SanTan Sun News August 14, 2022 by Times Media Group

for a non-discrimination ordinance to protect Chandler’s LGBTQ+ community played in last week’s election, but the outcome likely assures that Chandler will adopt that ordinance in the near future.The candidates who won the election the five-way race for three

Organizers say that even in the best of times, feeding those in need is a challenge. And these are not the best of times.Chandler’s leading food banks say demand is up, and donations are down. “Yeah, things have defi nitely increased,” said Mike Dippre, who is the operations director at Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank. “We just went to, we were once a month service before COVID.“We went to once a week service during COVID, and we just switched back to twice a month on July 1 just to try and control our quantities of food that we’re handing out.” Dippre said even with that restriction, they are averaging handing out groceries to about 110 families a day. And the number is going up. “And believe it or not, doing it every two weeks, we’ve given out more food this month than in prior months,” DippreThey’resaid. not alone. “We are at about 54% increase in our Chandler food banks see rising need, falling help

Hartke, Poston, Orlando, Encinas win

See ELECTIONS on page 10 See PENSION on page 14 See HUNGER on page 6 We’re

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

The last time Council considered an NDO, it failed on a 5-to-2 vote, with Orlando and Councilman OD Harris backingPostonit. suggested the current council would adopt a non-discrimination ordinance since the five opponents can see where things are heading. “I would think that would be the best result possible,” she said. “There is value in having the Council move forward together in the right direction. It’s a positive move for us as a community, and what’s more, it is something our businessesOrlandowant.”inJanuary will begin his sixth term on Council after capturing 27% of the vote, followed by Poston with 21% and Encinas with 20%. Candidates Darla Gonzalez got 18% and Shifa Farhana 14%. Hartke won by a 77-to-23% margin.“Ifeel honored that our Chandler voters have trusted me with another

WHITENING+FREETEETH GrandSpecialsOpening Learn more at AspireDentalChandler.com $1,295 Dental Implant Call today to schedule an 480.896.8684appointment! $ 59 Exam & X-rays C22-120 Chandler Cover Strip ad 4.9 x 2 .indd 1 8/5/22 1:13 PM BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor It’s unknown how much

results – incumbent

Cities bite big into public safety pension debt a wet number 1!

It’s probably no surprise that Jose Langarcia Jr, Andrea Nuno and Jose Langarcia figured a good way to spend a summer day was ﬂoating on the lazy river at Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center because Chandler is the nation’s best place pools, according to a national survey. You can read about why on (David Minton/Staff Photographer) the push City unoffi cial Matt Orlando and newcomers Jane Poston and Angel Encinas – have all shown strong support for suchAndmeasure.whileMayor Kevin Hartke won a second term by a huge margin over challenger Ruth Jones, his opposition to a non-discrimination law will put him in a minority on the seven-member council as of January, when the winners take their seats. “I had a couple of people come up and tell me that’s why they voted for me, so I know that it’s a contributing factor,” Poston said. “We did hear about the NDO, and most people were very understanding and positive about it.”

for swimming

page 20

August 14, 2022 | www.santansun.com Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler An edition of the East Valley Tribune FEATURED STORIES CUSD students demand mental health effort. . . . News . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3 Chandler home inventory grows, prices dip . . . . . . Business. . . . . . . Page 24 Hamilton athlete follows family legacy . . . . . . . . . . Sports . . . . . . . . Page 32 Chandler Museum rolls out new exhibit . . . . . . . . . GETOUT Page 35 More Business . . . . . . . 24 Neighbors . . . . . 28 Sports. . . . . . . . . 32 Faith . . . . . . . . . . 34 GetOut. . . . . . . . 35 Directory . . . . . . 37

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor East Valley municipalities in the last fi scal year took advantage of unanticipated general fund revenue increases to make big additional payments on their debt to pensions earned by thousands of retired police offi cers and fi refighters.But Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Scottsdale still have a long way to go before they erase their huge unfunded Thoseliabilities.five municipalities still owe a total $1.4 billion for pensions covering 955 retired fi refighters, 1,471 retired cops and hundreds more fi refighters and offi cers who are covered by Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, records show. But that combined debt pales in comparison to the staggering $3.4 billion the City of Phoenix owes – which accounts for nearly half the $8.84 billion of the unfunded liability in the retirement system that existed at the close of the 2021-22 fi scal year on June 30.For the entire system, including county and state corrections offi cers’ retirement plans and the plan for judges and elected offi cials, that number was $10.9 billion. Still, the state Legislature – together with county, municipalities and fi re districts – eliminated $2.85 billion of unfunded pension debt last fi scal year. “I think it’s great,” said PSPRS Administrator Mike Townsend, who has been in the job since November 2019. “This system has been underfunded for so long and those lingering unfunded liabilities just ended up costing taxpayers more and more money over time,” he said, calling the government employers’ additional pay-downs “a huge move.” “I think also it speaks well to the staff that we’ve put in place and the changes we’ve made,” he added, referring to both his agency’s investment strategies and other internal moves as well as the vibrancy of Wall Street prior to its current woes. Although the fi nal results of PSPRS’ investments for the 2021-22 fi scal year won’t be known for a few months, its

Council seats according to

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CUSD o cials discuss mental health e orts, Page 8

Riana is co-founder of Arizona Students for Mental Health, which offi cially became a nonprofit on Aug. 4. The group formed at the end of the last school year after three Chandler Unifi ed students died by suicide and

480.899.6677

3NEWSTHE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 suddenly in the seventh grade throw it all in their face,” she said. Riana “Whenagreed.Istarted to talk to people about it and open up about it, it just makes everything so much easier,” Riana said. “And I think that’s where the district needs to start as well. Because I know it’s hard for people to talk about it, and I know it’s a diffi cult subject, and people don’t want to talk about it. But the reason that people don’t ask for help is because no one talks about Anotherit.”member of their group said he knew the Perry High student who died last May. The other two suicides last May involved Hamilton and Chandler high school students. “We weren’t the closest of friends,” said Jayden Riecken, a sophomore at Basha High School, adding that they attended the same middle school and “he sat at my lunch table for a while and we had some classes together.” Jayden believes some good has come from their appearance before the CUSD Governing Board. Healthy Smiles. Happy Patients. We appreciate the support of this community and our team members that made this milestone possible! Healthy Smiles. Happy Patients. 4880.8999.66677

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BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor Riana Alexander knows what struggling with mental health is like. “I’ve struggled with anxiety my entire life,” the Chandler High senior said. “But in 2021, I was diagnosed with depression, and it just kept getting worse. I was missing school a lot. I was not eating, I was withdrawing from friends, I was just not myself. It got to the point where I did withdraw from school. I can go on and on about how hard it was. “I think it’s important to remember that struggling with depression and struggling with suicide isn’t like ... crying all the time and wanting to end your life. It’s like ongoing constantly,” she continued. “When I was struggling, I was still going out every day and talking to friends and smiling and laughing. “But I was still struggling, there’s a ton of physical symptoms that come along with it. Like I was always sick all the time. And I think it’s something I would not wish on anybody.”

Chandler Unified students who are organizing efforts to push for more mental health services for teens include, form left, Riana Alexander, Elle Mramor, Lucy Wagene and Jayden Ricken. (David Minton/Staff Photographer) See YOUTH on page 10 attended a governing board meeting to demand more help for struggling students.Theysettled on wearing purple tiedyed shirts to give their group a visible identity.“Itwas like a cheap way for all of us to be in unison,” explained Elle Mramor, the group’s other co-founder and an eighth grader at Santan Junior High. The teens said one way to help improve students’ mental health is for adults to engage kids in serious conversations about mental health and suicide – which they say aren’t happening now. “When it’s talked about now, people, honestly, they joke about it because they’ve just never heard (about) it like until middle school. A lot of kids my age have not been educated about it at all,” Elle said. “And I know it’s really hard topic to swallow, but you can’t just leave them without that knowledge and then

Healthy Smiles. Happy Patients. appreciate the support of this community and our team members that made milestone

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Chandler teens’ nonprofit seeks more mental health help

Left: Chandler Unified School District is branding its high school cafeterias as “Rally Cafe” and aims to provide a restaurant-type experience for students. (Ken Sain/Arizonan Staff) Right: Pizza is a favorite with Chandler students. (Courtesy CUSD)

Moments before the lunch bell rings, the Casteel High School cafeteria is quiet. It’s the calm before the storm. After the bell rings, 700 hungry students will enter the cafeteria for food. “Our goal is to get everyone their meals in seven minutes,” said Jenny Bracamonte, the director for food and nutrition for Chandler Unifi ed School District. “We know they only have between 25 and 30 minutes to have lunch and they defi nitely don’t want to spend that time in line with us. They want to spend that time with their friends.” CUSD spent the summer improving the Casteel cafeteria. It is also remodeling the ones at Basha and Perry high schools, though they are not finished yet. The goal is to make it easier and faster for students to get the food they want. “We want this to be very much like the restaurant experience they know,” Bracamonte said. The delays at Basha and Perry have been caused by the global supply chain issues.When completed, the three schools will have gravity slides, which will allow students to grab a slice of pizza or a chicken sandwich and move on quickly. There’s also a taco/burrito bar that looks very similar to a Chipotle serving line. “Obviously this is a fairly new school,” Bracamonte said. “We built this in 2015. So, it really didn’t need too much of an infrastructure change. But when we built Casteel, we built it for about 12- to-1500 students. We have over 3,000 here, so we needed to make sure that you were addressing speed of service.” Another thing the district is doing as it remodels its cafeterias is to brand them. Casteel students are now eating at Rally Cafe. The walls are painted in school colors and encourage school spirit. When the work is done, there will be Rally Cafes at four of the district’s six high schools, including Arizona College Prep, which opened last year and doesn’t need remodeling. There are plans to do Chandler High, but a timetable for that has not been set. The district is in the process of remodeling the cafeteria at Hamilton High, but that will take longer. It won’t be ready until next school year. The primary challenge at Hamilton is that there’s not enough room for students to eat “Thetogether.cafeteria is over here and this whole hallway is just full of kids sitting by themselves on the ground,” said Kristopher Luo, a senior at Hamilton. Hamilton has 4,000 students and there are four lunch breaks a day. That’s 1,000 students looking for a place to eat lunch at the same time. Only 600 fit in the current cafeteria. Bracamonte said when the renovations are complete, hopefully by the start of the next school year, they should be able to seat 900. To create that space, they are expanding the cafeteria into the school’s atrium and some of the outdoor courtyard.There is another major change for school lunches this year. The federal government ended the universal free lunch program it had started during the pandemic. Bracamonte said it had been a success, with the District serving about 7.1 million meals last school year. This year returns to how lunches were handled before the pandemic. Families that qualify, can still get free meals. Other families that need some help can get reduced-price meals. And the families that can afford it pay full price. Prices for lunch range from $3 to $3.75 a meal. Reduced price is 30 or 40 cents. To apply for either free or reduced lunches, visit myschoolapps.com. “We did see major, major growth in our program over those universal free years,” Bracamonte said. “We have seen some participation decline from last school year to the start of this school year, but we really hope to continue to serve 7.1 million meals this year.”

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

4 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 For News Tips, Editorial Articles, Opinion or Classifieds, email is preferred. CONTACT INFORMATION MAILING ADDRESS 1990 W. Broadway Road Tempe, AZ 85282 TELEPHONE 480-348-0343 FAX 480-898-5606 NEWS EMAIL ADDRESS news@santansun.com ADS EMAIL ADDRESS ads@santansun.com WEBSITE ADDRESS www.santansun.com PUBLISHER Steve T. Strickbine VICE PRESIDENT Michael Hiatt PUBLISHER EMERITUS Laurie Fagen ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jane jane@timespublications.comMeyer EXECUTIVE EDITOR Paul Maryniak MANAGING EDITOR Ken Sain PHOTOGRAPHER David Minton PRODUCTION MANAGER Courtney Oldham OPERATIONS MANAGER Chuck Morales III GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jay Banbury Deadline Editorial and Advertising Noon, August 18 for the Sunday, August 18 issue 27,250+Total35,000CirculationDriveways Fifty square mile coverage area from Price/101 to Greenfield and from Frye to Hunt Highway. An edition of the East Valley Tribune The content of any advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. SanTan Sun News assumes no responsibility for the claims of any advertisement. © 2022 Strickbine Publishing, Inc. To Start or Stop delivery of the paper, please visitSanTanhttps://timespublications.com/phoenix/orcall480-898-7901SunNews is distributed by AZ Integrated Media, a circulation company owned and operated by Times Media Group The public is limited to one copy per reader. For circulation services, please contact Aaron Kolodny at aaron@TimesLocalMedia.com. To receive your free online subscription, please visit: https://santansun.com/subscribe/

Chandler Unified School District is remodeling its high school cafeterias to allow students to get their food faster. (Ken Sain/SanTan Sun News) “Our goal is to get everyone their meals in seven minutes, we know they only have between 25 and 30 minutes to have lunch and they deﬁnitely don’t want to spend that time in line with us. They want to spend that time with their friends.” – Jenny Bracamonte

Casteel, other CUSD schools get updated cafeterias

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Movie News & More - August 2022 PAID ADVERTORIAL community,” said Paula Knight, the food bank manager at AZCEND. “And we are trying to make sure that we can provide three to four days’ worth of food to all of our clients and the community.” Knight said they are providing food to about 3,000 families each month. That’s about 50 families a day, she said. “So our rescue stores’ [donations] have gone down, unfortunately, but thanks to the community with all their donations, throughout the year, we are able to purchase food,” Knight said. A recent study claims that 2.2 million Arizonans each year will skip a meal or reduce the amount of food they consume because of rising costs. The demand for food has steadily been increasing. Jerry Brown, director for communications for St. Mary’s Food Bank, said they saw an increase between 20-and-25% in March over the same month the previous year. This month that number is up to 60%. Brown said at the same time demand is increasing, donations are falling. “We need food,” he said. He said St. Mary’s delivers food to about 300,000 families a day statewide. Brown said some of the causes for the increase in demand could be tied to in creasing inflation impacting both gas and food prices and higher housing costs.

Dippre said many of the people who show up at their door looking for food may only be there once. “We had a statistic right before COVID hit that 40% of our people only come here once,” he said. “So it’s just like, one day, they’re down on their luck, their car broke down, and they have to pay the mechanic instead of buying food.”

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Dippre said the problems they hear about today are much longer-lasting. “We had several today that are being displaced because of housing,” he said. “So they’re either homeless or living in their vehicles, and, it sort of tears at you a little bit.” Knight said she’s not sure why they are seeing more people at AZCEND. “Why? I don’t know, we’re here to fight hunger,” she said. “And that’s what I’m here to do. I enjoy doing that every single day, and I just make sure that there’s enough food to provide for our clients.”

Left: Volunteer Markus Ford loads boxes of food for a family of eight at Matthews Crossing Food Bank. Right: Volunteer Carol Anderson organizes and creates boxes of food to send out at Matthews Crossing Food Bank in Chandler. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Dippre said they never want to turn someone away empty handed, but they are enforcing their every 14-days rule right now to ensure they have enough food for “We’reeveryone.justtrying to do the best we can,” Dippre said. “We’re going to hopefully never have to deny someone totally.”

