Mesa business licenses / P. 10
Drones for inspections / P. 8
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Roads in Mesa are getting deadlier
INSIDE
This Week
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
NEWS........................ 8 54 Mesa teachers got their Fiesta Bowl wishes granted.
BUSINESS ............. 18 A popular Mesa comic book store is back -- but in Gilbert.
SPORTS ............... 22 Skyline High's soccer team ready for action.
COMMUNITY ............................... 15 BUSINESS ..................................... 18 OPINION .. ..................................... 20 SPORTS ........................................ 22 CLASSIFIED ................................. 25 Zone
Sunday, November 21, 2021
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T
he pandemic ultimately may be seen as a devious killer, taking the lives not only of thousands who died of COVID-19, but also with an increasing number of sudden deaths from shootings and car crashes. Though studies are still in the early stages, some experts feel the forced closures of the pandemic led to a rise in murders – which is
reflected in Mesa, where homicides are at 10year highs. On National Public Radio, which reported on a 30 percent nation-wide rise in 2020 murders compared to 2019 (based on FBI statistics), a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis said the pandemic likely was a prime suspect in the murder spike. In a recent Politico story, Vulcan Topalli, a professor of criminology at Georgia State University, said, “I’m not surprised at all that
we had an increase in crime. “Criminologists and public health people were saying that that was going to be the case as soon as they heard about the pandemic. And it’s pretty much come true at this point.” In Mesa, 24 people were murdered last year. Another 26 have been killed violently this year – the highest number since 26 were killed here in 2006.
see TRAFFIC page 3
In Mesa City Helping those without Council, ‘no’ is a rare word BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
A
t the Nov. 1 Mesa City Council meeting, Mayor John Giles asked his colleagues to vote on a dozen items lumped together. “The motion passes unanimously,” he said after he and the six council representatives cast their votes. That 7-0 score was dutifully recorded in the minutes –as it has hundreds of times in 2021. Indeed, with little disagreement or discord evidenced, the two most common words on Mesa City Council minutes: “carried unanimously.” As is the case elsewhere, elected city rep-
see COUNCIL VOTE page 6
Oscar Gutierrez and Julie Christoph unload a large donation of dozens of frozen turkeys for United Food Bank's distribution of more than 2,000 frozen turkeys along with other nutritional holiday food items to people in need of food assistance. Desert Financial Credit Union donated $50,000 to match the number of turkeys donated by the community during the food bank's Turkey Tuesday event last week. “We’re invested in supporting the communities where we live and work,” says Jeff Meshey, Desert Financial Credit Union president and CEO. “That includes making sure people don’t go hungry and that families can celebrate Thanksgiving after a difficult year of coping with a pandemic.” Turkeys will be distributed 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, at Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center St. in Mesa (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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