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An edition of the East Valley Tribune

INSIDE

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Sunday, October 11, 2020

Classroom reopening challenges SUSD BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor

NEWS ............................. 14 SUSD OKs $1 million for cameras.

BUSINESS ...................25 French restaurant owners grateful for support.

ARTS............................... 28 Get ready for Civic Center rooftop pop-up.

NEIGHBORS .........................................20 BUSINESS ...............................................25 OPINION .................................................27 ARTS ........................................................ 28 FOOD ....................................................... 33 CLASSIFIEDS ....................................... 34

s Scottsdale Unified prepares to welcome back middle and high school students tomorrow, the district is juggling health and safety with delivering quality education to tens of thousands of students. The district’s Return to Learn plan brought elementary students back to the classroom over two weeks last month and now will do the same for middle and high school students Oct. 12. Reopening at both levels has been complicated by a higher-than-anticipated number of parents who want their kids on campus. Between 60 and 90 percent of families at each elementary school sent their children back even though a September survey showed only 50 percent would likely return.

Kindergarten teacher Alison Bidar leads students into school on the first day of in-person classes at Navajo Elementary on Sept. 21. (Tim Sealy/Sealy Media)

There was a similar discrepancy at the middle and high school levels, where the district now expects 85 to 90 percent of students to return.

Surveys showed roughly half that could be expected before the district met

the face of local opposition. The applicant is also asking the city to reduce separation requirements in downtown for dispensaries and protected uses like churches, schools and daycares. According to an application filed in September, an entity owned by Shawn and Steven Yari is requesting a conditional use

permit to allow a dispensary as part of a larger redevelopment in the Entertainment District. A lawyer for Equity Partners Group LLC filed a separate rezoning application for the Shoeman Lane project that would allow it

see RETURN page 10

Downtown pot dispensary sought in Scottsdale BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor

rominent downtown property owners are seeking City Council approval for a medical marijuana dispensary in downtown Scottsdale – one year after a similar effort failed in

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CITY NEWS

An edition of the East Valley Tribune Scottsdale Progress is published every Sunday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout Scottsdale. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of Scottsdale Progress, please visit www.Scottsdale.org. CONTACT INFORMATION Main number 480-898-6500 | Advertising 480-898-5624 Circulation service 480-898-5641 Scottsdale Progress 4301 N 75th St., Suite 201, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Publisher Steve T. Strickbine Vice President Michael Hiatt ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Display Advertising 480-898-6309 Classifieds/Inside Sales Elaine Cota | 480-898-7926 | ecota@scottsdale.org TJ Higgins | 480-898-5902 | tjhiggins@scottsdale.org Advertising Office Manager Lori Dionisio | 480-898-6309 | ldionisio@scottsdale.org Director of National Advertising Zac Reynolds | 480-898-5603 | zac@scottsdale.org NEWS DEPARTMENT Executive Editor Paul Maryniak | 480-898-5647 | pmaryniak@scottsdale.org Managing Editor Wayne Schutsky | 480-898-6533 | wschutsky@scottsdale.org Staff Writers Kristine Cannon | 480-898-9657 | kcannon@scottsdale.org Jim Walsh | 480-898-5639 | jwalsh@scottsdale.org Photographers Pablo Robles | Probles@scottsdale.org Design Veronica Thurman | vthurman@scottsdale.org Production Coordinator Courtney Oldham | 480-898-5617 | production@scottsdale.org Circulation Director Aaron Kolodny | 480-898-5641 | customercare@scottsdale.org Scottsdale Progress is distributed by AZ Integrated Media, a circulation service company owned by Times Media Group. The public is permitted one copy per reader. For further information regarding the circulation of this publication or others in the Times Media Group family of publications, please contact AZ Integrated Media at circ@azintegratedmedia.com or 480-898-5641. For circulation services please contact Aaron Kolodny at aaron@azintegratedmedia.com

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

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to redevelop three existing buildings it owns near Shoeman Lane and Wells Fargo Avenue into a two-story building with a dispensary and retail uses on the first floor and a boutique office on the second floor. The Yaris owns Equity Partners Group, according to Arizona Corporation Commission records. The buildings are currently operating as a pizza parlor and taco shop. The Yaris are also asking Council to reduce separation requirements. A city ordinance requires a dispensary to be 1,500 feet from schools, parks, churches, daycares and residential zones. The application asks the city to reduce that separation to 650 feet for downtown dispensaries only. Shawn and Steven Yari operate Stockdale Capital Partners and own dozens of properties downtown, including the Galleria Corporate Centre, W Scottsdale hotel and much of the property in the Entertainment District. In December 2019, the Progress reported the brothers were in the process of seeking city approval for Scottsdale Collection, a massive redevelopment of the Entertainment District that would see many clubs and bars replaced by hotels, office and retail uses and apartments. The Yaris’ dispensary application comes nearly a year after another attempt to bring a dispensary downtown was canceled following backlash from local property owners. At the time, an applicant sought to open a Sunday Goods dispensary in the former Club Tattoo building east of 5th Avenue and Scottsdale Road, just one-quarter mile from the Yaris’ new site. Several local property owners opposed that project, arguing it violated city rules requiring 1,500 feet of separation between dispensaries, schools and other protected uses. The Sunday Goods site was located near a local preschool and a Christian Science reading room. At the time, representatives for the proposed dispensary said they were in talks to buy out both the preschool and the reading room. Neighboring property owners Gary Bohall and Daniel Spiro also argued the proposed two-story dispensary would

Shawn and Steven Yari are asking submitted plans to the city proposing to replace an existing pizza place and taco shop with a two-story retail and office building feature a medical marijuana dispensary. (City of Scottsdale)

negatively impact a larger-scale redevelopment they planned for the area. Spiro and Bohall eventually gathered enough signatures to invoke a rule requiring supermajority approval by Council to approve the dispensary’s rezoning application. The Sunday Goods team pulled its application from consideration after it became clear it did not have the five votes needed for approval. While opposition from neighbors to the Shoeman Lane project is unlikely because the Yaris own much of the property surrounding the new project, the separation requirement remains a problem for them. Based on measurements available in Google Maps, the proposed dispensary is about 1,300 feet away from Perform to Learn Preschool – the same school that caused problems for the Sunday Goods proposal. If the separation requirement is reduced to 650 feet, the proposed dispensary would not be located within that radius near a school, church, daycare or park, according to the application. The project is just 60 feet from The Stetson apartment complex but it does not qualify for a protected residential use requiring 1,500 feet of separation. “The 1500-foot separation applies to residential uses that have residential zoning,” Scottsdale Senior Planner Greg Bloemberg said. “The residential to the south of the applicant’s location does

not have residential zoning. As such, the 1500-foot separation does not apply.”

According to the County Assessor, the Stetson complex is zoned commercial. Still, if the Sunday Goods battle was any indication, the project is likely to draw significant interest from both those in favor and against bringing a dispensary to downtown Scottsdale. In the permit application, attorney Jason Morris argued that southern Scottsdale is an underserved community – the same argument the applicant made in the Sunday Goods case. Morris said Scottsdale’s southern half only has one dispensary, which is located farther north at Via de Ventura and Loop 101. By comparison, northern Scottsdale has four dispensaries. The Arizona Department of Health Services, which regulates dispensaries, used so-called Community Health Analysis Areas to determine where dispensaries can be located. Two CHAAs cover the vast majority of Scottsdale, with one in the north and one covering an area from about Via de Ventura in central Scottsdale to the city’s southern border with Tempe. The department originally issued one permit for the southern Scottsdale CHAA that is now in operation as Monarch Well-

see MARIJUANA page 18

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CITY NEWS

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

Axon seeks zoning, height changes for new project BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor

ust over one month after spending $49 million on 73 acres in northern Scottsdale, Axon will bring plans for its new headquarters before the city’s Planning Commission on Oct. 28. The plans, filed with the city in September just days after Axon won a state land auction, depict a futuristicstyle manufacturing and office hub located near the company’s existing headquarters at Hayden and Loop 101. The property is the latest parcel in the highly-coveted Crossroads East area to be sold at auction by the state after Nationwide purchased 134 acres to build its own regional headquarters and mixed-use development in 2018. Nationwide’s development includes 1.8-million square feet of office space along with apartments, hotel and retail space. Unlike Nationwide, Axon’s plans do not call for a larger mixed-use project surrounding its new headquarters. The project will be used for office and light industrial uses, including research and development and manufacturing and will not include multifamily housing.

Axon described the design for its proposed new headquarters as “spaceship-like” and inspired by science-fiction. (City of Scottsdale)

Axon, the homegrown taser and body camera manufacturer founded in 1993, is asking the city for a zoning

change and height allowances to pave the way for its new headquarters. The two sides already came to terms

on a development deal, approved by

“As an internationally recognized leader in community partnerships and law enforcement, Chief Rodbell is leaving a true legacy of excellence in policing,” City Manager Jim Thompson said. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and he will be greatly missed.” The retirement also marks an end to Rodbell’s 45-year career in law enforcement. He started off as a patrol officer with Maryland’s Montgomery County Department of Police in 1976 and rose to the level of assistant chief before retiring in 2002 to take the same position in Scottsdale. In 2003, Rodbell took over a department in flux following the firing of former Chief Doug Bartosh, who was fired for lack of leadership in addressing out-

dated technology and crime response. By all accounts, Rodbell responded to these concerns after taking over the department. Just months after Rodbell took over in 2003, the newly-created Repeat Offenders Program unit made 19 felony arrests, shut down a regional counterfeiting ring and recovered $45,000 in stolen property. The city also saw a downtick in crime after Rodbell took over in 2003, with some in the department citing improved technology for helping crack down on property crimes. Between 2004 and 2014, annual property crimes in Scottsdale dropped from nearly 9,000 to 5,301, according

see AXON page 8

Scottsdale police Chief Rodbell retiring BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor

cottsdale Police Chief Alan Rodbell will retire on Dec. 1, ending 17 years as the city’s top cop. The Scottsdale Police Department announced the retirement on Oct. 2, stating Rodbell is leaving the post to “pursue an opportunity in the private sector.” A department spokesman did not respond to a request for more information on Rodbell’s new position. Rodbell became Scottsdale’s sixth police chief when he took the job in 2003 and went on to have the second-longest tenure of any chief in the city’s history, following only Walter Nemetz, who held the post for 19 years from 1963 to 1982.

