Man Dies In Mobile Home Fire
Blaze appeared to be caused by stored propane tanks
By Meghan McCoy
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- Concerned residents ran to their neighbor’s single-wide mobile home on Delaware Drive early Tuesday morning after an explosion inside the residence, however; as they approached the home and felt the heat radiating from inside, they knew it was too late to help their neighbor and his two dogs.
   Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) spokesperson Vanessa White said the Apache Junction Fire District (AJFD) and PCSO deputies responded to the structure fire just outside Apache Junction City Limits at 4470 N. Delaware Drive around 6 a.m., Tuesday, January 8, 2008.
   The identity of the victim had not been released at press time pending notification of kin, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. .
   Fire Marshal David Montgomery said six units and two command units responded to the scene.
   “The area where this home is located is several miles from the closest fire station and our response times to this area are longer than the 4 minute travel time,” Montgomery said. He explained that the home’s location was in a remote area of the Goldfield Mountain foothills, which is outside of the national measured response time of four-minutes. Montgomery said that the closest fire station, #261 located at 1135 W. Superstition Boulevard, is approximately four miles away which placed firefighters at the scene approximately nine minutes after the call came in.

See A-1

Driver In Utah Bus Crash From Apache Junction
Crash took nine lives, injured 23
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- An Arrow Stage Line bus that crashed on State Route 163 in Utah, killing nine people and injuring a score of others from the Alpine Ski Club in Arizona, was reportedly being driven by an Apache Junction winter resident.
   Lotan Welland, 71, of Gladwin Michigan and winter resident of Weaver’s Needle Resort in Apache Junction, was at the wheel of the ill-fated bus on Sunday, January 6, 2008, carrying the 51 passengers who were on their way home from a ski trip in Colorado.
   According to Utah Highway Patrol spokesperson Cameron Roden, Welland is a part-time driver for Arrow Stage Lines. He is reportedly licensed to drive commercial vehicles and has a clean Michigan driving record.
   An avalanche on Saturday reportedly forced the drivers of the 17 buses carrying the ski club members to take alternate routes back to Arizona. Fourteen of the buses chose to take State Route (SR) 191, while three, including the one driven by Welland, chose to take SR 163; a road that local authorities considered challenging for a large vehicle.
   The crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. when Welland apparently failed to negotiate a turn. The vehicle reportedly veered off the road, flipped and tumbled down an embankment where it landed battered but upright some 41 feet below in the mud. The roof had reportedly been completely sheered off in the fall and all but three of the 50-plus passengers were reportedly ejected from the bus.

See A-1

AJ Man Facing Charges In Nebraska
100 pounds of marijuana in vehicle
By Jill Jones
The News
An Apache Junction man has been given a short reprieve before he must appear in York County Nebraska District Court on multiple felony drug charges.
   Michael D. Pruitt, 41, of Apache Junction missed a scheduled plea appearance last week and was granted a continuation until February 4, 2008, when he must appear before Judge Alan Gless.
   The judge granted the continuance at the request of Pruitt’s attorney who explained to the judge that Pruitt had missed his flight from Arizona to Nebraska.
   Pruitt has been charged with a Class Three felony for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver; a Class Four felony for possession of methamphetamine; a Class Four felony for possession of cocaine and an infraction for possession of drug paraphernalia.
   The charges stem from a traffic stop affected by a Nebraska state trooper in March 2007. A subsequent search of the Pruitt’s vehicle reportedly uncovered 100 pounds of marijuana; “personal use” amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine in addition to drug paraphernalia.
   Pruitt was booked into the York County Jail where he remained until April when the judge agreed to reduce his bond and delay trial proceedings to give Pruitt time to pursue drug treatment.
   Pruitt is facing possible prison sentences of 20 years for the marijuana and five years each for the meth and cocaine, in addition to a $100 fine for the paraphernalia.

AJHS Girls ‘Bowl Over’ Coronado In Hoops
By Chuck Baker
The News
The Saturday before the Holiday Break ended at Apache Junction High School, Lady Prospector head basketball coach Brock Kearsley abruptly stopped a tough practice and ordered all of the girls out of the gym and into the adjacent hall way. Then he instructed the girls to take off their shoes.
   The players had to be wondering what sort of unusual punishment was awaiting them in the gym halls without any shoes. Then Coach Kearsley lowered the boom.

“Girls, we are going bowling.”

   Perhaps as a reward for their hard work on the court or simply just as a much needed break in between a series of tough practices during the final week of Holiday Break, Coach Kearsley treated the entire girls basketball program at AJHS, from the freshmen players to the varsity ones, to an afternoon at the bowling lanes.
   With the two-week break for the holidays over last Tuesday, and with school back in session and tennis shoes back on their feet, the Lady Prospector varsity squad “bowled over” non-region foe Scottsdale Coronado with an impressive 66-49 victory.
   Behind 17 points from sophomore Emily McGann and 16 points from freshman Sierra Aulik, Apache Junction used a 14-0 run to start the second half to open up a twenty-point lead and cruised to an easy win. McGann also contributed four assists while Aulik added five assists and four steals. Senior Chelsea Darling added 8 points and five steals, freshman Brittani Colberg pitched in with 7 points and five rebounds, junior Riley Mullender had 4 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks, seniors Kelsey Kirchner and Angelica Valtierra each tallied 4 points, junior Katasha Braaten added 3 points and senior Marissa Sanderson scored a bucket and grabbed four rebounds in a total team effort.

See C-1 and See Hoops, C-3