SanTanValley.com

Is it fair that families who live within city or town limits receive more than double the police protection?  Almost 212,000 Pinal residents do not live in a city or town and are the primary responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office. We have 209 deputies for 212,000 residents who live in the unincorporated county areas like San Tan Valley, Gold Canyon, Hidden Valley, Queen Valley, Arizona City, San Manuel, Oracle, Saddlebrooke and portions of Casa Grande and Apache Junction.  Local Police Departments have over 540 full time Police Officers to protect 170,000 residents within the city limits and tribal reservations.

The city of Apache Junction is one step closer to becoming a member of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Au­thority with the town of Queen Creek and other local governing bodies.

At their June 5 meeting, members of the Apache Junction City Council voted unani­mously to approve the intergovernmental, joint powers and loan agreements neces­sary to serve on the authority’s board of directors.

Starting April 2, Pinal County Air Quality will only issue 3-day open burning permits.  All permits will expire by May 1 and Pinal County will suspend the issuance of open burning permits on April 26.

Burn permits allow for the disposal of plant material by open burning during limited daytime hours.

On Monday, Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles announced two juveniles are charged in connection with Apache Junction bullying case.

Pinal County Attorney Voyles filed Assault charges against two juveniles, both Class One Misdemeanors. The individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Judge Shaun Babeu proposes DV court to be restructured, and no longer centered in Apache Junction

Citing a crippling expansion of the Domestic Violence (DV) Specialty Court located in Apache Junction, Judge Shaun Babeu has drafted a procedures manual aimed at optimizing resources by screening offenders, narrowing the number of adult supervision cases and opening a new felony DV court in Florence. 

Usually, coyotes and freeways are a bad combination but in this case it’s cause for celebration. The US-60 overpass slopes at Idaho Road have been getting a makeover with a colorful rock art coyote design.

The design was originally conceived from a photo of coyotes drinking from the fountain at City Hall. Drawings were made from the photo by the city’s Multi-Media Producer Matthew McNulty, and included in the grant proposal. The approved designs now add some whimsy and visual interest in place of the large dirt slope that faced the on- and off-ramps before.

More than 1.75 million people around the world have turned from tenants to homeowners since they partnered with Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona is currently seeking families to experience this transition in Apache Junction. Applications are being accepted now.

Apache Junction and Combs played about as even a match as you could expect this past Tuesday at Davis Field, but in the end, it was the Coyotes who prevailed in overtime by a 3-2 score.

The match was tied 2-2 at the end of the first half and neither team was able to score in the forty-minute second half nor the first ten minute overtime period. But in the second overtime period, Combs put the gamewinner in the net with just 4:16 remaining to pull out the “W.”

New Pinal County Assessor Douglas J. Wolf is pleased to announce that a representative from his office will be visiting satellite locations to accept applications for property exemptions from Pinal County residents.

The applications the Assessor’s Office representative will accept are for Widow and Widower’s or Disabled Person Property Exemptions.  The filing deadline for the exemptions is the last day in February.

The Arizona Children’s Association has been in the backyard of Apache Junction residents for more than a decade.

The association that started in 1912 has spent a century helping keep families together and even creating new ones. The regional office, 2066 W. Apache Trail Suite 101/112, opened in 2004 and does recruitment throughout the year for adults who are eager to become foster parents but they also do much more than that.