Ahwatukee Foothills News - 04.14.2021

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Wednesday, April 14, 2021

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Border crisis ripples into Ahwatukee

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

T

he worsening border crisis landed on Ahwatukee’s doorstep last Thursday as an unknown number of migrant families took up the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on 50th Street and Ray Road, lighting up social media with rumors, unanswered questions and arguments over immigration policy.

Fueling all that was the relatively scant information released by federal immigration officials about how many families had been

Lawmakers here concerned about schools' relief funding inequity

lodged at the Holiday Inn Express, the specific duration of their stay and the number of hotels and motels in Ahwatukee, the Valley and Arizona were hosting them.

The housing of the migrant families is being handled by a San Antonio, Texas, nonprofit called Endeavors as well as Family Endeavors.

It received an $86.9 million contract to provide what federal authorities said is “1,239 beds for emergency temporary shelter and basic living needs” through September.

Even before this particular contract, IRS filings by the nonprofit show Endeavors has

received more than $40 million annually the last three years in various city, state and federal grants and contracts to provide a wide range of services to veterans, the homeless and migrants.

When asked by the Ahwatukee Foothills News about the migrants’ arrival, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement and declined to answer specific questions.

The statement read:

Stoked for prom!

see MIGRANT page 11

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AND HOWARD FISCHER Ahwatukee Foothills News

T

he funding nightmare confronting Kyrene and other school districts has not escaped the attention of some lawmakers.

Mesa Rep. Michelle Udall, head of the House Education Committee, last week asked the state Department of Education to turn loose $85 million to help forestall anticipated teacher layoffs in some districts while in a Chandler Chamber of Commerce forum, Legislative District Rep. Mitzi Epstein said some lawmakers are working on a proposal that would address the very problem confronting Kyrene.

Kyrene Chief Financial Officer Chris Her-

see FUNDING page 14

These members of the Desert Vista High School Class of 2021 are excited by the prospects of not only having an in-person graduation next month but also a real prom – unlike their predecessors last year, who were stripped of those rites of passage by the surging pandemic. These particular students are helping to get the word out about the prom and include, from left, Allison Ophardt, Lexi Nissen, Peyton Cole, Michael Adamick, Sophia Koury, Alexa Horn and Lauren Fuller. Michael is the organizer of the student-driven prom marketing campaign. For a story on how prom plans started, see page 20. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)

The latest breaking news and top local stories in Ahwatukee!

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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

The Ahwatukee Foothills News is published every Wednesday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout Ahwatukee Foothills.

Times Media Group: 1620 W. Fountainhead Parkway, Suite 219 Tempe, Arizona, 85282 Main number: 480-898-6500 Advertising: 480-898-5624 Circulation service: 480-898-5641

PUBLISHER Steve T. Strickbine

VICE PRESIDENT Michael Hiatt

ADVERTISING STAFF National Advertising Director Zac Reynolds 480-898-5603 zac@ahwatukee.com

Advertising Sales Representatives: Karen Mays, 480-898-7909, kmays@ahwatukee.com Laura Meehan, 480-898-7904, lmeehan@ahwatukee.com

Classified:

Elaine Cota, 480-898-7926, ecota@ahwatukee.com

Circulation Director:

Aaron Kolodny 480-898-5641, customercare@ahwatukee.com

NEWS STAFF Executive Editor:

Paul Maryniak, 480-898-5647, pmaryniak@ahwatukee..com

GetOut Editor:

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski, 480-641-4518, christina@timespublications.com

Sports Editor:

Zach Alvira 480-898-5630, zalvira@timespublications.com

Designer: Ruth Carlton - rcarlton@timespublications.com

Production Coordinator:

Courtney Oldham 480-898-5617 production@timespublications.com

Reporters:

Tom Scanlon, 480-278-6903 tscanlon@timespublications.com Wayne Schutsky, 480-898-6533 wschutsky@timespublications.com Cecilia Chan. 480-898-5613, cchan@timespublications.com Ahwatukee Foothills News is distributed by AZ Integrated Media, a circulation service company owned by Times Media Group. The public is permitted one copy per reader. For further information regarding the circulation of this publication or others in the Times Media Group family of publications, please contact AZ Integrated Media at circ@ azintegratedmedia.com or 480-898-5641. For circulation services please contact Aaron Kolodny at aaron@ azintegatedmedia.com.

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Our policy is not to run anonymous letters. Please keep the length to 300 words. Letters will be run on a space-available basis. Please send your contributions to pmaryniak@ahwatukee.com.

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The Ahwatukee Foothills News expresses its opinion. Opinions expressed in guest commentaries, perspectives, cartoons or letters to the editor are those of the author.

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The content and claims of any advertisement are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ahwatukee Foothills News assumes no responsibility for the claims or content of any advertisement.

© Strickbine Publishing, Inc.

TU board relaxes ban a bit on public attendance at meetings AFN NEWS STAFF

T

he Tempe Union High School District Governing Board is welcoming the public back – kind of.

District Superintendent Dr. Kevin Mendivil said that beginning with the board’s next meeting April 21, people who want to address the board will be allowed to do so in person for the first time in more than 13 months.

Speakers will be allowed during the call to the public to come into the board meeting room one at a time to have their say, but will not be allowed as spectators.

While some East Valley school boards for several months have been allowing a limited number of spectators to sit socially distanced with masks at meetings, both Kyrene and Tempe Union governing boards have allowed no spectators and have restricted citizen comments to emails.

Depending on the volume of emails, both boards at time have cut reading of emails mid-sentence after limiting a reading of each email to a minute instead of the normal three minutes citizens usually get to speak their mind.

Downward data on COVID-19 explains Tempe Union’s change of heart.

Mendivil said the board will still read emails, but said the district is loosening its no-attendance-in-person policy a tad “based on current trends and believing that the district’s benchmark metrics will be in the moderate range for community transmission as defined by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control.”

“In order to observe guidance from the state and federal officials regarding social distancing, the governing board room will be closed to the public at all other times,” Mendivil said. “At the appropriate time for the public to comment, individuals will be allowed into the governing board room one at a time to deliver their comments. Please note masks are still required when on district property and will be required to deliver an in-person public comment.”

Board Vice President Andres Barraza thanked Mendivil “for looking into this and seeing how we can move forward and what it would take” to reopen board meetings for public attendance.

“I think it’s a part of the easing and so I appreciate that,” he said. “I’m sure everyone appreciates it and community that you’re looking into it.”

Some emails read at the board meeting specifically criticized that policy – as well as the district’s continuation of online learning only on Wednesdays to allow for

see MEETINGS page 4

NEWS

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Former Monte Vista PTO treasurer admits $61K embezzlement AFN NEWS STAFF

T

he former treasurer of the Monte Vista Elementary School PTO has pleaded guilty to theft in connection with the embezzlement of $61,438 from the parents group through four different schemes between August 2017 and May 2019.

Jeani Marie Crosson, 45, of Maricopa was arrested last fall following a 10-month investigation by Phoenix Police.

She is free on bond and awaiting sentence in state Superior Court.

Less than two months after she became treasurer on June 1, 2017, Crosson – who also worked for Southwest Food Service as a cafeteria cook at the school – began her alleged schemes.

They continued up through mid-May of last year a few weeks before all new PTO officers took over at the Ahwatukee school on June 1, 2019.

Like all PTOs, the Monte Vista group raises its own money through a variety of activities and does not receive any district money. PTOs also are independent organizations and their records are not under the purview of district headquarters or the school principal.

The alleged schemes outlined by police are: • Between Aug. 10, 2017, Crosson allegedly made bank teller withdrawals totaling $7,754.

• Between Aug. 31, 2017, and May 20,

MEETINGS from page 3

deep cleaning.

“There has never been validity for closing our school board meetings,” one parent’s email stated in part. “Surrounding districts have found ways to keep meetings open and it is critical that our board hear directly from its community.”

Regardless of whether citizens comment by email or in person, board members, like their counterparts on city and town councils in Arizona, are forbidden from commenting or answering them if the topic is not on the agenda. However, board members can direct the administration to look into a matter brought up by a citizen.

2019, she allegedly used a PTO debit card to make “multiple unauthorized purchases” totaling $3,601 that included merchandise from Amazon and at least one home water bill.

• Between Aug. 30, 2017, and May 6, 2019, she allegedly made unauthorized withdrawals with her PTO debit card totaling $35,985. Police records say many of the withdrawals were for $500 and $1,000 at a time.

• Between Sept. 8, 2017, and May 16, 2019, she allegedly failed to deposit $14,098 in cash into the PTO account.

Crosson’s alleged schemes began unraveling shortly after the new PTO officers took over in early summer 2019, police records show.

Police records say the new treasurer began trying to reconcile the organization’s records and “discovered a huge discrepancy” totaling $26,000.

Quoting the new treasurer, police records say, “the banking records were supposed to be documented on a Quicken spread sheet. However, the records were ‘uncategorized and out of character.”

The treasurer also discovered there were two Quicken spread sheets for the PTO account, adding to the discrepancies because “numerous transactions had been deleted,” investigative reports state.

The PTO’s records also showed a host of unauthorized charges to the organization’s debit card that was assigned to

School boards and other public bodies closed meetings to public attendance 13 months ago as the pandemic began holding Arizona in its grip. Even when some boards and other bodies began meeting in person, many still continue to ban citizens from in-person attendance. Among them is Phoenix City Council.

Arizona’s top prosecutor in March 2020 advised state and local agencies that they could rely on technology, such as Zoom, to meet their legal obligations under the Open Meeting Law in the face of COVID-19.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an informal legal opinion that even if boards and other bodies meet at a central location, they could still ban pub-

Crosson, police said in one of their reports. A second debit card issued to the then-president was never activated.

Police records show the new treasurer discovered that “funds had been withdrawn from the (PTO) account during the summer months when school was not in session and when the PTO was not active.”

The treasurer then “briefly confronted” Crosson in text messages in late May 2019, police records state, and Crosson said “she was having problems with the Quicken spreadsheet (and) therefore had to start a second Quicken spread sheet.”

The new treasurer also told police it appeared “that Jeani was trying to avoid making comments about the account,” records state.

Other records show that Crosson and her husband had encountered financial difficulties long before she became a PTO officer.

In 2014, the couple filed for bankruptcy, claiming $163,842 in debt that included $79,000 in student loans that ultimately were not discharged.

Superior Court records show that the National Collegiate Student Loan Trust in July 2018 sued the couple for $35,000 in unpaid loans and the case remains active.

The then-new PTO officers were devastated when they discovered they had no money.

Co-Vice President Robin Barrett told AFN in July 2019, “Ultimately, children are

lic attendance to minimize the risk of spreading disease.

The key, he said, is public notice — and lots of it far in advance of any meeting.

The whole purpose of that, Brnovich said, is to tell people how they can attend − or at least view − public meetings by informing them of when and where to go and how to get information about what matters are going to be up for discussion.

That, he said, starts with a statement on a public agency’s website informing people that there will be a meeting held remotely through technological means. If the meeting will be telephonic, then people need a number to call in to be able to hear.

Conducting a meeting remotely, Brnov-

the victims when financial integrity is in question. Now more than ever we need the support of our parents, community and local businesses.”

They also discovered there were no internal controls used by their predecessors and instituted various measures to ensure financial transparency and accountability.

In a joint statement at the time, the new officers as well as the Board members said, “We have inherited this PTO and are frustrated and upset with these findings.

“We even considered resigning in light of the discoveries, but each of us has volunteered at this school to raise money for teacher grants, school beautification projects, reading wall, scholastic book fairs, annual events loved most of all by our children and realize that the PTO plays an integral role in making these events and activities happen.

“We volunteer because we want our students to thrive and have a positive experience at Monte Vista.”

There has been no reported theft of this magnitude in Kyrene since 2010, when a former principal was arrested on multiple felony charges for embezzling or misusing nearly $55,000 from Cerritos and Cielo elementary schools.

Local businesses and parents rallied to the PTO’s aid and before the end of 2019, the organization was back in the black.

The group did tell investigators it wanted to press charges against Crosson. 

ich said, requires special considerations that wouldn’t be important for those conducted in the same room with members of the public present.

For example, he said, any members of the public body should identify themselves each time they begin speaking.

Ditto, he said, of staffers, other presenters and members of the public.

If there are to be presentations, copies of those should be available on the website.

None of this, Brnovich said, alters the fact that nothing in state law actually requires public bodies to allow members of the audience to speak as long as they are allowed to witness what business takes place. 

GOT NEWS? Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timespublications.com

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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Arizona Guard gets first woman leader

not lost on me,’’ she said.

“But I do hope that what I’ve done and who I am is more imGilbert woman has been named portant than simply my sex,’’ the new adjutant general of the Muehlenbeck continued. “I nevArizona National Guard. er considered myself a female Gov. Doug Ducey last week named Kerry member of the military. I was alMuehlenbeck as the first woman to lead ways just another member of the the 8,300-member Guard. military.’’

Currently a professor at Mesa CommuShe replaces Maj. Gen. Michael nity College, Muehlenbeck is a lawyer and McGuire who is retiring after 37 former Deputy Pima County Attorney. years in the military. McGuire, a Her appointment also makes her direcRepublican, is weighing a possible tor of the state Department of Emergency run for U.S. Senate in 2022 where and Military Affairs. he would try to unseat Democrat Muehlenbeck came to Arizona in 1993 Mark Kelly.

Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck of Gilbert was appointed to serve as assistant staff judge advocate at last week as Arizona's first female adjutant general of According to Arizona State UniDavis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. versity, Muehlenbeck also was a the Arizona National Guard. (Capitol Media Services) After separating from the active military longtime faculty associate for the four years later, she joined the Arizona Air meaning she also had full-time outside ASU School of Criminology and Criminal National Guard where she also served as employment, including the stint with the Justice and previously the ASU School of both a wing-level and headquarters staff Pima County Attorney.

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She will apparently have to give up her judge advocate.

An ASU news release said she was first position, but indicated it’s worth it to She became the state’s deputy adjutant a RMCC woman to serve as a general in the ArizoL u ~ xury Vinyl ug s Are hit ~ C m a milestone in Arizona’s history. o o general in 2018. na Army and Air National Guard. unte Cust ~ her r s r t e “The historical importance of being the o Muehlenbeck described service as “For me, this is another opportunity to w ps ood ~ Laminate ~ Sho a “traditional, drill-status Guardsman,’’ first female adjutant general in Arizona is do something new, broaden my scope,

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and contribute,” she said when appointed to that post. “It’s another opportunity to either succeed or fail. I prefer success, but you can’t be afraid to fail, especially if you learn from it. You’ve got to go out and try. That’s what my parents always taught me.”

Muehlenbeck also served as a Deputy Judge Advocate General for the United States Air Force and as a prosecutor in her hometown of Saginaw, Michigan.

She taught two criminal law courses at ASU and developed and taught a contemporary base issues course for the Air National Guard taken by thousands of commanders, crew chiefs and first sergeants over the years.

“If I succeed or fail, it’s not because I am a woman, it’s because I did or didn’t do a good job,” Muehlenbeck said, according to the ASU release.

“I am not a pioneer. There were certainly pioneers within the generations of women who came before me, and those are the shoulders I’ve been standing on throughout my career. They fought battles that I didn’t have to fight.” 

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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Fulton Homes’ letter sign of times for homebuyers

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

A

s if anxious homebuyers in the East Valley don’t have enough to worry about, that troublesome barge in the Suez Canal piled on their mounting woes – as did the brutal winter storms in Texas two months ago.

