The Chandler Arizonan 11.27.22

Chandler’s new chicken law could face referendum

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The Chandler City Council approved al lowing backyard chickens in residen tial neighborhoods on a divided vote. But the fight may not be over.

Les Minkus of South Chandler, who has been leading the opposition to the change, said he and like-minded residents intend to get enough signatures so local citizens can vote on the measure in a referendum.

If that fails, then he hopes the new and re constituted City Council may revisit the is sue in January after Angel Encinas and Jane Poston replace Rene Lopez and Terry Roe.

“We’re going go for it,” Minkus said after the council’s 5-2 vote Nov. 10. “Let’s see what’s going to happen in January, because they may repeal it, right?”

It took years for Council to approve back yard chickens, which was rejected by one vote in 2013. Lopez had made passing the change a priority before he left office.

“I can appreciate those that … have con cerns about this,” Lopez said. “We’re not breaking ground. Every city around us al lows chickens.

“It’s not like we have a mass exodus from other cities that are seeking refuge in Chan dler because of chickens.”

There are only two scheduled meetings left for the current council. Encinas and Poston are scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 12.

To force a referendum, opponents must collect 5,619 verifiable signatures of Chan dler residents in a 30-day window that will start after the measure’s final adoption, scheduled early next month.

That number is determined by the num ber of votes cast in the last certified city election, which in this case is the August Primary. They need 10% of the 56,181

Raising the woof Chandler Council approves non-discrimination ordinance

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The advocates for a non-dis crimination ordinance gath ered outside Chandler City Council Chambers to celebrate even before the Nov. 10 meeting was officially over.

Chandler is no longer the largest city in Arizona without an NDO.

“I think tonight was a very, very important step forward, and cul minates a two-year process,” said Tyler Conaway, co-founder of

who chairs

merce’s Diversity, Equity and In clusion committee.

“It’s inspiring to be part of a bigger process that’s intended to make Chandler more inclusive, and make everyone feel like they have a place to belong. So, I’m very excited.”

Support from businesses may have been the key to adoption.

The Chandler Chamber has been lobbying hard for the adop tion. During the Nov. 10 meeting, Thomas Barr of Local First Arizo na called on the Council to pass

Chandler

of Com

Quesy (short for Quesadilla) the border collie chased bubbles at Woofstock, which brought out a number of residents and their furry friends to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler on Nov. 19, Arizona. Check out some of the other attendees on page 9. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)

Chandler Pride and

the

Chamber

Sugarland debuted in Chandler, adding a lure for shoppers.

the the non-discrimination measure.

He’s the vice president for business development for the group that sup ports small businesses in Arizona.

“Having worked closely alongside or ganizations advancing equality for all Arizonans, we’ve seen small business es continue to advocate themselves for inclusive policies for the LGBTQ com munity,” Barr said. “That makes Arizo na a great place we’re all proud to call home.”

The ordinance prohibits discrimina tion, harassment, and retaliation based on actual or perceived race, color, reli gion, sex, ethnicity, national origin, sex ual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, marital status or fa milial status.

It covers all contractors, vendors and consultants who do work on behalf of the city. It also provides for equity in employment and public accommoda

tion within the city.

Any company found in violation of the NDO would not be given any city contracts.

During study sessions, council mem bers learned that very few complaints actually go to that conclusion. Most cas es are worked out through mediation.

The City Attorney told the Council that there has only been one case in Arizona that went to the state Supreme Court. In that case a Phoenix printer re fused to create wedding invitations for a gay couple. The court ultimately ruled there must be exemption to NDOs for religious viewpoints.

Conaway and Eduarda Schroder, the other co-founder of the LGBTQ-rights group Chandler Pride, said there may need to be adjustments made to the NDO in the future.

“As far as revisiting, if you look at the other cities that passed fast, quicker versions, Scottsdale, and in particular Mesa, they’ve made slight adjustments

as they’ve gone back in and said, ‘does this make sense? Do we need this any more?,’” Conaway said.

Schroder said during public com ments that she would like to see tough er penalties for violators.

“There should be consequences, cen sure or a monetary fine,” she wrote in a text. “Or both. Chandler Pride hasn’t zeroed in on something yet.”

Councilman OD Harris pushed for the passage of the NDO, crediting Matt Or lando and Christine Ellis for helping him draft the final version in a subcommit tee. “I’m proud today and I’m excited to day,” he said. “I could not be more proud of the work that we did – for almost two years, working on this tirelessly.”

Ellis said she was happy Council took its time to get this right.

The mayor issued a proclamation in the spring of 2021 calling for an inclu sive community. Council then decided to pursue a DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) survey, hiring an outside con

tractor to run it.

In it they found that 13% of city em ployees strongly disagree that the city is an inclusive place to work.

If there was any reluctance by this Council to pass a NDO, there was pres sure to act now.

Incoming council members Angel En cinas and Jane Poston both campaigned on passing a non-discrimination ordi nance and easily won election. With Harris and Orlando already on the re cord voting for the measure, that would have given them a majority.

“It makes a statement, and it’s the statement that I believe always de scribed Chandler, is that we are not a city that is known for discrimination,” said Mayor Kevin Hartke.

He said during last year’s campaign he would oppose the NDO because he thought it put too big a burden on busi nesses.

Hartke said this one is not onerous. “I’m very proud to live in this city.”

480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timeslocalmedia.com

Chandler man kills self, wounds his 2 kids

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

AChandler man is dead from a self-inflicted wound after he vi olated a court order and entered his estranged wife’s home and shot his two children.

The children, a 15-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, are expected to survive.

Derek Aaron Tighe, 52, killed himself on Nov. 20 after shooting the children in the house near Alma School and Queen Creek roads in South Chandler. The wife, 38-year-old Sophie Tighe, was uninjured.

Police say he entered the home unan nounced with a handgun, shot the chil dren, then took his own life.

A Go Fund Me page has been estab lished by family friend Derrelyn Phelps to help pay for the children’s medical expenses. They were both in critical condition when they were first trans ported to the hospital.

Derek Tighe agreed to a court order not to be near his wife without notify ing the Adult Probation Department in advance. It was part of his three-year supervised probation sentence for a domestic violence case that happened on Feb. 20 of this year.

Here is a summary of that case ac cording to court records:

The parents were planning on a di vorce and living in separate locations, though they still had regular contact because of the children. Derek was un employed and unable to help with child support. Sophie asked him to help buy some groceries.

DEREK TIGHE

They went to Walmart together to shop, but had an argument. Derek end ed up leaving his wife and two kids at the store and drove around for an hour. Sophie called a friend, who picked them up and took them to Derek’s apartment.

The daughter knew the code to open the door and entered it. Sophie put her groceries in the refrigerator so they wouldn’t spoil. Then her friend drove her to her house so she could retrieve her keys and she then went back to Derek’s apartment to get the groceries.

As she was doing that, Derek re turned. He pulled her down by the hair, then retrieved his AR-15 rifle. He point ed it at his wife while he called police.

Sophie said in the police report he has pointed weapons at her before, and she knew the best thing she could do was to sit there quietly.

Both children witnessed the incident.

Derek told police he caught a burglar in his home and he had the legal right to detain her. The son collaborated his mother’s version of events.

Derek said that his wife had attacked him in the past with a knife, and was arrested for it. He said he grabbed the gun because she was near some knives and he was afraid for his life. Sophie told police that Derek had cut himself in that case, but she got arrested for it.

Derek told police he did not give Sophie permission to enter his place, and the fact that she was inside when he returned home made her a burglar. He said she only gained entry because their daughter knew the code.

The Adult Probation Department did a risk/needs assessment to determine if they thought Derek was likely to be a risk to his wife or children. They scored him a 10, which is considered medi um-to-low risk. The highest score they give is 42.

The court agreed to a three-year su pervised probation sentence that start ed on Oct. 6. He also had to pay fees at $65 a month starting Dec. 1.

Derek agreed to not contacting the victim or his children unless he had written permission from the Adult Probation Department also agreed to participate and complete domestic vi olence training,

He also had to notify probation au thorities if he became involved in a ro mantic relationship, and make sure his new partner knew why he was under supervised probation.

Chandler launching information web portal

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The City of Chandler is launching a web portal that is designed to im prove transparency and make the city more accountable to its residents.

People who have any question about the city may find it a good place to look for answers on questions like:

• What is the median household in come? $97,000.

• How many planes land and take off from the airport each year? 57,000.

• What’s the average response time by police to a priority one call? 4:13.

• How many miles of bike lanes are in the city? 354.

Those are just some of the nuggets of information that the dashboards, which can be found at chandleraz.gov/perfor mance. It launched on Nov. 7 and city of ficials gave the mayor and council mem bers a tour during a work session.

“We want to show today our move ment in that direction to show how we can support all of our actions with

numbers and be accountable and trans parent to our residents through this through this portal,” said Steven Turner, the assistant to the city manager.

The information is broken up by the Council’s strategic framework focus areas: Economic vitality, Innovation & Technology, Mobility, Neighborhoods, Quality of Life, and Good Governance.

The quality of life category is broken up even further into three subsets: Pub

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lic safety, cultural development and rec reation.

One of the goals of the dashboard is to show the city’s progress in achieving its goals. For example, if the goal is for po lice’s average response time to a priori ty one call to be under 5 minutes, then it would state that. It would also show when the city is falling short of its goals. Those goals are usually highlighted in a different color to make them stand out. For example, the city’s goal is for customers to give an average rating of at least 4.5 out of five at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center. It’s currently at 4.3. Another goal is for the average pave ment quality index to be 70 or higher. The city is currently at 68.5. The only other metric that is falling short of city’s goals now is the average wait times cus tomers experience when they call City Hall. The goal is a minute or less. The current wait time is 1:53.

