THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
Memorial Day essay recalls their valor
THE SUNDAY
Tribune
PAGE 15 Northeast Mesa Edition
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS ............................. 4
An 8-year-old Mesa girl was critically injured in freak accident
BUSINESS . ................ 13 Mesa woman virtually staffs businesses
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
PAGE 11 Sunday, May 27, 2018
Mesa’s Riverview dream on verge of coming true BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributor
T
he Chicago Cubs complex in northwest Mesa was never supposed to be just about baseball. When Mesa pitched the proposal to voters in 2010, the city and the Cubs talked about lucrative redevelopment on city land next to the spring-training stadium. Wrigleyville West would be a mini-Chicago, bringing tourists, jobs and a vibe.
Other than a Sheraton hotel, however, there is no sign yet of Wrigleyville. Much of the former Riverview Golf Course, where the stadium was built, remains vacant. Now, four years after the stadium opened to record-breaking Cactus League crowds, the project looks poised for a major economic payoff. The City Council on May 21 approved a memorandum of understanding with two development companies for what could become 1.35 million square feet of high-end office
space just northeast of the stadium. A staff report to the council said the project is “capable of bringing thousands of quality jobs and opportunities to Mesa.” The 22 acres lie immediately north of Riverview Park just west of two auto dealers, occupying an area that formerly included recreational ball fields. The site’s proximity to Loop 202 and Dobson Road has made it a prime target of inter See
RIVERVIEW on page 10
8 years later, a Mesa family still mourns fallen hero BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
ven at age 7, Barbara Vieyra was already telling her family how she wanted to serve in the U.S. Army. Family members, including her sister Lupe, SPORTS ..................... 18 wondered if Barbara was just going through a Gilbert Christian teams up with phase as the two girls grew up on a southeast the Cardinals for camp Mesa dairy farm. Lupe gently reminded Barbara, “That’s kind of dangerous.’’ But military aspirations were not a phase for Barbara, who remained steadfast in her quiet determination to serve her country. She went through the ROTC program at east Mesa’s Skyline High School. After Barbara gave birth to her daughter Evelyn, her resolve only grew. She enrolled in the U.S. Army in 2008 and became a military poDINING ................... 20 lice officer and an expert marksman. Chandler Mexican restaurant has And Lupe’s fears became a heart-wrenching a legacy of good food reality. COMMUNITY.......... 11 Barbara was deployed to Afghanistan, where BUSINESS.....................13 she made the ultimate sacrifice. She was killed in action by an improvised exOPINION..................... 15 plosive device and rocket-propelled grenades SPORTS........................ 18 on1 Sept. 18, 2010. It was a scenario repeated EVstrip_052218_PRINT2.pdf 5/22/18 3:54 PM
CLASSIFIEDS............. 23
EAST VALLEY
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | EastValleyTribune.com
E
C
Addicts find new life at Gilbert ranch
many times over, with the IED disabling a military vehicle so it could be attacked with other weapons. With another Memorial Day upon them, Barbara’s family will somberly commemorate their loss as the nation pays tribute to its fallen heroes. Barbara was only 22 – and Evelyn was nearing her third birthday – when she was killed. It was a devastating blow, the kind with just as much power over the lives of most military families as any bomb or missile. “She was more calm, more disciplined. Me, there’s no way I would do that,’’ Lupe Vierya said. “Me, it was, ‘You’re crazy.’’’ Lupe is proud of her sister and her service to the country. At the time of Barbara’s death, she was considered the first East Valley woman killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. The girls and their brother, Robert, are firstgeneration Americans, born to Raul and Elizabeth Vieyra, immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States seeking a better life more than 30 years ago. Raul rose every day at 4:30 a.m. for nearly See
MEMORIAL on page 6
(Kimberly Carrillo/ Tribune Staff Photographer)
Evelyn Vierya displays a photo of her mother, Army PFC Barbara Vieyra, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, when Evelyn was nearing her third birthday.