How About Them Lakes?

I said I wasn't going to post about the Lakes at Highland Groves until there was actually water in them, but I learned a new piece of information about the delay, so thought I'd pass it on.

Apparently there is a problem with the electrical connection running from one lake to the other. Speaking as a non-engineer/electrician or one who understands these things, it sounded like this to me: Lots of electrical juice is needed to run the pumps and so the big fat wire required to carry that juice was too fat to be connected on one end so the workaround is to divide the electrical juice in half, and once that is completed and inspected and the lights on the fountains are tested, the filling will begin. Or something like that. If you want the technical explanation, you'll have to ask The Water Expert.

I grew up in Wyoming, where there are lots of lakes and rivers. When I came to Arizona I was surprised by all the dry river beds, duly noted by road signs at the bridges, but unlike any river I'd seen. The Mister's explanation was that the river beds were so beautiful they didn't like to cover them up with water.

I think he joins me in anticipation of these lakes being covered up by water, no matter how beautiful they may be empty.

Proud Aunt Alert

These young ladies participated in a two mile long parade as budding pom/cheer girls. But they still had enough energy to strike a pose for me.

Do you think that I'll be the type of Grandma that carries around a little picture book of my grandkids so that I'll be ready to show them off at a moment's notice?

Maybe.

Liberty Market Will Survive

This is good news. Here is what the AZ Republic says about this Gilbert icon:

Liberty Market, one of Gilbert's oldest continuously running businesses, has new ownership.

Joe Johnston, co-owner of Joe's Real BBQ, which is diagonally across Gilbert Road from the market in downtown Gilbert, has purchased the store along with his two brothers.

But no major changes are planned, Johnston said.

The Heritage District business will remain a grocery and will keep its name. The façade will get a minor rehab, Johnston said.

"I wanted to make sure it would stay pretty much as it is," he said. "I love this sign."

Johnston said his goal for Liberty Market is to "update it to something more in keeping with this period."

The new Liberty Market will offer sit-down food service as well as more prepared foods to go, including sandwiches, salads and baked goods.

Retail items sold at the new store would not be found in grocery stores, Johnston said.

The market would "be selling atmosphere and a sense of place you don't find in strip centers," he said. "It wouldn't really compete with grocery stores."

The transaction was finished in January, Johnston said, declining to reveal the price.

Sam and Mary Bromert, who sold to Johnston and his brothers, will operate Liberty Market as long as they would like, Johnston said.

When they decide they no longer want to run the market, it will close temporarily, he said.

The new Liberty Market likely will reopen in 2007, Johnston said, adding that he still is developing Joe's Farm Grill and The Coffee Shop, a restaurant and coffeehouse in Agritopia near Ray and Higley roads in Gilbert.

Those businesses are expected to open this year, he said.

Although Johnston is developing The Coffee Shop, another family will operate it.

When The Mister and I were newlyweds, I used to go to the Liberty Market for tortillas, and various hard to find Mexican food ingredients. The Mister, of course, grew up going there all the time, and he knew the owners, as he knew most of the Gilbert business owners. The original owner died recently, and though the current owners have been in place for some time, we were wondering about the future of the market.

If Joe Johnston is involved, we feel secure in the knowledge that Libery Market will be well handled, and another piece of Gilbert will be preserved.

Bureaucracy At Its Best

This is too rich; I just can't let this pass without comment. The AZ Republic has an article today that talks about the IRS and its tables that estimate the time required to fulfill our tax obligations. The article starts this way:

Using a computer program to figure income taxes takes longer than doing it by hand, the IRS claims, infuriating the tax-preparation software industry.

The accounting profession also is protesting the agency's estimates of the costs of having a professional calculate various types of returns.

The outcries are in response to what the Internal Revenue Service introduced in its latest tax instruction booklets as a new, "more accurate" method of estimating the time and cost of filing.

The reporter is referring to page 79 of the 2005 instruction booklet for the form 1040 that comes in the mail. Blame must be placed on the proper shoulders for this ludicrous schedule; Congress, in the late 1990's, mandated that the IRS must give taxpayers some comparative guidelines about the time required to prepare a tax return. It's supposed to be an average, and The Mister always points out that averages are made up of highs and lows; but I have yet to meet anyone, CPA or self-preparer, who thinks any part of these tables are accurate.

For example, a nonbusiness filer - which is defined as someone without a schedule C, E, F or Form 2106, which would be someone like my kids - is estimated to require 13.7 hours and $13 in cost (for pencils and erasers? Stamps?) to do their own return without the help of software. According to the tables, it would take them 2 hours longer WITH a computer program, and double the cost. And if a paid professional prepared their return, it would take her less time - only 7.6 hours - but she would charge $121.

Even from a standing start, (and I know that my offspring are exceptionally brilliant, and ought not be used for comparative purposes) I'm pretty sure that my daughters would beat that time by hours, including the time it took them to go buy the software. And I can guarantee that the only person who would take more time, not less, to do a tax return by computer rather than by hand, is someone of The Greatest Generation who isn't proficient in using a computer.

