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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
3 Chandler teen deaths stoke alarm BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor
NEWS ................................
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City candidates answer questions on the issues.
May 29, 2022
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t least seven Valley teens have lost their lives to suicide or drug overdoses since mid-March and three involved Chandler Unified students. That trend has alarmed a Chandler educator and longtime advocate for kids' mental and emotional health. Four of those deaths were suicides – including two of the three Chandller teens who died in an 11-day period this month – prompting Katey McPherson to once again plead for parents, schools and government
at all levels to address the growing number of young people in crisis – a plea she has been making for more than five years. The deaths also underscore a warning from Teen Lifeline, the nonprofit teen suicide prevention hotline and service, that parents of Arizona teenagers must be particularly vigilant about their children’s mental health at this time of year. More young people get depressed as they either lose daily contact with classmates or for other reasons related to the end of the school year. The May 25 suicide involving a Perry High School freshman prompted McPherson last
Thursday to ask Chandler City Council and Chandler Unified Governing Board to hold an emergency meeting on youth mental health and school safety. "For the last five years as a mother of four in CUSD, an educator, and advocate I have asked for our city, schools, law enforcement as well as faith leaders and business leaders to come together with our students to create a call to action to confront the growing epidemic of youth struggling, suffering, and dying in our community," she wrote. "This is 100% a community responsibil-
see SUICIDE page 21
Chandler dad honors his fallen warrior COMMUNITY...........
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Chandler teens are now winning chefs.
BUSINESS ................... 28
Mom and daughter can remove unsightly tattoos.
COMMUNITY ............................. 24
BUSINESS ..................................... 26 SPORTS ......................................... 29 CLASSIFIEDS ................................. 31
For another Memorial Day remembrance, see page 26. BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
R
oy Conrad, father of the late Staff Sergeant Alex Conrad of Chandler, has been busy since his son was killed in combat in Somalia in 2018– either the last or second-last Arizona warrior felled by enemy fire in the last four years. There are a lot of Gold Star Family events and dedications he has attended while he also volunteers with a number of organizations. “I was talking to one of the dads and I said, ‘You know, when does it slow down?’” Roy recalled. “And because his son was killed almost 10 years ago, he says, ‘You know, it Roy Conrad of Chandler stands in front of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gilbert, which last month was renamed after his son, Staff Sgt. Alex Conrad, who died in combat in Somalia in 2018. Roy memorializes his see MEMORIAL page 3 son in many ways, including with a decal on the rear of his motorcycle. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)
