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Trump draws a crowd to Gateway
THE SUNDAY
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Chandler/Tempe Edition
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This Week
NEWS ............................ 4
Chandler mom drowned her month-old son, police say.
COMMUNITY.......... 11
Big day for East Mesa Boy Scout troop.
Kamaile Hiapo is helping to make Skyline High’s volleyball team a champ.
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
O
ne of the largest Hispanic nonprofits in the nation is emerging as an important player in the redevelopment of downtown Mesa, with plans to build two significant projects along Main Street and the Metro light rail. Chicanos por la Causa is preparing to address two eyesores in Mesa, joining ASU and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a major push to re-invent the city’s long-neglected core. Its two projects involve: replacing Mesa Royale, a nearly 70-year-old dilapidated mobile home park, with garden condomini-
REHAB on page 6
(Srianthi Perera/Tribune Contributor)
Intern Taelor Millsap, left, and therapist Cherise Basques help little Rita Davison prepare to play fetch with Watson, a therapy dog on The Therapy Farm in Gilbert, which helps East Valley children with special needs. For a look at what it accomplishes, see page 10
Gateway Airport control tower plans finally taking off BY JASON STONE Tribune Staff Writer
P FOOD ......................... 26 Get into the ‘spirit’ of the season with Spooky Cake.
COMMUNITY ........... 15 BUSINESS.................... 21 OPINION.................... 24 SPORTS........................ 18 FAITH ............................ 27 CLASSIFIEDS............ 36
INSIDE Sunday, October 28, 2018
2 more big projects Helping broken bodies aimed at downtown Mesa’s overhaul
See
SPORTS ..................... 22
EAST VALLEY
(Special to the Tribune)
Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport may now have a chance to replace its aging and inadequate air traffic control tower after years of delay in Congress.
hoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is finally free to do something about its short – and potentially unsafe – air traffic control tower. Thanks to the U.S. Senate passing the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, the airport will be allowed to spend around $20 million on a new control tower after years of not being able to build it because of an old, bureaucratic rule. “All we’ve been wanting to do is spend our own money,” airport spokesman Ryan Smith said. “We’re not looking for a handout. We just to be able to spend our own money.” The airport can do that now that Congress has eliminated a $2-million cap on capital improvements to traffic control towers at the nation’s smaller airports. The rule was put into place to keep towers affordable since the fed-
eral government pays most of the bill. But Gateway Airport is not like most smaller airports. It’s the 35th busiest in the country in operations and attracted 1.4 million passengers last year. With a Vietnam War-era tower still keeping a watch over nearly 300,000 flights a year, however, airport officials have been itching for a taller, wider tower for years. Congress had been working on passing a new FAA reauthorization bill since 2013. For the last six years, the government operated under the 2012 agreement. “(Congress) just kind of kicked the can down the road,” Smith said. That’s where Arizona’s Congressional delegation stepped up. U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema and Congressman Andy Biggs led an effort in the House to remove that cap as part of the 2018 See
TOWER on page 8