Ahwatukee Foothills News - October 18, 2017

Investors buy Club West Golf Course

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

Agroup of private investors and a Native American marketing organization with a nationwide network of golf courses have bought Club West Golf Course, apparently ending the uncertainty surrounding its future as a duffer’s destination.

The ownership group includes the Inter Tribal Golf Association, which offers “seasonal reciprocity” memberships that allow members to golf at any one of 110 courses owned by 63 tribes across the country.

Rene’ L. Couchee’, a spokesman for the new owners, declined to give immediate

details of the sale until later this week, but told AFN, “Big things are going to happen. Stay tuned.”

Former owner Wilson Gee also declined to provide many details, noting the transaction will not close until Dec. 1. Gee was selling the course for somewhere between $1.3 million and $2 million.

Gee did say that under a lease-purchase agreement, the new owners have assumed responsibility for overseeding the course and running the clubhouse. He said he understood they already had contracted with a local restaurant to eventually begin serving dinner there.

The Inter Tribal Golf Association was founded in 2012 “to identify sustainable

economic development best-practices for the least sustainable enterprise of all tribal investment – golf,” according a self-description it posted on eliteevents.co, a fundraising website that arranges charity golf and other sports-related outings.

“ITGA became and is the only American Indian-owned and operated for-profit company in the world that sells an individual golf membership valid for play at any tribal golf course in America,” the site states.

The association “developed an online, nationwide, Self-Redemption Loyalty Rewards Platform, built for the benefit of all golfers and all tribal golf destinations,” the

Once an RV park perk, pickleball is sweeping the region

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

Whenever Susan and Steve Manolis of Ahwatukee plan a trip, their first question for an RV park is whether it has a pickleball court.

“If they say ‘no,’” I say ‘OK, thank you. Click,” said Susan.

At least they and a growing legion of Ahwatukee and East Valley pickleball fans are having an easier time closer to home.

Phoenix and East Valley municipalities have recognized that pickleball is hot and getting hotter – enough to warrant the same kind of public investment they make in Little League ballfields and tennis courts.

School districts are not be far behind.

Advocates are converting students of all ages to embrace a sport that once was associated with being old.

Phoenix is installing 16 pickleball courts at Pecos Park in Ahwatukee and another 10

(Kim Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer) Steve and Susan Manolis of Ahwatukee display the tools of one of their passions: the graphite composite paddles and whiffle balls used in pickleball.

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Ahwatukee man praised for rewarding Vegas hero

BY SRIANTHI PERERA AFN Staff Writer

Marine veteran Taylor Winston of San Diego didn’t think twice about stealing a truck during the recent Las Vegas shooting massacre to transport the wounded to hospital.

Neither did Gilbert-based B5 Motors owner Shane Beus of Ahwatukee, who felt compelled to reward him with a 2013 Ford F150, valued at $20,000, for his heroism.

For his part, Winston, 29, is paying it forward – he plans to sell his own car and donate the proceeds to those affected by the shooting.

Ever since Beus’ gesture, the phones have been ringing off the hook at the used car dealership and the company’s Facebook account has been flooded with compliments from people around the world – dozens promising to purchase their next truck from him.

“Gentlemen, you people went above and beyond. You are the most loved and respected car dealership in America for how you treated that fine soldier who saved so many lives. I live in Boca Raton, Florida, but when I get my next Ford Fusion, I will be coming to Gilbert, Arizona, to make my purchase. You can bank on it,” wrote Jerry Diamond.

“Class act – I’ve never been there, but I would almost drive the 800 miles to do business with a selfless company like this,” wrote Mike Tisevich from Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.

Some called the company and offered to make donations to Winston as well.

“We did take a couple of credit cards from people who insisted that we did, and we gave him the money in gas cards, and things like that, to get home,” said Monique Hebert, general manager. “It’s just gone crazy.”

Winston, a soft-spoken Marine who served in Iraq from 2006 to 2011, said at the presentation: “I feel great. It’s been really hard to even get myself to come out here and accept a gift of this caliber. It’ll turn around to do a lot of good things.”

Beus hadn’t met or spoken to Winston until the pre-

(Srianthi Perera/AFN Staff Writer)

Shane Beus, owner of Gilbert-based B5 Motors, gave a 2013 Ford F150, valued at $20,000, to Las Vegas shooting hero Taylor Winston.

sentation.

“It’s a great thing for me to do; it’s a great thing for him to do,” Beus said minutes before Winston walked in through the doors leading to his showroom full of gleaming, reconditioned trucks. “He’s a hero. He’s a good example to my kids, myself, to my family, friends, America. He’s a true hero.”

Hebert said Beus is “a religious man, but what it came down to is the fact that he had friends and family that were there and it hit him close. It hit him personally; it just hit home for him.”

Two of Beus’ friends were injured in the attack and two others escaped without injuries, Hebert said.

On Oct. 1, Winston, who designs woodwork and builds stages for a living, was listening to Jason Aldean with his girlfriend, Jenn Lewis, and several friends at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas when gunshots were fired.

Like most everyone, Lewis thought the noise was from firecrackers. But then she noted people were screaming.

got to the hospital, taking the victims out,” Winston said, adding that Lewis was putting pressure on wounds during the drive.

They even had chosen the correct hospital.

“The hospital administrator told us that we helped with the surge of victims. That was very big news to me that we just lucked out,” Winston said.

The next morning, Winston tried to locate the truck, which he had parked in the lot of a restaurant, but it had been towed.

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“Taylor wasn’t next to me at the moment, and I ran over to him immediately. I’m pretty calm and collected for the most part, and I think that kind of startled him,” she said. “And he went into action right away…”

Then, the third group of shots were fired and she noted the terror on his face.

“It truly was a life-and-death situation. Never in my life have I ever imagined myself running for my life. In that moment, you just have to do exactly that. Whatever’s going on, small injuries or not, you just have to push through as much as you can,” said Lewis, who has a back injury and was wearing a brace that night.

Taylor scouted around for a service vehicle with a key in the ignition and found a truck. They helped wounded people into the vehicle and began driving to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center.

“The truck was towed because it had blood all over it and looked very suspicious. I was able to meet with (the owner) and give his keys back, and we were able to talk and share our experiences. We gave each other a hug, and he’s just happy that his truck was able to help in this tragedy,” Winston said, adding, “It’s unofficial, but his truck will be very well taken care of.”

A few days later, Winston was able to visit the hospital to find out that most of the injured pulled through, although a few didn’t.

“We’re trying to coordinate with the hospital to find all that out, and hopefully get everyone back together and do what we can just to help their families. It’s been amazing but also horrible. I’m at a loss as to how I feel at the moment,” he said.

“As soon as we commandeered the truck and slowly put it into the street, people were bringing other injured people into the street,” Lewis said, adding “Everything was moving so fast. I don’t think we honestly had a second to think about anything. It was just ‘do.’

“Both of us luckily had the natural reaction to do and help. Taylor was grabbing people. I was on the other side grabbing people,” she recalled.

The couple went to the hospital twice, transporting “a load of people,” Winston said.

“There were dozens of people helping put victims into the truck and, when we

During the past few days, Winston and Lewis also have been bombarded with emails and social media messages from people around the country and beyond.

“Honestly, the world comes together. People I’ve never even heard of from the U.K., Canada, Australia, are reaching out and asking how we are doing and if they can help. It’s incredible,” Lewis said.

Meanwhile, Winston has a truck with all the bells and whistles and a customized wheel tire package.

“I’ve been given a lot more credit than I deserve,” he said.

Traci Tartaglio

(Srianthi Perera/AFN Staff Writer)

“I’ve been given a lot more credit than I deserve,” said Marine veteran Taylor Winston of San Diego, who transported Las Vegas shooting victims to a hospital.

Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course trial to begin next week

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

The acrimonious fight over the future of the defunct Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course finally returns to court next Tuesday, Oct. 24, for a 21/2-day civil trial that may decide its fate.

The non-jury trial before state Superior Court Judge John R. Hannah comes 15 months after he ruled that deed restrictions enacted two decades ago require the operation of a golf course on the 101-acre site.

But those covenants, conditions and restrictions are themselves now on trial after The True Life Companies, which owns the course, asked Hannah to rule that those land-use regulations have materially changed and that playing golf there is no longer an option.

The trial also comes after True Life led an aggressive campaign to get 451 percent of Ahwatukee Lakes’ approximate 5,400 homeowners to agree to changing the CC&Rs in order to pave the way for

an “agrihood.”

Calling its proposal for the course Ahwatukee Farms, it wants to build approximate 270 single and duplex homes and townhouses, a five-acre farm, a private school, cafe and recreation paths on the course, which was closed in 2013 and has deteriorated into a weed-covered, barren swatch of land that once commanded premium lot prices from homeowners eager to live on the perimeter of a golf course.

On the other side of the courtroom, two residents are asking Hannah for an injunction that would enforce his July 2016 ruling and require True Life to build a course.

Both sides have posited vastly different estimates on the cost of restoring the site, with True Life saying it would cost at least $14 million – more than three times the general estimates given by experts lined by Save the Lakes at a community forum. Save the Lakes comprises homeowners

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Panel will hear 40 minutes of pros and cons about freeway

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

After filing thousands of pages of argument and documents, attorneys for two highway planning agencies and opponents of the South Mountain Freeway likely will have 20 minutes each to make their case in oral arguments tomorrow, Oct. 19, in a San Francisco courtroom.

Appearing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, those attorneys will be trying to summarize those thousands of pages.

Indeed, because there are two main parties opposing the freeway – the Ahwatukee-based Protect Arizona’s Resources and Children and the Gila River Indian Community – each of their lawyers has only 10 minutes to argue before the panel.

Howard Shanker, the Club West attorney representing PARC, said he may cut his 10 minutes shorter, reserving a few minutes for rebuttal after the government lawyers make their case.

to take it and the Ninth Circuit judges are not obligated to rehear it.

While all this is going on hundreds of miles away from Ahwatukee, the Arizona Department of Transportation and freeway developer Connect202Partners will continue building the 22-mile eight-lane connector between the Chandler and 54th Street interchanges on the I-10.

Crews have been working since the fall of 2016 on the $1.77 billion project – the most expensive highway project in state history.

PARC President Pat Lawlis has previously told supporters that the “infuriatingly slow” appeal represents the last best effort by opponents to stop the project.

“Our case will be one of the 99.9 percent of cases that are settled in the circuit court,” she said. “The Supreme Court would not accept an appeal from our case because it is about well-settled law with lots of precedents.”

But she also expressed confidence in PARC’s case.

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It is unclear whether both the U.S. Justice Department, representing the Federal Highway Administration, and the state Attorney General, representing the Arizona Department of Transportation, will each split their 20-minute allotment or if one lawyer will speak on both their behalf.

How the panel views their arguments and the voluminous briefs likely will determine whether the freeway’s construction continues hurtling toward a late 2019 opening or whether it will be stopped dead in its tracks.

The issue before the judges is whether U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa erred when she dismissed all the objections filed against the freeway by and virtually gave a green light to build it.

The panel has already twice rejected opponents’ requests to halt construction pending a resolution of that issue.

The panel could take weeks or even months to render a ruling.

And then, the losing side would have multiple options to appeal. It could request a rehearing by the panel or as all 16 judges on the Ninth Circuit to hear their case. It could also ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

The high court is under no obligation

“Whereas the Arizona District Court ignored established law and just decided that the government has the discretion to do whatever it wants, the Ninth Circuit actually pays attention to established law. Without a doubt, ADOT and the FHWA have violated two specific federal laws in numerous ways,” she said.

Here’s a look at the positions of the parties that will appear before the panel.

Highway agencies stress need

The South Mountain Freeway’s path through Ahwatukee is the “environmentally preferable alternative that would serve the project’s purpose and need” to alleviate traffic congestion around downtown Phoenix and reduce I-10 travel time, ADOT and the FHWA contend. They say opponents cannot prove the freeway poses a major health hazard or that environmental studies were flawed.

“The (highway) agencies thoroughly considered the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of the project and alternatives, as well as potential mitigation measures,” acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Wood wrote.

Freeway opponents have contended that ADOT and the FHWA performed flawed environmental studies to justify its choice of the freeway path and that it should have been located much farther

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site states, saying the platform “sets ITGA apart as the premier marketing firm for promoting the game of golf in Indian Country.”

“ITGA touts our combined 100plus years of expert tribal government service, impactful reference source for Tribal policy experience, our one-ofa-kind unique trademark promotional branding for social presence and our unwavering commitment to the betterment of our tribal communities,” it also says.

Its slogan is “Golf Native.”

Jim Lindstrom, a Club West resident who tried unsuccessfully early this year to have other homeowners in his community buy and restore the course, said he met with owners to discuss the business plan he had come up with when he was trying to engage homeowners in a purchase of the course.

That plan estimated the cost of restoring the course at $4 million.

Lindstrom’s “Buy Club West” movement began last summer after Gee curtailed irrigating the course, claiming his annual city water bill of $700,000 was too expensive.

That move prompted the HOA board to sue Gee, asking a court to order him to restore the course, which had begun turning brown from insufficient irrigation.

Water remains an issue, Lindstrom said, saying the course “just looks hor-

rible” right now because Gee has not watered it since June.

“I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said. “The condition of the greens is very distressed.”

Lindstrom said negotiations had been underway with the Salt River Project and the Gila River Indian Community to get water at half the cost of city water from an SRP canal at 40th Street and Pecos Road.

But even if an arrangement can be made, the new owners still will have to figure out a way to get the water to Club West.

Gee at one time owned all four golf courses in Ahwatukee. He closed Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course in 2013 and eventually sold the 101-acre site to True Life Companies.

He said he currently has not been shopping the other two courses on the market, though he suggested he would not be averse to selling either if an attractive offer was made.

Gee also said he’s still battling with the Phoenix Water Services Department over his bills for Club West’s irrigation.

Suncor, which sold the course to Gee in 2010, use recycled water for Club West, taking advantage of a treatment plant that the city ran not far from the community.

But the city closed that plant in the late 1990s, forcing the course’s owners to rely on potable water from the city instead. Gee said his water bill totaled more than $700,000 a year – an amount he said he couldn’t afford.

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Aidan Barry, True Life senior vice president, said earlier this year, “Nobody is going to spend the necessary money to try to operate a stand-alone golf course on the property when it will fail again economically.”

In recent months, both sides in the case have declined comment and have been keeping out of the public spotlight.

That posture contrasts sharply to a year ago, when True Life was canvassing Ahwatukee Lakes in search of signatures on consent cards to change the CC&Rs and Save the Lakes was packing the Ahwatukee Recreation Center with homeowners eager to see that effort fail.

One of the last public statements from Save the Lakes came after True Life submitted its request to Hannah to rule that the CC&Rs requiring a golf course were not enforceable.

“The point of the developer’s latest pleading seems to be to ask the judge to reverse himself because of what True Life’s attorneys now claim to be a ‘material change in….circumstances,’” said a statement from the group.

“Since they’ve also failed to earn our community’s support,” it added, “True Life now looks to be asking the judge to rule against the community and change the CC&Rs because the developers claim it will cost them too much to re-construct the golf course that the judge ordered be operated.”

Barry condemned the statement.

“Clearly, Save the Lakes continues to make up false information wherever possible to suit their goal of stopping our proposed project,” he said, adding that his company “does not believe any reasonable owner/investor of the property would or could operate a stand-alone golf course on the property.”

“Thus, given the status of the property (as a failed business and a closed golf course), the original purpose of the restriction cannot be realized,” he added. “Thus, the CC&Rs need to be modified.”

Linda Swain and Eileen Breslin, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said:

“We’re grateful for the signs that True Life appears to be reaching the true end of the road…Most of all, we’re grateful that our community saw through True Life and its plan, which would produce more traffic jams, overcrowding and more potential for flooding – instead of a renewed golf course and open space.”

Although they’ve been quiet publicly, both sides have been busy preparing for the trial.

Hannah issued a series of orders earlier this year setting out a detailed schedule for deposing expert witnesses and addressing other matters so that the trial would not drag on for weeks or even months.

The judge is not expected to have a decision for at least a few weeks – and possibly months – since attorney Timothy Barnes, who is representing Swain and Breslin, has asked the judge to include a finding of fact along with his verdict. That basically means the judge will file a detailed explanation for his decision.

(Special to AFN)

once-pristine Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course has deteriorated into a barren

True Life Companies wants to turn into an “agrihood.”

PICKLEBALL

at two other parks in the northern part of the city. That’s on top of new pickleball courts that Parks and Recreation Department officials have installed at two other city parks and shared-use accommodations installed at tennis courts in four more parks.

