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The
Top News Story Of 2006
Retired Manager
Dogged By Investigation
 Year-long probe of former county manager
follows a trail of financial twists and
turns
By Jill Jones
The News
Nearly a year has passed since an
investigation was launched into alleged
unauthorized
purchases of firearms and ammunition
made by former Pinal County Manager Stan
Griffis with Pinal County Sheriffs Posse
funds. The investigation continues into
2007,
lead by former Maricopa County Attorney
Rick Romley.
Romley was hired by the Pinal County
Board of Supervisors in January 2006 and
he
was given no definite time-line to
conclude the case. The case was
unexpectedly expanded
in June to include allegations of salary
spiking by Griffis. It appears Griffis
attempted to increase his monthly
retirement pension payments by padding
his salary
with unused sick pay during his last
years on the job.
The Griffis case originally came to
light in November, 2005 when it was
discovered that
unauthorized expenditures of
approximately $21,000 in firearms and
ammunition were
made by Griffis from the Pinal County
Sheriffs Office (PCSO) Posse account in
April,
See
A-1 and Year’s
Top Story, page
A-2
Council Changes Vote
On Motel
Special meeting held Friday afternoon
vote reversed on zoning
By News Staff
The Apache Junction News
APACHE JUNCTION The
Apache Junction City Council
reconsidered
a December 5, 2006 rezoning
of property at 2851 S. Tomahawk
Road and reversed their decision
to rezone the land at a special
meeting held on Friday, December
29, 2006.
The rezoning request was made
for the purpose of building a Value
Place Motel, an extended stay facility,
and possible future retail development
on the property. The
December 5th motion of approval
passed 4-3 with Vice Mayor R.E.
Eck, Councilmen John Insalaco, Joe
Severs and Rick Dietz voting for
the rezoning and Mayor Doug
Coleman and Councilmen Kris
Sippel and Dave Waldron voting
no.
The request for reconsideration
of the vote came from Councilman
Rick Dietz who said that following
the original vote on December 5,
he had additional input from citizens
and that he was concerned
about issues that were not thoroughly
addressed in the original
motion. Any member of the council on the
majority side of a vote
may ask for reconsideration before
the ordinance takes effect, in this
case January 6, 2007.
See
A-1
and see Motel
Nixed,
A-3
Arrest Made In
Circle K Shooting
 AJ
police arrest and charge Phoenix man
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- The
Apache Junction Police Department
(AJPD) made an arrest in connection
with the December 21, 2006
robbery and shooting at the Circle
K convenience store on Broadway
and Delaware Drive.
A masked man walked into the
store at 2360 W. Broadway Ave. and
held a gun to a female customers
head while demanding money from
a male clerk. The clerk reportedly
handed over the money, but was
shot in the abdomen before the
subject fled. The clerk survived the
incident and was taken to a Valley
hospital where he is listed in stable
condition, according AJPD Civilian
Commander Jay Swart.
Matthew Key, 27 of Phoenix, was
being picked up by AJPD around 9:45 p.m.
on December 23, 2006 on
a misdemeanor warrant when the
officer observed that Key fit the
description of the Circle K robbery
suspect.
See
A-1,
and see Arrest
Made
A-5
The
Top Sports Story Of 2006
 Prospectors Advance To The 4A-II
Semifinals
From the
November 24,
2006 Edition
Our top sports story
for 2006 is Success
and what better example
of it than what
the Prospector varsity
football team was able
to accomplish this season.
Enjoying their first
winning season in
more than two decades,
the Prospector football team advanced
all the way to the 4A-II State
Tournament semifinals before losing to
Higley 19-
7 in a game played at Mesa Dobson High
School. Apache Junction finished their
season with a 9-5 record and three
players from
that team, seniors Justin Higuera and
Cody Morrow and sophomore Shane McCullen
were chosen All State players by both
the
Arizona Football Coaches Association and
the Arizona Republic. Higuera set a new
school record this season with 11
interceptions, giving him 16 for his
career, also a record, Morrow booted a
school record 56-yard field goal in
addition to
recording several touchbacks with his
booming kickoffs, and McCullen set a new
school record for rushing yards with
1,948 and
for touchdowns, with 21.
See
A-1
and see The Year's
Top Sports Stories
C-1
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