The City of Mesa settled 10 po lice excessive force, assault and wrongful death claims involving the Mesa Police Department in the first six months of 2022 with payouts total ing $5,444,000.
Records obtained by the Tribune through a public records request show the payments ranged from $4,000 to
$2.45 million and stem from incidents that occurred between 2017 and 2020.
Several of the settlements involve high profile cases that drew public attention to Mesa PD over the past five years.
The settlements release the city and the officers involved from any liabilities or future payments to the plaintiffs, who filed suits in local and federal courts.
All the settlements contain language stating that the city denies wrongdoing, and include the statement that “Plaintiff
acknowledges this payment is a settle ment and compromise of a disputed claim and that the Released Parties deny wrongdoing and liability,” or simi lar disclaimers.
Asked if the size of settlements so far this year are typical, Mesa Director of Communications Ana Pereria said,
“Many different factors drive the annual amount spent on settlement of claims
BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer
Betty Caruthers has all her teeth and most of her patience, except when scammers call.
And on Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Mesa woman will also have bragging rights on a claim few people get to make: She will be 100 years old.
Caruthers will celebrate the milestone with her two children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Though not a Mesa native, Caruthers said she spent 23 years as an instruc tional aide at Mesa Junior High – a lifelong dream but one in a line of many jobs she’s
Alreadycensured by the Mesa Legisla tive District 10 Republican Commit tee for endorsing a Democratic can didate during the August primary, Mayor John Giles doubled down last week by en dorsing his party’s opponents in the state’s top three elections during a appearance on one of the Valley’s leading radio news shows Appearing on the Gaydos and Chad show.
During his appearance Oct. 11, Giles said he supports Democratic gubernatorial can didate Katie Hobbs, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and Adrian Fontes, the Democrat seeking to re place Hobbs as Arizona Secretary of State.
Giles said he could not support guber natorial candidate Kari Lake, senatorial hopeful Blake Masters or Secretary of State contender Mark Finchem because all three have publicly stated that the 2020 presiden tial election in Arizona was “stolen” and or because the Democrats have fielded more qualified people.
“Katie Hobbs is a better candidate,” Giles said, stating Hobbs “has the experience and the motivation” to tackle the serious issues confronting Arizona when it comes to water, transportation infrastructure and educa tion. While calling Lake “a gifted communi cator,” Giles said, “she doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. And she seems focused on promoting issues that are more sensation and so we need someone that’s going to come in and address those very se rious issues and not use problems.”
While he said, “I’ve been a Republican my whole life,” Giles said the Republican Party has changed and focused on driving out people who don’t support views that don’t agree with party leaders.
“I think for some reason people think it’s a winning formula to try to tell people that they don’t belong in the party,” Giles told the show hosts. “I believe in a bigger tent. I think we need to accommodate people. We need to go out and attract them, invite them into the Republican Party.”
Giles was particularly critical of the three candidates for their stand on the 2020 elec
tion results and said that accepting those results was the “low bar” he set for deter mining candidates’ qualification for public office.
Gaydos agreed with Giles, noting that he and his co-host had Finchem on air and that it was “hard to talk to someone who doesn’t live in the same world that we all do. When you talk to him, it’s kind of tough to have a conversation with someone who’s so into all these conspiracies.”
Giles replied that some of his fellow Re publicans have become so preoccupied with 2020 that “I have no idea that they have any clue on water issues or what they’re going to do to support public education or what they’re going to address growth. They re main big question marks because they’re focused on conspiracy theories.”
Giles, who has won three nonpartisan citywide races, was called to task by the Re publican Committee covering most of East Mesa, which censured him in July within days of the state GOP Party’s similar action against outgoing House Speaker Rusty Bow ers. The Mesa Republican lawmaker had testified before the U.S. House special com mittee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insur rection in the nation’s Capital.
The LD 10 Republican Committee called on its members to “cease recognition” of Giles as a Republican and stop supporting him in any future election.
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
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 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. YOU 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.
As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves
Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:
Aspen Medical 4540 E. Baseline Rd., Suite 119 Mesa, AZ, 85206
Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free.
The Mesa Tribune
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Theseventh annual Aspire Academy continued to give high school girls an opportunity to see what a career in public safety looks like.
The girls spent four days, three nights at the Mesa Public Safety Training Facility on N. 40th Street, experiencing some of what goes into a career as a first responder.
Mesa Fire & Medical Department Deputy Chief Michelle Denton and Mesa Police De partment Lt. Scott Kim started the program seven years ago to give high school girls a glimpse into the field before they enter it.
Scott said the mission lies in the name of the program.
“We’re trying to inspire them,” Scott said. “So, ‘aspire’ to do whatever it is you want to do.”
More than 30 girls from around the East Valley received hands-on instruction and learned how to use the same equipment that police and fire use every day.
“If this is a career that they want to pursue, we wanted to let them know that they can,” Scott said.
Some of that instruction included trying their hand at Mesa Police’s VirTra firearm training simulator and strapping on Mesa Fire’s Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus/ turnout gear.
“I think they get a different perspective,” Scott said, “That it is very difficult.”
Denton has spent 18 years as a firefighter and said the “humbling” experience helps give the girls a new appreciation for what police officers and firefighters endure.
But that experience also gives the girls a heaping dose of confidence in their ability to work in a male-dominated profession – something Denton said she learned the hard way.
“It’s always going to be challenging be cause it is a very male-dominated career in general,” Denton said. “But I think you know, that getting into it.”
The girls got to sit in a Crown Victoria as a tactical driving instructor squealed the tires
and whips the cruiser around the driving course and overcome any fear of heights as they rappelled down a seven-story tower.
But Scott, Denton and the rest of the acad emy staff also want to instill in them social awareness, confidence, conduct, profession alism, and teamwork that it takes to not only become a police officer or firefighter, but a good person.
Denton said the program encourages the girls to have self-confidence and ig nore the naysayers that try to detract them from their goals.
“They have to believe in themselves,” Den ton said. “They can’t listen to what other people tell them they can or cannot do.”
Scott said she also wants the girls to walk away with a sense of responsibility in their actions and that everything they do has con sequences.
“The decisions that you make everyday matter,” Scott said. “Even if it seems like a small decision; all those decisions matter.”
Scott has spent more than 20 years in law enforcement and said she had mentors growing up but none in public safety.
“We offer ourselves as mentors for these girls as they move on,” Scott said. “It’s some thing I never had as a high school-aged kid.”
Denton said the first couple years of the program they had to recruit participants.
But the program has grown in popularity over the years for both participants and the staff on site, with many students wanting to return and become instructors the following year.
In March 2020, Denton said they almost didn’t have an academy with talks of busi nesses shutting down due to the pandemic.
“We actually got that camp in right be fore everything in the country shut down,” Denton said. “A week later, we would not have had it.”
With precautions in place including wash ing hands and wearing masks, Denton said nobody got sick.
This year the academy had 53 appli cants but only accepted 40 and only 33 arrived on the first day. That’s something Denton said she’s come expect with the timing of the event.
The
The academy brought in personnel from
held throughout her long life.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” Ca ruthers said. “But there was never any money for it.”
Born on a small farm in Douglas County, Kansas, and the youngest of three children, Caruthers said she grew up in a log cabin that didn’t have electricity or running water.
Until 1940 when they got an ice box, Betty said her family used a cistern to refrigerate their food.
Caruthers was 4 when her mother Elfie Chanay died of pneumonia; her father Ben Kramer never remarried and raised the three children on his own.
Betty said she learned patience from her father.
“He had wonderful patience,” Betty said. “He was a good dad.”
But there was an incident where that patience wore thin.
Caruthers recalled that she and her sister Doris forgot to strain the milk –a task her dad always stressed – and
instead went for a ride in a “strippeddown” Model-T Ford with their brother Richard.
When they returned, Caruthers said her dad was standing on the porch with a peach switch and proceeded to hit her and her sister a couple times on the leg to teach them a lesson.
“Well, I ran because I wasn’t dumb,” Caruthers said.
When she was in high school, her father hired Walter Caruthers, her brother’s best friend, to work on the family’s farm.
The pair stayed friends for 11 years – even when Walter joined the Navy, survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and deployed on a submarine to the South Pacific in World War II.
Betty said she graduated high school 1940 and began her working. She wore many hats throughout her young life, including a beauty operator before and after the war, a chauffeur for a defense company during the war, an accoun tant, and a bookkeeper.
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Betty said she and Walter started dating in 1944 when he was on leave and they got married after the war on Oct. 6, 1945.
The newlywed couple spent some time apart when Walter had to move to Vallejo, California, but eventually Betty joined him.
“That was the only time in my life I’ve ever felt sorry for myself because I was a newly married person,” Betty said. “I wanted to go to California to be with Walter and I couldn’t.”
In 1959, Betty said they adopted a 7-day-old baby boy they named Rus sell and moved to Shawnee, Kansas.
Four years later, Betty said Walter had decided he had enough of the cold Kansas winters after working on a roof in below-zero weather.
Betty said he walked in the house and asked her if she wanted to go to Arizona.
“I said ‘when?’ he said, ‘tomorrow,’” Betty said. “And I said, ‘Oh, I can’t go tomorrow, but I can go the next day.’”
The family sold their home in Shaw nee, Kansas, and moved to Phoenix’s Maryvale section with their son Rusty and Betty’s dad.
Betty said Walter worked as a car penter and they rented a one-bedroom apartment for less than $100 a month in Maryvale.
After some months the family moved to a new house and faced a decision: buy that rental in Maryvale or move.
Betty said they decided to move to Mesa and found a house from another family for $15,500 near Gilbert and Broadway roads.
A few months later, Betty and Wal ter adopted a 6-month-old girl, their daughter Kelly, and nearly 60 years later, Betty Caruthers still lives in the same home.
Though she never thought about the changes and growth that took place over the years while making a living and raising a family, Betty said she misses some of the agrarian life in Mesa, given she’s still a “farm girl” at heart.
“I never thought much about it,” Bet
ty said. “You just go with flow, I guess; I hated to see a lot of the change.”
Through it all, Betty said she cred its her health to three key factors: eating her vegetables, caring for her teeth, and avoiding the doctor “like the plague.”
But her sharp-as-a-tack persona comes from keeping her mind sharp through puzzles and board games.
That’s something Betty said kids today should do more of instead of spending time in front of screens.
One piece of advice Betty would give the world, it’s for everyone to exercise patience more.
“I think the world is losing their pa tience,” Caruthers said. “I think impa tience is so bad for everyone.”
Betty said her one role model grow ing up was her dad because he always made time for her and her kids.
“If I needed help doing something, he was never ever too busy,” Betty said. “He would stop what he was doing and help.”
That relationship seems to have giv en her the optimistic, go-with-the-flow demeanor she’s had her entire life.
“I was always a happy person,” Betty said. “I just kind of went with the flow.”
In raising a family, Betty said people should go to church and spend more “fun time, not discipline time” with their childen.
“Don’t forget to teach them to work,” Betty said. “You’ve got to learn that [life] isn’t a free meal.”
