The 2018 Cactus League season is beginning this week, bringing a cash cow to East Valley businesses and municipal coffers.
The Cactus League long has had a significant economic impact on the East Valley – home to three spring training stadiums in Mesa and Tempe.
Even Chandler and Gilbert see significant tax revenue spikes during the spring baseball season, an indicator of the magnitude of economic benefits flowing from their neighbors’ facilities.
Mesa long has reigned as the king of the Cactus League due in large part to the Chicago Cubs, who have called the city their spring home for over 50 years.
The Cubs led all teams in attendance in 2017, drawing a total of 251,899 fans. The
San Francisco Giants, who play at Scottsdale Stadium, ranked second with 182,518.
“Every year, it seems impossible that the next year is going to break attendance records because every game is a sellout,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said. “Being the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs has always been a safe bet.”
Mesa also benefits to a lesser extent from the
Cactus League brings windfall to East Valley Spring ball looks for jolt from Japanese star
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
Japanese
sensation Shohei Ohtani has never thrown a pitch or hit a baseball in a major league game, but he’s already created an international buzz by merely arriving in the East Valley and taking a few swings in batting practice at Tempe Diablo Stadium. And Cactus League officials hope Ohtani can give a jolt to the spring training season since fans may be caught off guard by its earliest start ever.
Ohtani is not even on the roster of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim yet, but his arrival for spring training catapulted the Angels into the Cactus League spotlight after years of standing in the shadow of traditional attendance powerhouses like the Chicago Cubs in Mesa and the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale.
Cactus League President Jeff Meyer said he is hoping the excitement created by Ohtani – a potential new star because of his promise as both a hitter and a pitcher – will create interest in spring training to help compensate for the fact that games are starting Friday, Feb. 23, instead of closer to March.
“We need a little boost with the games starting a little earlier,” Meyer said. “They refer to him as the Babe Ruth of Japan.”
Most fans traditionally don’t think about the Cactus League until March. Attendance is usually light in February, gradually build-
ing during spring break, when families from Chicago and elsewhere flee cold weather to bask in the Arizona sun.
But Meyer said fans need to re-orient
See OHTANI on page 5
Cactus League officials hope that fan curiosity to see Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani display his unique talent as a batter and a pitcher will help drive up attendance at spring training games.
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If you’re looking for a house in Ocotillo, boy, has Bruce Arians got a deal for you.
The retired Arizona Cardinals head coach has put his fivebedroom, 5,000-square-foot home in the Vistas at Ocotillo on the market, asking a cool $1.5 million.
Buyers will get a lot for their money, judging by the description of the palatial digs on real estate site Multilist.
The 18,000-square-foot lakefront property not only offers great views of the Ocotillo Golf Course, but it is built to impress from the time a visitor rolls up on the cobblestone circular driveway to the front door.
There, a privately gated courtyard with a gas fire pit and water feature welcomes visitors. Once you get through the front door, you’ll find a wall of glass overlooking a vanishing-edge infinity pool that appears to be flowing.
Then there's the kitchen: From the hand-painted ceilings to the custom cabinetry and built-in Miele espresso and coffee bar, your inner gourmet is bound to be delighted. High-end appliances with names like Sub-Zero and Wolf and a custom island are complimented by two wine refrigerators.
Don’t worry about noise: The kitchen walls – like those of the adjacent fireplace-equipped family room – are soundproofed.
And if you don’t need to chill your wine in the fridge, rest assured: A spacious 500-plus bottle wine cellar – temperaturecontrolled, of course – can take care of that bottle of Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru you brought home after your last visit to France.
And you can take that bottle of pinot noir to a nearby private sunken outdoor lounge, “complete with an awe-inspiring copper waterfall feature that is also visible from your wall of glass in the upstairs entrance,” the Realtor’s Multilist description notes.
That’s located, by the way, in a fully decked-out basement that also includes a great room with kitchenette, two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bathroom and a third bedroom with its own entrance to a full bathroom.
Elegance marks every inch of the house, including the hand-
(Special to the Tribune)
somely decorated office and the private guest room – complete with en suite bathroom and private entrance.
The master suite is complete with a stone fireplace, exposed wood rafters and a private exit to the backyard – if you can leave the stunning master bathroom with its separate vanities, walk-in custom shower, custom walk-in closet with washer and dryer and soaker tub.
If you feel the need to step outside, you’re in luck. A sunken outdoor lounge leads to a multi-tiered backyard with the pool, outdoor fireplace, grass side yard and a covered patio with built-in barbecue and restaurant-grade ceiling-mounted gas heaters.
Small wonder the Multilist description calls it “truly your own personal resort.”
Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has put his 5,000-square-foot Ocotillo home on the market with a $1.5 million price tag. The home includes: 1) a privately gated front courtyard off a cobblestone circular driveway; 2) a lavish master bathroom with separate vanities; 3) lake frontage as well as stunning views of the Ocotillo Golf Course and 4) a beautifully decorated office with a stained glass window. 1
3
CACTUS
Oakland Athletics, which plays at Hohokam Stadium and drew 102,212 fans in 2017, a number that ranked 10 out of 15 teams in the Valley.
A study commissioned by the Cactus League and conducted by Tucson-based FMR Associates from 2015 found that out-of-state spring training attendees contributed over $297 million to Arizona in direct expenditures with a total economic impact of $544 million.
A second study from FMR Associates estimated that the 12-month non-tourist economic impact of the Valley’s spring training facilities in 2014 was nearly $266 million.
Transaction privilege tax is the tax paid by businesses to operate in the city. It is often passed on to consumers as a sales tax.
From 2013 to 2016, Mesa averaged transaction privilege tax revenue of just over $13 million every March. That monthly number is only surpassed by December’s holiday-shopping average of over $14.4 million.
Tax revenues collected by Mesa during spring training have risen steadily since Sloan Park’s debut in 2014.
Mesa sales tax revenues of $14.6 million in March 2017 were 20 percent higher than revenues in March 2013.
Mesa sees an even more significant spike in revenue from the bed tax levied on hotels during Cactus League play. In 2017, Mesa’s bed tax revenue in March of $729,307 was more than the total bed tax collected in June, July and August combined.
Bed tax revenues have grown in March every year since 2014, and the total bed tax revenue in March 2017 is roughly 38 percent higher than it was in March 2013, an increase that outpaces inflation. Much like Mesa, Tempe – the spring
home of the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium – has earned a significant amount of its bed tax revenue in March for many years.
From 2013 to 2017, it is the secondhighest grossing month for bed tax revenue in Tempe, bringing in an average of $724,000 during that time.
Tempe saw an immediate and significant increase in transient lodging tax revenue during Sloan Park’s first year of operation, an indication that the city is benefiting from its close proximity to the facility.
The city collected $901,000 in transient lodging tax in Sloan Park’s first year of operation in April 2014, a 35.3 percent increase over the year prior. That’s a staggering increase considering the city’s bed tax revenues fell by 1.1 percent
annually in April 2012.
The Angels, ranked seventh in the Cactus League with attendance of 114,780 in 2017, are expected to be an even more popular draw this year since the team signed Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani in the offseason.
With Ohtani on board, Tempe could see its hotel occupancy rate rise from 88 percent last year to 89 or 90 percent this year, said Michael Martin, Tempe Tourism Office executive vice president.
Tempe is poised to take advantage of the additional guests as it added a Fairfield Inn, a Hilton Garden Inn and a Home2 Suites over the past year. The addition of those 450 new rooms brings the city’s total to 50 hotels with a total of 6,374 rooms.
And, like its three East Valley neighbors, Tempe has aggressively courted spring baseball fans outside Arizona to consider the city as their base of operations during the season
Tempe’s ad buys focused on Californians and people living in cold-weather cities like Denver, Seattle and Chicago.
One campaign with Weather.com flashed a message encouraging viewers to visit Tempe whenever the temperature in their home city dropped below 55 de-
grees, said Martin. Gilbert also has courted out-of-state fans.
“March has consistently been our best month for occupancy and overall demand, while having the highest average-daily-rate of any month,” Gilbert tourism administrator Glenn Schlottman said. Gilbert’s ad campaigns included online pitches targeting fans planning to attend games at Wrigley Field in Chicago or Oakland Coliseum. Following the baseball season, Gilbert, too, engaged in weatherfocused ad campaigns in Oakland and Chicago. Gilbert will continue to invest in advertising after spring training begins, to encourage them to explore Gilbert, Schlottman said.
“We started by promoting Gilbert as a home base for spring training to Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics fans,” he said. “We also have plans to attract spring training visitors, whether staying in Gilbert or not, to our restaurants and attractions while they are in town.”
Chandler, on the other hand, does not invest in ad campaigns.
“We provide some (spring training) information on the VisitChandler.com website and mention it in our visitors’ guide – but that is the extent at this time,” Chandler Tourism Development Coordinator Kimberly Janes said.
Regardless, both Chandler and Gilbert reap some Cactus League benefits. March is the second most prosperous month each year for Chandler in bed tax collections behind April. Revenues averaged $421,604 in March between 2015 and 2017.
Gilbert brings in an average of just over $69,000 in bed taxes in March, according to numbers provided by the town. That average ranks second behind April’s average of $72,644.
(Tribune file photo)
Mesa's Sloan Park has driven staggering increases in the city's bed tax revenue since opening in 2014.
themselves to an earlier Cactus League season, with play starting a week earlier in February to compensate for the earliest start ever to the Major League Baseball regular season, on March 29.
MLB moved up the schedule to accommodate three or four additional off-days for players, as required by the collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association. The playoffs also are likely to end in October rather than dragging into November.
“This is going to be a new start for us moving forward. This is going to be the time frame,” he said.
On Wednesday, Ohtani smiled a lot, bowed to a prominent Japanese businessman and patiently answered questions from a throng of more than 150 reporters and photographers – most of them Japanese – during a Marriott at the Buttes press conference.
The press conference was streamed and shown live on MLB.com, Fox Sports West and on Tokyo television network.
Questions ranged from his adjustment to spring training in the United States to how he was getting along with his new teammates to what it was like to live alone for the first time to the quality of Japanese food in the U.S. Ohtani seemed confident, but also polite and unassuming – the opposite
Cubs host youth games to mark start of season
The City of Mesa Youth Sports and the Chicago Cubs will host Pitch, Hit & Run and the Junior Home Run Derby on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Sloan Park, 2330 W. Rio Salado Parkway.
The event is free and open to boys and girls ages 7 to 14. Chicago Cubs players will be at the event.
Pitch, Hit & Run is the official skills competition of Major League Baseball. Participants can advance through four levels of competition. The Junior Home Run Derby includes three levels of competition. The top performers nationally from both events will advance to the National Finals During MLB All-Star Week in July.
