deseo ramps up Latin cuisine / P. 39
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .................................. 8 Major complex coming to McDowell and 66th.
Kavanaugh to press texting-driving ban / P. 4
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF SCOTTSDALE) | scottsdale.org
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Outdated General Plan could be trouble for Scottsdale BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
D
espite multiple efforts made by the city and citizens over the past decade, Scottsdale has not updated its general plan in 17 years – a fact that could put the city in violation of state law, according to a veteran Arizona lawmaker. Following an inquiry by the Progress, Representative-elect John Kavanagh, R-23, consulted with the Legislative Council – a body that provides non-partisan legal services to
legislators concerning Arizona law governing municipalities’ general plans. Arizona state law requires most cities and towns to implement a new general plan every 10 years. Scottsdale voters have not approved a new plan since 2002, though the City Council did adopt an update in 2011 that ultimately failed at the ballot in 2012. “It’s opinion that the City of Scottsdale needs to resubmit the proposed general plan to voters or submit a new plan in order to comply with state law,” said Matthew Specht, spokesman for the House Republican Caucus.
Arizona law stipulates that a city or town’s general plan is “effective for up to ten years from the date the plan was initially adopted” and that cities with populations of 10,000 or more must then adopt a new general plan and submit it to voters for approval. If a plan fails with voters, the law states that “The governing body shall either resubmit the proposed new plan, or revise the new plan … for subsequent submission to the voters at the next regularly scheduled municipal election or
see GENERAL PLAN page 18
Big renovation plan to kick in for stadium this spring
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BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
T
he City of Scottsdale is just months away from breaking ground on a multi-million-dollar Scottsdale Stadium renovation that will provide upgraded facilities for the San Francisco Giants and fans while also increasing the facility’s earning potential for the city. Though the project has been in the works for years, the city is now nearing the completion of the design phase and preparing to bring funding options before the City Council. Bill Murphy, Scottsdale Community Services executive director, anticipated that the project will go before the City Council for approval by February. A major component of the project is a renovation and expansion of the Giants' clubhouse to accommodate the team’s desire for upgraded facilities and space to bring more players to spring training, Murphy said.
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The first phase of renovations at Scottsdale Stadium will include an expanded clubhouse for the San Francisco Giants that will also function as rentable event space for the city.
The renovation is also about keeping up with the Joneses. “We’re at a point where there have been a lot of new (Cactus League) stadiums built (for) the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Rockies and
others and so they always have to keep up with each other,” Scottsdale Charros Executive Director Dennis Robbins said.
see STADIUM page 14
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CITY NEWS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Of�icer's death renews calls for texting ban An edition of the East Valley Tribune Scottsdale Progress is published every Sunday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout Scottsdale. To find out where you can pick up a free copy of Scottsdale Progress, please visit www.Scottsdale.org.
CONTACT INFORMATION Main number 480-898-6500 | Advertising 480-898-5624 Circulation service 480-898-5641 Scottsdale Progress 4301 N 75th St., Suite 201, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Publisher Steve T. Strickbine Vice President Michael Hiatt ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Display Advertising 480-898-6309 Classifieds/Inside Sales Elaine Cota | 480-898-7926 | ecota@scottsdale.org TJ Higgins | 480-898-5902 | tjhiggins@scottsdale.org Advertising Office Manager Lori Dionisio | 480-898-6309 | ldionisio@scottsdale.org Director of National Advertising Zac Reynolds | 480-898-5603 | zac@scottsdale.org NEWS DEPARTMENT Executive Editor Paul Maryniak | 480-898-5647 | pmaryniak@scottsdale.org Managing Editor Wayne Schutsky | 480-898-6533 | wschutsky@scottsdale.org Staff Writers Kristine Cannon | 480-898-9657 | kcannon@scottsdale.org Jim Walsh | 480-898-5639 | jwalsh@scottsdale.org Colleen Sparks | 480-898-5638 | csparks@scottsdale.org Photographers Kimberly Carrillo | KCarrillo@scottsdale.org Pablo Robles | Probles@scottsdale.org Design Veronica Thurman | vthurman@scottsdale.org Production Coordinator Courtney Oldham | 480-898-5617 | production@scottsdale.org Circulation Director Aaron Kolodny | 480-898-5641 | customercare@scottsdale.org Marketing Director Lynette Carrington | 480-898-5621 Scottsdale Progress is distributed by AZ Integrated Media, a circulation service company owned by Times Media Group. The public is permitted one copy per reader. For further information regarding the circulation of this publication or others in the Times Media Group family of publications, and for subscription information, please contact AZ Integrated Media at circ@azintegratedmedia.com or 480-898-5641. For circulation services please contact Aaron Kolodny at aaron@azintegatedmedia.com.
The content of any advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Scottsdale Progress assumes no responsibility for the claims of any advertisement. © 2019 Strickbine Publishing, Inc.
BY JIM WALSH AND WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Staff Writers
T
he tragic death of a police officer struck by a texting driver on the Loop 101 last week might finally convince the Arizona legislature to pass a statewide distracted driving law. Two legislators – Scottsdale Sen. John Kavanagh and Phoenix Sen. Kate Brophy McGee – are both sponsoring legislation that would make it illegal for motorists on all Arizona roads to send or receive text messages. McGee said the Jan. 8 death of Salt River Pima-Maricopa Tribal Officer Clayton Townsend near the McDowell Road exit may serve as the “tipping point’’ to get a hands-free law approved. The following day in Queen Creek, a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy was struck and injured by a texting motorist. If Kavanagh and Brophy McGee convince the State Legislature to finally end its resistance to a hands-free law, Gov. Doug Ducey already said he’s prepared to sign it – ending a patchwork of laws already in existence in Tempe and 16 other cities and counties around the state. Kavanagh, who will be sworn in as a representative for District 23 on Monday, Jan. 14, said he plans to reintroduce a bill that he sponsored in 2017 and that never even got a hearing. “You get to the point where you want the state to set policy,’’ Brophy McGee said. “There have been so many highprofile tragedies. People are fed up, they’re done.’’ Kavanagh said his bill received opposition from members of both parties. “Basically you had some libertarianminded Republicans who believed the existing laws against distracted driving already covered that kind of behavior,” he said. Kavanagh said that some Democrats also opposed the bill because they thought texting while driving is so common that a ban could be used by police officers as a pretext to pull over minority drivers. Various attempts to pass a distracted driving bill have failed for 12 consecutive years in the State Legislature, while individual cities and counties have passed regulations of their own. A variety of local and state law enforcement agents and traffic experts said this pattern has left a crazy-quilt of laws that can’t help but confuse drivers as they travel from one city or county to
another. Scottsdale does not ban texting while driving. “Police Officers can only cite distracted drivers for the observed infractions that they commit while driving,” Scottsdale Police spokesman Sgt. Ben Hoster said, citing examples like failure to stop, failure to stay in one lane, improper turning movements or speeding. Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane said the City Council considered a texting while driving ban four or five years ago but ultimately decided against it for a variety of reasons. “We have considered it and chosen not to do it because of a (Special to the Progress) lack of ability to en- Officer Clayton Townsend was killed on the Loop 101 near McDowell force it,” Lane said. Road when he was hit by a car driven by a texting driver. He added, “On the violator will come to court stating they enforcement side, we found at the time that in communities were just checking for a missed call, that have an ordinance there is no en- using navigation, checking a Facebook posting,” he added, reporting that only forcement of it.” Phoenix illustrates Lane’s observa- 27 citations were issued in 2017. Lane also said that he would not like tion. Phoenix Police Department spokes- to see an environment where there is a man Sgt. Tommy Thompson said, “It is tangle of different regulations in every challenging to enforce due to the word- city and town that have different rules and penalties. “One thing we have tried to stay away from is creating an environment where every city has different laws,” Lane said. “On something like this, which is at the very least regional in its application, it is difficult to say let’s have 91 different ordinances.” Lane said he would be open to hearing arguments in favor of a statewide ban as long as there is a commitment to enforcement. Still, Lane said in the meantime he (Special to the Tribune) would like to see some consequences Jerry Sanstead, 40, of Scottsdale, is free on bond, for drivers that cause an incident while charged with involuntary manslaughter texting. “I hope the insurance company would ing of the ordinance. It is only illegal to use your phone to specifically ‘send or step in and if there is any indication of receive a written message while the mo- texting and driving there may be consetor vehicle is in motion.’ All other dis- quential effects to premiums or covertracting uses of a phone while driving age,” he said. are not covered by the ordinance. “Cases have been lost because the see TEXTING page 12
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Of�ice-apartment complex eyed for McDowell and 63rd PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
W
eeks after the City Council approved redevelopment plans at Papago Plaza, another developer is seeking approval for a major mixed-use development along McDowell Road in Scottsdale. JLB Partners, a national multifamily developer with an office in Scottsdale, plans to redevelop the current Chapman Scottsdale Autoplex car dealership at McDowell Road and 66th Street to make room for The McDowell, a mid-century modern styled high-end apartment complex with some “flex office” space, according to plans filed with the city. Flex office refers to the shared coworking space concepts that have become popular in Scottsdale and around the country in recent years in which freelancers, self-employed individuals and small businesses can rent office space in a shared environment for a fraction of the cost of renting a traditional office. Brooklyn-based Industrious is opening a co-working space at Scott-
(Special to the Progress)
JLB Partners plans to build a new mixed-use development on the site of the Chapman Scottsdale Autoplex car dealership. Called The McDowell, the development will feature 7,000 square feet of flex office space and 358 residential apartment units.
sdale Fashion Square this month and The Emerald, a co-working space for women, opened at 64th Street and Thomas Road in November 2018. The McDowell will feature 7,000
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square feet of flex office space on the ground level of a three-story building along McDowell Road. The building will also include multifamily residential space.
The developer does not yet have an operator to run the flex office space. “We didn’t want to put the cart be-
see MCDOWELL page 11
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MCDOWELL from page 8
fore the horse,” zoning attorney John Berry said, noting they wanted City Council approval before proceeding further. The McDowell will include a public pocket park along the Crosscut Canal with ramadas, grass, open space and seating. Berry, who represents the developer, likened the project to the Scottsdale Waterfront and Southbridge projects that transformed the Arizona Canal in downtown Scottsdale into walkable public space. “Revitalization in this area has been top priority for 10 years or longer for the city, and this is key component of
Revitalization in this area has been top priority for 10 years or longer for the city, and this is key component of that. Think of the Waterfront, where development used to turn back its back on the canal. It took visionaries and pioneers to come along and say ‘lets embrace it.’
that,” Berry said. “Think of the Waterfront, where development used to turn back its back on the canal. It took visionaries and pioneers to come along and say ‘lets embrace it.’” Overall, the complex will include 358 units and 425,130 square feet of residential space spread between the building along McDowell Road and a four-story building located centrally on the property. The plan has already received recommendations for approval from the city’s Design Review Board and Planning Commission. City Council on Jan. 15 will consider zoning amendments sought by the developer. JLB Partners is requesting a change from the current commercial zoning
that the car dealership operates under to a planned unit development. The developer is also seeking minor stepback and landscaping amendments to the zoning. Notably, the development does not contain any retail. The amount of retail space at the Papago Plaza redevelopment was a sticking point for local residents who thought there should be more. Papago Plaza is a historic retail destination in Scottsdale located on what several City Councilmembers characterized as the premier street corner in the city. Berry pointed out that the McDowell site is home to a car dealership that, like many others that used to call the area home, is moving to another location – in this case Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land near the Loop 101. He also said the site is not well-positioned for retail because it is not located at a major intersection. Resident Greg Ohlinger attended the zoning meeting on the project in December and expressed concerns about the proposed height of the buildings and the proximity to his home. The proposed height of 58 feet is the maximum height allowed under the zoning requested by the developer. The property’s current C-3 zoning allows a maximum height of 36 feet. With the planned pocket park, the McDowell will provide 129 percent of the open space required by the city under the planned unit development zoning the developer is seeking. “(JLB Partners Development Partner) Kevin Ransil believes strongly in not just doing the minimum to get by,” Berry said. “He believes in doing best thing to enhance the community and doing more than what is required with things like the pocket park and open space.” Ransil and JLB Partners received a Spirit of Scottsdale Award from Scottsdale’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission in 2018 for The Carter, an apartment complex located on Scottsdale Road south of Osborn Road. In awarding The Carter, the Commission cited the complex’s unique architecture. The developer will also pay to underground overhead utility lines on the site and clean up the alley it shares with neighborhoods, including providing new lighting.
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TEXTING from page 4
Meanwhile, victims like Townsend continue to suffer preventable deaths and injuries that could have been avoided if a driver simply would have put down their phone and concentrate on the complex mental task of operating a motor vehicle safely. Townsend, the father of a 10-monthold son, never had a chance, according to a state Department of Public Safety press release, reporting: “A witness told detectives that the driver of the black passenger car was looking down at his phone just before crossing over two traffic lanes and then striking the officer.’’ The DPS said that driver Jerry Sanstead, 40, of Scottsdale, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangerment. Before Sanstead was released on a $100,000 bail, the prosecutor told the court there were no skid marks leading to the officer’s vehicle. “We should make a definitive statement right now that this is phenomenally dangerous,’’ said former Sen. Steve Farley, who was rebuffed repeatedly when he sponsored a variety of distracted driving laws during his career in the
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
legislature. “This is not an R vs. D thing,’’ said Farley, a Tucson Democrat who lost in the Democratic primary in his bid for governor and is now running for mayor. “This is a non-partisan thing to keep the roads safe.’’ Farley and others concerned about distracted driving were sickened – but not surprised – by Townsend’s death, saying that an officer’s death is bound to get more attention, but that every day people with far lower profiles are injured in texting-related crashes. “I would ask them, how many more people have to die’’ before a state distracted driving law gets passed, Farley said. Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said he always has supported measures to deter distracted driving, even though speeding, reckless driving and impaired driving are statistically more responsible for causing fatalities. “I’ve been pushing for a long time about distracted driving,’’ Gutier said. “I became convinced years ago, that I wish we had an ordinance.’’ Brendan Lyons, executive director of Look Save a Life in Tucson, said the patchwork of 17 municipal and county
bans vary. “It’s heart-wrenching because it could have been prevented,’’ Lyons said about Townsend’s death. “We had an opportunity the last time an officer was killed.’’ He was referring to the death of DPS Officer Tim Huffman, who was killed in 2013 when he was struck on a freeway near Yuma by the driver of an empty fuel tanker who was staring at pornography on Facebook. Townsend’s family subsequently testified for a distracted driving law, but the bill still failed. “Because of the state’s failure to act, this is why I encourage local jurisdictions to act,’’ Lyons said. While texting behind the wheel is extraordinarily dangerous, it is not the only act with an electronic device that distracts the attention of drivers, said Tempe Sgt. Steve Carbajal, who has devoted most of his 21-year career to traffic enforcement. “I really feel that distracted driving is the new impaired driving, if not worse,’’ Carbajal said. “You don’t have to be 21 to own a cell phone and be distracted.’’ He said a driver going 40 mph who takes his or her eyes off the road for five seconds covers about the length of a football field without looking at the road.
