East Valley Tribune: Gilbert Edition - Jan. 15, 2017
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BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
Drivers passing through Mesa may sense they're being watched from afar. They would be right.
The traffic-tracking program that Mesa launched in 2014 will be expanded later this year into an East Valley regional system with the help of technology and federal anti-airpollution grants. It will extend more coverage to East Mesa, and also include Gilbert and Tempe.
Members of the Canaan Missionary Baptist Church (from left) Pastor Sherman Fort of Gilbert, Cayton Flemming of Mesa, Candice Fort of Mesa and Tim Short of Mesa's Tims Premium Garden Soil.
Mesa community garden keeps King’s legacy growing
But the program is an example of technology’s reach into citizens’ daily lives, even if it’s with the best of intentions.
Engineers sit in the Mesa Traffic Management Center, staring at the Video Wall, using a series of sensors and cameras to track traffic flow and to change the timing of lights.
BY RALPH ZUBIATE Tribune Executive Editor
As Arizona and the nation mark another Martin Luther King Jr. Day, residents across the East Valley are being challenged to engage in various volunteer opportunities in their communities.
The We Sow Seeds Community Garden in Mesa doesn’t wait for an annual celebration, but instead takes up that challenge daily by providing participants the chance to grow their own healthful food. More than that, the garden is a tool to counter bad nutrition.
“This isn’t just food production,” said
Candice Fort, overseer of the garden that began less than two years ago. “It will be a place where people can learn about nutrition.
There are so many diet-related illnesses in our community.”
Fort said the garden’s growing season is starting up again.
“We’re planting from spring to fall. In February, we’ll be beginning some new planting,” she said.
Recently, a sizable delivery of soil gave the community more square feet to plant.
“We have maybe 12 beds that are full, with a couple completed just a week or two ago,” Fort said. “I’m really excited about getting all
Behind the scenes, engineers fight congestion and the pollution caused by cars idling at traffic lights. Their work might help someone avoid sitting through five changes of a light in a construction zone or on a street backed up after a collision. They do this by picking up a wireless Bluetooth or Wi-Fi signal from cellphones and the cars themselves.
The system of 82 sensors already blankets west Mesa to Gilbert Road. The 19 additional sensors are anticipated to go online by the end of July and to extend coverage to such major roads as Lindsay and Val Vista Drive. By the end of this year, the new East Valley system will be available on the AZ511 website, which allows drivers to check if there are traffic delays, looking at yellow, green or red lines and clicking on the display for notifications about construction or traffic accidents.
The ARID monitors, Anonymous Re-
(Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer)
COVER STORY
East Valley business leaders applaud Gov. Ducey’s education proposals
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Managing Editor
Nearly 500 East Valley business and community leaders enthusiastically applauded Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday as he outlined a 15-point plan for improving K-12 public education in Arizona.
He was somewhat more specific as he laid out a plan to blunt the teacher shortage: eliminating the “crushing burden” of college loan debt.
A pivotal part of the plan involves more financial rewards for teachers, ranging from raises to a free state university education for anyone committing to teach in Arizona.
“I want the teachers of our state to know—you make the difference. I value your work and it’s time we return the favor,” Ducey said at a breakfast sponsored by East Valley chambers of commerce and the East Valley Partnership.
“I have a commitment our educators can take to the bank—increased investment in our public schools above and beyond inflation every single year I am governor,” he added.
Ducey, who gave his speech the same day he released his proposed 2017-18 budget, did not spell out details of how he would fund his plan. His budget also includes money for capital expenditures for repairs and new schools as well as an expansion of all-day kindergarten in poor school districts.
For all teachers, Ducey promised “a permanent, lasting salary increase above” whatever raises they are receiving through Proposition 123, overrides or local school district initiatives. He did not say what that raise would amount to.
He proposed accomplishing that by having the three state universities and community college systems in the state work together to develop an Arizona Teachers Academy. Graduates of that academy would get a free education if they committed to teach in the state. He did not set a timeline for the academy’s development or indicate how long a commitment would be expected from its grads.
For teachers who sign up to work in low-income districts, Ducey proposed a $1,000 signing bonus.
He also proposed overhauling or even eliminating the state teacher certification process, noting that former U.S. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor would not qualify to teach in a public high school under current certification rules despite a long history of academic and other achievements.
Virtually all East Valley districts provide all-day kindergarten through budget overrides or simple general fund expenditures and it was unclear if they would benefit from the help Ducey pledged for all-day K in low-income districts.
The top leaders of the State Senate and House, who are from Chandler, have said previously that the state had only about $24 million in uncommitted money for the coming budget year.
Ducey did not address budgetary issues.
(Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services)
Senate President Steve Yarbrough and House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, both from Chandler, greet Gov.
Doug Ducey Jan. 9 as he prepares to give his State of the State address. Ducey shared details about his school proposals at a breakfast sponsored by East Valley chambers of commerce and the East Valley Partnership on Jan. 12.
THE SUNDAY
New law may offer hope to residents plagued by aircraft noise
EAST VALLEY
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Managing Editor
If you feel like you’ve been hearing more commercial planes flying over your neighborhood since late 2014, it isn’t your imagination.
But now, Congress and the Obama administration have finally done something about it.
With last month’s approval of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, the Federal Aviation Administration is required to help cities that can show they have been harmed by changes in flight paths to and from nearby airports.
The law’s flight-path provision could mean a lot to Tempe residents, who have put up with an increasing number of overhead flights from Sky Harbor Airport.
The law requires that airports and communities have the opportunity to engage with the FAA before any future flight path changes are made. And it applies retroactively to the big change that occurred in September 2014.
Back then, the FAA began implementing NextGen, which altered flight paths in an effort to streamline arrivals and departures at the airport.
Neighborhoods bombarded by the noise said the change was made with little public notice or input.
That includes Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, who complained in 2015 to FAA environmental specialist Marina Landis. He wrote:
The change was supposed to enhance departures and arrivals, using communication between satellites and on-board airplane equipment to “navigate with greater precision and accuracy.”
After months of discussions and stalled negotiations regarding the noise complaints, the city of Phoenix sued the FAA in June 2015.
Sky Harbor was not the only airport to see noise complaints rise after the start of NextGen: Similar lawsuits have been filed in Boston, New York and throughout California.
McCain said the new law “requires the FAA to mitigate the negative effects of flight path changes that have already been implemented, while providing impacted communities and airports a seat at the table before any future changes are made.”
His colleague Sen. Jeff Flake said the measure will “address complaints of Arizonans who have been negatively impacted by the flight path changes at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
complaints about noise at the facility in 2015, one of the highest rates among airports studied in a recent George Mason University report.
The report by the university’s Mercatus Center looked at airports like Sky Harbor and others where the FAA implemented NextGen.
Sky Harbor trailed only San Francisco International Airport, which logged an astronomical 890,376 complaints. But Sky Harbor was well ahead of the next airports in line: Los Angeles International with 8,862 and Washington-Reagan National Airport with 8,760.
Neighbors of Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport filed 24,247 complaints about noise at the facility in 2015.
“You may not be aware but Tempe’s neighborhoods, both adjacent to the airport in north Tempe and along flight paths in south Tempe, have been significantly impacted by both historic and recent flight path changes.
“The process, thus far, has been far from transparent and focused predominantly on environmental and economic factors,” he continued. “While these are certainly important elements, a wellrounded and sustainable solution is best developed when social factors and the effect on the public is equally weighted.
“I am disappointed that the public was not involved in implementation of the NextGen program in the Phoenix Metroplex from the beginning and, moving forward, urge you to listen to the public comments as part of your overall strategy.”
The FAA did nothing.
“The provisions we were able to establish a process to address those hardships and ensure the FAA will better consult with affected communities on future flight changes.”
Phoenix officials aren’t ready to celebrate.
They expect to continue their two-year federal suit aimed at forcing the FAA to change the flight paths.
Some people have measured overflight noise between 69 and 80 decibels, a range that scientists consider just shy of the potential to cause hearing loss.
Sky Harbor spokeswoman Heather Lissner said the city’s aviation department has been “actively involved” in working to “address flight path concerns” voiced by the community.
Neighbors of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport filed 24,247
The Mercatus Center report said the Sky Harbor complaints were submitted by 1,338 households in 2015, with just 13 addresses accounting for 3,814 of the complaints.
The new law wants an advisory committee to review the way the agency handles “consultation, or a lack of consultation,” with neighbors and local officials when implementing new rules at an airport.
The committee would have to report back to Congress within a year with recommendations for improving the procedures.
An FAA spokesman said the agency is committed to “transparency, inclusivity and responsiveness,” but it also wants Sky Harbor to set up its own process for receiving complaints in person from nearby residents.
“We have encouraged the Phoenix airport to establish a noise roundtable to ensure that community representatives, the FAA, the airport and the airline industry are all part of the discussion about addressing noise concerns,” the FAA said.
(Tribune file photo)
A Southwest Airlines plane flies over Tempe Town Lake and Hayden Ferry's Lakeside center in Tempe.
the beds filled.”
Students at the school next door, Lindbergh Elementary, also participate in the garden.
“They come over and do experiments, like photosynthesis,” explained her brother, Rev. Sherman Fort, pastor of CMBC The Word Church at 931 S. Stapley Drive. His church loans out the space for the garden.
“We wanted to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, not only to our church but to the community,” Sherman added.
“We live in the community, right? So, we’re just trying to support the community.”
The health needs of the community, primarily African-American and Hispanic, is one driving factor behind creation of the garden.
“Our community is really plagued with diabetes, and that’s associated with diet,” Candice said. “We think we’re all dependent on stores, when actually everybody can grow something.
“We have a doctor who is part of the group, and she’s really dedicated
to fighting the obesity epidemic and diabetes. She’s offered several classes on the subject.
“We want to encourage people to understand that they can do a lot to take control of what they put into their bodies.”
Candice says she believes members of her community could do more to help themselves.
“It’s a little bit disappointing to me, especially in the black community, that we aren’t doing more. I don’t know if that’s just my perception, because it is my passion. But I think we definitely could get more serious,” she said.
“Every time I’m in the garden, when the kids are around, I notice that they enjoy just being there. They want to know what’s out there, what I’m growing. We hand out vegetables, and they like that.”
Sherman is hoping to expand the garden.
“We’re trying to get more money to complete our vision,” he said.
“It’s designed to have an outdoor amphitheater, which would be a place for people to get married. We want to fence it in. But it’s taking a little longer to complete that bigger picture than we expected.”
East Valley celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
BY JUSTIN FERRIS Get Out Editor
Half a century after Selma and the stirring words, “I have a dream...,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s example, vision and principles still inspire and challenge. His national holiday Monday offers a good time to pause and reflect on his message, and celebrate his life.
In Mesa, the reflection and celebration takes the form of an annual breakfast, parade, festival and interfaith candlelight vigil, courtesy of the Mesa
IF YOU GO
What: Breakfast
Where: Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center St., Mesa
When: Monday, 7:30-9:30 a.m.
