VOTING ENDS SEPT. 29TH
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This Week VOTING ENDS SEPT. 29TH
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VOTING ENDS SEPT. 29TH BUSINESS.............. 18 State’s only table tennis venue opens in Gilbert.
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GETOUT.................27 Gilbert Regional Park among many Oktoberfest venues next month. COMMUNITY........................................15 BUSINESS............................................. 18 GETOUT................................................. 27 CLASSIFIEDS.......................................32
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Sunday, September 25, 2022
Peterson, sign carriers clash over decorum BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
C
ivility and the First Amendment clashed in last week’s Gilbert Town Council meeting after Mayor Brigette Peterson directed police to escort three residents out of chambers for silently holding signs that read “Stop Lying” and “Don’t Mesa my Gilbert.” “I don’t think it’s legal,” said Brandon Ryff the day after he was ushered out of the Sept. 20 meeting. “Prohibiting us from exercising our First Amendment rights.”
Ryff said he is contemplating legal action or recalling the mayor for overstepping her authority. Peterson told the Gilbert Sun News that “due to an increasing number of disruptions during recent meetings, moving forward, there will also be a zero-tolerance policy which falls under the mayoral duties and responsibilities surrounding Council and special meetings per Gilbert’s Municipal Code.” Morrison Ranch residents had packed the meeting, some toting the signs, to show their continuing opposition to The Ranch, a light industrial project proposed on 311 acres
adjacent to the Elliot Groves neighborhood where Ryff lives. Ryff said he could understand if he and the other two people were being disruptive by throwing things, yelling, shouting, blocking the audience’s view or interrupting the meeting. But none of that happened. “I felt like I had the right to express my political beliefs,” Ryff said. “And I had been denied along with Ryan (Handelsman) and the lady next to me quietly holding our signs
see COUNCIL page 10
EV farm puts final touches on pumpkin party BY MARK MORAN GSN Staff Writer
H
illbilly Bob’s Pig Races? Yes, Hillbilly Bob is a real guy, and they really do race pigs – which are said to enjoy the experience but like the Oreo cookies they get at the end even
more. The pigs, Swingin’ Lady Bugz, hayrides, a petting zoo, the Stuntmasters dog show and a brand-new ropes course, are just of the few of the more high-profile attractions that Schnepf Farms is working frantically to ready for its 26th annual Pumpkin and Chili Party that starts next Saturday, Oct. 1. The Flying Farmers ride is almost ready to take flight, too, as it joins other attractions like the classic Honeybee Adventure ride and a rock-climbing wall. Some of the attractions harken to farm owner Mark Schnepf’s family legacy.
see SCHNEPF page 13
Mark Schnepf stands on a path of one of the two corn mazes he’s prepared for Schnepf Farms’ annual Pumpkin & Chili Party, which begins Oct. 1 (David
Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)
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