The dashboard “keeps city staff City Council accountable and transparent to our constituents, and ultimately pro vides a culture of excellence,” Turner said. “Everybody’s kind of working to

gether on a common theme and com mon purpose.”

Turner and City Manager Joshua Wright asked the council members to consider changing their focus areas to make it easier for them to measure prog ress.

“The current strategic framework, as it is currently written, is difficult to measure quantitatively,” Turner said.

“There’s a lot of great goals and great fo cus areas in there, however, it is hard to track quantitatively.”

Turner offered an example.

He said Council could agree to spend

$1 million more on parks. That would be hard to hold people accountable be cause there’s no direction how to spend the money or what the priorities should be. However, if Council said the goal is that there is a park within a five-minute walk of every Chandler resident, that is something they could work on.

The mayor and Council plan to meet in February to go over their strategic framework and make any adjustments they deem necessary. The two new members of council, Angel Encinas and Jane Poston, will be sworn in on Jan. 12.

Most of the items on the dashboard

can be clicked on to provide more infor mation. That may include a chart show ing the trend for that category.

Some of the items will updated month ly, but others less frequently. Many of the economic data statistics are updated quarterly. Some, such as number of air port flights, are updated annually.

There are some numbers that may need further context.

For example, one of the dashboards says there are 345 sworn police officers in Chandler. Police Chief Sean Duggan said during a Council presentation there are not that many officers right now, be cause the department has been unable to fill 31 positions.

“The reality that we face right now is that the number of individuals that are willing to be police officers, has shrunk considerably,” Duggan said. “And of that pool of people, the number of people that are qualified to be police officers, let alone Chandler police officers, is even smaller.

“So we are in a constant struggle local ly, in a very saturated market, a market where every city, every police depart ment is vying for quality folks to join the ranks, and the pool is very small.”

The city’s new web portal aims to give residents snapshots of information about Chandler and local government. (City of Chandler)

votes cast in that election to overturn a council decision.

That is only one option.

In his presentation before the vote, he said both Encinas and Poston indicated they would not support changing ordi nances to allow for backyard chickens. Both Lopez and Roe voted in favor.

So Minkus is hopeful that combined with the two no votes last week from OD Harris and Matt Orlando, they might be able to repeal the change once the new council is seated.

If the change stands, here is how Chan dler residents can own backyard chick ens:

• There is a limit of five hens, no roost ers.

• This is for single-family lots inside city limits. Homeowners Associations may have their own rules that prohibit chickens.

• Chickens must be contained in a side or back yard. The coop must be at least five feet away from all property lines.

• Any coop that exceeds 7 feet in height,

or 120 square feet overall, will need a building permit. Any coop with any utilities (water or electric) needs a building permit.

Avondale and Fountain Hills are the only Valley towns that ban backyard chickens on residential properties. Glen dale allows them, but only on lots 10,000 square feet and bigger.

“I appreciate the input from the pub lic saying that just because a couple of council members are coming that we shouldn’t be making decisions for the

city,” Lopez said after a couple of speak ers suggested leaving this decision for the next Council to decide.

“I find that kind of disingenuous, be cause that means every vote for the last six months then are not valid. I just I have concerns with that line of thought, because we were elected also to do a job and to represent our community.

“And there’s loads of people that are encouraged and want to have chickens, we also need to consider their inputs,” Lopez added. “So I’ll leave it at that.”

Hamilton club gets girls interested in technology

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The gender gap in technology is closing, but it still remains huge. The global professional services company Deloitte reports that only 25% of the employees at large tech compa nies this year are women. And there’s only one woman for every four men in leadership roles at tech companies.

One Hamilton High School club is try ing to change that. Girls Who Code is of fering boot camps to elementary school girls to try and get them interested in pursuing tech as a possible career.

“It’s predominantly male, but I hope to close the gender gap in the future years,” said club President Chloe Zahn. “I do know that many girls who join our pro

grams are super excited to learn coding, and they’re even more excited to learn after they leave.”

The November boot camp taught girls how to build their own web pages with HTML code. In October, they learned how to create their own games.

“We taught kids how to make games using Scratch,” Chloe said. “That was re ally fun. They made a game where they could take a quick quiz, or games where they would have to catch flying objects around the screen.”

The classes are held at the Chandler Library on the Hamilton High campus. Girls in the area can sign up for the next boot camp by visiting the Hamilton li

Shannon Ellingson, a Chandler mother of two, and her husband spent $3,000 building a chicken coop in their backyard last year, only to have city inspectors tell them they couldn’t use it. (David Minton/ Staff Photographer)

brary’s web site. Look under events.

Chloe said a future boot camp will teach girls her favorite programming language, Python.

“Python is great,” she said. “It’s the most intuitive language, I’d say because the logic is very clean. And I really liked how you can apply Python for data anal ysis. I’ve been mainly using Python to do modeling and data analysis, because of the increasing amount of data around us.

“Python is really useful in finding trends and data making predictions us ing that data.”

It was the Girls Who Code club that got Chloe interested in programming.

“I joined Girls Who Code my freshman year, and I became super interested in coding because the previous president did an amazing job,” Chloe said.

The high school junior said many of the meetings the past few years have been online only because of the pan demic. She said she was lucky enough to take over when they were meeting in person again.

At the boot camps, members of the

Kristal Stewart helped Maryan Abdullah, 9, as Hamilton High School’s Girls Who Code Club members teach a boot camp class earlier this month that introduced elementa ry-age girls to computer science at the Chandler Public Library Hamilton Branch.

(David Minton/Staff Photographer)

club work individually with the girls as they try and complete their assigned task. They keep the lesson short, about an hour, and try to make it fun and en couraging.

After all, the goal is to spark an inter est in coding so that some of the girls may wish to pursue it as a career.

According to TechCrunch, 74% of girls desire a career in science, math, engi

neering or technology. However, Com puterScience.org says on 18% of un dergraduate computer science degrees went to women.

So clubs like Girls Who Code still have work to do.

“When I started learning coding, a lot of the adults in my classes actually said how they wished they had been exposed to coding more in their childhood,” Chloe said.

“They said they only started learning in the mid-30s and 40s. That’s why we’re doing these community boot camps.”

Girls Who Code

Follow on IG: @gwchamilton

To sign up for a boot camp, visit Hamilton High’s library page and look under events.

GOT NEWS?

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

Dog day afternoon

It was all dogs all the time during Chandler’s annual Woofstcok Nov. 19 as res idents and their four-legged family members joined in the fun at Tumbleweed park. Among them, 1) Rusty the 12-year old Lab hung out with Gilbert DaDawg at Woofstock; 2) Frank the Beagle took the paws that refreshes from a kiddie pool; 3) Rocky, a border collie mix rescued off the streets in Denver Colorado, mastered the flyball course; 4) Ahleah Coulson captured Buddha the Pit Bull on camera; 5) Chan dler Police Department Master Trainer Officer Ron Emory walked Bako through a simulated search; 6) Mindy the Husky wore goggles because she suffers from a con dition where blood vessels and scar tissue invade the cornea; and 7) Jade the Shih Tzu showed everyone her chompers.

(Photos by David Minton/ Arizonan Staff Photographer)

Council OKs downtown Chandler project after assurances

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler City Council members made sure the developer of the Downtown District understands they are worried they’re being prom ised lots of tax-generating retail busi ness but will end up with only multi family housing instead.

And they won’t be happy about it. Council on Nov. 10 approved a rezon ing and preliminary development plan for the proposed multi-use develop ment on about 45 acres on the south west corner of Arizona Avenue and Pe cos Road.

The plan includes about 800 apart ment units; a hotel, about 100,000 square feet of retail space, and more than 364,000 square feet of office space.

“My concern has always been the retail on this issue,” Councilman Matt Orlando said during the Nov. 7 study session. “That drives… the sales tax that goes towards the parks, the [recre ation], the police, the fire, all the ameni ties that Chandler has become used to in its quality of life.”

The developer has promised to build two two-story office build ings at the same time as the first and larger of two residential buildings is constructed during phase one.

A stipulation was add ed to the development agreement during the Planning and Zoning Board hearing on this case that construction on the second and small er multifamily building could not begin until all the retail shops along Ar izona Avenue were built.

The developer does not have any contracts in hand to oc cupy those spaces. Because of the lack of affordable housing in Chandler, it’s unlikely they will have any problems filling up the multi-family units.

The city currently has a 5.1% vacan cy rate for retail, according to the city’s economic development office and a 16.2% vacancy rate for office space.

“It is highly unusual in today’s mar ket, as we know, that is ever-evolving, ever-changing, for a developer to com mit to build so much … on speculation,” said Brennan Ray, a lawyer with Burch & Cracchiolo who is representing the owner and developer, Meridian West AZ/202, LLC.

Ray said his client is prepared to build 70,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 feet of retail without having contracts in place with the tenants.

Orlando said that they gave him ad ditional assurances that more retail would be built before the second apart ment building is started, and that was enough to ensure its passage.

What concerned Orlando, and other members of Council, is that there are only five buildings of retail planned along Arizona Avenue. The vast major ity of the retail space is either behind that, or along Pecos. And the developer would not have to build those before constructing the second multi-family building.

“What are the guarantees that we get the class A office space that Microchip desperately needs?” Council member Mark Stewart said. “What are the guar antees that we get the hotel and con vention space, which is what was zoned for this particular plan when it was pur chased?”

20,000 more square feet of meeting space for corporate events.

“It’s not really my place to tell you what to put where, and what kind of street paving to use or what design,” Vice Mayor Terry Roe said. “But for me, the greatest concern is, I just want it done.

“I can think of five or six projects right now that are still incomplete,” Roe said. “Those all came with great inten tion and promise and they are still not completed. And so what would disap point me the most is to have two new multi-housing projects with a lot of un developed land.”

