Ahwatukee Foothills News - 03.17.2021

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Ahwatukee State Trust

Land on the block May 26

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

Ttion that will drive up the price.

he state Land Department has set May 26 for an auction of 373 acres along Chandler Boulevard between 19th and 27th avenues, paving the way for the eventual construction of as many as 1,050 new houses as well as an undetermined number of apartment or condo units and some commercial development.

While the starting price is $105 million, the department is hoping for a robust turnout at the live auc-

That’s not an unrealistic expectation, given three factors: the critically low inventory of homes for sale, the parcel’s ideal location in a high-quality community abutting the South Mountain Freeway and the required zoning for homes, multifamily units and commercial already in place.

The department must advertise the auction for the next 10 weeks, giving developers an ample amount of time to examine reams

Chalking up support for Tempe Union High School District teachers and other employees Sunday evening were Laura Chapnek and William Chapnek at Mountain Pointe High School. They were among a group of parents and legislators who wanted to show their support for sta as in-class learning began for the first time in nearly four months. For the story, see page 3. (Pablo Robles/AFN Sta Photographer)

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

It wasn’t supposed to happen again.

Another return of leukemia to 13-year-old Logan Gidley wasn’t what anyone anticipated.

Ryan Lehr; his father Eric Gidley and stepmother Renea; his younger sister Juliette Gidley, 9; and his grandparents.

If there was any good news it was that the cancer cells had not invaded his circulatory system.

said. “That has everything to do with research and development.”

Lehr said Logan was able to come back home March 10, though the intravenous chemotherapy treatments require daily trips to the clinic.

The positive results from a biopsy �lummoxed his doctors, who did not understand how the cancer cells survived his previous chemotherapy and other treatments – and a bone marrow transplant of May 8, 2020.

The teen’s third recurrence of cancer also has rattled his mother and stepfather, Krystal and

On March 4 Logan was admitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for a lumbar puncture, followed the next day with the start of the �irst round of chemotherapy.

Last Friday, Krystal Lehr said the chemotherapy being administered this time was targeted.

“It’s newer chemo that doesn’t tear the body up so much,” she

“Every day we go to the clinic and get chemo infusion. His can-

Logan Gidley faces a second excruciating bone marrow transplant after doctors diagnosed new leukemia cells. But the 13-year-old Ahwatukee teen is hanging tough through a third bout with cancer. (Special to AFN)

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Several dozen parents, joined by the LD 18 delegation, left a surprise for Tempe Union teachers and other employees as students were allowed to return to classrooms for more than two days for the first time in a year.

The legislators and parents on Sunday night set up banners, posters and chalked greetings and expressions of appreciation in teacher parking lots at all seven high schools as well as the district’s headquarters and bus depot.

The event was dubbed “Chalking Up with Love” by parent Amanda Steele of Chandler, who organized it.

Each banner began with the name of one of the high schools followed by the words “families appreciate you.” The banners, bearing each individual school’s colors, were made so that the school can keep them for years to come.

Steele said she organized the show of support in reaction to a digital billboard erected along I-10 about a month ago that said the district “is failing our kids.”

Steele said she wanted teachers and all district employees to come back to their workplaces for the first time since Thanksgiving and feel appreciated.

“We wanted them to know we support them and appreciate them,” Steele said. “This has been a very rough year for everyone, and teachers have worked very hard.”

She said she added the district bus depot to the list “because we want all Tempe Union employees, including the bus drivers, to know how much we

Need to stop speed resonates along Chandler Boulevard

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

The construction of more than 1,000 houses on the State Trust Land parcel in Ahwatukee will bring more than a few traffic problems, but homeowners in Foothills Reserve and Club West already face their share of roadway hazards in the form of speeding motorists.

“Over the past few months the stretch from 17th Avenue to the new developed end of Chandler Boulevard has turned into a German Autobahn,” a Club West resident who lives near the boulevard and 17th Avenue told AFN.

“Drag racing, cars doing donuts at 2 a.m. and people speeding by going well over 100 m.p.h.,” he complained. “There is no law enforcement back there, period. We have complained to the city numerous times but nothing has been done.”

Indeed, when the Foothills Club West Association held its annual meeting for homeowners last March 4, a Phoenix police officer had been expected to update residents on what was being done about the problem.

No one showed.

Foothills Reserve President Galen Schliem said some residents have sought

LAND from page 1

of geological and other studies already conducted on the site.

The imminent development already has sparked concern in adjacent Club West, where homes along that community’s western edge appear likely to eventually lose their clear views of pristine desert.

While the winning homebuilder or developer that acquires the land will likely be conducting their own evaluation of the land before shovels hit the ground, the area appears to present none of the topographical challenges that delayed Blandford Homes from having lots for sale for nearly three years after its 2017 purchase of 63 acres at Frye Road and Desert Footsee LAND page 6

The State Trust Land parcel in Ahwatukee is largely zoned for single-family residential construction with a maximum 3.5 homes per acre. The lower right corner is zoned for multifamily and commercial. (State Land Department)

speed bumps, though the city will not install them on four-lane arterials.

“It’s an issue,” he said. “I also am not a fan of all the burn-out marks the racers leave. What kind of impression do potential residents, or current residents, get when driving into our community?”

The Club West resident said that on Feb. 13, a car t-boned another and it took police 25 minutes to respond.

“The officer stated, ‘I am the only one in the area.’ Something needs to be done before someone is killed,” the resident said.

An exponential increase in traffic down 17th Avenue can be expected once houses start to go up on the State Trust Land, Club West HOA Board President Michael Hinz said at the community’s annual meeting.

He said the size of the parcel “brings an awful lot of traffic into the community,” and advised all of it “is going to come from 17th Avenue and Chandler Boulevard.

“So I’m extremely concerned about that and I know some of you, especially those of you who live west of 17th, got to be concerned about it as well,” Hinz remarked.

Hinz urged residents to contact Ahwatukee Councilman Sal DiCiccio so that “hopefully we can get some more interaction and police engagement on what we expect. We’ve got some time before any-

thing happens.”

But while existing homeowners may have some time to pressure city officials on the surge in volume on the roads that almost certainly will be generated by the State Land development, Hinz indicated a sense of urgency about the speeding motorists.

“We have to figure out a way to get people to slow down as they turn that corner, especially when they’re entering 17th Avenue from Chandler Boulevard,” Hinz said. “It’s a little dicey.”

“The city will not install a stop sign or a traffic signal unless or until their traffic study indicates that it’s necessary,” Hinz told homeowners, adding:

“I prevail on everybody that lives in that area to please communicate to the city at every opportunity – The traffic is overwhelming you or that it’s loud, whether there’s a lot of traffic moving very quickly.’

I know that sounds like we’re being testy about it, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease with the City of Phoenix.”

Residents apparently have been using their grease guns for a while.

“What we’ve seen is a lot of residents from the area with concerns about speeding,” Phoenix Street Transportation Department spokeswoman Heather Murphy told AFN.

“We’ve shared with a couple of people in

the community who emailed staff in our department the names of their (Phoenix Police) community action officer, but we’ve also talked about what kinds of things we might be able to do,” Murphy said.

Murphy and Hinz both said some people have suggested a crosswalk across Chandler Boulevard at 17th or 19th Avenue or both.

But Murphy said, “When we did a preliminary evaluation about the number of people that cross there, it didn’t really seem like there were a lot of pedestrians crossing.

Besides, she added, “a pedestrian crossing really wouldn’t do anything about speeding.”

Murphy said her department “will be looking at weekend traffic and weekday traffic” as officials discuss options at 17th and Chandler – which might include a three-way stop sign, signals or a HAWK signal, which stops traffic only when someone wants to cross.

According to traffic planners for the Maricopa Association of Governments, that intersection’s hazards aren’t anywhere near as serious as others in the county

Their annual list of the 100 most dangerous intersections in Maricopa County, released earlier this year, contains none in Ahwatukee. 

hills Parkway that is now the 178-home Palma Brisa community.

That parcel was riddled with so much rock that when Tempe Union School District’s governing board initially put it up for bid, its consultants advised not to expect much more than $12 million – half of what Blandford eventually paid for the prime parcel.

An appraisal of the State Trust Land parcel advises: “There do not appear to be any atypical or adverse soil conditions which would prohibit single-family residential development on the subject.”

The auction is open to any developer or homebuilder that arrives at the Land Department’s headquarters with a cashier’s check for just over $13.75 million. Bidding itself will be conducted orally.

“A bid for less than the appraised value of the sale parcel will not be considered,” the Land Department advises, setting increments of $100,000 for any subsequent bids beyond the minimum sales price.

And anyone who thinks they can stop the land from being sold to the developer probably should think again – unless they’re prepared to write a check to the

state after joining the auction.

The land is not part of the South Mountain Preserve.

And once it is sold, the money will eventually be for K-12 education, state universities, the Department of Corrections, or one or more of the 10 other potential beneficiaries for whom the trust was set up in Article X of the Arizona Constitution.

Mark Edelman, the Land Department’s director of planning and engineering, told the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee more than a year ago:

“State Trust Land is not public land. It is land held in trust and the land really belongs to our beneficiaries. The state Land Department was created to act in their stead to manage this land.... we really need to be thought of more like private land owners.”

Initially, there were 620 acres of State Trust Land in that parcel. When the entire parcel was first put up for auction in the early 2000s, no one would bid because Tempe Union and Kyrene school districts and then-Mayor Greg Stanton opposed the sale and developers were leery about being dragged into a prolonged legal battle. Stanton said at the time that he did not want any of that 620 acres developed.

Instead, Councilman Sal DiCiccio and state lawmakers brokered a deal that allowed Phoenix to buy 240 acres on the north side of Chandler Boulevard for $18 million and set it aside as part of the South Mountain Preserve.

In return, Phoenix dropped its opposition to the development of the 373 acres – though theoretically the cash-strapped

city could join the bidding war on May 26. A sliver of that 240 acres has been set aside for the possible construction of a fire station or library, a city spokesman said. The new owner can choose to either plunk down the balance within 30 days or opt for six annual payments of equal

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LAND from page 6

amounts with interest.

The winner cannot begin developing the land until the bid price is paid in full.

Land Department documents indicate it will cost the winner at least $5.2 million in infrastructure improvements for storm drains and related work as well as unspecified roadway projects. It is also likely the full widening of teh now threelane stretch of Chandler Boulevard will be needed, though it is unclear if the city can require the developer to do that or if that will be a city expense.

The City of Phoenix also stands to yield as much as $17.8 million in impact fees.

The projected 1,050 homes would make the parcel host to one of the largest developments in recent Ahwatukee history.

And the parcel may be the last piece of large developable land in Ahwatukee.

A Land Department appraisal noted 135 acres of open land surrounding Promontory comprise the only other large tract in Ahwatukee available for development, but that most of that parcel has “limited developmental potential” because it “is situated on the steep slopes of South Mountain.”

Of the 373 acres on the site, 300 can be developed since the rest is within neighboring rights-of-way as well as the freeway.

Another 18 acres comprise washes, though the appraisal said the area poses no special flood hazards. It does note, however, “a variety of stormwater improvements will be required upon future development.”

The city also has set aside 12 acres for a year after the final subdivision plat is filed in case either Kyrene or Tempe Union – or both districts – want to build a school there.

Of the total parcel, 44 acres zoned for apartments or condos and another 11 acres zoned commercial are in the southeast corner of the tract but could be relocated elsewhere within the area by a routine administrative amendment to its overall zoning, records show.

However, a Land Department appraiser said “multifamily-oriented development is considered to be unlikely” and that “single-family residential oriented use appears to be the most profitable use of the vast majority, if not all, of the net land area” with the maximum allowable density of 3.5 homes per acre. 

City pool season at risk as park limits may ease

AFN NEWS STAFF

The status of city parks was on the agenda for the City Council meeting yesterday, March 16, amid uncertainty about this year’s pool season and anger in Ahwatukee over the months-long closure of sports courts at Pecos Park.

That anger was stirred over the weekend by a parent who posted a photo of a locked basketball net and wrote, “My daughter comes to me and says dad I want to sign up for basketball.... proud dad I go out and buy her a ball and we get to the court and see this. This world sucks right now, man.”

More than 125 people posted comments to the father’s lament, some offering a ladder and bolt cutters to free the net.

The memo also states the city for the second consecutive year will close parking lots in parks on Easter weekend to prevent large neighborhood and family celebrations.

“Historically on Easter weekend, thou-

sands of visitors gather at city parks,” the memo stated. “To minimize the potential for large group gatherings, the department will implement a plan in which all parks will remain open; however, parking lots will be closed. The public will still be able to walk or bike to their local parks and enjoy all open park amenities over the weekend.

“This plan was successfully implemented in 2020 because of the pandemic, and staff will utilize similar communication methods as last year. This includes placement of digital signage in heavily used parks one week prior to Easter weekend, as well as outreach via park signage and media in English and Spanish.”

The memo noted that Phoenix provides residents and visitors with more than 200 miles of trails in desert parks and mountain preserve land, 185 parks, 32 community and recreation centers, 29 pools and see PARKS page 12

LIVING - We have lived in Ahwatukee since 1997 and raised two wonderful boys here. We love the community feel of Ahwatukee as well as its beauty. Anytime we have contemplated moving, the minute we drive up over the hill and see the majestic views, we know we are home.

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LOVING AHWATUKEE - We enjoy showing o the beauty of our Ahwatukee community to our clients! One of our favorite things we do with our out of state clients is to take them on a tour of the town. We show them the local YMCA, community services, schools, nature trails, and usually stop o at a local restaurant/co ee shop. We love to support our local businesses and are regular participants in community events.

you

love and appreciate them.”

Since the governor closed schools last March 15, Tempe Union students were able to be in classrooms only two days a week – split into two groups alphabetically – only from mid-October to Thanksgiving weekend.

They now will be able to be in classrooms four days a week through the end of the current school year, staying at home for distance learning on Wednesdays so that buildings can be deep-cleaned.

Kyrene School Districts opened all its campuses for five-day in-classroom learning on Tuesday, March 16.

Kyrene projected about 60 percent of its students will be in classrooms while the percentage of the Tempe Union student body expected to be on campus is unknown since the district had not released the results of a survey it took of parents and teachers.

Steele said that LD 18 Sen. Sean Bowie and Reps. Jennifer Jermaine and Mitzi Epstein joined the parents’ effort after Jermaine heard about it. 

PARKS from page 9

eight golf courses and that throughout the pandemic “playgrounds, restrooms, sports courts, fitness equipment, athletic fields and sports complexes were closed intermittently since April 2, 2020.

“Currently, park open space, playgrounds, restrooms, pickleball and tennis courts, trails, golf courses, dog parks, disc golf and skate parks and plazas remain open,” it added.

City Council voted on Dec. 2, to cancel all athletic field reservations and tournaments at city parks – a move roundly criticized by Ahwatukee Councilman Sal DiCiccio.

Additional closures included ramadas, picnic tables, fitness equipment, basketball and volleyball courts and sports complexes.

While virtually all of Phoenix’s East Valley neighbors have had such facilities open – though some at reduced capacity – for several months, Phoenix only now is seeking Council approval to reopen athletic field reservations for practices, games and tournaments with restrictions and sports complexes with restrictions; ramadas and picnic tables, basketball and volleyball

and enhanced cleaning protocols for city pools.

But it said the pool season – which was canceled last year – remains in a state of uncertainty, partly because of the virus but also because “the number of returning aquatics staff has decreased significantly.”

“At this time, current staffing levels would allow the department to reopen 12 of 29 pools throughout the city,” it said.

It was not clear if Pecos Pool will be among the lucky dozen.

courts and outdoor fitness equipment. Meanwhile, a new problem looms for pools and splash pads, scheduled to open May 29.

The memo said the Parks and Recreation Department has developed regulations that include reduced capacity, modified open swim and swim lesson formats

Parks and Rec spokesman Gregg Bach said last week the department was still working on pool season policy and would present it to Council yesterday.

As for the staff issue, he said, “Pool staff are part-time seasonal employees. Our recruitment, application, lifeguard certification and training process annually begins in the fall and is currently continuing.” 

An angry parent shot this padlocked basketball net at Pecos Park, incensed the city is still curbing outdoor activities. (Facebook)

GOP lawmakers setting up early voting roadblocks

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Republican state lawmakers, including two Scottsdale representatives, are moving on multiple fronts to erect new hurdles for early voters.

