Gilbert Sun News 04/09/2023

Morrison Ranch could see 700 apartments

BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor

Adeveloper is proposing a multi-family project with as many as 700 units to shield homes from light-industrial uses planned on a large swath of land next to Morrison Ranch.

at plan concerned a few Gilbert Planning Commission members during an April 5 study session on the proposal.

e developer is seeking a minor General Plan amendment and rezone of 39 acres that are part of the 302-acre site for e Ranch project at the northwest corner of Power and Warner roads.

Council in December tabled action on a proposal to rezone most of the land to mainly light-industrial uses so the developer and residents can work on a compromise on an original plan that drew sti opposition from homeowners.

“ e developer has been working and talking with neighbors in the area and proposed a development that is intended to bu er the residents of Morrison Ranch from those less desirable industrial-type uses,” town Principal Planner Veronica Gonzalez said.

e Planning Commission in October voted 4-3 to recommend that council approve the rezone of the 302 acres to mostly light industrial.

Telethon features Gilbert girl with rare skin disease

BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor

For the past decade, Brystal Murray has lived with a rare genetic condition called epidermolysis bullosa or EB, which causes her skin to easily blister and tear from minimal friction such as rubbing.

Babies born with this condition are referred to as “butter y children” because their skin is as delicate as a butter y’s wings.

“When she was born she was missing skin on her left leg,” Gilbert mom Brayce Campagna recalled of her youngest child. “We didn’t know what it was and why.”

Campagna got her answer 24 hours later after Brystal was transferred to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed. e baby stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for four days. ere is no

speci c therapy or cure.

“Basically it’s like a thread that winds through all the layers of the skin, holding it together,” Campagna said. “Brystal doesn’t have that. e skin is sitting there without anything holding it.”

Brystal is a poster child for Phoenix Children’s Hospital as it gears up for its 11th annual ABC 15 Telethon this Wednesday. roughout the day, patient and hospital stories will be aired.

All donations will go to the Hope Fund, where the monies are invested in state-of-the-art equipment and technology, cutting-edge research and clinical trials, innovative clinical programs and family centered services.

see SKIN page 8

Brystal Murray, 10, of Gilbert, and her mother Brayce Campagna will appear Wednesday on the annual ABC 15 telethon for Phoenix’s Chidlren’s Hospital, where the girl was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes fragile, blistering skin and has no cure. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)

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Town accused of negligence in $500K claim

Aman is demanding $500,000 from the Town of Gilbert after he suffered “life changing” injuries from falling into a deep hole in a public area.

Raman Pourgevariss filed the notice of claim with the Town on March 20.

The claim was being investigated, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Snyder last week.

The Town has 60 days to respond and if it doesn’t take action, the claim is automatically treated as denied.

If the claim is denied, Pourgevariss can then file a lawsuit. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Pourgevariss said he was walking his dog on Merrill Avenue heading toward Marvin Street last Oct. 29 when he saw people approaching towards him with a dog. The area is north of Houston Avenue and east of Cooper Road.

He picked up his dog and moved to the side toward the dirt area to let the people walk past him.

“Suddenly and without warning, Mr. Pourgevariss fell into a deep hole,” said attorney Jay MacKinlay in the claim. “Mr. Pourgevariss’ left leg went into the large hole. Leaving his right leg out.

“There was no sign, or cones around this large open area where the dirt and sidewalk meet, to make this hazardous open and obvious, and it was

not seen by Mr. Pourgevariss prior to the fall.”

MacKinlay said his client “had immediate pain in his left leg, hip, and back and sought medical attention.”

He noted that his client did not have any prior medical diagnosis contributing to the injuries resulting from the October incident.

Pourgevariss received treatment at an urgent care, a personal injury center, an emergency orthopedic care facility and a neurology and sleep center, according to the attorney.

He complained of headaches, neck pain, neck stiffness, sleeping palms, left-hip pain, lower-back pain and left, middle-back pain, the claim stated. He also developed daily migraines “that had been occurring since the fall” and several disc herniations were found.

Pourgevariss’ treatment plan included chiropractic adjustments, intersegmental tractions, neuromuscular re-education and therapeutic exercise.

The cost of medical care so far totaled $43,541 and is ongoing with bills outstanding, MacKinlay said.

Pourgevariss also has experienced a “loss of enjoyment of life,” the claim said.

“Ordinary daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, basic house cleaning, cooking and driving are difficult and require assistance,” the claim added. “It has been life changing due to very limited physical activity even to this

day as a result of the severe injuries.”

MacKinlay alleged that his client’s injuries were due to the town’s failure to maintain the premises in a condition, which is reasonable safe.

The town also failed to keep the area in a state of reasonable repair and to keep the area in a condition fit for the use intended, which created “a dangerous trap,” MacKinlay said.

“In this instance, the area surrounding and including the sidewalk was not reasonably safe,” the attorney said. “As constituted and maintained by Town of Gilbert, the area presented an unreasonably dangerous condition.”

He claimed that Gilbert was aware of the “unreasonably dangerous condition” and did not warn Pourgevariss of the condition.

“The Town of Gilbert had notice of the dangerous condition in that the dangerous condition existed for a sufficient length of time such that the Town of Gilbert or its agents or its employees, through the exercise of reasonable care, should have known of it,” MacKinlay said.

“The Town of Gilbert adopted a method of operation from which it could reasonably be anticipated that unreasonably dangerous conditions would regularly arise. The Town of Gilbert failed to exercise reasonable care to warn of or safeguard against the dangerous condition.”

Pourgevariss is requesting $500,000 to settle the claim.

Suicide prevention workshop slated in Gilbert

GSN NEWS STAFF

Dignity Health is sponsored a free workshop in Gilbert on ways to reduce suicide rates.

“Zero Suicide: will be presented by the Zero Suicide Project Institute and the Columbia Whitehouse Project 2:304 p.m. April 17 at the Gilbert Public Safety Training Facility, 6860 S. Power Road.

e Zero Suicide Project is part of the Education Development Center

and involves a variety of models for the healthcare system to adopt and adopt “a life-saving mindset to preventing suicide,” according to its website, zerosuicide.edc.org.

:Suicide is based on the realization that people experiencing suicidal thoughts and urges often fall through the cracks in a sometimes fragmented and distracted health care system,” it states. “Studies have shown the vast majority of people who died by suicide saw a health care provider in the year

prior to their deaths.

“ ere is an opportunity for health care systems to make a real di erence by transforming how patients are screened and the care they receive.”

e Columbia Whitehouse Project was developed under the auspices of Columbia University to disseminate the university’s Suicide Severity Rating Scale and build on the science of suicide prevention.

ere is no registration for the workshop, which is open to anyone.

APRIL 5TH - 7TH, TUESDAY - THURSDAY | 9am TO 5pm

(480) 835-7892 today to schedule your FREE hearing evaluation!

Ted

specialists

SOURCES: 1http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_accelerates_brain_function_decline_in_older_adults_ | 2http:// www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_and_dementia_linked_in_study_ | 3http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/ releases/hearing_loss_linked_to_accelerated_brain_tissue_loss_ | 4http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_accelerates_brain_function_decline_in_older_adults_ | 5Amieva, H., Ouvrard, C., Giulioli,

GPS eyes raises, small increase in state aid

BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor

Gilbert Public Schools employees are likely to see a bump in their paychecks – $1 an hour increase for hourly workers and 3% for everybody else in a proposed budget for next scal year beginning July 1.

e proposed increase for hourly sta totals $3.82 million and the increase for exempt sta , including teachers, administrators, principals and support sta such as analysts amounts to $6 million.

“Competitive salaries we believe are directly related to students’ success as well as employees’ excellence,” Betz said.