Cost: $50 (single ticket), $400 (table for 8)
More info: mesamlk.org/gala
What: Parade
Where: Downtown Mesa. Starts W. University/MLK Way and Central, travels south to 1st Street and
Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee.
Since the festivities began more than 20 years ago, they’ve seen tremendous growth. Discussing the parade, Committee President Angela Booker said, “We’ve grown from having about five floats ... to over 30 participants.”
Those participants include bands, Buffalo Soldier reenactors, motorcycle groups and churches. She said that more than 10,000 people now attend the parade and festival.
The festivities aren’t just for Arizonans either.
then west to Robson
When: Monday, 11 a.m.-noon
Cost: Free
More info: mesamlk.org/parade
What: Festival and Interfaith
Candlelight Vigil
Where: Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa
When: Monday, noon (vigil at 1 p.m.)
Cost: Free
More info: mesamlk.org
“We get people from all over the world,” Booker said. “We do a survey. We’ve had people from France, we’ve had people from Canada. Snowbirds say they come for this event.”
High-profile community leaders turn out as well. This year, the parade Grand Marshall is Mesa Police Chief John Meza.
Meza helped to bring about the Police and Community Working Together program in 2016. PACT pairs an officer with a community family three hours a week for a month. The goal is to improve communication and understanding between the community and the Mesa police force.
On the other end of the spectrum, the committee also wants to engage with the communities’ littlest residents.
“We do a creative art program where we ask kids to express themselves,” she explains. “We’ve seen a lot about how kids are learning about unity and peace. And also, conflict resolution is one of the biggest things we try to get kids to understand.”
The resulting art gets displayed during the annual MLK breakfast, which this year features speaker Calvin Terrell, and
at the festival. A writing, multimedia and oratory awards ceremony takes place during the festival as well.
The committee’s involvement with kids doesn’t end there. For the third year, the MLK Celebration Committee will partner with United Food Bank to collect peanut butter and jelly at the breakfast, parade and festival.
The partnership came after committee Vice-President Denise TrimbleSmith, who teaches in Mesa, saw kids arriving at school hungry.
“Our goal is to make sure that no child goes hungry in Arizona,” Booker said. “We want to make sure they have something to eat before they go to school and after they go home.”
Overall, Booker feels that the MLK Day events can help to create a better community, locally and nationally.
“We want [attendees] to take away that Dr. King was about unity and peace ... and we want people to understand that if there’s unity and peace, we as a nation can overcome the obstacles we have,” she says. “If we start with unity and peace, we can understand other people’s cultures and mindsets and that makes for a better America.”
(Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Volunteers Tay Purnell of Chandler and daughter Kyra work the soil at We Sow Seeds Garden.
TRACKING
Identification Sensors, record the distance traveled by a device between one signal and another, and calculate the speed as a measurement of congestion.
Engineers, such as Mesa’s Avery Rhodes and Tempe’s David Lucas, stress the anonymous part and brush aside any concerns about government overreach into a cellphone owner’s privacy.
Rhodes and Lucas both said their cities will be monitoring the location of devices inside vehicles, not the people who own them. The sensors pick up Mac addresses, or serial numbers on the devices. Rhodes said an iPhone can have three separate Mac addresses, but there is no such thing as registry of Mac addresses.
The Mac addresses are automatically encrypted by the traffic monitoring system and appear as gibberish, he said. Mesa and other cities would have no way of saving the addresses or using them in the future.
“If I wanted to spy on my girlfriend, I couldn’t use it for nefarious purposes, even if I wanted to,” Rhodes said. He said he is confident that drivers will find great value in having the traffic flow information at their fingertips when it is available on AZ511 later this year.
“The more people know, the better,” Rhodes said, but he’s also a realist. “I’m sure there will be conspiracy theories.”
If someone feels very strongly about the traffic monitoring system, they could turn off Bluetooth and go dark, Rhodes added. Engineers estimate they are picking up maybe three to six percent of devices.
Lucas said he just wants to make traffic flow better, not to track people.
“This program was designed with that first and foremost,” he said. “We wanted to make sure there were no concerns about privacy. We want to make sure no
PROBLEM. SOLUTION.
one thinks they are being tracked.”
Mesa Mayor John Giles said it can be frustrating to drive in Mesa and other parts of the East Valley this time of year, with the large influx of winter visitors. He said more information will help engineers make the best decision on how to keep traffic moving.
“The anonymity involved in this ought to be a comfort to anyone concerned about government invasion of privacy,” Giles said.
“We are not tracking anybody. We are tracking cars.”
The sensors are only one layer of technology used at Mesa’s traffic center. The city also has 177 cameras at about 40 percent of intersections. The two technologies are used in tandem to make changes in traffic-light timing.
In Chandler, the ARID sensors are used on a more limited basis to give drivers estimated travel times, to warn them about delays and accidents, and to help them decide which freeway to take. Chandler decided not to join the regional traffic monitoring system, not because of any philosophical objection to the sensors, but because the city has other priorities. One big project is putting in a series of flashing yellow arrows.
“We have that ability already at our traffic center” to change the timing of lights, based upon traffic conditions, said Mike Mah, Chandler’s transportation engineer. Instead, Chandler relies on a system of 800 cameras, four at each of 218 intersections, giving engineers every possible angle.
Steve Elliott, an Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman, said ADOT monitors traffic flow and travel time with a different type of sensor buried in the pavement. He said ADOT is testing the ARID sensors on Arizona 347 near Maricopa to evaluate their effectiveness.
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(Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer) Mesa Transportation Department ITS analyst Steve Hall monitors traffi c fl ow from his desk at the Traffi c Management Center.
New Year, New Home
Mesa aims at human trafficking, prostitution with new ordinance
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
Mesa has passed a tough new ordinance to regulate escort services, giving police a way to make arrests for failure to obtain a license without having to prove a sex act occurred.
Officials acknowledge they are trying to deter escort services, which can function as a front for prostitution and human trafficking of young women, from advertising and operating in Mesa.
But the primary hope is that the ordinance will help police identify young women working in the escort industry so they can help them choose a better life.
“Arrests aren’t our primary objective. Intervention is our primary objective,” said Commander Tom Intrieri, of the Special Operations Division. “The ones that are being trafficked, we would try to gain their confidence and offer them resources to get out of the industry.”
Mesa police have a long history of targeting the sex industry. In the latest undercover investigation in December, detective posed as 13- and 14-year-old girls on sexually explicit website. Ten suspects were arrested after they showed up at a pre-arranged place expecting sex.
Police dubbed the investigation “Operation Home Schooled” and used tactics that they have used regularly over the last few years.
“Each year, the Mesa Police Department conducts operations of this type in a continuous effort to remove these predators from our community. Suspects willing to solicit sex acts with children are some of the most dangerous criminals in our society,” Detective Steve Berry, a Mesa police spokesman, wrote in press release.
The landscape has changed dramatically from 20 years ago, when Mesa police used to work Main Street, identifying prostitutes and arresting them, Intrieri said.
But like other forms of organized crime, the sex business has gone online, as Operation Home Schooled demonstrates, advertising on certain websites.
“They are not walking the street anymore. They are sitting behind a computer or using a smartphone,” he said.
John Pombier, a Mesa assistant city
manager and former city prosecutor, said Mesa wants to train officers in how to deal more effectively with women involved in human trafficking.
“It’s not to put them in jail, it’s to get them help,” Pombier said.
Outgoing Vice Mayor Alex Finter said it became obvious that Mesa ordinances needed more severe consequences. He said several other cities in the region toughened their ordinances and Mesa needed to keep pace as more escort services started operating in the East Valley.
“They go to the path of least resistance,” Finter said. “It was moving to the East Valley.”
He said Mesa hopes to convince escort services to stay out of the city with the tough ordinance.
The new ordinance, unanimously passed by the outgoing Mesa City Council at its last meeting on Monday, Jan. 9, prohibits an escort service or individual escorts from advertising or working in Mesa without a license.
Police anticipate few applications. A fee of about $200 would be charged for an escort or an escort assistant, and about $420 for an escort bureau, according to a city council report.
Applicants would be required to disclose 10 years of employment history, 10 years of regulatory history and all misdemeanor and felony convictions during the past 10 years. Mesa police would review the applicant’s criminal history and make a recommendation on whether a license should be granted.
If someone were to obtain a license, violations would be treated harshly, with a $500 fine for the first offense, $1,000 for a second offense and $1,500 for a third offense.
Escorts would be barred from performing sex acts of all types. No one working for an escort service could be less than 18 years old.
Mesa has learned over the years that it is not immune from the sex subculture, despite its family-oriented identity. In Project Blue Heat, police announced in August 2015 that they had arrested seven suspects on prostitution charges and rescued two underage girls, one from Arizona and another from California, who were human trafficking victims.
Community Writing Contest taking submissions until February
The 3rd annual Tempe Community Writing Contest is about to launch for writers from high school and beyond.
The Tempe Public Library and Arizona State University are taking submissions in poetry, fi ction and creative nonfi ction. The contest is open to Tempe residents, Tempe Library cardholders and ASU students. One entry per person.
Submissions will be accepted online from Tuesday, Jan. 17, to Feb. 21. Winners will be announced in April. Winning entries will be published in the Tempe Writers Forum V. 3 book.
Additional contest information can be found at tempe.gov/WritingContest.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Gilbert mayor to give first Digital State of the Town
Mayor Jenn Daniels is premiering her fi rst Digital State of the Town at the Harkins SanTan Village in Gilbert on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m.
The theme showcases why businesses, residents and visitors choose Gilbert. In addition, Gilbert’s 2016 accomplishments and business successes will be highlighted.
The event is free. For more information or to register online, visit gilbertaz.gov/ stateofthetown.
– RACHEL EROH, TRIBUNE STAFF
WRITER
Volunteers being sought to count Mesa homeless
Mesa is looking for volunteers to participate in the Maricopa Association of Governments 2017 Point-in-Time Homeless Count on Jan. 24 from 5 a.m. to noon.
The goal is to better understand how many people are homeless and to be better equipped to meet their needs. The count includes a brief survey to identify some of the characteristics of the homeless.
Volunteers, who must be 18 or older, will be deployed in groups of three or four to count and interview homeless people in various parts of Mesa. Volunteers will be required to attend a training session Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Fire Station 201, 360 E. 1st St.
An alternate training session will be held Jan. 23 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Phoenix at Bethany Bible Church at 6060 N. 7th Ave.
To register, visit mesaaz.gov/ PITCount. The deadline for registration is Monday, Jan. 16, at 5:30 p.m.
– RACHEL EROH, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Cars, planes and pancakes featured at Falcon Field
Falcon Field Airport will welcome classic cars, classic planes and a pancake breakfast Saturday, Jan. 21, from 8 to 11 a.m.
The Pancake Breakfast, Fly-In & Classic Car Show is hosted by the Falcon Warbirds in collaboration with Impala Bob’s at Mesa’s Falcon Field Airport. The event will be held at the Falcon Warbirds’ hangar, 4626 E. Fighter Aces Drive.
