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March 7 - 21, 2015
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City honors athletes at 12th annual Sports Hall of Fame ceremony BY KENNETH LAFAVE
BY JOSHUA CLARK
The Chandler Sports Hall of Fame held its 12th annual induction ceremony Feb. 13, honoring the class of 2015, which includes Olympian Lyndsey Fry and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton. “I mean it’s incredible, it feels so good,” Fry said. “Chandler’s home, and always has been home. It meant so much to me along the way on my Olympic journey to be able to say I’m from Chandler.” Fry was a key member of the USA woman’s hockey team that brought home a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and helped the USA team bring home gold in the World Championships the year before. As a collegiate hockey player Fry appeared in 125 games for Harvard, scoring 50 goals and assisting on another 58, and led the Crimson to an appearance in the national championship game. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton joined a long list of former Chandler High football players such as, Cameron Jordan, Adam Archuleta and Chandler’s first NFL player Eddie Wilson, to be inducted into the City’s Hall of Fame. Wilson, who is also a committee chairman and introduced all of the inductees this year, credited Wheaton’s success to the “fire and determination in his soul.” After catching only eight balls in his freshman season at Oregon State University, Wheaton would vastly improve every year
Raul Lacerda movedgoals to the Valley Fry reaches thanks to Chandler upbringing BY MATT LAYMAN
Bob Bitner, Chandler Sports Hall of Fame (CSHOF) committee member; Kaela Oakes, CSHOF inductee class of 2015, Idaho State University point guard; Nate Meyers, curator of collections, Chandler Museum; and Marlin Broek, CSHOF committee member get together at the induction ceremony. Photo by Kristilyn Baldwin
over the next three seasons at OSU leading up to a prolific senior season. His 91 receptions in 2012 tied the school record for single season receptions, and his 227 receptions remains the OSU school
record, according to the team’s website. Those numbers were enough to persuade the Pittsburgh Steelers to draft Wheaton in
One might not think of Arizona as a source for prime hockey talent, but one female player from Chandler has made impressions at the collegiate and Olympic levels. On Saturday, Feb. 13, she was inducted into the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame. Lyndsey Fry competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, as a member of the U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey team. A native of Chandler, Lyndsey played on boys’ teams until age 14. “I had no interest in switching to girls” hockey,” she said, citing the lack of a physical component to the girls’ game. “My vision of girls’ hockey was it’s not as good as the boys. That’s one of the goals of my education is exposing what girls’ hockey looks like at the next level.” That is her business, Lyndsey Fry Hockey, which provides hockey instruction and organizes hockey see FRY page 4
see HONORS page 4
New housing in the airport area gets the go-ahead BY SRIANTHI PERERA
Chandler City Council has approved a new, 29-acre housing development near the Chandler Airpark. It has also voted for a transitional health care facility in the airport’s vicinity. Phoenix-based Mattamy Homes plans to build Enclave at Hamilton Ranch, consisting of 128 single family houses, in the south and east of the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Queen Creek Road. The approval came close to a year after the attorney for the developer, Mike Withey of Withey Morris PLC, first applied to build homes in the area and was denied. In March last year, Chandler’s planning staff recommended denial because the proposed use for residences was not in the General Plan or the Chandler Airpark Area Plan. The property had agricultural zoning and was set aside to develop commercially. “Only City Council has the authority to change the land plan, which is what they did,” said Jodie M. Novak, senior City planner.
Because of its proximity to the Chandler Municipal Airport and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, Withey had submitted a study analyzing airport data and to determine whether the development would have any impact on the airport. This included a noise impact study and a review of economic development in the area. Although the study concluded that the housing development will not conflict with the airport’s use, it didn’t pass last year. Novak said that there was concern from the Airport Commission Board about allowing single family housing to be built in the 9-square-mile airport area. The renewed application eliminated four houses from the original 132, thereby allowing for more landscaping; the four were located along the east boundary abutting the railroad tracks. The building setback distance from the railroad tracks was also increased. The developer is also proposing to install a 6-feet block fence along the east of the property, additional landscaping, high-
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Norris Design’s conceptual 3D rendering of the proposed Enclave at Hamilton Ranch. Submitted photo quality insulation and better soundproofed There has not been any neighborhood windows to those homes next to the opposition to the plan. City Council voted railroad. see HOUSING page 5
F E AT U R E STO R I E S East Valley’s newest university offers nursing program . community . . . . . . . . Page 17 Ironman reboots computer sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . business . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 21 Seton students donate $5K to ICAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 35 ‘Tap to Top’ stresses importance of watershed health . . neighbors . . . . . . . . . . Page 54 Renaissance Festival jousts its way back to the Valley . . . arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 65
See WHY on page 18
A Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year from The Amy Jones Group!
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