Chief Alan Rodbell

see RODBELL page 6

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

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RODBELL from page 4

to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting statistics. Annual violent crimes in the city also dropped from 468 to 362 over that 10year period. Some crime statistics have ticked up recently in Scottsdale. Total violent crimes in the city rose from 396 to 422 between 2017 and 2018, the second straight year of increases. Property crimes, which decreased by four percent between 2016 and 2017, also jumped, going from 5,470 in 2017 to 5,698 in 2018. The department also confronted other issues under Rodbell’s watch, though some of those problems predated his tenure as chief. In 2004, the department changed its hiring policies after reports that a highranking civilian administrator had been hired in 1998 despite admitting to using cocaine over 20 times in violation of the department’s existing hiring standards. The Scottsdale Tribune reported that department leadership had given multiple exemptions to the drug use policy

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in property damage and theft. Some local business owners and residents criticized the department for a perceived failure to control the situation or respond with more force. At the time, Rodbell defended the department’s response, citing the fact that it was faced with an unprecedented mass event and no major injuries or deaths were reported in connection with the event.

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“No use of force was used last night beyond arresting folks, so I couldn’t be more impressed and more pleased and more proud of the men and women in law enforcement.”

“No use of force was used last night beyond arresting folks, so I couldn’t be more impressed and more pleased and more proud of the men and women in law enforcement,” Rodbell said the next day. A postmortem report issued by the department acknowledged that it vastly

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underestimated the size of the riot in the hours leading up to the event. Rodbell and the department as a whole also received praise from some local officials for handling the unprecedented situation without risking further violence or injuries to civilians. “There is a partially good result in that worse things didn’t happen,” Mayor Jim Lane said. “It wasn’t, as some people have decried, mass destruction. Nor was it where anybody was injured and thankfully no one was killed.” Over the course of the next several months, the department made 55 arrests in connection with the riot and recovered thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Just weeks later, Rodbell marched alongside over one thousand peaceful protestors in downtown Scottsdale who were calling for an end to police brutality and unequal treatment of African Americans. The city has not released details of its plan to find Rodbell’s replacement. A city spokesman did not respond to a request for details on the timeline for the search.

between 1996 and 2003 to at least 10 to 20 police employees. A decade later, irregularities at the Scottsdale Crime Lab ended up in front of the Arizona Supreme Court after several DUI defendants sought to have blood tests thrown out in court over problems with the city’s blood testing equipment. Evidence provided in court in 2013 alleged that equipment put into use in 2009 occasionally printed the wrong names or vial numbers on test results or took information from one blood sample and attached it to a separate sample, leading a judge in Maricopa County Superior Court to invalidate the evidence. The Arizona Supreme Court later reversed that decision but noted that defendants could inform juries about the history of malfunctions in the testing equipment. More recently, the department received some criticism for its response to the Scottsdale Fashion Square riot in May that saw hundreds of people descend on the mall and surrounding properties, causing millions of dollars

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he state’s top health official testified last week that she cannot say when the current COVID-19 health emergency will be over, when the governor will rescind his orders or when Arizonans will be able to get their lives back. Cara Christ said a decline to minimal levels in the benchmarks her agency created to determine the risk of spread won’t necessarily lead her to recommend to that Gov. Doug Ducey dissolve his orders and give up the emergency powers because there are other considerations. Christ’s comments came as she was being questioned in a hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court by Ilan Wurman, who represents more than 100 owners of bars that remain unable to reopen and operate the way they used to due to the Ducey-declared emergency.

Wurman is trying to convince Judge Pamela Gates that the restrictions on bars make no sense, especially with other businesses, including restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages, are allow to be open. So far, legal challenges to closures have been fruitless. The Arizona Supreme Court last week rejected even hearing an appeal by landlords from Ducey’s ban on evictions, which ends Oct. 31. Ducey’s office noted there is a federal ban on evictions through the rest of the year. What currently makes any disease an emergency is that it could overwhelm hospitals. That Christ said, is why Ducey invoked his closure orders in March. At some point, though, she said that won’t be the case. “That would change with COVID-19 as we continue in this pandemic,’’ Christ said.

see VIRUS page 17

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CITY NEWS

AXON from page 4

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

City Council in September, in which the city will reimburse Axon up to $9.4 million for infrastructure improvements. In order to receive the entire reimbursement, Axon must build at least 250,000 square feet of commercial or manufacturing space and have a payroll of $130 million over any continuous 12-month period within five years of the auction. The company is asking the city rezone the 73-acre property industrial and allow for building heights up to 82 feet – above the 52 feet typically allowed under industrial zoning. Axon’s application outlined steps it will take to lessen the impact on surrounding areas and states that Loop 101 will act as a buffer between the site and homes to the north. “Axon has designed an appropriately scaled building with a unique design that is oriented closer to the Loop 101 adjacent portion of the site with the remainder of the site as open space pending future phases,” the applica-

tion states. The Axon site is located across Mayo Boulevard from some residential uses but plans indicated the company will use landscaping and parking lots as buffers between the neighborhood and buildings. Some have questioned how the company’s unique building design will be received by Scottsdale with its stringent design guidelines. The plans, which include a five-story main building surrounded by smaller buildings, call for a design that “pays homage to the science fiction roots of the company’s founding and features a spaceship-like building façade with futuristic contemporary designs.” Initial sketches show gray buildings banded in the company’s bright “Axon yellow” color and the development agreement suggested it could feature a 40-foot logo signs and illuminated lighting system. “Axon may submit plans providing lighting on the building to include an illuminated Wave Motion feature…that may feature projection or mapping of images for changing lights and a swirl-

ing motion,” the agreement states. The Axon zoning application noted that the yellow banding will be an accent not the main color on the buildings and that landscaping will include native plants and color palettes. Council candidate Tom Durham questioned whether the design fit in Scottsdale. “It’s going to look like a spaceship, and it’s going to have a really prominent space, because it’s going to be right there on the inside corner of (Loop 101),” Durham said. An Axon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed headquarters design. But documents filed with the city indicated Axon worked closely with the city prior to submitting its zoning application and spending $49 million to purchase the parcel, suggesting it is confident it will not run into the same issues in Scottsdale. “Axon and the City have worked together to facilitate the proposed development of Axon’s campus expansion on the subject site,” the zoning application states.

At a recent forum, City Councilman Guy Phillips, who is running for re-election, said he supported the project because the economic benefits outweigh any potential design concerns. Stating “the public benefit far outweighs the aesthetic look of what they wanted,” Phillips cited city projections that the new headquarters will have an $8-billion economic impact over the next decade. That impact was cited by several councilmembers on Aug. 25 when the City Council unanimously approved the development agreement and incentive package with Axon. Councilwoman Linda Milhaven called it “a watershed moment for Scottsdale.” “I think this... raises our profile,” Milhaven said. “I think it improves our brand and our reputation.” If that enthusiasm is any indication, the project will likely see little resistance when it reaches the City Council. Barring any delays, the Council is scheduled to consider Axon’s rezoning request on Nov. 10.

MY GOALS AS MAYOR OF SCOTTSDALE Police protection, Fire and EMT safety, quality city services and fiscal responsibility are priorities during this COVID-19 era. Protect neighborhoods from massive block apartments and restore local control of short-term rentals. General Plan 2035 written by all stakeholders must enhance our quality of life and support economic vitality. McDowell Sonoran Preserve improvements must be citizendriven and voter approved. I voted YES on Prop 420. Voting Districts: Bring voting districts to the ballot by 2022, since no council member resides south of Shea. Build-out Bond 2019: Citywide capital projects must move forward to expand our infrastructure. Strengthen ties with Scottsdale schools and Community College for better senior wellness and youth programs.

Dave is a 41-year resident of Scottsdale and a registered architect.

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

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RETURN from front

“green” health metrics showing a minimal level of COVID-19 spread. The district’s current “yellow,” or moderate, metrics indicate it is safe for a hybrid learning format with students alternating between distance and inclassroom learning on different days of the week. Middle and high schools also have added complications not seen at the elementary level. Unlike elementary students, who remain in one classroom with the same group for the entire day, older students travel between rooms for each class throughout the day on campuses packed with more students. “In some cases, we have thousands of students on a secondary campus. Even at the middle school level, we could have 500, 600 or 700 students in one grade level,” Assistant Superintendent Kim Guerin told the Governing Board Sept. 29. “That is just so very different than in an elementary campus.” Students pass by each other in hallways, increasing the potential for virus spread. To mitigate the risk, the administration put a modified in-person schedule in place for middle and high school students that will limit passing periods. Like elementary students, middle

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

and high school students will return to class five days per week. But unlike the younger students, they will not attend a full day of classes and will receive “grab and go lunches” before leaving campus. Under the district’s plan for middle and high school, in-person students will attend classes for 2/3 of a typical day, attending three 73-minute classes. Guerin said the limited classes will cut down on passing in the hallways. “To manage these challenges, a shortened day mitigates risk,” Guerin said. In some most cases, students remaining in at-home distance learning will be able to watch those live or recorded classes but not actively participate. The at-home students will then have three 36-minute classes with one-on-one instruction from the same teachers in the afternoon. The only exception to that schedule is at Cheyenne Traditional School, which serves students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The district authorized a pilot program at Cheyenne that will have middle school students attend in-person classes on a traditional full-day schedule. “We have authorized a pilot project at Cheyenne using the cameras to allow for in-person and EDL synchronous instruction for grades 6-8,” Superintendent Scott Menzel said. “Our goal is to learn what works, what doesn’t work,

Student desks are placed at least three feet apart in all classrooms throughout Scottsdale Unified School District. (Tim Sealy/Sealy Media)

and what can be improved as we plan for the second semester.” Menzel said the administration gauged interest in the pilot at SUSD’s other three K-8 schools but “they chose to continue with the current plan.” The shortened day model for most middle and high schools has left some parents concerned that students learning at home will not receive the same quality of education as those on campus due to the discrepancy in class times for each model. Guerin said that with so few students learning at home, the 36-minute sessions will be more oneon-one time for each student. Schools throughout SUSD have directional markings But board member taped in the hallways to direct student traffic and encourJann-Michael Green- age social distancing as students and staff move between classes. (Tim Sealy/Sealy Media) burg attributed the unanticipated in“I started getting concerned that if so crease in in-person students to per- many kids want EDL, 36 minutes really ceived shortcomings in the at-home would be a problem,” Corbo said. “But model. the school couldn’t tell us how many of Stating “that it’s not just as if they’re the teachers were coming back, how changing their minds every two many were streaming or if they were weeks,” he suggested the huge swing even required to necessarily stream to among parents toward in-class learn- the kids on EDL. ing is “specifically because they feel “And there’s so much confusion and that the EDL is just not going to be suf- lack of clarity around the difference ficient for their child.” between what was going to happen in Parent Miesje Corbo said those con- person and what was going to happen cerns factored into her decision to at home.” send her four teenagers back to ChapThe unanticipated spike in students arral High, but that she also wanted to returning to classrooms has led to do what was best for teachers. class size concerns at some schools. “We wanted to make sure they were Menzel told the board some elemensafe and that the decisions that the dis- tary classrooms could have up to 28 trict was making were going to be in students. the best interests of folks who don’t acEven in those larger classrooms, the tually necessarily have a choice about district said it will be able to keep at going back to work,” Corbo said. least three feet of distance between But she said it wasn’t clear to her students in classrooms at all times. which model the bulk of teachers preEven before it knew 90 percent or ferred and that she is concerned about more of students would return to some the quality of the EDL model moving forward. see RETURN page 12