An $8 ticket will buy pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice and coffee. Proceeds will support EAA Warbird Squadron 50.
– RALPH ZUBIATE, TRIBUNE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Health and fitness expo at Chandler Community Center
An event for health and fi tness will be held at the Chandler Community Center on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The event will feature health-conscious vendors, fi tness and cooking demonstrations, and giveaways.
The event is free. The Chandler Community Center is at 125 E. Commonwealth Ave. For more information, visit chandleraz.gov.
– RACHEL EROH, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Gilbert Riparian Preserve hosts Family Bird Walk
The Gilbert Riparian Reserve is hosting a Desert Rivers Audubon Family Bird Walk on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 8 a.m. to noon.
Leaders will take interested bird watchers around ponds to view birds. The preserve will have binoculars to borrow plus guidebooks and other items for sale.
There is no admission fee or charge and no preregistration. Walks will leave approximately every 15 minutes and last about 45 minutes.
The Gilbert Riparian Preserve is on the southeast corner of Greenfi eld and Guadalupe Roads in Gilbert. For more information, go to desertriversaudubon.org/ birdwalks.html. – TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
ASU professor to be honored for work on behalf of diversity
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Managing Editor
Neal Lester first became more politically aware of the reality of being an African-American long after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had died.
It was 1981 and the Georgia native was studying for his doctorate at largely white Vanderbilt University.
“I saw an entitlement I had not seen before,” the Arizona State University English professor recalled. “There was something going on with race and class.”
It wasn’t just the fact that was to become the first African-American to earn a doctorate in English. Or the fact that the female faculty member who helped him get that degree couldn’t get tenure. Or even that a professor asked him to recite the words to “Dixie.”
It was a combination of those and other factors that led him to dedicate his life to trying to change people’s unconscious as well as conscious attitudes toward race and class by looking inward and discovering how a sense of privilege “may inform our decisions and control our actions.”
Lester’s work in class, eight books, lectures and the community earned him the 2017 MLK Diversity Award for adult individuals from the Tempe Human Relations Commission. It will be awarded at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at a breakfast ceremony. His portrait will hang permanently in the Tempe Historical Museum.
“Dr. Lester’s work in race relations, empathy and workplace training creates a more welcoming and inclusive environment, not only at ASU but
throughout our Tempe community. His belief that culture and difference should be acknowledged, valued and celebrated is a shared vision with our city,” said Ginny Belousek, City of Tempe diversity manager, in announcing the honor.
Lester in recent years has been showered with honors and special recognition for his work inside and outside the classroom.
He has been dean and department chair as well as a vice president at ASU. He has taught courses on broad array of subjects, including African-American women writers, children’s books, the Disney representations of women, the N-word and even the racial and gender politics of hair.
A lecturer around the world, Lester also is director of ASU’s Project Humanities, a multi-dimensional approach to broadening perspectives on the interconnectedness of people “to create positive change in people and communities across political, socioeconomic, geographic and cultural boundaries, and in our daily lives.”
Using film, books and other media, Lester aims to increase understanding and acceptance through “talking, listening and connecting.” His efforts have taken him into a variety of workplaces and other venues.
For example, after the deadly 2014 police shooting of a juvenile in Ferguson, Missouri, he led 19 workshops for all 400 members of the Tempe Police Department.
“They assumed I was going to start talking about how racist they are, but that’s not my approach,” Lester explained. “I talked about how they demonstrate a sense of privilege—not
from what they have done but from what they have.”
That sense of privilege or entitlement often guides people unconsciously to make choices that either ignore different races, cultures or ethnic heritages—or act disrespectfully, even hatefully.
Lester recalled a sign for a blood drive on Facebook, for example, that showed two white arms stretched out and preparing for a needle.
“Why two white arms? It makes me wonder what went into a decision consciously or unconsciously,” he said.
This is not a matter of political correctness, Lester asserted, but a matter of learning to respect another person’s identity.
With the Tempe police, as he does with other groups as well as his ASU students, Lester said he tries to get them “to peel the layers” of their actions and attitudes to explore how they are influenced by privilege—“the unseen stuff you have that you didn’t do anything to earn.”
It’s a more complex issue than many people understand, he added, because people are just not a race, a gender or a
sexual orientation.
“We’re a bundle of things,” he said.
The racial and other conflicts in society today, he said, aren't much different from what it was in Martin Luther King’s day. Rather, he said, “social media has emboldened people and allowed people to be less self-censoring.
“But I don’t want to make this a matter of technology,” he added. “Technology also has connected people in new and different ways.”
Lester is particularly fond of using literature to enable people to explore their attitudes toward those who different from them.
He gives a different perspective on children’s literature.
“Children’s literature is assumed to be assumed to be apolitical, but it isn’t,” he said.
And because “we were always exposed to it” as youngsters, he uses it as a springboard for self-examination to explore how their attitudes have been shaped since they were young.
“My approach allows people to walk into this a little less defensively,” he said.
Tempe diversity awards honoring other individuals, a church and one group
Achurch, one community-based organization and four high school students are among the other honorees at Tempe’s diversity breakfast on Monday.
They include:
• Jay Scherotter, a leader and organizer of Tempe Youth Leadership activi-
ties and a past commissioner on the Tempe Human Relations Commission.
• Students Perla Jacquez, Velena Leon and Eleanor McDevitt of Tempe High School and Destina Medina of Marcos de Niza High.
• Tempe Union administrators Jill Hanks and Diane Welling.
• Vice principals Jim Bell, Corona del
Sol; Tomika Banks, Desert Vista; Eric Cruz and Suzanne Pachuta, Tempe High; Joe Dominguez, Mountain Pointe; Brian Fleming and Sarah Tolar, Marcos de Niza; Dana Lineberger, Compadre High School; and Molly Saddler, McClintock. JoLyn Gibbons, Gililland Middle School, principal also will be honored.
• Mary Baker of Corona del Sol High
and Brooke Ramsey of McClintock High will be honored for the clubs they started after Challenge Day.
• Dayspring United Methodist Church, for numerous services and programs stressing diversity.
• Hood 2 Hood Foundation, which works with the Tempe Police Gang Squad to identify youth who need positive reinforcement.
TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
(Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer)
ASU Humanities professor Neal Lester will be awarded the 2017 MLK Diversity Award for adult individuals from the Tempe Human Relations Commission.
ASU to lead its first NASA space exploration
Fire damages mortuary, some cremated bodies
Arizona State University’s Psyche Mission has been selected for fl ight, which marks the fi rst time that the school will lead a NASA space exploration mission and the fi rst time that scientists will be able to see what is believed to be a planetary core.
The mission’s spacecraft is expected to launch on its journey to a metal asteroid in 2023, arriving in 2030. The probe will spend 20 months in orbit, mapping the asteroid and studying its properties.
cost, highly focused robotic space missions exploring the solar
It will be part of NASA’s Discovery Program, a series of lowercost, highly focused robotic space missions exploring the solar system. The Psyche project is capped at $450 million.
made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal. As such, it offers a look
Psyche, an asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, is made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal. As such, it offers a look into the violent collisions that created Earth and the other terrestrial planets.
– RACHEL EROH, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Naked Mesa woman arrested for stealing sheriff’s vehicle
A woman who stole a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department vehicle while naked was arrested and identifi ed as Lisa Luna of Mesa.
Luna has a prior criminal history and was wanted on an outstanding warrant at the time of her arrest.
The chase was on Interstates 8 and 10 and took place for over 70 miles.
Luna had disrobed while walking along south Butterfi eld Road in Gila Bend. She told a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy that she had been sexually assaulted. She then stole the vehicle and drove away, resulting in a chase.
She later rescinded her story and said she had been high on methamphetamine and spice.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Tempe’s McClintock Pool undergoing renovation
Tempe’s McClintock Pool is under construction and is planned to reopen to the public this summer.
The pool renovations include increasing the depth to meet the Maricopa County Department of Environmental Quality requirements for diving, replacing the bulkhead with a moveable version, adding a new ADA-accessible entry and updating the aged infrastructure and equipment.
Once construction is completed, McClintock Pool will reopen to the public for recreational swimming. Days and times of operation and fees will be determined in the spring.
– RACHEL EROH, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A fi re at a Chandler mortuary left the facility heavily damaged last week. Offi cials also say several "already-cremated" bodies were affected.
According to the Chandler Fire Department, the fi re at Valley of the Sun Mortuary, near Chandler Heights and Alma School roads, was not suspicious.
Crews from Gilbert and Sun Lakes also responded to the scene. At some points, fl ames jumped up more than 20 feet into the air.
Gilbert investigating death of infant rushed to hospital
A spokesperson with Dignity Memorial, owners of the mortuary, initially said no bodies were inside at time of the fi re. Later, however, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Offi ce said an unknown number of cremated bodies were damaged.
– RALPH ZUBIATE, TRIBUNE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
An infant airlifted to the hospital last week later died of unspecifi ed injuries. Gilbert Police are investigating.
A Gilbert Fire Department spokesperson said the 7-month-old was airlifted from the Val Vista and Germann area with serious injuries. Offi cials did not disclose the circumstances of the injuries.
While it’s not clear what happened to the baby, police say a fall was involved.
– TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT
Family trying to recover body of daughter killed in Texas
Mesa resident Wendy Tenorio, 20, died recently after her family took her off life support following a car accident in Midland, Texas.
Her family said the car she was in, along with her sisters, was hit by a drunk driver Dec. 17. Tenorio was declared brain dead on Christmas Day.
Her sisters also suffered injuries in the crash.
The school she was attending, Midland College, has set up an endowment fund to help the family bring her body back to Mesa. The family has also started a GoFundMe page, at gofundme.com/bring-wendys-body-home-to-arizona.
Mesa’s garbage trucks running cleaner, quieter on CNG
BY SHELLEY RIDENOUR Tribune Staff Writer
Mesa city officials have taken more steps to make the city’s fleet of garbage trucks greener and cheaper to run.
The city recently opened a compressed natural gas fueling station at the solid waste department on Mesa Drive. Half of the fleet of trash, recycling and green waste trucks—35 vehicles—are now fueled by CNG. By the end of 2021, the entire fleet is expected to be run by CNG, according to Frank McRae, director of the city’s energy resources department.
The city got its first compressed natural gas garbage truck in November 2012.
Three more CNG garbage trucks were just ordered and should be delivered in the fall. It takes about 10 months for a truck to be delivered, said Scott Bouchie, city director of environmental management and sustainability.
The city had used a temporary, leased CNG station for a few years, but made the decision to construct its own station for several reasons, the two men said.
The conversion to CNG trucks is becoming common in the solid waste industry, McRae said.
“There’s a revolution of technology in the energy industry,” McRae said. “CNG is at least a bridge fuel, if not a permanent long-term fuel.”
The fact that the city owns a natural gas enterprise that can supply the trucks was also part of the reasoning.
CNG prices are less volatile than diesel prices, they said. CNG costs an average of 50 cents versus $2 a gallon for diesel.
CNG is a cleaner-burning fuel. CNG engines run quieter than diesel engines, require less maintenance and need fewer repairs.
