The Chandler Arizonan 1.8.23

Newbies ready for Chandler City Council challenges

Jane Poston has embraced this city in many ways

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

When Jane Poston finally had a chance to fully embrace a community, she took it. Poston grew up with a dad who worked in broadcast news, which meant they moved a lot as she was growing up.

Putting down roots was not

an option.

“We moved all the time,” Poston said. “I was a kid that moved my whole life, about every two years. For me, you know, playing psychoanalyst, that’s why when I found a community to stay in, I dug in deep and stayed because I always wanted that.”

Poston is about to become

Community engagement led Angel Encinas to seat

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Alberto Esparza has watched Angel Encinas grow up, meeting him for the first time when he was an 8-year-old boy. He said he’s a bit surprised Encinas got involved in local politics.

Encinas will be sworn in to serve a four-year term on the

New year could challenge city, school fiscal picture

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The previous year was a pretty good one financially for both the City of Chandler and the Chandler Unified School District.

While this new year may not look scary, city and school officials this year face fiscal challenges that will likely comprise one of the top stories of 2023.

But the new year promises other notable possibilities to keep an eye on locally – including possible steps by the city to regulate shortterm rentals and the long-awaited

opening of a tourist-attracting superstore.

City finances

Chandler was doing so well with its finances in 2022 that it made a one-time payment of $50 million toward its debt in the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

The ongoing expansion at the Intel Ocotillo campus gets a lot of credit for the extra tax dollars coming in. City officials say they see

Chandler City Council on Jan. 12 and is believed to be its first openly gay member.

“Well, it was somewhat of a surprise,” Esparza said. “I didn’t think he was going that way. But when he told me he was going into politics, I said, ‘Okay, then I’ll help you campaign,’ because I truly believe there are very few

Bittersweet end

Democratic state Sen. Sean Bowie, who represented west and northern Chandler as a member of the Legislative District 18 delegation since 2016, officially becomes a private citizen tomorrow, Jan. 9, as Rep. Mitzi Epstein replaces him. The Ahwatukee resident decided against seeking a fourth term, and leaves the Capitol with mixed emotions, as you’ll read on page 3 (David Minton/ Arizonan Staff Photographer)

Senator Bowie prepares for life as Citizen Bowie

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor

Come noon next Monday, Jan. 9, state Sen. Sean. Bowie will be officially adding “former” to that title as he hands over the seat he’s held for six years to Rep. Mitzi Epstein.

It will be a bittersweet moment for Bowie, a 2002 Mountain Pointe High alumnus who left his job in 2016 as senior analyst in the Arizona State University Provost’s Office to run in what was then Legislative District 18 (now 12), which covers Ahwatukee, north and west Chandler and part of Tempe.

“I love my job,” he said in an interview. “I’m going to miss it a lot. I just moved all my stuff out of my office the other day, which was pretty emotional.”

Bowie opted not to run last year in a district where he and his Democratic colleagues in the House have maintained firm control since their election in 2016.

They have handily won in a district

where independent and Democratic registered voters outnumber their GOP counterparts.

Partisan battles, however, weren’t Bowie’s thing.

Even before he was first sworn in January 2017, he said, “I’m not going to be a bomb thrower. I want to work with people.”

That included Republican people.

Bowie in his tenure won passage of seven bills – the most by any Democrat in the Republican-dominated Legislature – because of his bipartisan efforts.

After his election, he said one of his role models for his work as a legislator was former Chandler lawmaker Rob Robson, a Republican.

“You’ll never see me protesting at the Capitol,” Bowie said in 2016. “To me it’s about being in a room working on the policies that are important to me and really trying to extract a good result.”

Many of those results involved education.

He fought for more funding and a restoration of funding streams that had been taken away from K-12 public schools and the state’s universities.

He also pioneered the state’s first laws aimed at addressing teen mental health.

Prompted in part by a rash of suicides among Valley high school and college students, Bowie’s first successful piece of legislation was a bill requiring suicide awareness and prevention training for all teachers and school staff whose work involved students in 6th through 12th grade.

He also sponsored a bill, which passed, that provides additional protections for families that declare bankruptcy.

Bowie also counts the current state budget among his successes.

“Everyone points to that budget this year as a huge success,” said Bowie, who helped craft the spending plan that needed Democrats’ support because too

see BOWIE page 6

While proud of his legislative accomplishments, Sen. Sean Bowie also leaves his Senate seat in some dismay over former Gov. Doug Ducey’s refusal to call a special session of the outgoing Legislature to address the constitutional spending cap on school districts. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)

Chandler festival celebrates city’s diversity

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The City of Chandler will once again be honoring residents who invoke the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The city plans to hand out three awards as part of its 28th annual Multicultural Festival & Celebration of Unity, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 14. It will be the first time the city has done that in more than 12 years.

Last year, Councilman OD Harris honored a large group of residents on MLK Day, but that wasn’t an official city event. This year, the city has taken it on.

“I will tell you that we had in 1999, or 2000, we created a Dr. MLK Awards Luncheon, like all the other cities,” said Niki Tapia, the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program director. “And we had that lunch and it went from like a lunch into a breakfast. And we had that going until about 2008, 2009 when the recession hit, and then our staff was very limited.”

The three awards that will be handed out at this year’s festival are the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Achievement Award, the Emma Arbuckle Empowerment Award and a Youth Action Award.

The first award will go to an individual who embodies the values and ideas of Dr. King based on their extensive work promoting social and economic justice, defending civil rights and enhancing the dignity of all people in the Chandler community.

The second award is named after Emma Arbuckle, who was a South Chandler resident as well as a leader, advocate, and mother figure to her community. The award will recognize individuals who work to empower the community by creating opportunities for leadership, racial equality and solidarity.

The youth award will go to a student

Dr. Tamika Sanders plans to lead the “Be the change: Finding your movement” discussion at 10 a.m., Jan. 14 at the downtown library. It’s one of the events planned as part of the city’s Multicultural Festival. (City of Chandler)

(18 and younger) who is actively working to promote nonviolence, commitment to service and courage among their peers in a way that reflects Dr. King’s values.

“Dr. King’s message, it’s all about the future,” Tapia said. “We want our youth to know that what they do, make it mean something and they have the potential to make a difference.”

Tapia said they did not receive a ton of nominees for the awards this year, but that was to be expected because this is the first time.

“We got about 20 total nominations,” she said. “You know, the first year, we really went out there, we went out to all the community members, and we extended the deadline. And the goal is, each year it’ll grow. And hopefully we’ll get a couple hundred in a few years.”

Tapia said this year’s Multicultural Festival is going to be larger than ever before.

“I want to say, probably about 30%

more participants this year,” Tapia said. “So we have an amazing performance schedule with a variety of artists.”

One of the scheduled performances is by Indigenous Enterprise, a Native American dancing group. Tapia said they have performed at presidential inaugurations, Super Bowls and recently at a Phoenix Suns game.

The Arizona Coyotes will also be involved in the festival for the first time. Tapia said the festival usually draws between 4,000 and 6,000 people.

Tapia credited her staff with hunting down all kinds of different cultural groups to be involved. Some of those making their first appearance this year by a Croatian group and another representing the Greek Orthodox Church.

The festival takes place at AJ Chandler Park in downtown. But there are events scheduled throughout the month. The library is hosting a number of events in partnership with the library, including a screening of the film “Selma,” and a teen civil rights button making session.

“We want people to look forward to this every year,” Tapia said.

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many Republican lawmakers opposed one aspect of the budget or another.

“I would argue it was a huge success, because it was so bipartisan,” Bowie said.

He also counts among his successes his relationships with more moderate Republicans that “helped kill hundreds of bills that I thought were bad.”

“I built a lot of coalitions on both sides of the aisle and worked behind the scenes and was pretty proud of what we did,” Bowie said.

While building those coalitions in the Legislature, Bowie also listened to his constituents.

When he first ran for the job in 2016, he estimated he had knocked on 12,000 doors. He then decided after his election he’d knock on more.

“Part of me has to do that,” he said at the time. “I want to keep talking to people and hear what they have to say. I want to tell them I am their senator and this is what I am working on and find out how they feel about it.”

He visited every one of the 45 public and charter schools in his district multiple times.

“I place a high priority on these visits,” he said after completing his first round of visits.

He explained he had several reasons for the visits: he wanted to see first-hand what students were doing; he wanted teachers and administrators to talk about the impact of the state’s chronic underfunding of education; and he wanted to thank the faculties and staff for their hard work.

In his waning months as a legislator, Bowie also has been hard at work – much of it involving education in one way or another.

He just completed a report for the Common Sense Institute with former Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels on how Arizona can address the crisis in affordable housing.

He has continued at ASU as professor of practice in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions.

And he’s completing work on an executive MBA that he expects to receive in May.

Asked what he intends to do, Bowie had been ready to return to the Capitol before June 9 in the hopes Gov. Katie

Hobbs would call a special session of the outgoing Legislature to address the Aggregate Expenditure Limit.

That constitutional cap on school district spending threatens to wreak havoc in the final quarter of the current school year because districts will not be allowed to spend a total $1.4 billion of money they already have.

Two thirds of both legislative chambers are needed to either waive the cap for this year or eliminate it altogether and Bowie, like others, believes the chances of that happening are better before the new crop of lawmakers takes over.

But uncertainty now prevails over the cap’s fate as Hobbs failed to convene the Legislature.

And no one knows what will happen before March 1, when districts must start deciding what to cut because the cap takes effect a month later. Kyrene stands to be unable to spend $20 million the last quarter of the current school year and Tempe Union, $17 million.

“The Republican caucus is going to be more conservative,” Bowie said, admitting he’s seen both sides drift steadily away from the bipartisanship he has long championed.

“I think there’s been more excitement for candidates who are, you know, a little more partisan, and talk less about bipartisanship,” Bowie said, adding that he believes bipartisan approaches to the

state’s biggest problems will become necessary since Hobbs provides a brake on more radical Republican measures.

“Every bill that’s going to come out the Legislature these next two years needs to be bipartisan because you got to have a Democratic governor sign off on it,” he said. “So I think that’s a welcome change. I think having both sides of the table leads to better outcomes.”

Personally, Bowie wants to focus on the personal life he said he’s largely sacrificed for six years.

He said he turned down suggestions that he run for the Phoenix City Council seat that represents Ahwatukee and that he also was asked to consider running for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2024.

He’s not ruling out another foray into politics, however, though he explained:

“I think for now, kind of my chief focus is to build a life outside of politics because as you know, this job is very all-encompassing, and took up the vast majority of my time…I’ve been so focused on that and less focused on my personal life and being more financially secure and all that.