Finding help and helping

6 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

HUNGER from page 1 Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank 1368 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler Distribution hours: 8-11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; 4-6 p.m. Wednesdays. To help: matthewscrossing.org480-857-2296, AZCEND Food Bank 345 S. California St., Chandler Distribution hours: 9 a.m.-noon Wednesdays and Thursdays; noon to 3 p.m. Mondays; 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays. To help: 345 S. California St., Chandler 480-963-1423, azcend.org

Food banks across the Valley are facing crisis See FOODBANKS on page 10

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A family, no matter how big, is allowed to pick up one food box every two weeks at The Salvation Army. Often, that amount of food isn’t stretching far enough, especially for larger families, according to Quintero. “The food box isn’t even making it for the time period that we are giving it,” she said. “I just had a guy who said I get a food box and it’s gone in a day,” she said. “It makes me really sad. I don’t know how we can help them. I try to do my best. We do have to shut our feelings off and kind of say okay, well this is what I can giveAtyou.”United Food Bank in Mesa, demand for emergency food bags from its 150 partner agencies went from 25,000 to 28,000 between June and July. “3,000 bags is a significant increase month over month,” UFB President/ CEO Dave Richins said. “When you look at that over a longer timeline, the trend is muchUnitedworse.”FoodBank’s three primary sources – food drives, 9-million pounds of food from local grocers and grant money – are about what they were last year. While demand is up and donations are down, United Food Bank is really feeling the pinch at the gas pump, according to Richins. “We were spending about $7,000 a month on gas in June,” he said. “And that has gone up to $12,000 thousand in July. Basically, we are eating the increase in fuel costs.” “We watch those cash reserves very carefully, Richins said.” United Food Volunteer Mary Davis sorts through several shopping carts full of donated food in the pantry at the Salvation Army Mesa Citadel. (David Minton/SanTan Sun Staff Photographer)

The Salvation Army in Mesa alone fed about 1,000 walk-ins in April. Last month, that number was closer to 3,500 people. They also distribute food boxes to anyone in need every weekday from 8:30 a.m. until noon. And people are showing up in droves. The number of food boxes has jumped from a daily average of 32 to 52. “I am having more people coming in and saying ‘I have never been in this situation before,’” said Laura Quintero, a Salvation Army staff member who loads and distributes large, cardboard boxes full of produce, meat, some canned goods and other commodities to people lining up under a portable shade tent outside. “There are a lot more people in need," she said. “We just don’t have the ability to cover all the needs that are happening.”Sauersays the demand is multiplied by the fact that the Salvation Army runs one of the only food pantries in Mesa that is open every day. “We are getting a lot of influx from the other food banks that have closed, as well,” he said. To make matters worse, support for those food banks is waning. “Individual donations from the com munity are down, too,” Sauer said. “We haven’t had very many donations for our food drives. But with the price of food, people aren’t donating because they need it as well. “Volunteer time is down. People have to work more at their other jobs and they just don’t have the time anymore. Everything is down,” he added. “It’s a weird time to be living and be doing this type of work.”

are

The Salvation Army counts as its saving grace donations it gets from Costco, Sprouts, Walmart and WinCo, without which they would not be able to fulfill its mission. But those donations collected by the small box truck every day only go so far. “Mesa has always been a hotbed for lower income and homelessness,” Sauer said. “It’s getting worse honestly.”

BY MARK MORAN Staff Writer Donations at Valley food banks down. Demand is up. Hope is at a premium. It would seem, though, that there is no lack of fear. “Being that we are part church, there are people who believe that we are looking at those end times,” said David Sauer, social services director for the Mesa Salvation Army on 6th Street. “It’s insane, honestly.”

In the study session, the district outlined what it has done for teen mental health over the past five years. On Aug. 11, it asked area businesses and nonprofits to bid on providing mental health services to students. Vargas said the district is looking for partners who meet a number of criteria: The expectation that they could see a patient within 48 hours of fi rst contact; their treatments are evidence-based; there are no barriers to service, including language; they have locations throughout the district. The district earlier this year committed to spending more than $5 million to improve mental health services on top of the services they have already beefed up over the past five years. That includes employing 92 counselors and 21 social workers. Some of the other steps include:

CUSD defends its record on teen mental health

• Mental health awareness student clubs.

Last May, three teen suicides over the span of about two weeks shook the Chandler Unifi ed School District. A little more than two weeks into this school year, another CUSD student has taken her own life. A junior in the online school died during the first weekend of August. She was a former Perry High School student. “Kids are dying and they have been for years,” said Sofia Borczon, a sophomore at Basha High School. “Last time we were here we told you what we wanted. Today I’m going to tell you what we need.”

• All 9th graders get a Teen Lifeline presentation.

• Hiring Natasha Davis as a suicide prevention coordinator, a new position. Vargas said those are just some highlights and there are many more steps they’ve taken.

“I want our students to know that we see you, we hear you, we have been taking all of this information in to look to see what we can do,” he said. “One thing that’s really important to understand, and this is not an excuse, is that we’re a big ship. In order for us to move forward on the things that we’re doing with the number of students, over 43,000-plus, … in a community over 80 square miles, we want to make sure that we’re looking at what we’re doing and it’s something that we can, we can sustain.”

8 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

• Prevention lessons in kindergarten through sixth grade.

• Partnering with Arizona State University to offer a mental health toolkit for high school students.

More than a dozen people, most of them students, spoke before the Aug. 10 CUSD Governing Board, calling on them to do more on mental health. The Board held a study session on the topic earlier in the day, outlining all the steps the district has taken over the past five years to improve the mental health of students. Some of those students said it’s not enough.“We’ve asked for you guys to listen to us and work with us so this won’t happen again,” said Riana Alexander, a Chandler High senior and co-founder of Arizona Students for Mental Health. “We’ve proposed many reasonable solutions and offered as much insight as we possibly could. All of these were disregarded.“Wecontinue to reach out to you and got little response throughout the summer, if we got any. I’m here under the same circumstances as another young student took her life this weekend. How many students have to die before you make a change and do the job that we elected you to do?” She called on the district to hold a student town hall meeting before Sept. 15 to address suicides and mental health issues. That is one of the points of contention between the district’s approach and what the students want. Brenda Vargas, CUSD director of counseling and social services, said the evidence shows putting a spotlight on teen suicides only increases the risk more students will think about doing it. The students say that talking about it removes the stigma and can encourage struggling peers to seek help. “We will meet them … and just go from there,” Vargas said. “I think as we move forward …, what they’re saying is now, they’re saying ‘please listen now, whether it’s Sept. 15, or a different date,’ it’s saying ‘please make this a priority to listen to us.’”

• Trained more than 800 staff members on Youth Mental Health First Aid and more than 700 support staff in safeTALK, a suicide prevention course.

• Putting Teen Life’s suicide hotline number on the back of student ID cards;

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

One thing the district does not do, however, is send district representatives to vigils held for suicide victims. Board member Lindsay Love questioned that, saying it may help other students who attend. Davis said they prefer to ask their community partners, such as Teen Lifeline, to attend. A couple speakers criticized the district’s presentation because there was no mention of LGBTQ students, who studies indicate are much more likely to face harassment and consider suicide. “In today’s society, we know that our students are struggling,” said Dr. Craig Gilbert, the associate superintendent for pre-K-12 educational services. “They have stresses that are coming from inside school, outside during social media, you name it, the pressures that are coming in. You throw COVID in … it exacerbated what was already there.

common situationputtingrarilymightThesation.perhapstingling,er,wefrustratingleadsandthesufficienteredroundedabove,AsandtonutrientsancebloodagetargetingperipheraltreatTheeffects.andsometimesofdrugstheandaspurelylikeorlemandbapentin,treatmentdoctor-prescribedisdrugslikeGa-Lyrica,Cymbalta,Neurontin.Theprob-withanti-depressantsanti-seizuremedicationstheseisthattheyoffersymptomaticrelief,opposedtotargetingtreatingtherootofproblem.Worse,theseoftentriggeranonsetuncomfortable,painful,harmfulsideonlywaytoeffectivelychronicpainand/orneuropathyisbythesource,whichowingtoinadequateflowtothenervesinproblems.Alackofcausesthenervesdegenerate–aninsidiousoftenpainfulprocess.displayedinfigure1thenervesaresur-bydiseased,with-bloodvessels.Alackofnutrientsmeansnervescannotsurvive,thus,slowlydie.Thistothosepainfulandconsequencesweretalkingaboutearli-likeweakness,numbness,balanceissues,andevenaburningsen-drugsyourdoctorprescribewilltempo-concealtheproblems,a“Band-Aid”overathatwillonlycon-

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three 1. Finding the underlying cause 2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)

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

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Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors: 2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)

slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation. The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “Band-Aid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further Thankfully,action. Mesa is the birthplace of a brandnew facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors: 1. Finding the underlying cause 2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable) 3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. Th is ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results: 1. Increases blood flow 2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves 3. Improves brain-based pain The treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling It’s completely painless!

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1. Increases blood flow 2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves 3. Improves brain-based pain

to the

Theeffects.only way to effectively chronic pain and/or neuropathy is by source, which of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness,balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves degenerate – an insidious As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation. The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “Band-Aid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further Thankfully,action. Mesa is the birthplace of a brandnew facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.

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

3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. Th is ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results: 1. Increases blood flow Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves 3. Improves brain-based pain works by energy to the at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling It’s completely painless! THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THIS TREATMENT IS COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND INSURANCES!!MOST Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free. The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less than 95% nerve damage, there is hope! Aspen Medical begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage –a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings. Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until October31st, 2022. Call (480) 274 3157 to make an appointment Due to our very busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10c allers. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (480) 274 3157 WNOW!!eare extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave avoice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Aspen 4540E.MedicalBaseline Rd.,Suite 119 Mesa, AZ, 85206 *(480) 274-3157* Mesa, AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/or neuropathy, the most

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The problem with antidepressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side

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THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THIS TREATMENT IS COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND INSURANCES!!MOST Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free. The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less than 95% nerve damage, there is Aspenhope! Medical begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage – a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings. Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until October 31st, 2022. Call (480) 274-3157 to make an Dueappointment.toourvery busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10 callers. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (480) 274-3157… WeNOW!!are extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave a voice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Aspen Medical 4540 E. Baseline Rd., Suite 119 Mesa, AZ, 85206 *(480) 274-3157* 480-274-3157 4540 E Baseline Rd., Suite 119 Mesa Az 85206 NOT WORKING!!

Mesa AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. The problem with antidepressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side Theeffects.only way to effectively targetingperipheraltreat the is the result damage owing to inadequate blood flow to weakness,feet.the numbness, tingling, pain, and problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves to degenerate – an insidious and often painful process. As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.

9THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Theeffects.only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness,balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves degenerate – an insidious As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves

PERIPHERALWARNING!NEUROPATHY

Mesa is the birthplace of a brandfacility that sheds new problemlight of neuropathy and pain. The company trailblazing the medical industry by replacing symptomaticoutdated reprieves with an advanced that targets the root of problem at hand.

Mesa, AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin.

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

tinue to deteriorate without further action. Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brand-new facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at Effectivehand. neuropathy treatment relies on the following 1. Finding the underlying tent ofthe nerve damage trequired for the patient’s Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. This ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results: 1. Increases blood flow 2. Stimulates and strengthenssmall fiber nerves 3. Improves brain-based painThe treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling. It’s completely painless!

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10 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

“After the meeting, we had emails back and forth between some of the board members and stuff,” he said. “Not all of them were productive. Some of them were just, ‘hey, thanks for coming out and speaking,’ but I feel like we were raising awareness.” A fourth member of the group is Lucy Wegener, an eighth grader at Santan Junior High. She said teachers and school staff need to have more training. “Which would help teachers be able to recognize more signs, and even students, and maybe they would get more comfortable with it,” she said. “So the students around them feel more supported when it comes to suicide and know that you’re not as alone as you think you are.”

Orlando said he and his team handed out 50,000 campaign flyers during the campaign, working just as hard in this election as he did in his first in 1990. Orlando was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and executive at Honeywell before entering public service. Encinas billed himself as the homegrown candidate, having been born and raised in Chandler. He runs an immigration consulting business and is a real estate agent. The Chandler High graduate is openly gay, the first ever elected to Chandler’s Council. “I am proud and humbled by the decision of Chandler voters to put their confidence in me and believing in our mission,” Encinas said. “I think the results indicate that an overwhelming majority of our citizens would like to see our council more proactive, transparent, and inclusive.” Poston said she’s done all she can to prepare herself. “I worked so that I could hit the ground running,” Poston said. “I didn’t want to assume that I knew the challenges, and I wanted to make sure I knew where to direct residents when they had Postonissues.”saidshe met with 80% of the city’s department heads, listening to the issues and problems they face. Encinas has been a regular attendee at City Council meetings for more than a year. He said that he decided in 2019 that he wanted to get involved in public service, but the pandemic forced a delay. “However in the beginning of 2021 I dedicated time to interact and hear what my fellow residents were asking of our leaders,” he said. “I was never recruited for this, I sought out this posi tion and felt it was time my generation take part in the responsibilities of our future.”Chandler voters also backed Home Rule for the 11th straight time, adopting Proposition 470 by an 86-to-14% margin. If it had failed, Council would need to make drastic cuts to its budget.

Chandler educator and mental health advocate Katey McPherson said the effort can’t be left to the school district alone and has been urging city officials to take a more proactive role in addressing teens’ mental health. “We have lost dozens of students to these feelings in addition to those who have also overdosed on substances,” she told city administration and council members in a recent email. “When we as parents, cities, mu nicipalities, and school districts come together with law enforcement and other non-profit entities there is not a diffusion of resources, there is an amplification,” she said. “Several local municipalities have begun this work and have fantastic programs in place because of it.” She noted that in 2017, In the summer of 2017, the Town of Queen Creek, Queen Creek Unified School District and Higley Unified lost four students in 90 days to suicide and that “the response from the Town and school district was to dig in and to find out why. “The survey data was used to align programs, services, and personnel to assist students on a daily basis,” she said, noting that Gilbert municipal and school officials also worked together under the leadership of former Mayor Jenn Daniels, though the pandemic disruptedMcPhersonplans.also urged city officials to: have warning signs of suicide included in utility bills during September, which is Suicide Prevention Month; set up webinars regarding youth mental health hosted by the vice mayor; dedicate city funding “to youth prevention, not just crisis;” and sponsor or support outreach events hosted by local non-profits.Injustafew months the teens’ group has attracted considerable news coverage and filed the necessary paperwork to be recognized as a nonprofit. The teens would love to see their group expand to other parts of the Valley and state. But they say they’re not satisfied with CUSD’s response and want to see more results by the end of the year.

Chandler Councilmember Rene Lopez finished fourth in his bid to run for a seat in Congress. Kelly Cooper won the GOP primary for the Fourth Congressional District.

St. Mary’s serves 900 families every day right now, Monday through Friday, or about 300,000 people statewide. “We are seeing a 60% increase in demand over the same time last year,” Brown said. “We are 200% over our food budget for the year, and we will have to purchase more. At the same time that demand is going up, our donations are going down. We need food. Corporate donations from large retailers are a huge help. “We have people who know where the food bank is because they used to donate. Now, they’re coming because they need our services,” Brown said. St. Mary’s stores between 7 and 8 million pounds of food at its 120 thousand square foot warehouse in Phoenix, about a third of which is refrigerated to hold frozen food as well as fresh produce that is trucked up to the Valley routinely from an area near Nogales. If there is a silver lining to the pandemic, Brown says that demand was actually lower than normal last year.

Poston, Orlando and Encinas were all endorsed by the Chandler Chamber of Commerce and the employee associations for local police and fire. Poston runs her own media business and is the past president of the board for the Chandler Chamber. “I’m excited, I’m humbled and quite frankly I’m honored,” Orlando said. “I’m thrilled to have been reelected and can’t wait to get back to work for the City of Chandler. I’ve always had faith in Chandler voters to have the pulse of what’s happening in the city.”

ELECTION from page 1 Angel EncinasJane PostonKevin HartkeMatt Orlando FOODBANKS from page 7 YOUTH from page 3 To help Arizona Students for Mental azstudentsformenta.wixsite.com/azsfmhHealth

Donald Burks, 66, credits The Salvation Army Mesa with saving his life. He seeks food and shelter there almost every“Thisday.place is everything. There are no options,” he said. term,” Hartke said. “Chandler is the best run city in Arizona, I got great name recognition, and a great track record.” Poston was buoyed by her victory. “It’s been nine months of enormous amounts of work,” she said. “I felt like I did everything I could, so no matter what happens, I’ll feel good about the outcome. Having the numbers run the way they did, and earning the votes I did, is absolutely amazing.”

Vice Mayor Terry Roe advances to the general election in his bid for a seat in the state legislature. He was one of two Republicans running in the 12th District for a House seat. Both will advance to face two Democrats in November’s general election. Both Roe and Lopez could not run again for a Council seat because of term limits.