Bouchie first ran the financials on converting the sanitation department fleet to CNG four years ago. It’s important to city officials that they keep an eye on costs, he said, because all of the department’s costs are passed on to customers—Mesa residents.
That data showed the CNG effort would be a smart move in part because
the city has its own natural gas utility, he said. Having the solid waste department buy gas from the utility helps both
departments, he said.
“It’s a win for our residents,” Bouchie said.
The city doesn’t own gas wells, McRae said. It purchases gas which is moved through pipelines and connected to the city’s system. The natural gas system has about 60,000 customers in Mesa. For comparison sake, McRae said, Southwest Gas has 1 million area customers.
The city has had a natural gas and an electric utility since 1917, after acquiring them from Dr. A.J. Chandler.
Several city departments now use CNG-fueled pickups as part of an experiment to determine if the conversion to CNG vehicles should be expanded beyond garbage trucks.
Those pickups are each driven about 18,000 miles a year, McRae said, enough miles to justify conversion to CNG. A garbage truck is driven between 20,000 and 30,000 miles a year.
Generally, diesel garbage trucks last about seven years under their rigorous schedules, Bouchie said.
“CNG makes sense for a vehicle that travels a lot of miles,” McRae said. “Fuel savings only materialize if you drive a vehicle enough miles.”
The fueling station was built to handle all 70 trucks in the city’s fleet, so as the entire fleet is converted, it won’t require expansion, McRae said.
Most people can’t tell the difference between a CNG and a diesel truck, Bouchie said. The biggest visible difference is the CNG tanks are on top of the trucks, so a big box-like unit sits on them. And, all of the CNG trucks have signs which indicate their fuel source.
The department’s mechanics underwent some additional training to work on the CNG engines, Bouchie said. Truck drivers and members of the Mesa Fire department were also trained to deal with fires on the CNG trucks. Each truck is equipped with shut-off valves in the event of fire.
“People throw weird things away,” Bouchie said. “Garbage trucks can catch fire.”
While most people won’t see a difference, drivers notice that the biggest difference between the two styles is
(Shelley Ridenour/Tribune Staff)
Eddie Gollihar, an employee in the city of Mesa’s energy resources department, checks a manual shut-off valve on a garbage truck powered by compressed natural gas.
(Shelley Ridenour/Tribune Staff)
Rob Adams, a driver for the city of Mesa’s solid waste department, is seen through the cab of the compressed natural gas-powered truck he drives to collect green waste. Adams says the CNG truck operates much quieter than a diesel truck.
Survivor’s cancer book ‘might give people some hope’
BY RACHEL EROH Tribune Staff Writer
AMesa resident and teacher hopes her recently published book about her experience with breast cancer will help other patients.
Claudia Bretzing was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2009 and endured months of chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy. After the treatment was over, she spent six years writing her book “The Cancer Effect.”
“I realized this book might give people some hope,” Bretzing said.
While going through chemo, Bretzing would search for books from people who went through a similar experience. However, her searching came up with writings from doctors or tomes full of advice. She said wanted a book she could relate to.
Bretzing kept a journal during her treatment. As she began to write more, she realized that other people might connect to her story.
Her book consists of 15 chapters detailing her journey. She said she believes the story will make readers both laugh and cry.
The actual chemo treatments end in chapter eight. The second half of the book covers the obstacles that occur later, Bretzing said.
“Nobody really addresses the emotional healing that occurs afterward,” she said.
Bretzing has received a positive response from those who have read the book. Many of her friends were surprised when they read her story, she said.
“One of the common things I heard was, ‘Oh my gosh Claudia, I had no idea you were going through so much,’” Bretzing said.
Her husband, Randy, said she was very good at hiding her struggles.
“She wanted to spare her family and friends,” Randy said. “She tried to be a happy, perky bird.”
Even her editor told her that she needed to dig deeper into the emotion because it was apparent that she was still holding back.
Bretzing was still teaching while she was writing the book, which caused delays.
“I didn’t have time to write,” Bretzing said. “I was tired by the end of the day.”
Bretzing was a teacher at Hale Elementary School for 12 years and refused to let her treatments stop her from teaching her second-grade class.
She didn’t hide her illness from the kids, Bretzing said.
“I didn’t feel like it was fair to not tell them,” she said.
She would hold discussions with her students in class so they could ask her questions about her illness. She even involved her students in the decision on whether she should wear a wig, hat or scarf after chemo, she said.
One of Bretzing’s close friends, Monica Germaine, was by her side during the chemo and remained in the tough times after the treatments.
Germaine noticed all of the pain that Bretzing was concealing during and after the treatment, she said.
“She’s always smiling on the outside but I knew she was really struggling and going through her own kind of pain,” Germaine said.
Germaine hopes that Bretzing’s book will also provide hope and insight to those diagnosed with cancer or to the loved ones who are trying to provide support, she said.
She said the book was very true to Bretzing’s experience and her feelings.
“There’s a lot of passion. When I read it, I thought ‘Yes, that’s exactly what she was thinking at that point,’” Germaine said.
She also was there to help remove the bandages after the bilateral mastectomy, which was a particularly tough time for Bretzing, she said.
“I still miss them,” Bretzing said. “It’s one of the hardest things, knowing you’ve lost a part of your femininity.”
Bretzing refused to undergo reconstructive surgery and had the support of
to help her accept her body, she said.
“You’re still a woman with or without your breasts,” she said.
Bretzing said she fears that one day her cancer will reappear and the treatments will start all over again, but she also knows she is much stronger now.
“I just accept God’s will,” she said.
her husband
(Larry Mangino/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Cancer survivor and author Claudia Bretzing spent six years writing her book “The Cancer Effect.”
(Special to the Tribune)
Claudia Bretzing’s book “The Cancer Effect” is partly about the aftereffects of chemotherapy. “Nobody really addresses the emotional healing that occurs afterward,” she said.
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Couple grows family with special-needs, adopted kids
BY ADRIANA BECERRA Tribune Contributing Writer
Afamily of 15 is hoping the community rallies around their need for a van.
Nathan and Lori Ryberg of Queen Creek are foster parents with 13 children: six biological and seven adopted. All seven adopted, and one biological child, have special needs.
The children’s special needs range from Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and spina bifida to being born with methamphetamine addictions. They have needed various knee, back, orthopedic and heart surgeries.
Together, Nathan said the kids have needed “50 plus” surgeries.
Still, Nathan said he and his wife are not scared away by all of the medical needs.
“We think the medical part is, not easy, but is forthcoming to us,” said Nathan, “That would scare most people off but it’s identifiable.”
Lori said that no child coming from foster care is going to be “easy.”
“They are no typical kids in the system … our kids just have medical issues,” said Lori.
Nathan said that some things are easier for his family, like getting his kids to eat their vegetables, mostly because some of his kids eat from feeding tubes.
“Some things are easy and some things are harder,” said Nathan.
The Rybergs didn’t always plan on
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having such a large family.
“It wasn’t the future we had envisioned,” said Lori.
Lori and Nathan met on the first day of college, and have now been married 33 years. Both graduated with a degree in social work, with Nathan specializing in medical social work and Lori in adoption.
The two opened their house up as a foster home.
“We love doing foster care. We love working with them, we love getting kids back to their birth parents,” Lori said.
“That is our goal. We like working with birth parents and figure out how to take care of their kids and how to parent.”
Sometimes that is not always feasible, though. That’s what happened 22 years ago, when Nathan and Lori adopted their first child.
Since then, Nathan and Lori have adopted six more, five through foster care and two from direct adoptions. Their oldest child is 29 and youngest is 2. Recently, Nathan has noticed transportation is harder for his family. There are too many of them to fit in one car, so they either have to take two cars or make multiple trips. Nathan is also finding it harder to lift his children who are in wheelchairs.
Nathan’s coworkers decided to start a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of getting enough donations for the
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Hope Ryberg (center) holds Gabe and Obie. The three are part of the large Ryberg family, who hope to collect enough money to buy a new special-needs van.
noise.
“Trucks are drivers’ offices for 10 hours a day,” Bouchie said. “They notice the lower noise.”
Driver Rob Adams agreed. He said less noise is the single biggest difference between a CNG and a diesel truck.
The CNG trucks don’t have gas gauges, but instead have pressure gauges, Adams pointed out.
When the oil is changed in a CNG truck, “it’s always clean,” Adams said. “It looks like it’s new all of the time. It never changes color like the oil in your car does when it gets old.”
In both types of trucks, the drivers sit on the right side because it’s easier to see the curb, the containers and the truck’s arm that picks the containers up.
Adams concurs with his bosses about the environmental and cost advantages of CNG trucks.
“I’m not sure as the world works that we’ll ever get rid of pollution or of gasoline, but all we can do is try to make it better,” Adams said.
— Contact reporter Shelley Ridenour at 480898-6533 or sridenour@timespublications. com. Follow her @ShelleyRidenour.
TEMPE
ASU online degree program ranked fourth best in nation
U.S. News & World Report has ranked Arizona State University’s online bachelor’s degree program fourth in the nation out of more than 1,300.
The program moved up seven spots, from tied for 11th place in the 2016 rankings.
ASU Online had 17,589 undergraduate students and 6,261 graduate students in the fall term.
MESA
3 new council members and Mesa mayor sworn in
Three new Mesa council members along with the mayor were sworn in Jan. 12 as the City Council undergoes a sea change.
Longtime council members Dennis Kavanaugh, Alex Finter and Dave Richins are leaving because of term limits. Kavanaugh served two separate eight-year terms while Finter and Richins served for the maximum of
eight years without interruption.
Kavanaugh is being replaced by Ryan Winkle in southwest Mesa’s District 3.
Mark Freeman will replace Richins in northwest Mesa’s District 1, and Jeremy Whittaker replaces Finter in central Mesa’s District 2.
Mayor John Giles was sworn-in to serve his second term. He has previous experience as a council member.
CHANDLER
City hosts career fair for Chandler companies
The City of Chandler, in partnership with Arizona@Work Maricopa County, will host a free career fair in downtown Chandler from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Jan. 19, at the Chandler Community Center, 125 E. Commonwealth Ave.
Local employers will be onsite to recruit new talent and promote available positions. Employers expected to participate in the career fair represent a variety of industries, including technology, financial services, hospitality, healthcare, retail and more. No registration is required for jobseekers. Interested employers can get more information at 480-782-3033.
family to buy a small shuttle bus with a wheelchair lift. The site is at tinyurl. com/RybergFamily.
Currently, the campaign is at more than $50,000 of its $75,000 goal. At first, he didn’t want to create the campaign, but now Nathan is heartened to see how the community has supported his family, which might spark others to adopt or take part in foster care.
“That’s a great community thing,” said Nathan, “The community rallies together and that could encourage more people to do this.”
Nathan and Lori have decided to keep their doors open for now.
“We have a huge gap between my 2and 12-year-old. We’re still parenting. We’re not going to stop,” said Lori.