“So the goal is having a life outside of politics, who knows, maybe buy a house one of these days and start a family and all those things that I’ve neglected during my time in the Senate. I want to be in a place where I have a life outside of politics. If it doesn’t happen, that’s fine. If it does happen, great. But I’ve got other things to focus on and spend time on other than just politics.”

Then, he added, that on the other hand, “Never say never.”

Rep. Mitzi Epstein of Tempe will become Sen. Epstein Jan. 9, replacing Sen/ Sean Bowie in LD12, which includes western and northern Chandler. (Special to the Arizonan)

New CUSD board member sacrificed to be with his kids

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Kurt Rohrs said he had a good life, traveling the world for a semiconductor country doing manufacturing and product management at factories in five countries. He lived in Ocotillo on a golf course in a really nice house, making really good money.

He decided to give it up.

Rohrs, who will be sworn in as a member of the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board on Jan. 11, grew tired of being away from his family, especially his 2-year-old son.

“Being on the road was not a way to raise a family,” Rohrs said. “So I actually left that profession. Don’t regret it a bit.”

He became a certified financial planner and began working in that field from his home office, which enabled him to spend more time with his children.

“I had high-level positions, making a lot of money,” Rohrs said. “But you know, I had a 2-year-old boy. He’s a great kid.”

That kid is now 22 and living in Texas.

Rohrs said he put off starting a family as his career was starting. He said he ended up meeting his future wife in an airport. After his son, the couple had two daughters.

He said they had to move to a bigger house in Sun Lakes after the birth of their third child. Now his two girls are attending business schools, one at Arizona State University and the other at the University of Arizona.

“Thanksgiving was the first time I had all them in the same room at the dinner table, in quite some time,” he said. “It is really difficult to get them all together, that’s just part of parenting. I talked to my mother about that, and she said ‘yeah, you just gotta let them go, and let them have their own lives.’ But they’re great kids and are doing great.”

James Caskey says he has known Rohrs for more than 20 years, having met him when both were in the Rotary

Club. He said Rohrs has the leadership skills needed for a position on the school board.

He pointed to the time when the group needed a celebrity to be in a helicopter ride: Rohrs stepped forward and got the mayor to agree.

“He’s a great guy, he gives a lot to the community,” Caskey said. “He’s been giving back to the community for years, so this is just him continuing to do that.”

Caskey said Rohrs communicates well with others, that he can hear both sides of an issue and work with people he disagrees with.

Being a dad who worked mostly from home paid off, Rohrs said.

“A lot of it had to do with me being home all the time,” Rohrs said. “I drove them to school, and I picked them up from school. I made dinner for them and all that so I spent a lot a lot of time with them. I think that is key to raising kids, giving them the attention that they

Kurt Rohrs is ready to take his seat on the Chandler Unified Governing Board. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)

a leader of that community. She will be sworn in on Jan. 12 to join the Chandler

“I counted it once: by the time I was 14, I had been 14 different schools,” Poston said of her youth. She said she was a bit of tomboy growing up and didn’t embrace her feminine side until reaching her 30s.

“I was born in Nebraska, then off to Iowa, Sioux City, back to Iowa, Wichita, Kansas, South Carolina, Tucson and fi-

She said she liked being the new kid in school and admits that all that moving and being forced to make a new set of friends helped develop social skills that

“I did learn a secret, and that is that it was easier to move in the middle of the school year and be the new kid than it was to move at the beginning of the year,” she said, explaining that when kids move in the middle of the year, everyone knows they’re new while if they do it at the beginning, they’re just one of many

“She’s 100% a people person,” said Jason Heinkel, Poston’s husband and business partner. They own and run J2 Media

“It may not come across but she’s all about that,” Heinkel said. “Being that reporter/producer in the past, I think that’s groomed her to be able to talk to anybody, and communicate, and listen.”

Heinkel and Poston met while they were both working for Channel 11, a public access TV station in Phoenix.

“It was actually a very good production channel where we won all kinds of awards. I got my first Emmy working out of there,” Heinkel said.

Poston was a producer and a reporter and Heinkel a freelance cameraman.

“I knew him for a year before we ever started dating,” Poston said. She recounted one of their first dates, which was a work assignment. They walked around and talked after for about an hour. He had left the recorder on, so the entire conversation was saved.

“It was such a rookie mistake,” Poston recalled with a laugh.

She said when they finally got serious about each other, things moved quickly.

“We just sort of clicked and it was very fast,” she said. “We got married pretty quick after that.”

They had been doing a number of freelance assignments as a team when they realized it would probably be best just to start their own company. J2 Media was born in January of 2000. Heinkel said they did a lot of travel stories when they first began, which allowed them to travel the world together.

“We were doing a lot of Discovery Channel’s, their top 10s,” Poston said. “So there were like, top 10 scary places, or top 10 cruise ships, top 10 family vacations, so a lot of Travel Channel stuff, too.”

Still, Poston said she valued the community she embraced in Chandler. The couple have two sons, 21 and 16.

“That was always the key to whenever I moved, is you jump in and get involved, right?” Poston said. “You jump in and you join nonprofits, you join clubs, you find ways to get to know people. And that’s how you feel like that’s your home. I’ve always said Chandler is one of those places where you can be as involved as you want to be.”

Poston did do some work in city governments, first in Phoenix and stays involved in the community, including activities on behalf of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, where she chaired its board of directors in 2021.

“I do know if I’m going to join something, if I’ve ever been asked to be on a nonprofit or join it, I don’t say yes lightly, because I know how I am once I do it,” Poston said. “I’m not going to be somebody that doesn’t read the stuff, or show up to the meetings, and it’s never going to be just sort of like punching in just to say I did it.”

Jane Poston will be sworn into her Chandler City Council position on Jan. 12. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

people like him. There are a lot of leaders who talk about community engagement, but you’ve never seen them.

“With Angel, and because of this family background, you see him.”

Esparza and the Encinas family were involved in the United Farm Workers movement.

“He comes from a family background that is very strong with the United Farm Workers Union and with others,” Esparza said. “So because of that, it’s already innate. It’s there, it’s in his heart.”

Encinas calls Esparza a mentor.

“He worked well with my mom,” Encinas said. “He’s one of the people who inspired me at a young age.”

During the campaign, Encinas highlighted his roots in Chandler, having lived here all his life. He also said he was a proud member of both the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities and is an alumnus of San Marcos Elementary, Andersen Junior High and Chandler High schools.

His family was politically active, so being involved came naturally.

“I was a very active and involved kid,” Encinas said. “Starting from around second grade, I was already in student council. I was already in academic clubs. Even through junior high, I was always involved in student council. I was a chapter president of marketing groups, in the graphics groups. I was in FFA (Future Farmers of America). So I was pretty much involved academically in different programs.”

For fun he and his friends would head

to downtown Chandler, where his mom had an office on Boston Street.

Encinas said there were comments about his sexual orientation, but for the most part he avoided any hardcore harassment or bullying.

“When I was in elementary school, during high school and stuff, there would be whispers,” Encinas said. “I’d hear comments there and stuff like that. You know, it was essentially bullying in that time. But for me, it kind of helped build a shell of defense for myself. I got really tough skin through all that.”

Encinas said he accepted his sexual orientation at a young age.

“I’ve always known since I was a small kid, all through high school, college,” he said. “I was always very active in different things and stuff and that part of my life, you know, dating, relationships, and stuff wasn’t ever there.”

Encinas said he waited until after graduating from Arizona State University with a general business degree and until he was fully independent to come out as gay.

He said the Supreme Court approving marriage equality, allowing same-sex couples to marry, had a profound impact on him. He came out of the closet after that with a social media post.

“When they approved marriage equality, that was my first post after that, because I actually saw a future, in my head,” he said. “I never thought I was going to get married, have kids and stuff because it wasn’t attainable at that time. And when that happened, I was like, ‘Whoa, there’s this whole new world that’s opening up that I can see myself a future, for me, a family, potentially kids in the future.”

Encinas says he is single now.

Finding time for a relationship might be his biggest challenge. He works primarily at an immigration consulting business with his family, Consultas Y Mas, in North Chandler, which helps migrants through the immigration process. He said his mom has been doing that for more than 30 years.

When he’s not doing that, he’s

see ENCINAS page 14

is a native of Chandler and has long embraced involvement in the community.

(David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Angel Encinas

more tax dollars every time Intel launches a major expansion and its current project is no exception.

Intel began the $20 billion expansion in September 2021 to add two new manufacturing areas to make semiconductor chips.

In addition to that construction, there has been a multifamily housing construction boom in Chandler, with a number of new apartment complexes taking shape in the city

At some point, that construction will end and all those extra tax dollars generated by development-related levies will go away.

Dawn Lang, the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager, said that the city usually retains about half of the extra income the construction generated when it ends.

But that’s not the major reason why the city is worried about its financial future. That reason resides in the state Legislature, where Republican lawmakers – who hold slim leads in both chambers – may consider changes to local tax control.

Incoming Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, wants to eliminate both the rental and food taxes – a move he says will help ease inflation’s impact on Arizonans.

Chandler gets about $20-to-$25 million a year from its taxes on rentals and food delivered for consumption.

Elimination of the two levies comes at a time when the city, just like any household or business, is paying higher prices as a result of inflation.

The loss of revenue from food and rental taxes also poses bigger threats beyond this year for Chandler in that the extension of the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation could end after 2025 because lameduck Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have put its extension on the ballot this year.

While the new Legislature could approve putting the tax extension on the 2024 ballot, city officials already worry about the potential impact of its loss on transportation and other capital projects.

Ryan Peters, city strategic initiatives director, said the money that Chandler receives from the tax varies, depending on what capital projects they have planned that year.

“If we’re programmed for an intersection that particular year, it can be $20 million,” he said. “If we don’t have any intersections programmed for that year, it can be zero.”

Long term, the city is considering adding rapid bus transit, but without those transportation tax dollars, enacting such a levy is unlikely.

The veto also puts in doubts state projects that were planned for the Chandler area, including widening the Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways to improve rush hour bottlenecks.

School district finances

Depending on how things go, Chandler Unified School District officials may look at their city counterparts and wish they had their budget problems.

The district in a few months could be be forced not to spend 17% of the money it already has because of the Aggregate Expenditure Limit, a state constitution amendment passed by Arizona voters in the 1980s that is based on a formula heavily dependent on previous year’s enrollment.