In other Council business, Mark Stewart cast a no vote on one consent agenda item. It was a plan to change the city code to raise the maximum dollar amount that staff can spend on projects without Council approval.

In some cases, it’s doubling from $50,000 to $100,000. The proposal is being made because inflation has increased costs, so a lot more of the city’s contracts are passing the $50,000 threshold.

“One of our main responsibilities as council members is to be a budget watchdogs and ensure taxpayer dollars are accounted for,” Stewart wrote in an email. “In my opinion the old limits were high enough for Council approval.”

Council

The plan is for a 180-room hotel. Council members told Ray repeated ly that there is a huge need for about

The mayor and other council mem bers voted in favor and the proposal passed.

Council was satisfied the developer won’t just build apartment buildings on the land. (City of Chandler)

approved a rezoning and preliminary development plan for a multi-use devel opment on about 45 acres on the southwest corner of Arizona Avenue and Pecos Road. (City of Chandler)

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler man sentenced to 20 years for exploiting a minor

A Chandler man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually-exploiting a minor, sex trafficking, and other crimes.

Devon Ray Sharma, 28, was convict ed of convincing his victims to send him sexually-exploitative images online. Once he received them, he would black mail his victims to either pay or have sex with him.

The crimes took place between 2016 and 2020. Chandler Police investigated the case. The 20-year sentence is the maximum allowed under a plea bargain. He will be under lifetime probation when he is released.

“Sharma is considered a prolific of fender who would convince his victims to send him sexually exploitative imag es under false premises of being movie producer or a female,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said.

“Sharma would then extort the wom

en to pay him or have coercive sex with him in exchange for not destroying their lives by sending the images to family and friends or posting on the internet for massive distribution.”

Chandler ranks sixth nationally for digital cities in new study

Chandler is among the top 10 nation ally for digital cities. The Center for Dig ital Government ranked the city sixth among those with a population between 250,000 and less than 500,000.

The survey looked at cities that tack le social challenges, enhance services, strengthen cybersecurity with their use of technology.

Kroger awards $20,000 grant to Rice Elementary

Kroger is awarding a $20,000 grant to Rice Elementary to help with the school’s outdoor learning space.

The money is coming from the com pany’s Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Foun see AROUND page 14

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Glendale

More from your Medicare 6052 N 59th Ave Nov 28 1:00 PM

Benefits vary by plan. ‘Ohana Health Plan, a plan offered by Wellcare Health Insurance of Arizona, Inc. Wellcare is the Medicare brand for Centene Corporation, an HMO, PPO, PFFS, PDP plan with a Medicare contract and is an approved Part D Sponsor. Our D-SNP plans have a contract with the state Medicaid program. Enrollment in our plans depends on contract renewal. Washington residents: Health Net Life Insurance Company is contracted with Medicare for PPO plans. “Wellcare by Health Net” is issued by Health Net Life Insurance Company. Washington residents: “Wellcare” is issued by Wellcare of Washington, Inc. Washington residents: “Wellcare” is issued by Wellcare Health Insurance Company of Washington, Inc. Wellcare by Allwell (HMO and HMO SNP) includes products that are underwritten by Superior HealthPlan, Inc. and Superior HealthPlan Community Solutions, Inc. Wellcare (HMO and HMO SNP) includes products that are underwritten by Wellcare of Texas, Inc., Wellcare National Health Insurance Company, and SelectCare of Texas, Inc. Cosmetic procedures are not covered under this benefit. ©Wellcare 2022 NA3WCMADV90544E_0000 Y0020_WCM_90544E1_M Final22 CMS Approved 09132022

Sugarland debut downtown kicks of holiday season here

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Downtown Chandler is known for its bars and restaurants, filling the night air with live music and fun. There are other businesses, howev er.

The new executive director of the Downtown Chandler Community Part nership said Sugarland is for them, of fering giant treats as a lure to help retail and service businesses.

“Our tagline is going to be, ‘Give Au thentic, Shop Local,’ highlighting more retail service and experience,” said Re becca Hill, partnership executive direc tor and president. “We spend a lot of time highlighting the bars and restau rants. We want to give the other busi nesses some love too.”

Hill is only a couple of months into her new job. She previously was the execu tive director for Power Ranch HOA in Gilbert, a community with 20,000 resi dents.

She said they timed the debut of this

year’s Sugarland for Small Business for yesterday to encourage residents to do some holiday shopping downtown.

Hill said she was surprised by the number of service businesses there are downtown, including barbers, salons and a gym.

Sugarland is just the first of a number of holiday events. Chandler’s Parade of Lights is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3.

Last year the parade returned after be ing shut down because of the pandemic. Hermelinda Llamas, Chandler’s special events coordinator, said there were a lot of smiles.

“They were ecstatic they were able to get out there and be around other peo ple,” Llamas said. “The community was just that, a community. They realized that they missed it.”

Last year there were fewer floats, about three dozen. This year 44 floats are expected to dazzle fans.

The parade starts at 6:45 p.m. The lighting ceremony for the Tumbleweed Christmas Tree is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Llamas said there is one new wrin kle to the holidays this year. They have made a slight change to Santa’s house, which will allow more family members to get into the photo.

Previously, only a child or two could have their photo taken with Santa. With the change they made they say most of the immediate family should be able to take their photo together with Saint Nick.

There will be entertainment for peo ple who arrive early to get the best seats for the parade. Three dancing and sing ing groups are scheduled to perform starting at 4:30 p.m.

Llamas advises residents to check the road closure maps, arrive early, and use any of the parking garages in the area.

She said the city does work with the partnership on Sugarland, helping coor dinate where the interactive candy dis plays go and providing them with what ever resources they need.

Hill said she expects some special guests for the Sugarland debut on Nov. 26.

“We’re just hoping to grow bigger and better each year and make it enjoyable for the kids,” Hill said. “You know, the parade and the lighting of the Christmas tree can get a bit hectic with thousands and thousands. This is more of an inti mate, fun way to kick off the holiday sea son.”

If you go

Sugarland

WHEN: Now through Jan. 2 WHERE: Downtown Chandler

Parade of Lights

WHEN: 6:45 to 8 p.m., Dec. 3 WHERE: Along Arizona Avenue, starting at Frye, going to Erie

Tumbleweed Tree Lighting Ceremony

WHEN: 8 p.m., Dec. 3

WHERE: A.J. Chandler Park

Sippin Santas Pub Crawl

WHEN: Dec. 10; Nice list: Noon to 3 p.m.; Naughty list: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. TICKETS: $20

Sugarland’s giant pieces offer an amusing accent to downtown Chandler‘s landscape, (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Fall In Love Withthe

Carts

dation. Kroger operates locally as Frys Food Stores.

“Students will learn about growing food, alternate food production methods, composting, reducing waste, and how the environment impacts plant and ani mal life,” Principal Shirley Mathew said.

“The partnership allows us to support our vision of being sustainable, serve the community, organize fun, educational programs and be able to bring the com munity to our school for a greater pur pose,”

Chandler nonprofit Si Si Puede gets $5,000 grant from Intel

Intel is giving Chandler nonprofit Si Si Puede a $5,000 grant to help improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.

Si Si Puede was founded in 1993 and has worked with thousands of Chan dler-area youth. Intel employees have volunteered more than 4,000 hours for the nonprofit.

Man and woman killed, another woman attacked

A man and woman are dead after a shooting at a Chandler apartment on Nov. 9. The suspect was caught by a neighbor after he had invaded their home and as saulted another woman.

Korey William Sandusky Jr., a convict ed felon from Michigan, was booked into Maricopa County jail on charges of ag gravated assault, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon by a prohib ited person. Additional charges may be added after the investigation concludes.

Police received a call about a possible shooting at the apartment on West Fair view Street. As they were investigating that, they received another call from a nearby apartment about a home inva sion and were told the victim was hold ing the suspect by gunpoint.

Police found a male and female victim with gunshot wounds in the first apart ment. The man died soon after. The wom an died a couple of days later. Sandusky allegedly fled after the shooting and en tered the second victim’s backyard. They spotted him standing near a tool shed, where firearms were later discovered.

The suspect allegedly rushed past the man and began assaulting the woman. The neighbor retrieved his firearm and later held the suspect until police arrived.

City offering cancer screening to first responders

The Chandler Fire Department is now offering cancer screening to its first re sponders as the latest in a series of mea sures to reduce and mitigate exposure to carcinogens.

City Council has approved a $963,400 grant agreement with the Federal Emer gency Management Agency and the use of $96,340 in City funds for the purchase of enhanced cancer prevention and di agnosis services from Vincere Cancer Center. Those services provide Chandler Fire personnel with access to a wide va riety of screenings, scans, blood work and other tests for early detection of cancers through May 2024.

“The cancer screening services add to the menu of mitigation steps being taken by the Chandler Fire Department to limit exposure to carcinogens found in smoke and off gassing chemicals and materi als,” the city said in an announcement.

“Chandler’s efforts begin on the scene of incidents through procedures and personal protective equipment that re duce firefighter exposure to hazardous substances. Firefighters then take ex tensive decontamination measures after incidents and training exercises as well as report exposures to smoke and other combustible materials.”

Each firefighter is outfitted with two complete sets of turnouts so that one set can be cleaned after an exposure. Chan dler Fire also is purchasing extractors, a type of powerful washing machine, for each fire station to expedite the cleaning process for turnouts.

Even the design and use of fire sta tions have been altered to incorporate transition rooms and create distance be tween the apparatus bay and firefighter living quarters, which further limits ex posure to diesel fumes and hazardous substances.

Armer Foundation launches toy drive for Banner

The Armer Foundation – a non-profit that helps families with children who have extreme medical needs – is host ing its fourth annual holiday toy drive to benefit the Banner Cardon Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Oncology Unit.

