STSN 12-15-2012 by Times Media Group

Dec. 15 – Jan. 4, 2013

www.SanTanSun.com

Anatomy of a recovery

CUSD preps for new courses, exams

Modest growth predicted for 2013

by Tracy House

With a little more than a year left before Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) replaces AIMS testing, Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) is entering Phase II of its transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative to move from Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) testing to PARCC and implementation of CCSS goes back to 2010 when Arizona joined 45 other states led by the Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association to develop national standards to provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to become college and career ready. CUSD completes implementation of Phase I of CCSS at the end of this month and moves into Phase II in January. “Phase II is working with teachers to increase their content knowledge in relationship to the new standards and also instructional pedagogy,” says Dr. Nicolle

by Susan Henderson

At the dawn of a new year, area economic and housing experts say the worst of the recession is truly in the rearview mirror. Job growth will continue to trend upwards, and a slow but steady uptick in the housing and commercial real estate market is expected. Of significance to SanTan Sun readers is the collective opinion of a number of experts that the southeast Valley is particularly well positioned for a strong recovery based on jobs, housing, airport expansions, maturing downtowns and high-tech investments. Here are the top three predictions for 2013 offered by five local experts:

Christine Mackay, City of Chandler economic development director

1. We will see commercial construction start again, and not just be an anecdotal thought for development. Vacancy rates in both the office and industrial sector continue to Christine Mackay tighten, particularly in the Southeast Valley with Chandler leading the way. With the resetting of the cost of commercial real estate, we will start to see absorption of some of the retail “big boxes” that have had all of us so concerned in the past few years. 2. The housing market will continue to improve in 2013, but it will still not be the boom that we would all like. The Southeast Valley will see the strongest recovery in housing starts and value due to the new job creation that will be happening.

see 2013 predictions page 6

see CUSD page 10

2013: It’s almost a new year, and local experts predict what the year 2013 may hold for the SanTan Sun area. The custom, hand-painted champagne bottle was created by Ashley Minchella, 24, daughter of Dennis and Melissa Minchella of Kokopelli Bistro and Winery. STSN photo

Chandler birthplace of ‘Baby Blues’ by K.M. Lang

For more than two decades fans of the comic strip “Baby Blues” have followed the adventures of Darryl and Wanda

MacPherson as they’ve navigated the pitfalls of early parenthood. The strip appears in nearly 1,200 newspapers in 28 countries, is read in 13

“BABY BLUES” BEGINS: This is the first comic strip for “Baby Blues,” co-created by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott who came up with the idea for their cartoon during brainstorming sessions at Chandler’s Guedo’s Cantina Grille. More than 20 years later, the strip is still going strong, appearing in nearly 1,200 newspapers across the globe. Used by permission, Baby Blues Partnership

IN THE CLASSROOM: Sarah Burgess, American studies teacher at Hamilton High chats with students. All K-12 CUSD teachers are being trained in the Common Core State Standards. Submitted photo

languages and has generated 30 books including the recently released 20th anniversary volume “BBXX.” And it all began in downtown Chandler. “The unofficial birthplace of Baby Blues is Guedo’s taco shop,” explains Valley resident Rick Kirkman, who created the strip with his longtime friend, Jerry Scott. “When we started, Jerry and I would meet at Guedo’s a lot, and just sit there and go over ideas.” Guedo’s Cantina Grille at Arizona Avenue and Chandler Boulevard served as a quiet spot where the freelance humor illustrators could toss around concepts for a new comic strip, while Kirkman, who became a father for the second time, vented about his own baby blues.

“Our first daughter had been colicky, so my wife and I had gone through that for about seven weeks,” he recalls. “Then our second daughter came along and we thought, okay, we can handle this. Well, you can take that colicky period with the first one and multiply it by – I don’t know how much. To give you an example, she didn’t sleep completely through the night until she was 3-1/2.” Kirkman and Scott, who had previously collaborated on a short-lived comic strip, spent their weekly sessions “piling through a lot of really terrible ideas,” Kirkman recalls. “Usually our conversations degenerated into how lousy I felt because I hadn’t had any sleep,” he says, chuckling. “I can’t say see ‘Baby Blues’ page 8

F E AT U R E STO R I E S

*Minimum purchase $75 each. Not available online.

8 Valley Locations in the Southeast Valley: Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fulton Ranch, Gilbert, Gilbert Gateway, Queen Creek, San Tan and Tempe

Celebration Plaza’s new honorees . . . . . . community . . . Page 4 Custom creations at Connie’s Jewelry . . . business . . . . . . Page 19 New Vistas’ World Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . youth . . . . . . . Page 32 CHoP opens Dec. 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . neighbors . . . . Page 45 Budding stars boot camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arts . . . . . . . Page 59

CLIP-IT Coupons . . . . . . . . . . . . Center Section

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