In all, some $1.2 billion statewide is at stake if the spending cap isn’t waived and districts can’t spend money they already have in the bank. They will be forced to make cuts in current school year spending beginning April 1.

School officials in Arizona already have said it will be hard not to make most of those spending cuts without laying off teachers and other staff.

“It could mean up to $62 million for Chandler Unified School District,” said Lana Berry, the district’s chief financial officer. “It’s 17%, it doesn’t matter if you’re a big district, or a small district. It’s a massive cut.”

The last Legislature passed the AEL exemption just before the deadline. This new Legislature seems less willing after outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey declined

to call a special session to address the spending cap.

A number of state legislators are said to be unhappy that school boards backed a failed petition drive to overturn their decision to funnel more education dollars to private schools.

And they may use the AEL to let them know how unhappy they are.

Arizona consistently ranks among the bottom in the U.S. in funding education. Public schools have fought to keep whatever tax dollars are collected and against giving it to non-public education.

State legislators supporting expanded vouchers said that competition will improve education for all.

Tourism businesses

There are two major businesses scheduled to open in 2023 that will likely draw visitors to Chandler.

Scheels, a North Dakota-based sporting goods company coming to Chandler this fall, is known for its massive store sizes that accommodate a 16,000-gallon aquarium and a Ferris wheel.

The company plans to open its first Arizona location at the Chandler Fashion Center on Sept. 30, replacing the Nordstrom store.

Scheels’ 30 locations around the nation offer a candy shop, a restaurant, arcade games and sports simulators that have become a proven tourist magnet.

Another new business coming to the area may draw even more people.

Construction of the SanTan Mountain Casino has taken longer than expected, but as of December, they expect it to open in late spring or early summer. It was originally planned to open by the end of 2022.

The casino is located just outside of the city’s borders at Hunt Highway and Gilbert Road.

It will be operated by Gila River Resorts & Casinos, which also has the Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte and Lee Quiva properties.

Short-term rentals

Last summer the Legislature gave municipalities the authority to issue licenses and permits for short-term rental properties.

City of Chandler staff has already been researching that topic and plans to bring

Scheels sporting goods stores feature a large aquarium and ferris wheel inside. The company plans

first location in Arizona at the Chandler Fashion Center in September 2023. (Scheels)

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler Unified officials say rebuilding two elementary schools offers an opportunity to build the dream school of the future and so they’re inviting everyone to help them with the design.

“With those two rebuilds, we will go through the same process,” said Tom Dunn, the district’s executive director of support services. “Those sites, we’ll reimagine that school, not just rebuild the school as is.

“Looking at what are your needs, what is it that you could be, or that you want to be, and then designing a school that will meet those needs.”

The two schools, Galveston and Hartford, were both built about 60 years ago and need major upgrading.

District officials decided it would be cheaper to build new schools than it would be to do major renovations to improve those schools to the level they want.

The governing board voted Dec. 14 to approve an architect to begin designing a new Galveston Elementary. They selected Orcutt Winslow to do the design, but they will do so with community input.

The district has asked teachers, staff, students and community leaders to help them imagine what the new school should be.

“There’ll be plenty of community input as we move forward,” Superintendent Frank Narducci said. “Staff input has to reimagine what educational needs there are for the Galveston community, and what education could look like for our students.”

The contract with Orcutt Winslow is for $1,275,750 and is being paid with money from the 2019 bond.

Dunn said the hope is construction starts this summer and the new school

ready for use for the 2024-25 school year. Current Galveston students will continue to attend classes in the same buildings they’re using now while construction is underway.

Once Galveston is rebuilt, then the district will focus on rebuilding Hartford. However, that would likely require new funding in the form of another bond election. The Galveston project is expected to cost more than $23.6 million.

The new Galveston school is planned to be 67,500 square feet and have a capacity of 750 students. The current Galveston was designed for the same number, but is currently under capacity at about 600 students.

District officials have said they expect enrollment to drop further because of overall declining enrollment in the early grades.

Galveston and Hartford are among nine schools the district is looking at for repurposing to make it more attractive to

ROHRS

need.”

Recently, Rohrs has been substitute teaching at CUSD schools. He said he wanted to know what’s really going on inside classrooms.

“I think a much better understanding about how a school classroom works,” Rohrs said. “I like working with kids, I mean, really enjoy them at every level. … I think we treat a lot of kids, particularly

ENCINAS

from page 11

also a real estate agent, though that is mostly part-time. He says he helps some of his immigration clients when they want to buy a home.

Joining the family business was not the path he dreamed of as a child.

“I always wanted to be an engineer growing up,” Encinas said. Later, he discovered a love for design and thought marketing might be his future.

When former President Obama announced the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program in 2012, it changed his plans.

“That’s what kind of pulled me in, because I was working with people who were my age around that time, friends or people who were younger than I, or who I went to high school with, or a little bit older who I knew, and I was helping them out, in getting this work permit.”

Encinas said he thought about becoming an immigration attorney, but decided against it. He did the research and found

in high school, like they’re adults, and they don’t have the knowledge that we do, they just don’t.

“We also found that kids in particular, just want attention from adults. That’s what they really, really want – the approval. They want the support.”

Editor’s note: The Chandler Arizonan did send multiple messages to the other incoming board member, Patti Serrano, in an effort to profile her as well. Those messages were not returned.

out it would take three years and cost him $100,000.

“I thought about it and I was like, ‘if I go do that, and I come back here to this office, I’m going to be doing exactly what I’m already doing here today.’ And I didn’t want to come back to this office and have to charge our clients that premium of having that title.”

His mentor, Esparza, says he always thought Encinas would be an activist pushing for change and not necessarily one of the people sitting on the dais and making the hard choices.

So what drew him in?

“I always had public office, public service in the back of my head, it’s always been there,” Encinas said. “I’ve always kind of thought about potentially doing that. And so I was like, let me explore this a little bit more.

“I started talking to previous council members, previous mayors and things like that, see what the expectations were going to be, and I thought, ‘Okay, this is … something that I do see myself doing.’”

Encore Chandler with 208 units.

some recommendations to the council in 2023.

Both the short-term rental industry (Airbnb and Expedia Group, which owns VRBO) and cities had asked for the law.

Vacation properties will now have to be licensed and cities will be able to address any problem properties, depending on what regulations they each pass.

Also ahead

Some of the major multifamily complexes that have been under construction will start opening and be filled with new Chandler residents. They include the first phase of DC Heights with 157 units and

The city plans to improve Wall Street alley downtown, moving utility lines underground and making it more pedestrian friendly with benches and improved lighting.

The city is also undertaking a downtown parking study to figure out what adjustments need to be made for the future.

Grammy-winners Los Lobos and Lala Hathaway ae among the big names in entertainment coming to Chandler Center for the Arts this year.

The new Fire Station 2 is scheduled to open. That’s the city’s busiest station and it is being expanded to handle the work.

And the Chandler Municipal Airport will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Chandler Unified to launch open enrollment this month

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Trish Do said she values being able to speak in multiple languages.

“I feel like a second language is very important, especially in Arizona, especially the Spanish language,” she said. “It will help them so much for jobs in the future.”

Trish enrolled her son Leo for kindergarten at Chandler Traditional Academy—Freedom Campus after that school started a Spanish dual language immersion program.

In addition to learning Spanish for half a day at school - he spends the other half in English-speaking classes – Leo speaks Vietnamese at home. If he continues, Leo should be fluent in three languages by the time he reaches high school.

CTA Freedom will be expanding its dual language immersion program next year to include first grade, Principal Christina Lucas-Sheffield said.

“That’s the beautiful thing about the program is that it attracted people from near and far,” Lucas-Sheffield said. “So we have some existing family, some community members, that have already been established at CTA Freedom. And then we have families who are coming all the way from Queen Creek or Phoenix.”

Open enrollment begins Jan. 9 for Chandler Unified School District for families that live outside of the current attendance boundaries. The enrollment

period for families inside the boundary begins Jan. 11.

Chandler Unified School District is trying to draw more students in from outside its boundaries because of declining enrollment. The district is currently debating what to do with nine schools as officials expect fewer students will be attending in the future.

The primary cause for declining enrollment, according to a study session the district held last spring, is the high cost of housing in the Chandler area. Young families can’t afford to live or move here, so they are moving to areas with cheaper housing.

To combat that, CUSD is spending more money on marketing, nearly $500,000 this year, to convince families Chandler Unified is a premier district of choice.

And, the district is offering more programs officials hope will entice families to choose CUSD. That includes dual language immersion programs. In addition to Spanish at four schools, the district also has schools (Tarwater Elementary and Bogle Junior High) that have a Mandarin program.

Stephanie Ingersoll, the district’s executive director of marketing and communications, said the key thing to know about open enrollment is that applications are time-stamped. So, getting them in early could help when it comes to placement at some of the district’s most attractive schools.

“It’s a very busy day,” Ingersoll said of the first day of open enrollment. “The phones are ringing off the hook, people are coming in. Everything is taken based on that timestamp.”

Chandler Unified is also offering gifted academies for students

Kindergarten students at Chandler Traditional Academy Freedom Campus participate in a Spanish immersion class. The school plans to expand its dual language immersion program to first grade next year. (Ken Sain/Managing Editor)

WARNING!

PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

Mesa, AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. The problem with antidepressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side effects.

The only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness, balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves degenerate – an insidious

cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.

The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “Band-Aid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.

Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brandnew facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.

1. Finding the underlying cause

2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)

3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition

Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00.

Th is ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results:

1. Increases blood flow

2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves

3. Improves brain-based pain

The treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling

It’s completely painless!

THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THIS TREATMENT IS COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND MOST INSURANCES!!

The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less than 95% nerve damage, there is hope!

Aspen Medical begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage –a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings.

Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until January 31st 2023 Call (480) 274-3157 to make an appointment.

Due to our very busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10 c allers Y OU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (480) 274-3157… NOW!!

We are extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave a voice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:

Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free.

Aspen Medical 4540 E Baseline Rd., Suite 119 Mesa, AZ, 85206

Tax defeat leaves area fire districts in a bind

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Arizonan Staff Writer

State firefighter organizations lobbied the Legislature this year to put a question on the Nov. 8 ballot asking voters to approve a 20-year, .1% sales tax that would generate revenue for fire districts across the state.

The Legislature obliged, but in a 52-48% vote – 1,230,042 against to 1,144,495 for – Arizona voters shot down Prop 310, sending fire officials back to the drawing board to address a funding problem they say isn’t going away any time soon.