The foundation is looking for Valley business that would host a donation bin and serve as a drop-off location for the

unopened toys to bring smiles and hope to children battling for their lives.

“A brand-new toy can mean the world to a sick child and as parents who have been through this we know what a dif ference just one toy can make in a child’s life when they spend several weeks in hospital,” said Jennifer Armer, the foun dation’s founder.

The foundation also is hoping for toy donations.

“It can be as big of a toy or as small as you can afford, but every little bit helps us give back to these children and their families. We just thank everyone for helping us spread some holiday cheer once again this year,” Armer said.

To sign up for a donation box, go toarmerfoundation.org or call 480-2573254.

Other items the Armer Foundation will be collecting include: baby dolls, blankets, comfy socks, crayons, pajama pants, hair brush/comb, hair ties, color ing books, kids’ games and books, puz zles and stuffed animals.

Information: armerfoundation.org/ toydrive.

FuelFest coming to Wild Horse Pass FuelFest is returning to the Valley on Dec. 10 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park on Dec. 10. Money raised from the event benefits Reach Out WorldWide, the nonprofit started by Fast & Furious star Paul Walker, who died in a car colli sion in 2013. His brother, Cody, runs the nonprofit now.

The event brings together racing fans, celebrities, music, food and art. There will be hundreds of custom, exotic, rare and exclusive cars and trucks to view, as well as live racing and interactive exhib its.

Tickets are $35. Visit fuelfest.com for more information.

Hadassah chapter invites Chandler women to join

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Orga nization of America, is a volunteer orga nization that inspires a passion for and commitment to the land, the people, and the future of Israel. Devorah Hadassah is the Southeast Valley, which is inviting area women to join its activities.

For more information contact: Eliana Bar-Shalom at 860-377-7126 or ebar shalom.eb@gmail.com.

Live

Nativity scene is returning to Ahwatukee on Dec. 9 with a camel

The free live Nativity that has become an annual staple in the community at Christmastime is returning

Featuring live animals – including a camel – it will be outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel, 2955 East Frye Road, next to Desert Vis ta High School, 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 9.

An outdoor luminary path to tell the story of Jesus’ birth.

Free hot cocoa is provided and free parking is at Desert Vista High.

Armer Foundation launches toy, blood drives to help families

The Armer Foundation for Kids – an Ahwatukee-based non-profit that helps families with children who have extreme medical needs – is hosting its fourth an nual holiday toy drive to benefit the Ban ner Cardon pediatric intensive care and oncology units.

It also has scheduled a blood drive 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 10 at 9830 S. 51st St., Ahwatukee.

The foundation is looking for Valley business that would host a donation bin and serve as a drop-off location for the unopened toys to bring smiles and hope to children battling for their lives.

“A brand-new toy can mean the world to a sick child and as parents who have been through this we know what a dif ference just one toy can make in a child’s life when they spend several weeks in hospital,” said Jennifer Armer, the foun dation’s founder.

The foundation also is hoping for toy donations.

“It can be as big of a toy or as small as you can afford, but every little bit helps us give back to these children and their families. We just thank everyone for helping us spread some holiday cheer once again this year,” said Armer.

To sign up for a donation box, go toarmerfoundation.org or call 480.257.3254.

Other items the Armer Foundation will be collecting include: baby dolls, blankets, comfy socks, crayons, pajama pants, hair brush/comb, hair ties, color ing books, kids’ games and books, puz zles and stuffed animals.

Information: armerfoundation.org/ toydrive.

Chandler • Gilbert • Mesa

Mesa flight schools help ease pilot shortage

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Arizonan Staff Writer

Outside a nondescript building along Sossaman Drive at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport last month, the sun shined while rain poured from an iron-gray sky inside the cavernous structure.

On a powerful flight simulator that cost more than a real airplane, a flight student checked his instruments as the image of a propeller on a large wrap around screen began to hammer away in the rain and he prepared to take a digital plane into the storm.

Behind him, a flight instructor scruti nized a computer monitor.

Scenes like this are typical at the Uni versity of North Dakota Aerospace flight school at Gateway Airport as instruc tors stay busy training aviators amid a shortage commercial plane pilots.

Americans’ wallets are being hit with inflation pressures, but after the pan demic, they are still digging into their bank accounts and traveling with a pas sion.

The good news is that Mesa’s numer ous flight schools are seeing an increase in people interested in learning to fly.

The bad news is, it will take time –years probably – before today’s newly certified pilots impact a travel industry hobbled by delays created by the pilot shortage.

Mesa’s two airports began as facili ties to train pilots for the U.S. and allies during World War II, and the tradition continues with at least 10 flight schools operating in the city today.

Local flight instructors say that even though the communities surround

ing the airfields have trans formed since World War II, the conditions that made Mesa good for training then still remain: there is wideopen airspace nearby, plenty of sunny days and lots of air ports.

Rex Ginder, associate di rector of Phoenix flight op erations for UND Aerospace, said the school’s Mesa cam pus now has the highest en rollment it’s ever had.

UND offers a six-semester collegiate program, and also recently added an accelerat ed 12-to-13-month program to meet the high demand for commercial pilot training.

The school also partners with Chandler-Gilbert Com munity College on an associate’s degree program that enables students to com plete their degree with a private pilot’s license.

Matthew Johnston, president of Cal ifornia Aeronautical University, which operates a school at Mesa’s Falcon Field, said CAU is also seeing elevated interest in training. He thinks even more stu dents would be interested with greater awareness of the profession.

Pilot jobs are “plentiful, they’re por table worldwide and they’re profitable,” he said. “It’s a great industry to pursue.”

Johnston also told career seekers not to ignore training for aviation mechan ics, noting that a shortage of them is also grounding planes.

“When there’s a problem with an air craft, someone’s got to look at it,” he said.

Ginder agrees that jobs await students who stick

with the programs.

He said UND currently has 100% job placement record with regional airlines for students who graduate and work as a flight instructor to help reach the re quired 1,500 hours of flight time to en ter the pilot pool.

While flight schools are filling seats at a time when pilots are badly needed, Ginder and Johnston cautioned that al leviating the pilot and mechanic short age is going to take many years.

Getting the commercial pilots license takes 250 hours of flight time, and that leaves a lot of flying left to reach the needed 1,500 hours.

Another bottleneck in the pilot pipe line is at the highest levels: the final classes pilots take with airlines to get checked out on specific aircraft and routes.

Jacob Ogden goes through his pre-flight checklist in the cockpit of a flight simulator as instructor Thomas John son monitors his attempt at the University of North Dakota Aerospace simulator bay at Phoenix-Mesa Gate way Airport. (David Minton/Ar izonan Staff Photographer)

These sorts of final onboarding class es are generally taught by senior pi lots, Ginder said, and the airlines lost a disproportionate number of these seasoned pilots during the pandemic, offering buyouts as travel restrictions grounded the industry.

Ginder sees evidence of the loss of trainers as airlines are hiring pilots but telling them to stay in their current jobs until space in an onboarding class opens up.

Consequently, travelers should buckle

in for full flights for some time.

A side effect of the pilot shortage is the commercial airline industry has notched the highest “load factors” – the percentage of seats filled on the plane – in two decades in recent months.

Gateway Airport is no ex ception.

In August, the national aver age load factor nearly hit 90%, about 5% higher than a nor mal high of 85%.

Gateway President J. Brian O’Neill told the airport’s board of directors that Mesa has seen load factors rise above 90% this year.

Fuller planes have helped Gateway maintain revenue and continue serving record numbers of passengers even though airlines reduced their number of flights out of Mesa this summer.

In August, Gateway served a record 119,403 passengers for the month on 13% fewer flights than the previous year.

But high load factors can become too much of a good thing.

“Ninety percent (load factor) is al most a disservice to the market because if there’s ever a disruption because of a mechanical or because of weather re lated cancellations, you don’t have any seats available to absorb those people and get them into the system,” O’Neill said.

He said the airport is interested in working with the airlines to bring load factors down – for passenger experience and for meeting the airport’s vision.

“Across the board, our ability to ex pand and offer new service certainly is hampered by a pilot shortage,” Gateway spokesman Ryan Smith said.

Ginder predicts that the future will al ways be bright for aviators.

The swift return of air travel follow ing restrictions has driven home that “Americans are in love with the ability to get on a flight to travel,” he said. “So I think the training organizations like ours are going to continue to grow for the foreseeable future.”

Rex Ginder is associate director of Phoenix Flight Operations at the University of North Dakota Aerospace hangar at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)

Phoenix Rising relocating stadium from Wild Horse WARNING!

ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

Phoenix City Council last week unanimously approved a lease of about 10 acres at Phoenix Sky Har bor International Airport land to Phoe nix Rising FC for construction of a tem porary stadium.

The team gave no reason why it is leaving the stadium it built just within the last 18 months on Gila River Indian Community land near Wild Horse Pass Resort and Casino.

The facility will be located at 3801 E. Washington St., Phoenix, next to Phoe nix Park ‘n Swap and across from a Val ley Metro light rail stop at 38th Street/ GateWay Community College.

“This move will allow us to immedi ately upgrade our gameday fan expe rience, which has always been our top priority,” said Phoenix Rising FC Gover nor Bill Kraus. “Accessibility to the site is excellent and there will be opportunities to create partnerships with the small businesses at Phoenix Park ‘n Swap.”

The lease calls for the team to pay $300,000 in rent the first year and total rent over the five-year agreement will be $1.5 million, according to city docu ments.

The team will “construct a temporary soccer stadium and associated facilities that may include concession stands, a

portable sports book, and a practice fa cility,” those documents state.

“The capacity, look and feel of the club’s current stadium at Wild Horse Pass will be transferred to the new, more centrally located site in Phoenix during the offseason,” the team said in an an nouncement. “Rising intends to host its 2023 home opener and season at the new site beginning in March 2023.”