Visit pitchhitrun.com and jrhrd. com for rules and to pre-register.
That left Hall with limited options for accommodating so many reporters, so he put up a tent in the parking lot behind the scoreboard in centerfield.
About 30 reporters were already staking out the players parking lot on Tuesday morning, when pitchers and catchers were due to report, hoping to photos of Ohtani’s arrival.
Hall is curious about whether Ohtani will be as strong a draw for baseball fans.
of so many athletes who talk big, pound their own chests and crave attention.
“Honestly, since my days in Japan, I never felt the pressure that everyone is talking about,” he said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “I just want to do my job and help my team win.”
Ohtani said his teammates have been introducing themselves to him, helping him make the transition from Japanese professional baseball to the majors.
He’s been playing some golf and basketball with his teammates and enjoyed a surprise visit from a former Japanese manager who was a mentor.
“Everyone has been very welcoming. I have been communicating through my interpreter. We’re going to have a great time,” he said. “Baseball-wise on the field, I will not be doing anything differently than I did in Japan.”
He said he’s willing to eat any sort of healthy food, but admitted he feels a bit lonely living in a large, three-bedroom apartment by himself, as opposed to a dormitory full of ballplayers in Japan.
Ohtani, 23, is not only attempting to establish himself in baseball’s toughest level of competition, but to make history as an unusual two-way player.
A left-handed hitter and a right-handed pitcher, Ohtani is expected to serve as a designated hitter for the Angels in games when he is not pitching.
Whether he will excel at one or both aspects of the game remains to be seen during the regular season.
“He’s obviously a very versatile player. He can throw 100 mph and slug 500foot homers,” Meyer said. “It’s good for them (the Angels) to have some excitement. They have a lot of talent.”
Tempe Diablo Stadium manager Jerry Hall is anticipating an exciting and maybe even an unprecedented season. He said the much-anticipated Shohei spectacle is expected to be chronicled by about 120 to 130 Japanese media members a day at Diablo, pushing the stadium beyond its capability to handle the press.
“This is worldwide. This puts Tempe in the spotlight, definitely,” Hall said. “It’s going to be really exciting to see what happens.”
He said Diablo, with a seating capacity of about 9,000, is the “smallest and oldest” stadium in the league; the original structure was built in 1969 to accommodate the former Seattle Pilots.
The park, nestled near the Tempe Buttes and Interstate 10, has undergone extensive renovations at least twice.
“We are the most intimate,” Hall said, referring to a selling point for fans who crave a traditional spring training experience where it is still possible to watch players walk from the practice fields to the ballpark and to collect autographs.
While the practice fields and clubhouse were improved extensively, such intense media attention as the kind Ohtani is generating was not envisioned.
So far, the Angels have informed Hall that ticket sales are up about 8,000 from this time last year, even though there are 15 games this years compared to 17 last year, when there was a longer Cactus League season to prepare players for the World Baseball Classic.
“I’m wondering what the reaction the fans will have to him or is this a media thing,” Hall said. “It’s different than having an American star.”
The Cactus League drew a record 1,941,347 fans in 2017, buoyed by even a stronger-than-usual turnout for the world champion Cubs. Attendance per game dropped slightly because of the longer schedule.
The Angels typically finish in the middle of the pack in Cactus League attendance, ranking eighth in 2016 and 2015. With a much smaller ballpark and a less-rabid following, the Angels drew 114,780 fans during a 17-game schedule in 2017, an average of 6,752 per game.
In contrast, the Cubs, coming off their first world championship in over 100 years, drew 251,800 fans for 17 games, an average of 14,818 per game.
Despite numerous stories about Ohtani’s attempted feat, two representatives of Asian-American organizations in Phoenix clearly had never heard of Ohtani, but one said she would like to assist him as he adapts to Arizona.
“We would like to pursue it if we have an opportunity” to contact Ohtani, said Charmel de la Cruz, a spokeswoman for Arizona Asian American Association. “We would like to welcome him and make him feel like family in Arizona.”
(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Shohei Ohtani patiently answered questions from a throng of more than 150 reporters and photographers – most of them Japanese – during a Marriott at the Buttes press conference on Wednesday.
Development hasn’t sprung up around Cubs’ Mesa stadium
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Tribune Staff Writer
While the Cubs’ spring presence has had a positive economic impact on Mesa, Sloan Park did not produce the development in the surrounding area that Mesa officials envisioned eight years ago.
At the time, the Cubs and city leadership pitched a Wrigleyville West commercial area adjacent to the stadium that was to be developed by the Cubs and private development partners.
Crane Kenney, then-president of the Cubs, said the team planned to fill out the district with Chicago-themed elements similar to the attractions surrounding Wrigley Field in Chicago, according to an East Valley Tribune report from 2010.
At the time, then-Mayor Scott Smith said the Cubs and their partners likely would spend more than $99 million to develop the district, according to the same story.
In the intervening years, Sloan Park has succeeded in attracting a hotel – Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West, which
opened in 2015.
“The city is very pleased with the performance of the Sheraton,” Giles said.
That hotel was the product of a development agreement organized by the city, not the Cubs.
The initial agreement between the city and the team, via an entity called Mesa Development Holdings, required the team to construct 10,000 square feet of retail/commercial space adjacent to the park by Feb. 27, 2014, or pay a $250,000 penalty.
BCY Development eventually approached the city with the hotel project, and Mesa released the Cubs from its obligations in exchange for the team giving up its development rights to the land.
Despite the hotel, those Chicago-style retailers have been noticeably absent.
In the meantime, Chicago staples like Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, Gino’s East and Portillo’s have bypassed Mesa, breaking into the Arizona market in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe instead.
The city’s agreement with BCY Development included provisions requiring BCY to construct a minimum of 20,000
square feet of retail space with construction beginning by the end of 2016.
The city council extended that deadline to begin construction to Dec. 31, 2017, the project’s status is unclear. Giles said the city has been pleased with the hotel’s performance and is interested in continuing to work with BCY to develop the land.
He also said that the business community has shown interest in pursuing highend commercial development similar to those near Tempe Town Lake in the area east of the ballpark on Rio Salado Parkway, though discussions are in the early phases.
No city has invested more in attracting Cubs fans to the East Valley than Mesa. The city committed more than $100 million in 2010 to construct Sloan Park and keep the Cubs from bolting for Naples, Florida.
Facing the loss of the tax revenue and the baseball franchise that is inextricably linked to the identity of the city, Mesa officials backed a plan to publicly finance the construction of a new spring training facility for the Cubs in 2010.
In 2010, Mesa voters overwhelmingly
approved Proposition 420, which authorized the city to spend over $1.5 million constructing the facility and necessary parking lots and infrastructure improvements. Voters also approved a measure increasing the city’s bed tax from 3.5 percent to 5 percent.
The agreement between the Cubs and the city called for Mesa to spend $99 million to construct the facility and on-site work such as parking lots and infrastructure improvements.
Ultimately, the city spent $116.5 million on the Sloan Park project, according to a 2015 audit.
Still, it is highly likely the city would have seen a significant dip in tax revenue had the Cubs left for Florida and taken away what is one of the city’s most dependable revenue-generating relationships.
“It is a safe bet that (the Cubs) will sell out every game that on the (Cactus League) schedule every year,” Giles said. “That is something you can take to the bank every year, literally. (Sloan Park) has certainly lived up to everyone’s wildest expectations.”
County attorney declines to charge Hamilton High officials
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
For now, a former coach, athletic director and school principal at Hamilton High School will not face criminal charges in an unsavory sexual assault scandal that escalated from hazing into sex crimes.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced that he has inadequate evidence to file charges against Steve Belles, Ken James and Shawn Rustad.
Montgomery said he has second- and third-hand reports of the three officials’ failing to report sex crimes, but he needs actual witnesses and victims to come forward and cooperate before it is possible to file charges and pursue prosecution.
He described information in a Chandler police report that recommended charges against Belles, James and Rustad as “hearsay” that is often ruled inadmissible in court.
Montgomery said the Chandler police investigation “leaves me fully convinced that these incidents happened,” but without more first-hand statements from players and other potential wit-
nesses and victims, “there is nothing more we can do at this time.”
Because players on the Hamilton football team are juveniles, Montgomery said, he needs the permission of their parents to interview them.
Parents have not made their teenagers available for questioning, making it difficult to establish that additional crimes occurred and that the men failed to report any suspicions of sex crimes occurring, as required by state law, he said.
Montgomery said he does not know the reasons behind the lack of cooperation, but he suspects it might be misplaced loyalty to the Hamilton football program, or fears that cooperation might cost players football scholarships.
He said the focus of parents, instead, should be on making sure traumatized teens receive counseling so that the experience doesn’t haunt them the rest of their lives.
“I can’t get into their head. I can’t get to the point where they think it’s in their best interest not to cooperate with law enforcement,” Montgomery said. “The way these kids were assaulted is not normal. It just ain’t right.”
He said he is still holding out hope that additional victims and witnesses
will come forward eventually, perhaps after they graduate from Hamilton, and that the statute of limitations would allow him to file charges up to seven years after a crime occurred.
A May affidavit for a search warrant, written by Chandler police, alludes to a potential cover-up attempt.
“After the investigation received media attention, three current Hamilton High staff members provided statements expressing their lack of trust in the administration holding anyone related to the football program accountable,” the affidavit said.
“After the arrests of several players was reported by the media and head coach Steve Belles was reassigned, the remaining coaches had a team meeting advising the students to come to coaches first with any concerns and stated that if the victim players had done this, the program would not be receiving the negative attention,” the affidavit said.
“They cautioned against providing interviews, specifically toward the media, but alluding to the police investigation as well,” it said.
Montgomery said his decision has no relationship to the pending criminal charges against Nathaniel William
Thomas, 17, who is accused of sexual assault, child molestation and other charges. Two other juveniles, who have not been named, had their cases adjudicated in the juvenile division of Maricopa County Superior Court, in August 2017 and in January, said Amanda Jacinto, a spokeswoman for Montgomery. She said she is not allowed to make further comment on the juveniles because their cases have been sealed.
Police named six victims in the scandal. They said the victims were freshman football players and that as an act of initiation, they had been held down in the locker room and sexually violated.
In a letter sent to parents in the wake of Montgomery’s announcement, Superintendent Camille Casteel, of the Chandler Unified School District, said Belles, James and Rustad were reassigned to avoid distraction. She said Belles has announced that he will not return to the district.
Casteel outlined a series of policies undertaken to protect students, including a redesign of Hamilton’s locker room to make it easier for staff to supervise the behavior of students. An increased level of staff supervision is required to “prevent improper student conduct.”
