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How ban prevailed / P. 3
School projects begin / P. 8
INSIDE
This Week
Cyclists ‘target of prey’ on Mesa streets BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
COMMUNITY .......... 20 Red Mountain Ranch pickleball growth on fire.
BUSINESS ............... 23 Mesa pair's new app helps parents with kids online.
Sunday, May 16, 2021
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
J
ust after midnight, on an otherwise quiet May 4, a man was riding his bike on Country Club Drive, approaching Eighth Avenue. Fifty-year-old Carlos Cortez Hernandez was hit by a car, which did not stop. “Unfortunately, the male did not survive his injuries,” said Nik Rasheta, a Mesa Police Department spokesman. “We also located the vehicle involved and the investigation is ongoing.” On the Facebook home of the group Bike Mesa, people were saddened but not
surprised. “Once again, Country Club, where bicyclists and pedestrians are targets and prey,” commented Alycia de Mesa-Weeden. “We hate this road with a passion to try to navigate safely.” Luis Montes suggested this was an avoidable situation: “The blame goes on the driver and everyone in our local government that hasn’t worked towards safe transportation.” As Mesa City Council starts studying how to spend the $100 million voters approved last year in a bond issue – along with $62 million in matching funds – more attention is being paid to Police responded to 22 vehicle vs. bike calls in the first four months of 2021. The driver was at fault in most cases, with bikers in crosswalks or bike lanes being ��� BIKES ���� 15 taken down by cars and trucks. (Mesa Police)
Cadence keeps up with SE Mesa's ‘cousin’
SPORTS ...................... 27 Sisters coaching Red Mountain softball. COMMUNITY ............................... 20 BUSINESS ..................................... 22 OPINION .. ..................................... 24 SPORTS ........................................ 26 GET OUT ...................................... 28 PUZZLES ...................................... 29 CLASSIFIED ................................. 30 Zone 2
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
W
ith nearly 1,500 fast-selling houses built or planned and another 700 rentals, a place like Cadence by Gateway would be the big game in town in most cities. But in southeast Mesa, it likely will always be known as “Eastmark’s little brother.” Tim Brislin of developer Harvard Investments grimaced at that phrase. “Certainty, Eastmark is the 800-pound go-
rilla out there,” Brislin said. “But our goal was never to be Eastmark. We from the get go said we need to distinguish ourselves from Eastmark, see what they’ve done and make improvements on them so we weren’t just competing with Eastmark head to head.” After re�lection, he stroked his chin and pondered: “I wouldn’t characterize us as ‘Eastmark’s little brother.’ Maybe a cousin.” Whatever you call it, the Cadence is accelerating like a marching band. And Cadence may beat Eastmark to the punch in offering what southeast Mesa resi-
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dents have been pining for: A �ine-dining restaurant. Near the entrance to Cadence, a Mountainside Fitness gym is under construction, likely to open by fall. Its business neighbors at Arrival at Cadence – just off Ellsworth Road, between Eastmark High School and the State Route 24 – will be “various quick serve and sit-down restaurants, a café, QuikTrip gas and convenience store and neighborhood shops.”
��� CADENCE ���� 6