Kraus said the team hopes “to con tinue working with them to allow thou sands of children and visiting profes sional soccer teams to use the beautiful soccer fields we developed together at Wild Horse Pass.”

The team moved to the Gila River Ini dan Community to improve the fan ex perience over that of its facility at Casino Arizona site at McClintock Drive and Red Mountain Loop 202 Freeway.

When it announced the move two years ago, it said the new location would increase seating capacity, enable con struction on luxury suites and add addi tional training facilities.

City Councilman Sal DiCiccio praised Councilman Carlos Garcia and Mayor Kate Gallego for their work on the ar rangement.

Garcia said Phoenix Rising’s presence in Phoenix will “bring economic value to the city” as well as his district.

PERIPHERAL

NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC

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

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

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

TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

PAIN

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

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

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

1. Finding the underlying cause

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

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

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

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

1. Increases blood flow

2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves

3. Improves brain-based pain

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

It’s completely painless!

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

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

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

Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until October 31st, 2022 Call (480) 274 3157 to make an appointment.

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

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

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:

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

Growth + Quality of Life:

Growth + Quality of Life:

Can the PHX East Valley Have Both?

Join the PHX East Valley Partnership for an insightful look at how our region can effectively balance growth and quality of life

SRP Thought Leader Forum

3:30-6 p.m. l Thursday, Dec. 8 l Chandler Center for the Arts

SRP Thought Leader Forum

Keynote speaker Trevor Barger, founder and CEO of Espiritu Loci and principal of Arizona Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in the American West. Then, a panel of PHX East Valley leaders will address challenges and opportunities facing our burgeoning region. We will also honor two PHX East Valley powerhouses – Kevin Olson of Lewis Roca and The Boeing Company – with the 2022 Legacy Awards.

3:30-6 p.m. l Thursday, Dec. 8 l Chandler Center for the Arts

Growth + Quality of Life:

the

Presenting Supporting

Tickets are $1,500 for a bundle of 10 or $150 each.

Keynote speaker Trevor Barger, founder and CEO of Espiritu Loci and principal of Arizona Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in the American West. Then, a panel of PHX East Valley leaders will address challenges and opportunities facing our

RSVP to Jessica Hubbard, 480-532-0641 or jhubbard@phxeastvalley.com

PHX East Valley Have Both?

insightful look at how our region can effectively balance growth and quality of life

Quality of Life:

SRP Thought Leader Forum

Quality of Life: Valley Have Both?

Valley

Have Both?

Thursday, Dec. 8 l Chandler Center for the Arts

effectively balance growth and quality of life.

effectively balance growth and quality of life.

Forum

Forum

Presenting sponsor

Presenting sponsor

Growth + Quality of Life: Can the PHX East Valley Have Both?

benefitting one of the organization’s nonprofit members.

Join the PHX East Valley Partnership for an insightful look at how our region can effectively balance growth and quality of life

PHX East Valley Partnership is a 501(c)(6) nonpartisan coalition of civic, business, education and political leaders dedicated to the economic development and promotion of the East Valley of Greater Phoenix. The Partnership advocates for economic development, education, transportation and infrastructure, health care and other important areas. For more information, visit www.phxeastvalley.com.

Presenting sponsor

of Espiritu Loci and principal of Arizona Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in Valley leaders will address challenges and opportunities facing our burgeoning region.

Presenting sponsor

Chandler Center for the Arts Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in opportunities facing our burgeoning region.

Chandler Center for the Arts Arizona Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in and opportunities facing our burgeoning region.

of life.

Supporting s ponsor Media s ponsor

Supporting s ponsor

SRP Thought Leader Forum

3:30-6 p.m. l Thursday, Dec. 8 l Chandler Center for the Arts

Supporting s ponsor

The Boeing Company – with the 2022 Legacy Awards.

Supporting s ponsor

powerhouses – Kevin Olson of Lewis Roca and The Boeing Company – with the 2022 Legacy Awards. are $1,500 for a bundle of 10 or $150 each. Hubbard, 480-532-0641 or jhubbard@phxeastvalley.com years ago, when new members were asked to bring $10 to cover the cost of food and refreshments, advance or at the door, with all proceeds benefitting one of the organization’s nonprofit members.

Keynote speaker Trevor Barger, founder and CEO of Espiritu Loci and principal of Arizona Strategies, will share success stories from other cities in the American West. Then, a panel of PHX East Valley leaders will address challenges and opportunities facing our burgeoning region. We will also honor two PHX East Valley powerhouses – Kevin Olson of Lewis Roca and The Boeing Company – with the 2022 Legacy Awards.

The Boeing Company – with the 2022 Legacy Awards.

Media s ponsor

50th Street complex rendering released

ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

The co-developer of the proposed 471-unit apartment complex on 50th Street between Ray Road and Chandler Boulevard in Ahwatukee last week released its first rendering of the project.

PB Bell, which with Everest Holdings is seeking a rezoning from the city to allow for multifamily development on a 14-acre site that now hosts a two-build ing office complex at 15210 S. 50th St., released the image as it prepares for a possible first appearance before the Ah watukee Foothills Village Planning Com mittee that is tentatively set for Dec. 19.

The city Planning Department has not yet announced a meeting of the panel, which has been forced to cancel several meetings this year because of the lack of a quorum.

But the developers said at a neighbor hood meeting on the project they hoped to make the standard informational presentation in December to the VPC in preparation for a vote on a formal rec ommendation in January.

After that, the project would go to the city Planning Commission for a vote in February and – if it recommends ap proval – would then go before Phoenix City Council in March, according to the developers’ timetable.

During an online meeting with a few neighbors earlier this month, attorney

Manjula M. Vaz and PB Bell Principal R. Chapin Bell detailed their plans for what they called “highly amenitized” apart ments aimed at high-earning single pro fessionals and couples.

Bell said the complex would be no different from the complexes he has de veloped in the Valley over 42 years that house more than 20,000 apartments.

“We focus all our developments on really high quality, highly amenitized communities in markets that really have a need for housing,” he said, adding they include “high quality fitness centers, dog parks, business centers for the residents, resort-style pools” for “high quality resi dents that really want to live here.”

Plans submitted by Everest Holdings indicate the two four-story buildings, which will be about 48 feet high, will be around the pool and clubhouse.

In all there would be four clusters of buildings. Bell said outdoor amenities will include a dog park, a multipurpose lot with barbecue areas, a fire pit and a tot lot.

Neighbors who participated in the meeting expressed concern about the project’s impact on heavily congested Ray Road between 48th Street and the interstate – especially because of the im pact of a warehouse development prac tically next to the proposed multifamily project that planners said could gener ate up to 1,800 vehicle trips a day.

Whether it has been considered a “nuisance” problem, or one so severe it has interfered with daily communication and simple conversations with friends and family… hearing problems affect everyone.

Take this opportunity to find out if help is available. Using state-of-theart diagnostic equipment, you can now see (and HEAR) the difference for yourself! During the dates listed below, your complete hearing screening will be performed…

— J. Reed, Mesa, AZ

Cassandra Fynes, Au.D., CCC-A Doctor of Audiology

Roger Knighton, M.N.S., CCC-A Clinical Audiologist

The complex would comprise two four-story buildings about 48 feet high at the center of the development and four three-story buildings around perimeter. (Courtesy of P.B. Bell)

Buyers backing out latest trend in real estate

BY SAMUEL DONCASTER Arizonan Guest Writer

If you’re worried about what to do if a buyer backs out of a deal, you’re not alone.

Between the rise in interest rates and deprecation in the real estate market, buyers are currently backing out of real estate deals at an alarming rate.

When they do, it can leave sellers wor rying about the financial hit they’ll take – whether they can sell into to complete another transaction, or even whether they’ll be able to move out of state on time.

Fortunately, sellers have protection once the relevant contingencies are completed.

For transactions under the standard Arizona Association of Realtors form, the most common way to get out of a contract is to cancel during the inspec tion period. During this time, buyers can cancel the sale with no penalty. This is their chance to vet the house, get it inspected and make sure it’s up to their standards. Prior to the end of the inspection period, the buyer may cancel for any reason.

When the inspection period ends, the loan contingency often becomes the fo

cus for buyers looking to renege. Howev er, that’s a more limited source of relief.

The standard Arizona Association of Realtors contract explicitly states that failure to lock an interest rate is not an unfulfilled contingency. That means if the buyer signs a contract with rates at 5% and then the lender offers a 7% loan to close, the buyer cannot back out be cause of that.

In other words, the loan contingen cy is a contingency of whether a loan is made, not whether it’s at an acceptable interest rate.

This particular contingency often spawns disputes when buyers attempt to manipulate it to avoid the binding

effect of their con tracts. The language of the loan contingency requires that a buyer make a “diligent and good faith effort” to ob tain loan approval.

It imposes a deadline to submit a loan ap plication and requires the buyer to promptly supply the lender with the documents it re quests for underwrit ing. Therefore, buyers cannot get away with simply dragging their feet on the loan process until closing day.

After buyers wrongfully renege on their commitment, sellers may accept the earnest money as their damages, but it isn’t required.

The standard Arizona Association of Realtors form contract makes it very clear that doing so is the “seller’s op tion.” The other option is to bring a claim for damages. In an environment of rising interest rates and declining real estate prices, the suit for damages will often be the better option.

In a damages claim, sellers can be compensated for all their losses result

ing from the buyer’s decision to back out. Often, this starts with whatever ad ditional price reduction the seller must make to complete the transaction with a new buyer.

In addition, buyers will have carrying costs for the property, including inter est on their own mortgage, utilities and maintenance. Some sellers will also be harmed in connection with other trans actions.

