Voting is underway for the
#BestOfTheBestEastValley
! Recognize your favorite businesses, organizations and people in Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa through noon Tuesday, Sept. 24! Winners will be announced in our Sunday, Oct. 27, issue.
VOTE HERE >>
Culture is everything for the
@MesquiteVball
beach team. The cultural success pyramid that head coach Carlos Flys has implemented creates a family rather than just a team.
This year, he celebrates his 30th anniversary as a professional wrestler with a special event at
@SunStudiosofAZ
Nov. 21.
The main event will be a six-man tag-team match with three wrestlers on each side, including the Navajo Warrior.
#nav30
#prowrestling
First Things First (
@AZFTF
) has recognized Mary Ann Sawyer of Gilbert as the 2021 First Things First Southeast Maricopa Region Champion for Young Children.
.
@SwitzerPj
recently published the first in her “Horace and Bunwinkle” novels last month and already has the second in the final stages for release next year with plans for a third the year after that.
The
@NeelyKnights
racked up another hard-to-come-by recognition last week after it became one of only four Arizona schools named 2023 National Blue Ribbon recipients.
BREAKING: Gilbert Police reported it is currently investigating seven residential burglaries that appeared similar to break-ins in North Scottsdale by a South American gang.
When the
@Suns
decided to buck national trends by putting many of their games on free local TV, the NBA team turned to a Chandler company to make sure Valley fans won’t miss a single drive.
Self-described guerilla journalist Christopher Ruff says he has a target on his back, thanks to a Gilbert Police Department document calling him a “threat.”
Cookie Co. opens at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, in Mesa. Owners Keri and Mike Priest of Gilbert are offering a special gift to their first 100 customers and plan special promotions throughout the day until its 9 p.m. closing time.
Ryan Palmer and Kurtis Toolson became friends when they were both 13 and students at Greenfield Junior High School in Mesa. That friendship is now a sweet partnership for the two co-owners of Chunk Cookies.
Hopefully, a lot of canine owners will attend – with their pets in tow, of course – the 25th annual Barktoberfest at Friends for Life Animal Rescue from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 21, for at 952 W. Melody Ave., Gilbert.
Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg in a news conference last week denied that his department ignored or dragged its feet with teen assault cases reported to officers or that there was a cover-up.
After 15 years at the helm of
@HDSGilbert
, home of the Gilbert Historical Museum, Executive Director Kayla Kolar is leaving at the end of the year. In January, she will join Mesa's
@HouseofRefugeAZ
as executive director.
Gilbert must do a better job of managing the parking in the Heritage District and look for additional funding sources for its public garages because more will be needed downtown, according to a consultant.
Although an investigator said Mayor Brigette Peterson didn’t violate Gilbert’s ethics policy for booting three critics from a meeting, the Town Council is forcing her to get training on how to chair a public meeting.
.
@MrsFoote
– an award-winning conceptual physics teacher at
@higleydistrict
’s
@SMS_Spartans
in
@TownofQC
, public speaker, Gilbert resident, mother of three adult children and grandmother of 13 – wrote a book ... to help others during the pandemic.
Former Superintendent Denise Birdwell has been indicted on 18 felony counts for allegedly rigging bids and taking payoffs from contractors during her time at the head of the Scottsdale Unified School District and Higley Unified School District in Gilbert.
Condolences and money poured in for Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and his family following the deaths of his son and granddaughter in a two-vehicle accident in Gilbert.
Former Arizona Cardinal linebacker Kylie Fitts recently opened his
@D1Sports
facility to help young athletes, as well as adults, fulfill their fitness goals.
A Gilbert woman who is president of the Desert Rivers Audubon Society has been named Volunteer of the Year by the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association.
A developer has dropped the number of proposed residential units for the southeast corner of Neely Street and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the Heritage District by over half to 300 apartments instead.
Overdose deaths hit a record 93,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a nearly 30 percent increase over 2019.
@terroshealth
is working to reverse this trend.
Humble Bistro and Marketplace, which bills itself as a “charming neighborhood wine parlor with European bistro flair and global cuisine,” has opened at 1524 E. Williams Field Road in Gilbert.
Sales of marijuana in Arizona soared to $1.6 billion in 2021, just one year after recreational pot was legalized in the state, making Arizona second only to California for retail sales that year, according to an industry research group.
The Gilbert teen and Campo Verde High School student started creating products two years ago at age 16 and has built a successful in-home beauty brand called The Good Bar.
Saturday, Aug. 26, Ahwatukee-founded Viper Club and Popsicle Stick Airport will co-headline the inaugural 59 X Festival at The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix.
On Feb. 11, Ashley Crandell and Lance Crandell of Gilbert brought home their quadruplets Wesley, Emma, Leah and Nora into the world
@DignityHealthAZ
, one of only a few hospitals in the Valley experienced in delivering a high number of multiples.
A 15-member Citizens Advisory Committee will look at Higley Unified District’s needs and make a recommendation to the governing board on whether to hold a future election for a bond and budget override.
