BY MARK MORAN Tribune Sta Writer
The potential demise of the half-cent sales tax for Maricopa County transportation projects could cost Queen Creek millions of dollars for its plans to reduce road congestion.
“It is incredibly disappointing that we have been unable to get this item before the vot-
Queen Creek residents might not recognize the name Greg Davis, but he has shaped the town’s development perhaps more than any other politician, policy maker or planner.
He owns a consulting rm called iPlan and lls a unique niche in developing the town’s future. He has been at it largely under the radar to most people for two decades, developing an insider’s knowledge of what will work in Queen Creek and what won’t.
see IPLAN page 6
ers,” said Queen Creek Mayor Julia Wheatley, adding:.
“Given that we are a young community, one of the fastest growing across the country, we have a lot of transportation needs and transportation continues to be one of Queen Creek’s top priorities.”
e tax expires at the end of next year unless voters extend it for another 20 years before then, killing a revenue stream that would
up
have generated $20 billion over the next two decades.
Gov. Katie Hobbs last week vetoed the bill passed by Republican legislators that would have put the extension on the ballot in November.
e legislation, approved in party-line votes, would have prohibited the sales tax dollars
Ethan Delatte and her mom, Lily Delatte, of Queen Creek have published a children’s space adventure book that they were selling at an event at Mesa Public Library recently. To learn more about the book and the co-authors, see page 14. (Srianthi Perera/Tribune Contributor)
from being used in Maricopa County to expand a light-rail line to the state Capitol, which was criticized by Republican lawmakers as a waste.
They wanted to put more money into freeway projects and devore fewer dollars into public transit than Hobbs had sought.
Queen Creek Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman had been a leading proponent of eliminating public transit from the tax all together, noting only three cities have the light rail system.
The bill also would have raised the speed limit on the freeway system in Maricopa County to 65 mph.
“I’m dedicated to continuing Arizona’s economic growth, building and attracting businesses, and creating good-paying jobs for Arizona workers,” the governor said in a statement. “This partisan bill does none of those things.”
Wheatley said even if that measure had passed, it varied from a plan that was approved by MAG, the region’s 32 mayors, county supervisors, and tribal leaders.
“As a result, the benefits to Queen Creek, and other communities, would be required to be renegotiated,” she said.
The interchanges with the rest of SR 24, represented by the dotted line, would be jeopardized by the loss of the half-cent Maricopa County transportation tax. (MAG)
“The town remains committed to working with our local and regional partners on transportation – exploring all possible alternatives, including a legislative solution, that allows voters to consider the MAG approved plan,” the mayor added
Chief among the major losses would be nearly $150 million to offset the costs
of extending State Route 24 from Maricopa County into Pinal County.
Also gone would be money for connecting several of Queen Creek’s major arterial roadways to SR 24, a key freeway that plays into the town’s future to attract businesses, reduce traffic congestion and ease the commute for residents.
“The MAG approved plan in- cludes direct benefits to Queen Creek with $148 million to complete the State Route 24 in Maricopa County and extend it into Pinal County with full interchanges planned at Signal Butte and Meridian,” Wheatley said.
That connectivity and the access it provides to other area freeways has been
a cornerstone of the future town’s own transportation plan.
SR24 “will provide another option for vehicles to access the US 60 and Loop 202 via future connections to Signal Butte and Ironwood roads, and provide access to the portion of the Superstition Vistas land within the Town Planning Area,” the town’s Master Plan states.
In addition to losing $148 million for SR 24 connectivity, Queen Creek could lose $156 million for its arterial surface street network, which Wheatley contends recognizes “the region’s investments in the Town’s rapid population growth allowing us to complete these improvements for residents faster.”
That list of arterial projects with the highest price tags includes widening:
• Hunt Highway between Power and to Ellsworth roads at a cost of $22.9 million;
• Sossaman Road between Ocotillo and Riggs roads for $14.4 million;
• Meridian Road between Germann Road and the SR 24 for $16.9 million;
• Power Road between Riggs Road and Hunt Highway for $9 million;
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The Queen Creek Public Works department is gearing up for monsoon season, which o cially started June 15 and runs through September.
A monsoon is de ned as large-scale wind shifts that transport moist tropical air to dry desert locations, such as in the southwestern United States, according to the National Weather Service.
Simply put, it brings more wind, rain, and unstable weather to Arizona and in Queen Creek, that requires the Public Works Department to be prepared for any severe storm that may damage roads or other infrastructure.
“Monsoon response is a collateral duty, meaning the crews respond in addition to their normal roles,” said Public Works Director Mohamed Youssef. “We work around the clock. ere is no such weekend for us. We can get called any time to respond to a storm.”
ere is more to reacting than just weathering the storm.
Youssef held a planning meeting with his sta to ensure there are enough sandbags available for the public, which can be obtained at Fire Station #2 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and prepare sandbags for road crews to use, if needed, and to take stock of the town’s resources.
“Crews go through their equipment … chainsaws and barricades … to ensure it is ready for storms,” Youssef said.
“We maintain about 1,800 catch basins; 15 miles of storm drain that we have to go ahead of the storm season right now and clean it up and make sure it is clear for water to run through it.”
Youssef noted that his crews also look after17 culverts and six bridges in the town boundaries.
“Believe it, or not, we have six bridges here in Queen Creek,” Youssef said.
He said the Public Works Department maintains a series of pumps to clear water when it rises under the bridges, and he singled out the area below the railroad crossing at Ellsworth and Rittenhouse roads.
“We have pumps to suck that water when it comes,” Youssef said. “We make sure the pumps are working and remotely we know if the pumps are working or not before the storm, and during the storm. So, we always monitor the pumps.”
e department maintains of 730 miles of roads in town, he added, all which can be impacted by storms.
“If you want to imagine how far that is, it’s like from Queen Creek to San Francisco,” Youssef said of the number of miles of paved road, and added that the town has made roadway and drainage improvements over the past few years, leading to fewer ooding incidents.
“ e Town monitors weather reports and places crews on standby if there are strong storms anticipated outside normal working hours,” he said. “If needed, crews are prepared to close ooded roadways.
“During storms, public safety personnel are often the rst on scene to block hazards or assist with tra c control. Following the storms, crews assist with removing debris from roadways and along the wash trails.”
Youssef said crews are prepared to block roads if hazardous conditions warrant, caused by fallen trees or other debris in the roadways, for instance, and are also prepared to respond in the event of storm-related power outages.
“If tra c signals are impacted at major intersections, public safety may assist with tra c control. SRP is typically able to reroute power in a timely manner,” Youssef said.
“If an extended power outage occurs, the town evaluates the need to open areas with air conditioning and deploy battery back-ups to signals at key intersections.”
Youssef added road closures, power outages and other critical information are communicated via the town’s Twitter account (@TownofQC).
e Public Works Department currently has 53 employees, and thanks to a budget increase in the town’s recently adopted $867.1 million spending plan, Youssef’s department will be hiring seven new people in the scal year that begins July 1.