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Uber, Waymo settle battle over self-driving tech
Uber Technologies and Alphabet’s Waymo have agreed to settle their legal battle over alleged theft of self-driving technology trade secrets.
Under the settlement, Waymo will own a 0.34 percent stake in Uber, which would be worth around $245 million. Waymo reportedly had asked for $2.6 billion at one point. Both companies are a common sight in the East Valley as self-driving testing continues – Uber around Tempe and Waymo around Chandler.
Tempe squatter given 30 days to leave longtime homestead
TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Steve Sussex, whose family has been living in a plot of land adjacent to Tempe Town Lake and downtown Tempe for more than a century, has been given 30 days to leave.
On Feb. 12, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that Tempe has the power to evict Sussex, a fight he’s been waging with the state and city for more than a decade. Sussex claims his family has held the land for years, with dates and transactions reaching back to 1863. The parcel also contains an adobe home that historians say is among the oldest structures in the Valley. But his family never was able to prove ownership of the land.
The county has valued the Sussex land at nearly $800,000. –
Mesa real estate agent guilty of fraud, theft to benefit parents
A Mesa real estate agent has been found guilty in a transaction that of netted his parents a hefty profit.
James Thornton, formerly with Desert Sunrise Realty, is facing three to more than 12 years in prison for defrauding two banks in a short-sale home deal, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. in 2012, Thornton sold a Mesa home that was facing foreclosure to his parents for $580,000, much less than other offers he had fielded, including one for $870,000.
TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
After selling to his parents, he then relisted the home and resold it two months later for $1.05 million.
Thornton’s real estate license became inactive on Feb. 9.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
ASU announces expansion of Arizona Twin Project
Arizona State University is conducting studies with twins to better understand how families can help children thrive, according to professors.
The Arizona Twin Project is working with twins 6 to 12 years old and is looking for more families to join the study, being led by three ASU professors of psychology: Mary Davis, Leah Doane and Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant.
Twins are especially important for research because twin studies are one of the few ways that researchers can study how genetics and environments work together to influence development.
Families who are interested in learning more can join the Arizona Twin Project registry to get newsletter updates, and may be invited to participate in several different research studies when their twins become eligible.
Information: 480-727-8230, arizonatwinproject@gmail.com or facebook.com/ ArizonaTwinProject.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Tempe hotel-center deal criticized for large tax rebates
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Tribune Staff Writer
The City of Tempe has finally attracted a long-coveted hotel and conference center to the city, though the tax incentives offered to the project’s developer have some local residents crying foul.
The City Council approved a development deal with Omni Tempe LLC in a special meeting on Jan. 11 that paved the way for construction of a 330-room Omni hotel and 30,000-square foot conference center on ASU property at the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive.
“This is a game changer for the tourism industry,” Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said at the meeting.
During the first 10 years of the agreement, the city will rebate 100 percent of the unrestricted portion of the combined transaction privilege tax, or sales tax and transient lodging tax, or bed tax, collected by the city in relation to the project.
Over the following 20 years, the agreement has the city rebating 90 percent of the unrestricted portion of the combined transaction privilege tax and transient lodging tax paid by Omni.
The development agreement, along with Omni’s lease agreement with ASU, spans 60 years, though no tax rebates will be given by the city after 30 years.
The total rebate for the project over the course of the agreement will not exceed $21 million in “net present value,” according to the agreement. Overall, the total value of the rebate could exceed $52 million, according to city estimates.
The agreement also requires Omni to contribute funds to offset the city’s investment in the Tempe Streetcar Project and create 300 jobs in the construction or hospitality industry over the next three years.
The city is also entitled to use the conference center for no cost for seven days each year, according to the agreement.
Sixty percent of the managerial jobs created must pay “in excess of the city’s average median income” of $49,012.
Omni will fund the construction of the $110 million hotel and cover all operating and maintenance costs. ASU will cover the costs to build the $19.5-million conference center.
The development is also exempt from property tax because it is on ASU property, though Omni’s agreement with ASU calls for the hotelier to pay $1.1 million annually to the university in lieu of property tax.
Council members and Tempe officials argued that the conference center will be a boon for the city by giving it an additional tool to attract businesses and conferences to the city.
Mitchell noted that Tempe currently has no meeting space that can hold over 1,000 attendees.
“This new hotel conference center will open Tempe to a new tier of conference activity, generating new revenue for the whole city,” he said via email. “This will sustain our downtown into the future.”
He added, “But that’s not all we get. We also will see an average economic impact of $32 million on Tempe’s economy, and the state of Arizona will be receiving their portion of the tax generated from the site, so they hopefully invest in things like K-12 education and university funding.”
Tempe Tourism Office President and CEO Brian McCartin said the project would bolster the tourism industry, which sustains 1 in 13 jobs in the city and generated $730 million in direct spending and $70 million in local and state taxes in 2015.
“This additional space will help in efforts to attract new business to our community and allow larger groups and conferences to select Tempe – those that we miss today,” McCartin said at the city council meeting.
Mitchell also cited an economic impact study commissioned by the city as proof that the project will provide a net benefit to the city.
That analysis, conducted by Gruen Gruen + Associates LLC, found that the net present value the project will provide for the city is $36.6 million over the life of the agreement. Overall, the total value of the project to the city is estimated at $188.6 million.
Those figures are based on the transaction privilege tax, transient lodging tax, and transit and arts tax revenues the city would collect on the property over the 60-year duration of the agreement along with advertising and promotional benefits guaranteed by the development agreement.
The agreement requires Omni to include “Tempe” in the name of the hotel and conference center – those naming rights are valued at $500,000 in city documents – and spend $400,000 each year promoting tourism in Tempe.
That economic impact statement was also a source of contention for residents at the meeting.
Arizona Rep. Athena Salman, a Tempe resident, spoke at the special council meeting and said that the development agreement should not have been put before the council, because the city had not yet made the economic impact report available to the public.
A.R.S. § 9-500.11 stipulates that before entering into a tax incentive agreement, local governments must determine that the incentive will raise more money than the amount of the incentive and that the project would not locate in the city without the benefit of the tax incentive.
The local government must also have its conclusions verified by a third party.
“The public does not even know who the third party is or what the relationship to the developer is,” Salman said. “Without the third-party verification documents publicly available, today’s agenda item is improperly before you.”
Later in the meeting, Mitchell stated that the report was made available to the media and on the city’s website.
However, a representative for the mayor’s office confirmed that Mitchell mis-
spoke at the meeting and that the report was only made available to the press prior to the meeting.
It had not been released to the public prior to that date because it was considered part of ongoing negotiations and historically the studies have not been part of publicly-available council meeting agenda packets, according to the mayor’s office. The report since has been posted to Tempe’s website at tempe.gov/Home/ ShowDocument?id=60837.
“Tempe has been transparent about the economic benefits of a hotel/conference center and about the tax rebates that would be needed to make the project happen,” Mitchell said via email.
He pointed out that a Notice of Intent was posted on the council’s agenda for its Nov. 9 meeting that stated that the city intended to offer the current rebates to Omni.
The Jan. 11 agenda also included some figures from the economic impact statement.
Other residents asked how, with much of the project’s sales and bed tax impact rebated over the first 30 years of the agreement, the deal still benefits the city.
“I am not against development (and) I am not against building or anything like that, but when I read the facts of this case and why we would give away … 30 years of rebates, I don’t really understand it,” Tempe resident Cindy Burkhart said at the meeting.
She added, “How is (this deal) going to help the residents, the police, the social services when we give away (tax revenue) for 30 years?”
The project will generate arts and transit taxes from day one, which accounts for one-third of the tax generated by the property, Mitchell said.
Tempe resident Denise Johnson suggested that tax breaks like the ones given to Omni should be reserved for projects that clearly benefit the Tempe community.
“Projects that truly invest in our city are what Tempe citizens deserve and is what Tempe’s legacy deserves,” Johnson said at the meeting. “This project falls far short of this.”
Johnson also requested that councilmembers Randy Keating and Lauren Kuby should recuse themselves from the vote because they are employed by ASU, the landowner in the development.
Later in the meeting, Keating and Kuby consulted with Tempe City Attorney Judi Baumann and were told state law did not require a recusal in this situation.
(Special to the Tribune)
Tempe Tourism Office President and CEO Brian McCartin says the project would bolster the tourism industry.
(Special to the Tribune)
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell says an economic impact study commissioned by the city proves that the project will provide a net benefit to the city.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Tempe Empty Bowls event raises money for programs
Almost 400 hand-painted bowls will be on sale at the Tempe Empty Bowls event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23 and 24.
Friday’s sale is at the 6th Street Park, south of City Hall, and Saturday’s is at the Community Center Courtyard, 3500 S. Rural Road.
Each $10 bowl comes with soup and bread. The sale will raise money for Tempe Community Action Agency and United Food Bank to fund their programs that help feed the hungry in Tempe.
Information: www.facebook.com/tempeemptybowls.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Arizona Railway Day celebrated at Chandler Tumbleweed Park
The Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler’s Tumbleweed Park will host exhibits for Arizona Railway Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24.
The museum will show new items in its collection, including a General Electric 35-ton locomotive. The museum also owns the last remaining “Rider Ore Car” in America, the Magma #184. The event and admission are free for Railway Day at the park, 330 E. Ryan Road, Chandler.
Information: azrymuseum.org, 480-821-1108.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Gilbert Outdoors Expo features fishing, hunting
Spring activities are on tap at the Gilbert Outdoors Expo, presented by Banner Health Centers, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve, 2757 E. Guadalupe Road.
Fishing, camping, hiking, birding, hunting and more activities will be featured. Kids will have dinosaur activities. Admission is free.
Star Party offered for families at Veterans Oasis Park
Chandler’s Environmental Education Center will host a free Star Party from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23 at Veterans Oasis Park, 4050 E. Chandler Heights Road. The East Valley Astronomy Club will bring their telescopes for visitors to explore Arizona’s night sky.
Attendees also are invited to visit the center between 7 and 9 p.m., where representatives from Mesa Community College and Chandler-Gilbert Community College will have information about their astronomy programs. The Chandler Public Library will have a booth and recreation staff will offer a children’s activity.
Visitors are also invited to take a self-guided tour of the Chandler Solar System Walk around the park’s lake.
Information: 480-782-2890, EEC@chandleraz.gov, or chandleraz.gov/veterans-oasis.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Artist’s Gilbert studio on the map for ceramics tour
BY RALPH ZUBIATE Tribune Managing Editor
For a ceramic artist, Beth Shook’s studio is surprisingly filled with paper. That’s because of her unusual style of art, a mixture of drawing and clay.
“I use clay as a canvas,” said the artist, who is hosting the Gilbert stop in the 2018 ASU Ceramic Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25.
