Where to celebrate / p. 45
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Inside This Week
TU safety plan keeps officers on campuses BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
T NEWS ................ 3 State Superintendent of Public Instruction puts Kyrene in crosshairs.
www.ahwatukee.com
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
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he Tempe Union High School District Governing Board approved a comprehensive safety plan that retains uniformed officers on campuses while emphasizing data-driven practices and addressing students’ social and emotional well-being. The plan culminates over a year of surveys
and focus groups involving students, families and other community members that will continue so that the district can effectively train staff annually in addressing problem behaviors and safety issues early and effectively. “We sometimes think that our administrators are the sole persons who will take care of any problematic issues that happen at a school site,” said Assistant Superintendent Sean McDonald, who led the plan’s development.
Thunder thrills
“But the research suggests we also have to have teams,” he continued, to “address the disciplinary actions and also coming up with procedures to address the different disciplinary actions that may come up – and not just disciplinary actions, but also the school safety issues as well.” The plan's adoption comes about 18 months
see SAFETY page 14
Club West homeowners rumble with a jungle BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
COMMUNITY ...... 27 Corpus Christi Church in Ahwatukee comforts the homeless.
BUSINESS......... 35 Ahwatukee writer details rugged road to solar panels.
I
f the homeowners along a short stretch of S. 1st Drive in Club West were to ever hum a few bars from Guns & Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle,” they could hardly have picked a better tune for visitors to their backyards. For the last few years, they’ve watched in growing dismay and alarm the vegetation in the wash abutting them grow relentlessly, obliterating the view of virtually anything on the other side. Like any jungle, critters abound. Rattlesnakes and roof rats regularly emerge from the
It was the boys’ turn to shine in the Section 7 basketball showcase at State Farm Stadium and players like Desert Vista guard Elijah Velez, right, gave their all in putting on a thrilling event, as you will read on page 42. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
COMMUNITY ............................ 27 BUSINESS ................................35 OPINION ................................. 40 SPORTS ................................... 42 GETOUT ...................................45 CLASSIFIEDS ........................... 50
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wasteland of weeds, overgrown trees, brittlebush and other brush, creating a nightmare for at least a half dozen homeowners, like Tracy Hazeslit and Mary Ellen Batie. Even a couple bobcats have shown up on Hazeslit’s property, one of which was so bold it stared down Tracy and her daughter when they pulled into their driveway and saw the animal sitting along the edge. The snakes are so plentiful that Hazeslit has set traps throughout her backyard, although a couple of the reptiles at times have evaded them, parking right at her patio door. As for the roofrats, Hazeslit
see WEST page 12
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