ASPIRE from page 4
25 departments across the Valley as well as the FBI, ATF and Border Patrol on a vari ety of topics including wellness and nutri tion, fire prevention, drug safety, social me dia, and human trafficking.
For Tempe Police Det. Natalie Barela, this year’s academy served as “validation” for why she chose this profession.
Barela has served with Tempe PD for more than seven years, including as the school re source officer at McClintock High School.
In 2017, Barela helped student Angeliese Khoury attend the course to show her own true potential.
Five years later, Khoury returned to the academy as a Uniform Crime Report coding specialist with Phoenix Police.
Khoury said the academy challenged her physically and mentally as well as opened her eyes to what she’s truly passionate about: helping the community.
“The only reason I found my love for data research and things like that was through this academy,” Khoury said.
Now, Khoury attends Arizona State Uni versity, where she’s studying to earn her bachelor’s in criminology and criminal justice.
Khoury said she realized that police work means more than just the physical when she realized the critical work behind the scenes.
Though the physical differences make police work male dominated, Khoury said mentally she can do the same work as the men and her only barrier remained her own mind.
“You’re only setting limits on your own
mind,” Khoury said. “No one else is setting them.”
Now, that realization looks to continue this year with the next group of girls.
Gizzelle Sells, a junior at McClintock High School in Tempe, said she originally wanted to be a real estate agent but will now con sider a career in public safety.
“They look really cool and I want to be them,” Sells said.
Sells said she initially didn’t want to attend but recommends any girl who’s interested to do so, regardless of their peers.
“I didn’t want to do it unless someone else is going to do it,” Sells said. “So, I just took a leap of faith and did it.”
Jazz Kraus, a sophomore at American Leadership Academy Ironwood in Queen Creek, said she wanted to learn about becoming a firefighter and others should revel in opportunities like this, regardless of the fear.
“I would say if you had the opportunity for anything, even though you were scared to do it, I would still go because this has been a turnout,” Kraus said.
Quincy Webb, a sophomore at Casteel High School in Queen Creek, said she has learned some stuff about the career from her stepdad, who works at the Gilbert Fire Department, and she now sees the ladies as role models and forces to be reckoned with.
“You don’t want to mess with them,” Webb said. “They’re cool.”
Webb said she learned that teens shouldn’t let fear hold them back from their dreams.
“If you want to do something, try it out,” she said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a page in the history books, Cen tricity Research looks to the future in the East Valley.
The outpatient clinical research center opened recently at 215 S. Power Road and is developing vaccines and medications on the cutting-edge of science.
Centricity Principal Investigator Dr. Kenneth Boren, who leads the studies, said he hopes to advance medicine in a city where no other research actively takes place.
“We’re bringing cutting-edge science to Mesa,” Boren said. “And the commu nity will benefit by enabling us to better understand what the local needs are and how we can address them.”
Centricity has started recruiting for people aged 55 and over to participate in studies involving new varieties of flu
shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Bavarian Nordic. This includes single-dose vac cines that target both influenza and CO VID-19, as well as vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus, an illness that can lead to pneumonia or bronchiolitis in seniors.
Boren said diversity has become key in research and expanding access to differ ent groups gives a better idea of how more people react to different medicines.
“It may work out well in one popula tion, but maybe in a different population doesn’t work as well,” Boren said.
Qualified study participants incur no medical expenses and receive compen sation for their time and travel that can range from $20-200 per completed visit, depending on the study.
After receiving the vaccine, patients continually chronicle their condition in an e-diary and Centricity keeps all patient in formation strictly confidential.
Boren said the information doesn’t tie back to a single patient by name but ap
pears as randomized among a dataset.
“It’s just basically all lumped together,” Boren said. “One data point out of the whole series of sometimes 1000s of pa
tients.”
If patients develop flu-like symptoms or
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the far reaches of East Mesa, planes buzz overhead but on a smaller scale.
The Arizona Model Aviators flies out of the Superstition Air Park located at Levee Drive in Mesa. Tim Dickey, board member for the Arizona Model Aviators, said the club represents a lifelong interest for everyone involved in building and flying into the wild, blue yonder.
“It’s been an evolution for me since child hood off and on,” Dickey said. “I got back into it approximately 12 years ago, and I really liked the modeling aspect of it in the shop.”
From Oct. 20-23, the club will host the 41st annual U.S. Scale Masters Association National Championships that will draw more than 50 pilots from around the country and more than 400 spectators per day.
The Scale Masters competition venue changes every year and last came to Mesa in 2002.
“It’s actually the largest event that we’ll be
having this year,” Dickey said. “It’s a very big event for us.”
Model aviation has several disciplines, with this event focusing on scale flying and each aircraft’s resemblance to an existing full-scale plane, including World War I bi planes, World War II P-51 Mustangs and fighter jets flown in Korea and Vietnam.
Judges review aircraft based on scale doc umentation, as well as how well it flies com pared to the real thing.
Pilots also stage aircraft on the tarmac so planes can be judged for craftsmanship, color, markings and outline.
Criteria for the flight portion is based on 10 different maneuvers.
It can take at least two years to build an “accurate, high-quality scale model,” Dickey said.
“I came into it more from the standpoint of enjoying modeling things in general,” Dickey said. “And that really comes from my desire to be in the shop and to build things with my hands from scratch.”
Dickey said “scratch-building” – building
the models by hand – has dwindled with the advent of ready-to-fly kits.
“It’s becoming a lost art because now you’re able to purchase these models that have been fully built, and just need to be as sembled,” Dickey said.
Most models’ parts consist of a light wood such as balsa or composite plastic and the planes go down to the smallest detail, includ ing decals and rivets.
Starter kits can begin at $400 for a foam battery-operated plane and remote control and go as high as $20,000 for a quarterscale, gas-powered Beechcraft King Air utility aircraft.
The club has existed for more than 40 years and has more than 260 members rang ing in age from 8 to 80.
The club uses the Superstition Air Park because it offers an 850-foot-long paved runway and bays for staging aircraft.
“It’s one of the nicest, if not the nicest run way facility, certainly in Arizona, and maybe even in the west,” Dickey said.
Lt. Col. (Ret) Larry Wagy enjoys teach
ing flight instruction to other members, something he did while serving in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years.
Wagy said interest in the hobby has waned and fears the hobby he’s enjoyed since he was 7 will eventually crash and burn be cause “the health of the club depends on bringing in younger people.”
Rodger Hoover, who will compete in the national championship and spent more than 35 years working for Douglas Aircraft in the manufacturing and repair sector, agreed.
Hoover said younger generations are always welcome, adding, “There’s always someone to teach you how to fly.”
What: 2022 U.S. Scale Masters Na tional Championships
Where: Superstition Air Park, Levee Drive, Mesa.
When: October 20-23 starting at 9 a.m. Info: azmodelaviators.com
For free flying lessons, call Jim Compton at 480-818-1658.
BY SALMA REYES AND NATHAN COLLINS News21
civilian investigators isn’t a new concept.
The Mesa Police Department started its program in 2009. And when Chief George Gascón moved to San Francisco to lead that department, he took the idea with him.
But the movement has gained steam re cently as departments across the country try to shore up their dwindling ranks of sworn officers.
Baltimore police made national headlines in April when the city leaders announced they planned to hire 35 civilian investiga tors and eliminate 30 unfilled sworn officer positions. In a statement, Mayor Brandon M. Scott called it a “crucial first step” to modern ize the approach to law enforcement.
Phoenix Police Department also gained at tention in March when it announced a simi lar move. At the time, the department had more than 400 unfilled positions for sworn
As a civilian investigation specialist for Mesa police, Shannon O’Leary writes reports, canvass es crime scenes, looks for surveillance video and tries to find eyewitnesses. She also is trained in the collection and preservation of crime-scene evidence. Photo taken Sept. 14, 2022, in Phoenix. (Alexia Faith/Cronkite News)
officers.
“We found ourselves a little shorthanded, so we moved some sworn people from de tective spots out and back out into patrol,”
said Sgt. Jason Davis, the administrative ser geant for property crimes.
Davis said the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide uproar against police after
the May 2020 murder of George Floyd co incided with a large number of retirements from Phoenix police.
Hiring civilian investigators would “make sure crimes get hands-on attention and, hopefully, solved in a timely manner,” the March news release said, calling for the com munity to join the department.
“It stems directly from our long-standing desire to civilianize some of the things that we do here,” Davis said.
Civilian investigators have many of the same duties as an officer, such as reviewing evidence, interviewing witnesses, taking re ports and carrying out administrative tasks at the office. The department calls these tasks the “behind-the-scenes” work of inves tigations.
But unlike sworn officers, Davis said, they aren’t authorized to carry a firearm or make arrests.
Departments nationwide face staffing shortages. Nearly 200 police departments
Cross®
HMO
and lawsuits. It also varies by de partments, types of claims or other categories.
“One of the most significant fac tors is when there is a settlement of one or two significant claims in a calendar year, which then results in a material increase in the settlement amount for that year.
“Mesa engages in mediation with professional and experienced me diators; and when it is appropriate and reasonable, we seek to resolve claims through mediation and settle ment. In 2022, Mesa had a couple large settlements, after mediation, involving claims against the Mesa Police Department that were based on some unique sets of facts and are not reflective of any pattern within the Mesa Police Department.”
Andre Miller, senior pastor of New Beginnings Christian Church in Mesa, was involved in one of the settled ex cessive force cases because he lived in the building where it occurred and
involved a man in his congregation.
“It is financial justice for some, but it still leads us to ask the question, have we changed policies to ensure these things don’t happen again? I think that’s the only question that the community has because, one, this is the community’s money,” Mill er said.
“My hope is that the chief is look ing at this and saying, ‘what can we do as an agency to ensure we don’t find ourselves in positions where we end up having to settle with citizens because of officers’ behavior?’”
“I think settlement money could be better used with teaching better tactics that are preventing us from being in this place, where we have excessive force settlements or loss of life settlements,” he added.
Officers involved in at least two of the incidents have left the depart ment.
Sariah Lane killed in crossfire
The largest settlement from the first half of 2022 is $2.45 million to Jennifer Lane, mother of Sariah Lane,
who was killed by a Mesa police of ficer in Glendale while sitting in the back seat of a car occupied by two others in 2017.
Three Mesa officers were part of a task force that was attempting to apprehend the driver of the vehicle, Brandon Pequeno, who was wanted for kidnapping, domestic violence, aggravated assault and was consid ered “armed and dangerous.”
When Pequeno began to ram cars with his vehicle during the attempt to arrest him, the Mesa officers opened fire with 11 shots at the car. A bullet fired by Micheal Pezzelle struck Sariah Lane in the head. She was hospitalized in critical condition and died four days later.
Pequeno was also killed, while the other passenger in the car was unin jured.
A change.org petition created by Sariah’s sister Joann blamed Mesa police for the death, writing that of ficers “shouldn’t fire into a single car with three other people in there. In cluding an innocent 17-year-old girl.”
Sariah’s mother later filed suits against the city and Pezzelle.