“We are making a solid recommendation in regards to pay increases,” said Bonnie Betz, assistant superintendent of Business Services at the April 4 Governing Board work session.

e district is proposing to spend $270 million in Fiscal year 2024 but if the governor’s spending plan is approved, GPS would see its maintenance and operations budget increased to $272 million.

e district’s revised Fiscal Year 2023 budget is $269 million.

“ e legislative session is supposed to end at the end of May,” Betz said. “Last year the session did not end until June 25 so we are doing the best we can to anticipate the future but there is still signi cant amount of movement as we go through this development process for next year.”

e proposed budget includes $3.6 million in cost increases that are out of the district’s control such as $1.5 million for supplies fuel and utilities due to in ation and $500,000 due to the minimum wage going up in January. e district’s contribution to the state retirement system also is increasing by $60,000, according to Betz.

e discretionary increases totaling $3.3 million include $2 million set aside for hard-to-hire positions and years of experience and nearly $1 million for the hiring of 12 art teachers (already approved by the board) and $40,000 for art supplies for 16,000 students for the extra day of art, Betz said.

“ ose 12 FTES that we added for art teacher also impact all of our FTE sta at all of our elementaries,” she said, “because for the rst time in many, many years all of our elementary teachers will then have their full allotted prep period that have been enjoyed by our secondary schools for a long time.”

She provided a comparison chart of the proposed pay increases for other East Valley school districts that showed Higley and Queen Creek each increasing hourly paid sta ’s wages by $1 an hour; Chandler Uni ed’s increase of 2.5-3% for hourly sta and Scottsdale, 2%.

For teachers, Higley, Queen Creek and Scottsdale are each raising pay by 2% and Chandler by 3%, according to Betz.

Betz said the increase in pay for hourly employees would help them with in ationary costs and help the district, which is still experiencing di culty in hiring for jobs such as paraprofessionals and drivers.

e board is scheduled to approve the pay raises at a special meeting April 11.

e budget, however, has a $12.26 million funding shortfall, which Betz proposed to cover by using Medicaid Fund Contribution, Classroom Site Fund Contribution and other fund contributions totaling $7.8 million and using one-time monies of $4.5 million from $20 million in unrestricted capital budget.

“Yes, we are using one-time money for ongoing costs,” Betz said.

But remember, she told the board, that the district anticipated losing 400 students this current school year but ended up losing 270 instead.

School funding is based on student head count. GPS each budget year projects a loss of 400 students. e district’s anticipated student count for next scal year is 31,187, down from the current scal year of 31,587 students.

“So that 130-student gain from the projected (loss) amounted to just under $1 million,” she said. “So some very real possibilities that the budget will improve

see BUDGET page 19

Every year 200 children are born with the connective tissue disorder in the United States, according to debra of America, a nonpro t that provides support to the EB community and funds research.

Campagna was taught how to care for her newborn, such as the proper way to pick Brystal up, how to change her diaper and how to drain a blister.

Brystal has to have special baths with bleach or vinegar added to the water or a special antiseptic soap.

ere are di erent forms of EB and Brystal has recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, where the blisters are all over the body and the internal lining of the body such as the mouth is a ected.

As a baby, Brystal could not breastfeed because of sores in her mouth, her mom said.

And “she couldn’t have a lot of the formulas because it upset her stomach,” Campagna added.

Instead Brystal was fed a special baby formula “from a special bottle with a special nipple they had to give to us so that she didn’t have to suck as much.”

When Brystal began crawling, she was out tted with knee pads and she wore lots of bandages for padding, mostly for preventative care, Campagna said.

Campagna said the disease, which varies in severity, could have been more devastating for Brystal.

“Lot of kids has a lot worse than she does,” she said “We are grateful she is not as severe.”

Since birth, Brystal has had a number of surgeries, including on her left knee, right hand/ ngers, left calf and pinky toe. She also receives ongoing wound care, pain management and therapy.

“ e leg was a huge problem area for her,” Campagna said.

Scar tissue had built up over time causing Brystal’s leg to bend in a 90-de-

malcy as possible in her childhood. e blended family has a total of ve children.

“We’re very much ‘you can try it and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,’” she said. “Other families we talked to in the past, they don’t try stu . We’re very much into if it’s something she wants to try but rope climbing is a no.

“She does use the block wall (in PE). She can’t keep up when she runs so she walks a lot and she tries to be involved as much as the school lets her.”

Campagna said her daughter has a pretty positive outlook and is of the mindset, “you can’t tell me I can’t do something.

“She’s just a normal kid,” Campagna said. “She de nitely has challenges but me, honestly, we are so lucky with certain people placed into our lives.”

gree angle.

“She could not ex her foot out, it was stuck,” Campagna said. “She could not run and she tripped a lot.”

Another issue for Brystal was her right hand. Scar tissue caused her ngers to curl in so her hand was stuck in a st. Surgeons took care of that three years ago, cutting the tendons to release her ngers, putting in metal pins to keep her digits straight while healing and later doing skin grafts.

“She (also) has to have dilation on her throat,” Campagna said. “Blisters form in her throat and cause scar tissue and the esophagus closes up over time.”

And when there are sores in her mouth, Brystal avoids any food that is hard or crunchy but mostly she sticks with her special drinks instead.

Brystal, however, hasn’t let life’s challenges stand in her way. She’s been attending classes at Pioneer Elementary School since kindergarten.

“ ey have been so accommodating,” Campagna said. “Whatever Brystal needs they are so on top of it. Her

school is so amazing.”

Initially, Brystal would not participate in recess because “she was so aware of what her body was doing” but by third grade she was going on the play structures, according to her mother.

Brystal is now even learning to play hockey in the Little Howlers Hockey program hosted in conjunction with Arizona Coyotes at AZ Ice Gilbert. Brystal’s a fan of the Arizona Coyotes. Her favorite player is Clayton Keller.

“My husband and I play and she wanted to learn to play,” Campagna explained. “We said, ‘learn how to ice skate rst.’ Skating was not the most comfortable thing for her but she went out there and just did it.”

Brystal wore additional bandages and she wore silicon pads in her skates like those used by gure skaters and was able to complete the hockey program.

She’s currently taking a break from hockey while recovering from surgery to her left hand.

Campagna said she and her husband, Robert, try to give Brystal as much nor-

And though Brystal has been in and out of the hospital more than healthy kids, “these challenges have made her a stronger person,” her mom said.

Campagna said the family is participating in the hospital’s fundraiser to bring awareness to EB and to raise money for Phoenix Children’s.

“ e hospital has been nothing but amazing for us,” she said. “It’s been a saving grace.

“I know how I feel about the hospital and how great they’ve been, great for my daughter and I could only imagine how they were with other kids with things that are worse than what we are going through. My daughter loves the hospital. She goes in and knows she is going to be taken care of.”

To help

What: Phoenix Children’s Hospital is holding its 11th annual ABC 15 Telethon fundraiser

When: 6 a.m.-10:35 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

To donate, go to phoenixchildrensfoundation.org/signature/telethon

A cast covers Brystal’s left hand, which recently was operated on because scar tissue caused her fingers to curl in so that her hand was stuck in a fist. She already had similar surgery on her right hand. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)

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Gonzalez said that sta found the preliminary design concept for the multi-family “very attractive,” though the zoning request does not include a Planned Area Development overlay that would have locked in the developer to that design.

She added that the site plan and building design will be reviewed under a separate design review in the future.

e 39 acres is currently zoned for light industrial, business park and general commercial uses.

Under the proposal 5.9 acres would be rezoned to allow for a mixed-use commercial development and 33 acres for the multi-family project called Residences at e Ranch.

e developer describes the project as a “luxury development with residential uses and boutique shops, all infused with lifestyle amenities that will complement and enhance the area.”

e commercial buildings also would have multifamily units above.