“This is in response to public input we’ve received over the last several years regarding a need for more pickleball options, and likewise we’ve worked that need into existing facilities and taken it into consideration when doing renovations,” said Gregg Bach, spokesman for the Phoenix Parks and Rec Department.

The story is similar in the East Valley.

“If you look at a year ago, there were virtually no public pickleball courts in the East Valley,” said Steve Manolis, the Central Arizona ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association and a pickleball instructor for both Phoenix and Chandler.

Not so now.

Mesa just opened four pickleball courts at Kleinman Park. Chandler is building six at Arrowhead Park. Gilbert is planning 15 at a new park it’s building at Higley and Queen Creek roads.

The trend also is catching on in Gilbert Public Schools District, which not only is creating dual-purpose courts for tennis and pickleball, but also is starting to teach it in some high schools.

Said Bach of the trend: “It’s like many years ago, when a need developed for skate parks. I’d also liken it to the demand for dog parks, one of our most popular amenities. The city has 10 dog parks, three of which are new in the last couple years, and we have another scheduled to open this fall.”

The Manolises are ecstatic with the plan for Pecos Park’s courts, which they call “this huge gift the city is bestowing on Ahwatukee.”

“Pecos Park will be a regional draw as a home base for some of the top players, and we anticipate having tournaments that will draw competitors from all over the U.S.,” Steve said.

Pickleball is a combination of several racket sports – badminton, tennis and ping-pong.

It was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of former legislator and lieutenant governor Joel Pritchard, who started using a Wiffle ball when he couldn’t find a tennis ball to bat around.

Over time, the paddles have evolved

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from an unwieldy solid wood into a lightweight graphite, enhancing the sport’s popularity because it doesn’t require the physical stamina demanded by tennis –a sport the Manolises played extensively and that Susan still does.

“Tennis players are one injury away from being pickleball players,” Steve said. “I think everyone on my team has had knee surgery or shoulder surgery.”

Moreover, he added, “It’s one of the few sports that is truly a gender equalizer” because “it’s more of a finesse sport” than a physical endurance test.

“Some people liken it to chess in that you have to stay three steps ahead,” Steve said, adding that a good part of the game requires watching the ball and relying on strategy.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a cakewalk. “It’s a much quicker sport and the reaction time you need is much quicker than tennis,” Steve said.

On the other hand, he noted, “It’s quick to pick up.”

But while people can learn the basics in an hour, devotees hone their skills by taking intermediate and advanced classes at parks throughout the region – thanks to municipalities that have made pickleball classes a part of their recreational instruction programs.

“We set up two eight-hour classes and they were filled within a day – 32 people and there’s waiting list,” Manolis said of a class he teaches at Pecos Park. “Those classes get filled in a matter of days. The demand is there. The city saw that.”

His experience has been the same in Chandler, where he teaches beginner and intermediate classes at Tumbleweed Rec center.

The Manolises say Ahwatukee is ground zero for pickleball’s growth in Phoenix.

“Ahwatukee ZIP codes have highest number of pickleball players than any other ZIP codes in the city,” said Steve, a retired marketing executive who researched the sport’s growing popularity extensively when he was trying to convince Phoenix officials they should build more courts and incorporate pickleball lessons in adult education programs at local parks.

It’s not just the game’s ease that attracts people, he added.

Pickleball is also a very social activity.

“You play more doubles than singles,” said Susan. “It’s the complete opposite of tennis, which is predominantly a singles

game. It’s a social sport. The games are much quicker and maybe last a half-hour. And when people are playing, everybody’s laughing and having a good time.”

Added her husband: “You can hear their excitement.”

None of this is new to RV parks and retirement communities throughout Arizona. Many recognized years ago that pickleball courts were almost as much a necessity as swimming pools.

Indeed, that’s how the Manolises discovered the game about five years ago.

As Susan recalled, they were at an RV park in Camp Verde, where “it’s hard to find people who play tennis.”

Suddenly, they heard a lot of noise and laughter and discovered a group of people playing pickleball.

“One thing about pickleball players is that they want you to learn how to play. They taught us how to play,” she said. “Pickleball players are so helpful.”

Many form clubs, though Steve noted, “There are a lot of people who are not in a club or association; they just go out and play. But a lot of residents through the East Valley belong to a club.”

Pickleball’s simplicity and camaraderie now have caught the attention of students of all ages – and school officials from grade school through college. That’s a welcome development to the sport’s apostles. “The association recognizes that in order to grow the sport, you can’t wait for people to get old,” Steve said.

The Manolises saw that firsthand when about 150 students from Horizon Honors Secondary School watched some pickleball games at nearby Pecos Park. It didn’t take long before the school created a makeshift pickleball court.

Matt Mixer, Horizon’s physical education teacher, said he’s working to developing pickleball as part of the physical education program in schools from elementary to universities.

Dozens of PE teachers throughout the East Valley are learning the game as well, and, Steve said, “Now our various ambassadors are going to schools to teach pickleball.”

In early November, Casa Grande will host hundreds of players from across the country for a big tournament – fueling Steve’s ultimate goal for pickleball.

“ASU has a program in place and community colleges are getting interested,” he said. “My goal and my dream is to have pickleball become an NCAA sport.”

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south of Ahwatukee and the reservation.

They claim that the estimated 140,000 vehicles that will use the freeway every day – half of them trucks – pose a particularly serious threat to the health of thousands of children attending the 17 schools located within a half-mile of the freeway.

Wood said the evidence compiled over 14 years of planning the freeway refutes those assertions.

He also reiterated one of the government agencies’ most common justifications for the freeway – namely that it is vital to a region already choking on traffic.

“The project will reduce congestion and save millions of hours of travel time; the present value of travel-time savings for the project between 2020 and 2035 would be almost $3.4 billion,” he said.

He also minimized the claims by Native Americans who accuse highway planners of running roughshod over laws protected sacred sites, including South Mountain, where the freeway will cut a 200foot gash across three peaks.

“The project will impact less than 0.2 percent of the South Mountain Pre-

serve/Park – 31.1 acres of this 16,600acre area – and includes numerous measures to minimize harm to the SMPP, including acquiring an equivalent amount of replacement land,” Wood said.

“After considering all the available information and the models of air emissions, the agencies determined that the proposed project would not produce disproportionate impacts on children,” he said, adding:

“For example, the agencies thoroughly studied the project’s potential noise impacts on children’s health, including noise receptors located at nine schools. The agencies ensured that noise impacts would be mitigated to an acceptable level through the use of noise walls.”

Wood also argued that the FHWA and ADOT were under no obligation to address strong recommendations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for further study, stating, “Agencies are only required to give EPA’s comments adequate consideration, and they did so here.”

He also said, “Additionally, while EPA made general comments about the potential impact of ‘air pollution’ on children, it did not contest the specific analyses the agencies had performed.”

Federal and state attorneys also have raised the specter of mounting costs to

taxpayers if construction is stopped, saying it would add $166,000 a day to the total freeway cost if construction was halted.

PARC focuses on health, environment

Shanker has accused the highway planners’ study of the freeway’s impact of as “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law.”

He said the case “presents a dramatic failure on the part of the agencies to properly coordinate their transportation planning” with federal environmental law.

He called their long-range transportation planning “an unwavering, myopic commitment to a project addressing regional transportation needs 30 years ago.”

“The conclusion that the same right-ofway that would have met regional transportation demands in the metropolitan Phoenix area in the 1980s will also meet regional transportation demands in 2030, strains credulity,” he wrote.

Shanker argued that the agencies defined a study area for the freeway in 1983 outside of the parameters of the National Environmental Protection Act.

“In other words, one of the most significant aspects of the project – where to put an eight-lane freeway – was withheld

from the NEPA decision-making process,” he wrote, and that it “did not result from a process of informed public involvement. It was simply carried forward by ADOT for 30 years.”

He noted that the law says “the primary purpose of an environmental impact statement is to serve as an action-forcing device to insure that the policies and goals defined in the act are infused into the ongoing programs and actions of the federal government.”

The law also requires that an environmental impact study “shall provide full and fair discussion of significant environmental impacts and shall inform decision-makers and the public of the reasonable alternatives,” Shanker wrote.

“ADOT asserts that the agency met with the (South Mountain) Citizens Advisory team on ‘60 occasions over 12 years,’” he wrote, charging that “the input of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team over the years was largely ignored.”

PARC also maintains that the agencies did not adequately assess the freeway’s impact on the health of children and its purported failure to have a plan for accidents involving vehicles carrying toxic chemicals.

UPGRADE TO A SMART GARAGE

Missing persons leave painful mysteries in East Valley

BY JIM WALSH AFN Staff Writer

Seven years ago, Hugh Turner, an 85-year-old winter visitor from Canada, went for his daily walk in northeast Mesa on Christmas Eve.

Turner was a fit and vital man, working out three days a week, playing golf a couple of times a week.

His family saw no sign of what would happen next.

Turner never came back. He still hasn’t been found, frustrating thousands of volunteers who’ve looked for him.

His grieving family, robbed of closure through a memorial service or a burial, released balloons in remembrance a year after his disappearance.

Turner, who is 92 if – against all odds –he is alive today, is not the only person in the East Valley who left without a trace.

Arizona has 1,507 missing people, according to a national website. East Valley police field hundreds of missing-person reports each year, mostly runaways and people suffering from dementia.

Others voluntarily disappear, choosing to have no contact with family members who report them missing.

On Saturday, Oct. 21, police from the East Valley and throughout Maricopa County will be at Arizona State University West’s campus in Glendale to hold an annual effort aimed at trying to find some of those missing people.

Family members who can’t find a loved one will have an opportunity to report someone missing, submit a new report or provide a DNA sample from their loved one.

DNA is a powerful form of evidence that may not have been widely used when a relative disappeared a decade or more ago, said Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Phoenix Police spokesman.

Lewis said eight cases have been cleared since the approach was first used two years ago.

Tempe police credit a DNA sample provided by a relative at Missing in Arizona Day with providing critical evidence that helped them identify a homeless man found dead years earlier.

The event includes a support group for the families of missing people and a candlelight vigil.

Police suspect a strong connection between Arizona’s 1,500 missing persons reported and the 1,400 unidentified remains. Those remains are among an es-

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Laura Colón, longtime Mesa police missing persons investigator, is still looking for Hugh Turner. She recently “flagged” the gold ring with his initials that Turner was wearing in a photograph, hoping that someone might have found it or that it might have turned up at a pawn shop.

timated 40,000 unidentified remains on record nationwide, Lewis said.

“Having a missing person in your life, it’s a terrible and unique club no one wants to belong to,” he said.

The smallest and most unusual category of missing persons involves abductions of small children, especially by strangers.

That’s when the Arizona Child Abduction Response Team, coordinated this year by Tempe police, conducts a massive and immediate search in hopes of saving a child’s life. All major East Valley police agencies participate.

“People who abduct a child, the percentage of them killing that child in one to three hours is very high,” Tempe police Commander Kim Hale said.

Cases involving children 13 years old and younger get the top priority.

Tempe Sgt. Trent Luckow, who supervises homicide and missing-person investigations, said “It’s a race against time. All investigators understand that.”

Mesa police called out the team on Sept. 29 when an 8-year-old girl went missing after school. A team of 125 officers from Mesa and other cities quickly joined the search.

It turned out the girl ended up sleeping overnight near some shrubs close to Hawthorne Elementary School and was found the next morning, said longtime Mesa police missing persons investigator Laura Colón.

Police find most people who are reported missing, including children who run away multiple times or merely do

Turner said.

All Turner and his family would like is an answer to the nagging question that his mother, Joyce, Hugh’s wife of 50 years, would ask Steve every so often.

“She feels very lonely,” Turner said about his 89-year-old mother. “I’d sit down with Mom and she would say, ‘What do you think happened to Dad?’”

Lisa Moore of Chandler has similar feelings, breaking down in tears when asked if she thinks her mother, Evelyn “Cindy” Guido, 60, is still alive.

Just like Turner, Moore has lots of questions and no answers five months after her mother vanished without a trace from her Gilbert home in April.

Moore appeared on television in an appeal for tips to help the Gilbert police find her mother, who was facing surgery to repair a hole in her heart the following week. Now, Moore has the broken heart.

not return home after a miscommunication with their parents.

But there are tragic exceptions – cases that haunt families and investigators who search for decades.

They simply vanished with no trail that police can follow, such as pings off a cellphone tower or use of an ATM card.

Chandler Police Lt. Gary Minor, a former missing person investigator, estimated that Chandler receives 400-600 missing person reports a year.

“I’d say the vast majority of them are recovered by patrol officers,” Minor said. “It’s very rare when you have a stranger abduction, but they do happen.”

Colón said there were 58 open cases as of early August. Mesa police had taken reports about 185 missing adults and 525 missing juveniles.

In Ahwatukee, Phoenix police received 15 missing person or missing adults calls between August 2016 and August 2017. Some were solved quickly, but four resulted in missing person reports and five in missing juvenile reports, Lewis said.

Steve Turner, an attorney in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, has been waiting for a breakthrough in his father’s disappearance since the day he vanished. Colón recently “flagged” the gold ring with his initials on that it Turner was wearing in a photograph, hoping that someone might have found it, or that it might have turned up at a pawn shop.

“Everybody pictures their parents passing away at some time. You might think you would have some last conversation with them and say goodbye,” Steve

“I don’t think it was a matter where she got scared and took off,” Moore said, noting that her mom had a long history of illness and had many other surgeries.

“I am very hopeful that she is alive, but I don’t think she is,” Moore said. “When she went missing, I knew something was wrong.” Moore said her mother did not own a car and didn’t know how to drive. She left behind her beloved terrier, making her disappearance completely out of character and difficult to understand.

“She had no reason to leave and not tell anyone, especially me,” Moore said. Colón looks at her job as her mission in life. Colón has found missing children hiding behind cars parked on a street. She used Facebook to track down a missing teenage boy when he showed up for football practice.

“We take every case seriously, even a 16-year-old who ran way three times,” said Colón, who has found more than 4,700 missing people, either alive or dead, during her 10½-year career as a missing person investigator.

“It stays in my heart that I have the ability to help people, and I use it to the fullest extent possible,” Colón said.

But Colón, like most good investigators, is bothered by the relatively few cases in which she did not find someone.

Colón also is a realist. She knows the odds of an 85-year-old man, reported missing on Dec. 24, 2010, still being alive are not very high.

“That would give me such joy, if I could find Mr. Turner or what happened to him,” Colón said. “I’m not hopeful of finding him alive, but I’m not giving up.”

Shanker noted that ADOT contends the freeway would reduce emissions by 91 percent, but said that calculation did not specifically limit the scope of study to Ahwatukee.

“An agency is required to consider impacts on human health that are directly related to the project,” he said. “The law does not carve out an exception to this rule for children.”

“Whether, and to what extent, children living and/or going to school in close proximity to the freeway are exposed to… other mobile source emissions is a ‘significant aspect of the environmental impact’ of this project that defendants have failed to consider,” he added.

Native Americans fear for mountain

All 21 Native American tribes in the Southwest have joined the Gila River Indian Community in opposing the freeway on cultural as well as environmental grounds.

Attorney Jeffrey Molinar said the freeway “would cause irreparable harm to resources that are vitally important to the Community’s culture, traditions, and religious beliefs.”

The primary objection involves South Mountain, which Native Americans consider sacred.

ADOT next year will begin cutting a 200-foot wide swath across three peaks to make way for the freeway.”

“The Community has unique interests in preserving South Mountain, which is one of its most sacred natural resources, and in saving other areas and artifacts of vital importance to its culture,” he wrote.

“While mitigation may attempt to reduce the harm – reburying the dead, moving some artifacts – the harm will be devastating.” Molinar wrote, adding:

. “No amount of remedial efforts can undo the damage that the freeway will cause to the cultural and religious heritage of the Community.”

“Undisputed testimony shows how the Community’s religion, oral histories, and ceremonial activities and practices all are tied to the natural environment,” he added, saying that South Mountain “is one of the Community’s most sacred natural resources”

He also criticized the agencies for arguing that the Gila Community had been working with them to avoid harming any ancestral remains.

“Helping to mitigate—reduce harm— is not agreement that any harm should occur,” he said. “If the bulldozers come, as they might if this appeal fails, it is bet-

ter to re- bury ancestors than leave them in the trash pile.”

The Tohono O’odham Nation, the largest tribe occupying the Gila River reservation, argues that Humetewa’s ruling “could set a precedent which could significantly impact American Indian tribes’ ability to protect their tribal cultural properties, maintain their cultural connections and worldviews, and practice their religious ceremonies in the future.”

“These sites affect the day-to-day living and religious practices of American Indians in a way that other groups of peoples are not affected.”