Fulton Homes last week cited the stuck Suez Canal barge, the storms and the pandemic in a letter to customers who had put down a deposit for a new-build, offering them a refund because supply chain disruptions made it impossible to say when their new home would be completed.

It said window production has been cut in half by its supplier because of the pandemic, plywood for its walls is in short supply, cabinet orders are three to five months behind and that now it has no roof sheathing for 1,200 homes under construction.

“Unfortunately, in the current highly volatile environment, there is no way to accurately project when homes will be completed,” its letter to customers said.

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“There may be a one-month delay or a 6+ month delay on home closings; Timelines change daily.”

The letter by Fulton Homes Construction Vice President Jeff Nadreau said that as a result and only for this week, Fulton is breaking its policy of nonrefundable deposits.

Nadreau acknowledged there may be customers “who are uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the delivery of their home or who simply cannot wait” and said Fulton Homes believe a full refund was the fair thing to do.

Normally, those deposits are not refundable under any circumstances, he noted, because the company would lose a bundle after paying a $20,000 building permit and ordering materials that the customer specifically wanted.

He also assured those who decide to “live with the uncertainty brought about by these supply issues” that “we will not cut corners or forego the legendary Fulton Quality our customers expect.”

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tive listings to get back to a normal level.

Many of the younger agents working in Phoenix have never experienced a normal level of supply.”

The National Association of Homebuilders and the National Association of Realtors last fall said a lumber shortage is accelerating the cost of new home construction while there also is a rising demand for larger houses – partly as the result of stay-at-home orders and workfrom-home time in the past year.

“While the market remains solid, median home prices are increasing due to higher building material costs, most notably softwood lumber, and a shift to larger homes,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

The homebuilders group reported that in the first six months of the pandemic “lumber prices soared more than 170 percent.”

“This unprecedented lumber price spike added nearly $16,000 to the price of a typical new single-family home,” it said.

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with billions of goods and impacting supply lines for an array of industries.

But that was only the latest in a series of problems that have forced most homebuilders into longer completion times and include escalation clauses in contracts as a hedge against rising prices of materials.

Other homebuilders contacted by the Mesa Tribune about Fulton’s letter did not respond to requests for comment.

But Mike Orr of the Cromford Report, which closely tracks the Valley housing market, said it’s likely Fulton is not alone.

“I have not heard anything so specific, but it would not surprise me if many of the things quoted affect other builders,” he said, adding: “Home price will be forced upwards, as there is very little re-sale inventory."

Supply chain interruptions and overall shortages have added fuel to the surge in Valley home prices, which have risen 20 percent in a year.

Last week Cromford reported, “The active listing count was painfully small last month and this month it is no better.

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Harassment could explain dearth of information on shelters AFN NEWS STAFF

W

hile no one is saying why, the social and political climate surrounding immigration likely affects how much information the federal government divulges about the sheltering services it provides migrant families.

The Grove in Chandler and more than a dozen other churches in Arizona can attest to the harassment they confronted in 2019 when church families provided a few days of shelter in their own homes for migrants through informal arrangements with federal Homeland Security officials.

Valley churches first decided to open their doors to migrants in October 2018 as the number of Central American migrants fleeing poverty, corruption and violence in their home countries began to skyrocket.

Thousands traveled through Mexico to the border, where they turn themselves in to federal agents. From there, they are transferred into the custody of ICE, where their asylum case would begin.

They were not here illegally but because the process for reviewing their petitions can take months, ICE reached out to churches for help in sheltering them.

But a right-wing anti-immigration organization in the Valley called the Patriot Movement wasn’t going to let the arrangement proceed quietly.

MIGRANTS from page 1

“Starting April 9 in Texas and Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will provide emergency temporary shelter and process families placed in its custody through a short-term contract with Endeavors. The border is not open and individuals continue to be expelled under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) public health authority.

“The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians. Custody is intended to be short term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue.

All families will be tested for COVID-19

In 2019, churches had to sue to stop people from harassing church members and migrant families. (Special to AFN) Members appeared on church premises every time a busload of migrant families rolled up to the churches and were accused of intimidating both the arrivals and their hosts.

So, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on behalf of the Alliance of Christian Churches of the East Valley, stating they did not want to stop the Patriot Movement members “from expressing their opinions, but rather that they be ordered to stay off of church property and within a safe distance of the churches.”

The suit also wanted the Patriot Movement to “be ordered to stop illegally in-

and receive a health assessment.”

Neither Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly nor U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, whose district includes Ahwatukee, responded to AFN’s requests for more information – including whether they had asked ICE for a briefing or whether the agency informed them about its plans.

A spokeswoman for Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema stated: “As Chair of the Subcommittee on Border Management, Senator Sinema is working to ensure the administration takes meaningful steps to support our border communities and NGOs, secure the border, prevent the spread of COVID-19, and treat all migrants and unaccompanied children fairly and humanely.

“ICE recently confirmed that several hotels along the southwest border, including in Chandler and Phoenix, will serve as Emergency Family Reception Sites --

timidating, threatening, harassing or otherwise interfering with plaintiffs’ ability to invite guests onto their property and into their buildings or homes.”

The host families received no government subsidies for sheltering the migrants – but they also made no secret about what they were doing.

As a result, the lawsuit stated, Patriot Movement members’ “behavior during their visits to the churches has intimidated and caused plaintiffs anxiety and fear for their safety and the safety of others,” the lawsuit said.

“Uninvited or deceptively, defendants

providing increased capacity to process migrants, but not serving as long-term detention facilities.

“Senator Sinema spoke directly with DHS Secretary Mayorkas and has called on the Department to provide more resources in Arizona to manage the flow of migrants. Senator Sinema is continuing to monitor the situation and will hold Secretary Mayorkas and DHS accountable for protecting Arizona communities and ensuring all migrants are treated fairly and humanely.”

Holiday Inn officials did not respond to requests for comment and the driveway to its Ahwatukee hotel was blocked over the weekend. The hotel is not accepting reservations before late June, though it does not say why.

Some residents claimed they saw small refrigerators and mattresses being unloaded at the site last Wednesday and

11

trespassed on church property, including the lawns or paths leading to the church buildings and the parking lots used by the churches,” the suit stated. “Defendants came close to people who were working at the churches, often only inches away, and yelled in their faces. Defendants held their cell phones to film people, including their faces and their nametags. At some of the visits, some of the Defendants have openly carried guns.”

It said the harassment was intense, stating the defendants “told the immigrants to leave and accused plaintiffs of criminal conduct – including sex trafficking or human trafficking – and of profiting financially….Defendants filmed children, including their faces, and posted those images online.”

The harassment also extended to the pastors of the churches on social media.

Most of the defendants filed responses stating they “cannot admit or deny” the allegations, though some said their actions were not driven by animosity toward Central Americans or people of color.

However, they ultimately signed a consent decree in which they agreed not to harass the migrants and their hosts at the churches and or imply or specifically state on social media that the churches and the host families are “engaged in any form of human trafficking or sex trafficking or harboring fugitives,” court records show.  Thursday. They also provided AFN with photos of unmarked buses – with no licenses mounted on them – parked on the hotel lot.

According to ICE, migrant family units will be housed together on a short-term basis while they go through routine DHS processing. ICE has also confirmed all migrants will be tested for COVID and provided meals.

Following CDC guidelines, those who test positive for COVID-19 will have space available to remain in quarantine for 10 days.

Services provided to individuals at the Holiday Inn and other locations include short term, emergency lodging, including meals for each occupant; electrostatic cleaning, hygiene kits, laundry services as needed; access to legal service providers and information on the immigration le-

see MIGRANTS page 12

12

NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Mental health education could soon be required in Arizona school curriculums

BY ALYSSA MARKSZ AFN Contributor

A

bill making mental health education a mandatory element of health education in Arizona schools appears headed for final passage.

SB 1376 passed 29-1 in the Senate and has been given the go-ahead by both the Democratic and Republican caucuses for final House vote.

Ahwatukee Sen. Sean Bowie, who introduced the legislation said the bill aims to reduce the stigma around mental illness among young people and show them it is normal to seek help and support.

“I’ve been looking for additional ways to help our young people and kind of remove some of the stigma around mental health and looking at what other states are doing,” he explained.

“This is an idea that came forward in a couple other states and passed there, Virginia and New York being two of the first to do it.”

He said the bill “would require that when the State Board of Education is developing the curriculum standards for

MIGRANTS from page 11

gal process; access to medical and mental health care services; and transportation to regional airports/bus stations compliant with COVID-19 protocols.

ICE will apply its Family Residential Standards as its quality-of-care model for all of those housed at the hotels, “with modifications to educational services at both and limited recreational facilities at the hotels,” one source said on condition of anonymity.

Families will be provided clothing, meals/snacks, access to medical care, legal counsel, unlimited phone access and individual rooms for appropriate physical distancing, the source added.

ICE also was said to be coordinating with non-governmental organizations to provide families with temporary shelter upon their release, as well as food, water, clothing, and transportation services “to help mitigate strains placed on resources in the local community,” the source said.

Neither Phoenix City Hall nor the Ducey Administration apparently was provided any details on the migrants’ sheltering.

health curriculums, it treats mental health just as important as physical health.”

According to Bowie, each school district would decide how to implement mental health education curriculums.

Bowie said that if the bill passes, changes could start rolling out in about a year.

“If the governor were to sign it, the State Board of Education would start developing standards probably this fall. Nothing prevents school districts from already doing this,” Bowie said.

Some Arizona school districts, including Tempe Union High School District and Mesa Public Schools, have already adapted mental health education curriculums.

Kyrene also has a component that encourages youngsters to report to an adult a student who seems in need of help.

“I’ve seen this in some of the classes in the schools that I represent in my district and seen kids as young as first and second grade going over mental health in their school curriculums and talking about social-emotional learning and feelings and ways to communicate with their classmates and their counselor,” Bowie said.

Michael Garcia, MPS director of oppor-

“Because this is a federal thing, sometimes our federal partners may find out about these types of issues before us,” said C.J. Karamargin, Gov. Doug Ducey’s spokesman.

Ahwatukee Councilman Sal DiCiccio said “nobody knew at City Hall” until late Thursday and that he learned of the families’ arrivals even before Phoenix Police had been informed. “They were shocked by that,” he said of police. “They said they had no idea this was happening.

“It’s going to be all families,” DiCiccio said, adding that he received very limited information and that all he had been told the families were from the Yuma and Tucson sectors.

The families who are being housed by Endeavors did not sneak across the border illegally but are seeking asylum.

The right to seek asylum was incorporated into international law following the atrocities of World War II. Congress adopted key provisions of the Geneva Refugee Convention, including the international definition of a refugee, into U.S. immigration law when it passed the Refugee Act of 1980.

However, asylum seekers do not auto-

tunity and achievement, said the bill, if passed, will impact “people who aren’t where we’re at in Mesa.”

“We see it as an essential practice whether it’s a law or not,” he added.

“We’re really shifting and looking at the whole child, and the whole child is not just about academics,” Garcia said, echoing sentiments expressed at various times by officials in other districts, including Kyrene and Tempe Union.

“By having school counselors on campuses, we have advocates who promote social-emotional learning and mental health and also provide very explicit instruction to students through some research-based lessons,” he said.

Numerous districts, including those serving Ahwatukee, are working to provide students with a myriad of resources to ensure their success, including counselors, social workers, care teams and even external mental health agencies.

“In many cases we actually have the agencies on our campuses so that there’s access to mental health experts right there during the school day. This removes a barrier from a family having to travel, having

matically have a right to stay in the U.S. Rather, they typically are placed in either immigration court removal proceedings, where they will have a future opportunity to make their case before an administrative judge, or in expedited removal proceedings, which allow border agents to deport them without a hearing.

Endeavors is providing shelter while the migrants await these proceedings.

Endeavors boasts on its website of being “a longstanding national nonprofit agency that provides various programs and services supporting children, families, veterans, and those struggling with mental illness, disabilities, disasters, or emergencies. Endeavors has served vulnerable people in need since 1969 through personalized services.”

It contracts with private landlords – including, apparently, owners of little used hotels – and says it “specializes in case management and provides financial assistance to homeless individuals and their families.”

“Endeavors case managers work individually with clients to remove barriers to housing and provide connections to wraparound services, including financial liter-

to go to an appointment or check a kid out of school. We work with them to use insurance to pay for those services as well,” Garcia said.

Melissa Valenzuela, a MPS Social Emotional Learning Department specialist, said the district is working to educate staff on mental health education in addition to students.

“If we don’t prepare ourselves to help our students, we’re no good to them,” Valenzuela said.

Garcia explained that mental health education is important because it gives students the opportunity to discuss mental health in a factual way and realize that it is normal to have feelings and talk about them with others.

Bowie hopes that other districts within Arizona will recognize the importance of this concept.

“Each district can do this differently, they’re not tied to one specific curriculum, it just includes it in the curriculum for kids and hopefully will reduce some of the stigma around mental health and just get kids to start talking about emotions and talking about feelings at a younger age,” Bowie said. 

acy education, job skills training, benefits enrollment, mental health services and life skills training,” it says on its website.

Basel Mousslly, Endeavors’ deputy director of migrant services, is himself a refugee, having fled to the U.S. from war-ravaged Syria, according to his biography.

Endeavors describes its migrant services as including “direct care, migrant wellness support, case management, home study and post-release services, staffing, and holistic programming for unaccompanied migrant children and families.”

“Seeking protection from the persecution and deteriorating social and economic conditions in their home countries, increasing amounts of migrant children and families have traveled to the United States hoping to make better lives for themselves,” Endeavors states on its website.

“Through our Migrant Services programs, we provide direct care, migrant wellness support, case management, home study and post-release services, staffing, and holistic programming for unaccompanied migrant children and families. Endeavors has served migrants since 2012.” 

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

13

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

FUNDING from page 1

mann two weeks ago outlined the disparity in federal pandemic relief funding that has left the district confronting a $6 million revenue shortage.

Hermann did not raise the issue of potential layoffs or any other proposal to deal with that budget hole, although he said that “we do not have the financial resources to address all of the budget shortfalls that we’ll be facing this year as well as next.”

One of the most glaring examples of the disparity in round 2 of pandemic relief fund allocations involves Kyrene and Roosevelt Elementary School District. While Roosevelt has half the student population of Kyrene’s, its pandemic relief allocation totals in the second round of funding totals $19.3 million to Kyrene’s $3.9 million – which works out on a per-pupil distribution of $2,455 for Roosevelt to $250 per student in Kyrene.

Though neither Kyrene nor other school officials begrudge those districts with predominantly low-income households from getting the money, they argue that they and their students were also impacted by the pandemic.

The Chandler Chamber was to join Chandler Unified School District and an undetermined number of other districts in lobbying the governor and the Legislature for more funding.

At issue are the federal regulations governing the distribution of pandemic relief funds approved by Congress in December and the American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden in March. Funding in the December measure favors school districts that have a large number of students from low-income households.

The American Rescue Plan will pour $2.6 billion into Arizona for K-12 help and while Epstein said the U.S. Treasury has not yet issued guidelines for how that money can be distributed, Epstein said it appears targeting the same kind of districts as the December bill.

