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Higley teachers group debated PAGE 4
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Inside This Week
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
Survey gives Gilbert a so-so rating for recreation BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
COMMUNITY.............16 Friends for Life makes a splash this Saturday.
BUSINESS...................19 Spinato’s pizzeria expands into Gilbert.
Sunday, July 9, 2023
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ilbert likes to brag when it comes to its top rankings for safest city in the country, best place to live in Arizona and best city to raise a family in the West. But don’t expect the town to crow about its placement on WalletHub.com’s list last week that put Gilbert near the bottom in the country for its recreational offerings. Gilbert ranked 90th in the country and landed dead last among the seven Arizona cities that made the “2023’s Best & Worst Cities for Recreation” list. Asked for reaction, town Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona issued a statement that said, in part: “Parks and recreation development plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of life in our communities. It not only fosters physical and mental well-being but also strengthens social bonds and promotes a sense of belonging.” He also encouraged residents to participate
In the beanbag
The massive Hole9Yards cornhole venue in a converted former Goodwill building in Gilbert will be the scene this week for the annual Arizona State Cornhole Championships. Cornhole is rapidly becoming as popular as pickleball, and to find out why it is coming to Gilbert, see page 22. (Instagram) in the town’s master plan for recreation and parks. To determine the communities where recreation is a high priority, the person-
al financial website ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities across four key dimensions – en-
see RECREATION page 14
Higley board member wants to defend transgender ban SPORTS....................... 21 Gilbert-Queen Creek track club fast-tracking progress. COMMUNITY............................. 16 BUSINESS................................... 19 SPORTS........................................21 GET OUT...................................... 22 CLASSIFIEDS............................. 25
BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
A
Higley school board member is one of three Arizona mothers of biological girls who have asked a federal judge for permission to intercede in case to keep their daughters from having to compete against transgender females.
They have declared they want to defend the 2022 law that says public schools and any private schools that compete against them must designate their interscholastic and intramural sports strictly as male, female or coed. It spells out that teams designated for women or girls “may not be open to students of the male sex.’’ And the statute says that is defined as the “biological sex’’ of the participant.
Higley Governing Board member Anna Van Hoek of Gilbert said she is sending one of her two daughters to an unidentified high school in the Chandler Unified School District to play softball on the school team after playing for a Higley middle school. “Ms. Van Hoek believes these benefits
see TRANSGENDER page 4