Lawyers said that South Mountain, or “Muhadagi Doag,” has had a long and storied place in Native American culture.

Their brief said the ancient Hohokam tribe “used Muhadagi Doag, more commonly known as South Mountain, as both a hunting and gathering ground, and a spiritual center.

“Muhadagi Doag is a Traditional Cultural Property, and remains significant to the O’odham,” lawyers continued. “As a descendant of the Hohokam, the Tohono O’odham have an interest in promoting and advocating for the protection of South Mountain.”

Native Americans have staged several protests in the past against the project.

Ahwatukee bakers unite to help one another

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

Helping one another is the concept behind the online group Ahwatukee Test Kitchen, where professional bakers and home bakers work together to bake the best they can. Since it formed on Facebook in 2014, ATL has attracted 50 members who widely range in expertise and experience, but share two commonalities: They love to bake and work to improve.

Ahwatukee Test Kitchen was the brainchild of 27-year Ahwatukee resident Rachel Rae Gledhill.

“I was on Ahwatukee 411 and noticed bakers in the area seemed to be stumbling over each other when trying to negotiate cake orders, and I thought, ‘I wonder if Ahwatukee would benefit from a group that allowed people with a love of baking

to unite.’ So I sent out feelers, expecting only a few responses,” she said.

“After a day, there were more than 40.”

worked to find a name for the group.

“We spent hours messaging back and forth trying to come up with a name, from Whip It Good Ahwatukee to Bakers Anonymous to Fattin’ Up Ahwatukee. After much laughter, eventually Ahwatukee Test Kitchen was born,” laughed Gledhill, who graduated in Desert Vista High School’s first class.

The full-time research nurse at Arizona Research Center is the wife of “amazing supportive husband” Travis and mother of four – 2017 Desert Vista grad Alexa, 18, Lilyan, 12, Jack, 10, and Colton, 3.

Gledhill is a busy woman whose passion for baking became a business just last year. She started Edible Emotions in June 2016 after co-workers persuaded her to start her own business.

“I thought, why the heck not? I love the ability to bring joy, delicious joy, to the

See BAKERS on page 23

Ahwatukee author and action movie star produce political thriller

BY PAUL MARYNIAK

AFN Executive Editor

It took two years and closely working with someone whose job takes him literally around the world, but Ahwatukee resident and author Tom Morrissey finally finished his latest project.

Actually, his novel, “The Way of the Shadow Wolves,” is a joint project with co-author Steven Seagal, the veteran action movie star/producer and a longtime friend of Morrissey.

Their novel, Morrissey said, “is a work of fiction based on fact, and some events in the plot, although written over the past two years, are actually in today’s headlines.”

After less than one week since its release, the book, subtitled “The Deep State and the Hijacking of America,” is now at No. 19 out of over 16,000 books on Amazon’s Kindle genre list. It also will be available in paperback on Amazon this week.

The authors will donate part of the proceeds to several groups supporting wounded servicemen and women as well

as injured law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first responders.

The action-thriller, set in Arizona, tells the story of an elite group of Native

American trackers who also are tribal police officers.

“They stumble onto one of the biggest cases of corruption in American history,” said Morrissey, adding:

“In this novel you will see a storyline far different from the slanted and unrealistic storylines of many of today’s books and Hollywood films.”

Morrissey, a onetime chairman of the state Republican Party, also found the book an ideal vehicle to reflect one of his early careers, his iconoclastic politics and his favored style of writing.

He said that while “all of my books reflect personal experience and expertise,” his latest “is reflective of my US marshal’s career, which is very different from the previous stories.”

Three of his previous four books constituted a series that incorporated Morrissey’s background as a songwriter and musician as well as his and extensive martial arts experience. His fourth book, a children’s fantasy, included several of his original songs.

Then there is the politics.

An early fervent supporter of President

Trump, Morrissey in an interview last year voiced anger and frustration over the absence of a spine in many political leaders – including some in his own party.

“Shadow Wolves” gives vent to some of that anger.

“It reveals the so-called establishment elite ruling class’ corruptive influence on the way this country functions through its governmental agencies and, internationally, through the alliances that are created as a result,” Morrissey explained.

“This corruption spills down to the impact it has on honest law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs, making it more dangerous for them and the public at large. The discomfort comes in the realization that we can no longer depend on the goodness of our government.”

Morrissey’s portrayal of martial arts is what originally attracted Seagal’s interest. Eventually, they came up with a book – a project that often found the two authors literally at least one ocean away from each other during their collabora-

Melissa Lemme of Lemme Eat Gluten Free was among the first. The two women

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Some of the memebrs of Ahwatukee Test Kitchen include, from left, Kate McPike, Sheri Arendse, Rachel Gledhill, Rhonda Dolatshahi and Melissa Lemme.

(Special to AFN)

Ahwatukee writer Tom Morrissey, left, and movie star Steven Seagal co-authored a thriller.

Blood drive to help stricken little Ahwatukee girl

Even though she won’t turn 2 until Oct. 27, Adelyn Troutman has seen the inside of a hospital more times than most adults.

The Ahwatukee tyke has endured 25 blood transfusions – a monthly ordeal necessitated by a genetic affliction called Diamond-Blackfan anemia, which prohibits the creation of red blood cells.

Initially after the transfusion, Addy is as full of life as any healthy child. But as the days pass, she tires. If it weren’t for the transfusions, she would die.

People moved by Addy’s plight can help by donating blood at a special drive to be held 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 4 at Desert Foothills United Methodist Church, 2156 E. Liberty Lane, Ahwatukee.

They can schedule a donation by contacting Addy’s mom, Kami, at 480-2466332 or troutman.kami@gmail.com. Or they can go to bloodhero.com using the sponsor code “Adelyn.”

“She is a perfect example of why it is so important to donate blood,” said her father, Matt. “There are so many people like her that need blood on a regular basis as

well as all of the people that need blood in emergency situations.”

When she has had a transfusion, Addy “is a happy, full-of-life little toddler, and that is all made possible because of blood donations,” her father added.

Right now, any bone marrow transplant is on hold.

“The transplant is on hold as we monitor her Iron content,” Matt Troutman said. “Iron overload is our main concern right now as each blood unit contains a lot of iron, which builds up in the liver and can cause liver failure if not controlled. She takes iron chelation drugs to control this, but the only way to know whether it is working is with an MRI.

“She has one scheduled on Nov. 3, which will help us determine if she can go longer on blood transfusions or if she needs the bone marrow transplant sooner,” he added.

When Addy was born, she was extremely anemic and stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for 21/2 weeks.

“The doctors could not determine at that time what was the cause,” her father said. “They gave her transfusions and we eventually went home thinking that ev-

erything was fine. After two months, she seemed extremely pale so we brought her in to our pediatrician and he took one look at her and sent us directly to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.”

That’s when they got her diagnosis.

“We didn’t have a lot of information

beyond a name,” he recalled. “We had to figure out what that really meant. At first it didn’t fully sink in.”

When it did sink in, it changed the Troutmans’ lives in many ways – some for the good and some not so.

Beyond the agony of watching their daughter undergo her monthly transfusions and her steady loss of energy that leads to the next one, there are also the mounting expenses.

It costs $3,500 to $4,000 for each transfusion.

She has unrelated matches on the registry so far, Troutman said.

“When we started thinking about how Addy depends on those transfusions, we went out and started attending blood drives,” he said. “It opened our eyes, knowing we now have a baby who depends on these kinds of events to keep her alive.”

“We are so overwhelmed by the love and support so many people are showing as we start this crazy journey,” he said. “We didn’t want to bother people with our problems, but we discovered many people want to help. Ahwatukee has been really, really great.”

(Special to AFN)

Although she won't turn 2 until next week, Adelyn Troutman already has had 25 blood transfusions.

tion.

“At times we weren’t even in the same country together,” Morrissey recalled. “He was in another part of the world working on movies and I was mostly in Arizona. But at other times we were in the same room fleshing the storyline out together. Steven is without exaggeration an amazingly creative genius.

“Steven did the first draft and I took it to the next level with character development,” he added. “We then worked on the plot development together.”

Morrissey also discovered differences between their respective approaches to their art.

“Writing with someone as creative as Steven Seagal is refreshing and challenging at the same time,” he said. “I would say that my writing style, which is more conversational, shows through in this one. However, it is strongly influenced by the visual or action-oriented quality brought by Steven.”

Though Morrissey said his biggest challenge was “blending Steven’s take as a filmmaker with my take as a novelist,” the combination of those talents is what Morrissey hopes will help power “Shad-

ow Wolves” to the screen.

“We always had the potential for a film in mind when writing this story,” he said, calling the book’s writing style “dialogue dominance” rather than “descriptive dominance.”

“This translates into it being an easier conversion to a screenplay,” he added.

“As you know, Steven Seagal is a filmmaker and has the ability to move this to a film project on his own. We have been in preliminary discussions on this subject, which is very exciting to me.”

The book is partly based on the infamous Arizona “gun walking” case, in which federal agents deliberately put thousands rifles into the hands of criminals across the border in a sting operation that backfired.

But, Morrissey said, that’s only a small piece of the plot.

“What happens as a result of that crime and where those weapons wind up and in whose hands they become tools of destruction is where the story goes. Our story takes this to a ‘next potential outcome,’ which is an indictment of the current ‘hiding the truth’ or ‘do nothing’ actions of the government.”

The book is available now in Kindle on Amazon and will be available in paperback soon.

And while he is marketing that book, Morrissey also is focusing on completing another project – a solo book about his parents’ candy store in his native Brooklyn. Morrissey said it “has been a lot of fun to write.”

“It is a comedy mostly about the people who frequented it,” he explained.

“This was not only a candy store but it also had a soda fountain, ice cream counter, daily newspapers and coffee. Set in the early 1970s, the storyline is about the folks who hung around it. I refer to them as ‘the Mensa Society’ because they had a collective IQ of one Mensa member and demonstrated that frequently.”

(Special to AFN)

The book cover to "The Way of the Shadow Wolves" features an iconic picture of action movie star Steven Seagal in a pose his fans wmay recognize from his many movies.

Ahwatukee community,” she recalled.

Ghedhill serves two clients weekly, baking anything from smash cakes (for first birthdays) to four-tier wedding cakes. Her children help occasionally and “enjoy eating the leftovers.”

An Ahwatukee resident since 1993, Lemme is the mother to four children ranging in age from 15 to 23, two of whom have celiac disease – as does she.

It was Lemme’s own trials trying to find tasty gluten-free baked goods that led her to try her hand at making them.

She said her family, including husband Steve, were “committed and supportive” as she strove to create desserts that matched or surpassed their wheat counterparts.

“It was hard, especially at the beginning. I almost gave up on more than one occasion,” she admitted. “Our original goal was to make something that tasted good. Now we want it to really taste good so that anyone will say, ‘That’s delicious!’”

The encouragement she gets from Ahwatukee Test Kitchen members is as important as her new clients.

“We’re always looking for ways to help each other. A lot of the women in our group work full-time and may not have

time to do a cake when someone needs one done. There’s enough customers to go around, so we help each other,” she said.

“I enjoy baking for the Ahwatukee community,” Lemme added. “One day I hope to open a gluten-free eatery where a celiac or gluten intolerant person can dine in the knowledge that everything is gluten-free.”

Pumpkin and pure peanut butter dog treats are specialties by ATK member Kate McPike, owner of K8’s Pet Care.

McPike was once an avid baker of cakes, some decorated with homemade marzipan. She pursued cake baking classes, and baked a cake a week for her husband and her male co-workers.

Following her divorce, she stopped baking for three decades. It was during this period that she became involved in pet-sitting, and started her own business upon moving to Ahwatukee.

“One day I saw a picture of cute cookies with cat and dog faces and paw prints. I thought, I could make that for clients for the holidays,” said McPike, one of the group’s “home bakers.”

“I’ve learned enough to decorate a paw cookie pretty well,” she added.

For McPike, ATK brings a camaraderie with local bakers that she says helps her grow in the craft.

“I love being a part of the Ahwatukee

Test Kitchen Facebook group. It’s a good group to get ideas from, and exchange our trials and tribulations with baking. I’ll put a picture of my attempt at decorating my cookies, and they all give me words of encouragement. And it’s fun to see what people are making.”

Another home baker is Stephanie Brill, a 26-year Ahwatukee resident who says she can’t remember a time when she didn’t bake at least once a week.

“I started as my grandma’s helper in the kitchen, then under her supervision, started baking for Sunday dinners, church picnics or to pass out to neighbors,” she recalled. “I began baking with my own children as soon as they could sit at the counter.

“My daughter, 26 years later, insists that our Christmas cookie plate contain sugar cookie cutout trees decorated the same way we have since she was a year old. We have a 26-year tradition of giving out cookie plates to our neighbors at Christmas time.”

Brill said ATK “has amazed me.”

“The talent of the bakers is outstanding. I’m just an old-fashioned home baker, nothing fancy from my kitchen, but oh, some of the works of art that these ladies make,” said Brill, who is known not only for her cookies but her group-size creme

brulee made in a 9 x 13 pan.

Rhonda Dolatshahi, a mental health/ substance abuse RN, is an ATK home baker member who finds biking 125 miles weekly and baking eases stress.

“I love baking because it’s a stress reliever, an outlet to express myself,” she said. “In today’s tension-charged, fast-paced world that’s full of demands and complexities, sharing my baked goods makes everything right with the world, even if its just momentarily.”

Dolatshi said she spends “a small fortune” mailing pies, cookies, fruit and nut breads and candies to her adult children back east.

“I love being a member of the Ahwatukee Test Kitchen because it lets me connect with other bakers in my community, share ideas and make friends with others who share the same passion for baking from the heart.”

For ATK founders, the group’s growth and influence is fulfilling. Lemme said:

“The Ahwatukee Test Kitchen group is filled with amazing women. We offer up business when we’re unable to do it ourselves. We learn so many new things from each otherg. I plan on working to promote and help grow other business in the community, and allow us to try and keep people local.”

Friends and families unite through garage sales

BY KELLY ATHENA AFN Guest Writer

Dina Pratt has hosted countless celebrations at her Foothills home for the past 25 years: weddings, anniversaries, baby showers and more.

So, this event did not lack pizzazz. Mimosas and red wine were offered to all the guests, along with blueberries, muffins and other goodies.

The event? Her Saturday morning garage sale. Friends and family showed up from all over the Valley.

A friend from her Marcos de Niza High School days gave Dina a hug, saying, “Dina is the most amazing, caring, generous person.”

My neighbor Hali Fields often accompanies me on my yard sale excursions. She and I kept bringing armfuls of items to Dina and asking, “How much for this?”

She’d look through everything and then say, “How about a dollar?”

So we kept bringing her clothes, bedding, crystal glasses and tablecloths. I even found a Pier One plate matching one I’d bought at another garage sale months before.

“That one’s on the house,” Dina said.

There was plenty to choose from as

Dina owned Illustra Interiors, an interior design company, for many years. Nancy Colemon and her friends hold a sale together every year or so.

Tables filled her driveway, each with a different category of goods. Vintage items were scattered throughout the sale including a 1944 printing of “The Wizard of Oz” I picked up for $1.

Hali spotted some cotton nightgowns she’d been hoping to find all summer. I found a stylish black dress with a jagged hemline.

One of the browsing customers, Ebony Brown of Maricopa, was holding three vintage porcelain dolls. She often comes to Ahwatukee to find garage sales on Saturdays.

She posed with the three gals running the sale. Nancy’s fiancé, Gary Clavelot, peered from behind a ladder assembly he’d rigged up to create a clothing display rack using three ladders, a PVC pipe and electrical tape.

I found Aniello Vigliotti at his sale in Mountain Park Ranch cradling his darling 7-month-old daughter, Gemma. I looked around and decided upon three sleek silver jars with matching lids and glass windows on the sides. Behind him towered a huge prickly pear cactus

Kelly Athena/ AFN Contributor)

Gathering for a recent garage sale in Ahwatukee were, from left, Nancy Knuth, Ebony Brown, Gary Clavelot, Nancy Colemon and Marlene Meza.

Experience Kyrene at

Pride ghost awaits

Experience Kyrene at our School Choice Fair.