“That’s a good place to put that money, but it leaves our schools such as Chandler and Kyrene in a bit of a world of hurt wondering ‘what are we going to do?’” Epstein

Legislative District 18 Rep. Jennifer Jermaine, upper left, Sen. Sean Bowie and Rep. Mitzi Epstein, lower right, participated in a discussion led by the Chandler Chamber of Commerce last Friday. Hilen Cruz of SRP, lower left, moderated. (Special to AFN) said. “And they are actually facing potential staff cuts. And the last thing we need is to have fewer teachers available to take care of our kids and possibly fewer counselors to take care of our kids at a time when our children need this emotional support more than ever.”

She echoed Kyrene board member Michelle Fahy, who two weeks ago noted that all children, not just those from low-income areas, were impacted by the pandemic.

Epstein said Udall “has a great proposal to balance that out – that the state would fill in where the federal government is leaving a gap for our local Chandler schools. And that’s something that I hope we can figure out in the budget.”

That may depend on a different issue raised by Ahwatukee Sen. Sean Bowie during the same Chandler Chamber forum – a move in the Legislature toward major tax cuts and possibly even a flat tax.

Noting there is sentiment among some Republican lawmakers to eliminate the four levels of state income tax – which

funds 40 percent of state expenditures – Bowie said the flat tax would favor wealthy Arizonans at the expense of programs aimed at middle-class and low-income residents.

“To put this into perspective, our state budget is usually around $12 billion to $13 billion and the proposal in the House right now is to cut taxes by about $1.5 billion dollars – 10 percent of our budget,” Bowie said, adding that proponents are citing Arizona’s share of federal pandemic relief grants to justify tax cuts, he said, despite they represent one-time funds.

Although he said such a measure would create a $10 million hit for the City of Chandler, Bowie did not address its impact on K-12 public education.

Meanwhile, Udall cited Gilbert’s recently announced plan to terminate 152 teachers’ contracts for the coming school year and told state Superintendent of Public Education Kathy Hoffman other districts also have announced impending teacher layoffs for fear that they won’t have the state aid to pay their salaries.

GOT NEWS?

That’s because aid is directly linked to the number of students enrolled, and the most recent figures show that more than 55,000 children have disappeared from district schools this year – about 5 percent of total enrollment, a figure that translates out to hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Hermann told the Kyrene board the district is projecting a loss of 1,250 students, although he attributed that largely to a change in the district’s demographics. Put simply, young families are not moving into Ahwatukee, Tempe and Chandler like they used to, partly because of high – and still rising – home prices.

On paper, schools get state aid based on the number of students enrolled. And, theoretically that means if the students come back, the state funds will flow.

Udall said districts have to make decisions now whether to offer contracts for the coming school year.

“The problem is, if you fire those teach-

Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timespublications.com

see FUNDINGpage 16

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

FUNDING from page 14

ers and the kids do come back, you’ve suddenly got overcrowded classrooms,’’ she told Capitol Media Services.

Udall said it may be impossible for schools that were hardest hit by declines to rehire those same teachers: Given the teacher shortage statewide, they may by that point have found gainful employment elsewhere.

What that leaves, she said, is schools hiring long-term substitutes who are not certified as regular teachers.

In her letter to Hoffman, Udall said the Education Department is “for some reason holding onto nearly $85 million of discretionary money’’ from its initial $1.5 billion allocation of federal COVID relief dollars.

“That should be put to use to help stabilize Arizona schools so they don’t have to make premature reductions in staffing when many of those students may be returning in the coming school year,’’ Udall told Hoffman.

And she questioned the agency’s need for $7 million to administer that $1.5 billion allotment –the maximum allowed – when there are other more pressing needs.

Udall said she expects at least part of the fund problem to be resolved when lawmakers adopt the state budget.

Some of that, she said, will involve eliminating that differential between what schools get for teaching students in person versus those who are learning online. The state funds the latter at just 95

FULTON from page 9

The association recommended that its members include an escalation clause in contracts “that indicates if lumber prices increase by a certain percentage, the custom-

State Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, chairs the House Education Committee and expressed her concerns about pandemic relief funding in a letter to state schools chief Kathy Hoffman. (Special to AFN) percent despite indications of additional costs for such programs.

But Udall said some districts that were doing their best to maintain in-person options for their students are the ones that she believes are getting financially shorted.

“So, you have this huge discrepancy and you have districts like Vail and Gilbert who have really worked to have in-person teaching through as much of the time as possible,’’ Udall said.

“That’s really expensive because they’re doing the in-person teaching but they’re also doing the online at the same time,’’ she continued. “So, they have two modes

er would be required to pay the extra costs.”

It also said the sharp increases in lumber costs “threaten the affordability of new homes and the housing sector, which is leading the nation’s economic recovery.”

The association blamed the lumber

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES AND SUDOKU from Page 40

of teaching going on at the same time, they’ve got extra expenses from the technology but then also extra expenses from the cleaning, from substitutes, from the personal protective equipment.’’

In a response to Udall, Hoffman acknowledged the need “to provide schools with budget stability and avoid unnecessary layoffs.’’ She said money from discretionary funds already is being distributed, though Udall told Capitol Media Services that “there’s still a lot left.’’

Hoffman said some of the blame for what schools are now facing financially can be traced directly to Gov. Doug Ducey.

cost increase on inadequate domestic production.

“Many mills reduced production due to stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures enacted by state and local governments at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic,” it said.

“Mill operators projected that housing would be adversely affected by the crisis and anticipated a large drop in demand,”

He promised last year that schools would have at least 98 percent of the state aid they were getting in the prior year, regardless of attendance.

Only thing is, Ducey provided just $370 million for that based on federal dollars he got. Hoffman said the actual cost of missing students was close to $620 million.

“When the subsequent shortfalls became apparent in November, the governor’s office pointed to the Legislature’s need to solve this problem,’’ Hoffman wrote.

The need to guarantee schools will have money next academic year is based on a presumption that the students who disappeared this year will return.

Udall said one big reason for the drop was that many parents of the youngest children, seeing what was happening with the virus, simply decided to keep them home an extra year.

Chris Kotterman, lobbyist for the Arizona School Boards Association, said some districts lost more students than others because of geography.

“Gilbert is prime charter school country,’’ he said, giving parents who wanted their children in the classroom more options. But he, too, expects that trend to reverse as traditional schools return to inperson instruction.

Beyond that, Kotterman said charter schools just don’t have the capacity to handle that many students on a longterm basis.

Paul Maryniak is AFN Executive Editor and Howard Fischer operates Capitol Media Services.  it continued. “But housing weathered the storm much better than was predicted and demand for lumber has accelerated.”

In December, it called on the Trump Administration to pressure domestic lumber producers “to ramp up production to ease growing shortages and making it a priority to work with Canada on a new softwood lumber agreement.” That request went nowhere. 

GOT NEWS?

Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak @timespublications.com

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Ducey signs autonomous vehicle regs into law

BY COURTNEY SOMSAN AFN Contributor

G

ov. Doug Ducey has signed a bill that streamlines regulations for autonomous vehicles on public roads.

The new law was sponsored by Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, who said that industry leaders sought legislation that would allow local governments to adapt to the increasing use of this technology.

“I believe that this bill is important because we have been seeing these vehicles all over the place, and now we are able to see how people have reacted to them,” Weninger said.

The law sets out requirements for accident reporting and equipment standards for autonomous vehicles.

For example, it sets out how law enforcement and regulatory agencies can verify an autonomous vehicle has valid registration and insurance and conforms to other state requirements.

As far as preparing the legislation is concerned, Weninger said, “I didn’t just do this on my own.”

He said he met with a variety of stakeholders “and we decided that we wanted to take it slow and basically codify what was in the (governor’s) executive order into state law,” Weninger said.

“This was meant to kind of set the benchmark of where we are starting in terms of legislation.”

The bill passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously in seven days.

Weninger said that he expected more pushback because of the controversy of autonomous vehicles and was pleasantly surprised by the support.

He said people were ready to start using autonomous options.

Waymo is operating driverless minivans within a 50-mile radius of its Chandler headquarters in much the same way that Uber’s taxi service works.

“I don’t think people are as addicted to their vehicles as they were once,” Weninger said. “Ubers are nice but if you had something like an autonomous option, it gives people so much of their time back because you can work on

your way to work if you are not the one driving.

“I believe that Arizona residents are already comfortable with autonomous vehicles in our community, and I think that there are many different applications and conveniences for people,” Weninger said.

Waymo last October released data from 6 million miles of automated driving on Arizona roads with a human driver and another 65,000 miles driven with no human driver in the car.

During that time, Waymo vehicles were involved in 18 collisions and the company predicted that another 29 would have happened if the human operator hadn’t intervened.

In a recent interview on NPR, Missy Cummings, who studies autonomous vehicles at Duke University, said they are not yet safe enough for Phoenix streets.

“The cars do well under normal circumstances but if a huge dust storm came through Phoenix, the cars’ dustcoated sensors might not realize something is awry,” Cummings said. “The bottom line is I don’t worry about when the sensors fail, I worry about when the cars don’t realize they’re in over their heads.” Nonetheless, Arizona is a national leader for testing autonomous vehicles. It started in early 2015 when Ducey signed an executive order that allowed the testing and piloting of driverless vehicles on certain public roads.

Waymo started operations in the state 2017 by piloting autonomous vehicles within the city limits of Chandler, Mesa, and Tempe.

Chandler Economic Development Director, Micah Miranda said city officials believe autonomous vehicles will spur economic activity and lead to job growth and safe efficient transportation for people who need it.

“From an economic perspective, the relationship with Waymo and the City of Chandler to be beta riders for autonomous vehicles has accelerated efficiency now and in the future,” Miranda said.

Miranda said that he believed that the

see AUTONYMOUS page 21

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NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

TU prom in hands of experienced event planner

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor

W

hen you're one of a handful of certified wedding planners in the world, organization probably comes as naturally as breathing.

But there’s one big difference that Ahwatukee wedding planner Kim Horn readily admits to about planning a prom for up to 1,000 Tempe Union high school juniors and seniors and planning the weddings and all the other celebrations she’s accustomed to.

“I’ve done bar mitzvahs before, I’ve done children’s parties before…It’s in my wheelhouse,” she explained. “So, this isn’t a new thing. What is new is normally you have a birthday party or a 60th anniversary or a wedding, you have maybe one to five clients that you’re answering to as a final decision maker and here, you have a community of people.”

But Horn said what makes planning the Tempe Union Masquerade Prom 2021 – and working not only with scores of students but their parents as well – is the community in which she has lived since 2002.

“It takes a village to do what we’re doing and we are fortunate in our community of Ahwatukee that we have people that are willing to give up their time and use their treasures to be able to put this together. We’re very, very fortunate. I mean I call it Mayberry. It’s one reason why we live here. I absolutely love it.”

Still, Horn has had to diplomatically negotiate arrangements, noting “every parent has an opinion, every student has an opinion” about what the prom should have.

With the assistance of Desert Vista Michael Adamick as kind of the chief marketer of the prom – getting the word out largely by social media to students in all seven Tempe Union high schools – Horn is the maestro for the prom, which will be held 8 a.m.-midnight May 8 at the Arizona Grand Resort Ballroom.

Tickets are $50 per person and students might well be advised to heed three things: Tickets will be going up to $60 on Friday, April 16. They must be purchased by midnight April 25. And they won’t be available at the door. They can be purchased at masqueradeprom2021az.rs-

Students and parents who are helping Horn put together the Masquerade Prom are, from left, Holly Ophardt, Allison Ophardt, Andrea Nissen, Lexi Nissen, Greg Nissen, Peyton Cole, Rachel Adamick, (behind) Steve Adamick, Michael Adamick, Michelle Koury, Sophia Koury, Steve Horn, Alexa Horn, Kim Horn, Lauren Fuller and Lisa Fuller. Not picture are: Tricia Fuller and Colin Birnhaum, Jodie Cole, Allan Fuller, Paul Koury, Vicki and Hailey McFarland, Christine and AJ Piazza; Chris, Lori and Emily Riggins and Dave, Laura and Natalie Whitlach. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer).

vpify.com.

While Horn has a small platoon of parents helping with final preparations and ready to serve as chaperones, ticket takers and provide any other needed help at the actual prom, Desert Vista High School student Michael Adamick has some volunteer students he is leading to get the word out about the big dance.

Formal attire is required for both boys and girls – and so are facemasks to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Masquerade masks are optional.

A ticket covers non-alcoholic beverages; four hours of dancing to a professional club style DJ who will be bringing uplighting as well as the teens’ favorite music; a memento and other swag pro-

Desert Vista senior Michael Adamick, flanked by parents Michael and Rachel Adamick, is the student lead on the prom, overseeing publicity for the event. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff

Photographer).

vided by businesses and other sponsors, and a chance to win a big raffle item. The raffles are at 9 p.m. and guests must be present to win.

Horn also is giving local businesses and individuals a chance to donate gift cards or other items that can be raffled or included in swag. They can email christinepiazza92@gmail.com up till April 30 if they want to make a donation.

People who might want to just donate cash toward the prom expenses can do so through Venmo @cpiazaa0421.

“For donations and giveaways, we are updating spreadsheets with items and are grouping giveaways to maximize the student experience,” Horn said.

The 20,000-square-foot Arizona Grand Ballroom can easily – and safely – accommodate 1,000 people, Horn said and the resort is providing its own security staff to make sure guests are safe and protected on the resort premises.

So how did Horn step up to the plate and organize this extravaganza since Tempe Union officials are not sponsoring any proms this year out of pandemic concerns?

She – and the kids who’ll be going to

see PROM page 21

NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

PROM from page 20

the prom – can thank her daughter Alexa for that.

A Desert Vista High senior who is on her way to the University of Arizona a few months after graduating, Alexa one day came to her with a wish.

“My daughter said, ‘Mom, I really want a prom.’”

That was all it took for Horn’s inner wedding planner to take over.

“Originally we were thinking, ‘OK, let’s keep it to DV and Mountain Pointe because they’re close,” Horn recalled.

“I feel that that would have been a lot easier.”

“But we wanted to be inclusive for other students

AUTONYMOUS from page 19

that are in that same predicament,” she added.

Thus, the district-wide focus was born.

And the Arizona Grand, she quickly decided, was the perfect venue.

“I wanted it to happen safely,” she said. “With the grand we’ve been able to secure 20,000 square feet that will give us the capability to have 1,000 students together safely.”  Kim and Steve Horn, along with their Desert Vista senior daughter Alexa, are in the thick of things in prom planning. (Pati P Photography/Special for AFN)

GOT NEWS? Contact Paul Maryniak at

480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timespublications.com

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industry will provide job opportunities, developmental opportunities and safe access to efficient transportation for Valley commuters.

“The future is very bright, and I believe that this is going to be a multitrillion-dollar market,” he said. “In the beginning, autonomous vehicles drew a lot of positive attention to the city through the media. However, there were little immediate changes brought by these vehicles.

“But the fact is that Chandler is in on this technology very early and it will promote growth in these regions in upcoming years,” Miranda said.

A recent study by Intel said that the “Passenger Economy” is projected to grow to $7 trillion by 2050, and 76 million autonomous vehicles will be on the road by 2035.

Weninger said his bill “will continue to solidify Arizona as the leader around autonomous vehicle research and deployment.

“I believe that with this bill, we will now see more adoption of the technology in our everyday lives,” he added. 

22

NEWS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Mesa senator helps defeat abortion bill

tion measure that has reached his desk.

It remains unclear whether there is any way for Barto to alter the issue to Pace’s satisfaction. The problems he cited are not subject to simple fixes.

