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City Manager Asks
Council To Continue 2/10 Of 1˘ Sales Tax
Decade-old
tax paid for city infrastructure - Amounts to 1˘ on $5, set
to expire Sept. 1
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
City Manager
George Hoffman
During an impassioned
speech to the City Council
Tuesday, February 2, City
Manager George Hoffman
asked the governing body to
consider extending a two tenths
of a cent sales tax that
is set to expire on September
1.
A decade ago, the City adopted
the sales tax that was dedicated
to the development of
infrastructure improvements
in the community, such as the
pool, skate park, Superstition
Shadows Park, City Hall, the
Multigenerational Center, the
library and rodeo grounds.
“With the exception of the
library, all those projects will
be paid off in full this year,”
Hoffman said. “I might add
that, thanks to the council’s
foresight, we have been able
to build award-winning facilities
that have become a
source of well-deserved community
pride. Apache Junction
has been recognized in
the state and in the nation for
its innovative and energy-efficient
facilities.”
Hoffman noted that the City
has dramatically reduced its
operating budget by $5.6 million.
The police department
cut its budget by $1.1 million.
Parks and Recreation has already
been reduced by 28
percent and the library by 31
percent.
See
A-1
and see
City Council,
A-5

A.J. Couple’s Grandson
Is Iranian Prisoner
Bauer held after accidentally hiking
into country
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
Every day is a battle for Mary
Schmidthuber of Apache
Junction. For six months, her
grandson, Shane Bauer, along
with Bauer’s girlfriend, Sarah
Shourd, and friend Josh Fattal,
have been held in an Iranian
prison for accidentally
crossing an unmarked border
during a hiking trip in the
Iraqi Kurdistan mountains.
According to reports, they
were in a peaceful region of
Iraq that is increasingly popular
with Western tourists.
The three Americans, all
graduates of the University
of California at Berkeley, are
being held in Evin Prison in
Tehran. They have not been
charged with any crime and
have not had any contact with
their families.
“(I) cry a lot,” she said somberly.
“I light a candle every
day in the afternoon because
it’s night there. It’s really
tough.”
Last week, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said
he would consider releasing
the three detained American
hikers in Iran in a prisoner swap with
Iranian citizens
held in the United States. On
Wednesday, February 3, Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton ruled out Ahmadinejad’s
suggestion. According
to the Associated Press, Clinton
said that the hikers, along
with other Americans jailed
in Iran, should be released
immediately on humanitarian
grounds. She said there is no
basis for their continued detention.
See
A-1
and see
Iran,
A-9

TMMS Band Invited To
ASU
Will play at half-time of Sun Devil
basketball game
TMMS Band Invited
To ASU
Will play at half-time of Sun Devil
basketball game
The Thunder Mountain
Middle School band, under
the leadership of Instrumental
Music Director Dave
Balogh, has been invited to
perform during the half-time
at the Arizona State University’s
men’s basketball team’s
game on Saturday, Feb 13.
The game begins at 4 p.m..
“This is indeed a privilege
and a first (as far as we know)
for an Apache Junction
school,” Balogh said. “But,
the fact is that it is very rare
that ‘a middle school’ rather
than a high school/ college/
university band is invited to
perform. The students, as well
as their families and friends,
are very excited.”
The 100-member band will
perform a program that includes
the percussion ensemble
playing a student composed
piece called “Road
Trip.” Following that the entire
band will play John Lee
Hooker’s “Boom-Boom.”

AJHS Girls Split Final
Region Games
4A-I State Tournament begins February
16; Can the AJHS girls get a home game
in the first round?
By Chuck Baker
The News
The Lady Prospector varsity
basketball team will
advance to the 4A-I State
Tournament. That much we
know. But can they finish
the regular season with a
high enough power ranking
to land them a home game in
the first round?
Apache Junction began last
week at number nine in the
4A-I power rankings. They
knocked off Scottsdale Saguaro
on Tuesday and by
Wednesday, had moved up
a spot to number eight in
the rankings. But the Lady
Prospectors also lost for the
second time this season to
region-leading Cave Creek
Cactus Shadows on Friday.
It remains to be seen what
impact on the power rankings
the loss to Cactus Shadows
would have. Perhaps
very little considering Cactus
Shadows was number
three in the overall rankings.
And with just two games
remaining in the regular season,
today, Monday, February
8 at Williams Field, and
this Wednesday, February
10 at home against Tucson
Pueblo, would a victory or
two land the AJHS girls with
an eighth seed or higher in
the final rankings.
That’s what it will take
for the Lady Prospectors to
get a home game in the first
round of the State Tournament.
The top sixteen teams
in the final power rankings
all advance to the State tournament.
The top eight seeds
all get a home game in the
first round.
See
B-1
and see HOOPS,
B-2

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