CAC Receives $2M Federal Grant
Department of Labor funds will go toward training health-care workers in Pinal County
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Central Arizona College (CAC) a $1,992,763, three-year grant to help train healthcare workers in Pinal County and the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix.
   CAC was one of 68 organizations receiving a total of $123 million in grants as part of the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative. Recipients were chosen from among 274 applications received in response to a competition announced October 10, 2008.
   “This grant allows Central Arizona College to increase accessibility to health-care education and job training in Pinal County,” Dennis Jenkins, president/CEO of the institution, stated. “Offering accessible higher education and job training are two of our core mandates and this grant greatly expands that opportunity.”
   The current grant begins February 15 and marks the second CBJT award received by Central Arizona College. The institution received a $1,985,204 three-year grant to enhance its nursing program and begin its radiology technology curriculum in 2006.
   The project will serve the region’s rapidly growing health-care industry by training health information management (HIM) workers, as well as medical coders and billers. It also will launch both an associate degree program for diagnostic medical sonographers and expand the certificate program for medical assistants.

See A-1 and See CAC Grant, A-5

Vandals Break In Courthouse
Personal info, court papers, safe not compromised
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
The Roy Hudson Complex’s Pinal County Justice Court is beefing up security after vandals used five boulders and a chair from a common area to break through a window and gain access to the courtroom around 3:55 a.m. Sunday, January 25.
   “They picked up 50 to 60 gallons of broken glass,” Judge Dennis Lusk said about the clean-up team’s efforts.
   Lusk explained the would-be thieves did not steal any Vandals—“not even a paperclip as far as we can tell” nor did they attempt to log on to the court’s computers. They did try to steal a safe that is just inside of the lobby doors by attempting to saw through an outside stucco and red brick wall. There is a line in an outside wall where the vandals placed the saw.
  “At night we empty that (the safe) out though. So if they were successful in sawing through the wall, they wouldn’t have had any money,” Lusk said.
 Microphones inside of the courthouse picked up the sound of the saw.

See A-1 and See Courthouse, A-5

Cities Propose Regional Ambulance Contract
Improved service for AJ, Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
The communities of Apache Junction, Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek proposed changes Wednesday, January 28, that would improve ambulance service to their residents, officials said.
   Currently, each community contracts individually with private emergency medical providers that each operate under a Certificate of Need (CON) issued by the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services of the Arizona Department of Health Services (the bureau). The certificates grant rights of operation to private providers within a defined geographical area. The CONs are issued for every city or town without adequate input from the local government where the service operates.
   Although the bureau encourages contractual relationships between the ambulance providers and the communities they serve, the contracts are limited in scope and substance by state review and a monopoly status provided by the CONs. The four communities plan to propose specific rule changes to the state’s current CON process.
   “Right now, every East Valley community has their own individual contract with the private provider who holds the Certificate of Need (CON) for their respective community, and for all parties involved in this effort, that is Southwest Ambulance,” said Dave Montgomery, the Apache Junction Fire District’s public information officer and deputy fire chief.

See A-1 and see Ambulance, A-7

AJHS Wrestlers Topple McClintock
By Chuck Baker
The News
Apache Junction gave up 30 points with five weight class forfeits but Tempe McClintock gave back 18 points with three weight class forfeits, and of the six matches actually wrestled last Wednesday, the Prospectors won five of them to pull out a 46-33 victory in their final match of the regular season.
   The Prospectors will now have two weeks to get ready for the Desert Sky Region Tournament with qualifying for the State Championships at stake, The region tournament will be held at AJHS on Saturday, February 14, beginning at 10 a.m. Competing schools will include McClintock, Scottsdale Chaparral, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, Scottsdale Saguaro, Phoenix Shadow Mountain and Apache Junction.
   Sophomore Emerson Tucker (130 pounds), freshman Myles Crothers (145 pounds) and 275-pounder Tyler Rauch picked up wins via forfeits last Wednesday.
   Junior Chase Converse (125 pounds) won his match via a 15-2 decision, senior Minh Huynh (140 pounds) won with a second period pin, senior Joel Craig (152 pounds) won with a pin in the second period, senior Taylor Hamlin also won via a second period pin, as did junior Brandon Dudley (215 pounds).

See B-1 and see Wrestle, page B-4