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

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RETURN from page 10

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

schools, the district said keeping six feet of distance between students was not possible. Menzel noted that a 6-foot rule between students was “a recommendation, not a requirement” from state health officials. Navajo Elementary, which has larger than normal classrooms, has been able to keep more than 3 feet between students despite seeing around 90 percent of students return. “The one (kindergarten) room we’re almost at 6 feet, but we’re well over 4 feet in every one of them,” Principal Matthew Patzlaff said. Staffing has also been an issue at SUSD and throughout the state as some teachers have resigned rather than return to classrooms. At Cheyenne Traditional, staffing issues prompted a backlash from some parents, including Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who has children at the school. A letter sent to Cheyenne parents on Sept. 22 stated that two in-person third

grade classrooms will have teachers teaching remotely via live streaming while an aide remains physically in the classroom with students. Ugenti-Rita called the situation “unacceptable” in a post on Facebook. Ugenti-Rita has been a vocal critic in recent months, first criticizing SUSD for taking too long to reopen and then disparaging the rollout when the district brought elementary students back to the classroom. “The reasonable expectation from parents…was that a physical teacher would be present in the classroom teaching and engaging the students,” Ugenti-Rita wrote. “SUSD needs to fix this immediately. They have a responsibility to provide children returning to in person learning with an in-person teacher ready and willing to teach the class.” The post garnered over 200 comments, many of which criticized teachers. An SUSD spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on her post. But Becky Williams, president of the

Physical Education coach David Bernstein leads kids in jumping jacks before school at Navajo Elementary. (Tim Sealy/Sealy Media)

Scottsdale Education Association, decried Ugenti-Rita’s post as a divisive move made to “score cheap political points.” Williams, a teacher at Mohave Middle School, said, “teachers are working

harder than we ever have in our careers doing everything we can to be part of the solution to reach our students given the perimeters of the pandemic.”

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Dems target judge with “no” campaign BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

pset with his ruling on a proposed tax hike for education, the Maricopa County Democratic Party is trying to deny Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury another four-year term on the bench. “He actively tried to stop Arizona voters from voting on the issue,’’ party spokesman Edder Diaz-Martinez said of Coury. It was only after the Arizona Supreme Court stepped in and overruled the judge that the Invest in Education measure was placed on the November ballot. Diaz-Martinez said that does not excuse Coury.

“We are sending a message to all judges, reminding them that they do appear on the ballot at the will of the Arizona voters,’’ he said. There was no response from Coury. The unusual campaign is taking place because there is no direct election of judges in Maricopa, Pima, Pinal and Coconino counties. Instead of candidates seeking office, vacancies are filled by the governor. Then, every four years, the judges’ names appear on the ballot on a retainreject basis. Coury is not the only Arizona jurist being targeted by a “reject” campaign. In a letter to the Progress published today, former Scottsdale Mayor Sam Campana urged a “no” vote against state

Supreme Court Justices Andrew Gould and John Lopez for ruling that a Phoenix ordinance that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination cannot be used to force artists to create custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples. “Their ruling on an important LBTGQ issue is not in line with a forward-thinking Arizona,” Campana wrote. There have been only a handful of campaigns to deny retention to judges. And only three have been successful since what’s been called the “merit selection process’’ was set up in 1974. But Diaz-Martinez said the campaign against Coury has support beyond the county party. “We are going to make sure our volun-

teer networks and social media followers know about the effort,’’ said Dawn Penich-Thacker, spokeswoman for Save Our Schools Arizona, one of the groups involved in getting Proposition 208 on the ballot. Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said his organization also is endorsing the effort. He said that’s because it is getting more involved in issues of adequate funding for education. Diaz-Martinez said there also is support from the Arizona Education Association. But AEA President Joe Thomas said his organization has taken no official position.

see JUDGE page 16

SUSD spending $1M on cameras for streaming BY JAKARIA ROSS Progress Contributor

s some students return to classrooms, the Scottsdale Unified School District will spend nearly $1 million to purchase cameras to stream lessons for students at home. The Governing Board last month approved the purchase of 800 cameras at a cost of no more than $908,000. The approval came just days before the first elementary students returned to classrooms. According to a district survey, between 60 to 90 percent of families with elementary students in distance learning opted to send their students back to class. But that still left some students at home in the enhanced distance learning model. Some of those students will continue to receive instruction from a teacher dedicated specifically to that model but the cameras will give other teachers in the district the option to livestream classes for them while simultaneously teaching other students in the classroom, said Debi Spaulding, the district’s director of technology. The district already ordered 95 cameras at a cost of $85,810 and requested board approval to purchase and install an addi-

The Scottsdale Unified Governing Board at a meeting last month approved spending up to $1 million on cameras to stream classes. (YouTube)

tional 705 cameras for $821,598. The district will pay for the purchase by reallocating a portion of about $2 million in its budget that was allocated towards upgrading classroom technology. SUSD acting Chief Financial Officer Shannon Crosier said the $2 million in federal CARES Act funds the district received was already allocated but that there may be the opportunity to reimburse the schools budget using other grants in the future.

“But for now, to get it going, let’s put it through capital (budget) and then see where we land as we progress through the year,” she said. Spaulding recommended purchasing the equipment en masse due to difficulty sourcing supplies that are in high demand. “Any type of technology purchase is very difficult to make at this time… I ordered some tripods over a month ago and we still haven’t received them,” Spaulding said.

“We found a source of 800 of these cameras and so that was why we wanted to buy them all upfront,” she added. “It will enable us so that if we don’t use them all we’ll have stock for replacement also.” The district is also seeing high demand for cameras. “So far we have had 111 requests for cameras. We will prioritize by starting

see SUSD CAMERAS page 16

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

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JUDGE from page 14

“did not create a significant danger of confusion or unfairness.’’ Diaz-Martinez said Coury needs to be held accountable for his original ruling. He said the judge took such a narrow view of how a 100-word description has to be crafted that it effectively would have precluded almost any initiative from making the ballot. He said the party will do advertising to tell voters to reject Coury. But singling out Coury will require some work on the part of voters. They face a ballot where they are being asked to retain three Supreme Court justices and 40 from Maricopa County. When judges’ terms are up they are evaluated by a special commission of other judges, attorneys and the public to determine if they meet the standards to merit them another term. All 33 commissioners concluded Coury meets those standard. In general, judges up for retention are precluded from soliciting campaign donations. But those rules are loosened if there is an active campaign to oust them.

SUSD CAMERAS from page 14

straight to where the teacher would be located.” Guerin also explained how students remaining in enhanced distance learning will access lessons recorded with the new cameras. She said students at home may not interact directly with their teacher during the lesson but could receive individualized instruction or help later. “A teacher doesn’t necessarily need to interact,” Guerin said. “We can live stream or record the lesson but then have office hours later to give individualized attention to the students at home.” Spaulding also noted the cameras are outfitted with enhanced audio allowing teachers to speak clearly even when wearing a mask. “We don’t want the students at home not feeling heard and not having engagement with their teachers...Another way to manage that is they get to watch the teacher teach and then later they have time with the other students that are at home learning on EDL extend and can ask questions and engage and do some cooperative activities that the kids in person got to do, just in a different way,” Guerin added.

“Our focus is on passing Proposition 208,’’ he said. Coury, in his 20-page August ruling, said the measure could not go on the ballot because of what he concluded were both misleading statements and fullblown omissions in the legally required 100-word description that is placed on the petitions. Any one of these, he said, would have been enough to disqualify the initiative. And taken together, Coury said, the description creates “the substantial risk of confusion for a reasonable Arizona voter.’’ And then there was what some initiative supporters considered Coury’s particularly hostile conclusion that “Invest in Education circulated an opaque ‘Trojan horse’ of a 100-word description, concealing principal provisions of the initiative.’’ Coury was overruled by the state’s high court, with Chief Justice Robert Brutinel concluding that the summary

with the kindergarten, first and second grades for our installs,” Spaulding said. With 1,500 classrooms but only 800 cameras, the district has allowed teachers to decide if they want their individual class sessions to be recorded. “Giving them a choice provides different modes of delivery,” Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kim Guerin said. On Sept. 29, district administration indicated it will take some time to roll out the cameras, though, due to limited bandwidth at some schools. Guerin said the district’s IT staff is in the process of expanding bandwidth to accommodate the cameras. Board member Jann-Michael Greenburg questioned privacy and legal implications of filming live classes and potentially capturing minors on camera. But Spaulding said the cameras would be positioned to avoid recording students in the room. “One thing about the cameras that are going to be in the classrooms, the kids in the classrooms would not be on those cameras,” Spaulding said. “The camera is in the ceiling, so it’s going over their heads,

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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

RETURN from page 12

Williams said some teachers have been granted remote teaching accommodations in limited circumstance if they have “qualifying ADA conditions” but otherwise must either return or resign. “If teachers are not physically in their classrooms, it is not because they are choosing not to. It is because they have a health condition which would put them at greater risk if they were to contract Covid,” Williams said. While SUSD navigates those challenges, individual schools are implementing safety plans to make a safe, clean environment. A major component of the district’s safety plan is reminding families to keep their students home if they are ill or showing symptoms of Covid-19. SUSD Facilities Director Dennis Roehler told the Governing Board that all schools will be outfitted with signs driving home that message and the district will also send home refrigerator magnets to parents with that reminder. Thus far, SUSD has had three cases of Covid-19, according to its dashboard. That includes one teacher at Cherokee Elementary and two students at Chaparral High. The district is enforcing a mandatory mask policy like any other dress code

VIRUS from page 6

“And then it would just be like living with the influenza,’’ she continued. “At that point, it wouldn’t be a public health emergency anymore.’’ Christ said she had no idea when restrictions on businesses might end. “That’s hard to predict now because we learn new things every day,’’ she testified. One issue in the case is how long Ducey can exercise his emergency authority. Wurman pointed out the health department has established “benchmarks’’ to determine the risk of spread of the virus. These look at: the number of cases per 100,000 residents, the percent of tests for the virus that come back positive, and the percent of patients showing up in hospital emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms. Each of those can be listed as having a substantial, moderate or minimal risk of

violation, with potential suspensions for repeated non compliance. Despite concerns that mask rule would be hard on younger children, Patzlaff said it has not been an issue thus far. “The kids are keeping their masks on…they’re awesome about that,” Patzlaff said. “One thing that’s a little trickier is just reminding people of that social distancing and those particular areas where we are being mindful of our space and our routine.” Laura Weeshoff, a parent of two young children at Desert Canyon Elementary, said, “My littlest wears her mask. She wants to put it on at home and wear it in the car or walking to school.” Patzlaff said Navajo’s phased reopening went as well as could be expected but that the return was hardly business as usual. On the first day of classes on Sept. 21, Patzlaff, teachers and staff met students at the school entrance and quickly herded them into their classroom units on the school’s basketball courts, where they remained masked and participated in distance-friendly activities games. Teachers then shuttled their classes, one-by-one, into the buildings, which have been marked with taped arrows and other signage to encourage distancing.

