Queen Creek Tribune 05/21/2023

BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer

With no comment from the public, Town Council put its final stamp of approval on Queen Creek’s record budget for the coming fiscal year.

The $867.1 million spending plan approved May 17 is the largest in town history.

“This is arguably the largest and single most important policy decision that we do as a governing body and legally the one thing that we

are required to do,” Mayor Julia Wheatley said. “We are saying ‘this is what we are focusing on and these are our priorities for this year.’

“The budget continues to prioritize public safety and infrastructure, which is so important for our growing town. It also invests in quality of life through the Recreation & Aquatic Center, parks, and trails,” she continued.

A fifth of the budget, or $168-million, is earmarked to purchase water rights as the town continues to grow.

Queen Creek’s total budget last year was just

over $730 million and of the $137 million increase in the coming year’s budget, $108 million is earmarked to buy water rights.

A whopping $214.3-million is slated for infrastructure, which includes roads, bridges, and buildings essential to supporting the town’s rapid expansion.

Finance Director Scott McCarty said the spending plan but also looks well down the road, based on current revenue and expense

Coolidge beat QC in percentage growth last year

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

ueen Creek and Maricopa grew faster in the past year measured than any other community in Arizona, U.S. Census Bureau data released last Thursday showed – but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

The bureau’s new figures also put Queen Creek and Maricopa among the top 15 nationwide for population increases between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022.

But the agency, in crafting its rankings, only ranks what it considers “large cities” – mean-

“A lot of what we are doing here is strategic planning for the future,” he said.

As part of what it calls a prudent financial strategy, Queen Creek takes 25% of the revenue it generates “off the top” and saves it. McCarty has said the town’s revenue is projected to grow by 57% in 2023-24 over this year.

The town is planning to add 65 full time staff to its payroll next fiscal year, almost a third of which is for the 18-month-old Police Department.

The department also will be getting software, hardware and equipment for the new staff and $35.3 million for critical facilities identified in the recently adopted Police Master Plan.

The budget also allocates $17.7 million for the fire/medical portion of the soonto-be renovated Public Safety Complex.

Queen Creek’s spending in the fiscal year beginning July 1 will largely be focused on infrastructure. (Town of Queen Creek) projections.

The budget includes funding to complete Mansel Carter Oasis Park, and build the new 85-acre Frontier Family Park, which will be home to a new Recreation and Aquatic Center. Work on the rec and aquatic centers broke ground last week.

The budget also includes $2.1 million

for 15 new positions responsible for operating and maintaining the new park facilities, which are scheduled to open at the end of 2024.

Council has also budgeted a 5% salary increase for town employees.

“The budget also includes additional

increases to fund a newly proposed compensation policy for police sworn staff that is designed to stay competitive with our recruitment and retention efforts for law enforcement personnel,” budget materials said, meaning those officers could get an additional pay raise when the town revis-

its their performance and salaries during the year.

While there was general support for the spending plan itself, council members Leah Martineau and Travis Padilla voted against it.

Two weeks ago, the pair also voted no on a $27.7-million increase in the town’s parks and recreation budget over the $157 million originally discussed earlier this month.

“I do support most of what’s in this budget,” Martineau said. “Unfortunately, there’s just a couple of things I can’t get behind and can’t get to that ceiling level.”

Padilla had vowed to vote no during a May 3 discussion as well, stating, “There are things in here that do not support fiscal responsibility that are outside of the purview of what I believe the town should be involved in.”

Padilla said while there is “a lot right about this budget,” there are certain line items, such as the parks, that he can’t get behind.

Wheatley contended, ““Voting as a no vote for the items you don’t agree with is a no vote for the items you don’t agree

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CUSD chief gets pay bump, new 3-year contract

BY KEN SAIN Tribune Staff Writer

The Chandler Unified School District is among the best performing in the state. The man who leads the district is being rewarded for that.

The Governing Board gave Superintendent Frank Narducci a new three-year contract at its May 10 meeting that makes him among the highest paid school superintendents in the state.

Narducci still had a year left on his first contract that would have paid him a base salary of $215,000. The new deal pays him an annual salary of $250,000. That contract begins July 1 and expires June 30, 2026.

Salaries of superintendents are not readily available for every district in Arizona. However, among the seven largest districts, only Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat earns a higher base salary at $268,636.

All five members of the Chandler Unified Governing Board were asked by this newspaper in an email why they chose to give Narducci a new deal now.

Only one responded, saying the reporter should ask the others.

“Arizona law allows Governing Boards to renegotiate contracts with superintendents within 15 months before the expiration of the current contract,” the district said in a statement.

recent state Auditor General’s report on school districts. It scored better than statewide averages and peer-district averages in all three state assessment tests (math, English language arts, and science).

CUSD students earn tens of millions of dollars in scholarships each year and are recognized both statewide and nationally.

The district also exceeds the state average in teacher pay. However, CUSD ranks 41st overall in teacher pay in Arizona, and 17th among Maricopa County school districts. CUSD’s average teacher salary is $63,584.

Many with higher teacher pay are much smaller and in very rural communities. Among East Valley districts, Chandler Unified ranks third in teacher salaries, behind Tempe Union High School and Mesa Public Schools.

The Auditor General’s report also noted that CUSD ranks below both state and peer averages for administration costs. CUSD spends $801 per student on its administration. The state average is $1,088 and the peer average is $921.

Peer average is how the district ranks among others that are about the same size. Chandler Unified is the second largest in Arizona, behind Mesa. Tucson Unified is third, about 100 fewer students than Chandler. Tucson spends $1,026 per student for its administration. TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo earns a base salary of $230,000.

in his first contract. He gets a slight increase in the new deal to $900 a month.

The district also must contribute $16,200 per year to an annuity for Narducci’s retirement. That’s the same amount it was in last year’s deal.

He’s getting an increase from $9,000 to $10,000 for his administrative stipend. Many of the other benefits that Narducci received in his first contract are the same in his new deal.

The district pays up to $5,000 for his professional membership fees and professional development programs. He gets up to $5,000 of his cost interacting with the community reimbursed. And the district pays for a $500,000 a year life insurance policy. If you add the base salary, annuity payment, and administrative stipend, Narducci will earn $276,200 a year. CUSD has about 42,000 students.

Mesa Public Schools has about 64,000 students. Its superintendent, Dr. Andi Fourlis, has a lower base pay but higher annuity than Narducci. She does not, however, receive an administrative stipend. Her total compensation package (salary, annuity, stipend) totals $262,680. She is also eligible for performance-based pay of more than $18,000 per year.

Governing Board member Kurt Rohrs moved during the meeting to have Narducci finish out his first contract before starting at the higher rate, but keep the expiration date the same so that the superintendent would get only two years at the An

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“This allows for continuity of leadership which typically promotes stability of a district and student success.”

Chandler Unified fared well in the most

COUNCIL from page 3

with, but it also is a no vote for the items I believe we all do agree with. Public safety, fire, police, ambulance services, transportation, acquiring new water resources, etc.”

Wheatley said local governments are unique in that each line item in the budget will come before town council to be discussed separately, so members can vote on ones they oppose.

Councilman Bryan McClure said, “A lot of work has been put into this. It started a long time ago. No budget is perfect, but we have put something together that is for the betterment of the community and I am in full support.”

The budget also includes a recommen-

There are other perks that come with being a school district superintendent.

Narducci also gets an auto allowance to cover his expenses. It was $850 per month

dation to lower the primary property tax rate from $1.83 to $1.72 per $100 of assessed value.

Last November, Council approved a policy that freezes the primary property tax for existing taxpayers for five years. The primary property tax rate will be voted on at the June 7 council meeting.

Council also approved forming a collaboration with the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce to coordinate a community alliance of nonprofits, businesses, faithbased organizations and schools.