Nathan and Lori don’t see their children as harder to parent than “typical” kids. Lori said she knows plenty of families who struggle with their own issues, so they don’t see their family as out of the ordinary.
“We know tons of families who have more kids than us,” said Nathan, “In our world, it seems normal.”
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Gilbert man’s computer desk laps up attention
BY SHELLEY GILLESPIE Tribune Contributing Writer
David Stuebe had an idea at Christmas 2013 and is now busily putting it on people’s laps.
The Gilbert man wanted a desk for his laptop computer, but all of the ones he saw were heavy and poorly constructed. So, he and his team designed one.
Launching a Kickstarter campaign for 15 days, he aimed for 100 orders. When the orders mushroomed to 1,100, he felt his concept was validated and started a company called iSkelter, after The Beatles’ song, “Helter Skelter.”
CNN, Time Magazine and other national press placed his Slate Mobile Air-Desk on “best of” lists.
“If Apple made a lap desk, it would look like this,” Stuebe said at his factory in Phoenix.
With partner Jon Irons of Tempe, who
started as an employee and bought into the company, Stuebe found receptive customers and acclaim for his lap desk.
Designed in a minimalist style, it is created from three-ply bamboo sourced from locations in China. Bamboo, one of the fastest growing plants, is a sustainable product.
iSkelter chose its own blend of the bamboo, which is created with nontoxic products. Since the bamboo is processed with natural strands, every lap desk is unique.
“We take two to three hours to make each lap desk with an average of 6090 made per day and up to 200 units produced daily,” said Stuebe, who employs a staff of nine.
The staff cuts the 4-by-8-foot sheets of bamboo, nails them with plastic nails, creates cut-outs and sands every item twice. Hand-finishing is the final step for each product.
The company now produces 30 variations of the desk, with options for white board inserts, slots for iPhone and tablets and colored mousepads. The lap desks even come in left and right-handed versions. There also is an adjustable unit that allows a user to either sit or stand.
“Sitting for hours is as unhealthy as smoking,” Stuebe said to explain the adjustable unit.
With the massive cutting equipment, the storage space is minimized. The company stores finished products with Amazon and other vendors so it can focus on creating the products and moving them out.
To Stuebe, “Made in American means everything.”
So is family.
“Going to work every day, we
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Apple moves at Mesa won’t involve manufacturing
Paperwork indicating that Apple was renewing its Foreign Trade Zone status at its Mesa site triggered speculation that the company would begin manufacturing activity there, but Apple says that’s not its intention.
Apple hopes to build a global command hub for its data center operations, meaning the site will be where the company receives and configures servers, assembling them into racks, before distributing the units for use in its various data centers.
The Mesa hub is not yet operational. Apple says production at the site will be
provide jobs. This is a family business. My brother does the website. Jon and my father-in-law do production. I do the graphics and the final sanding,” Stuebe said.
Heather Brumfield, who started as a university intern, is now a staff member. Her arts and design background come in handy for the company’s online marketing efforts.
“She is also polishing her photography skills so she can take our product photos,” Stuebe said.
Products are made with careful attention to the comfort of future owners.
“We bevel corners and sand everything smoothly so our products won’t scratch legs or laps. There’s no warping,” Stuebe said.
Their product line has expanded from lap desks.
Beauty stands are like vanities for the lap, and include a slot for a tablet to serve as a mirror. “Hover X and Hover X+” are lap desks that gamers love. “Pilot” allows the lap desk to rest on chair arms.
Products range from less than $30 to $2,000. Most the lap desks are priced between $69.95 and $109.
“None of our products are ‘cheap,’ but they’re a little above those of poor quality,” Stuebe said.
Stuebe and Irons are excited about a children’s play equipment line that they’re launching in March, named after Stuebe’s young daughters, Lily and River. The children’s products will have the same durable bamboo with modular sections for climbing and slides.
With their orders, which ship to UK, Germany, Denmark and Canada, and their retail customers like Urban Outfitters and Touch of Modern, iSkelter
limited to assembling servers into racks.
Tech services provider hiring new salespeople
Avisolve, a Gilbert tech services provider, is hiring at least four salespeople a month as it reaches $25 million in revenue after just three years in existence.
has been busy, producing their items as fast as possible and shipping them daily.
“We’re busy normally, but this is insane,” Stuebe said.
From a corner of another shop when they began less than three years ago to a shop that is busy at least 12 hours a day, they figure they’ll need to expand.
Stuebe believes the company’s success is based partly on his employees’ ability to live up to the iSkelter’s mantra: “Every detail matters … Our products are meant to last.”
Their dream, Stuebe added is simple:
“We’d like to buy our own location with a retail store. That’s our ultimate dream for two years.”
For more information, go to iskelter. com.
Avisolve recently moved into a new 2,500-square-foot office at San Tan Mall in Gilbert.
For more information on hiring, go to avisolve.com.
(Shelley Gillespie/Special to the Tribune) David Stuebe of Gilbert works on the bamboo sheets that will eventually be cut into lap desks at his factory.
(Shelley Gillespie/Special to the Tribune) Besides lapdesk, iSkelter also manufacturers a vanity for ladies’ laps.
What’s going on right now, from all sides, is a bunch of BS
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
To: Tribune Editor Boss People From: Leibowitz, Columnist Underling
Re: Updating The Trib’s Profanity Policy
As America races into the Trump Era (or approaches the Apocalypse, depending on your perspective), I would like to propose that we update the newspaper’s policy against profanity, to better serve our readers. Specifically, while so-called “f-bombs” are clearly still inappropriate for a family publication, I’d like to strongly urge you to end the paper’s 126-year-old prohibition against use of the word “bull%&#t.”
Why? Mostly because there’s no better word in the English language to describe what serves as news nowadays.
Consider last Sunday’s Golden Globes, yet another Hollywood orgy of self-congratulation. As you’ve surely heard, 19-time Oscar nominee Meryl Streep used the occasion of her lifetime achievement award to call out
President-elect Donald Trump for being an all-around nasty guy. While I skip Hollywood awards shows precisely to avoid being lectured by the star of “Ricki and the Flash,” there was no avoiding the social media food fight over Streep’s comments. Liberals defended Streep as “brave”—an adjective I typically reserve for men and women in uniform, or people who take actual risks, not potshots. Trump, meanwhile—a leader who has never met a high road he couldn’t avoid—attacked Streep as “overrated” and “a Hillary flunky who lost big.”
The rest of us? We shook our heads at the spectacle and thought, “Sheesh, what a bunch of bull*^#t.”
The same goes for Trump’s Wednesday press conference, which largely focused on the leak and subsequent publication of a 35-page dossier of unproven allegations that Trump may be subject to blackmail by the Russian government. Having sampled this stew of opposition gossip allegedly compiled by a retired British spy—including the tawdry section about Russian hookers with leaky
bladders—I offer the following review: What complete bull@&%t.
That response also describes the logic offered by BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith to justify publishing this claptrap: “BuzzFeed News is publishing the full document so that Americans can make up their own minds about allegations about the president-elect that have circulated at the highest levels of the US government.”
Sure, Ben. Americans will click on the document, thoughtfully consider its geopolitical implications, call a few sources at Kremlin and “make up our own minds.” I mean, why should journalists bother with that whole pesky “proof” thing when there’s “golden shower” clickbait just waiting to be published? Can you believe this bull#@&t?
In 1891, when Alfred Shewman and W.D. Morton founded the Mesa Evening Weekly Free Press, banning dirty words made sense. The 19th century was a simpler time. Republican Benjamin Harrison was president back then, and that “huge loser” never had a single noteworthy tweet, much less a Russian hacking scandal
that overshadowed his Electoral College victory against Grover Cleveland, the Democrat who actually won the popular vote in 1888. And Arizona? We were still 20 years from statehood, a territory whose biggest concerns were high taxes, random gunfire, silly legislative laws, horse-andbuggy traffic jams and bad stagecoach driving perpetrated by snowbirds from Milwaukee.
OK, so maybe things haven’t changed that much. Still, our language needs to evolve to better describe current events. Checking the archives of the New York Times shows that industry leader has published the word “bull*@^t” 16 times since 1977. Last May, Time magazine published an entire essay describing then-candidate Trump as “a master of bull%&#t.”
If the best we can do at the Tribune is phrases like “horse puckey” or a “steaming load of cattle poop,” frankly, I think that’s just … ah, you know.
I await your response.
– David Leibowitz has called the Valley home since 1995. Reach him at david@ leibowitzsolo.com.
After Obama’s royal presidency, time to clamp down on the office
BY TOM PATTERSON Tribune Guest Writer
When President Obama visited London early in his administration, there were 500 in his entourage. Not just a doctor, but a medical staff of six were deemed necessary for his safekeeping. The White House chef and staff went to make sure he didn’t get hungry. His personal limousine—the famous “Beast”—and a convoy of helicopters were shipped separately.
Obama later took 900 people to accompany him on a one-day trip to Brussels, for which Europeans paid €10 million more in security costs. Michelle, meanwhile, maintains a permanent staff of 25 for herself alone. Part of their duty is to arrange lavish trips for her and their daughters, costing millions and justified as part of Mrs. Obama’s public service
campaigns “Let Girls Learn” and “Let’s Move.” Sure.
The Guardian describes the presidential excesses as “worthy of a traveling medieval monarch.” But our founding fathers would not be amused. They knew all about pampered elites.
They viewed the presidency as essentially an administrative post with limited authority. We’ve come a long way from the humble servant of the people that presidents mostly aspired to be in the early days of the republic.
The more substantive concern is that the president’s love of luxury is mirrored in his autocratic governing style. In his 2014 State of the Union address, Obama vowed to advance his statist agenda “wherever and whenever I can,” to thunderous applause.
The media and academia ignored the unconstitutionality of his power grabs because they approved of the agenda
itself. Congress for its part seemed powerless to defend its authority, as the framers had assumed they would. Consequently, rather than implementing Obamacare as passed by Congress, the administration rewrote the law as they went along. Unions were exempted from fees, extralegal tax credits were awarded, “transition relief” was invented for preferred employers and insurance company losses were subsidized. Obama unilaterally waived the mandatory work requirement in the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, gutting the most successful piece of social legislation in the modern era. When Congress declined to exempt 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation, Obama exempted them with an executive order. His reasoning was that he was forced into action because “Congress wouldn’t move.” But that’s not the way the constitution works.
States also lose out to executive branch overreach. The Clean Water Act was revised to include minor ponds and ditches as “navigable waters” and thus subject to federal regulation. Rewriting the Clean Air Act put states under the EPA’s thumb with respect to electricity generation and distribution. On the other hand, disfavored laws dealing with immigration and marijuana were simply ignored.
Obama didn’t invent presidential usurpation and excess. He just took it to new levels. Blame the Roosevelts. It was Theodore who originated the selfserving concept of the president as the powerful “steward” of the public welfare and Franklin who exercised previously unheard of powers in constructing the New Deal administrative state. The awesome power of the presidency has continued to expand until today it
An open letter to MLK
Dear Martin:
Well sir, it’s that time of the year again to celebrate your birthday. You tragically left us in 1968, when I was a sophomore in high school and now I possess a little red, white and blue Medicare card, having recently turned 65.