Her unusual style starts off with sketches – she’s a talented drawer, too –and progresses to drawings on clay. She has submitted to exhibitions of various types.
Some ceramics exhibitions reject her, saying her art is more about drawing, and some art exhibitions won’t take her because they say she’s more ceramics.
“Is it craft, is it fine art?” she asks. “They don’t know what to do with me.”
But the public knows what to do: Enjoy her unique style.
That style, along those of artists Sarah Brodie, Sam Hodges and Genie Swanstrom, will be featured at her studio, 1410 W. Guadalupe Road, Building 1, Suite 103, Gilbert, behind Hope Medical Center.
Of the tour’s 15 stops, three are in Tempe (including at Arizona State University), one is in Gilbert, and the rest in Phoenix and Scottsdale. Details are at asuartmuseum.asu.edu/studiotour.
“We are not always the only stop in the East Valley,” Shook said, adding that a Mesa gallery is taking a break from showing this year. “But for a long time, I’ve been a mainstay on the tour. This studio has been in the tour since inception.”
This event showcases professional ceramic artists in the Valley. The public will get the opportunity to view working spaces of 42 participating artists and view demonstrations of wheel-throwing, hand-building and glazing techniques. The artists have a wide range of both functional and sculptural artwork on exhibit and for sale.
“We’ll have some demonstrations, very much hands-on,” Shook said. “I’ll show you what I’m doing now, and the public will ask a thousand questions.
“People are encouraged to take notes, take pictures. We’re open to that.”
Shook said high schools and colleges
are invited to the tour. Students and hobbyists usually outnumber the general public.
“High schools will come in groups. Dobson High in Mesa in particular is great,” she said.
“We get a lot of hobbyists, some more serious than others. And some people that just love ceramics.”
Shook was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in El Paso, Texas, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso. She earned an MFA from ASU. She taught at Mesa Community College for 18 years and ChandlerGilbert CC for nine years, and she did “a little stint” at Mesa Art Center.
Her earliest work
grew out of her early training as a production potter. She paid for a lot of her undergraduate tuition designing and producing dinnerware and other functional art. She still makes plates, dishes and tableware.
“I have a love of dinnerware,” she said.
Shook said another artist told her in a class that the best place to start with dinnerware is to design the salt and pepper shakers. If a design works there, it can translate to all the other pieces.
“We just thought she was nuts,” Shook said. “And she was right.”
She then transitioned to her current drawn pieces.
“I dedicated myself to drawing. I just started building and drawing on slabs, drawing bigger and bigger,” she said.
Shook’s sketches, studies for her wall pieces, are drawn on leftover circuit paper – her husband, Steve, is an engineer. The papers themselves make up a display in the center of her studio.
“I can’t just throw these away,” she said. “But they’re not archival-quality paper, so I have to do something to save them.”
She’s also running out of paper. Shook says even her husband doesn’t really use paper in his work anymore, relying more on computers.
“I’m down to a few papers now,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do!”
The papers are key for her pieces.
“I spent so much time in studies,” Shook said, “because I can’t erase on clay. A few of the sketches have been exhibited next to the pieces.”
Shook’s drawn clay pieces are framed in recycled wood claimed from discarded furniture. Those pieces along with her practical art, such as dishes and mugs, are on sale at Bergie’s Coffee Roast House in Gilbert.
Shook said she draws on her Christian faith for her art.
“My drawings are all about telling a story. The motivation for that story is my faith and where it intersects life,” she said. She and her husband attend Foothills Baptist Church in Ahwatukee.
“It has always been about how I see the world through my faith, through my eyes. I can defend that.”
Information: bethshookart.com.
(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Beth Shook participated in the first Ceramics Studio Tour in 2002 and has been featured ever since. On the wall behind her are some of the drawings that she translates into ceramics pieces.
(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
“Why Do You Make So Much of Me?” began as a sketch and ended up as a drawing on ceramic tiles flanked by recycled wood.
EAST VALLEY
Half marathon expecting about 10,000 runners
in Mesa
The 2018 Sprouts Mesa-PHX Half Marathon is Saturday, Feb. 24, beginning at 6 a.m. in East Mesa.
Gilbert-based OfferPad is sponsoring the half marathon.
Approximately 10,000 runners are expected. Last year, 20.7 percent of the running field qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Residents can ask questions about city’s budget, policies
Budget Connect, an annual online forum where Chandler residents may ask questions and learn about the city’s budget and fiscal policies, will be held 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22.
Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and council members will be available at chandleraz. gov/budgetconnect. The online forum will be streamed in real time on the city’s website at chandleraz.gov, on the city’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/cityofchandler and the
Budget Connect also will be broadcast on Chandler’s cable station, Channel 11. Information: chandleraz.gov/budget.
African American Banquet held by Chandler Men of Action
The Chandler Men of Action are hosting their Sixth Annual African American Banquet 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, at Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave.
The banquet recognizes distinguished men in Chandler for their achievements. This year’s honoree is Bruce Cooper of Channel 12.
Tickets can be purchased online for $40 at chandler-moa.org/annual_banquet.htm.
Young people invited to Chandler Teen Town Hall
Chandler and the Mayor’s Youth Commission are encouraging teens to spend the school day at the Teen Town Hall at Chandler’s City Hall and Community Center on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Teens will be encouraged to voice their opinions, connect with their peers and propose solutions to important teen issues.
Students will receive an excused absence from school as long as they have registered to
participate in the town hall. Registrations are being accepted through local schools’ guidance offices.
The daylong gathering will begin with comments from Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny, followed by team-building exercises and breakout sessions on topics and issues of concern to Chandler teens, including religious tolerance and addiction.
Dental clinic marks anniversary of helping kids in need for free
The Chandler Children’s Dental Clinic, supported in part by Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center, recently received a gift from Thunderbird Charities which will be used to help buy additional equipment.
The clinic, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is expected to serve 10,000 children in the next 10 years. The staff provides free preventative and restorative dental services for children who face barriers to traditional dental care.
The clinic also receives assistance from Chandler CARE Center, a program supported by the Chandler Unified School District.
Information: 602-406-4734.
Basis Chandler students finish 1-2 in Brain Bee competition
Students from Basis Chandler came in first
and second at the Arizona Regional Brain Bee at Midwestern University in late January.
Grace Xu took first place, while Latavya Chintada finished second.
The Brain Bee is an educational competition similar to a spelling bee but focused on neuroscience. It was presented in partnership with the BHHS Legacy Foundation.
Grace won a $2,000 scholarship toward tuition in any Midwestern University program at either the university’s Glendale Campus or the campus in Downers Grove, Illinois, as well as travel expenses to help her as she competes at the upcoming USA Regional Brain Bee Championship in Baltimore.
MESA
City seeks contractors to teach about outdoors, conservation
Mesa is looking for experienced teachers for introductory enrichment activities at facilities and parks. Programs will focus on the outdoors, nature and conservation programs. Programs offered can drive customers to instructors’ businesses.
Information: alyson.johnson@mesaaz.gov, 480-644-3938. Submit your releases to rzubiate@ timespublications.com
Business
Gilbert business builds secret doors, passageways for homes
BY SRIANTHI PERERA Tribune Staff Writer
Athriving Gilbert business credits its inspiration to Hollywood spy movies.
Creative Home Engineering founder Steve Humble creates customized secret doors disguised as bookcases, armoires, mirrors and stairs that disguise rooms, allow hiding for safes or to create a grand entrance, among other uses.
The mechanical engineer found a niche market for his intriguing products and ships them worldwide. To date, his most expensive customized door cost $200,000. On the other end of the scale, he offers standardized products that are priced at $1,500.
Think Pierce Brosnan as James Bond scanning his iris to rotate a secret fireplace, Val Kilmer as The Saint demonstrating special powers at a moment of danger or J.K. Rowling’s famous wand-waving fictional protagonist, Harry Potter. These maneuverings are made possible by a secret switch.
“A secret switch in any movie, I guarantee I’ve made that for a client before,” said Humble, who moved into a commodious 10,400-square-feet building in northwest Gilbert recently to accommodate his booming business.
Humble’s clients have included a Middle Eastern king (secrecy was paramount here), a few in the entertainment industry and some commercial establishments, but 95 percent consists of homeowners. Out of those, about 75 percent are highsecurity applications: “They want a secret
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Women in Leadership event
features former news anchor Lin Sue Cooney, former 12 News anchor and current director of community engagement for Hospice of the Valley, is the keynote speaker for the Chandler Chamber of Commerce Women in Leadership Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, at SoHo 63, 63 E. Boston St., Chandler, Cooney will talk about her experiences in television and about what it takes to carve a successful career path for today’s
door for a panic room or a vault room, a place to go if someone breaks into their house,” he said.
“Even an expensive safe attracts attention from a burglar; they’re not that tough to break into and you can use a tool to get into it,” he added.
The balance percentage of orders is leisure- or fun-oriented, such as movie rooms, smoking rooms and kids’ play rooms.
“A lot of people want it for fun, and that’s reason enough for them,” Humble said. They also add to the resale value of a home, he noted.
Humble’s Gilbert home, which he lives with his wife, Krystal, and three kids ages 6, 4 and 1, features a secret play area. It had to have one, he said, because his children think that secret passageways “are
female executives.
Information: chandlerchamber.com, 480-963-4571.
Tempe Chamber of Commerce endorses council candidates
The Tempe Chamber of Commerce has endorsed what it considers the most business-friendly candidates for the upcoming City Council election. The chamber endorses Robin Arredondo-Savage, Genevieve Vega and Jennifer Adams. Incumbent Arredondo-Savage “has deep roots in the community and has
something totally normal.”
Play the James Bond theme song on the family piano and it opens a secret door to a playroom, but it works only if the notes are correct. So, it doubles as an incentive to learn the piano.
“My 6-year-old daughter has learned how to play the introduction to James Bond,” Humble said. “My kids are always in there.”
In 2004, the Mountain View High School and Arizona State University graduate began his career designing robotic parts for medical equipment.
“I was working in a cubicle, as most people do, and I just wasn’t cut out for it. I was stir crazy,” he said.
At the time, he was renting a large home with a few others. One day, he watched a movie that featured a secret door and was inspired to build one in one of the unoccupied rooms. Online research revealed that there weren’t many businesses offering secret doors. He floated the idea with architects and builders and got positive feedback.
“Maybe there’s a niche for me,” he thought at the time.
Humble gave notice to his company, moved in with his parents and began con-
served the citizens and businesses of Tempe well,” Tempe Chamber President/CEO Anne Gill said. “The Tempe Chamber believes she has earned a second term.”
Tempe’s March 13 election will be held by mail. Ballots were sent Feb. 14.