On a party-line vote, GOP senators decided to scrap existing laws that determine the validity of early ballots based solely on county election workers matching their signatures on the envelopes with what’s on file.

Instead, they would need to provide an affidavit with their date of birth and the number of a state driver’s license, identification card or tribal enrollment card.

State lawmakers also are one step away from removing the concept of “permanent’’ from the state’s permanent early voting list.

The House Committee on Government and Elections approved a measure that would require counties to stop sending out an early ballot to anyone who has not used it in either of the last two statewide or federal elections.

Even at that, the proposal by Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, would require county recorders to send a notice to people informing them of the pending removal from the list. Then, if the voter responded, he or she would remain on the list and continue to get ballots in the mail.

Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, said the measure, which already has been approved by the Senate and now awaits a House vote, is just another attempt to make voting more difficult. She said the evidence shows that it would more likely affect minorities.

What makes all that important is that Rep. Raquel Teran, D-Phoenix, said data from the 2020 election shows there were about 126,000 people who cast a ballot in that record-breaking year but had not, for whatever reason, used their early ballots in 2016 or 2018. Had this measure been in effect, she said, none of those people would have gotten early ballots last year.

And Salman said that, given the propensity of minority votes to skew Democrat, eliminating those votes would have allowed Donald Trump to win in Arizona. She wasn’t the only one to link the 2020 victory of Joe Biden to SB 1485. Sandy

Bahr, chapter director of the Sierra Club, also suggested a direct link between the measure and the 2020 election.

“Is it because more and more Arizonans are using early ballots to vote?’’ she asked of the motives behind the bill. About 80 percent of Arizonans voted early in November.

“Or is it because the election results were different than certain people would have liked?’’ Bahr asked.

Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, rejected the idea of some “grand conspiracy’’ to make it harder for minorities to vote and said “this is an administrative cleanup.”

Backers have another argument.

“This will reduce the opportunity for ballots to be sent out to people who are no longer voting,’’ Ugenti-Rita said, ballots that may then be picked up by someone else and voted.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said that would be easy to do.

He said the only check now on validity of early ballots is a comparison of signatures on the envelope by election workers with those on file. But Kavanagh said it would be easy for someone to get another person’s signature, perhaps off of publicly filed documents, and simply trace it.

Anyway, he said, it’s not like county election workers are trained to be forensic signature experts.

Salman said there are good reasons for suspicions of sinister motives by Republicans and why, in her words, SB 1485 should be seen as a “voter suppression bill.’’

She pointed to arguments made a week ago at the U.S. Supreme Court by Michael Carvin, an attorney for the Arizona Republican Party.

He is defending a 2016 law which makes it a crime for anyone to take someone else’s early ballot to the polls in situations where the voter forgets to get it in the mail on time to arrive before 7 p.m. Election Day.

Asked why the GOP is a party in the case, Carvin was clear. “It puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats,’’ he said.

“Politics is a zero-sum game,’’ Carvin continued. “And every extra vote they get through unlawful interpretations of Section 2 hurts us. It’s the difference between winning an election 50 to 49 and losing an election.’’

The Senate bill would require voters without a driver’s license to send a copy of any other federal state or locally issued ID card.

The proposal by Sen. J.D. Mesnard, RChandler, gets more complicated.

First, there’s the need for someone’s voter registration number.

“Raise your hand if you know your voter registration number,’’ said Sen. Sean

Bowie, D-Tempe.

Then they have to enclose an actual physical copy of something with their actual address like a utility bill dated within the past 90 days.

Right now, any ballot delivered by the post office by 7 p.m. on Election Day gets counted.

SB 1593 says any ballot not actually postmarked by the prior Thursday is discarded even if it shows up before close of business on Election Day.

Nothing in the bill precludes a voter from taking that early ballot to a polling place on Election Day, turning it in and instead getting a regular ballot.

Ugenti-Rita said criticism of the GOP measures amounts to saying that Republicans are racists.

She said the new forms of ID don’t disenfranchise anyone and that nothing in legislation applies solely to one group.

But Sen. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson, pointed out that courts have voided otherwise “facially neutral’’ law if they have a disproportionate impact on minorities.

Mesnard said he sees nothing wrong with providing some extra security to ensure that the votes received come from the people who were supposed to get those ballots.

Still, Mesnard said he will make some further changes when the bill now goes to the House to ease some of those requirements. 

JOHN KAVANAGH

MICHELLE UGENTI-RITA

ATHENA SALMON

Bowie laments ‘toughest’ week in Legislature

AFN NEWS STAFF

Ahwatukee state Sen. Sean Bowie’s weekly communication with constituents last week sounded a surprisingly glum note over the number of steps his Republican colleagues in the Legislature have taken on voting and several other issues.

“Last week was a really tough week,” the Democrat wrote. “As in, it was probably one of the toughest and hardest weeks in my five sessions at the Capitol.”

“Tuesday and Wednesday, in particular, were very long and dispiriting days,” he continued. “Wednesday there were around two dozen really concerning and problematic bills having to do with issues like voting rights, a woman’s right to choose, and attacks on the citizen initiative process.”

Noting he voted no on bills that “would make it harder to vote, dramatically change our early voting process and directly undermine Proposition 208 that was passed by the voters last year,” Bowie said lamenting his party’s inability to stop any of the bills.

He said he began thinking “is there any light at the end of the tunnel here? Do I want to keep doing this after the end of next year?”

While he noted “these kinds of weeks tend to happen every session,” he said “last week hit me pretty hard.”

“I’m continuing to work with my colleagues on the Republican side to convince them that some of these ideas are bad bills for the state, and while we will not be able to stop everything, I will continue doing the best job that I can to ensure that some of the bills going after our voting rights and the initiative process do not move forward.”

Bowie said that while he hasn’t explained his vote on a bill in almost two years, he did speak about his opposition to SB 1713.

That bill requires early voters to complete a separate affidavit and include a driver’s license number or photocopy of a utility bill or some other proof of address instead of just signing the outside of the envelope.

He said he is concerned that voters could easily forget or misplace that additional piece of paper.

Sen. Sean Bowie joined Tempe Union parents in the “Chalking Up Love” event at Mountain Pointe High Sunday evening. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)

“They could have every intention of voting correctly, but if they accidentally throw that piece of paper away or misplace it, their vote would not count.

“I worry this bill will have unintended consequences, and lead to hundreds or thousands of votes not being counted from voters who are trying to follow the instructions. That’s a big problem for me,” he said.

Bowie saw one ray of hope in that “almost all of the bills waiting for floor action that I would consider bad for the state will likely not move forward, so our attention will soon go to House bills that make their way through committee hearings and come to the full Senate for consideration.”

Some of those House bills provide for similar changes in early voting.

Bowie also was encouraged that the House Education Committee voted in favor of SB 1097, which would clarify that mental health days count as an excused absence in K-12 schools, and SB 1376, which would require school health curriculums to include instruction in social emotional learning and mental health support.

Both bills now head to the Rules committee and then the House floor.

Another bill Bowie had hoped would start making its way through the House after Senate passage was SB 1174, which provides $2 million for STEM internships for young people throughout the state.

The House Education Committee, however, held that bill and it is unclear whether it will get a hearing. 

cer is going down, but so is his immune system. We’re watching him closely for fevers or infection,” she said, adding that at their March 12 visit, Logan required a blood and platelet transfusion.

All his treatments are an expensive undertaking. Lehr estimated in 2020 alone, medical costs reached $2.2 million.

The family is reactivating their GoFundMe page, ‘Logan’s Heroes,’ and the Ahwatukeebased Armer Foundation for Kids has made it possible to make monetary donations via PayPal, debit or credit card, or donors can opt for donations on a monthly basis.

Armer Foundation has also created #Loganstrong t-shirts to help with the family’s mounting bills. On the shirt, directly under an orange cancer ribbon, are the words “3 time champ.”

All profits from the t-shirt sales go directly to help the family.

The local foundation has also organized a #TeamLogan Blood Drive May 16 that will be hosted by and at CK’S Tavern & Grill, 4142 E. Chandler Blvd., the blood drive runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Krystal Lehr said there is a continued great need for blood donors.

“All of this requires a lot of transfusions. He’s had hundreds already.”

Lehr said despite the unanticipated setback, Logan is doing well.

“Right now, if you look at him, he looks healthy and handsome. But when you see the numbers on paper, you see he’s really sick,” she said. “We’re hoping to get to transplant next month.”

She explained her son is keeping busy video editing games on his laptop, even while in the hospital.

“He goes to Altadeña (Middle School) and he took multimedia classes and he learned video editing; he really likes that,” she said.

There was a possibility that the family would transport Logan to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for CAR T-cell thera-

py that was created in collaboration with the Hospital University of Pennsylvania for use in children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The treatment is a new approach to cancer treatments that uses the body’s own immune cells to kill off cancer cells.

“Logan’s cancer has very few markers for that treatment, so we hope to get him into remission and go straight into another bone marrow transplant,” said his mother. “That’s our ultimate goal and the best chance for him.”

The teen was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in November, but made a speedy recovery.

Today, Saint Patrick’s Day, Lehr, Logan’s father Eric Gidley and his sister Juliette will be tested to see if any of them are a successful bone marrow match.

They are hoping and praying for the best.

It was Friday July 13, 2018, when Logan’s parents first heard the devastating diagnosis of leukemia.

At that time, Logan was a fifth grader at Kyrene Monte Vista Elementary, and had been enjoying a summer of swim team competitions and advanced math classes.

Lehr recalled that the diagnosis “came out of nowhere” as the family had assumed his weight loss and lack of appetite was due to his busy summer schedule.

see LOGAN page 17

Logan has developed a knack for video editing as a student at Altadeña Middle School. (Special to AFN)

His second bout of cancer hit Dec. 3, 2019, but after numerous chemo treatments, he once again won the battle and went into remission.

The family members now consider themselves cancer veterans who have fought the fight and are staying strong for a third bout.

“We’re reactivating the GoFundMe page for Logan’s Heroes,” explained Lehr. “And we’re so thankful for Armer Foundation for Kids and everything they’re doing to help us.”

Armer Foundation for Kids was founded in Ahwatukee in 2019 by Jennifer and Matt Armer who own Armer Corporation, an HVAC and plumbing company.

The two were invested in helping children through their own experiences: Matt grew up with Type-1 diabetes and Jennifer had a close friend lose her 10-year-old daughter to cancer.

Their daughter Rebecca McElyea came on board last year and now serves as director of operations and a member of the board of directors.

“The Armer Foundation For Kids is a

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES AND SUDOKU from Page 44

charity dedicated to ease some of the financial burdens to families with children with extreme medical conditions that have unforeseen financial burdens,” said Jennifer Armer, echoing their mission statement. “When health insurance is not enough, we will help by assisting with copays, premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.”

To further raise funds, the foundation opened a thrift store last year, but due to COVID-19, wasn’t able to host a grand opening.

On March 27, they will.

The Armer Foundation Thrift Store, at 9830 S. 51st St., Ahwatukee, will hold the special event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will have raffles and Chick-fil-A sandwiches and other refreshments as well as an interactive photo booth. 

The Armer Foundation has created multiple fundraising avenues for Logan and his family, as well as donation links on their website at armerfoundation.org/Logan.

Donors also can for to gofundme. com and search “Logan Gidley.”

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Gun sale rise worries public health experts

BY EMMA ASCOTT Cronkite News

An escalation in firearms sales last year, driven in part by new gun owners, is prompting some health experts to call for more attention to gun safety.

The FBI last year processed a record 39.7 million firearm background checks. The week of March 16-22 – just after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and then a national emergency – is the top week for background checks since the agency’s instant system launched in 1998.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms industry, estimates more than eight million people were first-time gun buyers last year, and experts cite pandemic-related worries and the presidential election as primary drivers of rising sales.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine are among those calling for action to help prevent firearm injuries or deaths amid the uptick.

More safety education “is essential to address the potential downstream adverse effects of increases in firearm ownership with regard to injury and suicide prevention,” the researchers wrote recently in JAMA Network Open.

Experts note that the rise in gun sales coincided with increasing psychological distress caused by isolation, economic worries and health concerns related to COVID-19. Studies show that depression, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts all have worsened.

The Journal of Psychiatric Research surveyed 3,500 Americans last summer found that those who planned to buy a firearm had experienced more severe fears around COVID-19 and were more likely to have had some kind of suicidal ideation.

“The 2020 firearm purchase surge does not guarantee a subsequent epidemic of suicide deaths, but it most definitely increases risk,” wrote authors Craig Bryan, a psychologist who directs trauma and suicide prevention programs at Ohio State University, and Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence

Research Center.

In 2019, nearly 40,000 people died by firearms – the majority in suicides, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Phoenix Police say 70 percent of all homicides involve a gun.

Arizona’s gun death rate was about 27 percent higher than the national average in 2019, according to CDC data, with 1,136 deaths by firearms that year – 70 percent of them suicides. White people were far more likely to die of gun-related suicide in the state.

The Gun Violence Archive, an online database of real-time incidents, estimates the number of firearm deaths in 2020 surpassed 43,000.

In Phoenix, Veerachart Murphy, owner of Ammo AZ, said sales of firearms and ammunition at his shop doubled from 2019 to 2020 – to $13 million.

“It first started with COVID,” Murphy said, attributing the surge to the same hoarding mentality that prompted runs on hand sanitizer and toilet paper. “We saw it hit probably mid-February, when everybody started coming in here and just

going crazy.”

He also pointed to worries related to the 2020 presidential election.

“There’s a change in administration, so a lot of people are scared that the AR-15 and AK-47 are going to get banned,” he said.

Industry groups estimate gun purchases by Black individuals increased by 56 percent compared with 2019.

“We’ve seen a trend of more African Americans choosing to express their Second Amendment rights to own a firearm, especially for personal protection,” Philip Smith, president and founder of the National African American Gun Association.

Twenty-five states had record sales months in 2020 – 16 of them in March when lockdowns began, according to SafeHome.org. Arizona had a record 665,458 firearm background checks in 2020, according to the FBI.

As firearm sales increased, so, too, did some categories of violent crime. Homicides in Phoenix increased 52% from 2019 to 2020, according to police, driven by a 175 percent increase in homicides related to domestic violence.

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Arizona National Guard busier than ever

BY MIKE PHILLIPS AFN Contributor

The three hikers stranded in snow near Sedona were in a tight spot. After days of sub-freezing temperatures stuck in a rock crevice without food, they were showing signs of frostbite.

As they braced for another cruel night, they heard the whomp-whomp-whomp of an Arizona National Guard Blackhawk Helicopter piloted by Maj. Shannon Lancaster. After a few harrowing minutes last January, the hikers were aboard the aircraft and headed to safety.

“They got a jolt of motivation when they saw us,“ said Lancaster, a Mesa resident who has spent a decade flying helicopters for the Guard. “It definitely gets you going when you put your training to work and you know you’re saving people’s lives.”

The Arizona National Guard has been feeding off that life-saving adrenaline for the past year.

Not since World War II has a greater percentage of Arizona Guard been deployed –whether responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, fighting wildfires in several states, securing the southern border, serving overseas, or assisting communities during a summer of civic unrest.

“We faced things we never faced before,” said Allen Clark, Arizona’s director of emergency management. “We daily treaded new waters that we haven’t had to float before.”

Clark, also a Mesa resident, manages the emergency management division of the state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs – the nerve center for Arizona’s COVID-19 response.

When one of Arizona’s 15 counties or 22 tribal governments needs crisis assistance these days, the request lands with Clark. His team coordinates with the National Guard and other agencies to provide help.

The EOC, usually a short-term response to emergencies, has been operating since late January 2020.

The statistics compiled by the Arizona National Guard reflect the unprecedented needs and challenges.

In the past year, its roughly 8,300 members have supported more than 875 COVID-19 testing sites, delivered 300,000 pieces of protective equipment to medical workers and assisted more than 140 food

VID-19 vaccinations.

Her husband, Sam, also serves in the National Guard and was deployed last summer in response to civil unrest. That left the couple scrambling to find supervision for their 2-year-old son while Shannon fought fires and Sam worked to quell the heat of angry protests.

“We had to fly my mom out to help with the childcare,” Lancaster said. “Those were some really long days.”

“Long days” could well be the 2020 theme for Arizona’s National Guard.