Various housing types with resort-style amenities are proposed with the residences adjacent to planned specialty commercial restaurants and shops on Elliot Road to create a destination spot, according to the developer.

Commissioner Brian Andersen asked how the meetings between the developer and residents went and if the neighbors were comfortable with the proposal.

“ ere has been ongoing meetings and discussions between the applicant and a core group of Morrison Ranch residents and this is the result of the many discussions they had,” Gonzalez said.

She said that there will be a follow-up neighborhood meeting in the next couple of weeks to present the proposal to the larger Morrison Ranch community.

Commissioner Lesley Davis, who voted against the major General Plan amendment and rezone in October, asked if the residents were on board with the multi-family project coming into their neighborhood or whether they prefer commercial instead.

“I want to know if neighbors are accepting of this plan or are we going to see something di erent after the neighborhood meeting,” Davis said.

Land-use attorney Sean Lake said Col-

Chairman Jan Simon said there’s a potential for 800 residential units on the 32 acres with the propose rezone.

Lake responded that the absolute maximum would be 650 to 700 units and that there could be fewer units in order to meet town standards.

“I appreciate all these changes,” Davis said. “It denitely achieved what I was looking for the neighborhood.”

at said, she added that she struggled a bit with putting multifamily units next to light-industrial uses.

“I think that this is actually going to drive additional tra c,” Simon said. “We hear continuously tra c, tra c, tra c. Let’s go on the low end 500 units – 500 units versus the little bit of additional industrial that they are going to get on this if we left it.

“I mean you’re going to have tons more tra c,” Simon said. “It’s all feeding out to Elliot Road. So it’s going to make Elliot Road that much busier.”

Simon said he had pretty signi cant heartburn with the issue and would like to see some tra c studies done.

He added that although the developer’s renderings of the project looked nice, “all we are looking at is, what is the max capacity that can be set on this property with regards to the zoning.”

mena Group and IndiCap have been working with a group of seven neighborhood leaders to come up with a plan “that we can agree to (and) they can agree to.”

e multifamily along the west side of the site would be two stories, which is intended to bu er the Elliot Groves homes in Morrison Ranch, according to Lake.

“ e multifamily along Elliot, again was part of the package of negotiations with the neighbors as a bu er along Elliot,” he said.

“ e goal is two-fold.

“ e rst is to create a barrier so that the truck tra c that is going to be generated by the industrial does not go north to Elliot Road, so it creates a physical barrier,” Lake said, adding that the truck tra c instead would go out onto Power or Warner.

“ e second aspect is a visible bu er. Elliot, they wanted to maintain more of a residential character and not a big-truck carrier,” he said, adding:

“You would have not only the commercial along Elliot with restaurants and those types of things along Elliot but then you would have a second layer of multifamily at three stories. at would provide that visual bu er so you go from retail to multifamily and then back into the distance farther back would be the industrial. It would be a visual bu er as well as a tra c bu er to help maintain Elliot as more of a residential, non-commercial tra c feel. at is a speci c direction we’ve had with the neighbors to include that.”

Commissioner Anthony Bianchi said the proposed multifamily density concerned him.

“I understand that they’re coming in and they are going to understand that this is what is going to be built next to them,” she said. “I know these are not set site plans but when you look at those multifamily along Elliot on that south side, they got bay doors right there.

“I really think design-wise that needs to be considered and how we are still creating a livable environment,” Davis continued. “Otherwise you are going to end up with an apartment complex that is not going to maintain over time and stay a quality development because it’s a rough situation.”

Commissioner William Fay said one of the top three criticisms the community had with the light industrial was the tra c it would generate.

He recalled that in the initial proposal for e Ranch, there wasn’t going to be truck tra c on Elliot Road but with the current plan “we are making tra c worse.”

“I think we might be making the entire project considerably worse in that regards,” he said. “And I don’t know if people are appreciating that.”

However, because town re o cials signed o on the proposal, Fay said he assumed it was not a concern.

“I’d be concerned if this was coming tonight (for action),” Fay continued. “I’d want to talk to some of my citizen contacts because I think that this won’t do anything to make tra c better on the rest of the site but will make tra c worse on Elliot and I don’t know if Morrison Ranch people are quite as aware of (it).”

Simon said he agreed with Fay.

“So, as much as I appreciate the neighborhood and the community members coming together with the developer and working on this, at the end of the day this is up to the developer to actually put what they want to put on that property once we approve the zoning,” he said. “So I’m really hesitant to allow myself down the path of looking at the pictures although they are very, very enticing and I like the look of it (but) we are not at that stage.”

Simon said not having a PAD led along with the request gave him some angst as the developer is not bind to building what’s shown on the renderings before the commission.

He also had doubts about the proposed commercial. “With this much general commercial and retail on that corner, additional to the Power Center that’s going in on the north side I have concerns that we will be able to even ll that general commercial or retail in the event it shows up,” Simon said.

And, Simon said, the No. 1 concern heard from residents is that there are too many apartments in the town.

“I appreciate where (the project) is today,” he said. “I’m looking at do I want to put multifamily on 39 acres that’s currently not zoned for that when I have community members continuously reach out to me telling me don’t allow any more multifamily in the Town of Gilbert.”

It is unclear when the proposal will return to the commission for formal action. e applicant intended to present the proposals for both parcels to council in the summer.

The apartment complex would serve as a buffer between existing Morris Ranch houses and any industrial uses of adjacent vacant land, the developer says. (Town of Gilbert)

World views

Scores of young and old alike attended Gilbert’s annual Global Village Festival April 1 on Civic Center Lawn to view exhibits, participate in interactive displays and watch performances that re ected various cultures and customs around the world. Among the attendees was 1) Teryk Biggs, 4, who got up close and personal with a lion dancer; 2) Anuj and Avni Daftari, who watched their 5-year-old daughter Ariha locate countries on a map for volunteer Madeline Hinkson; 3) kids who paraded with ags from around the world 4) Kinue Dorsey showing Valentina Bustoz and Claudia Bustoz how to fold origami; 5) SJ Gutierrez tossing a hula hoop onto an in atable sugar skull ring toss game at the Gilbert; and 6) Halau Ho’okahi I Ka Hula Polynesian dancers perform on the World Stage. Photos by David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer

3 named GPS employees of the year

GSN NEWS STAFF

Gilbert Public Schools has named three long-time workers its 2023 Employees of the Year.

The awards are a long-standing tradition in the district, which says they are “celebrating the incredible work of our GPS Family and the ways they go above and beyond to provide students with the best educational experiences possible.

Selected from over 50 nominees, the awardees are:

• Support/Professional Staff of the Year: Dinah Guhy.

An administrative assistant and master scheduler at Highland High School, Dinah Guhy for the last 22 years “holds a wealth of knowledge and expertise that students, families, staff and district leaders rely on daily,” the district said.

As part of her job, she coordinates classes for 138 teachers and 3,300

students and her colleagues called her the “heart and soul” of the campus.

“She treats everyone with respect, dignity and compassion. She is constantly serving and supporting others through her participation in campus events, community fundraisers and her work on district committees,” the district said.

• Teacher of the Year: Jamie Gavigan.

Called “a dedicated and passionate teacher at South Valley Junior High,” Jamie Gavigan has been with GPS for 16 years and is a teacher who also chairs the math department.

“Gavigan works hard to ensure all South Valley students develop a deep understanding of the classroom material,” the district said. “She goes above and beyond to prepare them for success in higher course levels.

She is a positive role model, showing students what it means to demonstrate good character, respectful behavior, politeness and perseverance.”

The district said she is “very supportive of her colleagues” and encourages her students to be free “to be inquisitive, collaborative and. creative.”