Earnhardt to build dealership in Queen Creek, its first there
Earnhardt Auto Centers was scheduled to break ground Feb. 13 at 35747 N.
structing secret doors in the garage.
“It just naturally grew. Once I got a website, there were people who were looking for doors, and they found me,” he said.
Nowadays, Creative Home Engineering employs 10 and averages 50 customized doors and six times as many standardized doors annually. The founder said it had its best year in 2017.
“We are doing so much business that we had to buy this building,” he said. The new office has an extensive, high-ceilinged workshop. The new space also enables him to purchase high-end equipment such as a plasma torch to cut material precisely. Most high-precision jobs had been outsourced until then for lack of space and insufficient volume to justify the expense of buying the equipment.
Humble introduced a standardized line of secret doors to reduce the pricing and attract more customers. With a standard design, a machine can cut pieces more economically.
For custom orders, he has to spend hours on the phone with the builder, architect, interior designer and customer and exchange multiple revisions of drawings.
“It’s a very, very time-consuming process to make one secret door for somebody. But if it’s a standard design, they go on to our website, click, click, click and hit buy,” he said. “We never have to talk to them, and by doing that, we can offer them big savings.”
Creative Home Engineering is at hiddendoorstore.com for standard doors and hiddenpassageways.com for custom work.
Ellsworth Road in Queen Creek for its first dealership in the area.
Rodeo Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram will open on a 6.65-acre site owned by Earnhardt.
According to Rodeo Dealer Principal, Derby Earnhardt, “We are very excited to finally have a dealership in Queen Creek. Our entire family grew up in the Queen Creek area and we have watched this town expand into one of the best commercial areas in the Valley. We are proud to serve the residents of Queen Creek, a town that is near and dear to our heart.”
(Srianthi Perera/Tribune Staff)
Steve Humble, founder of Creative Home Engineering, shows that this bookcase has a switch hidden in a Harry Potter book.
A few questions that arise while watching the Winter Olympics
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
Can we talk for a moment about these Winter Olympics? Because, frankly, I have questions and maybe you fine people of the Valley can help me out. For example:
Why does it feel like figure skating commentators Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir are auditioning for “Real Housewives of PyeongChang”? And Holy Jim McKay, is it true that Johnny’s incubating baby hummingbirds in that nest-like apparatus atop his head?
Speaking of figure skating, must we be told that a pairs team is married approximately 37 times during each appearance on the ice? Wouldn’t it be more interesting if they were perfect strangers doing salchows, as opposed to a couple who bickers at home over who left the Bedazzler plugged in?
Kudos to Leibowitz
I’d like to thank David Leibowitz for his column last Sunday, Feb. 11 (“Memory of heroic slain firefighter will outlive any bullet”). He wrote an excellent tribute for Kyle Brayer, a firefighter gunned down in Scottsdale one week prior.
It was thoughtful and inspiring. A heartbreaking story. Why do we have to lose the good ones?
I don’t always agree with David but like to give credit when it is due. Thank you!
– Linda Roujon – Mesa
Go Thunderbirds
I received my AA degree from Mesa Community College 35 years ago. I went on to get my BA in education at ASU and have been teaching and coaching in Mesa for the past 27 years.
I came to Arizona from California after graduating high school to play football and run track for MCC. I had no scholarship offers in California to play sports. Some friends of mine told me to come out to Arizona and try out at MCC. After two years and my AA degrees completed, I received a full athletic scholarship to play football for ASU (1987 Rose Bowl champs).
I can honestly say that MCC bettered – no, saved – my life. It gave me a chance to compete in the sports I loved and complete my education. Without the opportunity to go there and play football, I know my life would have taken a turn for the worst. I think about those 149 foot-
Then there’s curling, which appears to me not to be a sport, given that it fails my four-question “Is it a sport?” test.
One, can you drink a beer while doing it? Two, are you better at it three beers in?
Three, does the event in any way involve a broom, Swiffer or other household cleaning item? And four, if the alleged sport involves massive rocks, are you forbidden from hitting the Russians with them?
If you answered yes to all four questions, you’re not playing a sport. You’re curling.
Don’t get me wrong about the nature of these questions. I still enjoy watching the Winter Olympics every four years, even if I can find them baffling at times. Snowboarding is pretty cool, for example, because you get to hear announcers literally make up names for the tricks on the spot. Like there’s a “chicken salad” and a “roast beef” and a “Double McTwist” and a “stalefish.” Either Todd the Announcer Guy is messing with us or the entire event was invented by stoners with a severe case
of the munchies.
I’m also a sucker for anything involving a sled, mostly because my brother Matt and I could have won a gold medal at doubles luge back in the day. Not to slight those two dudes named Tobias who took home gold for Germany, but they “luged” using a 60-pound sled capable of speeds near 90 miles an hour. Matt and I used to do the same thing on a hunk of cardboard or the lid of a metal garbage can, hurtling down Whitestone’s “Suicide Hill” toward speeding traffic on the Cross Island Parkway. No one wore Lycra spacesuits or a helmet either.
That memory gives rise to Winter Olympic events I’d like to see, like Speed Shoveling. Back when I lived in Trenton, old ladies could shovel their snowed-in Plymouth Valiant out of a parking space in under two minutes, including the time it took to block the empty space with folding chairs and pylons, to claim it for posterity. You think these biathlon people can shoot? Try stealing 86-year-old Ida
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ball players in the past five years who went on to get a scholarship to a four-year institution and where they might be if it hadn’t been for MCC football.
My daughter recently graduated with her AA from MCC, I would gladly pay an extra $1,000 a year (multiplied by 20,000 students) to raise the $20 million to keep the program going. Just tell me where to send the check. Go T-Birds!
–
Joe Sullivan – Mesa
Endorsement for Tempe
I highly recommend Robin Arredondo-Savage for Tempe City Council. I have had the honor of knowing Robin since her days on the Tempe Union High School Governing Board, more than a decade ago. It’s there that I began to appreciate her honesty in addressing questions and concerns as well as her ability to unify stakeholders for a common goal.
Since then, she has served two terms on the City Council and carried those leadership skills with her along the way. She bridges gaps and puts people over partisanship. She understands the importance of considering different perspectives as well as the impact on our tax dollars when finding pragmatic solutions. Furthermore, she understands what her role is as a city council member and stays focused on these responsibilities.
Robin has remained true to her roots in education. Being raised in a family of educational professionals,
she has a deep understanding of our public school system and the needs of our students. With higher education becoming more and more of a necessity, she created and expanded the College Connect Program. This much-needed program hosts workshops and trainings for high school students to navigate through the college application process.
Robin loves Tempe and she wants only the best for this city. Please join me in voting for Robin ArredondoSavage in our upcoming March election so she can continue to be our voice on the Tempe City Council!
– Sandy Lowe – Tempe
Sustainable goals
In a few days, my city will have an opportunity to make history and set us on a path toward a more resilient future. Our Tempe City Council will decide whether to adopt a 100 percent renewable energy goal for city operations by 2035; this aspirational goal will replace the city’s modest goal of 20 percent by 2025.
This is huge.
Approving this measure will signal that the City of Tempe is a statewide leader in sustainable development and set an example for all municipalities to follow.
Investing in renewable energy is a no-brainer. The sooner we can put these policies in place, the better. It’s encouraging that our local government is taking serious action to create a better future for our community, and I feel fortunate to have progressive and
Lugozzi’s parking space while she’s out picking up a quart of gravy at the Acme supermarket.
And what about the Senior Supine Slalom and Senior Supine Super Giant Slalom? First invented by an uncoordinated 50-year-old man taking his first ski lesson (let’s leave names out of this, please), these Alpine ski events feature older competitors negotiating the same runs as Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn – while lying flat on their backs or bouncing along face first. Competitors receive time bonuses for completing the run with both skis attached or for any falls that top the “agony of defeat” guy on Wide World of Sports.
I looked forward to these Games. Just like I’m looking forward to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and trying to understand why trampolining and horseback riding are somehow considered sports.
– David Leibowitz has called the Valley home since 1995. Contact david@leibowitzsolo.com.
visionary leaders such as Lauren Kuby, who is leading us to a solar future, representing our values on the City Council.
I’ve lived in Tempe for over seven years, and I’m so proud to call Tempe home because of innovative initiatives like the new Renewable Energy goal. As a business sustainability professional working in environmental nonprofit development, I believe it is imperative that we take immediate and decisive action on policy relating to energy production, water use, waste, and so much more.
At the end of the day, we all want to live happy and healthy lives, and Tempe is working to make that a reality. The future will be bright, if we choose to make it so! – Ryan Mores – Tempe
A real solution
Thanks for publishing Kathy Inman’s outstanding letter (“The Marijuana Solution,” Feb. 11).
I’d like to add that about seven years ago before and after my hip-replacement surgery, I was taking about six Vicodin tablets every day. Now, thanks to medical marijuana, I take no pain pills.
Vicodin can and does kill thousands of people every year. Cannabis, on the other hand, has never killed anyone. For those who oppose cannabis, don’t buy it. Don’t grow it and don’t use it. Period.
Sports & Recreation
Mesa basketballer proves them wrong from Dobson to ASU
BY RYAN CLARKE Tribune Contributor
It’s Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. ASU men’s basketball trails Kansas State by two with 14 minutes remaining in the first game of the Continental Tire Invitational.
Shannon Evans pounds the ball up the court for the Sun Devils and tosses the ball to a trailing Kodi Justice, who squares his shoulders to the basket and pulls up from 27 feet as two Wildcats scramble to close out.
They were too late. He buried it.
On ASU’s next offensive possession, Justice catches the ball at the same spot. Rather than testing his range once more, he switches the ball to his left hand and furiously dribbles toward the basket, taking two powerful steps before casually lofting the ball above his defender’s outstretched fingers.
Of course, it went in. Justice thought it would, even if everyone in the building didn’t.
That sequence in Las Vegas, along with many others in the senior guard’s electrifying college career, finds its roots in Mesa. Pickup games at the park, training in the garage and 1-on-1 bouts with his brother molded Justice into the player he is today. Justice might claim that he doesn’t listen to naysayers, but he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t.
“When I got to ASU, there were people saying, ‘Oh, he’ll be lucky if he’s a role player or even gets spot minutes,’” Justice said. “My whole life has just been proving people wrong. When people tell me I can’t do something, I end up doing it.”
Justice was told he couldn’t play with the adults in pickup games, so he’d stand in the corner and work on his moves. He was a scrawny seventh-grader with a big head who hadn’t proved anything. That was, until they finally let him play.
“I was playing against grown men that were like 25 years old,” Justice said. “They were trash talking, like, ‘This little kid can’t do this’ or ‘I don’t want to hurt him’ and I’d go out there and dominate everybody.”
