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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
Chandler lawmaker defends sports betting's low yield.
COMMUNITY............ 27 New Chandler clinic provides therapy that matters.
January 23, 2022
TU warns selective closings possible BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor
NEWS ............................ 18
FREE | chandlernews.com
T
empe Union High School District has raised the possibility of selectively closing some classes “for a short period of time” as an emergency measure if teacher and bus driver absences fall below an unspeci�ied threshold. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Mendivil stressed in his Jan. 15 announcement, “I want to be very clear – we do not have any intention of returning to a district-wide vir-
tual learning model.” But he said the district could not ignore the impact of “the troubling upwards trend of Maricopa County’s (virus transmission) metric” and the fact that “the metrics for students and staff within our District are at an all-time high.” Calling rumors of a district-wide return to virtual learning “untrue,” Mendivil said, “It is our responsibility as a District to plan for the worst and expect the best. Just as we have emergency plans for �ire incidents and lockdowns, it is critical that we are pre-
pared to face this situation as well, should it arise. “At a District and site level, administrators have worked to prepare learning contingency plans for schools to shift their learning models to hybrid or fully virtual, if staffing levels fall below a certain threshold,” he continued. “If there is a shortage of staff available to provide instruction and/or transportation, for example, we would be fully prepared
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Fire chief, schools boss step New rules for the roost up amid staff shortages BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
BUSINESS ...................
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Chandler strip mall king makes big on mall sales. NEWS ................................................. 2 HEALTH & WELLNESS ................ 21 REAL ESTATE ................................. 25 COMMUNITY .............................. 27 BUSINESS ..................................... 33 SPORTS ......................................... 36 CLASSIFIEDS ................................. 38
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ast Monday morning, Chandler Fire Chief Tom Dwiggins got a phone call from his staff: They had a shift they couldn’t �ill because of the latest COVID-19 outbreak. So, for the �irst time in 12 years, he grabbed his gear and headed out to work a shift on the truck. “Like the rest of the world, and certainly in the United States, since Christmas Eve … we’ve had over 45 �ire�ighters come up positive,” Dwiggins said. Cases are up across the country. There were 73 City of Chandler employees who were out of the of�ice on Wednesday because they tested positive. Those who could were working from home. Dwiggins rides out with crews once a year when he does his station visits, but this was different.
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After banning chickens in homeowners' backyards for years, Chandler officials are hatching new rules to allow as many as five of the birds on their premises. That would satisfy egg-lovers like Shannon Ellingson, standing next to her empty coop with her son Zane and daughter Afton, as explained on page 2. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)
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