Santan Sun News - 05.09.2021 by Times Media Group

May 9, 2021 | www.santansun.com

Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

Chandler officer’s death ‘a big loss for our community’

BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Two days after Chandler Police Officer Christopher Farrar was killed by a wanted fugitive, hundreds of mourners assembled outside Compass Christian Church to remember a friend who was described as a hero, warrior and allaround good guy. Plenty of candles were lit and tears were shed as friends of Officer Farrar gathered on May 1 to memorialize his 18 years of service to the Chandler community. More tears likely also were shed Saturday, May 8, as the officer was laid to rest after a memorial service at Compass Christian, which occurred after the SanTan Sun News’ deadline. Officer Farrar, 50, died the evening of April 29 after he was run over by 25-year-old Jonathan Atland at the end of a chaotic car chase that began in Eloy and ended in Gilbert. Gilbert Officer Rico Aranda was severely injured when he was struck by a parked car Atland had hit at San Tan Ford on Val Vista Drive near the Loop 202 San-

Slain Chandler Police Officer Christopher Farrar, who was to be laid to rest earlier this weekend, was mourned at a special service at Compass Christian Church on May 1, two days after he lost his life in a violent climax in Gilbert to a car chase. (Pablo Robles/Staff)

tan Freeway. At least four state troopers and a custodian also were slightly injured before Atland was taken into custody. Mourners on May 1 remarked on the

cruel irony that Officer Farrar had not been expected to work on the night of his death. Chandler Police Detective Tom

Schuhrke said Officer Farrar, who had recently been assigned to the Chandler See

FARRAR on page 4

State deals a bitter blow to Dream of Chandler veterans Chandler couple’s business memorial coming true BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor

The Ducey Administration has long touted its “regulation rollback” strategy “to make Arizona the best state in the nation to open a new business or to expand an existing one.” But the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control apparently never got the memo. It clobbered a Chandler couple’s unique business last fall – seven years after it gave them permission to launch their flavor-extract operation. The department’s change of heart forced Bill and Lillian Buitenhuys to shut down their thriving business, AZ Bitters Lab. They had turned what started as kitchen experimentation into the only business of its kind in Arizona – one that found a market across the country and as far away as Australia. Despite the business’ name, the Buitenhuys’ business license states they had been making flavor extracts that have a bitter taste. Though the beverage community euphemistically call such products cocktail bitters – which are spirits – their product labels stress they are extracts. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau agrees that unlike true bitters, the Buitenhuys had been making flavor extracts rather than spirits.

And for seven years, the Arizona liquor department felt that way too. But last October, the department without warning told the couple it changed its mind from a ruling it had made in 2013. It told the Buitenhuys their product actually was a spirit and that they would have to meet stringent requirements for becoming a spirits producer – including constructing a production facility that would pass state inspection as a distillery. It was a bitter blow – no pun intended – for Lillian, a Gilbert native who has a fulltime job as a business manager, and Bill, a native Bostonian who works in the defense industry. Chandler residents since 2007, they built a business that started simply from their epicurean appreciation of a good cocktail. “We started out as a hobby back in 2011” Bill explained. Though they both like wine-andfood pairings, Bill’s East Coast upbringing had him more inclined toward European rather than California wines. Hence, he said, “There weren’t a lot of wines here that we wanted to go with our food.” On the other hand, Bill was impressed with Valley bartenders’ inventive cocktails. “So, we would sit in a bar and watch these bartenders pull out little bottles See

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BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

After more than a decade of planning and development, the city is moving forward with constructing a veterans memorial at Oasis Park in south Chandler. Chandler City Council last month approved spending $3.5 million on the second phase of a memorial that pays tribute to residents who have served in the armed forces. The expenditure is expected to complete a project that has been in the works since 2008 and required years of fundraising by local veterans to get it off the ground. At one point, it wasn’t clear whether the memorial would ever come to fruition since the city had no money in its budget to build it. But city officials believe the recent commitment made by Council should

result in the memorial’s completion by Veterans Day this November. “This has been a very important park for us and we’re excited to see this to completion,” said Mayor Kevin Hartke. The memorial’s design is intended to represent six core values: freedom, recognition, reflection, sacrifice, memories and families. Andy Bass, the city’s community services director, said various aspects of the memorial each hold a symbolic meaning that’s intended to correlate with one of the core values. For example, the memorial’s layout is configured to resemble the stars and stripes of an American flag. The configuration is a grid consisting of columns and cubes assembled in a pattern to make it appear as if the cubes in the middle are sinking into the ground. Bass said the different heights be-

F E AT U R E STO R I E S 4 Chandler residents get ASU degrees . . . . . . . . . . . COMMUNITY . . . . Page 20 Asian food mall takes shape in Chandler . . . . . . . . BUSINESS . . . . . . . Page 28 Chandler student earns prestigious scholarship . . NEIGHBORS . . . . . . Page 35 AZ Creates! wraps up first season. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARTS . . . . . . . . . . Page 39 Major ramen restaurant opens downtown . . . . . . . EAT . . . . . . . . . . . Page 45

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More Community . . . 1-24 Business . . . . . 25-30 Sports . . . . . . . 31-32 Opinion . . . . . . . . 33 Neighbors . . . 35-38 Arts . . . . . . . . . 39-42 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Directory . . . . 43-44 Eat . . . . . . . . . . 44-46

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Chandler aims to improve police staffing levels BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Chandler officials are considering spending a significant amount of its $36-million in new federal pandemic relief on improving police staffing levels. According to a preliminary spending plan recently proposed by city officials, Chandler would divvy up the money into five spending categories: economic vitality, innovative technology, mobility, quality of life and neighborhoods. Under quality of life, $6 million would be spent on hiring new police officers – an expenditure that local leaders say is greatly needed and long overdue. Police Chief Sean Duggan said his department is continuously in the process of hiring new officers, but retirements and sick-leaves have made it difficult to ensure the city is completely covered at all times. “There are times where a patrol team that’s scheduled to work may be shortstaffed,” the chief said. Last month, Duggan and representatives of Chandler’s police unions asked Council for additional support to ease some of the burden. The pandemic, civil protests and an uptick in violent shootings have put a greater strain on the department over the last year and Duggan is hoping additional officers will prevent others from feeling burned out or overworked. “The concern we have right now is that we are having a great deal of difficulty convincing people to come and work,” Duggan said. The chief noted Chandler currently has the same number of sworn officers it had back in 2008 even though the city’s population has grown considerably over the last decade. The city’s pandemic relief money could potentially be enough to create 10 new policing positions as well as provide permanent funding for 15 positions that had been provided through temporary funding in the city’s budget. More officers would allow the agency to assemble a new unit Duggan wants to create for responding to crime trends in specific regions of the city. This “neighborhood response team” would be trained to be versatile in reacting to a wide range of law enforcement needs, the chief said. Duggan has recently released a hiring plan that aims to generate more than 60 new positions over the next five years. With the federal funds, the chief hopes to bring on 27 new jobs in the next fiscal year. One of them would be an additional school resource officer that the Chandler Unified School District would partially pay for. The department is also hoping the city will consider in adding 10 new positions each year between 2022 and 2026. These new hires would work in a variety of jobs including traffic cops, detectives, detention officers, evidence technicians and records clerks. As of this month, the city is planning to create at least nine new positions

Chandler Police Chief Sean Duggan has been beating the drums about staffing levels in his department and it looks like city officials are listening. (SanTan Sun News file photo)

across its various departments for the 2021-2022 fiscal year by utilizing money out of Chandler’s general fund. Dawn Lang, the city’s management services director, said it has been several years since Chandler has used its general fund to add this many new positions in a single budget cycle. These nine new positions – which include jobs in the Fire Department and City Court – don’t include any new positions created with the pandemic relief funds. Last summer, the city received $30 million through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and spent the funds on assisting local businesses and improving the city’s technology. A breakdown of the city’s spending of its new federal funds has Chandler dedicating about $4 million for new officer positions, $1.2 million for replacing outdated policing equipment and $750,000 on financial incentives to new police hires. The city would additionally like to spend $500,000 of its federal aid on a national recruitment campaign to fill vacant positions in various departments. Chandler now has about 120 vacancies it’s quickly trying to fill. Before coming up with its spending plan, city administration consulted with council members to find out how they thought the $36-million allotment should be spent once it was handed out by the federal government. The city tried to focus on projects that would only be a one-time expense, meaning it wouldn’t result in producing ongoing costs that would have to be annually factored into the city’s budget. Acting City Manager Joshua Wright said Council expressed interest in directing the federal funds toward reducing homelessness, diversity initiatives, transportation and assisting local nonprofits. To accommodate these interests, the city has proposed spending $787,000 on

helping residents avoid homelessness and another $900,000 on transitional housing. The city has set aside $200,000 of the federal dollars for assisting residents in finding affordable housing and $250,000 for starting a pilot program that could address Chandler’s impoverished neighborhoods.

Wright said money spent on these social services would likely benefit the Police Department since it might cut down on the agency’s call volume. “I think that will have a direct impact as well on our public safety system here See

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FARRAR

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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Police K9 United, was working a relief shift for an absent employee. It was something Officer Farrar often did because it was his nature to serve the department whenever help was needed. “He didn’t have to be there that night,” Schuhrke noted. Officer Farrar’s kind, generous nature was a recurring theme among all the anecdotes that were shared by the large crowd of grieving officers and civilians. It also was mentioned within hours after his death when Chandler Police Chief Sean Duggan held a pre-dawn news conference April 30 to announce the loss of his man. “Every day he came to work, he made a difference,” an emotional Duggan said. “In the course of 18 years, he touched many lives. “So I just ask that you keep Chris’ family in your prayers and just take a moment and remember and be mindful of the brave men and women who are out there daily helping to keep our community safe.” Officer Farrar was described as a dedicated public servant and his work was acknowledged in 2010 after his agency honored him with its “Community Service Award.” He held multiple positions throughout the department during his career, including the patrol division and bicycle team prior to his assignment to the K9 unit – a job those who knew him said

Officer Rico Aranda he had long sought. “Christopher received numerous commendations and accolades from community members, business owners, co-workers, and supervisors during his career,” the department said in a release. “He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor in 2004, the Community Service Award in 2009, the Spotlight Award in 2019, and a four-time recipient of the Lifesaving Award.” Noting that the slain officer is survived by his mother and father, brother, sister, daughter, two sons and grandchild, the department release also stated, “He was a son, brother, father, uncle, grandfather and dedicated police officer.” Tributes and expressions of sympathy for Officer Farrar flooded social media within hours after his death was announced.

People posted handwritten notes in tribute of Officer Farrar at the May 1 memorial serice and then hung them with clothespins on a special wall for his family. (Pablo Robes/Staff)

“It’s just tragic,” said Chandler Councilman Matt Orlando. “These guys and gals put their life on the line every day and we just got to keep supporting them and making a better police force.” Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke, other City Council members and county Supervisor Jack Sellers all expressed condolences. Police departments across Arizona lowered their flags half-mast and paid tribute to him, as did numerous local and state officials. Ordinary citizens also posted numerous expressions of grief and gratitude.

“My heart aches for the family of this officer,” wrote a man on a Gilbert community Facebook page. “These men and women are true heroes. They wake up every day and put their life on the line to protect and serve. May he RIP.” Attendees at the May 1 memorial recalled Officer Farrar’s willingness to volunteer for church activities or to offer his mentorship to aspiring police officers. He was always full of energy, Schuhrke said, and seemed to embody the eagerness of a manic cartoon character. See

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Arrest report describes harrowing encounter BY CECILIA CHAN Staff Writer

A Tolleson man accused of ramming a stolen car into a group of officers, killing Chandler Officer Christoper Farrar and severely injuring a Gillbert officer, remains in jail on a $3-million cash bail. Jonathon J. Altland, Jr., 25, faces a first-degree murder charge of Chandler Officer Christopher Farrar, 50. A preliminary hearing was set for May 10. Gilbert Officer Rico Aranda suffered head injuries during the April 29 violent confrontation but was showing signs of improvement, according to Gilbert Police. “We are encouraged by Gilbert Police Officer Rico Aranda’s recovery progress,” Gilbert Police said May 3. “We are happy to report that he is responding well to treatment and we expect him to be transferred within a couple days out of ICU and into neurological treatment and recovery.” Altland worked for FPS Civil LLC, according to police documents. Very little detail about Altland was included in the report. His record appears limited to several traffic violations, including a stop-sign civil infraction in January. and in October 2020, he was cited for reckless driving and driving over 85 mph, according to Maricopa County Justice Courts. The latter, a criminal case, was adjudicated. Altland purchased his house in Tolleson with a girlfriend in 2019, according to county property records.

The suspect in Officer Farrar's death crashed this stolen truck that he drove from Eloy into a fence at San Tan Ford in Gilbert. (Courtesy of ABC15)

The April 29 incident began after Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop Altland for speeding in a yellow pickup truck. It was later determined the pickup was stolen. As Altland began to yield, he started shooting at the deputy’s vehicle, according to police. Altland then fled north on State Route 87, reaching speeds of over 100 mph before crashing through a gate at Chandler Municipal Airport, where he drove onto the runway, police said. He left the airport and drove the wrong way on surface streets and then

on the Loop 202 Santan Freeway as Chandler and Gilbert police, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers and PCSO gave chase Gilbert Police were alerted to the pursuit at 10:35 p.m. Altland then crashed his vehicle on the northern embankment of the 202 west of Val Vista Drive and fled on foot. He entered the maintenance area of the San Tan Ford dealership at the Motorplex Loop and was confronted by a janitorial staff. Two custodians observed Altland with a handgun. Police said Altland threatened the

dealership manager, “stating he had a gun and would shoot him,” police said. The manager followed Altland out to a vehicle bay area and was told to turn off the lights. The manager responded he could not do so and fled from the service bay. Meanwhile law enforcement had surrounded the building. Altland stole a vehicle and crashed through a closed bay door. “The suspect sped out of the service bay area, veering and accelerating directly towards one group of officers who feared for their lives and discharged their firearms,” the police documents read. “The suspect did not stop and continued fleeing through the parking lot and drove directly toward” Farrar, fatally striking him. Altland continued what police called “an intentional attack,” driving toward other officers in the parking lot, who fired their weapons at him. Altland next struck another officer and then slammed his car into a parked vehicle, directly injuring Aranda who was near it, police said. Police reported six people in total were injured by the suspect, including the dealership manager. According to Gilbert Police, Pinal County deputies were expected to submit charges related to its involvement with the initial traffic stop and attempted murder of an officer and Chandler Police will be submitting charges related to the suspect entering the airport.

