Ducey defends executions / P. 14
Postal drive against hunger / P. 18
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
Growth drives big budget increase for QC BY KATHLEEN STINSON Tribune Staff Writer
COMMUNITY ..... 17 Pan de Vida founder still driving force at 78.
BUSINESS ........... 20 QC home prices rose 60% in two years.
Q
ueen Creek Town Council on May 4 approved a tentative $730.3 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that the administration called necessary to meet the town’s soaring population’s needs. The 4-2 vote came with council members Emilena Turley and Leah Martineau voting against the spending plan and Mayor Gail Barney absent.
Town renews bid to develop downtown
The proposed spending plan – slated for a final council vote May 18 – is significantly higher than the town’s current $487 budget as town administration proposed major investments in infrastructure and expanded services. However, there is no tax increase. Town administration had signaled the need for those expenses at an April 13 budget committee meeting, when Finance Director Scott McCarty said, “The story of the budget like everything else in Queen Creek is a story about growth.”
BY KATHLEEN STINSON Tribune Staff Writer
SPORTS ............... 23 D’Backs pitcher is a homegrown EV athlete.
COMMUNITY ........................17 BUSINESS ..............................20 OPINION .................................22 SPORTS ...................................23 CLASSIFIEDS ........................24
Sunday, May 8, 2022
T
he Town of Queen Creek has taken a big step toward developing a huge part of its downtown core by inviting developers to purchase a 6.8-acre parcel of land it owns located along Ellsworth Loop Road between Ocotillo and Victoria, adjacent to the library and Communiversity. The town is asking potential developers that their bids include conceptual designs
see
DOWNTOWN page 6
see BUDGET page 4
A mother’s pain Mother’s Day is bittersweet for Queen Creek mom Julie Mikesell, whose 8-yearold son Ethan is battling leukemia. But Ethan is a fighter and his mom, dad and siblings have his back. See the story on page. 8. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Central Arizona College www.centralaz.edu
Queen Creek’s population grew by 125.8% over the past decade, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments. “We don’t foresee the growth slowing down,” McCarty said. Arizona is forecast to grow faster than the U.S. average for the next fiscal year, Town Manager John Kross said at that meeting. “The rate of growth in both residential and non-residential investment is directly
Paths to Great Careers