April 2 - April 15, 2016 www.SanTanSun.com
Chandler National Little League opening day marks new era BY TIM J. RANDALL
It does not get any better for a ball player than Opening Day. The freshly mown grass, fans cheering in the stands, the first pitch and the crack of the bat for the initial hit of the season. The baseball stars of Chandler National Little League (CNLL) returned to the field on Saturday, March 19, at Snedigar Sports Complex in Chandler to kick off the 2016 campaign. “It was great to have everybody back and playing,” said Doug Brewster, Chandler National North League president. “We are excited to begin the season.” As with previous years, CNLL offers kids ages 4 to 16 the chance to learn the fundamentals of the timeless sport. “The founding principle of Little League is to provide an opportunity for every youth a place to play the greatest American pastime: baseball,” Brewster said. In 2016 that spirit of inclusion takes on a whole new meaning as CNLL adds a new division—the Challenger—to its established categories: Rookie, A ball, AAA ball, Majors, Juniors and Seniors. “Challenger is a division that allows boys and girls with special needs to experience the game of baseball,” said Brewster. “The manager of the team, Joe Pisano, wanted to bring the division to CNLL, and I said absolutely. This is
The Bulls walk onto the field. See more photos on page 58. STSN photo Tim Sealy
really the highlight of the year.” Challenger has 10 players, but Pisano and Brewster want to expand that number this year and in 2017.
New projects boost Airpark Area BY SRIANTHI PERERA
Four large office/light industrial projects built speculatively in Chandler’s Airpark Area are ready for tenants. They are estimated to bring more than 2,300 employees to the city. Chandler officials are hoping the projects, all located along Cooper Road from Loop 202 to Germann Road, will add vitality to the city’s youngest employment corridor in the 9-mile master-planned area around Chandler Municipal Airport. The projects are as follows: • Mach One (developer Trammell Crow), a 205,000-square-feet business park east of Cooper Road and south of the Santan Loop 202. • Ascend (developer Irgens Partners) a 400,000-square-feet development located on the northwest corner of Germann and Cooper roads, has completed an 82,000-square-feet building from its first phase.
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•M etro Chandler (developers Meritex and Metro Commercial Properties), which has completed two buildings of 122,000 square feet and 89,000 square feet, suitable for light manufacturing, located on the northwest corner of Germann and Cooper roads. •T iburon at Chandler Airport (developer Tiburon Development) consists of three buildings, ranging from 24,000 to 28,000 square feet, suitable for light industrial use. To come in its second phase is a threestory building for office use. The development, earlier called Puerto del Viaje, is located on the southeast corner of Germann and Cooper roads. James Smith, economic development program manager for Chandler, said that the City did not extend any incentives to the developers. “These developers have shown a strong confidence in this market in see AIRPARK page 4
“My son has autism and constantly asks when his team will be playing,” Pisano said. “For obvious reasons, I brought this opportunity to start a
Challenger Division to the CNLL board of directors and was given the support to make it happen “Bringing this program to CNLL means the world to me because it is allowing us, as an organization, to reach out to a part of our community that doesn’t have many options to get involved in baseball.” His goal is to offer every child the opportunity to participate in the sport of baseball regardless of ability and limitations. He would like them to learn important life skills through socialization by participating in sports like the strengthening of a player’s selfesteem, the disciplines of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play. The Challenger squad will compete every other Saturday against teams from the other divisions. “They will play a game, but this is really about getting them out on the field to participate,” said Brewster. “It also offers a chance for all of the other CNLL players to open their eyes and know that they don’t have to be afraid to talk to kids with special needs, that it is OK to include them.” Great stories such as the Challenger team are abundant in CNLL. The 11and 12-year-old players comprising the teams of the Majors division in the league’s North and South brackets will be looking to win their fourth see OPENING DAY page 4
City’s police officers honored at annual awards ceremony BY SETH TYLER
Chandler’s finest were honored on Tuesday, March 15, during the police department’s annual awards ceremony at the Chandler Center for the Arts. This year’s ceremony recognized the extraordinary individual and collaborative accomplishments of more than 80 members of the department in 2015. The professionalism and dedication described below is not unique to these award recipients but is rather the culture of the Chandler Police Department. Community Project Award The Community Project Award is presented to an employee who formulates, plans and executes a special community project to advance the department’s mission and goals. This year there were two recipients: Officer Amanda Schlichting and Dispatcher Christina Romero:
When Schlichting learned of a need for volunteers to assist with the 2015 Chandler Senior Center Holiday Dinner, she organized and recruited officers and volunteers. Using social media and reaching out to various department members, she formed a team of 14 to help with the celebration. On Dec. 11, the officers and volunteers attended the 2015 Chandler Senior Center Holiday Dinner. Music, dancing, great food and a visit from Santa were all on the agenda. Officers were able to serve food to more than 100 seniors. Following dinner, officers visited with seniors and some showed off their dance moves. Schlichting’s intention was simply to provide service to a segment of the population that is sometimes overlooked. However, her actions in leading and organizing the police response not only see AWARDS page 8
F E AT U R E STO R I E S
Check out our Family Fun Section! You will not want to miss any of the fun events listed on Family Fun calendar this month.
Recreation swim teams develop potential in addition to skills . . Always Best Care expands to Chandler/Gilbert . . . . . . . . . . . . Thousands of Cinderellas find their fairy godmothers . . . . . . Chandler-Tullamore Sister Cities present Irish Wine and Design . . . Phoenix Film Festival rolls film for 16th year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 10 business . . . . . . . . . Page 27 youth . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 31 neighbors . . . . . . . Page 46 arts . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 59 community . . . . . .
SANTAN FAMILY FUN . . . . . . . . . . . . Center Section
More Community . . . . . . 1-20 Business . . . . . . . . 21-27 Youth . . . . . . . . . . 28-33 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Neighbors . . . . . . 43-55 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . 56-64 Spirituality . . . . . 65-67 Directory . . . . . . 68-69 Classifieds . . . . . . 70-71 Where to Eat . . . 72-74