May 2016
Relentlessly local coverage of Gilbert and our neighboring communities
Jamie Stack shows Ethan Fritz how to pull in a roped calf
Stack was promoting the Gilbert Days Rodeo during the recent Gilbert Global Village Festival. Photos, page 18.
Town planning for tourism You may not think of Gilbert and tourism in the same breath. But the town is pushing to change that in the near future. “We have the opportunity to grow tourism. We need to be strategic in how we do so,” said Mayor John Lewis, addressing a Mayor’s Ambassador Forum held recently at the newly opened Falls Event Center in Gilbert. A huge part of the push involves educating residents, who are the best–and the most natural–ambassadors of the town. Amanda Elliot, economic development administrator, said that people have the concept that tourists visit a place just for one Michele Renahan, right, the town’s new tourism attraction. “When people think of tourism, we’ve seen comments administrator, with Gilbert resident Pat Krueger at see TOURISM page 8
the Mayor’s Ambassador Forum at the Falls Event Center in Gilbert. GSN photo by Srianthi Perera
Investigation concludes fire was accidental; safety personnel lauded BY SRIANTHI PERERA
Gilbert Fire and Rescue investigators have determined that the cause of the recent fire at the Broadstone Gilbert Heritage apartment complex near Gilbert and Warner roads was accidental. After interviewing more than 60 individuals, among them firefighters, construction workers, security guards, witnesses and the property owners at Alliance Residential Company, investigators found the only known heat source in the area of the fire’s origin was a torch being used by roofers, according to a Town release. The property, its buildings reduced to rubble, has been turned back over to the owner. Civic Center Drive, see FIRE page 6
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After the devastation caused by the fire, not much remains of the buildings under construction at the Broadstone Gilbert Heritage apartment complex near Gilbert and Warner roads. Submitted photo
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