For example, if the seller was planning to buy another property and depending on his own sale proceeds to make the payment, a lost opportunity to complete that transaction could entitle the seller to substantial lost profits.

Sellers can protect themselves by pro actively monitoring the loan. The stan dard contract requires that buyers and lenders provide updates on loan status “upon request.”

In addition, sellers shouldn’t be shy about soliciting backup offers. Finally, when a buyer backs out, they should talk to a lawyer early to understand their op tions.

Samuel Doncaster is owner and lead at torney at Fraud Fighters Law Firm here in Phoenix.

Buy Sell Invest

BY ARIZONAN NEWS SERVICES

Anew report from Realtor.com shows home listings increased 33% in October over October 2021. The increase in inventory is not because more people are selling but be cause fewer are buying.

The housing market has come to a near standstill in the last few months, leading some to speculate it could be headed for a “crash,” an undefined state in which home values fall.

It’s happened before, as recently as 2009. Then, thousands of homes went into foreclosure and millions of home owners found themselves owing more than their homes were worth.

Could it happen again? Most housing experts point out that today’s market woes are very different from 13 years ago.

Today, the market has stalled for one big reason – rising mortgage rates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the housing market exploded. Prices surged because demand far outweighed supply.

Low interest rates fueled record home prices

People with good jobs could afford to pay record-high prices for a home be cause the interest rate was 3% or less, providing an affordable monthly pay

ment. But when the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate surpassed 7%, as it did last month, then the monthly payment was hundreds of dollars higher, meaning many people who would like to buy a home can no longer afford to.

As a result, home prices have already fallen from their record highs reached in June. But Alex Platt, principal agent with the Platt Group, part of Compass Real Estate in Boca Raton, Fla., says that is far from a “crash.”

“Look, no one knows what’s going to happen,” Platt recently told us. “But I don’t think there’s going to be a big ‘crash’ coming. Could there be a correc tion, sure? But prices nearly doubled in the last two years. So even if prices come down 10 or 15%, the market is still up.”

But what about people who purchased homes last year, at the very top of the market? Could they trigger a crash, much like they did in 2009? Not really, experts say.

Most people who purchased homes in 2021 got a mortgage rate of 3% or less. As long as they stay employed they should be able to easily swing the monthly mortgage payment.

What’s different this time?

So how was 2009 different? At that time, the mortgage industry was approv

ing loans to just about anyone, whether they could afford the home or not. The lender sold the mortgage to Wall Street investment banks within days so lenders didn’t care.

Many of these buyers put no money down and took out subprime mortgag es, which had a low “teaser” interest rate for the first year or two before the rate jumped to double-digits. When that happened, millions of those homes went into foreclosure, dragging home values down with them. It was the wave of fore closures that triggered the crash, flood ing the market with repossessed homes.

Today, very few homes are in danger of default, even those whose values are now lower than the purchase price. Un like more than a decade ago, most of today’s buyers made significant down payments – of up to 20% – and still have some equity even if prices go down.

People who bought homes at the top of the market may feel like there’s a hous ing market crash, at least for a while. But most real estate economists predict the

market will quickly right itself if prices fall too low.

Realtor.com notes that, unlike in 2009, the U.S. still has a severe housing short age. Even with rising interest rates, de mand is expected to exceed – or at least keep up with – the supply of homes. Realtor.com provided this report

Exchange Club hosts Wreaths Across America

BY ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

For the first time since 2013, the Ar izona State Capitol will join more than 3,000 locations across the U.S. and international sites to host National Wreaths Across America Day on Dec. 17. And keeping an East Valley tradition, both the Exchange Club of Chandler and Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Ceme tery are planning their seventh annual participating in the nationwide effort to remember the sacrifices of veterans who have passed away.

The Exchange Club of Chandler start ed the local observance but over the years, organizations such as Chandler Elks Lodge #2429 and the Exchange Club of Phoenix in Ahwatukee have be come involved in remembering over 3,100 veterans buried at the Valley of the Sun Cemetery, 10940 E. Chandler Heights Road, Chandler.

Last year, approximately 2,800 wreaths laid on graves in Valley of the Sun Cemetery, according to Mark Whita

ker, who leads the wreaths campaign for the Exchange Club of Chandler.

“We will need help from the commu nity to achieve the goal of sponsoring

3,100 wreaths,” he said.

The annual event consists of laying out the wreaths after a memorial cere mony. Volunteers gather around 8 a.m.

Dec. 17 – coffee, hot chocolate and do nuts are provided – and at 9 a.m. begin laying the wreaths.

“Each wreath symbolizes the com mitment to remember and honor our nation’s veterans and teach our children about freedom and the sacrifice required to maintain our freedom,” Whitaker said.

“There will be an educational activity for children to help them learn about veterans. As wreaths are laid, we ask that the volunteers respectfully remem ber the veteran by saying the veteran’s name aloud.”

The formal ceremony will start at 10 a.m. and will be streamed on Facebook Live!

Until Tuesday, Nov. 29, people can sponsor a wreath with a $15 tax-deduct ible donation to wreathsacrossamerica. org/AZ0084P.

“Whether you sponsor a wreath or not, we will need many volunteers to

Floridino employee the hostess with the mostest

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

When people eat out, they al most always notice when they get poor service. Some, how ever, don’t always recognize great ser vice.

The online directory Yelp is hoping to change that by starting the Servies Awards to recognize great service at restaurants around the nation. Chandler is taking home one of the first Servies being handed out.

Felicia Tobin of Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta won the Best Host category.

“My husband mentioned that you’re being recognized for something that people just go to the restaurant and take for granted,” Tobin said in the video Yelp put together to recognize her award.

Tobin received a trophy, a $3,000 gift card, and a pair of Snibbs shoes, which are designed for long days on your feet. When Yelp officials presented the award to Tobin, they surprised the staff by giv ing them $3,000 as well.

“I don’t want to discredit her by any means,” said Lindsay Gilliland, who is the front of house manager for Floridi nos. “But I think it was a whole team ef fort. Like she has been an amazing rep resentative for it and I think she 100% deserves it. But she stands out because the trust that her team has in her.”

Yelp recognized eight workers. Tobin was the only Arizona winner. The other categories were Best Server, Best Front of House team, Best Hustle, Best Bar tender, Best Team Player, Best Manager, Best Vibe in addition to Best Host.

Tobin said a lot goes into being a good host.

“Attention to detail,” she said. “I host Monday nights and Monday nights are really intense. So we get crazy busy. And you have to … pay attention to detail, you got to be present, you got to know what’s going on with other servers, you got to know who you can sit and who you can’t sit, and how they’re doing.”

Gilliland said Tobin could easily have

Felicia Tobin of Floridino’s Pizza and Pasta in Chandler won Best Host in the United States in the first Servies Awards present ed by Yelp to celebrate front-of-house restaurant employees.

(David Minton/Staff Photographer)

The Wreaths Across America program has blossomed over the last decade and thousands of veterans who have passed away have been honored. (File photo)

Chandler man authors books on dementia’s impact

BY ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF

Dementia has touched Chandler resident Larry Calkins so deep ly that he recently published two books about the disease’s impact on him and his family.

“Memories and Forgetfulness” focus es on how the disease first claimed Calk ins’ grandmother and then his father, Travis Calkins, and how their affliction affected him and his family.

He tells his story with “Letters to Sar ah” and “Failing Memory,” the first about his grandmother’s affliction.

“Both books describe the difficult tasks of caring for a person who is for getful and provide anecdotes or short stories about caregiving, love, loss and grief as loved ones navigate with the person with this debilitating disease,” he said.

He said he drafted the stories as “riv eting accounts of the interactions, told with humor, introspection and the seri ous business of finding the right mix of caregiving” and says the books are “a must read for those who find themselves as family members or those caring for patients with dementia.”

“I initially wrote both books for my self as I processed my own grief,” Calk ins said, “but I also wanted my family to remember the remarkable people who raised me and I wanted to explain the struggles they had coping with this for midable disease.

“So, I wrote for family members so they could understand how I remem

FLORIDINO from page 22

won other categories as well and she wasn’t the only employee who was de serving.

“We looked at all the categories,” Gil liland said. “And we’re like, ‘Well, you know someone that could win every sin gle one of these categories.’”

Like many restaurants, Floridinos needed to change to survive during the pandemic. The pizzeria shut down for only a week after one employee tested positive for the coronavirus. But other than that, they were able to stay open and keep everyone employed.

Tobin said before COVID-19 they used

bered the senior members of our fami ly. Yet, other folks in other families also struggle with the care of loved ones in flicted with dementia. My hope is that they also read the books and find a de gree of peace or solace from my experi ences and that they are not alone in their feelings of grief.”

“Letters to Sarah” is his father’s moth er and the letters his dad wrote to his dad’s sister helping her manage the dis ease.

“Later in the book, my father discusses his forgetfulness and how he is dealing with the onset of his disease,” Calkins said. “The letters end when the disease steals his ability to write further.”

In “Failing Memory,” Calkins explores the relationship he had with his father from the moment he told him about his disease to his passing in 2009.

“In the end he is placed on hospice and I write about the agonizing decisions my family and I made,” Calkins said.

A Chandler resident since 2017, Calk ins said he worked an environmental field in Oregon.

“I have been told the books are touch ing and emotional and that the read er sometimes needed to keep tissues handy,” he said. “I believe the books provide a glimpse into the day to day im pacts of dementia on family members, caregivers and the person receiving care.”

Calkins said his father was 73 when diagnosed with dementia and he was 46.

“I was not a full-time caregiver for my

father, but during the mid stages of his dementia, I gave my mother a periodic reprieve for a few weeks at a time,” he said.

The books are not Calkins’ first foray into writing.

He also has published “To Endure,” which he said was “inspired by my grandparents’ struggle through the Great Depression.