“There’s not that much time we can waste because it’s happening, it’s gonna be ongoing. Just because there’s a new year doesn’t mean it’s going to stop.” bank has a 43,000 square foot warehouse in Mesa with additional off-site storage for frozen foods and other perishableValley-wide,produce.thepicture is no rosier. “It’s a perfect storm,” said Jerry Brown, spokesman for St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix. “The price of food, gas, rent. Everything is going up. The need is overwhelming.”

“I think we’ve gotten ourselves out there, but we haven’t made a huge impact,” Elle said. “We’ve gotten people on our side, but now we just need to take the people we got and like, tell them what we need, like what we want.

“We planned well,” he said. “We could see what was coming.” So, for the immediate future, supply will sustain the demand. The question is “not can we feed people tomorrow, but can we feed them next month?”

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Sgt. Brian Bower, Phoenix Police Department spokesperson, said one of the best deterrents is to be more intentional about parking locations and “making sure that you’re parking your vehicle in a well-lit area. If you know that there’s surveillance cameras nearby, defi nitely work within view of those surveillance cameras.”Bower said police also work with pawn shops and scrap metal facilities to recover stolen converters and investigate who is stealing them.

The Safecat program uses a sticker with the number written in perforations. Once the sticker is secured to the converter, a technician applies acid over it, burning the number into the converter.

New product deters catalytic converter theft

BY TROY HILL Cronkite News

See CATALYTIC on page 17

The bureau tracked 26 states in 2021 that proposed legislation to combat converter thefts, and in 2022, Arizona joined the list. The law, signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in May, makes it unlawful to purchase or sell catalytic converters in many instances outside garages and auto parts stores, and requires anyone who buys a used converter to register the transaction with the Arizona Department of PublicPeopleSafety.who solicit or advertise unregistered converters can be fi ned up to $4,000.Thelaw also gives police more power to investigate scrap metal businesses and requires scrap buyers to mark a legally bought converter with the serial number of the car and keep it in its original condition for a week.

Jason Church prepares a Safecat sticker for application on a catalytic converter at Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix on July 20, 2022. Arizonans reported 2,046 converter thefts in 2021, an increase of 1,340% over 2019. (Troy Hill/Cronkite News)

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Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix offers car buyers a way to mark the catalytic converter with a unique number that’s registered to the vehicle.

Drivers may not know what catalytic converters do, but it’s clear that they’re valuable. Thefts of the emissions-control devices from under vehicles are skyrocketing across the country, authorities say. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that the number of catalytic converter theft claims to insurance companies jumped from 3,389 in 2019 to 14,433 in 2020 – a 325% increase. Arizonans reported 2,046 thefts in 2021, an increase of 1,340% over 2019 and a spike second only to Colorado, according to an analysis by BeenVerifi ed, which reports on public data. And in May, Phoenix police found 1,200 catalytic converters in a storage unit after investigating a crime ring, the Associated Press reported. Deterring and prosecuting catalytic converter theft is diffi cult because they don’t come with a serial number or other distinguishing characteristics, so there’s no way to prove a stolen converter belongs to someone else. But there are steps you can take.

Catalytic converters can be “hardened” to deter theft, and a unique number can be acid-etched onto the converter to increase the chance of recovering it if stolen.Inaddition, police recommend that drivers be intentional about where they park.Catalytic converters contain precious metals, such as platinum, palladium and rhodium, which are valuable on the black market and make them a target for thieves. Replacing one can cost more than $1,000, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

13THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

success in the 2020-21 fi scal year drew kudos in the Pensions & Investments annual 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans report.Itsaid the combined PSPRS plan pension trust and defi ned contribution plan assets under Townsend’s management grew 44% to $16.1 billion in 202021, exceeding the percentage growth of all public pensions in the top 200 of the largest 1,000 U.S. retirement plans surveyed.Townsend said his agency’s success was more than just a matter of hiring new auditors, new actuaries, changing “a lot of the actuarial assumptions and the processes of how we’re managing theItmoney.”alsowas a matter of convincing the municipalities and other government employers about the effi cacy of those changes and showing them options for whittling down their pension debt.“When you think about the decision makers, you’re talking about elected boards and councils around the state,” Townsend said. “They’re not pension people, obviously, and a lot of them are really not fi nancial people. They need to get to a place where they can understand and understand what we’re doing.”The agency’s moves increased the government employers’ trust in the system, which had been battered more than a decade ago by the Great Recession of 2007-08.

The Legislature last fi scal year applied $1.15 billion to the state public safety and corrections offi cers’ pension debts.Maricopa County over the last two years has put an extra $10 million into its jail offi cers’ pension plan, which is only 56.7% funded with an unfunded liability of $283.7 million, PSPRS records show.Tempe led all cities in Arizona with its additional police and fi re pension debt contributions – $341 million last year alone. Even so, both its police and its fi refighter pension plans are only about 45% funded with a total unfunded liability of $341 million. Over the last two years, Scottsdale put down $41.1 million to reduce its unfunded liability to $191.1 million for its retired police and fi refighters. Chandler shelled out an additional $37 million on a debt that now stands at $154.3 million. “Clearing this much unfunded pension debt off the books in a single year takes an incredible amount of resolve and initiative among employers throughout the state,” said Townsend. “It also takes faith in our commitment to protect members’ retirement benefits and to help employers and taxpayers save money.” The $2.85 billion in additional government employer contributions last fi scal year surpassed the $1.58 billion in additional payments made in 2020-21 and dwarfed the $120 million in extra payments made in 2019-20.

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the men and women who spent years putting their lives on the line day in and dayIt’sout.alegal obligation with genuine operational consequences that impact municipal spending decisions and capabilities for everything from supplies and infrastructure to payrolls.

“We’re kind of shifting the slope of the line because the contributions were planned to increase pretty signifi cantly 10 to 15 years out into the future,” he continued. “By making these changes, we’re kind of shifting some of that cost to the short term. “So they’ll see some increased contribution rates over the next five years” but then it “will get it to where it’s more of a stable line going forward without the huge cost out in the future.”

The effort by local governments to pay down their unfunded pension liabilities isn’t just a matter of kindness for

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PENSION from page 1

Former Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher outlined those consequences for his City Council in June 2021. At the time, he sought permission to borrow $1 billion at a fixed-interest rate to pay down part of the city’s total $5.4 billion pension debt – which includes other plans besides the $3.4 billion PSPRS“Thisdebt.taxpayer burden must be balanced with being fi scally responsible and committed in providing pensions to retirees,” Zuercher told Council in a memo.Hesaid the pension fund liabilities and costs already had “placed significant budgetary constraints on the City’s ability to provide employee wage and non-pension benefit increases, public services and infrastructure maintenance.”Andhe noted that “while currently manageable, this pressure will continue into the foreseeable future. “Further, credit rating agencies and lenders place strong consideration on the funding plan and funding levels of the City’s pension systems when determining their view of the overall fi nancial health of the City,” Zuercher said. Though several Phoenix Council members, including Mayor Kate Gallego, voiced support for Zeurcher’s proposal, it never came up for a vote. Now Phoenix – and all the other entities with unfunded liabilities – face the likelihood of even higher interest rates on their pension debt. But Townsend said his agency is working to help governments pay down their pension debt in a somewhat less burdensome manner, noting it will take years to eliminate that debt and voicing optimism that cities at some point in the future will have another opportunity to secure fixed-interest loans that will make it easier to pay off their PSPRS obligations.HesaidPSPRS is recalculating their contribution rates “to get their payments down to something similar to debt fi nancing where they’re on more of a level dollar amortization for those unfunded“They’reliabilities.”onabigway down,” he said. “They’re going to pay it down one way or the other and so we’re changing the system to help account for that. If they want to put additional cash up front, pay it down faster, it just makes it better for them.”

• Mesa Police: 47.9% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $422.7 million. Additional payments totaled $15.9 million. There are 660 retirees collecting an average annual $57,874.

• Gilbert Police: 91.7% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $14.4 million. Additional payments totaled $13 million. There are 92 current retirees collecting an average annual $58,573.

• Mesa Fire: 50.2% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $235.9 million. Additional payments totaled $7.6 million. There are 289 retirees collecting an average annual $67,443.

•

• Chandler Fire: 73.7% of its pension plan is funded, leaving a debt of $1.5 million. The city’s additional payments have totaled $12.5 million. Currently thereare82 retirees with an average annual pension of $69,024.

• Tempe Fire: 44% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $121.9 million. Additional payments totaled $123 million. There are 150 retirees collecting an average $69,792 a year.

• Chandler Police: 68.3 of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $102.8 million. Additional payments totaled $24.5 million. There are currently 201 retirees with an average annual pension of $60,766.

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East Valley pension debt Here’s a look at five East Valley municipalities’ current PSPRS pension debt, according to the

• Phoenix Police: 41.4% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $2.2 billion. Additional payments totaled $44.5 million. There are 2,699 retirees collecting an average $69,371 a year.

• Scottsdale Police: 55.1% of its plan is funded, leaving a $167.8 million unfunded liability. Additional payments totaled $35.8 million

Scottsdale Fire: 84.5% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $23.3 million. Additional payments totaled $5.3 million. There are 46 retirees collecting an average annual $53,879.

payments they made toward reducing their unfunded liability over the last two fiscal years. Phoenix is included for comparison. Contact Paul Maryniak atCP lM ik ontactPaulMaryniaktPaulMaryniak y 480480-898-56478985647 or ororpmaryniak@timespublicationspmaryniak@timespublications.comik@ibliicompmaryniak@timespublications.compypNeNews?GGoGotGottot?s?ws?ewsNewsNewNeNGotGtoGotws? Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@TimesLocalMedia.com

• Tempe Police: 45% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $215.7 million. Additional payments totaled $218 million. There are 290 retirees collecting an average annual $59,787. agency’s the total in additional

data, and what

• Gilbert Fire: 90% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $12.6 million. Additional payments totaled $2 million. There are 30 retirees with an average annual pension of $60,772.

• Phoenix Fire: 43.4% of its plan is funded, leaving a debt of $1.2 billion. Additional payments totaled $21.2 million. There are 1,223 retires collecting an average $74,158 a year.

See BOBCATS on page 18

BY MARK MORAN Staff Writer

Sightings of bobcats in residential areas of the East Valley have become “more than just a slight uptick,” an Arizona Department of Fish and Game Department spokeswoman warns. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

16 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Enter little dogs and cats that may be minding their own business in the backyard and may come between the mother bobcat and her kittens. “Bobcats are all cute and fine until the mom hisses at a grandchild,” Burnett said. “Instinct is automatically going to take over. No one wants to have their dog eaten.”

“What’s happening in these urban areas is that we now have generations of bobcats living in amongst us that are used to getting water and food from our backyards. That in and of itself is not the problem. It’s when we are okay with it and we are not scaring them away when we see them.”

“Anecdotally, it’s more than just a slight uptick,” said Amy Burnett, a spokeswoman in the department’s east MesaWhileoffice.the state doesn’t have official numbers on bobcat encounters in residential areas, drier conditions have driven more of them in search of readily available water and shelter, she said. “We have inadvertently created nurseries in our backyards for bobcats,” Burnett said. “The living is so easy, really. The resources are so rich in our urban areas. The bobcats are living the high life and urban bobcats are thriving in our urban interface.”

Bobcats aiming to make a backyard a home

“It’s a delicate balance between understanding that bobcats are here in amongst us but not encouraging them to stay in our backyards,” Burnett said. “Not feeding them. Not putting water out specifically for them so that they will stay in our backyards. When bobcats are too close, incidents happen. They can become aggressive towards people.” As the Valley has sprawled in every direction, the number of wildlife encounters has increased. It used to be that state officials would get calls from residents living on the fringes who hadn’t seen bobcats before. As people started to get used to see ing bobcats on the outskirts, Game and Fish started hearing more from people living in more urban areas.

According to wildlife specialists, the best way to keep all of that from happening is to turn a high-pressure hose on the bobcats before they get comfortable and think that your backyard is a great place to start a family.

Chasing wild bobcats may not seem like a good idea but the Arizona Fish and Game Department calls it the best way to keep them from starting families in your backyard and adding to the growing population of bobcats putting down roots in residential areas.

“Then, as people get used to bobcats living in and among their communities we get fewer calls from those areas and bobcats seem to be living all in our metro areas now, even urban areas, so we don’t see the phone calls on the fringes any more but we are getting them in the interior,” said Burnett. Phil Cameron, who lives North Scottsdale, has had his share of backyard bobcats, including an injured one that took up residence in his yard for several days and had to be rescued.

The land, zoned Industrial, is home to the buyer’s Toy Barn Chandler Luxury Garage Ownership facility in an area that’s adjacent to Chandler Airport that is scheduled to open next year, according to the company’s website. A marketing brochure for the property showed six lots ranging in size from 35,381 square feet to 98,160 square feet with the potential for buildings ranging in height between 28 feet and 30 feet. Toy Barn Luxury Garage Ownership doesn’t just offer storage for cars, boats, RVs, racecars, motorcycles and off-road vehicles. It’s a community for vehicle enthusiasts, Jason Wesley said in an interview last year with a sister paper of the San Tan Sun News. Units come with amenities such as prewired internet and TV access, plumbing, insulated walls and ceilings, RV outlets, electric garage doors, community restrooms and access to clubhouses. The father-and-son team behind Toy Barn, Paul and Jason Wesley, have expanded its business since opening its fi rst location in 2010 at Cave Creek and Peak View roads. Originally from Ohio, the two were residential land subdividers before they became involved in the luxury garage business in 2008. Jason said there were luxury garages in the East Valley when they started their business, but nothing in North Scottsdale.“Wewere really trying to accommodate people who lived in the North Scottsdale communities who didn’t have any additional storage options. It’s real-estate ownership, so it’s an investment versus just paying rent on a storage facility,” he said. “A lot of them have been around 10 years. They have double-lot equity. They get the tax benefits that come with real-estate ownership.”

A downside to Safecat is that it doesn’t prevent theft per se. However, potential thieves may recognize there’s a higher chance of being caught, which could deter them from stealing the converter.Safecat, which costs $300 at Courtesy, includes $3,000 in insurance. A common way to deter such theft is to attach a metal cage or box around the catalytic converter, making it more diffi cult and time intensive to cut away with the tools most converter thieves use. But they’re also diffi cult to install and can cost $500 to $750. Another approach is to wrap a wire around the converter and attach the wire to the vehicle’s frame. The wire is diffi cult for thieves to cut, but not as diffi cult as a metal cage or box. However, the added time it would take to remove can be a deterrent in itself.

“There’s a lot of small things that individual property owners can do to help protect themselves … It goes to just any kind of property crime,” Bower said, emphasizing securing personal property, parking in well-lit areas and putting personal markings on high-value objects.“Those are all small things that can really help our investigations out, fi nd the people responsible for it and be able to provide the stolen property back to the victims.”

The two men have their own “toys” that they enjoy in their spare time. Paul owns vintage Indian motorcycles, and Jason is an aviation enthusiast with a Cirrus plane. Jason said he’s also interested in Porsches, and his father enjoys ’60s-era Corvettes.Oneofthe biggest perks of owning a luxury garage business is occasionally clients allow the team to try out vehicles.“It’salways nice when they say, ‘Just take the Porsche for the day,’” Jason said.

Because businesses like this were few, they had to figure it out on their own. “It’s extremely niche,” Jason said. “There was no roadmap for getting into the garage/condominium business when we did.”

17NEWSTHE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

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Their time in the luxury garage business has been a learning process. They have continued to adapt, especially with delays in new constructions during the“Wepandemic.havelearned quite a bit about the construction process, the challenges associated with it, how to manage those challenges, managing schedules and people’s expectations, what works and doesn’t work,” Jason said. “We try to incorporate the lessons learned from every community into the new one.”

A Scottsdale developer of luxury storage units for pricey vehicles, small planes and other big toys has bought two large lots in the Chandler Industrial Business Park for $2.75 million. Wesley Development Company paid $13.37 a square foot for approximately 4.7 acres on the southwest corner of Germann and Gilbert roads, according to Valley real estate tracker vizzda.com.

Jason and Paul have five locations, including the Chandler Airport site. Jason said there has been little turnover in units, and some owners have spaces in different facilities. He said building a garage can be expensive, and many communities have CC&R regulations prohibiting additions.