According to the settlement, Jen nifer Lane will be paid by the city’s insurer.
Unarmed man shot in buttock
The second-largest settlement so far this year is $1.75 million paid to Randy Sewell, who survived a gun shot to the buttocks from then-Mesa Officer Nathan Chisler while officers attempted to handcuff Sewell.
Sewell was among three men asked to leave Ojos Locos Sports Cantina by management on Dec. 6, 2019 af ter reportedly drinking heavily. The men left the restaurant, but manage ment called Mesa PD to have the men placed on a trespassed list.
Officers found the men in the park ing lot outside waiting for rides. Sewell refused to give his name or provide ID to officers. They at tempted to handcuff Sewell after he started walking away. Sewell resist ed, and multiple officers struggled to
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
AMesajudge has sentenced self-de scribed “guerilla journalist” Christo pher Ruff to at least five days in jail in connection his videotaping of four police incidents and walking into a restricted area in Mesa’s City Plaza Building after being told not to.
The judge two weeks ago also threatened to lock him up for up to six months if he doesn’t cease filming police in Mesa while on probation for three years.
In early 2021, the Mesa native started showing up at police scenes with a cam era where officers were working. He re corded and livestreamed the activity with the avowed purpose of catching violations of his First Amendment rights and holding police accountable for following rules and procedures.
He has over 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, and creators with this level of viewership make roughly $500 to $1,000 per video, based on a survey of con tent creators last year by Business Insider.
But Ruff said, “This ain’t about money or clicks and views as believed by many. There is real corruption happening here, and it goes much higher than just the police de partment.”
Ruff has frequently filmed in Mesa, but he travels to other Valley jurisdictions as well and is well-known to Gilbert police for his filming here.
He has racked up six filming-related court cases in Mesa, two of which were dis missed. The recent sentencing was for the other four cases.
Ruff’s sentence includes 180 days of sus pended jail time.
If the sentence sticks, this time will hang over Ruff’s head during his three-year pro bation.
A condition of that probation is: “You shall not go to areas where the Mesa Police De partment are conducting an investigation, and you shall not record any members of the Mesa Police Department while you are on probation.”
Ruff, 32, told the Gilbert Sun News he is appealing.
Ruff, who recently became a father, be lieves he’s being wrongly punished for exer cising his constitutional rights.
“I am allowed to walk around and film things,” he said in court before sentencing. “I am allowed to swear in front of a police of ficer in close proximity. It’s called the First Amendment, freedom of speech and protest.”
But Judge Raymond Schumacher ruled that Ruff went beyond protected First Amendment activity, which has been widely interpreted to include the right to film in public, in the four cases he was charged for.
“In terms of the First Amendment, I think the prosecution is correct in their state ments, Mr. Ruff, that the police, really their concern is, one, the safety of themselves and the safety of others, especially when they’re trying to do investigations,” he said before sentencing Ruff.
“The fact that you would’ve just shown up and recorded is one thing; the fact that you would retort and say the things you did is another. You escalated things. You escalated things, and you did it purposefully and you did it intentionally,” the judge told Ruff.
While filming, Ruff sometimes engages in heated debate with police officers when they command him to do something he believes is not required.
If he is told to move away after arriving to film police, often to the other side of a street, Ruff tells the officer he doesn’t have to be cause he is far enough away and is not inter fering with the investigation.
His arguments are based on his under standing of the law, but his tone frequently devolves into insults and disrespect.
“You solicited a trespass you stupid (ex pletive),” Ruff yells in one video at an officer as he trespasses with six other auditors. “You solicited it. We watched you, you f—--- idiot.”
For that episode, Ruff received a 180-day suspended jail sentence, and was order to take counseling and anger management classes.
In the same video, Ruff and others con tinue to badger the officer with insults as he walks alone across an empty lot to his patrol
vehicle. Some shine a light in the officer’s face when he turns to the crowd.
The judge referenced this video in particu lar in explaining his sentence.
“The video that I looked at, I looked at it several times, where you approached the of ficers and would yell in their faces and say the things you did, especially when there was a group of people, and I could see the officer walking away, and clearly the officer had concerns for his safety,” Schumacher said, adding:.
“Things were escalated, and Mr. Ruff, what I think is really clear … I think you believe that that is constitutionally protected speech, and I’m going to respectfully disagree with you.”
In another case, an officer testified that Ruff was too close as he was conducting a traffic stop, which distracted his atten tion, and Ruff didn’t obey commands to move away.
In a trespassing incident, Ruff walked part way up the stairs from the first floor of the City Plaza Building to the second without au thorization.
Schumacher cited several factors for giv ing five days of jail with the prospect of more.
“It’s based upon your prior criminal his tory. It’s based upon the number of cases you’ve picked up in this court. It’s based upon the conduct that you continue to show and the disdain that you continue to show not only in this court but others,” he said.
A decade ago, Ruff pled guilty to armed robbery and finished a seven-year sentence in 2017. He said he has been clean since then and started a local business.
Ruff said in his closing statement that jail
was not appropriate for the case, and noted his partner was about to give birth.
But he also remained cantankerous in court, calling the judge and prosecutor “trai tors to the Constitution.”
“You cannot criminalize (filming), but here we are in a joke municipal court and you just criminalized it and you’re about to sentence me, so have fun.”
“I do not want to impose that jail time. I want you to change your behaviors – that’s the whole point of this Mr. Ruff,” Judge Schumacher said.
Ruff wouldn’t say whether he plans to abide by the terms of probation if the ruling is upheld when asked by the Tribune, say ing it is illegal and “you’re asking the wrong questions.”
“I want to make real changes. I want case law in my name for Arizona. I want to help bring true freedom back to at least my state,” he said.
Andre Miller, pastor of the New Begin nings Christian Church in Mesa, has served as a community liaison to the Mesa Police Department and knows Ruff.
“I don’t agree with all of his tactics,” Miller said, “He’s an antagonist at times. I don’t agree with that. But I also don’t agree that his rights should be taken away from him as a citizen. … Probation is to keep them in line from breaking laws, (but) I do not know that recording police officers is illegal.”
Still, Miller’s advice to Ruff is “don’t die on the sword for this. … Figure out what he needs to do legally. Make sure that he pro tects himself and he doesn’t find himself running afoul of the law or his probation.”
cuff him after deploying a taser.
Sewell gripped a light post as he continued to struggle when Chistler unholstered his pistol and fired a single round into Sewell’s left but tock during the chaotic scene.
Sewell was found not guilty of resisting arrest by a jury last year. Chisler was fired by Mesa PD and charged with aggravated assault be fore a judge dismissed the case in December 2020.
Unarmed man beat down
Dramatic video footage of Mesa police officers punching an unarmed Robert Lee Johnson to unconscious ness in the stairwell of an apartment complex grabbed headlines and drew some community leaders to ex press alarm over the incident.
In 2019, Johnson filed a notice of claim against the City of Mesa, and the city settled with Johnson in June for $350,000.
Johnson’s attorneys originally sought $2 million.
Johnson, who was 33 at the time of his arrest, was accompanying a friend at the apartment to retrieve items from an ex-girlfriend.
Mesa police were dispatched for a domestic violence call. While officers were interrogating the men sepa rately, Johnson did not immediately obey a command to sit down on the ground, instead learning with legs bent against a wall.
An investigation by the Scottsdale Police Department did not recom mend charges for the officers in volved, and a judge later dismissed charges of disorderly conduct brought against Johnson.
Miller brought security camera footage of the incident to then-chief Ramon Bautista, who went on TV to speak out to criticize the level of force soon after the video surfaced.
Bautista’s criticism of the force was one of the actions that led to a no-confidence vote by the Mesa Po lice Association against Bautista in 2019. He resigned later that year.
Other six-figure settlements
The city settled three other law suits in the first half of 2022 for more than $100,000.
In June, the city agreed to pay $250,000 to the mother of Angel Benitez, who was shot by multiple officers in a vehicle at a Tempe apart ment complex. Benitez had fled from Mesa officers after they attempted to contact him after discovering him asleep behind the wheel of a car re ported stolen.
Officers claimed Benitez was reaching for his waistband when he was shot. No weapons were found in the vehicle.
In July, the city settled a case with Bernard Patton for $350,000. Pat ton’s son Alex died in 2018 after be ing rushed to a local hospital from the city jail with extreme hypoglyce mia. Alex lapsed into a diabetic coma and died.
Bernard Patton’s suit claimed that officers at the jail were negligent for failing to recognize signs of hypogly cemia, waiting too long to provide medical treatment and repeatedly
telling medics Alex was suffering the effects of drug intoxication, obscur ing the real reasons for his physical distress.
In January 2022, the city reached a $175,000 settlement with James Brian Wright. Records on the inci dent leading to the suit which were not immediately available.
The remaining settlements were with Anthony Keith Johnson for $40,000, Lorenzo Jones for $25,000, Le for $50,000 and Daniel Garcia for $4,000.
Contact Paul Maryniak
reported a 5% decrease in hires, an 18% in
in resignations and a 45% increase in
from 2020 to 2021, according to
national survey
Police Executive Re
released in 2021.
The Phoenix City Council had approved 25 civilian investigator positions for the past fiscal year and 25 for this fiscal year, which began July 1. Most of the first group will have started by mid-October, according to an email from the department.
“They can work their case all the way to the end,” Davis said. “When it comes time to actually arrest someone, they just have to work with a sworn officer to effect that ar rest.”
Shannon O’Leary began her career as a detention officer, and she became a civil ian investigation specialist for Mesa police. She has served in that role for about nine years.
She said she doesn’t do anything differ ent from sworn officers, except she doesn’t carry a gun, doesn’t have arrest powers and doesn’t “get into physical altercations with people.”
“But as far as learning the law and applying the law, none of that changes,” said O’Leary, who writes reports, canvasses crime scenes, looks for surveillance video and tries to find eyewitnesses.
O’Leary said she received training on the collection and preservation of evidence at a crime scene.
Unlike a patrol officer, though, criminal investigation specialists know their suspects are “long gone.” While officers wear black uniforms, O’Leary’s is gray. She also drives an unmarked vehicle, which can help with people who don’t want to call attention to the fact that police are there.
“They like the fact that it’s very kind of quiet in a sense,” she said.
“I feel like our customer-service level’s a lot better and a lot more top notch,” O’Leary said. “So that’s what we really strive (for) is high, high customer service.”
O’Leary said she’ll go over evidence, fol low up with victims and assist with calls for service with patrol officers. They can screen information before heading out to calls.
“We want to see if we’ve had any kind of ties with them in the past, if they have any kind of violent tendencies in the past or
mental health issues,” she said. “And if we see stuff like that, then we will say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to take that call.’ And I let the officer take it.”
When Gascón brought the civilian investi gator idea to San Francisco in 2010, he faced skepticism from the police union about tak ing jobs away from sworn officers, according to media reports.
In Phoenix, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association responded to the City Council’s initial efforts through an email stating that the association appreciated the effort to hire more civilian positions during the staff ing crisis, but it urged the council “to adopt a long-term plan to properly fund and staff sworn police officers.”