Like other schools in the district, Navajo has several newly-installed hand washing stations throughout its campus and also spaced seating in its lunch room to host a maximum of two classes at a time. That approach maintains 6 feet of distance while enabling students to eat with masks off. Patzlaff has made creative use of outdoor space to create “distanced” outdoor picnics for students. At Desert Canyon Elementary, Weeshoff said she was impressed with the school’s operation since returning. “I think they’re doing an amazing job; I think they were extra cautious,” said Weeshoff, who has a first grader in Desert Canyon’s Mandarin immersion program and child enrolled in preschool. Administrators are stressing the need for high school students to learn the mask and social distancing rules before they come to class. “I think it’s really important to teach kids the why behind why we need to do what we need to do and really that is to keep ourselves safe, keep our fellow students and staff safe and keep the school open,” said Coronado High School Principal Amy Palatucci, “Everybody’s sharing the same message in class, teaching kids how to transition safely and follow all of those guidelines, remind them to keep your distance,” she said.

spread. Wurman wanted to know at what point those benchmarks will get to a point when the emergency will be over. “It’s a little bit difficult,’’ Christ responded. “Those benchmarks weren’t established to determine an end to the public health emergency,’’ she said. “They were really established to set benchmarks for business to be able to reopen and schools to go back into session.’’ Wurman told her to assume there will be no vaccine, no “therapeutic’’ to effectively treat the disease and no “herd immunity’’ where enough people have contracted the virus, survived and now have antibodies. Given all that, Wurman asked Christ when she would be willing to recommend Ducey rescind his emergency orders. “If we were consistently at very, very low cases, if CLI (COVID-like illnesses) stayed low and the percent positivity remains

low, below that 3 percent, we may make that recommendation,’’ she responded. But no promises. “The public health emergency is really protecting our health care system, making sure we keep as few people from getting sick or dying and having access to those resources than it is just eradicating the disease,’’ she said. Christ conceded that she could not say whether a single case of coronavirus had been traced to a bar in Arizona. But she said that’s not because none has happened. But the health director said she remains convinced that the risk of spread is higher at bars than at other businesses. Some of it, she said, has to do with lack of ventilation indoors. “There are ways that that can be increased,’’ Christ said. “But alcohol does tend to affect one’s ability to physically distance and make good decisions.’’

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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

Opponents say marijuana prop a mine�ield BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

he way Lisa James sees it, Proposition 207 is not about whether people should be able to use marijuana. She said if Arizonans want that there’s a simple solution: Repeal the laws that now make its sale and use illegal. But James, who chairs Arizonans for Health and Public Safety – which opposes the initiative – said that’s not what’s on the ballot. “If they wanted to do that, they could do that in a page and a half,’’ she said. James said it’s a complex set of regulations on 17 pages that is financed by for-profit organizations that will benefit if it wins approval. Prop 207 also has drawn the opposition of the Catholic church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chad Campbell, chairman of Smart and Safe Arizona, the industry-financed campaign which crafted and is backing the measure, does not dispute that there’s a of detail on all those pages beyond making it legal to possess up to an ounce of the drug and up to six plants. But he said that is necessary to ensure that marijuana is properly controlled, that there are limits on how it can be marketed and, potentially more significant, that it generates the estimated $300 million a year earmarked

MARIJUANA from page 2

ness Center. It issued a second permit in 2017 but that permit holder has yet to find a property in the southern Scottsdale area that conforms with all of Scottsdale’s separation requirements, which are stricter than comparable cities in the Valley. For medical marijuana patients living in downtown or further south in Scottsdale, the closest dispensaries are Monarch Wellness Center or other facilities in Tempe or Phoenix – all of which are six miles or more away from the southern edge of downtown Scottsdale.

Petitions submitted last June for the marijuana initiative contained more than enough signatures to qualify Prop 207 for the Nov. 3 ballot. (Capitol Media Services)

for education. What’s not necessary, said James, are some other provisions tucked into the measure. For example, it allows these new recreational marijuana shops to share premises with existing medical marijuana facilities. James said it changes the laws for medical marijuana dispensaries – such as removing the existing requirement that medical marijuana dispensaries be operated as nonprofit entities. That was one of the selling points

behind the 2010 measure that legalized marijuana for certain medical conditions. Prop 207 also eliminates the requirement for dispensaries to have a medical director. Campbell dismissed those concerns as irrelevant. He said even if medical marijuana now would be sold by those seeking a profit, that won’t necessarily boost the cost. “It will be market-driven,’’ Campbell said, calling medical directors unnec-

During the Sunday Goods debate, some residents called these distances prohibitive to care. In August 2019, resident Thomas Lovell told the Planning Commission he was undergoing cancer treatment and had to drive 30 minutes to the nearest dispensary. “That’s a nuisance when you’re not feeling well,” Lovell said. The permit application could also be inextricably tied to the fate of Prop 207, the recreational marijuana proposition. That proposition, if approved, would give existing medical marijuana dispensaries a head start in receiving recre-

ational licenses from the state, so any dispensary approved now would have a fast track to selling recreational weed. The results of Scottsdale’s own City Council election could also determine the project’s fate. Shoeman Lane does not currently have a date for Council consideration and if it reaches City Hall after Dec. 31, it will likely face a very different Council as three seats are up for election. At a candidate forum in June, Council hopefuls laid out their opinions on recreational marijuana. Tom Durham, Betty Janik, Becca Linnig and incumbent Councilman Guy Phillips

essary because the initiative includes requirements for testing as well as limits on the strength of edible marijuana products. There is no cap on the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol – the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana – in the leaves and flowers that are sold. As much as James says the 17-page initiative is too chock full of provisions versus simple decriminalization, there also are more restrictions that she actually wants in the measure. There’s the issue of advertising and promotion. The measure would not only prohibit sales to those younger than 21 but also ban the sale of products that resemble humans, animals, fruits, toys or cartoons. And it specifically bans marketing marijuana products to children. James said that’s not enough. She wants to block promotion of marijuana ways that children can see. “They could have restricted their access on social media, for instance,’’ she said, saying youngsters are spending a lot of time on the internet. She conceded there is no such ban on promoting alcohol or tobacco. But James said that is irrelevant. “I can see a lot of things on the internet,’’ she said. “But that doesn’t mean I want to see more of them.’’ There’s also the issue of driving while drugged.

see WEED page 19

said they did not support legalizing recreational marijuana. Tammy Caputi and John Little said they supported legalization. Even if the Shoeman Lane project receives Council approval, it’s unclear when a dispensary would go into operation. That’s because, unlike Sunday Goods, the building owner does not currently have a deal in place with the second dispensary license holder in the southern Scottsdale CHAA. “We are representing the landlord/developer and there is not a specific licensee associated with the application at this juncture,” Morris said.

CITY NEWS

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

WEED from page 18

The initiative spells out that it remains illegal to operate a motor vehicle, boat or aircraft “while impaired to even the slightest degree.’’ Only thing is, there is currently no technology, similar to a breath test, to determine the level of THC in someone’s blood. Even if such a device becomes available, there is no standard in the initiative to say that a specific THC level is a presumption of driving impaired, the way someone with a blood-alcohol level is presumed to be driving drunk. Then there’s the issue of how Proposition 207 is structured. It limits the number of recreational marijuana facilities that can be set up. Campbell said Arizonans don’t want a situation like Denver where recreational outlets have popped up all over the city. But it pretty much guarantees that the operators of existing medical marijuana dispensaries will get one of the new licenses. “This is about big marijuana money

and a whole commercial industry,’’ James said. That provision, in turn, helps explain why virtually all of the $3.5 million collected to hire the paid circulators to put the issue on the ballot and finance the campaign came from companies that already have marijuana facilities in the state. If the state simply decriminalized marijuana possession and use, those exclusive licenses to sell the product would be worthless. But Campbell said it makes sense to have some controls and make it safe. For example, he said, there are product standards and testing. And there even are some restrictions on how it can be marketed to ensure that ads are not targeting those younger than 21 for whom the drug would remain off limits. “The entire point of this is to create a safe regulatory environment for the use of this product in a responsible manner,’’ Campbell said. He compared it to how the state regulates the sale of alcohol. There is a bit of a parallel there. Aside from age restrictions, Arizona limits 2019 Best of Scottsdale winner for

the number of licenses for bars. But there are no limits on how many restaurants can serve alcoholic beverages. And there are no caps on the number of grocery and convenience stores that can sell alcoholic beverages. “Voters don’t want it to be unlimited,’’ Campbell said of retail marijuana outlets. He did not dispute that the operators of the existing 130 medical marijuana dispensaries would get first crack at the licenses for recreational sale of marijuana. But Campbell pointed out there also is a requirement to give out 26 new licenses under a “social equity’’ program to help those who are from communities “disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws.’’ And there are provisions for added dispensaries as population grows. The initiative does have some options for local control. It allows cities and counties in unincorporated areas to limit the number of retail outlets and marijuana testing facilities, regulate their hours of operation and outright prohibit both.

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But restrictions on recreational facilities cannot be more restrictive than those imposed on medical dispensaries. And there can’t be new restrictions on recreational marijuana outlets if they’re operated at the same location as an existing medical marijuana outlet – something that again gives an advantage to those already on the ground. Prop 207 also sets up a procedure for anyone who has previously been convicted of drug possession to have the criminal record wiped out. The arguments by foes that this isn’t a simple repeal of laws making it a crime to possess marijuana still leaves the fact that it is the only proposal on the November ballot to allow adults to use the drug for recreational purposes. James sidestepped the question of whether she and others who oppose this measure would support simple decriminalization. “I think that you would see differences of opinion,’’ she said. “There are some people who are fine with decriminalization,’’ James said. “But Prop 207 is not the way to do it.’’