The town o ered the following information and recommendations in a monsoon readiness press release: Dust storms. Move indoors and stay away from the windows. If driving, pull o the road and get as far to the right as possible and turn o the engine and headlights. Set the parking brake and keep your foot o the brake pedal. Flash floods. Avoid travel. Do not drive into flooded roadways or go around barricades. Do not allow children to play in flood waters. Not only can flood water pose potential health risks, six inches of fast moving water can knock over an adult.
Lightning. Lightning can strike several miles away from a storm. If you hear thunder, move inside or into a hardtop vehicle. If you are unable to get indoors, avoid water and metal as they are conductors of electricity. Stay clear of trees, power lines and telephone poles. Remain inside for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder.
Crews have started construction on a $21.6 million project that will widen Ocotillo Road to two lanes in each direction with turn lanes between Sossamon and Hawes roads, increasing traffic capacity and flow, according to the town.
“The CIP team is tasked with the implementation of the town’s infrastructure improvement plan as a part of the adopted Capital Improvement Program,” said Dave Lipinksi, the town’s Capital Improvements director.
“It is always exciting when we can break ground on the next project in the Infrastructure Improvement Plan, bringing us one step closer to completing that 10-year road map of transportation improvements.”
The project includes curbs, gutter, “sidewalk construction, drainage upgrades, bike lanes, traffic signal and street light installations,” town planning documents show.
Additional plans, they show, “include
half street improvements south along the east side of Sossaman Road about 1,000 feet and north along Hawes Road about 800 feet. A traffic signal will be installed at 196th Street.”
“Completing the whole street with five lanes in this area will accommodate development and facilitate further growth,” the town said.
The town is considering splitting the widening project into two phases to reduce traffic problems caused by other construc-
tion on Power Road and Chandler Heights roads that is on a similar schedule.
While road improvement projects might seem to take a long time to the typical driver frustrated by construction-related traffic snarls, the projects are no easy task.
Utility companies are continuing efforts to relocate their lines. For instance, Salt River Project is burying an 12kV electrical distribution line that is currently overhead and relocating a transmission pole.
The Queen Creek Irrigation District is
relocating a 30-inch main water line and a 15-inch pipe to accommodate the project, and Southwest gas is relocating and upgrading a 2-inch line to 6 inches.
Cox and Century Link are also doing work in the area.
To date, the town has spent just about $2 million to get construction started on the Ocotillo project.
“The Ocotillo Road project spanning from Hawes Road to Sossaman Road will increase roadway capacity and enhance east-west connectivity within the Town,” said Mohamed Youssef, Queen Creek Public Works Director.
“Furthermore, it will extend the widened section of Ocotillo Road beyond the project limits, effectively improving traffic circulation throughout the town with two lanes available in each direction.”
Other ongoing capital projects under construction include a $16 million improvement of Meridian Road from Queen Creek to Germann roads and an $11.8 million project to improve Meridian Road
“There aren’t a lot of people who do what I do,” Davis said. “You either have attorneys do it or sometimes an architect or an engineer will represent somebody.”
While not an attorney, his master’s degree in urban planning from Arizona State University enables him to cover pretty much all aspects of the project development process –from design through planning, and presenting information on behalf of developers at every town meeting along the way.
That includes seeking approval from Town Council.
He is so effective and respected that developers themselves rarely present their own project to the council, instead deferring to Davis to do it for them.
Like the Wizard of Oz, he is the man behind the curtain of many projects in town and no one sees him while it is happening.
“I’m pulling the strings,” he said. “I’m the one that’s kind of manipulating the information and the consultants and everything to make the final vision happen. Sometimes it’s successful, and sometimes can be a little more challenging.”
Challenging perhaps, but almost always successful. His name is on a majority of the high-profile, high-dollar projects. He points to the just approved Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center, a $16-million, family focused Agritainment venue on 11 acres at the northwest corner of 206th Street and Riggs Road.
It that faced potentially deal-killing challenges.
Some neighbors opposed the project, expressing concerns about a planned 80-foot-high ropes course, noise and traffic.
David said projects like that have the potential to “blow up” as emotions can run high. He said a lot of work goes into the front end to make sure people’s voices, especially those of opponents, are heard.
He shares their concerns. After all, he lives here, too.
“It’s just my knowledge of working with a town for so long. I know what land uses a town likes, which ones are more challenging. I also have a pretty good feel on how the neighbors feel about different types of land uses. So, I really kind of helped them cut through all those questions,” Davis said.
He learned about the importance of listening to residents early in his career.
As a young planner, Davis was part of a team that started a 600-acre master planned community on what was then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints farm in Queen Creek.
Circle G purchased the land with the intent to build what later became known as the Meridian Master Planned Community at the corner of Meridian and Ocotillo roads.
Davis said 14 illegal “wildcat” parcels went right through the middle of the property, and though the owners had no property rights, they were not about to move aside for Meridian and fought it as it was being built around them.
“And these are rural – horses, trailers –and the idea of building traditional subdivision homes on 5,000 or 7,000-squarefoot lots really, really scared them and bothered them,” Davis said.
Enter long-time Queen Creek Circle G Homes developer Gerald Ricke, from whom Davis may have learned one of his most important lessons about having honest and open communication not only with potential clients, but with the neighbors who will be affected by the projects.
He recalled the first of a dozen or so neighborhood meetings with the wildcatters, circa 2005.
“We had it at Serrano’s because it was among the only restaurants in Queen Creek,” Davis said. “The beginning of the meeting was very hostile ‘You’re bringing in crime! You’re bringing in traffic!’ Davis remembers the angry neighbors saying.
“But then Jerry Ricke opened the bar,” Davis continued. “And he started bring-
ing pitchers of beer and alcohol around. As you can imagine, by the end of the meeting everyone is hugging and singing Kumbaya and everyone supported the project.
“Circle G was old school,” Davis continued. “They were successful, because they are out there with the farmers. They weren’t corporate developers wearing suits. They were guys that worked with them, farmed along with them, and had the trust of the of the locals.”
The alcohol aside, Davis said he learned a lot from that meeting about hearing people out, meeting them where they are and making sure they have accurate information on which to base their decisions.
As part of the deal cut at Serrano’s that night, the 14 wildcatters wound up with a new subdivision north of the Meridian neighborhood which cleared the way for Ricke to develop the master planned neighborhood.
“So, they got a pretty good deal out of it at the end of the day,” Davis recalled. “It’s so unique because I don’t think we would ever be able to get away with that now. People get extreme so quickly it’s hard to build that bridge to get people on your side once they’ve dug their trench.”
Davis counts Meridian among his most successful Queen Creek projects, and adds the Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center, Harvest, Bella Vista Farms, and the Fulton Homes Barney Farms developments as other favorites.