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Officer Farrar first to die on duty this year BY CECILIA CHAN Staff Writer

The Chandler police officer slain by a car thief in Gilbert April 29 is the first East Valley policeman killed in the line of duty this year and apparently the first in Arizona. Officer Christopher Farrar, an 18-year veteran of the department, died after he was struck by the driver of a stolen vehicle, according to law enforcement. Officer Farrar’s death marked seven years since a member of the Chandler Police force was killed on the job, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit organization. With his death, Chandler Police now have lost five officers who died while performing their job. In 2016, Officer David Smith Payne was killed after a drunken driver

FARRAR

rear-ended his police motorcycle, which was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Chandler Boulevard and Pennington Drive. And, Officer Carlos Luciano Ledesma was killed in 2010 while conducting an undercover narcotics operation at a home in Phoenix, according to the officer memorial site. Before him, there was Officer Robert Nielsen, who was killed in an automobile accident while responding to another accident call in 2002. His death was one of more than a hundred officers’ deaths that occurred because of design defaults in Ford Crown Victorias, a then-popular patrol car. Chandler Officer James Snedigar was fatally shot in 1999 while performing a SWAT raid on armed robbery suspects near Priest Drive and Ray Road. Chandler Police also recorded a

death of one of their own in January not directly linked to his line of work. Officer Tyler Britt, a 19-year member of the force, died from complications of COVID-19. Gilbert has lost officers prior to this year. At the time of Gilbert Sun News’ deadline, an unidentified Gilbert officer was struck by the same vehicle that killed Officer Farrar. That Gilbert officer was reported to be in critical condition. The last Gilbert officer to die on duty was Lt. Eric Shuhandler, who was fatally shot in 2010 when he stopped a vehicle occupied by two men near the intersection of Val Vista and Baseline roads in Gilbert. A wild chase ensued before police captured the killers after a gunfight on US60 near Superior. Both killers are serving life sentences.

express their support for the officer’s family. Chandler Vice Mayor Mark Stewart tried to hold back tears as he emotionally conveyed his sympathy for everyone who will miss Officer Farrar. “We know Chris is a hero and his name needs to be celebrated,” Stewart said. “He is a true hero.” Friends described Officer Farrar as having an endearing curiosity for spirituality and would often lean on his

faith to get through the grueling work of a cop. Pastor Brian Jobe said Officer Farrar’s sudden death has struck a “brutal blow” on his church community and offered the services of his church’s counselors to mourners who may be struggling with their grief. Compass Church additionally set up a memorial in their courtyard that allowed mourners to drop off flowers or to write notes to the fallen officer.

Tim Kennedy said he met Officer Farrar at Compass Church a couple years ago and quickly got to know the officer by going on a ride-along with him around Chandler. Officer Farrar loved to share his policing work with members of the public, he said, and demonstrating what the job really entailed. But beyond policing, Officer Farrar seemed the proudest while praising the accomplishments of his family. “Chris loved his mom and dad,” Kennedy said. “He talked about them all the time.” Some friends noted Officer Farrar’s continuous willingness to help someone out during a time of need. “There will never be another Chris Farrar,” said friend Susan Simmons. She described him as her “lifeline” in Arizona after she relocated to Chandler several years ago. Officer Farrar would always come to her house to fix something or to help with a project he did so without complaining, Simmons said. “I’m going to miss this man with everything I have,” she added. “He will never be forgotten for all the things he did, the people he helped.” A fundraising effort has been launched for Officer Farrar’s family by The 100 Club, which helps the families of officers killed in the line of duty. It can be reached at 100club.org/ donate.

cameras at various intersections and $150,000 for expanding the city’s partnership with Lyft. Last year, Chandler launched a pilot program with the ride-sharing company to provide discounted lifts to residents living in south Chandler. The federal money could possibly allow for Lyft’s service area to expand into other parts of the city. Another $250,000 of the federal aid could be spent on installing protective railings along the city’s bike lanes a service that residents have been asking for in transportation surveys administered by the city.

“People want a little bit more safety around the bicycle lanes on our major thoroughfares in Chandler,” Wright noted. Intel’s recent announcement of its forthcoming expansion has motivated the city to reserve some federal funding money for the infrastructure needs that come with economic development. The city has set aside $4.1 million for building out the roads, sidewalks, or sewer lines that might be needed to accommodate future developments. The city’s plan further attempts to reverse some of the damage that’s been done to local businesses throughout the pandemic.

According to public records, tax revenue collected from Chandler’s hotel industry shrunk by 36 percent in November 2020 compared to the previous November. Revenue generated by entertainment venues dropped 42 percent in that time frame. Officials are considering spending $200,000 of the new federal money to market and promote Chandler’s tourism industry and $1.5 million to assist local nonprofits. Another $300,000 has been earmarked for an “angel fund” that encourages investors to support Chandler’s startups.

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“He was like Speedy Gonzales,” Schuhrke said. “There were no slow speeds for him – 100 miles an hour all the time.” “It’s a big loss for our department,” Schuhrke added. “It’s a big loss for our community.” Officer Kyle Liggitt credited Officer Farrar with making him a better police officer by always offering helpful advice and support. Officer Farrar was quick to share his policing experiences, Liggitt said, or take a moment to check in with a rookie officer who had just joined the force. “He had just this ability to find newer, younger officers and to just give them wisdom and to make them better officers,” Liggitt added. Everyone in the department has spent the last few days asking lots of “what if” questions, Liggitt said, and contemplating whether Officer Farrar’s life could have been saved if different steps were taken on the night of the incident. “All of us at this department are hurting,” the officer said. “But we also know that, unfortunately, this is part of our job.” The group of mourners included members of law enforcement from various agencies, church leaders and elected officials who wanted to publicly

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in Chandler,” he said, “reducing some of the burden placed on our front-line officers.” The most expensive items listed in the city’s spending plan is an $11-million upgrade to Chandler’s street lights and $5 million for improving sports fields at Snedigar Recreation Center. Other proposed projects include spending $500,000 to upgrade the city’s traffic camera system, $2.6 million for installing more bicycle-detection

In 2006, Gilbert Officer Rob Targosz died after his motorcycle was struck by a drunken driver at the intersection of Price Road and Apache Boulevard in Tempe during a DUI checkpoint exercise. In Mesa, two officers have died in the line of duty, the last in 1994 and Tempe Police has seen five officers die with the last death in 2006. To date, according to the memorial page, Arizona has lost 264 law enforcement officers in the line of duty since the 1880s. In the state, Phoenix Police Department led with the most fallen officers at 41, followed by Arizona Department of Public Safety with 30. For 2021 so far, 118 law enforcement officers have died nationwide, according to the memorial page. And since 1776, there have been 24,870 known line of duty deaths in America, the memorial page stated.

Mourners gathered at Compass Christian Church in Chandler May 1 for a candlelight vigil in honor of Officer Christopher Farrar. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

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VETERANS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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tween the outer cubes and the inner cubes symbolically represents the sacrificial journey all soldiers go on during times of conflict. “This is meant to represent soldiers going off to war and then returning,” Bass said. Twenty-one of the grid’s cubes are fully submerged in the ground, which is meant to correlate with the military’s famous 21-gun salute. A giant star in the memorial’s center is intended to represent the blue stars seen on service flags hung by the families of soldiers during wartime. The memorial’s design additionally offers an ample room for visitors to congregate and places for them to record their memories of friends and family who have served in the military. “The goal is to provide a space that would offer individuals and groups an opportunity for personal reflection,” Bass added. The city has made few changes to the designs that were originally drafted for the memorial several years ago. Bass said his department decided to make a prominent addition to the design by placing a F-86D fighter plane on display along the memorial’s south side. The old plane, which is currently parked near Chandler Boulevard and Delaware Street, will be refurbished before the city relocates it to Oasis Park. The plane was originally dedicated as a memorial for Williams Air Force Base,

The proposed veterans memorial at Oasis Park in Chandler, above, would be situated in the grayed area of Oasis Park in the map on the left. (City of Chandler)

which was one of the nation’s most prominent training centers for pilots

before it closed in 1993. The base has since been transformed into Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Chandler’s designers have additionally changed some of the memorial’s lighting features by having a group of columns light up once the sun goes down. “It will be much more impactful during the evening,” Bass said. When the city first began making designs for Oasis Park in the mid-

2000s, a section of land located near Lindsay and Chandler Heights roads was set aside as the memorial site. Shortly after a design was drafted, the state’s economy tanked due to the Great Recession and the project’s future was suddenly thwarted by a downturn in public financing. When it appeared that the city wouldn’t have the funds to start conSee

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struction, veterans banded together to collect the money on their own. Councilman Matt Orlando, a retired colonel of the U.S. Air Force, partnered with local veterans groups and held fundraisers in order to keep the memorial project progressing toward completion. Orlando said they went around town asking various organizations and businesses for donations, which proved to be difficult given the economic climate at that time. “Unfortunately, we were just coming out of the recession,” Orlando recalled. “There wasn’t a lot of money out there.” They managed to raise $750,000 before the donations gradually stopped coming in. Despite the successful fundraising efforts, local veterans had to wait a few more years before phase one of the memorial’s construction was completed in 2016. And some of them didn’t live long enough to witness such a milestone. William Harper, a World War II veteran and Sun Lakes resident, had been one of the project’s biggest champions and continuously pushed the city to move ahead with the project. “I just don’t want this thing dragging on forever,” Harper told the East Valley Tribune in 2008. Harper, the recipient of two Purple

Heart medals, passed away in 2013 at the age of 85. The loss of more and more war veterans has been a motivating factor that pushed Orlando to get the memorial built sooner rather than later. He worried that men and women who served during World War II might not still be around by the time the city finally finishes construction. “My argument was ‘Our veterans are dying -- we need to get this thing built,’” Orlando added. After Orlando got back on the council in 2019, he and some other members convinced city officials to move the project ahead in the city’s 10-year schedule for capital projects. The maneuver seemed to work and the city found the funding in its capital budget for the project’s $3.5-million price tag. Orlando said it’s exciting to finally see the project advance toward completion and he hopes local veterans will continue to be involved with the memorial once it’s finished. He’s recently asked city officials to consider letting veterans work as volunteers at the memorial by conducting tours and keeping up the site’s maintenance. Other city leaders have expressed appreciation for the city’s willingness to continue supporting the project and signaling to the community that Chandler cares about those who have served in the military. “It means a lot to veterans for so many different reasons,” said Councilman OD Harris, an U.S. Army veteran.

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Chandler Medicare thief gets 3 years in jail SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

A Chandler woman has been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to filing thousands of fraudulent claims for Medicare benefits totaling more than $4 million. Frances Jones, 52, was ordered to spend three years behind bars for a scam she ran between 2011-18. Jones had been the owner of Oxicheck Northwest, a provider for durable medical equipment and used her business to bill Medicare for false prescriptions for her devices. Jones spent the profits she netted from the scheme on vacations, plastic surgery, spa treatments, and casino gambling. According to federal prosecutors, Jones misused the identification numbers of various doctors to get Medicare

to pay for medical equipment that had never been prescribed by them. She used the credentials of one doctor to file numerous claims valued at more than $2.5 million and later collected $570,000 in reimbursements from those claims. Jones used the identity of another doctor in California to file 249 claims on behalf of a Medicare beneficiary who lived in Washington State. Even after the patient had died in 2017, Jones continued filing several claims for medical equipment. The defendant would file claims for doctors who had stopped practicing medicine in Arizona or discontinued writing prescriptions for equipment. One doctor, who had stopped writing prescriptions in 2012, had $680,000 worth of Medicare claims filed under his name by Jones between 2013-18.

Jones was allegedly paid about $117,000 off of those fake claims. Patients and government auditors eventually noticed discrepancies in billing statements and began to suspect that Jones was overbilling for unnecessary services. Jones spent years trying to cover her tracks by coming up with various excuses for why her accounting didn’t add up, delaying her case for more than three years in court. “Defendant perpetuated her fraud scheme by boldly lying to beneficiaries who complained and to law enforcement when they inquired,” prosecutors wrote. She initially claimed Oxicheck Northwest had made some billing mistakes and promised to correct the errors. After the Arizona Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation in 2015, Jones told investigators her billing

irregularities were caused by a computer glitch. She further blamed Medicare patients for having a “vendetta against her” and accused them of sabotaging her business, court documents show. Federal prosecutors faulted Jones for cheating a system that’s difficult to police and taking away taxpayer-funded resources that could have been better used to help patients. In 2020, the Government Accountability Office estimated that about $43 billion in improper payments were processed by the Medicare program. “Defendant committed flagrant fraud against a system built on trust and designed to provide health care to our vulnerable populations,” prosecutors stated. U.S. District Court Judge John Hinderaker ordered Jones to pay $862,000 in restitution.

Community college bill signed into law BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Arizona’s community colleges are now on the path to awarding four-year degrees if they want. Gov. Doug Ducey last week signed legislation to permit these local institutions to offer baccalaureate degrees without having to first enter into a joint program

with one of the state’s three universities. “Today’s action is school choice for higher education,’’ Ducey said. “It will allow students even more opportunities as they strengthen their education and expand their employment opportunities.’’ The governor’s action comes despite a last-ditch bid by Larry Penley, chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents,

urging him to reject the legislation. “There is little evidence to support the need for a substantial change in Arizona higher education structure,’’ Penley said. Penley also argued that the move is unnecessary, as the regents have fouryear programs they operate in collaboration with community college.

Tuesday’s decision drew praise from Steven Gonzales, chancellor of the Maricopa Community Colleges, who said the aim is not to compete with the university system but to supplement it. Gonzales said there are specific needs for things like more teachers and nurses than the university system See

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Chandler joins pedestrian safety campaign BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

The Chandler Police Department is participating in a countywide enforcement campaign intended to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities across the Valley. The Maricopa Association of Government’s “See Me AZ” education campaign aims to make Chandler’s roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The number of pedestrians killed in Arizona has been steadily rising from 163 in 2015 to 220 in 2019, according to the state’s most recently available data. Maricopa County saw 134 pedestrians killed in 2019, accounting for nearly half of the state’s fatal accidents. The large majority of fatalities occur in clear daylight. The Association’s “See Me AZ” campaign is intended to make motorists and pedestrians more aware of each other and less distracted by their phones. Chandler Detective Zachary Waters said pedestrian safety has been a top priority in the city for several years and the “See Me AZ” campaign will augment the city’s efforts to make drivers more conscious of their surroundings. “We continue to make a collective effort by educating citizens on appropriate safety measures while they are

traversing the roadways on foot or bicycle,” Waters said. “Enhanced educational efforts will continue to be made to induce changes in driving behavior to encourage drivers to notice and respect the presence of pedestrians and bicyclists.” Chandler is joining Phoenix, Tempe, and Glendale as the first group of municipalities that will be spreading the campaign’s messaging this month. “As one of the pilot cities, we believe this campaign is another opportunity in fulfilling our mission statement of providing a safe place for people to live, work, and thrive,” Waters added. Chandler’s traffic unit will be coordinating education and enforcement efforts throughout the month on roadways and near school zones to remind local drivers to always be cognizant of pedestrians and cyclists. Officers will be dispersing simple safety tips that include keeping a 3-foot distance between cars and cyclists, not parking near crosswalks, obeying speed limits, and not passing other vehicles that have stopped for a moving pedestrian. Pedestrians can better protect themselves by wearing visible clothing at night, utilizing pedestrian buttons at traffic signals, and looking out for cars turning right on a red light. Cyclists are reminded to always

yield to pedestrians, be cautious while passing driveways, use bike lanes when available, and to follow traffic laws the same as if driving a car. Sobriety will be another piece of the campaign’s messaging, since impairment has become one of the most prevalent factors in pedestrian crashes that end in a fatality. Out of the 220 pedestrians killed in Arizona in 2019, at least 95 were reportedly under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. Arizona and the Phoenix metro area have often been ranked as some of the worst places for pedestrians as the number of accidents continues to rise year after year. Chandler has had its fair share of tragic accidents reported in recent years, culminating in the untimely deaths of multiple children and young parents. The killing of 31-year-old Pamela Hesselbacher near Ponderosa and Ray roads in 2016 by an unlicensed driver has had a lasting impact on the community and the state’s driving laws. The mother and her two small children were walking home from a nearby park when a motorist ran a red light and struck the Hesselbacher family. The driver, William Epperlein, claims he simply wasn’t paying attention as he was passing through an intersection. The Hesselbacher children survived

the accident, but Pamela succumbed to her injuries. The mother’s death sparked statewide outrage once it was revealed the driver was not legally licensed to be operating a vehicle. Epperlein was given the maximum sentence at the time – 30 days in jail – which later motivated the state’s lawmakers to pass legislation that heightened the penalties for unlicensed drivers who injure or kill pedestrians. Chandler has attempted to make its roads safer over the years by introducing new infrastructure throughout the city. In 2014, a special walking bridge was constructed across the Loop 101 freeway, allowing a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists to pass over the busy roadway. The city has additionally spent this last year creating more bike lanes in the West Chandler region along Kyrene and McClintock roads. Cities participating in the “See Me AZ” campaign will be collecting surveys before and after the event in order to see what type of impact the education efforts have had on local drivers. “We know that traffic crashes involving pedestrian deaths are a growing public health concern and that we need to quickly figure out the root causes, as we all share the responsibility when it comes to road safety,” said MAG Council Chair Jerry Weiers.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