School Choice Fair.

our

Meet with education experts on Thursday, November 16

Meet with education experts on Thursday, November 16

• Arts integration schools (PreK-8th)

Meet with education experts on Thursday, November 16

• Arts integration schools (PreK-8th)

• Dual language and immersion opportunities (PreK-8th)

• Arts integration schools (PreK-8th)

• Dual language and immersion opportunities (PreK-8th)

• Kyrene Traditional Academy (PreK-6th)

• Dual language and immersion opportunities (PreK-8th)

• Leader in Me Academies – 7 Habits of Happy Kids (K-5th)

• Kyrene Traditional Academy (PreK-6th)

• Kyrene Traditional Academy (PreK-6th)

• STEM, integrated technology and gifted programs in all schools

• Leader in Me Academies – 7 Habits of Happy Kids (K-5th)

• Leader in Me Academies – 7 Habits of Happy Kids (K-5th)

• Students outperform peers in AzMERIT Math and ELA assessments

• STEM, integrated technology and gifted programs in all schools

• STEM, integrated technology and gifted programs in all schools

• Students outperform peers in AzMERIT Math and ELA assessments

• Students outperform peers in AzMERIT Math and ELA assessments

Kyrene School Choice Fair

Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 4:30 p.m.

Kyrene District Office

Kyrene School Choice Fair

8700 South Kyrene Road

Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 4:30 p.m.

Tempe, AZ 85284

AIR Stay connected with us!

Kyrene District Office

(NW corner Warner and Kyrene)

8700 South Kyrene Road

Tempe, AZ 85284

(NW corner Warner and Kyrene)

@KyreneSchools

Mountain Pointe High School thespians

Wanted: Military veterans for a free gala in their honor

Attorneys Mark and Alexis Breyer of Ahwatukee, who brand themselves “The Husband and Wife Law Team,” are looking for military veterans to honor with a free catered dinner, entertainment and raffles 5-8 p.m. Nov. 9 at Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale, 15656. N. Hayden Road.

The event will include a performance by the Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale Drill Team. Veterans may bring one guest to the free event by RSVPing to husbandandwifelawteam.com/veterans.

Ahwatukee families can get free legal help

Lawyers, government agencies and social service organizations will gather 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, 111 E. Taylor St., Phoenix, to help families navigate the legal system and social service network.

The free one-day event is open to all families who are supporting a loved one dealing with mental health issues, developmental disabilities, autism, depression, homelessness, veteran’s service-related issues, suspected substance abuse, or elder care.

Lawyers and court staff will be available to provide guidance and consultations on a variety of issues that families encounter within the legal system, including how to put legal directives in place to care for aging or mentally ill loved ones, understanding specialty courts and juvenile and adult criminal court proceedings and guardianships.

Information: info@azkeystone.org or Gary Kula at gary.kula@phoenix.gov

Michelle Reagan to address Ahwatukee GOP women

Arizona Secretary of State Michelle Reagan is the guest speaker at the general meeting of the Ahwatukee Republican Women at 6:30 p.m. today, Oct. 18, at Mountain View Lutheran Church, 11001 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee.

Members are being encouraged to renew their 2018 membership at ahwatukeerepublicanwomen. com.

Y OPAS book sale organizers looking for donations

The Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA Outreach Program for Ahwatukee Seniors (Y OPAS) is in need of book donations for its 10th annual fundraising book sale Nov. 4 at the YMCA, 1030 E. Liberty Lane. Books can be dropped off at the YMCA or the following Ahwatukee locations: Pecos Senior Center, 48th Street and Pecos Road; Odelay Bagel Company, Equestrian Trail and Warner/Elliot Loop; Cups N’ Crepes, 42nd Street and Chandler Boulevard; Ahwatukee Board of Management Swim/Tennis Center, 48th Street and Warner Road; Mountain View Lutheran Church at 48th Street and Cheyenne Drive; Webster Chiropractic, 16515 S. 40th St. Ste 103; and Desert Foothills United Methodist Church, 2156 E. Liberty Lane.

Books may be dropped off beginning Monday, Sept 4. Information: Jill at 602-212-6088.

New bus service for Ahwatukee will run on Ray Road to Gilbert Valley Metro is adding new first-time bus service

routes, including one on Ray Road from 48th Street to Gilbert Road beginning Monday, Oct. 23. The new bus route is called Route 140.

“Combined, the new service will connect Valley residents to 40,000 jobs at employers located along the routes,” said Scott Smith, Valley Metro CEO. “It’s very exciting for Valley Metro to connect communities that are new to transit and offer residents another travel option for reaching important destinations.”

In addition to serving multiple employers, each route will travel to popular destinations for shopping, entertainment and education. To view all changes in service beginning Monday: valleymetro.org/servicechanges.

Changes to bus service occur twice per year and the next service change occurs April 23. There are several ways to give input on proposed changes: a webinar: at noon Nov. 7 at noon; a public hearing at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 at 101 N. 1st Ave., 10th floor; or email comments to input@valleymetro.org by Nov. 17.

Phoenix Sisters Cities seeks exchange students

Phoenix Sister Cities is looking for high school sophomores and juniors for the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program. They would spend three weeks abroad with a host family in one of Phoenix’s Sister Cities and welcome their international host brother or sister for a visit to Phoenix.

Applications are due at 5 p.m. Jan. 12.

“The Ambassadors share memorable experiences that introduce them to different cultures and prepare them for the global society in which we live,” said Phoenix Sister Cities President/CEO Rita Marko.

The Phoenix Sister Cities Youth Ambassador Ex-

change Program is open to Phoenix resident high school students entering their sophomore or junior year. Participants are selected based on their communication skills, maturity, flexibility, leadership and desire for cultural inclusion

Approximately 25 Phoenix Youth Ambassadors will be selected to travel to Phoenix’s sister cities in the summer of 2018.

Since 1988, more than 825 Phoenix students have participated in the Phoenix Sister Cities Youth Ambassador Exchange Program. The privately funded program is solely supported by fundraisers and family contributions. Applicants can apply for available scholarships.

Applications are available at phoenixsistercities. org. Interested applicants can learn more about the program and meet past ambassadors at the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program Preview Night 6-7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in City Council Chambers, 200 W. Jefferson St. For more information or to RSVP for the Preview Night: Bethany.Bennick@phoenix.gov or 602-534-3751.

Local blood drives slated in advance of holidays

United Blood Services is urging donors to make and keep blood donation appointments in the coming weeks to ensure that patients have an ample supply of lifesaving transfusions going into and through the winter holiday season.

To make a donation appointment at one of the following Ahwatukee sites, go to BloodHero.com or call 1-877-827-4376).

Donation sites and times are: Sunday, Oct. 22, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Mountain View Lutheran Church,

11002 S. 48th St. and Wednesday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., LendSmart Mortgage, 10429 S. 51st St.

Public gathering place sought for Tukee Talks police sessions

Organizers of Tukee Talks, the quarterly meeting between police from South Mountain Precinct and Ahwatukee residents are looking for a free gather place for their next session in January. They need a place that can accommodate at least 100 people for the free public gathering. Contact: ahwatukeephxcrimewatch@gmail.com.

Annual hay ride, haunted house set at ABM center next week

The Ahwatukee Community Swim and Tennis Center’s 16th annual Haunted House and Hayride will be 6-9 p.m. Oct. 27 – 29 at 4700 E. Warner Road. A special time slot, 6–7:30 p.m., is designated as a “less scary” time for younger children.

Concessions will be available. Admission is $9 for adults and $6 for kids 8 years and younger. Proceeds benefit the center’s youth programs and park improvements.

Information: 480-893-3431.

Alzheimer’s benefit set at Foothills Montessori

A community sale to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association will be held 8:30-11:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at Foothills Montessori, 3221 E. Chandler Blvd.

See AROUND on page 29

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AZ 85286 (480) 994-9000 PorscheChandler.com

Items are being sought for donation and drop off can be arranged by contacting Krystle at 480-7593810 or afm@ahwatukeefoothillsmontessori.com

The school also is hosting its annual Fall Festival 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18.

This free family event features games, crafts, a snow slide and other activities. The school is accepting nonperishable food donations for St. Mary’s Food Bank at the festival.

There will be a raffle for prizes that include gift certificates to local restaurants.

Simply A Cappella Women’s Chorus seeks new members

Simply A Capella Women’s Chorus is seeking women who like to sing harmony, carry a tune without vibrato, perform some choreography and attend rehearsals.

Simply A Cappella songs include a variety of show tunes, novelty numbers, holiday and patriotic.

Since 1992 it has been performing for audiences in RV parks, retirement communities, churches and various venues.

Rehearsals are on 7-10 p.m. Thursdays at the First United Methodist Church choir room, 15 E. lst Avenue, Mesa. Information: 480 807-0031.

Concerts have started at Desert Foothills Park

Free concerts open to the public will be held the next two Sundays at 5 p.m. at Desert Foothills Park,

S. Desert Foothills Parkway at E. Chandler Boulevard, Ahwatukee. Food trucks will be on the scene.

The groups that will appear are: The Retro Connection, Oct. 22; and About Last Night, Oct. 29. Information: concertsinthepark.com.

Home-sales businesses helping families with shred-a-thon

Realtors and others connected with the homesales industry in Ahwatukee are sponsoring a shreda-thon to raise enough food for Thanksgiving meals for 300 families through the Kyrene Resource Center.

The shred-a-thon will be 9-11 a.m. Oct. 21 at Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary, 15221 S. Ray Road, Ahwatukee, and sponsors are requesting at least one food item per box o or bag of papers to be shredded.

Requested items are cans of green beans, cranberry sauce, mushroom soup, yams or sweet potatoes, and gravy; bags of marshmallows; and boxes of cornbread mix, mashed potatoes, stuffing, biscuits or dessert.

Ahwatukee Nutcracker tickets have gone on sale

Tickets are now on sale for the 18th annual Ahwatukee Nutcracker, which will be presented at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17 and at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Desert Vista High School’s theater auditorium.

Both afternoon performances feature a visit from Santa and a chance to get autographs from the cast and have photos taken with members.

This is the only Nutcracker ballet in the country by that is performed solely by dances ages 3-19.

Tickets are on sale at Dance Studio 111, 4910 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee, at 480-706-6040 or by

emailing afnutcracker@gmail.com. Information: afnutcracker.com.

Festival of Lights group seeks sponsors, volunteers

The Festival of Lights Committee is seeking volunteers and sponsors for its 22nd annual Kick-Off Party, held the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Ahwatukee.

The party helps pay for the million white lights that decorate Chandler Boulevard from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

Volunteers can show up for meetings at 6:30 p.m. at Desert Foothills United Methodist Church, 2156 E. Liberty Lane, Ahwatukee. Meeting dates are Oct. 24 and Nov. 7.

The group also is seeking a wide array of sponsors at all price levels. Information: folaz.org and request a sponsorship packet.

Desert Vista High students sell bowls for 9/11 hospital

Desert Vista High School students in the Clay Club are selling bowls memorializing victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with proceeds going to the World Trade Center Health Hospital.

Ceramics teacher Mark Honacker said the club made 400 bowls, one for each of the uniformed lives lost.

“These bowls will be scored, while wet, with a small segment of Ground Zero concrete, and then emblazoned, when glazed, with a profile of the fallen towers,” he said.

The bowls are $30 each.

Information: jamiezack01@gmail.com, 480-6787227; claire.kretschmar@gmail.com, 480-695-2074; or kdaly1996@gmail.com, 480-307-2401.

covered with nopalitos – young green pads without spines or glochids (the annoying hair-size prickles that can get into your fingers).

The pads are so safe they can be held near a delicate baby with no danger. I asked him if I could take a few home to fry up and he said, “Sure, anytime.”

A friendly blonde woman greeted me at another garage sale. “Hi, meet my ex,” she said, introducing me to a man standing nearby.

“Meet my ex,” he echoed.

“Sometimes it’s easier to be friends than spouses, isn’t it?” I said with a laugh.

I picked out a quaint salt and pepper set and a package of colorful party napkins before saying goodbye.

I’m finding that families, friends, and even “exes” are brought together by garage sales.

-Kelly Athena is a local garage sale enthusiast and master gardener. Contact: cactuskelly. com.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18

Magic show

Be astounded by mind reading and other feats of magic as renowned magician Richard Steele takes the stage.

DETAILS>> 6-7 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 5-12. Free. Tickets are available in the library 30 minutes before program start time.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19

Breast surgery discussed

Body by Leverett will present a discussion on breast surgery by Dr. Larry C. Leverett, a double-board plastic surgeon. He will discuss breast augmentation, lifts and reductions as well as the differences between saline and silicone implants.

DETAILS>> 4530 E. Ray Road, Ahwatukee. RSVP: 480296-2384 or breastseminar.eventbrite.com.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20

Trunk or Treat set

Ahwatukee Friends is sponsoring a Trunk or Treat night, giving kids a chance to go from car to car and find goodies in their trunks.

DETAILS>> 6-8 p.m., Ahwatukee Events Center, 4700 E. Warner Road. Information or to be a vendor: ahwatukeefriends@gmail.com

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21

25th Anniversary Family Festival

This final celebration with activities for everyone

CALENDAR

includes: a farm animal petting zoo, pumpkin volcanos, dry ice “boo bubbles,” folded book art, football and hoop tosses, reading to a therapy dog, trying your luck at winning free Friends of the Library used books. Bring your Ironwood Library anniversary punch card to get and decorate a library book bag. DETAILS>> 10 a.m.-1 p.m, Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. For all ages, Free, no registration required.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24

Women who care meeting

100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun will hold their final quarterly meeting of the year. 100+ Women Who Care is a local philanthropic group of women who meet quarterly, contribute locally and connect personally to benefit well deserving charities. Guests are welcome.

DETAILS>> 5:30-7:30 p.m. Foothills Golf Club, 2201 E. Clubhouse Drive, Ahwatukee. Information: 100WWCValleyOfTheSun.org.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28

Body Firm has yoga

Kelley at Body Firm will hold a gentle yoga class.

DETAILS>> 11 a.m.-noon, 3636 East Ray Road, #2 (next to Fry’s). Information: 480-705-9801, thebodyfirmaz@gmail.com, thebodyfirmaz.com

Level Up!

Examine what makes games work and fun to play, and then design and make your own board or card game! Attendees must agree to the requirements of

this ASU research partnership to participate. Details are in the calendar at phxlib.org.

DETAILS>> 4-6 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 8-12. Free. No registration required.

Science of fear for kids

Explore the biology of fear, types of fear, the value of fear, and strategies to overcome or manage your fears safely. There also will be “Fear Boxes” and a ghost story!

DETAILS>> 5-6 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 5-12. Free. No registration required.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 26

Science of fear for teens

Teens can explore the biology and types of fear as well as manipulation using fear and strategies to overcome or manage your fears. Those fears can range from test-taking to spiders and everything in between.

DETAILS>> 4-5:30 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 12-18. Free. No registration required.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Coffee with a cop

Join police from the South Mountain Precinct, which covers Ahwatukee, for casual conversation. There is no agenda and people can ask questions and express concerns related to public safety.

DETAILS>> 10-11 a.m., Fry’s, Lakeside Plaza, 3949 E,

Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Free and open to the public.

SUNDAYS

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.

Little

Bytes

Kids can learn the foundations of coding and computer commands before they can write or spell. Fun activities, apps and games will teach the fundamentals of simple logic, sequencing and coding language. #stem

DETAILS>>Sundays 2-3 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 4-7. Free. No registration required.

Coder Dojo

What do video games, robots and self-driving cars have in common? Code! You can become a coding master by learning Code.org, Kodable, Scratch, Tynker, HTML and more. Beginners welcome. #stem

DETAILS>>Sundays 3-4 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E Chandler Blvd. Ages 8-17. Free. No registration required.

Life changes, markets fluctuate, and your portfolio might need an adjustment to keep you on track toward achieving your goals. If you’re wondering whether you have the right investments in your portfolio, we’d be happy to give you a professional evaluation.

could be the

Life changes, markets fluctuate, and your portfolio might need an adjustment to keep you on track toward achieving your goals. If you’re wondering whether you have the right investments in your portfolio, we’d be happy to give you a professional evaluation.

It could be the only thing you need is more cream in your coffee, but your investments are worth an important second look.

Call today for a complimentary consultation over coffee.

investments in your portfolio, we’d be happy to give you a professional evaluation. It could be the only thing you need is more cream in your coffee, but your investments are worth an important second look.

Call today for a complimentary consultation over coffee.

CALENDAR

MONDAYS

Sign language for crawlers

Accompanied by a favorite adult, little ones enjoy songs, music, rhymes, books, interactive stories, simple sign language words, activities to promote movement, and playtime. #pplstorytime #babytimewithsign

DETAILS>> Mondays 10:30-11 a.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages birth to crawling. Free. Tickets are limited and available in the library 30 minutes before program start time.

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 likeminded folks.

DETAILS>> For times and places: ld18democrats.org/ calendar.

TUESDAYS

Homework help

Volunteer Eric will help with homework.

