Glendale’s Community Newspaper
www.glendalestar.com
Vol. 77 No. 49
Inside This Week THE VOICE OF BUSINESS
BUSINESS .....11
Community Tire Pros donates cars to single moms
FEATURES .... 18 LIBCON West returns to Downtown Glendale
OPINION....................... 8 BUSINESS.................. 10 SPORTS ...................... 12 FEATURES.................. 18 RELIGION ................... 24 YOUTH........................ 26 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 29
December 2, 2021
Glendale teachers see their wishes granted BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF Although Thanksgiving is technically celebrated on Nov. 25 this year, 400 Arizona teachers — including more than 60 in the West Valley — feted it early. During the first days of November, in what has become an annual tradition to honor, support and celebrate Arizona’s teachers, the Fiesta Bowl Organization awarded $1 million to teachers through the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers program. “They may not wear capes, but teachers are real-life superheroes. They give tirelessly to their students, and Wishes
for Teachers is our opportunity to reward them for their efforts,” said Jeff Meshey, president and CEO at Desert Financial. “Desert Financial was founded by teachers. We continue their legacy by returning as the title partner for this year’s Wishes for Teachers, in partnership with Fiesta Bowl Charities. Teachers often pay for school supplies out of their own pockets, so there’s no greater way to express our gratitude than by granting their classroom wishes.” Through a three-day Virtual Draft Day presented by Salt River Project (SRP), 400 teachers from K-12 schools were each
given $2,500 to grant a wish in their classrooms. The winners were chosen based on a program in the fall wherein any Arizona K-12 teacher filled out an online application detailing a school or classroom need. The wishes were then verified and selected by random drawing for teachers to receive a grant. Over the six years of the program, Fiesta Bowl Wishes for Teachers has granted $4.7 million to more than 1,200 Arizona teachers, impacting more than 500,000 children across the state. “I love Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl
BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF The city of Glendale received $500,000 from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, COPS Hiring Program. The $500,000 was part of $139 million given to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation. It allows those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. “We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally im-
portant community oriented policing programs.” La Paz County received $250,000. It and Glendale were the only two Arizona recipients. COPS Hiring Program is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Of the 183 agencies awarded grants, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates
of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based response to persons in crisis. Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. COPS Hiring Program, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand: In FY 21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY 22, President Joe Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.
SEE WISHES PAGE 3
Glendale receives $500K for community policing
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