CUSD building ‘sally-ports’ at elementary schools SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Chandler Unified School District is planning to spend nearly $1.5 million on boosting security measures at 10 elementary schools. Concord General Contracting and Chasse Building Team have been awarded contracts to construct “sally-port” entrances at the Andersen, Auxier, Basha, Carlson, Fulton, Haley, Hull, Humphrey, Patterson, and Riggs elementary campuses. A sally-port is a type of security infrastructure most often associated with prisons. But district officials say the upcoming renovations don’t mean Chandler schools are getting with barbed-wire fences or metal detectors. “That is not what we are building,” said Associate Superintendent Frank

Fletcher. “We are building a central point of access.” Fletcher described sally-ports as a holding area in the school’s front lobby where visitors would be required to wait before receiving authorization to enter the campus. The sally-ports are intended to improve how a school’s security personnel will check visitors in and out throughout the day. Redesigning the schools to incorporate a sally-port layout will typically involve renovating and repurposing existing classroom or office space. The proliferation of school shootings across the country in recent years has been pushing districts like CUSD to boost security measures by installing more cameras and redesigning entryways. Not long after 20 children were

killed during a mass shooting at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, school districts in the surrounding area immediately began investing in building sally-port areas. The name “sally-port” is a broad term that can have many different types of designs or uses. Its origins date back to medieval times when castles were built with special entryways where troops could safely hide from enemy fire. Sally-ports are perhaps most commonly used in prisons to safely move inmates from one secured location to another. But this type of security measure has also been seen in jewelry stores, where a gated system is used to restrict the entrances and exits of suspicious customers. CUSD has spent the last few years

spending capital dollars on more security features at schools across the district. More than $2 million was spent last October on installing six additional cameras at each of nearly all of Chandler’s elementary schools. In 2011, the district used some bond money to provide each campus with a 12-camera surveillance system. Last year, Weinberg Gifted Academy received a number of renovations that included a sally-port entrance for a construction cost of about $1.1 million. The recent sally-ports will be funded with money CUSD earned through a $290-million bond initiative voters passed in 2019. The district promised voters that a significant portion of the bond money would be spent on making schools safer.

Midwestern U starts 4 graduate nurse programs SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

The College of Health Sciences at Midwestern University‘s Glendale Campus is implementing four new graduate nursing programs. The university is offering a scholarship to select students who are accepted for the inaugural classes beginning this fall for the master of science in nursing and doctor of nursing practice

programs. The new graduate nursing degree programs include: master of science in nursing with an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner concentration; master of science in nursing with a concentration in nurse leadership in global health; a doctor of nursing practice program with two specialty tracks. The first track is designated for actively working Adult-Gerontology Pri-

mary Care nurse practitioners electing to complete a doctoral degree in their area of specialty, and the second track is designed for master’s-prepared nursing leaders aspiring to become doctoral-prepared nurse executives. Midwestern University offers the only graduate nursing programs in Arizona specializing in adult-gerontology primary care. Nurse practitioners are instrumental

in addressing demands due to increasing primary care provider shortages, especially within vulnerable or aging communities, underserved populations and remote areas. Students have access to state-of-the-art technology while learning in various multidisciplinary settings. Information: midwestern.edu/nursing. xml or contact Dr. Pagan at mpagan@ midwestern.edu or 623-537-6502.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Chandler motorist dies in fiery, deadly crash

COLLEGE

from page 8

is turning out and that these programs can be conducted at far less cost than the universities charge in tuition, all without raising local property taxes. None of this will happen immediately. The new law requires governing boards to determine whether to offer four-year degrees based on both the need, as determined by student demand and workforce gaps, as well as the financial requirements necessary to sustain the program.

the car once it came to a rest. Two bystanders ran over and extradited the trooper out of his patrol car before it combusted into flames. The trooper was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital and was treated for serious, non-life-threatening injuries. Winegar and Wilson both died at the scene. Two passengers from Wilson’s car and two passengers from Winegar’s car were all taken to the hospital for minor injuries. The occupants traveling in the fourth vehicle were not injured. The crash blocked off parts of U.S. 93 for several hours on the night of April 30 as DPS investigated the accident. U.S. 93, a popular route motorists take

to get to Las Vegas, has long been known as one of Arizona’s deadliest highways. According to a 2018 study by Value Penguin, the stretch of U.S. 93 between Wickenburg and Hoover Dam was deemed as the nation’s “most dangerous” highway. At least 90 fatalities and 70 deadly crashes were reported on U.S. 93 between 2010 and 2016, according to the study’s data. Wait times for emergency medical services were additionally found to be considerably longer for accidents on U.S. 93 than most other highways. The Arizona Department of Transportation has spent several years attempting to improve safety along U.S. 93 by widening sections of the highway.

Programs also have to be accredited by the same agencies that have purview over university programs. And colleges are required to let state universities know of the programs they are developing. But the statute also is clear: Universities have no veto power. And that was one of the things the Board of Regents wanted. Lawmakers added some additional restrictions on the college systems in Pima and Maricopa counties. For the first four years, no more than 5% percent of total degree and certification can be for four-year programs, a figure that rises to no more than 10 percent after that.

zGonzales, whose schools now charge $85 a credit hour, said he doesn’t see those cost limits as a problem. Ducey said 23 other states have similar systems which allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees in certain circumstances. Penley, in trying to convince the governor to veto the measure, said there is no need, saying enrollment in universities has doubled since 2002. “What Arizona needs from community colleges, in addition to their technical certificates and degrees, are associate degrees that have a higher graduation rate,’’ he wrote, though he

offered no specifics. Gonzales said he does not see community colleges in direct competition with universities for students. He said the average age for students in his system is between 24 and 26. “A typical 25- or 26-year-old, if he or she decides to go back to college or to start college, they are not likely to start at the university,’’ Gonzales said. “They’re going to come to use because of that support we provide, the fact that we’ve got smaller campuses situated throughout the county, and the fact that we’re closer to them than some of the universities are.’’

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A Chandler woman died after causing a head-on collision that killed another motorist near Wickenburg and injured a state trooper. Alexis Wilson, 23, died at the scene of a fiery crash site on April 30 after she drove recklessly into oncoming traffic and crashed into three vehicles. According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Wilson was traveling northbound on U.S. 93 in her Honda Accord and had been passing other vehicles in a no-pass zone. Catherine Winegar, 43, of Tucson was traveling southbound on the highway in a Chevrolet Suburban with two passengers

and a DPS trooper trailing behind her. Winegar had called DPS for assistance earlier that evening after noticing her car was low on gas. The trooper told Winegar she probably had enough fuel to reach a gas station and promised to follow behind the driver until she reached one. As the trooper was driving behind Winegar on the highway, Wilson struck the other passenger vehicle head-on, causing Winegar’s car to roll over on its side. Wilson’s car swerved out of control and rolled several times until it hit the trooper’s patrol car. Wilson’s vehicle was then struck by a fourth vehicle. The trooper’s vehicle rotated a couple times, trapping the officer inside

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FLAVORING

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

from page 1

of infusions or extracts to tweak the cocktails to go with our food and we found that fascinating,” he said. “These bartenders were just so creative that it gave us this thought to say, ‘You know, why can’t we try this at home and then we can tweak our cocktails to be what we would want them to be on our own?'” he continued. “So, we started making these little infusions and bitter flavor extracts for ourselves.” The Buitenhuys worked in their kitchen, mixing a high-proof spirit with various dried fruits and herbs, depending on the flavor they wanted to create. All the flavors were bitter, which Bill said basically make a cocktail tastier – much like what salt does to food. “Bitterness does the same thing in that it balances out the sour and the sweet and acid, and kind of balances everything to make everything taste more harmonically,” Bill said. As time went by, they became so pleased with their concoctions that they took them to some bartenders and asked if they’d be interested in trying them. Soon, word caught on and bartenders started calling the Buitenhuys because they were impressed with the couple’s creations. “There were enough people that talked to us that we said, ‘OK, maybe we can look at turning this into a small business,’” Bill said. Though neither has a background in

Lillian and Bill Buitenhuys of Chandler hold bottles of their ﬂavor extracts that the state won't allow them too make any more. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

mixology, Bill’s science background and Lillian’s business background blended perfectly with the couple’s love of kitchen experimentation. They soon realized they couldn’t meet the growing demand just working in their kitchen. They had to find commercial kitch-

en space, get special equipment – and then get the approval of county food inspectors to set up their production facility. They met with state liquor department officials to explain what they were doing and also cleared their products with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco

Tax and Trade Bureau. The state liquor department, Bill said, “told us, ‘you guys are exempt from liquor licensing because you’re producing flavor extracts.’” With Lillian’s mother helping out, See

FLAVORING on page 16

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FLAVORING

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

There’s a lot of “ thought, a lot of process

from page 14

they were off and running. When they weren’t working at their full-time jobs, toying around with new extract ideas or making larger batches for sale, they were traveling to bars across the Valley and, eventually, Arizona, offering samples of their creations to bartenders. More than 600 bartenders in Arizona became customers as others in other states picked up on their product through their web store. Word of mouth from friends and bartenders even reached Down Under. Bartenders in New Zealand and Australia also started buying their extracts. “It kind of floored us every time that happened because here we were, this little company in Chandler that’s got this global reach,” Bill said. And the kicker: “We never advertised. We never spent a penny on advertising. We post on social media and we had a bunch of friends who have a lot of followers who posted on social media. But we never bought an ad.” Over the last eight years, the Buitenhuys have spent “tens of thousands of dollars” between all the trademark, licensing and other legal fees and the equipment they kept on upgrading. But that investment was paying off. “We were growing at about 20 percent a year,” he said. Then came the phone call from a state liquor department detective. “We went seven years without hear-

The Buitenhuys' ﬂavoring extracts add a touch of bitterness to a cocktail to balance its sweetness. (Pablo Robles/Staff)

ing from them at all and then this past fall we got a phone call from a detective and she said, ‘We have an issue with your product.’ I said, ‘We have written approval … that were exempt’ and she said, ‘Not anymore.’” Did she explain the change of heart? “Nope,” Bill replied. “We asked and we got crickets. They just said, ‘The attorney general’s office supports this and this is what it is. You guys have 30 days to wrap up business or we’re sending a cease-and-desist.’” Though the couple shut down the operation, Bill asked the state liquor

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department how it was going to regulate their product even if they did apply for approval as a distillery. They wanted to know if the state would issue, as federal regulators do, a “certificate of label approval” – something that follows after a manufacturer submits their recipe and labeling for approval. The problem is that because federal regulators consider what the Buitenhuys make to be only a flavor extract, they don’t issue certificates of label approval, usually called COLAs. “We’ve asked the state if will they require a COLA on bitter flavor extracts and we haven’t gotten an answer,” Bill said. “So, there was no sense in us applying to be a distiller when they can’t tell us the rules.” Bill said state regulators indicated at one point that they were concerned “about underaged people buying our product and they just want to control that. “But we asked them how are they going to regulate the hundreds of producers from outside Arizona that sell the same product direct to Arizona residents by mail without any age verification and they have not answered that question.” The SanTan Sun News asked the liquor department for comment but its chief spokesman did not return the call. Lillian is discouraged by the state’s attitude.

that goes into this, it’s really a labor of love and the effort that the two of us and my mom put into any bottle … we do that because we really support the community and want people to have good experiences.

”

– Lillian Buitenhuys

She recalled all the trial and error involved in mixing ingredients, testing them in drinks and doing that many times to come up with the perfect flavor extract. “There’s a lot of thought, a lot of process that goes into this,” she said. “It’s really a labor of love and the effort that the two of us and my mom put into any bottle … we do that because we really support the community and want people to have good experiences. “People also use our products for cooking and baking and other applications like with any flavor extract,” Lillian said. “So, we want people using it, to really enjoy it.” So far, the couple has been reluctant to hire a lawyer. “We respect that Arizona can make their own liquor laws,” Bill said. “They have a right to do that. What they don’t have a right to do is target a business and they don’t have the right to not explain how they are going to regulate an entire industry and that’s what we’re pushing for.” He said the Arizona Craft Distilleries League has reached out to them to point out how legislation could be changed. But at the end of the day, Bill said, “We work full-time jobs and there’s only so much energy we can put into trying to fight the system.”