(Special to the Progress)
State Rep. John Kavanagh, whose district includes Scottsdale, tried to get a texting ban in 2017.
Carbajal said Tempe police are always trying to educate people about the ordinance, especially the large number of visitors who live in other cities, but work in Tempe, attend Arizona State University, or come to Tempe for special event. Tempe’s slogan is “don’t text and drive,
see TEXTING page 13
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
TEXTING from page 12
it can wait,’’ he said. “If it’s that important, pull over.’’ Carbajal said it can be difficult for an officer to distinguish between the driving behavior of an impaired driver and a distracted driver, with the same symptoms present for both. “It’s socially OK to get in a car with someone who is texting and driving and not OK to get in a car with someone who is drinking and driving. It’s the same thing,’’ Carbajal said. He said motorcycle officers will notice 85 to 90 percent of drivers doing something with their cell phones while stopped at red lights. He said the most common excuse he hears from drivers is that they were doing something related to the music playing in their car, such as changing a song on their phone. All of these excuses are trifling when compared with the responsibility to operate a four-ton motor vehicle safely, not only for your own safety but for the safety of others, Carbajal said. “I guess the emotion that comes to mind is sadness,’’ he said, when asked how he reacted to Townsend’s death. “I’ve told so many people their loved ones have died in a crash.’’
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Income taxes, water two big issues facing Legislature BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
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ov. Doug Ducey and state lawmakers begin the new legislative session with a deadline to act – and soon – on two issues crucial to Scottsdale residents. The more pressing one is to get sufficient votes for a drought contingency plan crafted by various interests to deal with the problem of declining water supplies coming out of the Colorado River. Most significant in the deal is a requirement for Arizona to leave some of the water to which it would otherwise be entitled inside Lake Mead. That is designed to keep lake levels from dipping below a certain point when Arizona would otherwise lose its allocation. To do that, however, means someone who normally gets Colorado River water will not. Some of that would be made up with purchases of water rights from tribes. Ducey has committed to putting up $35 million. And there also are plans – though not yet fully funded – to allow Pinal County farmers to replace some of what they will not get from the Central Arizona Proj-
ect with groundwater from new wells. But there is not yet actual legislation for lawmakers to consider. And there already has been some balking among various interests who question their cuts, as well as issues raised about whether cities should be able to take and bank water they do not need. Brenda Burman, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, has given all the affected states to come up with and ratify an acceptable plan by Jan. 31 or she will begin the process of having one imposed by the federal government. The other pressing issue doesn’t have an Jan. 31 deadline. But it is something lawmakers and the governor need to resolve soon so Arizonans can start preparing their state income taxes. In late 2017 President Trump signed a law to reduce federal income taxes rates for individuals as well as a boost in the standard deduction. But it also eliminated or curtailed various itemized deductions and subtractions that lower the taxable income and, by extension, the amount owed. This is significant because Arizona is a “piggy-back’’ state, using the federally adjusted gross income figure as the starting point for preparing state returns. Arizo-
na’s deductions generally mirror what’s allowed under federal law to make tax preparation simple. Ducey wants Arizona to alter its tax code to “conform’’ to the federal changes. But disallowing those state deductions would increase what Arizonans owe the state this year by at least $170 million. That is proving unpopular with many lawmakers, led by J.D. Mesnard. The current House speaker and soon-to-be chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said there is little sentiment for the federal tax cut to become a windfall for Arizona. If legislators do not approve it, current Arizona deductions remain despite the change in federal law. Education is again expected to take center stage at the Capitol. Last year lawmakers approved Gov. Doug Ducey’s plan designed to boost average teacher pay by 20 percent by 2020 over 2016 levels. But that law did not provide additional dollars specifically for salary hikes for non-teaching staff. And questions – and a lawsuit – remain about whether the state is meeting its legal obligations to provide full funding not only for classroom activities but also the capital needs.
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STADIUM from fro��
the termination of all bed tax funds allocated to Desert Edge. “That would pay for the first stage and some of the second,” Littlefield said. Robbins said bed tax monies “can’t be used for (anything but) tourism. We can’t (use them to) improve the roads, we can’t buy a fire truck and we can’t staff the library with tourism dollars. Tourism dollars are used for tourism projects and that’s what this is. If people can understand that, then I don’t think we’re going to have a problem.” Murphy also said the city could look to private stakeholders to help offset the city’s investment in the renovations. City staff has been in contact with the Giants, the stadium’s concession provider and the Scottsdale Charros. “We have talked to them about that (and) we would be looking for them to assist us in some contributions towards the overall costs,” Murphy said. Robbins said the Charros have been asked to pay for infrastructure improvements related to the Charro Lodge – estimated to cost between $2 million and $2.5 million. “We said yes, we’d be happy to pay for our portion of the improvements,” Robbins said. The city could also pull monies from a stadium capital improvement fund set up under the terms of the agreement signed by the city, Giants and Charros as a part of the 2005 renovations. All three entities contribute annually to the fund, which currently has a balance of approximately $500,000. Robbins also pointed out that the Giants recently agreed to make a significant investment in the team’s new practice facilities that are currently under development at Papago Park. Under agreements between Phoenix, Scottsdale and the Giants, the team signed a 35-year lease at Papago Park and will pay all costs to upgrade and maintain the facilities. The Giants’ current lease with the city for Scottsdale Stadium expires in 2025 and includes two five-year extensions. Murphy said the city’s current plan is to work on a longer-term contract with the team. Pending City Council approval, the city plans to begin construction on the first phase of the project, which includes the new clubhouse and multi-purpose facility, on April 1 – right after spring training ends. The second phase, which includes the shade structures, berm construction and other improvements, would follow a similar timeline and begin when spring training concludes in 2020.
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The project will also feature improvements to the fan experience – including reshaping the outfield grass berm seating area to increase capacity, left field restrooms upgrade and adjustments to the bleacher sections. Murphy said some of those improvements could increase the stadium’s capacity by 300 to 500 people. The project will also include a permanent awning to provide shade for fans in the Charro Lodge section in right field. “We’ve been erecting temporary shade for the past several years at quite a bit of expense,” Robbins said. In addition, the stadium will undergo some infrastructure and code upgrades – such as wi-fi, concession stand enhancements and bringing parts into ADA compliance. The renovation will also accomplish the city’s long-term goal to use the stadium as a rentable, multi-use space when it is not being used for baseball. “The stadium has always been considered to be a multi-use facility … but this new construction and expansion will give us some opportunities for some other areas that we normally did not have available to be utilized,” Murphy said. Murphy said city staff worked with stakeholders from the local hotel and events community to come up with designs that would fill a need for event space downtown. “Really the thing that everyone says is here in downtown Scottsdale there really isn’t a large enough (approximately) 10,000-square-foot venue that some of those smaller hotels downtown couldn’t accommodate … And our hope is that we would be able to fit that niche,” Murphy said. The new clubhouse will double as the stadium’s main interior multi-use facility that the city can rent out to private users and will include approximately 15,800 square feet for events, according to city documents. The project will also include renovations to the team shop, press box, city offices and ticketing office. Most of those facilities will include area that can double as multi-use space. Overall, the stadium could have up to 22,890 square feet of interior space and nearly 390,000 square feet of exterior space spread throughout the stadium for multi-use purposes, according to a city staff presentation on the Scottsdale Stadium Masterplan. Initial city estimates based on the Scottsdale Stadium Masterplan pegged
(Photo courtesy of the Scottsdale Charros)
The planned multimillion dollar renovations at Scottsdale Stadium include a permanent shade structure in the Charro Lodge area beyond right field.
the cost of the project at between $40 million and $60 million, but Murphy said the city will likely have more concrete numbers by the end of January after meeting with contractors. The city already paid architecture firm Populous Group $244,524 to develop the stadium’s masterplan, and City Council allocated an additional $5 million from the city’s Tourism Development Fund to pay for stadium design. In July, the City Council awarded a $3,701,125 design-build manager contract for the project to Hunt Construction Group. The city will likely end up footing a significant portion of the bill, though any city funding would have to be approved by City Council. The project is unlikely to meet much resistance from the council as the stadium and its main tenant are among the city’s major tourist attractions. An economic impact study released in July 2018 by the Seidman Research Institute at ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business found that the Cactus League had an estimated economic impact of $373 million on the state last year. As one of the most popular destinations for Cactus League fans – the Giants regularly rank in the top three in Cactus League attendance – Scottsdale is wellpositioned to take advantage of that impact. Scottsdale’s bed tax revenues illustrate that fact. The bed, or transient lodging, tax is a five percent tax assessed on hotels and other establishments that charge for
short-term lodging. The city took in more bed tax revenues in March during Cactus League play than any other month during the last fiscal year, according to a staff report. The city’s total bed tax revenue in March 2018 was $3,558,035, accounting for 17.9 percent of total bed tax revenues for that fiscal year. The intake in March was over $1 million higher than April, the next highest grossing month. “Spring training is the busiest time of the year,” Robbins said. “Our hotels are full, restaurants are full and shops are full and so that’s why it was originally created and that’s why the Charros were started.” “Our ability to raise funds and give back to charities and to education is really why we do this, so between the economic impact for all of our merchants and the charities and the education that we give back to – that’s why we’re here.” Murphy and Robbins both said funding for the project would most likely be coming from the city’s bed tax. Revenues from the bed tax are reserved for projects that support the city’s tourism industry with 50 percent allocated toward destination marketing via a contract with Experience Arizona and the other 50 percent allocated for event support, tourism research and capital projects. Councilmember Kathy Littlefield said she may suggest that council reallocate bed tax monies previously tied to the Desert Edge project for the stadium renovation. Last Dec. 11, the City Council approved
CITY NEWS
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Area lawmakers target tough approach on vaping BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
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alling the current law fatally flawed and ineffective, a veteran lawmaker wants the state to impose far more restrictions on access to vaping products by teens. Legislation introduced by Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, would for the first time ever regulate as tobacco both the devices used as well as the inserts that carry the liquids that deliver the nicotine. That, in turn, would subject everyone from manufacturers to retailers – and users – to the same laws that now make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone younger than 18. It also would give the go-ahead to the Attorney General’s Office, which now runs “sting’’ operations on retailers to see if they’re checking for ID on cigarette purchases, the power to do the same when someone is selling vaping devices and liquid refills. Carter’s proposal, SB 1009, is aimed solely at preventing teen use of vaping devices.
But lawmakers also will consider a different attack on vaping that would affect adults. HB 2024, crafted by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, would add vaping to existing laws that prohibit smoking in public areas, including offices, bars, restaurants, stores, theaters and the common areas of hotels and apartments. Shannon Cronn, Clinical Services (Wayne Schutsky/ Progress Managing Editor) coordinator at Nearly 50 people showed up to Rep. David Schweikert’s Scottsdale office as part Scottsdale Unified of a coordinated effort by Indivisible, a national progressive movement, to presSchool District, ent their policy objectives to the Congressman’s staff. said that vaping is the first or second leading cause of Paradise Valley Unified School District office referrals at all five of SUSD’s high as well. Kavanagh has an additional hurdle schools. The issue is prevalent in the
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that Carter does not face. The original Smoke Free Arizona Act was approved by voters in 2006. That means it can be amended only if he can get three-fourths of both the House and Senate – meaning 45 representatives and 23 senators – to approve. Carter said she wants to focus on what she sees as the real problem of vaping devices, originally marketed as a way to help adults quit smoking, rapidly becoming popular among teens. “Due to slick hyper-marketing campaigns, most students think that these products pose no risk,’’ she said. Add to that the ease of purchase, not just at stores but even on the internet. That, in turn, has boosted teen use in Arizona alone, with surveys of high schoolers showing that the use within the past month went from 17 percent in 2016 to 26 percent last year. “Essentially, e-cigarettes, vapes, epens or whatever else you want to call them, have become the training wheels to develop future smokers,’’ she said. The heart of the problem, Carter said,
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is that 2013 law which created a definition of “vapor products’’ with the intent of making them off-limits. “The law was obsolete before it was passed,’’ she said, saying that’s why she opposed it at the time. She said that statute failed to account for changes in technology from what were originally e-cigarettes to high-tech vaping devices, even to the point that questions remain whether it’s OK to sell the devices to teens separate from the nicotine-infused inserts. What SB 1009 would do is expand existing laws that regulate tobacco sales to include all types of “electronic smoking devices’’ as well as “any component, part or accessory of the device, whether or not sold separately.’’ Carter said that not only covers retail sales but also should do away with the ability of people to order these devices online where age cannot be checked. A press conference last week to provide details of the legislation also included a self-proclaimed “mea culpa’’ from Will Humble, the former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. “Years ago, when e-cigarettes were brand new, I really thought the product
It’s a huge public health threat by addicting an entire generation of young people to nicotine products. had a chance of actually being a public health benefit by giving active adult smokers a pathway off their tobacco addiction and transitioning to a tobaccofree life,’’ he said. “I could not have been more wrong.’’ Humble, now executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said he believes the devices provide “no public health benefit that I can tell.’’ More to the point, he said, has been the unanticipated attractiveness of the devices to teens. “It’s a huge public health threat by addicting an entire generation of young people to nicotine products,’’ Humble said. And he said many of these devices have nicotine levels far higher than any-
one would get from tobacco products themselves. “So these young minds are being hardwired right now to these nicotine products through electronic cigarettes,’’ he said. “It’s impairing their ability to learn at schools,’’ Humble continued. “It’s interrupting their classroom and it’s addicting our kids.’’ Humble said much of the blame can be laid at the feet of the U.S. Food and Drug Admnistration, which he said has been slow in regulating these devices. Humble said as far as he is concerned, they should be classified by federal authorities as “nicotine delivery devices,’’ a move he said that even could require that they be sold by prescription only. The FDA, for its part, has been slow at addressing the issue. It took Commissioner Scott Gottlieb until last year to say he was reconsidering his agency’s views about the health benefits of e-cigarettes as a method of helping adults to quit after seeing data that showed a sharp spike in teen vaping. At this point the agency has announced an intent to ban the sale of flavored vaping liquids from convenience stores and gas stations, though that has yet to take effect.
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Councilmembers Kathy Littlefield, Solange Whitehead and Linda Milhaven (left to right) take the oath of office at the Scottsdale City Council Inauguration ceremony on Jan. 8.