“I really liked the master planned because I like feeling I’m impacting people’s lives,” Davis said. I like feeling that, you know, by manipulating the plans and moving parks around and making things
flow better from a land use perspective, we can enrich the quality of life that those residents will have.
“I think a lot of subdivisions that get built are all about how many lots can we fit. They’re about yield, and they’re not about quality of life.
“Both the Barney Family and Fulton are top shelf developers who care about the quality of their projects, not just for their future residents, but also for the community as a whole and that project represents projects that I believe in very well,” Davis added.
Davis admits to working as many as 80 hours a week, but he actually does have a rather exciting hobby in the off time that he carves out; it was kind of decided for him by his son.
“Every long weekend we get, we’ll go fly the Midwest, and we’ll chase storms,” Davis said.
“We just got back from a weeklong trip to Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. And we saw three tornadoes and lots of lightning and stayed in crappy hotels,” he chuckled.
Tyler will be headed to Tornado Alley to attend the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, the largest such program in the nation, in a region known for its devastating tornados.
Davis said he does not turn of the planning side of his brain during the tornado chasing trips, wondering aloud why planners have not done a better job of prepar-
OCOTILLO from page 5
from Combs Road to the existing roadway at Cherrywood Drive in Church Farms.
A highly anticipated $12 million project involves design and construction of Aldecoa Drive and Munoz Street between Ellsworth Loop Road and Ellsworth Road as part of the development of an entertainment area in Queen Creek’s Town Center.
“The street design will follow the adopted Town Center design standards and have on-street parking, off-street bicycle paths and walkways,” planning documents say.
“Raised crosswalks that will act as traffic-calming measures and allow the pedestrian to cross at level with the sidewalk and traditional crosswalks will be at intersections along with street furniture, knee walls, Town Center style streetlights and landscaping will build upon the nearby Ocotillo Road’s design look,” they continue, adding:
“Included in the design are water, sanitary sewer, storm water and drainage improvement components.”
Also under construction is a $4.4 million widening of about a quarter-mile of Signal
Butte Road from just south of Appleby Road to just south of Madera Drive.
“Improvements shall consist of adding two new southbound lanes and one multidirectional center turn lane, a new southbound bike lane, curb and gutter, 6’ wide sidewalk, street lighting, landscaping, pavement marking and signage and reconfiguration of a section of Town of Queen Creek (pathway for electrical wiring),” town documents said.
Projects that have been planned but are not yet underway include a $7.5 million widening of Power Road between Chandler Heights and Riggs roads, a $14 million project to expand Chandler Heights Road to two lanes from Sossaman to Hawes roads, and a $6.6 million project to improve traffic flow by adding a lane in each direction to Hawes Road between Rittenhouse Road and Jude Drive.
That last project will also include a center two-way left turn lane.
Queen Creek is also working with the City of Mesa and Maricopa County on the design for intersection improvements at Germann and Sossaman roads. Coordination is taking place with Union Pacific Railroad due to the proximity of the train tracks.
This chart shows a breakdown of costs spent so far and yet to come for the Ocotillo Road widening. (ClearGov)
from page 3
• Riggs Road between Signal Butte and Meridian roads for $10.9 million.
Arizona lawmakers are in recess until July 31, and there is no guarantee they will revive the measure when they reconvene.
“This is going to be the only bill that passes this session on extension of the
IPLAN from page 6
ing for severe weather.
tax,’’ Rep. David Livingston told Capitol News Service. “This is the only bill that voters will have a chance to vote on.’’
Hobbs called on lawmakers to come back and vote on what she called “a compromise that is supported by a bipartisan majority in both chambers, business and labor leaders, and Maricopa County cities.’’
“You look at it and say ‘why on earth when they know they have these little storms, why do they do these building technologies and construction techniques?’” Davis said. “It’s funny the lens you look at things with when you go travel.
“As a planner, it’s fun to see how other cities have designed, especially older ones, because the reasons they developed are so different than the reasons we developed today.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs joined a state lawmaker and the leader of a reproductive rights advocacy group Thursday to announce an effort to enact a law protecting the rights of all women to access contraceptives.
She followed up the next day with an executive order that takes away the abilioty of Arizona’s 16 elected county attorneys to prosecute medical professionals who perform abortions. That pwoer would go to the attorney general and incumbent Kris Mayes already has said she won’t prosecute abortion cases.
The governor said reproductive freedoms are at risk following last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old court decision that said abortion is a constitutional right.
Since the so-called Dobbs decision, laws blocking or limiting access to abortion that Roe had barred have been implemented in Arizona and a host of other Republican-led states.
“It didn’t take long for extremist politicians to turn this into a full-core attack on access to reproductive care, including contraception,’’ Hobbs said.
Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, said she would introduce legislation next year making access to contraception a right for all Arizonans.
“Enough, is enough,’’ Salman said. “We believe that contraception is central to a person’s privacy, health, well-being, dignity, liberty, equality, and ability to participate in social and economic life.’’
But getting the legislation through the Republican-controlled Legislature will be a heavy lift, and one GOP lawmaker pronounced Salman’s bill dead on arrival.
Rep. Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, said that while he has not seen the proposal, he believes Salman will include provisions that make it unpalatable for Republicans.
“All I’m doing is guessing based on who is introducing the bill what’s going to be in it, and it will be totally unsellable to a majority of the caucus and the majority of the Legislature,” Grantham said.
“You need 31 (House) votes and I per-
sonally don’t know one Republican who will support that bill if it’s the bill I think it is.’’
Salman said her proposal has not even been drafted.
Despite that, Grantham called the proposal unnecessary since contraception is protected by other Supreme Court rulings.
“Everybody’s got a right to contraception anyway,’’ he said.
Hobbs, Salman and others who spoke at the news conference highlighted Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the Dobbs case as a reason to be fearful that the right to contraception is also at risk.
Thomas pointed to cases that established the right to contraception, outlawed sodomy laws and legalized samesex marriage as decisions that hinged on privacy rights he believed are not in the Constitution.
And he specifically suggested that the full court “should reconsider’’ those decisions – including the 1965 ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut that concluded there is a right to privacy that prevents states from making the use of contraception by married couples illegal.
That part of his ruling spurred Democrats in the U.S. House to pass a law last year protecting contraception access across the nation, but it was blocked by Senate Republicans.
Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy, a powerful group that has pushed anti-abortion laws at the state Capitol for years, said Democrats are making much ado about nothing.
“The proposal appears to be a solution in search of a problem,’’ Herrod said.
“No one is talking about restricting contraception,’’ she continued. “No one is talking about making contraception illegal or leaving it up to the state Legislature to determine access. So it’s a non-issue.’’
