'SUPERNANNY' HELPS LOCAL COUPLE
NASA INSPIRES CHANDLER TEEN
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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................ 12 Schools brace for social-emotional issues.
FREE | chandlernews.com
September 20, 2020
Familiar but different setting greets Chandler students BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
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driana Robertson stood in front of a class of kindergarteners, ready to point to a chart of the alphabet. The Conley Elementary School teacher gestured toward one letter and waited for her students to shout out the answer she’s looking for. “A – Apple,” the kindergarteners yelled in unison before moving on. It was the type of scene that routinely gets played out in Conley and other Chandler Unified classrooms during any normal school year – except this school year has been far
see SCHOOLS page 16
Kindergarten students at Conley Elementary and other Chandler schools returned to classrooms last week, but their experience has been dramatically altered safety protocols such as socially-distanced desks. (Pablo Robles/Arizonan Staff)
BUSINESS.......................18
Chandler residents prefer trails over buildings
BUSINESS...................... 23
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Chandler woman's colon cancer scare.
Chandler company offers relaxation on wheels.
NEWS........................................ 3 COMMUNITY........................ 18 BUSINESS...............................23 OPINION............................... 26 SPORTS...................................28 CLASSIFIEDS.......................... 31
BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
majority of Chandler residents say walking, hiking and biking are their most favorite recreational activities and believe the city should invest in improving its existing trail system. According to citywide surveys conducted over the last year, 43 percent of Chandler residents said walking and biking trails are their most cherished recreational amenity -the most popular response among a variety of options that included splash pads, playgrounds and neighborhood parks. And respondents are much more willing to spend tax dollars on preserving trails rather
than building new amenities; 31 percent of residents were willing to fund improvements to Chandler’s trails system and only 6 percent were willing to pay for new sports facilities. Michael Svetz, a member of the Pros Consulting firm, said he expected Chandler residents to favor trails and pathways over other amenities because most Americans get their exercise by simply walking. “This is not surprising because trails across the entire country is always the most important thing,” the consultant said. Svetz and his team have spent the last few months gathering public input and collecting data that the city will eventually use to update Chandler’s parks master plan, a document that outlines the city’s recreational ob-
jectives and strategies. Phase one of the plan update recently concluded and Svetz’s team has begun sharing some of the preliminary results of their findings. The survey’s data show Chandler residents appear to have less attachment to amenities tied to specific sports or recreational activities. Less than 5 percent of respondents selected tennis, volleyball or pickleball courts as favorite amenities. Only 2 percent of respondents picked Little League or softball fields as their most important facility – a data point some city leaders found hard to believe. “Club soccer, club softball are huge out here,” said Councilman Matt Orlando. “If you
see PARKS page 7