If you need a chuckle, read the rest of the article. The software companies are up in arms about this slander on their product, and my professional brothers and sisters find the cost estimates for professional preparation wildly inaccurate (if it really took a CPA the estimated 7.6 hours to prepare the above referenced return, they most likely would not be charging $16 an hour to do it). Of course, the tables don't distinguish between a CPA's prep versus H&R Block versus my cousin Sally who does returns in her garage, so it's inherently useless at the very start.

I've been a CPA for many years, in public accounting and in industry accounting; and I confess to a sick pleasure in completing tax returns. It's much like cleaning a bathroom: you start with a big mess, and when you're finished, there is order and neatness and you can really see the results of your work. Over these many years, I've watched the IRS cycle its image from the man with the black-rimmed glasses backed up by the sheriff ready to haul you to jail for tax evasion, to the "kinder, gentler" system complete with taxpayer advocates and low audit probabilities, and now the pendulum is swinging back to the dark side - look out, all you rich people who earn more than $100,000 a year or you folks who run a business, because you are in their sights - and I suppose there are a couple more cycles left in my lifetime. But these timetables have always been a joke. And as long as they keep publishing them, they will continue to be a joke. It's a fine example of good intentions gone awry.

Sherwood Forest Gets A Trim

I've mentioned a time or two that some folks mock our back yard because we have a few trees. One of the old Morrison maxims is "more is better;" thus, if some shade is good, then more shade must be better. But one has to cultivate that shade wisely; and this involves some annual trimming by some professionals.

The time for trimming is now, rather than the summer when they are growing fast. We don't cut off the tops of the trees, but rather thin the branches on the way up; that way they can survive the thunderstorms (which we hope will still visit the desert!) Tree Balls are anethema to everyone in our office; we much prefer a natural look, which is why the chain saw method doesn't work for us. These are all the principles we apply in trimming the trees in Morrison Ranch.

Our personal plan is that if we trim the trees in our backyard early in their growth, the need for that trimming later will be less. These guys do it all by hand, which makes The Sixth Man happy; the only gas engines we hear are for the leaf blowers and the tree chopping machine parked on the street.

Sherwood Forest will be healthier for it, we think.

Just As Promised

My cookies came last night.

The Tagalongs are all in the bottom of the box; but I'll share.

Everybody's Doing It

Going paperless, I mean. The AZ Republic has an article about Gilbert's police department using up to the moment information as they patrol and serve:

The Gilbert Police Department is having success with a computer system that officers say helps shorten response times, increases the amount of time they spend patrolling the town's streets and improves their ability to investigate and prevent crimes.

Police began using the computer-aided dispatch and records management system in March 2005, a process that required much officer training and the addition of upgraded equipment after years of planning by retired police Cmdr. Jim Brad.

"It's a major change," said Lt. Joe Ruet, a Gilbert police spokesman.

Now, officers can look up crime trends and intelligence data that are constantly updated, not months old, Ruet said.

Investigators instantly pull up a suspect's criminal history, aliases, physical description and detailed information on other crimes that might be related to the offense police think the suspect committed.

Because police reports are entered directly into the records system by officers and their supervisors, police no longer have to wait for data entry clerks to process information or physically pull it from files for investigators.

As soon as dispatchers begin entering data from a 911 call, the information is available in the records system. In the past, the computer-aided dispatch system was not integrated with the records management system, making for a far more tedious reporting process, Ruet said.

The article goes on to detail the department's intent to be proactive in fighting crime, and strategies for property theft. Sounds good to me.

And not to be left behind, the medical community is trending this way as well. A companion article in the Business section of the paper alerts small to midsize primary care physicians to some training:

Hoping to help doctors switch from manila folders to electronic health records, a Valley health care consulting group is launching a series of free training sessions on the new technology.

Health Services Advisory Group of Phoenix will offer an introduction to electronic health records, or EHRs, on Feb. 28 and a more detailed "EHR University" from March through June. The sessions are open to primary care physicians and their staffers in small to midsize practices.

The training is being offered free under the group's contract with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The need for this is obvious:

Although financial services and airlines have embraced information technology, health care is probably the largest industry still wedded to paper records. But the push is on to change that.

As a mom with four kids, I can only say hear, hear! How many times have I had to fill out 4 identical forms with nearly identical information in a doctor's office, while trying to keep an eye on 4 rambunctious kids; and then do exactly the same thing on the next visit - "to update our records." I longed for the opportunity to fill out one form and then let the computer split out the individualized information on each kid. It did enhance my memory skills, as I had everyone's social security number memorized, as well as insurance numbers (which I always double checked anyway, just to be safe) and the dates of every broken bone, surgery, or childhood disease.