Firefighters also noted that at the same time as Proposition 310 failed, voters approved another legislative initiative that requires ballot questions posing tax increases to pass with at least a 60% approval.

Approval of Prop 132 by a 50.7% to 49.3% – 1,210,702 votes in favor and 1,176,327 against – means it will be even harder to get a tax passed in the future.

“We were obviously disappointed. Like the air came out of our sails,” Daisy Mountain Fire District Chief Brian Tobin said. “My firefighters worked very hard on their days off to try and get as much education and information out about 310, but we came up short.”

Tobin and Superstition Fire District Chief John Whitney said Arizona’s urban departments also lost with the defeat of 310.

They said Arizona’s robust “automatic mutual aid” system among

first responders stands out among states and helps all of the various police and fire departments to function as one large emergency department for the state.

If a five-alarm fire breaks out on the edge of a city, resources from surrounding departments are deployed in an efficient system.

With a more resilient source of funding, Arizona fire districts would have been able to bring more to the table in the mutual aid system.

Fire districts are special taxing districts governed by an elected board that provide fire service to areas where none exists, such as areas not covered by a municipal fire department.

Arizona’s 154 fire districts provide emergency fire and medical service over huge swaths of the state, including major transportation corridors like I-10. In terms of the number of firefighters the districts employ, they aren’t as large of municipal departments.

About a third of the state’s professional firefighters – or about 2,500 of 7,500 – work for districts.

But many of those fire districts, especially those serving the urban-wildland interface, provide fire protection to dynamic areas as residents move into rural areas, recreation and traffic swells, and wildfire risk grows.

In all, the districts employ over 4,000 trained personnel to provide fire, rescue, and emergency medical services to roughly 1.5 million Ari-

zona residents every day, protecting over 15,000 square miles from fires and covering 27,000 square miles with emergency medical services.

Outside Mesa, for example, the Superstition Fire and Medical District serves communities east of Meridian Road, Apache Junction and the State Route 60 corridor in Pinal County.

The Daisy Mountain Fire District serves the area north of Phoenix along the busy I-17 corridor as far north as Sunset Point.

“Every weekend it’s a s— show” along the I-17 corridor,” Tobin said.

One contemplated project using Prop 310 funds was a fire station at Sunset Point, a major rest area for north-south travelers in the state.

“We’ve just had a need in rural areas that are close to urban areas where people hike, bike and ATV, and we don’t have the technical expertise to respond to those incidents. We rely on our partners to respond to those incidents,” he said.

Tobin said fire districts took a major hit in funding when property values plunged during the Great Recession because property taxes are their main source of revenue. The impact was so significant that many fire districts are still trying to get back to pre-recession levels of service.

Daisy Mountain, for example, has fewer firefighters per capita than it did before the recession, according

Fire Ground Survival is an extensive training through which all the members of the Daisy Mountain Fire District company learn techniques for saving themselves if they become lost or trapped in a life-threatening situation during a fire. “Crews learn many techniques to give them the best preparation for these high risk/low frequency events,” a district spokesman said. (Facebook)

parents. The others are Conley Elementary, Bologna, Hull, Frye, Navarette, San Marcos, Sanborn, and Shumway Leadership Academy.

The district put together a committee to look at the schools and decide how best to prepare for a future with declining enrollments. It may mean turning the schools into a gifted academy, or adding a language immersion program.

Five of the schools are at less than 50% of capacity. The high price of housing in the Chandler and Gilbert areas is making it harder for young families to live here. Because of that, fewer students are enrolling at the earliest grades, a trend the district expects to continue.

To combat that, they plan to be more aggressive in convincing parents to send their students to CUSD schools. The governing board increased the marketing budget. They hope the success of their gifted academies and other specialized schools will draw students away from charter or private schools.

Lana Berry, the chief financial officer and assistant superintendent for business services for the district, said, “We need to make sure that we are continuously repurposing and reimagining our schools.

“If you’re old and it costs more to replace things, we want to make sure that then we’re replacing those schools if it costs more to remodel than to construct.

ENROLL from page 15

who test high enough on the Cognitive Abilities Testing.

The district also offers the Chandler Traditional Academy campuses, where teachers and parents work in a partnership to improve their children’s education. Arizona College Prep is ranked as one of the best high schools in the nation.

For parents who are unsure which school might be best for their child, the district is offering to help guide them to the best choice.

For Do, and her son Leo, that was CTA Freedom.

“I wish they offered it for my son, my oldest, because it’s amazing how [Leo’s] doing,” Do said. “He’s learning and it hasn’t really hasn’t affected the English portion at all. So his grades are still up in English and his grades are pretty good in

We also want to make sure that we’re reimagining schools to meet the academic needs of that school.”

Narducci pointed out there is a Chandler CARE Center next to Galveston Elementary, and this might be an opportunity to incorporate the two together.

Chandler CARE Centers were started in 1995 as a school-based family resource center.

“We’re looking at really doing the school-community kind of build where the CARE Center connects right to the school,” Narducci said.

“So we’re going to augment services at the CARE Center, that will really support that community and is connected to the construction of the school. So we have a great opportunity to do that.”

The district recently invited some students in to get their ideas on what a new Galveston might include.

“This will be the first time that we’ve gone through this planning process where instruction is going to drive construction,” Dunn said. “In the past, we’ve just built schools and said, ‘Here’s your school, start teaching.’

“And we really want instruction to have input, including the community, the teachers, the students as well through this process to help understand what the needs are at that school.

“I think we’re going to see a school much different than the last 12 schools that we built.”

Spanish.”

That’s exactly what Principal Lucas-Sheffield likes to hear. She said she pushed to add a dual language immersion program.

“What type of educational experience would I like my child to have?” she asked herself when she first considered it. “I was thinking why not provide students with the gift of a second language? I started talking to community members, different parents, and I surveyed our staff. They wanted us to do it.”

CUSD Open Enrollment

WHEN: Opens 7:30 a.m., Jan. 9 for students outside the attendance area; it opens 9 a.m., Jan. 11 for in-boundary registration.

HOW TO REGISTER: cusd80.com

OPEN HOUSE: 4:30-6:30 p.m., Jan. 23

3 Chandler residents fall through lake ice, drown

Three Chandler residents are dead after falling through ice over Woods Canyon Lake in late December. The three are originally from India.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 49-year-old Narayana Muddana, 47-year-old Gokul Mediseti, and Haritha Muddana (no age given).

Officials say the three were walking on the frozen lake at 3:35 p.m., Dec. 26 when they fell through the ice. Responding deputies and fire units were able to pull the woman out, but she did not survive. They had to conduct a search for the two men.

City asks citizens for help with budget

Chandler is encouraging residents to provide their thoughts about the community and its future. Chandler residents may complete the survey at chandleraz.gov/budget through Jan. 13.

City staff asks that residents answer at least the first seven general questions of the survey which should take about two minutes. The remaining questions allow specific feedback on any, or all, of the

FIRE from page 16

to Tobin.

“It’s been a very slow process to build back out of that,” Tobin said. “We were hoping to at least get ourselves back up to where we were before that time” with Prop 310 funding.

Tobin said there was “excitement” in the department about some of the lifesaving equipment it could buy with the funding. An example, he said, is telehealth equipment on ambulances that would allow medics to coordinate with doctors more closely on long rides to hospitals.

Unlike municipal departments, fire districts say they are especially challenged because they are almost totally dependent on property taxes.

They saw Prop 310 as a way to diversify funding streams.

targeted topics, which are based on the six City Council strategic goals and five focus areas.

The budget survey results assist in the formulation of the City’s financial plan.

Paper copies are also available in either English, Spanish or Mandarin, and may be picked up at various city facilities, including libraries, community centers and the lobby of City Hall. Paper copies also may be downloaded from the website. Completed paper surveys should be scanned and emailed to savana.martinez@chandleraz.gov or returned to City facilities in person or by mail sent to: City of Chandler, Budget Division – Citizen Surveys, Mail Stop 609, P.O. Box 4008, Chandler AZ 85244-4008. Information: 480-782-2254.

Chandler Museum gets political with new exhibition

The Chandler Museum is exploring politics with its newest exhibit, “Sign of the Times: The Great American Political Poster 1844-2012.

The museum will host an event from 11 a.m. to  2 p.m., Jan. 14 where visitors can make their own campaign posters and buttons after viewing the exhibit.

Some of the posters on display are

Whitney said that because the state limits annual increases in property valuations for taxation, his district has only just now crawled back to its funding levels of 10 years ago even though call volume has seen a “dramatic jump” in recent years.

“At the end of the day, we don’t have access to state shared revenue, we don’t have sales taxes, we don’t have all the different mechanisms available to municipal fire departments,” Whitney said.

“So the citizens of the community continue to shoulder the burden for anyone who uses the services of the district,” he said.

Whitney was disappointed by the defeat of Prop. 310, but he said he isn’t angry at voters and knows they still support their firefighters.

“We understand that there’s a lot of fear about recession and inflation, and

about 170 years old. They also have more recent ones, including from former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.

Senior Variety Show auditions

The City of Chandler Senior Programs is holding auditions for its Spice of Life Senior Variety Show. They are scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m., Jan. 9 and 5:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Chandler Senior Center, 202 E. Boston.

Any active seniors who can sing, dance or perform a talent are invited to audition for the annual show.

Sanborn Elementary adding preschool this month

Sanborn Elementary School is adding one licensed community preschool classroom to the campus this month when students return on Jan. 17.

Students must be potty-trained and have turned three-years-old by Aug. 31, 2022. The preschool runs from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are extended care options available for a fee. The extended care runs from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

Email earlychildhood@cusd80.com for more information.

people are very conscientious right now about what they’re spending in taxes,” Whitney said. “We understood the challenges all along.”

Whitney thinks the task of convincing voters was made harder by the complexity of the topic and confusion about the difference between fire districts and other fire departments.

With costs and call volumes still growing for fire districts, what’s next after Prop 310’s failure?

“Plan B is to reconvene the stakeholders, and find our way down to the state leadership and try to figure out a solution, whether that’s through surplus funds ... alternative funding mechanisms, something to help offset,” Whitney said.

Whitney predicted that in the shortterm, many fire district property owners will see increases in their fire service levies. Last year, the Legislature raised the

Councilman

Orlando elected to national body

Chandler City Councilman Matt Orlando was elected to the National League of Cities board of directors at its 2022 City Summit in Kansas City.

The group represents the nation’s cities and local governments in Washington, DC, lobbying members of Congress and working with federal officials.