Salman, however, pointed to a fetal “personhood’’ law pushed by Herrod’s group and enacted in 2021 as a concern. The law confers rights to unborn children and she said it could be used to ban certain forms of contraception in the state if higher courts overturn a federal judge’s
An annual report that measures the well-being of children showed slight improvement for Arizona kids, but the Grand Canyon state remained among the lowest-ranked states.
On a national level, fewer parents were economically secure, educational achievement was hit hard because of the aftereffects of the pandemic and more children died young than ever before, according to the 2023 Kids Count Data Book.
One of the biggest areas of concern in Arizona and the country was the lack of access to affordable child care.
Published last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the data book ranked Arizona 39th overall. Rankings were compiled from national and state child welfare statistics across four fac-
HOBBS from page 8
ruling that have so far blocked its implementation.
“Arizona is one of the states where birth control can just be under extreme legal jeopardy at the snap of a court (if) they lift that injunction,’’ Salman said.
Herrod called that “a far-fetched notion.’’
“The language in what we call the preemption clause that is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) currently, that is about unborn children in the womb,’’ she said. “I thought that the individuals today were talking about preventing pregnancy. That would be the point of contraception.’’
Both Hobbs and Salman acknowledged that politics and Democrats’ hope of getting voters to pass a separate constitutional amendment allowing abortion in the state and winning control of the Legislature are part of the reason they’re acting now.
Bre Thomas, CEO of Affirm, a nonprofit that coordinates federal contraception funds and advocates for making reproductive healthcare accessible, said back-
tors – family and community, economics, education and health. Last year, Arizona came in 44th.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private national philanthropic organization dedicated to bettering the lives of the nation’s youth who are at risk of poor educational, health and socioeconomic outcomes.
States’ rankings were grouped in four categories: best, better, worse and worst. Arizona ranked worse for economics, family and community, education and health.
“We fall into the worst category, again,” said Kelley Murphy, Children’s Action Alliance interim president and CEO. “The top headline for me is that any movement we’ve had has been minimal.”
The state ranked 32nd in health, 33rd in economic well-being, 40th in family and community and 45th in education.
Issues with child care seemed to be
ers of an abortion rights ballot initiative are doing polling and working to craft a ballot measure. They have not yet made any public announcement, she said.
“And you know, there’s a huge amount of resources that will be needed,’’ Thomas said in response to a question about the status of a potential ballot measure.
“We’re looking at $40 to $50 million,’’ she said. “And so that needs to be successful.’’
Hobbs said her agenda is to protect the rights and freedoms of Arizona residents.
“I think this legislation, (and) a ballot measure to protect abortion rights, is in line with that.’’ the governor said.
“That’s my focus,’’ Hobbs said. “And in an election year, voters will have the ability to reinforce that or not.’’
The governor also issued a warning to lawmakers should they pursue any new restrictions on what she called “access to basic reproductive healthcare.’’
“Legislators should know that any effort to take away our reproductive rights will quickly meet with my veto pen,’’ she said.
the overarching topic of concern. Murphy said shortcomings in Arizona’s child care system leave women, people of color and those on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale in jeopardy.
“The child care system is really in disarray and in crisis,” Murphy said. “The overall impact is that people who live in poverty are forced to stay in poverty because they have to quit jobs because it’s more expensive to put their child in child care.”
This year’s data book reported the national annual cost of center-based child care for toddlers at $10,883, or 31% of a single mother’s income and 11% of a married couple’s income.
Additionally, 16% of children’s families across the country suffered job changes due to child care problems.
“If they can find a job that pays them adequately then they are not eligible for services, but they don’t make enough money to actually pay the cost
of child care on its own,” Murphy said. “So it creates a cycle where we keep people in a situation where they can’t get ahead.”
Murphy said she expects more child care providers to close because extra funding during the pandemic is scheduled to run out in August.
During COVID-19, the state created a plan that increased access to child care through funding from the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
State agencies, the Governor’s Office, community partners and stakeholders know this issue is a cause for concern, Murphy said, adding that she believes a lack of access to child care will continue to worsen in the next year.
“There’s probably going to be some additional shifting,” she said. “We may lose some providers for whom it’s no longer feasible for them to stay in business, but we’re working diligently to try and prevent that.”
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Valley education and business leaders last week unveiled an “Everything to Gain” campaign, with a goal of helping to increase the number of Arizonans with college degrees or certificates by 2030.
If successful, they say, it could boost the state’s economy.
The campaign is the latest effort to help meet the state’s Achieve60AZ goal, which the Board of Regents and then-Gov. Doug Ducey announced in 2016. The initiative aims for 60% of Arizonans to have a posthigh school degree or certificate by 2030.
Currently, 48% of Arizonans have a degree or certificate, said Rich Nickel, president and CEO of Education Forward Arizona.
Advocacy group Education Forward Arizona, which launched Everything to Gain, advocates for expanding scholarship programs, augmenting pay for teachers and increasing dual enrollment plans that al-
low students to earn college credits while still in high school, among other actions.
“Increasing higher education enrollment by just 20% could lead to more than $5 billion in economic gains for Arizona each year,” Nickel said.
“That’s $5 billion, with a ‘b,’ for every high school graduating class that accomplishes that goal. But we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to reap these benefits.”
Steven Gonzales, chancellor of Maricopa Community College District, said he is concerned about the state’s degree attainment numbers.
“Just a few weeks ago, Arizona’s three public universities, community colleges, tribal colleges and private colleges and universities, awarded more than 80,000 two- and four-year college degrees and thousands of professional certificates,” Gonzales said.
“While those numbers sound impressive, they actually represent a level of stasis that is very concerning.”
Undergraduate enrollment at Arizona colleges and universities dropped an es-
timated 0.5% in spring 2023 compared to the previous year, according to a recent analysis by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
One big reason Arizonans aren’t seeking degrees is because of the cost of tuition.
At Arizona State University, the state’s largest university, in-state tuition costs roughly $12,000 per year for a bachelor’s degree, according to its website.
In April, the Board of Regents approved a 3% tuition increase over the next five years for Arizona’s three largest universities: ASU, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona.
Nickel blamed the state Legislature for high tuition.
“Unfortunately, in Arizona, because the state Legislature has really underfunded our universities over time, they’ve really been forced to make up that gap with tuition increases,” Nickel said.
Gonzales added that the fewer number of students earning degrees also has to do with underfunding from the state.
four and six times more hours per week than they did in the 1970s, just to be able to afford tuition fees,” Gonzales said.
“So that’s what demonstrates the lack of state investment. That dollar has to get passed on to someone and unfortunately, it’s passed on to the students.”
Regardless of the cost, Gonzales still advocates for Arizonans to pursue some kind of post-high school education.
“Folks have got to see this as an investment in themselves,” Gonzales said. “And I say to do whatever it takes for you to pursue some form of post-secondary education. I know there’s a lot of debate on whether students should take out student loans.
“That’s a last resort option for many students, sometimes an only resort option. But even that – it’s looking at it as an investment in yourself.”