And the update on Morrison Ranch's quest for paperless simplicity? It marches on; I learn new things about our system every day, and I retrieve documents all the time. In fact, I find myself irritated when something is not in the system and I have to track down the paper version. I am currently in the process of importing prior years' tax returns electronically, as the current year for each entity is prepared. I have filed tax returns electronically for several years, but storing them electronically is new and different, and I have to convince myself of the safety of those files every time I do it.

There is still a fair amount of setup for the documents used most by The Mister and Bias For Action, and that will be a more gradual process, it's turning out. But one of The Mister's finer qualities has affected my outlook on such things: persistence. I will see it through.

Moderation is Key

I saw this article on Friday, and then my Girl Scout cookie distributors emailed it to me; it starts off like this:

Girl Scout Troop 1914 stood in a warehouse Thursday morning to deliver an important announcement to the state: The cookies are coming.

Three million boxes of Samoas, Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and other cookies will be delivered as soon as this weekend to Arizona residents who clearly love their sweets.

Troops in the Arizona Cactus-Pine Council distribute the third-greatest number of boxes of cookies in the country.

Only the Washington, D.C., area and Atlanta order more.

Well, I try to do my part; you don't have to eat them all at once, you know. You can freeze them; and my daughters don't mind me buying them and sharing. I'm hoping that the reason I got the email is because my order is enroute; it only has to come from three houses away, after all.

My personal favorite? Tagalongs.

Hospital Views

I didn't post yesterday because I spent most of the day in a Phoenix hospital's waiting room while a dear friend had the onerous cancer removed from her system. I suppose I could have taken my computer and done some hospiblogging, as I've seen others do, but my computer has a gorgeous 17 inch screen that translates into about 9 pounds of carrying weight. Needless to say, I carry it back and forth from the office to the house and on long trips, but not much more. Anyway, my friend's surgery went well, and we are all encouraged about her future.

So this morning, in my hospital-addled state, I see this article about the new Gilbert Emergency hospital, and it starts this way:

Alishia Velasco limped into the new Gilbert Hospital and saw a doctor for her wrenched foot in less than 10 minutes.

Seven miles away and a world apart, at Banner Baywood Medical Center, the closest hospital to the Gilbert facility, 22 people faced a two-hour wait to see a doctor.

Why the difference?

Gilbert Hospital officials say it's because they are focused on emergency care. It may be the first center of its kind in the country to put emergency care first.

The typical hospital is a building with lots of beds for inpatients, a hotel for sick people that has an emergency room attached to it. Gilbert Hospital has it the other way around: It's a large emergency department that has a couple of beds where patients can stay overnight. The hospital's goal is to have patients like Velasco seen by a physician within 30 minutes of arrival; at other hospitals it can take half a day.

I read a similar article shortly before they opened, and had this information stored in the back of my mind. So when I experienced the onset of an urinary tract infection - something that most women suffer at some point in their lives - last Saturday evening, and the home remedies of drinking gallons of water and cranberry juice wasn't lessening the pain, I remembered that this new hospital was "seeing" people in 30 minutes, and so I asked The Mister to run me down there and thought I could get some antibiotic and be home snug in bed by midnight.

I must emphasize at the beginning of this anecdote that I was very pleased with the care, the folks working there were great, the atmosphere is lovely, and I recommend it without reservation and will no doubt use the facility sometime again. Having said that, my expectation of seeing a doctor within 30 minutes was off by about 300 percent. After an hour and a half, I suggested to The Mister that we bail out, but he pointed out that we were next in line, and sure enough, we were called next. Then there was another hour and a half wait for the lab results and the antibiotic to be prescribed. And we commented to each other as we left that the 3 hour visit in an emergency room on a weekend night is actually a stellar achievement for a hospital. The only reason I was feeling a little irritable, besides being in pain, was that my expectation had been raised. The staff was apologetic, and I think they are still getting the kinks worked out, and I'm sure that they will improve in time.

One of The Mister's maxims is "Underpromise, Overperform." He greatly dislikes it when someone promises him the moon and then, oh gee, so sorry, can only deliver swiss cheese. He would much prefer to know up front what the issues are, what the problems are, and if it's going to take 2 weeks instead of 2 days, just say so. And then when it takes one week, everybody is happy.

Expectations can be killer if not met. Or, quoting someone who thought of it way before I did, "hope deferred makes the heart sick." A good reminder.

Highland Groves Changes

After lunch yesterday, we got a call from a man delivering the alum for the lake at Highland Groves and he needed direction about unloading, so we spent some time out at the community. There are tons of changes, mostly small, but when you add them all up, it feels like the neighborhood is springing up.

A major difference is the paving of the streets; the paving is extended farther south and west every day, and so the only time we find ourselves off-roading now is when we are looking at the lakes. And speaking of the lakes - which I haven't done for some time because all the projected dates I've been given have turned out to be woefully incorrect due to some problem or other - the edges are complete, the grades along the edges are correct, the piles of dirt and concrete pipes that will be fish structure are in place, and the fountains are nearly ready.