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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Perry student dies by suicide after long struggle SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

A Perry High School sophomore died by suicide May 2 after months of struggling with mental health problems and multiple suicide attempts. Zyon Anderson, 16, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after his family removed him from life support. His mother, Nailah Hendrickson, posted on gofundme.com that said Zyon’s death came after a nearly whole year of continuous treatment for depression. “My baby fought hard and I was there trying to get him help every step of the way -- but he wasn’t long for this world,” Hendrickson wrote in a statement. “Zyon will be greatly missed by his family and friends.” In an interview last month with SanTan Sun News, Hendrickson detailed the long and frustrating battle her family waged to save Zyon. She described how her son’s mood and demeanor had begun to change shortly after the pandemic began and the schools started to close. Zyon had begun to withdraw from his family, the mother recalled, and lost interest in activities that used to bring him joy. After a couple suicide attempts, Zyon underwent extensive therapy and counseling while his mother began to monitor his daily movements. “This has been emotionally, financial-

ly, and mentally devastating,” Hendrickson said last month. “This caught us by surprise and it’s not something we had planned for.” The mother lamented the lack of support she felt for her family during Zyon’s mental health crisis. Hendrickson looked for parent groups that could offer advice on how to handle her son’s illness, yet no one could tell where to find them. When she attempted to form a parent group at Perry High to help students reintegrate back into the classroom, Hendrickson said her plans were met with resistance from other parents and the whole idea fell apart. “It seems that Arizona is not really set up for the crisis that happened,” Hendrickson added. “It’s a retirement state and so the mental health care for adolescents is not really a robust system.” Zyon is the latest of more than 45 East Valley teens who have died by suicide since 2018. School districts and nonprofits have been attempting to reverse the troubling trend by adding more on-campus resources and improving social-emotional education. Perry High’s senior football quarterback even appeared in a series of public service announcements last year, urging classmates to seek help if they’re contemplating suicide. Experts say the mental health crisis

Zyon Anderson, 16, was laid to rest Saturday, May 8. (Facebook)

that’s been affecting adolescents has only been exacerbated in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent national studies show depression diagnoses increased by 83 percent shortly after the pandemic began last March and the rate of self-harm incidents among teens nearly doubled. notMykid, an Arizona-based nonprofit that aims to reduce teen suicide, has seen a spike in demand for counseling services throughout the pandemic from adolescents suffering from depression and drug addiction. “The shutdowns in response to COVID-19 created a lot of social discon-

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Proposed city budget emphasizes mental health needs Chandler’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year could potentially dedicate more resources toward addressing the community’s mental health needs. Multiple department heads are hoping the Chandler City Council will authorize more funds to create new positions that emphasize serving residents who are struggling with emotional or mental problems. The Chandler Police Department is looking to create a full-time position that can be dedicated to coordinating the mental health and wellness of its staff. Police Chief Sean Duggan said this new position would develop programming designed to promote personal resiliency and peer support among the agency’s 334 sworn officers. “We need to make an investment on our front end to keep our officers physically and emotionally healthy,” the chief said. The nature of policing has changed significantly in recent years, the chief added, and there’s more awareness now of the psychological turmoil that comes with the job. “We are just now fully realizing the deteriorating effect that high stress, crime, and repeated trauma -- the toll it takes on our officers’ emotional well-being,” Duggan said. One year after the city scaled back

spending in anticipation of the pandemic’s economic impact, Chandler is now preparing to commit more funds to creating new positions across various departments and ramping up its recruitment to fill existing positions that are still vacant. “As the impacts of the COVID-19

pending budget would be an additional clerk at Chandler Municipal Court that would specialize in handling mental health cases. Acting City Court Magistrate Alicia Skupin said this new position would work with other departments to reduce recidivism among defendants who may

We are just now fully realizing the deteriorating “ effect that high stress, crime, and repeated trauma the toll it takes on our officers’ emotional well-being. ” – Police Chief Sean Duggan

pandemic anticipated in the prior year were not realized,” a city memo states, “many of the programs and projects removed in the prior year were added in the proposed budget.” Chandler’s 2020-2021 budget only added two new job positions to the General Fund – one of which was mostly offset through funding paid by the Chandler Unified School District. This year, the city is considering adding at least nine new positions to the city’s payroll as well as several more jobs that would be funded through federal funding recently allocated by Congress. The proposed budget currently adds about $9 million in new expenditures to the city’s General Fund. One of the new positions in the

be homeless or have an untreated mental condition. More than a decade ago, City Court lost seven clerk positions during the Great Recession and the court had to adapt its operations with a limited workforce. Skupin said it may be time now to add another clerk position, especially one that can work with law enforcement and social workers to track complex cases involving mental health. “The resources that we’re asking for, not only is for the court,” Skupin said, “but is for the greater good of the city.” The additional clerk would cost Chandler about $76,600. The city’s Neighborhood Resources Department is hoping to receive $89,500 to create a new supervisory poWe Offer Federal Travel Identifications

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Farah Eltohamy

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Sara Donaldson

Ayesha Ahsan

Rayven Cannon

Nearly 6,900 students graduated with honors, the most ever for an individual class and a 5 percent increase over last spring. “We are incredibly proud of what our Sun Devils have accomplished during the past year of all-compassing changes and challenges wrought by the pandemic,” said Melissa Werner, executive director of the Office of University Events and Protocol and the Office of University Ceremonies. Fueled by passions to help their community, Cannon, Eltohamy, Ahsan, and Donaldson say they will utilize the

knowledge and experiences they gained from ASU to make differences within architecture, journalism, sociology and conservation professions. Fighting for representation Cannon and Eltohamy want to see more women like them in their field to increase diversity and representation within the architecture and journalism industry, respectively. After earning a BS in business administration finance from Lyon College, Cannon learned of ASU’s three-year master of architecture program and has now earned her master’s degree in

architecture. She plans to get a job in architectural science and technology. Cannon initialize didn’t realize how underrepresented women are in the field. Only 22 percent of licensed architects are women, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. About 9 percent are non-white and less than 1 percent are Black women. These facts motivated Cannon to work harder.

4 Chandler students earn ASU degrees BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE Staff Writer

Four Chandler natives were among the approximately 18,000 Arizona State University students who received degrees May 4. Rayven Cannon, Farah Eltohamy, Ayesha Ahsan and Sara Donaldson reflected on their post-graduate plans – which include fighting injustice and protecting the environment. Of the overall student total, nearly 12,200 were undergraduates and more than 5,500 were graduate students.

See

GRADS on page 21

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

GRADS

from page 20

“I’m a first-generation college student. I’m Black. I’m Native American. And I’m white,” Cannon said. “Going into this profession, I did not know that the numbers were very low and that the numbers were stacked against me. Knowing that and knowing that I’m very competitive, I want to win. And I want everybody around me to win.” Cannon and her peers met with the alumni of The Design School and surveyed students to brainstorm ways to ensure that students’ voices were heard, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. The group outlined 14 action items they wanted to see from The Design School administration, This letter became the foundation for Design Justice, an initiative Cannon co-founded. Cannon ultimately says she wants the voices of underrepresented students heard within ASU’s architecture community and beyond. Eltohamy hopes to improve Muslim representation in the news. Eltohamy said she learned the importance of community storytelling when the president of a mosque told her, “You are one of the only people who is actually talking to me and asking me about this mosque and telling the stories of the people here.” He added that the only time reporters ever approach him is “to condemn some random terrorist attack in some

other country as opposed to actually getting to know the community.” This experience inspired Eltohamy to use her passion for social justice and voice as a journalist to amplify the voices of those underrepresented. “Journalists from other marginalized backgrounds, in general, have never really been able to break into this field and tell the stories of their communities fairly and accurately,” Eltohamy said. “So that’s something that I really wanted to help fix, and the only way you can really fix that is by having more

Washington reporting fellow. Helping the environment Since graduating, Ahsan and Donaldson have put themselves on a path to bettering the community and environment. After Ahsan realized that she didn’t want to go into the medical field, but knew that she still wanted to help people, she decided to study sociology as it fulfilled her interest in learning about the science behind inequality and had a humanized approach she was seeking, she said. “My experiences as a woman of color

Surround yourself with subjects that interest “ you and classes that spark passion, be brave, take chances and participate in new things. ”

– Sara Donaldson

Muslim journalists in this field who can tell the stories of the Muslim community as it is.” Eltohamy was awarded an ASU Leadership Scholarship and completed her undergraduate degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in three years, using the fourth year to earn her master’s degree through Cronkite’s 3+1 program. She was named an Outstanding Undergraduate Student at the Cronkite School convocation. Eltohamy says that she is currently finishing an internship at NPR then will work for the Texas Tribune as their

and a first generation American fueled me to learn about the issues of inequity,” Ahsan said. “I was surprised to learn about how prevalent many issues are and how they’re not as distant as we make them out to be,” Ahsan said. “Racism, food insecurity and education inequity are among the myriad issues prevalent in our own neighborhoods.” Ahsan was accepted into the Leadership Scholarship Program and Barrett, The Honors College then graduated with dual degrees in sociology and economics. In pursuit of a public interest law profession, Ahsan will be starting a

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law degree program in the fall. Donaldson aims to use what she learned at ASU to help protect the environment. From her courses and experience in the Central Arizona Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology, Donaldson says she learned about the relationship between organisms and how they interact with the environment. She was also taught environmental ethics. “Learning about all the diverse species and plant life changed the way I saw a typical landscape,” Donaldson said. “I began to see how living things connect to each other and how they contribute to the value of biodiversity.” Donaldson always knew that she wanted to pursue a degree in science and majored in conservation biology and ecology at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences along with a minor in dance from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Donaldson received the ASU Alumni Association Medallion Scholarship all four years as well as the New American University Scholarship. Because her passion lies in protecting wildlife and the environment, Donaldson will be working toward her master’s degree in plant biology in conservation from ASU. After finishing her degree, Donaldson says she hopes to work at the Desert Botanical Garden. “Surround yourself with subjects that interest you and classes that spark passion,” Donaldson advises new students. “Be brave, take chances and participate in new things.”

COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Little to cheer about on home price front BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor

A major Valley real estate tracker last week reported that new data show 13 of 17 cities in the Phoenix Metro area – including Chandler – “moving in favor of buyers.” But homebuyers likely won’t find much to cheer about in the Cromford Report’s latest findings. That’s because prices are so high and inventory so little changed that it will seem like same-old, same-old in the market: prices are red-hot and pickings are slim. “We must remember that these are declines from extreme heights and the situation is not going to feel much different in the real world,” Cromford said. “It is only the mathematics that detects the slight cooling in the market,” it said. “This does NOT look like a bubble bursting and it is actually a healthy sign that the market cools a little while prices rise.” Nevertheless, Cromford also predicts that things are slowly starting to change, noting “prices are rising at an unsustainable pace.” “We now have supply increasing and demand falling,” it said. “This will gradually release some of the steam from the over-heating engine and the market can trend back towards normality.” If they don’t he said, by the end of the year “we would see the median sale

price rise to $514,000 by the end of the year.” But it adds, “I doubt that will happen.” Cromford has developed what it calls the Cromford Market Index that uses a variety of data to indicate whether the housing market in various Valley communities is tilting toward buyers or sellers. Anything over 100 is considered tipping toward sellers and anything below 100 favoring buyers. For more than a year, the index rating for individual cities has been well over 200 and in recent months has been as high as 900 in some communities. Chandler, for example, recently fell from 606 to 556 – still well above a buyer-friendly index rating. Cromford cautioned that its index “is designed to be the earliest of leading in-

dicators and other indicators (listing success rate, percent of list price, days inventory, etc.) do not have to follow suit. “If all indicators begin to drop like dominos, then we need to worry. At the moment, this is not the case. Nobody should be expecting prices to reverse direction just because the CMI takes a breather. In fact, we are expecting price rises to remain very strong for a long time yet.” Indeed, it said that in any community showing 200 or more on the Cromford index, bidding wars for homes can be expected. Meanwhile, it also noted that homebuilders are approaching the low inventory with a vengeance and that March “was a monster month for single-family building permits.” Pinal and Maricopa counties issued a combined total of 3,536 permits in March, the highest monthly total since June 2006, Cromford said, noting that also “was the month in which prices last hit their peak before tumbling.” Permits issued in March 2021 were up by 39 percent over March 2020,

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prompting Cromford to observed: “Clearly developers are doing what they can to compensate for the derisory amount of re-sale single-family homes available to buyers. It is fair to assume that we will see a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in the supply of new homes across Greater Phoenix over the next 12 months. “This could alleviate some of the pressure on re-sale listings and allow them to start to grow again. We certainly would not expect to stay at the current low level of re-sale forever. If they did, prices will reach levels that are unaffordable to the majority of buyers, which would eventually slacken demand and cause supply to rise anyway.” The surge in permits – which is expected to continue – has Cromford predicting a “slow and steady effect, rather than a sudden flooding of the market.” He noted that for every new home sold, it generally means a re-sale goes on the market. Of course, that assumes the seller will be giving up the old home for a new home and not joining the equally hot rental market either as a landlord for long-term tenants or vacation renters. Years of under-building has caught up with the U.S. Now, the country has a serious shortage of homes—as many as 4 million, according to Freddie Mac—to meet the demand from buyers. Realtor.com noted, “Millennials hit the point in life where buying a home becomes very attractive, and the pandemic has caused people to rethink their living situations. All of which is to say that demand in this market is organic, according to economists and not fueled by risky lending practices.” It said builders are having enough trouble keeping up with demand – partly because of disruption in supply lines for crucial supplies, such as lumber and appliances – which also is driving up prices. Realtor.com also foresees “some headwinds for the market.” “While mortgage rates have fallen in April thus far, if they begin to rise again in the future that could constrain buyers’ interest in pricier new homes,” it said. “Supply is the biggest limiting factor in home sales. The is a 2.1 month’s supply of existing homes at the current sales rate, which is up from an all-time low of 1.9 months last December,” Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial. “But the rise from the low is not because there are more homes for sale, it is because the sales pace slowed.” Meanwhile, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, last week released national and regional data showing prices in February were 12 percent higher nationwide than they were in February 2020. “Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in February,” it said. “Phoenix led the way with a 17.4 percent year-over-year price increase.”

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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COMMUNITY NEWS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Jobless must now look to qualify for aid BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Arizonans are going to have to start looking for work again later this month if they want to keep their unemployment benefits. Gov. Doug Ducey rescinded an order he signed in March 2020 suspending those job-search requirements during the pandemic. Effective the week of May 23, anyone wanting to keep those benefits will again have to make contact with potential employers at least four days a week. Initially it requires just a “sincere’’ job search in the chosen field to maintain benefits. There also is a mandate to document the effort. Direct contact with employers is just one option. The Department of Economic Security says others include: registering with and contacting a union hiring or placement facility; checking back with former employers who may have suitable openings; registering with a placement facility at school, college or university for work that may be avail-

able in the occupation or profession; taking a test or applying for civil service or government agency positions; registering with a private employment agency. And all of that requires keeping a record. But anyone who collects benefits for at least four weeks will find themselves being forced to take pretty much anything that comes their way. That’s because a 2018 law signed by Ducey -says individuals forfeit their benefits if they do not accept any jobs that pays them at least 20 percent more than they were collecting. With state benefits capped at $240 a week, that’s pretty low. That translates out to $6 an hour for a full-time job. That means any job at all that pays the minimum wage of $12.15 an hour would qualify. So, too, would jobs for tipped workers who are entitled to be paid just $9.15 an hour as long as their tips bring them up to the minimum. Ducey’s move comes despite the fact that the state’s employment situ-

t? o G ws Ne

ation has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. The state has recovered just 68 percent of the 331,500 jobs it lost since the pandemic-induced recession began in February 2020. And unemployment is still 36 percent higher than it was when the pandemic began. More telling is that the recovery is quite uneven. For example, the state’s financial activities sector has recovered just 37 percent of what was shed, versus 62 percent for leisure and hospitality. In fact, the only part of the economy that’s doing better than before the COVID outbreak is trade and transportation. That’s driven largely by e-commerce and the fact that people have been buying more online. That, in turn, has meant the need for more workers at warehouse and fulfillment centers, like those operated by Amazon, as well as delivery drivers. How much better? Doug Walls, the OEO’s marketing information director, said the 45,800 jobs

lost has been more than compensated by 64,300 more people now working in this sector than at the beginning of the recession. The most recent report from the state Department of Economic Security says there are about 55,000 Arizonans currently collecting state benefits. That is down from a peak of more than 230,000 last summer. But it still is higher than the 17,000 a week before the pandemic. None of this affects current negotiations to boost the maximum benefits. A Senate-approved measure by Sen. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, would increase the cap by $80 a week to $320 and potentially to $400 at some point. But the trade-off is that once the statewide unemployment rate drops to 6 percent or less those benefits would be cut from the current 26-week cap to 22 weeks. But Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, is pushing a plan to boost benefits to $300 a week, but without the cut in the length of benefits. The governor has not yet weighed in on either of the measures.

