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Rail ban back on track for Council showdown BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
NEWS ............................3 Gilbert lawmaker fights for more teen mental health help.
COMMUNITY............18 Gilbert theater presents rousing new comedy.
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assenger rail is back on track for Gilbert Council. A proposed ordinance banning the town from participating or spending taxpayers’ dollars on commuter rail and light rail is resurrected for possible action this Tuesday. “I don’t want light rail,” Councilman Chuck Bongiovanni said last week. “It’s underutilized from what I’ve seen in Mesa.” Bongiovanni joined with Council members Jim Torgeson and Bobbi Buchli in requesting the ordinance be put on the agenda. Torgeson and Buchli also oppose pas-
Gilbert districts still have millions in COVID funds GSN NEWS STAFF
SPORTS.................... 30 Higley High swimmer Kenton Jones breaking records. COMMUNITY............................. 18 BUSINESS .................................. 22 REAL ESTATE ............................26 SPORTS ......................................30 GETOUT ..................................... 32 CLASSIFIEDS ............................36
Sunday, FEBRUARY 19, 2023
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ummer school, computers and one-time stipends are some of the items Gilbert Public Schools and Higley Unified plan to fund with the remainder of their federal pandemic relief money, according to the Arizona Auditor General. The Auditor General’s special report looked
senger rail services for Gilbert. Bongiovanni said that light rail doesn’t fit with Gilbert’s landscape, adding that the Town has no say with Amtrak’s planned expansion of intercity passenger rail. Two years ago, Amtrak announced a 15year plan to connect up to 160 communities in over 25 states, including providing train trips between Phoenix and Tucson. Exactly when that service might commence or the station placements are not yet known. According to an Amtrak spokeswoman, the decision on final station locations will be made at the local level and discussed by stakeholders. The ordinance also would prevent Gil-
bert from assessing a tax or fee for designing, planning, building, operating or maintaining commuter or light rail. The ordinance was first discussed last year in study session but when it reached the council for action, then-council members Laurin Hendrix and Aimee Yentes, who spearheaded the measure, raised concerns that the version before them was water-downed. Council tabled the item, allowing Hendrix, Yentes and Councilman Kathy Tilque to work on a compromise to bring back to the Council in November for consideration, which never happened.
see TRAIN page 8
Very special Valentines
First-grader Emma Munoz-Fuentes, 6, was among the students in Gilbert Elementary School’s Kindness & Service Club who were joined by staff and family in hanging up Valentine posters around the Heritage District Feb. 10. “Hopefully, a ripple effect will start with this one act of kindness,” said Jenni FeidlerAguilar, an art teacher and coadvisor with the club. Feidler-Aguilar started the club with fellow teachers Kim Figueroa and Reyna Fuentes. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)
see COVID page 6
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