Reconstituted city council gets down to business PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
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he Scottsdale City Council rang in the new session on Jan. 8 by holding its inauguration ceremony for the three councilwomen elected two months ago. Returning Councilmembers Linda Milhaven and Kathy Littlefield were joined by newcomer Solange Whitehead in Scottsdale’s City Hall Kiva Forum as a full house of guests watched them take the oath of office. With the addition of Whitehead, the council now comprises five women and two men – a fact not lost on Mayor Jim Lane. “People have told me that this is the Year of the Woman and I am coming to grips with this, but I should say I grew up with five sisters so this is a pretty natural environment to me,” he said. Littlefield, Milhaven and Whitehead all addressed the assembled crowd and thanked their families, friends and supporters for the work they put in over the course of their campaigns. Milhaven addressed the contentious nature of the campaign, in which many individuals resorted to name calling, personal attacks and allegations of malfeasance made through anonymous posts on blogs and social media. “As I reflect on the days ahead, I think we can’t help but look backwards a little
bit,” she said. “City Council races are interesting things as probably one of the few places where you run against each other and then need to come together to work together … I look forward to doing that.” Milhaven also called for the City Council to move past those differences for the good of the city. “I think it is important that we put all of that behind us, because while there were many issues in the election and some were settled permanently as a result of the citizen vote, there are many, many other issues that are ahead of us,” she said, adding: “I think that all too often we make issues a yes or no question, and I would like to encourage my colleagues to continue to look for points of agreement.” At the regular meeting that followed the inauguration, the City Council approved Mayor Lane’s appointments to council subcommittees. Virginia Korte, Littlefield and Whitehead will sit on the Audit Committee. Suzanne Klapp, Milhaven and Whitehead will sit on the Economic Development Subcommittee. Vice Mayor Guy Phillips, Korte and Milhaven will sit on the Westworld Subcommittee. Klapp, Phillips and Littlefield will sit on the Capital Improvement Plan Subcommittee.
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GENERAL PLAN from fro��
at a special election scheduled at least one hundred twenty days after the governing body readopted the new or revised new plan.” “I read it and the city definitely appeared to me to be in violation (of the law),” Kavanagh said. “I spoke with our attorney, and he said they must resubmit it or submit a new plan.” Scottsdale Long Range Planning Manager Erin Perreault said that the city believes that Scottsdale satisfied the 10-year update requirement during the 2011 process even though it still operates under the 2001 General Plan. “Planning staff has been advised that the 2011 General Plan update process satisfied Scottsdale’s 10-year state required General Plan update requirement,” she said. That opinion appears to be at odds with the Legislative Council and some local residents. Scottsdale resident Howard Myers, a board member with Coalition of Greater Scottsdale, said his group plans to address the update this year. Myers previously sat on a task force in 2013 and 2014 charged with developing a new General Plan after the first update failed with voters in 2012.
(Special to the Progress)
The General Plan is critical to Scottsdale's future development and must be updated every 10 years.
“(The General Plan) is supposed to guide future development and it is supposed to be citizen driven,” Myers said. “Because of a lack of vision, the city is looking at development on a case-by-case basis instead of through an overall plan … I actually believe the city is in violation of state law.” Perreault said that city is not planning to bring another plan to voters until 2021.
She said that city planning staff, following direction from the City Council, drafted an updated version of the 2001 General Plan that includes new state-requirements. “Since we satisfied our previous 10-year update requirement with the 2011 process … our next regularly scheduled update to the General Plan would be targeted for 2021,” she said.
It is unclear what, if any, consequences the city faces following the opinion set forth by the Legislative Council. An Arizona law passed in 2016 allows legislators to request an investigation by the Arizona Attorney General into “any ordinance, regulation, order or other official action adopted or taken by the governing body of a county, city or town that the member alleges violates state law or the Constitution of Arizona.” That law, which empowers the state to withhold shared state funding from municipalities that are found in violation, was used to challenge local laws like Bisbee’s plastic bag ban. Kavanagh said he plans to speak with Mayor Jim Lane about the issue but has no plans to request an Attorney General’s investigation. “I don’t just run around filing complaints against cities, especially when I have not received a formal complaint from a resident first,” Kavanagh said. Joanne Phillips, the former task force member, said she had previously sent letters to Kavanagh, Senator-elect Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Rep. Jay Lawrence requesting they look into the matter but had not received a response.
see GENERAL PLAN page 19
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GENERAL PLAN from page 18
The general plan is a broad blueprint that outlines a city’s plans for future growth. According to the City of Scottsdale, the general plan “is the primary tool for guiding the future of the city.” Joanne “Copper” Phillips, another COGS board member who sat on the city’s General Plan Task Force in 2013 and 2014, said that an outdated general plan can create a host of problems for a city, including a lack of affordable housing options for young families and workers that support the city’s tourism industry. “It all ties back to the general plan,” Phillips said. “When you don’t think ahead to the collateral damage you’re bringing by catering to developers and thoughtless business aspirations, you are not helping your community.” Leslie Dornfeld, owner of Phoenix-based community planning firm PLAN*et, said that cities update the general plan for several reasons, including to reflect population growth and provide new residents the opportunity to comment on the direction of future growth. Since 2001, the population of Scottsdale has grown from just over 211,000 to approximately 250,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Dornfeld, who has worked on general plans for Queen Creek, Tolleson and other entities, said updates also give cities the opportunity to reflect land use changes that have occurred since the last plan was adopted. Updates also can reduce time and costs associated with new development by reducing the need for general plan amendments, Dornfeld noted. New plans can also give the city the chance to examine planning issues related to how development has affected health and climate. The city has made two efforts in the past several years to update the plan. The Scottsdale City Council convened a 19-member community working group from 2009 to 2011 to begin work on a new General Plan to comply with state law. The group, made up of one member from each of the city’s boards and commissions, conducted community outreach and developed a plan known as General Plan 2011. “The majority of the 2011 Plan included goals and policies retained from the City of Scottsdale General Plan 2001, as well as the addition of new state statute required elements,” Scottsdale Long Range Planning Manager Erin Perreault said. The plan was narrowly defeated in a March 2012 special election with 52 percent of voters opposing the measure.
The city began the process again in 2012. Following a stakeholder meeting attended by over 100 people, the City Council organized a new 25-person task force to draft a new general plan. That task force presented General Plan 2035 to council in 2014 and the city continued to conduct public outreach for the next two years. The city never adopted General Plan 2035. In fact, the City Council never even brought the plan before voters due to disagreements over a rural land use proposal. Joanne Phillips, who supported the proposal, said it provided increased protections to preserve large parcels of land for residents who wanted to use those parcels as horse properties and other uses. There are demands for larger lots; this is the Arabian Horse Show city,” she said. “Unless you have land space for people to bring horses and raise horses, they will leave. That’s why so many people have left Scottsdale and moved to unincorporated land.” She said the proposal was a compromise created by a subset of current and former taskforce members, some of whom approved of greater protections for large rural plots from being split by landowners or developers and others who were initially resistant to the idea. At a Dec. 1, 2016 study session, the council voted 4-3 to direct staff to update General Plan 2001 to incorporate state requirements as well as an arts and culture update worked on by the task force. Councilmembers Linda Milhaven, Suzanne Klapp, Guy Phillips and Virginia Korte voted for the direction. Mayor Jim Lane and Councilmembers Kathy Littlefield and David Smith voted against it. Korte said she hesitated to support the rural land protections proposal because it could have a devaluation effect on some landowners who were not included in the compromise process. Joanne Phillip said the measure was strongly opposed by the development community. In effect, the direction stalled General Plan 2035. Despite voting to simply update the 2001 Plan, Councilmember Phillips expressed disappointment in the result of the vote. He said that “it wasn’t the council that came up with this idea; it was the citizens and not only that, it was both sides of the coin that worked all summer and came up with this and I thought this was a good compromise.” “We had a good compromise, certain people didn’t want to do it and now we are stuck with an old plan … this is a sad day for Scottsdale once again,” Phillips said.
CITY NEWS
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NEIGHBORS
Neighbors
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Scottsdale.org l
@ScottsdaleProgress /ScottsdaleProgress
Community Celebrating Diversity marking milestone BY MIKE PHILLIPS Progress Contributor
M
artin Luther King Jr. inspired a nation in 1963 with his “I Have a Dream” speech. Some 30 years after that stirring moment, Sandra Rembrandt also had a dream. She wanted to keep King’s words alive for a new generation. She wanted her adopted hometown of Scottsdale to discuss the prickly issues of race and diversity and help build awareness that differences sometimes unite us. Rembrandt’s vision took hold. Her brainchild, a nonprofit called Community Celebrating Diversity, is itself celebrating 25 years. And the Scottsdale discussions she helped launch continue to flourish. “I’m glad that the ideas behind it continue to be discussed,” said Rembrandt, 79. “I’m glad there are still passionate volunteers and that they’ve been able
(Special to the Progress)
Scottsdale diversity/inclusion manager Sharon Cini will be an honoree at the CCD dinner.
to keep things going.” Rembrandt left Scottsdale in 2007 and relocated to Nevada for family reasons. One of the individuals who kept her vision alive is Scottsdale Deputy Fire Chief Jim Ford, a long-time board member. “I definitely feel Community Celebrating Diversity is making a difference,” said Ford. “The idea is not to preach to anyone, but to get people thinking and talking about diversity. We need that today.” The public centerpiece of Community Celebrating Diversity, or CCD for short, is the Martin Luther King Jr. “Living the Dream” dinner which annually hosts a speaker prominent in the national diversity discussion. This year’s dinner takes place Jan. 16 at the Scottsdale Embassy Suites and features Carmen Perez-Jordan, executive director of The Gathering for Justice. The organization is a nonprofit founded by artist and activist Harry Belafonte. Perez-Jordan has traveled the world promoting civil and human rights and last year was (Adobatto/Special to the Progress) named one of Fortune’s Top 50
Deputy Fire Chief Jim Ford has been a longtime member of the Community Celebrating Diversity board.
see MLK page 22
(Elaine & ChiChi Ubina/Special to the Progress)
Southern Scottsdale resident Jolie Vanier, 20, poses with her escort, Count Michael Ziadie-Campbell, at the 64th International Debutante Ball on Dec. 29 in New York City.
Local woman is belle of the ball as a debutante BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
olie Jacqueline Vanier’s ball gown – a silk-white shantung bodice with a belt of pearls and a flowing long skirt with rows upon rows of tiny ruched tulle tiers – fits her like a glove. Holding a delicate bouquet of powder-pink kissed roses, Vanier lightly places her hand on her escort Count Michael Ziadie-Campbell’s right hand before she takes the bow she’s practiced her whole life for. This was the scene at the 64th International Debutante Ball last month at
the Grand Ballroom of the Pierre Hotel in New York City, where southern Scottsdale resident Vanier made her debut as the representative for Arizona. “I was absolutely thrilled to be invited,” Vanier said. “Being a debutante at the International Debutante Ball was one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences of my life.” The International Debutante Ball, a biennial event founded in 1954, is an invitation-only, formal debutante ball where young women of distinction are presented.
see DEBUTANTE page 25
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
6 here nominated for Governor’s Arts Awards BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
S
ix Scottsdale-based individuals and arts organizations were nominated for the 38th annual Governor’s Arts Awards, presented by Arizona Citizen for the Arts in partnership with the Office of the Governor. The three nominated individuals are Craig Bohmler, a composer and pianist nominated in the Artist category; John Fontana, a real estate agent who gives back to the art community through volunteering, nominated in the Individual category; and Edith Eubank, who works at Salt River Pima Maricopa School District and has been nominated in Arts in Education, Individual category. “It’s a bit humbling to be recognized for something I love doing: sharing the love of art with others,” Fontana said. “To be able to give back through volunteering is rewarding; providing arts’ healing qualities to veterans is a passion.” The Governor’s Arts Awards recognizes the best in Arizona’s arts and culture community and the contributions they make. “I feel truly humbled that someone thought kind enough to nominate me for such a prestigious award,” Eubank said. Bohmler said he is proud to be part of the arts community in Arizona and is privileged to have been supported by Phoenix Theatre and Arizona Op-
MLK from page 20
world leaders and one of Time’s most influential persons. Tickets and information about the dinner are available at ScottsdaleMLK.org. During the dinner, CCD also presents its Diversity Champion Awards. This year’s honorees are Gary Griggs, a Scottsdale School District guidance counselor, and Sharon Cini, the city of Scottsdale’s diversity and inclusion manager. The dinner also serves as a major fundraiser for CCD and as a gathering for Scottsdale business, faith, political and diversity leaders. But it’s far from CCD’s only undertaking. While she’s in town, Perez-Jordan will also meet with roughly 1,000 high school students from throughout the Valley as part of CCD’s Youth Voices event at Saguaro High School.
(Scottsdale Philharmonic/Special to the Progress)
(L to R) Scottsdale Philharmonic President and Co-founder Joy Partridge, Music Director Carl Reiter and Director of Development Barbara Moss and the rest of the organization have been nominated for the 2019 Governor’s Arts Awards.
era, in addition to other local theaters and music organizations. “Arizona’s magnificent and mystical landscapes have inspired my work as a composer,” Bohmler said. The three other nominees are Scottsdale Arts, nominated in the Arts in Education, Organization/School category; Nationwide, nominated in the Large Business category; and the Scottsdale Philharmonic, nominated in the Community category. “We are deeply honored to have been nominated for our work in Arts Education. Creative education is a cornerstone to the mission of Scottsdale
Arts,” said Gerd Wuestemann, president and CEO of Scotts( John Fontana/Special to the Progress) dale Arts. John Fontana, who gives back to the art community through “We believe in the transfor- volunteering, is one of six Scottsdale-based 2019 Governor’s mative power of engaging stu- Arts Awards nominees. dents of all ages in the creative tion and Outreach, Natalie Marsh, said process,” he added. “Working with extraordinary partners across the organization is thrilled to be recthe Valley allows us to grow levels ognized in the same category as arts of engagement exponentially. Being education organizations across the recognized for our work elevates the state, from Hilltop Gallery & Arts Eduimportance of arts education in the cation Center in Nogales to Flagstaff public eye and will inspire others to Symphony Orchestra in Flagstaff. “Arts education is integrated into evincorporate this important piece into student education.” Scottsdale Arts’ Director of Educasee GOVERNOR page 25
(Adobatto/Special to the Progress)
Sandra Rembrandt started the nonprofit Community Celebrating Diversity.
The school district’s Service Learning Program partners with CCD to produce the “Voices” event. The program’s roots
see MLK page 24
(Special to the Progress)
Saguaro High school students launch the nationwide funddrive that helped build the MLK Museum.