• Administrator of the Year:

Tim Cannon.

As an educator for over four decades, the last 10 at GPS, Tim Cannon is the instructional leadership coach for the district’s junior high and high schools.

He had been the principal of South Valley Junior High for six years and in his current role, he works with school administrators “to create a sustainable plan for success so that every GPS student gets the support

see GPS page 18

Dinah Guhy Highland High

Jamie Gavigan South Valley Junior High

Tim Cannon District Office

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• 2019 KaBOOM! Playground Grant Recipient

• 2019 & 2020 NFL Play 60 Grant Recipient

• BARK to Excellence PBIS Model

• After-School Clubs & Sports (Lego, Soccer, Flag Football, Basketball)

• Community Events Every Month

• 2022 Marley Foundation Educational Grant Recipient

Rivulon apartment opponents lose again

BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor

Residents living near a 353-unit apartment project already approved by the town on 10.31 acres of the 280-acre, master-planned Rivulon development showed up last week in protest.

e Gilbert Planning Commission nonetheless voted 7-0 on April 5 to OK the site plan for the ve-story Stillwater Rivulon, located south of Pecos Road and west of Lindsay Road.

Rivulon is a key employment center, home to Deloitte, Isagenix, Morgan Stanley, AmeriFirst Financial and Merrill Lynch.

Principal Planner Ashlee MacDonald said the project also included 535 parking spaces – 267 covered and 88 enclosed – and that 18 letters of opposition to the multifamily development had been led.

Trent Grossarth, who lives in the 307-home Vintage Ranch community, urged the commission to reject the design because the multifamily didn’t appear to o er enough amenities for its renters, who would then come into his neighborhood. His neighborhood has a massive park as well as a basketball court and will soon have pickleball courts, he said.

“The No. 1 issue is when you look at the Vintage Ranch community and the Allen Ranch community that are directly across the street, they are small communities,” Grossarth said. “We have over a 1,000-acre park,

something that is a real anchor to that community.

‘I think that if you talk to all the residents, it’s what draws them to the community. I think it’s very evident when you look at the planning for this new design development, there is no park. ere is nothing for the residents.

ere’re 300-some-odd units there.”

“We love people, we love our neighbors but those are amenities that we paid for and we love to share it but we don’t want to pick up other people’s dog feces.

“I don’t believe they are going to want to open up their amenities to our community. … I don’t think I see the appropriate amenities for their community for them to stay in their community.”

Resident Tony DeSantis said there

ready done and that sta recommended approval of the site plans with three conditions. She also said that their height was in line with existing buildings on site and that o ce buildings there could go as high as 90 feet by right.

Land-use attorney Adam Baugh said it was clear “this area was intended for intensity because of the types of opportunities it can create there.”

Commissioner Lisa Gage asked if there was a dog park and Baugh said no dog park was proposed but that there is a linear park directly north of the site spanning Rivulon that is intended as a walking trail and park space with dog waste stations.

is already too much tra c on Lindsay Road and the multifamily project will add to that.

“It’s a travesty – everything that is going on around there,” he said. “Consider the people who live there and enjoy where they are living and now we are being ousted out. e tra c is a race course up and down Lindsay since the city widened it.”

Residents also complained about the density, noise and height of the apartments and the impact to their property values. ey also claimed that they were not noti ed of the project.

According to MacDonald, the developer met the town’s requirement to notify homes within 300 of the project site and HOAs within 1,000 feet.

According to the developer, amenities include a resort-style pool, courtyards, ramadas, grills, gym, workspaces and a lobby with seating. ere’s also a separate standalone garage.

e multifamily building, which will include studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, will be located near the center of the site and o er pedestrian friendly connections with current and future o ces surrounding the site.

MacDonald said tra c studies that accounted for the apartments were al-

“Truthfully, I think if somebody wanted to use a park, they would just drive the 2 miles of the street to Freestone Park, where there’s a greater variety of park amenities that could be available to them,” Baugh said.

Commissioner Anthony Bianchi acknowledged the residents’ concerns but overall found the design accept-

“It’s a travesty – everything that is going on around there. Consider the people who live there and enjoy where they are living and now we are being ousted out. e tra c is a race course up and down Lindsay since the city widened it.””

able. He also said noise issues could be addressed by the town’s noise ordinance.

Commissioner Lesley Davis said she also liked the design, stating, “I think it’s a nice project.”

Commissioner William Fay said he

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES ON PAGE 32

Neighboring homeowners contend that the proposed Rivulon development lacks amenities and that people who live there will use parks that homeowners paid for.

(Town of Gilbert)

the land in the area won’t stay that way for long.

begrudgingly supported the proposal, provided the 30% open space penciled out, because the developer packed so much onto the site with the height and setbacks while meeting the minimal standards. He also didn’t see a trafc issue other than for the neighbors south of the site.

Fay added that the rural nature of

“ e landowners and even the rural landowners are going to start selling and making pretty fair money at it and people will have the right to develop their property,” Fay said.

Chairman Jan Simon also voiced support of the design, adding that the developer doesn’t have any control over HOAs notifying their residents or not.

“Unfortunately we are in a state in our town where we are close to buildout, where we will begin to see more verticals,” he said.

Simon added he was neither for or against apartments but that in certain areas of town they make sense and this project made sense especially “being in an employment corridor with density that is needed to support those businesses in that area.”

GPS from page 14

they need to thrive in and out of the classroom,” the district said.

“Colleagues describe Cannon as a mentor and a friend who constantly is there to inspire and encourage those around him.”

The district said the three awardees and other nominees demonstrate excellence that “is a direct representation of the incredible teachers, support staff and administrators we have across our district.”

“We really do have the best of the best right here in Gilbert Public Schools.” said Superintendent Dr. Shane McCord.

The nominees were celebrated last Thursday at a banquet at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix-Gilbert. More than 400 people attended the event.

All nominees received certificates of recognition and gift baskets provided by their school’s parent organization or their department. Our nine finalists, including winners, received video tributes and trophies.

Most Gilbert Planning Commission members like the apartment building’s design and said they were powerless to control its height. (Town of Gilbert)

STILLWATER from page 16

going into 2024 but things are changing so fast every day. We really won’t know until the Legislature is done.”

Board President Lori Wood said she agreed with the recommendation to use the one-time money.

“I think that was exactly what we were waiting to use it for,” she said. “We kept saying, ‘when are we going to use this, how are we going to use this.’

“And I think again it re ects our priorities of competitive wages for our all-im-

portant sta and teachers, everyone who’s on our campus who works with our students or gets them to school and provides what they need to everyday. So even though we are looking at using that onetime fund I think it’s appropriate to meet that priority, which we are committed to.”

Betz said some risks to the proposed budget includes losing more students than planned and the Legislature decreasing the funding level.

“We could see a greater loss of students than that 400-student projection,” Betz said. “We generally have been successful

by assuming a 400-student loss.”

She said sta meets every couple of weeks to “see where our holes are and start driving up e orts at our schools to make sure all these open enrollees have a positive impact on our student count.”

And there’s the Aggregate Expenditure Limit or AEL, a voter-approved constitutional cap on school districts’ spending with adjustments for in ation and student growth. Each year, districts wrestle with the potential of having to cut their budgets, unable to spend money that’s already in their hands.

“ e AEL has still not been dealt with forever,” Betz said. “We did have the Legislature approve overriding the limit again in the current year.”

e budget also could see positives in terms of losing fewer than the 400 students and the Legislature could approve greater funding, she added.

If the Legislature were to pass the governor’s budget, “we would see an additional $2.5 million in our budget capacity, which would signi cantly close that $4.5-million gap,” Betz said.

Budget adoption is expected in June.