Orlando was elected to a two-year term.

Nominations open for city’s Disability Awareness Awards

The City of Chandler is accepting nominations for its 2023 Disability Awareness Awards. This is the 31st year the city has handed out these awards.

There are five categories: student of the year, educator of the year, volunteer of the year, employee of the year and employer of the year.

Nominations can be made through the city’s website, chandleraz.gov/disabilityawarenessawards. The deadline is Feb. 3.

The winners will be honored at the Feb. 23 City Council meeting.

cap on these levies as part of a larger tax reform package.

The tax reform lowered the state’s commercial property tax rate, but approved a phased increased in the maximum levy that local fire district boards can set and to help districts compensate for lost revenue from commercial owners.

The previous cap was 3.25% and will go up to 3.75% by tax year 2024.

Whitney said the change will help, but districts don’t like having to hike levies.

“The problem is most of the citizens don’t know about the commercial decrease. All they see is us raising their taxes,” Whitney said. “Great, then we get to take the beating for that.”

“My district board chose not to increase the level,” Tobin said, because the increased revenue from higher property valuations will be just enough to cover recent cost increases.

Matt

Former longtime Chandler resident marks 100

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Kathi Roark told her mother that they’d get a cake to celebrate her 100th birthday. She surprised former longtime Chandler resident Clela Marie Mann with so much more.

“I tell you, the staff over there just went out of their way to make it a good birthday for her and everybody said she loved it,” Roark said of the Friendship Village staff in Tempe, where her mother is living now. “She was just she was just the birthday girl.”

Moving into an assisted living facility was not easy for the very independent Mann to do. Neither was giving up driving.

“It was, it was tough for all of us,” Roark said. “The sadness that she felt, giving up being in her own place. But it just was not safe for her to be there by herself anymore. And she’d fallen a couple of times while she’s been in assisted living.”

Mann drove herself until she turned 92. Roark said she didn’t leave Chandler and go into assisted living until about a year ago.

Until then they hired a woman to vis-

it her for a couple of hours a day for five days a week to help with any tasks. And she had a wonderful neighbor who was always checking up on her.

Mann’s maiden name is Bower. She married an Illinois farmer, Clarence Mann. They moved to Chandler in 1963 because Clela had arthritis and they

thought it would be better for her. That only lasted a couple of years.

“It wasn’t long,” Roark said, pointing out her dad worked on a Chandler farm during that first stint, but it wasn’t his own. “He always liked machinery and equipment. Farming is just one of those things, that if you’re born to be a farmer, you’re born to be a farmer.”

So they returned to the Mann family farm in Illinois. Once Clarence retired, they decided to move back to Chandler.

Their daughter Kathi had graduated from Chandler High School, got married and they wanted to be near her and their grandchildren.

After Clarence died in 1996, Clela decided she needed a new hobby, and began quilting at the Chandler Senior Center. She gave that up at the same time she gave up driving, when she was 92.

So what is the secret to living such a long life?

“I don’t think she could tell you. I really don’t,” Roark said. “She has taken

good care of herself all her life. I mean, she she really has, she has been conscious of, you know, eating properly.

While she may not quilt anymore, she still likes to be productive.

“She still does hand embroidery,” Roark said. “The last few years she’s worked a lot of those word search games, the puzzle book. Right? And that that really helped keep her sharp. A couple of years ago, she could tell you how much she had paid in property tax on the land in Illinois. And I would I was just amazed that the things that she remembered.”

In the past year Roark’s mother has had to do some physical therapy because of those two falls while staying at living assisted facilities.

“One of her her favorite things over this past year has been when, I would try to get her to do some physical therapy, or something, she would say, ‘Well, wait till you’re 99. And then you’ll see what it’s like.’

“She’s got a lot of spunk.”

Longtime former Chandler resident Clela Marie Mann was all smiles Jan. 4 as she celebrated her birthday at Friendship Village in Tempe. (Courtesy of Kathi Roark)

AZ zip codes turn up gold for residents

“If you live in the state of Arizona you need to find the first three digits of your zip code listed in today’s newspaper announcement and call immediately,” said Laura A. Lynne, Director of Coin and Currency for National Mint and Treasury.

That’s because Arizona residents can really cash in for the next 48 hours. Here’s why. Non-state residents and those who miss the 48-hour deadline must pay $8 per coin, but Arizona residents who take the Vault Bricks cover just the $4 per coin state minimum. That means Arizona residents get all 125 coins with rare 24 Karat Gold Layering for just $500 which is a real steal since non-state residents must pay over $1,000 for each Vault Brick. And it gets even better for those claiming the Jumbo Gold Vault Bricks.

This is all happening because thousands of U.S. residents stand to miss the deadline to claim the gold. Now any resident who finds the first three digits of their zip code listed in today’s publication and calls to verify it gets to claim the Gold Vault Bricks for themselves and keep all the valuable gold found inside.

And here’s the best part. Arizona residents who find the first three digits of their zip code listed in today’s publication are getting Sealed Vault Bricks containing the only Arizona State Gold Bank Rolls known to exist with the exclusive State Restricted Design and each loaded with rarely seen U.S. Gov’t issued Buffalo Nickels layered in valuable 24 Karat Gold by National Mint and Treasury.

“As Director of Coin and Currency for National Mint and Treasury, one of my jobs is to deliver breaking news. And today’s announcement confirming the release of Sealed Gold Vault Bricks to residents of the state of Arizona is as big as it gets,” Lynne said.

“So my advice is this, anyone who gets an opportunity to get their hands on one of these Gold Vault Bricks full of coins issued by the U.S. Gov’t nearly 100 years ago with rare 24 Karat Gold layering from the National Mint and Treasury better jump at the chance while they still can,” Lynne said.

“These Gold Vault Bricks make the most impressive gifts for Christmas, birthdays, graduations, weddings, and any other occasion, especially for that hard-to-buy-for person,” Lynne said.

According to Ms. Lynne, since thousands

■ RARELY SEEN: ISSUED BY THE U.S. GOV’T NEARLY 100 YEARS AGO

Contents inside sealed Vault Bricks reveal old U.S. coins with added 24 Karat Gold Layering minted nearly

100 years ago are actually being handed over to Arizona residents who find their zip code below; but only those who beat the 48 hour deadline are getting them at just state minimum

of U.S. residents stand to miss the deadline to claim the gold, today and tomorrow are intended as a “special 48 hour release” for the benefit of Arizona residents. This gives them a fair chance to claim the Sealed Gold Vault Bricks and all the valuable gold loaded inside for themselves.

But, Ms. Lynne added, “The Sealed Gold Vault Bricks are only available as inventory permits during the special 48 hour release so please do not miss the deadline.” The director added, “We have no power to stop coin dealers, resellers or collectors buying up all the Gold Vault Bricks they can get their hands on,” Lynne said.

”We already know the phones will be ringing off the hook. That’s why hundreds of agents are standing by to answer the phones beginning at 8:30am this morning. We’re going to do our best, but with just 48 hours to answer all the calls it won’t be easy. So make sure to tell everyone to keep calling if all lines are busy. We’ll do our best to answer them all,” Lynne said.

“That’s why National Mint and Treasury set up the State Distribution Hotlines in order to make sure residents of Arizona can get them now,” Lynne said.

The only thing readers of today’s newspaper publication need to do is make sure they live in one of the zip codes listed and call the State Distribution Hotlines before the special 48 hour deadline ends midnight tomorrow. ■

Answering Your Questions

Q: How much are the Gold Vault Bricks worth?

A: It’s impossible to say, but these Buffalos date clear back to the early 1900’s and are not ordinary U.S. coins. That’s because only an extremely low percentage of Buffalos were then commissioned by National Mint and Treasury to be covered with rarely seen 24 Karat Gold Layering, then sealed and protected in brilliant collector condition inside special 25 count Arizona Bank Rolls. That’s why you better hurry if you want to get your hands on them. Collector values always fluctuate and there are never any guarantees. But we do know they are the only Arizona State Bank Rolls known to exist. So anyone lucky enough to get their hands on these sealed Vault Bricks should hold onto them because there’s no telling how much they could be worth in collector value someday.

Q: Why are so many Arizona residents calling to get them?

A: Because they are the only Arizona State Bank Rolls known to exist we’re bracing for the flood of calls. These are not ordinary Bank Rolls. These are full Bank Rolls containing 25 Buffalos dating clear back to the early 1900’s. Best of all each Buffalo is layered in 24 Karat Gold and the state minimum set by National Mint and Treasury is restricted to Arizona residents who find the first three digits of their zip code listed in today’s publication and beat the deadline only. That means Arizona residents cover only $4 per Buffalo when they claim the Gold Vault Bricks, which is just $500 for the next 2 days.

Q:

How do I get the Gold Vault Bricks?

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ADOT maps expanded interstate EV charging network

BY JENNIFER SAWHNEY Cronkite News

Electric vehicle drivers across Arizona can expect more chargers on interstate highways in the next few years, which means longer road trips.

The Arizona Department of Transportation will oversee the upgrade of existing chargers and installation of new ones along five interstate highways, thanks to $76.5 million in funding via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was signed into law in November 2021.

“The goal is to develop a network of EV fast chargers to facilitate long-distance EV travel and encourage EV adoption by more users,” according to a fact sheet with ADOT’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan.

The expansion will help EV drivers avoid range anxiety: the fear of not making it to the next charging station.

The plan covers Interstates 40, 17, 10, 8 and 19. For now, no charging stations are proposed for the Interstate15 corridor in the northwestern corner of the state.

Upgrades to eight existing charging stations will start in 2023, and in 2024,

ADOT will begin the process of installing 13 more. They’ll be placed about every 50 miles and within 1 mile of an interstate, ADOT spokesperson Doug Nick said. Each station will have at least four EV fast chargers capable of charging

most vehicles in about 30 minutes.

Nick said ADOT had “no trouble finding potential infrastructure to meet the criteria” to implement this plan.

The stations will be independently owned and operated. Station owners

will pay 20% of construction costs and federal funding will cover the other 80%. ADOT is coordinating the work.

Arizona currently has 903 public EV charging stations with more than 2,400 charging ports.

There are nearly 125,000 charging ports nationwide, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aims to increase the current number of chargers about four times and create a “nationwide network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030,” according to a February 2022 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

For Jim Stack, the president of the Phoenix Electric Auto Association, this is welcome news.

“I’m real big on the environment, and I just love the fact that we aren’t burning oil. We aren’t importing oil, we aren’t digging it up. We aren’t spilling it all over,” he said.