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
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MLK from page 22
stem from an effort by Saguaro students to honor Martin Luther King Jr. They organized a nationwide fundraising campaign that led to the creation of an MLK Jr. museum in 1994 beneath the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. “The students helped create a museum to focus on all of the wonderful gatherings that had occurred there in the name of Civil Rights, especially MLK,” said Saguaro Principal Ann Achtziger. “The Voices program brings an understanding to students that Dr. King’s message is still relevant, still important, and still applies, all these years later.” Community Celebrating Diversity partners with other organizations throughout the year on an assortment of programs. They include a Diversity Day for Scottsdale Leadership classes and collaboration with Scottsdale Community College and the Scottsdale School District on youth diversity. CCD also collaborates with a variety of businesses and nonprofits to award scholarships to local youth who excel or show promise in community service. Five scholarships are being awarded this year in honor of CCD’s 25th anniversary. “What we’re doing is trying to keep the conversation going,” said Ford. “Diver-
Diversity means different things to different people. It’s challenging, but when people talk about diversity and reflect on it, it usually leads to better understanding. sity means different things to different people. It’s challenging, but when people talk about diversity and reflect on it, it usually leads to better understanding.” And true to Sandra Rembrandt’s original vision, CCD is creating that community dialogue. In November, the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce awarded Community Celebrating Diversity a Sterling Award as its nonprofit of the year. “The credit (for CCD’s success) belongs to the community,” said Rembrandt, who won’t be able to make this year’s dinner because of health issues. “It remains alive because the community has a need and a desire for this information. It’s about character and integrity and having an open mind. And I think Scottsdale does that better than anyone in the country.”
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
DEBUTANTE from page 20
Vanier was originally invited to the International Debutante Ball in 2016, but she waited because she had just started college. “I was so excited that one day I would be part of an event that celebrates young women and their accomplishments, while also giving back, and now I’m proud to say that that day finally came,” she said. This year, 22 young women were in attendance representing nine American states and various countries, including Belgium, England, France, India, Liechtenstein and Scotland. Vanier was the first American debutante in the receiving line, and as she was presented, Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” played. “It was very exciting,” she said. “Arizona was where I was born, and I’m very proud to call it home.” Vanier calls the ball a once-in-a-lifetime experience, particularly due to the friendships she made that night. “As the night wore on, we were all dancing in our gowns after having ditched our shoes,” she said. “We all bonded very quickly. By the end of the weekend … I made lasting friendships.” While most girls plan their wedding day, this was the day Vanier has been preparing for since she was 2 years old,
GOVERNOR from page 22
erything we do at Scottsdale Arts, from events like Canal Convergence and student matinees to museum programs at SMoCA and teacher professional development opportunities,” Marsh said. This is Scottsdale Philharmonic’s
(Craig Bohmler/Special to the Progress)
Craig Bohmler, a composer and pianist, is one of six Scottsdale-based 2019 Governor’s Arts Awards nominees.
when she was introduced by her mother, Jerre Lynne Vanier, at the National Debutante Cotillion and Thanksgiving Ball. Since then, Jolie has been part of two other debutante balls: the Board of Visitor’s 101st Charity Ball and the Daughters of the American Revolution state convention in Arizona. Both took place in 2016. Jerre, a former debutante, has taught Jolie, now 20, everything she knows. “My mother has taught me that being a debutante is being a graceful and intelligent woman,” Jolie said. But being a debutante now has changed since her mother’s debutante days. “In a way, it’s still your debut to society; however, it’s no longer about being ‘eligible,’” Jolie said. “Rather, it’s a celebration of young ladies aspiring to make a difference in the world and the way they go about that, whether it’s through university, charity work, a career or a mixture of these things.” Jolie is well on her way to doing it all. Currently living in Studio City, California, Jolie attends the University of Southern California with an emphasis in history. She has recently received a Foulke Fellowship from USC’s Department of History, and she is a member of the Pi Beta Phi Women’s Fraternity, in which
she participates in Champions are Readers, which requires her to read to elementary students on a weekly basis. Jolie is also a published children’s book author. She wrote the “Puwaii Adventures with Joliea and Friends” book series, which has since been turn into two award-winning screenplays. A classically trained vocalist and a three-time Young Artist Award-winning actress and Young Entertainment Award nominee, she landed her debut leading role in the 2009 feature film “Shorts.” “I want to make an impact in the arts,” Jolie said. “I grew up in the entertainment industry and have a passion for film and TV.” To put her history degree to use, however, she also has plans to work as a museum curator “to help make exhibitions appeal to much wider audiences,” she said. Jolie credits being a debutante for her successes, thus far, and for helping her prepare for her future. “Being a debutante has prepared me by enabling me to ask myself what do I want to represent and what are my values as I move into womanhood,” Jolie said. “From there, I learned what I value in myself: intellectual growth, determination and tradition, while also looking toward the future.”
fourth nomination for the Governor’s Arts Awards. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to bring classical music to people of all ages in the community. According to Scottsdale Philharmonic President and Co-founder, Joy Partridge, the organization expanded its mission last year to include developing an annual children’s concert and a youth orchestra as well as giving music scholarships for underprivileged youth. “We have over 120 volunteers including 75 professional musicians, dedicated board members and enthusiastic volunteers who share their time and talent for each of our concerts,” Partridge said. Since 1981, more than 200 distinguished Arizona artists, arts organizations, businesses, educators and individuals have been recognized for their commitment to bettering their respective arts communities. And in 2006, the Shelley Award was born. Named after Shelley Cohn, who spent more than 25 years as executive direc-
tor of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, this award has since been presented at the Governor’s Arts Awards annually to one Arizona-based individual who has advanced the state’s arts and culture through strategic, innovative work to create or support public policy beneficial to the arts. “Art can be much more than enjoyable decoration. Art is known to have healing qualities and a positive influence on children, seniors and veterans struggling with the wounds of war,” Fontana said. “Should the nomination move to the next level, it will be because the love of art and giving back made it possible.” Information: azcitizensforthearts. org.
If you go
Governor’s Arts Awards Gala When: March 7, 5-8:30 p.m. Where: Renaissance Downtown Phoenix, 100 N. First St., Phoenix Website: azcitizensforthearts.org
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Thursday
17
Days JANUARY
Sunday
13 Complimentary face painting
This winter break, Butterfly Wonderland will offer free face painting every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 9500 E. Via de Ventura. Donations will support the Butterfly Wonderland Foundation. Information: 480-800-3000, ext. 210.
Aquatic feedings
Feed Koi fish at 9:30 a.m. or stingrays and sharks at 11 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. Information: 480-800-3000.
Bee talks
Entomologist and horticulturist Dayna Cooper will share important topics surrounding bees at 2:30 p.m. at the Honey Bee Extravaganza exhibit at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. Information: 480-8003000.
Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction
Stop by WestWorld of Scottsdale at 16601 N. Pima Road, for a car auction that will bring together hundreds of the world’s finest collector automobiles and thousands of spectators. The auction will run until Jan. 20.
Monday
14 Reptile talks
Learn about reptiles and amphibians that share the rainforest with tropical butterflies at 2 p.m. at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. Information: 480-800-3000.
Homeschool days
Homeschool students receive
special pricing for a Butterfly Wonderland field trip on Jan. 14 and 15 at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. To register, visit butterflywonderland. com, click “Plan Your Event and choose “Homeschool.” Information: 480-800-3000.
Art all around us
The Phoenix Art Museum will present expert slide talks on art from 11 a.m. to noon at the Mustang Library, 10101 N. 90th St. Information: 480312-7323.
Caregiving 101
Learn the basics of caregiving and where to find help in a presentation by AARP from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Appaloosa Library, 7377 E. Silverstone Drive. Information: 480-312-7323.
Tuesday
15 Free strawberry ice cream at The Screamery
The Screamery ice cream shop in Phoenix will celebrate National Strawberry Ice Cream Day by giving out free, singlescoop ice cream cones to every customer wearing the color red or pink. This special offer will take place from noon to 10 p.m. at 10625 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix. Information: 602-368-1362.
Unicorn Cupcake Boutique anniversary celebration
The Unicorn Cupcake Boutique will celebrate its oneyear anniversary with free face painting for children from 3 to 5 p.m. as well as a free gift bag for the first 10 adults to arrive. Customers will receive a $5 discount on purchases of $10 or more. This whimsical boutique offers gourmet cupcakes, unicorn-themed clothing, toys, accessories and gifts for children and adults. The shop is located at 7227 E. Shea
ArtWalks
Art appreciation
Enjoy a free public art walk from 7 to 9 p.m. along Main Street from Scottsdale Road, to Goldwater Boulevard and on Marshall Way north of Indian School Road, to Fifth Avenue. Restaurants, museums and trolley and horse-drawn carriage rides are available during weekly art walks. Information: scottsdalegalleries.com.
Lyndsay Faye book signing
Valley of the Sun JCC invites you to make new friends and socialize at a local restaurant from 5 to 7 p.m. Dinner is separate checks. Call Bunnye at 602-371-3744 for restaurant details and to make a reservation.
Blvd., Suite B. Business hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Information: 602-601-2911. Phoenix Art Museum docents will share a free special visual art presentation on “Art Over Adversity” from 11 a.m. to noon at Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road. Information: 480-481-7033. Lyndsay Faye will sign “The Paragon Hotel” at 7 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. The book will be available for $26. Information: 480-947-2974.
Wednesday
16 Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen book signing
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen will sign “An Anonymous Girl” at 7 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. The book will be available for $27.99. Information: 480-947-2974.
Romantic quintets: Brahms and Schumann
Close Encounters with Music will provide an enriching concert experience with sublime chamber music from Brahms and Schumann at 7:30 p.m. at Virginia G. Piper Theater, 7380 E. Second St. Tickets are $19 to $39. Information: 480-4998587.
How did I miss that one? Book discussion group
Pick up a copy of “Last BUs to Wisdom” by Ivan Doig before the group discussion at 1 p.m. at Appaloosa Library, 7377 E. Silverstone Drive. Information: 480-312-7323.
Mature Mavens dinner out
Family STEAM Exploration Night
Enjoy a fun, interactive evening with over 14 stations for creation, exploration and innovation from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Navajo Elementary School, 7501 E. Oak St. Snacks and water will be provided. Information: 480-484-2600.
Nick Petrie and Matthew Quirk book signing
Nick Petrie will sign “Tear It Down,” and Matthew Quirk will sign “The Night Agent” at 7 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. “Tear It Down” will be available for $26, and “The Night Agent” will be available for $26.99. Information: 480-947-2974.
Friday
18 Humana Rock ’N’ Roll marathon and half marathon
Kick off the New Year with a marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, mile run or kids run. The course will include sections of Thomas, McDowell, Hayden and Scottsdale roads. Prices vary. To run for free, choose a fundraising level to support the lifesaving work of St. Jude Research Hospital. Information and registration: www.runrocknroll.com.
Date night with the butter�lies
Enjoy light refreshments as well
as a showing of the film, “Flight of the Butterflies,” in a full-screen theater from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. $35 per couple. Registration is required. Information: 480-800-3000, ext. 210.
In stitches knitters group
Gather with other knitters to work on individual projects, share advice and talk with others from 1 to 3 p.m. at Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Information: 480-312-7323.
Ventriloquist Chuck Field
Ventriloquist Chuck Field will perform at 7 p.m. at Winfield’s Café at First Baptist Church of Scottsdale, 7025 E. Osborn Road. Doors open a 6 p.m. The coffee shop will be open for purchasing food and drinks. Information: 480-907-5157.
Saturday
19 2019 Feng Shui workshop: year of the pig
Understand the elements and cycles affecting the Earth, environment, economy and personal health with Grandmaster Hong, a master of five different schools of Feng Shui, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road. Attendance is $175 and includes workshop materials. Registration is required. Information: qigongaz@gmail.com.
Beginner Native American �lute class
A free class for beginners who want to learn playing the Native American flute. Loaner flutes will be provided. 2 p.m. at an Old Town location. Reservations required to learn address. Call Flute Journey 480-433-8666.
Rosemary Simpson and Karen Odden book signing
Rosemary Simpson will sign “Let the Dead Keep their Secrets,” and Karen Odden will sign “A Dangerous Quiet” at 2 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. “Let the Dead Keep their Secrets” will be available for $26, and “A Dangerous Quiet” will be available for $15.99. Information: 480-947-2974.
Croak and Dagger book discussion club
Join others in discussing Claire
Macintosh’s “I Let You Go” at 10:30 a.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. Information: 480-9472974.
Native American cultural experience day
Guests are invited to learn about Native American cultural traditions and history. Local Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian artist Alice Manuel will demonstrate how to weave Native American baskets and explain the cultural significance of baskets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Butterfly Wonderland, 9500 E. Via de Ventura. Free with paid admission. Information: 480-800-3000.
Sunday
20 A Man Named Pearl
“A Man Named Pearl” is a film that chronicles Pearl Fryar’s life and artwork. Co-director Scott Galloway will participate in a Q&A Skype session after the showing at 1 p.m. at Virginia G. Piper Theater, 7380 E. Second St. Tickets are $12. Information: 480-499-8587.
Story stop (Ages 0-5)
Build children’s literacy with a free picture book program from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Information: 480-312-7323.
Monday
21 James Rollins book launch
James Rollins will sign “Crucible” at 7 p.m. at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd. The book will be available for $28.99. Information: 480-947-2974.
Crystal bridge at the J
Join others for duplicate bridge in a warm and friendly atmosphere between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road. Light refreshments will be served throughout the day. Attendance is $10. Information: 480-483-7121.
Fast play bridge
Enjoy a game a bridge at 1 p.m. at Via Linda Senior Center at 104400 E. Via Linda. Information: 480-312-5810.
