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Wednesday, April 5, 2023
@AhwatukeeFN
Inside This Week
DiCiccio reflects as he nears becoming Citizen Sal
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
O
NEWS ............... 22 City spending on helping homeless exceeds $200 million.
COMMUNITY ..... 27 ASU names Ahwatukee prof a 'Difference Maker.'
n April 17, Sal DiCiccio will wake up as a Phoenix City Council member and go to bed that night as Citizen
Sal. In between, term limits will have brought to a close two decades of service on the council for the Ohio native, longtime Ahwatukee homeowner and current Biltmore resident as he turns over his seat to Kevin Robinson. DiCiccio may be one of the longest-serving – if not the longest – City Council members in modern Phoenix history, having successfully run for the District 6 seat in 1994 and 1998 and then in three successive elections between 2009 and 2017.
Pride baseball moving on impressively COMMUNITY ............................ 27 BUSINESS ................................ 38 SPORTS ................................... 45 GETOUT ................................... 51 CLASSIFIEDS ........................... 58
One of the accomplishments that Sal DiCiccio is proudest of is his first big victory – securing city funding for the South Mountain Telegraph Pass Trailhead. He recently revisited the Ahwatukee trailhead as he reminisced on his career on Phoenix City Council. (David Minton/AFN Staff Photographer)
see SAL page 18
For 47th year, Kiwanians strike up Easter Parade BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor
SPORTS ............. 45
www.ahwatukee.com
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or the 47th year, the Kiwanis Club of Ahwatukee this Saturday will lead colorful floats, marching bands, Scout troops and even an official Easter Bunny to entertain spectators along a stretch on 48th Street. As the Valley’s only Easter Parade, the homegrown cavalcade has expanded to include entries and spectators from outside Ahwatukee, including the second-year appearance for the Gilbert Days Rodeo Teen Queens astride their horses and the El Zaribah Shriners in their
miniature motor vehicles. On April 8, the Kiwanis Ahwatukee Easter Parade steps off at 10 a.m. from Warner Road, heading north along 48th Street to Elliot Road. Following the parade, the club will hold its Spring Fling and Craft Fair at nearby Ahwatukee Community Center Park, 48th and Warner. This is a rain-or-shine event day, although of 46 parades (the COVID-interrupted 2020 and 2021 parades just had decorated club members’ cars) only 2009 saw rain, though skies cleared by starting time. As Parade Boss for the 31st year, Mike Schmitt said the response from the 330 invita-
tions he sent out earlier this year has “worked very successfully.” Those invitations and registration forms are sent to last year’s participants, and other community organizations, businesses and individuals, including local politicians. Among that last group will be the community’s next Phoenix City Council representative, Kevin Robinson. As part of his duties, Schmitt also determines the order of the 50 to 70 parade entries and writes the script to be read from three an-
see PARADE page 16