These fountains, unlike the fountain at the lake at Lakeview Village, are floating. Here's an up close look:



It's sitting on a pallet, so the thing that floats is actually all the brown pieces that make up the fountain. I don't know how you make something that looks so heavy float, but then I've always wondered that about cruise ships as well. The spool of tubing to the right is the casing for the electrical connections. The funny shaped spindly wheel on top is where they will install the lights; The Mister informs me that there will be three lights spaced around this wheel.

These lakes will have much circulation, which will help control algae issues. First of all, the lakes are connected, and the water comes into one lake and leaves via the other lake. Secondly, there are extra aeration features installed. Thirdly, the floating fountains will provide even more movement. Add to these points the fact that the lakes are relatively smaller, and we have high hopes for it to stay clear. I am not going to pass on any thoughts about when there will be water; but when it starts to fill, you'll be the first to get a picture.

Other notable progress at this community includes the paving of Recker and the traffic light at Elliot and Recker that has been operational for a few weeks. The crews are working on installing the median, which will of course include the trees and turf as well as the street lights.

The entry monuments are up, the rock is on, and the background is painted just the right shade of green. Sidewalks are being laid everytime I visit (except Fridays, of course, when concrete isn't available). And of course, most important to residents, the houses are springing up one day and seemingly occupied the next. I was empathizing with the new homeowners trying to live in the midst of all the construction (The Mister and I were the first house on our block) with the streets barely passable because of the workers' trucks. Yes, those streets are narrow, on purpose, for traffic control; but once the construction trucks are gone they feel more homey and less annoying, at least to me.

And of course, once the lakes are filled, that will provide the irrigation needed for things to start turning green. That will be a huge visual change. I'll be bringing the pictures.

Governor Signs Andy Biggs' Bill

I have been following the situation involving the county islands in Gilbert needing fire protection upon the departure of Rural Metro this coming July. Summarizing the events to date: Gilbert has had a cross agreement with Rural Metro for several years to be reimbursed for expenses relating to answering calls in county islands, which don't pay taxes supporting Gilbert Fire, but have paid a fee to Rural Metro. When Rural Metro decided to fold up shop in Gilbert, the issue hit the front burner, with the dilemma being how to protect those county island houses without receiving any income from them. Mayor Berman stipulated that the county islands must annex or lose protection. Since that time, about 20 areas have filed for annexation.

Then, Representative Andy Biggs introduced a bill into the legislature that would force Gilbert to provide coverage to the county islands. It passed both the House and the Senate with relative ease and has been sitting in the Governor's in basket for signing. Mayor Berman met with her to ask for a veto; according to today's AZ Republic, she signed the bill yesterday:

Gov. Janet Napolitano, over a plea from Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman for a veto, signed the bill Monday. And since more than two-thirds of the state House and Senate approved the measure and its emergency clause, it goes into effect immediately.

"I based my decision to sign House Bill 2145 into law on the potential of interruption of fire service to county island residents during a time when fire danger in Arizona is extremely high," Napolitano said Monday in a letter addressed to Berman.

However, that does not necessarily mean Gilbert will provide fire services to unincorporated areas within the town's limits once Rural/Metro leaves.

First, a majority of property owners on county islands within Gilbert's borders must petition to form a fire district.

The bill's passage marks a major victory for Rep. Andy Biggs, its primary backer, and his loyal band of county island supporters.

Biggs, who lives in a Gilbert county island, and Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, pushed a bill through their respective legislative bodies that was worded to allow the fire district's formation only in Gilbert, a point Napolitano stressed in a letter to Berman.

For the first time that I've seen in any of the Republic's articles, they at least acknowledged that Andy Biggs himself lives in a county island. These reporters have a tandem article in the Gilbert section of the Republic that addresses the cost issue:

Gilbert Town Council members say the money is not enough.

State Rep. Andy Biggs, as he has often done in recent months, disagrees with Gilbert's municipal leaders.

At issue is the amount Biggs wants county island residents to pay the town for services from the Gilbert Fire Department under the terms of a bill approved by the state Legislature this month.
Rural/Metro Corp. plans to stop responding to most county islands within Gilbert's borders July 1.

Biggs' legislation allows county islanders to keep fire services if a majority of county island property owners within Gilbert's boundaries petition to create a fire district.

If a district is established, a board would be formed to seek bids, first from private providers, such as Rural/Metro.

But the board would have the power to reject any private bids if companies cannot put up a $10 million performance bond, a stipulation Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman says discourages private companies from bidding.

If bids aren't received or are deemed unacceptable, Gilbert then would be mandated to provide emergency fire and medical services to county island residents.

The rest of this article goes on to detail the costs proposed and disputed; I have tax calculations to do, so I don't have time to crunch the numbers in the article for meaning, but you can read the rest if you have that inclination. It's a very messy situation, as life can be sometimes.