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NEIGHBORS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Russo and Steel auction owners gear up for a big show BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
D
North
rew Alcazar was a Sco ttsdale long-haired kid from southern California who grew up playing with Matchboxes and Hot Wheels. Now in his mid-50s, Alcazar has a fullfledged car collection of anywhere from 30 to 35 cars sitting on his property that he shares with his wife, Josephine. But more notably, Drew is the auction president and CEO of Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions. He founded Russo and Steele with Josephine in 2001, and this year, the annual auction celebrates its 19-year anniversary. Returning to Scottsdale Jan. 16-20 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Russo and Steele bills itself as “The World’s Most Exciting Collector Automobile Auction.” (Pilotlight Media/Special to the Progress) Russo and Steele is an auction of the Drew Alcazar is the auction president and CEO of most exclusive, select and diverse auto- Russo and Steele. mobiles – from European sports cars to hot rods and custom cars – from around Attendees can expect well-documented, the world. More than 800 cars are expect- genuine collectible cars. ed to cross the auction block for its “auc“It’s the really well restored cars from tion in the round” format. restorers that are well-known, well-reRusso and Steele’s main auction pa- spected that are doing well,” Drew said. vilion is a staggering 13,000 square feet “You can’t just show up at my auction – or and includes a climate-controlled vendor anybody else’s auction weekend – with pavilion that has been expanded this year some car that no one’s heard of, no one’s to increase the experience for the general seen.” public. It’ll host more than 130 vendors. One particular vehicle Drew is excited Drew and his team also expanded bid- about is a unique, factory-delivered Merder seating – for a good reason. cedes-Benz 280SL 1975 with both a four“That’s our biggest challenge,” Drew speed transmission and air conditioning. said. “We try to be welcoming to the genDrew calls this a “very unusual combieral public, to have them come in and en- nation,” and he has already received a call joy the event with us; but, of course, you from a gentleman who plans to bid on it. need to cater to your clients, your bidders “The trend in the marketplace right now and your sellers, which is the primary ob- is very astute demanding buyers expectjective.” ing the best of the best,” Drew said. “We’re always trying to grapple with Drew predicts the Mercedes will sell that balance,” he said. for $100,000, and “maybe as much as The main auction tent was opened up $130,000.” to the general public for the first time in Cars with stories are highly sought as 2010, and since then, thousands of attend- well – much like every car in Drew and Joees have visited Russo and Steele – with sephine’s car collection. 60 percent coming from out of state, Drew “All the cars that we have in the collecsaid. tion are ones that have close, personal Russo and Steele averages between connections,” Drew said. “They all have 1,200 and 1,500 registered bidders, and reasons for being in the collection. I have 10,000 to 15,000 people attend the event stories that go with them.” as general admission. Of the general pubFrom Josephine’s very first car – a Jaglic attendees, about 40 percent of them uar E-Type – and his great grandfather’s convert to being a client. 1963 Ford Galaxie to the very first Fer“It’s always interesting how that dynam- rari that Drew and Josephine purchased ic changes as people get infected with the together 20 years ago, their collection is a excitement and passion and everything treasure trove of memories. that was on the block,” Drew said. The Ferrari “still has about 7,000 origi-
(Pilotlight Media/Special to the Progress)
Russo and Steele will feature its well-established “auction in the round” with more than 800 cars crossing the block this year.
nal miles on it, but we still have that car,” Drew said. At one point, the couple had over 50 cars in their collection, but they quickly had to pare it down because it became too much work. “Cars, for me, are like stray cats,” Drew said. “They come my way, and I adopt them. I clean them up. I give them shampoo, and I get rid of their fleas, and I make them all pretty again – and I’ll sell them to a friend of mine.” Drew even has cars in his collection that he’s bought and sold two or three times from his friends. Drew and Josephine clearly have a passion and enthusiasm for cars, and Drew calls Russo and Steele an extension of that enthusiasm. “We really do it because we’d be enjoying the old cars one way or another,” Drew said. “It’s very much like coming to our home.” While last year Russo and Steele’s gross sales revenue was about $18.9 billion, with a 78 percent sell-through rate, Drew said he and Josephine aren’t in it for the money. “It’s a lot more important for me to represent my client’s cars [and] to have a quality group of inventory and a quality experience for the buyers and sellers,” he said. Drew believes they sold around 650 cars. Drew and Josephine are already making plans for their 20-year anniversary.
“One of the most notable things we’ve talked about is bringing back Josephine’s infamous gala party that she used to do,” Drew said. Josephine owned the catering company, Events with Taste, for nearly 10 years and “she’s looking forward to coming out of retirement once again and doing one of Josephine’s kickoff gala parties for next year to celebrate our 20th anniversary,” Drew said. “It’ll be a big milestone.” The milestone anniversary will hopefully not be a replay of their disastrous 10-year anniversary, when a storm destroyed the auction site. Drew at the time described it as “the most catastrophic disaster to ever befall a collector automobile event.” But next year, they’re determined to redeem themselves. “We have high expectations for a lot of redemption,” Drew said. “We’re getting prepared even now to really do something very, very special.”
If you go
Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions When: Jan. 16-20 Where: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, 7555 N. Pima Road Tickets: $25-30 GA, $250 bidder registration Website: russoandsteele.com
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
NEIGHBORS
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Artist realizes dream of a coworking space for creatives guests entering through the massive, metal doors. ichelle Biely took S incorporated cottsdale Biely one look at the the image into her building tucked own logo, which between Brat Haus and Sip shows the teddy bear Coffee & Beer House and knew she found holding a blow torch the space that would turn her idea for an instead. open, informal co-working space for artOriginal shipping ists into reality. containers were “I fell in love with this building,” Biely transformed into tasaid. bles and bar chairs. This building, on Scottsdale Road at Hundreds of bullet Goldwater Boulevard, once housed Man- casings trim the origidall’s Shooting Supplies, which closed in nal hardwood floors 2004. where baseboards Under Biely’s creative direction, it was would be. repurposed into the Creative Center of And see those large Scottsdale in 2013. metal letters on the “It had history. It was big enough to do opposite wall? Those my concept. And because it’s been here once hung outside, so long, it had a soul,” Biely said. spelling “Mandall’s The Creative Center of Scottsdale of- Shooting Supplies.” fers shared workspaces, private offices, “I kept all the letters and magnetized them, so you can come in and make words out of them,” Biely said. Storage units for guns were reconfig(Kimberly Carrillo/Progress Staff Photographer) ured into lockers for artist-tenants to store Michelle Biely is the owner of the Creative Center of Scottsdale, which used to be the old Mandall’s Shooting Supplies. their supplies. the space into the Creative Center, and Danielle Loncki-Young, a photographer In the sound-proof basement, six 50-foot concrete tunnels since then, she’s had a full house of artists and owner of A Little Bit Country Studio, meeting areas, an outdoor event court- with three 10-foot fermentation tanks of all ages, from painters and a stained rents the first studio space at the end of yard and a second-story patio at a more can be seen. The tunnels were once used glass artist to a hat maker and photogra- the Creative Space corridor. She’s been phers. working there for a little under two years. affordable rate. for Scottsdale’s first shooting range. More than 20 artists have rented the Loncki-Young started her photography Shared workspaces include a The underground space has been 100-square-foot space priced at $300 transformed into a taproom called The space through the years, with a handful business a couple years after the Creative per month, while private workspaces Goldmine. Goldwater Brewing Co., a still working the Creative Center since its Center opened, and she knew she wasn’t nearly as productive working from home. start at $450 per month. family-owned brewery that opened in doors opened. One feature artists like about the space “I’m a country girl. I’m the horses, the A photographer known for her ani- 2015, can comfortably accommodate 25 is its ample natural light. nature, the outdoors, the woodsy, the texmal pictures and former owner of Cow people. “Being a photographer,” explained tures type of person, so when I saw the Dreamz Photography, Biely came up with Windows with the words “knitting” the idea after talking with her father. and “needlepoint” are placed just above Biely, “’I said, ‘We have to get as much hardwood floors, I was like, ‘Oh, this is She had been looking for a space to the bar, and a chandelier Biely preserved natural light in here.’ I don’t want paints perfect,’” she said. being skewed because the light is a difA Peoria resident, Loncki-Young drives do commercial photography and had hangs above the entire space. friends who needed a space for woodThe windows came from what used ferent color. I don’t want photographs down to Old Town three times a week working and band practice. Her cousin to be Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint, being skewed because through the lens, for two reasons: The Creative Space is centrally located, making it a convenient had just graduated architecture school which Mandall’s wife, Joyce Beyer-Man- it makes them turn orange.” The Creative Center offers full access to meeting point for her clients located and needed an office, too. dall, opened in the 1980’s. a variety of amenities, including free Wi- around the Valley, and she enjoys work“I was like, ‘wouldn’t it be great if one Sip now occupies the building. could be the architect of the building and “I stole the windows,” she said, adding Fi, a meeting area, a kitchenette, lockers, ing alongside fellow artists. “Having a community that can spark one could do the band and he could do that she also kept the original front door an outdoor courtyard, a drying rack pulley station for art to dry and display their with each other is ideal for your own his woodworking and I can do my pho- from the knitting shop. journey; it’s wonderful,” she said. “I think tography?’” Biely said. The Brat Haus next door also has mis- work and more. Predominately, artists have rented every artist should find a community like Biely was careful to preserve certain cellaneous items from the old shooting aspects of the historical building. range in its restaurant, too. “It was a way the space, but the Creative Center wel- that.” Spaces are currently available to The iconic Mandall’s Shooting Supplies to tie us all together because we’re all comes anyone in the creative field, such sign – with the image of a teddy bear right here in the same corner,” Biely said. as graphic designers, interior designers, rent. Information: creativecenterscottsdale.com. holding a submachine gun – still greets It took Biely three years to transform website designers and architects. BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
M
South
It had history. It was big enough to do my concept. And because it’s been here so long, it had a soul.
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BUSINESS
Business
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Scottsdale rock-climbing gym marks 15 years today BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
R
ock climbing changes lives. If anyone wholeheartedly stands by that statement, it’s AZ on the Rocks owner Kevin Berk. Berk has seen people of all ages – from 18 months to 88 years – and people of all physical abilities – including people confined to a wheelchair – scale the wall. And from day one, that was always Berk’s mission with AZ on the Rocks in Scottsdale: to show and prove to people that climbing is for everybody. “I want more people to understand that this is not an extreme sport,” Berk said. “We’ve had kids here who are blind. We’ve had a girl with one arm. We’ve had kids who’ve never spoken before speak their first words here.” AZ on the Rocks, the largest indoor climbing gym in the state covering a whopping 14,000 square feet, opened in 2004 and is celebrating its 15-year anniversary today, Jan. 13. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., anyone can stop by for free climbing, yoga, ninja training and demonstrations,
(Kimberly Carrillo/Progress Staff Photographer)
Northern Scottsdale resident Jennifer Anderson started climbing at AZ on the Rocks with her daughter eight years ago.
ice cream and raffles. Joining in on the celebration is Ability360, a nonprofit corporation that offers comprehensive programs for individuals with disabilities and addresses the disability concerns of their family members, co-workers and employers. Ability360 will provide equipment for people with disabilities that’ll allow them to climb the 31-foot-tall walls. Today will be the first time AZ on the Rocks and Ability360 will offer this opportunity to people with disabilities, but it won’t be the last. “It’s a program we are looking into having as regular programming in the future,” Berk said. “We’re exploring what it looks like and costs and how to implement and training. It may happen in 2019.” Currently, AZ on the Rocks has around 1,200 active members, and about 250 new people come to the facility every week. Over the past 15 years, Berk said they had over 750,000 unique people at AZ on the Rocks.
see ROCKS page 31
Scottsdale firm completes Chinese Center takeover BY CECILIA CHAN Progress Staff Writer
A
Scottsdale private equity firm appears to have a clear path toward renovating a decades-old commercial complex into a sleek headquarters and a technology campus that opponents say will destroy ancient Chinese cultural elements. Settlements have been reached on all relevant lawsuits against 668 North, LLC, which purchased the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix in June 2017 for $10.5 million, according to attorney Jason Rose, spokesman for True North Cos., a parent company of 668 North. The company turned its back late last month on an $18-million cash offer from a group of wealthy individuals who wanted to save its heritage.
For more than two decades, the center – with its imperial-style roof tiles, prayer garden and woodwork crafted by master Chinese artisans using materials in China – stood as a representation of the country’s 5,000-year cultural history. It was a frequent destination for Chinese guests of Valley Sister Cities programs, including Scottsdale’s. A group of private individuals from Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix and East Valley communities made the $18 million offer in November to True North CEO David Tedesco. But the offer apparently came too late as far as True North was concerned. True North in 2017 was open to the idea of selling and released criteria for credible offers and received none, according to Rose.
see CULTURAL page 31
(Special to the Progress)
The Chinese Cultural Center will be turned into an office complex by a Scottsdale firm's subsidiary.
BUSINESS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
ROCKS ���� page 30
Currently, there are nearly 600 indoor climbing facilities in the U.S. In 2004, when Berk opened AZ on the Rocks, there were fewer than 200. Berk, who owns the gym in northern Scottsdale with his brother, Kent, and his mother, Joyce, didn’t open AZ on the Rocks as a means to make money, however. The gym’s origin is traced back to Flagstaff, where Berk and his family spent four-and-a-half hours at a local rockclimbing gym. Berk took one look at his kids’ faces once they reached the top of the wall and knew he wanted to build a gym from the ground up. “You’ve never seen the impact on a kid’s face when they get to the top of the wall,” Berk said. “That’s primarily why we built this.” Berk opened up AZ on the Rocks to as many people as possible, not just climbers. “We tried to have this really broad appeal because it differs for everybody,” Berk said. For returning and more experienced climbers, AZ on the Rocks changes the holds and routes every two or three weeks as a way to vary the climbs and make them more interesting. It also hosts yoga classes upstairs in a room next to the Ninja Warrior training
CULTURAL ���� page 30
Under the East Valley Cultural Awareness Coalition’s proposal, $8.9 million was in an account at First American Title Co. and the balance held in two banks in cash and certificates of deposit. The funds could be wired immediately into escrow upon execution of the purchase agreement, according to the proposal. Felicia Vandermolen, the coalition chairwoman, said the center not only contains valuable artifacts but brings cultural awareness as Arizona builds a relationship with China. Greeting visitors to the Chinese Cultural Center complex on 44th Street in Phoenix is a pair of pi xiu granite statues. The mythical creatures of good luck and fortune were hand-carved using stone from the same quarry that built the Forbidden City in Beijing during the Ming dynasty and shipped in sections to Phoenix. “The Phoenix Cultural Center is a gift to us from China,” Vandermolen said. She cited Valley ties to China through Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix Sister Cities programs aimed at
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“You have to get out of your head while you’re climbing because you’re so focused,” she said. “Whoever’s belaying for you, they’re there for you. They’re literally and figuratively supporting you the whole time, so it’s really a community.” Anderson met all her best friends at AZ on the Rocks, and she’s seen women 20 years her senior climbing there. Berk sees climbing is a way for people to step outside their comfort zone, especially those fearful of heights. “When you realize it’s just in your head, then what else? What other fears are in your head that are limiting you from doing the things that you took on?” Berk said. “How can I apply that to the rest of my life?” When Berk looks back on 15 years of AZ on the Rocks, he’s overcome with gratitude. “At the end of the night, I’ll lay down in the middle of the floor, and I’m looking up, and I go, ‘We built this thing. People are coming, and they like it, and it’s touching lives,’” he said. “It’s really cool to hear those stories, so thank you.”
course that was added about two years ago. AZ on the Rocks also has the largest
youth climbing team in the state, AZR Ascenders Climbing Team, numbering about 75 kids. The gym’s programs cater largely to kids, which explains why its customers are 60 percent kids and 40 percent adults. “It’s probably by design,” Berk said. “We have the after-school climbing class, birthday parties, the youth climbing team; there’s lot of programming around kids.” Berk recognizes that many people view AZ on the Rocks as a form of entertainment – and he embraces it. Not only have CEOs used the gym as a means of team-building, but Berk also recognized the need to add more auto belays, which eliminate the need for a second person to take in the slack as a climber scales the wall. Now, infrequent climbers can watch the training video, clip in and go. While a large number of people come in for fun, others, including Berk, use rock climbing as a form of therapy. Northern Scottsdale resident Jennifer Anderson, who turns 50 this year, has been climbing at AZ on the Rocks with her daughter for eight years. “The gym is just magic,” Anderson said. “If you’ve got tears that need to come out, they’ll find their way out. Or, if you feel like you need support, you’ve got it.” Anderson, who is currently working on attaining her master’s in counseling, tells people all the time: Just go climb.
building cultural, educational and business relationships. True North in 2017 offered a number of solutions such as giving $100,000 toward relocating the Chinese Cultural Center elsewhere, preserving and relocating some of the sculptures and signs, and preserving the garden and making it available to the public during business hours. Rose said proposals require two parties willing to engage in preservation – and noted that never happened. None of the options, though, were viable as far as Elizabeth Mann is concerned because the artisans and the materials are for the most part gone. Mann and her company BNU Corp. developed the Cultural Center, a 26-acre commercial condominium complex, from 1990 to 1996, including a medical center and town homes. The Center, which opened in 1997, was a project of the Phoenix Public Art program and Mann wanted it as authentic as possible. “As a developer, I built it as a gift to the city because I am grateful,” said Mann, who emigrated from China. “I came here with $10 in my pocket.”
