Town planners favor housing on retail site
Hope for grocery shelves PAGE 12
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BUSINESS..................21 At 13, Gilbert girl a commercial baker.
High school QBs train and avoid virus.
COMMUNITY........................................17 BUSINESS..............................................21 SPORTS..................................................24
PUZZLE.................................................. 25
DATRI..................................................... 27 CLASSIFIED..........................................28
Sunday, April 5, 2020
School closures hit Gilbert seniors hard BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
M
arcos Padilla looked forward to his last year at Campo Verde High School – the prom, senior prank day and graduation. However, this year the rites of passage for Marcos and his peers across the country are either uncertain or not happening at all as a result of the pandemic. Gov. Doug Ducey last week closed schools for the rest of the academic year. Over 86,000 Arizona high school seniors on track to graduate will receive their diplomas in the mail, the state Board of Education decided last week. “I think all of us in the Class of 2020 are definitely worried about all of our senior events getting canceled,” said Marcos, who played varsity football and threw shot put and discus. His team advanced to the 5A football state championship last year for the
see SENIORS page 4
Rebecca Draper, who is bound for Grand Canyon University this August, is one of hundreds of Gilbert high school seniors who have lost lifelong memories like proms and commencement ceremonies to school closures. (Angie Draper/Special to GSN)
Gilbert Council adds another new face to the dias BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
SPORTS...................... 24
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planning commissioner is the second appointee in a three-week span to join Gilbert Town Council. Council in a special meeting last Thursday voted 5-0 for Scott September to finish the remaining two years on Brigette Peterson’s term. Peterson resigned last Tuesday to run for mayor. “I think we have some hard days ahead of us as a community,” Mayor Jenn Daniels said. “I’m grateful another individual is ready to pitch in.” Daniels said the town will have some really big financial decisions to make, especially due to the coronavirus. The
Council’s financial retreat is April 16. Finances are quickly becoming a major issue for some of Gilbert’s neighbors. Mesa already is plotting layoffs of scores of nonessential employees, such as librarians and park attendants, in the face of plummeting sales tax revenue and soaring demands. Millions of dollars made available through various federal aid packages approved recently by Congress in the wake of the virus pandemic may forestall those layoffs for a while, Mesa officials said, but they nonetheless seem inevitable given escalating unemployment and business closures. September is scheduled to take the oath of office at Tuesday’s Council meeting. The Council’s first appointment came on
March 17 with the selection of Bill Spence to replace Eddie Cook, who was appointed Maricopa County assessor in February. Spence’s appointment is for nine months with the remaining two years to be filled by election. Council is anticipated to make a third appointment this week with Councilman Jordan Ray planning to tender his resignation Monday. “I have an appointment for Monday at 1:30 with the county to submit my petition,” said Ray last week regarding his nomination paperwork for the justice of the peace race. Ray said he will submit his resignation
see COUNCIL page 3