For an anecdotal uplift, the Gilbert Independent profiles a family that annexed, and is glad they did. Here is the beginning of that article:

Having annexed into the Town of Gilbert 10 years ago, Jennifer and Harrell Boyster and their neighbors could not be happier.

While unincorporated county island residents in Gilbert ponder annexation and its ramifications, these former county island residents living near the Val Vista and Elliot roads intersection remain assured the decision they made a decade ago was the right one.

"We've been in this house 15 years and we have no regrets at all annexing into the town of Gilbert," Mrs. Boyster said. "There's been no intrusion by the town into our lives. Nobody comes up and down our streets. We have our horses, our goats and chickens and even an emu. We lead our lives and no one bothers us at all."

She said life improved for her and her neighbors, approximately 20 households, after annexing into Gilbert.

She cited better police protection, fire service, garbage collection and street maintenance as additional pluses.

The saga continues.

Precious Water

In the desert, water is the equivalent of gold: rare, and therefore precious. Last winter, I posted many times with much joy about the rainfall and the refilling of the dams throughout the state, with the hope that our ten year drought was finished. Alas, unless La Nina goes into hibernation very soon, our dry weather - 116 days and counting - will continue and the drought will continue. This makes me all the more thankful for the wet winter last year. I had a short conversation with a neighbor recently about the reclaimed water we use in Morrison Ranch, and so, too, did Bias For Action. He sent me his response to this neighbor, and I thought I would pass it on as a good reminder:

How clean is the water we’re using at Morrison Ranch?”

All of the common areas within Morrison Ranch utilize the same water. The turf, trees, and shrubs within all of the parks, active open spaces, landscape tracts in front of houses (between streets and sidewalks) use this water. So whether it is a small sprinkler head, large nozzles, or bubblers it is all the same water.

Morrison Ranch receives this water directly from the Town of Gilbert’s water treatment plants. The Town is required by the State to treat the water to a certain level and then they choose to take it to further to make it just one step away from being drinkable. They call the end product “tertiary” treated water. The quality report from the Town refers to its quality standard as A+ which means it is filtered for clarity, de-nitrified to below 8mg/l, and chlorinated to remove all virus and bacteria present. They claim it to be the highest class of reclaimed effluent. The only restriction the State place on this water is that this water shouldn’t be used for full body contact (shouldn’t swim in it) and it shouldn’t be used for drinking purposes. That is why they require our community (as well as other parks and schools) to have posted signs to that effect. If you have further questions about the water the Town delivers you can call Patricia L. Jordan, Field Supervisor Effluent Reuse, Town of Gilbert, 480-503-6439.

The water we receive is the very same water as is delivered and used at Town parks like Freestone (over 25 years now!), Cotton Wood Crossing, McQueen Park and is also delivered to the school district to be used on the major athletic fields like football and soccer. Throughout the year when it treats more water than it has users the Town recharges the water at places like the Neely Aviary and Southwest Regional Library ponds.

Once Morrison Ranch receives the water, it is stored for delivery into our Town Center Lake and also very soon our second lake being constructed at Highland Groves. These lakes are maintained for water quality by a professional maintenance company. The one we use has been in the business for decades and maintains many of the golf courses in the valley, as well. We follow their recommendations for water quality which includes a balanced environment in the lake (that is why we have a multiple fish varieties in the lake). Our pump station is state of the art when it comes to being able to inject the right amount of chemicals and fertilizers to maintain both the quality of the water and deliver the appropriate nutritional components and ph levels for the turf and trees. Testing is conducted regularly to verify the water quality.

We go to great lengths to maintain water quality and that isn’t just a philosophical or feel good statement. It is also a very practical and monetary one. We are highly motivated to keep the water quality right. The consequences to not do so would be dire. You have probably heard of algae bloom that occurs in natural lakes and in municipal reservoirs under certain conditions. We do all we can to prevent that from happening because the cost of eliminating it in the lake is very expensive. If the water quality drops the entire system starts having problems all the way down to the sprinkler head. You can imagine the expense we would all incur if we had to start replacing sprinkler heads, valves, and main lines because of poor water quality. It isn’t worth it. It is much more cost effective to prevent those headaches by maintaining water quality.

If you want pictures along with the explanation, you can check out the Morrison Ranch website here.

Lights Again

This was a welcome sight outside our front windows yesterday morning. That's because it led to this welcome sight outside our front windows last night:





I had actually planned on posting about this light pole quite a while ago. I was going to pass on the fact that when a street light is out, we don't call the HOA to fix it, but the town of Gilbert. And then I was so clever that I was going to give you the link to report it online, since we are all so computer proficient. I was going to tell you to be sure to write down the number that is prominently displayed on the light pole, because that helps the town identify which light needs repair. My intent was to mention that on lights like the one in front of our house, the two-pronged kind, each one has its own number. I would try it out, and then I would report back to you about how easy and efficient it all is. This was back before Thanksgiving.