Higley student wins DAR good citizen awards

GSN NEWS STAFF

Higley High senior Abigail Cramer has racked up some big honors with the Daughters of the American Revolution.

e DAR Desert Wells Chapter in Queen Creek named Abigail their Good Citizens Award winner for the year and she has since gone on to win the state award and a chance to vie nationally for a scholarship.

In naming her for its award, the Desert Wells chapter called Abigail “an outstanding Air Force JROTC Cadet and graduating honor student of Higley High School.”

“ e DAR Good Citizens Award is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship in senior high school students,” the chapter spokeswoman explained.

Nominees must demonstrate dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. Only one student per high school is selected for this award.

e selected student may also enter the DAR Good Citizens scholarship contest,

Abigail competed with other Good Citizen Award winners selected by 40 Arizona chapters of DAR.

From the state level, she was selected as the top competitor to represent Arizona in the DAR Southwest Division comprising seven other western states.

On March 19, Abilgail was noti ed by Cindi Newbold, the national chair of the DAR Good Citizens Committee informing her that she was selected as the Southwest Division winner and will receive a cash award of $1,000.

She now is in the nal competition at the national level with seven other nominees for a DAR scholarship.

a hard worker and an outstanding person who will take the initiative to accomplish any task set before her.”

Abigail is group commander in her Air Force JROTC unit and the top- ranking cadet. She is a member of the National Honor Society and Honors Academic Decathlon. In 2022 her GPA was 4.21.

She has been awarded numerous academic awards and AFJROTC Department awards.

Some of her community volunteer activities include Feed My Starving Children, blood drives, campus beauti cation projects, church volunteer, and Wreaths Across America.

which requires a timed essay submitted with grade transcripts and two letters of recommendation.

“ e Desert Wells Chapter selected Abigail for the DAR Good Citizens Award for 2023 after reviewing her essay, resume, transcripts and letters from Higley High School Principal Alan Fields, and her AFJROTC Instructor, Col. David Vaughn,” the spokeswoman said.

Abigail will be honored by the Desert Wells Chapter with a DAR Good Citizens medal, certi cate and gift card at the Higley High award ceremony on May 15 and at the DAR Arizona conference in Mesa on May 20.

Abigail was described by r Air Force JROTC instructor as a “generational cadet – quite capable in her capacity, capability and character.”

Higley Principal Fields said, “Abigail is

She plans to attend Texas A & M University and join their Corps of Cadets while earning a nursing degree and participating in. the Air Force Reserve O cer Training Corps.

She also plans to join the Air Force as a ight nurse after graduating from Texas A&M.

Abigail lives with her mother Chelcie Darling and her stepfather Brian Darling.

EV Assistance League slates Vegas-style fundraiser

SARAH AUFFRET GSN Contributor

Aspecial Vegas Nights celebration will rock the house for Assistance League of East Valley on April 29 at Oakwood Country Club in Sun Lakes.

Following piano music, champagne and dinner, an Elvis impersonater will hit the dance oor with some of the singer’s greatest hits.

“Elvis will be in the house, and it’s going to be lots of fun,” says Ibis Valles of Gilbert, vice president of resource development for the organization. “It’s a fun way for us to raise money to help our kids in the East Valley.”

Assistance League of East Valley provides new clothing for over 5,000 elementary school children each year, as well supplies and clothing for homeless teenagers, assault survivor kits for victims of trauma and accidents, and 13 college scholarships.

“When we invite children to Target to pick out their own clothes, they are so excited, it’s a special event for them,” says Valles. “I heard one mom tell her kids last fall, ‘ is is your Christmas present.’ e families are so grateful for our help.”

Primary source of funds is the upscale Assistance League rift Shop in Chandler. e shop, known for having dai-

ly sales and quality items, has a line of shoppers waiting to get in when it opens for the week every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Vegas Nights will feature a silent auction, wine pull, ra e and casino games in addition to dinner and live entertainment. Tickets are $90, and are available online, by mail or at the shop. e shop, located at 2326 N. Alma School in Chandler, is open Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

e all-volunteer group also raises funds through grants and donations. Sponsors are being sought for the Vegas Nights event.

e organization’s website is www.assistanceleagueeastvalley.org.

Higley High senior Abigail Cramer has been named the state and Southwest regional winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Award. (Courtesy of the DAR Desert Wells Chapter)

Rosemary Craft, president of Assistance League of East Valley, left, and Ibis Valles of Gilbert prepare for the nonprofit’s Vegas Nights fundraiser. (Special to GSN)

Mesa woman shows a million kindnesses

BY JOSH ORTEGA GSN Sta Writer

Margaret Taylor proves that it’s not the hours you work in a week but what you do with those hours that counts the most.

For the last 11 years, the 85-year-old Mesa resident has volunteered between ve to 10 hours a week as the sole food meal coordinator for the East Valley Men’s Center, organizing and coordinating food donations from the community.

Her work has made it possible to serve nearly one million meals to those men experiencing homelessness by providing two hot meals and a sack lunch for the 110 residents at EVMC 365 days a year.

Bridget Talty, senior community engagement coordinator for A New Leaf, said while her job doesn’t require her to get hands on and every sta member holding a food handler’s card, Taylor has not hesitated to roll up her sleeves and step in to help in any way the nonpro t needs or

whenever someone asks her.

“I’ve served meals with her here, somebody comes up short with volunteers and

she’ll jump in and help,” Talty said. “She will jump in and help the agency whenever you ask her to do something.”

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Arizona’s homeless population grew by 23.4% from 2020-2022 and nearly 60% of the estimated 13,553 homeless are unsheltered.

EVMC provides “a safe haven” for men of all ages experiencing homelessness with an assigned bed and storage area for their personal possessions for the duration of their stay.

Along with a personal space, EVMC also provides employment assistance, transportation assistance and substance abuse support, to ensure these men can get back on their feet with a job and an apartment of their own.

e age of the men at EVMC starts as young as 18 and includes “plenty” of group home teens whose kids aged out of the system and don’t have any skills.

Essential to restoring a sense of normalcy, every morning residents at EVMC

receive a hot breakfast before heading o to work with a sack lunch and returning in the evening for a hot dinner.

It all started in January 2009 when Taylor’s world completely changed.

She submitted for retirement after 37 years as a rst-grade teacher at Edison Elementary School and lost her husband Robert of 35 years to esophageal cancer.

“ at made me need to keep working somehow because once you put in your retirement papers you can’t take them back,” Taylor said.

Initially, she started volunteering under a program with AmeriCorps VISTA program through the Mesa United Way, which assigned her to A New Leaf.

“ at was really convenient for me, which is probably one of the reasons I continued volunteering because it was close,” Taylor said.

When her time with the two-year program ended, Taylor simply stayed on as a

see KINDNESS page 23

Margaret Taylor of Mesa ensured that over a million meals have been given to homeless men at the East Valley Men’s Center. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

volunteer with A New Leaf and when another sta member left, she took over the meal scheduling in August 2011.

“When she quit. I was the only one left who knew anything about the scheduling,” Taylor said. “I just continued on as a volunteer.”

Like a duck to water, Taylor seemed to take to the role rather easily getting her rst big donor in 2011 from car dealer Cardinaleway Mazda Mesa.

An entourage from Cardinaleway stopped by to check out the center and after talking with Taylor, the dealer has served a meal at the center every rst Friday of the month since 2011.

e work doesn’t stop at just getting new donors to sign up: Taylor must ensure they commit to their obligation weeks or months in advance and keep to their scheduled meal.

“God forbid someone no shows or forgets and we have a hundred hungry fellows,” Talty said. “ at’s what we can’t have, so she really monitors that tightly.”

Most donors include individuals and

churches around the area with a working relationship with EVMC. ey would buy food, prepare it in the on-site kitchen and serve residents themselves.