Four separate Justice Court rooms currently spread throughout Mesa and Gilbert are moving into a newly built courthouse at Baseline and Mesa roads over the next month.
During the summer, the lower Salt River is a magnet for people kayaking, tubing and paddleboarding.
It’s also a magnet for trash and personal belongings that end up on the river bottom.
A mixed-use building with restaurants, offices and a rooftop patio and bar proposed for the Heritage District is likely to get a stamp of approval when it returns to the Redevelopment Commission this fall.
Young performers from across the East Valley will rule the stage as the “Kings of New York” in “Disney’s Newsies Jr.,” produced by Limelight Performing Arts.
Chickens may not want to fly out of Alex Verkruijsse’s upscale crafted coops . The Gilbert man has been designing and building eye-catching houses for backyard chickens fulltime since the beginning of the year.
Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson is being accused of arranging a meeting where it was suggested that her council nemesis be removed from an ethics subcommittee.
Kwam Kassim’s love of coding inspired him to pursue a bachelor of science degree in software engineering, and he accomplished that last week through the hard work and his mom’s dedication.
Sara Vidal is a new graduate, and a new mother, and it is through the partnership between Uber and Arizona State University that the Gilbert woman was able to accomplish both of her big dreams.
The longtime town employee – who will mark 25 years in January – was recently honored for her service by Peacocktv, the NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, and the National Recreation and Parks Association.
In a talent-packed volleyball program, some hardworking individuals like Carol Johnson, a third-year assistant varsity coach at
@SpartansGCA
and a mother of two, often go unnoticed.
Gilbert Public Schools is preparing to ask voters this November for more money by continuing a 15% budget override and approving a bond likely to be between $100 million and $125 million.
When it comes to promoting cleaner and more sustainable habits, Gilbert for the second consecutive year is the least green among its peers nationally, according to a new report.
A Gilbert cop is penning books in an effort to close the literacy gap for elementary school students who come from homes where Spanish is primarily spoken.
Gilbert police have announced the arrests of Kyler Renner, 18; Gage Garrison, 19; and a 17-year-old juvenile on Jan. 24 related to two active investigations.
Thanks to a $10 million item in the current state budget, the East Valley Institute of Technology hopes to open a residence hall for foster teens on its downtown Mesa campus by the 2023-24 school year.
While the actors strike has crimped the flow of new movies, a Scottsdale actor and a Mesa filmmaker will have the chance to present their new feature film next Saturday in Jerome.
A master-planned community of over 3,000 homes in Gilbert that boasts upscale comforts such as a champion-style golf course will soon have a nearby amenity it doesn’t want – a 24-hour gas station.
Twenty weeks into her pregnancy Gilbert resident Laurelin Ottesen unexpectedly discovered during a routine scan that her fetus had spina bifida-
@PhxChildrens
helped their family.
Gilbert music and elementary school teacher Kathie McMahon has found the perfect way to influence kids now that she is retired. She is writing a middle-grade chapter novel series called “Mortimer and Me.”
The developer of Heritage North, a mixed-used project with a five-story hotel coming to downtown, wants to build it in two phases and charge for reserved parking spaces.
A new Phoenix zoning code amendment allowing single-family homeowners to build casitas in their backyards has drawn some attention from the Gilbert Planning Commission.
Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux will reopen Nov. 15 with a new management team. As part of the reopening festivities, the first 100 guests to enter the restaurant at 4928 S. Power Road, Mesa, will have a chance to win free Walk-On’s for a year. More info at .
In 2018, Town Council adopted an ordinance that prohibited the feeding of stray cats on public property. Staff at the time explained the ban addressed nuisance issues rising out of cat food dumped on town property and public rights-of-way.
In the 19 years that Trevor Barrett has run his own mortgage company,
@BFGHomeLoans
has grown from a one-man shop to a company with 300 loan officers who have originated more than $4 billion in loans for homeowners in Arizona and 12 other states.
Gilbert Council is expected on Tuesday to award a $109,600 contract to Willmeng Construction to help with the makeover of Water Tower Plaza located downtown.
Orlando-based Escapology with 56 locations around the world opened its first Arizona franchise in Gilbert at the open-air mall next to Victoria’s Secret. A grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 10.
The Ahwatukee
@Dogtopia
is the second location opened by Susan Perlman and her husband, Michael, of Gilbert. They opened the south Chandler Dogtopia in August 2019 and just opened a third franchise in north Gilbert.
Though home to numerous sports organizations and sporting events as well as other gatherings, Bell Bank Park, marking a year next month, has not generated enough revenue.
Residents in town can look forward to some headline grabbers in 2024, including town and school board elections, the continuing probe of a youth-attack group dubbed “Gilbert Goons,” higher utility fees and bond requests.
The Lovin’ Life After 50 Expo is making its way to the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Gilbert on Thursday, Nov. 16, with exhibitors ready to talk about tour and travel, retirement living, health care, financial matters, leisure and more.