Big tool for QC / p. 8
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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This Week
COMMUNITY .......... 18 QC nonprofit ‘s run to help cancer victims.
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QC district raising before, after-school fees BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
T
he Queen Creek Unified School District Governing Board last week voted to raise the fees for its before- and after-school elementary programs by 20% to $100.80 a week. The fee increases for the morning and afternoon programs, which run Monday-Fri-
day, will affect hundreds of families. The Discovery Kids program currently has 862 students enrolled across all nine of the district’s elementary schools and district officials noted that the rates have not changed since 2019. “An increase in fees will support the program in light of increased staffing costs and inflated prices for goods and services,” said district Chief Financial Officer Jessica John-
Draft horses rode through QC for love, not money BUSINESS .............. 16 QC vet opens Valley’s first pet dental clinic.
SPORTS ................. 19 Queen Creek baseball finds new motivation.
COMMUNITY ............ 13 BUSINESS ................. 16 OPINION ................... 17 SPORTS .................... 19 GET OUT .................... 20 CLASSIFIEDS .............22
Sunday, MARCH 12, 2023
BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
A
s a young man, Bret Fielding always had visions of becoming a cattle rancher until he realized his dreams were not exactly coming true. “Our family had a bunch of cows and were grazing them and my friends got tired of me trying to sell a side of beef to them,” said Fielding, peering out from beneath his black cowboy hat at the Queen Creek Draft Horse Classic earlier this month at Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Centre. Fielding stumbled into the horse business, completely by accident. With no one in his immediate
ston. The rate hike will also help offset the sunsetting of the Child Care Stability Grant, she said. Johnston recommended the rate hikes after researching child care costs in neighboring school districts, which are fractionally higher than Queen Creek’s new rates.
see AFTER-SCHOOL page 6
family knowing anything about horses, Fielding’s wife and son went online and found a pair of horses to graze the pasture where the cows, now sold off, used to be. “It was by default,” Fielding said. “And it was my son and my wife who found these Shires on the Internet. We had two shipped out from Michigan and I’ve been hooked since then.” A Shire is sometimes referred to as a Clydesdale, the muscular horse bred for pulling and made famous in TV commercials as the Budweiser Clydesdales. Realizing he had something special on his hands, but not knowing Freeman Yoder, left, and Bret Fielding navigate the Highpoint Clydesdale draft horse team out of the arena at the Queen Creek Draft Horse Classic earlier see DRAFT page 3 this month at Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Centre. (Mark Moran/Tribune Staff)
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