I did use the online method to report the lights out - both of them - and then I received a phone call from the town confirming my report. Since I had the woman on the line, I added the interesting fact that these light poles had red tape around them. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but was going to pass it on. She assured me that a crew would be out to take a look in 8 to 10 days. A few days later, I saw a truck with an extension crane drive slowly down our street; and then I watched it drive around the cul-de-sac and off to a different light. And then the holidays were in full force, and though I often thought about the lights - like every time I drove home at night and noticed how dark it was, but it wasn't so bad with everyone's Christmas lights on - I never seemed to remember them during the day when I could follow up on my original request.

Fast forward to yesterday; The Mister says, "Hey, it looks like they're going to repair your street lights." Somehow, they had become "mine"; was it the complaining? Anyway, he went out to have a chat with the fellows; he found out that these two men are the only two men available to do all the lights in Gilbert! Furthermore, "my" lights had already been repaired five times; so today they were re-wiring them in the hope that it would be a better fix. Well, that's different, then.

But they are fixed; they are lit, and my corner of the street doesn't seem so dark at night.

More Fences To Mend

The AZ Republic has an article today about the prosecution of a coyote that was very agressive in his attempts to elude capture:

A man arrested in Gilbert last month after police claim he fled from them with 24 undocumented immigrants in a pickup truck is being prosecuted under a new state law aimed at punishing human smugglers.

There are plenty of witnesses joining the claim that the man fled from the police with a pickup bed full of illegal immigrants; some of those folks riding in the back were slightly injured during the pursuit.

Gilbert police arrested Cecena on Jan. 25 after he raced through the streets of Gilbert in a stolen Ford F-350 pickup truck to escape officers in pursuit and endangered the lives of 25 passengers, police said.

At least 20 undocumented immigrants rode in the truck's bed beneath a camper that was no higher than the roof of the cab.

A 17-year-old boy, who like Cecena is a U.S. citizen from Tucson, was riding in the cab of the truck. There are no charges pending against the teen.

During the 11-minute pursuit that covered nearly nine miles, Cecena ran several red lights, repeatedly drove off-road, burst through fences, reached an estimated speed of 80 mph and drove into oncoming lanes, police said.

The chase started after Cecena tried twice to ram an officer on a motorcycle, police said. Another officer involved in the chase said at one point Cecena slammed on his brakes, causing the officer's vehicle to hit the back of the truck.

Two of the immigrants suffered minor injuries.

The main route of pursuit was down Higley Road; and one of the fences that the truck burst through after leaving the road was in Higley Groves West near where Lexington instersects Higley. They caught the truck farther down Higley; thankfully, he will be prosecuted under several charges. I'm also thankful that the only damage done here was to a fence and the grass; nobody was seriously injured.

Oregano's Begins

Yesterday I tried out the drive through at the new Panda Express; it works like a dream. That will be especially helpful for my son and my future son-in-law, who are both big fans of the food. I used the drive through feature because I had a meeting that began in the lunch hour; the rest of the office, however, walked over and enjoyed their food at the restaurant. I am happy they are open, and wish them great success.

The actual building process has now begun for another restaurant in downtown Gilbert, according to the AZ Republic:

Oregano's Pizza Bistro fans are closer to getting the restaurant chain in Gilbert now that construction has begun in the Heritage District.

Town officials see Oregano's, which is scheduled to open in April or May, as a key piece in downtown redevelopment.

"We're just moving along as quick as possible," Oregano's owner Mark Russell said.

The Gilbert location will feature a more efficient kitchen that will allow for more takeout business, he said.

But aside from that, Oregano's will stick with its formula in Gilbert, he said.

"We're not here to change what we've been successful doing," he said.

The restaurant will be at the southwestern corner of Gilbert Road and Vaughn Avenue, across Vaughn from where Four Peaks Brewing Co.'s microbrewery and restaurant and Russell's Chilepistols Mexican Kitchen are scheduled to open in 2007.

Russell said he's been working with Gilbert to ensure Oregano's will have sufficient parking, particularly since this kind of downtown location isn't typical for the company. He said he's confident the restaurant will have enough parking.

"I would imagine we're even a little bit overparked," Russell said.

We know, of course, that it always takes longer, don't we? But whenever they open, it will be a welcome addition to the downtown.

More on Schools

The Gilbert Independent also talks about school openings (and namings) today:

The Gilbert Unified School District is on track to open its 27th elementary school, fifth-junior high school and fifth-high school.

GUSD Director of Planning and Development Keith Vaughan said the new elementary school, at 3660 E. Park Ave., north of Elliot Road and west of Recker Road, is scheduled to open in August.

“The school is built to hold 850 students and will open with an enrollment of 600 students,” Mr. Vaughan said. “It will serve the Morrison Ranch area, Park Avenue south to Elliot Road.”

