INSIDE:
COMMUNITY P.18 | AROUND AF P.26 | OPINION P.36 | BUSINESS P.33 | FAITH P.36 | SPORTS P.38 | GETOUT P.42| CLASSIFIED P.46
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS www.ahwatukee.com
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
HER HONOR HONORED
well in study of FOOTHILLS NEWS nation’s prosperity BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY AFN Staff Writer
. 18
P
AHWATUKEE NEW TREAT IN TOWN
. 33
L FOOTHILLS (Cheryl Haselhorst/AFN Contributor)
P
HOUSTON HELPER
Mountain Pointe High School students cheer wildly as the Pride for the sixth consecutive year captured the Tukee Bowl with a 21-16 victory over Desert Vista High, giving them a 11-10 edge in the overall crosstown rivalry. For a full report on the game, please turn to p. 38
TUKEE TALENT
. 42
P
ike the East Valley, Ahwatukee is teeming with prosperity, according to a recent economic analysis of ZIP codes across the country – though that affluence is not evenly distributed throughout the region. The Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization, recently released “The 2017 Distressed Communities Index,” which analyzes a range of economic factors in communities across the country and ranks ZIP codes and cities using a cumulative distress score.
NEWS See
PROSPER on page 10
Ahwatukee water bill woes echo nationwide complaints BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
. RE1
@AhwatukeeFN
Mountain Pointe rules — again Ahwatukee scores
AHWATUKEE
P
@AhwatukeeFN |
A
s anger and frustration over mysteriously huge spikes in water bills continue to grow in Ahwatukee, local consumers are not alone. For more than five years, dozens of large and small communities across the country have been plagued by similar waves of unusually high readings after wireless, or “smart,” water meters were installed at homes and businesses. No one has tied the problem in Ahwatukee to the wireless meters – and the city Water Services Department continues to insist there is no problem at all on its end. Nevertheless, the complaints registered in recent weeks by city Water Services custom-
Rolls Bowls.
ers in Ahwatukee with the AFN and across social media echo the same problems reported from coast to coast – and abroad – since at least 2009. In some cases, the problems became so bad that public officials resigned or companies were forced to replace the meters. Two years ago, a Chicago Tribune investigation that uncovered hundreds of cases of overbilling tied to wireless meters ultimately prompted the public works director of Tinley Park, Illinois, to resign amid questions over his handling of the issue. Since 2011, hundreds of complaints erupted in Atlanta. The Atlanta Constitution reported that while that city had the longest history of complaints about meter readings “similar complaints about huge water bill spikes have popped up in Cleveland, Ohio;
Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Brockton, Massachusetts.” So many municipalities in California have been dealing for more than five years with a deluge of complaints about meter reading spikes that an organization called Stop Smart Meters sprung up. In the last five years, it has spawned affiliates in virtually every state in the union. “We are constantly inundated with calls about smart meters,” said the organization’s founder and director, Joshua Hart, adding that he has received “countless cases of overcharging.” Stop Smart Meters also opposes all wireless utility-reading meters on other grounds. Hart asserts they pose a substantial health
Rolls Bowls.
B i l t m o r e . Tu r n i n g s i g n i f i c a n t a s s e t s i n t o s i g n i f i c a n t c a s h .
B i l t m o r e . Tu r n i n g s i g n i f i c a n t a s s e t s i n t o s i g n i f i c a n t c a s h .
W E B U Y O R L O A N O N A N Y T H I N G YO U O W N . Biltmore. WE BUY OR LOAN Turning significant assets into significantSCOT cash. T S DA L E : 4 8 0 -9 91 - 5 6 2ON 6 W W W.B I LT M O R E LOAN. M CHAND LER: 480- 705- 5626 ANYTHING YOUCO OWN.
480.991.LOAN • 10830 N. SCOTTSDALE ROAD, SCOTTSDALE AZ W E B U Y O R L O A N O N A N Y T H I N G YO U O W N .
480.705.LOAN • 670 N. 54TH STREET, CHANDLER, AZ
See
WATER on page 16