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Chandler dentists are robotic world-beaters BY KEVIN PIREHPOUR Contributor

Robots might not be taking over the world, but they’re proving to be useful assistants in the dental field. With the use of the Yomi dental system, the first FDA cleared robot-assisted dental surgery system, Dr. LisaMarie Sarhangian and Dr. Leslie Fish has combined completed over 750 robotic dental implants in their Chandler office. There are only about 50 Yomi dental systems installed in dental clinics throughout the world and their office is the only clinic in Arizona to use the system. To date, the two have completed more dental implants with the robotic assistant than any other dental surgeons in the world. “We didn’t go into it looking to be a leader, we went into it just looking to give our patients access to the best technology that we could,” Sarhangian said. “And I think keeping our eyes on doing that for every patient that’s before us, has led us to do the numbers that we’ve done.” Yomi, developed by Neocis, is a computerized dental navigational system that offers surgeons precise physical guidance based on a pre-planned drilling route based on the patient’s CAT scans.

Above: Chandler dental surgeons Dr. Leslie Fish and LisaMarie Sarhangian have completed more robotic implant surgeries than any in the world. Above Right: The Yomi dental system helps Dr. Leslie Fish and LisaMarie Sarhangian reduce the chance for human error in implant surgeries. (Kevin Pirehour/Contributor)

The robotic arm limits the surgeon’s free-hand mobility while directing a surgeon’s drill location and depth to plant the metal implant post into a patient’s jawbone. That nearly eliminates the possibility of drill errors. Atop the implant sits a connector, known as an abutment, connected to the replacement tooth, which makes up the entirety of what is generally called a dental implant. “I’ve been doing this a long time and

can I do it on my own, sure. But I’m human,” Fish said. “Between my surgical skills and the robotic assistance, we’re more accurate. It’s impossible for a human to be a drill press.” Dental implants have a high success rate – only about 5- to 10-percent of dental implants fail, an outcome likely the result if the implant does not bond with the jawbone or factors such as microbial infections, according to a Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related

Research study. “There’s some amount of error anytime a human’s drilling,” Sarahagian said. “But if we’ve already pre-planned the implant to a certain location to avoid those anatomical structures and it’s locking us into that replant position and greatly helps us avoid those anatomical structures.” Robotics, such as da Vinci for laparoscopic surgery in the abdomen or pelvis, are becoming increasingly more common in surgical practices, and Fish said Yomi is the first step for dentistry. “Dentistry works in fractions of a millimeter,” Fish said. “For a human being repeatedly to be able to keep that precision is nearly impossible. So I do think whether it will be a decade from now, I think dentistry will be robotics.” Information: fishandsarhangian.com.

Chandler yoga clinic sees exponential client growth BY KEVIN PIREHPOUR Contributor

When the pandemic upended in-person elementary schools, Jessica Kalicki began searching for naturopathic methods to help her family cope with the stress. That’s when she found the Nicole Anne Yoga and Holistic Wellness clinic based in Chandler. “I think I was looking for meditation, something along those lines, trying to calm it down,” said Kalicki, 38, a former high school teacher and a client of the Nicole Anne Yoga and Wellness clinic. “Because my husband’s working full time in the house, I’m the only one taking care of the kids.” The clinic offers a range of alternative therapy options housed in various venues and online such as aquatic exercises, spiritual coaching, yoga and neuro emotional technical, or NET, therapy – a popular form of therapy that aims to heal deep-rooted emotional triggers in clients. Kalicki found the therapies useful as she and her children adjusted to remote learning. “It started changing my kids and I

Nicole Anne Fonovich of Chandler practices sound healing on Joan Grube. (Kevin Pirehour/SanTan Sun News Contributor)

felt better because they were no longer so sad and depressed and like hating life,” Kalicki said “It’s really difficult when you see your seven-year-old talk about how much he hates life and my five-year-old is throwing things across the room at people because he doesn’t

know how to handle what’s going on.” Nicole Anne Fonovich, a holistic health practitioner and the owner of Nicole Anne Yoga and Wellness, said many of the clients she meets describe symptoms associated with depression, anxiety and social stress likely because

of isolation or fear of being in public during the pandemic. “I think that’s one of the largest factors people are facing right now,” Fonovich said. “For most people, their world has changed as a result of this pandemic.” In 2020, the percentage of Americans reporting symptoms of depression more than tripled during the pandemic likely due to stay-at-home measures, economic uncertainty and increased levels of stress, according to a study published on JAMA Network Open. In April 2020, the clinic saw a boom in cliental after closing during in March. Today, its client base has grown more than 700 percent compared to the non-pandemic year of 2019, Fonovich said. “We’ve tripled in size from last year,” Anne said. “And this year, so far by the numbers, were set to double or triple again, I’m hoping triple.” More than three-quarters of therapists have switched from in-person to remote therapy during the pandemic, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association. See

YOGA on page 26

BUSINESS

YOGA

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

from page 25

Fonovich’s clinic was ahead of the teletherapy curve. In 2017, the wellness center started offering remote options to clients across the nation, an advantage over local yoga venues and therapy offices that only offered in-person options. “Brick and mortars were closing, we had already been synced via telehealth throughout 2017, we were already set up and didn’t have to adapt to what was happening in the world,” Anne said.

“The only thing we adapted was adding on about 12 additional independent contractors because of all the work that was coming in.” Fonovich, who has a master’s in education and a certification as a holistic health practitioner from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, had been working with an osteopathic medical university when her father was diagnosed with leukemia. She left her position to return home to help care for him for the last nine months of his life. “At that point, we were trying to

find anything we could to extend the amount of time he had,” Fonovich said. “So, nutrition, vitamins, meditation and all the things that he possibly could do. Not that he was doing all of them, but it at least opened my eyes to the possibilities of Eastern medicine.” Her interest in Eastern medicine and holistic health practices led to a pilgrimage to India with her meditation guru, who she met through his daughter while attending the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe. Her life experiences, education and the connections built with Airbnb

management groups, hotels, schools, funeral homes, senior community centers, restaurants, and the city of Mesa for outdoor sessions has contributed to the overall success of the clinic, she said. Fonovich said she is looking forward to the future and the opportunity to be there for anyone interested in holistic health methods. “We’re here to help heal and provide additional tools, holistic tools, to help (you) through that process through (your) journey,” she said. Information: nicoleanneyoga.com.

San Marcos Hotel builds on past, eyeing future BY PAULA SORIA Contributor

The San Marcos Hotel continues to be not only an enduring downtown Chandler landmark but an amazing experience for guests. When it first opened in 1913, Dr. Alexander Chandler knew how to sell the hotel to the public.

Regardless of what “ has happened around

her, she has continued to welcome guests and with the love this property is now getting, she will continue to do so for a long time.

”

– Andrew Fishburn

The views, weather, amenities, entertainment and recreational activities helped him sell the hotel as a destination sport. With recent renovations, the hotel still aims to do just that. “It was the center of the community,” said Nate Meyers, coordinator and curator of collections at the Chandler Museum. “It was the business that the town was formed around and it sits at

and the climate of course,” Meyers said. The resort was the winter vacation spot of the rich and famous – including actor Jimmy Stewart and President Herbert Hoover. Australian actor Errol Flynn honeymooned there with his wife at the time, Nora Eddington. In 1913 the hotel had 30 guest rooms. Now, it has 249 rooms. In the past two years, all of the 1980 guest bathrooms. The bedrooms have new beds. Andrew Fishburn, assistant general manager, said crews also have been doing While holding to the principles of its founder, the San Marcos Hotel also has been upgrading its physical ongoing work on plant to ensure guests have a satisfying experience. (Special to SanTan Sun News ) the grounds to bring back the lush gardens, Marcos for 19 years. the heart of the downtown area, so it’s though they are making sure to to use The hotel quickly gained a reputacentral to everything that has hapnative Arizona pla nts that don’t contion for having amenities that many pened in Chandler since its founding.” sume much water. hotels lacked – such as electricity and Chandler had dreamed about openWifi and security have been uping a resort for more than a decade and telephone lines in every single room. It graded and exterior lights on the main also included a golf and tennis course, he originally planned to build one in building have been replaced. The buildhorseback riding and car rental. Mesa, but that fell through. ing itself has been repainted, walkways “I think that the entertainment, the For his general manager he hired have been retiled, and all furniture recreational opportunities, parties Grace Perley Robinson, who was and all that kind of stuff were kind of manager of Scottsdale’s Ingleside Inn like the driver for its attractiveness – for five years. She remained at the San See on page 27

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SAN MARCOS

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replaced. The historic pergola wrapping around the building has been restored, as have the original wood windows. All signage has been replaced and the 80s awnings on the main building have been upgraded with more traditional structures in a modern color. Looking forward, the resort will continue its improvements with the mission of also improving the guests’ experience. “Lobby, bar, restaurant, meeting rooms, ballrooms and additional grounds work will all be starting in the next two months,” Fishburn said. “We are also adding a marketplace in the main lobby that will have an extensive wine and liquor selection for retail sale.” Even now, the San Marcos still has its

share of regular visitors. “The thing I like the most about the San Marcos is it is central location to the Old Downtown. It is walking distance to so many great places to eat and drink. The people here at the hotel treat you like family; they are awesome,” said guest Steve Mehring. “I’ve come here for a long time over the past few years for business and come every one or two months and it’s like there’s no other place I would rather be,” he added. “Even though it’s a little far away from where I need to go to work, it is the place of choice.” Fishburn said the San Marcos will continue to thrive. “This property has been around through two world wars, Prohibition, the Great Depression, 20 sitting presidents, several owners, renovations, abandoned in the 1970’s, changed names several times, 9/11, economic highs and major downfalls, and now the uncharted territory we entered in

The San Marcos Hotel was a mecca for Holyywood stars, presidents and other notables. (Chandler Museum)

2020,” Fishburn said. “Regardless of what has happened around her, she has continued to

welcome guests and with the love this property is now getting, she will continue to do so for a long time.”

Keyboard ﬁrm pays $9.2M for Chandler site SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Tennessee-based Mechanical Keyboards, one of the largest providers of mechanical keyboards in the world, has bought a 74,000-square-foot flex industrial building on 6 acres in West Chandler, paying $9.2 million. Approximately 40 employees will work in the facility at 7300 W. Chandler Blvd. in jobs ranging from logistics,

administration, customer service and software development. Mechanical Keyboards currently has one facility near Nashville and the Chandler facility will serve the western United States. The building has nearly 33,000-square-feet of office space and more than 240 parking spaces. Outside of keyboard fulfillment and distribution, Mechanical Keyboards

plans to use the building for a showroom, office space for technology and entrepreneurial startups, tech event hosting and to support esports athletes and content creators, the city said. “We are very excited to activate this property in West Chandler and bring additional jobs to one of our largest employment corridors,” said Mayor Kevin Hartke. “Mechanical Keyboards has told us that workforce and freeway

access were determining factors in their location decision.” Mechanical Keyboards specializes in high-end keyboards that cater to gamers, tech professionals and a growing base of keyboard enthusiasts. Unlike others, mechanical keyboards feature individual switches for each key and provide a comfortable, customizSee

KEYBOARD on page 30

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Chandler strip mall turning into food mecca SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

A major Asian supermarket chain based in California with 51 locations in eight other states has picked a renovated Chandler strip mall for its entry into Arizona. 99 Ranch is anchoring the former Anderson Fiesta Shopping Center at 1760 W. Chandler Blvd., which was purchased by NewQuest Properties in October 2019 with an eye toward converting it into a foreign food mecca. 99 Ranch Market, also known as Tawa Supermarket, was established in 1984 by Roger Chen, a Taiwanese immigrant who felt there was a cultural gap in the typical American supermarket. “Our company slogan, ‘For 100, we try harder’ demonstrates our commitment to always provide the best products and services to the communities we serve,” it states on its website. “Ranch Market represents freshness and symbolizes our promise to deliver the freshest products.” NewQuest’s Asia-Pacific Retail Group also has landed Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, Meet Fresh and Uncle Lee’s Kitchen for the 117,565-square-foot plaza and has preleased 87 percent of Class A retail – a 52 percent gain since it bought the mall. “There are a lot of West Coast restaurateurs and retailers looking to expand to Arizona. Until now, they hadn’t found the right opportunity or product,” said Naoyuki Kondo, leasing

longtime tenants when NewQuest acquired the 14.5acre property. “We envision Chandler Ranch will be a culinary destination that people will gravitate towards to experience a fun food adventure,” said Heather Nguyen, development partner of NewQuest Properties and leader of the Asia-Pacific Retail Group. NewQuest is modeling Chandler Ranch after three Asian-focused retail projects in its portfolio – Carrollton Town Center and Frisco Ranch in North Texas and Katy Grand in west Houston. “Market studies show Chandler, often deemed the 99 Ranch, an Asian supermarket will anchor the remodeled strip mall at 1760 W. Chandler Blvd., which owner NewQuest Properties is making a food lovers’ mecca. (Courtesy of NewQuest Properties) Silicon Valley of Arizona, was a strong candidate for the firm’s niche concept because it All three will open later this year. specialist in NewQuest’s Asia-Pacific boasts the highest Asian growth in the David Uhles of Western Retail AdviRetail Group. state,” a spokeswoman said. NewQuest said it has invested about sors represented Kura’s while the other “We’ve had to educate potential tentwo leases resulted from direct nego$10 million into the shopping center’s ants about the strong Asian growth. They tiations with NewQuest’s specialized makeover, including the addition of didn’t always consider Arizona to be their well-designed outdoor gathering spaces leasing group. Chandler Ranch also will be home to the next market,” Kondo added. “Chandler for the post-COVID era, new facades, lighting and signage. 99 Ranch will open second Ramen Hood in the state, which will Ranch is changing their minds.” Key to success of the NewQuest occupy another 2,791 square feet. in late May, backfilling a 44,442-sf forconcept is the concentration of estab“The redesigned Chandler Ranch is mer Basha’s store. lished international restaurants and emerging as an epicurean collection Kura Revolving Sushi Bar and Uncle retail brands and rising stars from PanLee’s Kitchen have leased 3,311 square feet of Asian, Mexican, Mediterranean and American cuisines,” a spokeswoman and 1,466 square feet, respectively. Meet See on page 29 said, noting some restaurants were Fresh has roped off 2,400 square feet.