The alliance would work to create a community events calendar, a community resource guide and promote partnerships.

“In Queen Creek, tenets like these are important to sustain the sense of community and to make each leader, organization

and the town as a whole that much stronger,” said the Volunteer Coordinator Kim Nishihara.

“By combining resources via the partnership, the goal is to generate traction within the alliance so that work for the community is conducted year-round and participants are able to share information, resources and ideas,” town documents said.

Council also approved the final plat for Phase 2 of the Ellsworth Ranch development, giving the go ahead for a 127-lot single-family residential subdivision situated on approximately 65.2 acres at the northwest corner of Ellsworth and Chandler Heights roads.

The total number of lots proposed for Ellsworth Ranch at buildout of both planned phases is 452 lots. 

POPULATION from page 1

ing those with 50,000 or more residents. And a deeper dive finds that Coolidge, fueled by new factories and economic development, outpaces both Queen Creek and Maricopa with a one-year population change equaling 11.9%.

The new report also finds that about one out of four Arizona communities actually lost population. The biggest loser was Douglas, which shed 4.6% of its residents, dropping the city below 16,000 – essentially back to where it was at the turn of the century.

Much of what is in the new national report is no surprise. The fastest growing communities tend to be on the edge of existing cities.

And most of them are in the south or west and, like Queen Creek and Maricopa, on the edges of major urban areas. Georgetown, Texas, is considered by the Census Bureau as having grown the fastest by percentage in the past year at 14.4%. It is about an hour outside of Austin. No. 2 Santa Cruz, California, at 12.5%, benefits from its location south of San Jose and the Silicon Valley.

Much of the same proves true in Arizona.

Decades ago it was communities like Glendale and Mesa that grew by leaps and bounds. These communities rapidly filled up.

At the same time, additional freeways were built, widened and extended. And that promoted living farther out as it cut down commute times for those who need to travel into the main city for work to acceptable levels.

Queen Creek is a key example.

Not only did the state – much of it with county tax dollars – complete the Loop 202 freeway into the Southeast Valley, it now is building and extending what had been a one-mile stretch of State Route 24 from the 202 into Pinal County.

And that’s just the beginning: The new budget signed earlier this month by Gov. Katie Hobbs gives Queen Creek $87.5 million to further extend SR 24, including a traffic interchange at Ironwood Road.

Even with the freeway still not complete, Queen Creek managed to add another 4,416 residents in the year ending July 1, 2022. And that computes out to a nearly 6.7% increase.

Other communities in and beyond the fringes of the Phoenix Metro area also racked up strong year-over-year popu-

lation increases including 4.6% for Casa Grande, 3.8% for Goodyear and nearly as much for adjacent Buckeye.

Wickenburg and Surprise also managed growth in excess of 3 percent.

Coolidge also qualifies as being on the fringes of Phoenix. But its growth has been aided by lots of new economic development.

And there’s more to come.

Last November, for example, Procter & Gamble announced a $500 million investment in a manufacturing facility. And the community has available land to accommodate both industry and residential.

The pattern of growth on the edges of urban areas repeats itself around Tucson, though to a much lesser extent.

Marana added another 1,290 residents in the one-year period, bringing population up to 55,962 according to the Census Bureau. But that was enough to post a growth rate of something less than 2.4%.

After Douglas, the other community posting the largest population loss was Florence. But that is highly affected by the number of inmates at state-run facilities there which has been declining over the past few years. 

higher salary.

Arizona law limits school districts to offering superintendents no more than a three-year contract.

Board Member Barb Mozdzen rejected amending her motion to approve Narducci’s contract. Since there was no second to Rohrs’ motion, it was not voted on or accepted.

Other than that motion, the Governing Board had little to say on why they were awarding Narducci a new contract or offer any thoughts on his performance during the public meeting. 

‘Crazy’ returns to Valley’s housing market

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor

High mortgage rates are discouraging homeowners from selling and fueling a growing lack of homes for sale in the Valley, a leading analyst recently warned.

And that likely will fuel a price increase for those houses that are up for sale, according to the Cromford Report, which analyzes in the housing market in Maricopa and Pinal counties.

“With only 12,500 active listings without a contract,” it said, “we are once again approaching a dire shortage of homes for sale.”

“Even a modest increase in demand is likely to force prices higher and quickly recover the ground lost over the past 12 months,” it said. “The median sales price is down almost 9% compared to a year ago, but has recovered nearly 4% over the last three months.”

The Cromford Report said anxious buyers face a likely return of bidding wars

already in Chandler, Glendale, Fountain Hills, Phoenix, Gilbert and Avondale. Those are cities where the Cromford Report’s analysis shows the market has tipped by more than 2-1 in favor of sellers.

Indeed, Cromford Report said last week that a Realtor reported, “Some of the crazy is coming back.”

“I recently wrote an offer $25,000 over list and my clients were beaten out by other of-

fers ‘with more attractive terms’ on a home that needed flooring and paint throughout, new AC units and had evidence of water intrusion around the windows and roof leaks,” the Realtor wrote. “This was in the 85248 zip code in Chandler.”

“She added, ‘I also had another agent saying how she didn’t want the insanity to start again, but would we waive inspections to beat the competing offer. Another

home needing significant work. We also came in over list on that offer. Clean, no concessions, no home warranty.’”

The Cromford Report warned, “With sellers receiving multiple offers there will be fewer of them feeling pressure to be generous with concessions or agreeing to buy down the buyer’s mortgage rate.

“Many buyers will be surprised to find they have much less leverage than they expected in this so called ‘weak market,’” it continued. “Buyers’ agents will have to do a lot of explaining to get them to understand the true nature of today’s market, especially if they have been watching YouTube videos by inexperienced and alarmist commentators. These are often so far removed from reality that they rival the flat-earth proponents.

“There are many crazies on YouTube that seem to get far more views and subscribers than the sensible commentators. If you need an effective antidote to the crazy stuff, I can recommend Jon Schwartz’s YouTube

Professional

Dental

Tooth

Oral

This 4,462-square-foot house on E. Stacey Road in Queen Creek recently sold for $2.4 million.

With five bedrooms and 5 ½ bathrooms, the two-story home, built in 2015, is in Pegasus and located along the runway. It includes a hangar and a number of amenities. (Special to the Tribune)

MARKET from page 6

channel. He only has just over 3,000 subscribers, but he should be commended for dealing in balanced facts and realism.”

Looking at total sales in April, the Cromford Report found they were down 28% from April 2022 and down 12.3% from March 2023. That translates in whole numbers into a drop from 10,141 in April 2022 to 6,662 last month and down from 8,935 this past March.

The median sales price last month was $425,000 versus $466,000 in April 2022, it said, but it crept up by 1.2% over the arch 2023 median of $419,000.

Taking a broader view, the Cromford Report said so far this year, only 33,506 homes have been listed for sale as opposed to 42,048 in the same four-month period of last year.

“To be down more than 20% from the prior year is very unusual and the flow of new listings is too low to compensate for the listings going under contract,” it said.

“This means the active listing count has been in decline for over six months now and is still trending down at a steep angle.”

“A year ago, the market was weakening fast, but pricing was approaching its peak of $306.46 per square foot,” the Cromford Report said. “And closings were still running high, fueled by the unwise purchasing frenzy of institutional investors and iBuyers.

“The slump that followed in the second half of 2022 is now well behind us and the market is displaying increasing resilience despite interest rates that are far higher than during most of the last 10 years.”

Listings under contract in April recorded an 11.6% month-to-month increase, the Cromford Report noted, calling that “one of the largest month-to-month increases that we have ever seen for this time of year.”

“The net result is that demand is now growing again, while supply is falling even faster than before,” it warned.

“This is good news for sellers, but most home owners are still uninterested in selling, deterred by the large increase in mortgage interest rate that would incur.”