The Toy Barns offer a luxury garage experience for those who are downsizing or needing space for their vehicles, family heirlooms or automobilia such as neon signs or vintage gas pumps. They are gated with 24-hour access. Adjacent clubhouses come with amenities such as high-end fi nishes, plush seating, flat-screen TVs, full kitchens and bathrooms. Jason said he and his father wanted to create not just storage facilities but close-knit communities. “I think what separates us from a regular storage facility or an industrial park is the fact that we are trying to cultivate a community of like-minded individuals. The facility functions more like a private club than it does a warehouse,” Jason said. Unit owners can customize the units with touches such as Epoxy flooring and half baths. They are expected to adhere to CC&R guidelines, such as not operating businesses out of their units. Many of the unit owners spend time at the facilities, working on their own vehicles or getting time to themselves. “Some of the retired guys who don’t golf, that’s where they spend all their time. That’s what they do. They tinker in the garage,” Jason said.

‘Chandler

As the exhaust system warms up, the rest of the sticker melts onto the converter, making it extremely diffi cult to remove and easier to link a stolen converter to a vehicle or owner. “What it does is it marks a catalytic converter,” said Jason Church, chief operating offi cer at Courtesy Chevrolet.

“In the event that there is a theft, the police force can look it up on the database, type in the serial number and tie it back to the actual car that was stolen. “So you have a lot more accountability, a lot more prosecutions.”

Wesley Development Company of Scottsdale, which builds and owns a number of storage facilities for large luxury items like pricey vehicles and boats, recently bought nearly 5 acres of land near Chandler Airport for $2.75 million. (vizzda.com) site sold for $2.7M to ‘Toy Barn’ firm

“This is the first time I’ve ever had to call someone to help us out with an animal in the yard,” he said. “We’re careful. Like anything else, if we see it, we stay away from it. Like anything with Mother Nature, we respect it and give it a wide berth.”

What to do if you encounter a bobcat in your yard:

• H aze with a water hose. Encourage them to move

“I have seen bobcat calls go up,” said Robert Coonrod, a permitted wildlife specialist who started a business called Arizona Wildlife Relocation Services spe cifically designed to remove bobcats and other wildlife from residential areas. Coonrod is the person Phil Cameron called for help when the injured bobcat stuck around in his backyard. “I try to educate people as to why they are there, and what they can do to alleviate that problem because if I trap the animal, all I am doing is taking that animal out and putting up a vacancy sign for the next one to move in, whereas if we get the animal to move on its own, it relocates,” Coonrod explained. Coonrod also uses scent deterrent, including scat from predators, to keep bobcats at a distance. “I use mountain lion poop in certain yards because that’s an apex predator,” he said. Bobcats will steer clear when they think there is another predator.” He also uses motion detector lights and sprinklers to deter them from be coming full time backyards residents. Coonrod says the number of bobcat interactions likely will increase as the population expands at the urban fringes and drier weather patterns persist. Both he and Burnett say they are not an inherent danger in a backyard; the problems arise when people do things that they shouldn’t. So, wildlife officials say to have the best possible outcome of coexisting with wildlife is to enjoy it, but at arm’s length. And don’t roll out the welcome mat. “Urban bobcats are definitely here to stay,” Burnett said. “If we set up a KFC next door, they’re not leaving.”

• If the animal is injured or you perceive a direct threat, contact Arizona Wildlife Relocation Services: Southwest wildlife: (480) https://www.southwestwildlife.org/471-9109 page 16

Motorist files claim against CUSD for bus crash

BOBCATS from

• Keep pets inside

• Do not approach them

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

A Chandler man and his son are asking for $25,000 in a legal claim against Chandler Unified School District because a school bus allegedly rammed theirMichaelcar. Milrot and his son, Michael Jr., say there were in a left-hand turn lane at Frye Road and 94th Street on Feb. 3, waiting to make the turn. They claim the CUSD bus veered into their lane and rear-ended them. CUSD officials were asked about the case and if there were children on board at the time of the collision. They said they needed time to research the facts before responding. The father said he suffered soft tissue injuries, a strained neck and back pain as a result of the collision. The son claims the incident has given him anxiety.Inanother legal claim filed, a Chandler homeowner is asking for the City to reimburse him about $3,600, claiming a police SWAT team blew out two windows with stun grenades and used a battering ram to knock down the front door.He claims police acting on a false tip and there were no charges against the tenant living in the home. David Puscizna filed the claim on July 14 for the property he rents out on Elgin St. Puscizna listed Ontario, California, as his residence. He wrote there were no injuries, but two windows were destroyed and there was serious damage to the front door and door jamb. Puscizna said no one was home at the time the police broke into the house.

18 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

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Top 20 U.S. Cities for Pool Lovers StorageCafe ranked the top 20 cities in the U.S. for swimming pools based on a number of criteria:1.Chandler2.Henderson, NV 3. Orlando, FL 4. Gilbert 5. St. Petersburg, FL 6. Mesa 7. Scottsdale 8. Plano, TX 9. Irvine, CA 10. Aurora, CO 11. Tucson 12. Riverside, CA 13. Austin, TX 14. Anaheim, CA 15. Tampa, FL 16. Arlington, VA 17. Irving, TX 18. Denver, CO 19. 20.GlendalePhoenix A deluge of water pours down onto guests at Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

20 NEWS THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Owning a swimming pool in a desert can help families escape the summer heat. But, all that water sitting in backyards during a drought is being noticed. Las Vegas officials voted this month to limit the size of swimming pools in that city because of the drought and falling water levels at Lake Mead. Phoenix is encouraging residents to cover their swimming pools to prevent evaporation.

Chandler nation’s tops for swimming pools

every other industry is dealing with. “This year we’re dealing with a crippling concrete shortage,” Workman said. “We’ve had to cut the orders we can take in half.”

A national survey found that Chandler is the best place for swimming pools in the country. It is one of seven Arizona cities ranked in the top 20. “The Phoenix metro area is one of the biggest swimming pool markets in the world,” said Cohl Workman, owner of Thunderbird Pools & Spa. The survey ranked Chandler first because about 60% of single-family homes or condos for sale have a swimming pool. For those who don’t have a pool at their home, there are 2.3 public pools for every 100,000 residents. The survey also considered storage space for pool accessories, and said Chandler ranks just above the national average for a 10’x12’rental unit at about $142 per month. Workman said people who don’t have a pool in their yard but are considering it, expect to pay about $55,000. “It was nearly $35,000 before the pandemic, but it has nearly doubled,” he said. The pandemic has led to huge increase in the number of new pools being built and also the increase in price, Workman said. “The swimming pool industry has been majorly affected by the pandemic,” Workman said. “The demand for pools went up during the pandemic. “People said if I’m not going to go to concerts, or out to eat, and I’m going to be spending a lot of time at home, well, that money went into their house, and theirWorkmanbackyard.”said the pandemic also prompted many people to decide to move to the Sun Belt or sunny areas. He said people moving from expensive areas, such as California, could buy a cheaper home and have extra money to improve it – like adding a swimming pool. “In May of 2020, the demand went through the roof,” he said. “We came to work one day and there were over 100 inquiries for a new pool. And it was like that for quite a while.” Workman said that led some pool companies to oversell, meaning there was no way they could build enough pools fast enough. He said some people have been waiting up to two years for a pool they ordered to be built. The other problem facing the industry right now are the supply shortages

The city is currently in Stage One of its drought management plan. That is using education to encourage residents to take steps to conserve water. “There are no specifi c restrictions outlined in Chandler’s Drought Management Plan related to the city’s pools and aquatic facilities,” Capps said.

Chandler has no plans to limit how its residents use their swimming pools, offi cials Greggsaid.Capps, the city’s utility resources manager, said there are steps they can take if the drought gets worse. “If we reached Stage Four, which is the highest level of our current plan, there could be restrictions put in place related to outdoor water uses, such as for irrigation purposes,” Capps said. “Those decisions would be made based on the demand and available water supplies at the time. We are proactively evaluating municipal water uses to identify water saving measures that could be implemented.”

“There’s actually still a lot that can be done,” Cilento said. Power plant closures are not the only solution, experts say: They suggested that corporations can make voluntary commitments to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, states can take legislative action and Congress can pass climate legislation.Congress may be on the verge of approving legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, that includes $369

Andres Restrepo, senior attorney for the Sierra Club’s environmental law program, said the decision denied the EPA its most effective tool in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions. But he and other advocates said it did not remove that agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas altogether. Cilento said the EPA still “has the ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants as a whole,” by requiring clean-air technology at the source of the emissions. It is costlier and less effi cient, but the court’s ruling “isn’t a death knell for climate action.”

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New power plants are moving Arizona away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy.

(Cronkite News) See POWER on page 23

BY MORGAN FISCHER Cronkite News WASHINGTON – When the Supreme Court ruled this summer that the EPA could not force power plants to move away from fossil fuels, advocates worried that the justices had removed the “most effective tool for regulating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

While they’re still worried, some of those concerns in Arizona have been eased by a market-driven shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy that has long been in the works at the power plants in the state. “Coal plants are going out of business,” said Jason Rylander, an attorney for Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. “They are not economically efficient anymore … those market forces are going to continue and probably accelerate.”

Power plants moving away from fossil fuels

The Environmental Protection Agency said there were 95 facilities in Arizona that emitted a total of 43.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020, the majority of which – 84.7% – came from power plants. The EPA had set standards under the Obama administration that would have allowed it to require that power plants shift away from fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, toward renewables, like wind and solar – a practice that is known as generation shifting. But that policy was never enforced, after court challenges put it on hold. And it was struck down outright by the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-3 in West Virginia v. EPA that Congress did not give the EPA authority to enforce generation shifting under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act.

It was market forces that led SRP to close the coal-burning Navajo Generating Station in 2019, along with the nearby Kayenta mine, for whom NGS was its only coal customer. The utility said at the time that coal was no longer cost-effective compared to other fuels. Three more coal-burning plants are set to close over the next 10 years, according to the Center for Climate and EnergyThatSolutions.includes the Springerville Generating Station – which produced the most carbon dioxide emissions of any facility in the state in 2020 – and the Coronado and Cholla plants. “With or without this (Supreme Court) decision, the transition to clean energy is already happening in Arizona and across the country,” said Christina Cilento, an associate policy fellow for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. “That transition is actually driven in large part by private-sector decisions, market forces and, of course, regulation.”

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Staff Writer According to Nancy Silver, the co-founder of the Two Pups Wellness Fund, it started with a sick dog and a promise five years ago. As Silver sat in the waiting room of a veterinary hospital, she was horrified by the number of pet owners she saw leaving the hospital feeling defeated because they could not afford to pay for the care their pets needed. “ When my two dogs were sick, I would watch people go into the veterinary hospital and have to turn around because they didn’t have the money to help their dog,” Silver said. “I knew I had to do something about that.” After the passing of her second of two rescue dogs, Silver decided she has seen the same scene two too many times and she called upon a good friend and former neighbor of hers to kickstart the Two Pups Wellness Fund — Bip Haley, the former owner of the Naked Horse Gallery on Marshall. “ Bip originally had an art gallery across the street and my two dogs — Lacie and Mr. P. — would come out and sit at the top of the stairs and wait for Bip to bring them treats every day,” Silver said. U pon the passing of Mr. P in 2017, Silver decided to treat Haley to a dinner where she gave her pitch of starting a wellness fund that would help fund animal shelters in providing care for their animals, fund surgeries and pay for pet’s medication. “ We went to dinner and I saw her vision and work and I knew who needed help out there,” Haley said. After toasting their glasses to a new venture, the two were quickly intro duced to the needs that animal rescues across the state were facing.

H aley said that when she and Silver started the Two Pups Wellness Fund, they anticipated funding two to three cases a month. But they have since been funding anywhere between 10 and 20 dogs a month who had myriad needs.

“It can go anywhere if this dog is sick – if it needs complete blood work and exam shots to where it needs long-term medication for valley fever or heartworms or if it needs surgery,” Haley“Thensaid.there are special projects like when shelters go down with a disease and they have to quarantine,” she added. “We’ll go in there with the funds to treat those dogs.” Their reach over the past half-decade has spread far outside of the Valley as the fund has cut checks to 55 shelters and rescues state-wide.

Info: Two Pups Wellness Fund accepts checks and grant funding. To contribute or find out additional infor mation, visit twopups.org

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Two Pups Wellness Fund marks 5 years saving dogs Entering its fifth year as a nonprofit, Two Pups Wellness Fund and co-founders Nan cy Silver, left and Bip Haley have saved the lives of over 10,000 dogs by funding life-saving procedures and care through state-wide animal rescues. (Orlando Pelagio/ Progress Contributing Photographer)

“ Immediately when we started, we got a phone call that a dog was hit by a car and we were asked if we could help,” Haley said. “That was our first project and once word got out, it just started snowballing.”

O ne shelter that found the Two Pups Wellness Fund to be a lifeline is the Glendale-based animal rescue, Stealing Hearts Rescue. “ There are all kinds of grants that are open for shelters all over the place but trying to get them is worse than pulling teeth,” said Stealing Hearts Rescue founder and director Toni Cerepanya. “Fortunately, with the Two Pups Wellness Fund it’s an easy form that says what you need and why and that’s it. Because of that, we can pay for medical procedures for dogs we would have had to euthanize.” As the Two Pups Wellness Fund enters its fifth year, the nonprofit is excited to announce it is bringing back its signature Booze and a Band event and Silver hopes to eventually take the nonprofit national. “All I want to do is save dogs, that’s all I want to do,” Silver said.

Tarwater Elementary dads rallying for golf tournament

firedesertextendedsurviveDesertgrams-events-archive.desertriversaudubon.org/proWildlifethatliveintheSonoranareincreasinglychallengedtoandthrive.Fieldingdiscusses:theeffectsofthedroughtinArizona;howthehasrecoveredfromtheBushoftwoyearsago;alargevolunteer group based in Tucson that saves cacti from developers; and a unique plant that grows on South Mountain. Society spokeswoman Elizabeth Far quhar of Ahwatukee said, “Fielding be came fascinated with cacti when he was a teenager. Today his home is a showcase of cacti from the Southwest and around the world. Part of his backyard is a nurs ery for plants he is raising from seed.”

The Chandler CARE Center is regis tering families in need of help around Thanksgiving or the December holidays. Register in person from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. between Aug. 29 and Sept. 30 at one of the CARE Centers. You must be either a resident of Chandler or have students attending a CUSD school. Bring a photo ID, proof of address and school enrollment, and a birth certificate for all children not in school. Thanksgiving meals will be distributed on Nov. 19, and toys distributed on Dec. 17.

Chandler’s Citizens Academy is starting this month

Chandler Fire offers emergency preparedness training

Desert Rivers is the local Audubon chapter in the East Valley and hosts expert speakers on the second Tuesday of every month. During the summer, its programs are only on Zoom but the group plans to resume in-person sessions in September that also will be available online.

Two local breweries are partnering to bring Oktoberfest to A.J. Chandler Park. It’s scheduled for 3-11 p.m. on Oct. 1. Pedal Haus Brewery and SanTan Brewing Company will feature German beer and food. There will also be live music from Hit Rewind and The Dirt. Early bird tickets are available now for $15. Tickets at the door will be $20. Visit either breweries’ website to purchase tickets: pedalhausbrewery.com or santanbrewing.com.‘H.O.L.I.Bowlers’ tournament to support orphanage Hands of Love International ministry, which evolved from a mission trip sponsored by Mountain Park Church in Ahwatukee, is holding a H.O.L.I. Bowlers Tournament to raise money for the construction of an orphanage in Honduras. The group has grown into an international rescue group that helps children who live in extreme poverty in both Honduras and Nicaragua. Charity The event will be 6-9 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Main Event, 8545 S. Emerald Drive, Tempe, and will feature a raffle, awards, food and fun. Registration is $500 for a team with a max imum six players and $100 for individuals.

Registration: brenda@handsoflovein ternational.org, 602-762-2245 or handso floveinternational.org. People who can’t attend can directly contribute to the group at handsofloveinternational.org.

Oak Street Health, a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare, opened its newest clinic at 1036 North Arizona Ave., Chandler. The clinic boasts of offering patients “extended time with their doctors on a frequent basis with a focus on preventative medicine” in order to “ensure that their care is comprehensive and multifaceted.”