Davis said the new positions help solve simple cases in a timely manner and allows sworn detectives more time to complete indepth investigations.
“This new spot is designed to attract peo ple that have experience with investigations back into the profession,” he said.
Davis described such experience as inves tigating bank fraud or insurance claims, for example. Since civilian investigators are not expected to be in the field as much as patrol
officers, they undergo lighter training than sworn officers and learn tactics specific to their bureau.
The Phoenix investigators are dispersed across the department’s bureaus, including violent crimes, drug enforcement and family investigation.
“It’s exciting to see that we could get some civilian people here,” said Davis, who has worked in investigations since 2004.
Civilian positions are common in the Phoenix Police Department: from secretar ies, to training coordinators and staff for the Civilian Oversight Bureau.
However, the Phoenix civilian investigator position will be the first job that allows civil ians to carry out many of the same tasks as detectives and police officers.
O’Leary said she loves her job. Although patrol officers have a lot of liability and must deal “with a lot of people who just do not like the police,” she said, “I don’t have to deal with any of that.”
“Literally, I’m dealing with people who are in – I don’t say crisis mode, but they’re in a … bad situation where they feel completely violated – and so it makes me feel good that I can help them.”
info@mesamuseum.org.
TheMesa Historical Museum is offering folks a chance to mix Halloween and history.
The annual tour of the city’s historic cemetery will be held 8-10 a.m. next Saturday, Oct. 22, and tickets are on sale at the museum’s website, mesa historicalmuseum.com or by emailing
Mayor John Giles and Councilman Mark Freeman will be among the guests narrators at a selection of grave sites during the self-guided walking tour.
“This year we are featuring Waylon Jennings and Vans Auditorium found er John Vance as a complement to our Early Entertainment in Mesa exhibit we just opened in August,” museum Execu
tive Director Susan Ricci said. “We are also honoring the first African-Ameri can councilman Jerry Boyd, Pedro Guer rero and Susie Sato to name a few.”
Established in 1891, the cemetery at 1212 N. Center St. is the final resting place for a number of well-known Mesa and Valley celebrities and historical fig ures among the 38,000 interments.
Among the most visited gravesites is that of Waylon Jennings, the legendary musician who pioneered the outlaw movement in country music.
Jennings’ black stone grave mark er, with a picture of his smiling face, stands out from the others in its row. It’s larger, and one of the more deco rated ones in the row.
other changes in their health during the study, they may be sent for further testing or medical care.
Boren recalled one flu vaccine study participant who came into the office with cold symptoms and tests not done in an average clinic determined exactly what ill ness he had.
“Because he’s on this protocol, we were able to do a test to look for 18 different vi ruses,” Boren said.
The Centricity office in Mesa does more than vaccine research. It is currently working on new drug to treat polycystic kidney disease.
“They’re looking to see whether or not they can change some of the problems that patients with this disease – it’s an in herited disease – to see whether or not it can change and prevent these cysts from forming,” Boren said.
Centricity Research formed as a merger between Georgia-based IACT Health, and Canadian-based LMC Manna Research, and True North Clinical Research, accord ing to a press release.
The company now has more than 40 re search offices across North America, with 150 active investigators and 1.6 million patients.
The company conducts Phase I-IV clini cal research in more than 30 different therapeutic areas including inpatient and outpatient, pharmaceutical, biotechnol ogy, and medical device trials.
“We build and nurture strong, trusting relationships with all audiences,” CEO Dr. Jeff Kingsley said in a statement, “whereby customer-centric thinking and practices are embedded within our company cul
ture.”
Boren graduated from Coronado High School in Scottsdale and completed his undergrad at Arizona State University.
Though he returned to his home state of Indiana to complete his Doctor of Medi cine, Boren said he returned to Arizona because you would “not be rained and snowed on and freeze while you’re watch ing football.”
Since 1985, Boren said he’s enjoyed watching how research has helped in the advancements of medicine and the profound impact it has on the lives of pa tients.
Boren also said research allows him to have some experience with the develop ment of new drugs before the most pro viders recommend them for their patients.
“I think that’s one of the advantages of being involved with research early on,” Boren said.
Boren blames controversies surround ing vaccines and the pharmaceutical in dustry on the politicization of science.
“The problem is science has become po litical,” Boren said. “We seem to want to use certain data that would favor our po litical opinion and neglect other data that may be not.”
Boren said it’s more important now than ever for providers to earn trust of patients and communicate more with pa tients.
Boren said one of the ways he tries to earn each patient’s trust is by sharing sto ries and taking the time to get to know them as individuals.
“In general, that makes you more trust worthy over time, as you share those stories,” Boren said. “Basically, getting to know people, working together.”
Because we're not a ba
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generations, Mesa High School’s
motto, “Carry On.” has been embed ded in the school’s traditions and the surrounding community. It is a rallying cry to persevere in difficult times and to help others in the community.
In 1932, Mesa High student Zedo Ishika wa passed away in an accident on his fam ily’s farm. In honor of his memory, Mesa adopted his final words, “Carry on” as its slogan. It is the title of the school’s fight song, and the essence of the school’s cul ture.
It is also why members of the football team recently cleaned up the grounds of a historic cemetery near HoHoKam
Simply A Cappella will “willkommen” guests to its third Oktoberfest on Sat urday, Oct. 22, with a German bratwurst meal and entertainment.
The dinner – which includes soft drinks, lemonade, ice tea, water and dessert – kicks off the festivities at 5 p.m. at the Apache Wells Navajo Room, 2233 N. 56th St., Mesa. Tickets are $15. Beer and wine will be avail able at additional cost.
Simply A Cappella performs in four-part
harmony: bass, baritone, lead and tenor.
“We’re going to sing, probably, seven or eight songs,” said Jerri Ramey Atkinson with Simply A Cappella.
“It’s a variety. We sing something differ ent with each concert. We’ll probably sing ‘Beer Barrel Polka’ and ‘All the Way’ ar ranged in barbershop harmonies. Those two they would certainly recognize. We just like to say we offer harmony, music, food, fun and friendship.”
Simply A Cappella rehearses at 7 p.m. Thursdays at Apache Wells’ Maricopa Room. Prospective members can show up, hear about the group and practice. Atkin
son said they visit for about six weeks, learn one song and audition with one song.
Simply A Cappella is a chapter of the Sweet Adelines.
“We’re a competitive chorus and we’re doing extremely well. Simply A Cappella has about 25 members,” she said. “We’re not a big chorus; we’re small but mighty.”
Ramey is multitalented. She plays piano, an instrument she took up at age 8. Her mother taught her to play the instrument and inspired her.
“Music is a big part of my life and fun, fun,” she said. “I find it extremely reward ing. People just love music, no matter what
kind. I think they like to be entertained. It’s stuck with me and that’s what I had done.”
Ramey was introduced to barbershop music through a former classmate during a 1980 class reunion.
“At one of my high school class reunions, I was singing a couple songs from school and one of these gals said, ‘Are you still singing anywhere? You were always in choirs.’”
The next week, Ramey went to rehearsal and the rest is history.
“The harmonies are just so beautiful, no matter what song you sing,” she said. “The
CEMETERYfrompage21 Stadium.
Fifteen years ago, the football coaches atMesawantedtheirplayerstogetmore involved in community service. Inspired by Ishikawa and the “Carry On” slogan, theydecidedtohavetheplayerstravelto thenearly140-year-oldCityofMesaCem etery, where Zedo and Mesa’s founding fathersareburied.It’salsowherecountry musicianWaylonJenningsandboxerZora Folleywerelaidtorest.
“Alotofcoachessacrificefortheseguys, and these guys sacrifice for the commu nity,” Mesa Coach Chad DeGrenier said. “That’s what makes the world go ‘round. At the end of the day, it’s not just about football. It’s about teaching life skills. We’re just blessed to coach these guys thenplayfootballonFridays”
Theeventwassopopularwiththefoot ball team, athletes in Mesa’s other fall sports wanted to join in. Now, the school sends all fall sports athletes and club members to the cemetery for one Satur day each year to clean the grounds and tombstones as a way to give back to the community.
AthleticDirectorPrestonPetersonbe lievesthetraditionisunlikeanyotherat schools that he has worked for during hiscareer
“This is one thing that Mesa High has over just about every other campus out there,” Peterson said. “I’ve had teach ers that are new to the campus tell me, ‘I don’t understand all of this tradition stuff.’ But then after about six months they circle back around and say, ‘I get it now. I understand how important this is.’”
Ishikawa’s nephews often speak to stu dents and are active members of the Mesa community.
“I just love the ‘Carry On’ tradition,” said Mesa’s senior quarterback Manny Pino. “(I
love) hearing the Ishikawa brothers talk to us about Zedo and their family, how the football team was. We hear it every year, but it’s such a great learning experience.”
Most high schools have traditions. Maybe it’s a fight song or a pregame rit ual. But few, if any, have a tradition built around serving its community like Mesa High. The tradition isn’t just about the school, it’s about the entire community. It’s what makes Peterson and other fac ulty members so proud to represent the school and why it is important to contin ue the tradition.
harmony, you can’t really explain it. It’s so pretty. I started with that and just contin ued.”
Upon moving to the East Valley, Ramey joined Simply A Cappella. The group per forms a variety of tunes, including “Orange Colored Sky,” “Mood Indigo” and an armed forces tribute. Choreography is included in performances.
“We tell the story of the song with our faces,” she said. “The performances are a lot of fun and people really enjoy it a lot.”
What: Simple A Cappella Oktoberfest
When: 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22
Where: Apache Wells’ Navajo Room, 2233 N. 56th St., Mesa
Cost: $15
Info: 480-807-0031, simplyacappella.com
The event grows every year. In August, the school sent 12 buses loaded with 300 students to the cemetery.
“It’s an opportunity for them to serve the community and give back,” Peterson said. “They enjoy the camaraderie, being out there with each other and doing ser vice together. It’s always more fun to do service when you’re doing it with friends and people on your team or in your club.”
The students all rave about it. For them, it’s not an obligation, but a fun community service that they look forward to all year.
“I just like helping out the community,” senior lineman Troy Reynolds said. “I get a warm feeling inside every time I do it.” Senior wide receiver Tre Brown added: “It’s a fun experience to go out there and laugh, talk, bond with the teammates in other sports and other clubs out there. It’s a great tradition.”
And for those who have seen fam ily members take part in the project, it is something to look forward to for multiple years. It’s a tradition that they hope will “Carry on.”
“Everyone is having fun, picking up trash, cleaning up the cemetery,” McKy Peters said. “I’m a third generation at Mesa. My brother just turned 31, and he did it when he was at Mesa. So it has been around for a long time.”
Julie Shill passed away peacefully on Oc tober 9, 2022 at the age of 56 with her children and husband. A lifelong advocate of service, Ju lie found ways to help others as a daughter, sister, mother, physical therapist, and cancer patient.
Julie was born to her parents LaRene and Wynn and is the oldest sister among her siblings Ron, Cherie, and David. She partici pated in many activities in high school such as cheerleading, diving, and choir. During that time, she also became an All-American gymnast.
