIDE on page 10
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)
The East Valley teen-suicide cluster came to the attention of Katey McPherson, executive director of the Gurian Institute, who has helped mobilize more prevention efforts.