It starts with the fact that elective abortions remain legal in Arizona. So, any woman is free to terminate a pregnancy, at least before a fetus is viable, without providing a reason.

Pace questioned what happens if a woman goes to a doctor seeking an elective abortion and, during the course of an examination, it is determined there are genetic abnormalities in the fetus.

“Would the physician be able to perform the abortion under the elective option?’’ he asked. “Or would the knowledge of that cause the physician to be prohibited from performing that?’’

Pace said a doctor may be approached by a women seeking to terminate her pregnancy, stating, “How does a doctor know it’s for the express purpose of a genetic abnormality?’’

The original version of SB 1457 sought to outlaw all abortions in cases of a genetic abnormality.

That bothered Rep. Regina Cobb, RKingman, who added language to allow a termination when there was a “severe fetal abnormality,’’ defined as “a life-threatening physical condition that, in reasonable medical judgment, regardless of the provision of life-saving medical treatment, is incompatible with life.’’

Cobb said this would ensure that women are not required to carry a fetus to term that would not long survive outside the womb.

At the same time, she said, it would honor the intent of the bill, which is to bar abortions simply because a fetus was diagnosed with something like Down’s syndrome.

Pace said that change only made things worse.

“I have tried to find what is ‘reasonable medical judgment’ and what is ‘incompatible with life,’ ‘’ he said, including how quickly a newborn would have to die in order for the defect to be considered “incompatible with life.’’

Worse yet, he said, that verbiage would mean that the fate of a doctor who went ahead with an abortion would be left to the courts.

“A jury would have to determine what

medical judgment was ‘reasonable,’" he said. “We are asking a panel of lay individuals to determine medical judgments, to play the ‘board of medicine.’"

Pace said he would have been more comfortable had the legislation said doctors can’t be held liable if they exercised “good faith clinical judgment.’’

In refusing to vote for SB 1457, Pace quashed other provisions sought by abortion foes.

One would have made it illegal for women to receive the pills for medication abortions in the mail or by courier. Instead, they would have to go to a doctor to get the pills where they would presumably first be examined.

Cathi Herrod, president of the antiabortion Center for Arizona Policy, said it is wrong to simply allow a woman to take the pills without medical supervision.

SB 1457 also included language that said Arizona laws grant an “unborn child’’ at every stage of development “all rights, privileges and immunities available to other persons, citizens and residents of this state,’’ subject only to the limits of the U.S. Constitution and rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Barto also said that the legislation was not designed to provoke a challenge to the historic 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade which said women have an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus becomes viable.

“We don’t need that,’’ she said. “This policy is law in four other states.’’ 

That could hide not only who is giving the money but exactly how it is being used, beyond what’s in the Senate contract.

Fann told Capitol Media Services the audit is costing more than anticipated. Some of that, she said, is the fault of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for not allowing county offices to be used by the companies the Senate hired to review 2.1 million ballots and the election equipment.

The board contends that the results have been reviewed multiple times and sees no need to waste of time and money.

“For example, right now we are arranging 24-hour security at the (state) Coliseum since the Board of Supervisors is refusing to let us anywhere near the building,’’ she said.

“I want to make sure we have 24-hour surveillance, both live-streaming and video at all times, as well as physical security guards there,’’ she said, adding that some checks have come in unsolicited.

That’s just the tip of the financial iceberg.

Christina Bobb, who works for the conservative One America News Network, says she already has raised $150,000 through a web site called “Voice for Votes’’ to cover the costs incurred by the Senate as it attempts to determine if the results announced are accurate. As a social welfare organization, it is not required to disclose its donors.

If the dollars were given to the Senate, there would at least be some official re-

cord of how the money was spent.

Bobb did not return messages seeking details of the money she has raised, where it has come from, and whether the dollars would go to the Senate or to the contractors.

Fann said outside groups told her “there are organizations out there, there are grassroots, there are people willing to donate time and their expertise to help out.’’ she said. The Senate president said she’s in a no-win situation in agreeing to take outside cash.

“It doesn’t matter what we do,’’’ she said, with some criticizing the use of taxpayer dollars to conduct an audit while others don’t want outside funds from unknown sources to finance it. 

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

A

rizona won’t force women to give birth in cases where a fetus has a genetic abnormality, at least not now, after a state senator from Mesa broke ranks and joined Democrats to defeat the measure.

SB 1457 came up one vote short last week as Sen. Tyler Pace sided with all 14 Democrats in refusing to make it a crime for a doctor to terminate a pregnancy knowing it is being sought “because of a genetic abnormality of the child.’’

That same crime, which carried a year in state prison, could also be applied to anyone who assisted – a category that backers acknowledged could extend from nurses to clerical staff.

“I’m not supportive of abortion in many of its ways,’’ he told colleagues. But Pace said he is hesitant to start criminalizing health care decisions especially with the way this measure is worded.

Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, who is the sponsor of SB 1457, said she would try to craft language to address Pace’s concerns and get him to provide the required 16th vote.

That, however, would have to be inserted into another bill as it is too late to amend this one even if Barto can have it resurrected. But at this point Pace was apparently unwilling to accept her assurances and vote for the plan so it could be sent to Gov. Doug Ducey, who has signed every abor-

REP. TYLER PACE

State Senate getting private donations for election audit

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

T

he state Senate is accepting private donations to complete its audit of the 2020 election – just days after passing a law forbidding counties from accepting private funds to run elections.

But the question of whether the public will find out who is providing that cash remains unanswered.

Potentially more significant, Senate President Karen Fann acknowledged that the private companies that already have been hired for the $150,000 review may separately be taking money from outside sources directly – and not through the Senate.

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

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How to relieve stress without alcohol consumption AFN NEWS STAFF

W

hile the COVID-19 vaccines are giving people hope that the pandemic may soon come to an end, there’s an increase in alcohol dependence. Dr. Robert Stockman, a psychologist with 4C Medical Group, part of OptumCare, recommends keeping an eye on the well-being of older adults and paying attention to the signs of alcohol dependency including slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, lack of coordination, agitation or anxiety, among others.

He also recommends other coping techniques to help older adults relieve stress without alcohol, including: Physical activity. Exercising regularly can increase overall health and sense of well-being. Unlike alcohol, exercising actually reduces stress in the long-term.

Mindfulness techniques. According to the National Institute of Health, people tend to consume alcohol when feeling stressed or anxious, so mindfulness exercises - such as meditation and breathing techniques - are recommended to naturally help your body and mind relax and

release stress.

Find a quiet place in your home and set a timer for a specified period. If you’ve never meditated, start off with just three minutes, and focus on your breathing.

Stay connected. Having a strong support system is key to help you with the temptation of drinking alcohol to relax.

It’s very important to stay in contact with close friends and family during stressful situations.

Creative expression. Creative outlets such as writing in a journal, drawing, music and dancing, can provide a way to man-

age anxiety in a healthy manner, according to the American Addiction Centers.

Perhaps this is the right time to test your creativity with a new activity that can help you release stress.

Get help. In response to the outbreak, Optum opened its emotional support helpline providing access to specially trained mental health specialists. This is a toll-free number, and it will be open 24 hours a day seven days a week for as long as necessary. This is a free service.

The number is 866-342-6892.

More information: OptumCare.com. 

the need arises can often result in hastier or short-term decisions that might fail to meet your long-term needs.

Create a list. Determine which type of senior living community best fits your needs.

Not all retirement communities are the same. Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) require larger, upfront entrance fees.

“Rental” communities can offer similar services with the flexibility of a monthly fee. Ask for a “value checklist” to help com-

pare your needs and current monthly expenses, delivery services, transportation costs, meal expenditures, and the upkeep of a house with the monthly fee of a retirement community.

Ask questions. Get to know the community.

A tour or information presentation can provide you a feel for a community’s amenities, services and safeguards such as if residents have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

But also ask about lifestyle. Learn about a community’s fitness, art classes or other

interests you may enjoy.

Accreditation, which helps provide the assurance that high standards of quality care, service and safeguards are maintained is another important topic to discuss.

Learn more about The Village at Ocotillo at its lunch and learn event this Wednesday, April 14, at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. or noon. To RSVP and receive a Zoom link, call 480-400-8687 or email to RSVP@ TheVillageatOcotillo.com.

Information: TheVillageatOcotillo. com. 

Village at Ocotillo offers ‘lunch and learn’ AFN NEWS STAFF

T

he Village at Ocotillo says that now more than ever, retirement living offers residents value, services and safeguards in a supportive setting.

Here are three things Village at Ocotillo staff suggest people consider in when making their decision: Start early. Begin researching in advance, before the need arises.

Ask family, friends and valued advisors for their recommendations. Waiting until

Mobile eye care available at people’s workplaces AFN NEWS STAFF

H

ave you been to the eye doctor lately?

That probably may not be on the top of your list of things to do after work or on the weekend.

According to Gary Heiting, OD, and Larry K. Wan, OD, nearly 70 percent of adults

experience some sort of digital eye strain due to prolonged use of digital devices.

With all this digital eye strain, it’s no

see EYECARE page 26

Sight On Site offers a convenient way for people to have their eyes examined and order corrective lenses. (Special to AFN)

Winter 2021

25

HealtH & Wellness

Heel pain in children can Don’t let pandemic delay skin cancer screenings be prevented, treated AFN NEWS STAFF

T

here are some good ways to prevent heel pain in children, but if your child does complain of it, know what to do.

Make sure your child wears high-quality shoes that offer ample support. This is true for both “everyday” shoes and those required by the sport they play.

Cleats generally don’t offer good support and a supportive shoe insole should be considered.

Stretch before and after sports practices. Ensure your child is performing warmup and cool-down exercises when playing sports.

Over 90 percent of the children seen by Pediatric Foot & Ankle for heel pain suffer from Sever’s disease.

The most common misdiagnosis for children’s heel pain is plantar fasciitis.

Most or all of these cases prove to be Severs, according to Pediatric Foot & Ankle.

Kids and adult heel pain are different and should be treated differently.

The second most common cause of heel pain in children is Achilles tendonitis.

A less common but not unheard-of cause of children’s heel pain is juvenile idiopathic arthritis, formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

A pediatric podiatrist is the most qualified professional to diagnose and treat children’s heel pain.

Information: pediatricfootankle.com  pediatricfootankle.com

Heal pain can have many causes. (Photo by pediatricfootankle.com)

AFN NEWS STAFF

A

s a colon cancer survivor with asthma and high-blood pressure, K.J. knew he was in a high-risk group for COVID. Although K.J. watched as three skin cancers grew on his scalp during the pandemic, he didn’t want to see a doctor until he was vaccinated.

K.J. had had eight different skin cancer surgeries in the past. When his long-time dermatologist left the Valley he felt abandoned.

That’s when his insurance company recommended that he see Ahwatukee Skin & Laser.

“I knew I needed to address this ASAP. They have been a blessing – every staff member is so caring. It was a godsend,” he said.

“Skin cancer is a big deal in Arizona,” said Sarah Neumann, a dermatology PA named as Best Medical Specialist in AFN’s

We are pleased to announce the opening of

“2021 Best of Ahwatukee” annual poll, and the founder of Ahwatukee Skin & Laser.

Neumann is concerned about patients who have been putting off their skin cancer screenings during the pandemic.

“One in three Arizonans will be afflicted with skin cancer in their lifetime,” she said. “Skin cancer must be detected and treated as early as possible.

“While we have remained open since the COVID closures were announced last spring, I know that many people are still avoiding going to their doctor for their annual check-up.”

She added that failure to have suspicious spots checked “can have very real, very dangerous, consequences.”

Neumann has been a practicing dermatology PA for over 20 years.

Her practice celebrated 10 years in Ahwatukee in 2020. ASL employs Mohs surgeons who provide state-of-the-art care

see SKINCARE page 26

SONORAN GASTROENTEROLOGY ASSOCIATES Dr. Adam Lowe, Dr. Rajan Khosla and Dr. Joseph Daniel Davis welcome all patients to their new practice

Adam Lowe, MD, FACG

• Board Certified Gastroenterologists • Offering colon cancer screening and open access colonoscopy • Specializing in all gastrointestinal, liver biliary tract, pancreas • In-Office and telemedicine diseases and related malignancies appointments available as well as online scheduling and online referrals.

Chandler Office 3930 South Alma School Road Suite 5, Chandler, Arizona, 85248

Rajan Khosla, MD

Joseph Daniel Davis, MD

• Same day urgent appointments available • Serving the East Valley and Phoenix communities for over 15 years

Phone: (480) 542-7000 Fax: (480) 542-7500

www.sonorangastro.com

Sonoran Gastroenterology Associates is a division of AGA

26

Health & Wellness

Before sports, have children get a physical exam

tions like asthma, endocrine disorders, and connective tissue disorders. s COVID restrictions The exam will consist of are lifted, sports obtaining a blood pressure, participation for pulse rate, height, weight, children and adolescents and a comprehensive muswill increase, notes Dr. Nichculoskeletal physical exam. ole Shiffler, medical director Blood work may be ordered of Be Well Medical in Chanas an individual case but is dler. typically not recommended.

Shiffler, a licensed naturoA sports physical exam vispathic physician specializit can be added to an annual ing in pediatric health and a DR. NICHOLE SHIFFLER, well-child visit but should primary care physician, recommends pre-participation physical ex- not be used as a substitute for a yearly visit.

“Ideally, the preparticipation sports ams or sports physicals as a routine exam for any child and adolescent participating exam should be completed at least three to six weeks before the first sports pracin sports.

“The goal during this exam would be tice,” Shiffler says.

Shiffler can assist with any family’s to identify any medical conditions that would make sports participation unsafe health care goals. In addition to the pre-participation exam, she can see chilor increase risks for injury,” she noted.

Some medical conditions screened for dren for their routine health exams.

To schedule a pre-participation exam: may include cardiovascular illnesses, infections, skin diseases, respiratory condi- 480-219-9900 or bewellaz.com.  AFN NEWS STAFF

A

Spring 2021

EYECARE from page 24

wonder that the rate of nearsightedness continues to increase. Even though more of the population is in need of glasses than ever before, VSP found that only half of Americans get annual eye exams, largely due to inconvenience.

But there is a convenient way to get an eye exam and order glasses, contacts, sunglasses and even safety glasses while you are at work.

Sight On Site offers this convenient service. It sets up in conference rooms, break rooms or any open area to allow compa-

SKINCARE from page 25

for skin cancer patients, and has a dermatologic surgeon on staff to treat other types of cases.

They also offer a wide variety of general dermatology and cosmetic services.

“We have worked around the clock to create the safest environment possible for our patients and staff,” said Cory Worischeck, director of operations for the practice.

Telehealth appointments are available for anyone still worried about the safety of in-office exams.

“Virtual office visits are popular, and some patients have even sent us their photos. Images are helpful, but they will never replace the thoroughness of a physical exam. With COVID vaccinations underway and other measures in place, there are fewer excuses to not get screened,” Neumann said.

While some skin cancers are slow growing, other types “are aggressive and extremely time sensitive in terms of treatment and can spread to nearby tissue if not caught early,” she added.

Neumann advises everyone to look-out

nies this great service for their employees.

“The really cool part is a company can set up an on-site eye care clinic for no charge to the company,” a spokesperson noted. “With Sight On Site, there is no excuse to put off getting an eye exam.”