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY9, 2021

Knowing Social Security rules is important start BY HAROLD WONG Contributor

Many decades ago, future retirement income was based on “the 3-legged stool:” Social Security, pensions and whatever you saved. In 2021, virtually no one in the private sector has an old-fashioned pension that pays you a guaranteed lifetime income. Today, only government employees (with rare exceptions) get a pension today. In 2020, the average annual Social Security (SS) benefit was $18,024 for an individual and $30,372 for a married couple. About 40.2 percent of Americans age 60 and up rely solely on Social Security for retirement income. According to Secure Retirement Institute research, SS makes up 37 percent of retirees’ total income. SS retirement income is based on only two factors: the highest 35 years of wages (or net profits from one’s own business) that you paid into SS, inflation adjusted; and when you take your SS. The easiest way to increase your SS income is to wait until age 70, when you get the maximum possible. However, Motley Fool finds that about 60 percent of retired workers take their SS prior to reaching age 65 and only about 10 percent begin taking SS between the ages of 67-70. Only 3 percent wait until age 70 and many take it at age 62, the earliest one is eligible. Taking SS at age 70 instead of 62 could be a $1 million decision: From 2017-2019, I gave two seminars each year for federal employees on “How to Understand Your Federal Retirement Benefits.” I did a composite of three single women: a nurse, nurse practitioner, and pharmacist. If they took SS at age 62, it would be $22,344 per year versus $43,680 at age 70. The difference is $21,336. For most of the last 12 years, one could only earn about 2 percent in a 10-year US Treasury bond. One would need to save $1,066,800 times 2 percent to equal $21,336 of annual income. What’s easier: waiting eight years to take SS or saving an extra $1,066,800 from age 62 to 70?

RANCH

from page 28

Asia and California that Nguyen’s team has been courting for several years. Categories include authentic cuisines, high-end bakeries, dessert shops and specialty stores. “As with we did in Texas, we are curating a tenant mix to create a diverse dining destination by recruiting certain brands for Chandler Ranch,” Nguyen said. “We hope to offer a destination where there is

In retirement, folks live on monthly cash flow, which is usually more important than the total one’s saved. Example: if you deposit $3 million in a bank that pays 0.1 percent interest, one would only have $3,000 of annual interest income. Case study of single female federal employee, who will turn age 66 in a month: She earned $60,000 annually and had worked for the federal government for 36 years. She had talked to the local SS Administration office, who stressed that she should take SS when she turned 66. She would get about $24,000 annually. I advised her to wait until age 70 and she would get 32 percent more, or $31,680. This is $7,680 more annually. If she retired from federal employment at 66, the Federal Employee Retirement System annuity would give her 36 years (1.1 percent of every year of service) times $60,000 salary = $23,760. Her total annual retirement income would be $23,760 federal retirement + $24,000 SS = $47,760. However, she thinks she has a good chance of getting a big promotion to $100,000 per year. If she works four more years, now her FERS benefit is 40 years (1.1 percent) times $100,000 = $44,000. Her retirement income is drastically increased to $44,000 + $31,680 in SS = $75,680 versus $47,760 without following my advice. That’s $27,920 more annual retirement income! Conclusion: knowing the rules of SS and your employer pension can yield much more retirement income for your bucket list dreams. Free live seminars and lunch: • Saturday, June 12 at The Old Spaghetti Factory, 3155 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler, at 10:45 a.m.; • Sunday June 6 at The Hyatt Place 3535 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler, at 10:30 a.m. Topic: “Double Your Social Security & Other Retirement Income and Pay No Tax!” RSVP: 480-706-0177 or harold_ wong@hotmail.com. Dr. Harold Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

something that will appeal to everyone.” NewQuest Properties was founded in 2001. The privately owned, full-service commercial real estate firm specializes in development, land brokerage, leasing, tenant representation, investment sales and property management services. Headquartered in Houston, NewQuest owns a portfolio of more than 60 retail and mixed-use projects valued at $2.2 billion and provides leasing services for more than 12 million square feet of commercial space throughout the U.S.

BUSINESS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Fired Pie co-owner Fred Morgan displays some of Fired Pie’s pizza concoctions. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

Fired Pie’s collaboration n with Wow Bao at San Tan Village will bring steamed bao and other Asian delights to Gilbert. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

Fired Pie teams up with popular bao concept BY KRISTINE CANNON Staff Writer

Fired Pie has joined the ranks of local restaurants with their own ghost kitchen. The fast-casual pizza concept launched a ghost kitchen out of two of its locations, both of which are located in Scottsdale: at Fashion Square and at Northsight. But the ghost kitchens won’t be serving pizza. They will be used by Chicago-based Asian street food concept Wow Bao, which serves steamed bao, as well as potstickers, steamed dumplings, rice and noodle bowls, and more. “The quality of this product is amazing,” said Fred Morgan, co-founder of Fired Pie. Currently, Wow Bao operates out of two Fired Pie locations in Scottsdale, but Fired Pie has plans to add Wow Bao to 12 more locations within the next three months — four of which are slated to launch within the next 30 days, including Ahwatukee Town Center. “At Fired Pie, we offer our guests the highest quality ingredients possible and Wow Bao’s menu aligned with our mission to continue to do that,” co-owner Doug Doyle added. Wow Bao’s signature item, its bao, is a soft, fluffy dough filled with savory or sweet flavors and steamed to perfection. They have four flavors from which to choose, including whole wheat vegetable, BBQ Berkshire pork, teriyaki chicken, and spicy Mongolian beef. Since Fired Pie brought on the fast Asian concept, customers have raved about the BBQ Pork Baos and the chicken dumplings. “The rice bowls are also starting to

KEYBOARD

from page 27

able typing experience. “We’re thrilled to open MK’s first major expansion in Chandler, Arizona,” said Joel Tubre, president of Mechanical Keyboards. “We have begun buildout of the facility and have some exciting plans. Our products look great online, but they

take off, and the Kung Po Chicken is the most popular,” Morgan said. Morgan calls customers’ response to Wow Bao “amazing” – so much so they nearly sold out of all of their Wow Bao products the weekend of March 20. “It has been better than we had projected, with little advertisement or promotions,” he added. Thus, their biggest challenge since the launch of Wow Bao in the Valley has been keeping up with demand and keeping their kitchens stocked with enough product. “The other issue we had early on was the delivery drivers trying to find Wow Bao, not understanding they needed to pick it up inside of Fired Pie,” Morgan said. Morgan and Doyle searched for seven months for the perfect concept for their ghost kitchen. They initially gave a Grubhub-created concept called Tyga Bites a shot, but it didn’t work out because it was only available to Grubhub customers. “We then started doing a lot of research on ghost and virtual kitchens and found out Wow Bao was operating as a ghost kitchen,” Morgan explained. “As soon as I received more information from

them, I knew this was the one for us.” “Our customers have been turning to online ordering, takeout and third-party delivery during the pandemic, so we felt this was the perfect time to launch our ghost kitchen,” Doyle added. Wow Bao was founded in 2003, but it wasn’t until last spring that it launched a pioneering business model to increase restaurant partner’s revenue while also expanding the company’s footprint throughout the U.S. As part of their business model, restaurant partners, like Fired Pie, serve Wow Bao staples while third-party delivery providers, like Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub, deliver the goods. Since launching the partner kitchen program in April, Wow Bao will reach 1,000 locations by the end of this year – up from 150 locations in January and only six at the beginning of 2020. “We didn’t conceive this for the pandemic, but as soon as it started, we realized these partner kitchens were perfect for the critical situation restaurants are facing right now and will face for some time,” said Wow Bao CEO Geoff Alexander. “This is a lifeline that quite literally can mean the difference between prof-

itability and extinction to restaurants.” Any restaurant can join the Wow Bao program for less than $1,000; and according to Wow Bao, most partners have been surpassing the expected sales mark of $2,500 or more in six weeks. “I like the idea that this is an established brand, many people know it, and they have a loyal customer base,” Morgan said, adding that it was a “no-brainer” to partner with Wow Bao. “We are excited to align ourselves with a concept that has seen explosive new growth in the past year,” Morgan continued. “As the ghost restaurant trend continues to grow, we expect to continue to add virtual concepts to our local storefronts.” Unlike other Fired Pie locations, the 19th Avenue and Northern store is a fast-casual rapid online and carryout locations, meaning it specifically caters to those on the go. “Carry-out and delivery stores are in demand, especially those with customizable options, and we have something for everyone, including gluten-free, vegan and plant-based options,” Morgan said in a release. “We’ve chosen a great location for this store, where our customers can easily have their meal made fresh in under 10 minutes.” In addition to increasing the number of Wow Bao kitchens in the Valley, Fired Pie also has plans to expand its Wow Bao menu. “We have a new bao coming out in a few weeks: a cheeseburger,” Morgan teased. To order Wow Bao, visit wowbao. com or order directly on the Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub apps.

feel and look even better in person. “Chandler has been very supportive, and we’re really looking forward to showing customers in Phoenix Metro and the surrounding areas just how awesome these keyboards are in the new showroom.” Chris Camacho, president & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, said, “Mechanical Keyboards’ expansion into Chandler is yet another win for the East Valley and creates quality jobs for

the residents of Greater Phoenix. “The company is able to better serve customers on the West Coast with this move thanks to the region’s infrastructure and geographic position, and we look forward to watching them scale and being a partner in their continued success.” Jay Donkersloot, a local investor and previous owner of the property , noted, “This building has been underutilized for multiple years, but I knew that it

had a lot of potential with a few important tweaks.” MechanicalKeyboards.com has been a one-stop shop for mechanical keyboards since its launch in 2012. Its catalog features over 3,000 enthusiast-grade keyboards, keycaps, switches, frames and other related accessories. Orders are stored, serviced and fulfilled by MK staff and shipped to customers in over 60 countries.

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com

Hamilton’s Selvidge among top prospects in MLB draft BY CONNOR MORMAN

There’s more “competition for

Cronkite News

Two of the most highly regarded high school baseball prospects in the Valley continue to showcase why they might be top picks in this year’s MLB Draft. Desert Mountain infielder Wes Kath and Hamilton pitcher Brock Selvidge are both ranked one and two, respectively, in Prep Baseball Report Arizona’s Class of 2021 Player Rankings, updated on April 9. The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is scheduled to begin July 11. Although no longer the number one overall prospect according to Prep Baseball Report Arizona, Hamilton pitcher Brock Selvidge is still highly ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the state and the LSU commit is continuing to perform at a high level. The senior was named the Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year in 2019-2020 despite COVID-19 canceling the remainder of the season but has returned to top form this season, continuing to hit the ball to all parts of the field, driving in baserunners while pitching deep into games. His coach Mike Woods said they have talked about staying grounded amidst all the buzz and attention. “We try to keep it about the present,” Woods said. “If you’re doing your job every day, you show up and just try to be the best teammate and best ballplayer you can be and let your talent

Selvidge at his position in this year’s class than Kath has to deal with, but he still has the talent and upside to go at some point in the top five rounds. Wes Kath, an Arizona State commit, is hitting over .500 with 10 home runs, which leads the state. (Photo courtesy MLB.com)

speak for itself. But if you get caught up in all the noise and get caught up with if you had a bad day, how that might affect your draft status, that’s a recipe for disaster.” The 6-3, 205-pound left-hander is the No. 1 pitcher in the state of Arizona, according to Prep Baseball Report, and a Second-Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America. “He’s a talented young man,” Woods said. “He’s a good worker so whether he goes to the college route or the pro route, he will play at the next level.

There’s no doubt. He’s been working toward his goal for an awful long time. He’s put a lot of time in. “It just depends on where he goes in the draft and everything else but there’s no doubt he’ll be playing baseball after high school and I think he’ll do just fine and I think he will do well.” Collazo says this year’s crop of left-handed high school pitchers is deep but that Selvidge has the athleticism and stuff needed to succeed and be a high draft pick in July. “(Selvidge) stands out with a strong

”

frame that should be able to handle a professional starting role, and a fastball and slider that progressed last summer,” Collazo said. “Selvidge is athletic and has shown a good changeup in the past as well, giving him a three-pitch mix that could have plenty of teams interested, but he will still need to refine his control and command moving forward to get the most out of his pure stuff. “There’s more competition for Selvidge at his position in this year’s class than Kath has to deal with, but he See

PROSPECTS on page 32

Polo on bicycles has no room for horsing around BY REGINA BURGESS

Cronkite News

When most people think of playing polo, they imagine competitors on horseback riding across a field, not on bicycles wearing helmets and hitting a ball into a net. Conventional polo matches generally happen in wealthy enclaves of the Hamptons or Argentina, not in city parks filled with skateboarders and dog walkers. Arizona Hardcourt Bike Polo meets at Cielito Park in Phoenix every Sunday to play pick-up games and hone their skills. Formed in 2008, the squad is the first of its kind in Arizona. It’s mostly a close-knit group full of family members and childhood friends, but the club encourages anyone to join. “I’ve known these guys for so long like I said I’ve played since I was eight … so just being around them is fun and the sport itself is,” said team member Jacob Boyd. One of the world’s oldest team sports, polo’s lineage traces back to the sixth century BC, when cavalry units in the Persian king’s guard devised it as a training exercise. Polo is a family tradi-

“For me, it is just the competition of it, because these children have been playing since they were 10, so they are monsters and like it’s always been like, ‘OK, gotta go back next week, play the boys, see if we can beat them,’” Swartz said. Even though this tight-knit group has played together for years, they are accepting of new players joining the team. The newest member, John Nielsen, joined after moving to Phoenix from Oregon. He has been playing bike polo for 11 years. The inclusive environment drew him to the sport. Jacob Boyd scoops up the ball, using the open side of his mallet. Mallets are capped off on one end to “Everybody is always hit the ball, while the opposite side is open and used for scooping the ball. (Alina Nelson/Cronkite News) welcome. If you don’t have everything you Most of the team has been together tion for the Boyds. need someone’s willing to share it. I since 2007 or 2008, team member Justin His father and grandfather played think that was one of the things that Swartz said. The competitive aspect of grass polo, and Boyd, now 23, took bike polo keeps Swartz coming back up hardcourt bike polo when he was See on page 32 every week. around 10.

POLO

SPORTS & RECREATION

PROSPECTS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Wes in the top round, it would not be because of the first five tools. It would be because of that sixth intangible tool, his makeup and his ability to handle challenging situations.” Baseball America national writer Carlos Collazo says Kath is one of the better third basemen in this year’s class, given that it’s a weaker year for corner infielders but that he very well could be a top-70 pick coming off the board.

from page 31

still has the talent and upside to go at some point in the top five rounds.” Kath, an Arizona State commit, is hitting the cover off the baseball this spring. He is hitting over .500 with 10 home runs, which leads the state. The 6-3, 200-pound shortstop is viewed as a five-tool player and has increased his draft stock with every game and performance this season and scouts have rallied to attend any Desert Mountain games they can to see the sweet-swinging senior. His coach Ryan Dyer believes that while Kath is above average at all five tools, his sixth tool is what separates him. “What’s most special about Wes is that intangible tool, the sixth tool that you hear about. That’s his make up,” Dyer said. “He’s such a special person in the fact that he’s mature beyond his years. He’s humble. He works hard but he also has a great perspective on life and on the game of baseball.” Earlier this year, Kath was named a first-team high school All-American by Baseball America along with middle infielders Jordan Lawlar and Marcelo Mayer, widely projected to be top 10 draft picks this summer. Handling all the national recognition and anticipation for a high schooler can be daunting for many but Dyer believes Kath has been composed throughout the entire process. “He’s handled it as well as you could ever imagine a 17- or 18-year-old kid be-

POLO

Hamilton pitcher Brock Selvidge is ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the state and is an LSU commit. (Zach Alvira/Staff )

ing put into a situation where day in and day out, 15 to 30 guys behind the stands are critiquing every move you make,” Dyer said. “I’m certainly proud of him. “If I’m ever asked why I would draft

from page 31

brought me in the most,” Nielsen said. “I’m kind of shy off the bat usually, but it is just like an instant community all around the world really that is ready to be your friend, so that’s really cool.” The team has a Facebook page that invites people to learn how to play and offers to lend a bike, mallet and helmet if needed. “You don’t need a specific bike to play. I mean if you have a bike just come out and try it. It’ll be fine,” Boyd said. It’s all about their love of this unique sport and their desire to spread their passion for the game. “I mean, I don’t think you really need any skills. It’s just the desire to have a good time, it’s really all you need. You gotta learn how to ride a bike eventually but none of us are that great at it,” Nielsen said.

