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THE SUNDAY
Mesa’s Winkle pleads guilty, spends time in jail
Tribune
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This Week
NEWS ............................. 2 Sun Lakes dust dispute drifts across agencies, jurisdictions
COMMUNITY ....... 12 Gilbert Walmart upgrades to self-serve pickup kiosk
SPORTS ...................... 15 Gilbert soccer player Danny Baca named All-American
EVENTS ......................19 Chandler Center for the Arts launches year-round shows
BUSINESS.....................13 OPINION.................... 14 SPORTS......................... 15 FAITH............................ 18 CLASSIFIEDS............. 24
EAST VALLEY
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West Mesa Edition
INSIDE
Leibowitz: McCain is a warrior up to the task Sunday, JULY 23, 2017
EV cities take aim at dangerous intersections BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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ast Valley traffic engineers are fighting a constant, endless battle to make congested roads and intersections as safe as possible, guiding drivers with extra turn lanes and flashing signals in an attempt to reduce deadly collisions. Their efforts, essentially an attempt to protect people from themselves by discouraging poor decisions, are paying some big dividends. All East Valley cities follow this ap-
proach, but Chandler is at the forefront. It has rebuilt nine intersections since 2001 and is now rebuilding a tenth. The process is slow, expensive and frustrating for drivers backed up in traffic for months on end. And then there is the city’s extensive use of photo radar, sometimes a hot-button issue in a conservative state that fears the encroachment of Big Brother. But Chandler traffic engineer Mike Mah said he is gratified that collisions have dropped 43 percent in the past three years at the nine rebuilt intersections. The improve-
ments include dual left-turn lanes that help protect drivers against devastating T-bone collisions while increasing capacity and traffic flow. “From our prospective, it really comes down to capacity and safety. We are trying to improve both at the same time,” he said. “What we’ve been doing is making improvements. We’re widening them. It’s something we’ve been doing for 15 years.” With the rebuilding campaign on the See
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Turning 15 and facing death, Mesa boy just wants birthday cards BY JESSICA SURIANO Tribune Staff Writer
A
Mesa teen battling a terminal illness will turn 15 soon – and all he wants for his birthday is 100,000 greeting
cards. Jacob Priestly, whose birthday is Aug. 28, was diagnosed with a disease when he was 10 that has caused most of the mitochondria in his cells to die. This has left him easily exhausted and with a diminished energy supply. “Any time someone sends me a card, I get filled with joy,” Jacob said. “If I read it and see people – random strangers – signing cards to another stranger, it makes me have joy.” The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation says mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90 percent of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and organ function. There are currently no cures for the disease. Aside from his condition, Jacob is just like other boys his age and enjoys joking around with his parents and younger brother, playing video games and listening to music. Some of his favorite games are Minecraft, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. He still completes school classes from See
CARDS on page 3
(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)
Jacob Priestly will turn 15 next month – and doesn't know how many more birthdays he'll see. Suffering from a terminal condition, the Mesa teen hopes to get 100,000 birthday cards – five times the number he got last year, as illustrated by part of the pile in the photo on the right.