THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
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CGCC marks 25 years of service
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Gilbert Edition
INSIDE
This Week
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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After 100 years, LDS moving away from Boy Scouts
BUSINESS ................ 15 House flipping is back and growing in the East Valley
(Arizona Humane Society)
Former NFL player turns mentor to young footballers
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Dog’s slasher a time bomb, police fear
NEWS ............................. 6
SPORTS ......................19
EAST VALLEY
Hamilton papers reveal a lack of cooperation
Panda recovers from having her throat slashed. Police say her original owner gave her to another man at Espee Park in Chandler sometime between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11.
highly skilled surgeon with the Arizona Humane Society’s Second Chance Animal Trauma Hospital saved Panda, a pit bull mix, after Chandler police found her with a deep, nearly fatal slash to her throat. Now, authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying Panda’s attacker, a man who may be a time bomb, likely to have harmed people in the past and a threat to do so in the future. Alison Ferrante, an assistant Mesa city prosecutor, cites a strong body of studies showing the link between animal abuse and violent crime, including domestic violence and murder. Several notorious serial killers are known to have abused pets. Ferrante, Chandler police Sgt. Dan Mejia and Humane Society spokesman Bretta Nelson all say whomever attacked Panda to within an inch of her life is a dangerous
person. They know this person needs to be identified and prosecuted. They are asking for the public’s help, with clues about the attacker’s identity very limited. “That’s really sadistic behavior, to do that to a dog,” Ferrante said. “It’s a huge red flag.” Ferrante, who has experience handling animal abuse and domestic violence cases, said it is likely the person who slashed Panda has either harmed a human being already in a violent crime or eventually will do so if not apprehended. Ferrante said animal abuse manifests itself as part of the power and control motivations of domestic abusers because they know their victims have a close bond with pet dogs and cats. That close bond represents another powerful way to manipulate a victim. The domestic abuser might say, “If you don’t come back to me, I’m going to kill your pet,” Ferrante said. “It’s a means of control, to get that person to stay.” See
PANDA on page 8
Busboy at Denny’s for 30 years still loves his job BY JESSICA SURIANO Tribune Staff Writer
EVENTS ..................... 24 Four Peaks Oktoberfest returns to Tempe Town Lake
COMMUNITY.......... 11 BUSINESS.....................15 OPINION..................... 17 SPORTS........................ 19 FAITH............................ 22 CLASSIFIEDS............. 28
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t one of Mesa’s oldest Denny’s restaurants, Steven Kennedy is as much a part of the diner as its signature Grand Slam breakfast platters and red leather booths. Kennedy, 51, is celebrating his 30th anniversary this month as a busboy at the Denny’s at Southern Avenue and Country Club Drive. About 20 of his coworkers, his boss and Denny’s corporate representatives threw a (Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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BUSBOY on page 4
Steven Kennedy shows off a certificate given to him by his coworkers, his boss and Denny’s corporate representatives. He's been a busboy at a Denny's in Mesa for 30 years.