“He’s an impressive power hitter who could wind up with 60-grade power at the big league level and be an average or above-average pure hitter,” Collazo said. “If those offensive tools are legit, his bat should carry him no matter what defensive position he winds up sticking at. Given the lack of impact bats in this year’s class, it wouldn’t be surprising if a team liked him enough to pop him in the top two rounds.” There is some skill needed to play, but anyone can learn if they want. Knowing how to ride a bike is a must, but balance is also important. “It’s just about being comfortable because you’re riding with usually just one hand. It’s a lot about balance and being able to maneuver amongst other people,” Swartz said. Swartz points out that even seasoned players are susceptible to making mistakes when playing bike polo. “People will fall, like it happens,” he said. ”It just takes a lot of practice.” Practice may not always make perfect, but this team still has fun every Sunday playing pick-up games in the park. “It’s competition, it’s fun trying to learn new things,” Boyd said. “It’s just like skateboarding, trying to learn a new trick.” Most anyone can learn to play bike polo; race, gender, and ethnicity do not matter. Spreading friendship and love of bike polo is what this team is all about, members say.

10” x 6.6”

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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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Chandler is prepared for Colorado River shortage BY COUNCILMAN RENÉ LOPEZ Guest Writer

A recent report from the United States Bureau of Reclamation details a potential water supply shortage from the Colo-

rado River. Thanks to Arizona’s priority system and our diverse water portfolio, Chandler’s municipal supplies will not be reduced in early shortage. The Colorado River represents less than half of Arizona’s collective supply, with additional sources including the Salt River Project, reclaimed water and groundwater. Chandler has invested in our infrastructure, water supplies, underground water storage and conservation programs for many years knowing that our Colorado River supplies could be cut. Chandler participates in regional water planning as an active member of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, of which I am a board member, and regularly meets with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Central Arizona Project, Salt River Project and individual cities to discuss water supply, water sustainability and water management issues.

In 2010, Chandler received its state-approved 100-year Assured Water Supply by demonstrating to the Arizona Department of Water Resources that the City had sufficient renewable supplies and infrastructure to meet existing and future demands for the next 100 years.

The designation of Assured Water Supply covers Chandler’s whole service area. New subdivisions and businesses that are within Chandler’s water service area are automatically deemed to have a proven Assured Water Supply. Water conservation has been a major focus of our long-term water

Adam Lowe, MD, FACG

management plan. Chandler’s Water Conservation Program was established in 1990 with the goal of instilling a water conservation ethic and permanently reducing water use. Today we continue to implement innovative programs and practices that will help us sustain our water supply. You can learn more about these programs, tips and tricks online at chandleraz. gov/water. Access to a safe and secure water supply is a top priority of Council’s, and as an active AMWUA Board Member, I will continue to advocate on Chandler’s behalf to deliver that. Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any water-related concerns at rene.lopez@ chandleraz.gov. The author is a member of Chandler City Council.

Rajan Khosla, MD

Joseph Daniel Davis, MD

We are pleased to announce the opening of SONORAN

GASTROENTEROLOGY ASSOCIATES

Dr. Adam Lowe, Dr. Rajan Khosla and Dr. Joseph Daniel Davis welcome all patients to their new practice

• Board Certified Gastroenterologists • Specializing in all gastrointestinal, liver biliary tract, pancreas diseases and related malignancies • Offering colon cancer screening and open access colonoscopy

• In-Office and telemedicine appointments available as well as online scheduling and online referrals. • Same day urgent appointments available • Serving the East Valley and Phoenix communities for over 15 years

Chandler Office 3930 South Alma School Road Suite 5, Chandler, Arizona, 85248

Phone: (480) 542-7000 Fax: (480) 542-7500

www.sonorangastro.com

Sonoran Gastroenterology Associates is a division of AGA

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

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Chandler teen earns prestigious Flinn Scholarship BY KEVIN REAGAN Staff Writer

Ananya Lakhotia is ready to start her next chapter at Arizona State University, where she plans to major in biochemistry and justice studies beginning in fall. That may seem an unusual combination but for the Arizona College PrepErie senior, the two disciplines perfectly blend together for her biggest passions: science and advocacy. “I was always really big into activism and I wanted to be able to help the community around me,” Ananya said. And she’s getting a big helping hand for her mission to make society equitable for vulnerable populations. Ananya is one of 20 Arizona high school seniors to win a prestigious Flinn Scholarship this year. Two school districts – Tempe Union and Gilbert Public Schools – had two earners as did two individual schools – BASIS Ahwatukee and Gilbert Classical Academy. The award covers all tuition, board and other expenses for four years at one of Arizona’s three state universities, provides for two tours for study abroad and a chance to meet some of the top leaders in virtually every segment of society, from business to academic to cultural. Applicants are subjected to a rigorous vetting process that involves writing several essays and undergoing

Ananya Lakhotia interviews. Only the students who have demonstrated the right amount of academic prowess and leadership skills are picked. Ananya said she’s thrilled to receive the honor and looks forward to meeting new and former Flinn scholars in the near future. “I would love to be part of a community where I could learn from them and talk to them,” the 17-year-old said. Ananya said the Flinn scholarship has been on her radar for the last few years. As a freshman, she recalled seeing some older ACP-Erie students win the award

and wondered if someday she could join that exclusive club. Ananya has described her academic career as one filled with ambition and striving for perfection. From a young age, she focused intently on achieving each task that was put in front of her and always had her eyes set on the next accomplishment. But she got to the point where she felt she was putting too much pressure on herself and that it was impacting her mental health. She turned that around after realizing she was caught in a vicious cycle and needed to be more cognizant of how she was presenting herself to others. Young people can become obsessed with pretending to be something they are not, Ananya said, and putting on a mask of perfection. “We need to pay more attention to our mental health and our needs,” she said, “because if you put that mask on for long enough, you don’t really know who you are anymore.” Mental health is now a topic that has become one of Ananya’s passions and she wrote about it in one of her essays for the Flinn scholarship. She thinks her willingness to share personal experiences related to modern problems may have made her application stand out from so many others. “I think Flinn really looked for that genuineness,” Ananya noted.

A highlight of Ananya’s academic career has been her involvement in her school’s speech and debate team. Over the last couple of years, she and her teammates have regularly won awards for their ability to argue clearly and persuasively about current events and issues. Ananya said the debate team helped boost her confidence and sharpened her public speaking ability. The extracurricular activity has additionally forced Ananya to stay updated on timely topics in the news and has expanded her understanding of socio-economic issues. Ananya is now committed to using her knowledge to help others by advocating for better access to affordable healthcare and quality education. There are still many inequities in the world that impact certain populations, she noted, and it’s up to the younger generations to try and make a difference. Her ultimate goal is to get accepted into medical school and become an OB-GYN doctor, a role that would allow her to specialize in helping underserved women. Ananya credits her parents with teaching her the value of a good education -- an intangible gift that can’t be suddenly taken away once it is earned. “You can lose your home, you can lose your job, you can lose your stability,” Ananya said. “But nobody can ever take away your education.”

Chandler photographer focuses on beauty of food BY SRIANTHI PERERA Contributor

Deepika Haldankar loves to capture the natural beauty in raw food. The lusciousness of the pomegranate and red cherry, the dark mystery of black grapes, the earthiness of mushrooms: these qualities come alive with help from her creative eye. “If you look closely, every food has its own innate beauty,” the Chandler food-and-product photographer said. “Fresh produce, for instance, has its own nature-given texture and colors. I like to capture these in my work.” For Haldankar, who also focuses her lens at baked goods, beverages, cooked dishes, cosmetics and other products, the medium is a way of self-expression. As for products, “my main goal is to bring out the beauty of the product and the story it is conveying in a simple, yet bold form,” she said. “What a brand is telling through the image to the audience should be clear at just one glance.” Haldankar’s skills haven’t gone unnoticed. A recent member of the Gilbert Visual Art League, she won second place in photography for her depiction of a fruit bowl in this year’s juried fine art show. Her work has been published in Green Living magazine, among others, and used to market everything from a

Left: Deepika Haldankar. Right: Deepika Haldankar creates a scene to convey the visual stories in her images. (Photos courtesy of Deepika Haldankar.)

skincare brand to a dessert shop. The secret to food and product photography, Haldankar said, is about “creating a story out of nothing.” She considers the item and its color, mood, seasonality, light and surroundings, and uses props and material to create the scene. “You build on an idea and keep working on it till a final image is created,” she said. “I absolutely love the process.” When Haldankar first came to the United States from India with her hus-

band about a decade ago, she had a master’s degree in social sciences. A career in photography was not in the picture. However, she had always wanted to be an artist. Circumstances, such as the birth of her daughter, led her to stay home. The young mother resolved to counter boredom and frustration by being resourceful to spend time satisfactorily. Photography became a perfect means to channel her inner artist, she said. It all began in 2014, when Haldankar began a food blog, easybabymeals.

com, to share the recipes she made for her daughter when she began eating her first solids. She also included other family-friendly recipes. Her daughter didn’t like the bland, store-bought baby food, so she created her own recipes using fresh produce added with herbs and spices for aroma and flavor. “As my daughter grew, so did my blog. Now, I share family-friendly reciSee

PHOTOGRAPHER on page 37

NEIGHBORS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Sun Lakes Rotarians honor Mother Earth

BY STEVE CARR Guest Writer

There wasn’t an Arizona Diamondback in sight when the Sun Lakes Rotary Club pulled off a triple play on April 22. The field was set for this rarity in 1970 when the words “Earth Day” first became part of our lexicon. Fifty-one years later, Sun Lakes Rotary members celebrated the occasion by planting an ash tree near the children’s playground at Snedigar Park East in Chandler on the same day the club turned 35 years old and the same week that marked the first-ever Arizona Rotarians at Work Week with volunteer events across the state. “The stars were certainly fully aligned for this event,” said Sun Lakes Rotary President Jon Lyons. “It was a significant day on many levels. “As Rotary members, we believe in working collaboratively to address important issues that affect so many in our community and around the world and this was a special week for us in achieving that mission.” The Earth Day connection was particularly meaningful because “planting a tree on Earth Day reflects our belief in sustaining and protecting our environment,” Lyons said. “At the same time, its location near the children’s playground at Snedigar Park East represents our ongoing commitment to support educational programs and ensure that our children

On hand for the Sun Lakes Rotarfy’s tree planting last month were, from left: Judi Edmonds, Sun Lakes Rotary Club Peace Builder Committee chair; Daxton Neal and Ben Bradley of the Strong Foundations Academy; Nancy Van Pelt, District 5495 Peace Builder Chair and Past District Governor; Chandler Chamber President/CEO Terri Kimble; state Rep Jennifer Pawlik; and Marge Wright, project manager on the Rotary Club’s tree celebration. (Courtesy of Sun Lakes Rotary)

have a safe and welcoming place to be together and play.”

Special guests at the event included District 17 state Rep. Jennifer Pawlik,

Chandler Chamber of Commerce PresiSee

ROTARY on page 37

NEIGHBORS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

ROTARY

from page 36

dent and CEO Terri Kimble; Rotary District 5495 Past District Governor Nancy Van Pelt, currently leader of Peace Building Clubs; Judi Edmonds, SLRC Peace Building Projects Committee Chair; Ruston Reynolds from Earnhardt Automotive and Bret McKeand, the incoming Arizona Rotary District 5495 Governor. More than 30 children from the Strong Foundations Academy entertained the crowd of nearly 100 with several Earth Day-themed songs and presented potted plants to Rotary members and guests on hand. “This event is important because we all have to do our part to take care of

Chandler state Rep. Jennifer Pawlik gets a baby tree from a Strong Foundations Academy student. (Courtesy of Sun Lakes Rotary)

the earth,” Pawlik said. “We’re setting an example for the next generation of

elementary school kids by planting a tree to help combat climate change.”

McKeand said that the Rotary Week of Service gave “Rotary Clubs throughout Arizona the opportunity to serve and give back to their communities. “Rotary Clubs big and small throughout the state do incredible things for their communities, but the pandemic has kept us from doing what we normally do during a typical year,” McKeand added. “Our Week of Service gave us the chance to roll up our sleeves and get back to what Rotarians do best: serving others.” For more information about the Sun Lakes Rotary Club visit sunlakesrotary.com. Currently, Sun Lakes Rotary holds weekly Tuesday meetings for its more than 80 members through Zoom, alternating weekly between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

PHOTOGRAPHER from page 35

pes with a focus on seasonal produce and incorporating herbs and spices into everyday cooking,” she said. The food leans western but she has carefully incorporated south Asian and Indian food. The recipes are detailed and easy to follow. “Even if there’s any Indian influence, there are very mild spices used, they’re not too much, for the American taste,” she added. An example is the recipe for asparagus lentil puree, introduced as a hearty, healthy meal for a little one during spring because the vegetable is seasonal. (easybabymeals.com/asparagus-lentil-puree) The puree may be turned into a soup for the whole family by adding stock. To further complement her line of work, she is also writing a cookbook featuring her signature family-friendly recipes. It will highlight seasonal produce and the use of herbs and spices, all in easy-to-make recipes in the comfort of the home kitchen. The blog, which she continues to this day and has been featured in Yahoo Deepika Haldankar uses bold colors, contrast, textures and shadows to bring out the true essence of the flavor and feel of ingrediLifestyle, Buzzfeed, Reader’s Digest and ents and foods. (Courtesy of Deepika Haldankar) others, kept her busy and led her to food photography. “I feel it’s like a muscle; the more you she said. “I decided this was the time for In 2017, she took advanced courses in “It was a whole new area for me to work on it, the better you get at it,” she photography to study elements of com- a brand-new career. At the beginning of explore, and I started enjoying it thorsaid. “Learning and practicing photogra2019, I applied for all the permits necesposition, lighting and other topics. She oughly,” she recalled. “I loved capturing mentored under professional photograsary to work in the U.S. And my career as phy is an ongoing process. It is a way to the food with its details. Developing know your work and yourself better.” a photographer got established.” phers, but is essentially self-taught. new recipes and taking pictures was Information: deepikahaldankar. Like any other skill, Haldankar finds it “These added sets of skills opened up something I did for the next few years.” a new area of professional photography,” needs constant development. com and easybabymeals.com

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Maedell Dixon

Connie Cockrell

Harold Dixon

Betty Webb

discovered the medium while on a trip there, and says “polymer clay became a passion and a way of expressing myself.” The show also features mystery author Betty Webb of Scottsdale, who has published 17 books in two different series. Webb, a former journalist, talks about how stories she covered in her newspaper career became themes for her novels. Webb is also a popular writing instructor, a former syndicated book reviewer, and a member of National Federation of Press Women, The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. In Episode 16, which premieres May 27, the Creative Connection artists are actors Harold and Maedell Dixon of Tucson. Husband and wife, both have performed off Broadway, where Harold also directed. They’ve worked in theatre, television and films, and both are long-time Actors Equity members.