Mann hired Ye Juhua, the chief Chinese architect, who helped create a Ming-dynasty courtyard at the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York. She also hired craftsmen whose ancestors built the Forbidden City to install the Center’s tile roof and build the prayer garden, featuring replicas from five Chinese cities. Mann traveled to China a number of times to go over plans and inspect the quality of materials to be used at the Center. She and a Phoenix city official later went to China to secure special visas to bring back 30 master craftsmen from four different trades. Every craftsman had to be vegetarian, pray and go through a ritual every day, according to Mann. Work for them began at 4 a.m. due to the hot Phoenix sun. The artisans painstakingly drilled holes and hand-tied the tiles with wire onto the roof of the center’s buildings. The tiles were made out of a special purple clay, the same used for China’s renowned purple clay tea pots. More than 4 million clay tiles were made in China in factories that no longer exist.
Only one million tiles were hand-picked and glazed with melted-down turquoise, then shipped to Phoenix. The craftsmen also assembled all the hand-carved wood pieces in the garden, using a 1,000-year-old technique to interlock them without one single nail. “Everything was handmade,” said Mann. The center contains replicas of the ceremonial arch to the Confucius Temple in Nanjing, West Lake in Hangzhou and the Surging Waves Pavilion, the oldest existing classical garden in SuZhou. The original is protected as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and can no longer be replicated, according to Mann. Nothing at the center can be replaced as the techniques and materials are long gone. For example, the mountain where the granite came from is now off-limits by the Chinese government, and the craftsmen have either died or retired along with their skills because their children no longer practice the trade, Mann said. “Everything there has a story,” she said. “This is public art.”
(Kimberly Carrillo/Progress Staff Photographer)
Kevin Berk is the owner of AZ on the Rocks, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary on Jan. 13.
If you go
AZ on the Rocks 15th Anniversary When: Jan. 13, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Where: 16447 N. 91st St., Ste. 105 Website: azontherocks.com
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OPINION
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
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Nursing home pregnancy highlights little-known abuse
BY DR. ERICA MCFADDEN AND DR. TASHA MENAKER Progress Guest Writers
T
he world has turned its eyes to Arizona after a local headline caused an international public outcry – and for good reason: “State of�icials investigate after patient in nursing facility gives birth.” A Phoenix woman reportedly has been in a vegetative state for over a decade, unable to give consent to sex – but just before New Year’s Day, she moaned in pain and staff members realized she was in labor. How could this have happened? How did no one notice she was pregnant? At �irst glance, the extreme cruelty seems unprecedented.
Sadly, each week we receive a roundup of stories from across the country of others with disabilities who have been molested, raped and even impregnated. Sexual abuse of people with cognitive disabilities indeed exists in Arizona. Consider these headlines: a juvenile assaulted by a Mesa caregiver, a Tucson man convicted of raping a 67-year old woman with a disability. In 2018, National Public Radio and the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that people with cognitive disabilities were seven times more likely to be victims of sexual assault as people without disabilities. A 2012 national study also showed that 30 percent of survey respondents with disabilities had been sexually abused. Similarly, a 2017 study conducted in Florida of teen survivors of sex traf�icking found that 30 percent of those adolescents had cognitive disabilities. We know we have a problem, but we’ve only scratched the surface in Arizona. Locally, no such data is tracked. Despite these statistics, there has largely been silence around this issue for several reasons. Many people don’t consider those with cognitive disabilities as inher-
ently sexual beings. Some individuals may not understand appropriate touch or con�late ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ with a staff member, family member or acquaintance. The person may also be more likely to believe a perpetrator’s threats or expressions of love. Perpetrators also know it could be dif�icult to prove a victim’s report, making it easy to avoid prosecution. Currently, Arizona requires background checks among providers who work with vulnerable populations, but less than 1 percent of all abuse claims are ever substantiated by Adult Protective Services. A repeat offender may never be charged, and their paper trail of repeat allegations never fully investigated. Furthermore, trainings about de�ining, recognizing and reporting signs of sexual abuse are not required for state-funded residential providers. Neither are trainings routinely offered to youth and adults with disabilities or families and guardians. And unlike many states, Arizona does not allocate any state funding to sexual assault speci�ic services or prevention efforts. Over the last several months, the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has convened a workgroup
of state agencies, researchers, advocacy organizations, and people with disabilities to advise on research measuring the impact of sexual abuse on Arizonans with disabilities, the state’s response, and best practices we can put in place. In addition, this group is working towards making recommendations on how to tighten regulations, strengthen existing state statutes, and provide statewide training. We have a lot of work to do to prevent sexual abuse of our most vulnerable. Only with greater awareness and resources can these heartbreaking incidents be stopped. The time to act is now. Dr. Erica McFadden serves as the executive director for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, which provides training, advocacy, research and support for full inclusion of people with developmental disabilities. Dr. Tasha Menaker serves as the chief strategy of�icer of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, which provides support and resources for sexual and domestic violence survivors and their loved ones, statewide training on appropriately responding to survivors, and public policy advocacy.
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Scottsdale men tackle football in new league BY ZACH ALVIRA Progress Sports Editor
S
ome guys just can’t give it up. Even into adulthood, when some are beyond college age, playing tackle football still gives them a thrill. That there are leagues for this is a wellkept secret, a function of many league owners being oblivious to the benefits of marketing. That there are enough people interested to warrant forming entire leagues, much less a team or two, is an equally well-kept secret. But there is demand, and the dozens of men in the Scottsdale area who are involved in adult amateur tackle football take it pretty seriously. With the recent cancellation of juniorcollege football programs across Arizona, the demand soon could grow still more. Matt Archer recognized a business opportunity when he saw one, and he strives for the new league that he has created to be an upgrade from others that essentially are adult Pop Warner football. The emphasis of his Cactus Football League is on player development and on creating rules that allow participants to
(Zach Alvira/AFN Staff)
Grown men will slug it out in the Cactus Football League, which begins play in February. Although this practice session is without pads, games are adult tackle football in full pads.
retain eligibility to play college football as a next step if given the chance. For others, who might be older and for whatever reason have no hope of play-
ing at a higher level, it’s the place to go to continue to knock the crap out of the guy across the line. The idea came to Archer two years ago,
I joined the Arizona Football League, where I played for five seasons until this past year, when I made the jump to the new Cactus Football League, which includes a Scottsdale team. I quickly realized that it wasn’t just a group of “weekend warriors” as many of the men – and I mean grown men – often called themselves. Some were fresh out of college, looking for a place to gather more film before figuring out their next move. Others, surprisingly, were ex-pro- Zach Alvira fessionals, looking to fulfill that itch at a less competitive level. Even though it was essentially adult
Pop Warner football, it was extremely competitive. Well, for the most part. When I first saw it, it was like “The Longest Yard.” It’s not strict. Some players don’t practice because of work schedules. Some just show up for the games. It’s not uncommon to see someone go for a smoke before they play. And some arrived with less than their game face on after a night on the town. That’s the kind of stuff that owner Matt Archer is trying to clean up in his new Cactus Football League. When I lined up against someone for the first time who had played at an
shortly after he and the Arizona Spartans – an adult tackle-football program in the East Valley – lost in the semifinals of the Gridiron Football League. Archer had joined the ownership of the Spartans a month before the season. Short on offensive lineman, he played, himself, to help his team. “I had tears in my eyes and I told the guys that I would fix everything that we didn’t have go well that season,” said Archer, who was 35 years old at the time. It wasn’t his play that disappointed him. As Owner of M.A. Designs in the East Valley, Archer always emphasized marketing his business. He made that clear with the Spartans, especially for the few players who were looking to use the organization as a steppingstone to the next level. “I didn’t even get from the stadium to my house and I was already thinking of ways to fix our team,” Archer said. “But everything we wanted to fix stopped at the league. From a business standpoint, it was tough to see.” The Gridiron Football League was among three amateur adult football leagues in Ar-
see ADULT FOOTBALL page 34
8 pins in leg from adult football, ready for more
BY ZACH ALVIRA Progress Sports Editor
I
never was the type of player who was going to be recruited and further my football career after high school. I knew that at a young age. Instead, I would pursue a career in sports media, hoping to stay close not only to football but also other sports I’d grown up playing. A year after I graduated from Highland High, I still felt that itch. I had no desire to play at the collegiate level. I had already invested too much in my education. But after coming across a photo of an adult tackle-football league here in Arizona, I knew that was my chance to continue playing a sport I love at a recreational level.
elite level, I admit I was intimidated, especially given that I had been out of the sport for more than a year. I had grown bigger, faster and stronger since high school, so I could hold my own as one of the youngest in the league. I was 19 in my first year, and some of these guys were in their 30s. The first time I was on the receiving end of a big hit, it was one that I felt the next day. But one aspect of these adult tacklefootball leagues that differs from high school is that we are all in the same boat in one way or the other. At the end of the day, we all have to go back to work on Monday. So even after a big hit that would generate a loud crowd and side-
see ALVIRA page 34
SPORTS & RECREATION
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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
ADULT FOOTBALL ���� page 33
izona at the time. First, it was the Arizona Football League, which began more than 20 years ago and still is in business. The AZFL once was the most competitive in the state but the balance of power shifted to the GFL. Then, Archer’s vision, along with that of his business partner, Rafiel Ashante Lee, came to reality. “Myself and Raf started putting our heads together and we came to the conclusion that we had to run a league in order to get things fixed to make it better,” Archer said. “We initially wanted to run the operations side of the GFL, but that didn’t end up working.” So the Cactus Football League was born. Archer, Lee and the rest of the CFL front office announced their plans last May after the GFL season ended. During their announcement ceremony they emphasized player development for those hoping to move on to the next level. Before August, more than 10 teams had agreed to join the inaugural season that opens in February. Now, 16 teams are locked in. Scottsdale Crusaders, East Valley Vipers, Ravens and Spartans, Tempe Owls and Chandler Jaguars encompass the East Valley. Eight other teams are near central Phoenix and the West Valley, and two are in Tucson. “The whole mission is to help the players,” Archer said. “A lot of players get missed because there aren’t resources within leagues to market them, with stats being huge. "That’s what schools look for. I owed it to the players to fix everything they didn’t get before and try to give that the opportunity to get to the next level.” The league is home to players who have landed there for various reasons, whether to keep playing a game they love or for those who are fresh out of high school or he
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Archer’s upgrades of amateur developmental football in Arizona do not stop there. Every Game of the Week will be live streamed on Facebook and other online platforms, providing an opportunity for family members in other parts of the country to tune in. “That was one of my big things, to give those family members the ability to watch these guys play,” Archer said. The league will play in high school stadiums during its inaugural season. Archer brainstormed build(Zach Alvira/AFN Staff) ing his own facility. After about a Dwight Gilabert (left) and Deyon Erves practice for the inaugural season of the Runnin’ Rebels in the new Cactus month, he received a phone call to Football League, an amateur adult tackle-football league. meet with developers who potentially could bring his plan to light. college and looking for a steppingstone to “Come to find out it’s a $250 milthe next level. lion project,” Archer said. “I was skeptical Seniors in high school who have finished at first but it turns out (another group is) their football seasons are allowed to play already building it and they want people in the CFL. Because players are not sub- to jump in on the project. What we are sidized and must pay their own fees to working on now is to lease the three high the league and to the team they join, they school fields and to control the recremaintain NCAA eligibility. ational stuff that happens in the future.” In the future, Archer plans to regulate Because negotiations are ongoing, Arthis even more but he said that coaches are cher declined to comment on the location aware that even giving a player a helmet and name of the complex. But if all goes can jeopardize his future eligibility. well, the CFL will have its own dedicated “Our focus is to at least give the kids an field in the Valley with marketing and a opportunity to play,” Archer said. “We are synthetic playing surface showcasing the giving them the tools, whether it be Hudl league’s logo. for film and updated stats or just giving Archer is hoping for all of these plans to them a chance.” become reality in 2020 for the CFL’s secArcher plans to promote the league to ond season. high schools this spring and will even look The league has seen exceptional growth into junior-college players whose careers in its short life. With everything appearing may have hit a wall with the recent cancel- to be falling into place, the CFL could attain lation of all juco football programs in Ari- Archer’s goal of improving the landscape zona. of amateur adult developmental football Part of that promotion comes with a top- across not only the state but perhaps even notch website, something into which the the nation. CFL has invested thousands of dollars. It “Until I really use our platform to go gives each player his own page for statis- somewhere that is when it will hit me” Artics, updated weekly. cher said. “I’m excited. I’m ready to go.”
I live
alone
SH
No landline? No problem!
line reaction, everyone was there to pick you up. In five years in the AZFL, I started in every game, on two teams. My first team, which went 0-10 the year before I joined, reached the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. That includes two straight state-championship appearances, though a broken leg held me out of the first. That was the only major injury I had ever suffered in football. I never had an injury worse than a broken finger. Here I was, 22, playing in a recreational league and I break my leg. Two surgeries, nine screws inserted (one was removed in the second surgery) and eight months of rehab later, I was ready for the next season. It still bothers me from time to time, especially when it gets cold. I have the plate and eight screws still attached to my fibula to blame. But I just couldn’t walk – or limp – away from the game. During my time in adult amateur tackle football, I have seen the landscape change, from the growth of new leagues to the demise of others. I’ve played with guys younger than me who went on to play at the collegiate level, and even some who have been signed to play professionally. Every league has attempted to transition from an amateur status to become a developmental league. Even for those like me who aren’t looking for anything more than a chance to put on the pads and hit a few people it’s a great outlet. There is one thing that I have enjoyed most about my time in amateur football: the camaraderie of playing with a bunch of guys who share my passion for the sport. For that reason, I will continue to play until my body tells me otherwise. Just like everyone else.
One touch of a button sends help fast, 24/7, even when you can’t reach a phone for:
but I’m never alone. I have Life Alert.