People can tell their employer to arrange a Sight On Site eye clinic at their workplace for what the spokesperson called “a win-win – the company signs up Sight On Site helping their employees see better for increased productivity and the employees can conveniently get new glasses and avoid any more eye strain and headaches).

Learn more at soseyecare.com.

for new moles or other lesions that have been around for 6-8 weeks or more, or moles that were round and are now oddly shaped. She also advises to look for changes in color.

If you notice any of these things, she said you should get seen by a healthcare provider immediately.

ASL offers skin cancer treatment choices that are dependent upon the type of cancer diagnosed, including the depth of the cancer, the size and location of the tumor, whether or not the cancer has spread (metastasized), and the overall health and well-being of the patient.

In addition to Neumann being named as Best Medical Specialist, the practice was also voted Best in Skincare. Bethany Cheatham was honored as the Reader’s Choice for Best Nurse Practitioner.  Ahwatukee Skin and Laser is located at 4425 E. Agave Road, Bldg. #9, Suite 148, Ahwatukee. Information: ahwatukeeskincare.com or 480-704-7546.

Turning 65? Preparing for Retirement?

Offering Virtual or In-Person Appointments and Medicare 101 Workshops • Wondering about your Medicare plan options?

• What’s new for 2021?

Let me help YOU find a plan that’s right for YOU

Debbie Stovall

Licensed Independent Medicare Broker

Call or email today: 602-954-9143 (TTY:711) debbie@wecaremedicareaz.com • www.wecaremedicareaz.com

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

27

28

COMMUNITY

Community

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

@AhwatukeeFN |

@AhwatukeeFN

www.ahwatukee.com

Ahwatukee girl a star in today’s PCH telethon

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

W

hen Lily Rios of Ahwatukee was 3, seemingly innocent flu-like symptoms on Mother’s Day 2013 instead revealed serious kidney problems.

Five years later, after multiple efforts to save the child’s kidneys, she had both removed – 11 months of three-times-aweek hemodialysis.

A search for a donor eliminated family members who weren’t a match, Lily on Aug. 28, 2019, received a kidney from a friend of her mother who prefers to remain anonymous.

The ensuing two years have brought ups and downs – including a scare last fall when, during her annual check-up, Lily and her mother Becky Kopp re-

ceived an unexpected shake-up.

“Her labs were a bit off and a biopsy found her kidney was 90 percent rejected. She spent 18 days in the hospital and since then she goes back for monthly IV infusions,” said Kopp, a lifelong Ahwatukee resident and 2001 Mountain Pointe High School graduate.

“She’s still in active rejection but it’s nowhere near as bad, Kopp said.

“Thankfully, her kidney is still working.”

Because of her experiences at Phoenix Children’s Hospital over the years, Lily Rios has become a popular and articulate spokesperson at various PCH fundraising events.

This year, she is among nine patients, dubbed ‘superheroes’, who are featured speakers on the 9th Annual ABC15 Telethon benefitting Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

The telethon will be hosted virtually

by ABC15 6 a.m. to 10:35 p.m. today, April 14. Donors can call the phone bank at 602-933-4567 the day of the telethon or visit TelethonforPCH.org to donate.

Viewers are encouraged to become Heroes for Hope with a $20 monthly pledge or a one-time gift of $240 or more that will also provide a stuffed animal to a current PCH patient in the donor’s name.

The event raised more than $769,000 for Phoenix Children’s patient families in 2019; it was canceled due to the pandemic last year.

Corporate sponsors will be providing matching gifts throughout the day. They include Desert Financial Credit Union, Becky Kopp and her daughter Lily Rios, are grateful to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for their help with the �ee LILY page 30 youngster’s kidney problems. (Special to AFN)

Ahwatukee residents can support troops at Saturday shred-a-thon AFN NEWS STAFF

T

o get an idea of what the biannual shred-a-thon accomplishes for the Ahwatukee Recreation center’s Support the Troops club, consider what U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Brenda Way wrote the nonprofit from Camp Lemonnier in Africa.

“Thank you so much for my Christmas package,” Way wrote. “It means so much that strangers would take the time to show such love and care for service members. We have such an amazing country that I am very proud to serve.”

Service is what the ARC Support the Troops members are all about.

And every box of paper you bring 9-11 a.m. this Saturday to the ARC parking lot at 5001 E. Cheyenne Drive, Ahwatukee, makes you play a small role in the club’s efforts.

The money that the club raises by charging $4 per banker-sized box during the safe drive-thru event staffed by

Support the Troops volunteer form an assembly line to volunteers line up assembly line style to pick up items for the gift boxes being sent to our troops overseas in November.

(Edward Doney/Special to AFN)

the gloved-up and masked-up volunteers helps Support Our Troops – literally.

Literally, because the small shredding

fee helps the ARC volunteers support our troops by buying items and pay shipping costs for care packages sent to overseas

troops.

“November’s Shred-a-thon fundraiser for Support the Troops was so successful, they can only hope that the April Shreda-thon will be as successful,” said member Edward Doney.

Documents are safely disposed right in front of patrons, so there’s no doubt they’re gone forever.

Documents also can be put in bags and regardless of whether you use bags or boxes, you never leave your vehicle. Volunteers take the boxes from your trunk, dump them into the paper shredder bin and return the empty boxes to your trunk.

ARC is a 55+ residential subdivision and a number of clubs find a home there.

But Support the Troops is unique in that it exists solely to remind service men and women they are not forgotten.

Twice a year they get together to pack boxes of treats and gifts intended to brighten the day for those serving our

�ee SHRED page 29

COMMUNITY

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

29

Kids with disabilities learn dance from Ballet Arizona

BY PAULA SORIA AFN Contributor

C

hildren and teens with Down syndrome are learning the discipline of ballet through a unique program sponsored by Arizona Ballet.

Since 2014, Arizona Ballet’s Adaptive Dance for Down Syndrome Program has been headed by instructor Kay Price.

In collaboration with a physical therapist, Price first created an outline on how the classes were going to be adapted and carried out and within months had the program up and running.

“These children don’t come with any agendas. They are so full of joy and they are so honest, they are so pure,” said Price. “To watch the enthusiasm and then to watch the growth when they achieve something new is what I enjoy the most.”

The program consists of three sessions over the year and three levels: foundation one, foundation two and adaptive classical. Each level offers different dynamics that will change as the student progresses.

Foundation one consists of a pre-ballet instruction where a bit of traditional ballet in the bars is taught. Creative movement is also an important element of this level.

To reinforce it, games are played during class accompanying them with Disney music. This level also includes learning a little bit about human anatomy and how it connects with the discipline of ballet.

Parents as well as Ballet Arizona School students help with this phase of

SHRED from page 28

country overseas.

Each box includes purchased items like individually wrapped snacks and treats, plus other useful things such as moist wipes and t-shirts or socks. Fun items like decks of cards, Frisbees or balls are added.

The boxes are packed in an assembly line that Doney called “a mix of efficiency and the thoughtful care you would expect from a grandparent.”

This happens twice a year – once in late November and then again in late April.

“Since everyone involved is a volunteer and ARC provides the facilities without charge, everything raised for the project goes directly into sending the care pack-

Gilbert teen Samantha Derivan has been with Arizona Ballet’s Adaptive Dance program almost since its inception. (Special to AFN) the program.

For foundation two, parental assistance is not required but one student assistant is assigned for every three Down syndrome participants, who are introduced to more advanced steps, positions and poses.

Once the students acquire a sense of self-control, maturity and can focus without an assistant next to them, they can progress into the adaptive classical level, which launched in 2018.

This level is structured the same way as traditional ballet classes held at the studio.

The adaptive classical level currently has five students who have participated in two of the company’s productions.

Samantha Derivan, 17, of Gilbert, has been one of the outstanding students who joined the program when it first launched.

Her growth and development as a dancer and they are heavy, just strange for somehave now brought her to be part of the body with a disability,” Therese said. adaptive classical level.

Since day one at the studio, Samantha In the past, Samantha had the oppor- fell in love with ballet and continues to tunity of auditioning for the Nutcracker look forward to her lessons. where she ended up getting a main charHer mother said that she knows ballet acter role and doing five performances of makes her daughter happy because every the production.

Saturday morning, Samantha gets ready Despite a vision impediment, Samantha by herself with excitement. was able to perform on stage by learning She gets dressed in her uniform, puts where the girl in front and behind her her hair up in a bun, grabs her Gatorade was. She was also capable of dancing bottle, practices the routine or steps that wearing a huge angel gown and wings Price taught her the class prior – and the following year.

“She would not have been able to do �ee BALLET page 31 it if Ms. Kay and the staff behind the scenes hadn’t been so sweet with her,” said Therese Derivan, S a m a n t h a’ s mother.

“They took extra time talking to her about putting her costume on because this is not normal clothes, they have a difArizona Ballet’s Adaptive Dance for Down syndrome Program graduferent feeling ally takes students through three levels of instruction. (Special to AFN) on your body

Most of the Volunteers for November’s Christmas shipment line gathered up for a group picture, though pandemic concerns limited the number who could be allowed to get the gift boxes ready. (Edward Doney/Special to AFN) ages,” Doney noted.

But the group needs about $13,000 a

year for to pack the boxes with goodies – about $26 each – and pay shipping costs – another $19 each.

Dee Murrell, a longtime ARC resident, and fellow resident Judy Steffen were among last fall’s shred-a-thon volunteers – as were Ben Holt, Marcia Garnice and Beth Hughes.

Donations also will be welcomed at the shred-a-thon although they are not tax deductible since ARC is a non-profit HOA, not a 501(c)(3) charity.

Checks made out to Support the Troops can be sent to the ARC, 5001 E. Cheyenne Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85044 or left at the front desk. The group also has a site on gofundme.com that can be found by searching ARC Support the Troops. 

30

COMMUNITY

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

LILY from page 28

Accident Law Group and Scripps Howard Foundation.

This is Lily’s second appearance on the telethon, yet hardly her first time promoting the hospital and its many services provided to valley children since it opened in 1983.

Her journey, with its great successes and occasional setbacks, has been featured on radiothons, television interviews and as a patient speaker at the annual Ignite Hope – an annual candlelight walk early in the holiday season.

With 2020’s Ignite Hope candlelight vigil held virtually due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Lily watched it from her hospital room during treatments for her threatened kidney rejection.

“She definitely had some good days and bad days,” recalled her mother.

Lily is happy to be a part of any fundraising activity for Phoenix Children’s Hospital as it has been such a major part of her childhood for eight years.

“I like to be a spokeskid for Phoenix Children’s Hospital,” the youngster said. “I like to help with fundraisers and help the hospital anyway I can so other kids - like me, can be taken care of.”

The Paideia Academy fifth grader re-

Internet safety next topic of local Ahwatukee women’s group

Seniors can learn how to guard against scams and other online dangers while using the internet at the next Ahwatukee Foothills Friends and Neighbors session on Zoom at 1 p.m. April 26.

Rob Truman will discuss how users are tracked online along with an in-depth look at topics of online scams, viruses, junk email, telemarketers and more.

Truman is a lifetime member of Computer Booters of Sun Lakes and serves as its web director. He has over 40 years of experience in IT and internet-related fields.

Contact affanwomensgroup@gmail.com for more information and registration. A Zoom invitation will be sent to you.

Lily had her favorite bear when she was hospitalized. (Special to AFN) turned to class March 15 after more than one year of online schooling.

Lily’s mother, her dad Tony Rios and her Ahwatukee grandparents Bonnie and Roger Kopp have watched the scrappy youngster maintain her good spirits and equilibrium through many stages during

AROUND AHWATUKEE

the foundation announced.

But, it added, “this year, gathering raffle prizes has been a challenge and we need your help.”

The foundation is hoping people can create a gift basket or donate a raffle prize – or make a monetary donation and organizers will buy the prize.

Gift prizes can be dropped off at R Squared, 8400 S. Kyrene Road, Suite 124 Tempe, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. until April 16. Monetary donations can be given at kyrenefoundation.org/golfclassic2021.

Some suggested gifts include electronic devices, gourmet cheese baskets, wine lovers baskets, bath/spa baskets or golf baskets; an under-desk bicycle or a family yoga package or similar physical fitness item; seasonal prizes like an outdoor grill, yard games, yeti cooler or vacation packages; and televisions of any size.

Kyrene Foundation seeks prizes for Free presentations for dementia 10th annual golf tournament caregivers, first responders Tickets for foursomes and singles are sold out for the

10th annual golf tournament sponsored by the Kyrene Foundation at Arizona Grand Resort April 17 but the foundation needs a few more sponsors – and some prizes.

“We have sold out of foursomes and singles, but still have four sponsorships available that include foursomes,”

her journey.

“Lily is still a rockstar in so many ways. Since her transplant, she’s shown me what true strength and determination is. She not only recovered from surgery but also started school again and has been able to catch up from the last few years, all online through a pandemic,” said Kopp, who left her career to focus on her daughter’s recovery.

“She is my daily inspiration. I look at her and know we can get through anything.”

Lily has returned to things she loves. An animal lover, she now appreciates time spent tending to her horses and donkeys and Lily is proud to be a “spokeskid” for Phoenix Children’s Hoschickens at a family friend’s pital. (Special to AFN) Cave Creek property.

She and her mother are also avid hikers hard it got, there was always an encouragand getaways to Sedona and Flagstaff are ing face cheering Lily on, joking with her, helping her get back to feeling like herpastimes they enjoy together.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital means a self,” said Kopp.

“You can get great medical care at a lot great deal to the Kopp/Rios family.

“We’ve received such great care at Phoe- of places; but it’s the people at PCH that nix Children’s Hospital. No matter how make the difference.” 

Arizona has the highest growth rate of people living with dementia in the nation, but it can hit home when someone you love is diagnosed or when someone is in distress.

Hospice of the Valley Dementia Director Maribeth

Gallagher helps demystify this baffling disease with community education. A nurse practitioner with a doctoral degree, Gallagher is a clinician with Arizona’s only in-home supportive care dementia program.

All presentations are free and offered via Zoom: In “Behaviors Have Meanings,” at 1-2 p.m. or April 21, or 10-11 a.m. Saturday, April 24, Gallagher decodes behaviors that indicate distress and explores methods to maximize comfort and contentment.

Dementia Education for First Responders, 10-11 a.m., April 29, provides effective techniques to de-escalate volatile interactions that first responders may encounter. Gallagher offers tools to help fire, police and other emergency personnel react calmly and safely in serving citizens who are unable to communicate their needs due to dementia.

Register: Celestina Duran at ceduran@hov.org or 602287-3915 and an event Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Ahwatukee GOP Women offering annual scholarship for seniors

High school seniors who live in Ahwatukee have until April 30 to apply to the Ahwatukee Republican Women for their annual Marjorie Miner Scholarship, which was

established in 2011 in honor of the longtime Republican activist who has been a member of ARW since it was founded in 2005.

Applicants must live in Ahwatukee and be registered Republicans and the deadline is April 30. They can find applications ahwatukeerepublicanwomen.com/scholarships.

Past recipients of the scholarship have been Desert Vista High grads Lacey Morris (2011), Allyson Marie Kolodziej (2012), Tess Marie Kimura (2013) and Jessica Marie Kolodziej (2014; Mountain Pointe High grads Sonia Serio (2015) and Madison Coffman, who tied in 2016 with corecipient Michael Kolodziej of Desert Vista.

Other winners included Mountain Pointe grads Valeria Smith (2017) and Arika Patton (2018), 2019 Desert Vista grad Itzy Doyle and Corona del Sol Class of 2020 member Emma Stewart.