Taylor’s work over the past decade has orchestrated a race among companies to not only see who gets to serve the men, but, most importantly, when they do.

“Our shelter has no budget for food,” Talty said. “It’s almost like the donors become competitive.”

Where most sta would nd it tedious waiting on calls and emails from potential donors, Taylor said volunteering doesn’t require a lot of time.

“I understand why they left it to me for so long because I could come in and our providers got to know me and know that I was only there part-time,” Taylor said. “So, they were willing to wait for a response.”

Taylor takes no credit for her work and instead praises the community for what they provide to those individuals in a desperate time of need.

“ e variety of people, churches, individuals who are coming that they will go one time and then keep coming back, it’s unbelievable how helpful the community is,” Taylor said.

Even while the pandemic raged and the nonpro t adjusted to not having cooks inhouse because many of them are seniors, Talty said, the center has started to ramp up with volunteers again.

But even through the pandemic, Taylor still ensured the men ate every night encouraging donors with the importance of their work and what it means to EVMC’s residents.

While she doesn’t plan to leave her role at EVMC anytime soon, Taylor said she recognizes time’s ticking reality and wants to take some time to see her grown grandchildren more, raising questions for A New Leaf about the future.

“I’m not planning but I am 85 years old and who knows if I’m going to live ve more years or not,” Taylor said.

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Scottsdale is among the many donors that Margaret Taylor coordinates to serve meals to the homeless men at the East Valley Men’s Center. (St. Barnabas)

Elaine Louise Cota

and many more papers throughout Arizona. She was the "classified guru" and had some treasured customers for over 20 years, many for over 15 years. She made so many lifelong friends in her years through the newspapers, she treasured them and held them close to her heart. However, everyone knows that Elaine is happy to be reunited with Vicki Serna and hopes everyone is jealous!

Elaine started scrapbooking in 1988 when she put together a scrapbook for her Junior Achievement NAJAC group. In 1995, when pregnant with Vincent she started up again and she never quit. Scrapbooking was her hobby but it was part of her being. Everyone that knew her, knew she was a paper crafter. One of her favorite things to do was to make and send cards, which she did for years and years. She loved to surprise friends with "happy mail." The friends she "collected" through the years with scrapbooking is expansive. She had friends from all over the country, knowing some only through the computer screen, but that she felt extremely close with. She attended many scrapbooking retreats and gained even more friends.

Elaine was born, Elaine Louise Barker to Carol Ann Barker and David Galen Barker, in Pratt, KS, March 11, 1970 in a blizzard. She passed away with friends and family near her on Friday, March 31, 2023 after battling cancer for several years.

She was raised in Pratt, mostly by her mother, Carol until age 11. The family then moved to Scottsdale, AZ where her mother remarried. Elaine missed being far from her grandparents and some life long friends, but she enjoyed Arizona. She adopted the nickname Cricket, and then later Lainey.

She graduated from McClintock High School, in Tempe, AZ where she became involved with Junior Achievement, meeting other students from high schools all over the East Valley. She attended, on scholarship, all four years, Junior Achievement's annual convention in Bloomington, Indiana. Later she attended as a photographer and then became a "Pink Fink", a counselor of a group, at NAJAC. She met life long friends through Junior Achievement and she claimed they were a part of "saving" her. She attended Mesa Community College where she met and married Fernando Cota, she always claimed to have got her "Mrs" degree there. They celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary in Hawaii with their son, Vincent Cota and his girlfriend, Caroline Fiss.

Elaine had an amazing 30+ year career in newspapers in Mesa and Ahwatukee areas with the East Valley Tribune, Ahwatukee Foothills News

Elaine is survived, by her loving husband, Fernando Cota; her son, Vincent; father in law, John Cota of Heber, AZ, mother in law, Roxanna Cota of Phoenix, AZ and Mama Sharon Dodson of Ellis, KS; sisters, Betty Eisenhour of Stafford, KS, Latisha Haag, of Ellis, KS, Kendra Turner of Hutchinson, KS, and Joann Cota of Peoria, AZ; nephews: Art Olmos of Mesa, AZ and Philip, Noah, Isaiah and Simon Eisenhour of Stafford, KS, Zeke and Asher Haag of Ellis, KS, Zade and Zerek Turner of Hutchinson, KS; nieces: Kaydawn Haag of Ellis, KS, Lora, Heidi, and Hannah Eisenhour of Stafford, KS; and grandniece, Mardou Bey of Mesa, AZ; numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and hundreds of friends.

Elaine leaves behind friends by the hundreds, however, Barbara Duran, Stephanie Brunner, and Christine Torres will be especially missed on the daily.

Elaine battled Kidney Cancer, being diagnosed during the pandemic, September 2020. She and her family would like to thank Mayo Clinic for their compassionate care; her friends and her Facebook Group members for supporting her journey every step of the way; for all the prayers, cards, gifts, and so much love expressed to her that helped carry her through the hard days.

In lieu of flowers please feel free to make a donation on behalf of Elaine Cota to one of the following:

• The Olive Press, Domestic Shelter in Mesa https://theolivepress.org/

• Hospice of the Valley https://www.hov.org/donate/

• Crops of Luv, https://cropsofluv.org/ They complete scrapbooks of trips of ill children that have gone on their Wish trip.

Visitation and services will held on Saturday, April 15, 2023

Visitation 10am-11am

Services 11am

Bunker Family Funerals & Cremation

33 N. Centennial Way Mesa, AZ 85201

This obituary was written by Elaine (Lainey) Cota, who continues to take care of those she leaves behind.

| @GilbertSunNews /GilbertSunNews

6 months before arrival, Scheels welcomes region

KEN SAIN GSN Sta Writer

Six months before the rst Scheels store opens in Arizona, the company threw a big media event to introduce itself to the East Valley.

e retailer has been around for more than a century, but it will be a new experience for many in this area when it opens in Chandler.

And owners stressed the word “experience.”

“What makes us di erent, is No. 1, we try to create an experience. When you walk into our stores, whether it’s a saltwater aquarium, the Ferris wheel, the statues outside, the simulators, the archery lanes, the children’s play area, Fuzziwigs (Candy Factory), etc. etc, we want you to come and we want you to enjoy shopping,” said Steve Scheel, the CEO of the employee-owned company.

Scheel said there are two other reasons his operation is di erent from any other retailer out there.

One is that Scheels has the largest selection of sporting goods anywhere, he boasted.

“At any one given time, there will be 250-to-300,000 di erent items in our store,” Scheel said.

He said during the course of the year, as inventories change per season, they will stock more than 2 million items.

“It will be a selection unlike anything you’ve seen,” he said. “Our selection is second to none.”

What also sets Scheels apart from its competition is that its employees are experts in their elds.

He said his business invests in that, sending employees to schools and to train with experts so that they can give customers the proper advice.

“We spend more time and money training our people than any other retailer we know of,” he said. “Every one of

our full- time employee owners, who are salespeople, come back one time a week, 48 weeks a year, to train after we close at night.”

e Chandler Scheels is scheduled to open at the end of September at the Chandler Fashion Center.

ere are 34 Scheels stores around the nation. e company was started near Fargo, N.D., where the company is based today.

Scheel said the Chandler store will be 250,000 square feet. It will include some of Scheels’ staples, including a salt water aquarium, a Ferris wheel, rollerball (kind of like bowling, but with smaller, lighter balls), an arcade and sports simulators,

and a cafe.

“I cannot contain my joy about how excited we are that Scheels has chosen Chandler for your rst Arizona location,” Mayor Kevin Hartke said.

e media event included a video presentation, a marching band from Basha High and goodies.