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ALVIRA ���� page 33
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/ScottsdaleProgress
Well-traveled local photographer to display work BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
P
hil Mastores has been a photographer, professionally and for sport, for decades. And up until this month, he has never sold a print, let alone had a solo exhibition. VALLEYLIFE’s “Out of Africa” exhibition at its Erika Y. Schafer Art Gallery on Jan. 17 will feature Mastores’ photography from his month-long trip with wife Sarah to Namibia, Africa, last May. The exhibition will also include a presentation and slideshow, drinks and hors d’oeuvres. A now-retired resident of northern Scottsdale, Phil has had a long (Phil Mastores/Special to the Progress) history with photography – in sev- Phil Mastores’ photos from his trip to Namibia, Africa will be on display and for sale at the “Out of Africa” exhibition eral ways. Before landing a 14-year gig as at VALLEYLIFE on Jan. 17. an architectural photographer in London, he was also a hand model of college, and it helped him save money for commercials. to purchase a camera and equipment. “I was one of the top hand models in Phil and Sarah moved to Scottsdale in London for 10 years,” Masters laughed. “I 1992, where he eventually switched cafell into by accident.” reers – a couple times. A friend who was a model talked MasHe drove ambulances for Valley-based tores into doing it. It was his �irst job out Southwest Ambulances, and then he was
(Phil Mastores/Special to the Progress)
Northern Scottsdale residents Phil and Sarah Mastores are avid travelers and have visited about 70 countries thus far.
a Realtor. He retired three years ago and has been traveling ever since. Avid travelers who have visited about 70 countries thus far, the Mastoreses have visited Africa before but never Namibia. “Africa is really magical part of the
world,” Phil said. “I’ve known a lot of friends, a lot of people who’ve gone to Namibia, and recommend it highly. So, we had that on our list of places to see and said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
the Glendale Library, 5959 W. Brown St. The induction ceremony will begin at about 3:30 p.m. The songwriter and publisher, formerly on Capitol Records as The Titans and Hollywood Vines, has had some placements in movies and TV shows such as The Sopranos, Parks and Recreation, Ugly Betty, My Name is Earl, Touched by an Angel, The Oblongs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the Paul Newman �ilm Where the Money Is. He credits his af�iliations with Fervor Records/Whirled Music Publishing and Universal Music Group with that. Iger co-founded the Arizona Songwriters Association in 1977, and served on the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame board of directors from 2005 to
2015 and continues to serve on its advisory council. He co-produced the cable TV series The Arizona Songwriter with producer Randee Mossburg, and has co-produced the annual Arizona Songwriters Gathering since its inception more than 20 years ago. With the Arizona Songwriters Association, Iger helps people write songs and learn about the industry. “The music business is not easy,” said Iger, who grew up in California. “Everybody needs all the help they can get. I started in high school and had a band. We didn’t know anything about the mu-
��� AFRICA ���� 36
Local songwriter going into music hall of fame BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Progress Staff Writer
J
on Iger, president of the Arizona Songwriters Association, said his incoming induction into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame was more than unexpected. “I was surprised. I was very surprised,” Iger said. “So many great people were nominated. I �igured somebody more well known would get voted in. There are a lot of really excellent people with great track records.” A Scottsdale resident, Iger will be inducted during the Arizona Songwriters Association’s free annual gathering from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at
(Special to the Progress)
Jon Iger will be honored next Saturday.
��� FAME ���� 38
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
Portland Cello Project coming to MIM BY CONNOR DZIAWURA Progress Staff Writer
C
overing Radiohead’s landmark 1997 album OK Computer would be a daunting task for anyone, but the Portland Cello Project took a unique approach. The ensemble at �irst ignored Radiohead completely and only reimagined the material it felt it could pull off, said arranger Doug Jenkins. “I think for us the philosophy was to only do things if they were going to be really high quality or else we knew it would burn out like a Roman candle,” Jenkins said. “Radiohead was a really big part of that. Radiohead’s programming and repertoire is so important to so many of us in the group. Their sense of orchestration is already there and their palate is naturally going to be much larger than a bunch of classical instruments. It’s because they aren’t held back by any of those restrictions. So really the initial inspiration was just not do it, like, ‘Let’s never touch Radiohead.’” Eventually, however, the tides turned for the classical ensemble, which formed more than a decade ago, and in 2012 the collective celebrated the 15th anniversary of Radiohead’s album. Portland Cello Project only tackled the behemoth when a woodwind quintet, The City of Tomorrow, and a men’s choir jumped on board.
AFRICA ���� ���� 35
There, they photographed their way through Etosha National Park and other areas in the west and northwest. “We rented a four-wheel drive and we just drove around the country,” Phil said. “We traveled 3,300 miles on really bad roads.” For the upcoming “Out of Africa” exhibition, Phil chose his favorite 18 photographs from the upwards of 6,000 photographs both he and Sarah shot. The photos depict villagers and the various wildlife they encountered. “There’s a lot of water holes that are pumped up from underground, so there’s loads of animals and they come down to drink at any time of the day,” Phil said. “So, if you just parked next to a water hole, you can see all kinds of stuff.” Phil and Sarah saw herds of elephants and zebras, a rhino, giraffe, warthogs, lions – and many types of antelope and kudu. While they personally had no dangerous close encounters, another traveler did.
(Phil Mastores/Special to the Progress)
The Portland Cello Project will take on Radiohead's classic "OK Computer."
“That’s how it came about. ‘Let’s do OK Computer because it’s just been off limits for so long, but let’s put the right energy into it and do it correctly,’” Jenkins explains. “And since then it’s really just evolved. We take it seriously.” When the group stops by Musical Instrument Museum at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, Jenkins said the Portland Cello Project will be equipped with cellos, brass, a full rhythm section and vocals. On vocals is Patti King of The Shins and
“There was a herd of elephants that was crossing the road in front of us, and there was a couple of little babies, and this idiot came up behind us and went around us and went to pass through where the elephants are crossing,” Phil recalled. A bull quickly approached the traveler. “[It] backed him off pretty quick. He gave him the warning, and the guy stopped and stayed there until they were �inished crossing,” Phil said. VALLEYLIFE is a nonpro�it organization that provides residential services, day services, home and communitybased services and vocational services to people with disabilities. Phil has volunteered at VALLEYLIFE for almost nine years, reading to people with disabilities and sharing photos of his travels with the members of its day services programs. “VALLEYLIFE members and staff enjoy seeing the photos and hearing about his travels, and we believe many other people in the community may also enjoy this opportunity,” said Leslie Smith, VAL-
on percussion is Tyrone Hendrix, who has performed with the likes of Prince and Stevie Wonder. The shows are generally two 50-minute sets. The second is always OK Computer in full, while the �irst set always changes and is determined from a variety of considerations. Jenkins estimates 100 arrangement changes since his act started the Radiohead project. Sometimes songs are done with vocals; sometimes without. It de-
LEYLIFE communications and marketing manager. VALLEYLIFE hosts art shows throughout the year, and, after seeing Phil’s photos from Africa, managers decided now was the time to showcase his art. “VALLEYLIFE is proud to showcase artwork by our volunteers, donors, staff and members when the opportunity arises,” Smith said. Proceeds from the exhibition will be used to help fund VALLEYLIFE’s art program. About four art classes are held each month. “These classes offer the opportunity for members with varying skill levels to participate in a variety of arts including painting, drawing, jewelry making, etc.,” Smith said. VALLEYLIFE is always looking for more volunteers who can read to members. The organization also welcomes volunteers willing to share their skills and talents with the nonpro�it’s members. “In the past, volunteers have offered to hold workshops and classes at our facilities on the subjects of photography, arts
pends on which musicians are on deck. “We keep it very recognizable, but we try to just grab the elements of the music that are really special, and we play with it and meditate on them,” he said about formulating arrangements. “We’re going to pull out some different stuff that you’ve maybe been overlooking or forgot about and we’re going to try to make it special and new.” Its 1,000-song catalog has garnered positive feedback from the artists Portland Cello Project has tackled. Beck and Jay-Z have acknowledged the collective, and Jenkins said it would be cool to get Radiohead’s thoughts, too. However, recognition isn’t a motive. “To have it would be amazing,” he said. “That’s not a big concern or a thought even. I mean we’re doing it because we love it. If I were them, I’d probably not care.” “When we’ve gotten the feedback from other stars, it felt really good. Even when we’ve collaborated with amazing people in the past, it’s felt really good, but that’s not really why we do it. It’s really about just good musicianship and doing something special for our audience.” Portland Cello Project: Radiohead’s OK Computer, Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix, 480478-6000, mim.org, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, $38.50-$48.50.
and crafts, dance and exercise,” Smith said, adding sewing, knitting and crocheting teachers are also needed. Phil also volunteers for the Scottsdale Fire Department, teaching CPR classes and taking part in its Home Safe Home program that sends volunteers to seniors’ homes to identify potential tripping and falling hazards. While Phil hopes to dedicate more of his free time volunteering this year, he already has other plans as well: “We’re taking a boat up the Amazon in February, which will be nice. Then I’m going to some Greek Islands after that and then maybe to Nepal and Bhutan later this year.” Information: valleylifeaz.org.
If you go
“Out of Africa” exhibition When: Jan. 17 from 5:30-7 p.m. Where: VALLEYLIFE, 1142 W. Hatcher Road, Phoenix
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
ARTS & SUNDAY, JAN. 13 “Hello, Dolly!”
The hit Broadway revival is taking its show on the road. The classic musical follows Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to �ind a match for unmarried half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. Betty Buckley stars as Dolly. DETAILS>>Various times. ASU Gammage, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe. $30$225. 480-965-3434, asugammage.com.
SUNDAY, JAN. 13
“Assisted Living the Musical”
Audiences will enjoy this funny story from early retirement right up to the pulling of the plug. The story takes place at Pelican Roost, the full-service retirement community that is home to the 18 characters played by the show’s two actors in this 75-minute, vaudeville-like musical revue. DETAILS>>Various times. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale. $39. 480-4998587, scottsdalearts.org.
TO SUNDAY, JAN. 20
Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale Auction
Some of the world’s most desirable col-
lectible trucks, SUVs and off-road vehicles will muscle their way across the block during this event. DETAILS>>Various times. WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale. $21-$195. 480-421-6694, barrett-jackson.com.
STARTS SUNDAY, JAN. 13 Sunday A’Fair
Treasurefruit (noon to 12:45 p.m.) and The Sugar Thieves (2 to 4 p.m.) help kickoff this year’s season of Sunday A’Fair. Ten free Sunday A’Fair events showcase more than 20 Arizona-based musical acts. Other shows are: Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 17, Feb. 24, March 3, March 17, March 24, March 31 and April 7. DETAILS>>Noon to 4 p.m. Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale. Free admission. 480499-8587, scottsdaleperformingarts. org.
SATURDAY, JAN. 19
Powerhouse performer and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald takes the stage with multi-talented pianist Seth Rudetsky for an intimate evening of music and storytelling. DETAILS>>8 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second
Culture
St., Scottsdale. $59-$89. 480-499-8587, scottsdalearts.org.
$12.75. 480-596-2660, bit.ly/2Sj3MnE.
FRIDAY, JAN. 25
“Agave: The Spirit of a Nation”
Come watch the movie and enjoy an evening of premium mezcal tastings, in partnership with No Festival Required. This expressive documentary – produced and directed by Nick Kovacic and Matt Riggieri – explores the phenomenon of the fastest-trending alcohol spirits in the world, tequila and mezcal. This journey will take audiences to the world’s most bio-diverse landscape of the agave plant, Mexico; and hear from families who have been passing down the tradition of distilling agave for generations, at times, even clandestinely. DETAILS>>7:30 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Stage 2, 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale. $25, includes one welcome cocktail, �ilm and mezcal sampling. 480-499-8587, scottsdalearts.org.
SUNDAY, JAN. 20
Audra McDonald
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“The Anxiety Project”
A collaboration between ASU and the Phoenix Theatre, “The Anxiety Project” shares true stories of anxiety, loss, struggle, relationships and alienation. DETAILS>>6 p.m. ASU Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.
Ballet Arizona’s Dance with Me Gala
The 11th annual gala will honor longtime supporters Judd and Billie Jo Herberger. This year’s gala is themed after Artistic Director Ib Andersen’s production “The Firebird,” which takes the stage at Symphony Hall Feb. 14 to Feb. 17. DETAILS>>6:30 p.m. Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. Tickets start at $600. 602-343-6522, balletaz.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 2
OdySea Fine Art Exhibition: “Experience Art In The Marking”
“Experience Art In The Making” features live music and artists showcasing and creating their original art. Presented by the Scottsdale Artists League. DETAILS>>9 a.m. to 4 p.m. OdySea in the Desert, 9500 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale. Free admission. 480-9512100, odyseainthedesert.com.
THURSDAY, FEB. 14, TO SUNDAY, FEB. 17 “The Firebird” and “La
Sylphide”
The past and future collide in Ballet Arizona’s performances of “The Firebird,” a new production from Artistic Director Ib Andersen, and “La Sylphide,” one of the world’s oldest ballets. The Phoenix Symphony provides the music. DETAILS>>Various times. This juxtaposition of old and new comes to Symphony Hall Valentine’s Day weekend, February 14-17, with live music by The Phoenix Symphony. Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix. Tickets start at $25. 602-381-1096, balletaz.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 16
Artists of Scottsdale Ranch: Art Show, Sale and Silent Auction
The Artists of Scottsdale Ranch work independently, but they come together annually to display and sell their artistic endeavors in their home community. The artists each donate a special work to the silent auction. Proceeds from the auction bene�it local charities. DETAILS>>10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Scottsdale Ranch Community Center, 10585 N. 100th St., Scottsdale. Free admission. 480-200-4731, artistsofscottsdaleranch.com. — Email calendar items to christina@ timespublications.com
th 66 Annual
Photos by Riley Wilson
Western Themed Events for the Entire Family! Feb 4 – 10 | FREE (Except Arizona Native Experience)
Western Week Events
ArtWalk, Western movies, Native American food tasting ScottsdaleWesternWeek.com Feb 8 | 10am – 1pm | FREE (Mail arrives at noon )
Hashknife Pony Express Arrival
Special envelopes to send letters to friends Western Spirit: Scottsdale Museum of the West | HashknifePonyExpress.com
Feb 9 | FREE Scottsdale Parada del Sol Parade and Trail’s End Festival
37
Feb 9 • 9am – 6pm Feb 10 • 10am – 4pm | FREE
Arizona Indian Festival
22 Tribes - Inter-tribal culture, arts, crafts, foods Old Town - Scottsdale Civic Center ArizonaIndianTourism.org
• 9:00am – Pre-Parade Entertainment • 10:00am – Main Parade Parade route from Drinkwater Blvd. along Scottsdale Rd., finishing at Brown Ave. & Indian School Rd. Old Town Scottsdale ScottsdaleParade.com
Mar 7-10 | 7pm Mon-Sat • 2pm Sun Tickets $5-$45
• 12pm – 4pm | Trail’s End Festival Lots of horses, kids area, food, dancing, bands, Multi-cultural stages with entertainment Old Town Scottsdale ScottsdaleParade.com
Cowboys and cowgirls show their skill at riding broncos, tie-down roping, wrestling steers and more WestWorld of Scottsdale ParadaDelSol.net
Rodeo Scottsdale
SCOTTSDALE scottsdaleindependent.com
arizona.newszap.com Connecting & Celebrating Our Community
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alway s been
FAME ���� ���� 35
sic business – anything. We’d only been playing for a year when we were selected by Capitol Records to do some recording for them.” He deems it important for others to learn about the music business. In the 1960s, Iger said he didn’t have access to the seminars, books and magazines that acts have today. “You just had to jump in and get knocked around,” he said. “They said, ‘You want to record?’ I said, ‘OK.’ We didn’t have anybody on our team who knew anything. Music attorneys know what they’re doing. There are so many different kinds of attorneys with different specialties. Music and entertainment law is a whole different specialty.” The annual gathering in Glendale works to shed a little light on the business. “Everybody’s invited,” Iger said. “We have free workshops and song critiquing. It’s an amazing opportunity that would normally cost a lot of money, if you had to pay for it.” The keynote speaker is Shelly Peiken, a platinum-selling songwriter with a Grammy-nominated spoken-word album. She’ll present Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. Iger found his way to Arizona when he, as a husband and father, received an “interesting day job offer” working in leasing and management for a shopping center. “I did that to have a steady income,” he said. “I could work on my music and have enough time and money to go Nashville when I needed to or Los Angeles. It was important that I had the time to do that after hours.” One person he met during his run with shopping centers is Gaynel Hodge, coauthor of the platinum 1950s hit “Earth Angel.” He also co-founded The Platters, The Turks and The Hollywood Flames.