In one ear and out the other, right? Nope.
Justice thrives on doubt. He doesn’t shut it out, get upset or quit – he fills a
canister with it and pours it on the fire. His greatest catalyst came in the summer before his freshman year of high school.
While training with his dad, Justice heard the words that set off his journey to ASU: “I don’t think you’re good enough to play at Mesa Community College.”
That’s harsh coming from a parent. Oddly enough, it’s exactly what Justice needed to fuel his relentless work ethic.
He’s not 100 percent sure that his dad was just trying to motivate him, but Justice laughed and said he’d “like to think so.”
In his first year at Dobson, Justice was the star of the junior varsity team while varsity coach Rick McConnell maintained his strict philosophy of not playing freshmen at the highest level. It was about development first and foremost.
“They just kind of let me run the show,” Justice said. “I think I scored like 25 points and averaged like 10 assists my freshman year (on JV).”
While Justice was technically on the varsity roster and made an appearance in a Christmas tournament, that summer’s AAU circuit was where he’d finally break through. He’d already had Division I offers despite his lack of varsity experience, but one performance etched his place in the recruiting landscape.
Playing for a local AAU team at the
time, Justice dropped 40 points on the No. 1 team in the country. That night, he said, he received an offer from every school in the Pac-12. He also got a call to play for Compton Magic, an elite AAU team that has produced over 100 professional players in the NBA and overseas.
All the attention Justice received seemed like validation – a sign that all the hours spent in the garage and at the park were worth it. His decision ended up being a no-brainer: Stay close to your family and go to the school 15 minutes down the road.
Justice said his commitment to ASU was cemented when McConnell talked about how hard it was when his son, Mickey, left home to play for Saint Mary’s after starring at Dobson.
“Just to be able to look up in the stands every game and see my family and friends, that was enough for me to commit here,” Justice said. “I wanted to be here with the ones I love.”
Sophomore year at Dobson rolled around and Justice was on the varsity squad full-time, committed to play Division I basketball and confident as ever. Nobody knew it at the time, but beneath that boisterous exterior was a kid struggling with dyslexia.
Like every other challenge put in front of him, Justice faced his disorder without fear, overcoming it thanks to a lot of hours behind the scenes. It wasn’t until his junior year at Dobson that he started talking about dyslexia with people outside his own family.
“There are other little kids who are in the same shoes I was in,” Justice said. “There are parents that don’t know how to deal with it – my parents were the same way.
“It’s not an easy thing, and there are kids that are going to struggle with it and won’t know what it means to be dyslexic and how to deal with it.”
Dyslexia, frustrating and challenging as it was, proved to be just another obstacle that Justice broke through. A fractured foot during his freshman year at ASU didn’t hold him back, either. When he was forced to play center at times for the undersized Sun Devils last season, he embraced it and held his own as best he could.
The trials always pay dividends for Justice. He continues to defy doubters as his college career approaches its end, making the improbable plays that define his role as a leader.
But the thing is, he’s been achieving the improbable his whole life.
(Marie Bernadette Obsuna/Special to the Tribune) Kodi Justice says he’s had to battle through dyslexia as well as the doubts of people around him.
Look for grace even when you’re surrounded by thorns
BY LYNNE HARTKE Tribune Guest Writer
Paul reminds us that there is sufficient grace for the thorn.
The day of hiking in the Superstitions was not going as planned.
On a tight blind corner, on a set of switchbacks, our dog, Mollie, picked up a section of cholla cactus on her nose, a clump the size of a child’s fist.
The cholla, of all desert plants, lives up to words by Edward Abbey, “It has been said, and truly, that everything in the desert either stings, stabs, stinks, or sticks. You will find the flora here as venomous, hooked, barbed, thorny, prickly, needled, saw-toothed, hairy, stickered, mean, bitter, sharp, wiry, and fierce as the animals. Something about the desert inclines all liv-
ing things to harshness and acerbity.”
Kevin grabbed Mollie’s scruff, as he attempted to keep her from licking the barbed hitchhiker. A quick flick with an old comb removed most of the offender, but six or seven thorns remained. One by one, I pulled them out with a tweezers, leaving drops of blood.
Surgery complete, Mollie squirmed and bolted, circling wide around all other cacti. She ignored an offer of a treat from me, the holder of the tweezers, and would accept solace only from Kevin, who as the holder of her head, should have been treated as an accessory to her pain, but Mollie, in her dog wisdom, did not see it that way.
On the loop back to the car, I took a wicked tumble. My feet flew out from under me, so I had no time to catch myself. I landed in a pile of sharp-edged rocks, my breath leaving me in a whoosh. Than fully,
FAITH CALENDAR
SUNDAY, FEB. 18
FOUNDATION STONE
Mar Yosip Parish of the Assyrian Church of the East in Gilbert is celebrating the beginning of construction of its own building with a Laying of the Foundation Stone Ceremony.
DETAILS>> 11:30 a.m., 1287 N. Recker Road, Gilbert. Information: 480-570-3918.
SAT-SUN, FEB. 23-24
RUMMAGE SALE
Love of Christ Lutheran Church is conducting a churchwide rummage sale. Furniture, toys, clothing, household goods and more will be available.
DETAILS>> 1-7 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, 1525 N. Power Road, Mesa.
SATURDAY, FEB. 24
CITIZENSHIP WORKSHOP
WED:
Holy Cross Catholic Church of Mesa is offering a free citizenship workshop and fee waiver assistance. Get a step-by-step review of the naturalization process, assessment of your ability to naturalize and more.
DETAILS>> 1-5 p.m., 1244 S. Power Road, Mesa. Information and registration: 602-606-0977, catholiccharitiesaz.org.
SUNDAY, FEB. 25
PURIM CARNIVAL
The East Valley Jewish Community is hosting a Purim Carnival at Temple Emanuel of Tempe. The celebration will feature a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, carnival games, a klezmer band and other family fun.
DETAILS>> 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 5801 S. Rural Road, Tempe.
The carnival is free but tickets are needed for activities. Prices range from $1 per ticket to $25 for 30 tickets. Unlimited game wristbands are $12. Prices will go up
besides a small gash, I seemed none the worse for wear.
My relief was short-lived. I could feel bruises forming as I took a steep descent and my left knee tweaked with each step.
Mollie – usually the first to come back to check on me – pranced ahead, apparently still in a snit as she displayed no concern about my slower gait.
After some experimentation, I realized if I positioned my knee so it faced forward, I felt no pain. This task proved difficult on the rough trail as I shifted much of my weight to my trekking poles. It was a slow finish to the car.
Can I just go on record as saying something? I prefer cactus-thorn-extraction pain to flat-on-your-back, tweak-the-knee pain. A pair of tweezers or an old comb and the irritation was gone. The other was a reminder of injury with every step.
after Feb. 19. Tickets available in advance at templeemanuel.formstack.com/forms/purim2018. Information: emanueloftempe.org, 480-838-1414.
INTERFAITH FORUM
The Interfaith CommUNITY Spiritual Center is hosting an Interfaith Forum Q&A about Ifa, the spiritual tradition of ancestor/Orisa worship with High Priest Babalawo A.S. Umar Sharif, MA. This indigenous spiritual tradition practiced worldwide has its roots among the Yoruba people in Nigeria. An offering of $10 is suggested.
DETAILS>> 12:30-2 p.m., 952 E. Baseline Road, Suite 102. Information: 623-932-1385, 480-593-8798 or interfaithcommunity.org.
TUESDAY, FEB. 27
WORLD’S LARGEST HAMENTASCH
To celebrate Purim, the Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life will bake the world’s largest hamentasch, a traditional three-pointed pastry. Teen students are welcome to the event.
DETAILS>> 6:30-8 p.m., 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler. RSVP at bit.ly/hamentasch. Information: 480410-1440 or rabbi.t@chabadcenter.com.
THURSDAY, MARCH 1
PURIM IN INDIA
Chabad of the East Valley hosts its 21st Annual Purim celebration, “Purim in India.” Featured are an Indian buffet dinner, candle lantern crafts for kids, dandiya sticks challenge, Js up-close magic, hennas and more. People are invited to masquerade in Indian attire.
DETAILS>> 5:15 p.m., Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life, 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler. Cost is $25 per adults and $18 per child before Feb. 25, $30 and $22 after. RSVP: chabadcenter.com/purim. Information: 480855-4333, info@chabadcenter.com.
I also prefer prayers answered immediately to relieve me of my misery. Irritations are borne so much easier when they are pulled free with a twist and a yank, even if a spot of blood is left behind.
Yet, Paul writes that there is grace even for thorns that remain. Sufficient grace for the daily living (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). The step-by-step journey in the midst of pain. The grace in the falling.
“But grace can be the experience of a second wind,” Anne Lamott writes, “when even though what you want is clarity and resolution, what you get is stamina and poignancy and the strength to hang on.”
I pray you discover that second wind. Strength to hold on. Sufficient grace.
– Lynne Hartke is the author of “Under a Desert Sky” and the wife of pastor and Chandler City Councilmember Kevin Hartke. She blogs at lynnehartke.com.
THURSDAY, APRIL 25
GOLDEN RULE AWARDS
Arizona Interfaith Movement’s Golden Rule Award will be given at a banquet at the Mesa Convention Center. Honorees are Pastor Magdalena Schwartz, Marilyn Murray, Playworks, Rose Mapendo and Muhammad Ali posthumously. Also featured is a Faith Fair where guests can learn about 25 different faith traditions and how the Golden Rule theme of “treating others as you want to be treated” is woven through all of them. A silent auction will support the organization’s Golden Rule educational programs for youth. Early bird tickets are $85.
DETAILS>> 5:30 p.m., 201 N. Center St., Mesa. Information: azifm.org.
SUNDAYS
SPIRITUAL CENTER
The Interfaith CommUNITY Spiritual Center offers New Thought, ACIM, Ancient Wisdom and Interfaith teachings, with uplifting music and positive messages. Ongoing classes include Qigong, A Course in Miracles, Pranic Healing, Kirtan, Drum Circle and many others. DETAILS>> 10:30-11:45 a.m., 952 E. Baseline Road, Suite 102. Information, 480- 593-8798 or interfaith-community.org.
HEBREW SCHOOL
Registration has opened for Chabad Hebrew School at the Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Classes will teach children ages 5-13 about Jewish heritage, culture and holidays.
DETAILS>> Classes will be held 9:30 a.m.-noon at 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler. To tour the facility or register, call 480-855-4333 or e-mail info@chabadcenter.com.
Leah Pritchett returns for NHRA Arizona Nationals
BY CONNOR DZIAWURA Get Out Contributor
Top Fuel drag racer Leah Pritchett is dedicated to her sport – almost too much.