It closed with Scheels handing out some checks. It donated $10,000 each to three Chandler nonpro ts, ICAN, Children’s Cancer Network and Legacy Cares.

“Our goal in Chandler is to be the No. 1 retailer giving back to nonpro ts and youth organizations within three years after we open,” Scheel said.

Intel, which has two campuses in Chan-

dler, currently donates about $7 million a year to Arizona-based organizations.

Louie Sikich will manage the Chandler location. He said the focus right now is hiring and training the 500 associates they will need to work in the store.

“We just put in the saltwater aquarium, no sh in it yet, just the aquarium” Sikich said. “Next week we have the airplane that gets installed.

“Most importantly, though, in that building is going to be over 500 Scheels associates. at’s what makes us special. Steve referenced good people, experts. And we’re very, very excited for that. And that’s our biggest focus right now is those people.”

Todd Modic and Ben Gokee of Children’s Cancer Network accepted a check for $10,000 from Scheels Store Leader Louie Sikich at the store’s community kickoff event. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

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How to retire happy, even with in ation

BY DR. HAROLD WONG GSN Guest Writer

In ation in 2022 hit 40year highs, so how can you retire well, even if we have continued in ation and a recession in the next few years?

Case study: I met Joe, 63, and Judy, 65, in June, 2019 at a seminar I gave at the Ahwatukee Event Center. ey had $850,000 of nancial assets and 90% of it was in the stock market. ey planned to retire when Joe reached 70.

ey were concerned about stock market risk and wondered how much they would be able to spend when retired. eir #1 priority was “never run out of money” and their #2 priority was “investments that don’t lose.”

e conventional wisdom in the eld of nancial planning is that when retired, you need 25-35% less income than when working. I asked them to dream big and write down their bucket list

items (everything you’ve dreamed about your entire life).

I explained that there are the phases of retirement: the Go-Go Years; the SlowGo Years; and the No-Go Years. Most Americans don’t have more than twothree weeks of vacation each year.

So, you may have a good income, but not enough time o to spend it on bucket list items.

Why should you spend your whole lives working and not be able to a ord your bucket list items? In the Go-Go Years, you have just retired and have unlimited time.

e question is whether you will have enough money to a ord to accomplish your list.

You may be spending more during your Go-Go Years than when you were working.

e solutions: Most take Social Security at age 62 and only 3-5% wait until age 70, when they could receive up to double their retirement bene t at age 62. Joe enjoys his job and will wait until age 70 to take SS.

If Judy waits until she is full retirement

age, she can take either her SS based on her earnings history or half of Joe’s. eir total future SS when Joe retires will be $63,768.

ey then take 90% of their nancial assets out of the stock market and buy two private pensions that are worth $44,254 of total income when Joe reaches age 70.

ey also buy some solar equipment that will generate a safe $11,900 of annual income each year for 10 years.

Using solar tax credits and deductions, they reduce the tax burden of a big Roth IRA Conversion so that half of their private pension income will be tax-free.

As a result, total income at age 70 will be $119,922, almost $70,000 more than what they are currently spending and almost $45,000 more than the $75,000 they want to spend each year in retirement. ese were the numbers in 2019.

Now, with several years of increases to their SS, they will have at least $125,000 of annual income. ey don’t have to worry about the high in ation the last two years

of forecasted in ation for the next two years. ey have so much more income than they thought possible.

Free seminar and lunch: March 22, 10 a.m. at Hyatt Place, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd. Chandler. Topic is “Beat In ation by Saving Taxes and Increasing Income!” e seminar starts at 10 a.m., followed by a free catered lunch.

Free Tour/Workshop: Solar Reefer (Refrigeration) Factory, 9 a.m.-noon April 29. Topic is “How solar reefers can reduce taxes to $0 and earn a steady 10-14%!” Lots of tasty refreshments served.

Location is at Advanced Energy Machines: 4245 E. Norcroft St., Mesa, ¼ mile SW of McDowell & Green eld Roads.

To RSVP for the seminars or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@ hotmail.com. His website isdrharoldwong.com. Dr. Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

ALA Gilbert rallying behind death of former coach

BY BREVAN BRANSCUM GSN Sports Editor

On the night of Jan. 6, 2023, former American Leadership Academy Gilbert North head baseball coach Brett Brewer talked with current coach David Webster about taking over the program. Brewer gave up the job following the team’s runner-up nish in 2022, and Webster took over, albeit reluctantly, with the promise of Brewer’s support.

“We talked about him helping and coming out and getting ready,” Webster said of their conversation. “He was gonna help me.”

However, that would end up being the last time Webster spoke to him. Brewer, 48, died the next morning on Jan. 7, 2023.

e devastating news shook ALA Gilbert not even two months before the season. Webster said the team had an emotional meeting after hearing the news.

e players, the other coaches, families, the school and many more were impacted by Brewer’s death, but Webster especially had a more personal connection to him.

“My son married his daughter, and they had a baby the next day after he passed, so Brett and I have been really good friends for probably 10 to 15 years,” Webster said. “He had a big in uence on me both personally and as a coach. When he passed, I didn’t know what to do, really.”

With a sta of several coaches who had been coaching together for several years as well, Webster didn’t have to look far for support.

“A lot of these guys stepped up,” the head coach said. “ ese guys too have all coached with Brett for the last ve, six years actually.”

Tyler Vought, one of those assistant coaches who had worked alongside Brewer and Webster for several years,

mentioned that the team has a constant reminder of their former head coach.

“Every single time we come to the eld, we’ve got his plaque up in the dugout that we all get to see,” Vought said. “Every time we walk in, we kinda look at that and remember what he was to our program.”

e Eagles cherish Brewer’s impact on the program and themselves.

e plaque honored Brewer’s legacy and the team has been able to rally around the memory of their former coach.

Even though the coaches had been working with Brewer longer and had impacted them for several years, it’s the players who have to deal with losing a role model.

However, Webster and Vought both have been impressed by the players’ abilities to deal with the adversity and

rally around the circumstances.

“ ey’re de nitely pulling through,” Vought said of his players’ resilience. “We can see that they’ve come together a lot as a team in dealing with adversity like that.”

Every returning player played under Brewer last season when he led the team to the 3A State Championship, where they lost in the nal to Northwest Christian High School.

ey had a successful season overall, with a 24-7 overall record and a 14-3 record in AIA play.

Brewer himself was coaching the team through despite his major health problems.

According to Athletic Director Randy Ricedor , his e orts to get to the championship game and coach the team despite those problems was inspiring..

“ e guy is tough as nails,” said Ricedor , who hired Brewer prior to the 2019 season. “He’s in the hospital for I don’t know how many days, gets out of the hospital and can barely walk, and he’s like, ‘I just can’t miss this.’”

Even though everyone called Brewer an incredible coach who cared for his players, even at the expense of his health, they also remember him for being the kind of person he was.

Rhey celebrate him as a coach but cherish him as a person.

Brewer esd drafted in the 1993 MLB draft and played in the minor league for a few years.

But that’s not what his coworkers and his friends like Ricedor say they’ll remember him for.

As Ricedor explained, Brewer was “just a real humble, genuine guy.”

A plaque dedicated to former ALA Gilbert baseball coach Brett Brewer hangs in the Eagles’ dugout. It’s a constant reminder as to what the team is playing for this season after he died suddenly in January. (Dave Minton/GSN Staff)

Renaissance Man keynotes Mesa Music Fest

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI GetOut Executive Editor

Martin Atkins is a renaissance man.

The English drummer is best known for his work in Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface and Killing Joke.

He also owns a museum and has written books. Atkins will speak about his career at the Mesa Music Festival at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at the Mix Center, 50 N. Centennial Way, Mesa.

“What I try and talk about, which for some people may be some hard fruits, is about the business,” he said.