Julie always valued education. She got her BS in psychology from BYU in 1988 and her MS in physical therapy from TWU in 1998. Julie began getting her PhD in physi cal therapy in 2014 before her cancer diag nosis and chose to finish her program while also going through cancer treatment. She graduated with her PhD in December 2019.
Julie worked as a physical therapist with many different age ranges. She worked with children at Plano ISD, adults while working at various home health compa nies, and with babies at Cranial Technol ogies. Julie treasured the connections she had with the people she worked with and celebrated their successes every step of the way.
While going through her cancer treatment, she found great value in finding simple joys
every single day. She treasured all the con nections she made along the way like doc tors, volunteers, and her peers in her cancer support group. Julie was an active support er of other cancer patients around the world and connected with them online. She found joy and support through helping others on their own journeys.
Of all the things she has been involved in, the role she is most proud of is as a wife, mother, and grandmother. She married her husband Curt Shill in 1987 and became a mother a few years later to Ryan and Chris tie. She celebrated when her son Ryan married his wife Melissalyn and became a grandmother to Oliver and Aurora.
Last, but certainly not least, Julie loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, walked with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and spilled that unconditional love to everyone she met.
A funeral service was held Saturday, October 15, 2022 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2401 Legacy Drive, Plano, Texas 75023. Following the service, a procession made its way to Rid geview Memorial Park, 2525 Central Ex pressway North, Allen, Texas 75013 for a committal service.
The family received family and friends during a visitation on Friday evening. at the Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013.
Beverly Luhrs
Straight was born January 14, 1931 in MO, and died in Mesa, AZ, Oct. 1, 2022. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emma Viets Luhrs and Otis Luhrs, and her husband, Donald Straight, Sr. She is survived by her children Debbie Stevenson and Don Straight, Jr., both residing in TX. Her surviving siblings include Eva Lambrecht, Marilyn Howell, and Barb Heitman. She lovingly enriched the lives of her 8 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.
Bev graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and worked in the social services field for over 30 years, influencing the lives of many people. She was a very active member of Victory Lutheran Church, serving as a Stephen minister sponsor and caregiver. Bev was a special person with a loving heart and will be missed by many! Services will be held at Victory Lutheran Church, Mesa AZ Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022
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Call 480-898-6465 Mon-Fri, 8:30 - 5pm if you have questions.
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When she was in the fifth grade in her native Akron, Ohio, Ni cole Posten-Thompson, RA, decided she was going to be an architect.
Today, as founder and principal of Mesa-based On Point Architecture, she is leading the renovation team of the historic Trinity Church, now One Life Church, 2130 E. University Drive in Mesa.
Two years ago, she completed a court yard restoration of another landmark city church, Mesa Nazarene, today Jour ney of Grace, in downtown.
“My dad told me that architects design buildings, and I thought that was awe some. I have been obsessed with Legos, puzzles, math, and drawing for as long as I can remember, so it seemed like a natural fit to become an architect,” she recalled.
It’s been a long journey, Akron to Mesa, a dream to reality: five years of college, five years interning and nine tests for her architecture license in 2008.
“Women forging their own paths and breaking barriers continue to inspire me to do my best for all of my clients. In turn, I hope to inspire my children to reach for the stars when pursuing their passions,” added Posten-Thompson, a Mesa resident since 2003. She married James in 2007; they have three children, ages 6, 12 and 13.
Built in 1962, the campus for what is now One Life Church includes other buildings that were added and renovat ed throughout its 60-year history.
The $2.6-million project includes a paint scheme to unite the campus. The campus was a “mash-up of colors, a re sult of 59 years of upgrades and remod els,” Posten-Thompson said.
“We are also creating a new children’s ministry experience with a brand-new entry structure to announce you have arrived in the children’s ministry por tion of the campus,” she explained.
Completed by Mesa-based Concord General Contracting, the project also includes an enlarged check-in space,
Anew study confirms seniors love the Grand Canyon State and that means big business for one physical therapist.
According to a Census study re leased in September, Arizona had the highest net migration rate from 2015-19 as over 21,000 people 65 and older relocated to the Grand Can yon State.
“It’s really been changing and it’s
been more active adults that have been coming into it,” Dr. Steven Alex ander said.
Alexander, physical therapist and owner at Spark Performance Physio therapy, started his business in 2018 and said this time of year brings an increase in his older clientele, and in recent years, an increase in their ac tivity levels.
Alexander said some of the reasons include the growing popularity of sports such as pickleball, amenities built into retirement communities or
simply the research that supports the benefits of being physically active.
Alexander graduated from Arizona State University in 2010 with a bach elor’s in kinesiology, and in 2013 from Regis University with his doc torate in physical therapy.
Over his career, Alexander said he has seen many practices change that needing changing in the physical therapy industry.
Alexander said one practice he wanted to escape was “mill-like” physical therapy, when providers
take in as many patients as quickly as possible.
“I wanted to treat people like I think they should be treated – in the one-on-one setting,” Alexander said.
Alexander said the pandemic helped create that more intimate, one-on-one setting for his patients with social distancing.
“I hate saying it,” Alexander said. “I know the pandemic was bad for a lot of people, but for me, it helped the
tax preparer has been named Rookie of the Year by Jack son Hewitt Tax Service.
Franchisee Lyn Nachazel received the award during a national awards ceremo ny held at the annual 2022 Tax Conven tion in Las Vegas.
The annual award recognizes a firstyear Jackson Hewitt Tax Franchise for its stand-out performance in provid
ing excellent customer service, obtain ing exceptional tax return volume and dedication to community involvement along while embracing the brand mes sage.
“Being chosen as the Jackson Hewitt Rookie Franchisee of the year is an incredible honor and achievement,” Nachazel said. “I look forward to provid ing the community with outstanding tax service in the year to come. There are many tax changes for the tax year 2022
and people will need help interpreting the new tax laws.”
After 15 years of working in the tax in dustry, Lyn opened her franchise in Dob son Ranch in 2021 and is an official spon sor for Dobson High School Athletics.
Information: 480-833-4799.
The Jackson Hewitt Tax Service “Rookie of the Year” award was recently presented to franchi see Lyn Nachazel of CCN Holdings LLC in Mesa.
business a ton.”
Along with that, Alexander said he saw a lack of “old, basic” strengthconditioning principles where some of the past clinics he worked in only had three dumbbells for their pa tients to use.
“I don’t know about you, but there’s a lot more things in life that are heavier than three pounds,” Alexan der said.
Over the past few years, Alexander said his patients have found new rea sons to stay active, compared with past clinics he’s worked in.
“What’s been nice to see is our se nior population isn’t what I’m used to seeing in other clinics,” Alexander said.
Whether it’s simply older adults wanting “to earn their adult bever ages in the evening” or the socializa tion found in dancing, pickleball or tennis, activity is the new medication for aging, he said.
While these older adults don’t com pletely avoid injury, Alexander said he’s seeing new injuries and new mo tivation to stay active.
One common reason Alexander said older adults avoid exercise is because of the fear that exercise will cause pain or worsen the pain.
Here’s the kicker, Alexander said: pain does not always mean there is damage. You shouldn’t ignore it, but you should also not fear it, he said.
“Usually, it’s because you did too
much after doing too little,” Alexan der said. “Or you’re doing too little after doing too much.”
Alexander advises people to stay away from a peer pressure trap from friends, family members or medical professionals.
“I always tell people, you got to find
new thresholds,” Alexander said. “But never jump straight into it.”
The most important aspect Alexan der said most people miss is a lack of accountability.
If a physical therapist isn’t empow ering you, Alexander said, they’re do ing something wrong, because active
treatment is better than a passive treatment.
“You can’t really expect to get bet ter,” Alexander said. “Your body’s great at healing when it’s put in a po sition to heal.”
Information: sparkperformancept. com.
four classrooms and a revamp of the central courtyard, with yard games, seating areas, a shaded playground and new signage.
“To bring the indoor coffee shop into the out, we opened the space into the outside with a new folding glass door that leads the congregation into a cozy patio seating area at the front of the worship center, complete with overhead twinkle lights. As a finishing bow on the entire campus, the landscaping will get a complete refresh with new trees, shrubs and flowering planters,” she explained.
Posten-Thompson has served the church since 2004, when the congrega tion hired her employer to renovate and add to the worship center. That project spurred other renovations.
In 2021, with Jared Moore as the new pastor, a new vision emerged, she re called. “After reviewing the budget with the contractor, we narrowed the scope of renovation work to give them the big gest bang for their buck.”
Church member and volunteer, Pete Knudson, is the project manager for the remodel.
A Mesa resident for almost 60 years, the Minnesota native said that the ren ovation, begun in April, should be sub stantially completed this month.
“Nicole is doing a fantastic job,” he said, “and with her help the project is turning out very impressive.”
Posten-Thompson graduated with a five-year bachelor’s of architecture de
gree from Kent State University in 2001.
“I always say I came searching for the sun since it’s not very sunny in Akron, but I actually came to find myself,” she says. “I left Akron two weeks after I grad uated college with only $2,000 in my bank account, a dream of becoming an architect and my college degree. I have never regretted it.”
Within two weeks, Brock, Craig, & Thacker Architects in Mesa accepted her as an intern. Since then, she’s been designing commercial and public facili ties in many communities throughout Arizona, including Marana and Belmont and East Valley cities of Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa.
After founding On Point Architecture in 2016, she’s specialized in facility re modeling, self-storage and RV & boat storage facilities, office/warehouse, res taurants and tenant improvements.
Some Mesa buildings her firm has re cently completed are the Rally’s Burger at Greenfield Road and University Drive; Proof Bakery in downtown; Fuel Good Nutrition; two preschool classroom re models at Child Crisis Center; The Draft Sports Grill; and the Journey of Grace church remodel.
All the while, she has served the com munity in other ways: the city of Mesa Design Review Board, 2014–2020; past president and member of the Chandler Junior Chamber; and team leader with Habitat for Humanity, 2001–2004.
She’s also a Class 1 Business Academy graduate with the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce (2014) and has also served
as a board member, mentor and general member with the Society for Marketing Professional Services. In addition, she is an associate member of the Arizona Self Storage Association.
Other East Valley cities are also loca tions for her designs.
In Chandler, for example, the 20,760-square-foot Alta Boulders rock climbing gym is a transformation of the former Office Depot at 2945 S. Alma School Road. Formerly an “exhausted space,” the new facility has a yoga stu dio, exercise room, smoothie bar, spin aerobics tiered classroom, locker rooms with showers and a large area for rock climbing.
The company collaborated with a structural engineer in the Valley and a boulder wall designer in Bulgaria, she said.
“Our biggest challenges were incorpo rating large bouldering rock walls into the existing space and locating three exercise rooms around the space for ef ficiency and best use of space,” she said. The general contractor was Horizons Commercial Contracting, Mesa.
In San Tan Valley, On Point provided design for the 117,229-square-foot, 924-unit San Tan Self Storage, 34487 N. Gary Road.