Meanwhile, it said builders apparently are having a renewed confidence as the “newhome market remains robust with most publicly listed home builders in an optimistic mood, supported by their stock prices hitting new highs in the last few days.”

The National Association of Home Builders last week echoed that observa-

tion, reporting, “Limited existing inventory, which has put a renewed emphasis on new construction, resulted in a solid gain for builder confidence in May even as the industry continues to face several challenges, including building material supply chain disruptions and tightening credit conditions for construction loans.”

Some of the most aggressive improvements in sellers’ markets have occurred in Paradise Valley and Tempe, the Cromford Report said, basing that on a number of factors it uses to analyze the condition of Valley submarkets.

“Not far behind are Buckeye, Cave Creek, Glendale, Avondale and Queen Creek,” it added. “Improvements for sellers are relatively modest in Surprise, Chandler and Scottsdale.”

All of this means that some buyers may have to cast a distant eye for more affordable homes, according to the Cromford Report said.

“To find a location that is still strongly favorable to buyers, we need to look at the secondary cities,” it said, pointing primarily to Casa Grande, which it called “the weakest market in Central Arizona.”

Overall, the Cromford Report said, while “the media have been full of stories for the last six months about the shortage of home buyers,” news organizations “have devoted very little coverage to the shortage of home sellers over the same period, which is in fact far more extreme and is having a bigger effect on the market.”

During most of 2022, it said, “we had plenty of sellers because those who saw their properties as investments were keen to avoid the risk of a major drop in value.

“Those were joined by the iBuyers who realized too late that they had purchased far too many homes for the market conditions since April. This caused a short-term stampede for the exits.”

Conditions began to reverse course in November, the Cromford Report added, “we now have a real problem getting enough homes listed.”

It also advised homeowners: “If your home has an existing mortgage, the odds are high that it has a much lower interest rate than anything available today.

“So unless you really have to move, it makes more financial sense to stay put and avoid redeeming that bargain mortgage only to replace it with a much more expensive one.

“Many are choosing to upgrade or expand their home … instead.” 

Student Choice. Student Voice.

QC salon wins top honor among 1,900 sites

BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer

When old college buddies Val Hill and Jared Lee took their first official road trip as new business partners almost 20 years ago, they were more than a little bit surprised by what they found when they arrived.

“Val and I were expecting to roll up to the corporate office and see a three-story, glass office building in an office park,” Lee said. “Instead, we rolled up to a little, 2,000-square-foot stone house in Georgetown, Texas with sign out in front of it that said “Sport Clips World Headquarters.”

The two had just plunked down $150,000 to buy their first Sport Clips location in Gilbert, a sports-themed hair salon with lockers and mock scoreboards on the walls and lots of televisions tuned to various sporting events.

Lee, a Gilbert resident who is building a new home in Queen Creek, and Hill had traveled to Sport Clips’ HQ to get the lay of the land, figure out how to become successful franchise owners.

The pair had been talking about quitting their day jobs and becoming franchise entrepreneurs since their college days.

After looking at various business opportunities, which included developing land, fast food operations and other things, Hill approached Lee with an idea that was a bit out of left field.

“He had to do a little bit of cajoling, but he convinced me to go check it out,” Lee continued.

“It was different than other places guys at the time could go to get haircuts …because you weren’t sitting next to somebody reading Redbook or Family Circle

magazine,” Lee chuckled.

“They had sports on TV and it’s kind of a guy’s place and we were impressed with the concept. It was a place where a guy could go and get a little bit of pampering.”

In addition, Sport Clips is perhaps best known for the hot towel service at the end of the haircut.

From taking a chance on that first location, the old college buddies have grown their business into a chain of 65 stores across the western United States. They own 37 of the 45 Sport Clips locations in the Valley.

The location at the corner of Queen Creek and Ellsworth roads, where Jasmine Stefaniuk is the manager, just won the company’s most prestigious national award. It beat out over 1,900 Sport Clips loca-

tions across the country.

“It’s called the Logan Trophy and it’s named after our founder Gordon Logan,” Hill said. “Basically, it recognizes the store of the year. It’s kind of the pinnacle of achievement for Sport Clips at the store level.

“A lot of the credit goes to Jasmine. She did a great job of guiding and managing that store since its opening in 2020,” he added.

The award is based on total sales, the total number of customers who visit the location, sales growth, customer growth, the number of retail products sold, such as hair products and accessories, and the percentage of upgraded services the location sells.

The competition is stiff. There are almost 1,900 Sport Clips locations nation-

wide and the Queen Creek store claimed what Hill called the company’s most prestigious honor.

“We love our customers in Queen Creek, Hill said. “It has been an awesome city for us. The clients have always been fantastic for us. They have supported us.

“I would say Queen Creek is kind of the heart and soul of the locations in the Phoenix area honestly. Our best stores are located in Queen Creek.”

There are currently three locations in Queen Creek, including the award winner, and there is a fourth on the way at Riggs and Ellsworth roads.

Hill and Lee met and became friends in business school at Brigham Young University in Utah and went to work at Intel – Hill as a contract and procurement specialist and Lee as a software engineer.

Operating the Sport Clips franchises turned into a full-time job for Hill and Lee in 2014. Because the stores are locally owned and operated, their clients are supporting a local business – which the pair says is sometimes not what people think about when patronizing national chains.

Having done their homework, which started with that road trip to Texas, the pair started the venture with realistic expectations.

“We went into it with our eyes open. It takes some patience and persistence,” Hill said. “A lot of times peoples’ expectations are ‘I’m going to be profitable in 6 months.’ And for many businesses that’s not realistic.”

“And so, you need to be able to have some staying power and some persistence. You need to be able to do all the

Celebrating the award given to the Queen Creek Sport Clips franchise are, from left, co-owner Val Hill, Area Manager Nikki Best, store Manager Jasmine Stefaniuk, and co-owner Jared Lee. (Courtesy of SportClips)

little things. There are very few businesses where there is one magic silver bullet that’s going to take you from zero to hero,” Lee explained.

Hill added that most successful franchises require owners to consistently deliver on 15 or 20 different elements of the business at a high level. He credits attention to detail, perseverance and patience for their success.

“You bust your butt to drive clients in the store, hire people, train them to provide a great service and you just kind of keep at it,” Hill said. “We did not make money in this for the first five years that we owned our business.

“You have to have tempered expectations. I would say you need to plan on losing money for about a year before you build up your client base to the point of making money.”

He said many people have the impression that investing in a franchise is like playing the lottery: you spend money and hope for the best, which he said is the wrong way to approach it.

“They kind of look at it like buying a stock. I’m just going to plunk some money in here and then look in the paper every day and see what the price is,” Lee said.

“This is more of a hands-on, actively involved kind of business. Those franchisees who choose to kind of sit back and just let things happen are the ones that in the end kind of wind up being disappointed with the results.”

The pair say hiring and retaining quality staff is the biggest challenge.

But they have countered by offering

higher benefits, including health insurance, a retirement plan and paid time off –which is often difficult for small businesses and franchises, especially in the early days of operation.

“A stylist can work for us and get every benefit they can if they work for Intel or Wells Fargo,” Hill said. “We’ve been able to make this a place where people that are passionate about the hair industry can come and have a career, not just a job.”

To set themselves apart, Hill and Lee have also adopted a service mission for their Sport Clips locations: giving their clients a “20-minute vacation” when they come for a haircut.

“If you’re going for your big job interview, you’re going to meet your girlfriend’s parents, you’re going to graduation, you’re going to get a haircut before that,” Hill said. “

That puts our team members in a great position to be able to have a positive impact on people and make people feel good about themselves.”

Lee pointed out a few occasions on which stylists have noticed abnormal skin lesions on their clients’ necks and encouraged them to visit the dermatologist. In at least one instance, the customer was treated for stage 3 melanoma.