DETAILS>> 4-5:30 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 5-18. Free. No registration required.

Coloring for grown-ups

Adult coloring promotes mindfulness, reduces stress, and improves cognitive motor skills. We’ll provide the markers, crayons, colored pencils, and coloring sheets; you just bring yourself and your friends!

DETAILS>> 1:30-3 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Free. No registration required.

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.

Writing critique group

The third Tuesday of every month bring five doublespaced pages of writing to get feedback from your fellow writers.

DETAILS>> 6-7:45 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Free. No registration required.

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: 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 offers Power Partners every Tuesday except the second Tuesday of the month, when attendees are encouraged to attend the Wake Up Ahwatukee Morning Mixer. Unlike our Monday Power Group, this group will be noncategory 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, 480990-5444.

WEDNESDAYS

Tour Foothills Montessori

Ahwatukee Foothills Montessori offers a free tour every week for interested parents.

DETAILS>> 4 p.m. 3221 E. Chandler Blvd., Ahwatukee. Information: 480-759-3810 or ahwatukeefoothillsmontessori.com.

TinkerTime

Explore hands-on creative ways to design, experiment, and invent while learning about science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) through tinkering.

DETAILS>> 4-6 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 5-12. Free. No registration required.

Sit, Stay, Read!

Young readers and listeners can sign up for reading time with a registered therapy animal & human team. Read to Truffles every Wednesday.

DETAILS>> 3-4 p.m., Ironwood Library, 4333 E. Chandler Blvd. Ages 5-10. Free. No registration required.

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: lokits@yahoo.com or 480-4718505.

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

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. 602-6365390 or HOV.org.

www.ahwatukee.com

So far, it looks like Arizona school graders merit a D at best

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

Let’s suppose you were waiting for a copy of your job evaluation. You were pretty confident it would be a good one, maybe already spending in your mind the bonus or raise that you knew would follow.

The long-awaited copy arrives and with each word your dismay turns to shock. It is tepid at best.

Then your boss walks in and tells you, “Don’t worry. We’re changing the benchmarks we used in your evaluation. You’ll get another one in a few months.”

No raise. No bonus. No real certainty about anything.

Sound disturbing? Well, if you have kids or are somehow related to kids attending a public or a charter school in Arizona, you, they and the people charged with educating them are in that nightmare right now.

If you’ve been following the unfolding

Republican education model serves all students in state

In an apparent effort to start next year’s legislative campaign season early, a writer stated in an Oct 11 AFN letter to the editor that Republicans and, more specifically, Rep. Jill Norgaard “care little about education in Arizona.” She went on to praise our Democratic legislators because they “have shown a commitment to providing the best possible education to every student.”

Not true.

While Kyrene and Tempe Union provide the majority of our community’s students a high-quality education, they don’t serve all students well. One size does not fit all. The “public school district education only” approach, so strongly advocated by our Democratic legislators, only works for students who find success in that environment. Those who don’t, and their parents, are essentially told to make it work at a K-12 public district school.

Fortunately for those students, Repub-

wacky drama surrounding the return of Arizona’s first letter grades for schools in a couple of years – and you should be –you already know about that nightmare.

The state Board of Education released letter grades despite its members’ own concern that the formula used to generate them might be more than a little unfair and way too complex.

The tape of the board’s Sept. 6 meeting – which you can search and find on youtube.com – is all the evidence you need.

Kyrene school Superintendent Jan Vesely and Susie Ostmeyer, her chief information and accountability officer, laid out the inherent unfairness in the complicated formula, noting it actually penalized schools doing exceptionally well.

At least five of the 11 board members, including Chairman Tim Carter, voiced concerns about the revelations and debated whether a delay might be in order.

Carter, superintendent of Yavapai County schools, wasn’t just taking Kyrene’s word for it. He admitted that he had attended a number of meetings with rural school superintendents who voiced

the same concerns.

But then Carter said the board would press on anyway and voted on the new system three weeks later – which it did.

And in pushing aside concerns about the formula, he explained the real reason for the rush: He was under pressure from the governor and the state Legislature.

Now, the Board of Education has told districts and the public not to pay too much attention to the grades it released 10 days ago. They’re only preliminary –so preliminary that now they will be reviewed and tweaked by a whole different set of people from the ones who came up with the formula.

And they’re holding public hearings –sessions that have been given little publicity, were set up hastily and all of which are being held in the daytime during the week, when most parents presumably are working.

In the meantime, no one seems to be giving much attention to state Superintendent of Public Schools Diane Douglas’ assertion that letter grades don’t say much about a school anyway because

LETTERS

licans and Rep. Jill Norgaard, have created a K-12 education system in Arizona that seeks to serve all students by enabling them and their parents to find a school system or education method that works best for them.

While not popular with teacher labor unions and some parents whose children excel in district schools, the Republican model does exactly what the writer claims it doesn’t – “provide the best possible education to every student.”

-Chad Blostone

Resident to neighbors:

Know where trash bins go

Trash bins do not belong on the sidewalk.

Where do you place your trash bins on trash day? Do you place them on the sidewalk? Do you place them four feet apart? Do you place them curbside, in the street? Putting them on the sidewalk forces pedestrians off the sidewalk and into the street. Placing them four feet apart pro-

vides enough room for conveyor arms to come down safely in between the bins.

Placing them curbside in the street allows your neighbors to stay on the safe sidewalk. The city of Phoenix has guidelines for this weekly task.

Most importantly, it matters to your neighbors, including parents walking with children or with a child in a stroller; neighbors walking their dogs on leashes as well as those with special needs or visual impairments; neighbors in wheelchairs or with canes or walkers.

One of our wheelchair-bound neighbors toppled over trying to maneuver around the bins. He was not able to get himself back into the chair without assistance.

City ordinance Article III. Solid Waste Collection, section 27-19 states:

“Residential user containers; ownership, placement, responsibility, and enclosures. To ensure containers are placed out on time, containers may be placed at the curb after 6 p.m. on the day preceding collection. Containers for street collection must be placed at the curb for service no later

they are largely based on one test. She has suggested a report card, one that gives a more thorough analysis of the wide variety of tasks any school or district must fulfill in order to educate your kids properly and prepare them for a world that is rapidly changing.

Mainly, she’s being ignored because the governor and Legislature don’t want it. They want a simple grade.

So, ask yourself: What you would do if your child came home with a report card that had just one letter for all the different things he or she must accomplish in order to be successful in school?

You wouldn’t know how they’re doing in any given subject. You wouldn’t know how they behave in class and relate to their peers, teachers and staff. You wouldn’t even necessarily know how that grade was determined in the first place.

Kids, teachers and school administrators deserve some better yardstick than what is being served up right now. Come to think of it, so do parents and caregivers.

And yes, taxpayers, too.

than 5:30 a.m. on the day of collection. They must be removed prior to 5:30 a.m. of the day after collection.

It is unlawful to place or permit containers to remain adjacent to the curb except upon regular collection days. Containers must be stored, between collection days, on the user’s property so as not to interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.”

The city of Phoenix does not currently enforce or regulate this article.

This is our community. Let’s make it safe for everyone to enjoy.

-Tracey Church

Vaccination laws questionable, unnecessary

Recently, Sweden banned forced vaccinations in their country. The nation referred to “frequent serious adverse reactions” in children as the reason for its action.

In America, we have similar serious re-

Real Estate Guide

BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY

AFN Staff Writer

The residential house flipping market is active in pockets throughout the East Valley – but harder to find in Ahwatukee.

A large portion of the market is being driven by motivated investors providing inventory for first-time homebuyers who are largely neglected by homebuilders.

The volume of flipped homes in the East Valley was up 23 percent between July 2016 and July 2017, which is 3 percent higher than the activity bump in the Phoenix Metro as a whole, according to Tina Tamboer, senior research analyst at The Cromford Report.

The Cromford Report defines flipped homes as properties acquired and sold within a six-month period.

Ahwatukee is not a primary market for flippers because the inventory of distressed properties in the area is drying up, Realty Executives’ Patrick Lewis said. Lewis is also Arizona Association of Realtors first vice president.

“With prices being pushed up, the ability to flip and make money has been low,” Lewis said.

The flipping market in the East Valley is largely being driven by low-priced homes that can be renovated and sold in the $150,000-$250,000 price range to buyers

Mike Mendoza

looking for “like-new homes within the first-time homebuyer price range,” said Tamboer.

There is a dearth of new inventory for those buyers to choose from as homebuilders focus on building houses in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.

The median square footage for homes flipped in the East Valley is about 1,600 square feet, a smaller footprint than that of the typical new home in the area.

However, there is some flipping activity in Ahwatukee and other portions of the East Valley in that higher-end market, said Marty Boardman, co-owner of FixAndFlipHub, a company that flips homes in the Phoenix market and provides educational materials for prospective flippers.

Boardman’s company focuses on acquiring homes in the $150,000 to $250,000 range and selling them for between $300,000 and $500,000 to moveup buyers or “lifestyle transition buyers” who are looking to move from larger tract-style homes to infill properties.

Boardman just finished a renovation of a property in Ahwatukee that will be listed for about $350,000.

Overall, the Southeast Valley is a “frenzy market” right now and “if they price it right, the home will sell very quickly,” Tamboer said.

However, buyers also need to do the proper due diligence to ensure the quality of a flipped property they would like to purchase.

Following the housing crisis, many flipped homes required a complete overhaul and flippers could not get away with making only minor or subpar improvements, Tamboer said.

Today, flippers are acquiring more homes that do not require ground-up renovation, and some are getting sloppy or performing superficial renovations.

“You have to really know what you’re doing in the flipped property market,” Tamboer said.

Signs of a subpar renovation could include skipping out on costlier items like roof and window replacement, HVAC upgrades and water heater replacement, Marty Boardman said.

“If you can see clearly that those things weren’t done, you could be concerned that other (renovations) were done cheaply,” Boardman said.

Cheap plumbing and lighting fixtures are also warning signs.

Typically, investors are looking to make a 25-30 percent gain on the acquisition price of a home. The median percentage gained in the East Valley overall is around 26 percent.

East Valley flippers are seeing the high-

est percentage return on their investment in Apache Junction, where the median percentage return on house acquisition price was just over 40 percent between January and July.

Tempe (37.1 percent), Mesa (27.8 percent) and Chandler (23.2 percent) are other markets where flippers are seeing medium to high returns. Flippers in Gilbert are seeing lower returns in the 15 percent range.

Apache Junction also has benefited from an active market where the average time elapsed between acquisition and sale is just 89 days.

In order to remain in the targeted return range, investors are focusing on properties with low acquisition prices. Hot markets in the East Valley for those properties include Apache Junction, North Chandler, North Gilbert and the area along Main Street around Country Club Drive in Mesa.

While the median profit amount on flipped properties is holding relatively stable at roughly $45,000, the percentage gain is falling as rising property and renovation costs — including supplies and labor — require flippers to invest more up front to reap the same return.

(Special to AFN) Not many homes in Ahwatukee are like this one, moderately priced to flip and sell quickly.

(Special to AFN)

Marty Boardman works on one of the rare houses he finds in Ahwatukee for flipping.

Tiny-house makers struggling to gain foothold in Arizona

BY JESSE STAWNYCZY Cronkite News

Tiny housing has been a hot topic the past few years, with shows such as “Tiny House Hunters” and others appearing on HGTV and tiny house communities popping up across the country.

The trend has flourished in densely populated cities such as New York and Seattle. Some smaller communities –such as Spur, Texas – have embraced the movement as well.

Despite the growth, the trend has struggled to gain a significant foothold in Arizona. One tiny house builder said his company has built 10 tiny houses since 2015, and most of those went out of state. In terms of more permanent microhousing communities, such as “container” and studio apartments, there are only a handful of examples in the Valley.

Tiny housing, sometimes called microhousing, generally refers to a house or small living space that is typically more than 300 square feet but less than 500 square feet, according to the Urban Land Institute.

Mark Stapp, a real estate and development

expert at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, said the idea of cost savings from tiny housing appeals to people, but he still doesn’t think there’s a strong future for it in Phoenix.

“We don’t have the scarcity of space like San Francisco or New York has,” Stapp said.

“I don’t see there’s going to be demand.”

Stapp said developers in the Valley can still build housing in less dense, cheaper areas. He said there are just too many housing options in Phoenix to make small

living the mainstream choice at this point. Stapp said that despite the lower cost overall for tiny housing, it might cost developers more per square foot to build these smaller spaces.

Benjamin Hall, architect/developer of White Stone Studios near downtown Phoenix, said it wasn’t easy getting the tiny set of apartment units off the drawing board because “there’s no incentive to get city help.”

“In a way, the scale is too small (for local

city government) to take interest in,” he said. White Stone Studios’ rentable units are less than 600 square feet.

Hall began his commercial venture in 2011 after the Great Recession, and he said White Stone Studios was the first tiny commercial housing project in Phoenix. It paved the way for other projects, such as the modified shipping container housing units on both Grand Avenue and on Portland Street, by familiarizing city officials with the idea of smaller development projects.

Because Hall wasn’t an established developer and was asking for rental rates comparatively higher than the rest of the area, he said construction loans were nearly impossible to come by after the recession, forcing him finance the venture independently.

Mike Partanna, builder and owner of Phoenix-based Uncharted Tiny Homes, said people who want to buy tiny houses face similar financing challenges. He said the company has only sold three individual tiny houses in Arizona. The houses are built on custom wheeled trailers

Tiny Houses are becoming increasingly popular across the U.S. but don't seem to be making much of a dent in Arizona's housing market.

BY BONNY HOLLAND

In the Valley of the Sun, we consider the true luxury market to be properties valued at $1 million or above.

According to Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, on Oct. 1 there were 1,703 properties listed over that amount.

In September, there were 106 homes sold with an average sale price of $1,557,434. The average days on market was 189 and average price per square foot was $317.95. Valleywide, the average number of months these homes are in inventory is 12-plus. That is a huge number that means the market for luxury homes is currently in a very strong buyer’s market. Luxury homes are selling, but mainly it’s those that are priced to sell.

In Ahwatukee, we don’t have enough sales over $1 million to classify only those sales as “luxury.”

Typically, luxury home price points are categized by the top 10 percent of the sales in an area.

When we look at the top 10 percent of the home sales for Ahwatukee, the starting range for luxury homes would be approximately $600,000 and above. The market for $600,000-plus homes so far this year in Ahwatukee – based on Arizona Regional MLS data –demonstrates better sales than last year at this same time. August and September had a significant increase in closings for Ahwatukee luxury homes between $600,000 and $950,000.

If we break down sales of homes for $600,000 or more, in other words, the Ahwatukee luxury home market looks healthy.

Here’s why:

• So far this year, the number of Ahwatukee homes that sold for $600,000 or more is 66. Of that number,seven sold for more than $1 million. The volume for those sales is $51,823,298.

• Last year at this time, 64 closings involved Ahwatukee homes that sold for $600,000. Of that, 15 were $1 million or more. The total volume of those sales was $55,430.523.

Because Ahwatukee’s luxury price point is $600,000 even though we have had fewer sales over $1 million and a lower sales volume overall this year, 2017 is ahead of 2016 in luxury sales. The number of units closed has increased, and Ahwatukee’s luxury home market is picking up steam with a 26 percent increase in sales between $600,000 and $999,000. That’s great news for the Ahwatukee luxury market. -Bonny Holland is with Keller Williams, Sonoran Living in Ahwatukee Foothills. Reach her at 602-369-1085, www.leadingluxuryexperts.com or on Facebook and Twitter.

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TINY

and range from 150 to 350 square feet, but they don’t meet housing code requirements such as minimum ceiling height.

Because it’s not technically a house, people can’t finance it through a home mortgage, he said, adding, “We would have sold 50 in the last two years if people could get financing."

Christoph Kaiser, Phoenix architect and design firm owner, knows a thing or two about tiny-house development. Kaiser’s Garfield neighborhood grain silo tiny home where he and his wife lived for a year and a half has appeared in publications such as Today and Curbed.com.

Kaiser said he faced legal hurdles building the unconventional project, such as getting it registered as a residence in a historic neighborhood.

“The amount of paperwork and bureaucracy we have to tread through is the same for a master bedroom or bathroom addition as if you’re building a 4,000-square-foot house,” he said.

Whether a tiny residence is mobile or permanent makes a legal difference as well.

Kaiser said many cities don’t allow mobile structures on a plot of vacant land without a permanent foundation, and they need to comply with regulations such as grading and drainage.

Hall said city regulations governing permanent housing construction also might impede smaller projects, “specifically fire code issues … there’s a threshold where you have to provide fire sprinklers, which is a very expensive thing to do.”