Full-time workers, 22 to 27 years old, with bachelor’s degrees made a median yearly wage of $52,000 in 2021. Their
“Today’s students have to work between
GRAD page 11
Southeast Mesa residents regularly bemoan the lack of dining and entertainment options close to their neighborhoods, a state of affairs they say pushes them into Gilbert and Queen Creek in search of food and fun.
City officials have worried that in addition to impacting quality of life, the lack of hospitality amenities in the area results in a loss of sales tax revenue they could be capturing of Mesa residents.
How the city can encourage businesses to bring more destination retail and dining to Mesa has been a hot topic, with the city earmarking $100,000 in next year’s budget for a Quality Retail Attraction Initiative.
District 6 Councilman Scott Somers and other residents of southeast Mesa are putting some of their hopes for high-quality retail in a planned 273-acre airport-owned business park called Gateway East at Ells-
worth and State Route 24.
Last week the council signed off on a Planned Area Development zoning and development agreement with the airport’s development partner, Salt Lake Citybased Boyer.
Somers said this part of Mesa is “screaming” for community gathering spaces.
With Gateway East sitting close to Cadence and Eastmark, he believes it could help change the trajectory of southeast Mesa toward higher-quality hospitality.
High on Somers’ wish list for Gateway East is a large resort-style hotel that airport officials agree is needed and might stimulate more sit-down dining both in Gateway East and in the surrounding area beyond airport property.
Somers mused about the possibilities at Gateway East, envisioning a rooftop bar where guests could sip an alcoholic benerage while watching planes fly in and out
see GATEWAY page 12
counterparts with high school diplomas earned only $30,000 a year, according to a Pew Research Center studyin 2022. In 1990, bachelor’s degree holders in the
same age range earned $48,481 annually, while those with high school diplomas earned $35,257.
The Everything to Gain campaign primarily seeks to spread awareness of Arizona’s education efforts.
of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
Business jet company Gulfstream is building a $100 million maintenance facility next to the suture site of Gateway East, and company executives and clients would be prime customers for upscale amenities, Somers and airport officials said.
Ultimately, the council unanimously approved the proposed zoning guidelines and development agreement for Gateway East.
But it demanded assurances from executives with the airport and its development partner Boyer that Gateway East would deliver quality over the long haul.
If the business park ends up dominated by drab tilt-up concrete buildings with basic hotel brands and quick-service restaurants, “there will be a lot of disappointment in the neighborhood,” Somers said.
Airport President J. Brian O’Neill agreed that Gateway East was “extremely important to Mesa and the entire East Valley,” and said the airport and Boyer shared the city’s visions for a “world-class business park.”
O’Neill said the airport was confident its master developer, Boyer, would land quality, noting that the company was the unanimous choice of the selection committee considering 12 other developers.
Boyer describes itself on its website as one of the largest developers in the nation and a full-service development company and manager of office, retail, industrial, medical and other specialty property types.
Under a 40-year agreement, Boyer would oversee the buildout and leasing of Gateway East’s 273 acres in three phases.
The airport will continue to own the land, receiving ground lease payments from Boyer for developed properties and a 10% cut of revenue from tenant leases.
Boyer must meet benchmarks to maintain the right to develop the entire property.
The agreement gives Boyer flexibility to adapt the plan to market conditions, so the exact ratio of office, industrial, retail and hospitality could change over time.
An early master plan Boyer presented to the airport earmarked 43 acres, or 15%, of the park for retail and hospitality.
Airport officials say the project is import-
Planners envision an ipressive entryway to Gateway East, though what’s beyond that is still to be determined. (City of Mesa)
ant to the airport’s future because they plan to use revenue from Gateway East to eventually finance construction of a new passenger terminal on the east side of the airport, a long-term vision still many years off.
But Somers and Councilwoman Alicia Goforth expressed lingering anxiety that Gateway East could fail to achieve its vision and become a mediocre industrial park at a strategic intersection.
She asked city staff to do “everything legally possible to make sure that vision continues to be the vision during the entire process and doesn’t change.”
“I’ve only been on this (council) five months,” Goforth continued, “and I’ve seen (projects) switch. It’s a beautiful vision when you come to council, and years down the road, months down the road, ‘the market dictates a change’ is what we hear, and it’s frustrating.”
She told the Tribune that creating attractive destination for people to shop and eat is a vital interest for the city in today’s economy.
“Economic development really becomes about creating a city that you want to live in – because people can live all over
the place now,” Goforth said. “There’s a lot of remote work happening, hybrid work happening, and people are first picking their cities and then their jobs.”
And for companies looking to do business in Mesa, she points out, workforce is top of mind.
To reassure council members that the company would do its best to deliver tenants and quality architecture, Boyer partner Matt Jensen pointed to the company’s ability to self-finance building projects and its successful track record partnering with communities.
“We’re financially stable,” Jensen told council members. “We don’t build stuff just to sell it. We build it to hold it.”
Boyers’ ability to self-finance may already be working to the airport’s advantage.
The company is providing financing to Gateway East’s inaugural tenant: an office, research and manufacturing facility for high-tech HVAC company Xnrgy.
Boyer and airport officials view Xnrgy as a strong lead off hitter to set the tone for Gateway East and generate excitement for the project.
But as has often been the case when de-
velopers and city officials are pressed by residents about delivering specific types of development, the assurances from the airport came with the caveat that the developers are at the mercy of the market.
“I can’t promise you the Phoenician II in the East Valley, unfortunately,” O’Neill said, “but what I can promise you is that Boyer is working with the developer who has the large parcel across the street … to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the market.”
Gateway East sits across the street from land owned by Pacific Proving LLC, developer of the southern portion of the GMC Proving Grounds, and owner of the land beneath Legacy Park.
In the study session before the vote, City Manager Chris Brady tried to reassure council, endorsing Boyer as a strong partner, and telling council members that the city will have more hand in Gateway East than it would a purely private development. Each project will need to go through the PMGA Board of Directors, and the City of Mesa is “the most active, strong partner at the board. We have a huge influence on what happens at the airport.”
At age 7, Ethan Delatte is reaching for the stars.
With more than a casual interest in space, he plans to be an astronaut when he grows up. As a rst step, Ethan and his mom, Lily Delatte, have published a storybook about an adventure in space.
e Queen Creek residents were recently marketing “Just Call Me Jupiter: Astronaut Ethan Explores the Solar System” at a book sale for local authors in Mesa’s Red Mountain Public Library.
e Delattes’ 34-page, vividly illustrated book features Ethan, the astronaut journeying through space and visiting the various planets with his brothers Julian, 8, and Liam, 3.
“I planned it; I told my mom to make a book of space,” said Ethan, who at the book sale had decorated his table with space props and o ered coloring sheets and crayons to would-be customers.
He pointed to a red and white rocket on his table.
