THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
Old friends find each other in Tempe
THE SUNDAY
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PAGE 3 Chandler/Tempe Edition
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This Week
Gilbert setting up ‘Safe Exchange Zones’ at police stations
BUSINESS . ................ 15 Michael Hiatt named Times Media Group vice president
EAST VALLEY
PAGE 14 Sunday, April 8, 2018
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‘Non-winter’ won’t leave EV high and dry BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributor
NEWS ............................. 5
Saint Xavier building gets new tenant
I
f you’re wondering where the winter of 2017-18 went, you’re not alone. The period from November through March will go down as one of the warmest and driest winters in East Valley history – and, by one important measure, the most parched ever. That measure is the amount of water flowing from northern and eastern Arizona into the Salt and Verde rivers to fill our bathtubs and swimming pools. Typically in late March, as the high coun-
try thaws, the two rivers are healthy torrents tumbling toward the Valley. But on March 26, their combined flow was only 6 percent of normal. “It looks like this year could very well set the all-time low record,” said Charlie Ester, manager of surface water resources for Tempe-based Salt River Project. “2002 was the all-time low, and we’ll probably come in under that.” Ester said that’s a product of extremely low rain and snowfall across SRP’s watershed. A normal winter produces about 10 inches of precipitation across the region, Ester said. This year, the average was less than 3 inches.
A life that saved others
SPORTS ...................... 18
In the Valley itself, it was even worse. Total rainfall from November through late March at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport – the area’s official measuring station – was exactly 1 inch. That’s less than a quarter the yield of a normal winter. Furthermore, the latest map from the national Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows most of Arizona in either extreme or severe drought, with no relief expected at least through midyear. As grim as all that may seem, Ester and othSee
DROUGHT on page 4
Despite fan dip, Cactus League 2018 hit a home run
Hamilton High ready to leap the net to tennis title
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
EVENT......................... 22
ins and losses don’t mean much in Cactus League, where the players work on preparing for the marathon MLB regular season and the fans mainly work on drinking beer and getting a better tan. But the big winners every year include the Phoenix area’s tourism industry and East Valley charities supported by two venerable civic organizations with a decades-long connection to the league: the Mesa Hohokams and the Tempe Diablos. All indications are that both fared well again this year. Overall, the league’s attendance was down slightly, to 1.77 million from 1.91 million, the result of 24 fewer games and a slow start in February. But attendance per game rose by about 150
W
Suds and science pair up at museum for Beer N’ Bones
COMMUNITY..................11 BUSINESS........................14 OPINION.........................16 SPORTS............................18 FAITH................................21 CLASSIFIED....................30
(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Marissa Pummill, nicknamed “Roo,” is remembered by her family. She died at age 21, but her donated organs saved six lives. April is National Donate Life Month. Story, Page 11.
See
CACTUS LEAGUE on page 8