“I want to thank my stylist,” Lee recalls one customer saying, “because they essentially saved my life.” 

WARNING!

PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

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 anti-depressants 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 and numbness.

As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves 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 “BandAid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.

Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brand new facility that sheds 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.

(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-ofthe-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. This ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results:

1. Increases blood flow

2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves

3. Improves brain-based pain

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

It’s completely painless!

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

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

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 them 95% nerve damage, there is hope!

Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:

1. Finding the underlying cause

2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage

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 May 31st, 2023. Call (480) 2743157 to make an appointment.

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New casino breaks the ‘dungeony’ look

BY KEN SAIN Tribune Staff Writer

Most casinos are designed in a similar fashion: There are no windows, it’s dark, you won’t see a clock anywhere.

It’s a design that Arizona casinos copied from Las Vegas and Atlantic City, all designed to keep folks in their seats gambling.

The new Santan Mountain Casino opening next month near South Chandler is breaking the mold. The fourth Gila River Indian Community casino is scheduled to hold its grand opening on June 30.

“We’re really trying to forward-think on what we feel like the environment that the guest will enjoy,” said Blake Katsnelson, the general manager of the new casino at the corner of Gilbert Road and Hunt Highway.

“There’s a dark style that the older casinos have, almost dungeony. We try to pull that out and give it a bright, vibrant, airy feeling.”

Katsnelson gave a tour of the new casino to media and other guests on May 17. It was the first look for the public.

Visitors will be able to see windows from many areas of the casino. Katsnelson said it’s a first for Arizona and a new concept nationally.

He said the owner decided to go this route out of a belief that casino clientele will change over the years.

“We all know that the traditional gambler is probably now a 50-plus female,” he said. “We’re trying to plan ahead and think about the new generations that are coming.

“What we found is that the newer generations that are coming, the Millennials, Gen Z’s and even the ones after that – they don’t like that feeling. They like to be open, they like to be new and exciting.”

Santan Mountain Casino has many of the additional features found in other gambling venues around the state, including its own restaurant (Honey & Vine), a sports book and a high-limit betting area. It also has two outdoor gardens for anyone looking to get away from the casino for a moment or two.

There is also a large banquet and/or

conference room, which Katsnelson said is the only space like it available for rent for miles around.

The functional indoor space is about 6,000 square feet. It’s also attached to one of the garden areas. Total space is 14,000 square feet.

Katsnelson said the property was designed with weddings in mind, saying there is really no place else to go in the South Chandler area where a couple could

hold a large wedding.

In that vision, the couple could get married on the patio, then have the reception in the banquet room. The banquet room can be divided by two walls into three distinctive spaces for smaller events.

The City of Chandler is installing a traffic light at the corner of Gilbert and Hunt Highway to help ease flow caused by the new casino. However, city officials say they don’t expect the casino to have too

big an impact on area traffic.

“The expectation though, as far as the traffic studies that I’ve seen, is it’s not going to overwhelm the system down there,” said Jason Crampton, the city’s senior transportation planner. “It’s going to add a few thousand trips, probably, but it’s not going to crush the load of arterial streets down there.”

Katsnelson suggested visitors avoid Gilbert Road and get there by traveling on Hunt Highway instead. Crampton said the city will be monitoring the uptick in traffic.

There may be a soft opening of the casino before the official grand opening at the end of June.

Katsnelson said that depends on when the city completes putting up the light. He said the owners don’t want to open if visitors will have to navigate a four-way stop sign at that intersection.

The sports book is the largest in the state at 7,000 square feet, Katsnelson said. The casino has 810 slot machines, 15 blackjack tables, two craps tables and three roulette tables.

In keeping with its bright theme, Katsnelson said they have the only white roulette wheel in the United States.

In addition to the restaurant, there is also a small food court with three options, pizza and Italian, American and Asian foods.

The casino will employ about 700 people and has a total of 150,000 square feet on the 160-acre property.

Katsnelson said one of the main objectives of Santan Mountain is to give residents who live near by a much-needed entertainment option.

“Our main focus is the houses and the rooftops that are here, giving them something to do,” he said. “Within a 15-mile radius, there’s not anything really out there except for downtown Gilbert. There’s really nothing from an entertainment standpoint. So that was our goal when we chose this location.” 

Santan Mountain Casino

13620 E. Hunt Highway Grand opening: June 30

Blake Katsnelson is the general manager of Gila River Resorts and Casinos’ newest location, Santan Mountain Casino, just south of Chandler. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

Gila River Resorts and Casinos’ newest location, Santan Mountain Casino, just south of Chandler, is awash in bright welcoming color. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

E. Valley teacher leads historic summer camp

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

St. Joseph’s Youth Camp has hit some difficult times ahead of this year’s summer camp season and a Mesa Public Schools teacher is trying to get it over the hurdle.

Named for its pioneering leader, Joe Schmidt, the non-denominational camp 23 miles southeast of Flagstaff has provided more than 20,000 Valley youth ages 7-17 with week-long overnight camps “to get outdoors, learn from nature, and have fun” since 1949.

This year, from June 11 through July 8, the camp will host four weeklong overnight camps for youth to enjoy a variety of quintessential outdoor activities such as horseback riding, kayaking, hiking, archery, shelter building, astronomy and telescope nights, skit night, and songs around a campfire.

As Crismon Elementary School teacher Sarah Amos enters her sixth year as St. Joe’s camp director, she said the nonprofit has had trouble fulfilling its mission.

“We’re having a hard time getting counselors in the last couple of years,” Amos said. “And I don’t know why that is.”

In the late 80s, Amos said she visited the camp as a child and now has watched some traditions go by the wayside – like fishing in nearby Mormon Lake, which has dried up to a small meadow in recent years – while new traditions like “Flagstaff Extreme” have become popular.

From June 11-17, “Teen Week” hosts youth age 13-15 who embark on the Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course, a highrope course with zip lines and nets to crawl over among other various obstacles “a couple hundred feet off the ground.”

From June 18-24, “Catholic Week” honors the camp’s Catholic roots. Kids of only the Catholic faith reconnect with nature

and their faith.

The last two weeks, from June 25-July 1 and July 2-8, are pen to all youth age 7-12 take part in the outdoor activities and traditions.

Despite cancelling the summer 2020 because of the pandemic, Amos said that it was “extremely difficult” to come back the following year but the camp survived.

“We were in COVID protocol still –we no longer follow those procedures –but we were safe and we were able to fill our camps that year,” Amos said.

Since then, Amos said, the camp has boosted its enrollment from a maximum 80 to approximately 88 campers. She said the camp limits enrollment to keep a

camper-to-counselor ratio of 4-1.

Along with an onsite nurse available 24/7, the camp boasts new cabins that allow for more campers.

For more than 20 years, Amos said she made many visits and memories while her grandfather worked as the facility manager for a time and her grandmother worked as the cook until their retirement in 2006.

“It’s like my second home that I get to do during the summer,” Amos said.

Before it became a youth camp, St. Joe’s operated as a Civilian Conservation Corps relief camp for unemployed, unmarried men that operated from 1933 to 1942.

As their most time-honored tradition, the camp prides itself on a pipeline mov-

ing kids from camper to volunteer counselor to paid staff to ensure the camp values and other camp traditions remain strong through the years.

“They understand the value of camp, and it means something to them more than just coming to camp for a weekend and just going home after that week,” Amos said.

For $225, a mandatory counselor training week from June 4-10 is open to teens ages 15-17 for a plethora of life skills including CPR and first aid training, fire safety training, and various workshops on leadership, childcare and child safety. In return, teens receive 94 community service hours per week.

Amos said those life skills still don’t seem to entice teenagers enough to return to the camp as volunteers.

While the camp has filled all 40 of its female counselor positions, it remains short of its goal to have 30 male counselors with only nine signed up.