“Pinal County required the building to look ‘more like an office building’ from the street frontage,” Posten-Thompson said of the completed project. “The site fronts two roads and both needed to present a well-designed building,” she said. The general contractor was Gilbert-
based TLW Construction.
Mesa Nazarene has been serving cen tral Mesa since 1948; now Journey of Grace, the church has expanded from a sanctuary building to a four-building campus with a large central courtyard entry.
“It had been more than 20 years since the courtyard was upgraded and it had fallen into disrepair with overgrown trees, bushes and heaving concrete pav ing,” Posten-Thompson explained.
In 2019, she partnered with Concord General Contracting to provide archi tectural design services to create two focal points in the courtyard, includ ing covered entries at each of the main buildings.
The team demolished the existing courtyard and added pavers set in a striped pattern, which contrast against the softness of the artificial turf.
Masonry wall seats, steel benches and new landscaping have created midcentury modern-style meeting places for the congregation. The On Point crew also updated the paint color scheme, chose a new shingle roof tile color and designed a one-of-a-kind steel fence and entry gates. The project was completed in early 2020.
Posten-Thompson said: “Now, the church community is enjoying wed dings, celebrations and Sunday morning services in their beautiful new space.”
The grand reopening celebration at One Life Church is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 6., 5–7 p.m. Information: onelifeaz. church.
Muscle cramping, difficulty walk ing, burning, tingling, numbness, and pain in the legs or feet are symptoms of neuropathy people live with every day,” explains Dr. Kerry Zang, podi atric medical director of CIC Foot & Ankle. “The thing is PAD has very sim ilar symptoms. So similar that in many cases, people are told it’s neuropathy when it may not be.”
Medicine is often prescribed. “Pills aren’t a cure, they just suppress the symptoms,” says Zang. “If neuropathy
isn’t causing the symptoms, the real problem could get worse.”
It’s important to determine if PAD (pe ripheral artery disease) is causing the pain or making it worse. PAD is plaque in the arteries which causes poor circulation. “Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to your feet which they need to stay healthy,” explains Zang, “When your feet aren’t get ting an adequate supply, they start send ing signals.” Those signals include pain, burning, tingling, numbness, or cramping.
The good news is PAD is treatable in
an office setting. Dr. Joel Rainwater, MD endovascular specialist explains, “We go into the bloodstream to find the blockage using imaging guidance. Then with small tools that can go into the smallest arteries, remove the blockage, and restore blood flow.”
Getting the proper diagnosis is the first step to getting better. “It’s all about find ing out what’s causing the problem,” says Zang. “When your feet burn, tingle, or feel numb, it’s your body telling you it needs help, and you should listen.”
If your neuropathy medication is not working, your symptoms may be an indication of another condition.
Don’t wait for your feet to yell at you. If your feet hurt, they are talking to you. Our doctors can help tell you what they are saying.
Does foot pain prevent you from doing your favorite activity?
Do you have burning or tingling in your legs or feet?
Do you have leg or foot cramps with activity or at rest?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, call our office today to see how our doctors can help.
One in 40 people over the age of 50 may find themselves limiting their activi ty because of a condition called hallux rigidus. It’s a degenerative disease of the big toe joint. As it progresses, the pain in the joint increases and motion decreases.
“People don’t realize the impact their big toe has on their life. It plays a role in balance, shock absorption, and forward movement as you walk,” explains Dr. Daniel Schulman, of CiC Foot & Ankle. “When the joint is stiff, it’s not able to bend and rotate properly, and it changes how we walk without us even realizing it.” These changes can lead to back or knee pain as well as discomfort in other parts of the foot.
“It always concerns me to hear that someone is playing less golf or stay ing home because they’re in pain,” says Schulman. “There are ways to help.”
The goal is to protect your feet from the repetitive stress of everyday activities.
“We have several treatment options to not only relieve foot pain but help im prove how your feet work. If we can help your feet function better, in many cases the need for surgery can be avoided or at the very least postponed,” says Schul man. “Patients are always happy to learn about ways to alleviate their symptoms.”
For golfers, a stiff big toe can make their game suffer.
ented, wealthy and famous and still be a blithering idiot.
mother often cautioned us on the value of silence. She mostly spoke her mind and expected her kids to as well, unless we had no clue what we were talking about. Then she ad vocated holding your tongue.
“It’s one thing to be an idiot,” she would say, “but another thing to constantly open your mouth and prove it to everyone.”
Which brings me to the rapper/cloth ing designer/cultural icon Kanye West, who goes by the one-word appellation “Ye.”
Ye, who has rapped beautifully about his late mother, Donda, has spent several weeks proving my mother exactly right, and teaching us a valuable lesson besides.
It is possible to be prodigiously tal
Ye’s recent turn in the media grinder began in Paris during Fashion Week, when he sported an oversize T-shirt with a picture of Pope John Paul II on the front and the slogan “White Lives Matter” on the back.
While I agree with Ye that the state ment is “obvious,” there‘s no denying those three words carry a highly charged context: The Anti-Defamation League calls the phrase “a hate slogan,” seized upon by the Aryan Nation and Ku Klux Klan as “a staple among white suprema cist mantras.”
In other words, this wasn’t fashion. It was like dressing up as a Nazi for Hallow een and calling it “just a costume.”
Speaking of Judaism, Ye turned his at tention there in an appearance on Fox
News’ Tucker Carlson show and on social media. His interview with Carlson was a rambling two-hour mess even before the really anti-Semitic comments – edited out for TV – leaked to the media.
Among Ye’s greatest hits: “I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial en gineering.”
Because, you know, Jews control the world’s money and all.
Not content with claiming to “have vi sions that God gives me, just over and over, on community building,” Ye went on a social media rant that got him banned from Instagram and Twitter: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can’t be AntiSemitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me
and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
Can I get an “Oy vey?”
The woke left, from Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez to singer John Legend, lined up on cue to cancel Ye. Others sug gested that Ye, who has spoken often of his battle with bipolar disorder, might be off his meds and should seek help.
Meanwhile, the business community, from Adidas to JPMorgan Chase, moved to distance themselves, either suspend ing doing business with Ye outright or announcing the relationship was “under review.”
Keep in mind, this is the same guy who said in 2018: “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
Theold joke is perhaps more in sulting than amusing – and cer tainly burns the ears of educators and athletic department personnel alike.
Maybe you’ve heard it: “Those who can’t do, teach …and those who can’t teach, teach gym.”
But now, it appears some “former gym teachers”—also known as coaches— are getting the last laugh in the form of huge deposits into their checking accounts.
The first high-profile “personnel ca sualty” in the National Football League during the 2022 season took place in the aftermath of Week 5, when the Carolina Panthers parted company with Head Coach Matt Rhule.
Good thing for Matt that an updated “Golden Rhule” was in effect because he
signed a seven-year, $62 million contract that was fully guaranteed back in 2020,
He will have to make do with $834,000 per month over the next 48 months to just “hang around the house” – or per haps build several new ones.
Maybe Matt will “go back to school,” and return to coaching in the collegiate ranks.
That would certainly please the Pan thers, who would see that remaining $40 million “investment” offset by any future head coaching wages paid to Rhule.
Despite losing twice as many games as he won as an NFL coach, Rhule re mains a “hot commodity” in the eyes of big time college football headhunters. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network claims that Matt will “have his choice of coveted college jobs” once this season ends.
Nowhere is a winning coach more needed now than at Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have suffered through a “football famine” for more than two decades, having last won a share of the National Championship in 1997. That’s why Nebraska named the starting quarterback from that title year, Scott Frost, as the Huskers head coach in late 2018. Frost was “on fire” at the time, having just coached UCF to an undefeat ed season.
But once he returned home to Lincoln, Frost led Nebraska into a football “deep freeze,” suffering through four straight losing seasons and recording only one win and two defeats through the first three weeks of the 2022 campaign.
By firing Frost in September, Athletic Director Trev Alberts was actually doing the hard-luck Nebraska Alumnus a favor.
Had the Huskers handed Frost his walking papers in October, the buyout on Scott’s contract would have been re
duced by 50%.
So the September dismissal paid him a generous $15 million, which will keep Frost and his family warm this winter –and during many more winters to come.
Closer to home, the “Winter of Discon tent” for Arizona State with Head Coach Herm Edwards was likewise concluded in September with what looks like an other multimillion dollar payout. One estimate puts the total at $10.8 million.
Or maybe not.
Since there’s been no apparent resolu tion to the NCAA investigation of the Sun Devil football program, it is conceivable that Edwards could wind up with no sev erance pay, and would perhaps have to pay $75,000 from his own pocket should the collegiate sports governing body de termine that he was directly involved in
Only now you’re reviewing his wis dom?
My take on Ye: He belongs on the Mount Rushmore of rap, alongside giants like Dre and Eminem. His talent has brought him wealth and fame, but like so many icons, he holds no special claim on intellect.
“Stronger,” “Golddigger,” and “Jesus Walks” are tunes I’ll spin until I die. But
watch two hours of Kanye pontificate on kinetic energy or wear his atrocious chunky moonboots? Hell no.
The rich and famous might try keep ing their mouths shut more often. As for Ye, he would be wise to heed a line from his classic, “Hey Mama.”
“I know I act a fool,” he vowed to Don da, “but I promise you, I’m goin’ back to school.”
When Ye, when? rule violations.
But other observers believe a big pay day is in Herm’s future, based in part on the “official language” used to announce his departure by ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson.
“Herm did not resign, he was not dis missed. We agreed to a mutual relin quishment of duties,” Anderson said.
“We’ll have to work through what all of that means at the end of the day… Agents are out there and attorneys are out there, both from the institutional
point of view and the agents and client.”
Ray Anderson should know.
He was Herm’s agent back during Ed wards’ playing days in the NFL.
The recent intrigue at ASU has prompted a joke that’s not very funny to the Sun Devil faithful.
“There are two types of athletic direc tors. Those who hire and fire coaches… and those who hire and then fire their ex-clients.”
Ears are burning in Tempe and a big chunk of cash will burn a hole through the ASU athletic budget right into the pocket of Herm Edwards.
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‘Deebo.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, alright, Dee bo.’ He can do a lot, for sure.”
sophomore brother Saveon.
McCrimon’s goal heading into his senior season was to make an impact and set the West wood football program up for a potential postseason bid.
What he didn’t realize at the time was the impact he would make would come with multiple honors and stardom around the Westwood High campus. But he is beginning to embrace it.
McCrimon has been electric for the Warriors this season. He can catch, run and block for his fellow teammates. He’s become the team’s Swiss army knife. Head coach Brandon Large said he was Westwood’s version of San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel.
“We were talking the other day and we said, ‘Nik, who do you model your game after?’” Large said. “We talked about JuJu (Smith-Schuster) at first. Then I was like,
McCrimon has carried the load for Westwood this season, especially in the first half with transfers not yet eligible.
The senior athlete leads the team with 516 rushing yards and seven touch downs. He has also caught 20 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He has come to enjoy his role as Westwood’s doit-all player, and he’s been recognized for his accomplishments.