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Nonprofit helps in Scottsdale teen’s cancer fight BY KATY SPRINGER Progress Contributor

t started as a kink in her neck. Emma Dabill, 16, thought she had pulled a muscle or slept funny. A few days later, it hurt to the touch. Emma’s mom, Cindy Kreisberger, scheduled a visit with her pediatrician, who brought in a colleague to examine the lump. The doctors thought perhaps her lymph node was swollen and scheduled a CT scan. Kreisberger got the phone call while enjoying a staycation with her family. “The ENT asked if we could come the next day to go over the results of her scan,” she said. “I asked if we could schedule the appointment the following

At age 16, Emma Dabill of Scottsdale is fighting lymphoma, and she and her family are getting help from the Children's Cancer Network. (Special to the Progress)

week after we got home, but he said no. He needed to see us right away. We knew it wouldn’t be great news but we never imagined cancer.” The diagnosis – lymphoma – knocked the wind out of mother and daughter. A needle biopsy confirmed it was Hodgkins lymphoma, thus starting a long and grueling treatment regimen. “From June 2018 through March 2019, we practically lived at Phoenix Children’s Hospital,” Kreisberger said. “She received chemo five days a week, followed by a two-week break, then more chemo. Some days we were there for eight hours straight.” The Scottsdale family did their best to

see CANCER page 22

Scottsdale siblings help to educate voters BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

very Sunday, the Wahal family gathers around the table to read and discuss the Sunday editions of the “The New York Times” and “The Wall Street Journal.” “We always like to talk about different conversations in politics and international affairs,” said 19-year-old Scottsdale native Anya Wahal. It’s a family tradition she and her younger brother Karsen Wahal, 17, have followed since they learned to read. “Even before we learned how to read, our parents would read us newspapers,” Anya said. And while Anya is now far from home as a sophomore at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., she and Karsen are taking their passion for politics and team-

Scottsdale residents Karsen and Anya Wahal are the founders of The Polling Place. (Anya Wahal)

ing up to help educate Arizona voters this election season. They helped found The Polling Place, a nonpartisan voter initiative that aims to provide accurate, unbiased information on all candidates in all races throughout Arizona. The Polling Place launched a week ago, thanks to some help they got from friends at BASIS Scottsdale as well as Georgetown, George Washington and Harvard universities. “Especially given the importance of voting in this day and age and young people, we realize that politics is playing an increasingly important role in our lives,” said Karsen, a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. “We thought it was important to make this website to make voting accessible to everybody.”

see POLLING page 22

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

NEIGHBORS

CANCER �� page 20

stay positive throughout the long treatment, though Cindy, a single working mom of two daughters, said they were all on “auto pilot.” “The diagnosis was devastating. In some ways, it was good that we were so busy with all of the treatments, not to mention work and school. We didn’t have time to dwell on the anxiety and fear,” she said. During this time, Emma’s grandmother, Lorraine Kreisburger, stepped up in big ways to help manage Emma’s treatment. Cindy even arranged for Emma to live with her grandma for a time, a “quarantine” of sorts to protect Emma’s suppressed immune system from any illnesses Cindy or her younger daughter Rebecca might bring home. “Emma and her grandma were already close, but this experience really strengthened the bond between them,” said Cindy. Emma went back to school in March, which proved challenging. A senior at Chaparral High School, she stepped into a spotlight she didn’t want. “Everyone knew she had cancer and it was not the kind of attention any teenage girl wants,” said her mom. “She had really wonderful friends who stood by

POLLING �� page 20

Arizona has had a history of low voter turnout. “Casting an informed, data-driven vote in today’s political climate has become nearly impossible. Candidate information is inaccessible, disorganized and sometimes even absent. This lack of accessibility drives the shockingly low voter turnout in our country and our state,” The Polling Place states on its website. The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commissions said in 2018 that one obstacle for potential voters has been the “absence of a single place where they can learn how Arizona’s complicated state and local government operates and what issues each office addresses.” “While many potential voters care deeply about local and state issues, this obstacle has limited voter turnout,” it said.

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

her. One of her best friends had fought cancer the year before. “She really was there for Emma. She understood better than anyone that Emma was the same girl underneath, even if she had lost her hair to chemo.” Emma also found support from Children’s Cancer Network, a Chandler nonprofit organization that serves families across Arizona facing pediatric cancer. “We worked with Sherri Irby, who was absolutely lovely,” said Cindy. “She fitted Emma with a wig and gave her some makeup and other things to help her feel a little better about herself. They’ve provided steady support to our family throughout this incredibly difficult journey.” “Our biggest priority is to ensure no family has to fight cancer alone,” said Patti Luttrell, CCN’s founder and executive director. “Pediatric cancer can be incredibly isolating. It can create extreme financial, social and emotional difficul-

ties for families. We’re here to help with all of it.” CCN provides a host of services to families like Emma’s, like gas cards that offset the cost of travel to and from chemo, grocery gift cards to help parents feed their families, wigs, health and wellness activities, support programs for siblings, college scholarships and numerous others. This support is critically important for families battling pediatric cancer, especially since funding levels are so low on the national level. Indeed, childhood cancer continues to be the most overlooked and underfunded category of all cancer research, comprising just 4 percent of federal funding. In the last 20 years, only four new drugs have been approved by the FDA to treat childhood cancer specifically. “Research funding is limited because the number of children diagnosed with cancer is small compared to the numbers of adult cancer patients,” Luttrell said. “The survival rate for kids is improving, but two-thirds of them experience chronic and even life-threatening secondary effects from toxic treatments like chemotherapy and radiation,” she added. “The societal impact of pediatric cancer is significant, even though the numbers are smaller.” It’s been more than a year since Emma completed her treatments and Cindy re-

ports she is doing well. A pharmacy major at the University of Arizona, she is completing her freshman year online amid COVID-19. “The pandemic has been a nightmare for so many families, but we have found a silver lining,” said Cindy. “With Emma at home, we’re making up for all of the time we lost during her cancer fight. She is so bright and so motivated. It’s amazing to have a front-row seat as she works toward her degree.” Children’s Cancer Network’s 10th Annual Run to Fight Children’s Cancer, a virtual 5k/10k scheduled Oct. 18-25, provides an opportunity to build awareness of childhood cancer and raise money for research, treatments, patient education and support services. The race benefits CCN and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. $45. runtofightcancer.com Learn more about CCN at childrenscancernetwork.org or on Facebook.

The Polling Place’s website provides a comprehensive database of background, platform and voting record for each candidate at all government levels. “I realized that although Karsen and I are very privileged to be able to spend time researching all these candidates, a lot of people don’t have the time or the resources to be researching these candidates,” Anya said. “So, we really wanted to bridge that gap of accessibility and make it so that all people can be informed easily and accessibly.” According to Karsen, one of the biggest challenges to creating the Polling Place was the sheer amount of research it involved. The team collected data from candidates’ websites and news stories, as well as from social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn. “We’re a lot more efficient now, and we’ve expanded to a few more people

that we trust to get the information down correctly,” Karsen said. The Polling Place has reached voters of all ages. It caught the attention of Joan Greene, the Democratic candidate for Congress in District 5, who referred voters to the site, say it had “great information and they will be updating in the coming days.” While Anya and Karsen said they would like to expand The Polling Place to other states, they’re dedicated to perfecting The Polling Place for Arizona. “We’re from Arizona, so this is very close to our hearts,” Anya said. “But we would definitely be interested in reaching out to other states.” In the meantime, both Anya and Karsen hope the Polling Place will inspire Arizonans, especially young people, to vote. “Even though I can’t vote, I think voting has an impact on me and everybody that I care about,” Karsen said. “Politics affects every single part of my life. It af-

fects whether I can go to school and see my friends during a pandemic. It affects the future in terms of my education, going to college, tuition.” He continued: “I have great parents and education, but there are so many others who don’t have access to the same opportunities that I have. And politics is one of the best ways to ensure that everybody gets equal opportunities across the board.” Anya added that young people play an important role in politics. “I’m of the opinion that if you are complaining about the political landscape and things that happen to your life, then you need to vote,” she said. “I think for young people, in particular, we’ve seen this great movement and activism around different ideas. “I think that activism is important, but I think it’s important for the activism to be backed up by a vote.” Information: thepollingplace.org

“She really was there for Emma. She understood better than anyone that Emma was the same girl underneath, even if she had lost her hair to chemo.”

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Scottsdale woman sings way onto new album

is. And just the idea of creation, I wanted to try to capture that, and how beautiful it was in the garden,” he continued. Hathaway was able to get the majority of the recording completed in GCU’s state-ofthe-art recording studio before the pandemic forced the campus to shut down in March. Chandler Kruse, who grew up in both Mesa and Gilbert, had a similar recording experience. Kruse worked with Christopher Calde-

ron on their song “All We Need” on campus before the shutdown, but returned to work with Eric Johnson, GCU’s recording studio manager, for two more sessions. Kruse admitted he was uncomfortable returning to the studio to record amid the pandemic. “On the other hand, in a time of craziness, it was relaxing because it was music,” he said. “It was something we were passionate about, something we were excited about and something that we loved.” The recording process for Myers, however, was a unique one. Because Myers had to leave campus before she had the opportunity to record her vocals, the worship arts major produced her song from home, recording her vocals via FaceTime. “I can now be a little more self-sufficient in the recording process,” Myers said. “It also taught me patience, and that the producer’s job is not easy.” Johnson told the Progress in 2018 that the recording process is a months-long process. It starts with him and the producers narrowing the more than 130 songs down to 10. “We started in December with pre-production and then through January, February, March, we were tracking all of the songs,” Johnson said. By April, they start mixing the songs. This year, of course, the team faced obstacles brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, including the aforementioned campus shut-down; but that didn’t stop the stu-

dents from writing and performing all 10 original songs. And according to Johnson, because Myers, Kruse, and Hathaway were local — and didn’t have to leave the state like many other students — he was able to work more closely with them on the recording process. Myers, who has been featured on “Canyon Worship” 2017, 2018 and 2019, along with this year’s album, previously recorded songs with her high school at GCU’s recording studio. While attending Scottsdale Christian Academy, Myers and her class were invited to GCU to record an original song. That’s when she recorded “My Only Truth” for the first time – the same song she submitted for “Canyon Worship 2018.” “I didn’t think it was my best work because I wrote it in high school, but I decided to submit it anyway to be on the album – and it made it,” she said. Writing the song came easy for Myers, too. “I just knew exactly what it needed to be because I was going through a spot where I didn’t know what I wanted with my life, and the whole song is about [how it’s] okay to not know what’s going to happen because God knows what your plan is and what’s going to be best for you,” she said. “Canyon Worship 2020” is available for streaming on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Shazam. It’s also available for purchase in the Lope Shop and other locations on GCU’s campus for $9.90.

Kids school-based oral health program. In the past, NOAH’s Smiles for Kids program provided in person oral health education, dental screenings, and fluoride varnish services to over 3,000 children at primarily Title 1 elementary schools in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Deer Valley. To continue this work while schools were closed, NOAH retooled the program to provide the educational component via video with the funds from Delta Dental of Arizona. “Poor oral health can negatively affect how a young mouth develops and leads

to more than 50 million school hours being lost each year. It can also impact a child’s confidence, speech, nutrition, social skills, as well as potential for success later in life,” said Dr. Lou Sarrosa, NOAH dental director. “This grant not only allows us to treat thousands of low income and uninsured children who otherwise may not have access to dental services, it also gives us the opportunity to present dental education in a new and interactive platform for their families and provide them with important resources that can benefit the entire family.”