Amos said she’d like to fill the counselor spots before June 4.

If the camp doesn’t fill those spots, Amos said she’s considered asking the currently registered counselors if they can commit to more weeks throughout the summer.

“Our staff will also have to pick up some of the slack that the lack of male counselors will have,” Amos said. “Overall, the campers will not be impacted. Their experience will be exceptional and they will come away with a love for St. Joe’s.”

Starting at $850, campers leave on a chartered bus on Sunday afternoon from Ahwatukee and receive food and lodging, an “SJYC Shirt” and regular camp videos and pictures posted to the camp’s social media, with return the following Saturday.

For information on becoming a counselor or a camper: admin@SJYCAZ.com, SJYCAZ.com or 480-449-0848. 

Crismon Elementary School teacher Sarah Amos has a summer job as director of St. Joseph’s Youth Camp near Flagstaff. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

Robert (Bob) Bowen DeVane

Robert (Bob) Bowen DeVane was born in Roanoke Rapids, NC on May 13, 1942. He grew up in Norfolk, VA, where he apprenticed to be a newspaper printer. He served in the Air Force from 1960-1964 in the Field Maintenance Squadron as an Administrative Specialist at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. He then moved to Phoenix where he worked

as a printer for the AZ Republic Newspaper for more than 30 years. He served as an adult Bible Study teacher for more than 50 years and in The Turkey Club, a social group for retired men.

Bob is survived by his wife, Camille DeVane (Carlock), 5 children: John DeVane (Jennifer), Steve DeVane (Peggy), Laura Meehan (Charles), Travis Munson (Tracie), Lisa Crews (Tim); 11 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren who were by his side at home when he died on May 9, 2023.

His funeral service will be on Monday, May 15, at 6 pm at Royal View Baptist Church, 201 Elliot Rd., Gilbert, AZ, 85234.

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Area stone supplier overcame rocky road

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

Lane Cook never expected to work in the construction field but he’s built a reputable business brickby-brick for the last 20 years.

The Westwood High alum is the owner and president of Visionmakers International stone supplier with showrooms in Mesa, Scottsdale and Utah.

For 20 years, Cook has specialized in custom stonework for new and remodeled custom home builds that imports sought-after stone from “every continent except Australia and Antarctica,” along with other architectural products such as steel/iron, wood, lighting fixtures and vents.

“If I worked in a cubicle at some company and just typed in X’s and O’s, you don’t see the direct result of that down the line,” Cook said. “But here I can drive by all over the Valley and see lasting things that we’ve done to help people beautify their house.”

Having overcome a global financial crisis and pandemic, he also is marking eight years in remission from a battle with a disease that involved five different chemotherapy treatments – a battle Cook credits his wife and four kids for his motivation to live and succeed.

“They were my motivation to try to fight what I had to fight to survive,” Cook said.

After earning a master of business administration in international business degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Cook spent a decade working for several firms, living between U.S. and Mexico before his last stop in Guadalajara, Mexico.

For a decade, Cook worked in various fields including the trucking and logistics industry building a network of exporters that worked for major companies like Walmart, Target and J.C. Penney, pulling various orders of textiles, furniture and leather goods.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror-

ist attacks, Cook said, many businesses chose to cut costs and move many of their operations to China. At the same time, a relative asked Cook for some help with a project at his 8,000-square-foot home built in Gold Canyon.

“I knew nothing about stone but I just kind of started walking, flooring the field and asking around,” Cook said.

That logistics network came to roost when Cook needed it most and he said he found a Cantera stone – a volcanic rock from Mexico and Central America known for its properties that allow detailed cutting and carving – that “looks great still.”

“I said ‘okay, this could be a good business,” Cook said. “I just took the dive when I moved back.”

Since then, Cook has built custom home projects for some of top earners throughout the Valley – such as baseball players, football players and a couple of politicians – that includes work on a 3,500-square-foot guest home and a man-

sion that’s now selling for $26.5 million.

But his favorite projects come from a higher calling.

Over the last seven years, Cook has developed good working relationship with the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and has worked on several chapels throughout the Valley.

With computer-assisted design software, Visionmakers turns 400-pound pieces of marble and stone into the highly carved marble altars, arches and pillars with craftsmanship reminiscent of St. Peter’s Basilica.

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Cook said he enjoys working on all houses of worship because the art withstands the years and inspires spirituality.

“You’re doing something that lasts and you’re doing something that helps people feel closer to God and so, it’s more than just money and just pumping out a house but there’s something lasting there,” Cook said.

A customer’s dream for doorways, lighting fixture, or fireplaces starts similarly with a design by an architect or interior designer who takes it to Visionmakers to add details via AutoCAD software.

Visionmakers also takes measurements to ensure a snug fit of the curvature, length and linear footage of the product.

Due to labor shortages, the manufacturing of its products takes place at a factory in Mexico that Cook has worked with for over 20 years.

In 2007, Cook initially received a diagnosis of follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a type of slow-growing blood cancer that affects white blood cells. Though his first bout with the disease went rather smoothly, it returned two years later with a vengeance.

“I was in danger of losing the company, losing my life, losing everything,” Cook said.

He also got help from his nephew Court Zulauf, who had just graduated from college.

After a crash course in the business, Zulauf and the “skeleton crew” kept business from hitting rock bottom while Cook left for treatment.

“He did a really good job and it’s just a team effort with good employees that kind of kept us going at that point,” Cook said. That was around 2010-2011, when revenues went down 70% during the Great Recession.

He endured a two-year period paying four employees out of his own savings simply to retain them.

Cook saw light at the end of the tunnel when many of his competitors shut down or downsized to one-man operations, and by 2012 he started rebounding.

In that same time, Cook went a couple more rounds with the disease, and after the fourth bout, doctors informed Cook that a stem cell transplant was the last option to beat the disease.

Lane Cook, owner of president of of Visionmakers International, started his business early this century after discovering stone while helping a relative with a home improvement project. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

STONE from page 15

With his eldest brother as a donor, Cook wasn’t out of the wood just yet.

A small risk of severe side effects worse than death still existed and he had a 1420% chance of not making it past the first year. But he fell into the 25% of patients that beat the disease and has enjoyed a good quality of life.

“I’ve been blessed personally because the odds were not good that I was going to survive this,” Cook said. “So, I was really blessed.”

A year after the transplant surgery, Cook said 2016 marked a ramping up for business and the beginning of “the wildest ride in the world.”

The current economy has strained business and Cook said it derives from one part “antiquated and dysfunctional” immigration policy and one part “American culture.”

“None of us tell our kids ‘hey, go be a stonemason, go be a drywaller,” Cook said. “They’re all like ‘you need to go to college, you need to go work at GoDaddy, you need to go work at a solar place or something.’”

With not very many construction workers under the age of 30, Cook said the solution could easily come from the south, if not for a “frozen border” and worker programs that prioritize nurses

and temp workers over construction.

“There’s been so much construction that there’s just not enough people to fill it,” Cook said. “And so, the big struggles that we’re having is trying to keep up with our commitments.”

Through the struggles and investing so many of his “healthy years” into the business, Lane Cook feels it’s a part of him now. He has enjoyed building friendships among his customers and “a little family” of 30 employees.

“There’s a lot of hard work that’s not so fun, but there’s a lot of good that comes from it,” Cook said. “When you finish a job well done, it just feeds me. I love it.”

While his wife of 31 years and his four kids have made some sacrifices with his 60-hour work week, Cook added:

“They were my motivation to try to fight what I had to fight to survive. They’ve been able to balance and live in rhythm with my schedule a lot and they’ve just been awesome.” 

If You Go...

