Looking back on 2011

Stories most captivating to readers in 2011 ranged from the promise of movie theaters to the haboobs blanketing the city and from the fatal fall of a 3-year-old boy out a car window to the death of a local marathon champion.

Here are the top-10 most read stories on InMaricopa.com in 2011.

Reader picks

Two multi-vehicle accidents on SR 347 in less than 15 hours

It seems hardly a week goes by when there isn’t a serious vehicle collision on State Route 347 between Maricopa and the Valley.
But in late May, two serious collisions, one involving a fatality, occurred with 15 hours between Maricopa city limits and Casa Blanca Road north of town.

Ak-Chin breaks ground on entertainment complex

A year from now, the largest entertainment center in Arizona is expected to open adjacent to Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort on Ak-Chin Indian Community land.

A groundbreaking ceremony attended by about 100 people was held in November for a 162,000-square-foot family entertainment complex that will feature a 12-screen movie theater, 24-lane bowling alley, arcade, laser tag, restaurants and an outdoor amphitheater.

3-year-old boy falls to death from car window

A 3-year-old boy was pronounced dead in September after he fell out of the front passenger window of a Ford Explorer driven by his mother.
Quincy Tyress Chapman-Gray died from serious head injuries after he was transported to Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix.

His mother, Angelic Elizabeth Nikkol Chapman has not been charged in the boy’s death.

Two older siblings were in the back seat; none of the children were wearing seatbelts.

Dust storm marks stunning debut of monsoon season

The dust storm that rolled into Maricopa on July 5 looked like a scene out of the movie “The Mummy,” where some angry deity is awakened from a 3,000-year-old spell and is out to wreak havoc.

Estimated wind speeds were in the range of 50 mph to 70 mph, which is almost the strength of a hurricane. Called a haboob, an Arabic word that means sandstorm, the dust storm marked the beginning of the monsoon season, which turned out to be unusually dry this year.

No deaths or injuries were reported. But in Maricopa, nearly 5,200 customers of Electrical District No. 3 experienced power outages.

Arrest made in Walmart armed robbery

In late June, Raul Armondo Placenio was charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault, misconduct with a weapon, misconduct with body armor, discharging a firearm in the city of Maricopa and endangerment after he stole 700 rounds of ammunition from Walmart.

Maricopa police responded to a weapons offense at the department store. While en route, the incident was upgraded to armed robbery because Placenio brandished a 9 mm semi-automatic hand gun and attempted to flee the scene with the ammunition.

Numerous rounds were left in the parking lot, and it was undetermined how many the suspect had taken. The suspect fired one round in the parking lot for unknown reasons prior to law enforcement’s arrival and fled the area. Placenio was later identified and found at 36000 W. Barcelona Lane.

Sports bar to open in former Arena location

One business closes, another one opens.

In September, Ahwatukee residents Shay Deverse and Ted Schroder announced they would open O’Shays Pub & Grill, an Irish-American themed sports grill, in the former site of the Arena Sports Grill on North John Wayne Parkway. Arena closed suddenly in June after the landlord placed a lien on the business.

“When I first drove down here, I saw what Maricopa had to offer and I didn’t see an Irish-themed sports bar. Our focus is really going to be into football and have football specials,” Deverse said.

O’Shays opened in October.

Maricopa man’s throat slit; assailant arrested

In early June, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 53000 block of Prickly Pear Road in Maricopa regarding a stabbing.

When deputies arrived on scene, they spoke to the adult male victim who had multiple stab wounds and cuts. He was later transported to Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix where he underwent surgery as a result of his wounds.

During the investigation it was determined the victim and several individuals were at his residence drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. Around 11:30 p.m. all of the friends had left except for the Linda Burchfield. The victim and Burchfield proceeded to have sex in his bedroom.

After their encounter, Burchfield slit his throat with a fishing fillet knife, according to the sheriff’s office.

No ‘Carmaggedon’ in Maricopa

In July, many readers were amused by staff writer John Stapleton’s comparison of Maricopa to his former hometown, Los Angeles.

Specifically, Stapleton referred to the chaos that was expected in L.A. when a 10-mile section of freeway was going to be closed for repairs.

“I was reminded of what I don’t miss. I don’t miss spending my life on a congested freeway system.

“They called it Carmaggedon, as a 10-mile stretch of the 405 freeway was closed down for the weekend. It was predicted to bring complete chaos in Los Angeles, but it didn’t happen. I am familiar with this freeway and the side streets around it.”

Then Stapleton wrote: “There is also something here that I didn’t have in Los Angeles. Out here, where wild horses run and coyotes howl — I can go out at night, and look up at a clear sky, see the stars brilliantly shining in the celestial heavens and still have my moments of Zen. Even while listening to a train, furiously rumbling to the place, from which I luckily escaped.”