Students watch short videos on six separate oral health modules, take a quiz and electronically obtain parent permission to receive an oral health screening, fluoride varnish treatment and dental supplies once students return to school. Delta Dental of Arizona, a dental benefits company, has distributed over $750,000 this year to 34 Arizona community organizations though its charitable arm. Since 2006, the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation has provided more than $13 million in community benefit support for oral health promotion and dental disease prevention programs across the state.

BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

rand Canyon University recently released its fifth student album, “Canyon Worship 2020.” And for the fourth year in a row, the album features Scottsdale native and GCU student, Logan Myers – one of 11 students selected for the university’s annual album. Released Sept. 14, “Canyon Worship 2020” is a compilation album of religious praise music. Each year, more than 130 songs are submitted by GCU students, in hopes theirs will be selected. Myers’ “You Are Enough” was among those that made the cut. Inspired by the story of Job 1:1, “You Are Enough” asks the question: If everything we love was taken away from us, would we still have faith? “It’s a difficult thing to think about,” said Myers, also known as Logan Alexandra. “There are times when that is true for me, but there are times where it’s not.” Myers is one of three East Valley GCU students featured on the album. Chandler resident Travis Hathaway submitted two songs, and the one he wrote “in five minutes” was, to his surprise, selected. “I have a strong connection, I believe, with nature,” Hathaway said of his song “The Garden.” “I feel like it really speaks to how great and amazing God is, and how beautiful He

Scottsdale native and GCU student Logan Myers is featured — for the fourth consecutive year — on the university’s annual “Canyon Worship” album, produced in GCU’s state-of-the-art recording studio. (Grand Canyon University)

NOAH gets Delta Dental Foundation help PROGRESS NEWS STAFF

ore than half of Arizona’s kindergarten children have dental cavities – which is greater than the national average for 5-year-olds – according to the Healthy Smiles Healthy Bodies Survey. So, Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health (NOAH) and Delta Dental of Arizona want to ensure these children receive the oral health education they need to reduce the rate of cavities. Delta Dental awarded NOAH $100,000 over two years to continue the Smiles for

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Merci owners grateful to Scottsdale community BY MELODY BIRKETT Progress Contributor

here have been times since they moved here from France that the owners of Merci in Scottsdale needed a little mercy. In January 2008, Noelle & Duc Liao opened Scratch Pastries in Scottsdale and then started a second location in Phoenix, but an investor scammed them so the Liaos �iled for bankruptcy in 2013 and closed both locations. “The good news is the City of Scottsdale and our landlord and others said, ‘this was a hiccup for you. Please reopen,’” said Noelle. “And they helped us get reopened within about eight months. Merci opened in 2014 in a strip shopping center at Indian School and Miller roads and Noelle now �inds she and Duc “have been so blessed.” “We’re small but steady and found our stability again,” she said. After six years, Liao said the secret to their success is “we’re authentic. We are French.” “We lived there for so long and he grew up there,” said Noelle, who lived in Paris 15 years. Duc lived there twice as long. “We’re here more out of love for people and making them happy with quality food and making sure it’s not about doing things quickly," she said. “We prefer to have less people. I don’t advertise. We prefer to have quality.” The restaurant is serving breakfast and lunch daily from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Noelle said they hope to resume dinner service soon Wednesday-Saturday. “We’re just grateful for every customer who comes in,” she added, noting nearly three-quarters of their business are returning customers. Duc does all of the cooking and baking. They import many of their ingredients

Noelle and Duc Liao said they're grateful for the support that has helped their business, Merci, thrive in Scottsdale. (Melody Birkett/Progress Contributor)

from France – all non-GMO food products including butter and �lour. Noelle is the buyer and manages the business. “After so many years, I have to resource where I can �ind things and if I can get them,” she explained. “We keep some items on the special board because it’s not always easy to get. The mussels, for example. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not good. We don’t have it on our

full-time menu but if I can �ind great mussels, then fantastic. It really depends on what’s in season.” In addition to mussels, she said, “we have our snails – escargot, little �ine French ones – and he (Duc) does his magic with the butter and garlic. With the frog legs he does his own recipes.” The most popular dish is beef bourguignon slow-cooked in red wine.

“And Duc started doing his stroganoff in white wine and that one has been a really big hit, too,” said Noelle. Baguette sandwiches are on the menu along with quiche; savory crepes made with organic buckwheat so it’s non-GMO; classic Parisian with ham, cheese and egg and one with smoked salmon. Merci also serves French onion soup, lobster bisque and salads. When starting their own business, the couple listened to customers on what they liked “so we progressed and changed according to what they were asking us for,” Noelle said. Prior to moving to Scottsdale, she added, “I traveled intensely for about 10 years all over the world from India to China to all over Europe to Saudi Arabia to Sweden — just everywhere. I was modeling. My husband was a fashion photographer.” In fact, many of his pictures are hanging on the walls at Merci. “He’s done covers of Vogue, campaigns for Erin Mayes,” Noelle said. “We met doing the Louis Vuitton catalogs. I was the foot-and-hand model and he did three of their catalogs continually.” The restaurant business is new for Noelle but not for Duc, who grew up in the industry. His parents owned a Vietnamese restaurant in Paris. “He did the Cordone Bleu for two years,” Liao said. “And doing pictures of the chefs, he was able to get some really good internships at some of the best restaurants.” The couple hopes to �ind stability with Merci and is con�ident patrons will see what sets them apart. “You can drive up to a strip plaza and still get hotel-quality food and things you wouldn’t �ind at a regular restaurant,” Noelle said. Information: mercifrenchcafeandpatisserie.com.

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OPINION

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Letters Former Mayor Campana weighs in on races

Our local races have been drowned out in the cacophony of billions of dollars being spent on these campaigns. What should we care about here? Proven community engagement, history of understanding Scottsdale, commitment to citizen involvement. No one is going to defund our fine police force, close our libraries, take down our public art, build commercial in the Preserve or dismantle our commitment to tourism. But who really understands how all those are tightly knit together? Mayor: Virginia Korte. Oops, she did not win in the primary. Suzanne Klapp. Oh, she didn’t either. Unfortunately, two caring, qualified, proven council members split the vote of citizens who love Scottsdale and believe it was well governed. So, we’re left with two candidates who do not measure up to Virginia’s lifelong service to Scottsdale. I’ll be voting for David Ortega. David has been involved in Scottsdale for years, active in many community activities. I often saw him at Pueblo Elementary School after volunteering to read with students there. His children haven’t gone there for over a decade – but still he cares that much. He’s passionate about neigh-

borhood issues, cares about our citizens, and is deeply engaged at the grassroots level. City Council: John Little is the most qualified and prepared candidate on the ballot. He served the city heading up several city departments when I was mayor, always carefully weighing the community input with city needs. He was a fair and disciplined city manager and since then has advised communities and organizations about strategies to success. Tammy Caputi is a smart, determined businesswoman who will bring a no-nonsense decision making to the Council. Her Scottsdale Design Review Board experience will serve her well. Becca Linnig has been deeply involved in Scottsdale at the grassroots level for decades and her priorities match the city’s. Two anti-city hall candidates Betty Janik and Tom Durham I find to be angry, strident, single-issue candidates who will not represent Scottsdale overall. The other angry, illsuited candidate is Guy Phillips. He has already had a thoroughly undistinguished term on council. Please do not encourage these behaviors by voting for him. Scottsdale School District: Our twins are at Pueblo now so I care about this issue personally and for Scottsdale to have a well-governed school district. After consulting

with several teachers, former board members and others the consensus strongly is: Rose Smith, Julie Cieniawski, and Zachary Lindsay. Legislature: We will have a new face at the Legislature representing Scottsdale. Jay Lawrence was defeated in the Republican primary by a newcomer who does not deserve to be elected. Jay was an interesting mix of far right (gun control and right to life) and supporting issues that mattered to me personally (arts and the environment). I’ll miss him. But Eric Kurland will bring a balanced approach to representing a district that cares about all those issues. Congress: in my district, it’s time for a change: Dr. Hiral Tipirneni. Arizona Corporation Commission: With two R’s already on the ACC, I think there must be a balance. Bill Mundell and Anna Tovar understand these critical issues that will impact us even more as climate change advances here in our desert. Eric Sloan is a thoughtful young man, issue rather than politically motivated. Judges in Arizona do not campaign for their seats. Two judges this year should be marked to “do not retain": Justice Andrew Gould and Justice John Lopez. Their ruling on an important LBTGQ issue is not in line with a forward-thinking Arizona. -Sam Campana

She likes Cieniawski for Scottsdale board

Julie Cieniawski gets my vote for the Scottsdale governing board. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Julie as a young mom researching the kind of education that she wanted for her kids. She got involved in her children’s activities and took a leadership role in their schools and parent groups. I then knew her as a teacher, a mentor, a coach, a friend to her students who especially needed someone to give them the confidence to realize their dreams. In my work at the Arizona Department of Education, I had the opportunity to work with many excellent teachers from all parts of the state and Julie, like them, became leaders and advocates for the best for Arizona students and teachers. Julie moved even further in her education role through her leadership in the Scottsdale and Arizona Education Association all the while maintaining her dedication to serving the best interests of students. Julie seeks consensus, decides creatively, advocates with determination, builds teams and community to work together. Her strongest characteristic is listening deeply to all invested in doing what is best for the science and art of teaching our children. -Barbara Nordlund

Tell our readers about your opinions. Send letters to the editor to pmaryniak@scottsdale.org

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Larsen Gallery slates annual fall auction BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

he 2020 Fall Larsen Art Auction’s 428 lots are now installed and available for preview through Oct. 23 at Larsen Gallery in downtown Scottsdale. Bidding then begins at 10 a.m. on Oct. 24 via telephone, absentee, online and inperson at the gallery. “We’ve just got some really stellar pieces,” said co-owner Polly Larsen. The 2020 Fall Larsen Art Auction marks Larsen Gallery’s ninth fall auction. Highlights include Jim Dine’s “Main Street #5,” a piece estimated to be worth anywhere from $40K to $60K; Andy Warhol’s “General Custer,” estimated at $30K to $45K; and Logan Maxwell Hagege’s

Polly and Scott Larsen are the owners of Larsen Gallery in downtown Scottsdale. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)

“Sun to the East,” estimated at $15K to $25K. “[Hagege] is not necessarily the highest dollar figure in the auction, but he’s an important artist and we’ve never had any of his pieces,” Larsen said. “We expect that particular work to go above its estimates.” Due to COVID-19, this year’s auction will be different than last fall’s auction. The owners, which also include Scott Larsen, not only extended their auction preview from three weeks to a little more than a month, but they’re also forgoing their well-attended three-hour preview party. “Typically, in past years, we start the day with mimosas and Bloody Marys and