The State Bar of Arizona is holding a free legal clinic 4-7 p.m. Aug. 30. Vol unteer attorneys will provide free legal consultations. People can sign up to speak with a lawyer in person or make a Zoom appointment. Spanish speaking lawyers will be available. People must pre-register by emailing FindALawyer@staff.azbar.org.

POWER from page 21

Above, Rose Martin, regional vice president of Oak Street Health, right, accepts the ceremonial first dollar from the Chandler Chamber of Commerce. I(Specialnformation:oakstreethealth.comtoSanTanSunNews)

The mission of Desert Rivers Audubon Society is to educate and inspire our community to protect and preserve birds, wildlife and their habitats. From fall to spring the chapter sponsors monthly owl walks at the ASU Polytech nic Campus in east Mesa, and family birdwalks in Gilbert’s Riparian Preserve and Chandler’s Veterans Oasis Park.

The Tarwater Elementary School Dads Club is hold an inaugural golf tournament to benefit the club’s efforts to help students and staff. The four-person scramble, open to all ages, will be held at 8 a.m. Aug. 28 at Arizona Grand Resort and begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Tickets are $70 per person and $250 for foursomes and include two drink tickets and a cart. Coffee and a light breakfast will be served and prizes awarded for longest drive and closest to the pin. There also will be a 50/50 raffle. Deadline to register is Aug. 18. Contact Christopher Tyk at 480-8622827 or tarwaterdadsclub@gmail.com

23NEWSTHE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 John’s Window Cleaning The Owners Clean Your Windows! 480.201.6471 2-Story1-Story $195$175 Inside & Out Up To 30 Panes Additional Panes 3.00 ea. Screens Cleaned 3.00 ea. fans | lt. Fixtures | Mirrors Power Washing Available Mobile Screening New Screens Re-Screening Patio Doors Sun Screen Bug Screen Pet Screen

Arizona attorneys offering free legal clinic for family law

Audubon Society lecture features expert on cacti You’ve missed the live Zoom presen tation but can catch the rerun of the Desert Rivers Audubon Society’s lecture on cacti in Arizona by Cliff Fielding, an Ahwatukee man who has studied, raised and rescued cacti for most of his life. The presentation can be viewed at

Local breweries partnering to bring Oktoberfest to Chandler

The Chandler Fire Department is offering residents emergency prepared ness training Aug. 20 and Aug. 27. Topics covered include fire safety, util ity control, light search and rescue, basic medical care and more. The classes are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will take place at the Chandler Public Safety Training Center. There is no charge for the training, but space is limited. Visit ChandlerAZ. gov/fire for the link to register. Register for Thanksgiving and toy distribution help

The Chandler Police Department’s Citizen Academy will hold its next session in Participantsmid-August.getan inside look at Chan dler PD, including learning about the oper ations and resources of the department. Classes are from 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesdays from Aug. 17 through Nov. 9. To learn more about the program visit ChandlerAZ.gov or call 480-782-4960. City asks for storm water management feedback Chandler is asking residents to participate in a survey to help it manage storm water runoff better. The survey is open through Sept. 30. The city and the Flood Control District of Maricopa County entered into a partnership last year to evaluate and identify problem areas where flooding takes place in the city. The master plan they are working on is updated often and they want residents to help them know about areas where water pools after a storm. You can fill out the survey at the city’s website, chandleraz.gov. New Song Center seeks volunteers The New Song Center for Grieving Children is looking for volunteers. The center works with children who have experienced a significant death in their lives, helping them to learn to live in an emotionally healthy way. They have six locations across the Valley. They provide training for new volunteers. They have training classes scheduled to start Aug. 20. If interested, call 480-9518985.; www.newsongcenter.org

Around Chandler billion for climate change investments, along with proposals to lower prescription drug costs, extend Obamacare sub sidies and raise corporate taxes. Supporters say that, if passed, the bill could reduce U.S. carbon emissions up to 40% by 2030. The U.S. has set a goal to cut emissions by at least 50% by the end of 2030 over levels in 2005, a goal the administration says is neces sary to fight climate change. But as of 2020, the U.S. had only been able to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below the 2005 emission levels, according to the EPA. That has advocates urging President Joe Biden to take executive action, should Congress fail to reach agreement on a climate plan. In the meantime, they said, the EPA needs to fully enforce the regulatory powers it still has left after the court’s ruling. “The Biden administration and the EPA have a lot of authority still on the books,” Rylander said. “They need to get to work because the climate crisis is not slowing Temperaturesdown.”in Arizona have risen about 2.5 degrees since the beginning of the 20th century and the first 21 years of the century have been the warmest period on record for the state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Arizona is majorly affected by climate change,” Restrepo said, referencing the historic drought and rising number of heat waves in the state. “It’s a state that’s going to suffer from climate change.”

See

Managing Editor Alex Mason is one of the three owners of Press Coffee, which is a bit of a journey for someone who grew up hating“Whencoffee.Ithought about coffee, I thought about what my parents would make every morning at home – which was not very well made for coffee,” Mason said. The South Chandler Press Coffee recently completed a move from Queen Creek and Price roads to Queen Creek and Alma School roads and Mason is urging local residents to come in and experience what really good coffee can taste like. “All of a sudden you have a cup of coffee that’s made well from a good product, and you realize, ‘Oh, this is actually really different than I’ve had before,’” Mason said. He compared coffee to beer, saying there is a wide variety of flavors out there to “Peopleexplore.don’t realize the range of options are just tremendous,” Mason said. “You can have a coffee tasting like blueberry juice, and one that tastes like sweet tobacco. I think the challenge is that visually, they look identical.” Press Coffee opened in 2008 and now has 10 Valley locations. Mason said they moved the southern Chandler location because their lease was expiring and they found what they thought would be a better location. The Starbucks across the street does not worry them. “Those brands exist and are to a degree a competitor of ours, but we don’t really see ourselves in competition with Star bucks or Dutch [Brothers],” Mason said. “That’s a drive-thru model, we don’t do any drive-thrus, everything’s walk-in. So the customer that goes there might not come to us just for convenience sake, and the folks that come to us prob ably don’t go there for quality sake.” To help customers find which coffee is perfect for them, Mason said they periodically do a one-on-one tasting day, allowing customers to try four different flavors. He said they plan to bring it back in the fall. But the best way to find which flavor is perfect for you, he said, is to ask one of their baristas. “If you ask a barista, ‘Hey, I don’t know what I want, can you help me?’ you’re going to make their day,” Mason said. “ All they want to do is talk to you about coffee and what we have to offer and what they can make for you. So they’re going to ask you questions like, ‘Hey, do you like your coffee sweet or fruity? Or do you like to add milk to it? Are you looking for something choco latey? Do you like darker roasted coffees, and they’ll guide you through, ‘Hey, this is what’s going to work out for you, it’d be a great option.’ And it’ll be a spring board to really dial in what you like.”

BY KEN SAIN

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor

Today, Mason is a coffee fan. He said he drinks it all the time, often making his own at home. “It’s science,” he said. “You’re dissolving a solid into a liquid. That’s all coffee is. So you just have to know how much solid you need, how much liquid would you need? What kind of temperature you need that water at? And are you using the right ingredients? If you buy bad coffee, you’re going have bad coffee. If you buy good coffee, you have the opportunity to make good coffee, but you can still mess it up.”

Press Coffee changes locations in southern Chandler

And has Mason ever messed it up? “It’s more like baking than cooking in that you just have to follow the recipe,” he “However,said. following a recipe at five in the morning when you’re tired and haven’t had your coffee yet, isn’t always the most convenient thing in the world. I get a couple of sips that you get a little bit caffeine, you’re like, I can do better than this. And you go back and you do it right.”

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com 24 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Chandler already more than three times the number of homes on the market than it had a year ago as prices across the Valley are falling at a faster-than-expected rate, according to a leading analyst of the Phoenix Metro market.TheCromford Report said last week that if no new homes in Chandler came up for sale, it would take three and a half months to sell the current for-sale inventory while a year ago, it would only have taken a month. In surveying 39 Valley communities, the Cromford Report put Chandler in the middle of the pack, with communities that tend more toward higher priced homes, like Paradise Valley, having a four-month inventory of homes and others like El Mirage having a month’sChandlersupply.already has enough homes on the market to become one of the more attractive areas for Valley homebuyers to score a good deal, it said. “Astute sellers will realize that the situation is very fluid and slipping away from them,” the report said. “Prices are reacting much more quickly to the poor market conditions than we expected,” it said of the Valley-wide housing scene. “In 2005 and 2006, it took a long time for prices to change direction. In 2022, the change has happened almost overnight. This is probably because people are primed to believe price drops are likely whereas in 2005 most people still believed that home prices never go down. Whatever the reason, sellers in 2022 have been willing to make quick and frequent cuts in their asking prices and accept offers well below those.” Cromford also predicted prices would continue to fall until demand picks“Pressuresup. to sell at lower prices are This 2,943-square-foot house on West New Dawn Drive in Fulton Ranch recently sold for $800,000. Built in 2007, the single-story house has five bedrooms, 2 ½ baths and boasted a paved courtyard with a water feature as well as a number of interior amenities. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

Alex Mason, co-owner of the new Press Coffee location at Alma School and Queen Creek in south Chandler, grew up hating coffee. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Information: 480-699-6239, Press Coffee.com.

Chandler home inventory increasing as prices drop MARKET

on page 26

Chandler-based Commit Agency is marking 25 years in business, saying it has become one of the Valley’s longest-running ad agencies after it “successfully navigated mergers, acqui sitions, multiple economic recessions and a global President/co-founderpandemic.”

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“What gets me excited is figuring out ways to ensure that what a brand is communicating through marketing is also being delivered across the entire customer journey so that when those customers have a great experience, they share that through positive reviews that amplifies the brand,” he said. “The influencer economy and social media platforms are allowing customers to amplify great brands that get it right more so than ever was thought possible 25 years ago.”

The pair bought a local marketing agency that was for sale and piqued their“Theinterest.business of marketing was exciting to us because it would allow us to work with really smart people, help companies grow and give back to the community,” Ralls said. The agency had been focused on helping companies like America West Airlines (now American Airlines), the Arizona Cardinals, IBM, Hewlett Packard, The Phoenician and others with “customer relationship management” programs and “customer acquisition,” he Rallsrecalled.added creative and media ser vices to the agency’s service offerings in 1999 after hearing from a client that there was a need locally for an agency with a foundation in data analytics that also offered creative and media strategy. “Our focus was on meaningful analytics, great creative and measurable results,” Ralls said. “We grew 20 percent a year for the next 10 years to become one of the largest agencies in Arizona.” In 2015, the agency focused on the “experience economy” – the intersec tion of search and customer experience – and moved to downtown Chandler, acquired a digital agency and rebranded as Commit Agency. Today, Commit comprises of 30 employ ees in account service, branding, research, strategy, content, creative, data analytics, experience design, media (digital, traditional and social) and web development. Its clients include Goodwill of Central & Northern Arizona, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, eegee’s, The Phoenician and the Maricopa County Elections Department.“Thevalue, success and longevity of a company is determined by its associates and the relationships they cultivate,” said Denise Seomin, director of public relations and marketing for The Phoenician.“Asitsfirst client, celebrating 25 years with Commit, this serves as a testament to the dedication, talent and innovation this team brings to its partnerships,” she said. Ralls said he is not only excited about the continued evolution of the industry through technologies like AI and machine learning, but also the increased focus and investment being made by leading companies that “want to ensure great customer experiences are being delivered throughout the customer journey.”

Commit Agency President David Ralls formed the Chandler company 25 years ago with his stepmom. (Special to Santan Sun News)

Chandler ad agency marking 25 years

David Ralls and his stepmother, Elaine Ralls, formed the agency while he was pursuing business studies at Arizona State University. “Elaine’s background in business and her reputation in the community as a leader was impressive,” Ralls explained. “The opportunity to work with and learn from Elaine as my mentor was invaluable; I was essentially signing up to get a doctorate in business.”

NOWOPEN

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“Now I listen to Kanye,” he said. “He’s somebody I would have never listened to back in the day. And Harry Styles. That new song is catchy as hell. It’s so good. We just like good music.” Malcolm says Jenn has more of an ear for modern music, which helps bring in a younger crowd. During a recent visit to Rock This Town Records, millennials were picking up records by the Beach Boys and Seals & Crofts.

The Queen Creek residents met through an old-school Def Leppard fan mailing list in 1999. A Prescott resident, Jenn asked for the “Pyromania” release date and Malcolm answered from Minneapolis. They eventu ally met in the Twin Cities – just in time for a Def Leppard show in Duluth. “We didn’t know until after we booked the flight that Def Leppard was in town,” she says with a laugh. “It was fate.” He was obsessed or she was insane — to loosely quote “Pyromania” — but it’s worked. They’ve been together ever since. And Malcolm has a photographic memory of their relationship, from the dates they met, highlights, lowlights and landing on Rock This Town’s opening. The celebration was May 27, the same day Def Leppard’s new album, “Diamond Star Halos,” hit stores. Jenn is considering hosting a meet up for others seeing Def Leppard at State Farm Stadium Aug. 25. Rock This Town Records has caused minor hysteria in Gilbert, with soundtracks becoming a popular product. “We’re so small so we alphabetize,” she said. “But I had to make a soundtrack section just because they’re dear to my heart. We’re definitely ’80s people. That’s what we know. That’s what we love – rock music.”

Malcolm jumpstarted his vinyl col lection about five years ago, and since they opened the store, his ears have strayed beyond rock.

“We had a Yes record in there,” she said. “He asked if the record was really only $3. When I said yes, he asked why. The truth is, we want to keep new and interesting stuff in here. “We want it to be different every time you come in.” And there’s no pretension at Rock This Town Records. “I’m not a snob about music,” she said. “If someone comes in looking for something and they like it, I will try to bring it Malcolmin.” added, “If you’re listening to music and it’s making you happy, go for it.”

“There were only 2,248 single-family permits issued in June, which is the lowest monthly total since May 2020,” the Cromford Report said. At the same time, multifamily developers aren’t slowing down at all and are at what the Cromford Report called “a full-bore gung-ho status.”

Malcolm and Jenn Michaels opened Rock this Town Records in Gilbert to share their love of music. (Enrique Garcia/Contributor)

MARKET from page 24 BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI GetOut Editor

But it listed only one reason – and didn’t express much enthusiasm about it. “A large drop in interest rates would almost certainly help,” it said, “but this is not something that is widely expect ed.”The Cromford Report also suggested bigger changes in the Valley’s housing market could occur before the end of the“Pricesyear. have looked wobbly for the last two months,” it said. “But as buyers start to flex their muscles, we should be prepared for more serious consequenc es. While we cannot forecast accurately several months out, it would be reasonable based on current trends to expect significant declines in average prices, median prices and average price per square foot by the end of 2022. Current trends can – and often do – change, so this is not baked in, just a reasonable base case.” It also said the rapid growth in inventory might slow down soon but without a corresponding uptick in demand. “Builders apparently are slowly reacting to the changing housing scene.

“We’re so small so we alphabetize, but I had to make a soundtrack section just because they’re dear to my heart. We’re definitely ’80s people. That’s what we know. That’s what we love – rock music.” – Jenn Michaels

“We need this to stabilize and start increasing if we are to be optimistic in our outlook,” the Cromford Report said, adding that “there are a few reasons to expect an improvement in market conditions just around the corner.”

BUSINESS26 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 coming from the sellers themselves,” it said. “Low demand mean they are competing with other sellers and a lower price is an obvious tool for them.” Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley, part of Scottsdale and Cave Creek are in a different situation and, in a way, a different world from the average buyer andThoseseller.four communities are largely considered in the domain of luxury housing, where homes $1.5 million and above have not been tilting as sharply and quickly from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market as the rest of the Valley, according to the report. “The luxury market over $1.5 million is seeing far less of a surge in supply and although the market is deteriorating through weakening demand, the de terioration is much slower,” it said two weeks ago, although last week it said even that category now shows demand is weakening.Threeweeks ago, the Cromford Report said that while the recent increase in homes for sale appears to be slowing down, “demand not only remains very poor, it is getting weaker still.” It said the 7,887 listings recorded in July not only were 28% lower than a year earlier, but the lowest for the end of July since 2007.