Also on that program is author Connie Cockrell of Payson, who has written 20 books, is in five anthologies and published online. Following a 20-year Air Force career, she writes in many genres, and will be discussing her cozy mystery series. In the program’s regular arts events segments, called “Something to Look Forward To,” co-host and graphic designer Cathy Beard of Clemente Ranch will highlight in-person and virtual art happenings from around the state. The featured nonprofits for Episode 15 are the Arizona and Tucson Polymer Clay Guilds. On Episode 16, the Arizona Professional Women nonprofit will be highlighted. The programs all close with a “Creative Quote of the Day.” AZ Creates! has been half-hour video web series to highlight artists, writers, dancers, musicians, film, theatre and TV creatives, and other artistic people in

Arizona. Fagen, an artist and crime fiction novel writer, designed the program to connect art patrons with artists, and to work on a positive project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fagen is resuming her work on “Bleeder,” book three in her mystery series. Her son Devon Hancock, an audio and video content creator, is editor of the program and composed original music for it as well. All episodes are available on the AZ Creates! YouTube channel on demand, along with other video content. Sponsors for the show are Sibley’s West, an Arizona and Chandler Gift Shop and Times Media. Subscribe to the AZ Creates channel on Youtube.com at youtube/c/ AZCreatesShow, visit the Art Online AZ Facebook and Instagram pages or email AZCreates.ArtOnlineAZ@gmail.com for details.

AZ Creates! Wrapping up successful first season SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

A Chandler artist is among the four guests scheduled in May for the final episodes of AZ Creates!, the YouTube web series television show highlighting artists and authors, produced and hosted by Chandler resident Laurie Fagen. “We are so proud to have produced 16 episodes since the first season in September 2020,” said Fagen. “We have enjoyed talking with so many different artists, authors and creatives, and hope we have connected them with art patrons. “We will continue to promote fine art and fine artists on our social media pages at Art Online AZ.” In Episode 15, which launched last week, multi-media artist Asi Panoutsopoulou of Chandler shows her one-of-a-kind polymer clay jewelry and discusses the transition from a hobby to a business. Born and raised in Greece, she

Black Rodeo riding abd roping into WestWorld BY LAURA LATZKO

Contributor

The Arizona Black Rodeo is about more than entertainment. The event gives contestants a place to compete and spread awareness about African American contributions to Southwestern heritage. “African Americans played a huge part in the history and culture here,” says Lanette Campbell, the rodeo’s founder and director. “If we don’t preserve that heritage and that information, it’s going to get lost.” Now in its 10th year, the Arizona Black Rodeo is at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at WestWorld of Scottsdale. Before the Arizona Black Rodeo was established, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo visited Arizona until it cut back on its events. It was then the local rodeo was founded. It’s co-sanctioned with the Bill Pickett circuit, so qualifying times can be used in the traveling rodeo. During the rodeo, cowboys compete

in bull riding, steer wrestling and calf roping while cowgirls engage in barrel racing. Riders can also participate in the Pony Express relay races, in which they race around barrels on horseback, passing off batons to their teammates. The Arizona rodeo draws between 50 and 110 contestants annually. In May, Campbell expects at least 90 contestants, vying for more than $21,000 in prize money. Like previous years, the rodeo will have contestants from around the country, including Arizona, California, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Compton Cowboys, a group dedicated to promoting equestrian and farming heritage in the inner-city, will take part in this year’s rodeo. The Arizona rodeo attracts cowboys and cowgirls at different levels and ages. “When you have a love for it and a passion for it, it is something you want to continue to do,” Campbell says. Although many contestants are See

RODEO on page 41

The rodeo attracts cowboys and cowgirls of varying ages and experience levels. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

ARTS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

Trolls build a fanbase at Legoland Center BY OLIVIA DOW

Contributor

The Trolls World Tour has set up a residency at the Legoland Discovery Center at Arizona Mills through May. Kids can look for trolls hidden in Lego City, get groovy in the disco room or help Master Builder Alec Posta build a Poppy out of Lego. “Right now, we’re building a 5-foottall build of Poppy from the Trolls movie completely out of Lego and the kids are helping me, the master builder, in creating it,” Posta said. “It’s kind of a whole collaborative thing. We are at about not quite to the neck right now, so we still have quite a way to go.” The scavenger hunt sees the characters hidden in Lego City and those who complete the event can win annual passholders. “It’s been a lot of fun, in particular because there are certain kids who might not be as into Lego as the brand, but they are very into Trolls right now,” Posta said. “The trolls really helped get them excited about building, especially the Poppy big build that we’ve been doing. It’s just really fun to see certain kids eyes light up like, ‘I can help build Poppy?’ It’s these kinds of partnerships that we do are really great for bringing new people to building Lego.” The Trolls visit is the Legoland Discovery Center’s first event since it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s going very well,” Posta said about the event. “For those people who are regular

Kids can look for trolls in Lego City at the Legoland Discovery Center at AZ Mills. (Special to SanTan Sun News )

visitors who come once a week, twice, once every two weeks or once a month, it’s really great for them to have something new to experience. We have really fun new things to offer them.” The Legoland Discovery Center is taking extra precautions to ensure it is a safe place for families to enjoy. These measures include limited attendance, mask requirements and increased sanitization. “Right now, we are severely limiting the number of people who can come in to 300 people a day,” Posta said.

Stimulate their love of learning

Call or email to schedule a tour newvistasaz@aol.com 480-963-2313

“We do have reserved time slots. It is recommended that you get your tickets online ahead of time and that’s just so that we can manage the number of people in the building and keep everyone who is here at a safe distance. “We maintain social distancing within the attraction. Masks are still required to come in, of course, and must be worn at all times unless you’re eating at a designated table.” Because it is such a hands-on experience, the sanitization efforts have

increased at Legoland Discovery Center. “We’ve really ramped up the brick-washing procedure, so we take all of the Lego bricks off the floor midday, wash, steam, sanitize them in an industrial dishwasher and put out fresh brick,” Posta said. “We do that twice throughout the day to make sure that we are sanitizing all surfaces and everything that’s going to be touched as much as possible.” Lego Trolls World Tour When: Daily hours through May Where: Legoland Discovery Center, 5000 Arizona Mills Circle, Suite 135, Tempe Cost: Tickets start at $24.99 Info: legolanddiscoverycenter.com

Electric Sol calls its new EP a ‘turning point’ BY ALEX GALLAGHER

Contributor

Valley band Electric Sol recently released its second EP, but prior to the collection’s release, the act offered a sample of its future. “This whole project is a turning point and has come to define who we are as a band and what we’re doing,” says singer Ed Sweet. “We’ve already released three singles from that EP, so there’s only two and a half new songs on the EP.” For the project, Sweet recruited Grammy Award-winning producer and musician Dapo Toromiro and fellow Phoenician Secret Attraction to help. “After the pandemic hit last March, that’s when I started taking music a little more seriously,” Sweet says. “So, I contacted Dapo, because I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. At the same time, I reached out to Secret Attraction, who I had seen at the Trunk Space in February of 2020 and we made these projects in parallel.” Sweet says working with the two helped him refine the band’s musical direction. “Now that we’ve figured out what our genre is and what kind of music we want to make, it’s opened up a lot of doors to meet a lot of people,” Sweet says. The biggest change Sweet made was abandoning live instruments for synthe-

sizers and an octstrack, a drum machine that can be used to create a song’s rhythm. It also records samples. Sweet took to social media to interact with fans and immerse himself in a community of other synth/pop artists. “I’ve been doing a lot of engagement on social media,” says Sweet, a Phoenix resident and Brown University alumnus. “We interact with a lot of people on Twitter and with artists who put on shows via twitch, where we’ve had our music played. “It’s been a great way to connect with people and become part of that community. It’s a very welcoming community.” While social media has proven to be beneficial for Electric Sol, it has also found ways to express its art visually through videos. “Our video projects are very low budget, so we have to try to do a lot with as little as possible,” Sweet says. “We try to add a few embellishments that make it a little more interesting without spending a lot of money.” Its music video for “Your Divinity” did just that as it was shot by Electric Sol’s octatrack player and Boulder Creek High School alumnus Cody Hazelle. The video features a woman wearing a crown made of zip ties and was filmed in one See

SOL on page 41

ARTS

THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | MAY 9, 2021

RODEO

SOL

noticed it’s worked. The Arizona Black Rodeo Kids Round Up gives children the chance to get close to and ask questions about horses and learn more about rodeo events. The association gives back to high school kids who participate in rodeos or are interested in animal-related careers through scholarships. They also have scholarships to help young kids to pay for rodeo fees. The day before the main rodeo, the association will put on a children’s rodeo. “It’s just a great family event,” she says.

by Chandler Councilman OD Harris and civil rights activist and National Newspaper Publishers Association President

and CEO Benjamin Chavis. This year, medical frontline workers will be honored, and the reigning Miss Tucson, Abby Charles, will be highlighted. During the rodeo, line dancers from a local American Legion chapter in South Phoenix will perform. Growing up, Campbell spent the summers in Safford, where she helped feed and clean up after her family’s horses, cows and chickens. Like Campbell, many attendees have a connection to farm animals and agriculture. Heading to rodeos helps them reminisce. “You find a lot of people have come from that background,” Campbell says. “They grew up on a farm and then they moved to the city, and they didn’t stick close to their roots. Then, you see a rodeo and remember it, and it stimulates something in you.” Getting young people involved is important to organizers like Campbell. They need to keep the tradition alive and develop homegrown talent. She

of the time in which they were released. “We based our decisions on when songs came out based on the time of year,” Sweet says. However, “none of the lyrics are about a specific time of year.” “I knew I wanted ‘Beauty Beauty’ to come out around Valentine’s Day because that’s kind of an antilove love song, which I thought would be funny to do around that time.” Entering the new year, Sweet wanted to get fans excited about Electric Sol’s future, so he released another track.

“‘Life Out Loud’ came out in February and we felt it was a good way to start a new year and we were hopeful that all the pandemic stuff would be over,” Sweet says. “Plus, people liked the song and we wanted to start with one of the more fun and upbeat songs.” However, the last released song is “City Tonight,” a “good summer/pool party” track. “I like to describe the album as each song is a kind of sparkling wine and it just depends on what your preference

is,” Sweet says. “There’s something for everybody on the album though.” Looking forward, Electric Sol is back in the studio and has been working with Secret Attraction and Icelandic producer Thorisson. The band hopes to release new music in May or June. The “City Tonight” video is set for May. “Everyone’s eager to get back out there and we’ve been practicing a lot,” Sweet says. “Things are changing and for the better which is good.” Information: electricsolmusic.com

from page 39

skilled in their events, going professional can be challenging because of the expenses like entry and travel fees and costs associated with horses. Campbell says many of the contestants have regular jobs and do rodeo in their spare time. After taking time off during COVID, many of the contestants are eager to get back to doing rodeos. “Most of these guys haven’t rodeoed in a while, so they are biting at the bit to get here,” Campbell says. The Arizona rodeo begins with the Black National Anthem; grand entry festivities and a salute to the Buffalo Soldiers, a group of African American soldiers that served in the West following the Civil War. Local Buffalo Soldiers re-enactment groups will arrive on motorcycles and horseback. Grand marshal duties will be shared

from page 40

of Sweet’s friend’s backyard. “Your Divinity” was the first single from “City Tonight” and was released late last year. “We were ready to do the album in November, so ‘Your Divinity’ seemed like it made sense in a loose way to being related to the divine things related to Christmastime,” Sweet says. “ As for the rest of the singles, Sweet wanted to tie them into the seasonality

After the pandemic, the cowboys are psyched for Saturday.

Arizona Black Rodeo WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale, azblackrodeo.wixsite.com/azbr, 1 and 7 p.m., Saturday, May 15, $20 general admission, $40 for VIP tickets, free for children 3 and under.

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Scripture teaches the endurance of a mother’s love RABBI IRWIN WIENER, D.D. Columnist

There is nothing sweeter or more enduring than a mother’s love. Scripture teaches this in a significant and moving

way. In the Bible – Genesis – the mother of three faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, gives birth to Isaac in the winter of her life, a time when traditionally all things sleep and even wither and die. Her vision of continuity was fulfilled with laughter and tears (Isaac means laughter). And her immortality was ensured because she completed her role in determining the future of the human experi-

ence that was woven in the promise of a relationship with the Divine. The details of her passing (Genesis:23) follows the chapter outlining the famous spiritual experience of the faithfilled devotion of a father to answer the call of sacrifice – in this instance, the ultimate sacrifice (Genesis:22). The binding of Isaac tugged at the very heart of a mother’s bond to her child. Isaac’s unchallenged response to that demand by God was more than a mother could bear. In ancient mystical writings there is a story, emphasizing this connection, about a dialogue between Sarah and an image of her son Isaac in which she inquires about the happening with his father Abraham. Isaac relates the whole episode of

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how Abraham took him to the top of the mountain, built an altar, arranged the wood, bound him and took a knife to slaughter him. And then God prevented this from happening. Before the dialogue ends, Sarah dies. The mystics were trying to bring attention to the despair she must have felt. Not only had she sacrificed so much to give birth to Isaac, now she saw a vision of her dreams of the future shattered in an instance of uncompromising faith. The binding of Isaac and the thought of his sacrifice was more than her heart could carry. The details of a mother’s anguish and pain speaks to the suffering we all experience as we journey through life, trying to find our purpose for being. Yet, all of us at one time or another try to answer the Divine in us. Her lesson for us is simple. Sometimes we go through experiences that require a search for new meaning because of disappointments, tragedies, illnesses, not being able to communicate with a loved one because of something that really is insignificant. And then like Sarah, we feel chal-

lenged. It is a broken heart that finally creates the need for her story to be told, and particularly at this time of the year when we all remember our mothers. Sarah could not cope with the thought that God would want such a sacrifice. Her knowledge that human relationships are the foundation of creation causes her to doubt, and it is this doubt that results in her defeat. She could not reconcile the defeat with her faith. She did not fully understand that the message of this experience was that we do not sacrifice humans for any reason. All life is sacred, and God is trying to teach her and all humanity that human sacrifice is not the path to salvation and acceptance by God. Yes, there is a chapter set aside in the Bible titled “The Life of Sarah,” because from the moment she dies, Abraham changes and understands that faith in God requires a human vision of life. Perhaps this is the lesson we should take with us on this Mother’s Day: Life is not death – life is to live. And a mother’s love brought us to this understanding. Rabbi Irwin Wiener is the spiritual leader of the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation.

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