Civic Center garage to host shows BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

he Scottsdale community asked for it and now Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is granting their unconventional wish. For the first time ever, the center will host drive-up pop-up performances atop the Civic Center parking structure. “The idea to perform in the unexpected venue of a parking garage came from our community,” said Diandra Adamczyk, the center’s senior programming coordinator. “The Scottsdale Civic Center parking garage works out great for what these artists had in mind for their respective shows.” The center received two proposals from local artists Movement Source Dance Company and The Ladies looking to collaborate on off-site performances

The Ladies, comprised of Leanne Schmidt and Marlene Strang, have been doing offbeat, pop-up immersive theatre performances in abandoned parking lots throughout the Valley since April. Their next set of performances will take place on the upper level of the Scottsdale Civic Center Parking Garage in partnership with the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. (Michael Simon)

see LARSEN page 30

at the garage. The Ladies, a “zany, awkward pair of moms” stuck in the ‘90s, will perform “Room for Two” in October, an offbeat, immersive theater performance illuminated by car headlights. “You can expect the unexpected, that’s for sure,” laughed one-half of the Ladies, Marlene Strang. “Everything is as awkward as you can get.” The premise of “Room for Two,” according to Strang, is the Ladies begin meeting at the top of a parking garage once a week to catch up, play board games, and eat Ritz crackers after feeling very cooped up due to the pandemic. “And, we didn’t know this, but Stan, the parking garage attendant who has been letting us set up shop there, has invited all of these people to our catch-up ses-

see PARKING page 30

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LARSEN �� page 28

host moving forward. The spring auction boasted 396 pieces and they sold 92 percent to bidders around the world. “Because everybody was stuck at home, because it was the beginning of the COVID [pandemic], we had people watch us all five hours,” Polly said. “We had a few challenges with shipping, but other than that, it was pretty seamless.” Larsen Gallery set three auction records during their 2019 fall sale. They increase both consignments and clients by 50 percent, sold 91 percent and shipped artwork to 30 different countries. And while this year’s fall auction is still days away, Polly said they’re already having their “best year ever.” “And not just because of the auctions,” she said, “but we’re having our best sales here ever as well.”

Polly attributes the increase in sales to people spending more time at home and likely redecorating their home. “People may have a lot of discretionary income, too, because they’re not traveling and they’re not spending money on food and beverages and et cetera. So, we’re having our best year ever,” she added. Polly said they had no hesitation about hosting the fall auction this year. “Because if we can’t have people in the room due to the pandemic, our April auction showed us that we can still hit it out of the ballpark,” she said. This year, Larsen Gallery will continue their tradition of donating funds from their fall auction to Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona, a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 that “transforms children’s trauma to resilience through

the arts.” The funds raised from the auction will support the Free Arts’ Professional Artist Series. “We have been involved with Free Arts since the beginning,” Polly said. “Their very first art auction that they had was held at our gallery – not this space, but at our older space.” Last year, the auction raised about $3,000 for the nonprofit. “They’re just near and dear to our hearts, and we believe in what they do,” Polly said. Larsen Gallery’s fall auction is open to the public but those interested must register to bid. In-person bidding will take place at Larsen Gallery at 3705 N. Bishop Lane. Those bidding online or via phone can visit larsenartauction.com.

PARKING �� page 28

Strang added. As for Movement Source Dance Company, “we are the queens and kings of adapting dance to funky spaces,” Fernandez-Herding said. “We love being onsite and in different venues of environment,” she continued. “That’s been part of our mission from the beginning.” Performing in a parking lot brought challenges for both groups. Dancing on concrete is one of them. “It’s not the best for dancers’ bodies, but we are making it work and modifying and it’s turning out really cool,” Fernandez-Herding said. For the Ladies, it was rethinking how they get the audience involved. “Audience participation and how can the audience influence the work and be a part of the work – those are very important things to us. We want people to be in an environment, not just stand back and watch,” Strang said. “We have to have our audience be a part of it, which makes it much more fun and interesting.” It was also difficult on Strang and Schmidt as performers, who typically feed off the audience’s energy. “It was difficult to see, like, are people laughing? Are they enjoying it? Are they dancing along to the music we’ve created?” Strang said. But they made it work. “I would sneak around and peek in people’s windows, which was hysterical. People would jump out of their seats,”

Strang said. “So, we were able to embed at least one window moment.” Both shows will feature food trucks. Ahead of each performance, attendees will be able to pull in and grab food and enjoy live or ‘90s music, depending on the show they attend.

“The center has long been interested in presenting or collaborating on more site-specific projects, especially with local artists,” she said. “There are plenty of possibilities to explore unique spaces around the Valley for performances in the future.” “Room for Two” takes place Oct. 22 through 25. “Reconnect!” takes place Nov. 13 and 14 and will be part of the annual Canal Convergence experience. Convertibles must have the roof in place and Jeeps must have a soft or hard cover in place. Motorcycles, industrial trucks, recreational vehicles, including motor homes and trailers, and vehicles taller than 6 ½ feet are not allowed. Though confined to their vehicles, attendees must wear masks to both shows.

specialty donuts. Then, we serve a full-on lunch,” Larsen said. “Typically, we have about 180 chairs set up.” In addition to their two usual online platforms, LiveAuctioneers and Invaluable, the Larsens also added the online bidding platform Bidsquare. Participants can also bid via telephone, a feature Larsen Gallery offered during its first spring auction this year. “Because we had so many clients calling us and were interested in the inventory, we ended up adding telephone bidding three weeks prior to it happening; and we executed over 650 telephone bids, which was amazing,” Polly said. The 2020 Spring Larsen Art Auction was Larsen Gallery’s first fully virtual auction, an event Polly said they will continue to

sion. So, now we have to incorporate all of these people into our impromptu party,” Strang explained. Movement Source Dance Company in November will perform “Reconnect! The Parking Lot Dance Project,” a 30-minute performance of four dance pieces set to live music by guitarist Drew Bollmann and violinist Tobie Milford. “Half the treat for the evening, for sure, is hearing the beautiful, amazing, interesting music they play,” said Mary Anne Fernandez-Herding, the company’s director. “We created the score together with the movement and the music.” The parking garage performances aren’t out of the ordinary for the Ladies or Movement Source Dance Company. Strang and Leanne Schmidt spent from April through August performing dozens of 15-minute pop-ups in parking lots around the Valley. “As soon as the pandemic hit, we got really tired of everything being on the screens. We were like, ‘Okay, how can we bring a live performance to people?’” Strang said. “I just had this idea, I thought, ‘Well, what if we use people’s headlights to light us?’” Before the pandemic, the Ladies performed in venues such as bookstores and hotels. “So, it wasn’t that unusual for the Ladies to be performing somewhere unusual or different, like a parking lot,”

“Hopefully we’ll have things like meatloaf and biscuits, things that '90s moms would deﬁnitely be into making. And that will also work to thicken the experience a little bit.”

“Hopefully we’ll have things like meatloaf and biscuits, things that '90s moms would definitely be into making. And that will also work to thicken the experience a little bit,” Strang said. According to Adamczyk, while a lot of the challenges to using a parking structure for arts performances falls on the artists’ side, including conceptualizing, rehearsing, performing in a public space with cement flooring and restrictions, the center had a handful of added logistics and permissions to acquire, but they were “totally worth the work.” Adamczyk said she hopes hosting art performances outside of a traditional performance venue will allow for “many customs in the field to be reconsidered or redefined.”

If You Go

“Room for Two” When: Oct. 22-25, 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Where: Scottsdale Civic Center Parking Garage, upper level, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Tickets: $45, $40.50 for members Website: scottsdalearts.org “Reconnect!” When: Nov. 13-14, 7 p.m. Tickets: $39, $35 for members

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Craftsman bringing new �lavors to Scottsdale BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

outhern Scottsdale welcomes a new neighborhood restaurant this month called the Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen – where cocktails and craftsmanship come �irst, literally. Specializing in hand-crafted cocktails and traditional, comfort food dishes with a global twist, the Craftsman’s menu was created by Executive Chef Christopher Nicosia. “I want the food to be familiar but not predictable,” Nicosia said. It boasts a variety of small plates, like AZ Hot Chicken Lollipops, Korean chili powder-dusted and freeze-dried kimchi sprinkled popcorn and a rotating menu of �latbreads that includes house-made lamb belly sausage �latbread. There also is an even bigger selection of mouthwatering sandwiches such as Wagyu Pastrami, Jamaican-spiced crispy chicken and a grilled cheese slathered with jalapeño-�ig jam as well as intriguing signature dishes like the Green Chile Braised Volcano Pork Shank with jalapeño slaw and cilantro lime queso. The Craftsman doesn’t skimp on the �lavor. The unique take on comfort food – a far cry from Nicosia’s time spent as executive chef of the now-closed, upscale southern Italian restaurant Sassi in Scottsdale – was a welcome next step for Nicosia. “It was a great opportunity for me to do something other than the Italian I’ve been doing for most of my career,” said Nicosia, who started at Constantino’s Italian restaurant at Desert Mountain in the aughts and then accepted the executive chef role at Sassi, where he dedicated about a decade of his career. “It was nice to be able to get out of that box,” Nicosia continued. “Not that I didn’t

Opening Oct. 15, the Craftsman is inspired by owner Letty Ebel’s late grandfather-in-law, Victor Ebel, a farmerturned-woodworker. (Courtesy of Letty Ebel)

The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen, a new restaurant opening in Scottsdale on Oct. 15, taps the culinary talents of Chef Christopher Nicosia. (Courtesy of Christopher Nicosia)

love that little Italian box – that’s where my heart and soul is – but it’s been nice to be able to stretch out and cook food that I cook at home.” Nicosia said his personal favorite on the menu is Craftsman’s Scallop Toast with sweet corn puree, bacon and candied chile. “It’s like shrimp toast at an Asian res-

taurant, but the sauce is more of a sweet corn sauce. It’s just a fun little twist,” he said. The Craftsman menu also includes a nod to two popular Sassi dishes: wood oven roasted branzino and its orecchiette. The Craftsman’s version of the branzino, however, has more of a Southwest

twist to it. “I’m putting a little more of Arizona into my food when I couldn’t before – using chiles, using spices, using things that really never translated to Italian food,” Nicosia said. As for the orecchiette, a house sausage with chiles, local greens and pecorino, “we will be making the sausage just like we always did,” Nicosia said. “The focus is more on the technique and the style and detail of producing it.” This is attention to technique is what also sets the Craftsman’s menu apart. “We’re doing things just as a craftsman would – paying more attention to exactly what goes into the process of it,” he said. The Craftsman is inspired by owner Letty Ebel’s late grandfather-in-law, Victor Ebel, a farmer-turned-woodworker. Victor, who, along with his wife Laura Fuchtman, started one of the �irst Grade A dairy farms and spent his retirement making jewelry boxes, curio cabinets