The books are available on amazon.com or through Calkins. Write him at memo riesandforgetfulness@gmail.com

to have a line of people lined up at the register waiting to pick up to-go orders. The pandemic forced them to stream line their curbside service, improving it greatly.

Now, they have 12 parking lot spaces dedicated to to-go orders. She said it’s not unheard of for all 12 to be occupied and others waiting for someone to leave.

“It’s an amazing place,” said Tobin, who has worked at Floridinos for five years. “We have a lot of regulars come in every single day, every week. And then, sometimes we’ll have events going on and those events will bring in new peo ple that have never been here and they’ll like the food … and they continue to

come back.”

Tobin and others credited their cus tomers for voting and helping her win Best Host. She was nominated by a co-worker. They sent in photos of her at work and the nomination letter explain ing why she was deserving. Yelp then se lected finalists. The winner was chosen by people voting across the nation.

Floridino’s General Manager Jason Stephens said helping Tobin win was a team effort.

“Everybody here was on board right away,” he said. “They were voting ev ery day, they were telling their tables to vote for her. And then when she won, everybody was excited. ... Yelp decided

to match the $3,000 for the whole team. So Felicia got her prize money, but then they gave us prize money to us for the whole team.”

Stephens said he will use that money for the restaurant’s holiday party.

Floridino’s has been a Chandler desti nation for 26 years.

“Everybody puts their egos aside and just comes together and gets things done,” Stephens said.

Floridino’s Pizza & Pasta 590 N. Alma School Road, Chandler 480-812-8433, floridinos.net

(Above) Larry Calkins said his father, Travis Calkins, was diagnosed with dementia at age 73. (Right) Chandler author Larry Calk ins has authored two companion books about the impact of dementia’s impact on his loved ones. (Special to Chandler Arizonan)

help,” Whitaker said.

Nationally, the nonprofit created to “Remember, Honor, and Teach” young people about those who have served is responsible for wreath laying at Arling ton National Cemetery lays more than two million wreaths across the country.

In addition local memorial ceremo nies Dec. 17, there will be a ceremonial wreath laying at the State Capitol Build ing, Wesley Bolin Plaza,1700 W. Wash ington St., Phoenix.

“I hope this will be an annual tradi tion for Arizona and remind us, partic ularly during the holidays, of how much has been given by our service members,” said the State Capitol WAA Coordinator Kelly McDonald.

The 2022 theme is, “Find a Way to Serve” and the inspiration for this year’s theme was Rosie the Riveters, also called “Rosies,” McDonald said.

“These women pulled together to do the work that needed to be done for our freedom during WWII and encourages youth to get involved in their own com munities to serve,” McDonald said.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, a Maine family that started this tradition got an eager reception to their proposal.

“Several volunteers stepped up to help, including veterans from American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and a truck company owner who transported the wreaths to Arlington, Virginia, where a small ceremony was held at the cemetery’s Tomb of the Un known Soldier,” according to depart ment.

This remained a small yearly tradition for nearly 15 years until a photo taken at the 2005 ceremony went viral.

“Almost immediately, thousands of people wanted to know how to help or how they could begin a similar tradition in their states,” the Defense Department said.

By 2008, it had become a tradition at dozens of cemeteries across the country and has continued to grow, with more than two million graves at over 2,100 cemeteries.

The last day to sponsor a wreath for 2022 is Nov. 29, which is Giving Tuesday.

Ferguson opens giant automated warehouse in Chandler

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Chandler is welcoming another busi ness heavyweight to the city after Ferguson, North America’s leading distributor of plumbing and HVAC sup plies, opened a new market distribution center on Queen Creek Road Nov. 15.

The facility is one of the ways the com pany with 37,000 suppliers hopes to improve supply-chain slowdowns that have plagued companies since the pan demic began.

The Chandler location is the second such distribution center the company has opened as part of this new strategy, following the original in the Denver area. Eventually, the company hopes to have more than 30 of these centers.

The Chandler center adds 75 new jobs to the area and employs approximately 200 associates. The 365,000-square-foot facility distributes residential plumbing, lighting and appliances, commercial and industrial products to all of Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas.

“We’re looking at between 32 and 35 distribution centers,” said James Ogden, the Southwest director of branch opera tions for the company. “There’s a general rule, every NFL city should have a MDC.”

Chandler was the choice for the Phoe nix market.

“As we went through this process to

find land in the valley of Phoenix, we will call it, there were many sites toured, many things worked out, and I can tell you we’re very happy and thrilled that we ended up in Chandler,” said Marty Young, the company’s Southwest District Manager. “It’s worked out wonderfully for us.”

A market distribution center includes both a retail store for consumers and a giant warehouse for contractors. The goal is to have whatever part anyone is looking for available for quick delivery.

Even at 385,000 square feet, the ware house turned out to be not big enough. That’s one of the problems with being one of the first ones built, company offi cials said. The next one to open will be in the Houston area.

“We finally figured out on Houston how to do it correctly, because although this one runs great, it was undersized be fore we ever moved in,” Ogden said. “So we outgrew it before it was ever built.”

Both Young and Ogden said they plan to expand their new center. Ogden said they own 10 acres of land behind the current warehouse and hope to build another 240,000 square feet as quickly as it can be approved and built.

To improve efficiency, Ferguson is re lying on robots to hunt down whatever

Chandler restaurant offers range of Indian cuisine

BYKEN SAIN Managing Editor

One of the first things that let’s diners know Feringhee’s is not your typical Indian food restau rant, is what they won’t hear.

The waiter isn’t going to ask you how spicy you want your meal.

“We want you to taste it as is,” said head chef Karan Mittel. “But if you want to make it spicier, we can do that.”

The other sign is if you go looking for curry or vindaloo, which are staples at most Indian restaurants, you won’t find them on the current menu.

“India is a very diverse country, from the north to the south, to the east, to the west, it’s completely different in gredients, using different language, re ligion and everything,” Mittel said.

“And this is our simple small step in

paying homage to that beautiful diver sity just in a beautiful manner.”

Feringhee, which translates to “for eigner” in Hindi, brings other Indian dishes to Chandler Village Center at Frye Road and the Loop 101 Price Road Freeway.

“Our chefs are here to talk about it,” said owner Madhavi Reddy. “I mean, they really know what they’re doing. And they’re really bringing the best from India to here. And in a very, not only delicious, but how we present it is completely different.”

Reddy’s goal in opening Feringhee earlier this year was to bring a fine din ing experience to Indian food, some thing she said has been lacking.

“You know Indian restaurants are

Owner Madhavi Reddy believes Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine in Chandler will introduce patrons to the broad range of India’s cuisines.

(David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Marty Young, Ferguson southwest vice president, cut the ribbon on the company’s distri bution center in south Chandler on Nov. 15. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

4 Liv Generations facilities sold for $255M

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor

Amajor player in the Valley’s net work of independent-assisted living communities has pulled out of that industry to focus solely on tradi tional multifamily complexes.

Liv Communities sold four Liv Gener ations senior complexes in Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Phoenix and Scottsdale to Clear water Living of Newport Beach, Califor nia, in a $255 million transaction earlier this month, according to Valley real es tate tracker vizzda.com.

There was no announcement of the sale or Clearwater’s entry into the Val ley’s senior care/living community scene. Calls to Clearwater were not re turned.

Scott Brooks, CEO of Liv Communities, said his company “continues to advance its mission of helping people live fuller lives by providing hospitality-focused

residential communities for people of varying ages and stages of life.

“As we exit the traditional senior living space, in addition to continuing to grow our conventional Liv multifamily portfo lio of communities, we are enthusiastic about exploring a new offering, Liv+, focused on active 55+ adults,” he said in a prepared statement after this newspa per inquired about the deal.

“As for our LivGenerations portfolio, we are excited about Clearwater Living taking over as stewards for those out standing communities and residents,” Brooks continued. “We believe Clearwa ter holds the same commitment to cre ating a vibrant and high-quality place to live and work and will help those com munities flourish for years to come.”

The four properties have been re branded as Clearwater facilities.

The properties involved in the transac tion included, according to vizzda data:

• A 141-unit complex comprising two buildings built in 2016 on 7 acres on S. 50th Street near Chandler Boulevard, Ahwatukee.

• A 122-unit, two-building complex built in 2013 on 5 acres in Gilbert’s Agrito pia community.

• A four-building, 181-unit complex on 14 acres that opened last year at Scott sdale Road and the Loop 101.

• A single building with 110 units built four years ago on four acres at Scotts dale and Pinnacle Peak roads.

A source said Liv Communities felt that its senior communities – which of fer a range of living options from inde pendent to assisted living to memory care would be better served if they were under the umbrella of a larger provid er that had more negotiating power for supplies and services.

Liv does have a traditional apartment

complex adjacent to its former senior living complex in Ahwatukee and at one time boasted that it was designed so that younger tenants and residents of its oth er facility could mingle.

Clearwater Senior Living offers the same senior living options, including short-term stays, and has six complexes in California and one in Nevada in addi tion to its newly acquired Valley sites, according to the company’s website. It also is in the process of building a sev enth facility in California.

The company has said it is expanding its footprint in the west and partnered in 2017 with The Wolff Company to run its 18 senior living complexes across seven western states.

Clearwater CEO Tony Ferro on his website states the company is commit ted to “providing high-quality retire ment living and exceptional services for seniors and their families.”

customers need. The company dedicates a three-story area of the warehouse to a team of robots that scuttle about a hon eycomb like structure.

Whenever a box is opened for a part, the unsold products are put into a crate. The computer knows and tracks the ex act location of that crate. When another customer wants the same part, the robot goes over to where it’s located and gets it.

What if the crate they need is at the very bottom of that three-story struc ture?