Stack, who has driven electric cars for about 20 years, said he’s amazed by the technological advances that have led to

Area lawmaker seeks to clamp transgender pronoun use

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

State lawmakers are once again wading into the area of the rights of transgender minors.

A new proposal by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Scottsdale, would bar school employees from knowingly referring to a student by a pronoun “that differs from the pronoun that aligns with the student’s biological sex’’ regardless of the student’s preferences. Only if the adult first gets parental permission would that be permissible.

And Kavanagh already is planning to expand what has been introduced as SB 1001 to close what he sees as a possible loophole where teachers could avoid pronouns and instead address a student by the first name he or she prefers.

He wants state law to read that only a student’s given name or some variant

could be used. So, someone named Edward could be addressed as Eddie or Ed.

But calling that student Emma or Evelyn would be breaking the law.

Kavanagh bills his measure as ensuring that parents know if their children are identifying themselves by a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. That, he said, ensures the children can get the psychological treatment they may need to deal with depression and possible suicide.

But what it’s not designed to do, he told Capitol Media Services, is make it easier for a parent, informed of a child’s “gender dysphoria,’’ to get him or her the medical treatment needed to match the biological sex and gender identity.

“You’re talking to somebody who was a parent who wouldn’t let their minor child get a tattoo, much less change their gender,’’ Kavanagh said. “Those

decisions need to be deferred to when an individual’s an adult and can make a mature decision.’’

His legislation comes less than a year after state lawmakers approved – and former Gov. Doug Ducey signed -- a measure to prohibit any form of “irreversible gender reassignment surgery’’ on an individual younger than 18, even with the consent of parents.

But to get the votes, proponents had to remove a provision that would have prohibited doctors from providing puberty-blocking hormones or any other hormone therapy to minors.

Ducey also signed another measure passed by the Republican-controlled legislature spelling out that anyone who is born a male cannot participate in intramural or interscholastic sports for Scottsdale state Sen. John Kavanagh wants to ban schools’ use of pronouns that don’t reflect an individual’s birth gender.

More electric-vehicle charging ports will be installed along interstate highways in Arizona as early as 2024. ChargePoint already has some charging stations, similar to this one in downtown Phoenix, along several interstates. Each station will have four or more fast chargers capable of charging most vehicles in about 30 minutes. (Jennifer Sawhney/Cronkite News)

females, regardless of whether she has fully transitioned.

Kavanagh, in discussing his new bill, acknowledged he has heard of no issues in Arizona schools with teachers using the “wrong’’ pronouns with students -yet.

“It’s something that is spreading,’’ he told Capitol Media Services. “We want to nip it in the bud.’’

But Jeanne Woodbury, the interim executive director of Equality Arizona, said it’s a bad idea.

“Reactionary legislators are now trying to forcibly enlist teachers into their efforts to make schools inhospitable to trans and binary students,’’ she said. And Woodbury called it “an embarrassment to good governance’’ for this to be the first measure introduced in the Senate for the 2023 session.

Bridget Sharpe, state director of the Human Rights Campaign, said Kavanagh is trying to make an issue out of something that’s not problem.

“All that happens at the end of the day is that the kids feel ostracized,’’ she said. Sharpe said it also undermines the ability of trans students to believe they have “a trusted person at school’’ with whom they can speak.

“It’s really an attempt, we’ve seen it nationwide, to just kind of demonize these kids and saying that their pronouns don’t matter,’’ she said.

Kavanagh pointed out that his legislation would not preclude a teacher or other school employee from referring to a student using his or her preferred pronoun or even a name that doesn’t match the person’s “biological sex.’’

“It says they can’t do that unless the parent has given permission,’’ he said.

Kavanagh said there’s also a potential benefit in requiring teachers to check in with parents when a student makes such a request.

That goes to the issue of gender dysphoria, generally described as a sense by individuals that there is a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. More to the point, it re-

fers to the distress that can result which can lead to depression and even suicide.

Kavanagh said alerting the parent could get the child necessary treatment.

“In fact, if the parents know about it and the child is receiving treatment, then calling a child a name or a pronoun that doesn’t align with their gender may, in fact, be contrary to their treatment,’’ Kavanagh said.

“These children are often depressed and suicidal,’’ he continued. “So the last thing that I want to do is keep parents, who are in a position to help the child, in the dark.’’

But he acknowledged, that “treatment’’ would be for the depression, essentially getting the child to be comfortable with his or her assigned gender, rather than any intervention, medical or otherwise, to help confirm the child’s perceived gender.

The legislation also is raising concerns in the education community.

Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, said it comes even as the the state is losing thousands of teachers each year. And she said measures like this make it harder to convince more people to enter the profession, citing a conversation she had with some would-be teachers.

“It was their No. 1 priority: How do we stay in a state where we are constantly being politicized?’’ she said, with state government adding to the bureaucracy. “It’s just frustrating and angering.’’

Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, actually offered a similar idea last session.

But his proposal only would have precluded school officials from requiring teachers and other staff from using a gender pronoun that differs from what is on a student’s birth certificate. It would not, however, have precluded someone from voluntarily honoring a student’s request, something that Kavanagh’s SB 1001 would outlaw. Fillmore’s measure, however, did not even get a hearing in the House Education Committee to which it was assigned.

the growth of EVs and the various solutions available to charge his cars.

He said he started off converting his own vehicles and installed solar panels on his home to power them.

“I can drive on the solar that comes off my own roof,” Stack said. “That’s like a miracle.”

Other Arizona drivers also are charged up by the plan, said Diane Brown, executive director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, an independent nonprofit that researches and educates on public interest topics.

“The ADOT plan is one that we widely support,” she said, adding that the timing for the project “coincides nicely” with growing interest in EVs in Arizona.

In 2017, about 7,200 electric vehicles were registered in Arizona. In the past five years, the number has increased more than five times: at least 40,740 as of June 2022.

“Consumers that own and drive an electric vehicle stand to save thousands of dollars annually through the reduc-

tion of fuel costs and operating and maintenance costs,” Brown said. “Additionally, gas-powered vehicles contribute to air pollution and adverse public health impacts such as asthma. Therefore, electric vehicles also offer air and public health benefits.”

The plan came together fairly quickly, she said. In August, ADOT sent its draft proposal and received federal approval and immediate access to $11.3 million in funds the following month.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $1.2 trillion to infrastructure development nationwide. About $550 billion is new spending. Although the federal government already spends millions on infrastructure, this new spending is earmarked for roads, bridges, mass transit, water infrastructure broadband and more.

“Congress has spoken,” said ADOT’s Nick. “And so when the money was made available, they were hearing from their constituencies, presumably, to see that this is something that needed to be addressed. So we’re responding to that.”

Seton alumna wins 3 Emmy awards for her film

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

From the outside it appears Seton Catholic graduate Audrey Wood is a very accomplished young woman. Last year as a senior at the Chandler school she was named a Flinn Scholarship semifinalist for her accomplishments both in the classroom and the impact she made outside of it.

This year, the freshman at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles won a National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences student production award, also known as an Emmy.

But that’s from the outside. At one point in her life, inside Wood’s head was very different. She said felt like she was a fraud. She worried that she would be found out and exposed. Despite all of her success, despite all of her friends’ and family’s praise, she just couldn’t believe it.

They call that condition ‘imposter syndrome” and it’s the subject of the short film Wood made that earned her

an Emmy.

Wood was honored for writing “The Elephant and Me,” which was a film she made for a class at Seton last year. It’s a poem she wrote, with the use of animation. It was also nominated for best non-fiction short form film.

At the Rocky Mountain Student Production Emmys, the film was nominated for five awards, winning three of them, including writing and best non-fiction short form.

So how does such a successful person feel like a fraud?

“I think that, honestly, people who sometimes are doing the most things experience the most doubt,” Wood said while at home on break from Loyola. “I honestly think because, I wrote this film for my theology class, so there is like a spiritual element to it. And I think that the biggest thing for me is that, God gives us gifts and talents that he wants us to use in this world. And so,

Seton Catholic Preparatory High School alumna Audrey Wood won several student Emmy awards for projects her senior year over the 2021-2022 school year from The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the High School Writer, High School Talent and High School Editor categories. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Artist named to Chandler cultural group board

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Arizonan Contributort

Multi-talented artistic creator Peppur Chambers has been living in Chandler less than two years and she is already giving back to the community as a new member of the Chandler Cultural Foundation Board.

Chambers, described by a peer as a “truly infectious personality,” is a book writer, editor, playwright, film/theater director and producer, and occasional actor. She feels honored to be on the board that provides oversight for the Chandler Center for the Arts.

“It is a true pleasure to be the first artist to hold this position,” she said. “I believe in building community, empowering people and creating opportunity.

When these three things are centered in the arts is when magic happens. I just love it.”

Chambers said access to the arts is important to everyone.

“When people can express themselves, their boundaries in life expand; they can grow through expression, they can heal through expression; they can educate; people merely need access to a stage and a microphone -- no matter what that might translate into,” she added.

The 15-member volunteer board of the nonprofit foundation oversees programming and provides fiduciary control for the arts center. Members are appointed by the Mayor of Chandler and Council.

“Peppur possesses an unusual combination of not only being a successful art-

ist, but one with an acute business acumen,” said David Woodruff, board chair, in a release issued on her appointment.

“The Chandler Center for the Arts is always balancing those two forces – how to present new and interesting artists for the community while maintaining strong fiscal responsibility.

“Having a voice from the artist’s perspective, one that understands how to weigh those two objectives, will be a real asset to the foundation,” he added.

Early in her career, Chambers studied advertising and marketing and worked for a mutual fund firm in Chicago until she decided to pursue her artistic and creative passion in New York. She took her first acting and writing lessons there

Peppur Chambers is ready to share her dual knowledge of the arts and business acumen with the Chandler Cultural Foundation Board. (Courtesy of Audience Magnets)

Norece Leaonard Hatch

S , t h e n served a 2 year mission in Central America for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I n 1 9 6 9 h e m a r r i e d N i v l a L a m o r e a u x of Gilbert , Arizona. They moved to Flagstaff where Shorty earned a BS degree in b u s i n e s s . T h e f a m i l y m o v e d t o G i l b e r t o u t o n R a y R o a d w h e r e h e r a n h i s b u s in e s s , S h o r t y ’ s ( a n d l a t e r S p a r t a n ) E l e ct r i c . H e w a s a n e l e c t r i c a l c o n t r a c t o r f o r 4 0 y e a r s

They had 9 children. After 28 years the f a m i l y m o v e d o u t t o s o u t h H i g l e y R o a d w h e r e t h e f a m i l y c o n t i n u e d t o g r o w . S h o r t y a n d N i v l a l e f t i n 2 0 1 1 f o r a m i ssion in Cór doba Argentina Nivla passed a w a y i n M a r c h o f 2 0 1 2 w h i l e t h e y w e r e s e r v i n g t h e r e I n 2 0 1 6 N o r e c e m a r r i e d Mary Rogers. In the Spring of 2018 they served a temple mission in Madrid Spain Mary made Shorty very happy.

