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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 Today: High 90, Low 77, Chance of storms Tomorrow: High 93, Low 76, Sunny
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Tribe ramps up freeway fight over sacred mountain
STUDENT HONORED Desert Vista High senior earns state title. 3
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN EXECUTIVE EDITOR
N MURDER RETRIAL Ex-resident faces murder charge again in son’s death. 6 (AFN file photo)
TRAIL REVAMP
Just as they did last October, Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista high schools’ teams will face off Friday for the 20th annual Ahwatukee Bowl.
South Mountain trails getting new look. 22
WOMEN UNITE Ahwatukee businesswomen come together. 36
COVER STORY
NEW LIFE JOY Ahwatukee church celebrates 25 years. 41 Community Around AF Opinion Faith
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Main Street Sports/Rec GetOut Classified
Ahwatukee Bowl unites and separates the community at the same time
38 45 52 53
BY JASON P. SKODA AFN PREP SPORTS DIRECTOR
I
t is that time of the year when every issue in this tight-knit and passionate community fades to the background. Freeway debates, water issues and golf course transformations will be back in the forefront soon enough, but this week it is all about what is going down on Friday night.
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MORE INSIDE For a preview of Friday’s game and a review of the last 19 Ahwatukee Bowl contests, please see pages 45-49. It is the 20th annual Ahwatukee Bowl. The football game came soon after the birth of a second high school when the sprawling
5 DAYS ONLY! SEPT. 27–OCT. 1
TUKEE on page 8
>> See
ative Americans are escalating their fight against the South Mountain Freeway with a “peaceful resistance camp” on the Gila River Indian Community side of the mountain. The camp, called Moadag Thadiwa, also was to serve as a staging area for a 10-mile prayer run that Native American protesters and members of the Ahwatukee-based Protect Arizona’s Resources and Children planned prior to last night’s freeway meeting conducted at Desert Vista High School by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Native Americans consider the mountain, variously called Moadag or Moahdak Do’ag, sacred and contend that the freeway desecrates it. That argument is central to the Gila Community’s legal efforts to stop the freeway, as it says state and federal officials did not do enough to protect the culturally and religiously important site. PARC has filed a separate but related challenge and both groups >> See
RESISTANCE on page 11
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