Couple arrested in slaying / P. 3
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week Queen Creek’s first new resident of 2023.
COMMUNITY ........ 14
Sunday, JANUARY 8, 2023
QC pleas on GoFundMe cover range of asks BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
T
he holidays are over but the pleas for help and assistance on crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe certainly are not, with new posts every day from Queen Creek and beyond seeking help everything from the serious to the trivial. For platforms like GoFundMe, raising
money for pretty much any cause is a yearround activity. Since its launch in 2010, the California-based GoFundMe has become the go-to online fundraising tool for charities and just about anybody who wants the public to help bankroll their expenses. Within minutes someone can set up a money request on the global site, which to date has helped individuals and charities
raise over $25 billion, according to GoFundMe, which did not respond to questions for the story. The donation requests in 2022 varied widely from classroom supplies and Girl Scout projects to relief efforts for crisis events such as Hurricane Ian in Florida and the war in Ukraine. see
GOFUNDME page 4
Julia Wheatley ready for even bigger public role SPORTS .................. 20 High school concussions getting more attention.
GETOUT..................22 Disney on Ice offers a treat for all ages.
COMMUNITY ..........................14 BUSINESS................................16 OPINION.................................... 18 SPORTS......................................20 GET OUT.................................... 22 CLASSIFIEDS............................ 27
BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
J
ulia Wheatley was destined to be a local politician, whether she wanted to be or not. To hear her tell the story, she didn’t have much choice. “My parents were always involved in all things locally,” she said. “I grew up with that background. As a child, I would go to meetings. I would go door to door with my parents. It was that upbringing that was very influential. Everything they did was for the betterment of their community with the best intentions, and so I love that and that’s why I love local politics. It’s something that was instilled in me as a child.” Wheatley’s father served one term as the see
WHEATLEY page 9
Queen Creek mayor-elect Julia Wheatley’s family includes daughter Brinlee, husband Benjamin, and sons, from left, Asher, Aiden and Ethan, (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)