Music brought Malcolm and Jenn Michaels together and now they’re uniting the community with Rock this Town Records in Gilbert. The record store focuses on vinyl LPs and singles, but also sells cassette tapes and other music-related products. A guitar laden with a Union Jack flag is available for guests to play near a sofa.

“I love the ‘70s,” he explained. “With all due respect to that generation, a lot of the artists are maybe starting to fall away because the audience and fanbase just isn’t there any longer.” Records in the $3 area fly off the shelves, she says, and customers are sur prised about what they might find in there.

Rockin’ couple shares music hysteria with Gilbert

It also indicated the listing success rate – how quickly a home sells – has tumbled in three months from 91% to 73%.While that’s not as bad as the “dread ful 20.4%” success rate of 2008, Crom ford said, the statistic “is a reliable and crucial indicator that is flashing red.”

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In the first six months of this year, a record 8,640 multi-family permits were issued in Maricopa and Pinal counties. “Last year there were 6,871 at the same point and that was considered a lot,” the Cromford Report said. “There were 1,890 issued in June, making it the fourth busiest month ever.”

“Single-family permits are now dropping in response to the weak demand but probably not as fast as they should,” the Cromford Report said. It reported that as of June 30, 17,788 single-family building permits have been issued so far this year in Maricopa and Pinal counties year-to-date – down only slightly from 18,803 last year for the first six months of 2021.

BUSINESS 27THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 Southwest Business Center 4500 S. Lakeshore Dr. Ste 300 Tempe, AZ 85282 (SE Rural & Lakeshore) Kathleen A. Nielsen 480.730.6469 kathleen@kathleennielsenlaw.com Serving Ahwatukee for 35 Years! AttorneyAt L Aw BESTOF 2020 w BESTOF 2021 ♦Trusts ♦ Wills ♦ Probate ♦ Family Law ♦ Divorce • Vehicle Registration • Title Transfer / Bond Title • Duplicate registration / iitle • Replacement Plate Or TAB • Permit 3, 30, 90 day • Level One AbandonedInspection:titleinspection • Mobile home • Handicap placard / plate • MVR / Driver license record • Fleet registration 1900 W. Germann Rd. # 9 CHANDLER (near Oregano’s Pizza) N.E. corner of Germann & Dobson Rd. 480-855-1638 Fax: 480-855-1639 FULL SERVICE DRIVERS LICENSES • Written Test• Road Test (by appointment) • Permits • Duplicate• Updated • State ID • Renewals • Reinstatements We Offer Federal Travel Identifications TSI Title & Registration Authorized Third Party Provider for Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division (ADOT/MVD) tsititleaz.com SaturdayMonday-HOURS:Friday Title Registration&8:30am-6:00pm9:00am4:00pm LicenseDriver9:00am4:30pm9:30am3:30pm Road3:00pm4:00pm9:00amSkillTest9:00am Closed Sundays � SHADE SCREENS / ROLLSHADES / RAIN GUTTERS ARMADILLO LLC � •CUSTOM SCREENS •SCREEN DOORS Phifer •ROLL DOWN SHADES •REPAIRS/RESCREENS SmTeR •SunSetter8 AWNINGS •VANISHING SCREENS HEAVY-DIITYSHADINGFABRIC •SCREEN ROOMS •TITAN• SECURITY DOOR Licensed Bonded Insured ROC 195034, 322703 480-883-9255 www.sunscreens-armadillo.com esT.1998 • Understanding errors in retirement planning BY HAROLD WONG Arizonan Guest Writer Over the decades, millions of Americans have made major errors in their investment, tax, and retirement planning decisions by not understanding advanced math. Here are two mistakes: I can average 10-12% rates of return in the stock market. If one examines academic studies, a better mathematical measuring stick would be Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR). MoneyChimp.com calculates that the CAGR was 5.49% from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2022. This is about half of the return that many Americans believe they can earn in the stock market. Suppose you ended the dot-com boom with $1 million in the stock market on Jan. 1, 2000. Then the dot-com bust started and on Jan. 1, 2021, you are down by half to $500,000, or -50%. You got lucky with some stocks that had big gains and now have $900,000 on Jan. 1, 2022, which is +80%. The algebraic total is +30% and so your average return is 15% for the two years, even though you are down $100,000. At this point the seminar audience is stunned and confused. If folks really understood advanced math, they might not have 80-90% of their life savings in the stock market.

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Example: an engineer and his spouse are both age 70 have $3 million of fi nancial assets, of which $1 million is in an IRA. They think they can average 10% annual returns in the stock market forever and we assume they will be that lucky.Both have old-fashioned pensions and have maximized their Social Security by waiting until age 70 to start it. Their normal taxable income is $200,000 before pulling money from their IRA. They both have family histories with long life and expect to live until age 95. Their combined federal/state tax bracket is 40%. They have two kids. If they earn $100,000 a year in their IRA and pull it out, they will owe $40,000 a year in taxes. If they could convert the $1 million IRA to a Roth IRA, they could save $40,000/year. Let’s now go to an advanced concept: economic opportunity/cost benefit analysis, which I have not seen in any of the hundreds of fi nancial seminars I’ve attended over the last 50 years. I was not exposed to this concept until taking PhD economics courses at UCUsingBerkeley.afinancial calculator, enter: $40,000/year for annual payment; 10% for expected annual return; 35 years for time; and click FV for Future Value. The answer is $11,925,072, more net wealth is created for the family by the Roth IRA. The reason we use 35 years is because when a Roth IRA is inherited, the kids can earn unlimited amounts for the fi rst 10 years and add to their 25 years from 70 to 95. If one could save $40,000 a year taxes for 35 years, that’s $1.4 million However,total.one would not account for the fact that adding $40,000/year to your investment money machine means almost $12 million more wealth. Note: if one only has $400,000 in an IRA, converting this would create $4,777,028 more net wealth for the family. You don’t need to increase risky investments; just save tax to create a great family future. Attend one of my future seminars to fi nd out how to do Roth IRA conversions without paying any federal incomeSeminartax.and lunch: Saturday, Sept. 24 at Hyatt Place, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd. Chandler, with the seminar starting at 10 a.m. and free catered lunch at 12:15 p.m. topic is “Beat inflation by saving lots of tax and increasing cash flow.” To RSVP for the seminar or schedule a free consultation: 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@hotmail.com. Information: drharoldwong.com. Dr. Harold Wong earned his PhD in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

Contact Paul Maryniak atCP lM ik ontactPaulMaryniaktPaulMaryniak y 480480-898-56478985647 or ororpmaryniak@timespublicationspmaryniak@timespublications.comik@ibliicompmaryniak@timespublications.compyp

Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@TimesLocalMedia.com

Making big returns in the stock market is more important than saving taxes

Chandler theater’s film series addresses youth crisis “Childhood 2.0” examines the impact of digital devices on children’s mental, physical and spiritual health. (Childhood 2.0)

Actor Casey Likes’ career is about to reach a new level as he prepares for his Broadway debut and feature roles in two new films. It’s probably not a surprise to those who knew Likes as he was growing up and a student at Chandler HighHeSchool.hasalways been a bit theatrical. But how quickly he’s rising comes as even a surprise to Likes. “You know, I was just talking to someone about it last night about how before I booked ‘Almost Famous’ I thought that I wouldn’t reach Broadway or films or TV for another, I mean at the very least five years, but realistically I thought at least 10 years,” Likes said from his grandparents’ South Chandler home.Hewas back in Chandler for a few weeks before leaving Aug. 2 to prepare for his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of the Academy Award-winning film, “Almost Famous.” Preview performances begin Oct. 3 and it debuts on Nov. 3 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York. The 20-year-old Likes also has the lead role in a horror film called “Dark Harvest,” and plays KISS rocker Gene Simmons in another film, “Spinning Gold.” Both of those films are scheduled for release this fall. That’s a fast rise for a young man who just a few years ago was building an elaborate Haunted House at his grandparents’ house every Halloween. “Little did I know what we were getting into,” said Diana Likes, after her grandson asked if he could turn their home into a haunted house. “Every year he had between 40 and 50 costumed actors. And he built and directed the whole thing.” She said he would take over their home for about a month and a half and had hundreds of people streaming through each night. Likes asked for a food donation that was given to a local foodButbank.now he’s ready for a bigger stage. And despite how fast his career is accelerating, he still had to wait to make his

The first installment of Helping Chan dler Families Thrive will feature a screen ing of the documentary “Childhood 2.0”

Chandler native bound for big time on stage, screen

Casey Likes (front) works on building a haunted house attraction he made at his grandparents’ South Chandler home a few years ago. The black-and-white portrait is Likes now. (Courtesy of Diana Likes)

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

“Chandler Education Foundation is proud to work with Katey McPherson and Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to bring leading-edge family and educational programming to Chandler,” said Jennifer Hewitt, the nonprofit’s executive director. “To truly strengthen our community, we must collaborate and find innovative ways to reach those in need, and this film series supports those objectives.”

Tickets to the upcoming Helping Chandler Families Thrive film events are limited and on sale now at MajesticPHX. com.

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com 28 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Aug. 24 at Majestic Chandler 9. The film highlights the challenges resulting from growing up in the digital age, with particular emphasis on topics like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more. After the film, McPherson will lead an expert panel in an interactive discussion with event attendees. A portion of pro ceeds from the August event will benefit notMYkid, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides training and support pro grams focused on substance abuse, vap ing, trauma, body image, mental health, internet safety, and other key issues. “Majestic is proud to debut Helping Chandler Families Thrive this month with highly respected partners like Katey McPherson and Chandler Education Foundation,” said Craig Paschich, CEO, Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill. "We are proud to utilize our theaters in unique ways to make a lasting and positive impact on area families.”

“It’s gratifying to partner with organizations like Majestic and Chandler Education Foundation who share my passion for investing time, energy and resources to benefit Chandler families.”

On Sept. 21, Majestic Chandler 9 will screen “My Ascension,” an autobiographical documentary about Emma Benoit, who survived a suicide attempt at age 16 which left her paralyzed.

McPherson, a parent and educator, draws from her 25 years of experience working with students and families to bring valuable insight and guidance to commu nity members of all ages navigating the complexities of today’s social environment. “To support the needs of families in our community, it’s critical to promote positive and candid discussions and share real stories and experiences,” said McPherson, who also serves as director of professional development for Bark for Schools, an artificial intelligence app that protects more than five million children nationwide.

BY KEN SAIN STSN Managing Editor

On Oct. 26 at Majestic Chandler 9. McPherson will host “The First Day,” a movie filmed at public and private high schools over the course of a year that “leverages the power of personal story telling to explore the issues, relationships and events that deeply affect our youth.”

After the screening, experts in family ad vocacy and education will join McPherson for dialogue about the film and its themes.

Majestic Chandler 9 is located at 4955 S. Arizona Ave in Chandler, on the northeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Chandler Heights Road.

The film chronicles Benoit’s journey to inspire others to find hope through her painful experiences, as well as her efforts to bring a teen suicide prevention program to her home state of Louisiana.Benoit will attend the film event virtually and participate via Zoom in the post-film panel discussion with McPherson and other local experts.

See ACTOR on page 30

Chandler childhood and education advocate Katey McPherson is returning to Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to host a series of film screenings and interactive panel discussions focused on trending parenting and family issues. The film series is part of the Helping Chandler Families Thrive program and is presented jointly by Majestic and Chandler Education Foundation.

As Arizona’s early childhood agency, First Things First funds early learning, family support and children’s preventive health services to help kids be successful once they enter kindergarten. Decisions about how those funds are spent are made by local councils staffed by community volunteers. To learn more, visit FirstThingsFirst.org.

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Arizona’s early childhood agency, First Things First has recognized Kathy Alsop of Gilbert as the 2022 FTF Southeast Maricopa Region Champion for Young Children. The award is given to local champions who actively volunteer their time to raise public awareness of the importance of early childhood development and“Alsophealth.is a strong advocate and ardent volunteer for early childhood awareness and sharing the importance of early childhood with families in the community,” First Things First said in a release. She is the founder and president of the MOMS Club Gilbert North – a local chapter of the International MOMS Club. After moving to Gilbert, she quickly connected with the FTF Southeast Maricopa Region and started the MOMS Club Gilbert North chapter because of her passion to support young children and their families. “I choose to support young children and families because we as a community must take care of our future generations,” Alsop said. “I fi rmly believe that it takes a village to raise a child,” she explained. “With the support and programs offered through First Things First, our families can fi nd comfort in knowing our questions have answers and there is help when we need it. First Things First gives families the tools and knowledge to raise young children, and my mission is to make every family aware of those opportunities.”FirstThingsFirst said, “Alsop enthusiastically volunteers her time to educate and empower parents and caregivers to feel confi dent in their important role as their child’s fi rst teacher. “She’s always willing to share FTF educational materials paired with early childhood messages when supporting parents at her MOMS Club open houses andAlsopevents.”also distributes First Things

Gilbert MOMS Club North founder honored “Alsop is a strong advocate and ardent volunteer for early childhood awareness and sharing the importance of early childhood with families in the community.”

Kathy Alsop of Gilbert was honored by First Things First for her work on behalf of families. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

First family guides so that parents and caregivers know about free programs available for families with young children. She keeps the agency’s materials in her trunk and shares the resources throughout the community. Alsop helps organize her MOMS Club monthly service projects. One project supported NICU families at Banner Children’s at Desert in Mesa. The club donated 70 welcome bags that included FTF-sponsored children’s books and bookmarks with the brain development information. She also regularly shares First Things First digital content on the MOMS Club Gilbert North Facebook page to connect parents with resources and support. “I’m motivated to support early childhood because I am a mother of young children,” Alsop said. “When my fi rst son turned two, I learned about First Things First, and early experiences shape how successful children are later in life. As I became aware of the programs and resources offered, I wanted to spread the word. I will continue to advocate for our young children and promote awareness about FTF.”

29NEIGHBORSTHE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

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But before they could reach Broadway the pandemic began and theaters around the world went dark. He appeared as Brian Moses in the TV series, The Birch. And he wrote, produced and directed two short fi lms to stay busy. He said when he’s not performing eight shows a week for the next year on Broadway, he hopes to work on some new writing projects that he’ll be able to direct in the future – something he very much wants to keep doing. Both Likes and his grandmother can pinpoint the moment his career began to take off. “It was the Jimmy Awards,” Diana said. Likes had played Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” while at Chandler High School. That performance was nominated for the National High School Music Theatre Awards, also known as theItJimmys.wasamoment of serendipity. Likes credits most of his success to his mother, Stephanie, who performed on Broadway in “Les Miserables.” When he placed among the fi nalists, Likes started getting calls. “When I booked ‘Almost Famous,’ it was right off of this thing I did call the Jimmy awards. I was only 17,” he said. “Spinning Gold” is a biopic of Neil Bogart, who signed KISS to his new record label, Casablanca.

A native of Brawley, California who lives in San Tan Valley with his wife, Mercedes, Kay is past president of the Rotary Club of Friendswood, Texas, where he served on its foundation board and Rotary International Interact/Exchange program. At the Sun Lakes Rotary Club, he also has kept a busy pace. He’s the club’s education chair, leading all its activities related to scholarships, STEM projects, teacher awards, Rotary Interact and that program’s clubs in Valley high schools and universities and colleges. In addition to the rewarding community service projects, the club continues to grow its calendar with a variety of speakers – including innovators, legislators, military offi cials, sports figures artists, educators, business owners/professionals – as well social events.

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In “Dark Harvest” Likes plays a young man trying to escape a town by proving himself against the local monster, called October Boy. The film is adapted from the Norman Partridge book. He may have left those haunted houses he used to build at his grandparents’ home behind, but he’s still scaring people. “I love horror,” Likes said. “It’s great, because seeing someone in the most primal state of themselves, which is fear, is insane. You just see exactly who they are.”