“I feel like I’m probably one of the most competitive people that I’ve ever met, almost to a fault,” she said. “Obviously, that relates to the sport well.”
Pritchett, who joined Don Schumacher Racing last year, will bring that spirit this month to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.
The event, which will feature drivers in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock, will be Feb. 23-25.
“It’s a competition to make sure that I leave and have the quickest reaction time possible to get that car off the line,” she said. “That’s my job, that’s my competitiveness: to do whatever it takes to get that.”
Pritchett has been drag racing since she was 8. With a vastly different childhood from most people’s, Pritchett worked her way up the ranks, winning junior dragster championships, earning sponsorships and eventually becoming the NHRA Top Fuel dragster she is for Don Schumacher Racing.
“I guess one of my favorite parts about drag racing is that there’s just one winner at each event,” she explains. “That’s it. There is no second-place trophy, participation, jumba wumba – none of that. You are the baddest mofo at that particular event, and that’s why we lose with conviction and we win with conviction, because it’s so difficult to do – to win a national event.”
Among her extensive track record, the longtime car lover and racer is a two-time
Where: Where: Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, 20000 S. Maricopa Road, Chandler.
Tickets: $20-$86, kids 12 and under free with adult ticket purchase.
Information: 520-796-5601, nhra.com.
consecutive winner of the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. She earned her first career Top Fuel win in 2016, earning the title again last year.
“Coming into this Phoenix race, just to be the two-time defending champion of it from two different teams, two different racecars, multiple different partners, that’s a dream,” she said.
Pritchett also set the first of her two 2017 records at last February’s Arizona Nationals with a 3.658-second pass at 329.34 mph.
The second came when she reset that record at the 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota last August with a 3.640-second pass at 330.63 mph.
“It goes right back into the competition standpoint, where even though we set those two (national) records, it wasn’t a month and a half later that somebody broke our record,” she said.
That somebody is Clay Millican, who earned a 3.631-second pass at 330.39 mph at
Nation-
als at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois last September.
“We hope to get our world record back just for ourselves,” Pritchett said. “There’s no room in this sport for noncompetitive people. You’ll get eaten alive.”
To improve her chances, however, Pritchett trains extensively, focusing on strength, core and cardio training.
“I think I’m one of the hardest-training drivers that I compete against, specifically in the off-season,” she said. “Now, in the on-season, I find it more difficult, because I spend a lot of time with my team, my crew members.
“We do a lot of functions, we work together, we eat together, we do our nightly activities, going out together, because I have always prized that bonding and friendship, and that’s what it takes to create a team.”
But winning won’t come easily at the Arizona Nationals, which serves as the second event of a 24-race schedule this year.
Although she hopes for the best come
late February, competition will be stiff and stakes are high to get a third win and new elapsed time record at the track.
“We’ve set our own expectations of being quicker than we were before, and because it was the quickest, it’s pretty high,” she said.
“Expectation-wise, for a race win, I never underestimate anything. It would be a blessing, it would be a Godsend for us to be able to make it three in a row, but I don’t consider that an expectation, I consider that a goal.”
(Special to the Tribune)
Top Fuel drag racer Leah Pritchett vows to bring her highly competitive spirit to the National Hot Rod Association Arizona Nationals at Wld Horse Pass Feb. 23-25
‘Cavalia Odysseo’ offers a dream-like journey
BY LAURA STODDARD
Get Out Contributor
Normand Latourelle’s mother used to call him and fellow Canadian entertainers “happiness merchants.”
The group pooled its collective knowledge, skills and creative visions about 30 years ago to create Cirque du Soleil. Latourelle is the founder and creative genius behind Cavalia Inc., an entertainment company specializing in over-the-top touring shows that combine equestrian artistry, spellbinding acrobatics and cutting-edge technology.
“We’re all from a small province called Quebec,” Latourelle said. “There were a
IF YOU GO
What: Cavalia Odysseo
When: Various times, Wednesday, Feb. 21, to Sunday, March 4
Where: 1745 N. McClintock Drive, Scottsdale
Tickets: $39.50-$234.50
Info:866-999-8111, cavalia.com
bunch of street performers who started to get together at a small circus school in Montreal, and I was looking at what they were doing, and I said, ‘Well, maybe we can bring all this to another level.’ At that time, I would stage rock bands with lots of special effects (of course, they are not what they are today), and I thought maybe we could do that with those street performers. Take the traditional performers, and add more lights, more sound – a 365-degree experience with smoke machines and all that.”
Latourelle only spent five years with Cirque after it was successfully created, but he feels those were some of the most pivotal.
But stepping away from Cirque did not mean leaving the entertainment and production industry Latourelle still wanted to imagine and create, but he was set on the idea of using the most advanced special effects technology. And he envisioned a show that took things fur ther – a show that included more than just human per formers.
“I’m not a guy from the horse world,” Latourelle said. “I’m more of the guy from the entertaining world and that’s how I’ve been most of my life – trying to push the limits of what you can do; how creative you can be
with all the new technology and tools you have to create with. (‘Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse’) was the first show I created with horses, which is still very popular today, but through the years I knew I could push more. Not only what you can achieve with horses, but also what you can achieve as a touring show. I gave myself the goal to produce a show that was as good or better than any of the permanent shows you can witness in Las Vegas.”
Audiences will agree that Latourelle more than achieved that goal. And yet, after the
success of “Cavalia,” he wanted to push further.
“When I created ‘Odysseo,’ it was already kind of a monster,” he said with a laugh. “It was very big, because I didn’t put any limits on what would be going in a truck, and how many trucks. I didn’t really figure it out. I just said to my creative and production teams, ‘Let’s do the best of the best.’ It’s been touring now for six years, but when we started, it was a smaller ‘Odysseo,’ and I didn’t think it was enough. So now I do it even bigger.”
The $30 million production includes a cast of 50 world-class performers (horse specialists, acrobats, aerialists and musicians), 65 horses, a 40,000-gallon lake, a three-story mountain, and layers of special effects (including projections, lighting, lasers and smoke). Latourelle considers the show a 6-D experience.
(Special to the Tribune)
Aerialists perform high above the ground at “Cavalia Odysseo,” which is coming to Scottsdale.
Momma’s spaghetti sauce and her meatballs: Now that’s Italian!
Bivouac structure
Individual
sing with flavor
Emanations 37 Big talker
BY JAN D’ATRI
BY JAN D’ATRI
BY JAN D’ATRI
BY JAN D’ATRI Tribune Contributor
BY JAN D’ATRI Tribune Contributor
BY JAN D’ATRI AFN Contributor
Potato Soup with Cheese, Broccoli & Bacon
Contributor
sublime of a dish with chicken breasts, sliced into medallions and pounded to tenderize.
PBY JAN D’ATRI
BY JAN D’ATRI AFN Contributor
FHick a day, any day. You’ll find me in the kitchen, testing recipes, shooting videos or cooking for a crowd. It’s my “home” inside my home.
IWContributor
ive ingredients. Five minutes. Five million compliments.
Everyone who enjoys cooking is always looking for recipes that will make them instant rock stars in the kitchen – which brings me to one of my all-time favorites, my Momma’s best-ever homemade meatballs. That’s all I’m going to say. Just make them and see for yourself.
omemade peppermint patties are here, just in time for Valentine’s Day. If you love store-bought peppermint patties, you’re going to flip over this homemade version. It’s a chocolate lover’s world this week, and you’re about to rule it!
hen I think of Sunday suppers (or any supper for that matter), a good oldfashioned brisket is right there at the top of the list. Ah, but wait! What if that brisket was fall apart fork-tender and soaked in spice and coffee? Now we’re talking!
tis is the affable nightly news anchor on screen. Off screen, he’s a bit of a foodie. But the one that gets credit for this amazing brisket is his wife Abby, whose Grandma Suzy made her recipe good enough to pass along from generation to generation.
When preparing food for a hungry gathering, you can bet that I will include dishes that are tried and true; the dishes I know people love.
That pretty much sums up my momma’s famous chicken scaloppini. Back when she was the gourmet chef of her own signature restaurant, scaloppini was made with veal.
Homemade Peppermint Patties
Ingredients:
In fact, make a big batch, freeze some for later or have a big bowl of pasta with meatballs tonight. I’m including momma’s homemade meat sauce, so now all you have to do is pick the pasta!
Then she discovered that you can have just as
My Momma’s meatballs
3 cups powdered sugar
Ingredients:
Ingredients: (Serving for 4)
2 tablespoons olive oil
If you haven’t used coffee in a beef recipe, you’re in for a real treat. The great flavor is why top chefs love to prepare meats with a coffee rub. Coffee and beef bring out the best in each other.
I’m so excited to share momma’s scaloppini with you. It’s one of the pricier dishes you’ll find in upscale Italian restaurants, but thanks to momma, you can make it at home anytime you want. It really only takes about five minutes to make once you have all of your items prepped, which is an absolute must for this recipe because it will sauté up so quickly.
Momma’s meat sauce
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely diced
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
can’t think of a better combination of comfort foods in one bowl than a creamy, cheesy and satisfying potato soup with broccoli and bacon. I love this soup because it starts with the basics, but you can cheese it up, spice it up and thicken it up just the way you love it.
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium boneless chicken breasts
3 or 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
4 tablespoons cream
1 cup flour for dredging
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
12 oz. melting chocolate wafers (dipping chocolate)
If you’re not familiar with the use of coffee with brisket, you’ll surely recognize the man who gave me this recipe. KPNX Channel 12’s Mark Cur-
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Abby said that a lot of popular brisket recipes use onion soup mix, but she found that it makes the meat and vegetables very salty. The coffee is wonderful because it tones down the saltiness, adds a rich flavor when it’s mixed in with ketchup and the coffee also tenderizes the brisket. Grandma’s Brisket is one of those delicious reminders of how much we love treasured family recipes. Move over, Mark Curtis. This one is ready for prime time, too.
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
1 medium carrots, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
God, in Guadalajara
Doo-wop syllable
Ingredients: 6-8 pieces of bacon
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup Marsala
1 pound of fresh ground beef
1 cup finely grated fresh Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter, cubed
or 1 small can (4 oz.) green chiles
1/2 pound Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
1 large yellow onion, diced fine
2 cans (16 oz.) organic tomato sauce
Ingredients
1 cup sweet yellow onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
1 can (6 oz.) organic tomato paste
2 large carrots, diced fine
3-4 lbs. (first cut) trimmed brisket
1/4 cup chicken broth or warm water
1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large celery stalks, diced fine
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
2 sweet yellow onions, sliced in rounds
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups white button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
1 cup milk, plus more to thin out if desired 2 cups (8 oz. package) shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
2 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
Salt and pepper as needed
1 1/2 cups fresh brewed strong coffee
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 cups broccoli, cut in small 1-inch flowerets
Directions:
3-4 tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning
Optional, 1 large fresh Anaheim chile, diced fine
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups baby carrots
Directions:
8 mini potatoes
Directions:
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Set aside to cool. Combine pork, beef, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, broth or water, parsley, salt, pepper and the onion and garlic mixture in a large bowl. Mix just until ingredients are combined. Roll into small balls (about an inch and a half.)
