June 16 – July 6, 2018 | www.SanTanSun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler and our neighboring communities
A Chandler son gives his life for our country BY COLLEEN SPARKS Managing Editor
Chandler is mourning the loss of a soldier and Hamilton High School graduate who was killed by enemy fire in Somalia – the first Arizonan to die in combat since 2016. Staff Sgt. Alexander W. Conrad, 26, died of injuries sustained June 8 during an operation in Somalia while he was supporting Operation Octave Shield, the Pentagon and other sources said. Sgt. Sgt. Conrad had been assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Four other U.S. service members were injured. “He’s a hero. I can’t say that enough,” said his brother Jacob Conrad, 24, of Chandler. “He was selfless,” he added. “He always put out his best effort to make everyone happy. He was a people pleaser. He loved his family and he loved his friends.” Jacob, a Phoenix Police officer, said
U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Alexander W. Conrad of Chandler was killed in action in Somalia June 8.
Alex inspired him to join the Army after graduating from Hamilton High in 2012. Jacob was on active duty for five years before joining the Army Reserves a few months ago and taking the job as a police officer. Jacob said Alex was “really smart” and “he excelled in the Army.” “He graduated with honors from leadership school, went to a language school I’ve heard is incredibly hard; he excelled in that,” Jacob said, adding: “The Army sent him to France to live with a family. He did that well and after a second deployment, he was talking to Special Forces guys; that became his dream. He never went
halfway into anything. He jumped all the way in.” He said he and Alex “loved competing in anything.” Both brothers played football at Hamilton and enjoyed shooting guns and mountain biking. Jacob laughed remembering how when Alex had just gotten his driver’s license he and Alex went for a ride in their father’s truck and Alex hit a bump and “cracked the frame of the truck.” “When I got my (driver’s) license, I was driving; he was like, ‘I swear you hit every pothole,’” Jacob added. Jacob said Alex was “very outgoing” and loved a good craft beer. He also enjoyed spending time with his nephews, Jack, 5, and Tommy, 3. The young boys are the sons of Christie Palcisko, who is Jacob and Alex’s sister, and they live in Oceanside, California. “Alex loved those kids,” Jacob said. See
SOLDIER on page 6
Firefighter-dad a warrior for cancer and kids No suspense in
mayor’s race but plenty in others
BY COLLEEN SPARKS Managing Editor
Firefighters are used to rescuing people facing perilous flames and life-threatening medical issues, but Keith Welch takes his role as protector far beyond the call of duty. Welch, a Chandler Fire Department battalion chief, helped his son Jack battle and beat leukemia when he was diagnosed with the disease several years ago. He also donated bone marrow to a young boy he had never met in Germany who was fighting cancer. The father of two helps children and families as they contend with potentially fatal diseases by volunteering for the Children’s Cancer Network and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Welch, 46, takes his heroic actions in stride, but his friends and family members are quick to praise the warrior dad. See
BY GARY NELSON Contributor
FIREFIGHTER-DAD on page 8
Read more Father stories in the Neighbors section, pages 49-50
Photos by Kimberly Carrillo/Staff Photographer
Beth and Keith Welch and their children Jack and Natalie spend time together at their Chandler home. Keith is a Chandler Fire Department battalion chief, who donated his bone marrow to help a boy who had cancer in Germany. Jack is a leukemia survivor.
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When Jay Tibshraeny first joined the Chandler City Council in 1986, the town was barely a dot on the map. Even then, however, growth was coming. And fast. It was all but automatic as waves of new residents fled America’s rust and snow belts for a better place to live. Given that scenario, any town with enough sunshine and land can add people. But Chandler knew it needed more – it needed an economy of its own and an identity, a vibe. More than 30 years later the thriving Price Corridor, with its plethora of high-tech employers, and a revitalized downtown have checked those boxes even as other parts of the city also blossomed – most notably around Chandler Fashion Center. No one person can claim credit for all that, of course. But Tibshraeny has been in See
ELECTION on page 4
F E AT U R E STO R I E S
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Site 6 developer rolls out plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . . . . Page 13 Second hospital coming to Chandler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . Page 23 Chandler High wins coveted cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . Page 41 Chandler man sees Holocaust horrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . . . . Page 45 Everyone screams ice cream at McMahon’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 69
Community . . . . .01-22 Business . . . . . . . . 23-33 Sports . . . . . . . . . 40-42 Opinion. . . . . . . . 43-44 Neighbors. . . . . . .45-52 Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . 53-61 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . 62-64 Classifieds. . . . . . 65-68 Where to Eat . . . 69-70
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