In his civilian life, Tommy Leeper is an emergency room physician at the Phoenix VA Hospital.

But last March he was mobilized to establish a “surgeon cell” as part of the state’s COVID-19 response. Leeper, a Gilbert resident with 40 years of military service, had an idea of what was coming. He studied pandemics during a year at the Army War College and has conducted research around pandemic influenza.

His team spent a week training workers on how to better manage the patient influx, provide specialized treatment and effectively use personal protective equipment. They evaluated patients and transferred the sickest to hospitals across the region better equipped to provide care.

Joining Leeper on the trip was National Guard paramedic Sgt. Brian Bowling, a Tempe native who in civilian life works as a Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff.

Unlike most natural disasters the Guard deals with, he said it was clear early on that addressing COVID-19 was going to be a long, drawn-out slog.

“It seemed like people took one extreme or another, either being very cavalier about it or being extremely cautious to the point of paranoia,” he said. “Part of our job was to strike a balance in the community. You don’t need hazmat gear, but you do need to wash your hands.”

banks across the state.

Members have worked more than 360,000 hours, driven 775,000 miles to deliver goods and dropped 130,000 gallons of water on wildfires. At one point, 85 percent of available Arizona Guard members were on deployment. Roughly 1,300 of those troops were overseas.

“I am constantly inspired by their willingness to serve; I couldn’t be more thankful for their contributions,” said Maj. Gen. Michael T. McGuire, who recently announced his retirement as the Guard’s adjutant general and director of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.

“I say this all the time … they are the next Greatest Generation,” McGuire added.

When not rescuing stranded hikers, Lancaster is a fulltime aviation instructor assigned to the Papago Military complex in Phoenix.

It’s normally a five-day-a-week job, but not in 2020.

First came a mission in April when Lancaster flew medical personnel to Tuba City to tackle a severe COVID-19 outbreak on the Navajo Nation. Last summer, Lancaster spent several weeks using her flight skills to surgically drop water on wildfires raging first in Arizona and then California. Then she recently ferried nurses and support staff to Yuma to administer CO-

He anticipated the wave of change that disrupted Arizona last spring. “That’s kind of the nature of pandemics,” he said. “They kind of brew along for a while and then they all of a sudden explode.”

Arizona’s first detonation occurred in isolated Tuba City. Leeper led the initial team to land there and found a rural health system overwhelmed by patients and ill-prepared to deal with it.

That meant training medical personnel and front-line workers how to protect themselves.

“We couldn’t afford to have a community market shut down that was the only store for 50 miles around,” he said.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 prevention measures were keeping workers and volunteers at home – and creating gaps in the transportation and distribution of food

It’s been a busy year for the Arizona National Guard, including Mesa residents Maj. Shannon Lancaster and her husband Sam, who at times had to scrambled to find a babysitter for their 2-year-old son Paxton. (Mike Phillips/ AFN Contributor)

Members of the Arizona National Guard were dispatched to the Mesa Convention Center last spring to help United Food Bank distribute hundreds of food boxes. (Mike Phillips/AFN Contributor)

and other necessities. The Guard’s mission shifted away from a direct medical response to providing training, logistics and transportation support.

At one point, growers in western Arizona had excess produce they wanted to donate, McGuire said, but had no way to deliver it. Into the breach stepped the Guard, which devised a distribution system to serve the state’s food banks and then deployed trucks and personnel to get it done.

The response ensured thousands of needy Arizona residents received food and other aid when they needed it most.

At one point, the Guard was serving 143 food banks in all 15 counties and early on manned United Food Bank’s massive food box distribution operation at the Mesa Convention Center.

At the same time, Leeper and his team were shifting from emergency response in hotspots like Tuba City to take on a broader education and training role. COVID-19 tests were being delivered but few facilities and organizations knew how to use them.

Two-person teams were established to visit nursing homes and other care facilities to provide not only training but directions on how to report results to the state for tracking.

Last December, vaccines arrived in Arizona and again the National Guard played a critical role in distribution. McGuire called it a “game changer,” but said it also came with its own unique challenges.

Clark’s team at the state Emergency Operations Center worked to form a coalition of government, civic groups and businesses to speed the distribution and delivery of the vaccine.

will run into the millions and be borne by a mix of local, state and federal jurisdictions.

For civilian employers who lost workers called for deployment, there is disruption and lost productivity, but also a sense that they, too, answered a call.

“Everyone serves in a different way,” said Dan Irving, the Arizona chairman for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve – part of the Department of Defense that provides support and recognition of businesses employing National Guard and reserve troops.

LA CASA DE JUANA

While COVID-19 and wildfires raged, the border beckoned and civil unrest broiled, the Arizona National Guard still had core missions to perform this past year.

The 161st Refueling Wing based at Sky Harbor International Airport had pilots to train and a requirement to refuel fighters and bombers that make up the U.S. nuclear deterrence force.

In Tucson, the 162nd Fighter Wing not only trains F-16 pilots from 29 countries but also protects and patrols the border. The cost of the Guard’s multifaceted response in 2020 is still being tabulated. It

“Without the support of employers, we wouldn’t be able to sustain an all-volunteer force,” said Irving. “We have many, many Arizona businesses that take care of their guard and reserve members and their families,” he said. “That’s really important in times like this.”

For many Guard members, 2020 was the year their military commitment hit closest to home. “If you talk to almost any guardsman and asked them why they joined … it is to serve both the local community and the nation in general,” said Bowling. “This is personified when we see people from our own towns, from the places we live in or are working in.” 

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Little Ahwatukee girl continues to inspire blood drive donors here

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

Last week, 5-year-old Adelyn Troutman of Ahwatukee had her 80th monthly blood transfusion.

It’s been part of the little girl’s monthly routine ever since she was 2 months old and was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Diamond-Blackfan anemia, which prohibits her body from making red blood cells.

The cells have a relatively short life span, so by the end of four weeks after her last

transfusion, they’ve all died off, forcing the need for another transfusion of blood.

The transfusions themselves take a toll since they can cause a deadly increase in the amount of iron in her bloodstream, which can lead to heart and liver failure with little warning. So that has to be constantly monitored too.

Through it all, the youngster has been a delight for doctors and her teachers – and an inspiration to the community the last four years since Adelyn’s parents, Matt and Kami Troutman, started biannual blood drives as their way of giving back.

This year, their spring drive runs 8 a.m.-1 p.m. March 27 at Desert Foothills

United Methodist Church, 2156 E. Liberty Lane, Ahwatukee. Donors can register at bit.ly/3qJsM8x.

The drives so far have provided blood to help more than 2,000 people in need,

�ee ADELYN page 25

Teachers and medical staff say 5-year-old Adelyn Troutman lights up a room and inspires them to give blood. (Courtesy of Kami and Matt Troutman)

2 teens giving back in different ways

Youth’s nonprofit distributes water, care boxes to homeless Girl Scout creates badges of honor for front-line heroes

AFN NEWS STAFF

At age 16, Milan Merchant not only has formed a federally certified nonprofit, but has developed a unique system for getting bottled water to homeless people.

And this year, the state certified him as a charity that donors can support and get a tax credit for their financial support.

A junior at McClintock High School and the son of Sarika and Birju Merchant, Milan started Project Hydration two years ago at first to solely get water to homeless people.

His original idea came to him as his parents were driving him to school.

“I would look around to see homeless people on the street corners and people waiting at the bus stops in the

charity, Project Hydration. (Special to AFN)

AFN NEWS STAFF

Long-time Ahwatukee Girl Scout Shanti Oza was so moved by the work her uncle, a doctor, and nurses are doing for Georgia nursing home patients that she decided to show her admiration for everyone on the front lines during the pandemic.

The 18-year-old daughter of Jacquelyn and Nitin Oza, the Desert Vista High School senior designed stickers that identify their wearer not only as a front-line worker but a “Hero Behind the Mask.”

Shanti called her effort “an Ahwatukee Neighborhood Girl Scout service project to show our thank you to the first responders.”

A budding artist who likes to work in all media, Shanti came up with a dynamic

�ee SHANTI page 26

Ahwatukee Girl Scout Shanti Oza holds one of the stickers she designed to show her admiration for front-line workers. (Special to AFN)

Milan Merchant of Ahwatukee has distributed more than 5,000 bottles of water and 1,000 care packages to the homeless through his

Realty firm partners with teens on foster children drive

West USA Realty, Ahwatukee Horizon Honors Key Club and East Valley Boys Service Club have partnered to gather new and gently used clothes and shoes during March to benefit foster teens.

All proceeds will go to Helen’s Hope Chest – which provides clothing and other items for foster children.

Donna Leeds of West USA Realty said, “Mindy Duet of Horizon Honors and I dropped off at Helen’s Hope Chest used books as well as gently used teen clothes and backpacks that the Horizon Honors Key Club put together.

“We were given a tour and immediately saw a need for teen clothes – not hand-me-downs but there was a need for cool clothes. Mindy and I knew what we were going to do and brought in Horizon parent Julie Grove, who also runs the East Valley Boys Club.”

ADELYN from page 24

Kami said.

And this month’s drive will be the first in a year, since the uncertainties of the pandemic prompted the Troutmans and the Red Cross to cancel a fall drive.

Even the spring drive was “a challenge with the restrictions changing every day,” Matt said.

“We had once again filled all of our signup time slots with the way this drive has grown in popularity over the years,” he said. “The biggest challenge was that we had to completely reconfigure the set-up and on the day of the drive, they decided we were not going to be allowed to take walk-in appointments.

“This killed us because with the number of no shows and cancellations, we could have easily taken them – and these were some of our regulars, which even hurt worse.”

Even so – in a remarkable display of the Ahwatukee community’s support for Addy – 166 people signed up to donate and “we collected about 140 units, which was no small feat.”

“Several people asked about the drive and encouraged us to do it again so we weren’t going to miss the spring date,” Matt said. “So many people are inspired by her blood drive and by her, that we had to put it on for them. We planned the spacing far ahead of time and accessed all of the precautions we would need to have in place.

“We have put forth the effort to try to alleviate any unforeseen challenges jumping up on the day of the drive like last time.”

AROUND AHWATUKEE

Mary Elliott, Helen’s Hope Chest site manager, said foster teens “are interested in what all teens want… trendy clothes. Our goal is to help build self-esteem in teen foster kids by providing clothes they can be proud of.”

Leeds added: The fact that we got off to a late start are thrilled with the donations coming in.”

Items most popular with boy teens are basketball shorts and T-Shirts and jeans in Men’s sizes. There is a special need for teen girls and that is plus sizes. All new and gently used teen items are welcomed.

Donations can be dropped off at West USA Realty, 4505 E Chandler Blvd., Suite 170, Ahwatukee. Information: Julie Grove at 480-577-8428 or Donna Leeds at 949-310-5673; helenshopechest.com.

Leeds noted that there are 4,000 licensed foster homes in Arizona and about 64,000 children cared by kinship relatives. Helen’s Hope Chest serves more than 650 kids a month.

Ahwatukee women’s group slates online look at Arizonans

“The Lives of Arizona Women: Past and Present” is the title of a presentation that Arizona State University professor Dr. Mary Logan Rothschild will present at the next meeting of Ahwatukee Foothills Friends and Neighbors at 1 p.m. March 22.

The presentation will be from an oral history project on Arizona women done in the 1980s. All women interviewed were over 70 and lived most or all of their lives in the state and have different stories that will offer a lively, moving and compelling picture of Arizona over the last 120 years. Contact affanwomensgroup@gmail. com to register. A Zoom invitation will be sent.

Kyrene Foundation slates 10th annual golf tournament

Tickets for foursomes and singles are now on sale

Local businesses also are putting up Addy’s picture to encourage sign-ups.

The Red Cross has consistently said that with the precautions it puts in place, donating blood is not only possible during the pandemic but vitally needed, since many drives have been hampered over the past year.

for the 10th annual golf tournament sponsored by the Kyrene Foundation at Arizona Grand Resort April 17. Tickets and sponsorships are available for purchase at kyrenefoundation.org/golfclassic2021.

“Our families’ needs are the highest they have ever been and our goal is to raise $30,000,” a spokesperson said.

All proceeds will support children and their families in the Kyrene community.

The Arizona Grand course “is a beautiful place to play and the scramble format makes it fun for all levels of golfers,” the spokesperson added.

The course has put measures in place to ensure the health and safety of sponsors and participants. 

Meanwhile, Adelyn herself “has been doing great,” her father said.

The iron levels are still concerning “but they have been maintained fairly well,” he said.

“She is such a trooper for taking her pills morning and night,” Matt said. “It makes it easy to stay on top of it when she is so good about taking her medication.”

This fall Addy will be entering kindergarten after finishing up at the Village Preschool at the Liberty Lane church.

And, her father said, it’s not so much that he and Kami have to keep up Addy’s spirits during her ordeal but “kind of the other way around.”

“She is the one that keeps our spirits up. I don’t know how she does it but she is the happiest little girl you’d ever meet so it lifts the spirits of everyone around her cause we know what she goes through and if she’s able to do it month after month and be so happy then we have no reason to ever be upset. She is quite the inspiration,” Matt said.

Anyone who knows Addy agrees.

Denise Savoy, Adelyn’s preschool teacher, said “ If you ever wanted to know what it means to be strong and brave, just look at Adelyn Troutman. Although she suffers from a rare blood disorder, you would never know it by seeing her beaming smile.

“Having Adelyn in class has truly taught me to be grateful and appreciative of each and every day. I can always tell when Adelyn is due for her next transfusion as she may be a little pale and a little tired, but that will never stop her. She never complains and is always full of excitement and always has that infectious smile.”

Savoy said Adelyn loves to make people laugh, even when she nears the time for a transfusion and begins looking pale and tired.

“Her classmates are very inquisitive about why she has to miss school and have blood transfusions,” Savoy said. “They ask her lots of questions and Adelyn always gets an excited look on her face and answers their questions and she always tells them, ‘I am brave and strong.’”

The staff at Step By Step Pediatrics concurs.

“Adelyn lights up a room with her smile, bringing so much joy into the world,” said Theresa Lindstrom PA-C. “In meeting her you would never know all that goes into her living the beautifully normal life she does.

“But she continues to depend on the blood donations of strangers to keep her vitality. Her story motivates me and so many to realize how donating blood can impact a life.” 

Last week, 5-year-old Adelyn Troutman underwent her 80th monthly blood transfusion. (Courtesy of Kami and Matt Troutman)

Dog trainer finds owners need schooling too

BY STACI HAUK AFN Contributor

People may want a dog trainer to address canine behavioral to emotional issues but Ricardo Paredes said owners themselves often need some training too.

The Gilbert man started CharlieBar Boarding & Training six years ago, realizing a passion that he has had since childhood.

“I was the kid that would save baby birds and raise them until they could fly,” Paredes said. “I grew up having many dogs so I thought I would become a veterinarian

“However, as I matured and went onto college, I pursued a degree in animal behavior, only changing courses to sociology when the math requirements became too intense.”

While working at a job that paid the bills, he nurtured his childhood obsession by rescuing stray dogs and bringing them home to help and heal.

“One day I found two German Shepherds who were in horrible shape – dirty, emaciated, no collars and covered in ticks,” Paredes recalled. ““I worked with them until I was able to rehabilitate them enough to be with my dogs Charlie and Lily, as well as able to go to the dog park.”

At the time, Paredes did not know much about dog training. His work with the two

SHANTI

from page 24

design that echoes a Marvel hero comic book.

“First responders have always been my heroes because they are willing to answer the call without hesitation,” Shanti said. “And to do this fearlessly during a pandemic is even more compelling. Visually, I like how comic books’ stories often portray superheroes fighting villains. First responders are superheroes fighting an invisible villain, COVID-19. I find it coincidental that superheroes are usually masked.”

The stickers required some work for the 11-year-long Scout.

“It took me maybe an hour to brainstorm ideas,” she said. “I then took my idea directly to paper. I enjoy drawing so much that I usually lose any sense of

not understand a breed and its uniqueness or don’t know how to properly socialize a new animal, which leads to reactivity, separation anxiety and possessive behavior.

clear format of communication.”

While he offers private sessions and also boards trainees, “in both formats, the owner needs to know how to continue training the dog,” he said.

“If the leader does not know what they are doing, it does not matter what the followers are taught.”

German Shepherds inspired him to start rehabilitating dogs for re-homing.