Broadway debut. Likes was cast as the lead in ‘Almost Famous’ in 2019, playing the teen-age reporter who gets to follow around a band to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine. The show was making its pre-Broadway run in San Diego, where they were tinkering with it daily, trying to improve it before it reaches New York. The story is semi-autobiographical for the writer and director of the fi lm, Cameron Crowe. “Every day you’d go to your mailbox, and it’d be a new few pages to learn. And then sometimes, when we were in these things called previews, you would get a new song, or you would get a new scene on the day of and then you perform it that night. So yeah, that was a really insane process. I’ve never experienced that before.”

So Likes answered the question like he thought Gene Simmons would, fi lled with confi dence. “I basically just went on a rant for about 10 minutes, at the end of it I said, ‘you know, you can take your other meetings, but you’re just not going to fi nd anyone else, because I’m your guy.’”

Likes said when he auditioned for the role of the legendary KISS bassist, they never asked him questions you would think would be “Doobvious.you know how to play bass? Are you in a KISS cover band? Did he ask you to do the tongue in the audition? And the answer to all of those things are no,” Likes said. Instead, he said the key moment in the audition came when he was asked why he was perfect for this role and why it should be his. “I’m sitting there, I’m like, ‘I don’t think it is mine.’ But I’m gonna lie to this guy, I’m gonna straight up lie to him.”

Gary Kay is the Rotarian of the Month

Gary Kay has been named Rotarian of the Month for August by the Sun Lakes Rotary Club. Kay is a retired commercial banker, college administrator and adjunct professor who got his degree at the University of California/Riverside and served in the U.S. Army with tours in Germany and Vietnam between 1966 and 1969.

Information: sunlakesrotary.com.Gary Kay

ACTOR from page 28

Klinkner gives some tips and advice about how to best support students as they transition back into the classroom: communicate openly and honestly; become engaged in school activities and help with homework; volunteer at school and with sporting activities and hobbies; communicate regularly with teachers, administrators and coaches about your child’s wellbeing and emo tional needs; encourage your child to make healthy decisions; spend quality time with your child to increase bonding.

A spokeswoman for Evolve said a study by the American Psychological Association revealed that teenagers are the most stressed and anxious people in the U.S. It also unveiled that 83% of kids cite school as the main cause of their stress and that during the school year, 27% reported experiencing “extreme stress” compared to 13% report ing that during the summer. Klinkner and his team at Evolve Coun seling are offering Valley parents an op portunity to increase the tools in their parenting toolbox through a five-week workshop called Parenting Evolved. The program consists of five 90-minute weekly group classes where trained counselors provide an understanding of various parenting styles, changes in the brain during development, tangible ways to strengthen the parent-child re lationship as well as effective methods to increase compliance and successfully modify“Today’sbehaviors.kidsare fraught with anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies - much more than when we were kids,” added Klinkner. “We need to cultivate strategies to give our children a safe space to share their feelings and recognize anxiety is normal. It’s also essential to give our kids coping strategies to tap into when they feel overwhelmed.”

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“Definitely,” he said. “Engineering, I’ve just always been interested in it, so I plan to just stay in robotics.”

Back-to-school is a time of stress and anxiety for kids of all ages and this often leads to an increase in adolescent and teen suicides, according to a licensed clinical social worker at Evolve Counseling and Behavioral Health with offices in Phoenix and Gilbert. According to the CDC, the suicide rate among 10 to 14-year-olds has more than doubled since 2007. A freshman girl at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale took her life with a drug overdose over the last weekend of July and was removed from life support Aug.“Suicide1.

Challenging times are an opportunity for a new set of leaders to emerge. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all Americans in ways they had not experienced in more than 100 years. It also gave two Hamilton High School students a chance to step forward with solutions. Bank of America selected five student leaders from across the Valley and had them work paid internships with the company this summer. Hamilton graduate Charles Zhang and current senior Kristopher Luo were two of those chosen.“One of the things that we look at is in their applications if they’re being timely, right,” Trisha Constas, Bank of America’s community relations manag er. “So being able to be nimble, understanding what the need is, and then reacting quickly.” Both Charles and Kristopher did just that during the pandemic. Charles says he lives near a hospice center and saw that a lot of older residents were dying alone, unable to see their friends or family because of the pandemic. Just as sad, some of the hospice patients had no one to visit them. The Gilbert resident started his own nonprofit, the Wishing Crane Project. “We fold these origami paper cranes for hospice patients,” Charles said. He came up with the idea after they told him he couldn’t volunteer at the hospice anymore. “And I had a really deep connection with the hospice patients, so I still wanted to help them. Over the past few years, I’ve folded like a couple of thousand and we’ve been able to impact hundreds of hospice patients and be able to bring and instill hope and optimism into their lives during like these challenging times.”

“I think just being a leader requires you to make decisions and know when to take risks and when to not take risks,” Kristopher said. “And really, just not be afraid to fail.”

Hamilton grad, senior impress Bank of America

is the third leading cause of death for school-aged children over the age of 10, and the second leading cause, behind accidents, for those over 15,” said Evolve social worker Michael Klinkner. “While children are resilient, the last few years have been very trying. Between the global pandemic, increase in school shootings and the continued negative impact of social media, times are challenging for kids and their parents who aren’t equipped to handle this continued level of crisis.”

31NEIGHBORSTHE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

So what does it take to be a leader? “There are three pretty important qualities of a leader,” Charles said. “The first one is you have to take initiative. … And the second one is you want to be you always want to listen to your team. … And the third one I feel like is really important is persistence.”

BY KEN SAIN STSN Managing Editor

Kristopher read news reports about the lack of personal protective equipment during the early days of the pandemic. It was the doctors, nurses and hospital staff that were putting their lives at risk and he wanted to help. “A lot of these frontline workers are pretty much reusing their masks, which is really dangerous because reusing those masks can … cause these nurses and doctors to get COVID,” the Chandler resident said. “So I first created a handmade UV [ultra-violet light] sanitizer. Then I wrapped it around with reflective UV, or reflective car shading material, to keep the UV inside and not hurt others. And basically, that took off.” Kristopher raised more than $10,000 to make his product and used that to donate PPE to local hospitals. These were not the only times they’ve shown leadership. Kristopher is the vice president of the Alliance of Youth Leaders in the United States Phoenix branch. He also teaches robotics to younger students. In addition to volunteering at the hospice before the pandemic started, Charles has been involved in numerous clubs. Bank of America partnered with a local nonprofit, the Boys and Girls Club of Arizona on the student leadership program. As part of their internship, both Charles and Kristopher worked at a Boys and Girls club. “I had an awesome time,” Kristopher said. “And it was really interesting to see how the for profit sector worked with the nonprofit sector. And you know, Bank of America is one of those few companies that really focuses on giving back to the community. So I really just tried emulating that mission.”

For more information about the Parenting Evolved workshops: evolve counselingaz.com.EvolveCounseling and Behavior al Health Services offers individual counseling, couple’s counseling, family counseling, teen counseling and child counseling. Its Gilbert office is at 1206 E. Warner Road. EV clinic warns of back-to-school stress

“I actually really liked the experience, because most of the time, I was able to work with like small groups of kids, teaching them tennis,” Charles said. Charles will attend the University of Arizona this fall. He plans to study neuroscience, with the goal of eventually becoming a Kristopherdoctor.hasnot made up his mind about where he will go to school after he graduates from Hamilton. He does know what he wants to pursue a career.

Charles Zhang (left) and Kristopher Luo were two of the five student leaders Bank of America chose for its paid summer internship program. Both either attended, or are still attending, Hamilton High School. (Bank of America)

immediately started to make a name for himself at the varsity level as a junior. He was part of a Hamilton defense that was one for the top units in the state, and which helped the Huskies gain national attention with wins over Bishop Gorman in dramatic fashion and rival Chandler. He was third on the team with 80 total tackles, including eight for a loss. He proved his ability to stop the run while also being able to go out in coverage on opposing wideouts.Hisskill has helped him gain attention from colleges. As it stands, his top BY ZACH ALVIRA Sports Editor A’Mauri Washington can’t help but smile and laugh when he thinks about his first workout as a member of the Chandler Wolves football team heading into his junior season last year. Between the heat, the weight train ing program and field work, Washington was forced into his back in what head coach Rick Garretson described as a “cockroach position.” Washington was gassed. He said it was the first time he had ever had a workout and practice with the intensity level that high. The over high temperatures didn’t help, either. “I remember just laying on my back and I was like, ‘I need some water,’ this is killing me,” Washington said. “There was so much going on I didn’t think I could make it through it. But I made it through.”Garretson and assistant coach Collin Bottrill saw potential in Washington the first day he stepped foot on Chandler’s campus. And for good reason. Washington is a staggering 6-foot-4 defensive lineman with a long wingspan and quickness off the ball despite his 295-pound frame. But those skills didn’t show right away, it took a new level of work ethic Washington didn’t have back in Michigan, where he moved from ahead of his junior season. “As far as his conditioning, his strength, his speed, he admits that at his old school in Detroit they didn’t work very hard on that stuff during the week,” said Bottrill, who has frequent conversations with Washington about Michigan being a native himself. “They didn’t do conditioning like we do or lift weights like we do. He had to get acclimated to that. It was really hard for him in the beginning. “He told us that was the hardest he’s ever worked after a spring skills workout.”Washington played at Oak Park High School in Detroit his first two years of high school. He came out to Arizona to visit his mom in February 2021, right after his sophomore year. At the time, she had recently moved to the Valley. He initially only planned to stay for a short period of time. But he never left. Knowing he had to make a decision as to where to attend and continue his football career, Washington chose Chandler. At the time, the Wolves were already a powerhouse nationally that was getting ready to defend its fifth

Alex McLaughlin following family’s athletic path

Left: Chandler senior defensive lineman A’Mauri Washington has become at home in the program since transferring from Detroit before his junior season. He’s also become one of the most sought-after recruits with offers to several schools across the country. (Dave Minton/Staff) Right: Chandler coach Rick Garretson said Washington’s progression from the first day he arrived on campus has been something to see. He wasn’t able to finish a work out in the early stages of last year. Now, he’s leading them. (File Photo)

Left: Hamilton senior linebacker Alex McLaughlin has big shoes to fill with both parents competing as college athletes, an older brother in the minors and another playing Division I basketball. But he’s carved his own path in football with multiple Division I offers. Right: Hamilton coach Mike Zdebski said McLaughlin’s growth accel erated when he began to run track. Not only was he able to show college coaches his physical development, but also his speed that was verified by impressive track times this past spring. (Dave Minton/Staff) Washington at home with the Wolves

McLaughlin grew up playing several sports, but football and baseball stuck. He continued to play both through his sophomore year at Hamilton. But during his junior year, he made the difficult decision to give up baseball and focus on track in the spring. Part of that decision was influenced by his sophomore season, when he was brought up to the varsity level. Hamilton head coach Mike Zdebski, along with defensive coordinator Tim Dougherty, told McLaughlin that he had the ability to become a standout linebacker for the Huskies moving forward. So, when offers started to roll in as a junior, McLaughlin gave up baseball to focus on the weight room. He also joined the track team to improve his speed. “I knew track was going to get me better for my college sport, which is football,” McLaughlin said. “Having this off-season of lifting and getting my speed up, it helped me get a lot of attention. Not playing baseball and being able to lift right before track practice has helped me put on a lot more size andMcLaughlinspeed.”

Competing at a high level in athletics has always been a part of Alex McLaughlin’s destiny. His mother, Ann, was a track athlete in college while his dad, Matt, played baseball. His oldest brother, J.D., made a name for himself at Hamilton playing baseball and is now in the Detroit Tigers farm system. His other older brother, Trenton, is currently a sophomore at Northern Arizona University playing basketball.BothJ.D. and Trenton told their younger brother growing up that he would have to follow in their path as athletes. While McLaughlin said there was pressure initially, it quickly became his goal, too. Now as he enters his senior season as an outside linebacker at Hamilton, he’s on the right path to follow in the footsteps of his family members before him as a Division I college athlete. “In my younger days my brothers – because they were older than me – they were already committed to their schools and knew what they were doing, there was some pressure for me to go (Division I),” McLaughlin said. “I wouldn’t say there’s pressure anymore. I’m getting past it now.”

BY ZACH ALVIRA Sports Editor

A’Mauri

See WASHINGTON on page 33 See MCLAUGHLIN on page 33

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com 32 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

McLaughlin’s mission is simple: He aims to leave a lasting image on the school much like J.D. did during his time in high school. But most importantly, he wants to bring a championship to Hamilton. “All of us 23s, we’ve talked about it since our freshman year, that we are going to win it as seniors,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a big thing for us. This 23 class, we are so close together and we are all going to play together.” straight state title. But Washington was oblivious to Chandler’s success in the past. He knew nothing about the program until he saw the state championship trophies on his fi rst day. “I just kinda chose Chandler by random,” Washington said. “I didn’t know anything (about the team’s success). I just walked right into it.”

McLaughlin is one of many names on a stout Hamilton defense. Chandler Davis has become one of the top defensive ends in the state. Taye Brown is a force at outside linebacker, someone Zdebski says dominates drills specifically meant to limit his ability to make a play during practice. He plays opposite of McLaughlin. Hamilton also has a dynamic secondary led by state champion high jumper Rachana Man and standout free safety GenesisMcLaughlinSmith.said playing alongside those players, along with other standout defenders, makes his job easy and fun. He recognized how special they were last season. And even with holes to fill this year, he feels they can once again be dominant on that side of the ball. Zdebski agrees. “Alex and Taye on the edges are going to be really good for us,” Zdebski said. “I think Alex has shown he has the ability to play in coverage and play in space, which is really good.”

33THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Getting adjusted to the intense workouts was a struggle for Washington at fi rst. But he never gave up. Eventually, he started to improve. In the early stages of his Chandler career, simply fi nishing a practice was a daunting task. As he became accustomed to the way the program ran, the workouts and practices became easier. At the same time, he became dominant on the defensiveWashingtonline. helped lead Chandler back to the Open Division state championship game. He had 42 total tackles, 13 of which for a loss. He was fourth on the team with six sacks last year, often demanding double teams from opposing offensive lines due to his power off the ball. With a breakout season came national attention from major college football programs. He already held offers from Northern Arizona and Arizona before his junior season. In late September, Wisconsin extended an offer. By mid-October, he had offers from schools from all over the country, including Florida State, Michigan and Texas A&M. Offers from the likes of Oklahoma, LSU and Oregon followed, among several others. In July he announced LSU, Oregon and Oklahoma as his top three schools. Washington said he plans to commit on Sept. 6, a few days after the Wolves play their fi rst game in San Diego against Cathedral Catholic. As it stands, he still doesn’t know where he plans to commit. “It gives me enough time to sort of narrow everything down,” Washington said. “I’m very Washingtonexcited.”hasbecome a leader for the Wolves now as he enters his senior season. Instead of lying on the ground during workouts, he is leading them. He’s also become the in-house DJ for the team, choosing music in the team’s weight room. He’s become more than just another player in the Wolves’ program. He’s become family. Garretson will often give Washington a ride home after practices. Those car rides rarely involve football talk. “We have a really nice relationship,” Garretson said. “We hardly ever talk football. We’ll talk about things like how to have a conversation with an adult or a recruiter. Just getting to know him, his mom, his family, it’s been a really cool thing. If kids need help, my staff helps and that includes me.”

WASHINGTON from page 32 MCLAUGHLIN from page 32 Now in our 38th year! ARIZONA’S LONGEST-RUNNING EXPO IS HERE! Healthcare | Retirement Living | Financial Leisure | Home Repair | Education Casinos | Tour & Travel and More... (480) 898-6500 • (480) www.seniorexpos.com959-1566(480)959-1566 Lots of PrizesandEveryINCLUDINGGiveawaysa$100CASHDRAWINGHour! Entertainment by MS. SENIOR ARIZONA FREE PARKING! FREE ENTRY! Wednesday, November 2nd 8am - 12pm Mesa Convention Center 201 N. Center Street, Mesa, AZ 85201 Bag Sponsor Title Sponsor Entertainment Sponsor

seven schools include Arizona, Colorado, Washington State, Ohio, Montana State, Air Force and Northern Arizona. “Once the college coaches saw the physical development and his speed, which was verified with track, he showed he can play at that level,” Zdebski said. “Alex had the film, he’s a playmaker but now he showed the track speed.”

