Council Votes 4-3 To Advance Container Law
Projects selected for grant funding
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- Cargo container usage was back on the council agenda last week, brought back for reconsideration at the request of Councilwoman Robin Barker. She asked for the reconsideration because she said there may have been citizens or small contractors who were overlooked who may need the containers for temporary or emergency use.
   Following a lengthy discussion council voted four to three to direct staff to return with a cargo container ordinance on February 19 that included the discussed stipulations. Council members Barker, Rick Dietz and Mayor John Insalaco voted against the motion, with Vice Mayor R.E. Eck, and Council members Jeff Serdy, Chip Wilson and Joe Severs approving of the proposal.
   Stipulations for residential container usage included a limit of one container measuring 40 feet long or two 20 foot long containers having a maximum width of 10 feet and a maximum height of 9 feet, which would be allowed on one acre minimum lots zoned GR and R143 only.
   The containers would also need to comply with set backs, screening and aesthetic considerations.
   Stipulations discussed for commercial container usage included that they be located on the rear or side of the business and be screened from public view with an 8-foot-high structure for which three approved screening standards would be provided.

See A-1 and see City Council, A-5

Police Cite 3 In School Incident
Emotions flare after incident at Avalon Elementary School
By Meghan McCoy
The News
APACHE JUNCTION — An altercation took place between concerned parents and the superintendent of Excalibur’s Charter Schools last week which resulted in police citations being issued to three individuals, including the charter school superintendent.
   Parents claim the event grew from a “lack of communication” regarding an incident that took place earlier at Avalon Elementary School.
   The dispute took place at Excalibur Charter School District Offices on Thursday morning, February 7, 2008, and reportedly stemmed from a parent’s apparent displeasure with the way Superintendent of Excalibur Charter School Jeffrey Parker, 52 of Mesa, had handled an earlier incident involving the alleged confrontation of a 10-year old student by a parent who believed the student was harassing two other children.
   Parker was called to handle the situation, which he believed was resolved after all three students were brought into the principal’s office and spoken to about what type of behavior is expected out of them at school. Parent Leslie Bomar, 32 and her boyfriend Matthew Mott, 34 of Apache Junction said they disagreed with Parker’s handling of the incident and felt that they should have been notified that a parent had approached their child.
   “I don’t want this situation to happen to anyone else,” Mott said. He added that because he does not want any other parent to be put in a situation of this sort, he felt it necessary to question both the staff at Avalon Elementary School and the superintendent about the incident not being reported to him or his girlfriend.

See A-1 and see 3 Cited, A-3

Armed Robbery Suspect Caught
SWAT Team apprehends suspect after several hour standoff
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- A suspect in two Apache Junction armed robberies was apprehended in Gilbert following a multi-agency investigation involving Apache Junction, Mesa and Gilbert police.
   Edmund V. Powers, 38, of Mesa was arrested by SWAT members at a home in Gilbert on January 31, 2008, after a several hour standoff during which he barricaded himself inside the home.
   On January 10, Powers was confronted by security personnel in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart located at 2555 W. Apache Trail after he was allegedly observed shoplifting from the store. When confronted, Powers reportedly pulled out a gun and warned the individuals to back off and then fled the area in a grey Honda.
   An Apache Junction Police (AJPD) officer reportedly spotted the suspect vehicle in the vicinity of Apache Trail and South Delaware Drive on January 25 and followed it as it turned into the Mirastar Gas station, which coincidentally was in the same Wal-Mart parking lot as the first incident.
   The officer attempted to stop the vehicle which was later determined to be occupied by Powell and driven by Tyler Isbell, 32, of Gilbert. Isbell attempted to flee and struck a passing vehicle, causing him to lose control of the car and plow into a tree at the southeast corner of Apache Trail and Delaware Drive.
   Following the crash, Isbell and Powell fled on foot and Isbell was apprehended. Powell ran into the gas station and at gunpoint commandeered a vehicle of single mother with her five-year old daughter as she was putting gas in her car.
   Powers has been reportedly been charged with aggravated assault, criminal damage, prohibited possessor of a firearm in Maricopa County, three counts of armed robbery, carjacking, theft of means of transportation and prohibited possessor of firearm in Pinal County. Isbell, was charged with identity theft, two counts of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and prohibited possessor of a firearm.

Super Bowl MVP Comes To AJHS
By Chuck Baker
The News
Former NFL Super Bowl MVP quarterback Len Dawson paid a visit to Apache Junction High School last Wednesday, taking time out of his business schedule to chat with student-athletes about his experiences playing in two Super Bowls, his 19 years of professional football and the importance of prescreening for prostate cancer, a disease that will affect nearly one out of every six American men.
   Dawson quarterbacked the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl played on January 15, 1967. His Chiefs, winners of the AFL crown the last year the AFL and NFL played in separate leagues before they merged, lost to the NFL champion Green Bay Packers by the score of 35-10.
   Three years later, on January 12, 1970, Dawson and his Chiefs upset the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV and Dawson was named the game’s MVP after completing 12-of-17 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown.

See C-1