KYRENE MAKING LAND DEAL
TEEN'S COOKBOOK A HEALTHY READ
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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................18 Sole applicant seems likely Kyrene superintendent.
COMMUNITY.............. 22
Teen aims for shoes for entire school.
BUSINESS......................28
Big firm scoops up Chandler financial advisors.
NEWS........................................ 3 COMMUNITY........................22 BUSINESS...............................28 OPINION................................ 31 SPORTS...................................32 GET OUT............................... 34 CLASSIFIEDS..........................35
FREE | chandlernews.com
NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Plenty of local suspense awaits as Election Day nears BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor
T
he national spotlight starting Tuesday night may be focusing on the top of the ticket, but Chandler voters will have no small measure of suspense awaiting the outcome of a number of election contests closer to home. From races in Kyrene and Tempe Union High School districts to the race for State Senate and two House seats in the legislative district that includes north Chandler
and even to a couple county races, Chandler voters might be on the edge of their seat after the polls close at 7 p.m. But pass on the extra pot of coffee that night. Chances are it may be at least a few days – if not longer – before the outcome of many races is known. But Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and County Recorder Adrian Fontes’ office say voters will have to be patient – particularly since the volume of early ballots already cast in Maricopa County alone has hit historic highs.
Some Chandler voters might even need to exercise patience before nightfall Tuesday. Of the 162,404 registered voters in Chandler, more than 32,000 are not on the permanent early voter list. While Fontes office could not say how many of those voters made a one-time request for an early ballot, it stands to reason that hundreds will be heading to polls Monday or Tuesday. Voters looking for in-person polling sites and ballot drop-off locations
see ELECTION page 14
CUSD grappling with Rotary helps kids enrollment decline
BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
E
nrollment in Chandler Unified School District has continued to decline, though administrators believe it won’t harm its budget as much as originally projected. Chandler Unified started off this school year with about 1,600 fewer students than expected and has continued to lose more pupils in the subsequent months. As of late October, CUSD had more than 2,000 fewer students than it did during the last school year. Lana Berry, the district’s chief financial officer, said enrollment appears to have leveled off and has recently been holding steady at about 44,700 students – below the 47,000 students that CUSD expected this year. Enrollment could potentially start to grow again soon, Berry added, because CUSD has traditionally seen more younger students enroll halfway through the school year. “I do think that number will grow because our preschool numbers and our early childhood numbers always pick up steam in the second and third quarters,” she said.
see CUSD page 4
More than 3,000 Chandler third graders will be getting free dictionaries from the Sun Lakes Rotary, which packed and shipped them to schools with the help of Rotarians like Don Prestin last week. For the story, see page 9. (Pablo Robles/Arizonan Photographer)