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of course, whenever the people who have gifts and talents that he wants us to share … the devil doesn’t want us to share those things.”

Wood has a lot she wants to share.

“I’m a film and television production major, which is super fun,” she said.

She’s attending Loyola Marymount with hopes of going into filmmaking. It’s something she has been doing for years.

“When I was in fourth grade, my cousin and I would just take my old iPad and make really silly and weird, just like little TV shows together,” she said. “And it wasn’t good, but it was fun.”

She won a state an award at the Arizona Student Film Festival for her “Day 87” in 2021. It was a film about being stuck at home with no place to go be-

cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also won a Rocky Mountain student Emmy for her work as an anchor for Seton’s student newscast. She was also nominated for another Rocky Mountain student Emmy for her longform short film, “More to Come: Conversations on Disabilities.”

That’s a long list of accomplishments, and Wood says she no longer feels like a fraud. As she wrote in her film “Elephant and Me,” things start to get better with Imposter Syndrome when you first admit to yourself that there’s a problem.

“If we don’t ever use our gifts and talents, and we don’t step out there and do something with them, then nothing is ever going to get done,” Wood said. “So any action/change in this world really starts with getting out of our own heads.

And so that’s why I wanted to make a film to raise awareness for that.”

during the pandemic.

“For my day job, I worked for an entertainment firm with David Bowie and Shakira as two of our clients. Then in the evenings, I would go on auditions and perform,” Chambers said.

“That experience really taught me what it takes to be a performing artist, both from the management side with budgets, operations, and marketing, as well as what is required to thrive as a working artist.”

She added: “I came to understand what it takes to create and present art, but also that as an artist you need help; you don’t need to do everything yourself.”

Chambers moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and began creating her own work as a writer, producer and educator.

She moved to Chandler with her husband Matthew Soraci to join family here

In tow were their two rescue dogs; Molly, the pit mix, and Vivian, the poodle/chihuahua mix. Her brother and his family and her father live nearby. Her mom resides in Tucson. Soraci’s mom has moved here from Florida as well.

As a freelancer, Chambers juggles various arts projects.

Among them, she’s working on her second 1940s fiction novel, Harlem’s Last Dance, due to publish in March with Spaceboy Books; co-producing a short film about reparations and Black collective history; producing a women’s filmmaker brunch during the Chandler International Film Festival with her friend, Landi Maduro, who runs Los Angeles-based Women of Color Filmmakers.

She also is writing the second episode of her radio play, The Boll Weevil & Chester Higgensworth for Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theater.

Chambers and Soraci, who was in the wine business and now has embraced a film career, launched a YouTube channel this year called, Her Words His Wine, where they film themselves “eating and drinking deliciousness” in their new Arizona surroundings.

Some episodes are filmed at home, while others are in restaurants in the East Valley and beyond.

Chambers is also in the early stages of writing a theatrical experience for the city of Chandler.

When asked which artistic endeavor makes her the happiest, Chambers said writing brings out her best.

“That is when I have the most ‘control’ over what and how I am trying to express myself,” she said. “However, writing is very solitary; when I am around people as a director, for example, I feel very alive because I truly enjoy collaborating with other artists and making something wonderful together.”

Being part of the Chandler board is also a collaborative endeavor that holds the promise of fulfilment.

This is a scene from Audrey Wood’s Emmy-winning film, “Elephant and Me.” To view, go to youtu.be/vUFk5PKzPwI. Find her on Instagram: @audreywood07. (Submitted) in 2000.

“I feel that my contribution to the board will be most important and relevant by me being myself and me bringing my full self to the position,” she said.

“I’ve been a starving artist; I know what a grant or financial support can really mean toward advancement or even paying rent to stay afloat and have the mental energy to be able to create new work.

“I am a Black woman,” she added. “I know what representation, inclusion and being able to use my voice means to my work and my overall well-being. I am a producer; I love to make things happen—taking action, exploring new ideas and addressing creative options are my jam.

“I bring a multitude of perspectives to the table and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

New Chandler eatery focuses on healthy food

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Arizonan Contributor

Flower Child, which opened its first outlet in Chandler recently, has a catchy slogan: “Healthy Food for a Happy World.”

The restaurant seeks to fulfill its premise by making food from scratch, sourcing ingredients close to each eatery’s location whenever possible and serving healthy food for a variety of lifestyles.

“Whether you’re (eating) gluten-free, vegan, following a strict dietary regimen or just hungry, Flower Child offers a wide range of options for you to enjoy,” said Mark Yost, general manager.

The fast-casual menu offers unusual combinations of ingredients.

Examples are salads, such as Ginger Miso Crunch (carrot zoodles, zucchini, red pepper, Asian cabbage, mint, cashew and sesame seeds) and bowls, such as the Forbidden Rice (including black pearl, red japonica, snap pea, Bok choy and red chili hoisin.

Entrees include Yuzu Brussels Sprouts (charred onion, savoy cabbage and golden miso) and wraps including the Thai

The Bolognese Bowl consists of a base of flavorful zucchini strands nestling against the organic pureed tomato flavored with wild mushrooms, red lentil, basil, and parmesan.

A dollop of soft burrata, an Italian cow milk cheese made from mozzarella and

Lebanese Palace serves ‘back home’ delights

BY GERI KOEPPEL Arizonan Contributor

Goodbye, peanut shells and burgers; hello, hummus, shawarma and kibbeh: A Lebanese restaurant is now open in the former Teakwoods Tavern on the southeast corner of Ray and Kyrene roads in Chandler.

The Homsi family opened Lebanese Palace in late November, with mother Mona creating the recipes. Sons Kanaan and Sleiman run the dining room and kitchen, respectively. Their brothers Wassime and Samer help out wherever needed, too.

The restaurant already is racking up

five-star reviews online and attracting customers of Lebanese heritage looking for familiar flavors.

“All the food that we make here, we’ve been eating this our whole life—the kabobs, the kafta, shish tawook,” Kanaan said. “Everything is homemade here like we would make it at our house.”

Homsi added, “When I eat a kabob, I want it to remind me of Lebanon. This is ‘back home’ food.”

Lebanese Palace serves popular Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, gyros and

cream, sits side-by-side with thin cuts of chicken.

Drinks include the seasonal lemonade and kombucha on tap along with a selection of loose-leaf hot teas, wines, sangria and local craft beers.

The simple dessert choices are topped by a 420-calorie, sharable chocolate pudding made of sweetened cocoa and

milk.

Part of the Fox Restaurant Concepts, Flower Child’s first Chandler location is at The Shoppes at Casa Paloma, in the southwest corner of Ray Road and 56th Street. It is the sixth Arizona outlet, and joins others in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Gilbert.

The restaurant launched 2014 in the Arcadia area of Phoenix. Over the years, the company has opened restaurants in many other states, including California, Texas and Georgia.

The Chandler location offers a large, airy, and high-ceilinged dining room and a wrap-around patio for pleasant, on-site dining. Multi-generational families may find the setting appropriate, while two friends may also have a quieter meal.

The décor includes a cluster of lamps shaded by wicker soften the rafters and metals of the industrial design ceiling. Cane chairs are woven tightly with a black and white basket weave and a floral mural by local artist Andy Brown

Dye (spicy tofu, Thai basil, avocado, carrot, daikon radish, cilantro and snap pea.

Flower Child offers a cheerful décor along with flavorful food. (Srianthi Perera/Contributor)

Mona Homsi, flanked by sons Sleiman, left, and Kanaan Homsi, run the Lebanese Palace restaurant together in Chandler. Not pictured are her sons Wassime and Samer Homsi, who also pitch in. (Geri Koeppel/Contributor)

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takes prominence on the far wall.

“We want all of our locations to be designed in a way so when you walk in, you know you’re at Flower Child,” Yost said.

“However, as we grow across the country, we have identified ways of introducing paintings or artwork in a way that continues to embody our Flower Child brand, but also helps us to fit in with our new neighborhoods and communities.”

Many restaurants serve healthy food, so how does Flower Child stand out in the community?

Yost pointed to the focus on catering to different palettes and lifestyles, as well as the quality of ingredients.

“We don’t only focus on one type of healthy food. For example, we don’t solely offer gluten-free options, we aren’t an exclusively vegan restaurant, we offer a menu for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “Whether you’re eating our Chicken Enchiladas or a Chopped Vegetable Salad, the ingredients we source will always be of the best quality available.”

The restaurant is also known for its carefully chosen employees. Brand

founder Sam Fox, according to the company, is “passionate about hospitality.”

“In addition to the food we serve, we have cultivated one of the friendliest, most hospitable staffs I have ever been a part of,” Yost said. “We have a diverse team with a large array of skillsets, but the common denominator among everyone on our team is hospitality.”

Exclusive to the Arizona Flower Child locations, Phoenix Sun fans can eat like famed power forward Cam Johnson by ordering his signature, “Cam’s Power Meal.” The bowl consists of salmon, gluten-free mac and cheese, and roasted broccoli.

For each meal purchased, guests are entered into a monthly drawing for a chance to win a number 23 jersey autographed by Johnson. This special will be featured throughout the basketball season.

Flower Child

7131 W. Ray Road #10, Chandler 602-834-0070 iamaflowerchild.com Open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

baba ghannaouj (roasted eggplant dip).

But it specializes in traditional Lebanese cuisine such as shawarma, which is marinated, roasted meat shaved off a rotisserie; kafta, a ball of ground meat and spices on a skewer; shish tawook, skewered chicken marinated in yogurt, lemon, garlic and other ingredients; sambousek, or crispy meat pies; and more.

Appetizers average about $7-10, wraps are roughly $10-12 and come with fries, and entrees are about $15-26.

The number one seller is the chicken shawarma” sandwiches and plates, Homsi said, adding, “We do extra seasoning so it stays juicy the whole time.”

His favorites are the grilled meats, he said, noting, “The filet kabobs we have are really good—flavorful and tender.”

And, he added, many Lebanese customers like the kibbeh, made with ground beef, bulgur, onions, pine nuts and herbs and spices formed into small balls and deep-fried.