Hall said smaller builds may need to meet parking requirements as well, which could kill a project.

Despite the challenges of developing the project, Hall said he has a waiting list of people looking to move into White Stone Studios.

Other projects are in the works.

Kaiser and his design firm are working on a tiny housing project they call the “kbox,” using a modified shipping container as a base, with an emphasis on affordability, quality and portability. He said he intends to release the new project to the public in January.

Kaiser said he envisions small living as both a means to spread out away from the city into areas where conventional housing might not be practical, but also to revitalize areas of Phoenix.

Partanna said Uncharted Tiny Homes is growing and the company is working on three new tiny home builds.

“There’s a lot of interest here,” he said, “but a lot of people are finance challenged.”

Partanna said he plans to register his company as an RV manufacturer, which would allow potential customers an easier way to obtain financing for their tiny home because the builds would fall within a legal classification.

Stapp said he would call tiny housing a niche market compared to the rest of Arizona real estate, but he said there might be greater interest as downtown and other areas become more densely populated.

He added that part of the appeal of tiny housing lies in potential cost savings as housing prices increase.

In March, Zillow estimated that Phoenix home values had increased about 9 percent over the previous 12 months, and analysts predicted they would rise 3.5 percent within the next year, according to the Home Buying Institute.

As of March, the median home price in Phoenix was slightly more than $200,000.

But there also might be a “cool” aspect to micro housing, an X factor that draws people away from the typical and toward the quirky.

“We can live comfortably in small spaces,” Stapp said. “For some, it may be a lifestyle choice.”

from page RE3

(Photo by Jesse Stawnyczy/Cronkite News)

White Stone Studios owner and architect Benjamin Hall said it wasn’t easy developing the small set of apartment units in Phoenix.

Here’s one Cardinal I won’t be rooting for come game day

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ AFN Guest Writer

Last week, the day after the Arizona Cardinals traded for running back Adrian Peterson, I checked the sports pages and social media.

Lots of analysis concerning who may protest the National Anthem this week and whether such protests should be outlawed. Lots of celebration over the home team landing a seven-time Pro Bowler who maybe, just maybe, can turn around this disappointing season.

And precisely zero talk of Adrian Peterson’s past misdeeds beating his 4-year-old son.

Perhaps it’s a case of collective amnesia afflicting our sports scribes and football fans. Or maybe the statute of limitations for recalling Peterson’s crime – using a tree branch as a “switch” and “whooping” a small child until the boy’s back, legs, arms, buttocks and scrotum were bruised and

lacerated – really is only three years.

For you perhaps. But not for me.

In case you’ve forgotten, let me refresh your memory: The May 2014 beating, which Peterson described as disciplining his son over pushing another boy, resulted in an indictment for felony child abuse that September.

That November, Peterson plea bargained down to misdemeanor reckless assault, paying a $4,000 fine and agreeing to 80 hours community service.

The bigger punishment? The case cost

Peterson all but one game of the 2014 season, after he was placed on the National Football League’s exempt list, then suspended.

The league reinstated Peterson for the 2015 season. But I have yet to reinstate Peterson, 32, into the ranks of professional athletes for whom I will root, clap or otherwise countenance.

In this Hall of Shame, Peterson joins the ranks of stars like Ben Roethlisberger and the now-retired Kobe Bryant, men – using

the term in its genetic sense, not in terms of character – I would never want on my team under any circumstances. Ironically, Peterson shares this distinction with quarterback Jameis Winston, who captained the opposing Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday against the Cardinals.

Winston was at the center of much-reported rape accusations while he attended my alma mater, Florida State University.

Regardless, FSU kept Winston playing during the 2013 football season, when the Seminoles went 14-0 and beat Auburn to win the national championship. Winston won the Heisman Trophy that year as the best player in college football.

Me, I will always remember that championship as the one that comes with an asterisk, because FSU won using a player who I believe should never have been playing, much less been lauded for his achievements.

Of course, I don’t get to make those decisions. All I can control is my own principles and my own passions, who I person-

Why you might want to work for Maricopa County

BY DENNIS BARNEY AFN Guest Writer

One of the primary missions of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is to ensure the county provides exceptional customer service to the residents who do business with us. A major aspect of that is hiring the right people.

We want sharp, dynamic people from the private sector who can help us innovate, as well as efficient, flexible doers from the government world who enable us to streamline our processes and achieve more. In short, we want the best service-oriented people we can get.

Here’s why you might want to come work for us.

Career flexibility. We have more than 50 lines of business which often collaborate with one another. If you want to rise up the ladder in your department and become a manager or director, you can. But it’s also possible to take your skills and move laterally to another department. That variety surprises many people who think of government work as “boring.” The reality is, where you start in the county may not be where you end up.

Workforce transformation: We are in the middle of a process that will evolve

our workforce so that high achievers are rewarded and those who are not meeting our standards are held accountable.

Workforce transformation is about creating an environment that allows you to know what’s expected of you and where you stand with your supervisor. It also empowers you to shape the track of your career so you can grow professionally while also serving the county mission.

Potential references: With over 13,000 employees at Maricopa County, when you come to work here, your network immediately expands. This is a big place that employs experts and innovators in many different fields. Whatever the future holds, you’ll have mentors and colleagues who can support you.

Innovation: As the fastest-growing county in the United States, we need to do more with less. You can push us forward with the programs you create, the systems you design, the partnerships you forge.

Serve your community: This is the reason I am a county supervisor and it is why so many of us make careers at Maricopa County. No matter what job you have in our organization, your primary function is to make life better for 4 million other people. Every day here is an opportunity to do something small that could make a big difference in someone’s life.

ally choose to support.

So, no, don’t expect me to buy a Cardinals jersey with a 23 on the front and “Peterson” in white caps across the back. Don’t expect me to hop on the bandwagon should Peterson improbably lead the Bird Gang to Super Bowl LII in February.

And don’t be surprised when I wonder aloud why Colin Kaepernick can’t earn a paycheck in the NFL while Adrian Peterson can? Or what the difference is between Peterson, the Cards’ starting halfback today, and Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens All-Pro who knocked his wife out cold in a casino elevator in February 2014, and has never played a down of pro football since?

To me, Peterson and Rice are cut from exactly the same hideous cloth.

Still, the fans in Glendale will treat the legend they call A.P. like the Second Coming each time he touches the football. Right after they get done booing any player who dares disrespect that other piece of cloth we call the American flag.

LETTERS

from page 32

There are many examples, but here’s one I heard recently. A disabled veteran ran a red light a decade ago but didn’t have proof of insurance. There was a mix-up with his court date that never got resolved, he moved out of the county, and the notices about his mounting fines never got to him.

One day, the 63-year-old received a letter saying his license would be suspended if he did not pay hundreds of dollars in fines. He didn’t have the money.

So he wrote a letter to a Justice Court judge asking for leniency, saying “Forgive me. I will do whatever you think is fair. I’m not an outlaw but a straight, upstanding person.”

That judge, Fred Arnett, works for the county. And that day he had a chance to make a difference. He looked at this man’s situation, kept in mind his commitment to serve the public, and did the compassionate thing. He waived the man’s fines and cleared the way to have his license reinstated. As that veteran put it, Judge Arnett’s decision “touched my heart and put a tear of joy in my eyes.”

There are a lot of reasons to consider working for Maricopa County, but it’s hard to top that one.

-Denny Barney chairs the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

actions, but our health care system covers them up.

In California, a seventh-grader was re-vaccinated for whopping cough. When children get vaccinated, they may be “infectious,” meaning they can spread disease for weeks. This child’s friends came down with a slight case of whooping cough for a few weeks, then recovered. This was all confirmed by the board of health.

One more thing; The dad of this child developed a life-threatening whooping cough injury, in the form of Guillain Barre Syndrome. Within a week, he was paralyzed and in intensive care.

After many weeks in the hospital he slowly began to recover, starting to learn to walk again. This vaccine injury lasted nearly two years and cost a year of income, and medical bills were over a $250,000. The only reason he survived was that he was in very good physical shape.

At this point, I would like to address Gov. Jerry Brown’s law on forced vaccinations. Is this law supposed to protect the rest of the class who were vaccinated? Or was it put into law to protect the unvaccinated? An unvaccinated child, just being in a class of vaccinated infectious children, will contract a body that is resistant to this disease, just like the vaccinated. So, in both cases there is no need for a law, forcing vaccination.

-Don Crook

Mobile veterinarians treat animals in Ahwatukee, region

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

It’s 7 a.m when a 28-foot custom built and converted interstate commercial trailer is pulled into the parking lot of Ahwatukee’s Pet Planet on Chandler Boulevard.

When the trailer is unhitched, Dr. Kelly’s Mobile Surgical Unit is open for business.

And there is business, indeed – spay and neutering, mass removals, hernia repairs, even dental cleanings on cats and dogs.

Dr. Kelly Patriquin owns Dr. Kelly’s Mobile Surgical Unit with her husband, Doug. The couple and parents of two boys, 10 and 11, purchased the business, and one rig, last October from a retiring veterinarian who ran a spay and neuter clinic.

In July, Kelly purchased another trailer, enabling her to cover Ahwtaukee and the East Valley with one and Phoenix, Buckeye and Scottsdale with the other. Each

mobile unit also has four nurses.

Kelly’s business is booming, enough so that the company is considering adding a

third trailer.

“There are a significant number of pet owners that can’t afford what has become

the standard pricing model of most veterinary surgical procedures,” said Kelly.

“When pet owners have to choose between paying their mortgage and a needed medical procedure for their pet, they can feel a lot of stress,” she added. “We help make that stressful choice easier for owners by being as cost-efficient as possible, and passing the savings on to our clients.”

The Phoenix native received her degree from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997, then worked in private practice in Phoenix, Prescott and Portland, Oregon.

The stress of her own private practice, with its long hours and many weekends away from her family, prompted her decision to start the mobile surgical unit.

“There’s an obvious upside to owning your own practice. After owning a large, multi-doctor practice for several years, I was looking to make a change. Being able to use my skills and love of surgery to pro-

Mountain Pointe High alumnus runs bustling IT firm

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

Eric Marcus wasn’t a big fan of high school, even though he says Mountain Pointe High School was a very good school.

The 1998 grad didn’t pursue team sports and extracurricular affairs – his interest lay in computers and in working.

Getting paid for a job well done, even if that was making popcorn at the then-newly opened Ahwatukee AMC on Ray Road – his first job at 16.

Next came Ahwatukee’s Target, where Marcus said he was taught customer service and organizational skills.

But it was his next job selling computers at Comp USA that launched Marcus into a career path that would take him through two years at Arizona State University, a tech job with an up-and-coming dot-com company, and at age 22, the founding of Marcus Networking Inc.

Now located in Tempe, Marcus Net-

working Inc. is a bustling IT firm that specializes in solving computer issues for the medical field.

Marcus has 20 full-time employees, a handful of whom are related to him by blood or marriage.

In the past three years, he has purchased and absorbed two other firms involved in providing service to the medical community.

“We understand technology and telecommunications and how it ties together,” said Marcus of his 15-year-old company. “Creating innovative solutions is our passion, not just a job.”

Marcus Networking Inc. is a “boutique” firm, with 75 percent of its business in the medical field. Because medicine doesn’t sleep, neither does his company, which maintains a 24/7 hotline to assist with problems and troubleshooting.

The company is licensed, bonded, insured and has FBI and

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer) Mobile vet service nurse Brittany Paridon has another satisfied patient in Bumper.

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Mountain Pointe High School graduate Eric Marcus started his successful IT company in Tempe when he was 22.

vide affordable care to pet owners that could not afford the procedure otherwise has been extremely rewarding,” said Kelly, who previously owned a four-doctor animal hospital for more than eight years.

“Another big, big change for me has been having quality of life with my family,” she noted, adding:

“The last 20 years I’ve spent working weekends. And there were evenings required. I used to come home after the boys were in bed. Now, with our Monday through Friday schedule, it’s great to have this time together.”

She said there are occasions when the Mobile Surgical Units do special events for rescue or shelter organizations and will open on what typically would be a day off.

Those are posted on their Facebook page, along with their schedules for both units, and maps to their locations.

Surgery long has been Kelly’s passion and she continues to pursue that.

“I have always loved surgery, and I pride myself on it. It’s kind of sad that we can’t do as wide a variety of services. For instance, I used to do more orthopedics,” she said.

It is not unusual for the Mobile Surgical Units to do procedures such as mass removal, including enucleation, or amputation.

All surgerical patients are fully anesthetized and digitally monitored, and the firm’s Facebook page is filled with grateful pet owners praising the quality and care of services done.

More common tasks are the administration of vaccines – including those for Lyme disease – insertion of microchips, tooth extraction and other dental needs and nail clipping.

All services are by appointment only.

“We started this mobile surgical business because we felt there was a need for affordable pet care surgical services. I’ve worked in clinics where they routinely charged three times what we do now,” said Kelly. “It makes you feel good providing these services to people at a cost they can afford.”

Melissa Porphir, manager of Ahwatukee’s Pet Planet, was one of those using the facility during a recent Mobile Surgical Unit visit.

“I took Gomer, my 13-year-old Chihuahua, to have four teeth pulled, and it went really well. He’s back to his bossy

self, and it cost less than I expected,” said the Mesa resident.

She said she recommends Dr. Kelly’s Mobile Surgical Unit to friends when they stop in Ahwatukee or further east.

“I think they’re really professional and extremely cost-effective,” said Porphir.

Caring for pets is more than a job for Kelly, her husband and two sons, who share their home with two dogs – 12-year old Carter, a shepherd lab mix, and Thai, a year-old Beagle mix who was a gift for the boys. There are also two cats named Porkchop and Rook.

Prices are listed online at their website: DrKellysMobileVet.com and on their Facebook page.

Sample prices for services include dog dental cleaning and mass removals, both starting at $200. Cat spay is $60; dog spay and neuter is on a sliding scale based on weight. Up to 20 pounds costs $75 for spay, $65 for neuter; 80 to 100 pounds are $125 and $115, respectively.

Post-operative medications and IV fluids during surgery, when needed, are also available.

Kelly said she does not charge an office visit fee, and can provide free estimates by phone or text.

For appointments, phone 602-9095383.

Information: DrKellysMobileVet.com or Facebook.

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

The mobile veterinarian service provided by Dr. Kelly's Mobile Surgical Unit offers competitive pricing over brick-and-mortar clinics, its owners say.

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DEA credentials. Marcus said he does not outsource any work.

Among his clients is Arizona Allergy Associates, which has offices throughout the county, including Chandler, East Mesa and Queen Creek.

Deb Telles, director of operations, became acquainted with Marcus Networking in 2013 when she was with another medical firm and his company came in to oversee a computer systems conversion.

When Telles took the position at AAA, she was instrumental in introducing him and his company to her new practice and their six partner physicians.

“We started looking at the value of a company available 24-7 with a help desk that was available to all of our employees and I suggested Eric and Marcus Networking as I was impressed with the work I had seen them do previously,” she said.

The Arizona Allergy Associates network is complex, serving multiple physicians, physician extenders and nurses, some of whom who may require the service on an all-hours basis.

“I’ve got a couple night owl physicians who might be doing their charting at midnight, and if they have a systems problem, they can call Marcus Networking, and they’re back up. It’s absolutely priceless to me to have this capability not only for us, but our partner physicians,” said Telles.

For Marcus, quality of life – for himself and his employees – is paramount to success. “I think I’m pretty old-school. We still pay our employees overtime and oncall bonuses, and we pay full benefits. In the past 15 years, we’ve lost two employees,” he said, adding:

“I believe your staff is important, and you’re not going to get far unless you treat them well, and appreciate their worth.”

Because Marcus Networking Inc.’s support line is available any time of day or night, there comes a time when techs are responsible for answering those 3 a.m. calls. Robert Tanner of Gilbert is one of those techs who rotate on a seven-week schedule to be on-call after-hours and holidays.

“True, not everybody enjoys that call at 3 a.m. However, Eric makes sure we’re compensated more than fairly,” he said.

“We all understand that the people on the other end of the phone pay us,” Tanner added. “Even though the check comes from Marcus Networking, at the end of the day, without our clients, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in.”

Tanner, who is a Cisco Certified Network Associate, also said he feels “person-

ally responsible for our client’s systems.”

“If it’s down at 3 a.m., it’s best to get started on the resolution at any time, so when the business day starts, the end-users can all get into their work without worrying about how to function without whatever system that may be down at the time,” said Tanner.

“The bottom line is it makes for good customer service, and helps your clients understand that you do care. I think that’s what sets us apart from many other companies out there.”