Scholarship applicants should include two letters of recommendation from other than a family member, a 250-500-word double-spaced essay incorporating their involvement volunteer service, extracurriculars, clubs and educational goals.

Completed applications should be sent to Ahwatukee Republican Women Marjorie Miner Scholarship c/o Scholarship Committee, PO Box 93391, Phoenix, AZ 85070. 

Submit your releases to pmaryniak@timespublications.com

COMMUNITY

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

Ahwatukee woman launching bottled water drive AFN NEWS STAFF

J

oan Greene knows how to celebrate her birthday – by helping others.

The 28-year Ahwatukee resident and businesswoman has picked April 16, her birthday, as the start of a month-long drive to raise as many cases of bottled water and as much cash as she can for The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The Society uses those bottles to help homeless people during the Valley’s scorching summer – which is taking an increasingly higher toll on lives.

Greene has a simple explanation for the date she begins the drive.

“Birthdays are traditionally a day to receive, but I prefer it as a giving day,” she said.

JOAN GREENE

“As an Arizona native, I know the importance of staying hydrated, especially now with the temperatures climbing

higher each day.”

In 2020, there were more than 300 heat-associated deaths that were confirmed in Maricopa County.

St. Vincent de Paul gives out 2,500 bottles of water a day – almost 2,300 gallons in a week.

“Just $10 could help people stay safe and hydrated,” said Greene, whose drive lasts until May 16.

There are two ways people can help.

They can drop off cases of water at: Niro’s Gyros, 10826 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee; or Fetch, 6058 N. 16th St., in Central Phoenix.

A monetary donation can be made at stvincentdepaul.net/joan-greenewater-drive. 

GOT NEWS? Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timespublications.com

@generationaz

@genchurchaz

BALLET from page 29

31

waits for her remote class to start.

“I am grateful that Ballet Arizona saw this need, saw the value in these kids and are including them in the ballet world,” said Therese.

The Adaptive Dance for Down Syndrome is part of Arizona Ballet’s community engagement programming.

The studio not only offers adaptive instruction to the Down syndrome community but to students with other disabilities, such as autism, and other physical challenges like Parkinson’s.

Ballet Arizona continues to look forward to building inclusivity inside their company just as they have done until today and offer more programs for students with different needs.

“As far as what the program looks moving forward, we’re always trying to expand what we can do and expand the people that we serve,” said Alexandra Papazian, manager of community engagement at Ballet Arizona. “We really want them to feel that they are part of Ballet Arizona and not just a separate program.” 

32

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

BESTOF

Cancelled Easter Parade and Spring Fling Leaves Needs Unmet For the second year in a row, the four decade tradition of the Ahwatukee Easter Parade and Spring Fling has been cancelled. The proceeds of the 45 year old event – which often earns $15,000 annually – supports kids living in foster group homes in our surrounding community and additional children’s charities. With the money we raise from the event, we buy clothes for foster teens for Christmas, we have a baby shower for parenting foster teens and other moms in crisis, we support Reading is Fundamental with books and materials, we do back to school shopping for kids who have no families to help them. We provide Thanksgiving Dinners. Plus we provide support for the Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA, the Salvation Army, and many other organizations that provide support to the children and teens living in foster care.

We get some of our support from local businesses, for which we are very grateful and appreciative. Vision Community Management has been more than kind with support. The folks at Mountain View Lutheran Church, the Ahwatukee Country Club and the Ahwatukee Board of Management help every year and deserve our thanks.

But without the Parade and Spring Fling, and your help, we can’t support those programs for the kids. So we need your help. Please help us provide clothes, toys, personal grooming necessities, meals and a school supplies to “our kids.” Here’s how to donate:

1. Mail a check to: Kiwanis Club of Ahwatukee PO Box 50596 Phoenix, AZ 85076

2. Go to our website and select the ‘Donate’ button

ahwatukeekiwanis.org A 501(c)(3) organization

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DELIVERS A KNOCKOUT WITH ITS FRESH, AUTHENTIC AND MOUTHWATERING FOOD If you thought you have been to a Mexican restaurant lately you probably need to reconsider and visit La Casa De Juana in Ahwatukee. The fare is authentic Mexican, and when we say authentic we mean it, unlike many of the restaurant chains that call themselves Mexican. Upon entering you’ll be dazzled by the colorful décor, the tables and chairs are beautiful, Mexican painted murals, colorful banners hanging from the ceiling and the gracious service with warm orange and yellow tones echoing throughout the restaurant will make this your favorite Mexican restaurant.

With great lunch and dinner specials, live guitar player on Tuesdays and a bar with freshly made drinks, TVs, and live guitar music for all ages on the weekends and least but not last their happy hour from 2 pm to 6 pm every day $2 beer domestic and imports and $3 margaritas this place is a must. In conclusion The flavorful salsa, the delicious margaritas, the extraordinary and well-priced food will definitely keep you coming back.

Don’t hesitate to stop by the Ahwatukee location / corner Chandler & 40th /W h St) St 3941 E. Chandler Blvd. (S/W

to make your next reservation call 480-823-2834

www.juanashouse.com

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BUSINESS

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

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@AhwatukeeFN

@AhwatukeeFN |

33

@AhwatukeeFN

www.ahwatukee.com

Ahwatukee dentist celebrates anniversary all month long

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor

F Dr. Randy L. Mow, third from right, has a staff at Mountain Park Dentistry that includes, from left: Cheryl Papazion, Dr. Gloria Chen Kay, Alison Quinn, Alisa Mow, Kami De Alejandro, Melissa Lund and Chad Martin, who is seated. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)

Mountainside Fitness jumps into pickleball craze AFN NEWS STAFF

S

ooner or later, it was bound to happen.

Pickleball has made it to the gym – including one in Ahwatukee.

The senior sensation that has soared in popularity over the last decade to the point where East Valley and other cities have scrambled to build courts for the sport’s enthusiastic fans, can now be played on select days at three Mountainside Fitness facilities, including those at 1253 N. Greenfield Road in Mesa and 5320 E. Shea Blvd. in Scottsdale as well as one in Surprise.

And Mountainside Fitness is gearing up to spread the cheer for pickleballers at

some of its other facilities within a month or so – including its gym at 4820 E. Ray Road, according to CEO Craig Cote.

Pickleball is a combination of several racket sports – badminton, tennis and ping-pong – that once was mainly a perk at RV parks.

It was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of former legislator and lieutenant governor Joel Pritchard, who started using a Whiffle ball when he couldn’t find a tennis ball to bat around.

Over time, the paddles have evolved from an unwieldy solid wood into a lightweight graphite, enhancing the sport’s

�ee PICKLEBALL page 35

riendship Village resident Mary Hellmann, 93, credits Dr. Randy L. Mow of Mountain Park Dentistry in Ahwatukee for saving her four front teeth.

It was not long after moving to Ahwatukee from northern Kentucky that Hellmann fell face down in a parking lot.

“I was getting out of the car and my foot got tangled in the strap of my purse that I’d placed on the floor,” she recalled.

“I got catapulted out and fell right on my face. I was bleeding profusely and people suggested I go to the hospital but I said, ‘No, I want to go to Dr. Mow, not some dentist I don’t know.’”

That was 25 years ago – shortly after Mow received his doctorate in dentistry from the prestigious Creighton University School of Dentistry, moved to Ahwatukee

and opened Mountain Park Dentistry.

This month, Mountain Park Dentistry celebrates 25 years of service to the village.

The office is gaily decorated, and the staff – several of whom have been with Mow for 16 years or more – are dispensing Silver Bars, foil-wrapped celebratory Hershey Bars that contain either a ‘fun fact’ about the dentist or a prize.

All prizes are Hawaiian-themed to honor Mow’s birthplace. The silver anniversary month concludes with a drawing for $1,000 worth of dental treatment for current patients.

Mow’s devotees are many and Hellmann is among them as she recounts her experience following her accident: “I called Dr. Mow and it was a Saturday and he said he was just leaving, but told

�ee DENTIST page 34

Mountainside Fitness CEO Craig Cote ad founder Tom Hatton try their hand at pickleball at one of their gyms. (Special to AFN)

34

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

DENTIST from page 33

me to come right in. He worked on me for three or four hours; I couldn’t believe it.

“Some of my teeth were twisted, but they didn’t have to come out. In fact, to this day I have those same four teeth and I can eat anything.”

Like her mother, Cheri Darling has been going to Mow for nearly 25 years, even when the family was between dental insurance providers.

An Ahwatukee realtor, Darling is a 30year resident who praises Mow for his knowledge and personalized care.

“Professionally, he’s always been on top of everything. And it’s amazing that he can do a crown in one visit; you’re in and out in a reasonable amount of time instead of having to make multiple visits,” she said.

“There’s nothing negative about him or his office – it’s all positive. The whole office is so friendly and you are very, very comfortable and it’s an easy place to go.”

Richard Armanini is yet another 25year patient of Mountain Park Dentistry.

He and his wife of 66 years, Edna Armanini, also a patient, became acquainted with Mow at a Knights of Columbus meeting.

Armanini lauded Dr. Mow’s personal integrity in addition to his dentistry skills.

“We’ve been very satisfied all these years or we wouldn’t have been going to him that long; that’s the bottom line,” he said.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Mow admits wryly that growing up, dentistry wasn’t in his future plans.

Indeed, he admits he didn’t even like going to the dentist.

“My passion wasn’t ever to become a dentist,” he chuckled. “Growing up I used to love to build models – model cars, model rockets, and then flying those rockets. And I loved to draw; I drew a lot, and though I might want to be an architect.”

A portion of his senior year at a Catholic high school was spent volunteering and he and his best friends, who were already geared toward becoming physicians, volunteered at a local hospital, where their first assignment was the psychiatric ward.

Dr. Randy Mow is flanked by early patients, from left, Richard Armanini, Sheri Darling and his very first patient, Mary Hellmann. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer) “My high school counselor kept putting the idea in my head that perhaps I should look into dentistry, so when I learned they needed a volunteer in the dental clinic, which was in the hospital basement, I went. That was my first experience with dentistry.”

A career day brought college reps from the islands and the mainland and he was introduced to Creighton University, a Jesuit university in Omaha, Nebraska.

“I had been looking at Notre Dame or UCLA but Creighton was among the first to accept me and I said, ‘what the heck; let’s see where fate leads.’”

Mow spent seven years at Creighton, three as an undergrad and four at their School of Dentistry.

“After graduation from the School of Dentistry, I realized it was the best profession for me as I was working with my hands and still building, but now inside mouths,” he said.

After moving to Arizona in 1990, Mow settled in Ahwatukee the following year and opened his first office at Ray Road and 40th Street.

“That first office was 1,700 square feet and our current one is 4,000,” said Mow. “I still try to use the Hawaiian ambience, playing Hawaiian music in the background.”

Mountain Park Dentistry’s island-inspired décor includes a wall of outrigger paddles fashioned of koa wood and a mural created and executed by Mow himself in the main bathroom.

His patients repeatedly mention the technological perks he employs.

“A lot of people are so fearful of the dentist, and when you make use of a lot of the newest technologies, it can make for an easier experience for them,” he explained.

Included in those up-to-the-minute technologies is the use of lasers. These are used in gum surgeries, to remove tooth

HAVE BUSINESS NEWS?

decay and reduce oral bacteria, among other benefits.

Another technological boon for patients is chairside economical restoration of esthetic ceramics, which allows for professionally-customized crowns to be completed in one visit.

“With this technology, people can get a porcelain crown in an hour and a half to two hours instead of waiting weeks for the crown to arrive,” Mow explained.

“Instead of the gooey impressions and long wait, we have a scanner, and we make a 3-D model on the computer, and then design and make the crown.”

It’s not only his patients that have stayed with Dr. Mow for many years.

Melissa Lund of Gilbert has been a dental hygienist at Mountain Park Dentistry for “16 fun-filled years.”

“A few things I admire about Dr. Mow are the priority he places on his patients, the integrity of his dentistry, his desire to learn new technology continuously, and the time he spends really listening to our patients,” she said.

“I love his aloha spirit that he brings to the office, and the lei’s he makes for my birthdays.”

Kami DeAlejandro of Ahwatukee is a dental hygienist at Mountain Park Dentistry who marks 20 years working aside Mow. “I feel so blessed to have worked for Dr. Mow for all these years. He is an amazing dentist and such a wonderful person,” DeAlejandro said.

“He has an established, state-of-theart practice, with the best patients who all feel very at ease at his hand. He has a keen eye for aesthetics, and takes his time to make sure everything is perfect for the patients. His talent goes beyond dentistry, he’s truly an artist.”  Mountain Park Dentistry 15215 S 48th St. Information: DrMowDDS.com

SEND YOUR BUSINESS NEWS TO PMARYNIAK@ TIMESPUBLICATIONS.COM

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

35

Mountainside Fitness CEO Craig Cote thinks there are a number of reasons why pickleball players will want to use one of his gyms.. (Courtesy Mountainside Fitness)

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PICKLEBALL from page 33

popularity because it doesn’t require the physical stamina demanded by tennis.

There’s a multi-pronged business strategy to Mountainside’s adoption of pickleball.

First, Cote explained, the company can get some use out of its full-court basketball courts, which are usually vacant in the daytime, by repurposing part of them as pickleball courts from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 2-4 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m.-noon on Sundays.

“We believe that each full-size court could handle three pickleball courts,” Cote said. “So, we went from one and will graduate to two in the next week and then we’ll likely backfill some of our other clubs that have half-court basketball courts. They will only accommodate one pickleball court, so that’s our next move.”

Second, Mountainside has taken some of the hassle out of getting court time – often a hassle at public parks’ courts, where players endure long lines waiting to get on the court.

The Valley fitness giant gives members an app through which they reserve, up to 24 hours ahead of time, a pickleball court for 45 minutes. Players also get three balls specially made for hardwood floors.

Third, the fact the pickleball court is indoors has numerous advantages that Cote thinks will appeal to many ardent pickleballers.

“Our locker rooms and restrooms are part of a private fitness facility,” Cote said.

“So, they are well maintained, they’re airconditioned and they’re also well-appointed with soaps, lotions, mouthwashes – things that a city park would never have.”

And there’s no wind, which Cote said “makes for a nice stable game because

we’ve all played pickleball when the winds pick up.

“That ball doesn’t weigh much and the wind can really move that ball to at least one side’s favor because you don’t switch sides like you do in some racquet sports.”

Cote said he, Mountainside founder Tom Hatten and most of the company’s executive management team picked up the game six or seven months ago. And they eventually got the idea for the partial repurposing of the basketball courts because they’re often not in use during the daytime.

And “the cherry on top” for the inspiration came one Sunday in January when it was raining and “it was nice for my wife and another couple to be able to play outside of the rain. Nobody else was playing pickleball throughout all Phoenix on rainy Sunday,” he said.

While pickleball is breaking age barriers, the game has been a near-obsession for many in the 50-and-over crowd. It’s not uncommon to find players in their 80s hitting the courts in some municipal parks.

Mountainside’s adoption of pickleball might pique the interest of that demographic into joining.

Cote noted that almost all Medicare plans now cover gym membership and Mountainside has extensive relationships with organizations, such as AARP, that serve an older demographic.

Although Cote said Mountainside has not given any thought to offering lessons, “we have put a rule book in a three-ring binder hanging on the wall.”