Every year, we’ve gathered across this nation to honor your leadership, vision, dreams and legacy. You were the foot soldier uniting all of God’s people marching together toward freedom, justice, equality, civil and human rights, regardless of race, color, or creed.
We’ve indeed come a long way since 1968, and I thank you for lighting the torch generating the mighty flames that burn to this very day. You united a divided country that was mostly segregated between black and white through understanding, love, fellowship and through nonviolent peaceful protest that moved mountains, which many thought was impossible.
Sadly, you did not get here with us and we haven’t quite reached that Promised Land. However, we’re much closer
If I had one wish, it would be that you were present with us today. Our country is again currently divided within a different theater and circumstances. We’ve just gone through a presidential election that was just short of nasty to be polite. Many Americans were happy about the outcome and just as many were not.
I’ve never seen the arrows going back and forth with daily infighting among the American people. I, too, am guilty flinging mud and arrows. It’s been downright scary and the new President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t taken office as of yet.
He takes office four days after we celebrate your birthday. This is why this open letter has been expressly to you, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We need you, or a person like you, to surround us again, representing cooler heads so that calmness prevails.
We must accept and respect the fact that we have a new president and we need and must give him a chance. I’m concerned with/about the Presidential Inauguration ceremony that will take place on Jan. 20 and have heard of protest rallies/ marches that are planned for that Friday night in every major city across the nation.
I’m asking in this letter and in the spirit of your life, legacy and vision that we pray for our new president to successfully surround himself with good people for all Americans’ sake.
On Monday, every city across the country will be celebrating your birthday, your dream, visions, love and unity for our brothers and sisters of all races, creeds, genders. I’m praying that the energy of UNITY that we will share and express on Monday take on wings and legs and is reflected on Friday.
- John R Goodie
High school CPR a good idea
I recently read your article, “East Valley district taking first steps toward mandatory CPR training for students” (Dec. 25, Page 8). I agree that students in high school should be trained to do CPR. I think it is important to know how to do CPR in an emergency.
A couple years ago, I was trained to do CPR and I remember being confident in being able to help someone who needed CPR. But now, I am not so sure I could save someone’s life.
After someone receives CPR training, they need to continually be reminded the steps you have to take to give CPR. One idea I had is to give this CPR course in a P.E. class, knowing that P.E. is a required class.
Also, every year in P.E., there should be a refresher course to remind the students the steps in giving CPR.
threatens the fabric of our constitutional republic.
Yet we may be at a tipping point, facing a historic opportunity to address this daunting challenge. Although Americans are split over Obama’s legacy, there is widespread understanding that he exceeded his constitutional authority and lived regally beyond the taxpayers’ means. Moreover, our incoming president is the most unpopular president-elect ever. His every move is already scrutinized by skeptical media who won’t give him the protective cover they provided his predecessor.
If the presidency is to be constrained, it is Congress that must step up and assume its constitutional role in
doing so. Beyond rescinding Obama’s unconstitutional orders—because they are unconstitutional—there are several things that should be done.
Congress should require affirmative approval of all significant executive agency regulations. Congress should provide a means for enforcing its contempt power so arrogant bureaucrats can’t thumb their nose at the People’s representatives. Congress should require that all international agreements be ratified by Congress.
In this election year, voters hungered for real change, not just the “hope” of it. It’s a good time for the People and their Congress to rein in a presidency that has dangerously grown far beyond its constitutional bounds.
– Member of the Mesa MLK Celebration Committee
– Adam Jarvis – Mesa
Hatch family has thrived at Mesa High for years in athletic field
BY JASON P. SKODA Tribune Prep Sports Director
Kate Hatch has spent countless hours at Mesa High with her older siblings as volleyballs whizzed by or the squeak of basketball shoes echoed in the Jackrabbits’ gym. She used to stretch, yawn and sleep but was mostly content in her car seat carrier under a table. Now, she stretches, warms up and checks into the scorer’s table for the Mesa girls volleyball team.
“All we’ve ever really known is spending time here,” Hatch said outside of the Jackrabbits’ weight room. “Mesa High is our second home.”
Some families are so ingrained in a school and invested in making a difference that they leave an indelible mark.
The Hatch family is one of those at Mesa High.
“They are loyal and committed to Mesa,” Jackrabbits boys basketball coach Shane Burcar said. “They were all little kids when I first got here 11 years ago. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for them because I’ve seen them grow up in this school and become elite athletes, and great kids. My wife and I have always said we hope our kids turn out like the Hatches. And that starts with the parents.”
kept her maiden name, and Kirk Hatch.
She is a U.S. History teacher, volleyball coach and occasional lunch date. He is an AP Bio Chemistry teacher, science department head, assistant basketball coach and sometimes carpooler.
They have been married for 23 years, taught at Mesa for more than 20 years combined, have coached at the school dating back to 1998 and raised five children to be Jackrabbits.
And all have or are thriving during their time wearing the purple and gold.
• J.T. was the 2014 All-Tribune boys volleyball player and now plays for national power UCLA.
• Drew, who is on an LDS mission in Peru, was an All-Tribune first-team selection last year when his 3-pointer sparked Mesa to the Division I state title.
• Mark was a member of the state title team, and has seen his role increase as a go-to player for the Jackrabbits as a junior this year.
• Annie was a second-team All-Tribune pick this fall in girls volleyball.
• Kate was a starter and a top contributor as a freshman while helping
The parents are Amy Strawn, who
Four area football players playing for U.S. national teams
BY JASON P. SKODA Tribune Prep Sports Director
Tre Bugg has worn plenty of jerseys since beginning his football career and won plenty of those games, including a state title.
While the Williams Field senior is always proud to step on the field to play the game that he loves, one particular jersey made his chest puff out a little more.
“Playing for something that is bigger than you and for people in this country that you don’t even know is a true honor,”
Bugg said. “Pulling that USA jersey over your shoulder pads and wearing that helmet is just something you can’t understand unless you do it yourself.”
Bugg played for the U.S. National U-19 National team last summer in China and helped the team top Canada with a pick six in the first game of the event.
Now, he and three other players from
the East Valley will get a chance to do it again at the end of the month.
Chandler wide receiver Johnny Johnson, Perry kicker Cristian Zendejas and Bugg will play on the U.S. U-19 National team against Canada in the inaugural North American Championship in Orlando, Florida. Mountain Pointe’s junior Shomari Hayes will play for the U.S. in the Under-18 game.
Both games will be played Jan. 28.
The other three are about to experience
what Bugg already knows when it comes to playing for their country.
“It’s an honor and a true blessing really,” Hayes said. “It’s different than playing for your high school team. I love playing for Mountain Pointe and represent the Pride, my school and family, but this is for all 50 states and my whole country.”
The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Hayes, who had a team-high 11.5 tackles for a loss
(Special to the Tribune)
The Hatch family - Mark, Kate, Drew, Annie and J.T. - have gone from being ball shaggers and sleeping in their car seat carriers at Mesa High events to either have graduated or started their high school career with the Jackrabbits. Both their parents are teachers and coaches at the school.
TEAMS
and 3.5 sacks, is also looking forward to challenging himself against competition from around the country in the days leading up to the game against Canada.
“To be honest, I just want to be a sponge and soak up everything I can,” said Hayes, who played on both sides of the line for the 13-1 Pride. “The best thing I can do is go out and learn and improve as much as I can. It’s a chance to get better, and that’s what I am going to try and do.”
While he is the only East Valley product for the U-18 team, which will kick off at 5:30 p.m. EST at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex, the three other three will get a chance to play together once the ball kicks off at 8:30 p.m. EST.
Johnson, who is committed to Oregon, was a big part of Chandler’s explosive offense on the way to the 6A Conference championship. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound wide receiver had 77 catches for 1,274 yards and eight touchdowns.
Zendejas had a very good year for Perry as he made 67 of 70 extra points and 10 of 11 field goals, including a long of 47, on the way to scoring 97 points for the Pumas, who made the 6A semifinals.
Championship in Orlando on Jan. 28.
for a touchdown in the second half of the Black Hawks’ win over Centennial in the 5A Conference title game.
the Jackrabbits to a 26-win season. It all started with J.T. in the 2010-11 school year, and now the youngest is already roaming the halls with just threeand-half years remaining. Expectations are high for all, and none of the kids seems to shy away from it.
“We are so lucky to be all together,” Amy said. “I get to eat lunch with the girls occasionally. There are times, on games days, where we get here at 6:30 in the morning and we don’t get home until 9:30 at night.
“We are very lucky that everyone loves it here and that they all have the personality where they want to excel. They don’t know any other way. That’s just how we do it.”
They grew up around the school and sports teams long before they were old enough to walk in the front door and take classes, and they live just three short miles from campus.
Bugg had a big hand in leading Williams Field to its first state title as one of the state’s top cornerbacks. He had 43 tackles, seven interceptions (two pick sixes), and a 65-yard fumble return
It’s been a pretty special year for the 6-foot, 175-pound Bugg after playing for the U.S. National team in China, an undefeated high school season and a chance to play for this country once again.
“It’s been really special, and I’ve just been going with the flow and enjoying it as much as I can,” he said. “I never thought football would take me to all of these places. I just want to play the game that I love and I hope all the goodness keeps happening.”
Bugg has been so honored playing for his country that two of his three top college choices—Army, Air Force, Montana—are military.
“I don’t have a military background with my family. I’ve been afforded opportunities not only for football but life,” he said.
– Contact Jason Skoda at 480-898-7915 or jskoda@evtrib.com. Follow him on Twitter @ JasonPSkoda.
“It’s been great,” Annie said. “We were all wearing purple Mesa shirts for as long as I can remember. My brothers went to Mesa basketball camps and my sister and I were always around the volleyball team. Mesa is who we are.”
As much as the family would like to deflect the attention, there is no denying that the Hatches are Mesa through and through.
And they expect to ‘Carry On’ the dedication for years to come,
“We are pretty loyal to Mesa,” Kirk said before referring to the school slogan. “Carry On means embracing the tradition Mesa and how you continue on to persevere regardless of the circumstances. I think we all have a little bit of that in us, and that’s why we love Mesa so much.”
– Contact Jason Skoda at 480-898-7915 or jskoda@evtrib.com. Follow him on Twitter @ JasonPSkoda.
(Special to the Tribune) Chandler’s Johnny Johnson was one of four area players selected to play in the North American Championship game between the U.S. and Canada in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 28.
(Special to the Tribune)
Williams Field senior Tre Bugg will play for the U-19 U.S. National football team for the second time when Team USA plays Canada in the North American
Faith
SIDE
For more faith related news visit eastvalleytribune.com
A birthday thank you to God: ‘I am so blessed’
BY LISA JISA Tribune Guest Writer
On the occasion of my birthday, I would like to thank You, my heavenly Father, for loving me every single day of the 50 years You have given me so far.