McCrimon has already received an Ed Doherty Medallion, given to players each week who have standout performances. The medallion is their official nomina tion for the Ed Doherty Award, which is given to the top Arizona high school foot ball player in December. In short, it is the Heisman Award of high school football in the state.
He also received recognition from the Arizona Cardinals and partner Circle K for his performance against Marana three weeks ago, as he was named the High School Player of the Week. He helped the Warriors win a shootout against the Tigers for their second win in a row. Less than a week later on Thurs day night, he again helped lead his team to a victory over previously unbeaten Trevor Browne.
“(The award) meant a lot. It gave me a lot of recognition and I feel like a lot of people have their eyes on me now,” Mc Crimon said. “It’s a pleasure to have been the Cardinals Player of the Week. I didn’t even know it was a thing.
“This recognition will help Westwood make it far. Not just this year, but in the years after I’m gone.”
The two make Hanks’ job easier on a nightly basis. That was the expectation set by Large when he was hired to take over the program last winter. But he and the older McCrimon, as of late, have tak en it to another level.
“He knows what he is doing,” Hanks said. “Every week he is putting two, three hours of film. He’s always open and runs crisp routes. He leads the team on the field and he’s just a kind-hearted dude.”
While the accolades and recognition are nice, McCrimon has quickly moved past them. His main goal this season is to help his team win games and com pete for a title. He also hopes to earn a scholarship to play at the next level along the way.
The first rankings of the season by the Arizona Interscholastic Association have Westwood at No. 27 overall in 6A. But with six teams currently slated for the Open Division, that moves the War riors up to No. 21. Sixteen teams make playoffs.
They know they have work to do, but the addition of transfer running back Sterling Harris into the mix and Porter Jefferies as a key contributor gives the Warriors even more weapons to play with on offense.
It also allows Large and his staff to get creative with McCrimon to put the ball in his hands.
“Getting Sterling was huge for us,” Large said. “We also have Porter, who is dynamic, too. Porter helps us in a lot of ways. He’s kinda the glue for us. And ob viously Nik is so, so dynamic. He does a lot of things.”
Westwood senior Nikita McCrimon has had a breakout year for the Warriors playing multiple positions and helping his team get to a 3-3 re cord at the midway point of the season. With what he has accomplished, he was named the Arizona Cardinals High School Player of the Week this season and was nominted for the Ed Doherty Award. (Zac BonDurant/Tribune Contributor)
Now, they aim to keep it going. West wood faced off against district rival Mesa Friday night. Large said ahead of time that would be a challenge for his team, especially given Mesa’s athleti cism with wide receiver Tre Brown lead ing the way.
McCrimon was called Westwood’s version of San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel by head coach Brandon Large. He can run, catch, block and even pass when needed, much like the NFL player he now tries to model his game after.
(Zac BonDurant/Tribune Contributor)
McCrimon’s athleticism, which in cludes great vision while running the ball and strong hands mixed with good speed and vertical in the passing game, has led him to become one of junior quarterback Giordan Hanks’ top targets.
The other, ironically, is McCrimon’s
Westwood started the season 1-3 be fore winning two straight games in a 10day span. The Warriors entered the bye week with a .500 record, a good accom plishment for a team that lost several se niors last season and has a new coaching staff.
The Warriors then finish the season against Shadow Ridge, Hamilton and North at home before hopefully advanc ing to the postseason.
“For us to be 1-3 then win two in a row means a lot,” McCrimon said. “Our coaches made us keep our heads up, not lose focus and now we’re at where we’re at. Now we have to win out and go to the playoffs.”
SouthernCalifornia creative Ashli St. Armant had a plan to write a musical about the Underground Railroad.
She had not found the setting for it until she visited Oak Alley Plantation in Vach erie, Louisiana, where some of her ancestors worked as slaves in the 1700s.
Two rows of magnificent oak trees cre ate a grandiose front pathway and the tour guide remarked, “Can you imagine what these trees have seen and witnessed?”
“That was it for me,” St. Armant said. “My ancestors walked in, and they were like ‘we got this!’”
Her ancestors will possibly be appeased when the Chandler Center for the Arts pre miers “North, The Musical” in early November.
Chandler joined three other cities nation wide to commission St. Armant’s theatri cal debut, which she created and directed and sis produced by actor Isaiah Johnson of “Hamilton” and “The Color Purple”
But St. Armant has set her sights on Broad way.
A composer, musician, jazz vocalist, musi cal theater playwright, author and youth ed ucator among other skills and talents, St. Ar mant began her career as a pre-school music teacher and soon started writing content for young audiences.
A rambunctious only child, she grew up with many children around because her mother ran a home daycare center. Musical in struments, make-believe and children’s enter tainment were part of the culture of her home.
She could not escape the influences of her childhood.
As a teen, she wanted to be a star on Broadway. She still feels it is within her reach, although the path has been circuitous, with a lot of distractions.
“I feel like Dorothy: she has these discov eries and makes new friends along the way, she has distractions, and feels it a waste of time, but at the end she realizes that was re
ally the point of the journey,” she said.
“That’s how I feel about my journey towards Broadway, too. I believe it’s going to happen. I’ve had these extremely fruitful and fulfilling experiences along the way,” she added.
St. Armant is buoyed by the response to “North” so far. She drew on her multifaceted aptitudes and her creative community to as semble it and rates it as her biggest accom plishment yet.
“It’s been the biggest feat even to get it to this point,” she said. “It’s the biggest team I’ve had to build, the most money I’ve had to raise, the biggest reach in terms of the audi ence we’re trying to reach across the coun try, and also trying to get into Broadway and making those connections.”
Justifiably, she is also proud of it.
“I’m proud of everything I do, but this, for sure, is the most personal thing I’ve ever creat ed,” she said. “To see so many people get some thing out of it, to appreciate it already, and it hasn’t even really even gotten into the stage.”
How did Chandler, which is not on the path of the Underground Railroad, get involved in premiering the musical?
Michelle Mac Lennan, general manager of Chandler Center for the Arts, said that she became acquainted with St. Armant after she performed a virtual concert through the Dandelion Artists agency during the pan demic. For the concert, St. Armant was wear ing the hats of childhood education special ist and artist, working as Jazzy Ash & the Leaping Lizards.
“We fell in love with her voice, immense talent, joy and energy,” Mac Lennon said.
Post-pandemic, the center met with the Dandelion Artists producer Sarah McCarthy.
“She shared Ashli’s new project and the rest, as they say, is history,” Mac Lennan said.
The Chandler Center for the Arts commis sioned the musical along with the Lied Center of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, and Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Chandler Center’s agreement in cluded an initial investment of $40,000, Mac
Lellan said. In turn, the CCA will host the Ari zona premiere on Nov. 4 and have rights to return the production in the 2023-24 season as part of the national tour.
“North’s” original score features jazz and Black roots music and an uplifting story set against the backdrop of the Underground Railroad, a historical network that helped slaves flee to Canada in the years before the Civil War.
The musical’s characters, Lawrence and his mother, Minnie, escape the Deep South and travel North to find freedom. They travel through Louisiana’s bayous, bustling New Or leans, and the young town of Lawrence, Kan sas. The story reflects the optimism, bravery, wonder and suspense of freedom seekers.
“North” absorbs St. Armant’s personal family stories.
She learned about the community of Ma roons, people who escaped slavery but in stead of traveling north, hid in the bayous of the forests. An acquaintance sent her a book, “Slavery’s Exiles,” that contained a passage about a man named Tam, a community lead er who was called “the brave one.” He would work for non-slave owning plantation own ers and be brave enough to collect money.
“The passage said he was enslaved on the same plantation that my family members were enslaved in, in an account from 1780. He’d run away from the St. Armand Plantation,” she said. “It was pretty shocking to read that.”
Tam became a primary character in the show.
There’s also the coincidence of her name. She had changed her name to reflect the ma ternal line of her family, Armand. The change was done before she read the book. The slaves took the names of their masters, but were denied the “Saint” on their name.
“I learned my last name was Armand. I changed it to St. Armant, the original last name from France,” she said, reflecting the French Saint Armand, the patron saint of beer, wine making and hospitality.
Because of these and various other chance occurrences, St. Armant feels a spiritual con
Ashli St. Armant has used her multi-talents, creative community and personal drive to present “North, The Musical,” which comes to the Chandler Center for the Arts in November. (Steve Lorentzen.)
nection to the show she is creating.
“I don’t think it’s by accident that this in formation came to me, that he (Tam) was also enslaved in a plantation that my family members were also enslaved on,” she said.
“And because of the nature of our history here in the States, we really don’t know our family lineage past four or five generations max because our history was erased for us, our last names were taken, and all that.”
“I can’t know for sure, but I think I know,” she continued. “At the very least, he shares an experience that my ancestors have also experienced on the same land.”
What: “North: The Musical”
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4 and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 5.8
Where: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler.
Cost: $32 and $42, $15 for youth.
Info: chandlercenter.org/north or 480-782-2680.
Connected Events: 10 a.m. Oct. 22 at Chandler Public Library: “The Un derground and Overground Railroad” presented by Dr. Tamika Sanders.
Nov. 4 I the Gallery of the Chandler Center for the Arts, opening night cast reception after show for ticketholders.
Nov. 5 at CCA: “North: The Musical Talk Backs,” following both the Saturday performances.