“I found a mentor named Sean Thompson, an amazing competitive dog trainer, who I knew would be able to teach me everything I needed to know to find success,” Paredes explained.

When it comes to owners, some of his common training challenges include people who are not ready for animal ownership, especially if the animals were a gift. He also has encountered owners who do

time. I was even more immersed because I wanted to make sure this picture conveyed my gratitude.”

And every stroke of her pen conveyed something.

“I wanted this superhero to be masked with a surgical mask to reflect the current times and to emphasize that these warriors are still fighting for their community despite the risk,” she explained.

“They are our lifeline, so I included an electrocardiogram line from the hero’s hand upward toward the ‘pow’ bubbles that feature some of our first responders.

“I chose our patriotic colors: red, white and blue. I added yellow around the groups of heroes because of the warmth they provide in keeping us safe. The green was chosen to let them know that our Girl Scout Neighborhood is thankful.”

The work didn’t end there since she had

“The key for a dog to be successful in a home as well as happy is to have an owner that understands how important clear, concise, and consistent communication is for pets,” Paredes said. “I am a dog trainer that is known as a balanced trainer. This means I understand the role that both positive reinforcement and negative enforcement play in successful ownership.”

“When I train a dog, I focus on tools of communication which allow the dog to understand exactly when it is right and exactly when it is wrong,” he said.

“The goal is for the dog to make its own decisions. This could only happen properly if the dog is trained using a fair and

to make a sticker.

With the help of Ambassador Girl Scout Lizzy Waypa, Shanti reduced her drawing to 3 inches so it could fit in a perfect circle.

Lizzy helped brighten the colors and before long, Shanti had a vinyl patch with an adhesive backing that she began distributing to literally thousands of people.

Ahwatukee Neighborhood Girl Scouts had them printed and Jane Waypa coordinated and communicated with Print Place and 5,000 were made at PrintPlace.com.

“Ahwatukee Neighborhood Girl Scouts have asked troops to pick up as many stickers as they want to hand out,” Shanti said. “It is up to the troop level to get involved and put together a plan of attack.”

“We are hoping to hit all the local fire stations, police stations, urgent cares and hospitals in our area and then work out from Ahwatukee,” she added. “It is a sim-

CharlieBar works with countless shelters, rehabilitating dogs that were set to be euthanized. Achieving goals with these special animals is perhaps the most rewarding.

“We worked with a dog named Sophie who we trained to be a service dog for a woman with mobility issues,” he said.

“This dog was taught to do so many things, it’s actually quite impressive.

“There are also other dogs, such as a dog named Knox, who was rescued and sent to us for training. His situation looked bleak, but we turned him around and were able to get him a home in which he literally saved the lives of his owners in a home invasion.”

He recalled having a service dog that was not properly prepped for the job.

Yet, “within three months we were able to train her to do many tasks for a young girl inhibited from lifting things and performing standard tasks. My many success stories can be found on my Facebook Page.”

Information: facebook.com/CharlieBarTraining. 

ple thank you to show our appreciation in the community.”

And, of course, one of her initial inspirations for the endeavor got some too.

Her uncle, Dr. Charles Griffin, “came out of retirement to help in the fight to stop COVID-19,” she said, and administers vaccines to nursing home residents in Georgia.

“He is distributing stickers to the health care providers in these nursing homes. The reactions have been positive. Nursing home staff are impressed that Girl Scouts all the way in Arizona were sending love and gratitude across the country.”

And it’s not just those folks who appreciate the thought behind those stickers.

“The individuals who have received the stickers so far have been very appreciative and love the sticker designs,” Shanti said. “One patient saw the sticker on the nurse and took the sticker for herself.” 

Longtime Gilbert dog trainer Ricardo Paredes said that in his experience, a canine’s owner often needs as much training as the animal. (Special to AFN)

Real Estate Guide

BY PAUL MARYNIAK

AFN Executive Editor

Anxious homebuyers hoping to see a deluge of foreclosures springing from the pandemic’s impact on the economy and loading the Valley market with short sales should think again.

It’s more than unlikely that the Valley’s housing scene will see a flood of for-sale homes and plummeting prices that some reports in 2011-13 purported, says the Cromford Report, the leading tracker of Valley housing scenes in the Phoenix Metro area.

That’s primarily because equity has ballooned, making it less likely owners will simply walk away from homes as they did more than 10 years ago.

Noting the inventory of homes this month is 60 percent below that of March 2020, Cromford reported a slight downward trend in demand but said “that really does not make much difference when supply is this scarce.”

“Even if demand dropped well below normal, we would still have multiple offers for most listings,” it continued,

Buyers, sellers paying closer attention to appraisals

BY BEN GOTTLIEB AFN Guest Writer

One impetus for the housing debacle that triggered the Great Recession over a decade ago was the ease of obtaining financing to purchase a home.

It was easy to have an appraiser support the contract price of a home – thereby enabling the buyer to obtain his or her loan needed to purchase the home – with minimal out-of-pocket cash needed to make the purchase.

All of that changed after the Great Recession.

Among other things, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct enacted rules to make the home appraisal process more neutral and

MARKET from page re1

“Multiple offers are the mechanism that drives prices up,” it said. “One offer per listing represents stability. No offers tend to drive prices down. We would need about seven times the current supply to get back somewhere close to normality.”

Cromford also said something most other real estate experts agree on – the end of mortgage assistance by federal pandemic relief money will likely not lead to massive foreclosures and flood the market with resales.

“While we can imagine a noticeable increase in supply taking place,” it said, “it is very unlikely to reach the levels that would dramatically change the balance in the Greater Phoenix market.”

“There was no significant shadow inventory” in 2011-13, Cromford said, “and there is no huge wave of distressed homes waiting to hit the market now.”

Warning that buyers should “not be taken in by these myths,” Cromford said the sequence of the housing bubble’s collapse needs to be examined.

“Prices started to fall from July 2006 onward due to supply becoming much stronger than demand,” it said. “The fall in prices meant recent buyers had zero or negative equity from 2007 onwards, loosening their motivation to keep up their mortgage payments.”

As a result, “a huge wave of bank-owned properties hit the market in 2008 and

objective for conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – lenders or third-party companies contact and compensate appraisers.

In today’s real estate climate, this has resulted in many appraisal reports not supporting the contract price.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, housing prices in Arizona – and elsewhere – have soared.

Most people have likely heard or read by now the reasons provided by housing experts and economists for the rapid ascent: (1) record low interest rates; (2) extremely low inventory; (3) unique conditions caused by the pandemic forcing homeowners to spend more time in their homes; (4) expansive fiscal stimulus; and (5) an overall rising stock market. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Pow-

ell has recently stated that he expects housing prices to continue to inflate in the short-term but views any inflation as a temporary condition primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the current real estate climate, a bad appraisal can mean the difference between buying your dream home or staying put.

Many housing transactions involve “bidding wars” among various prospective buyers – with some buyers willing to offer a “premium” in order to win the contract. In today’s real estate world, appraisers do not care whether there was a bidding war, or whether the buyer – knowingly or unknowingly – offered a premium for the home. Instead, the appraiser will focus on similar recent home sales in close proximity to the subject home.

Of the priciest, if not the priciest, homes on the Ahwatukee market is this 10,519-squarefoot home on South Equestrian Trail. Built in 1995, it’s priced at $3.4 million.

(Special to AFN)

2009, adding to the supply problem” that was exacerbated by a major increase in new-home construction.

“The lack of equity meant many homes listed in 2008 through 2011 were short sales,” Cromford noted. “Investors pounced on the bank-owned homes and short sales from 2009 onwards, bringing the drop in prices to a complete halt by 2011.”

Currently, it said, “We have far too little supply, not far too much. Note that the excess supply in 2006 was the primary problem that burst the bubble. The foreclosures came later and were an effect, not a cause, of the bubble bursting.”

Stressing that “foreclosures did not cause the housing crash” and “were a consequence of the excess supply of 2006,”

On occasion, the appraiser will introduce a subject element into his or her appraisal report – i.e., the value the appraiser tacks on for a desired view or pool or landscape. Thus, the conditions in today’s housing market are ripe for home transactions that “do not appraise” – meaning, the appraisal comes up short of the contract price. This can present a significant issue for the buyer, as the lender is only willing to lend up to a certain amount based on the appraised value.

If the appraised value comes up short, that means the buyer must come out of pocket for the additional funds to compensate for having qualified for a lesser loan amount.

Many buyers do not have the extra funds

Cromford said this year has opened “a period of extreme appreciation.”

It said square-foot prices rose 5 percent in just four weeks last month” and sales are up 7.4 percent over a year ago while prices have climbed 23.1 percent.

“We expect to see dollar volume hit new records during the second quarter,” it predicted, “along with all of the pricing metrics.”

Meanwhile, Realtor.com reported that homebuyers have been dealt another setback – cheap loans apparently are disappearing.

Mortgage rates crossed the 3 percent threshold for the first time since July 2020, according to Freddie Mac.

“The era of mortgage rates under 3% is likely behind us,” said Realtor.com senior

economist George Ratiu. “For first-time buyers, the market is looking a lot more challenging. The current trajectory of interest rates is putting a damper on their budgets and making it more expensive to afford a home.”

Realtor.com said almost 20 percent of first-time buyers spent more than a year shopping for a home due to the high prices and lack of inventory as the coronavirus pandemic and low mortgage rates pushed more would-be buyers into the market.

“As a result of the low rates and the pandemic, the number of homes for sale plummeted 49 percent compared with February of last year,” the website said. “That’s particularly bad as the nation was already in the throes of a severe housing shortage a year ago.”

The low supply of homes for sale, coupled with high demand, has resulted in median home list prices rising 14% in February compared with the previous year, according to Realtor.com.

“For sellers, the rising mortgage rates can motivate them to list their homes sooner,” Ratiu said. “There are still plenty of buyers in the market and many of these buyers are getting squeezed by rising rates.”

But he added that rates are still low even if they have crept above 3 percent.

“Home sellers and home buyers have gotten really used to extremely low rates,” he said, saying rates in the 3-3.4 percent range “remain extremely affordable by historical standards.” 

In the buy-rent debate, Phoenix in middle

AFN NEWS STAFF

To rent or to buy? That is the question these days in the Valley.

And the official website for the nation’s largest Realtors group last week said that Phoenix straddles both sides of the question.

“Since the coronavirus pandemic took the shine off expensive (and cramped!) urban living, rents have tanked in some of the nation’s top cities,” Realtor.com reported. “But when it comes to whether it makes more financial sense to buy a home or rent one, it turns out that, in many cases, buying is still your best bet.”

In more than 15 of the 50 largest metros, buying a home was as or more affordable than renting in January 2021, according to Realtor.com. That was up from 13 markets before the pandemic.

And, on top of that, there are several “borderline” cities where the monthly cost of buying a home is within 5 percent of the cost of the local median rent.

And that’s where Phoenix sits in the report.

Of nine metro areas, Phoenix’s $455,000 cost of buying a home – including price and related costs – was ahead of Atlanta, Orlando, Washington, D.C., and Birmingham, Alabama, in affordability, but behind Buffalo, Memphis, Las Vegas and Milwaukee.

“Even with the historic growth in home prices over the past year, the monthly cost of buying a home in many cities across the United States hasn’t changed – mostly because of incredibly low interest rates that dropped to 2.88 percent in January,” the report noted.

But the Cromford Report, the leading tracker of Valley housing prices and trends, doesn’t see a debate between renting and owning – although it foresees a new trend in the future.

“For anybody who thinks homes are getting too expensive to buy, I would ask - what are the alternatives?” it said earlier this month.

“Rents in Greater Phoenix have risen from an average of $1.01 per sq. ft. per month to $1.22 per sq. ft. per month over the last year. That is a 21 percent rise - the

highest we have ever recorded. The third option of being homeless is not very attractive. So I think we are going to see a large increase in the number of people taking the fourth option - sharing with friends or relatives,” it continued, adding:

“This seems to be the only practical solution to keep the cost of shelter down. This will build up latent demand for the longer term, as many of these people will have ambitions to create their own independent household when they can afford to.

“For those who are drawing parallels with 2005, I would point out that rents FELL 6 percent between March 2004 and March 2005. This is because there were huge quantities of vacant homes that had been bought by speculators with nobody available to live in them. In those days, the pace of home building had exceeded the rate of population increase – the opposite of the situation today.”

The economics team at Realtor.com looked at the 50 largest metros, ranked by the number of households, to put together the report.

It compared the monthly cost of buying a home with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at each city’s median listing price, including taxes and insurance, against the monthly rent for two- to four-bedroom apartments and houses in the area.

Then the team ranked those numbers to see how they stacked up to local incomes. Metro areas typically include a city and smaller nearby municipalities.

Cities in the Midwest and South tend to offer cheaper homes and a lower cost of living than coastal California and other big tech hubs like Austin, Texas, and Seattle. That’s because land is often cheaper and more abundant, construction is less expensive, zoning regulations are often fewer, plus some cities just don’t have as much demand for housing.

“Some of these, they’re Rust Belt markets. Each one of these markets has a net population loss, so that, of course, is going to create an abundance of supply and lower demand than a place that has a net

population gain,” said James Wise, host of HoltonWiseTV.

And yet overall, the number of places where it makes more sense to rent is higher. Looking at the 50 largest metros, the monthly cost to purchase a median home in January 2021 was $1,988, compared with the median monthly rent of $1,727.

But notoriously expensive California and other West Coast metros lead the list of the highest-priced cities where, financially, it makes more sense to rent because the monthly cost of a mortgage far exceeds the median rent. These places also tend to have incomparable natural beauty and outdoor access and are popular vacation destinations. Two had median list prices over $1 million.

These more expensive markets tend to have a higher share of well-paying (often tech) jobs occupied by a high concentration of young professionals who have plenty of cash to spend.

“Wherever there are high-paying jobs and employers supporting them, you’re beginning to see higher-end rental com-

plexes that can start at $3,500,” said Ramesh Rao, an agent based in Silicon Valley.

“When these people start looking at buying a median price home, their total cost toward any kind of roof over their head goes up two times.”

But for many of these folks, Rao says, it just feels better to pay $3,500 toward equity than give it to someone else. Throw in the tax savings and potential appreciation, that’s what keeps people buying these pricey places despite the monthly math.

So where are the best places to buy a home, or to rent one?

The top 10 metros to buy a home are Cleveland, at $198,000; Chicago, $338,000; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, $245,000; Riverside, California; $485,000; Miami, $400,000; New Orleans, $320,000; Baltimore, $325,000; Tampa, $302,000; Hartford, Connecticut, $303,000; and Detroit, $265,000.

Renting is the better option in San Jose, California, $1.2 million; Austin, $460,000; Sacramento, California, $599,000; Seattle, $665,000; San Francisco, $990,000; Los Angeles, $1.2 million; San Diego, $850,000; Portland, $525,000; Oklahoma City, $278,000; and Richmond, Virginia, $388,000. 

needed to make up the shortfall.

Under the standard Arizona Association of Realtors’ purchase contract in Arizona, the buyer has five days after notice of the appraised value to cancel the contract and receive back a refund of the earnest money.

In today’s market, the seller may insist that the buyer waive the contingency provision at the outset.

This means that the buyer would forfeit the earnest money if the home did not appraise and the buyer was forced to cancel the contract.

It is also worth noting that the buyer and seller may have other options after receiving an appraisal report that the buyer or seller disagrees with. First, the parties can ask the appraiser to reconsider – for instance, perhaps the appraiser missed something important such as an expensive and valuable upgrade or made a mistake on the square footage of the property. Second, the parties can request that the lender obtain a second appraisal. Third,

the parties can negotiate a new sales price during the five-day period set forth in the appraisal contingency clause. In all cases, it is important to consult with a qualified real estate professional about your options.

Chandler resident Ben Gottlieb and Ahwatukee resident Patrick MacQueen are partners and co-founders of MacQueen and Gottlieb PLC, the state’s top real estate law �irm. Reach Ben at 602533-2840 or email him at ben@mandglawgroup.com. 