He said the school remains un-named and will be named about the same time a principal is chosen for the school.

Traditionally, GUSD refrains from naming schools after individuals, opting to name schools after the communities they serve.

“We stay away from people’s names,” he said. “People have a tendency to argue over what names should be used. Instead we name schools after streets, subdivisions or specific communities.”

The new elementary school campus will will encompass 10 acres and may cost more than $8 million to build. GUSD hires HDA Architects and Hubbard Professional Engineers to construct its facilities.

“This school will be built exactly like the other elementary schools in our district,” Mr. Vaughan said. “It will resemble Greenfield, Sonoma Ranch and Carol Rae Ranch elementary schools in design and size. We use a prototype for efficiency and cost savings. Due to Hurricane Katrina and the impact it had on construction costs, the school may cost more to build than our estimate of $8 million.”

Read the rest of the article for more information on the junior high and high school.

Higley Groves School

Today's AZ Republic talks about the elementary school being built in Higley Groves:

Gilbert Public Schools' newest elementary will open this August with the district's standard curriculum, even though parents continue to support a traditional, back-to-basics program.

They want the school to mirror the curriculum at the district's only elementary magnet school: GPS Traditional Academy, Neely Campus.

But that's not going to happen since the $8 million school is a neighborhood school and therefore comes with a standard curriculum, district spokeswoman Dianne Bowers said.

The school, which will be named soon, is at 3660 E. Park Ave., which is north of Elliot and west of Recker roads.

"We are excited to have this new elementary school so close to our home . . . and would be in full support of a second GPS traditional campus at the new Morrison Ranch site," a parent wrote to the School Board, mirroring similar sentiments in a half-dozen e-mails to officials.

The school will be built with money from November's voter-approved $120 million bond initiative, and as a result, will become a neighborhood school.

Still, Superintendent Brad Barrett has been speaking with staff to explore the idea of having some classes at the new school given in the traditional format.

"He's still considering it," Bowers said.

The article goes on to discuss what is meant by the traditional format, using the Neely campus as an example. It includes emphasizing phonics, spending more time in class and less time in recess, and having band classes before and after school rather than during the school day. I wish that the reporter would have elaborated a bit on what the standard curriculum involves, so that the reader might make their own comparisons.

My field is accounting, not teaching; but The Mister and I have always felt that a child's education is the parent's responsibility, and we have tried, over the years, to shoulder that responsibility with each of our kids. That includes being educated ourselves - pun fully intended - on the options available in education. There are trends in methodology, with which we have anecdotal experience. When The Mister was attending elementary school right here in Gilbert, the "new" method for teaching reading abandoned phonics and taught the students to memorize the words on the page. This was not helpful for him; thankfully, through his mother's persistence and his discovery of science texts in fourth grade, he salvaged the ability to read, and even grew to enjoy it.

Having shared this background, our experience with our own children in Gilbert's elementary schools is that they were indeed taught phonics, along with math and spelling and grammar. They seemed to have plenty of recess time, and their music programs were scheduled during school hours. Our three daughters love to read, and while our son does not, he has the proficiency when needed.

My feeling from reading the article is that if this new school doesn't adopt a traditional format, the students will be cheated, and no doubt the days will be spent in recess and rap music instruction. An objective viewpoint argues that whether it's a traditional or standard curriculum format, Gilbert schools are still at the top of the heap in all the measurements. The real secret, of course, is parental involvement; and judging by the involvement of my neighbors in their kids' schooling, Morrison Ranch seems to attract parents that hold that involvement in high esteem.

The question I have isn't whether it will be traditional; I want to know what they plan to name it. Street name, or something else? Remember that our office has such a hard time with the naming process; we always like to watch others empathetically in the same struggle.

It's Open!

The Panda Express at Higley and Elliot opened this weekend, and it seems to have had a full parking lot ever since. A lot of folks are intrigued by the option of the drive-through, and I've seen several folks eating outside in the perfect temperatures. Yes, it took longer, as it always does, but it will be worth it.

County Islands Change of Direction

The AZ Republic has an article today about a bill that just passed the state Senate on the county island/fire protection issue:

The debate over a municipality providing fire and emergency services to unincorporated areas has spread from Gilbert to the Capitol and now is before the governor.

A bill from Rep. Andy Biggs requiring Gilbert to provide fire service to county islands within the town passed the state Senate by a wide bipartisan margin Monday, and the measure is now on Gov. Janet Napolitano's desk.

The Senate voted 22-5 in favor of the measure Monday, and it cleared the House 44-12 last week. Napolitano has five days to act on the bill.

You can read the rest of the article for the reactions from those involved in the process. This is a fairly sudden shift of momentum; it appeared that the islands were on the path to annexation or providing funds for their fire coverage. It is ironic that Andy Biggs introduced the bill, since he lives in a county island - very near Higley Groves West, as a matter of fact, at Elliot and Greenfield - and the paper neglects to mention that fact. It seems like a conflict of interest to my untrained eye. If the Governor signs it, however, it becomes law, and Gilbert will be paying for the fire protection for the county islands.