�� CRAFTSMAN �� 34

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CRAFTSMAN �� 33

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and grandfather clocks as well as custom furniture. “Victor was an inspiration to us all. He was a hard worker and loved what he did,” Letty said. “When he passed away, our family put ‘A Craftsman’ on his headstone,” she continued. “His memory and principles inspire us today for our new restaurant.” Victor’s two grandsons, James and Jason Ebel, are no strangers to Scottsdale. Jim and James, Letty’s husband, once owned the now-shuttered Two Brothers Tap House & Brewery. They own and operate Two Brothers and the Craftsman in Illinois since 1996 and 2016, respectively. According to Letty, they’ve had the Scottsdale Craftsman in the works since last summer. “We were not in a hurry and wanted to make sure we found the right location for our concept,” Letty said. “We found the building in November and �inalized it at the �irst of this year.” Letty describes the 6,375-square-foot interior as boasting “many different materials and details that speak to the skills of a master craftsman.” That includes stone and woodwork, soft leathers, and greenery. “It is a very inviting and comfortable space, which speaks true to our ‘come as you are’ attitude,” Letty said. The Craftsman also features an onsite distillery. Not only are select entrees and desserts infused with in-house distilled spirits and craft beers, but the Crafts-

man will also feature, sample and sell its own line of distilled spirits, including vodka, gin, rum, barrel-aged amaro, bourbon, and coffee liqueur. Letty said the Craftsman’s main goal is to give people a “fun place to spend time and leave their worries at the door.” “It really has a very casual, neighborhood feel,” Nicosia added. “We want them to be able to come here several times a week and get a different experience.” Menu prices range from $15 to $30, and it includes a kids’ menu that even features an item suggested by Nicosia’s daughter: a fresh fruit-�illed chocolate waf�le cone. “My daughter is the one who said, ‘You should do this,’” Nicosia said. “It’s very simple: It’s a little chocolate chip waf�le cone �illed with so much fruit.” “We also want to make sure that they understand that, you know, kids are absolutely welcome,” he added. “Because a lot of times, we know they’re the decision maker.” The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen opens Oct. 15 in the Hayden Peak Crossing retail center. “The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen is the perfect addition to the stellar lineup of retailers and restaurants at Hayden Peak Crossing,” said Kerry Linthicum of CBRE, which arranged the lease. This new concept will be a great option for nearby residents and tourists seeking a creative casual dining experience in the area.” Information: 480-401-1102 or thecraftsmanaz.com

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Public Notices

NOTICE OF PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, will hold a public hearing on October 28, 2020, at 5:00 P.M in Scottsdale, Arizona. Until further notice, Planning Commission meetings will be held electronically. While physical facilities are not open to the public, Planning Commission meetings are televised on Cox Cable Channel 11 and streamed online at ScottsdaleAZ.gov (search “live stream”) to allow the public to listen/view the meeting in progress. Instructions on how to provide Public Comments will be provided on the posted agenda. 14-ZN-2018 (South Scottsdale Mixed-Use) Request by owner for a Zoning District Map Amendment from Highway Commercial (C-3) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning, including a development plan and amended development standards for stepbacks and setbacks, for a mixed-use development consisting of 281 dwelling units and 10,125 square feet of commercial floor area, on a +/- 4.32-acre site located at 1000 N. Scottsdale Road. Staff contact person is Greg Bloemberg, 480-312-4306. Applicant contact person is Jason Morris, 602-230-0600. 9-ZN-2020 (The Scottsdale Collection) Request by owner for a Zoning District Map 1-II-2020 Amendment for multiple parcels from Central Business, Parking P-3 District, Downtown Overlay and Parking P-2 District; Vehicle Parking, Downtown Overlay (C-2/P-3 DO and P-2 DO), Central Business, Downtown Overlay (C-2 DO), and Highway Commercial, Downtown Overlay (C-3 DO) zoning to Downtown/Downtown Multiple Use - Type 3, Planned Block Development, Downtown Overlay (D/DMU-3 PBD DO) zoning, with an Infill Incentive (II) District to allow for amended development standards at the Old Town boundary, and a Development Plan with development standards, and a Parking Master Plan on an overall +/- 10.2-acre (gross land area) site generally located between E. Camelback Road to the north, N. Civic Center Plaza to the east, E. 6th Avenue to the south, and N. Scottsdale Road to the west. Staff contact person is Greg Bloemberg, 480-312-4306. Applicant contact person is John Berry, (480) 385-2727. 9-AB-2020 (The Scottsdale Collection) Request by owner to abandon alley right-of-way, varying in width from 18 feet to 20 feet, between E. Indian Plaza to the north and E. Shoeman Lane to the south, bordered by parcels 173-41-260, 173-41-182, 173-41-183 and 173-41-259. Staff contact person is Greg Bloemberg, 480312-4306. Applicant contact person John Berry, (480) 385-2727. 5-AB-2020 (Osterkamp GLO Abandonment) Request by owner to abandon the 33-foot-wide GLO easement located along the western and southern boundaries, and the western 8 feet of the 33-foot-wide GLO easement located along the eastern boundary of parcel 217-32-046A, with Single-family Residential, Environmentally Sensitive Lands (R1-43 ESL) zoning located at 10050 N. 126th Street. Staff contact person is Jesus Murillo, 480-312-7849. Applicant contact person is Wayne Rosendahl, (480) 599-1263. 13-ZN-2020 (Axon) Request by owner for a Zoning District Map Amendment from Planned Community (P-C) District to Planned Community District with the PC comparable Light Industrial District (P-C I-1), including a development plan and an amendment to the maximum building height for this site from 52 feet (exclusive of rooftop appurtenances) to 82 feet (exclusive of rooftop appurtenances) on a +/-60-acre site located at the southeast corner of Hayden Road and Loop 101. Staff contact person is Greg Bloemberg, 480-312-4306. Applicant contact person is Charles Huellmantel, 480-921-2800.

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8-UP-2020 (Lucid Fashion Square Mall) Request by owner for approval of a Conditional Use Permit for vehicle leasing, rental or sales in a 2,799 square foot space within Suite #1428 of Scottsdale Fashion Square mall, with Downtown/ Downtown Regional Use Type-2 Planned Block Development Downtown Overlay (D/DRU-2 PBD DO) zoning, located at 7014 E Camelback Road. Staff contact person is Bryan Cluff, 480-312-2258. Applicant contact person is Timothy Gudgel, (650) 454-9302. 7-ZN-2016#2 (Palmeraie Phase II) Request by owner for a zoning district map amendment from Planned Regional Center (PRC) zoning to Planned Regional Center, Planned Shared Development overlay (PRC PSD) zoning, with approval of an amended Development Plan for the site that includes amended development standards for building height up to 90 feet (inclusive of rooftop appurtenances) and an increase of the floor area ratio (FAR) to a maximum of 1.0, on a +/-20-acre site located at 6990 N. Scottsdale Road. Staff contact person is Brad Carr, AICP, 480-312-7713. Applicant contact person is George Pasquel III, 602-230-0600. For additional information visit our web site at www.scottsdaleaz.gov search “Scottsdale Planning Case Files” or in your URL search bar you can type in https://eservices.scottsdaleaz.gov/bldgresources/Cases/ A COPY OF A FULL AGENDA, INCLUDING ITEMS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS IS AVAILABLE AT LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE MEETING AT THE FOLLOWING Online at: http://www.ScottsdaleAZ.gov/Boards/planning-commission CHAIRMAN Attest Lorraine Castro Planning Assistant

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For additional information visit our web site at www.scottsdaleaz.gov PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY MAY REQUEST A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION BY CONTACTING THE CLERK'S OFFICE AT (480312-7767). REQUESTS SHOULD BE MADE 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE, OR AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE TO ALLOW TIME TO ARRANGE ACCOMMODATION. FOR TTY USERS, THE ARIZONA RELAY SERVICE (1-800-367-8939) MAY CONTACT THE CLERK'S OFFICE AT (480-312-7767). Published: Scottsdale Progress, Oct. 11, 2020 / 33679

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 11, 2020

OVERSTOCKED

E S U O H WARE

Our Warehouse Is Packed! Bring Your Truck or Trailer And Save Even More. Everything Is Priced To Move… With Deals Like These You Need To Get To Spencers Today!

MONTHS NO INTEREST**

√ BEST PRICES

√ BEST SELECTION √ BEST SERVICE 1.6 CU. FT. OVER-THE-RANGE MICROWAVE

58” 4K UHD SMART TV • 2 HDMI Inputs • Airplay2 Built-In

$ WMH1162XVQ CLOSEOUT

4.5 CU. FT. WASHER

• Super Speed • Steam • Self Clean Plus • 10 Preset Wash Cycles

NO INTEREST**

7.5 CU. FT. DRYER

REFRIGERATOR

• Dryer Rack • Steam Sanitize Plus • Sensor Dry • 10 Preset Dryer Cycles

599

199

12 MONTHS

• Counter Depth • Active Blue Light Technology • NeoFrost Dual Cooling Technology

449 $549 UN58TU7000

• 950 Watts of Power • 10 Levels of Power • Sunken Glass Turntable

G R E AT DEAL!

REFRIGERATOR

BFTF2716WH

RANGE

• ProBake Convection™ • EasyClean® • Large Capacity (6.3 Cu. Ft.) • UltraHeat™ 3.2kW Power Burner

• Slim SpacePlus® Ice System • Dual Ice Maker • Print Proof™ Finish • Smart Cooling® System • LG SmartThinQ™ App Compatible • SmartDiagnosis™ • LoDecibel™ Quiet Operation • ENERGY STAR® Qualified

LSE4611ST

OVER THE RANGE MICROWAVE

• 1.8 Cu. Ft. • Sensor Cooking • 1000 Watts • 2 Power Levels LMV1831SS

LFXS26973S

EACH **

*Pedestals not included.

DISHWASHER

DISHWASHER • True Steam • LED Tube Light • Lo Decibel (42 DBA) LDT7808SS

• QuietPower™ Motor • 14-Level Wash System • Heated Dry Option • Hot Start option • Deluxe Silverware Basket GSD2100NWW

299 4149

BUYS ALL 4 PIECES

** NO INTEREST IF PAID IN FULL IN 12 MONTHS. $799.00 Minimum Purchase Required Minimum Payments Required 30.79% APR If the promotional balance is not paid in full by the end for the promotional period or, to the extent permitted by law, if you make a late payment, interest will be imposed from the date of purchase at the APR noted above. This APR is as of 7/4/2019 and will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. Your card agreement, the terms of the offer and applicable law govern this transaction including increasing APRs and fees and terminating the promotional period.

Arizona’s largest independent dealer! “It’s Like Having A Friend In The Business” Check Out Our Website

WWW.SPENCERSTV.COM OPEN DAILY 9AM-9PM | SATURDAY 9AM-6PM | SUNDAY 11AM-5PM

HOUSE IN S R E C SPEN PLANS PAYMENT BLE AVAILA Due to current circumstances, some items may be out of stock.