Circle G at Riggs Ranch

Estate living with refined tranquility in this exquisite setting. Meticulous stonework adorns entire exterior of this luxury home. Inviting entry opens to diagonally laid tile with granite inlays and dramatic wooden staircase. Formal dining room with stacked stone fireplace. Gourmet kitchen features granite countertops, large island, Subzero refrigerator, and Wolf gas cooktop with double ovens. Fireplace and wet bar in great room. Floor plan boasts seven bedrooms, playroom and large game room. Expansive master suite includes large sitting area with two-way fireplace, crown molding, separate walk-in closets and spacious bathroom. Three custom iron doors lead to massive covered patio with pavers, built-in barbeque, heated pool with waterfall and slide, gorgeous landscaping with fruit trees and koi pond.

Large secondary bedrooms. Oversized laundry room with sink, granite countertops, cabinetry and room for a refrigerator. Additional upgrades throughout include 8’ solid core doors, speakers, surround sound in numerous locations, designer paint and exterior security cameras. Three masonry fireplaces. Anderson windows installed six years ago on entire first level. Four Trane a/c units with variable speed. Over-sized side entry four car garage. Availability to park an RV in the back as long as a garage is built for it. Over 7,000 square feet of stone on exterior. Almost acre-sized lot affords complete privacy.

Listed for $1,790,000

Mike Mendoza 480.706.7234 www.MendozaTeam.com

PRISTINE & CLASSY GATED ESTATE ON A PREMIUM 2/3 ACRE HILLSIDE LOT • PRIVATE CUL-DE-SAC • 6 BEDROOMS, 4.5 BATHS, 5200 SQFT OF PURE LUXURY FINISHES • STUNNING VIEWS IN EVERY DIRECTION • IRON DOOR • BUTTED GLASS WINDOWS IN ENTRY & KITCHEN • CUSTOM WINDOW TREATMENTS • DECORATOR PAINT • DOME CEILING FOYER & GROIN VAULTED CEILINGS IN LIVING ROOM • TRAVERTINE & HARDWOOD FLOORS THROUGHOUT • 7-INCH BASEBOARDS • MEDIA ROOM • DREAM KITCHEN INCLUDES S/S APPLIANCES,SLAB GRANITE COUNTERS, ALDER CABINETS,HUGE ISLAND,WALK IN PANTRY • LARGE MASTER SUITE W/STONE FIREPLACE • MASTER BATH W/JACUZZI TUB,3 VANITIES & SNAIL SHOWER • PARADISE BACKYARD W/TRAVERTINE IN VERSAILLES PATTERN,TURF GRASS,PEBBLETEC POOL/ JACUZZI,4 WATER FEATURES,LARGE COVERED PATIO,STACKED STONE BBQ • 4 CAR GARAGE W/EPOXY & STORAGE! YOUR DREAM ESTATE AWAITS!!

Listed for $1,339,000

Helping buyers purchase homes headache free

BY JAMES JUDGE AFN Guest Writer

Homes are flying off the market in the Valley, leaving home buyers frustrated as they compete with multiple cash offers that are sometimes $20,000 to $30,000 over the asking price.

One tactic that realtors are using to create a stress-free buying and selling process is listing a home as “Coming Soon.”

Rather than listing the home on the MLS and receiving many offers, sellers can work with their realtor to find a qualified buyer without the stress of the crazy market. Here are a few things to know when considering this approach.

What is a Coming Soon listing? A Coming Soon listing is exactly how it sounds. It’s a formal status within the MLS for a property to let realtors know that it will be available soon.

Listing a property as Coming Soon will create a buzz amongst realtors prior to

the property being active. Oftentimes, this status is used when the property is being prepped for the market (touch-ups, moving, staging, photos, etc.) and it is a great tool to create awareness without actually making the listing active until it is “ready.”

How can buyers find them? Buyers will need to rely on their real estate agent to find Coming Soon listings because they are not visibly advertised online. These listings do not show up on the trendy real estate websites until the property goes active, therefore, having a great agent is essential in order to learn about these listings. However, with the property in Coming Soon status, a sign may be placed in the property’s front yard, so buyers are still able to keep an eye out for these listings. This can be a great way for buyers who have been outbid on other homes to get their foot in the door to present a serious offer with a higher chance of it being accepted.

What are the advantages? If the seller is open to allowing showings during Coming Soon status, the listing gives buyers ‘first dibs’ on seeing the property. Buyers can avoid crowds and bidding wars, which can be a huge advantage.

However, this can also be beneficial for a seller. If an offer is presented to them during this status, the expectation is that it should be an offer they can’t refuse, for example, full price, no repair requests, maybe a waived appraisal contingency, etc.

The Coming Soon status is a great way to gain exposure for a listing, while also receiving any necessary feedback early in the selling process.

What’s happening in the market? The Coming Soon status is rather new; therefore, many agents are not very familiar with the process. The status is becoming more and more popular, and realtors continue to see increasingly positive results.

The Coming Soon status creates a great buzz so that when the property does go

active, people are already excited about it. This type of listing can result in the property spending less time on the market and provide great advantages and offers.

Coming Soon status listings have grown in popularity since their debut over the last year and allows for a property to gain early exposure and feedback.

Listing a property under this status is a great advantage for buyers and sellers alike, providing realtors with a way to sell property without the stress of the regular market process.

Listing a property under this status can gain more attention and buzz, where buyers and sellers can avoid large crowds and bidding wars all while getting great deals and offers. Consider a Coming Soon listing the next time you are planning on buying or selling property.

James Judge is a designer and realtor with HomeSmart. Information: mrjamesjudge.com. 

killer 115-degree weather,” he recalled. “I wondered how many of these people’s health and quality of life was affected by what seems so simple as receiving water.”

Right there and then, he said, “I knew I had to make a difference and I started to brainstorm ideas.”

Over time, Project Hydration has evolved.

“I partner with different businesses around the Valley who sponsor the mission and through this, I am able to distribute water bottles,” he explained. “My focus is more so on the distribution system to create a very effective and efficient way to get the water to the end-user rather than having to rely on shelters and other often bureaucratic processes.”

Milan, who is hoping to have a career in business and entrepreneurship, created “hydration stations” where the bottles are stored so people can simply take bottles and give them to those in need – and leave donations so he can buy more bottled water.

He also drops off water at various bus stops “on a consistent basis to ensure that those who need the water are able to receive it” and has put together care packages containing food, water, socks in the winter, and other essentials that he gives to different charities and food banks “that are able to distribute the packages to the homeless in a swift manner.”

To some degree, he takes a seasonal approach, focusing more on providing bottled water in the summer and more on care packages in the winter.

“We have distributed almost 1,000 care packages to food banks, to charities, and through our distribution systems, to the homeless during this winter alone,” Milan said, estimating that he has distributed more than 5,000 bottles of water since he started his project.

“We do indeed solicit cases of water,” Milan added. “Trader Joe’s donated 500 water bottles to our cause that we were able to then distribute. We come and pick up the bottles and will then distribute

them in various ways to the homeless and the community.”

“The best way people can help the cause is by donating monetary funds, time, or supplies such as water bottles or non-perishables to be put in the care packages,” he said. “Volunteers can help with preparing packages and working with the hydration stations for the distribution of products.”

Milan said the pandemic “has both helped and hurt our efforts in different ways.”

While he has had fewer volunteers, he said, “I have been able to dedicate more time and effort to this project due to COVID.”

He also volunteers through his membership in the National Honors Society and McClintock Key Club. The former president of the student council in his freshman and sophomore years, Matt also is a member of student council this year and Model United Nations.

People can help Milan by going to projecthydration.com or contacting him at projecthydrationaz@gmail.com.

A Safe Space for Summer Learning

Kyrene summer programs meet your family’s diverse needs and interests. Adventure Tours, art classes, sports camps and preschool. Register by the week. Safety protocols utilized. www.kyrene.org/summeroptions

Fall Fun Before and After School

Kids Club and After Hours programs provide engaging activities in a supportive and safe environment right on your school campus. Our programs promote social-emotional wellbeing, with a focus on creativity and staying active.

Kyrene Preschool Options

Preschools ensure children enter kindergarten ready to learn. Kyrene has a variety of options with a preschool on most elementary campuses.

Register Now for Summer, Fall and Preschool.

Flexible days and times. Financial assistance available. www.kyrene.org/CommunityEd 480-541-1500

Milan drops off water bottles at bus shelters during the summer. (Special to AFN)

Business

www.ahwatukee.com

Chef changes her business model, but not her cooking

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

As a chef, Caprice Moreno has been inventive, cooking Mexican cuisine based on old-Mexico recipes she inherited from her grandmother and that she has been adding to a career that began when she was 8.

She also has been inventive in the way she runs her business, Tukee’s Tamales.

She started modestly six years ago, taking orders on social media and then having them ready for pickup for what she called “Friday Fix.”

In 2017, she whipped up meals in her Ahwatukee home and then sold them – without a food truck – from a pop-up stand in Desert Dentistry’s parking lot.

She then added a modest small catering service.

And over the past year, she has amped

up that catering business – especially after big events like the Festival of Lights Wine & Beer event were washed out by concerns about COVID-19.

Now she is aiming at “all the busy folks that perhaps are working hard from home and their young ones that are doing school from home.”

“Our world has changed and we know that worrying about ‘What are we going to eat today?’ is one more thing to stress about,” Moreno explained.

“So, we came up with an ever-changing menu of delicious meals with substance, made with fresh ingredients, no preservatives and generous portions.”

That last part is something Moreno hasn’t changed through all the various iterations of her business.

“I’ve spent the 30 years in the kitchen,” she once explained. “My goal is for people

to feel my passion of cooking through my dishes. I love sharing my Hispanic heritage with the community. I want them to feel like they’re in a small village in Mexico when they’re eating our food.”

She’s also added a few new services, offering in-home private dinner parties for 10 or fewer people with a private chef “instead of going out to eat with the worries of the pandemic for older ones.”

And she’s starting Zoom cooking classes where a guest “can cook with family from all over the country and get together and have a fun night of cooking.”

Her delivery service works like this: on her website, TukeesTamales.com, there is an ever-changing weekly menu that goes up on Wednesday and is closed the following Monday.

App launched to help Phoenix’s small businesses

BY SYDNEY MACKIE AFN Contributor

After assisting over 800 companies in Gilbert and Mesa, the application HUUB by CO+HOOTS is launching in Phoenix to connect, advise and otherwise help the city’s small local businesses.

Founded in 2010 in downtown Phoenix by Jenny Poon and Odeen Domingo in response to the economic recession and a need for a central innovation hub for emerging entrepreneurs, CO+HOOTS is a widely recognized coworking space and home to more than 280 entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses

It invented the HUUB in response to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic for small businesses.

The digital platform gathers all available resources for entrepreneurs such as grant information, technical training and expert advice for businesses.

pand our community-building efforts for entrepreneurs and to expand support to underrepresented communities,” Poon said.

“The pandemic hit and at the same time, the City of Mesa reached out and put out a request for proposal and said they were looking for partners to build a digital library,” she continued.

Mesa used some

project that Poon’s team was working on.

Rather than insisting business owners meet city scheduling demands and deliver physical copies of intake forms, the app HUUB brought resources and funding support together in one app.

“Our big goal has always been to serve billions of people, and ‘how do we scale this’ was one of the biggest questions,” Poon said. “So we worked with the state revenue center to really look at what they needed and make improvements on archaic systems in place.”

One of HUUB’s main objectives is to directly help entrepreneurs launch, grow and scale their businesses.

“We were building this platform to ex-

CO+HOOTS offers workshops for clients alongside weekly speakers and business incubation services. This led to the eventual creation of the HUUB, which does this and more without the need to ever meet in person.

of its federal pandemic relief funds to create a technical assistance program to help businesses improve their social media marketing, manage a point-of-sale system, obtain legal advice improve accounting. That effort aligned perfectly with the

And because the platform combines CO+HOOTS’ community-building and incubation framework with technology, it also provides tools for local governments to measure success, manage consultants for technical assistance and make smarter decisions.

Chef Caprice Moreno said many customers have told her that her portions are so generous they have enough for lunch the next day. (Special to AFN)

Jenny Poon and Odeen Domingo founded CO+HOOTS in downtown Phoenix to provide coworking space and other services to start-ups and have since expanded their services to other businesses. (AFN file photo)

Spencer’s building new corporate headquarters

Spencer’s TV & Appliance is building a new corporate headquarters at the Akimel Gateway project on the southwest corner of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway and 40th Street.

The nearly 50-year-old chain said the site “will provide the company with greater access to the Phoenix metro area.”

The company plans to move into the new space in January 2022. Trammell Crow is the project developer and WESPAC is the general contractor for the construction of the building.

“The Valley has grown up with Spen-

CHEF from page 29

Customers place their orders during that time frame and “your meal is delivered on that Wednesday morning, right to your doorstep, contactless. The delivery fee is included in our meal pricing.”

Customers must place an order for a minimum three items, which can include a taco kit that feeds multiple people, the rice and beans duo as an ideal side for any meal, three saucy enchiladas or salmon, carne asada or other dishes.

Prices range between $4-$24, including family meal kits, sides, dessert and popular items.

Another popular offer Morena has cooked up is her “Meals that Heal,” where people can donate a meal to nurses.

“We have been delivering meals to several Banner Health Hospitals in the Valley in the evening, when it may be hard to get a

from page 29

The detailed reporting and impact tracking gives economic development teams the ability to scale their support through technology and quickly identify the changing needs of their business community, allowing more time to focus on retaining businesses and recruiting new ones.

Within the first 30 days of HUUB’s launch in Mesa last summer, Poon reported, 65 percent of businesses that took advantage of the app either raised revenues, lowered expenses, hired a new employee or received a loan or grant.

Similarly, when #GilbertTogether HUUB was released in Gilbert in December, businesses rushed to join the program, with

cer’s during the nearly 50 years we’ve been in the appliance business,” said Rick Biederbeck, president of the employeeowned company.

“When you’re serving customers to the east in Mesa and Gilbert and to the west in Glendale, Goodyear and Arrowhead, a site that provides access to the greater

hot meal,” she said. “Customer may include a personalized message of appreciation to our nurses that have been so self-sacrificing in caring for others.”

All this was born out of a need to survive after the first brutal months of the pandemic and mass shutdowns.

250 enrolling within the first month.

Promising a more profitable future for the Phoenix businesses that have been struggling to adjust to an unstable new normal, the PhxBizConnect soft launch already garnered 200 new businesses on the app.

These small Phoenix businesses have had to face many challenges and uncertainties, especially in the initial months of the pandemic when little information or advisories were available, Poon noted.

One example of a local entrepreneur, Amanda Rose, owner of Hair By Amanda Rose, has been operating in Phoenix since 2009 but has been her own boss for three years.

“I was able to really flourish and be-

Phoenix metro area is a must.”

Spencer’s TV & Appliance, which currently employs over 250 people across its 10 locations, has contracted to build the 319,000 square foot distribution facility along with the corporate headquarters. The company also is opening a new store on Camelback Road and 21st Street in Phoenix in July.

“The facility will expand Spencer’s capacity to accommodate the more than 600 deliveries that Spencer’s makes each day with a 38-dock door warehouse facility,” said Spencer’s CFO Dennis Reilly.

Information: spencerstv.com. 

ers – who have told her “the meals are so satisfying and they are saving leftovers for lunch or a snack the next day.”

“We have several regulars that love to have a special treat in the middle of their week” she continued. “A lot of customers have transferred from the pop-ups we used to have and other customers have followed us for six years.”

“For a period of time, it did stop operations,” Moreno said. “Like many other small businesses, we had to adjust to a completely new world.”

But that world is looking brighter, especially in light of the positive feedback she said she’s been getting from her custom-

come my own brand as opposed to before where I kind of had to be put in a box,” Rose said. “Now I’ve created my own brand based off of my clients and the partnership that we’ve created together.”

One benefit to owning one’s own business was that during the pandemic, entrepreneurs within the community were able to make smart and safe decisions for themselves to adapt to the uncertain environment, Poon said.

“I feel very blessed to have my own space, I have two rooms that I’m able to bounce back and forth between as opposed to having a full salon where there’s 15 chairs and they’re all next to each other,” Rose said.

A survey conducted by the U.S. Census

While she said she is glad to have found “a creative way to stay in business and fulfill the need in our community,” said Moreno said, “The cooking itself has been my therapy to deal with our reality and knowing that my food can provide a moment of comfort and ease to someone has been rewarding to say the least.”

“I’m pouring my heart into the cooking because of what it means to me,” she added.

Information: tukeestamales.com and 602-359-0573. 