“This is a test they did,” Ogden said. “And something on the very bottom is needed for a customer that’s standing at the counter, it takes about 12 and a half minutes to do.”

Ogden said that probably won’t hap pen often, because the slowest-moving products will naturally end up at the bottom over time.

“The robots work all day and night, saving on traditional warehouse costs and allowing us to fulfill orders quickly for faster same-day product availability,” said Michael Jacons, Ferguson’s south west vice president of supply chain. “The

system also decreases manual handling of materials.”

In addition to the automation tech nology, the facilities were built with ef ficiency at the forefront. Ferguson uses a special machine to make custom boxes based on the dimensions of each prod uct to minimize packaging waste.

Each building features LED motion detector lighting systems to conserve electricity.

There are 120 people employed in the

warehouse area and another 100 or so in the front offices. Before moving to the MDC model, Ferguson relied on regional centers. The one that served the Phoenix area before this was located in Perris, California, and relied on a 1.3-million square feet facility.

Ogden said the biggest factor causing supply chain issues in their industry wasn’t necessarily the short shutdowns caused by COVID-19. It was the shortage of semiconductor chips.

“The microchip thing killed us,” he said. “Appliances, absolutely killed us. A lot of a lot of different things that you’re doing pumps with electronic controls, a lot of that stuff. It really was the micro chips and that part is still bad. We’re still struggling through that.”

You don’t have to be a contractor or company to shop in the Ferguson retail store. It’s set up just like a home supply business. You will pay retail prices, but if you’re looking for a specific, hard-to-find part, it may be your best bet.

You just may have to wait 12 and a half minutes to get it.

But Allison Finerfrock, Ferguson gen eral manager of southwest district, not ed: “Supplementing our workforce with the new technology allows distribution centers like ours to process more or ders in a shorter amount of time. We are excited to better serve the contractor community with the products they need, when they need them.”

Ferguson

675 E. Queen Creek Road, Chandler 602-495-8300 www.ferguson.com

FERGUSON from page 26

An automated conveyor system moves blue product boxes through the new Ferguson Enterprises distribution center in south Chandler. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

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more of something where it is a very standard menu of what they do, and which even I personally ran some of those restaurants,” Reddy said.

“I thought there is something miss ing in what we are doing. So we wanted to say more things about Indian com munity, like you know what’s the best we could do.”

Food and Wine Magazine named Mit tel the rising star chef of the year in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.

“The whole point of this restaurant, or this whole cuisine that we’re bring ing in, is to get those home recipes, get those authentic, those traditional curries, or the kinds of dishes that are still cooked at home, bringing that old age tradition just in a new light,” Mittel said.

The restaurant takes its time in pre paring the food.

“We have a couple of classics as well we call [Old Delhi] Butter Chicken, which is I think is the most compli cated dish ever,” he said. “Because the chicken is marinated for three days,

it’s cooked fresh in tandoor, which is a charcoal oven that we have.

“Even the sauce is made with fresh tomatoes and it takes eight hours of cooking to get it right. The consisten cy, the taste, the texture of the chicken, and the sauce needs to be married in the perfect manner.”

Reddy said they have been embraced by the local Indian community, eager to taste native meals they can’t find at other Indian restaurants.

And non-Indians have enjoyed the chance to experience new dishes from India.

“Definitely [there has been a] very positive response from all the reviews and response,” Reddy said.

“It’s a pure joy for us to treat and take care of our guests. We love to talk to them, we want to make sure that they’re happy.”

Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine

3491 W. Frye Road 480-534-7178, feringhee.com

Hale Theatre presenting ‘Christmas Carol’

BY GETOUT STAFF

The Hale Centre Theatre in down town Gilbert will start its annual presentation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on Friday, Dec. 1.

“Since receiving the award for Best Christmas Production in Arizona, audi ences have been lining up in Gilbert to see Scrooge and his ghostly visitors,” a theater release said.

“It is their 20th season and it has be come a family tradition for audiences and a must-see every holiday season, with each year bringing a little some thing different.”

Director David Hale Dietlein is pre senting two casts designated “Red” and “Green.”

The Red cast features seasoned actor Tim Dietlein as Ebenezer Scrooge and the Green cast is headed by local actor Rob Stuart. Both actors are reprising their roles from previous years.

The Hale family tradition of present ing “A Christmas Carol” began with Ruth and Nathan Hale, who opened their first theater in Glendale, California.

In 1965 the Hales and the Dietleins staged their first production of “A Christ mas Carol,” and Hale operators say they

established “a legacy that flourishes to this day.

Director and theater owner David Di etlein has received numerous awards for

his artistic achievements and has direct ed every production of “A Christmas Car ol” since he opened the Gilbert theater in 2003.

East Valley entertainers slate special holiday concert

BY GETOUT STAFF

An East Valley resident and her band will give a special concert Dec. 3 at the Musical Instrument Museum

Carmela Ramirez and her band, Car mela y Más, returns for the fourth time to the Phoenix theater for a family-friendly show entitled “A Latin Holiday Extrava ganza.”

This concert will be culturally rich with festive cheer, featuring the Valley’s most-recognized Latin artists.

Ramirez, an Ahwatukee resident

and the group’s vocalist, fronts this award-winning band that is known for salsa, merengue, cha cha, cumbia and classic Latin jazz. The nine-piece Carme la y Más delivers a kaleidoscope of Latin/ Afro-Cuban rhythms in electrifying per formances that have graced many stages across the Valley and internationally.

“It is very exciting to return to the Musical Instrument Museum,” Ramirez said. “The cast is excited to perform a wonderful mix of Latin music and dance with a bit of holiday magic. Put some sizzle in your holidays and come spend

this evening with us! We’ll present our Latino heritage with music, dance and holiday traditions that will get you on your feet.”

Joining Carmela y Más will be Tem pe-based all-female Mariachi group Mariachi Pasión, Fiesta Mexicana Dance Company, Brenda Del Rio Salsa Dance Co. and JoseCarlos Justiz.

Mariachi Pasión has performed its majestic music for thousands in the Val ley and beyond. Fiesta Mexicana Dance Company, the Official Folkloric Dance Company of the City of Phoenix, per

forms beautiful Ballet Folklorico that celebrates traditional folk dances of Mexico.

Ramirez, an award-winning vocalist, has a long history of moving audiences with a sultry and soulful voice that deliv ers heartfelt passion of lyrics and drives the band into exciting musical journeys.

For decades, she also has been among the most influential producers in the Valley.

“As a performing artist, I have fol

The annual holiday classic is a musical version of Dickens’ tale of the Christmas

The Hale Centre Theatre in Gilbert is rolling out its 20th annual presentation of “A Christmas Carol” starting Dec. 1. (Nick Woodward-Shaw/ Special for GetOut)

ghosts, who visit the thoroughly un pleasant Ebenezer Scrooge to show him the error of his ways. The spirits trans form Ebenezer’s life, serving to remind us that it is never too late to change for the better.

“It’s a message of hope and renewal that holds a special place in our hearts every holiday season,” the release stat ed, promising a “stunning production (that) is a visual and sensory delight, featuring local talent of singers, dancers and actors: with “soaring music, special effects, stunning costumes and sets.”

The production runs at 5 p.m. and 8

p.m. Dec.1-26 with matinees on Satur days at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The Hale is located at 50 W. Page Ave. in Gilbert’s Heritage District, across the street from the Gilbert Water Tower Park. Several restaurants and free park ing are located nearby.

Tickets range from $42 to $60 for adults, $28 to $45 for youth. Group dis counts for 10 or more tickets are avail able at $35 on showings through Dec. 14.

The shows sell out quickly, so pur chase your tickets by calling the box of fice at 480-497-1181 or by visiting the theater’s website at HaleTheatreArizo na.com.

lowed the path of many before me who have used performance platforms not only to entertain, but to communicate,” Ramirez said.

She lends her talents to various com munity-outreach projects, such as arts and culture, education, health, civics, so cial justice and special needs.

“If I can open doors of communication through music performance or produc tion, then I have used my talents well,” she said.

Carmela y Más has performed for hundreds of night clubs, concerts and festivals throughout the greater Phoenix area and internationally.

It was featured in concert at the Na tional Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the 100th anniversa ry of the Himeji Castle in Japan and as headliner for the Puerto Peñasco Latin Jazz Festival.

The band has shared the stage with many major recording artists, including Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Arturo San doval, Nestor Torres and Claudio Roditi.

As a producer, Ramirez has created a

multitude of concerts, community fes tivals, arts and education projects and mentored youth in the arts. Believing that community thrives in a healthy ar tistic environment, she uses her plat form to build bridges of communication.

Her community work has gained awards, such as Valle Del Sol “Profiles of Success,” City of Phoenix Excellence Awards, NAACP Education Excellence Award and Phoenix Elementary Schools “Star Mentor.”

Ramirez has been inducted into the Raul H. Castro Institute as an “Arizona Trailblazer” and nominated twice for the Gabe Zimmerman Award for Public Service.

If you go

A Latin Holiday Extravaganza

WHEN: 8 p.m. Dec. 3

WHERE: Musical Instrument Museum Theater, 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix

TICKETS: Reserved Seating: $28.50, $33.50, $38.50 at mim.org/concerts/ upcoming-concerts/ INFO: carmelaramirez.com.

Less pop. More culture.

Carmela Ramirez and her band, Carmela y Más, are headline the Latin Holiday Extravagan za at the Musical Instrument Museum Dec. 3. (Courtesy of Carmela Ramirez)

r a c e s a n d f a v o r s y o u o b t a i n f o r m e a n d I w i l l d o m y u t m o s t t o s p r e a d d e v o t i o n t o y o u A m e n St Jude, pray for us and all who honor thee and in voke thy aid (Say 3 Our Father' s, 3 Hail Mary’ s, and 3 Glory Be’ s after this )