You have always loved me. You knew me before I was born, and You had a plan and purpose for my life right from the start (Jeremiah 29:11). All the days ordained for me have been written in Your book since before I was born (Psalm 139:16).
You love me unconditionally. And am never alone because You promised to never leave me nor forsake me (Joshua 1:5).
Even when others let me down, You will always be there with only my best interest in mind. I can look back over my life and see that the times I felt alone were because I forgot to look to You. You have always been there, waiting for me to turn my gaze back to You.
SUNDAY, JAN. 29
HUMAN TRAFFICKING SEMINAR
A seminar on preventing human trafficking will look at how this crime can victimize children and adults of all ages, even in Chandler. The Chandler Police Department and Streetlight USA, a charitable group that helps victims deal with their trauma, will make presentations.
DETAILS>> 5 p.m., Epiphany Lutheran Church, 800 W. Ray Road, Chandler. Free. Information: pam@ epiphanychandler.org.
SUN-SAT, JAN. 29-FEB. 4
LOVE WEEK
Generation Church will be holding its annual Love Week. Each day will include events to honor and love people in Mesa and the surrounding areas. Some of the events will include appreciation lunches for local teachers, police officers and firefighters, cleaning local parks, hosting a blood drive and concerts at nearby nursing homes.
DETAILS>> Information: 480-986-3149.
FRIDAY, FEB. 3
POSIPALOOZA! CONCERT
Posi (pah-zee) music comes in literally every style
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
When I don’t know how I can go on because I haven’t got the strength, You give me Your strength (Isaiah 40:29).
In fact, when I am the weakest, You are the strongest—just to prove to me that I cannot do anything without You (2 Corinthians 12:10). And I wouldn’t want to (John 15:5).
I can talk to You anytime and You are never too busy for me. All I have to do is call Your name “Jesus!” I don’t need to wait until the perfect time or a certain situation, and often I find myself talking to You throughout my day. It is incredible that You know exactly what is on my heart before I even speak a word (Isaiah 65:24).
You desire to speak to me, too. You desire intimate moments with me. When I am still is when I hear You the best (Psalm 46:10).
And sometimes just being in Your presence is all that I want—not a word from either one of us, just the joy of basking in Your company. That desire is a difficult thing to understand in our
from folk to rap. It’s a new genre that is messagebased and meant to empower, unite and transform your life. This concert will feature Posi artists Freebo, Harold Payne and Richard Mekdeci.
DETAILS>> 7 p.m., 2700 E. Southern Ave., Mesa. Tickets are $20, at unityofmesa.org or at empowerma. com/PosiPaloozaTicket.
SUNDAYS
VALOR CHRISTIAN OUTLINES MISSION
Valor Christian Center in Gilbert offers “great praise and worship and great messages for today’s living,” according to Pastor Thor Strandholt, associate pastor. “Our mission is evangelize, healing and discipleship through the word of God.”
DETAILS>>10 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Thursdays. 3015 E. Warner Road. Information: valorcc.com.
HORIZON SEEKS YOUNG PEOPLE
High school and middle school students meet to worship and do life together.
DETAILS>> 5 p.m. at Horizon Presbyterian Church, 1401 E. Liberty Lane. 480-460-1480 or email joel@ horizonchurch.com.
KIDS CAN LEARN JEWISH LIFE
Children can learn and experience Jewish life. Chabad Hebrew School focuses on Jewish heritage, culture and holidays.
DETAILS>> 9:30 a.m. to noon, for children ages
busy and complicated world—and yet the more often I am still before You and sit at Your feet, the more I crave nothing but that (Luke 10:39).
Your instructions are very simple. You are never complicated. I am to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. (Mark 12:30-31).
I know that when I start to worry about something, it is because I have taken my focus off of You (Colossians 3:2). Learning to trust You completely has been a gradual process, and how wonderful to discover that You truly are the one in control so I do not have to be nor pretend to be.
You are so gentle as You lead me (Matthew 11:29). There is no harsh reprimand when I mess up, only absolute and total forgiveness when I come to You and confess (1 John 1:9).
And then You forget about whatever it was (Psalm 103:10-12).
Unlike people, You never bring up the past after I have told You I am sorry, although You may bring me gentle reminders when I am tempted to blow
5-13 at Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life, 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler. 480-855-4333, info@ chabadcenter.com, or chabadcenter.com.
RABBINIC LIT COURSE OFFERED
Ongoing morning study of two classics of rabbinic literature by medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides (the “Rambam”). At 10 a.m., Prof. Norbert Samuelson, Grossman chair of Jewish Philosophy at ASU and TBS member, teaches “Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed: What Jews Ought to Believe.” At 11:15 a.m., TBS member Isaac Levy teaches “Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah: How Jews Ought to Behave.” Readings in both Hebrew and English.
DETAILS>> Community Room of the administration building at Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley, 3400 N. Dobson Road, Chandler. 480-897-3636.
UNITY OFFERS A PATH
Unity of Mesa says its Sunday service offers “a positive path for spiritual living” through “transformational lessons, empowering music and various spiritual practices with an open-minded and welcoming community.”
DETAILS>> 9 and 10:45 a.m. 2700 E. Southern Ave., Mesa. Nursery available for infants through kindergarten at service times. Youth ministry classes are open in the Education Annex at 10:45 a.m. Information: 480-892- 2700, unityofmesa.org, lori@ unityofmesa.org.
it because You truly desire for me to be more like You, holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4).
You do not change (James 1:17). I never have to question Your motives from one day to the next.
You loved me enough to send Your only Son to die for me. In John 3:16 where it says, “God so loved the world...” that includes me! God so loved Lisa. You really want me to be with You forever and have made the way so simple. You have chosen me (John 15:16). You have called me Your own and have placed me like a seal over Your heart (Song of Songs 8:6). How can I help but be totally captivated with that knowledge! You are my God and I belong to You.
Even if You never do another thing for me the rest of my life, still I will love You. Just knowing how much You love me is more than enough to sustain me until that day arrives when I have eternity to spend in Your presence.
I am so blessed. I am forever grateful. I love You!
– Reach Lisa Jisa at lisa.jisa@gmail.com.
ALL ARE WELCOME
All on a peaceful spiritual path are welcome and honored in this inclusive, loving, thriving Unity Community. Join us for Interfaith CommUNITY Spiritual Center’s Sunday Celebration Service
DETAILS>>10:30 a.m. Toddlers and children meet during our service. Interfaith CommUNITY Spiritual Center, 952 E. Baseline, Suite 102, Mesa. Information: info@interfaith-community.org.
MONDAYS
JOIN CHRIST-CENTERED YOGA
This Flow 1-2 class (intermediate) is free and open to the community.
DETAILS>> 6-7 p.m., Mountain Park Community Church, 2408 E. Pecos Road. Greg Battle at 480-7596200 or gbattle@moutainpark.org.
CLASS TARGETS THE GRIEVING Classes for those grieving over death or divorce. DETAILS>> 6:30 p.m., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 739 W. Erie St., Chandler. 480-963-4127.
Bowling rolls to more popularity in East Valley
BY COLLEEN SPARKS Tribune Contributing Writer
Asport that swept the country decades ago is making a comeback in the East Valley, striking a chord with an even wider audience.
Local bowling centers are on a roll when it comes to attracting players of all ages and abilities.
They are no longer called “lanes,” but “centers.”
And the centers in Chandler, Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert offer happy hours, as well as “laser” or glow-in-the-dark bowling pins, popular music videos flashing above lanes and specialized leagues.
That mix is attracting people who enjoy mixing some relatively inexpensive entertainment with friendly competition, exercise and a chance to unwind over drinks.
Some bowling centers even offer miniature golf, arcade games, laser tag, restaurants, bars, catered parties and movie theaters to lure families and singles. Others focus more on league play.
pins and music videos play on Friday and Saturday nights at the Chandler bowling venue. Coppola said many young parents bowl there without their kids for date nights.
Jenny Lynn Legree of Tempe enjoyed coming to AMF McRay Plaza for a recent work party.
“I love to bowl,” Legree said. “It’s just something different, different than the bars. It’s always good competition, and then there’s a little beer.”
On East Baseline Road just west of North Greenfield Road, FatCats provides the glow-in-the-dark, laser bowling pins on 20 lanes all the time and offers many specials.
FatCats also has six luxury movie theaters, a nine-hole, glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course, an arcade with popular video games and a full bar and restaurant.
Groups of up to six people can get a family special for $39.99 up until 8 p.m. on Mondays with 90 minutes of bowling, shoe rentals, two eleven-inch pizzas and unlimited soft drinks.
“People are starting to see it’s fun to come in,” said Tenna Coppola, general manager of AMF McRay Plaza Lanes in Chandler. “I’ve seen a lot of first dates come in here.
“Parents hang out with kids,” Coppola added. “It’s not just for old guys smoking and drinking.”
Bowling has the most participants of any sport in the United States, according to the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America Inc. It claims that more than 67 million people a year bowl in this country.
AMF McRay Plaza Lanes, on West Ray Road just east of McClintock Drive in Chandler, offers lots of specials such as $2 Tuesdays, where games are $2 from 8 to 11 p.m. Shoe rentals are also $2 per person, Pabst Blue Ribbon beers are $2 each and pizza costs $2 per slice.
Regular prices at AMF McRay are $4.69 per person per game and $4.50 per person for shoe rentals. Bowlers can also get a deal on Sunday from 6 p.m. until closing time, paying $2.50 per game.
Laser lights cast a neon glow on the
For those who want to bowl every week, AMF McRay Plaza has several leagues with members from their late 20s into their 60s.
Mesa East Bowl on Broadway Road just east of Ellsworth Road also is hopping with league bowlers. About 500 bowlers hit the 32 lanes every day, according to general manager Erika Schwarze.
“From November to March, we have a full house all day long,” Schwarze said.
People in their 20s to senior citizens participate in the Mesa East night leagues. Families and many teenagers bowl for fun.
Mesa East Bowl also has laser bowling with the glow-in-the-dark pins, called Rock and Bowl, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It costs $12 per person for unlimited bowling during those times, with shoes included. The center has happy hour from 1 to 6 p.m. every day with well drinks and draft beers for $2.50 each. To learn more, visit mesaeastbowl.com.
In Gilbert, FatCats Entertainment Center is a “casual bowling center,” that doesn’t offer leagues, general manager Bob Short said.
FatCats targets bowlers ages 18 to 30 during its Thunder Alley nights, when hit music and music videos are played.
On Sunday through Thursdays from 9 p.m. to midnight, bowling is $8 a person for an unlimited number of games and shoe rentals. It’s $12 per person for two hours of bowling and shoes from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturdays. Specials on beer and food are also offered some nights.
Short said bowling is getting popular again after a decline in participation over the last decade.
Mesa Metropolitan United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Association manager Leslie Marsh said the number of leagues in the East Valley had been decreasing in recent years, but now it’s “holding steady.”
doesn’t matter, or if there are any disabilities.”
Joshua Bell, adapted recreation coordinator for the City of Tempe, agreed.