Bureau Feb. 15-21 found that 13.5 percent of small businesses in Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler reported seeing an increase in revenue – nearly twice the national average of 7.3 percent.

“The Arizona Small Business Association has been laser-focused on what it will take to enable and facilitate small business economic recovery, and we’re more committed than ever to driving a better environment for all of us to do business,” association spokeswoman Katie Prendergast said.

Recently, the ASBA launched the Forge Ahead training initiative, which utilizes the feedback of the thousands of small business clients within the organization and can be found for free at asba.com. 

The new headquarters complex for Spencer’s TV& Appliance also will include a giant warehouse. (Special to AFN)

One of Tukee’s Tamale’s menu items is three saucy enchiladas. (Special to AFN)

HUUB

www.ahwatukee.com

Curriculum violence: teachers, classrooms and race

BY NEAL LESTER, PH.D. AFN Guest Writer

On 4 May 2019, I received this email inquiry from an Arizona parent:

“My daughter’s elementary school in Tucson does a Civil War reenactment play. The 5th graders write the play based on their readings/studies, and act it out.

Some children act as slaves and Confederate soldiers. In my opinion, the exercise is fraught with problems.

“I believe it minimizes the real terror and horrors that slaves endured and minimizes the violence of slavery and war while simultaneously still being too violent (scenes include a hunt for escaped slaves, a military gun battle, onstage deaths, and an amputation).

“I’m approaching the school with a request to eliminate or change this program. Can you please point me to any resources-websites, studies, articles, experts to talk to, etc. – that could help with this issue?”

As an African American born and raised in the Deep South, I do not fully understand the popularity of or the rationale behind adult dramatic reenactments of the Civil War moments and the antebellum South.

I halfway get this peculiar tradition for too many as a historical romanticizing and longing for the “good old days on the plantation.” Think the Disney “classic” Song of the South (1946), the tune “Dixie” (1859) and myriad American minstrel shows and songs that constructed and glorified “happy darkies” as benevolently-owned human property.

My befuddlement though has skyrocketed in recent years, months, and weeks as related practices have gained a peculiar and disturbing foothold in classrooms across this country. I read about and hear from parents – not unlike the one above and mostly from parents of color – who are dismayed, frustrated, and angry about what their young elementary, middle, or

Dr. Neal Lester examined African-American children’s literature in a book still available on amazon.com.

(Special to AFN)

high school students are experiencing in American classrooms far too often.

Sadly, the headline and incident catalogue below is not exhaustive but underscores far too many local and national instances of educator deliberate insensitivity or downright ignorance, far too many instances of what we can rightfully call “curriculum violence” happening in US classrooms from kindergarten to college:

“Every level of education has been affected by the presence of racial trauma. K-12, private, public, parochial and higher education institutions are reporting racist incidents that include the isolation, bullying, taunting, stalking, intimidation, and physical assault of Black and Brown students.” Equally disturbing is the fact that “Schools Keep Defending Racially Insensitive Classroom Activities in a Worrisome

Trend” (newsone.com 2019).

While an incident or two of a white teacher’s or administrator’s cultural insensitivity here and there might get a pass from me as an African American teacher and scholar of American race relations, the frequency and gravity of these incidents is overwhelming. These headlines alone speak volumes about this pressing issue in recent years: “Teacher Suspended for Racist Comments about Obama” (2008), “Kentucky Teacher Calls Student the Nword” (2011), “White Teacher Sues to Use the Nword” (2012), “Irving Middle School Teacher on Leave for Using Nword” (2015); “Kentucky High School Apologizes for Homework on the Nword” (2016), “Teacher Allegedly Tells Class She Can Use the Nword because She Reportedly Had a Black Nanny” (2018), “Wisconsin Teacher Repeatedly Spews Nword in Class Because She Couldn’t Understand Why Students Use it and She Can’t” (2018); “A Teacher Used the Nword and Told Students Dating Black People Was ‘Not Worth It,’ District Says” (2018), “Florida Middle School Teacher Suspended for Allegedly Using Racial Slurs in Classroom” (2018), “Baltimore City Teacher Uses the Nword to Students” (2019), “Teacher Fired after Calling Student the ‘N-word’ at Virginia School” (2019), “School Official’s Point about Racist Language Went Astray with Term, Superintendent Says” (2019); “Student Called the Nword Is Suspended for Striking Bully: ‘African American Students Are Suffering in Silence” (2019), “High School Students Stage Anti-racism Walkout after Principal Uses the Nword” (2020), “Black Girl in Texas Says White Teacher Told White Students That ‘White People Can Say’ the N-Word” (2021), “Video Purportedly Shows Teacher Singing Racial Slur; LCS Reviewing Incident”

(2021), and “Only Black Student in Class Says White Teacher Gave Pupils Permission to Use N-Word” (2021).

Interestingly, some white parents actually push back when a school district tries to address issues of diversity, inclusion, and justice: “When a Viral Video Pushed Southlake to Confront Racism. A ‘Silent Majority’ Fought Back” / “A Texas School District Had a Diversity Plan. Parents Fought Back” (NBCNews 2021).

Clearly, racial unawareness by mostly – but not exclusively – white educators goes beyond instances of racial slurs and the Nword.

Classroom reenactments of slavery, American slavery simulation games, minstrel masks worn during an elementary school assembly, a play with high school students wearing KKK costumes and walking through a theater audience, and reenactments of Civil Rights Movement reveal several things about our students’ teachers: blatant cultural incompetence, absence of critical thinking, lack of empathy for students of color, ignorance of American history, and discomfort in talking openly and honestly about American race relations, past and present.

While some insist that these are innocent mistakes – isolated occurrences from well-meaning and well-intentioned mostly white teachers – the negative impact of this racial trauma in a classroom is not mitigated by a teacher’s ostensibly good intentions.

As Stephanie P. Jones contends in “Ending Curriculum Violence” (Learning for Justice, Spring 2020), “Curriculum violence is indeed detrimental, but it does not have to be deliberate or purposeful. The notion that a curriculum writer’s or teacher’s intention matters misses the point: Intentionality is not a prerequisite for harmful teaching. Intentionality is also not a prerequisite for racism.”

Teaching “sensitive” parts of our American history is to be applauded as long as

see LESTER page 33

lessons are accurate and age-appropriate for students.

Given the prevalence of what can amount to poor teacher choices, I can only imagine the negative impact on students and their parents directly and indirectly: “Cobb Teacher Under Siege for Class ‘Slavery Game’ Shares Her Side” (2016); “Slavery Simulation Game Causes Outrage at Phoenix Elementary School” (2017), “Elementary Students Hold Mock Slave Auction During Class” (2017), “School Apologizes Over 2nd Grade Blackface Masks” (2018), “Elementary School Teachers in Idaho Dressed Up as a MAGA Border Wall for Halloween” (2018), “Phoenix ASU Prep School Students Dress as Ku Klux Klan for High School Play” (2018), “Class Lesson on Civil Rights Flies Off the Rails as White Students Take the Opportunity to Spew the Nword: ‘They Took It for a Joke’” (2019);

“Phoenix Mom Outraged Over History Lesson” (2019), “Parents Lash Out after Video Shows Fifth-graders Singing and Picking Cotton on Field Trip” (2019), “Classmates Instructed to ‘Yell, Humiliate and Berate’ Black Son for Lesson on Segregation, Arizona Mom Says” (2019), “Illinois School Under Fire for Using Black Faces to Represent ‘Out of Control’ and White Faces to Portray ‘Ready to Learn’ on Feelings Chart” (2020);

“Virginia Chemistry Teacher Suspended after making a George Floyd Pun on a Chemistry Quiz” (2020), “Assignment Asks Students to ‘Pretend’ They’re Slaves, ‘Write Letter to Family in Africa’” (2021), and “Racial Slur Held by Missouri Teachers Playing Human Scrabble Caused ‘Hurt and Offense’” (2021).

From these many instances at schools, I am left baffled by who is approving these lessons and how these teaching strategies amount to sound classroom pedagogy. I also question what critical resources these teachers are using to equip themselves for culturally responsive pedagogy. It is likely that too many of these white educators – and not a few others – are not adequately trained to teach competently about the US history of race relations. Teaching the obligatory American history lessons –especially those that underscore ongoing generational racial trauma – entail additional research and training on how to teach these lessons with accuracy, empathy, sensitivity, and awareness.

These pedagogical “missteps” speak to educators’ own white privilege and unconscious bias.

White educators must examine their attitudes toward race as a social construct when they are approaching texts and subjects about American race relations across the board, whether about undocumented immigrants (“Georgia 3rd Graders Asked What US Does to ‘Illegal Aliens,” 2011), Indigenous mascots, George Floyd (“Virginia Teacher Fired and Under Investigation after Asking Students to Describe How George Floyd Died,” 2021), or Breonna Taylor (“Breonna Taylor: Georgia Teacher Says She Caused Her Own Death” (2021). Although I am not a K-12 teacher, I have a degree in secondary education and have

worked extensively with pre- and in-service teachers and administrators on diversity issues for over thirty years.

While “The Nation’s Teaching Force Is Still Mostly White and Female” (Education Week, 2017), many white teachers and administrators thankfully are indeed aware of how to confidently, effectively, and respectfully present lessons on such perceived “sensitive” topics as race, gender, religion, sexuality, and class.

One need not be an “academic expert” to grow one’s own typically homogenous social circle for exposure to new and different ideas and perspectives rather than willingly existing in bubbles that do not challenge problematic perspectives or correct misguided and potentially damag-

ing notions about difference.

It is also okay to make genuine mistakes in efforts to understand and to accept ownership of one’s shortfalls in this regard.

These shortfalls are no reason to deprive all students of diverse perspectives about living in this world from well documented critical and credible sources. About US Black/ white race relations, there are 400 years of content from which to draw.

Again, the key here is a white teacher’s honest self-reflection and self-assessment of how they really feel about the subject of race and racial difference. Whether or not a teacher engages in this deliberate self-reflection, their perspectives and attitudes will surely play out consciously or unconsciously in their classroom.

My advice to all teachers when considering these kinds of American history simulations and any other pedagogies related to race specifically is to understand fully what the potential negative ramifications might be and how the lessons will resonate with all students in a classroom.

I also ask white teachers to self-reflect on their racial positionality as it relates to a subject and topic that is not about their own race or ethnicity.

Classrooms by their very nature constitute uneven power dynamics; the teacher is the authority and what a teacher does in that role as authority figure matters and lingers in a student’s experience – both negatively and positively. Good teachers can and do teach about cultural difference without incident.

I hope that white teachers do not retreat from teaching and sharing culturally relevant and validating materials.

Available resources abound, especially since George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, which prompted an almost frenzied clamoring of white people generally and of white teachers specifically to engage in non-performative allyship, in authentic anti-racist work.

Toward that end, I highly recommend the myriad of well-written, far-ranging, thoughtful, and grade-appropriate K-12 educators’ resources available at Teaching Tolerance (now Learning for Justice).

For any teacher contemplating classroom simulations of American history, I recommend both “Classroom Simulations: Proceed with Caution” (Drake, 2008) and “Slavery Simulations: Just Don’t” (Bell, 2019).

Then a racially offensive video made by students in the affluent Texas suburb of Southlake, school officials prosed a diversity education plan. Parents protested the curriculum -- in much the same way some white parents have criticized equity programs in Kyrene and Chandler Unified school districts. (Special to AFN)

An Atlanta charter school apologized after a Black teacher during a Black History Month performance had white second-grade students blackface masks. (Special to AFN) see LESTER page 34

As for the infamous Nword in classroom content material, I ask that white teachers not fetishize this word in their lessons but rather acknowledge their own personal relationship with and understanding of this word and its history: “Sticks and Stones: When Kids Use the Nword” (Trimble, 2014). We adults might also lis-

ten to our students as in the case of this first grader who resists the curriculum violence she experiences: “Muted: Fifth Grade Conversations about Slavery” (Lukolyo, 2020).

No student, parent, or marginalized community should have to endure yet another teacher’s bad pedagogical judgment—like “slavery yoga” (2021) or “pretend you are a slave trader” (2021).

No student, parent, or marginalized community should have to read or hear yet another school district’s apology or justification for a pedagogical mishap that amounts to yet another disruption of another Black or Brown student’s learning.

Ahwatukee golf courses don’t fare well under Gee

It is my opinion, as well as that of several other residents in my community that are on a Wilson Gee golf course, that he is irresponsible and unfit to own any golf course much less four in Ahwatukee.

I have lived on the Ahwatukee Country Club course for the last three years. It is the epitome of run down and neglected.

I routinely see busted sprinkler heads shooting unattended geysers of water, overgrown trees and shrubbery and large areas where grass has been allowed to die creating a dust bowl effect.

Daily, I deal with golfers who don’t respect the homes and properties that adjoin the course.

They have been seen urinating in plain sight, driving the carts like they are on a Bob Bondurant race course, trespass onto private property to retrieve poorly hit balls and are generally rude.

I took my brother (a life-long golfer) to play golf there last Thanksgiving and was so completely embarrassed! Not only by the condition of the course itself (really bad), but by the management of the equipment and course.

By his own actions, Wilson Gee has not proven that he is capable of successfully running a single golf course much less four!

I am not fooled by his posturing that he is being unfairly attacked. He deserves every negative thing said about him as a golf course owner. I am gobsmacked that anyone thinks this course lives up to the standards of our beautiful Ahwatukee community. If I could meet Gee face to face, I would tell

him to fix the courses that he is running before he makes promises to fix problems he created in the first place.

-Billie Hanson

Some legislators seem ignorant of masks’ value

I was struck by the arguments in the State Legislature against a mask mandate, particularly the one about HIV. As an infectious disease, HIV was scary because it was spread by sexual activity.

It was also spread by several other means, including shared drug injection needles, but none of them involved aerosolized droplets expelled from people’s mouths and noses. So it’s difficult to see how masks would have been necessary to stop the spread.

However, if we work by analogy, public health advice to stop HIV’s spread was to avoid unprotected sex, meaning that men should use condoms, for instance. Using condoms to stop the spread of HIV is analogous to using masks to stop the spread of COVID-19, using a barrier to block the spread of the virus.

Social conservatives advised abstaining from sex altogether. What would be analogous to that advice in the COVID-19 pandemic? Abstaining from situations where you can catch or spread the disease to other human beings. Ignoring the virus does not make it go away, so which would you choose?

The second argument that was incomprehensible was the “if they work, how are people still catching COVID?” Imagine asking, “If condoms work, how are people still getting pregnant?” It’s not an argument, it’s

No matter a teacher’s intentions, such adverse classroom experiences can and do create racial trauma for a student, a student’s family, and a student’s community; trauma that can last a lifetime: “Mock Slave Auctions, Racist Lessons: How US History Class Often Traumatizes, Dehumanizes Black Students” (2021).

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

a bumper sticker.

The idea that certain states have never had a mask mandate and should “have people piled up all over their state because no one else would be living because no one has masks on” – if it was being said without irony – is ridiculous.

Precautions against a pandemic are not based on the idea that everyone will die if these steps are not taken. Nothing and nobody can take all risk out of life, but actively avoiding any steps to mitigate risk is foolhardy.

-Salvatore Caputo

Read a bill before deciding if it threatens

Arizona Legislature is in perfect alignment with the Constitution of the United States with HB2309. Please be sure to read the bill before making an opinion about it.

It clearly addresses “violent, disorderly assembly.” Nowhere in the bill does it take away our 1st Amendment right to peaceful assembly. Those who would try to convince otherwise are simply not stating the facts.

It describes aggravated assault as “a person causing physical injury to another” or “using a deadly weapon”. This bill is intended to protect peaceful protestors and our public safety officers.

Save our Schools and Women’s Marches and any and all peaceful assemblies could not be declared illegal through the passing of this bill as some would have you believe.

We just need to state the facts. Read the bill.

-Sherry Kettner

Ahwatukee resident Neal A. Lester, PhD, is the Foundation Professor of English and founding director of Project Humanities at Arizona State University. 

March Madness incident went beyond madness

On March 12 in an NCAA Tournament basketball game between Florida and Tennessee, Florida player Omar Payne viciously elbowed Tennessee forward John Fulkerson not once, but twice to the face. After lying on his back for quite a period of time in agony, Fulkerson had to be helped off the court and suffered a concussion, facial fracture, bruised face, and black eye. Payne was ejected from the game. Fulkerson’s season was over.