Marcus said his employees’ willingness to take those after-hour calls is crucial to his business. “In the medical industry, we do have doctors who call at 3 a.m. and we have to respond in a five-minute time frame. Our policy is five minutes or less, and our employees do that and do it willingly.”

Tanner also lauded Marcus Networking for offering employees a 401(k) with company match, paid vacation, benefits and flexible work schedule.

“Eric understands life and knows things come up,” he said. “I think that’s what separates him from other CEO’s whose main focus is their bottom line, and not the people that make the wheels turn day in and day out.”

Eric Marcus and his wife, Melissa, have two daughters, ages 8 and 6. He said he had a lifestyle change last year when his mother, Rochelle, died from cancer. The 80-hour workweeks diminished as he took time to be with her as her condition worsened. From that point, he said, a better balance between his business and family life became more important.

His success at a young age can be perceived as problematic, he admits.

“In IT, I think youth is a liability,” said Marcus. “A lot of people kind of look at you and decide you haven’t had a lot of time or experience to be heading a company.

“And a lot of my clients are doctors who have gone to school for years, so, yes, some clients kind of give me a little pushback. But I tell them with 20 employees having 150 years of combined experience, we get it done. It’s not just me, it’s our team.”

The family-owned and operated Marcus Networking Inc. includes his father, Sheldon Marcus, COO; his uncle Ken Gaylor, vice president of sales; Staci Gaylord, controller, and brothers-in-law Ritchie Medina and Matt Canfield as technicians.

“It’s always interesting working with family; it has its ups and downs as working with any staff would. But at the end of the day, you know they have your best interest at heart, and want to see you succeed,” he said. “You can’t put a price on that comfort.”

Old Chandler eyesore site finally seeing rebirth

BY COLLEEN SPARKS AFN Staff Writer

Construction of a high-rise office building near Chandler Fashion Center is finally underway on the site of Elevation Chandler – an unfinished development that became a controversial eyesore even before the Valley’s real estate market crashed in 2008.

International real estate firm Hines broke ground recently for the Offices at Chandler Viridian, a six-story building at the intersection of Loops 101 and 202. Stantec, an architectural, engineering, environmental services and planning company, will move its Southwest regional office into the Chandler building.

The office building marks the culmination of the Chandler Viridian mixed-used development and the final stake in the heart of Elevation Chandler, a hotel/condo project that went belly up before the building was finished.

In 2014, Hines tore down its concrete skeleton, which had haunted the neighborhood after work stopped in 2006. Elevation Chandler developer Jeff Cline had filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

“Breaking ground on the Offices at Chandler Viridian is the culmination of years of hard work in implementing the vision of our mixed-use development,” said Chris Anderson, managing director and Arizona leader for Hines.

Anderson added the “groundbreaking represents tremendous investment in this high-profile location near the Chandler Fashion Center and Price Road Corridor, and an enduring collaboration among city leaders and our partners.”

Chandler City Councilmember Terry Roe said he told Hines officials that the former Elevation Chandler structure had been an eyesore in the city for so long that if all they did was tear it down, it “would be worth it.”

“This is a really big thing,” Roe said. “People long before I was around were forward-thinking and set up the Price Corridor and the Chandler Fashion Center and the Loop 101. Then you had this particular area. When you get close to approaching buildout, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for something that is just this special, Roe said, adding:

“It’s positioned right there in between

A rendering shows what the Offices at Chandler Viridian will look like at the

101 and 202. The six-story building is the capstone to the

the mall and the Price Corridor; I don’t think you could lay that out much better.”

Elevation Chandler’s skeleton remained untouched through bankruptcy filings, foreclosures and a failed trustee sale.

The Offices at Chandler Viridian is incorporated into the Chandler Viridi-

an master plan development, which also includes a pending Cambria hotel and suites, and is expected to open in February.

Also on the site are the Fashion Center

We have been parents at Keystone Montessori for over nine years and this is the only school that both of our kids attended. We believe Keystone has provided our children with the perfect blend of social, emotional and intellectual development. The Keystone staff and teachers have done a remarkable job in fostering the intellectual curiosity coupled with emotional maturity in our kids that we believe have prepared them for their next steps of high school and then college.

- Parent Testimonial

(Rendering courtesy of Hines)

intersection of Loops

Chandler Viridian, mixed-use development.

Medicare open enrollment season is here

BY GREG DILL AFN Guest Writer

Iit’s the time of year when you should think about shopping around for a Medicare health or drug plan.

Medicare’s open enrollment period begins Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7.

If you have Original Medicare, meaning that you can choose any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare, you don’t need to think about open enrollment.

But if you have a Medicare Advantage (Part C) health plan, or a Medicare (Part D) prescription drug plan, you may want to see whether there’s another plan on the market that would be a better match for you, at a lower price.

If you’re enrolled in a plan and happy with it, you don’t need to do anything.

But Medicare health and drug plans – run by private insurers approved by Medicare – can change from year to year. A plan can raise its monthly premium or drop a medicine that you need.

Make sure your plan still is a good fit for you in terms of cost, coverage, and quality.

If it isn’t, look for another plan.

During open enrollment, you can sign up for a Medicare Advantage health plan or Part D prescription drug plan, or switch from one plan to another. Your new coverage will take effect Jan. 1, 2018.

How do you shop for a new plan?

One way is the “Medicare & You” handbook, mailed each fall to every Medicare household in the country. This booklet lists all the Medicare health and drug plans available where you live, along with basic information such as premiums, deductibles, and contacts.

There’s also the Medicare Plan Finder, at Medicare.gov.

Look for a green button that says, “Find health & drug plans.” Click on that, plug in your zip code, and you’ll see all of the Medicare Advantage and Part D plans available in your area. You can compare them based on benefits, premiums, copays, and estimated out-of-pocket costs.

If you don’t have access to a computer, call 1-800-633-4227. Our customer service representatives can help you with questions about Medicare health and drug plans. The call is free.

Another terrific resource is the State Health Insurance and Counseling Pro-

gram. SHIP is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides free, personalized counseling to people with Medicare. You can make an appointment to speak with a SHIP counselor in-person or over the phone.

SHIP counselors are well-trained volunteers who often are enrolled in Medicare themselves, so they know the issues. They can help you sort through different health and drug plans and help find one that’s right for you.

To contact your local SHIP office, go to shiptacenter.org.

If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of Jan. 1, 2018 but you’re not satisfied with it, you have a 45-day window to dis-enroll. Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 14, you can drop your plan and return to Original Medicare. You can sign up for a Part D drug plan during that time.

Having trouble paying for your Part D plan? You may be eligible for the Extra Help program, which helps cover your premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. Medicare beneficiaries typically save about $4,000 annually with Extra Help.

For more information on Extra Help, go to SSA.gov/prescriptionhelp.

VIRIDIAN

luxury apartments, which are occupied, as well as a dog park, a jogging trail linking all the properties and a Panera Bread restaurant. More retailers are expected to open in Chandler Viridian Primegate, and a central plaza with high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi is likely to debut in January and be finished next summer.

Stantec signed a long-term lease and is planning to start operating at the Offices at Chandler Viridian in January 2019. The company will take up about 22 percent of the building. The office structure will have a big, open floor plan with 10-foot ceilings, a large courtyard and a lounge.

Within the office space, Stantec will merge four regional offices to consolidate more than 250 specialists in mining, community development, water, transportation, environmental and buildings consulting services.

Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm that started in 1957 and has a presence in 21 countries and 201 cities. The company has about $100 billion of assets under management and more than 100 developments being built around the world.

Businesses toss it in at ABM cornhole competition

The Ahwatukee Board of Management and the Ahwatukee Swim & Tennis Center sponsored the first cornhole competition Saturday, Oct. 14, for local businesses, raising money in the process for the Kiwanis Club of Ahwatukee's Christmas party for foster kids. Second row, from left: Jeff, Ken and Tom Hedman relax from tossing the bean bags; Candy and Stu Olson of Next Door Realty take a breather; and Scott Salzetti and Keith Fisher of Vision ham it up for the AFN. Bottom row from left: Bridgett Bellavigna of Cross Fit shows cornhole form; Keith Pritchette, owner of Pritchette Physical Therapy, examines a bean bag before his toss; and John Naumann of Pritchette Physical Therapy teamed up with AFN sales rep Laura Meehan to see who had the better arm. The competition replaced the Rockin' in the Park concert that the center had sponsored the last nine years, but dropped this year because of rising costs. More than 40 businesses fielded two-member teams for the contest.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer

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All Cigna products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation. The Cigna name, logos, and other Cigna marks are owned by Cigna Intellectual Property, Inc. This information is not a complete description of benefits. Contact the plan for more information. Limitations, copayments, and restrictions may apply. Benefits, premiums, and/or co-payments/co-insurance may change January 1 of each year. You must continue to pay your Medicare Part B premium. Calling the number above will connect you to a licensed sales agent. Other providers are available in our network. Cigna complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age disability or sex. Cigna cumple con las leyes federales de derechos civiles aplicables y no dicrimina por motivos de raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o sexo. English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, free of charge are available to you. Call 1-888-2840268 (TTY 711). Spanish: ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-888-284-0268 (TTY 711). Chinese: 注意: 如果您使 用繁體中文, 您可以免費獲得語言援助服務. 請致電 1-888-284-0268 (TTY 711). You must reside in the plan service area. Available in certain counties of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Cigna is contracted with Medicare for PDP plans, HMO and PPO plans in select states, and with select State Medicaid programs. Enrollment in Cigna depends on contract renewal. © 2017 Cigna Y0036_18_57008 Accepted

Back in the day, people relied on each other.

Friends didn’t just tag you on Instagram or send a tear-drop emoji to show how much they cared. They were there for you… upclose, in person. We learned it at church and practiced it in life.

When I was growing up my mom made meals for sick friends and took care of their kids if they needed a hand. That carried over to my life as a young mom and has been a way of life I’ve passed on to my grown kids.

• Who needs a friend to bring dinner when lots of restaurants deliver and now Amazon is a part of that game.

• Visits and hugs have been replaced with texts and ecards.

• Encouraging words come from memes and gifs.

• Babysitters and elder care can be found on many websites…for a price.

• Why bring fresh flowers from your garden when you can have an elegant arrangement sent with a click on your phone?

Because having the confidence and peace of mind of accreditation is important.

That’s why Hawthorn Court is accredited by CARF International. It’s an independent organization that sets exceedingly high standards for care and service. It’s a lot like an accreditation for a hospital or college. So if you’re looking for memory care services for a loved one, take a good look at Hawthorn Court. We think you’ll find that our CARF accreditation is only one of the many reasons you’ll like what you see.

Starting the Talk: Conversations about Dementia Friday, October 27th • 1:00pm

Learn practical tips on starting the conversation on dementia in a positive way. Please call 480.359.2898 to RSVP.

Location: Risen Savior Lutheran Church 23914 South Alma School Rd., Chandler

If a neighbor needs a ride to the airport, I’ll be their Uber driver. They don’t have to pay me or even thank me. I’m blessed by knowing that I made things a little easier. Pastor Allan at Mountain Park Community Church recently “drove” this Uber friend message home.

We’ve become accustomed to our independence. “I don’t need help…I don’t need anyone.” That attitude doesn’t line up with God’s design for His people. It’s based in pride and fosters isolation.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

True contentment requires relationship, love, kindness, serving and being served. Going it alone is, well, lonely.

Technology has made it so easy to DIY.

• No need to share your heart and bare your soul to someone who knows you, see a therapist. They are paid to listen.

All the things that used to define acts of friendship can be yours without any true connection. There’s an app for that.

I’m dealing with a serious illness and feel so blessed that my friends get it. I have a bunch of people in my life that keep showing up to meet needs and let me see the love in their eyes and feel the warmth of their embrace.

If you’re relying on the App Friend model to have your needs met, consider reaching out to be an Uber friend to someone else. It starts with you and while it might be cliché, we truly reap what we sow.

More friendship always means more of a Contentment Connection.

-Diane Markins is an Ahwatukee author and speaker.

DIANE MARKINS

AFN Guest Writer

www.ahwatukee.com

Ahwatukee’s scariest event is around the corner

Call it Ahwatukee’s scariest signature event.

On one weekend a year, a haunted house is held at the unlikeliest place – the Ahwatukee Community Swim and Tennis Center, 4700 E. Warner Road.

The center is hosting its 16th annual haunted house and hayride 6-9 p.m. Oct. 27-29.

If you’re going to be scared, plan on going from 7:30 p.m. on. The first 90 minutes is the “less scary” time for families with young children.

This year, several high school clubs are taking a great role in the event, said Susan Hyden, the center’s director.

“We always have high school students show up to help, but some want to take a greater role,” she said, adding that those groups include the Horizon Honors Key Club, Cactus Aquatics Swim Team and the Ahwatukee High School Tennis Club.

Between 80-100 high teenagers show up to volunteer over the three-day event work as guides, hayride helpers and in other capacities.

We have all the costumes for them and usually have people who do makeup,” Hyden said. “We feed them. Get pizza throughout the night and waters.”

Hyden said crews will be working this week and next to put together sets and a show aimed at producing the “eerie, heart-thumping, eye-closing, scream-curdling” thrills that people will experience with a hayride and a visit to the haunted house.

“Visitors will enjoy a haunted hayride through the park and encounters with, well, various creatures of the night,” she added. If you think she’s exaggerating, consider this: “My staff and I have on many occasions taken families behind the scenes to prove to their kids that this is not real and the ‘zombies’ or other creatures are just very nice high school students or adults.”

Visitors who don’t find the scary sights stomach-turning will have a variety of treats to buy from a bake sale, caramel apples, hot chocolate and apple cider and other goodies. Hyden added that haunted house visitors also will get a free candy treat.

“This is a great community event,” Hyden said. “People will be amazed by what we have accomplished from all the time and efforts of my staff. People are always amazed at how we can transform our park into such a Halloween attraction.”

Admission is $9 for adults and $6 for kids 8 years old and younger.

Scary sets are part of the Ahwatukee Swim & Tennis Center’s annual haunted house presentation, which will be held this weekend and next. Proceeds benefit the center’s youth programs and park improvements. Information: 480-893-3431.

Granite Mountain Hotshots immortalized in ‘Only the Brave’

BY CONNOR DZIAWURA GETOUT Contributor

When the Yarnell Hill Fire resulted in the deaths of 19 of the Prescott Fire Department’s Granite Mountain Hotshots in 2013, millions across the country were stunned. The tragedy was the greatest loss of firefighters’ lives in the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Now four years later, the story of the brave men who made up the special skills team that tackled the massive wildfire is being told in one of the most immortalizing ways possible – film.

“Only the Brave,” which will be distributed by Columbia Pictures on Oct. 20, aims to honor the firefighters and the sacrifices they made for their families and community.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and supported by an A-list cast, the film stars Josh Brolin as Eric Marsh, Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough, Jeff Bridges as Duane Steinbrink and James Badge Dale as Jesse Steed, with Taylor Kitsch as Chris MacKenzie and Jennifer Connelly as Amanda Marsh. And with such a large cast, each actor was

affected by the story in a different way.

“I live in New York City. I couldn’t be further from here,” said Dale, who, along with several other cast members, was in town for a red-carpet premiere at Tempe Marketplace. “The week of the Yarnell Hill Fire, I was riding the 6 Train downtown. So,

I’m in the subway and the New York Times had a two-page article on these guys. I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Dale read about Marsh, Steed and MacKenzie and how hard they worked to become a tier 1 firefighting crew.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but that

moment meant something to me,” he said. When Dale received the call offering him a role three years later, the answer was an obvious choice.

“It all came flooding back and I just said yes,” Dale explains. “We’re storytellers and I think I have something to give to the story.”

Teller, on the other hand, wasn’t familiar with the 2013 tragedy. He plays Brendan “Donut” McDonough, who is the lone survivor of the 20-man hotshot crew. McDonough served as the group’s lookout during the fatal fire.

“I was excited that they were making a film about this,” Teller said. “These are our countrymen. These are our first responders. These are the people who – when we have a crisis in our country – are going out there to save lives. I just think they’re the best types of individuals that we have.”

The subject matter and character arc spoke to Teller, he said.

“The sacrifices these guys make, the type of character that they had, the amount of integrity and pride they take in their job,”

(Richard Foreman/Special to AFN)

Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) and Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch) plan to do the backburn at the Chiricahua Mountain fireline in Columbia Pictures’ “Only the Brave,” the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Teller said. “For me, personally, just playing Brendan, I felt like Brendan had a really unique arc that I hadn’t necessarily seen before. I wanted to lend myself to that.”

For the actors, meeting other first responders and their families was important for the preparation process. Prior to filming, Teller flew to Prescott to meet McDonough, who he describes as an “open book” and a “subject matter expert.”