For information on the pickleball feature and other offerings: mountainsidefitness.com 

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OPINION

Opinion 36

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

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We have a chance to revolutionize transportation

BY DIANE E. BROWN AFN Guest Writer

F

or many Arizonans, the turmoil caused by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic last year taught us that our daily automobile commutes aren’t necessary, but that having transportation options are imperative.

In addition to realizing more ful�illing ways of spending our time than sitting in traf�ic, telecommuting is helping individuals and families save money by reducing the need to �ill up gas tanks or see a mechanic.

Meanwhile, numerous essential workers that rely on public transit continue to demonstrate the importance of buses to get to their jobs and save money on vehicle expenses.

And walkable and bikeable neighborhoods – particularly those in areas that rededicated street space to enable socially distanced individual mobility – are being

Medical research should not stop with COVID-19 vaccines

The past year has been �illed with untold tragedy and hardship, with COVID-19 affecting every detail of our everyday daily lives. The pandemic has been especially dif�icult for people with pre-existing health conditions.

I suffer from type 2 diabetes, and I am more susceptible to serious complications from the virus. Like most people, I haven’t spent much time outside lately, instead staying in my home out of fear.

But this will all be over soon. Because of miraculous efforts from the pharmaceutical industry, we now have multiple COVID-19 vaccines being delivered in record time across the country.

Like many residents in Arizona, I can’t wait to receive my doses and be fully protected from the virus.

However, I will need more than just the vaccine to be healthy.

recognized as safer and cleaner.

Without realizing it, our state and nation has embarked on a transportation experiment on a previously inconceivable scale.

If our travel patterns could change so quickly and dramatically as a result of a pandemic, imagine what could happen if policymakers made a deliberate effort to provide us with viable transportation options – options for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as vanpools, buses, rail, and electric vehicles.

There has arguably never been a better time for policymakers to bring 21st Century Transportation to our state.

Too many of us don’t have a viable alternative to a personal vehicle. Where walking, cycling and other active modes of transportation are an option, the auto-centric design of our streets can make these forms of transportation unappealing at best, and at worst, lethal.

Consider the following: traf�ic-related air pollution cuts short an estimated 58,000

American lives every year and causes or exacerbates serious illnesses ranging from childhood asthma to lung cancer, strokes, heart disease and dementia; motor vehicle crashes each year kill an estimated 40,000 Americans and seriously injure 4.5 million.

And transportation is now America’s number one source of carbon pollution, with greenhouse emissions from cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles surpassing every other source.

Although problems of our car-dependent transportation system are prevalent, the good news is, so are the solutions. Transportation choices and clean transportation technologies have been tried and tested and are well on their way to becoming mainstream.

Bike lanes, e-bikes and e-scooters are increasingly common sights in various municipalities.

Streets designed for pedestrians and cyclists to coexist safely with cars – giving people the option to spend less time be-

Even when the pandemic ends, I will still have diabetes. And sure, there are a number of treatments that help address some of my symptoms, but scientists still haven’t found a cure.

That’s why we need continued investment in the pharmaceutical industry.

There are millions of patients out there struggling with an incurable disease, and we all need help.

Our elected of�icials, including Senators Sinema and Kelly, must continue not only �ighting for us, but also prioritizing research efforts – before it’s too late.

-Cynthia Ramos

She then compared the legislative efforts to ensure that school children are vaccinated to Communism.

Is she nuts?

How about the half million people who have already died from COVID? If they’d had a choice, would they have been “afraid for our society?” I have to think they’d have chosen to be vaccinated and alive.

We’re grateful for State Senator Sean Bowie. D-Phoenix, who’s keeping an eye on this onerous legislation that could impact �irst responders and medical personnel.

-Judy Wade and Bill Baker

hind the wheel and more time traveling in ways conducive to safeguarding our air and health -- no longer seems outlandish.

Zero-emission electric vehicles have proven themselves as viable alternatives to internal combustion engines with EV ownership rising rapidly as more car manufacturers produce diverse models.

Furthermore, municipalities and school districts that have added electric buses to their transit �leets have found them to be less expensive, cleaner, and more ef�icient than their old, polluting diesel counterparts.

The path has been laid. Federal, state, and local leadership can and should prioritize policy changes to transform transportation.

Diane E. Brown is the executive director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund, which conducts research and education in the public interest. The organization’s latest report Transform Transportation can be found at ArizonaPIRGEdFund.org.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COVID vaccines legislation mysteries are disturbing

The April 7 AFN carried a disturbing story about state Sen. Kelly Townsend, RMesa, in which she’s quoted as saying she doesn’t like the push for COVID vaccinations because, “I am afraid for our society.”

2nd Amendment is for a militia, not bankrupt NRA

We must restore the Second Amendment as a well-regulated militia, not a lobbying effort for the NRA to use for commercial purposes to sell more guns.

One of President Biden’s recent executive orders for gun safety reform includes

eliminating “ghost guns.” A ghost gun is de�ined as a �irearm that is homemade or improvised without commercial serial numbers and, therefore, not subject to legal regulations.

This also means that law enforcement cannot identify ownership if the gun is involved in a crime.

There is little chance that any reform will be passed because of the great cultural gun divide among our legislators. That cultural divide doesn’t seem to exist in the general population, with at least 97 percent in favor of background checks.

The NRA has done a successful job falsely decrying any gun reform as the foundation to take away our guns. Our voices can be more powerful than the NRA, if we just speak up.

Please call your legislators and plead with them to pass common sense gun safety laws. Our lives depend on it.

-Ann Lutz

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

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Jocelyn Briski excelling on the mound for Desert Vista softball

BY ZACH ALVIRA AFN Sports Editor

J

ocelyn Briski’s freshman campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 season.

She was well on her way to arguably one of the most impressive seasons for a �irstyear high school pitcher. But now a sophomore, she’s picked up where she left off more than a year ago and has helped Desert Vista start the year in a strong manner.

“I’ve been working hard in the offseason and it’s been a year since we last played,” Briski said. “I’ve gotten better, and my team has also gotten better. We’ve all really just put in the work collectively as a whole.”

Briski exploded onto the high school scene as a freshman, helping the Thunder go 9-4 through the 13 games they managed to play. During that stretch, she went 7-3 on the mound with a .87 ERA and 138 strikeouts. She gave up just 18 hits, one of them a home run. She also contributed a

very strong mentally, she’s very strong with her approach to the game and we spend a lot of time with her on her pitch selection and how to attack batters. She’s been really receptive.

That’s a credit to her and what she’s been working toward.”

Through seven Desert Vista sophomore pitcher Jocelyn Briski has been dominant on games this season the mound to start the season with a .48 ERA, 111 strikeouts and a per- Briski is 6-1 on the fect game. (Zach Alvira/AFN Staff) mound. She has a .412 batting average – the second highest .48 ERA, the second lowest in the state for on the team – with 5 RBI and a home run. pitchers who have pitched at least 40 inDesert Vista Softball coach Chris Crowl nings and has given up just 3 earned runs. believes she would have been able to con- She also has already accounted for 111 tinue on her dominant path if it weren’t total strikeouts. At the plate, she’s batting for the season being cut short. But the can- .524 with 8 RBI and 3 homers.

But perhaps her most impressive stat cellation hasn’t caused her to skip a beat.

“She’s a competitor,” Crowl said. “She’s so far this season is her two no-hitters.

One of those, in the �irst game of the season against Chandler, was a perfect game.

Briski admits she didn’t know she was on the verge of the perfect game until it was completed.

As expected, her team mauled her after it was complete. Overall, it was her third career perfect game spanning to her days in youth softball.

“I couldn’t do this without my team,” Briski said. “The perfect game de�initely took me by surprise. I was very happy.”

Part of what fuels Briski is her overall desire to play softball at the next level. Not only has she become a leader by example on the �ield, but she has also started to be more vocal with her teammates.

Desert Vista’s roster is made up of mostly underclassmen this season and no seniors. Last year, the Thunder had just one senior. But it was dif�icult for the younger players like Briski to learn from them in a short amount of time.

versity, he was offered a coaching position at the newly opened Mountain Pointe High School, where Kiefer had been hired to build the football program.

Klecka served as an assistant football and track coach while also working as a night manager at Mountain Pointe. When he graduated with his teaching degree, he was hired to teach special ed while still coaching football and track at the school.

Despite his passion for coaching and teaching, Klecka left the profession in 2002 to pursue a career in sales. But when Preston Jones contacted him to become an assistant on his staff at Perry in 2018, Klecka immediately accepted the offer.

“I jumped on it and I loved every second of it,” Klecka said. “That’s when it hit me that I had to get back in.”

He remained at Perry for a year before he was hired at Desert Vista to be a special ed teacher and assistant football coach. He

also was asked to help out with track and �ield and badminton before he became dean of students.

In his mind, he wanted to be involved in any way he could. Female or male, softball or football, none of that has ever mattered to Klecka. His main goal growing up was to make an impact on the lives of students both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

That’s what makes his move to athletic director of the school, in his mind, bittersweet. With his new role Klecka will be forced to step away as a coach to focus on administrative duties. But that opens up new opportunities to continue to grow Desert Vista’s athletic programs just like Eubanks did in his four years with the school.

“One of my main goals is to pick up right where he left off,” Klecka said of Eubanks.

��� BRISKI ���� 39

David Klecka named new Desert Vista athletic director

BY ZACH ALVIRA AFN Sports Editor

T

he Tempe Union High School District on Wednesday, April 7 approved David Klecka to become the new athletic director at Desert Vista High School.

Klecka, the current dean of students at the school, will take over for Tommy Eubanks who was hired to be the new athletic director of Mesa Public Schools this summer. Klecka will of�icially assume the role of athletic director at Desert Vista in mid-July.

“It’s very exciting,” Klecka said. “I’m lucky it’s happening at a school like Desert Vista with a solid tradition of excellent coaches, excellent students and excellent athletes.

And to take over for someone like Tommy, it de�initely makes my life a lot easier.”

A 1990 graduate of McClintock High School, Klecka played football under legendary coach Karl Kiefer and won a state

David Klecka, the current dean of students at Desert Vista High School, has been hired to become the school’s next athletic director after the end of the school year. (Courtesy David Klecka)

title for the Chargers. In 1991 going into his sophomore year at Arizona State Uni-

��� KLECKA ���� 39

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

39

energy and their juice,” BRISKI ���� ���� 38 Crowl said. “We’ve been Briski has become one able to build the idea that of the sophomores to �ill this is a grind. They’ve that void. put in the work outside “The sophomores and of practice and games and juniors, we’ve all kind of it’s paid off so far.” had to take on that role of The �irst rankings of the leading everybody,” Briski spring season from the Arsaid. “I didn’t imagine I izona Interscholastic Assowould have this type of ciation places Desert Vista impact early on but I’m at No. 6 overall. Should it glad the hard work is paystand, the Thunder would ing off.” be guaranteed at least one The entire dynamic home playoff game. surrounding the success However, there’s still of Desert Vista’s softball plenty of games to be team this season has been played. impressive.

The Thunder struggled Not only is the team good against Desert Ridge out defensively, but they ofof Easter break and have ten rattle opposing pitchthe likes of �ifth-ranked ers — even those who are Sandra Day O’Connor, among some of the best in Mountain View, Chaparthe state. Briski went 3-3 ral and the Jaguars once with an RBI against a talmore to �inish out the ented Corona del Sol deseason. Crowl and his fense in Desert Vista’s 3-0 Desert Vista softball coach Chris team pride themselves on win on April 1. A couple of Crowl says Briski’s success is a fac- getting better one day at tor of the work she put in throughweeks prior, the Thunder a time, and it’s that menout the extended offseason, and it managed six runs against has allowed the Thunder to start tality he thinks will ultia Queen Creek team that the 2021 season in a strong manner. mately allow Desert Vista �igures to play deep into (Zach Alvira/AFN Staff) to navigate through the the postseason. season and set itself up to Alexa Wohr, another sophomore, has also be in a good position come the postseason. played a key role for the Thunder at the “It’s a mindset,” Crowl said. “A lot of plate this season. Along with Briski, Wohr these younger kids may not be ready yet has one of the highest batting averages this for what is to come at the end of April and season at .409 along with 5 RBI and a home May when you have to play your best. Our run. The two bring power to Desert Vista’s motto is to win the day. We spend a lot of lineup, a characteristic Crowl said has also time preparing them for the little situabeen key for the team’s success. tions and that’s been the focus right now.

“They’re young and they bring their “They’re really receiving it well.” 

KLECKA ���� ���� 38

“We’ve worked side by side for two years, so we have a strong relationship where he’s kind of mentored me already. We want the facilities on this campus to be the crown jewel of this district and the state.”

Klecka has already started the transition process despite his of�icial start date still months away. Eubanks’ gift to him was what the two call “the little black book,” a journal �illed with plans, ideas and other information pertaining to the future of Desert Vista athletics.

One of the key ideas written inside pertains to the athletic facilities. Desert Vista already saw its football stadium receive a

facelift in the form of a new state-of-theart turf �ield and track. The school also renovated a team room that can be used for �ilm study and meetings.

Klecka said other plans are in the works to further cement Desert Vista as a destination School for both academics and athletics.

But until then, Klecka remains focused on �inishing out the year as head track coach of a Thunder program in contention yet again for a state title.

“I can’t remember the last time I was this excited,” Klecka said. “I’m excited to get to work but I still have work to do. I won �ive track championships while at Mountain Pointe. This is my last year and my goal is to end with a sixth.” 

Offering foot and ankle care for teens, adolescents and infants

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40

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

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APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

Classifieds

The Place “To Find” Everything You Need | Ahwatukee.com Click on Marketplace

Obituaries

Employment General

Billy GeneBilly ForeeGene Foree

Head Instructor – (Chandler, AZ) Ocotillo JiuJitsu LLC: Provide high-level Jiu-Jisu instructions Billwaswas in to1928 to and following Bill bornborn in 1928 Charles Jewell Foreethe in Gracie Lacompton, Barra methods. Req.s: High Charles andpassed Jewell Foree in in Phoenix, Kansas and April 1, 2021 AZ. He grew up in black belt under Gracie Barra & school diploma, Kansas City, where, after graduating high school, worked with Lacompton, Kansas and fromGracie BarraheInstructor Certification (ICP). Mail rehis four brothers in the rural electric power construction business. passed April 1, 2021 in sumes to: he Scott While on a job, in one of the rural communities, met Brouse, Betty, his2801 E. Ocotillo Rd, Suite 2, moved Chandler, AZwhere 85249 Phoenix, AZ.ofHe in they beautiful bride 68 grew years. up In 1961 to Mesa they

raised their two children, Mike and Tammy. For 40 years, Bill owned Kansas City, where, after and operated Foree Tire Company in Phoenix and Tucson. He served as graduating from high school, an officer with the National Tire Dealers Association and 60+ years as hean worked with his four active member and officer of the BPOE (Elks Lodge). His passion SVB Financial Group has openings for the followwas traveling both rural internationally and in his motorhome throughout the brothers in the electric positions (various types/levels) in Tempe, AZ. ing United States. Bill was preceded in death by his loving wife Betty Jean power construction business. While on a job, Somedaughter, positions mayForee allow for telecommuting.