Visionmakers International 1850 North Higley Road, Mesa. 480-218-1500 15125 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale. 480-991-1252 visionmakersintl.com

Full-scale stonework pieces fill Visionmakers International’s Mesa warehouse. (David Minton/ Tribune Staff Photographer)

Durham Report carries no consequences for offenders

BY JD JHAYWORTH Tribune Columnist

You first heard it while watching courtroom dramas on television. Perhaps at some point in your own life, you raised your right hand and affirmed these familiar words yourself.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Sadly, today’s cultural conviction is that truth is relative, personal rather than universal.

It is as if veracity is a tailor-made vest, form-fitting for you, but not exactly the fashion or fit for your neighbor, who is

free to determine his own truth…and pay a tailor to design his own “veracity vest.”

If these misguided notions were given voice, the “new” oath would sound similar to this sort of psychobabble: “If it is in keeping with your ‘personal truth,’ rest assured that half-truths, quartertruths, and even untruths are permissible, so agree and feel free to play God.”

How else to explain the outrageous case now under review in the “courtroom of public opinion?”

It is the recently completed exercise that documented wrongdoing but made no demand for accountability. The “Durham Report” confirmed the worst suspicions of American conservatives.

But instead of a real-life “Crime and Punishment,” our tax dollars and four

years of investigative diligence brought us a variation which can only be described as “Crime and No Consequences.”

Then again, longtime DOJ Attorney John Durham was handed this mandate by Trump-appointed Attorney General Bill Barr, as Barr was headed out the door to take his place among old-line Republican “institutionalists.”

This GOP “Old Guard” seeks to salvage governmental organizations steeped in ethical rot, saving its collective rage instead for vociferous criticism of a fellow Republican, who served as our 45th President and hopes to return as the 47th.

Since the goal was institutional “inoculation,” Durham followed Barr’s desired prescription. “Lady Justice” now stands enshrouded by double blindfolds,

stripped of both her scales and her sword. Perhaps she should seek bedrest, and have a private nurse read her the complete account, officially titled “Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns.”

Among its findings, the 316-page report revealed that in August 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan personally briefed President Obama and Vice President Biden that his agency had evidence of Hillary Clinton planning to falsely link Donald Trump to Russia. Shortly thereafter, Brennan also briefed Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey.

see HAYWORTH page 18

Partnerships crucial for Valley’s water supply

BY TODD SANDERS AND LESLIE METERS AFN Guest Writers

Many Valley residents have noticed water flowing in the normally dry Salt River as snow from this active winter continues to melt.

As the state continues to grapple with the Colorado River shortages and a drought that has persisted for decades, this winter has been a huge relief for SRP’s reservoir system, which provides water to about 2.5 million Valley residents.

Because of the productive storms experienced this winter and the subsequent runoff, SRP reservoirs on the Verde and Salt Rivers have reached or will soon reach full capacity. Full reservoirs provide three years of water supply for SRP customers.

In March, SRP began releasing water from its dams into the normally dry Salt River, which runs from the East Valley through Tempe Town Lake and into the West Valley.

SRP’s flood operations prioritize the

safety of infrastructure, as well as the protection of human health and safety.

While the company strives to maximize the amount of water stored in its six reservoirs, SRP manages its releases to ensure that the reservoir system can safely manage the anticipated runoff expected to enter the reservoirs this spring.

SRP has been actively pursuing infrastructure alternatives to address sedimentation, supply, storage, and reliability on the Verde River, and 2023 has reinforced the need to increase storage capacity.

A group of 23 partners, including agricultural, municipal, and tribal organizations, have committed to work with the Bureau of Reclamation on a feasibility analysis of options to modify Bartlett Dam to increase its capacity to store and more efficiently manage water resources provided by the Verde River.

SRP is also working with the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate options to extend the release period for water in the Roosevelt Dam flood control space.

This would allow SRP and its partners

more time during the runoff season to put the water to beneficial use or store it underground for later use rather than releasing it into the Salt River bed.

The Valley has a diverse supply of water that is unlike any other community in the Southwest. These resources include surface water from our lakes and rivers, groundwater, renewable water supplies stored underground in basins for future pumping, water from the Colorado River delivered into the Central Arizona Project canal, and reclaimed wastewater.

Unlike the Colorado River system, which is facing severe shortages due to the drought and a structural deficit where annual demand exceeds annual runoff, the Salt and Verde reservoir systems are nearly in balance, where annual demand is close to the annual supply.

As Arizona monitors the water shortage on the Colorado River carefully, and as we recognize what our state has planned for short-term shortages through innovations such as the Arizona Water Banking Authority, we must continue investing in infrastructure that supports the long-

term vitality of our economy.

Continued state budget allocations for our water infrastructure, including additional storage capacity and delivery systems in preparation for a more variable climate, are critical to a sustainable future for Arizona.

Innovative partnerships combined with a continued focus on flexible and adaptable operations will set up our communities for future success.

Now is the time for businesses to come together with a renewed focus on the conservation efforts of Arizona’s water resources.

These joint efforts will help secure the continued prosperity of the Valley and State. SRP and the Greater Phoenix Chamber encourage the business community to engage in discussions about the State’s water supply, how it impacts our economy, and how we can support and encourage innovative water policies.

Leslie Meyers is Salt River Project associate general manager and chief water resources executive; Todd Sanders is Greater Phoenix Chamber CEO. 

HAYWORTH

from page 17

The FBI leadership subsequently went “all in” on abusing the FISA Court process to investigate the Trump Campaign for charges of collusion with Russia— charges that from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Justice Department to CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia— knew to be false.

Donald Trump’s subsequent election upset of Clinton also upset these leftist leaders, and prompted fears of their own possible legal exposure. So, they aggressively continued the charade and amped up the deception, finding willing accomplices among House and Senate Democrats intent on derailing the Trump Presidency.

Other findings in the report confirming conservative suspicions: evidence of double standards for Trump and Clinton; the fact that the Clinton campaign’s opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, went to the media before the FBI; and that subsequent press accounts, prompted by those leaks on behalf of Clinton, had the desired effect of widely distributing false information,

to Trump’s detriment.

But despite providing these details, Durham also made clear there would be no new charges –therefore, no adverse consequences for Hillary, Comey, or Brennan.

Moreover, the Durham Report recommended no new policy reforms for the FBI or DOJ.

Of course, Durham’s focus was 2016. But the events of 2020 demonstrate that the FBI and DOJ remain “ethically challenged,” and portend similar peril for 2024.

Yet another challenge still remains, revealed in a legal hearing long ago. It came from a Roman governor, contemptuous that a lowly carpenter had been described as a king. That carpenter, imbued with divine and perfect wisdom, frustrated the Roman further by agreeing with the governor’s description.

“You say that I am a king. For this I was born…to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

“What is truth?”

Pilate’s question, though snide, has a simple answer…and it’s not “relative.” 

Casteel captures first 5A baseball championship

BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor

Casteel found itself in a peculiar situation heading into the fourth inning of the 5A state championship game Tuesday against Catalina Foothills.

The Falcons started hot, scoring five runs in the second to answer Casteel’s two in the opening frame. Even when the Colts answered with two of their own in the third, Catalina Foothills matched it to open up a 7-4 lead.

Then, Casteel’s bats came alive.

An eight-run fourth inning gave the Colts momentum and a big lead. They never relinquished it, even with a lightning delay, and cruised to a 15-8 win to capture their first-ever baseball state title.

“It got away from us in a hurry, and we just kept grinding,” Casteel coach Matt Denny said. “It’s been our mentality. We talk about it daily. Just ‘never give up’ baseball. It really didn’t feel like we were

Casteel captured its first baseball state championship Tuesday night at Tempe Diablo Stadium, beating Catalina Foothills 15-8 behind the arm of senior pitcher Nick Dale. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)

chasing runs.

“These guys, all year long, this is an incredible season with come-from-be-

hind wins.”