“We had a lot of guys come into boot camp who knew these guys on a very personal level and professionally, and so we got a good taste of it,” Teller said.

Now after months of intense preparation and filming for the emotionally demanding roles that comprise the true story of “Only the Brave,” the complete work hits its stars hard.

“It was emotional because, for the actors, when we watch it, we got to live through it,” Teller said.

“This experience has been very humbling for me and all I can say is that I hope we’ve told the story with honor and respect, that Jesse Steed’s family looks at the film and are able to say to the kids, ‘that’s your father,’” Dale said. “I hope that all the family members are proud of their boys and how much they gave.”

An Evening with the Stars by The Edwards Twins

Live from Las Vegas comes Cher, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Barbra Streisand –all in one gig. The Edwards Twins dazzle as each of those acts, earning them numerous awards.

DETAILS>> 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. Tickets: $58-$78. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.

Outstanding in the Field

A roving culinary adventure, Outstanding in the Field features guest chef Cullen Campbell of Crudo creating a meal from locally sourced ingredients. The host farmer is Katie Critchley.

DETAILS>> 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20. The Farm at Agritopia, 3000 E. Ray Road, Gilbert. Tickets: $225. outstandinginthefield.com.

Taste of Gilbert

Taste your way through Gilbert with a variety of local eateries serving up an abundance of eats and treats. The Taste of Gilbert Festival is not just about food, but also features music, a marketplace and backyard games.

DETAILS>> noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21. Freestone Park, 1045 E. Juniper Ave., Gilbert. Tickets: Free. tasteofgilbertaz.com.

Chandler

Center for the Arts’

Center Stage

The Chandler Cultural Foundation hosts its annual fundraising event, celebrating art and its advocacy in the Chandler area. Featuring dinner and a hosted bar on the main stage as well as an intimate performance by the Sons of Serendip, the night honors arts advocates for their contributions to the center.

DETAILS>> 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler. Tickets: $150. 480782-2680, chandlercenter.org.

Dogtoberfest

Thrown by Rockstar Canine Rescue and Sanctuary, this is for the dogs. Pet vendors offering products, training and suppliers will be available, as will entertainment like bands, food trucks, pet photos and an animal costume contest.

DETAILS>> 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21. Chapel at the Farm, 397 S. Gilbert Road, Gilbert. Tickets: Free. rockstarrescue.org/ dogtoberfest.

Salt River Fields will glow for Halloween

BY JOE GILMORE GETOUT Contributor vice president and chief operating officer.

Hot air balloons will fill the Scottsdale night sky at Salt River Fields when the Balloon Spooktacular returns to the spring training ballpark for the seventh year.

Clocked at more than three hours, the Spooktacular is the world’s longest continuous glow and will shine on Oct. 27-28. The Aerial Solutions-produced event is expected to bring in more than 36,000 visitors for viewing, trick or treating, eating and gaming.

“The event should continue to grow this year as word spreads about how much fun it is and how much is included with admission,” says Vanessa Clifton, Aerial Solutions’

IF YOU GO

What: Balloon Spooktacular

When: 5-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28.

Where: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, 7555 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale.

Tickets: $10-$15 admission, $15-$25 for tethered balloon rides.

Info: 480.270.5000, srfballoonfestivals.com

Families will get the chance to go on tethered rides on the balloons, which act as candy stations with more than 4,000 pounds of goodies.

Besides the balloons, there will be nightly firework shows, music, a pumpkin patch and a frightening Spook Trail.

Guests feeling competitive can take part in the nightly costume contest for kids, adults and groups.

The Kids Zone gives children the chance to take a break from the haunted attractions and jump on bounce houses, and partake in slides, obstacle courses and more than 40 games.

The Spooktacular Marketplace will offer food and drink from dozens of vendors, as

well as arts, crafts and merchandise from local shops.

New this year is the Pumpkin Patch Photo Booth, where friends and families can pose with pumpkins and post the pictures to Instagram or Facebook.

“The Balloon Spooktacular is a great opportunity to get up close and personal with hot air balloons,” she says. “It’s the perfect family-friendly experience for fall.”

(Special to AFN)

For people who prefer scenic views to scary visions on Halloween, the Balloon Spooktacular at Salt River Fields might fill the bill.

Apple biscuit dumplings finish dinner tastefully

BY JAN D’ATRI AFN Contributor

Who knew crispy apples, store-bought biscuit dough, a few spices and a can of 7 Up could make the most amazing apple biscuit dumplings? It’s absolutely true and might just be the perfect finish for your Sunday supper.

This easy-as-ever recipe has become my new favorite dessert! It all starts with apple wedges tucked inside biscuit dough.

A beautiful caramel liquid comes together on the cooktop and then is poured over the pockets of goodness. Into the oven it goes, and about 30 minutes later, you will have a mouthwatering treat.

Ingredients:

4 large apples (makes 24 wedges)

Spoon a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you, your family or your guests will never be the same.

The key to the success of these dumplings is to baste them with the caramel liquid several times during the cooking process. That’s what will give them the deep, rich and unforgettable glaze.

1 can Pillsbury Grand Biscuits (8 biscuits, divided in half)

1 cube (8 tablespoons) butter

1 cup white or brown sugar

1 cup water

1 can 7 Up (7.5 or 12 oz. can)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Peel, core and slice apples into wedges, slicing each half into thirds to make approximately 24 wedges. Soak apple sliced in 7 Up. Meanwhile, make caramel syrup.

In a medium pan, melt butter, brown sugar, water,

7 Up from apples, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. (Syrup will be runny.) Set aside to cool. Make dumplings. Pull apart each biscuit to make two discs. Stretch the dough out enough to cover one apple wedge. With tongs or a fork, dunk apple wedge into caramel syrup and place on biscuit disc. Pinch seems around apple wedge (pot-sticker or half-moon style) to completely seal. Place dumpling in a 11 x 17-inch baking pan. Repeat until all apples and dough make dumplings. (You will have leftover apples.) Pour syrup over and around dumplings reserving 1/2 cup of liquid.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

Important: To get the glaze over the dumplings, brush reserved 1/2 cup syrup over dumplings several times during cooking process. When dumplings are done, serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Kind of mark or tag

A welcome sight?

Guitar’s cousin

“Monkey suit”

Feelings, informally

Yellow-flowered herb

New Zealander, informally

Elvis hit

Green land

Approximately

Ostrich’s cousin

Rumble faction

Lillian

Desert Ridge High stifles Pride running game in 24-20 win

BY GREG MACAFEE AFN Sports Editor

Mountain Pointe High’s secondary picked off four Desert Ridge passes but could never jump-start its running game as the Pride suffered its second loss of the season Oct. 12 at Karl Kiefer Stadium, 31-20.

After a back-and-forth battle throughout the game, Desert Ridge quarterback Cooper Schmidt scampered into the end zone on a quarterback keeper from 17 yard out to give the Jags a 24-20 lead.

But with 3:28 left in the game, they still needed a defensive stop to secure the victory, and that’s exactly what they got.

Pride quarterback Nick Wallerstedt found Sky Hinojosa across the middle for a crucial 4th-and-10 conversion and it seemed like the team was going to complete a comeback.

But two plays later, junior linebacker Gabe Segura jumped a route to pick off Wallerstedt and take it 50-plus yards for

a pick-six touchdown to secure the upset victory.

“Our kids showed so much resilience,

and being that we have 12 sophomores, we could’ve came out and tanked, but I think we really found out who we are

today,” Desert Ridge head coach Jeremy Hathcock said. “Like I tell our kids, this is really a great victory; enjoy today –shoot, enjoy it tomorrow – but come Saturday, we’re back to work.”

The key to victory for the Jaguars was the battle at the line of scrimmage. Desert Ridge stymied a Mountain Pointe running game that has been almost unstoppable all season long, tallying over 2,000 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.

Coming into the game, Mountain Pointe’s leading rusher, Jakim McKinney, had 741 yards on the season, but he was held to just 68 yards, his second lowest total of the season.

While the running game was held in check, Wallerstedt was forced to pass, but he often used his legs to escape a strong Desert Ridge pass rush. He scored the final points of the ball game for the Pride with 1:12 left in the third quarter on a 29-yard quarterback keeper.

“They just put a lot of people in the

Depleted Thunder sustains third loss of the season

BY RYAN CLARKE

AFN Contributor

It was an emotional night for the Highland High Hawks as they honored late alum Marquis Cooper, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker who drowned in 2009 when his boat capsized off the Florida coast.

With Cooper’s family in attendance, Highland spent halftime reflecting on his life and career, with special guests including Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and Highland graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Cooper graduated from Highland High and then got his degree at Arizona State University.

On the field, the Hawks pulled out a 24-21 victory in double overtime over the Desert Vista Thunder, clawing back from a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit. A depleted Thunder team couldn’t finish the job down the stretch, allowing Highland to get back in the game.

“It’s

out, it’s tough, but I’m really proud of the kids that have stepped up in those positions.”

There wasn’t any scoring from either team until the fourth quarter, when Desert Vista broke the seal on a 9-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Derek Kline. Prior to that play, both the Thunder and Hawks committed myriad penalties, were sloppy and couldn’t find a rhythm on the offensive end.

That sloppiness made its most dubious appearance halfway through the fourth quarter, when Highland muffed its second punt of the game and allowed Desert Vista’s Jacob Schamante to scoop it up and score.

It was 14-0 Thunder with 6:48 to go.

On the ensuing Highland drive, Hawks quarterback Kaleb Herbert marched his team down the field, capping off a

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Thunder quarterback Derek Kline goes literally head over heels for a touchdown.

(Greg Macafee/AFN Sports Editor)

Jakim McKinney breaks through a tackle for a big gain against Desert Ridge.

been challenging,” Desert Vista head coach Dan Hinds said. “With guys

box,” Mountain Pointe head coach Norris Vaughan said. “So, we just threw the ball, and when we didn’t convert, we had to kick field goals.”

After Wallerstedt’s touchdown run, the Jaguars would answer with a drive highlighted by junior running back Lucas Wright, who finished the game with 116 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards.

Sophomore quarterback

Matthew Purnell first connected with him early in the drive for a long pass completion, moving the chains into the Pride’s half of the field.

Then, Purnell found Stanford commit Donjae Logan for a 10-yard pass and catch that put the Jags on the 1 yard line, setting up Wright for a touchdown run to bring the Jags within three. They took the lead on Schmidt’s quarterback keeper and never looked back.

The combination of Schmidt and Purnell running a quarterback option offense was tricky for a Mountain Pointe defense and Vaughan said they had a hard time stopping it.

“We didn’t play real well. They did a

great job. They beat us. All the credit to them,” Vaughan said. “But we really had trouble stopping them. Their little option game hurt us, and I think that was pretty much the story of the game.”

Historically, the Pride have been almost unbeatable at home with its last loss at Karl Kiefer Stadium coming on Sept. 30, 2011 against Brophy College Prep. After the loss, Vaughan said you can’t win them all and the team could only move forward to the next game. For the Pride, that comes on Oct. 20, when the team travels to Corona del Sol High School to take on the Aztecs at

p.m.

stellar drive with a rushing touchdown on a quarterback keeper. Desert Vista led by seven with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter.

Highland got the ball back and tied it up 14-14 with 2:02 remaining. The teams traded stops and sent the game into double overtime.

The first play of overtime resulted in a touchdown for Highland as Tanner Lunt hauled in a pass from Herbert, giving the Hawks a 21-14 lead as possession switched sides.

It took two plays for Desert Vista to tie it up on a pass from Kline to Austin Werbelow, forcing double overtime as the Thunder took the ensuing possession.

Highland held off the Thunder and forced a short field goal attempt, which sailed above the right upright and was ruled no good by the officials, setting up a game-winning field goal attempt for Highland.

The Hawks’ attempt was true, and the team stormed the field in celebration of an emotional win on a night when it honored one of its most revered alumni.

A loss at this stage stings for Desert

Vista.

The Thunder needed this road win in order to carry momentum into their final two games. Instead, the Thunder are 5-3, hoping to salvage what’s left of their season with multiple skill players sitting due to injury.

Hinds said his team must remain focused during these last few weeks despite the adversity they’re facing.

“Our emphasis is to have a burning will to prepare to win,” Hinds said. “They know how to prepare to win on Friday nights, so we’re going to keep doing that.”

Next up for Desert Vista is its final road game of the regular season at Desert Ridge, followed by a home finale against Corona del Sol.

(Greg Macafee/AFN Sports Editor)

Pride quarterback Nick Wallerstedt gets ready to sail the ball downfield.

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Desert Vista High’s Armando Delgado throws a block.

Pride, Thunder look for comebacks this week

BY GREG MACAFEE AFN Sports Editor

For the first time since 2014, both Desert Vista and Mountain Pointe high schools are coming off losses in the same week after the Pride was stunned by Desert Ridge and the Thunder fell in double overtime to Highland.

The Thunder (5-3) will carry a twogame losing streak into Mesa, but will be met by a Desert Ridge (7-1) squad that is coming off arguably its biggest win of the season after beating Mountain Pointe 31-20.

Against Mountain Pointe, the Jaguars ran a two-quarterback system with sophomore Matthew Purnell and junior Cooper Schmidt that seemed to give the Pride defense fits all night long.

The two quarterbacks combined for 108 yards on the ground, including a 17-yard Cooper Schmidt touchdown run that gave the Jaguars the lead late in the game.

Schmidt has been more effective on the ground this season, rushing for 406 yards

and six touchdowns compared to Purnell’s 99 rushing yards and one touchdown. But, Purnell has been more effective through the air, completing 70 percent of his passes compared to Schmidt’s 57 percent.

While the Thunder defense will have to keep an eye on both quarterbacks, it’ll also have to watch out for the Jaguars’ trio of running backs.

Lucas Wright, Tyrese Allen, and Deonce Elliot all have been strong out of the backfield, as each one has rushed for at least 400 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior Tyrese Allen leads the way with 567 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Thunder seniors Larry Davis and Caleb Humphrey will play a major role on Friday in stopping their running game.

How the Desert Vista offense handles the Jaguars defense will be another key to this 6A Central Region matchup. The Desert Ridge defense picked off two passes late in the game and held their running to

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a minimum.

The Jaguars stacked the box and tried to hold Mountain Pointe’s run game to a minimum, but look for the Thunder to rely on senior quarterback Derek Kline.

The 6-foot-5 Nevada transplant has been huge for Desert Vista all season long, throwing for 1,377 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also been great using his legs to escape pressure and run when no one is open, tallying 305 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Friday night will be a battle at the line of scrimmage between two teams looking to solidify themselves in the playoff picture. And after two straight losses, Desert Vista will be looking to come out strong and catch the Jaguars off guard.

The two teams kick off at 7 p.m. at Desert Ridge High School.

Mountain Pointe vs Corona del Sol

The Pride (6-2) will look to bounce back from their first home loss since 2011 when it takes on the Corona del Sol Aztecs (1-7) on Friday.

Mountain Pointe should be able to bounce back as the Aztecs won’t provide much resistance on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve allowed 285 points

this season and haven’t won since their matchup with La Joya Community on Aug. 25.

While the Aztecs don’t provide much of a defensive resistance, they do have a high-powered offense behind junior quarterback Ryan Helt, who has thrown for 2,346 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.

He’s also thrown 13 interceptions in the process. The 6-foot-1 quarterback has thrown for at least 150 yards in each game and recently threw for 510 yards and five touchdowns against Gilbert. His favorite target this year has been junior receiver Ricky Pearsall, a 6-foot-1

junior who has caught 61 passes for 1,030 yards and was a big part of Helt’s success against Gilbert, catching 14 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns.

Unfortunately for the pair of Aztecs, they will run into one of the best secondaries in the state.

The Pride secondary hasn’t allowed over 100 yards passing since their matchup with Desert Vista in the Ahwatukee Bowl. It also has picked off 14 passes this season and deflected 55 more. Helt will run into one of the best all-around defenses he has faced this season, as the Pride boast a big defensive line led by senior Shomari Hayes along with their strong secondary.

After being somewhat silenced against Desert Ridge, look for the Mountain Pointe backfield to break out quickly against a defense that has allowed over 100 yards rushing in every game this season.

With two games left in the season, look for the Mountain Pointe Pride to get back on track before its final game of the season against Gilbert High on Oct. 27. Mountain Pointe and Corona del Sol kick off at 7 p.m. at Corona del Sol high school.

-Reach Sports Editor Greg Macafee at gmacafee@timespublications.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @greg_macafee

(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Photographer)

Jordan Huddleston is stopped on a run for Desert Vista High.

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