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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
THE SUNDAY
Self-driving Uber cars EAST VALLEY move to Tempe
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Gilbert Edition
PAGE 4
Sunday, January 1, 2017
A look at the new year
INSIDE
This Week
A few hints of what’s to come COMMUNITY ............ 8
BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributing Writer
Where to recycle your Christmas tree in the East Valley
H
BUSINESS ................... 11 Cartel Coffee Lab expands with subscription bean service
(Special to the Tribune)
The Chicago Cubs opened Spring Training in Mesa and finished the season winning the World Series for the first time since 1908.
2016 – EV makes its mark on history SPORTS....................... 14 All-Tribune picks for football, volleyball players of the year
COVER STORY BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributing Writer
I THEATER .................... 17
Holocaust hero is celebrated in play at Chandler Center for the Arts OPINION.........................13 BUSINESS .........................11 FAITH ...............................12 CLASSIFIED ....................20
n the annals of America, now surpassing two centuries and twoscore years, some dates stand as indisputable watersheds, cleaving one era from another. The list would begin, of course, with 1776. It would include 1865, 1941 and maybe a few others of your choosing. If 2016 is someday added to those ranks by virtue of a spectacularly unconventional presidential election, let the record show that the East Valley played its own part in the great drama, standing for the most part with the victorious Republican, Donald Trump. That is not to say our cities alone accounted for the nearly 85,000-vote margin by which Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in
Arizona. Election maps do show a decided Democratic tinge to the vote in Tempe. But go east and south from there and the tide turns red, the decisions made in thousands of East Valley homes echoing millions of similar ones around the country. The campaign washed into the East Valley several times. Clinton stumped for votes at Arizona State University just six days before the election. Trump’s numerous visits to the Phoenix area did not bring him to the East Valley, but his running mate, Mike Pence, came to Mesa in early November as Trump’s momentum surged. During the tumultuous campaign, one East Valley politician made national headlines by defying his party’s nominee. U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican from Mesa, declared his opposition to Trump during the primary elections and, unlike See
2016 on page 2
ere’s a quick look at what 2017 could bring to the East Valley: Stable governance: Despite an influx of new city council members, political veterans occupy mayoral offices in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe. Bottom line: Don’t look for radical changes in direction from our respective city halls. Political clout: Chandler Republicans Steve Yarbrough and J.D. Mesnard will serve as president of the state Senate and speaker of the House, respectively. Hockey battle: The Arizona Coyotes may face an uphill battle seeking public funding for half of the $400 million they want to spend on a new arena in Tempe. Freeway fight: Gilbert residents and businesses are at odds as they await a decision on whether to build ramps for Loop 202 at Lindsay Road, which will see more traffic as nearby acreage fills in. Downtown Mesa: The city has been soliciting public input on what to do with 25 vacant acres at Mesa and University drives, acquired nearly 20 years ago, for a pie-in-the-sky resort proposal. Could 2017 be the year something finally happens there? Cubs celebrate: Expect one of the most raucous and joyful parties in memory when the Chicago Cubs open the 2017 Cactus League season against the Cleveland Indians at Sloan Park in Mesa. In November, the Cubs beat the Indians in an epic seven-game World Series for their first world title since the Theodore Roosevelt administration. The Trump effect: President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on immigration, health care and trade could dramatically affect lives and pocketbooks across the East Valley. Immigration, in particular, has been a political flashpoint here for years.