They also make a vegetarian version that’s not deep fried made with boiled potato instead of meat called kibbet batata. There’s also a dish with raw lamb called kibbeh naveh.

“People really like the kibbeh, and it’s hard to find authentic kibbeh here,” Homsi said.

First-time customers Ty Davis of Phoenix and Zach Garoutte of Tempe said they tried Lebanese Palace based on recommendations from multiple friends who had eaten there over the previous few weeks.

Davis got the chicken shawarma sandwich and said, “It was cooked perfectly; lots of flavor. The hummus was really good as well; same with the pita.”

Garoutte got the chicken shawarma plate and said it was high-quality food that tasted homemade. He added, “It definitely checked all the boxes.”

Both said they would “absolutely” be

back.

Everything at Lebanese Palace is made fresh daily on site except the bread— which comes from a purveyor in California that bakes Arabic pita—and the feta and labneh, a soft, tangy cheese made from yogurt.

They do, however, make a date brioche as well as baklava daily, and all the meats are halal.

Keep an eye out for even more delicacies to come.

Homsi said that they’ll slowly start to feature weekly specials featuring that his mom has made at home for years that aren’t typically made in restaurants.

The chicken shawarma is the most popular item on the menu at Lebanese Palace in Chandler. (Geri Koeppel/Contributor)

“We’re going to offer something really traditional like no one has,” he said.

The restaurant seats about 160 in two large dining areas, and Homsi said the second room is available for private events. They’re going to have hookah on the patio, and down the line, they might carry Middle Eastern groceries.

There are no plans, however, to add a liquor license.

The family, who lives nearby, decided to open their own restaurant when they saw the space become available.

Their father, Omar, manages another restaurant in the Valley, and Kanaan and Sleiman have worked in restaurants for several years as well.

Mona Homsi was born in California, and she and Omar met there, married and moved to Arizona. They have five

sons and a daughter. Omar is from Tripoli, Lebanon, and still has family there.

In fact, Homsi said he and brother Sleiman spent much of their childhood with their grandparents in Lebanon, where they developed a deep appreciation for the food.

“Lebanese people are meant for cooking,” he said. “Their cooking is really, really, really top notch.”

Lebanese Palace, serving traditional foods of Lebanon and other Middle Eastern cuisine 5965 W. Ray Road, Suite 20, Chandler Mon-Thurs, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 480-867-1772, lebanese-palace.business.site

Here

some goals for the new year you might consider

BY HAROLD WONG Arizonan Guest Writer

As we approach the end of 2022, gas prices have doubled and we have 40-yearhighs in inflation. The first six months of 2022 were the worst the stock market has had in 40 years. As of Nov. 28, the S&P 500 Index is down 17% and the Nasdaq Index is down almost 30% in 2022.

Mortgage rates for 30-year loans have more than doubled from 3% one year ago to a high of 7% recently. On a $500,000 loan the increased interest rates have raised the monthly mortgage payment from $2,103 per month to $3,307 per month, resulting in a sharp drop in home sales.

The Fed has raised interest rates sharply to fight inflation, though it may cause a bad recession. Large firms have recently announced thousands of layoffs. Here are some goals and dreams my clients say they hope to achieve.

Losing weight and quitting smoking are the two biggest New Year’s Resolutions. In 2022, a client needed $500 a month for a weight loss program that offered her the support she needed. She wanted a healthier diet with more expensive organic foods and grass-fed beef.

Her increased retirement income strategies easily covered this extra expense. In only three months, she reached her goal of losing 25 pounds and was able to fit into clothes she had not been able to wear in years.

More travel in retirement is the top bucket list item for Americans. A client’s life-long dream was to visit Antarctica. She found that a 14-day trip will cost $15-27,000.

Eight years ago, she had deposited $270,000 in a private pension account. In 2023, she will trigger her annual income of $27,000, guaranteed every year she is alive. She will easily be able to afford the Antarctica and other future overseas trips.

A safer income that is also steadier than stock market dividends or bond interest. Two years ago, an 80-yearold client was able to achieve this by buying solar business equipment and leasing it out to huge food companies on a 10-year lease with a 10-year war ranty that covers all repair costs.

The annual depreciation allows her to pay no income tax on an income that is triple what stock market divi dends or bond interest pays.

Substantially increasing retirement income. In 2019, a new client said that they currently spend $50,000 a year but wanted to spend $75,000 a year when they retire in seven years. They also wanted to remove 90% of their fi nancial assets from stock market risk.

A series of strategies were implemented, that will generate a $120,000 annual retirement in come in 2027. Also, a large Roth IRA Con version was accomplished in 2020 without owing any federal income tax so that much of the wife’s retirement income will be tax-free for life.

Leaving a large legacy for your child is a worthy goal. In 2022, a retired widow did a $600,000 Roth IRA Conversion and had $250,000 of additional taxable income. By using advanced tax strategies, she owes $0 federal tax in 2022 and creates $2.5 million more wealth to leave to her only child.

What dreams and goals will you take action on in 2023?

Free seminar and supper: 6-7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Hyatt Place, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd. Chandler. The seminar is 6 followed by a free catered supper. Topic is

“Beat Inflation by Saving Taxes and Increasing Income!”

To RSVP for the seminar or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@ hotmail.com. His website is www.drharoldwong.com. Wong earned his Ph.D. in Economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

To RSVP for the seminar or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@ hotmail.com. His website is drharoldwong.com.Dr. Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley.

Chandler Film Festival offers a feast for senses

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler filmmaker Mitesh Patel says there has been a noticeable change when he attends film festivals around the world.

“When I go to see some, like AFM American film market, or any other like Berlin, or Cannes, whenever I go somewhere for my movie work, I meet with people and they talk about the festival,” said Patel, who is president and the director of the Chandler International Film Festival. “And what’s surprising to me is they all know, mostly I would say they know about the Chandler Film Festival.”

Patel said he and his team once had to work hard to get the word out about the annual festival. Now, they don’t.

The seventh annual Chandler International Film Festival is scheduled for Jan. 21-29 at the LOOK Dine-In Cinema in

downtown. Patel is extending it to nine days this year so they don’t have as many matinee showings. Films will start at 6 p.m. most days, with some matinees on the weekends.

“You know a lot of people work, so it’s kind of a struggle, but it was good for the people who are coming from out of town so they can just stay for an entire weekend,” Patel said.

He said he wanted more Chandler residents to be able to attend, and that was the reason for pushing back start times and extending the festival.

Patel said the number of films will be the same, about 125 or so. He said they had more than 500 submitted to be considered. That’s still down

Chandler filmmaker Mitesh Patel founded the Chandler Film Festival, which has been growing in influence and audiences since its launch in 2016. (Special to GetOut)

Former Chandler resident Rob Smat directed “Walkout.” It’s the story of his friend Thomas Marshall (in photo) leading employees to try and force change at Walmart after the tragic mass shooting at its El Paso location. (Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival)

considerably from pre-pandemic when they would get about 1,000.

“I think the pandemic is still going on,” Patel said about the lower number of submissions. He added that they no longer advertise and push hard to get the word out about the festival, relying on the fact that many in the business are already aware.

The films will be shown at LOOK DineIn Cinemas for the second time. Patel said they were great hosts a year ago, and complimented their food. After-hours parties will be staged around the downtown area.

There will be no online viewing of the films for the first time in two years.

In 2021, the festival was all digital because of the pandemic. Last year people had the option to watch them online if they didn’t want to sit in a crowded theater.

Patel said many directors are concerned about piracy if they put their films online, so they would rather not.

The lineup of films is still being determined in late December with an announcement expected in early January.

Patel said he had not decided on which film to open the festival with, but he does have one that he would love to open it with.

The festival is adopting a theme for the first time, and it will be a celebration of Indian filmmaking. The country is celebrating 110 years of filmmaking in 2023 so Patel thought that was an easy choice.

“Last Film Show” was chosen by India to be its submission for the best international film Oscar at the Academy Awards. It has won top honors at some of the film festivals where it has been shown.

It’s the story of a 9-year-old boy in rural India who loves films so much, he bribes the projectionist of a run-down theater with homemade food so that he can watch and learn about films and filmmaking from the best seat in the house. It’s a semi-autobiographical story of director Pan Nalin.

One of the keys to being the opening night film, Patel said, is that the filmmaker needs to be in attendance. He said Nalin said he’s willing if his film is not nominated for the Academy Award. However, if it is he will be far too busy promoting it and won’t be able to attend.

“I noticed that whoever attends the Chandler Film Festival, they get very excited when someone from the movie, they’re coming and attending,” Patel said.

He added a couple of films in this year’s festival will be by directors with Chandler ties. Former resident Rob Smat made a documentary called “Walkout.” It’s about Walmart’s reaction to having 23 people shot and killed in its El Paso store in 2019.

After the tragedy, the company took no action to stop selling firearms at

pmaryniak@timeslocalmedia.com

FESTIVAL

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its stores. Its employees decided to do something about that and forced the company to change.

India will not be the only country getting a focus at this year’s festival. Patel said they plan to have special nights throughout the nine days.

“We’re adding a Japanese day, a Spanish day, a Korean day, a Chinese day,” Patel said, pointing out the Chinese New Year will happen during the festival (Jan. 22).

One of the reasons the Chandler International Film Festival has gotten such notice is because of the success it has had in matching filmmakers with distributors. Patel said all of their feature-length films last year got distribution deals.

“It’s been a couple of years now,” Patel said of the 100% distribution. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, I know so many

companies. And I created this festival to help the filmmaker to showcase their work and put it out.”

Festival Films with Arizona ties

Walkout: Directed by former Chandler resident Rob Smat

ID: Directed by Chandler resident Kiran Kondamadugula

The Monster Inside Me: Directed by Phoenix resident Tony C. Silva

Reflect: Parts filmed in Sedona Eyes Upon Waking: Directed by Tucson resident Timothy Zwica

Chandler International Film Festival

WHEN: Jan. 21-29

WHERE: LOOK Dine-In Cinema, 1 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler TICKETS: chandlerfilmfestival.com

Carlos (Juan Francisco Villa) takes the lead in a wheelchair race at a holding facility a woman goes to after a suicide attempt. “Eyes Upon Waking” was directed by Timothy Zwica, a Tucson resident.

(Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival)

Dana Beth Kippel stars in “Reflect,” a film she directed and wrote about friends participating in a spiritual obstacle course. Parts of the film were shot in Arizona. (Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival)

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