ITZ page 4
Performers, writers and audience members of all ages are welcome to attend this free event at the Glendale Library, 5959 W. Brown St., from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19. Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Into the Fire Pizza & Catering. Highlights will include: • The induction of the Arizona Songwriters Association’s president Jon Iger into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame during a special ceremony and concert • More than 45 musical performances on two stages all day • Music and entertainment workshops and lectures on song crafting, music licensing, and “breaking down the door” to get through to the people that matter • A Q&A session with music and entertainment attorneys • Song critique sessions “We had a band for a while in the ’70s, so we became friends,” Iger said. “When I wrote this song (‘Doowop Days’) not too long ago, he was the one I wanted to sing it. It’s a doowop song. He’s de�initely a doowop kind of guy. So, he played piano and sang on it. “I invited him to come out and do the show with us on Jan. 19, but it’s dif�icult because he lives in Holland, around Amsterdam. I couldn’t afford to get a plane ticket and he couldn’t afford it himself. It’s too long of a swim. But it’s a really fun song and I feel good listening to it.” One person who will be joining the panel is local producer Steve Parrish, who produced many of Iger’s demos. During the opening panel, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., he will play music, then from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. he’ll perform toward the end of the induction ceremony. “The gathering is going to be really fun, but helpful as well,” Iger said.
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Latin is king on deseo’s menu
BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
A
t the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa’s restaurant, deseo, the menu bursts with fresh and flavorful Nuevo Latino cuisine. But head chef Derek Biazo won’t take all the credit for it. “It’s really the team of people who surround me,” he said. Biazo, a native of Kingman, graduated from Scottsdale Community College’s culinary program in 2004. There, he learned classic French, highend cuisine techniques, and would take those skills to learn the art of blending French and Japanese cooking techniques at Elements Restaurant at the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort. But to learn Latin cuisine, he didn’t glean tips and tricks from books or further schooling. Biazo learned from the cooks he worked with in the back of the house at various restaurants early on in his career – such as Top of the Rock at Phoenix Marriott Resort Tempe, and Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. These cooks hailed from Peru, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Savador and Mexico.
(The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa/Special to the Progress)
(Patrick Darby/Special to the Progress)
Chef Derek Biazo is the head chef at deseo at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in northern Scottsdale.
The Alaskan Merus King Crab Anticuchos on deseo’s menu has a dynamite glaze, chili-garlic butter, furikake seasoning and scallions.
“I was fortunate enough that it was a melting pot of societies in the back of the house,” said Biazo. “A lot of those guys would be making ceviche and all this crazy, different stuff I never had before – but I love it.”
He would take the knowledge he learned from these cooks straight to deseo. Deseo, which is Spanish for “desire,” hired Biazo as its head chef in 2016. Since then, Biazo has put his own, unique
with roasted sweet corn and Hatch chiles. Brioche with fontina, asparagus, and egg fried in truffle butter. Every item says “order me,” and even the health food options are inviting, including both a savory and a sweet quinoa bowl. Founder and owner Peter Verros, the son of a Chicago-based restaurateur, has been in the business of breakfast restaurants for most of his 41 years. It shows in the detail Eggstasy brings to its preparation and presentation. The English muffin that nestled my Benedict on a recent visit was perfectly toasted and lightly crisp on the sur-
Eggstacy looks to reinvent traditional breakfasts with special twists in flavor and presentation.
twist on the menu, while also paying homage to the dishes deseo diners know and love. “I know we have a few signature items
see DESEO page 40
Eggstacy turns breakfast into a culinary adventure
BY KENNETH LAFAVE Progress Contributor
B
reakfasts are celebrations of waking up. Most are small-scale – a bagel and some coffee, perhaps. At the other end is anything you might order at Eggstasy. Eggstasy is a newish family of restaurants serving breakfast and lunch with an emphasis on wild and unlimited concepts of breakfast, realized with fresh ingredients and careful preparation. It now has three Scottsdale locations – DC Ranch, Market Street; 10155 E. Via Linda; and 6990 E. Shea Boulevard. Nutella Red Velvet pancakes. Prosciutto Benedict. A barbacoa omelet
see EGGSTACY page 40
(Special to the Progress)
40
FOOD & DRINK
DESEO ���� ���� 39
that have been on [the menu] since day one, but I think for a restaurant to keep on evolving or keep pushing forward, there needs to be that creativity that I think is really only expressed by having a chef that wants to do stuff like that,” Biazo said. And Biazo is full of creative ideas. Take, for example, the Peruvian fried chicken, which effortlessly fuses Asian and Latin �lavors. With a ginger-scallion marinade, pickled jalapeños and a rocoto sweet chili sauce, it’s easily one of Biazo’s favorite dishes on the menu. It’s also a dish inspired by his team. “It’s one of the �irst things I started learning when I was working with some of the guys in the kitchen who were throwing bits and pieces in there of these different �lavors that I didn’t think were associated with that region,” Biazo said. Another dish that perfectly exempli�ies Biazo’s gift of fusion is the Tiradito Nikkei, or Peruvian sashimi. The ceviche dish is comprised of Hon Hamachi yellowtail, truf�le ponzu, rocoto chile pearls, cilantro, avocado and nori. “That’s my blending of Nikkei cuisine,
EGGSTACY ���� ���� 39
face, yet soft inside. The hash browns that accompanied it had no hint of grease, yet they were evenly browned and warm. It came as no surprise to �ind out that the hash browns are made in-house, and the English muf�ins are baked fresh on site every morning. Verros’ Greek lineage shows in some of the dishes, including a “hand-stacked gyro hash” and a number of omelets and skillets featuring feta. He gets both his national heritage and a love of the restaurant business from his father, who arrived in Chicago at age 17 from Greece, worked as a dishwasher, saved his money and eventually opened a restaurant. “Then he opened another and another... and another,” Verros recalled. “He did business on the Chicago loop for 50 years. I was raised into the industry and loved it. At 18, I started my own restaurant in a Chicago suburb.” That was the �irst Eggstasy – a breakfast restaurant, like every restaurant Verros has ever opened. The name was the result of Verros deciding not to call his place “something boring like George’s Pancake House.” “All I’ve done is breakfast restaurants
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 13, 2019
which is a Peruvian cuisine with Japanese in�luence,” he said. “I think they work really well together.” Biazo’s goal with deseo’s menu is to serve bold yet familiar �lavors. And he knows he’s hit the mark when diners tell him a dish reminds them of home. “When I get customers who come in and say ‘I haven’t had this dish since I was home in Peru’ or Chile, I’m like, that’s awesome because that’s what I’m
When I get customers who come in and say ‘I haven’t had this dish since I was home in Peru’ or Chile, I’m like, that’s awesome because that’s what I’m trying to do.
trying to do,” Biazo said. While Biazo works closely with his team in the back of the house, pushing them out of their comfort zone to try new things, Biazo’s also working on his own culinary skills. Behind the scenes, he’s honing his pastry chef skills. “I always want to be a well-rounded
chef,” Biazo said. Originally, Biazo’s boss wanted him to present a new dessert to the Westin’s pastry chef, but Biazo pushed to make his own desserts. “Nobody did that, really, in the past,” Biazo said. “I’ve just always wanted to have my hands in a little bit of everything.” Biazo’s standout dessert is as fun to look at as it is to eat. Called the Oasis, the deceivingly light dessert has layers of varying textures and complementing �lavors, including vanilla-marinated pineapple, a lemongrass foam, sorbet, marshmallows and a homemade honeycomb for that added crunch. “They’re �lavors that are used all throughout our cuisine and on our menu,” Biazo said. “There’s a lot of experimentation that goes on.” Biazo will take part in the 10th annual Devour Culinary Classic on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Desert Botanical Garden. He plans to make a pork belly dish. “I’m looking at doing not so much of a modern take, but more of a slow-preparation take on a pork belly – probably doing a 10-hour braised pork belly cured for three or four days,” Biazo said, adding that he’ll work in guava �lavors – but he’s
(Special to the Progress)
The Eggstacy Benedicts come topped with surprises, such as steak or crab.
my whole life. The restaurant business is a tough lifestyle, but with a breakfast place at least you get off work at 3 p.m.,” said Verros, who starts his day at 5 a.m. What brought Verros and his love of breakfast to Arizona? “One winter a few years ago, it was about 14 degrees below zero in Chicago,” he says. “I came to Scottsdale, looked around, and said goodbye to Chicago. Who needs the cold?” During my visit, I ordered the Bene-
dict of the day ($19.95), a surf-and-turf special with one half of the English muf�in topped by a 3-ounce �ilet mignon, and the other a crab cake. (Most of Eggstasy’s Benedicts range from $11.95 to $15.95; this was a one-timer.) Either half would have suf�iced, but I was out to push Eggstasy’ s capabilities to the limit, and I was not disappointed. The crab cake was �laky and �lavorful, the �ilet tender and rich. My companion ordered the pump-
keeping tight-lipped on further details. In the meantime, diners can try the pork belly dish that’s already on deseo’s menu: the duroc pork belly cured with sweet sake-miso. “[The Devour pork belly] is like what we have on our current menu, but we’ll braise it a little longer, a little slower,” he said. For those who haven’t dined at deseo yet, Biazo assures he and his team will leave you with a dining experience that can’t be matched in the Valley. “There’s a lot of Latin, there’s a lot of Mexican food in the Valley, but they sometimes can get repetitive as far as �lavor pro�iles go,” he said. “One thing with us, especially my food, is you’re going to have something that nobody’s going to be able to replicate.”
If you go
Deseo Where: Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, 6902 E. Greenway Parkway Hours: Everyday from 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Phone: 480-624-1202 Website: kierlandresort.com
kin cheesecake pancakes ($11.95) �lanked by apple gouda chicken sausage ($4.95). Turns out the pumpkin cheesecake pancakes are the �lagship of Verros’s many pancake innovations, a recipe he invented back in Chicago and brought west. Other more recent �lapjack variations include banana macadamia ($12.95), jelly donut ($10.95) and raspberry white chocolate ($11.95). To an innovative menu and attentive preparation, add friendly, prompt service and one other, surprising element: first-rate coffee. I had resigned myself to the apparent fact that mornings meant choosing between good food at a restaurant and good coffee at a coffee shop. Verros’s decision to use La Vazza, a premium Italian roast that’s smooth and slightly smoky, changes that. If you rise late in the day and �ind it’s lunch time, you can still order from Eggstasy’s breakfast menu, but an extensive lunch menu of sandwiches, salads, burgers and wraps is also available. The Eggstasy menu makes for good reading and culinary fantasy. Find it at eggstasyaz.com. Eggstasy is open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Information: 480-500-5889.
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41
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Meatloaf-stuffed sourdough makes a great meal – hot or cold
I
wait for it every year. The Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association Book Sale has become legendary in Phoenix for finding books on every subject imaginable at rock bottom prices. The cookbook section is where you would have found me boxing up my bounty of books. Ingredients: For the Meatloaf: 8 strips thin sliced bacon 1 large fresh sourdough loaf scooped out hollow, reserve bread 1 lb. ground beef 1 lb. ground pork 1 sweet yellow onion, diced fine 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese 4 eggs 1 cup milk 2 heaping tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper Pinch of red pepper flakes For the BBQ Sauce: 3/4 cup of catsup
Among them, an old handmade booklet with a bright pink piece of construction paper as a cover. It simply read, “Key to My Favorite Recipes,” scribbled in black marker. No author was identified, but the booklet was loaded with great recipes, including this adaptation on a good old-fashioned meatloaf.
The meatloaf mixture is stuffed into a bread loaf, where it is nestled and slow cooked within the hollow walls of sourdough. Serve it up nice and hot with your favorite mashed potatoes or veggies – or cold the next day as a readymade meatloaf sandwich!
2 teaspoons vinegar (cider or red wine) 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 tablespoon brown sugar or more for desired sweetness ½ teaspoon chili powder Dash of Sriracha or Tabasco Sauce
Mix the ingredients by hand or with large spoon until well combined. Prepare barbecue sauce. In a bowl, combine catsup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, brown sugar, chili powder and hot sauce. Set aside ½ cup of sauce for serving, if desired. With a brush, lightly coat inside of loaf with barbecue sauce. Pack meatloaf firmly into the hollow bread loaf. Place strips of bacon across the top, tucking the sides into the bread. Brush bacon with barbecue sauce. Cover with loaf top and wrap in aluminum foil covering the loaf completely. Place on baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. When done, remove foil and sourdough top. On broiler setting, cook for about 5 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked and begins to get crisp. Cut into slices and serve with reserved heated barbecue sauce, vegetables or a salad.
Directions: Slice top of sourdough loaf lengthwise and scoop out bread, leaving it hollow. Reserve bread dough. In a skillet, fry bacon until cooked halfway (not crispy). Set bacon aside to cool. In same skillet with bacon grease, sauté onion and garlic until golden brown. Cool and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine beef and pork, reserved bread dough, cooled onion mixture, cheese, eggs, milk, parsley, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
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