Ahead in Mesa / P. 3
Valley's secret spot / P. 19
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .......................... 7 Mesa libraries slated for a major upgrade.
BUSINESS ............. 15 Mesa coffee shop grinding out a living in tough times.
SPORTS .................. 18 Schools' winter sports schedule hits new snag. COMMUNITY ............................... 12 BUSINESS ..................................... 15 OPINION ....................................... 17 SPORTS ........................................ 18 GET OUT ....................................... 19 PUZZLES ...................................... 20 CLASSIFIED ................................. 21 Zone 1
Sunday, January 3, 2021
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Mandatory COVID vaccine for teachers called possible BY CECILIA CHAN AND PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune News Staff
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s teachers inch toward the head of the line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, it begs the question: can school districts mandate inoculations? According to the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, yes. “School districts may require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of on-site work, subject to exemptions required by state and/or federal law,” reads a legal memo prepared for the nonpro�it Trust. The Trust, which provides more than 250
public school districts and community colleges with property and liability insurance, also advised districts to consult with their own attorneys on legal issues related to any vaccination requirement. The issue could very well come up in Mesa Public Schools since Assistant Superintendent Scott Thompson is a Trust board member. The district was closed for winter break last week and did not respond to a request for comment. But even though board member Marcie Hutchinson said she has not seen the memo, the retired 26-year history teacher in three MPS high schools, thinks the Trust is making
City OKs $8.6M project to complement ASU campus
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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New Year full of change is expected for downtown Mesa in 2021, leaving Mayor John Giles and City Council excited about the traditionally sleepy area’s long-promised reawakening. ASU@ Mesa City Center is at the forefront of the revival of the city’s core though the massive construction project will be the last of three pieces to open. City Council last month approved one of the contracts
for another piece – The Studio @ Mesa Center, an $8.6 million project. The new municipal plaza is planned for a Thanksgiving opening, followed by The Studios@ Mesa City Center in December or early 2022. The ASU@ Mesa City Center is anticipated to debut during the summer or fall of 2022. The city’s cost for the The Studio is in addition to the $63.5 million it is spending on ASU@ City Center. “We will have quite the
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a good point. “We’ve always got to be thinking about public health with public education and I think I’d be strongly in favor of the inoculation of our employees just to keep our staff safe,” Hutchinson told the Tribune, agreeing that legitimate exemptions would be needed. The �irst batches of the P�izer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines arrived to Arizona in midDecember for dosing to those 16 and older. Healthcare workers and long-term care facility staff and residents are among the �irst to receive the vaccine, to be followed by teach-
Holiday wrap
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Figure skating choreographer and instructor Nancy Pluta demonstrated her skill on the Winter Wonderland Ice Rink at Mesa City Hall. The rink was part of the 2020 Merry Main Street celebration that ended Saturday. (Pablo Robles/Tribune)