Fulkerson was released from the hospital the next day in time to watch from the bench the Tennessee match against Alabama, which Alabama won by 5 points 7368, as Tennessee was ousted from the tournament.

Fulkerson had been averaging 9.5 points per game.

If someone came up to you and purposely did to you what Payne did to Fulkerson, you could take him to court for damages.

Should athletes have the right to press charges against opponents who go beyond the rules of their sport to inflict pain and injury against those with whom they compete? Perhaps had Fulkerson been able to play, he could have helped Tennessee to win their next game and possibly even all of March Madness later this month.

Maybe he would have played so well that he might have attracted the eyes of the NBA and been a high draft choice. Now we will never know. Should he sue because Payne not only caused him serious physical injuries, but also cost him a potential long term and lucrative NBA career?

-Robert Baron

Scales of justice out of whack on Death Row

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ AFN Columnist

If you believe in the criminal justice system, file this under good news:

The Arizona Department of Corrections recently issued a press release reporting it’s once again ready to execute some of the 115 murderers currently housed on Death Row.

“At the direction of Governor Doug Ducey, (Corrections) has been working diligently to obtain the drugs necessary to implement executions in the State of Arizona, and to identify sources to prepare the drugs in compliance with Arizona law,” the release explained. “(Corrections) stands ready, with the Attorney General’s Office, to administer justice.”

It’s about time. Some of these murderous scumbags have been on Death Row for decades.

Like Ernesto Salgado Martinez, sentenced to death in 1998 for the 1995 coldblooded execution of legendary Arizona

state trooper Bob Martin. Martinez was speeding along the Beeline Highway seven miles north of Shea Boulevard when he passed Martin, a 28-year Department of Public Safety veteran known by his colleagues as “Mother Martin” for the way he took care of his fellow cops.

As Martin approached the stolen Monte Carlo Martinez was driving, Martinez fired four times. Martin died at the scene from a fatal chest wound, lying face up in the middle of the highway he patrolled for more than 20 years.

Martinez was captured a day later in California, though not before he murdered a convenience store clerk in Blythe. He used Bob Martin’s service weapon to commit that murder.

Even on Death Row, Martinez hasn’t been idle. His prison record shows 27 disciplinary infractions, including multiple assaults and weapons charges.

I’ve heard all the arguments against the death penalty over the years. None of them justify allowing Martinez to escape ultimate justice for a quarter century.

There’s zero doubt Martinez committed this murder. He has exhausted every last appeal – as have nearly two dozen Death Row residents. He’s even been gifted with an additional seven years of life while antideath-penalty attorneys thumb-wrestled with the state in a silly lawsuit over which drugs can be used to execute inmates.

On an April day 23 years ago, I witnessed Jose Roberto Villafuerte receive lethal injection for the murder of Amelia Schoville. Villafuerte hog-tied his victim, then raped her. Schoville choked to death on the grimy sheet he stuffed down her throat to keep her quiet.

Villafuerte enjoyed a sumptuous repast of broiled chicken, tortillas and rice before he was sent off the great beyond.

The following year, I witnessed Michael Poland get a lethal needle. Poland chose breakfast food for his last meal – eggs sunny side up, bacon, hash browns, toast and Raisin Bran.

I often wonder why we bother letting the condemned choose what to eat. It would have been far more fitting to read to Poland short biographies of the two men he and

his brother Patrick killed: Cecil Newkirk and Russell Dempsey, armored car guards the Polands kidnapped, beat, tasered, stuffed in canvas bags and dumped in Lake Mead to drown.

Villafuerte and Poland seemed to doze off as the poison surged towards their hearts. It was a peaceful end for both men, unlike the mayhem they visited on their victims and nothing like the so-called “botched” executions often held up as reasons to abandon the death penalty.

Our system of justice is predicated on balance. Scales have long been the metaphor of choice for what happens in our courtrooms.

Anything short of execution for the murderers on Death Row, in my mind, leaves these scales out of whack.

Ernesto Salgado Martinez and his 114 friends long ago forfeited their lives when they committed murder in the most heinous ways imaginable.

The state says it’s ready to mete justice. Let’s dispatch these killers into the hereafter. 

Ahwatukee preschool adapts to keep kids safe

BY MARY TORRADO AFN Guest Writer

One Ahwatukee preschool is proof that diligence and a commitment to cleanliness can keep kids safe in the classroom.

Children of Hope Preschool in Ahwatukee has been open for in-person learning for most of the school year and so far, there are zero instances of spread among the student population of 2-5-year-olds.

Minor adjustments to the school calendar – a slight delay at the start and a longer winter break – helped to manage community influences. However, the largest contributor to the school’s success is a meticulous approach to keeping kids and learning spaces squeaky clean and disinfected.

The school’s director, Lynn Hockenberger, has worked continually with OpenWorks, a national commercial cleaning and disinfecting service provider based in Phoenix, to create a cleaning and disinfecting protocol that allows her teachers and students a safe and healthy place to learn in a familiar environment.

The little learners at Children of Hope are sponges soaking up all kinds of knowledge that will shape their entire futures, so keeping them in the classroom is important.

But like sponges, kids are germ magnets – and those germs can innocently make their way from sticky little fingers to a yawning mouth or itchy eye in a matter of seconds.

Keeping young children socially distant is not always practical, but they do space out for many activities, and for the most part, masks are just part of the routine of the day.

Practicing good hygiene is all part of the education process and Hockenberger heads off problems by making handwashing fun.

Her “professional handwashers” are gaining excellent counting skills while they scrub a full 20 seconds every time. Adding music and rhythm makes lathering up at the sink entertaining, and it is a habit kids can carry home to protect their health away from school, too.

Like other schools, Children of Hope Preschool has doubled down on cleaning and

disinfection.

A survey conducted by OpenWorks earlier this school year found that 92 percent of educators planned to increase the frequency of their cleaning and disinfecting efforts, and more than half planned to increase those efforts to multiple times a day.

For Children of Hope, that includes expanding its previous services with OpenWorks, from more aesthetic-driven cleaning to disinfecting that adds an extra layer of protection.

Managing students’ individual hygiene efforts, and limiting person-to-person contact are important mitigation strategies, but that does not address contact with surfaces, which is virtually impossible to avoid.

In a classroom filled with children, there are plenty of surfaces that see lots of handson time. When it comes time to clean, extra attention goes into the areas that see the most hand traffic through the day.

While some of those high-touch areas are to be expected – light switches, door handles and doorknobs – school buildings present a unique set of challenges.

Drinking fountains, desks, railings, playground equipment, and classroom supplies are on educators’ radars, according to the recent OpenWorks survey.

The collaborative approach provides a high level of protection so Children of Hope Preschool can confidently continue serving Ahwatukee families and inspiring young minds.

Mary Torrado is a regional operations manager for OpenWorks, a national commercial cleaning, disinfection and facility services provider in Phoenix. 

• Primary Care

• Preventive Care

• Chronic Care Mgmt

• Regular Check Up

• Wellness Screening

• Diabetic Management

• Physical Examinations

• Vaccinations/Immunizations

Sufia Khan

Sports & Recreation

Mountain Pointe boys soccer building for future

BY ZACH ALVIRA AFN Sports Editor

The Mountain Pointe boys soccer team was repeatedly counted out in 2021.

They were expected to be in a major rebuilding year and doubted by many to have even a glimmer of success during a season in which the number of games was limited along with the playoff �ield due to COVID-19. And while head coach Willie Molina admits it was in fact a time for the Pride to rebuild, they did so while exceeding expectations.

Mountain Pointe �inished No. 17 overall in 6A — one spot short of a playoff berth — and third in its region. But even while falling short of the postseason, the young Pride team set themselves up for success in the immediate future.

“This season was an exciting way to see them play the sport,” Molina said. “We only had 22 kids tryout and most don’t play club outside of school. Just to see these kids get an opportunity to play and perform, the future is exciting. “We’re a young team and we as coaches believe Mountain Pointe can be a good starting point for other young players.”

Mountain Pointe �inished 5-6-1 overall on the season and faced a variety of playoff-bound teams.

Seven of the Pride’s opponents this year were part of the top-16 that made it to the 6A tournament, including second-ranked Chaparral, third-ranked Brophy and �ifthranked Chandler. Mountain Pointe also faced off against its rival, Desert Vista, the No. 8 team in the conference.

Molina said his team battled on a nightly basis no matter who the opponent was. The tough schedule also forced many of his younger players to step up earlier than expected in their high school soccer careers.

Mountain Pointe’s roster was made up of �ive seniors, seven juniors, �ive sophomore and �ive freshmen. The limited number of experienced veterans forced those with little playing time to �ind their way on the pitch.

mally play

JV but under the circumstances this season they had to play varsity.

third younger brother, Nathan, is a senior goalkeeper for the Pride.

That family camaraderie transferred to the rest of the Mountain Pointe players, who also expected a rebuilding year. But as true leaders, the seniors stepped up.

Not to mention, the Pride were without a junior varsity team this year. That forced players who normally would take a year or two to develop to do so in an expedited way.

“In the beginning, it was hard,” Molina said. “Some of these freshmen are 14 and they’re playing against kids that are 18, grown men. That’s the crazy part about high school. I told them they would nor-

“They stepped up. They played some of these top schools and you could tell they were timid in the beginning but once the season got going, they got comfortable and showcased their skills.”

Molina credits much of the team’s success this season to the buy-in from players, their willingness to face adversity head on and the overall chemistry. Much of that chemistry stems from Molina making the soccer team a family affair. His assistants consist of his father, Miguel, and two younger brothers, Omar and Hector. His

They realized they could help set a strong foundation for the program moving forward. To them, that was about the strongest legacy they could leave with the Pride.

“Talking to them, they thought they would come in and not perform,” Molina said. “But ending the way we did, one spot away from playoffs while playing top schools and winning some big games, it showed these seniors worked hard. I think they all left happy and excited with what they left behind. They were short on numbers but still had an opportunity to make the playoffs.

“I think the seniors believe, ‘hey, this is what we left, now it’s up to you guys to take it from here next season.’”

In a normal, non-COVID year, Mountain Pointe’s No. 17 ranking would earn it a spot in the 6A Conference play-in tournament at the very least. But with a reduced schedule and shortened season overall, the Arizona Interscholastic Association eliminated play-in games for the three large conferences.

While there was some obvious disappointment with not making the playoffs, Molina said his players, parents and everyone else involved realized the giant leap forward the program took during a dif�icult season. They set the stage for more young players to come through the program and return a large majority of their starters from this season.

Overall, Molina has high hopes for the Mountain Pointe program, and he is helping build momentum to reach new heights next year.

“Just with how well we performed, I’m de�initely looking forward to the next few years to come,” Molina said. “These younger kids coming into the program and the ones who will continue to build it are setting up the program for success.” 

Check us out and like the Ahwatukee Foothills News on Facebook

From left: Omar Molina, Hector Molina, Nathan Molina, Willie Molina and Miguel Molina. Molina credits much of the team’s success to the team chemistry, which was built by him and his assistant coaches, who also happen to be his father and two younger brothers. His third younger brother, Nathan, is a senior goalkeeper for the Pride. (Courtesy Willie Molina)

The Mountain Pointe boys soccer program exceeded expectations this season by finishing as the No. 17 seed in 6A after what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Pride. (Courtesy Willie Molina)

Better read this if

you are

62

or

older and still making mortgage payments.

It’s a well-known fact that for many older Americans, the home is their single biggest asset, often accounting for more than 45% of their total net worth. And with interest rates near alltime lows while home values are still high, this combination creates the perfect dynamic for getting the most out of your built-up equity.

But, many aren’t taking advantage of this unprecedented period. According to new statistics from the mortgage industry, senior homeowners in

Today, HECM loans are simply an effective way for homeowners 62 and older to get the extra cash they need to enjoy retirement.

Although today’s HECM loans have been improved to provide even greater financial protection for homeowners, there are still many misconceptions.

For example, a lot of people mistakenly believe the home must be paid off in full in order

almost any purpose. Other common uses include making home improvements, paying off medical bills or helping other family members. Some people simply need the extra cash for everyday expenses while others are now using it as a safety net for financial emergencies.

If you’re a homeowner age 62 or older, you owe it to yourself to learn more so that you can make the best decision - for your financial future.

the U.S. are now sitting on more than 7.7 trillion dollars* of unused home equity.

Not only are people living longer than ever before, but there is also greater uncertainty in the ecomony. With home prices back up again, ignoring this “hidden wealth” may prove to be short sighted when looking for the best long-term outcome.

All things considered, it’s not surprising that more than a million homeowners have already used a government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loan to turn their home equity into extra cash for retirement.

It’s a fact: no monthly mortgage payments are required with a government-insured HECM loan; however the borrowers are still responsible for paying for the maintenance of their home, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and, if required, their

to qualify for a HECM loan, which is not the case. In fact, one key advantage of a HECM is that the proceeds will first be used to pay off any existing liens on the property, which frees up cash flow, a huge blessing for seniors living on a fixed income. Unfortunately, many senior homeowners who might be better off with a HECM loan don’t even bother to get more information because of rumors they’ve heard.

In fact, a recent survey by American Advisors Group (AAG), the nation’s number one HECM lender, found that over 98% of their clients are satisfied with their loans. While these special loans are not for everyone, they can be a real lifesaver for senior homeowners - especially in times like these.

The cash from a HECM loan can be used for

HOA fees.

More restaurants turn to vegan, vegetarian options

BY KRISTINE CANNON GetOut Staff Writer

In search of vegan takeout? Look no farther than Scottsdale, which recently ranked as having the country’s highest share of restaurants serving vegetarian and vegan options.

According to WalletHub’s Best Cities for Vegans and Vegetarians ranking, Scottsdale’s restaurant scene has the highest percentage of eateries serving vegetarian options at nearly 28 percent and vegan options at more than 16 percent.

Overall, Scottsdale ranked 22nd on WalletHub’s list, while other East Valley cities such as Gilbert, Chandler, and Mesa ranked 25th, 28th, and 34th, respectively.

“That’s great to hear Scottsdale is earning a reputation as a vegan dining destination!” said Los Sombreros co-owner Bobi Rivera. “It’s certainly something that’s top of mind for us.”

Los Sombreros, which has two locations in Scottsdale and Mesa, has seen an 11

“Vegan enchiladas are stuffed with vegetables and topped with a vegan, soy-based mozzarella. We tested quite a few vegan cheeses before finding this one that we all agree is the best: It melts perfectly and can stand toe-to-toe against any dairy-based cheese on the market,” Rivera said.

“Our crispy potato tacos are super popular with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike – a true fan favorite and the ultimate comfort food,” Rivera added.

“One of our most popular starters, our elote, [which] literally means corn in Spanish, features corn as the showcase and harkens back to the flavors and aromas from Mexican backyards and street festivals alike.”

But it wasn’t until their meat and cheese-based enchiladas became popular among guests that Los Sombreros added the vegan relleno and vegan enchiladas.

“We didn’t want to leave anyone out on the fun,” Rivera said. “We want guests to have a variety of options, regardless of their dietary needs.”

Since 2004, the number of Americans who have adopted a plant-based diet increased to 9.7 million people, according to Ipsos Retail Performance.

percent increase in their vegan and vegetarian option sales from 2019 to 2020. Especially popular at Sombreros are the vegan enchiladas and their crispy potato tacos.

Los Sombreros has vegan and vegetarian dishes since first opening in 1996.

“Our style of cooking – central Mexicobased – lends itself naturally to vegan and vegetarian options, since corn is king in our kitchen,” Rivera explained.

In Arizona, heavy interest in vegan and plant-based diets dates back to 2013. Research has linked vegan diets to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as lower rates of heart disease, type 2 diabe-

see VEGAN page 40

Late local artist Dorothy Fratt’s work comes home

BY KRISTINE CANNON GetOut Staff Writer

Dorothy Fratt’s artwork is back in her hometown of Scottsdale.

Following an exhibition of the late artist’s work at The Gallery at Mountain Shadows in March 2019 and exhibitions in New York City and Europe last year, Fratt’s collection of work is now at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale’s main gallery, where it will remain through May 4.

The exhibition was curated by Mayo Clinic Arts Program Specialist David Haff.