“Do you know where the bedroom is?” he asked as he demonstrated how to access the vertical bed via a door slot.
Mom said Ethan does not tire of watching educational videos on his iPad about space, planets, gravity, the moon and other related topics.
“Ethan had always loved space and planets from when he was old enough to speak,” said Lily. “He often discusses topics like gravity and dark matter with his uncle, who is also into astronomy and space.”
“It’s way above my head!” added the proud mom, a medical doctor practicing in Gilbert.
e book project began when Ethan was struggling with English Language Arts in rst grade at Riggs Elementary School in Gilbert.
He was good in math and science, but was challenged by reading and writing.
“We tried a few di erent approaches but found that reading and writing about his favorite subject, space, kept him engaged and learning,” Lily said.
“He and I decided to write a fun, silly story about him and his brothers on a space adventure to show Ethan how fun storytelling and using your imagination can be. As we brainstormed our idea, I would ask Ethan fun facts about the sun and each planet. He rattled o great points about each, which we added to the nal version of the book.”
Lily said she is not versed in space as much as her middle son.
“I would ask him to tell me something ‘cool’ about the sun and each planet. After fact-checking them, I learned they were correct and was so proud of his knowledge,” she recalled.
e story did not take long to write
initially, but they edited it a few times to ensure it was exactly the entertaining adventure Ethan wanted.
With illustrations by Sastra Noor and formatting help from Ethan’s dad, David, who is also a medical doctor, the family published the book on amazon.com in April.
e Delattes donated books to the Riggs Elementary library.
Desert Shores Pediatrics, where Ethan was a patient, bought copies of the book and displayed them in the waiting room.
An auction promotion on Goodreads has more than 2,100 entrants signed up to win one of two books.
With publicity help from his school, his pediatrician and some paid advertising, the book’s sales rocketed to more than 100 copies.
Proceeds from April’s book sales were
donated to SEEDS for Autism, which helps individuals in the spectrum nd ful lling careers.
Although the electronic devices such as computers, iPads and phones are constantly in use at their home, the Delattes encourage their boys to read paper books.
“Reading brings such a level of detail and imagination that videos cannot capture. I believe reading, creativity and storytelling are essential to human development and enjoyment,” Lily said. “My children are amazed when I tell them I didn’t have an iPad growing up.”
When Ethan held his own book for the rst time, “you could see the look of pure excitement on his face,” the mom said. “Seeing his story on the pages made it
AMesa woman has been named the local coordinator of International Cultural Exchange Services, which arranges exchange student visits.
Sheri Trimmer said she is excited about working with international high school students and the local families that host them.
She feels that the presence of exchange students in local schools and communities increases mutual understanding and improves relationships between countries.
“I am from Arizona and have lived here all my life,” Trimmer said. “When my kids were younger, I had always thought about hosting an exchange student.
“Life happened and I became a single mom, so I was never able to do that. I had some friends in high school that were exchange students, and I thought it was amazing that they were able to do that.”
In her capacity as a local coordinator, Trimmer will at least have a chance to meet international students.
“I love learning about new cultures and love getting to know people,” she said. She will be working with families and schools in Mesa and in surrounding areas.
Trimmer is currently looking for families that would like to host for the 2023-24 school year.
Exchange students live as a member of the host family – not a guest or boarder. ey participate in family activities, follow host family rules – and help with chores. Students have their own medical insur-
AUTHOR from page 14
real for him. His brothers are also excited because they are in the book, which interested them in the process.”
Since then, her other sons are keen to write their own stories, and they are currently working on the next “Just Call Me” book.
“Since my kiddos love science, which is my favorite subject, too, we have ideas for a series of science-based learning books in the near future,” she added. e Delattes couple moved to Arizona about eight years ago.
“We love it here,” she said. “We have
ance and spending money to cover all personal expenses.
Host families provide room and board and “loving parental guidance,” Trimmer said.
Trimmer will be responsible for answering questions, giving advice and providing general support to students and host families throughout the experience.
For more information about hosting or working with ICES: Sheri Trimmer at strimmer@icesusa.org.
ICES is a nonpro t dedicated “to promoting a peaceful world by increasing international awareness and understanding through cultural sharing experiences.”
been blessed with such a terri c community and it truly feels like home.”
With three little boys who have turned into avid readers, books are sought-after.
Ethan said he reads about one book a day.
“I go some days to the library and some days (I read) at school,” he said.
ey have a library at home, as well. How many books does it contain?
“A lot,” he said. “We don’t even know. We should count.”
Lily Delatte and Ethan Delatte’s large print chidren’s paperback, Just Call Me Jupiter, is available on amazon.com for $9.99.
• Your family will know your wishes
• The decisions will already be made
• You achieve peace of mind
• Funeral costs are clarified
People are nding homes for sale pretty scarce in Queen Creek, according to the leading analyst of the Valley’s housing market.
e Cromford Report recently charted available homes in the 85241 ZIP code, saying it aptly depicted the shockingly low inventory of sale homes throughout the Phoenix Metro region.
“It shows clearly the scale of the deterioration of the market during the second half of 2022 and also the large improvement we have seen in 2023,” the Cromford Report said, noting the chart is a goodnews, bad-news representation of today’s housing market.
e “improvement” it refers to “is from the perspective of sellers since they would bene t from low supply relative to the monthly sales rate,” it noted. “Buyers see things from the opposite perspective.”
“ e long-term normal supply is around three to ve months for a ZIP code like 85142,” the Cromford Report explained.
“As we dip below three months, things usually get tough for buyers and as we rise above ve months, things get di cult for sellers. We almost hit six months at the start of December and have lost nearly two thirds of that supply over the past 6 months. at is a big change folks!”
Cromford picked the Queen Creek ZIP code, which is about to be broken into two ZIP codes by the U.S. Postal Service, because “it is a BIG one, containing a much larger number of homes than average.
“ is means we get a lovely big sample size every time we measure it. To a statistician, sample size is of the utmost importance. Small samples lead to ugly charts and poor quality information. Large samples lead to beautiful charts and a clear picture of what is going on.”
e Cromford Report noted that “not all ZIP codes are as rewarding to measure as 85142.”
“Some are extremely small and the sample size sizes are so tiny, they are exasper-
ating,” it continued, citing 85003, 85004, 85034 “to name but a few.”
As a a daily analyst of the hills and valleys of the housing market, the Cromford Report often aims for ZIP code analyses but conce3ded it’s virtually impossible to do it for all posgtal zones in the Phoenix metropolitan region.
“If a ZIP code generates fewer than 50 sales per month, I advise you to treat all its statistics with due caution. Below 20 sales per month, then it is frustratingly poor at giving us reliable information,” it explained.
“ZIP codes are de ned by the US Postal Service to assist in the delivery of mail,” it lamented. “ ey do not give any consideration to statisticians when they de ne them and we should not expect their sympathy or cooperation. But we thank them for big beautiful ZIP codes, especially 85142 and 85383.”
