January 8, 2014 •
• Anthem
Vol. 12, No.8
• Black Canyon City
Manager in; signs, nature center wait
Postal Patron Cave Creek
• Carefree
• Cave Creek
• Desert Hills
ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
• New River
• North Phoenix
Man swims 200 miles for Anthem boy Eric Quade Editor
Tara Alatorre
The Cave Creek Town Council officially hired a permanent town manager, approving the employment contract with Peter Jankowski in a unanimous vote during its Monday night meeting. Jankowski, who is currently serving as town administrator in Dudley, Mass., will begin his Cave Creek duties on Feb. 10 with an annual salary of $130,350 and a “suitable vehicle,” which will be provided by the town, according to the employment contract. Although the decision to approve the town manager employment contract was met with little discussion amongst the council or citizens, proposals for a banner pole project and a new facility for a raptor recovery organization at Spur Cross Ranch were met with some contention. They were sent back to the drawing board with instructions for more detailed plans to be presented at a later date. The Cave Creek Merchants Association presented a plan including 12 poles that would facilitate banner space, which would be leased as advertising space for local businesses and events. Six of the poles would be located in the town center with the other six located along Cave Creek Road. The merchant association suggested renting the
Eric Quade photo
The ‘whatever it takes’ team — Tyler Hallsey of Anthem (pictured wearing a baseball cap) was well enough to visit the Anthem Community Center pool last week and witness family friend Koko Head of Mesa swim his 200th mile on the boy’s behalf.
COUNCIL
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Inside: Bluhm........................4 Events.......................5 Art............................ 14 Editorial.............. 16 Services................. 17 Crossword......... 20 Classifieds.......... 21 Golden Eagles.....22
• Tramonto
Eric Quade photo
Holy rollers — The Rev. Nordon Winger of the Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church in Cave Creek led a “blessing of the motorcycles” ceremony Saturday, wishing bikers Godspeed on the roads and sprinkling the tires of their vehicles with holy water. The event, now in its third year, also featured a raffle for a classic car with tickets available through this Sunday.
Tyler Hallsey of Anthem was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer nearly a year ago. He then began chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and he gave those around him the go-ahead to do “whatever it takes” to combat his illness. When word of Tyler’s brain cancer reached family friend Koko Head, the Mesa resident took the bad news and turned it into an inspirational challenge. “When I turned 55, I began swimming 100 miles in 100 days for Tyler,” Koko said. “I have journaled my swimming efforts and shared some of my life stories and bits of wisdom with Tyler each day on my Facebook page. I have asked family and friends to pledge some amount per mile for the fund established by ‘In Anthem We Care’ for Tyler. However, more important than funds raised has been the faith, hope and courage raised as this amazing young man battles his cancer and endures his treatment—‘whatever it takes.’” Koko and the Hallsey family knew each other from their time in Jacksonville, Fla., where they went to church together. Although they Hallseys moved from Florida when Tyler was about 18 months old, the families had kept tabs over the years through Christmas cards and social media posts. A former Marine, Koko said that the creed of “leave no man behind” kicked in when Tyler’s health became jeopardized. That show of support for Tyler held strong, even when the boy’s health ran into complications. Koko had originally planned to commemorate his 100th swimming mile in 100 days in late September 2013, but Tyler was struggling with cancer treatments at the time and had to be readmitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital due to high blood pressure issues. Instead of giving up, both Tyler and Koko persevered; Tyler was allowed to go home a few days later, and Koko modified his swimming pledge to 110 miles in 110 days. When that was thwarted by a migration of blood clots in Tyler’s legs in early October and a broken back due to brittle bones, the challenge changed to swimming 200 miles in 200 days. Then just last week, Tyler’s back brace was removed, and
TYLER
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