Ranting (Just a Little)

Some things ought not be politicized, in my opinion; as an accountant, I find several areas in the field of finance that I place in this category. I’m going to talk about one of those areas, not as an accountant (and any advice, implicit or explicit, should not be relied on without checking it out with your accountant), but as a consumer. And while the topic isn’t specific to Morrison Ranch interests, it is germane to our residents.

Part of my frustration arises from the newspaper articles I have read recently about Health Savings Accounts. Because President Bush mentioned them in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, the reporters seem to think that HSAs are some new program that he’s cooking up. On the contrary, they have just completed their second full year of existence, and their precursor, the Medical Savings Accounts have been around even longer. Another irritant for me is that the reporters use a snide tone to describe the program, and that is where the politics seem to be hindering a good program. I believe that if every person who is eligible to have an HSA used the plan, the health care crisis in America would begin to recede.

There are two basic parts to an HSA plan: the health insurance, and the savings account. The consumer must purchase a high deductible health insurance plan; and then the consumer may put funds up to the limit of that deductible into a savings account. The money in the savings account can pay for the day to day health expenses (even things that aren’t covered by the insurance policy, like eyeglasses), and if there is a catastrophic need, the insurance would kick in after the deductible has been satisfied. If the funds aren’t needed, they can continue to grow tax free and be used the following year (unlike the popular flex accounts that must be used or lost at year’s end). If they are never needed, they can be withdrawn after age 65 with no penalties, so they become rather like an extra retirement account.

Not everyone is eligible for an HSA. According to the Treasury Dept. explanation, the following tells us who is eligible for an HSA:

Any individual that:

– Is covered by an HDHP

– Is not covered by other health insurance

– Is not enrolled in Medicare

– Can’t be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s

tax return

• Children cannot establish their own HSAs

• Spouses can establish their own HSAs, if eligible

• No income limits on who may contribute to an

HSA

• No requirement of having earned income to

contribute to an HSA

If you want to read all the ins and outs of the program from the people who wrote it and enforce it, look here. It is very readable and understandable, not at all like most tax law.

The Mister and I set one up for our family about three years ago, and as our nest has begun emptying, the unused funds have begun growing. When our oldest two daughters completed college and were no longer eligible to be insured on our plan, I encouraged them to set up their own. Just like starting an IRA, time is a key factor in letting the funds grow; and since most high deductible insurance plans don’t include maternity coverage, why not start saving years in advance?

I went to a continuing education seminar on employer options for health care a while back, and my instructor was not a big fan of HSAs. She disparaged them as only good for the healthy and wealthy. I agree that lower income folks can’t build up the funds as quickly as higher income folks, but it isn’t impossible. And if all the healthy wealthy folks managed their own health care, wouldn’t that ease the burden on the system for the frail and underprivileged? A newspaper article mentioned the drawback that they aren’t portable; but actually, they can be. Many employers are willing to pay into your personal HSA rather than making you enroll in the employer’s health plan. It is your account, you manage it, and if you change jobs, you keep it. Some decry the amount of paperwork involved in managing it. Okay, I’m an accountant, and paperwork doesn’t scare me; but I honestly can’t see that it’s any more work than filling out insurance forms for reimbursement.

There are other pros and cons, but one of the President’s proposals on Tuesday involved raising the limit on the funds that can be deposited into the savings account. What a difference it would make if the amount were $10,000 instead of the $5,000 plus for family coverage that it is now.

That’s enough for a little rant. It feels good to get it off my chest.

More New Openings

As I mentioned on Tuesday, the Santan Freeway is on track for a spring opening. There are a couple of other openings that affect residents of Morrison Ranch.

The AZ Republic reports that the emergency hospital could open today:

Gilbert Emergency Hospital on Power Road south of Ray Road could open as early as today, its chief executive officer said.

The hospital has passed its final licensing inspection from the Arizona Department of Health Services and will get its state license today, David Wanger said. The hospital is expected to complete its final systems check this morning.

The hospital will have the equivalent of 115 full-time employees. All patient records will be kept electronically, and hospital officials have said that every patient at Gilbert Emergency Hospital will be seen by a board-certified physician within 30 minutes of arrival.

It will be the town's first hospital. Two others, Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and Banner Gateway Medical Center, are expected to follow in June and in fall 2007, respectively.

I am amazed at the thought of a board-certified physician within 30 minutes at an emergency room; if they can really accomplish that, they will be doing something special.

The other opening is much closer to home, at least for me; the Panda Express at Higley and Elliot is trying to open on Friday - tomorrow! The guys at the office did a walk-through yesterday, and got the word that Friday is the hoped for start-of-business. Of course, things always take longer, so I'm not holding them to it, but I am hopeful along with them.