AJ Emissions Station To Open In January
City issues certificate of occupancy, opening delayed by new software installation
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- Although it has received its certificate of occupancy from the City of Apache Junction, the long-awaited Apache Junction emissions station is not slated to open until Jan. 2, 2009, according to officials.
   “The reason for the delay is that all of the stations will be using new software to accommodate a revised testing procedure,” said Sandie Smith, Pinal County supervisor.
   “They are installing new hardware to accommodate the change.”
   She said soon officials will begin installing and calibrating the emissions testing equipment at the station, 565 E. 38th Ave., Lot 40, in the Baseline Industrial Park.
   Bill Watson, a consultant for Gordon-Darby which is over- seeing the construction of the Apache Junction, Deer Valley and Goodyear facilities, said the Apache Junction office will have three bays and be operational Mondays through Saturdays. It will employ about 12 people.
   “Depending on the attendance from people learning about it, we would like to be testing about 40 to 50 cars an hour,” Watson said.
   “That’s the capability of the facility. We’ll have to see how well it’s attended early on. Queen Creek (residents) will be able to use that as well.”
   The request for an emissions station dates back six years, according to Smith and Stephen Filipowicz, the city’s economic development director.

See A-1

City & Water District Receive National Awards
Excellence in financial reporting
City of Apache Junction Finance Manager John White recently received a national award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. Actually, there were two awards, one for the city of
   Apache Junction and one for the Apache Junction Water Company. Both received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for their comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).
   The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.
   The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users to read the CAFR.
   The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,000 government finance professionals.

Officer Wins Az. DARE Award
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
APACHE JUNCTIONWhen Apache Junction DARE officer Bill Virtue hears his students say they avoided drugs because of him, he knows he made the right career decision.
   “I never had any inkling to go into law enforcement,” said Virtue, who studied financial banking in college.
   “When I was 18, I answered an ad for a detention officer because it paid $2 more an hour” than the financial jobs, he added.
   He served as a detention officer from 1989-1991. Virtue joined the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in 1991 and stayed through 1994, when he started at the Apache Junction Police Department.
   His career choice paid off more than financially. In June, he was named DARE Officer of the Year for the state of Arizona.
   “This is the highest honor to receive from DARE,” said Virtue, who has enjoyed two stints as a DARE officer from 1995 to 2000 and from 2005 to the present.
   “I love the program. This is the thing I enjoy the most about law enforcement— working with and teaching the kids,” said Virtue, who is secretary of the state DARE branch.
“There are so many negative influences on kids, that anything positive is definitely needed.”
   The DARE Program is taught by police officers to exit elementary students. In Apache Junction’s case, this is fifth grade since sixth graders attend middle school.
   “It’s a program to teach kids, (1) how to make good decisions and (2) to say ‘no’ to drugs.”
   Virtue teaches at all five elementary schools and is responsible for 20 to 25 classrooms per year. It is a 10-week program that teaches kids the dangers of the four core drugs considered gateway drugs — tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants. There is an option for three supplemental classes: methamphetamine, bullying and prescription drugs.
   He said prescription drug abuse is a “huge, huge issue in the United States. In Arizona, we’ve been hearing and seeing a lot of it at the high school level.”
   This year, DARE is going to expand its program to parents, offering evening classes either at Four Peaks Elementary School or the police department. The classes will teach adults the warning signs of drug abuse. More information will be available soon.

A Motocross Star In The Making
A.J.’s Gavin Hultman following in the footsteps of AMA stars Carmichael, McGrath and Pastrana
By Chuck Baker
The News
He is just 8 years of age and already words like star, role model and hero have been used to describe Apache Junction’s Gavin Hultman.
   For the second year in a row, Hultman has qualified for the Air Nautiques/ AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships to be held at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee. It is the place where dreams can come true.
   Motocross superstars like Ricky Carmichael, Jeremy McGrath and Travis Pastrana got their starts winning at the AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn’s. Just last year, three riders, teenage stars Trey Canard of Elk City, Okla., Nico Izzi of St. Clair, Mich., and Austin Stroupe of Lincolnton, N.C., were awarded six-figure professional contracts after their respective races.
   “The Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn’s is the event every motocross race in the country wants to compete,” says Event Director Tim Cotter. “A win at the Amateur Nationals can serve as a springboard to a lucrative professional motocross career.”
   Could Gavin Hultman be next?
  Gavin, a straight-A student at Desert Vista Elementary School, has been riding since he was 5 years old. He has won numerous races in the past three years and competes nearly every weekend at local tracks or races around the country. In the December 2007 edition of RacerX magazine, Gavin was described as one of “America’s Next Motocross Stars.” He was also featured in AmateurMX magazine’s 2007 rankings as the No. 1 rider of his age group in the 50cc class.

See C-1 and see Moto, page C-6