INSIDE:
C O M M U N I T Y P. 2 3 | B U S I N E S S P. 2 8 | O P I N I O N P. 3 2 | S P O RT S P. 3 9 | G E T O U T P. 4 2 | C L A S S I F I E D P. 4 5
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FAMILY GUY
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IMPACT PLAYERS
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STANDING TALL
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
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Classrooms reopen for thousands of TU students BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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housands of students were to return yesterday to Tempe Union campuses and thousands more tomorrow as the district reopened classrooms for the first time since mid-March. While all other East Valley school districts, including Kyrene, fully reopened for five-day inclass learning this week or earlier, Tempe Union officials are taking a conservative approach by breaking up each high school’s student population into two groups that will either be in classrooms Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday. The rest of the time, they will continue athome learning. All students will be at home on Wednesdays, which has been designated for deep cleaning and sanitizing all buildings and rooms. Since the district observed the Columbus
Ahwatukee duo’s invention could be a COVID-buster
Day/Indigenous Peoples holiday on Monday, yesterday was the first day for the mass inclassroom return. Returning students and teachers face a starkly different environment than the one they left when all schools in the state were shut down in March at the onset of the pandemic. Students and teachers will have to answer three COVID-19-related questions and have their temperature checked at the main door every day. Masks will be mandatory for all students and staff. Students will be sitting 6 feet away from classmates in classrooms and from friends in the cafeteria for the most part. Tempe Union’s cautious approach to reopening partly reflects the great disparity among district ZIP codes when it comes to the three metrics the county advises districts to follow in deciding when campuses are safe. Overall, according to the latest data posted by the county health department last Thurs-
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day, the district is in a moderate level for COVID-19 spread. District-wide, the data last week showed 63.28 virus cases per 100,000 people, 3.23 positive results for new tests and 2 percent of hospital visits with COVID-like symptoms. Cases per 100,000 were slightly higher than the previous week’s reading, which was 55.87 for the district. Individual ZIP codes vary wildly for that particular benchmark. For example, 85281 – the ZIP code where the main Arizona State University campus is located – had 131.29 cases per 100,000, indicating “substantial” virus spread. On the other hand, Ahwatukee ZIP code 85045 had zero cases while Ahwatukee ZIP codes 85044 and 85048 had 40 and 50 cases, respectively, according to the county. During the Governing Board’s last meet-
see REOPEN page 19
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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COLORFUL OASIS
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s partners in business as well as life, Yani and Jodi Deros have been the parents of invention. The Ahwatukee couple’s company, ATOM, has conceptualized, tested and developed over 300 products for a range of national and global brands from Honeywell, KitchenAid and UBS to Axon, the former Taser International – generating more than $3 billion in product orders over 15 years. Now, they say, their latest invention, CIRQ+CLEAN, could be the answer to the arduous task of cleaning and disinfecting hotel
see INVENTpage 4
Now that Phoenix City Council last week approved reopening of outdoor playground facilities in all city parks 6-yearold Hailey Elias was only too happy to go frolicking in Pecos Park. The community center remains closed pending further city action. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)