NOTICE OF COURT HEARING Case No. 21CH010281 1. Petitioner (Employer) a. Name: CITY OF SAN JOSE Lawyer for Petitioner Name: YUE-HAN CHOW State Bar No.: 268266 Firm Name: OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY, CITY OF SAN JOSE b. Address: 200 EAST SANTA CLARA STREET, 16TH FLOOR City: SAN JOSE State: CA Zip: 9511 3 Telephone: (408) 535-1900 Fax: (408) 998-3131 E-Mail Address: cao.main@san joseca.gov 2. Employee in Need of Protec tion Full Name: AMBER ZENK 3. Respondent (Person From Whom Protection Is Sought) Full Name: WILLIAM GARB
ETT 4. Notice of Hearing A court hearing is scheduled on the request for restraining orders against the respondent Hearin g Date 11/30/2021 Time: 9:00AM Dept.: 4 5. Temporary Restraining Orders a. Temporary Restraining Orders for personal con duct and stay away orders as requested in Form WV-100, Request for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, are: (1) All GRANTED until the court hearing. 6. Service of Documents by the Petitioner At least five days before the hearing, someone age 18 or older–not you or anyone to be protected–must personally give (serve) a court file-stamped copy of this Form WV 109, Notice of Court Hearing, to the respondent along with a copy of all the forms indicated below: a. WV-100, Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders (filestamped) b. WV-110, Temporary Restraining Order (file-stamped) IF GRAN TED c. WV-120, Response to Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders (blank form) d. WV-120-INFO, How Can I Respond to a Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders? e. WV-250, Proof of Service of Response by Mail (blan k form) Date: 09/20/2021 /S ERIK S. JOHNSON To the Petitioner - The court cannot make the restraining orders after the court hearing unless the respondent has been personally given (served) a copy of your request and any temporary orders. To show that the respondent has been served, the person who served the forms must fill out a proof of service form. Form WV-200, Proof of Personal Service, may be used. - For information about service, read Form WV-200- NFO, What Is "Proof of Person al Service"? - If you are unable to serve the respondent in time, you may ask for more time to serve the documents. Use Form WV-115, Request to Continue Court Hearing and to Reissue Temporary Restraining Order. To the Respondent - If you wan t to respond to the request for orders in writing, file Form WV-120, Response to Request for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, and have someone age 18 or older–not you or anyone to be protect–mail it to the petitioner. - The person who mailed the form must fill out a proof of service form. FormWV-250, Proof of Service of Response by Mail, may be used. File the completed form with the court before the hearing and bring a copy with you to the court hearing. - Whether or not you re spond in writing, go to the hearing if you want the judge to hear from you before making an order. You may tell the judge why you agree or disagree with the orders requested. - You may bring witnesses or other evidence. - At the hearing, the judge may make restraining orders against you that could last up to three years and may order you to sell or turn in any firearms that you own or possess. Request for Accommodations Assistive listening systems, computer assisted real-time captioning, or sign lan guage interpreter services are available if you ask at least five days before the hearing. Contact the clerk's office or go to www.courts.ca.gov/formsfor Request for Accommodations by Persons with Disabilities and Response (Form MC- 410). (Civ Code, § 54 8) ORDER ON REQUEST TO CONTINUE HEARING Case Number: 21CH010281 Superior Court of California, County of SANTA CLARA 191 N. FIRST STREET, SAN JOSE, CA 95113, DOWNTOWN SUPERIOR COURT 1. Peti tioner (Employer) CITY OF SAN JOSE 2. Respondent WILLIAM GARBETT 3. Next Court Date b. The request to resched ule the court date is granted. Your court date is rescheduled for the day and time listed below. See 4-8 for more information New Court Date 12/06/2022
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Time: 9AM 4. Temporary Restraining Order b. A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is still i n full force and effect. (1) The court extends the TRO previously granted on 09/20/2021. It now expires on (at the end of the court date listed in 3b). Warning and Notice to the Respondent If 4b is checked, a temporary restraining order has been issue d against you. You must follow the orders until they expire. 5. Reason Court Date is Rescheduled c. The court reschedules the court date on its own motion. 6. Serving (Giving) Order to the Other Party The request to reschedule was made by the: a. Peti tioner (Employer) (3) You must serve the respondent with a copy of this order. This can be done by mail. You must serve by: 10/01/2022. 7. No Fee to Serve (Notify) Respondent NOT ORDERED Date: 09/06/2022 /S/ Sunil R. Kulkarni, Judicial Of ficer Clerk's Certificate I certify that this Order on Request to Continue Hearing (Temporary Restraining Order) (CLETS TWH)(form WV-116) is a true and correct copy of the original on file in the court. Date: 09/06/2022 M. SORUM, Clerk o f the Court ORDER FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA Case No. 21CH010281. CITY OF SAN JOSE, a charter city, Petitioner v. WILLIAM GARBETT, an individual, Re spondent. Date: September 6, 2022 Time: 9 00 a.m. Dep't: 4 Exempt from Filing Fees (Govt. Code § 6103) After reviewing the Application for Order for Service by Publication of Petitioner City of San José, and it satisfactorily appearing therefrom that Petitioner has made reasonably diligent efforts to personally serve Respondent, WILLIAM GARBETT, and that Respond ent is a necessary party to this action and is both aware of this action and the contents of the Petition; and IT FURTHER AP PEARING that a Notice of Court Hearing (WV-109) (the "Notice") has been filed in the above-entitled Court action, said Re spondent cannot, with reasonable diligence, be served in any other manner specified by sections 415.10 through 415.40 of the Code of Civil Procedure. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that service of the Notice be made on Respondent WILLIAM GARB ETT by publication thereof in the Mesa Tribune a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of Maricopa, Ari zona, as well as in the San Jose Post-Record, a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of Santa Clara, Cali fornia, hereby designated as the newspapers most likely to give said Respondent actual notice in this action, and that publica t ion in both newspapers be made at least once a week for four (4) successive weeks. Date: 09/06/2022 /S SUNIL R K ULKARNI, JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT 9/30, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21/22
Published: East Valley Tribune, Oct. 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 2022 / 49817
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Deca Technologies, Inc. seeks a Director Software Engineering - Production Systems in Tempe, AZ. Manage development, implementation and maintenance of Adaptive Patterning (AP) Engine and Factory Automation systems. Telecommuting permitted.
Apply at https://www.jobpostingtoday.com/ Ref# 99358
SOFTWARE ENGINEER: Chandler, AZ & various unanticipated locations throughout US.: Dvlp, create tech soln to data convs. Dsgn & write data conv routines & code. Prep new datasets frm raw data files usng imprt techniques. Modfy extg datasets usng set, merge, sort, updt, func & condtn statements. Prfm in dpndt cmplx analysis, suprt sevrl data convs. Extct, trnf, load data. Prfrm unit test & fix issues. Skills req'd: SAS Enterprise Guide, Unix, Metadata, Putty, WinSCP, Oracle, & SQL Server. Masters in Sci, Tech, or Engg (any) w/1 yr of exp in job offrd or rltd occup. Mail resume: Sierra Business Solution LLC, 6909 W Ray Rd, Ste 15-137, Chandler, AZ 85226.
AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INC., an Amazon.com
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develop, implement, test, document, & oper ate large-scale, high-volume, high-performance data
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Peralta Canyon –10893 E. Peralta Canyon Dr – Gold Canyon AZ
Oct. 21, 22 & 23 7am-3pm
Entrada Del Oro
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Industrial Designer at SIBI, LLC (Gilbert, AZ): Dev & design manufactured products for our platform, such as APPLS, AC units, CNTPS, etc. Require BS in IND Dsgn & 6 mon exp. or comb. Add’l duties, requirements, available upon request. Email resume to jobs@sibipro.com, ref Job#YL01. EOE.
Deloitte Consulting LLP seeks a Consulting, Solution Specialist in Gilbert, AZ & various unanticipated Deloitte office locations & client sites nationally to create innovative and transformative solutions that address supply chain needs. 15% travel required nationally. Telecommuting permitted. To apply visit apply.deloitte.com. Enter XBAL23FC0922GIL2733 in “Search jobs” field. EOE, including disability/veterans.
T his Public Bid RFP consists of material, equipment an d labor for the turnkey installation of the Estrella Mountai n Ranch (EMR) Hillside North Traffic Signals and Associated Improvements (concrete, signing, striping, etc). The projec t is located within the EMR community in Goodyear, AZ. A copy of the plans, specifications and bid documents will be available for pickup at the Silver Fern office on and afte r October 17, 2022. Bid packages can also be requested to be emailed by contacting jmeyers@silverferncompanies.com or jpederson@silverferncompanies.com. Deliver sealed bid for the above referenced project to Estrella North, LLC c/o Sil ver Fern Companies, 1048 N. 44 th St., Suite 150, Phoenix, A Z 85008 no later than November 18, 2022 @ 3:00 p.m ( Arizona Time). Submit each bid in a sealed envelop e clearly marked stating the name of the bidder and the name of the project. Late bids will be returned unopened. Bids will be opened and publically read aloud immediately after the specified bid closing time. Owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to withhold the award for any reason the Owner determines. The contract will be awarded within 10 working days unless all bids are rejected. All required bid assurances must accompany all bids. All work is to be com pleted in accordance with MAG, ADOT and City of Goo dyear specifications. The Owner anticipates that after con struction has been completed, portions of the project may be a cquired by either a Community Facilities District or the City of Goodyear or, collectively, the Public Entities. The Public Entities are not responsible for or liable for any oblig ations of the Owner, including any of the Owner’s obliga tions under the Contract for construction of this project.
Published: East Valley Tribune, Oct 16, 2022/ 49803
STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF LUNA
S IXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT IN THE CHIL
Judge Jarod
DREN’S COURT In the Matter of the Adoption Pe tition of Leann Moreno and Raul Fernando Moreno, Petitioners. No. D-619-SA-2022-00002
K. Hofacket Notice of Petition for adoption The state of new mexico to the following named or designated persons: Mario Vonne Newton Notice is hereby giv en that a Petition for Adoption has been filed by Peti tioners in the aboveentitled cause on April 7, 2022 Please be further notified that, pursuant to NMS A 1978, Section 32A527(E), you are required to file a written response to the Petition within twenty (20) days from the date of this notice if you intend to con test the request for an adoption decree of the pro s pective adoptee with the Sixth Judicial Distric t Court, 855 S. Platinum, Deming, NM 88030. Failure t o file a written response with the court shall b e treated as a default and your consent to the adoption s hall not be required. The Petitioner’s counsel i s B enting Law Firm, LLC, 115 E. Ash St. Deming , NM 88030, (575) 546-6300. WITNESS my hand and seal of the District Court of Luna County, New Mex ico, on this 19th day of September, 2022. Clerk of the District Court By Miriam Davila, Deputy. Pub lished: East Valley Tribune, Oct 16, 23, 30, 2022 / 49726
NOTICE OF VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING Val Vista Drive Improvements, US60 to Pueblo Avenue
Project No. CP0062
The City of Mesa plans to reconstruct Val Vista Drive from the US60 Freeway to Pueblo Avenue and the intersection of Val Vista Drive and Southern Avenue. These improvements will provide three through lanes on Val Vista Drive from US60 to Enid Avenue. Improvements include paveme nt reconstruction, raised center medians, bike lanes, adding drainage structures and facilities, landscaping and traffic signal modifications. Other improvements include overhead to underground electric, gas facilities, replacement of curb, gutter, sidewalk, and ADA-compliant ramps and driveways in various locations. Design is underway with construction anticipated to begin Fall 2023.
We invite you to join us for a short presentation followed by a questions and answer session! Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Location: Virtual Public Meeting: Register online at mesaaz.gov/engineering
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, please contact Curt Albright, Michele Arrollado, or Dory Kalich with the City of Mesa Engineering Public Relations Department at (480) 644-3800.
Si usted tiene preguntas de este proyecto, favor de llamar a Maggie Smith, con la Ciudad de Mesa al (480) 644-5672.
Published: East Valley Tribune, Oct. 9, 16, 2022 / 49649
Friday, Oct. 14; 9am - 2pm
Oct. 15; 9am - 1pm
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C BELMONT AT SOMERSET – Prime Gilbert Location SOLD OUT Luxury estate homes and timeless architecture 480-750-3000
D MONTELUNA – Brand New Gated Community in the Foothills of Northeast Mesa NOW SELLING McKellips Rd just east of the Red Mountain 202 Fwy From the $700’s • 480-750-3000
E RESERVE AT RED ROCK – NOW SELLING New Upscale Resort Community In the Foothills of Northeast Mesa with Stunning View of Red Mountain Vintage Collection • From the low $700’s • 480-641-1800 Craftsman Collection • From the high $800’s • 480-988-2400 Artisan Collection • From the $900’s • 480-641-1800
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