Casteel got off to a quick start in the first inning, plating two runs on a two-

RBI single by Tyler Hatch. The Colts maintained the lead through the rest of the first inning and was held scoreless in the top of the second.

Then, Catalina Foothills’ bats caught fire.

Troy Sanders knocked in two runs off Casteel junior Mason Russell. That was followed up by five straight walks that scored two more for the Falcons.

The inning ended after yet another walk with the bases loaded. Casteel answered with two runs in the third, but Catalina Foothills countered.

Casteel junior Kade Thompson said even while facing a deficit, the Colts never lost their heads. He said they prepared all season to play from behind, something they had to do at times throughout the gauntlet of a schedule that saw them face multiple out-of-state teams in tournaments.

“We’ve basically trained all year to fight when we’re down,” Thompson said.

see CASTEEL page 20

Flag football teams look ahead after final club championship

BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor

Rae Black was confident her team could make the necessary plays to come back from a 10-7 deficit with 10 minutes to play Tuesday, May 9 at Hamilton High School.

Black’s Casteel girls’ flag football team was in position to either tie or get the goahead score against the Huskies in the state championship game. The Colts offense remained poised and moved methodically down the field. Senior quarterback Cameron Anderson then found Megan Jones for the touchdown.

An interception by Kaitlin Churan and field goal by Anderson put Casteel up a touchdown with 2 minutes to play. The Colts got the final stop and began to celebrate their championship win.

“It feels really good,” Black said. “Last

year, we didn’t score on Hamilton at all. Until this year. We assessed what we were doing, watched a lot of film. Came back,

scored, won the game.”

It was a hard-fought battle between the two teams, who also matched up last year

for the championship game. That, however, was just a district title among Chandler Unified schools.

This year’s championship meant a bit more. It was the first time girls’ flag football had a playoff bracket that featured schools from across the Valley. Xavier, Mountain Pointe, Tolleson and Gilbert were all represented, among others.

But in the end, it came down once again to Anderson facing Hamilton quarterback CC Maccagnano for the title. Two of the best quarterbacks in the state that have a supporting cast around them to make the two programs powerhouses in the sport’s infancy.

“It felt amazing because I don’t think they’ve lost in a couple of years,” Anderson said. “It took a lot of team building.”

The state championship game was un-

Casteel senior quarterback Cameron Anderson led the Colts to a state championship win in the sport’s final season as a club. She has been one of the pioneers for flag football becoming a sanctioned sport under the AIA guidance. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)

“There’s nothing more you can ask for with this team.”

Casteel went through its entire batting order in the fourth. Nearly every player got on base.

Junior Kyler Anderson drove in a run on a single. Shortly after, Thompson did the same.

A blooper to center field from senior Crew Price plated another run, while a ground rule double on a routine fly ball that got away from the outfielder by junior Tyler Russell brought in two more.

By the time the fourth inning was over, Casteel sent 14 batters to the plate and recorded eight runs to take over the game.

“I was just going up there, I saw my boy (Kyler Anderson) got a triple … I was just thinking live low,” Thompson said. “The wind was blowing hard, live low. Try to get a line drive to the right side and it ended up being a double. It felt great.”

Lightning in the area resulted in an hour delay of the game in the middle of the fourth inning. But it didn’t stop Casteel’s momentum.

Casteel’s ace and earned the opportunity during the off-season. He went 5-0 on the year with a 2.51 ERA heading into the final.

Now, he’s a champion.

“It’s amazing,” Dale said. “As soon as I got cut, I wanted to prove people wrong. That’s what I did.”

Casteel’s bats didn’t let up in the sixth as the Colts plated three more runs to put the game out of reach.

They finished with 19 hits in the title game, a mark Denny was surprised by considering the circumstances. But in his mind, it’s a testament to the mindset of the Colts all season.

They weren’t going to be the flashy team with on-field antics. They were simply going to play baseball.

Doing so ended in their first-ever championship as a program.

Senior Nick Dale was dealing on the mound, allowing only one run from the fourth inning on. He entered the game in relief after one and a third innings, taking over for Russell after he struggled with his control giving up the five Catalina Foothills runs.

FLAG

from page 19

like others in the past due to the tournament format. Beyond that, it will also be the last of its kind.

This spring was the final season girls’ flag football is being played as a club sport. In just three or so months, teams will take the field again to compete in the first-ever season sanctioned by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

With that comes divisions, a bigger state tournament and a true championship format run by the governing body of high school sports. Flag football was fast tracked by the AIA because of its rapid growth over the last two years. Black and Hamilton coach Matt Stone, along with others, have been at the forefront of the movement to make the sport official under the AIA. Their efforts allowed it to skip “emerging” status, which typically allows the AIA a year to observe and get a feel for the level of interest from member schools. But that wasn’t necessary.

In the first season beginning in August, more than 55 schools from across the state are expected to field flag football teams. The AIA has already announced two separate divisions because of the number of

As a sophomore, Dale was cut from the

Casteel coach Rae Black has worked alongside other coaches, including Hamilton’s Matt Stone, to lobby for girls’ flag football to become sanctioned. Now, to see it come to fruition, is validating. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)

participating schools.

The growth has been unprecedented.

“Without these past two years in the spring and the 15 years before that, every game led us to what is going to be an explosion next year,” Stone said. “Nobody understands how big this is going to be. It took Florida 17 years to split into two divi-

Casteel baseball program. Denny said a lack of work ethic played a role. Instead of transferring, Dale stuck it out. He worked tirelessly heading into his junior year and pitched on junior varsity during that time.

As a senior, he wanted to become

sions and they’re the number one state for flag football.”

Getting flag football to become a sanctioned sport has been a goal of Stone’s since he started coaching at the high school level 15 years ago. He still recalls some of the games he was involved in and players he met along the way.

Some, he said, he has reconnected with at local gyms. Striking up a conversation with them led to him being told teammates still gather once a year to discuss flag football.

A former player of his established flag football at the University of Alabama. Others plan to do it at Arizona State. Those girls, just like those playing now, are pioneers for the sport. Trailblazers.

They’ve helped grow it into what it has become today. Anderson, as a senior, said it’s a special accomplishment.

“I’m excited to see where this sport takes off,” Anderson said. “Just getting a lot of people out here and a lot of the younger kids … I know my younger cousin is excited. She is going to be a freshman next year. I’m excited to see where it goes.”

There have been some concerns with flag football starting in the fall rather than the spring, most notably with field space

“They’ve already defined themselves this season,” Denny said. “In this day and age it’s really easy to be the cool guy, not run balls out and that’s just something I challenged them before the year. We’re not going to run the bases soft, we’re going to be hard-nosed.

“Can’t wait to tell them we’re not cool guys but we are state champs.” 

as it will coincide with tackle football. Some have suggested a move to the spring, but taking away players from softball and track would cause issues. Though, the same could be said for volleyball in the fall, too.

Nonetheless, Black said the support has only grown for flag football at Casteel and around the state. Other coaches on campus have praised her for her efforts. Members of the tackle football team have even helped coach. The same goes for Hamilton.

“People bought in right away,” Black said. “There has been love and positivity from head coaches of football teams I don’t even know. I anticipate having the same love and respect. Everybody wants their sports to be good. Varsity football coaches want their girls’ team to be good.”

The flag season will kick off in the fall. Teams will play 14 games over the course of eight weeks. The playoffs will be held at the same time as the tackle football tournament.

Stone said while the growth has already been impressive, this is just a small glimpse at what is to come for the sport. And that brings a new level of excitement.

“The AIA is getting a fully formed, functional sport that is going to blow away audiences and the girls that play,” Stone said. 

Casteel’s championship came after an hour-long lightning delay due to weather in the area. That didn’t stop the Colts from getting 19 hits in the game. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)

Restaurant Week a last hurrah before summer

BY ALEX GALLAGHER GetOut Arts Editor

For 15 years, foodies in the Valley and beyond have been feasting on three-course meals at some of the state’s finest eating establishments during Arizona Restaurant Week.