Fire destroys home in Senita

A fire destroyed a two-story home on Krystal Lane in the Senita subdivision in mid November.

The roof collapsed as very active flames burned inside, according the Maricopa Fire Department.

When firefighters first arrived there was very little smoke seen from the outside of the house. Firefighters went inside to find the origin of the fire, but there was zero visibility and high heat in the second story. At that point, firefighters pulled out of the house to contain the fire and protect nearby structures.

Days before Christmas, members of a local police union, the City of Maricopa Police Association, donated toys to the family who had lived in the house.

Marathon champion dies in tragic accident

Maricopa resident and Olympic hopeful Sally Meyerhoff was killed while bicycling in early March.

Meyerhoff collided with a truck at the intersection of Maricopa-Casa Grande and White and Parker Road while she was riding southbound on White and Parker.

On Dec. 10, more than 100 runners from Maricopa ran in a 5K in Tempe that was held in Meyerhoff’s memory.

While not on the top-10 list, other stories touching the lives of Maricopans

CAC breaks ground on Maricopa campus

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in mid December for the Maricopa Campus of Central Arizona College at the site of White and Parker Road across from the future city hall complex.

The 25-year master plan for the campus will enable it to accommodate more than 20,000 students with nearly 720,000 square feet. The first three buildings, accommodating 2,500 students, are scheduled to open in January 2013.

Lead architect Mark David Kranz said the project is a one-of-a-kind prototype for a desert campus.

Police chief retires; lieutenant fired; interim chief hired

The Maricopa Police Department, which was created in 2006, saw two of its longest-serving officers leave in October.

Chief Patrick Melvin, the first officer hired by city, retired on Oct. 13. A few days later he announced he had accepted a job as police chief of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community north of Mesa.

In his five years with the city, Melvin worked as police chief, public safety director and assistant city manager.

Steven Stahl, former commander of the Mesa Police Department, is now in charge of the department. Stahl will serve as interim chief until a permanent one is hired in July.

Stahl’s appointment is a temporary reassignment from his duties with the Mesa Police Department made possible through a professional services agreement between the two municipalities.

Lt. Willie Payne was fired on Oct. 10.

Payne appealed to the Merit Board, who recommended to City Manager Brenda Fischer that Payne’s termination be upheld. Fischer ultimately upheld Payne’s termination in early December. Payne was fired for making offensive and racially insensitive statements in the presence of his peers and for lying during an investigation.

Payne has denied using offensive language and said he was not given enough time at the Merit Board hearing to properly present his case.

Houses raided for drugs in Thunderbird Farms

A multi-agency drug sweep was conducted in late October in the Thunderbird Farms area.

Investigators from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations executed search and arrest warrants at a number of locations in and around Phoenix as part of an investigation involving narcotics trafficking.

Called “Operation Pipeline Express,” the 17-month multi-agency effort dismantled a massive narcotics trafficking organization suspected of smuggling more than $33 million dollars’ worth of drugs a month through Arizona’s western desert, including Thunderbird Farms.

Groundbreaking held for Banner Health Center

A crowd of about 250 gathered under a tent on a warm morning in late July as officials broke ground for the Banner Health Center, which had been in the planning stages since 2006.

By spring or summer of 2012, what was once a dusty plot of land on Porter Road behind Walmart will be transformed into a 40,000-square-foot medical facility.

The first phase will have space for up to 18 physicians and ancillary services such as X-ray and laboratory services.

The final phase will be the construction of an outpatient surgery center. When that phase is completed, the center will be about 87,000 square feet.

MUSD override attempt fails

The Maricopa Unified School District’s request for a 15 percent budget override tax failed at the polls 68 percent to 32 percent in November.

With the majority of voters mailing in ballots instead of voting at the polls, 2,518 voters in the district voted against it while 1,162 voted in favor.
The override was a polarizing issue in the community.

Advocates said passing it would ensure quality instruction for students, and help keep Maricopa economically viable as it tries to attract new industry and business. Critics said increasing per-student funding does not always produce the expected results, and a tax increase during a slow economy only puts more stress on people struggling to make ends meet.

Maricopa closing down for good? Brits may think so

According to an article published in June on the website of The Daily Mail, a popular British tabloid, county authorities plan to shut down the “town” of Maricopa, Ariz., for good because “thousands of people who work in nearby oil fields dwindled to just 1,154.”

Also claimed in the article is that the town, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, is in the “midst of a political chaos” with debt and policing problems.

But it was a false alarm.

Turns out the British tabloid confused Maricopa, Ariz., with Maricopa, Calif., which really is a small oil town with a host of financial difficulties, including being three years in arrears with payments for fire service to its county government.