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AJPD Steps Up Domestic
Violence Arrests
 October Is Domestic Violence Awareness
Month
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
In support of the enforcement side of
October’s
Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the
Apache
Junction Police Department (AJPD)
stepped up
efforts to hold those accountable who
engage in
abusive behaviors.
On October 21, a special operation was
held to
roundup those wanted on outstanding
domestic
violence warrants and serve court orders
of protection.
The result of this special enforcement
activity
resulted in the arrest of three
individuals wanted
for domestic violence warrants and the
service of
five orders of protection. During the
course of attempting
to execute other domestic violence
arrest
warrants and orders of protection, an
additional
six individuals were arrested for other
outstanding
warrants. This included an individual
that was
wanted on a Department of Corrections
warrant
for a parole violation.
“The effects of domestic violence
continue to
touch the lives of all of our citizens,”
said AJPD
Police Chief Jerald Monahan. “It leaves
a devastating
impact on women, men and children of
every
economic background and circumstance.
The
family home becomes a place of fear,
hopelessness,
and desperation when a person is
battered by his/her partner, a child
witnesses the abuse of
a loved one, or a senior citizen is
victimized by
their family members.
“Since the 1994 passage of the Violence
Against
Women Act, our community has
strengthened its
response to this crime and increased the
varied
services for those victims. Still, far
too many are
affected by domestic violence. During
the month
of October (National Domestic Violence
Awareness
Month), we recommit ourselves to ending
the senseless violence within our homes
and our
community.”
Other activities this month included a
candlelight
vigil with the names of the domestic
violence
homicide victims in Pinal County being
read by Pinal County Adult Probation
Supervisor
Ryan Osborn.
Chief Monahan will be the featured
speaker
at a Domestic Violence Awareness event
being
held at the Gila River Indian Community
Boys
and Girls Club in Laveen on Wednesday,
October
28.
See
A-1
Walking For A Cause
 Valley fever fundraiser has Gold Canyon
connection
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
Gold Canyon resident Marta
Saint-James knows the pain
that Valley Fever can cause.
Both of her golden laborador
retrievers—Cody and Kramer—
had to be euthanized due
to the disease.
So this weekend she, as well
as others, will walk the streets
of Phoenix to raise awareness
of the disease, which can
strike animals and humans
alike.
The Valley Fever Alliance’s
inaugural Walk to Save Lives
will take place from 8 a.m. to
noon Sunday, November 1, beginning
at 550 E. Van Buren, ren, near the
Medical Center of
the University of Arizona. Canine
companions—especially
Valley Fever survivors—are
welcome. The entry fee is $25,
all of which goes toward research
at the University of Arizona
Foundation, College of
Medicine, Valley Fever Center
for Excellence. For more
information, call the center at
(520) 626-6517 or e-mail vfever@
email.arizona.edu.
The walk coincides with Valley
Fever Awareness Week
which is scheduled for November
8 through November
15.
“It’s only going to be a couple
blocks,” Saint-James said
of the walk. “It’s not going to
be a long walk.”
When Saint-James moved to
Arizona from Michigan, she
and husband, Curt Fonger, had
two dogs, Cody and Kramer,
the latter of which was named
after the character in the television
show “Seinfeld.”
See
A-1
and see Valley
Fever,
A-10
Vanderpool: DPS Budget
Cuts Would Be Devastating
 State Police facing a 15-percent budget
cut
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
The Arizona Department of Public Safety,
helmed by
former Pinal County Sheriff Roger
Vanderpool, is facing
a 15-percent budget cut if the
legislature decides to cut
services to balance the budget.
“A 15-percent budget cut to DPS would be
$41 million,”
Vanderpool told the News. “It’s actually
$40.8 million.
“The 15 percent cut—if it were to
happen—would be
pretty devastating to DPS. It could
result in possibly layoff
of 350 personnel, the majority of them
being officers,
highway patrol, criminal
investigations.”
Vanderpool explained it would also
affect the air rescue unit.
“If we had to take a 15-percent
cut, at least one of our
four helicopters would go
away,” he said.
“If the cut
goes further than that, it could
maybe reduce as much as us
only having one helicopter
available. Our helicopters are
used quite a lot in the Superstitions
with search and rescue
out there. It would be a
top to bottom and all the way
across the agency.”
He said citizens would see
fewer highway patrol officers
on the road.
“There would be fewer highway
patrol officers to respond
to incidents and accidents,”
Vanderpool said. “It would
take us back to staffing levels
we had not seen since about
1999. Since then, the state
has grown and continues to
grow.”
See
A-1
and see DPS Cuts,
A-8
Desert Sky Region Swim
Championships
 By Chuck Baker
The News
Apache Junction High
School swimmers and divers
competed in the Desert
Sky Region Championships
this past week at Tempe Mc-
Clintock High School, hoping
for the chance to qualify
for the 4A-I State Championships.
Competing on Friday in
the preliminary races, Prospector
junior Jim Huynh
swam his way into two finals
on Saturday both as a
top seed and as a number
two seed. Huynh swam the
fastest time in the 100 yard
freestyle heats with a 51:91,
putting him as the one to
beat in Saturday’s finals.
The top eight swimmers
from Friday’s preliminaries
all advanced to Saturday’s
finals while the nine through
sixteen swimmers competed
Saturday in the consolation
finals. Results from Saturday’s
finals were not available
when The News went to
press.
There were five regions in
the 4A-I division across Arizona
that all held regional
championships this past
week. The region champion
in each event earns an automatic
bid to the State Championships,
along with the
next nineteen fastest times
turned in from all of the region
meets.
Also advancing to two
Saturday
morning finals was
Lady Prospector senior Clarissa
Mohle and sophomore
Ashle Beyer, and Prospector
juniors Mackenzie Hvidsten
and Richard Pennick. Mohle
finished with the fifth fastest
time in the girls 200 yard individual
medley preliminaries
with a time of 2:51.45
and also with the fifth fastest
time in the 100 yard
backstroke with her time of
1:14.79.
See
B-1
and see Swim,
B-6
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