Foree. He is survived by his son Mike, daughter-in-law Penny, of Mesa, Tammy inandone of Larry the rural communities, he met Betty, fiancé Randall, of Phoenix, 4 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. A private, family, memorialbride serviceof will68 beyears. held. In lieu of flowers contributions can be Software made to Mountain * Senior Engineer (#781.452). Develop, his beautiful th View Lutheran Church, 11002 S. 48 Street, Phoenix, AZ 85044. create and modify computer applications software or In 1961 they moved to Mesa where they raised their two children, Mike and Tammy. specialized utility programs and contribute on techFor 40 years, Bill owned and operated Foree nical solutions around Risk and Compliance systems.

Domestic travel required.

Tire Company in Phoenix and Tucson. He served as an officer with the National Tire * Software Engineer (#781.482). Develop customizDealers Association and 60+ years as an act- ations and extensions with PeopleSoft PeopleTools, ive member and officer of the BPOE (Elks such as, PeopleCode/iScript, BPEL/Web Services, Application Engine, Component Interface and IntegLodge).

His passion was traveling both internation- ration Broker, nVision, XML Publisher, Application ally and in his motor home throughout the Designer, Security (incl. RLS), Workflow, SQL/SQR. United States.

Bill was preceded in death by his loving wife Send resume to S.M. at Staffing Operations Team, Betty Jean Foree.

Silicon Valley Bank, 80 E Rio Salado Pkwy Ste 600, He is survived by his son Mike, daughter-in- Tempe, AZ 85281. Must reference job #. law Penny, of Mesa, daughter, Tammy Foree and fiancé Larry Randall, of Phoenix, 4 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

A private, family, memorial service will be held. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Mountain View Lutheran Church, 11002 S. 48th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85044.

Need help writing an obituary?

We have articles that will help guide you through the process.

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Visit: obituaries.Ahwatukee.com

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Ahwatukee Foothills News

1620 W. Fountainhead Parkway #219 Tempe, AZ 85282 • 480.898.6465 class@timespublications.com Deadlines

Classifieds: Friday 3pm for Wednesday Life Events: Friday 10am for Wednesday

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MAAX Spas is hiring Full Time v

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THE EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE’S JOB BOARD HAS THE TALENT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR. FIND THE BEST TALENT HERE. EASILY POST JOBS. COMPETITIVE PRICING AND EXPOSURE Contact us for more information: 480-898-6465 or email jobposting@evtrib.com

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Pete Meier

Need More Houses to Sell! Call Pete!

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SOLD $335,000 55+ Popular Pueblo flr plan 3BR / 2BA / 2 GAR. Great location near Multi Mil $ Rec Center and Shopping.

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CLASSIFIEDS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Air Conditioning/Heating PROMOTION

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We Also Buy, Sell & Trade Used Appliances Working or Not

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★ Room Additions ★ Water Damage ★ Popcorn Removal ★ Residential/Commercial ★ Interior/Exterior Painting ★ Ahwatukee Resident ★ Call 480-200-0043 ROC# 262737

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Electrical Services HONESTY • INTEGRITY • QUALITY

Family owned and proudly serving Ahwatukee for over 20 years.

Powerful Truck Mounted Soft Hot Water Extractions.

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CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

Electrical Services

Garage/Doors

Glass/Mirror

GARAGE DOOR SERVICE

GLASS, MIRRORS, SHOWER DOORS

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Broken Springs Replaced Nights/Weekends Bonded/Insured 480-251-8610

Not a licensed contractor

Residential Electrician

Call Sean Haley 602-574-3354 ROC#277978 • Licensed/Bonded/Insured

Electrical Services

C. READ & SON ELECTRIC

Home Improvement REMODEL CONTRACTOR

Plans / Additions, Patios New Doors, Windows Lowest Price in Town!

R. Child Lic#216115, Class BO3 Bonded-Insured-Ref's

480-215-3373

Family Owned with 50 years' EXPERIENCE. Shower and tub enclosures, Framed, Frameless or Custom Doors, We also install insulated glass, mirrored closet doors, window glass, mirrors, patio doors, glass table protectors. If it’s glass, we can help you. QUALITY SERVICE at Competitive Prices.

FREE Estimates

WESLEY'S GLASS & MIRROR wesleysglass.com SERVICING THE ENTIRE VALLEY Call 480-306-5113

Ahwatukee Resident

 Electric Car Chargers for ALL your  Fans electrical needs  Lighting 41 years  Troubleshooting  And much more experience 2008 through 2019

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ROC #158440 Bond/Insured

480-940-6400

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contractor Jim Painting • Flooring • Electrical 480.593.0506 Ablehandyman2009@gmail.com Plumbing • Drywall • Carpentry

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Marks the Spot for ALL Your Handyman Needs! ks the Spot for ALL•Your Handyman Needs! ✔ Painting Painting Flooring • Electrical “No Job Too ✔Small Flooring Painting • Flooring • Electrical Plumbing • Drywall • Carpentry Man!” lumbing • Drywall • Carpentry ✔ Electrical Decks • Tile • More!

Quality Work Since 1999 Decks •Affo Tile • More! rdable, ✔ Plumbing 2010, 2011 2012, 2013, 2014 Call Bruce at 602.670.7038 ✔ Drywall Ahwatukee Resident/ References/ Insured/ Not a Licensed Contractor “No Job ✔ Carpentry Too Small Marks the Spot for“No Job Too ALL Your Handyman Needs! ✔ Decks Painting • Flooring • Electrical Small Man!” “No Job Too Man!” ✔ Tile Plumbing • Drywall • Carpentry

Small Man!” Decks • Tile • More! ✔ Kitchens Since 1999 rdable, Quality Work ✔ Bathrooms BSMALLMAN@Q.COM 2010, 2011 9 199 ce Quality Work Sin 2012, “No 2013, Job Too And More!

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uce at 602.670.7038 dent/ References/ Insured/ NotResident a Licensed Contractor Ahwatukee / References t 602.670.7038

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NTY

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LANDSCAPING

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david@swo-of-artworks.com

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*Not A Licensed Contractor

Jaden Sydney Associates.com

JR’S LANDSCAPING

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AND so much more!

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Handyman

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Irrigation

Landscape Design/Installation

Serving the Valley for over 28 years

43

480.345.1800

Classifieds: 480-898-6465 ROC 304267 • Licensed & Bonded

• One Month Free Service • Licensed, Bonded Insured for your protection.

• Call or Text for a Free Quote

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CLASSIFIEDS

44

Landscape/Maintenance

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Landscape/Maintenance

Foothills Touch Landscapes LLC Lawn care/Maint.

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TREE

Starting as low as

TRIMMING

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25 Years exp (480) 720-3840

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Painting

Painting

PROFESSIONAL PAINTING Interior, Exterior House Painting.

Stucco Patching.

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RAMON LANDSCAPING SERVICES I could help you have your palm trees and other trees trimmed by giving you a reasonable and better price than the others.

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Not a Licensed Contractor

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Specials

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theplugman.com

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CLASS@TIMESPUBLICATIONS.COM

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INC.

Serving Ahwatukee Since 1987 Interior / Exterior

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Veteran Owned

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★ Interior/Exterior Painting ★ Drywall Repair & Installation ★ Popcorn Ceiling Removal

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ROC# 256752

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Now Accepting all major credit cards

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Honey Do List Too Long?

Check out the Handyman Section!

CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

Plumbing

Plumbing

PLUMBERS CHARGE TOO MUCH!

$

Roofing Watch for Garage Sales in Classifieds!

AHWATUKEE SPECIAL

Beat Any Price By 10% • Lifetime Warranty Water Heaters Installed - $799 Unclog Drains - $49 FREE RO UNIT w/Any WATER SOFTENER INSTALL NO INTEREST FINANCING - 60 Months!!

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Pool Service / Repair

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Not a licensed contractor.

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To place an ad please call: 480-898-6465 class@times publications.com

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PLUMBING We Repair or Install ROC # 272721

SERVICE • REPAIR • REPLACEMENT

$35.00 Off Any Service Call Today!

A+ RATED

AHWATUKEE’S #1 PLUMBER Licensed • Bonded • Insured

704.5422

(480)

We offer personalized service for our customers.

We use the best materials that we can find.

Owned and Operated

by Rod Lampert Ahwatukee Resident Serving Ahwatukee for over 25 years

45

Our services include: Sinks, Toilets, Faucets, Water Heaters, Garbage Disposal, Drain Cleaning, Pressure Reducing Valves, Pressure Vacuum Breakers, Hot Water Circulation Systems, Main Service Valves and Hose Taps.

(480)

279-4155

Licensed • Bonded • Insured • ROC 189848

46

CLASSIFIEDS

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

Roofing

Roofing

Roofing

Family Operated by 3 Generations of Roofers! We have a “Spencer” on every job

Roofing 30 Years Roofing Experience

and every step of the way.

JILEK ROOFING, LLC

New Roof Installation & Roof Repair Specialist

602-938-7575 $ 1000 OFF

Tiles, shingles, flat, repairs & new work Free Estimates • Ahwatukee Resident

Cell: 480.417.3689 Office: 480.912.5014 Email: tomjilek60@gmail.com

480-706-1453

Licensed & Insured • Bonded, Res/Com ROC 328854

Over 30 yrs. Experience

Licensed/Bonded/Insured • ROC #236099

when you show this ad

on qualifying complete roof replacements

Let us show you the IN-EX Difference!

Serving The Valley Since 1996

480-699-2754 • info@monsoonroofinginc.com

480-446-7663 Ahwatukee’s Premier Tile, Shingle & Foam Roofer!

10% Discount for Ahwatukee Residents 100% NO Leak Guarantee Re-Roof & Roofing Repairs Tile, Shingles & Flat Roof

FREE Estimates • Credit Cards OK www.spencer4hireroofing.com ROC#244850 | Insured | Bonded

MonsoonRoofingInc.com Licensed – Bonded – Insured – ROC187561

MORE CLASSIFIED ADS ONLINE! www.Ahwatukee.com

inexroofing.com

Window Cleaning

Ahwatukee Based Family Owned and Operated Insured • Free Estimates

See our reviews and schedule at:

www.cousinswindowcleaning.com

480-330-2649

WORD SEARCH: For Your Amusement

Call for your FREE Roof Evaluation

Family Owned & Operated for over 30 years

ROC #152111

Quality Repairs & Re-Roofs Complimentary & Honest Estimates

Call our office today!

480-460-7602 Ask us about our discount for all Military and First Responders!

Licensed • Bonded • Insured ROC # 269218

www.porterroofinginc.com

Find these 9 items

SH

ALL YOU NEED IS A PU

480.898.6465 CLASS@TIMESPUBLICATIONS.COM

Licensed, Bonded, Insured

CB

COASTER FERRIS WHEEL LOG RIDE COTTON CANDY

MONORAIL SHOW AQUARIUM SNACKS ZOO

CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 14, 2021 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

palmabrisa.com

NOW SELLING

A new gated resort community is now selling in the Ahwatukee Foothills with a dramatically different style. It feels exclusive, but also lively and exciting — and it's called Palma Brisa.

• Modern resort-style gated community with stately palms

• Diverse architecture: Modern Bungalow, Urban Farmhouse, Italian Cottage, Andalusian, Modern Craftsman, French Country, and Spanish Mission • Four amenity areas connected by expansive lawns

• Homes from 1,700 sq. ft. to 4,000 sq. ft. from the $500’s

ERIC WILLIAMS

480-641-1800

TERRY LENTS

© Copyright 2021 Blandford Homes, LLC. No offer to sell or lease may be made prior to issuance of Final Arizona Subdivision Public Report.

Offer, terms, and availability subject to change without prior notice. Renderings are artist’s conceptions and remain subject to modification without notice.

47

CLASSIFIEDS

48

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 14, 2021

10,000

ARE YOU GOING

WIN A $ 1ST E LG

TO BE THE

DOLLAR

ION T A R B E EL

C

WINNER

2ND

P R IZ E

• 2 HDMI Inputs • Airplay2 Built-In

WASHER

• 3.5 Cu. Ft. • Porcelain Tub • 700 RPM Spin Speed

$

479

449

UN58TU7000

UN58TUM000

12 S

• Adjustable Glass Shelves • 2 Crisper Drawers • LED Lighting

799

FRSG1915AV

12 MONTHS NO INTEREST**

499

GRM183TW

1.6 CU. FT. OVER-THERANGE MICROWAVE

BFTF2716SS

NO MATTER WHERE YOU SEE IT, READ IT, OR HEAR ABOUT IT, SPENCERS IS GUARANTEED TO BE A LOWER PRICE!

DISHWASHER • 12-Place Settings • 5 Wash Cycles • Piranha™ Hard Food Disposer • Hot Start Option – GSD2100VWW

199 299

$ WMH1162XVQ CLOSEOUT

• 950 Watts of Power • 10 Levels of Power • Sunken Glass Turntable

Beautyrest Mattress

• 2 Adjustable Glass Shelves • Fixed Gallon Door Shelves • Sealed Drawers with Glass Cover

BUYS ALL 3 PIECES

SIDE BY SIDE COUNTER DEPTH REFRIGERATOR

$

4TH

P R IZ E

• 25 Cubic Foot Capacity • Spill Proof Glass Shelves • Humidity Controlled Drawers • Energy Star Qualified WRS325SDHZ

• Integrated Control Styling • Premium Nylon Racks • In Door Silverware Basket • Energy Star Qualified WDF520PADM

2350

$

S** TH MAMOEN H S A C AS

Samsung 75”TV

18 CU. FT. REFRIGERATOR

REFRIGERATOR

DISHWASHER

• 4.8 Cubic Foot Capacity • Self Cleaning Oven • Smooth Top • Proudly Made in USA WFE505W0HS CLOSEOUT

P R IZ E

99 $

$

RANGE

3RD

Samsung Refrigerator & Range

58” 4K UHD SMART TV

NTW4500XQ CLOSEOUT

STUDIO KITCHEN

PRIZ

$

$339 10%

99

** NO INTEREST IF PAID IN FULL IN 12 MONTHS. $799.00 Minimum Purchase Required Minimum Payments Required 30.79% APR If the promotional balance is not paid in full by the end for the promotional period or, to the extent permitted by law, if you make a late payment, interest will be imposed from the date of purchase at the APR noted above. This APR is as of 7/4/2019 and will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. Your card agreement, the terms of the offer and applicable law govern this transaction including increasing APRs and fees and terminating the promotional period.

MESA SHOWROOM & CLEARANCE CENTER 115 W. First Ave. | 480-833-3072 AHWATUKEE 4601 E. Ray Rd. | Phoenix | 480-777-7103 ARROWHEAD RANCH 7346 W. Bell Road | 623-487-7700 GILBERT Santan Village | 2711 S. Santan Village Pkwy | 480-366-3900 GLENDALE 10220 N. 43rd Ave | (602) 504-2122 GOODYEAR 1707 N. Litchfield Rd | 623-930-0770 RECONDITION CENTER 160 EAST BROADWAY | 480-615-1763 SCOTTSDALE 14202 N. Scottsdale Rd. | 480-991-7200 SCOTTSDALE/PHOENIX 13820 N. Tatum Blvd. | (602) 494-0100 NOW OPEN - MESA 5141 S. Power Rd. | 480-988-1917

Arizona’s largest independent p dealer!

“It’s Like Having A Friend In The Business” Check Out Our Website

WWW.SPENCERSTV.COM OPEN DAILY 9AM-9PM | SATURDAY 9AM-6PM | SUNDAY 11AM-5PM

SE S IN HOU R E C N E P S PLANS PAYMENT BLE AVAILA Due to current circumstances, some items may be out of stock.