In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract and cream. On medium high, beat with a paddle attachment. (Mixture will be crumbly at first.) Turn mixer on high and beat until it becomes creamy and smooth. Candy should be soft but not sticky. If too sticky, add more powdered sugar, a little at a time, until the consistency is that of Play-Doh. Roll out a long piece of plastic wrap. Scoop out mixture onto the wrap and form into a long thin roll about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. (This will be the size of the inside of your peppermint patty.)
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1 teaspoon pepper
Green onion, sliced thin, for garnish
ring often.
Wash chicken and pat dry. Remove fat. Cut each chicken breast into five medallion slices. (Not lengthwise like tenders.) Place chicken in zipper-closure bag and place on cutting board. Gently pound to form 2½-inch medallions. Dredge each medallion in flour. In a large sauté pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
On a baking sheet slightly greased or lined with parchment paper, bake meatballs at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until meatballs are slightly browned. (Or cook meatballs in frying pan with a little oil until browned.)
Roll it up tightly in the plastic wrap and twist or tie off the ends. (I divided the mixture up into two logs and wrapped each in plastic wrap to keep one log chilled while working with the other.)
In a large pan (or Dutch oven) over medium heat, sauté onion, garlic, celery and carrot in olive oil until tender and translucent. Add beef and sausage and cook until browned. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, bay leaves and basil. Simmer for about 45 minutes. When dark oil bubbles to the surface, the sauce is done. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chill the candy until it is very firm, at least one hour. Prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and place in refrigerator to chill. When candy has hardened, remove from plastic wrap and, using a sharp knife, slice off rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
Melt the dipping chocolate in the microwave
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season brisket by patting and rubbing Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides of brisket. Sprinkle both sides with garlic powder and pepper. Drizzle olive oil into Dutch Oven, roasting pan or large oven-safe skillet. On high heat, brown brisket on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.
Add potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often. Add broccoli and optional diced chile. Add chicken broth and cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together flour and
When the pan is hot, add the chicken a few pieces at a time. Do not overlap chicken. Brown each piece quickly on both sides, about 1 minute per side, making sure the heat is on high. When all pieces are browned, add Marsala. (Caution: It may flame up!) Stir gently just enough to combine. Turn heat down to medium and simmer for about 45 seconds until wine has mostly evaporated. Add butter, mushroom, yellow and green onions parsley, salt and pepper. Do not cover. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, occasionally stirring gently. Serve 5 medallions per serving. Place chicken medallions over a bed of rice, scooping sauce from pan over chicken. For more flavorful rice, cook rice in chicken broth instead of water. Serve with
Remove brisket. Reduce heat to medium high and cook onions with drippings until just softened, about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Wisk together coffee and ketchup. Remove the onions or move them to one side of the pan. Return the brisket to the Dutch oven fat side up and arrange the onions over the brisket. Add carrots and mini potatoes. Pour the coffee & ketchup mixture over the brisket. Cook for 2 1/2
as a side.
Tip: To keep your candy round, cut a slit all the way down an old cardboard paper towel tube, and put the candy inside which will help keep the bottom from flattening as it sits in the refrigerator.
Slice entire slab of bacon in half. Refrigerate one half for later use. Cut remaining half of slab of bacon into one-inch slices. Do not separate bacon before cutting (It’s easier to cut and to pull apart when using this method). Alternately, you can cook 6-8 full pieces of bacon and cut into smaller pieces when cooked. In a Dutch oven or large pot, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to drain on paper towels. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. (If desired, remove all bacon grease and add two tablespoons of butter or olive oil.) Add onion, carrots and celery and cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, or until softened, stir-
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FT/PT Sitters needed to provide child care to resort/hotel guests, groups and residential. $14-$21/hr. 2+ yrs exp Apply: childsgarden az.com/applicants
Employment General
Kenly Farms, Inc. of Arizona seeks 24 temp. full-time w orkers from 03/03/2018-06/30/2018 for Farmworker and Laborers, Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse positions (Ref. Job Order #2913584) Workers will be involved in various tasks such as, but not limited to: collecting budwood, topping, weeding thinning, irrigation and tractor drivers. Budding-Lying in a prone position on a. budding cart, the employee use a budd ing knife to cut a small niche or seat under the stock. The employee then removes a bud scion fro m a whip or rose cutting and places it in the cut seat. A budding cart is a metal frame on wheels with a fabric sling that is propelled using the knees or feet. Tying- Lying in a prone position on a budding cart, foll owing the budder, the employee secures the bu d scion to the stock using plastic budding tape, creating an air-tight seal. cleaning and maintaining faciliti es. Lift cartons approx. 60 lbs. Wage offer i s $10.50/hr., 42 hr. work week, M-Sat, 7 hr/day. Employer guarantees each worker the opp. of employment for at least 3/4 of the workdays of the total period of work contract & all extensions. Tools, supplies & equip provided at no cost. Housing provide d at no cost to workers who cannot reasonably retur n t o their permanent residence at end of each work d ay. Transportation & subsistence expenses to the worksite will be paid by the employer upon completion of 50% of the work contract, or earlier.
GET ON THE FAST TRACK TO AN EXCITING NEW CAREER.
Mediacom Communications is the 5th largest cable company in the US. We are adding an Internet Tech Support Call Center in Apache Junction, AZ. and are looking for career oriented candidates with call center experience to take inbound calls from our customers in 22 states regarding our services and to assist with technical troubleshooting. If you love technology, have an IT background, have previous technical support background or are a tech savvy person, this is the career for you! Bi-lingual in Spanish is highly preferred.
Onsite Tech Support Career Fair!
Wednesday, February 28th 10am to 6pm
New Mediacom Facility in Apache Junction 1435 E. Old West Highway
Immediate Interviews will be held on this day. Stop by and explore the opportunities and ask about our $1,000 Sign On Bonus! Can’t attend? To view a full description and to apply, visit: www.mediacomcable.com/careers and search for job number 11620.
Mediacom Communications EOE/AA; we consider applications without regard to race,
sex, national origin, disability or vet status.
We are looking for new agents in our successful Chandler office!
Sell us on why we should hire You in your cover letter. Include recent production results, your career goals, and what you are looking for in a brokerage. We will consider newly licensed realtors
Apply at nearest AZ Dept. of Economic Security office: 4635 S Central Ave, Phoenix AZ, 85040. 602-7710630 Please reference AZDES Job Order #: 2913584
A pply in person at 8271 N Green Rd Maricopa, AZ 8 5139.
• HRISAnalyst5(Req.#17-2631)Drivesuccessfuldeliveryofsys&processsolutionson PayPal’sGlobalHRSysRoadmap.Identifyenhancementopportunitiesinthedvlpmentof a techroadmap.Req’s:MS(orequiv.)+3yrs.exp ORBS(orequiv.)+5yrs.exp.
• InformationSecurityEngineer3(Req.#171378)Workw/L1&L3TeamtoSupportIAM Solutions.MonitorHealthoftheIAMSolution E nhanceMonitorsfortheIAMSolution.Resolvecomplexuseraccessissues.Createprog ramstoenhanceefficiencyofthesolution R eq’s:MS(orequiv.)+3yrs.exp.ORBS(o r e quiv.)+5yrs.exp.
• InformationSecurityEngineer2(Req.#171064)Implementsecuritymeasurestoensure theprotectionofPayPal’snetworks.Provideimmediateimpacttothesecurityteamthroughthe collectionofdatafromopensourceintelligence g athering.Req’s:MS(orequiv.)+6mths.exp O RBS(orequiv.)+5yrs.exp.
MustbelegallyauthorizedtoworkintheU.S w ithoutsponsorship.Submitresumew/ref ( pleaseincludetheReq.No.)to:ATTN:HR , C ube10.3.584,PayPal,Inc.HQ,2211Nort h FirstStreet,SanJose,CA95131.EOE
height o f
3 9 feet above grade
A ny interested part y wishing to submit comments regarding the pot ential effects the proposed facility may have
o n any historic property may do so by sendi ng comments to : P roject 6117005265 -
M RG c/o EBI Consulti ng, 6876 Susquehann a
T rail South, York, P A 1 7403, or via telephone a t (339) 234-3535.
P UBLISHED: East Valle y T ribune February
Meetings/Events
Crops of Luv
"My dream is that one day we will be able to give every "wish" child a scrapbook to remind them that dreams do come true."
Jody, co-founder, Ahwatukee based non-profit Come Join us: Help make embellishments, organize or assist with events, scrapbook, donate your time, money or space. Teens who need to fill Community Service hours for High School are welcome! Come be apart of something Awesome! Cropsofluv.com 480.634.7763 cropsofluv@cox net
NOTICE TO READERS:
Most service advertisers have an ROC# or "Not a licensed contractor" in their ad, this is in accordance to the AZ state law.
Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC): The advertising requirements of the statute does not prevent anyone from placing an ad in the yellow pages, on business cards, or on flyers.
What it does require under A.R.S. §321121A14(c) www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01165.htm is that the advertising party, if not properly licensed as a contractor, disclose that fact on any form of advertising to the public by including the words "not a licensed contractor" in the advertisement.
Public Notices
Again, this requirement is intended to make sure that the consumer is made aware of the unlicensed status of the individual or company.
District Court Pueblo, Co. Pueblo Combined Court 501 N Elizabeth St. Ste. 116, Pueblo Co 81003. In the Interests of Alexandra Jones. Dianna Jones, Frederick Jones, 941 E Blackstone Dr., Pueblo West, Co. 81007. CASE # 17PR275. NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION PURSUANT TO 15-10-401, C.R.S. To Jessica Jones, Frederick Jones Sr. Last Known Address, if any: 561 E. Lehi Rd., Mesa, AZ 85201 for guardianship of Alexandra Jones (Granddaughter) will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued: Date: March 26, 2018: Time: 10am Courtroom or Division: 404 Address: 501 N. Elizabeth St. Ste 116, Pueblo, Co 81003. Person Giving Notice: Diana Jones, 941 E. Blackstone Dr., Pueblo West, Co 81007.
Published: East Valley Tribune Feb 4, 11, 18, 2018 / 10743
Contractors who advertise and do not disclose their unlicensed status are not eligible for the handyman's exception.