Days after the Cromford Report posted the analysis of the Queen Creek ZIP code,
it acknowledged the then-new announcement that splits up 85142.
And it wasn’t all that sad about the change, stating, “ e area of Queen Creek and San Tan Valley has been a statistical nightmare for two decades, but with the latest change, we get a good opportunity to rationalize the (area) into two areas: Queen Creek (85142) and San Tan Valley (85140, 85143, 85144).”
Far less happy is the scene the Cromford Report painted for home buyers in Queen Creek or anywhere else within a 30 mile or so radius of Phoenix.
“ ose many people who started 2023 by predicting the housing market would crash have some serious ‘splainin’ to do,” it said.
“With supply and demand both dropping, volume is likely to be weak between June and September. It is currently a contest between sellers and buyers for who loses motivation fastest.”
And for anyone still believing that fore-
closures are about to ood the zone and quickly depress prices, Cromford had little more than contempt:
“If you are thinking of making a career out of buying at foreclosure auctions, then you are going to be twiddling your thumbs with very little to do,” it said. “I recommend you make di erent plans.”
It noted the most recently available foreeclosiure count in Maricopa County was 993 – well below the 50,537 in September 2009 when the market really was crashing.
Moreover, it noted, “ e average over the last 21 years is 10,156. Only a tiny fraction of pending foreclosures end up causing a real live trustee sale. e vast majority are cancelled. So if pending foreclosures are low, then actual trustee sales will be few and far between.
“Simple math tells us that even if pending foreclosures increased tenfold from today, they would still be below average. No foreclosure apocalypse is in sight.”
BY JD HAYWORTH Tribune Columnist
The Arizona State House can be found on West Washington Street in Phoenix, but political observers can be forgiven if they conclude that it is more accurately called “Washington West” these days.
Sadly, when it comes to kid glove treatment for ethically challenged Democrats, our desert home seems every bit as slimy as the DC “swamp.”
As documented in this space a little more than a month ago, ordained Presbyterian minister and Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton admitted to what she described as a “simple little prank.”
While that description might aptly apply to a kindergartner’s misbehavior, it is an understatement of biblical proportions for
a grown woman, who received her masters of divinity degree from the Princeton eological Seminary.
Especially when Stahl Hamilton’s bad behavior involved the Good Book.
Claiming after the fact that it was a “playful commentary on the separation of church and state,” surveillance video revealed that the Tucson Democrat had hidden copies of the Holy Bible – long provided to legislators as a courtesy in the Members’ Lounge – in most discourteous locations.
“I cannot imagine how my Christian colleagues must have felt, when this Holy Book was put under a couch cushion for them to sit upon, or put in a refrigerator,” said Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, on the House oor.
“I have been the target of religious discrimination…I have seen my sacred symbols disrespected…as a Jew, you see these
things,” he noted.
And, as an attorney, Kolodin saw something else: “In any other workplace, the Feds would be all over you in a second… that’s a ‘hostile work environment.’”
Unfortunately, the House is demonstrating that it is both hostile and hypocritical.
Recall that Ex-Rep. Liz Harris, R-Chandler, was expelled in April, based on a nding by the Ethics Committee that Harris was untruthful about her knowledge of testimony it deemed false by her invited guest.
What likely sealed the fate of Harris was that the witness not only made scandalous claims about Democrats in high o ce but also about House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria. Toma wanted an apology; Harris remained unapologetic.
Democrats saw a Republican rift they could exploit.
Under the banner of bipartisanship, the Left made all the right moves…or so it seemed at the time.
What got the ball rolling was an ethics complaint led by none other than Stahl Hamilton. She claimed that Harris had made Arizona a “national joke.”
While subsequent events would prompt a “pot-meet-kettle moment” for Stahl Hamilton—and now may still elicit laughter, given her unsavory exploits—at the time it was exploited to silence an outspoken conservative.
A bipartisan super-majority of House members voted to have Harris expelled from the institution.
Fast-forward to early June, when bipartisanship predictably swooned.
A vote to expel Stahl Hamilton failed, due to a lack—surprise, surprise—of
see HAYWORTH page 19
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
The pre-sentencing report for Anthony Gushee, convicted drug dealer, gunman, cold-blooded killer, runs 14 pages in all. It reads like some crappy Hollywood crime show.
Gushee, 47, has spent life drugging, dealing, o ending, victimizing. e report from Maricopa County’s Adult Probation Departments cites juvenile arrests and “six known misdemeanor convictions, four of which are violent.”
It also details how Gushee was convicted twice in 2003 on felony drug charges –and that’s before we get to this scumbag’s 2019 violent crime spree in Mesa, which takes up most of the pre-sentence report.
“Standard assessments indicate the defendant is a high risk to re-o end with
several domains in need of intervention,” the report notes. “ e violent nature of two of his pending cases coupled with his history of violence is concerning. His violence is escalating and the police reports indicate he has shown no remorse for his actions.”
Given Gushee’s extensive criminal past, I am beyond amazed that at his sentencing date on June 16 before Superior Court Judge Chuck Whitehead, the killer – who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for shooting a male victim twice, possession of narcotics and manslaughter for shooting dead 28-year-old Aaron Miller, a father of two – got o with a sentence of only 10.5 years.
A decade for a human life? Talk about getting o easy.
Miller’s sister, Shanice Patterson, objected to the plea agreement as “too lenient.”
According to the pre-sentencing report – which gives Patterson all of a paragraph
– she told the Probation O ce “the defendant should never be released from prison” and that “he is a danger to society.”
To say Patterson remains crushed by her brother’s shooting death in the Windemere Hotel on Main Street and by Gushee’s sentence is to put it even more mildly than did Judge Whitehead.
“As next of kin to a victim of a homicide,” she says, “we had no voice about anything pertaining to the case. We weren’t able to ght for justice for my brother. No one cared.”
Patterson also rebuts the reasoning for the “global plea bargain” laid out in the pre-sentencing report. e document explains that “the State made multiple attempts to contact a key witness, who was unable to be located. Without that witness’s testimony, the State’s case became considerably weaker as the witness was the person who identi ed the defendant as the shooter.”
Says Patterson: “Well, had anyone ever communicated with us, I had text and audio evidence from her, with all the details of the murder. Because a plea was already entered, it was too late to provide that.”
As the nursing student sees it, “I think the ‘justice’ system took the easy way out. Get a plea deal for a few years. en the criminal will be back on the streets committing more crimes like he has been for the past three decades.”
Gushee spent 1,200 days behind bars before the plea. us, he’s scheduled to walk out of prison on Oct. 16, 2028. Circle that date, because if the past is prelude, Gushee will commit yet another crime spree and maybe take a few more lives shortly thereafter.