Washington has some personal goals he aims to accomplish as a senior. He wants to lead the team in sacks on the fi eld while maintaining his 3.5 GPA off it. He also aims to help lead Chandler to a state title. The Wolves were dethroned last year by Saguaro in his fi rst season with the team. Washington said enrolling at Chandler has dramatically made a positive impact on his life. The team made him feel at home. The coaching staff became father figures to him. Now, he wants to repay them by helping them win a state “Chandlertitle.brought me in as a family,” Washington said. “When I fi rst came, I didn’t know anybody and never really spoke but now when I walk around everyone is like, ‘Oh, big Mike!’ “We may not have got (a championship) last year, but I can’t go out empty handed.”

2 massacres

Two things occurred recently that evoked tragic memories of loss and grief. All of us at one time or another have gone through the agonies of defeat and emptiness. Many things occur during our lifetime to remind us of the pain we endure during these dark episodes. The two experiences I refer to involve more than just losing someone, but also indicate how essential it is for us to realize the impact events can have on our lives and those around us. The first one deals with the despica ble act of bigotry in Buffalo, New York. It taught us how vulnerable we are to the various fringe elements that consider the destruction of humanity a calling. The second deals with the most hei nous act of terror, the murder of innocent children and their teachers. Both reminded me that the mystics teach us that to appreciate the joy and fulfillment of life, we must experience pain. The conclusion reached is that ago ny and ecstasy were created because life does not exist with just one or the other. Sometimes we lose sight of this fact. Moreover, there are losses that have no comparison. These losses create in us a vacuum that defies explanation. The most devastating of these is the loss of a child, followed closely with the loss of a spouse, sibling, parent, or significant other. When we are faced with the task of opening the earth to receive a child, not only do we mourn, but the angels sob uncontrollably for the pain. All the people who shared our adven ture, who witnessed the miracles of life, are no more – just memories of love. Life is filled with anticipation and expec tation. We look at our creation and begin the journey of contemplation and anticipation. Should he be a doctor, should she be a teacher? Will she look like her mother or he like his father? Will I make the same mistakes my parents made, or will I be different? I will be the best parent. That is my pledge as I watch this tiny creature reach out to touch the world. These dreams and visions are interrupted by tragedy. Our child has died and so has our posterity. Those on whom we relied for comfort and support have disappeared.

Being ground means being set free to live Follow The Source to all good things

For more community news visit SanTanSun.com 34 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV says “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?” Eventually Mollie and I came to a crum bling concrete reservoir that had been cut into the hillside where an old, galvanized pipe flowed from the collected, snow-melt water, before splashing onto a large boulder. I sat down to remove an irritating pebble from my boots. I wanted to be ready for the next leg of our journey. It might not include a voice telling me when to turn left, but I knew there would be small signs to follow to the Source of all good things. Lynne Hartke is the author of Under a Desert Sky and the wife of pastor and Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke. She reminds readers to purify water in the wilderness before drinking. She writes at lynnehartke.com.

RABBI IRWIN WIENER

Columnist

The romantic notions of success and abundance are lost in a tunnel of emptiness and despair. We sink into the depths of dejection. I believe that our ancestors were trying to teach us how to cope with ad versity, some so devastating as to cause us to languish in total sadness. I believe the message is that terrible things happen and we must overcome these troublesome ex periences by learning to extend a helping hand and to comfort and offer solace. This is our obligation as human-beings. his is our duty as survivors. This is what we have witnessed as a nation time and again. We need not try to make sense of di minishing involvement but rather take the memory of the love we gave and the love we received and bundle them into a trea sure chest of keepsakes and recollections. We must endeavor to release the guilt because it only prolongs the agony and causes us to fall deeper into the pit. And for sure God was not there to steal the future but rather to aid in the comfort needed to walk through the valley into a new day, a new life, a new be ginning. We never forget, but we cannot stop time and remain in this spot forever. It is never easy to explain away a loss – a loss of a child, a spouse or significant other, but maybe we should try to understand that pain can be relieved with hope, faith, and a belief that life will continue for us and those we lose. Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D., is spiritual lead er of the Sun Lakes Jewish Community. evoke memories of loss, grief

BY LYNNE HARTKE Guest Writer “Follow the water up the mountain,” my neigh bor said when I asked him the location of Mayflower Spring, one of three natural springs near our cabin in northern Arizona. “The spring is one and a half miles from here,” he added, “down the Arizona Trail.” Whenever our neighbor talks about the Arizona Trail, I pay attention. He just completed the 800-mile trek that traverses the entire north-to-south length of our state, from the border of Mexico to the border of Utah. He hiked the trail in segments, keeping careful record of his distances. Mayflower Spring is mentioned on several Arizona Trail websites, with specific GPS coordinates and detailed instructions, since discovering natural water for people hiking 800 miles is something that should not be left to chance. My neighbor was more casual. “Head north until you see water crossing the trail and then follow the water up the mountain to the spring. You can’t miss it.” I hoped he was right. As someone who is directionally chal lenged and addicted to Google Maps, I would miss the voice on my phone telling me to turn left in 800 feet. Feeling adventurous, my dog Mollie and I headed out down the trail lined with the first wildflowers of spring. Pink showy phlox. Franciscan bluebells. Delicate spring beauties. Two mule deer bounded out of the underbrush in front of us, disturbed by our presence. About the time I was beginning to wonder if we had taken a wrong turn, I noticed water in a normally dry wash in front of us. Could this be it? “Follow the water up the mountain,” my neighbor had said. The water was little more than a trickle as it dribbled its way over small stones and fallen pine needles. Last year’s oak leaves blocked the flow, detouring the water past a tiny woodland garden of pink mayflowers. We followed the tracks of elk, mule deer, and the footprints of other hikers on a path that wasn’t linear but curved to a destination we could not yet see. Isn’t that the usual way of faith walks up mountains?Lifeissorarely a straight line, but that doesn’t mean we walk alone. Jesus walks with us through all the curves and valleys. While I prefer a neon arrow pointing me to the obvious route, God’s Word has left us instructions for the path to all that is good.

BY PASTOR ARNPRIESTERMARVIN Guest Writer I’ve been having trouble with our home phone and internet service from time to time. Most of the time it has worked well with no complaints. Then, beginning late spring the internet service was slow at times. Earlier this month, the phone service had a loud hum anytime there was a call. At times, the internet was slow to almost non-existent I called the serviceman who did something and pronounced it fixed. It was – for two days. Then Sunday, nothing was working. Went to a service center and complained. They sent out a repair supervisor who spent over three hours tracking everything out. He discovered a bad modem which he replaced. That did not fix the Finally,problem.hechecked the main connection box somewhere several miles away. He discovered the ground for the fuse link had never been attached. He attached it and presto; all is well. Service is better than ever! As I reflect on that experience, it strikes me that being grounded is not only necessary in electrical connections, but in our lives as well. When one is not grounded, one is all over the place because one is not secure in their person. They seem to be wishy-washy, always needing more than you can give them. You can’t pin them down for sure on much of anything as they are all over the place because of their need to please others. Their need for attention seems over whelming at times. As a result, they will fall for most anything in their desire to please, to be seen as important, to have the answer. Not being grounded messes everythingWhenup. one is grounded in their faith with a sense of whose they are, then they know who they are. You are aware there is a congruency about what they say and claim with how they live and interact with others. They have a keen sensitivity to others with a unique ability to listen well and respond appropriately. Being grounded means they don’t have, nor do they need to have all the answers. They don’t need to fix others as they accept and affirm others as they are. They seem to have a sense of serenity about them which is both invitational andBeingaccepting.grounded means, they are set free to live life fully and richly no matter the situation in which they find themselves. I hope the ground wire on my phone and internet service remains connected for trouble-free service. I hope to become more and more grounded as a person of faith, so I am living a congruent life. Rev. Marvin Arnpriester is senior pastor at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church.

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Michelle Emami said her work is rooted in her Mexican and Iranian cultural background. (Special to SanTan Sun News) since 1981 Paul Maryniak at

“Growing up within a mixed-race household, I always felt safe and reassured about my identity,” she said. “But outside of my home, being biracial is somewhat of a hard concept for people to grasp especially within American culture where we tend to compartmentalize cultural groups through events or cultural awareness months. “Compartmentalizing cultural groups are safe havens for people experiencing discrimination or racial stereotyping, but they are not a safe space for biracial or multiracial individuals like myself to turn to when we are experiencing unsavory and degrading comments,” she“It’sadded.not just being misunderstood by Americans but by people of your own race as well. There is no one to turn to for when you are feeling isolated or alone.”InRoots, an acrylic on museum board, Emami depicts silhouettes from Mexican regions that display traditional henna tattoos from her Persian culture. “Henna tattoos hold di erent meanings, depending on the design –which is why I chose flowers, leaves, and vines to fi ll in the silhouettes of each figure. These designs symbolize pure happiness, joy, devotion, and celebration,” she said. She added: “Although I use my own silhouettes for these pieces, I purposely chose to block o my face with the henna designs as a way to depict my displacement within my own identity and constant questioning of what it really meant for me to be biracial and American.”WithVector, Emami intermingles her two cultures with familiar patterns that give her joy. The floral pattern is Mexican folkloric vector art used typically on textiles while the Islamic geometric star is a mathematical pattern commonly used in Iranian architecture that has influenced other cultures in the region. “I overlapped the two to create an optical illusion so that the viewer’s eye is constantly moving back and forth from the foreground to the background. I did this to show that one cannot exist without the other, similar to me,” she said. This is Emami’s fi rst show outside of her native California. “I am so happy that my work is reaching outside of my hometown and crossing borders. It feels so surreal to see my work in a gallery space and to have also been given the opportunity to have a solo show,” she said, adding “It is more than I could have dreamed of.”

35 For more community news visit SanTanSun.com THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

BY SRIANTHI PERERA GetOut Contributor Born to an Iranian father and a Mexican mother, Michelle Emami fi nds identityHence,important.herartistic creations reflect her particular thinking, experiences and the blend of two cultures. Ten pieces of Emami’s work are on display at The Gallery at CCA in Downtown Chandler in an exhibition titled “Both, Neither and All of the Above: Michelle Emami” through October 15. “The foundation within my work is based on my Mexican and Iranian cultures, but I am constantly questioning the lack of security that both my cultural backgrounds hold within my American culture,” said Emami, who lives in Southern California. Vision Gallery Art Curator Jillian Nakornthap came up with the show title, which Emami found “perfect.” Emami uses the motifs and cultural symbols from the two cultures, such as tile designs, henna tattoos and folklore. In Foundation, an acrylic on canvas, she incorporates the tile designs that existed in her parents’ countries: the red, yellow and bit of blue reflect her Mexican background while the blue and green with orange highlights represent her Iranian heritage. “The white tiles are meant to represent me and the open foundation that my parents created in order for me to explore my own identity,” she said. “I also wanted my parents’ tiles to fade into the white tiles to represent everything that they had given up in order to assimilate themselves within America so that I could have a better future than theyEmamidid.” cites various reasons why she feels her identity is misunderstood.

480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@TimesLocalMedia.com

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Her work doesn’t ﬁxate on the negative stereotypical ideas that are usually associated with her background, she said. She wants to focus on the positive. “I want my work to be seen as a normalized occurrence within society and as a safe space for other biracial or multiracial individuals to freely express themselves,” she said. “Regardless of whether or not any culture accepts me for who I am, my goal is for the viewer to see the connections that can be made within cultures instead of focusing on the di “Onceerences.they do, they will be able to indulge in an enriching experience; the beautiful blending of many cultures.” “Both, Neither and All of the Above: Michelle Emami” runs through Oct. 15 at the Gallery at Chandler Center for the Arts at 250 N. Arizona Ave. Closing reception is 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 15. RSVP to 480-782-2695. Admission is free.

Chandler exhibit shows artist’s twin heritages

Vector, 2022, acrylic on wood panel, shows intermingled cultures through patterns that bring joy to California artist Michelle Emami, who is displaying her work at The Gallery at CCA. (Courtesy of Michelle Emami)

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39THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022 The automatic fall detect pendant that works WHERE YOU GO! 1-866-767-7803 *$19.95 is the monthly price of subscription to a MobileHelp Classic at home only system. There is a one-time $49.95 processing fee and $15 shipping fee required to subscribe to this plan. Equipment may vary as shown. System featured in photo above is the MobileHelp DUO available at an additional monthly cost. Call or see terms and conditions for further details. 50% off Fall Detection Promotion valid when Fall Detection Service is added to your monitoring system and MobileHelp Connect Premium service is included with the order. Offer is valid for the first year of service only. This offer is for new customers only and cannot be combined with any other offers. Promotion available for select plans only and for a limited time. During the promotional term, you will receive $5 off the $10 full retail price of Fall Detection service. After first year, Fall Detect pricing reverts to discounted price of $7.50/month when combined with MobileHelp Connect Premium. Fall Button does not detect 100% of falls. If able, users should always push their help button when they need assistance. Fall Button is not intended to replace a caregiver for users dealing with serious health issues. Service availability and access/coverage on the AT&T network is not available everywhere and at all times. Current GPS location may not always be available in every situation. MobileHelp is a registered trademark. Patented technology. MobileHelp is an FDA registered company. MHPN-00939 Rev. 1 To be truly independent, your personal emergency device needs to work on the go. A Help Button Should Go Where You Go! Simple one-button operation Affordable service Ampliﬁed 2-way voicecommunication 24/7 access to U.S. based emergency operators GPS location detection Available Nationwide MobileHelp Features: Optional Fall Button™ LIMITED TIME OFFER! 50% off Fall Detection Service* Comfortable & Lightweight Wearable as a pendant Waterproof FallOptionalButton From $19.95 /month *

The mechanism on all sizes is very smooth and easy to operate with the king size version offering a unique split sleeping area allowing only one side to be opened if needed.

Monika full size shown in silver fabric. The Monika series can be special ordered in a wide assortment of fabrics to suit your specific needs and style. Our Lena sofa sleeper is a pleasure to operate and has no cumbersome loose cushions to store as they automatically tuck away under the sleeping mechanism. Available from stock in a durable and soft forest grey or dark brown fabric. 3998$ Throw pillows not included. $King Queen 2599$ Full Single 1699$2299$ Throw pillows sold separately through August 28th any qualifying sofa sleeper

, buy

2899

Our sofa beds offer all the functionality of a sleeper, but without having the appearance of one. Sleek designs that sit as well as they look and offer surprising comfort in a fold-away bed. Choose from our in-stock collection or special order in a number of different fabrics and leathers. looks like a sofa, sits like a sofa, sleeps like a bed.

Monika king size sofa sleeper is made in Finland and shown here in charcoal fabric Monika king shown with split sleeping surface.

40 THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2022

The Monika series has been a best seller for some time and is available as a king, queen, full or single sleeper. All four sizes are stocked In a very nice charcoal fabric with our most popular full size version also stocked in silver.

& receive a copenhagen gift card valued at $125 for every 1000 you spend. $ Please note: $125 Copenhagen gift card for every full $1000 purchased is available on any in-stock or special order sleeper sofa purchase. Gift card will be mailed after payment in full and delivery has been accepted. This offer is strictly limited to sofa sleeper purchases and is not available on any other product category. Cannot be combined with any other in-store or factory sponsored offer or discounts. Not valid on previous purchase. Bedding and throw pillows shown are not included. please see the location nearest you for full offer details. Offer ends August 28, 2022. furniturecontemporary&accessories www.copenhagenliving.comShop online at HOURS: PHOENIX Mon-Sat: 9am-6pm, Sundays: Noon-5pm SCOTTSDALE & GILBERT Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm, Saturdays: 10am-6pm, Sundays: Noon-5pm PHOENIX 1701 E. Camelback 602-266-8060 SCOTTSDALE 15804 N. Scottsdale Rd. (South of Bell) 480-367-6401 GILBERT 2000 S. Santan Village Pkwy. 480-838-3080 100% made in Italy by Vitarelax, the Magic sofa sleeper is a statement of good design, boasting excellent quality and comfort. Simple to operate and available from stock in either light grey anthracite fabric or off white or grey top-grain leather. Or special order yours in a wide array of fabrics and leather. Fabric Leather 3759$2494$ Throw pillows not included.

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SanTan Sun News August 14, 2022

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