“I try and make it funny, but if people were to sit and think about what I’m saying, there are close to 100,000 songs a day uploaded to Spotify. The economy is trashed. The weather is trashed. People are nervous.

“What we used to do in the 1970s with Johnny Rotten was differentiate ourselves. Make things happen without any help. Thank goodness, for me, those things are still true. I want to en-

courage people who are already doing things to keep doing it and get other people who are tired and disillusioned to discover themselves and get on with it.”

He admits he knows that some people don’t like that advice. Some want to play the guitar in their basement for another five hours.

“But there’s already a 6-year-old child on YouTube who’s better than you’ll ever be at whatever you do,” he said with a laugh. “Just be good at something. You need six hustles— two of them won’t work, two will, you won’t like one and you add two more.

“Between your seven hustles and your one skill, decide which one you think is most important and you’ll end up positively moving forward and a career doing something.”

Atkins took that advice himself, as the ultimate hyphenated entertainer.

He said if someone were to ask him what he did 25 years ago, he would have answered, “I’m a drummer, drummer, drummer and drummer.”

Gilbert singer and his emo rockers to perform

BY ALEX GALLAGHER GSN Arts Editor

East Valley-based emo rockers Not Nearly have gotten used to being “the odd band out” on most of its bills.

Meshing elements of alternative rock genres like math-rock, progressive or “prog” rock and post-hardcore metal, the band often is the heaviest or lightest sounding on the bill. At its April 14 gig at Pub Rock Live in South Scottsdale, the band plans to lean more toward the heavy.

“We’re used to being kind of the odd band out because we’ll play shows with bands that are way heavier than us but then we’ll play shows with bands that are like pop punk and we’re not but we

like that feeling,” said guitarist and vocalist Johnny Natoli of Gilbert.

“I think whether people love us or hate us, as long as we stand out that’s my goal.”

The band was started around 2015 by drummer Ben Alfich and guitarist Tanner Norquist..

They cycled through bassists and rhythm guitarists in its early years until they found the man they had been looking for in n unlikely place.

While attending Northern Arizona University, the two were waiting at a bus stop and struck up a conversation with a Colton “COBA” Westerman –who happened to be a bass player and vocalist.

Drummer Martin Atkinswill speak about his career at the Mesa Music Festival at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 13, at the Mix Center, 50 N. Centennial Way, Mesa.

Nearly 1: East Valley emo rockers Not Nearly consists of, from left, guitarist and vocalist Johnny Natoli, bassist and vocalist Colton “Coba” Westerman, guitarist Tanner Norquist and drummer Ben Alfich. (Kirsten Kavanaugh/ Dark Stars Media)

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NEARLY from page 30

They were quickly blown away by Westerman’s range of talent.

Not far behind came Natoli, who had played in a band with Westerman called Gold Season, which had toured with Not Nearly in late 2017.

“I think I made (the band) way more chaotic in a good way,” Natoli said. “I like slower and pretty stuff too but I’m a proponent for the more off-the-rails kind of thing when I write songs. I think we’ve gotten more chaotic and more technical, but also more emotive at the same time.”

MUSIC FEST from page 30

Then, he became a drummer/producer who, with a record label, released 350 albums. He built his own studios, wrote books, became and educator and spoke in public worldwide.

Now he has a museum, Museum of Post-Punk and Industrial Music in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

“I am that hyphenated person,” he said.

Atkins founded the museum two years ago after he pulled memorabilia

Not long after Natoli joined, the band released its first single “The Grand Scheme of Things” and continued to play gigs around the Valley until live music was suspended by the pandemic.

Not Nearly utilized the downtime from performances to create makeshift studios at the homes of Natoli and Alfich and released an album, “Eternal Damage,” on Christmas Eve 2021.

“We’ve always been of the opinion that our record has to be cool and our live show has to be cool but they don’t necessarily have to be the same thing,” said Natoli.

“We’ve never been super interest-

out of boxes during the pandemic to hang behind him during Zoom sessions. He didn’t want to put any of it back.

Atkins asked for fan investors – of which he has 1,400 – and for them to donate their memorabilia. He now has more than 4,000 pieces.

“People are sending me amazing things, amazing artifacts,” he said. “The museum has become a place of illness at times, sobriety at times –even though we have our own brand of whisky and coffee – a place that re -

ed in trying to recreate our record in a live setting but I would say it translates pretty well because we’ve done a lot of work muscling things out and making sure it sounds tight since we have parts that are crazy fast and complicated.”

“We’re going to do a song called ‘For Tajdo (I’m Pathetic),’ which is one of the deeper cuts of our record, but it’s one of our personal favorites,” Natoli said. “Then we’re doing all ‘Eternal Damage’ stuff for this set and we’re excited to keep playing that record because we worked so hard on it.”

“We tend to be the extreme ends of emotions but I don’t want that to freak

verberates with 45 years of punk, postpunk and industrial creativity.

“We all had to create. There were never any budgets. Monday was always on zero and creativity was on 100. It’s a museum of creativity as well.”

He calls the museum part of this circular machine where creativity “goes around and inspires.” His favorite thing to do is stand in the middle of the museum and show students his “appalling C- report card” from when he was their age and brag about what he has accomplished.

out or intimidate people,” Natoli said. “I want to give people a break from reality and I hope that they can find a way to relate to us.”

If you go

What: Lilac Kings, Resilia with special guests Not Nearly, Ianthe and The God Samaritan

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

Where: Pub Rock Live, 8005 E. Roosevelt Street, Scottsdale

Cost: $10

Info: pubrocklive.com

“I explain how this ADHD person who did really badly in school ended up with a master’s degree, three books and a museum,” he added. “That’s the business education. Anybody can do anything. I firmly believe that.”

Mesa Music Festival

When: Various times Thursday, April 13, to Saturday, April 15

Where: Venues around Mesa

Cost: Visit the website for info

Info: mesamusicfest.com

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Help for Chronic Foot Pain

Chronic foot or ankle pain interferes with active lifestyles, limiting mobility and independence. It makes even the most basic activities, like going to the market or walking the dog difficult. “I hate to hear that foot pain is keeping someone from their everyday activities,” says Dr. Kerry Zang of CiC Foot & Ankle. “It doesn’t matter if you are suffering from arthritis, an old injury, plantar fasciitis, really any type of foot pain, there are new therapies to help repair and restore tissue, ligaments and joints.”

Until recently, anti-inflammatory medication and steroid injections, like cortisone offered the best chance for relief. But, these options just reduced the symptoms. They did nothing to treat the problem actually causing the pain. “While cortisone stops the swelling and pain, it can also interfere with the healing process and further degeneration can occur,” explains Zang.

“Now, instead of just making the symptoms go away, we can deal with the underlying problem that is causing the pain. With regenerative medicine, we can help the body initiate its own healing response,” says Zang.

This form of treatment stimulates the body’s own natural healing process to repair chronically damaged tissue. “If a degenerative process has started, sometimes the body needs a little boost to encourage the regenerative process.” says Zang. “Regenerative medicine does that.”

“Don’t wait to get help. Delaying care can put you at risk for further damage,” says Zang. “However, if you have put off treatment, it’s not too late. Medicine is constantly changing, and you should never lose hope.”

Dr. Kerry Zang, DPM can be reached at CiC Foot & Ankle, 602-954-0777.

Pain, Burning, Numbness, Cramping

Your feet are crying out for help! It’s time to listen.

YES / NO

Does foot pain keep you from your favorite activities?

Do you have pain in the ball of your foot, heel or ankle?

Do you have uncomfortable aching, fatigue, cramping in your feet or calves when walking?

Is your neuropathy treatment not working?

Do your feet hurt when at rest?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions it’s time to call for HELP!