The spring edition, which began Friday, May 19, runs through Sunday, May 28.

This year, 160 restaurants from across the Valley, Flagstaff and Tucson have concocted special menu items, donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of gift cards and are preparing for one of the busiest weeks of the year.

“It’s one of the best times of the year here in the spring,” said Arizona Restaurant Association President/CEO Steve Chucri. “It’s a great 10-day eating affair for a very good value.”

To participate in restaurant week, restaurants had a small set of rules to adhere to.  Each had to offer a three-course meal for $33, $44 or $55 and give away gift cards randomly to diners.

Though the rules are simple, the week culminates months of preparation and some of the most creatively chaotic days of the year for executive chefs like Christopher George, who oversees the menus at Arizona Restaurant Week returners Sea & Smoke Mesquite Seafood Grill and CHoP

Chandler: Black Angus Steakhouse, CHoP, Cuisine & Wine Bistro, Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, San Tan Brewing Co., Sea & Smoke Mesquite Seafood Grill, Spirit House Cocktails & Kitchen, The Keg Steakhouse + Bar, The Sicilian Butcher, Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill and Z’Tejas.

Gilbert: Culinary Dropout, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Isabel’s Amor: Mexican Cafe & Tequila Bar, Kona Grill, The Keg Steakhouse, Liberty Market, Thirsty Lion Gastropub &

Baseline Road and Val Vista Drive. (Facebook)

in Chandler as well as The Living Room in Scottsdale’s DC Ranch neighborhood.

“We fell into the $44 price point so for the first time, (The Living Room) will have a three-course meal,” George said.

George believes that offering a threecourse meal for the first time there will change the diners’ perception of The Living Room.

“We’re known for sandwiches, Bang Bang Shrimp and potstickers up there so this is a cool time for us to show our guests at The Living Room that we can do more with our entrees,” George said.

For other restaurants – like Maggiore Group’s Sicilian Butcher, The Mexicano

and the Italian Daughter – Restaurant Week offers a last hurrah before the slower season.

“It gives us that last push before summer,” said Maggiore Group co-founder Joey Maggiore, adding that the Arizona Restaurant Association “does it at the right time.

“We’re going out of season so it really helps restaurants help us get everything ready for the season,” he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Chucri.

“As we get to Mother’s Day, we really see a drop off in the restaurant industry because people are going out of state for summer and obviously the summer

Participating restaurants around the East Valley are:

Grill and Zinburger.

Mesa: Black Angus Steakhouse, Charleston’s Restaurant, Dolce Vita Gelato and Grocery, Rodizio Grill and The Patio and Grille at Las Sendas.

Scottsdale: Ajo Al’s Mexican Cafe, Arboleda, Arrivederci Pinnacle Peak, B&B Cocktail Lounge, Bandolero Cocina de México, Blanco Cocina + Cantina, Buck & Rider - North Scottsdale, Campo Italian Bistro & Bar, Chart House, Chauncey Social, CIELO at Adero Scottsdale, Citizen Public House, Cobre Kitchen + Cocktails,

Collins Bros. Chophouse, Culinary Dropout, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, Famous 48, Farm and Craft Scottsdale, Federal American Grill, Fire at Will, Fratelli La Bufala, Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, Hand Cut Chophouse.

Also, Hush Public House, Kona Grill, La Locanda Ristorante Italiano, Ling & Louies Asian Bar and Grill, Ling’s Wok Shop, Mowry & Cotton, OBON Sushi Bar Ramen, Pasta Brioni, Paul Martin’s American Grill, Prado, Preston’s Steakhouse, Pubblico Italian Eatery, RnR Gastropub,

months are slower months for the restaurant industry here in Arizona,” Chucri said.

“So we try to bookended by giving a good shot in the arm to restaurants with a high frequency of visitors coming in with Restaurant Week as they go into summer.”

Since this is the last big hoorah for restaurants before tourism season returns, most restaurateurs are ensuring that their employees have their ducks in a row to provide top-notch service.

“We see about a 60% to 70% increase in sales,” Maggiore said. “It brings awareness to all the restaurants since you can go to these amazing restaurants in town for $33 per person or $44 and you’re not hurting the bank. But then you get to try things that you wouldn’t normally try.

“We tell the staff ‘these are new customers, treat them as you would treat your family, win them over, make them come back and make good money while you’re at it because people come in, they understand they’re getting a deal.”

Because of this, Chucri hopes that diners can find their next regular destination during Arizona Restaurant Week.

“Our hope is that when they find a new restaurant they will fall in love. This is an opportunity to do so at a fraction of the cost,” Chucri said.

Info: Arizonarestaurantweek.com. 

Roaring Fork, Rockefeller, Second Story Restaurant & Liquor Bar, STK Steakhouse.

Other Scottsdale participants are Tapas Papa Frita, Tash, Taaza Bistro Mediterranean Fusion, The Canal Club, The Capital Grille, The Italian Daughter, The Living Room - DC Ranch, The Mexicano, The Phoenician Taverna, The White Chocolate Grill, Thompson105, Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar, Wallys American Gastropub, Weft & Warp Art Bar & Kitchen, Z’Tejas and Zinburger. 

Among the Mesa participants in Arizona Restaurant Week is Rodizio Grill Brazilian Steakhouse at the Dana Park shopping center at

My momma’s chicken cacciatore recipe should be named “Bliss in a Skillet.”

As a little Italian girl growing up, I just thought that it was one of those dishes that everyone ate at least once a week -- just like we did -with polenta or pasta.

I also assumed that all chicken cacciatore pretty much tasted the same.

With JAN D’ATRI GetOut Columnist

For ‘bliss in the skillet,’ try this

cacciatore

But many years later, having tasted chicken cacciatore in numerous restaurants, I’m going to finally go on the record and say that momma’s is the best. You’re going to get to try it for yourself and see if you agree.

Momma’s cacciatore is simple, inexpensive, uses only one pan and the flavors are absolutely divine. It’s about as close to a fool-proof dish as you can get with the recipe I’m sharing with you today. Momma’s Chicken Cacciatore was one of the first recipes we included in our first cookbook, “Momma & Me & You,”and through the years we’ve tweaked it just a bit to make it even better.

Here’s what momma wrote in our cookbook:

“Almost every Italian restaurant has chicken cacciatore on the menu, and there are as many versions of the dish as there are places that serve it. Although it’s a Southern Italian specialty, it has been adopted as a treasure throughout Italy.

“When I introduced cacciatore on my restaurant menu back in 1957, our customer’s fell in love with the very first delicate bite! It became one of our most popular signature dishes for the celebrity crowd and locals alike.”

I find that good quality, fresh chicken enhances the taste – and that chicken thighs and legs seem to be the most flavorful. Flavor-filled bones make all the difference. Pick up a nice bottle of wine, some good sour dough bread and enjoy one of my momma’s mainstay Italian meals. 

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds chicken pieces, skinless (legs and thighs)

• 1 cup flour for dredging

• ½ cup olive oil

• 1 cup Marsala wine

• ½ cube butter, cut into pieces

• 1 (8oz) can tomato sauce (Organic preferred)

• 2 cups white mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

Wash chicken and pat dry. Dredge chicken in flour to coat. In a deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil, and fry chicken on both sides until golden brown. Discard most of oil, leaving brown bits in bottom of pan if possible. Add Marsala and butter, and simmer on low

• 1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped fine

• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

• 3 green onions, (white and green parts) sliced thin

• 2 teaspoons fresh parsley

• ½ teaspoon fresh oregano

• 1 tablespoon fresh basil

• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

heat until wine begins to evaporate, about 2-3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, mushrooms, onion, garlic, green onions, parsley, oregano and basil. Cover and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta or polenta. .