Until then, Aaron Miller’s family will do their best to explain his death to his 11-year-old son and to the daughter Miller
HAYWORTH from page 18
Democrat support.
A resolution to censure Stahl Hamilton passed with a simple majority.
As this column is being written, it is unclear what—if any—consequences await the censured Stahl Hamilton. Conceivably, she may lose one or both of her com-
LEIBOWITZ from page 18
never met, a little girl who just turned four and lives with her grandmother.
“I can’t comprehend how a life is only worth a few years,” says Shanice Patterson.
mittee assignments.
But in Clinton-like fashion, she now says “It’s time to move on.”
What the irreverent reverend is really telling us that she views censure as “Sin? Sure!”
She keeps her job…she keeps her vote… and you would be well-advised to keep an eye on her.
“I feel like we were just another case number that was led away and forgotten.”
If you ask me, the person we needed to forget about was the man who pulled the trigger. Right after we locked up Anthony Gushee and threw away the key.
Section 7 has long established itself as the top high school basketball showcase event in the western part of the United States.
e event attracts teams from as far as Florida, housing teams under one roof for a weekend lled with four games in front of several hundred college coaches. It’s an event that often sees scholarships handed out to players.
But it was always missing one thing: a large girls’ division.
at’s why Matt King and the rest of his team with the Arizona Basketball Coaches Association Set out to change that this year.
Instead of a couple dozen local girls’ programs playing on one night before the boys take over, they got their own weekend.
“I was overwhelmed,” Crismon coach Riley Williams said. “It’s incredible, it’s such an experience to be a part of. e girls get to see what kind of exposure is out there for girls’ basketball and I think a lot of them have never thought about that before.”
More than 120 teams from across the western part of the United States ocked to State Farm Stadium June 15-17 for the girls’ weekend of Section 7.
e event attracted some of the top teams in the country, including Lone Peak from Utah, Etiwanda from California and several from across Arizona.
Section 7 also provided girls’ programs who are still attempting to establish themselves in the high school basketball scene.
Crismon is preparing to enter its rst varsity season. e team is still made up of young players – mostly freshmen and sophomores. But the Rattlers received an invite to compete at Section 7.
Williams said it was a learning experience for her girls, playing against established varsity teams in a large venue. She believes her girls were a bit shell-
Crismon is still brand new in the far southeast Valley, near the border of Mesa and Queen Creek, where sprawling neighborhoods continue to pop up. e area has seen the rise of other schools in the area athletically, including Eastmark, which won a championship in football last year.
Williams said her goal when she was hired to build the program from the ground up was to establish a strong culture centered around creating leaders for the team, school and community. She also wanted to provide unique opportunities for the girls. at started with Section 7.
Now, she hopes to continue competing in the event for years to come and eventually build the program into yet another East Valley power.
shocked by the atmosphere, but they rose to the occasion and put some of those nerves aside.
“Overall, they’re a little overwhelmed by the pace and the physicality of the game but it’s super important for our
girls to be in these games,” Williams said. “We’re really young so the experience is what we need right now.”
Williams said aside from the experience on the court, having her program present is a good marketing tool, too.
“We absolutely want to be a part of it,” Williams said. “It’s a great tournament and it’s well run. e teams here are phenomenal. We want to be a part of it and hopefully get up into that upper tier.”
One program that is well on its way to becoming a power is Dobson. e Mustangs nished as the 6A runner up last season, yet it was the rst time they have been a part of Section 7, which rst began ve years ago with just eight teams.
Last year, Section 7 invited more teams, but the girls played one game to open the weekend for the boys, which have always played over the course of an entire weekend.
But that all changed this year. Not only was it a chance for teams like Dobson to see out-of-state competition and gauge where it is heading into the rest of the summer, it also got the girls in front of over 100 college coaches.
“For coaches to be in front like this and come out, we told our players to play their game and not worry about who’s out there,” Bribiescas said. “Coaches are looking at how good they play and their
DOCKET NO. FD 36501, Union Pacific Railroad Company - Construction and Operation Exemption - In Maricopa County, AZ
The Surface Transportation Board’s (Board) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for public review and comment. The Draft EA analyzes the potential environmental and historic impacts of approximately 6.0 miles of new rail line in southeastern Mesa, Arizona. Comments are due to the Board by June 30, 2023.
The Draft EA is available on the Board’s website, www.stb.gov, by clicking “Search STB Records” and searching for “Decisions” using docket number “FD 36501.”
To learn more about the proposed rail line and the Draft EA, please visit: bit.ly/3pNXz9s.
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mannerisms, how you embrace your team whether you’re winning or losing, all of that.
“I think, for our girls, not many are getting recruited yet because they’re young. But they will be down the road.”
Like Williams, Bribiescas said he was in awe of the event when his team rst
GIRLS from page 20 Have an
stepped foot inside State Farm Stadium. It was unlike any sight he had ever seen as a high school basketball coach. “I’ve been in the sport for over 25 years and events like this, this showcases all the girls,” Dobson coach Henry Bribiescas said. “We love playing out of state teams. at makes us better here in Arizona. I think it’s a great opportunity for our girls to play in this type of setting.”
Alvira at zalvira@
still remember the first time I made this dish for my Papa. The look on his face was priceless. You would have thought it was the best thing he had ever eaten, and as the owner of a gourmet food company and restaurant, that’s saying something! Every time I rip off a chunk of charred, crusty Italian bread and dunk it into the savory, spicy and brothy sauce, I think of Dad and how much I miss breaking that bread with him. He was not only my best friend, but my favorite person to have a meal with. He enjoyed good food the way everyone should, with his whole heart and soul. Dad would bow his head, clasp his hands in front of the bowl and just say, “Honey, this is liquid gold!” Don’t be put off by the amount of ingredients. I can only
tell you that this dish is worth every bite. Make it this week for that very special father in your
Ingredients:
• 2 dozen large shrimp (fresh if possible), peeled and deveined, reserve shells
• 1 large loaf of crusty French or Italian bread
• For The Soup
• 1 large Sweet yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 stalks celery, rough chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups of water
• For The Seasonings
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup green onions, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon fresh or dried oregano
Directions:
In a large pot, combine 6 cups of water, the shrimp shells, onion, celery and bay leaves. Bring to boil and then simmer for 2 hours.
• ½ teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary
• The Spices
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• For The Liquids
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ¾ teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory or mesquite)
• 2 heaping tablespoons ketchup
• 1/4 cup beer, room temperature
• 1 cup soup stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup Clamato juice, optional
When soup is done, in a medium large pan over medium heat, add 4 tablespoons of butter, green onions and garlic, sautéing for 2-3 minutes. Add thyme, oregano, rosemary, cayenne, crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt, mixing well. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, ketchup, beer, soup stock and 2 tablespoons butter. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Add peeled shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink, 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook. Serve over a bed of rice or pasta with lots of crusty bread for dunking.