Tempe runs a Buddy Bowling Unified League combining people with and without disabilities. People with any type of physical, development or intellectual disability get help and guidance from “partners,” while they bowl at AMF Tempe Village Lanes on South Rural Road.
“Bowling is a fun sport to do for all skill levels,” Bell said. “The sport is so easy to adapt to anyone’s skill level. It’s a sport that still constantly challenges you.”
More about bowling
BUDDY BOWLING UNIFIED LEAGUE: tempe.gov/adaptedrecreation, 480-8582469 or josh_bell@tempe.gov
The Mesa USBC organization has 12 member bowling centers in Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert and Payson.
“Anybody can bowl,” Marsh
(Colleen Sparks/Special to the Tribune)
Jenny Lynn Legree of Tempe bowls during a work party at AMF McRay Plaza Lanes in Chandler.
ACROSS
1 Innocent one
5 Unhappy
8 Lovers’ quarrel
12 Nautical hanger-on
14 Not pizzicato
15 Barbecue fuel
16 Tarzan’s transportation
17 Qty.
18 Pictures
20 Chunk of cheese
23 Read bar codes
24 A Great Lake
25 Hire, as a boat
28 “-- the season to be jolly”
29 Word with mouth or training
30 Solemn promise
32 Brown or Sheen
34 Darling
35 Swindle
36 Chicago, the City
37 Dig up
40 Trigonometry ratio (Abbr.)
41 Cons’ opponents
42 Entrancing
47 Relaxation
48 Coffee liqueur
49 Sight organs
50 Obama, before he became pres.
51 Shrill bark
DOWN
1 Eng. channel
2 “That feels so good!”
3 Lingerie item
4 Anger
5 Highlander
6 -- carte
7 Fragile
8 Learned one
9 Overly proper one
10 Dermatologist’s case
11 “Piggies”
13 Pinnacle
19 Little lamb’s owner
20 Sopping
21 Guitarist Clapton
22 Plate
23 Comic bit (Var.)
25 Gathers
26 Divisible by two
27 Highway
29 -- and proper
King Crossword
31 Kind of wit 33 Mistreats 34 Unnerve 36 Apple invader 37 Duel tool
39 Firetruck necessity
40 James of “Brian’s Song”
43 Hasten
44 Rage
45 Zero
Stagecoach Village
Bomber Boys: Portraits from the Front
Get a previously unseen glimpse of the life of our bomber crews in World War II Corsica and Italy. This new traveling exhibit features candid photos, diary entries and other historical artifacts.
DETAILS>> 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday-Tuesday, Jan. 15-19. Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum, 2017 N. Greenfield Road, Mesa. Cost: Museum admission ($15 adults, $12 seniors, $5 kids 5-12). 480-351-6032. azcaf.org.
Extra Day: Highland Yard Vintage
Every month, Highland Yard Vintage hosts an indoor market featuring 30 local designers and vendors. This month the theme of the market is “Refresh & Refine.” Show up to shop for unique New Year’s items for your home, closet, pantry and garden.
Journey back to 1958 and follow four girls as they attend the Springfield High School prom. Learn about their lives through more than 30 hit ’50s and ’60s songs, including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover” and “Lipstick on Your Collar.”
DETAILS>> Mondays and Tuesdays, Jan. 17 through Apr. 18. Hale Centre Theatre, 50 W. Page. Ave, Gilbert. Tickets: $18-$30. 480497-1181. haletheatrearizona.com.
‘Is He Dead?’
From a story by acclaimed humorist Mark Twain comes a musical about an artist who decides to make his paintings more valuable by faking his own death. That’s just the start of the hilarity, which includes the artist posing as his own sister.
DETAILS>> Wednesday to Saturdays, Jan. 18 through Feb. 11. Hale Centre Theatre, 50 W. Page Ave, Gilbert. Tickets: $18-$43. 480-497-1181. haletheatrearizona.com.
Disney on Ice: Worlds of Enchantment
Join your favorite characters from “Frozen,” “Cars,” “Toy Story” and “The Little Mermaid” as they skate through
classic stories and new adventures. Kids under 14 can dress in costume.
DETAILS>> Times vary, Thursday-Sunday, Jan. 19-22. Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. Tickets: $11.25-$85. 602-379-7800. talkingstickresortarena. com.
The Fab Four
The Fab Four are the next best thing to a live Beatles concert. These eerily accurate performers play the Beatles’ biggest hits through the decades. Costumes change to match the song eras, and “Ed Sullivan” hosts the entire show.
DETAILS>> 8 p.m., Friday, Jan 20. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. Tickets: $29.50-$54.50. 480-644-6560. mesaartscenter.com.
Health Fest 2017
Get your fitness goals off to a good start at this family-friendly festival that offers vendors, fun activities, demonstrations and more that can help you stay fit in 2017.
DETAILS>> 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21. Daley Park, 1625 S. College Ave., Tempe. Cost: Free. facebook.com/ events/368165586908333.
– Justin Ferris, Phoenix.org
East Valley Tribune
Classifieds
The Place “To Find” Everything You Need | EastValleyTribune.com
Employment General
EARN EXTRA INCOME!
Looking for a Team
A live in Maintenance
Person and Mgr to Op-
erate a 55+ RV park in Wilcox AZ 3bd 2 ba home, Pool/hot tub on site Serious inquiries
7
Salary Negotiable
The Arizona Republic wants to contract you to deliver the newspaper in the early morning hours. Work just 2-3 hours a day and earn an extra $700$1,200 per month
Routes available now in your area
Call 1-855-704-2104 or visit deliveryopportunities gannett com
Compensation: $10-12 per hour / 40 + hours per week
Duties and job responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Perform various clerical work:
• Scanning files
• Basic Data Entry
• Filing
• Mailings
• Back up front desk administrator including answering of phones
• Packaging T ax Returns
• Close office at end of day
• Run errands (Office Max, SAMs Club, lunch, bank deposits, post office etc )
Qualifications:
-Customer service experience preferred
-High School diploma or equivalent is required
-Proficiency with Microsoft Office product
-1-3 years of experience working in an office environment in administration/bookkeeping
-QuickBooks experience preferred; good with numbers; ability to reconcile general ledger accounts and locate discrepancies; superior level of attention to detail and accuracy of data entry
-Transportation (mileage is reimbursable)Must be able to lift 20 lbs
We are looking for someone that displays the following traits:
- Professional oral communication skills
- Ability to demonstrate good judgment and discretion
- Team player with employees at all levels
- Ability to multi-task, work with multiple projects and prioritize frequently changing needs/situations - Organizational skills
To see online application email Judy at: winkelpleck@gmail com
HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT
Disabled man, wkdays, NS, Drv Lic, $10/hr
S Chandler, Dan 480-786-5029
Golf Course
Maintenance Firerock Country Club
$11/hr Fountain Hills
Email: cwerline@ troongolf com
P/T Caregivers Needed Hours vary, credential required, basic home health care North Mesa Higley/Mckellips Call for Appt 480-664-6096
P/T Certified Caregiver Needed One yr exp with references Queen Creek $12/hr 480-888-2284
It pays to Teach at Champion Schools!
Champion is a highly performing ‘A’ rated K-8th
Elementary School awarded ‘Charter School of the Year’ in 2014 Our Flagship School is located in the South Mountain neighborhood in Phoenix. The Chandler Campus is in its second year and our new campus in San Tan Valley is opening in July 2017 We are seeking dynamic, enthusiastic teachers, coaches and paraprofessionals to join our ‘team’ in providing our rigorous, content-rich curriculum to achieve high academic results
Teacher Recruitment Career Fair
Saturday, January 21, 2017 10a m - 1:00p m
Champion Schools Chandler Location 250 S McQueen Rd Chandler AZ, 85225
Salaries are competitive, benefits and retirement plans an option, as well as career advancement and professional development opportunities available Staff members are involved and receive additional pay for extracurricular coaching, enrichment classes and summer school
1620 W. Fountainhead Parkway #219 • Tempe, AZ 85282
480.898.6465
class@timespublications.com
Deadlines
Classifieds: Thursday 10am for Sunday
Life Events: Wednesday 5pm for Sunday
WORD SCRAMBLER: Hat Tricks
Notice
Property Management Services Arizona Board of Regents Request for Proposal
Arizona State University is requesting sealed proposals from qualified experienced firms or individuals, for RFP #151704, Property Management Services for Various ASU Locations Proposals will be accepted in the Office of Pur-
PO Box 875212, 1551 S Rural Road, Tempe,
1/30/17 Proposal packa ge is available at: https://cfo asu edu/bid-boards
A Pre-Proposal Conference will be held at 1:00 PM, MST on 1/12/17 at the MacroTechnology Works Facility, 7700 S River Parkway Tempe,
2004 Gold Pontiac Grand Prix
2G2WS522541208390
Registered Owner: Laura Marcela Diaz Figueroa
Legal Owner: Titlemax of Arizona Inc Fees owed: $1,301 50
Mass Spectrometry Systems Arizona Board of Regents Request for Proposal
Arizona State University is
Publish: East Valley Tribune, January 15, 2017 / 4027
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT
Project DB 11811 Alameda Retrofit HVAC Collections Area
Project Description
The Arizona Board of Regents for and on behalf of Arizona State University extends an invitation to interested and qualified Design-Build Teams to submit in writing their qualifications to provide Design-Build Services relating to the construction of the Project Name: Alameda Retrofit HVAC Collections Area This project will use a Design-Build delivery method
Formal sealed qualifications are due on or before 3:00 PM, MST, 02/06/17
Pre-Submittal Conference
A RECOMMENDED Pre-Submittal Conference is scheduled for 9:00 AM, MST, 1/17/17 in Room MU 207 (Gold Room) at the Memorial Union of Arizona State University Tempe Campus It is recommended that you park in the Fulton Center Parking, located at College Avenue and University Drive Cross University Drive and walk south to the Memorial Union Reference the ASU Parking Map at http://www asu edu/map Attendance is strongly recommended for those who desire to submit a Proposal The ASU Project Manager will be available to discuss the Project Make sure to bring your business card for streamlined sign-in
Obtain a Copy of RFQ
The Request for Qualifications instructions, a description of requested services, information on the Project and a description of the proposal and selection process is available at the Arizona State University Bid Board at http://cfo asu edu/licensing-bidboard Click on Construction/Facilities Bid Board on right side under Related Links Requests may be made in writing via fax (480) 965-2234 or email to Office Specialist Senior ann provencio@asu edu and Purchasing will email or mail you the RFQ You may also pick up a copy at the University Services Building, 1551 S Rural Rd , Tempe, AZ 85281
ASU reserves the right to cancel this Request for Qualifications, to reject any or all Proposals, and to waive or decline to waive any irregularities in any submitted Proposals, or to withhold the award for any reason ASU may determine to be in ASU’s best interest ASU also reserves the right to hold open any or all Proposals for a period of ninety (90) days after the date of opening thereof and the right to accept a Proposal not withdrawn before the scheduled opening date
All correspondence relating to this Project must be addressed to:
Purchasing and Business Services ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS
