Eye on the pies / P. 15
Homes for EV icon / P. 8
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
This Week
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
NEWS ...................... 10 Kelly Townsend lauds quarantine fight help.
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Mesa resident's nonprofit helps abused women.
SPORTS..................
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arlier this month, a few dozen people gathered in Mesa to add two people to their group from a rafter of nominations. The group comprised no ordinary citizens. They were previous winners of the Mesa Man and Woman of the Year awards, the oldest city-wide recognition of people who have spent a good part of their lives going above and beyond in service to the community.
Coup attempt, election ‘audit,’ COVID dominated unsettled year
And they were doing something that wasn’t done last year because of the pandemic’s restrictions on gatherings, making 2020 only the second time in 86 years when no one was selected. The only other time was 1940, when Mesa and the nation were well into fighting World War II. But for 2021, the Mesa Citizen of the Year Association had their honorees: Dawn Giles and Vern Mathern. And the way they were informed wasn’t exactly what you see when someone wins
Holiday help
an Oscar. They weren’t wearing tuxes or gowns – but pajamas. There were no bright lights in an auditorium but the pitch-black cover of a pre-dawn Arizona winter morning. And instead of big “after-parties,” once they changed out of their pajamas, they were escorted by the trio of association delegates to Crackers restaurant on Greenfield Road,
see CITIZEN page 3
BY GARY NELSON Tribune Correspondent
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Mesa athlete conquers adversity and goes big time. COMMUNITY ................................ 13 BUSINESS....................................... 15 OPINION......................................... 20 SPORTS........................................... 22 GET OUT......................................... 26 CLASSIFIED.................................... 30 Zone
Sunday, December 26, 2021
2 Mesa volunteers get a pre-dawn surprise
INSIDE
COMMUNITY .........
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istory will remember 2021 for an unprecedented assault on American democracy. History has yet to record whether that assault will succeed. And the East Valley found itself in the whitehot glare of national attention as powerful forces sought to discredit the choices made by Maricopa County voters in the 2020 presidential election. It began – and continues – with a lie. Donald Trump, who lost that 2020 election to Joe Biden by more than seven million votes,
see REVIEW page 4
United Food Bank last week distributed food to hundreds of people last Wednesday to make their Christmas a bit brighter. Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Instacart donated $50,000 and $25,000, respectively, to facilitate the distribution by United Food Bank at the Mesa Convention center. "We understand that the holiday donation we're giving today will provide an astounding 250,000 meals for children and families facing food insecurity in Eastern Maricopa County," said Jim Crutcher, general manager, Larry H. Miller Ford Mesa. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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