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Another Morningstar
Official Indicted
 Charter
school plagued with problems since
opening in 2003
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- A
private
charter school in Apache Junction
is experiencing legal woes again as
a board member of Morningstar
Academy has been indicted on 113
felony counts including misappropriation
of public funds and grand
theft.
Charles Steven Cox,
founder and
CEO of the Educational Administrative
Service Corporation (EASC),
which manages Morningstar Academy,
was arrested in California along
with business associate Tad
Honeycutt on Tuesday, September
4, 2007 in connection with the alleged
misappropriation of funds
from CCA. Officilas said they suspected
the misappropriation to be
in the millions of dollars.
Cox is also the founder and CEO
of the now defunct California Charter
Academy (CCA).
Morningstar Academy, located at
1150 W. Superstition Blvd., failed
to open as a public charter school
in the fall of 2002 after state board
members expressed their concern
over the possibility that the curriculum
contained religious instruction.
The school eventually
opened in 2003. However, that
opening was fraught with problems
when the Arizona Board for Charter
Schools determined the academy
did not have an approved
charter. The school’s charter was
approved shortly thereafter.
See
A-1
 Downtown Enhancement
Committee To Be Formed
City Council will hold a special meeting
on the project
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- The city
has taken the first steps in
implementing
a vision for a three-phase
downtown improvement plan as
presented by Councilman Jeff
Serdy at the August 21, 2007 council
meeting.
With Councilmen Rick Dietz and
Joe Severs absent, the council
unanimously approved Serdy’s
motion for City Manager George
Hoffman to form a citizens advisory
group to assist in developing a
master plan for the multi-phase
enhancement
project. The committee
will be comprised of citizen advocates
of the arts, history, business
and garden or landscaping interests,
in addition to a city staff member
who will provide advice on feasibility
issues.
The group will work toward developing
master plans for the Focal
Point, median enhancement
project and Centennial Grant
projects utilizing volunteers and
volunteer groups to generate revenue
and sponsorships to fund the
projects. The group will communicate
with the city manager on a
periodic basis regarding their progress
in the implementation of
the project.
See
A-1
and see City
Council ,
A-5
AJ Now Partnering With
Phoenix
 Greater Phoenix Economic Council
providing tools to enhance AJ
By Meghan McCoy
The News
APACHE JUNCTION -The expansion
of the Greater Phoenix Economic
Council (GPEC) allowed for
a partnership with Apache Junction
last month.
GPEC, which has been in operation
since 1989, provides partnerships
among communities interested
in sustaining their local
economies and is currently comprised
of 18 communities, including
Maricopa County, and partners
with 140 private sector companies.
Apache Junction Economic Development
Director Steve
Filipowicz said there are four immediate
benefits that GPEC offers
the city.
“With the help of GPEC, we will
now have greater access to potential
business leads, market research,
marketing tools
and community
building consortium
(CBC),”
Filipowicz said.
“The access
to the CBC is
perhaps the
most exciting in the near term as it
will help us network with our peers
in the economic development community
and commercial brokers/developers,”
he said, adding that real
estate agents are extremely helpful
because they offer suggestions on
ways to streamline the development
process.
See
A-1
Swim Teams Finish
Second To Region Foes
 By Chuck Baker
The News
Apache Junction’s swim and
dive teams faced off against two
Desert Sky Region opponents
for the first time ever in two
separate home meets last week,
finishing runner-ups in both.
Against Scottsdale Saguaro on
Tuesday, the Apache Junction
boys fell 99-84 in a close competition
while the AJHS girls lost
by the score of 109-77. Swimming
against Phoenix Shadow
Mountain on Thursday, the
AJHS boys lost 58-37 while the
Lady Prospectors fell by the
score of 57-42. In the Thursday
swim meet, Glendale finished
a distant third in both the
boys and girls competitions.
While Apache Junction has
swum against Saguaro in the
past when both belonged to the
4A-II East Sky Region, this was
their first meeting when both
schools are members of the 4AI
Division.
In that Saguaro meet on Tuesday,
the AJHS boys only came
up with two first place finishes,
one by the 200 medley team of
Austin Cherryholmes, Jim
Huynh, Robert Mohle and Tim
Worth when they combined for
a winning time of 1:56, and one
by the 200 freestyle relay team
of Jason Yates, Mohle, Huynh
and Worth, combining for a first
place time of 1:43.
See
C-1
and see Swim ,
C-6
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