May 5–18, 2018 | www.SanTanSun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler and our neighboring communities
A.J. Chandler built region with vision – and fraud
Kimberly Carrillo/Staff Photographer
Teachers began their walkout April 26 as thousands marched on the State Capitol.
School may last longer now as walkout ends
BY MIKE BUTLER Contributor
As Dr. A.J. Chandler neared his 80th birthday in 1939 – with the city that bore his name gleaming like an emerald in the desert – a writer for Arizona Highways magazine approached the magnate and asked him to reflect on his beginnings in Arizona. Ever the opportunist, Chandler saw the interview as a way to shape his legacy – which included the founding of Chandler, Arizona on May 17, 1912 – 106 years ago this month. With florid prose worthy of the best dime novels of the late 19th century, writer Blanche K. Murray, in an article titled “Empire Builder,” described a bewildered “blue-eyed, boyish looking chap” from up North alighting from the train in the dead of a hot August night at Seligman.
The year was 1887.
The 28-year-old Chandler managed to find lodging for the night, then took a branch line the next day to Prescott, the capital at the time, to report for duty as the first territorial veterinarian. The wily Chandler hinted to Murray that he wasn’t all that enamored with the very hot and very parched Arizona climate. He really had his sights set on California, the Golden State. When a torrential downpour delayed his journey West, however, Chandler rhapsodized about how the monsoon had transformed the desert before his very eyes. He decided then and there to stay and make his mark. “I suddenly realized if there was a way to control the water, this could be a garden,” Chandler said.
Once upon a time in the West
“It’s a good fairy tale,” says Jody Crago, Chandler Museum administrator. “There’s a little more to the story.” Crago and colleague Nate Meyers, curator of collections, have for several years been panning streams of historical records and recently digitized data from the federal government to find the truth about the town’s origin. The title of a presentation that they periodically give – and continually update – is: “Dr. Chandler and the Land Fraud that Built the Valley.” They’ll present it at 10:30 a.m. June 9 at Basha Library. It’s a story that nearly reads like the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Greed. Dummy loans. Rampant speculation. Congressional investigations. Like good historians, though, Crago and Meyers are not here to judge. Dr. Chandler, See
CHANDLERLAND on page 10
BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services and PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor
Kimberly Carrillo/Staff Photographer
An gela Harrolle, daughter Addie and son Justice sit near their Chandler home with a painting of Angela’s late husband, Bruce, who was killed on a rescue mission as an Arizona Department of Public Safety Offi cer/Paramedic.
Widowed Chandler mom helps heroes and families BY COLLEEN SPARKS Managing Editor
Angela Harrolle has traveled the world and protected dignitaries in high-risk positions as a special agent for the U.S. Department of State. But the Chandler mother of two never imagined the type of danger and tragedy that would hit her family years later much closer to home. Harrolle, 42, lost her husband, Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer/ Paramedic Bruce Harrolle in October 2008. He was killed at age 36 while rescuing two stranded hikers in Sedona. Now she is the president/CEO of the 100 Club of Arizona, helping public safety employees and their families, especially in times when tragedy strikes them. Harrolle became a widow at 33, left to raise the couple’s daughter, Addie, then 4, and son, Justice, then 2. As Mother’s Day approaches May 13, Harrolle recently reflected on how her own family is doing several years after her husband’s death. She said the Department of Public Safety, as well as fellow mothers who have lost their public safety spouses, the 100 Club of Arizona, friends and relatives have rallied around her and her children. “When something like this happens, the community outpouring of support is next to none,” Angela said. Justice, now 11 and a fifth-grader at
Jacobson Elementary School, loves riding a custom scooter. Addie, 14 and an eighthgrader at Bogle Junior High School, loves horseback riding. “It’s been nine years and we’re doing very good,” Harrolle said. “They are some of the most resilient children on the planet. They’re very adaptable.” The seeds of her current career were sown in the tragedy that she and her children suffered 10 years ago. She had not been familiar with the 100 Club of Arizona back then, but the woman who was the executive director of the organization at the time, visited her within 24 hours of Bruce’s death. That woman also was a widow whose husband had worked for DPS, and her visit gave Harrolle hope that she could carry on as a single mother. “It was the 100 Club that came to my See
A tumultuous two weeks in school districts across Chandler and the state came to an end May 3 after Republican lawmakers pushed through – and Gov. Doug Ducey signed – their $10.4 billion spending plan after rejecting multiple attempts by Democrats to add more money to the budget for public education. The key part of the package provides for a 9 percent pay increase for teachers this coming year, at least on average. And there is a commitment for future 5 percent raises in each of the next two years. At press time it was unclear if classes in Chandler Unified and Kyrene school districts would be resuming the next day or on Monday, May 7, but the larger question now is whether the school year will be extended – and for how long. “The closure of school today (May 3) will likely mean additional hours will need to be added,” CUSD spokesman Terry Locke said. Kyrene Superintendent Jan Vesely said she would be meeting with her district governing board “to determine adjustment to instructional calendar.” While graduation ceremonies in CUSD will go on as planned, it was unclear whether seniors would have to return to class for a few days before getting their diplomas. The state law requiring certain days of instruction actually is more complicated and a state Education Department spokesman told the SanTan Sun News that hours of
MOM on page 4
F E AT U R E STO R I E S City may pass a national first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community. . . . Page 07 Comedy club dishes family fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BUSINESS . . . . . . . . Page 22 Hard-working mom gets cool surprise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NEIGHBORS . . . . . . Page 44 Basha High strikes up the bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . Page 54 How moms owning eateries celebrate their day . . . . . . . . . . . . EAT . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 68
STFF ................................................................... Center Section
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TEACHERS on page 8
More Community . . . . . 01-21 Business . . . . . . . 22-30 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 31-32 Opinion. . . . . . . . .41-43 Neighbors. . . . . . 44-53 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . 54-60 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . .61-63 Directory . . . . . . 64-65 Classifieds. . . . . . 66-67 Where to Eat . . . 68-70