October 31, 2018 • Vol. 16, No. 49
POSTAL PATRON CAVE CREEK
www.thefoothillsfocus.com
ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
Anthem | Black Canyon City | Carefree | Cave Creek | Desert Hills | New River| North Phoenix | Tramonto | Peoria
A Memorial Mission: Vietnam veteran Jim Zwit has made it his life’s mission to locate the families of the 8 friends he lost 40 years ago The following article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on May 29, 2011. It was one of the pieces that collectively earned the article’s writer, Mary Schmich, the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. The subject of the article, Jim Zwit, will be the keynote speaker at the Anthem Veterans Memorial for the Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11, at 10 a.m. The Pulitzer Prize-winning article is being printed in The Foothills Focus with full reprint permission from the Chicago Tribune and Mary Schmich. BY MARY SCHMICH CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Pictured: Jim Zwit, who is the subject of the reprinted Pulitzer Prize-winning article by the Chicago Tribune. He will also be the keynote speaker at Anthem's Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11.
Photo courtesy of Huffington Post/By Jose Gomez
Incorporation committee drops Anthem from map, amends boundaries BY TARA ALATORRE
NEW RIVER – The New River Desert Hills Incorporation Committee announced it will be dropping commercial properties along Daisy Mountain Drive in south Anthem, and potentially other areas near the Carefree Highway, which were originally included in its preliminary map released on October 9. The announcement comes a couple weeks after Anthem Community Council threatened litigation against the New River Desert Hills Incorporation Committee (NRDHIC) for
including Circle K, CVS and Fry’s as well as other properties, which Anthem claims is in its master-planned community. The Anthem Community Council (ACC) stated in a public response that it “respects the rights of our neighbors in New River and Desert Hills to explore incorporation and to ultimately incorporate, if that is the will of the residents,” but still demanded that NRDHIC remove all Anthem properties from the incorporation map.
NRDHIC MAP UPDATE continued on page 14
The woman walks toward the wall. She presses a fingertip into the shiny, dark stone, traces it down the wall, left to right, left to
right, name after carved name, a roster of the dead palpable against her skin. Jim Zwit is about to leave when he catches sight of the woman. He has been on the Washington, D.C., mall with two old Army buddies for several hours on this sunny April day, the 40th anniversary of the 1971 firefight that killed eight of his fellow soldiers. He has cried a little, reminisced and prayed, talked to the kids who arrive by the busload to see the memorial and learn what the Vietnam War was really like. He's ready to go home. The woman bends, her eyes
JIM ZWIT
continued on page 10
Local dog wins first-ever Milk-Bone Dog of the Year Honor BY TARA ALATORRE
DESERT HILLS – An internet celebrity now lives among us rural folk. Our very own local dog hero Todd, a golden retriever that saved his owner from a rattlesnake bite this summer, was honored with the first-ever Milk-Bone Dog of the Year Honor at the eighth annual Streamy Awards in Beverly Hills on October 23. Todd took a venomous strike to the face saving his owner from the bite while on a hike
MILK-BONE DOG continued on page 9
Pictured: Olympic silver-medalist skier, Gus Kenworthy, presents the Milk-Bone dog of the year winner, Todd the Hero Dog, and his mom Paula Godwin, at the Streamys. Photo courtesy of Streamy Awards
NEW RIVER:
ANTHEM:
CAREFREE:
County orders Shell to cease
Jim Zwit to speak at Anthem's
Fine Art and Wine Festival
overnight parking
Veterans Day ceremony
happening Nov. 2-4
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OTHER : • Bluhm Column
6
• Service Directory
15
• Classified Ads
18