“He immediately began searching out local artists to display in the galleries at all the Mayo campuses. It didn’t take him long to see that one artist rose above the rest, my mother, the ‘First Lady of Art in Arizona,’ Dorothy Fratt,” said former Scottsdale resident Gregory Fratt. Since his mother’s passing in 2017, Gregory has traveled far and wide with her art-

memory of his mother alive but also ensure she receives “the recognition she deserves” in their hometown.

He said Haff called him at his Louisiana home and asked about displaying his mom’s work.

Artwork includes an acrylic painting on canvas, two of serigraphs and six other acrylic works on paper mounted on canvas.

“These last six were all mounted on canvas and framed by Steve at Portfolio in Scottsdale, who has framed my mother’s work for over 30 years,” Gregory said.

Gregory added that the exhibition was a “real community effort.”

“It is this community aspect of the exhibition that makes me feel this is important,” Gregory said.

The Dorothy Fratt exhibition is part of see FRATT page 41

Michelle Donovan is the owner of the Nile Coffee Shop, a “100 percent vegan establishment” in Mesa. (Pablo Robles/GetOut Staff Photographer)

The late Dorothy Fratt’s artwork is back in her hometown of Scottsdale — at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale’s main gallery. The exhibition of her artwork went up in January and will remain at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale through May 4. (Gregory Fratt)

Ak-Chin Casino manager proud of its growth

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI GetOut Editor

Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino’s sweltering gaming floor is filled with the sounds of bells, winners’ squeals and chit chat among the guests on a recent Saturday. They’re all socially distanced, even in the busy restaurants.

Michael Kintner, the casino’s senior vice president and general manager, is proud of how the complex has been able to survive the pandemic.

He chalks it up to the Caesars Entertainment’s affiliation with Harrah’s. Players can sign up for Caesars Rewards, which can be collected at any of the company’s nearly 40 U.S. properties for casino gaming or entertainment activities.

“It doesn’t cost anything to sign up,” he said. “Right now, if you sign up, you get $25 in free play. You can use your credits in the restaurant, nongaming or gaming. It keeps people coming back.”

Approaching his 16-year anniversary with Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, Kintner enjoys the venue as much as the guests. He shares his joy when strangers ask about his occupation.

“People ask me, ‘What do you do for a living?’ I say, ‘Well, I play games for a liv-

Stellar customer service is part of the Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino experience, Senior VP Michael Kintner said, although it’s hard to tell the mask-clad employees are smiling. (Special to GetOut) see CASINO page 41

tes and some types of cancer.

People have also turned to a vegan diet to help the environment.

According to the Vegan Society and PETA, the production of meat and other animal products burdens the environment, from the pollution created by meat production to the crops and water required to feed the animals.

“Most people become vegetarian because of health, but as more people become aware about the impact of their diet on the environment, more people will start to make the change,” said SOL Mexican Cocina Director of Food and Beverage Development Michael Gaines.

Gaines and Rivera predict an increase in vegetarian and vegan offerings at Scottsdale-area restaurants.

“More and more people are learning about the health benefits of moving away from true carnivore status. Scottsdale residents and visitors are no exception,” Rivera said. “We have seen many restaurants begin to offer different options or the ability to make it vegan.”

Gaines attributes the increase in vegetarian and vegan offerings here to the rise of plant-based, meat-alternative products like those sold by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

“More restaurants will increase their vegetarian offerings because of the increase in demand and also because there are so many options to do so now with ingredi-

vegan and vegetarian options include crispy potato tacos (pictured). (Los Sombreros)

ents like plant-based meat,” Gaines said.

One restaurant that has embraced plantbased meat is Dilla Libre, a Mexican restaurant in southern Scottsdale that offers gourmet quesadillas, tacos and bowls with nearly every menu available in vegan form.

Their most popular dishes include vegan carne asada fries, topped with Beyond Burger carne asada and shredded vegan cheese and served with vegan ranch; and their papa verde tacos, made with vegan cotija cheese and featuring potatoes in place of meat.

“When you start to look at the vegan demographic, it’s growing like wildfire. They’ll go out of their way to find it. So, when we put the options out there, people are on it,” said owner Mike Baum.

SOL Mexican Cocina also sells its popular Sweet Potato & Black Bean Taco.

“It is popular because it is as satisfying and tasty as a meat taco,” Gaines said. “It is sweet, savory, spicy and offers a plethora of textures in a bite because of the black

11 percent from 2019 to 2020.

beans and sweet potatoes.”

SOL Mexican Cocina added two more vegetarian tacos in 2019: BBQ Seitan Taco and spicy cauliflower taco.

“We already had many vegetarian items on our menu then but wanted to create more options for vegetarians,” Gaines said. “We wanted to create a more inclusive menu.”

SOL Mexican Cocina is one of many restaurants – like Cornish Pasty Co. and Picazzo’s Healthy Italian Kitchen – that have “vegan options” as its own category.

“I think it will become a whole new category on menus,” Rivera said.

At some restaurants, like the Nile Coffee Shop in Mesa, vegan dishes make up the entire menu.

“We are a 100 percent vegan establish-

ment,” said the Nile Coffee Shop Owner Michelle Donovan, who also owns the attached music venue, the Nile Theater.

“I have been vegan for 10 years and was vegetarian for 15 years prior to becoming vegan. We made the transition... because it didn’t feel right offering foods that I personally have an ethical issue with,” Donovan said. The Nile Coffee Shop also launched a vegan drivethrough, which takes place on the third Saturday of each month. “You can taste dishes and treats from over 10 vendors all in one space,” Donovan explained.

Attendees must preorder at vegandrivethru.org and the event is so popular, it fulfills between 115-140 orders over three hours.

“There are all sorts of amazing vegan popups and bakers in the Valley,” Donovan continued. “We thought it would be great if people could try a good number of them all at one time while being socially responsible.”

Other popular restaurants that offer vegan dishes in Scottsdale and the East Valley include Tocaya Organica, Simon’s Hot Dogs, The Vig, Picazzo’s Healthy Italian Kitchen, Toca Madera, La Locanda Italian, Ruching Vegetarian South Indian Cuisine, Pita Jungle, Green Lotus and Hopdoddy. 

VEGAN from page 39

Los Sombreros’

Los Sombreros co-owners Bobi and Adam Rivera have seen their vegan and vegetarian option sales increase

(Los Sombreros)

ing,” he said with a laugh.

“Seriously, I get to work for 864 very talented people. They like to provide great service as part of our culture and who we are at Harrah’s Ak-Chin. We like to say we inspire grownups to play.”

Stellar customer service is part of the Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino experience, he said, although it’s hard to tell the maskclad employees are smiling.

“Normally, we smile, make eye contact and say, ‘Hi. How are you doing?’”

A few years ago, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino underwent a $10 million expansion. Now the resort has more than 529 hotel rooms and suites.

“On the weekends, we can run 100 percent sold out,” he said. “It’s a little down during the week. For the most part, people are getting vaccinated and case numbers are going down. We’re starting to see some people come back.”

Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino is doing its part to keep guests safe. The facility has sanitation stations, masks, temperature checks and employees who clean the slot machines.

FRATT from page 39

Mayo Clinic’s Center for Humanities in Medicine, which integrates the arts “into the healing environment.”

Humanities in Medicine activities includes dance programs, classes and seminars, live music, and exhibitions of local and regional artists’ work. They are open to Mayo Clinic patients, staff, visitors and community members.

“My hope is that the medical community will better understand the importance of good abstract art,” Gregory said of his late mother’s exhibition.

“I also hope that the experience of this exhibition will be something that patients visiting Mayo can enjoy – something that will lift them up,” he continued.

As part of the exhibition, Gregory is listed as a contact for viewers to reach out to for more information about the exhibition. And since the launch of the exhibition, he’s already received three phone calls, one from a patient.

“We’re keeping everything as clean as possible,” he said. “We’re social distancing in our restaurants. We’re actually down to about 27% of our seating capacity and our buffets are completely closed. It’s worked out. Guests have been able to come back and play.”

Management decided against keeping plexiglass in between the games because it causes “all sorts of vision issues.”

“We’re only running at about 72% of our machines,” Kintner said.

“Our slot performance manager has gotten really creative. We only have so much floor space, and plexiglass wasn’t working for us. If there’s a dispute on a jackpot, like, say a machine has something funky happen to it, or a customer said, ‘I won $1,000’ and there’s really only $800, surveillance has to be able to see it.

“We were working with our tribal regulators and they weren’t very comfortable with that. We decided not to have as many games so we could socially distance and spread out as we could.”

Cameras are also placed throughout casino and hotel to ensure guests — and workers for that matter — are socially distanced.

“If we ever have an issue, we are able

to contact trace and find out whether it’s employees or whoever and deal with it,” Kintner said.

The casino, he said, is perfect for local folks as well as travelers. Kintner is used to Spring Training or Waste Management Phoenix Open visitors, the numbers of which have dwindled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re also missing our Canadian visitors right now,” he said. “As you can see, though, we’re pretty busy.”

The restaurants are bustling as well. For casual dining, there’s Agave’s Restaurant, which serves traditional and southwestern fare, and the tapas-style Oak & Fork.

Those wanting something a little more upscale can check out Chop, Block and Brew. Featuring a wood-burning mesquite grill, Chop, Block and Brew boasts a rustic and relaxed environment and serves steaks, prime rib and seafood.

For quick bites, check out Dunkin’ or Copper Cactus Grill.

“The restaurants are fantastic,” Kintner said. “Oak & Fork has small plates and a wine bar. We have all the wine taps on the wall. I want to say there are 16 of them. So the wine comes out at the perfect tem-

that,” he added.

After Mayo, his mother’s artwork will be on display at Yares Art in Santa Fe.

Yares Art is owned by Dennis Yares, the son of Reva and Clare Yares, who previously owned Clare Yares Gallery in Old Town.

“My mother was the first artist to sign with Reva in 1965,” Gregory said. “Now, with Dennis Yares in New York City exhibiting my mother’s work, it is a relationship that has continued for over 55 years.”

“I feel fortunate that Dennis and I are second generation of two women who were the leading modern art pioneers in Arizona.”

Dorothy was an abstract painter of the western landscape who specialized in color theory and is known for her expressive use of color. She lived for almost 40 years in a house perched on the east side of Camelback Mountain. The home was designed by architect and former student of Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Yaeger. A studio was later built on the property.

perature. The small plates are amazing.

“It’s a really great space with the outdoor patio, when the weather’s beautiful. We have heating lamps out there, along with a fireplace and televisions. This is a real favorite.

“Agave’s is a three-meal restaurant that’s back by the pool. It’s our café, if you will. It has a bit of a southwest flare to it. Copper Cactus Grill is our 24-hour quick serve. You can get a hamburger quickly or a bite-sized pizza.

“Chop, Block & Brew is our signature steakhouse. People rave about the woodfired grill. We also have craft cocktails in the lounge.”

Want to play more games? Next door— connected via an elevated walkway—is the Ak-Chin Circle Entertainment Center.

A movie theater, bar and grill, bowling, last tag and arcade fill the 165,000 square-foot entertainment mecca.

“It’s like a great little oasis here in the desert, where people can come out and have a good time,” he said. 

Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino 15406 Maricopa Road, Maricopa 480.802.5000, caesars.com

“She always said that she produced more professional artists and painters than ASU did from her teaching,” Gregory said.

Gregory said she stopped painting because she said she was “tired of inventing.”

“She was always exploring and inventing; her artwork was always changing and growing,” he said.

Both Gregory and John A. Reyes, the Gallery at Mountain Shadows curator and owner of Reyes Contemporary Art, said Dorothy is under-appreciated as an artist in Scottsdale.

“If you look at the numbers, so many female artists are underrepresented in galleries and undervalued in price,” Reyes said. “Dorothy Fratt unfortunately falls into that category.”

Currently, Museum Art Plus in Donaueschingen, Germany has the largest single collection of Dorothy’s work, boasting about 25 of her paintings.

“You can’t ask for a better response than

He recalled a patient calling and telling him, “I can’t tell you how much your mother’s paintings have affected me and lifted me up.”

From within that home, Dorothy offered private instruction in painting and color theory from 1958 to 1972.

And a museum in Paderborn, Germany — Stadtische Galerie in der Reithalle — had an exhibition of Dorothy’s work from March to July last year.

“The demand and interest in my mother’s work continue to grow,” Gregory said. 

Conserving water isn’t just for us. For years, we have taken measures to protect our most important resource and provide clean drinking water for everyone in our community. And for those who come next. SEE WATER DIFFERENTLY.

King Crossword

Advertising Sales Representative Full-Time Position

The Ahwatukee Foothills News has been bringing the news of our community to readers since 1976, when reaching all homes meant printing just 1,200 copies. We are the relied-upon and most-trusted source for information in Ahwatukee.

We are seeking an advertising sales executive to sell here in the community.

Compensation: Base Pay Plus Commission

Benefits: 401(k), Dental, Life, Medical, Vision

Responsibilities:

Present community businesses with our vast array of print and digital options to promote their businesses to the residents right here in Ahwatukee. Work from home, earn an excellent income and get to know your neighbors, all while helping to make the Ahwatukee Foothills News the best it can be

A Qualified Candicate Has:

At least two years of professional outside sales experience preferably in print and/or digital ad sales

Exceptional organizational skills

Appreciates straight talk and understands how to sell solutions not just ads Is ready to become part of a quality team

If you are qualified and would like to learn more about this position, please send your cover letter and resume to mhiatt@timespublications.com. We are currently scheduling interviews.

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class@timespublications.com

Deadlines

Classifieds: Friday 3pm for Wednesday Life Events: Friday 10am for Wednesday

Privoro, LLC seeks Hardware Design Engineer to support overall embedded system & print-circuitboard design in our Tempe, AZ location. Master’s degree in Comp.Sci., EE, or Comp. Eng. or the foreign academic equivalent. 2 years experience in a Comp. Sci., EE, or Comp. Eng. related occupation. Bachelor’s degree in same fields & 5 yrs of progressive exp. also accepted. PhD also accepted w/exp. demonstrated through technical publications or conference papers. Resumes to linda.michaels@privoro.com and reference 004SI

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Basic CPR & First Aid Training provided. Accepting applications until April 19, 2021 Contact MPRHOA for application, 15425 S. 40th Place. #4. 480-704-5000 (West of Fire Station & North off Chandler Blvd near 40th Street.)

Senior UI Developer: Development of applications a cross the Digital and Marketing Technology domain. Jobs based in Chandler, AZ but require relocation/travel to unanticipated locations throughout the US. Send resumes to pj@interbizconsulting.com or mail to Interbiz Consulting LLC, 3120 W. Frankfurt Dr., Chandler, AZ 85226. No walk-ins

Software Engineer in Test– (Scottsdale, AZ) InEight: D sgn, devel & implement Test Automation Frameworks using C# that provide common functionalit y & support for Web/Mobile UI tests & API tests. Reqs: Masters in comp sci or rel. 3 mo's exp as a Q A automation engineer, UI developer, systems analys t or related which must incl exp w/: building testing framework to work w/ web & mobile; automation of manual tests; selenium webdriver to test web applications; postman API functionality & testing; & performance testing w/ Microsoft webtest, & unit test the code of an application. To apply, mail resume to R obert Wees: InEight, Req #1882 - Kiewit Plaza, Omaha, NE 68131

SVB Financial Group has openings for the following positions (various types/levels) in Tempe, AZ :

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Sales Representative Full-Time Position

The Ahwatukee Foothills News has been bringing the news of our community to readers since 1976, when reaching all homes meant printing just 1,200 copies. We are the relied-upon and most-trusted source for information in Ahwatukee.

We are seeking an advertising sales executive to sell here in the community.

Please send your cover letter and resume to mhiatt@timespublications.com. We are currently scheduling interviews.

Avnet, Inc. seeks Applications Developer IV to design, develop, maintain, and enhances business applications in Phoenix, AZ. REQ’D: Bachelor’s deg ree in Computer Science, IT, or an Engineerin g field (or foreign equivalent). 10 years of experience in an IT related field. 3 years of experience in Data E ngineering design and delivery of data ingestio n and harmonization of internal & external data in an a ccessible, secure, environment leveraging classleading database technologies. Employer will accept a Master’s degree in the listed fields & 8 yrs experie nce in an IT related field. Pre-employment background check and drug screening req’d. Resume to hrnow@avnet.com and reference job code 866RK.

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