FROM THE EDITOR
Calling All Future Kindergarteners! Maricopa Unified School District invites you to join teachers and staff to tour your new school! Learn about our full-day kindergarten program and register for the 2025-2026 school year.
T THE BALL — OR GIANT TACO, IF YOU’RE IN Tucson — has dropped, meaning we have officially navigated one-quarter of this century together (except my two reporters born after 2000, you know who you are!). While the covers of checkout-aisle magazines are predictably promising tips to satiate the latter aphorism in “New year, new me,” I’m thinking about what not to do differently in 2025. them — more than five a day on average, holidays and all the rest. In our annual reader survey, the most common response to “What is InMaricopa doing well?” was our up-to-the-minute coverage of the crashes, crimes and storylines that matter to you. In 2025, our team is committed to delivering the same quality and quantity of news coverage to which our 1.4 million online readers (and, most importantly, the 90,000 people who get this magazine in the mail) have become accustomed. Whether it’s an election or an emergency, we want you to know we’ll be there to report all the details in real time. And when there’s an injustice, a mystery or a scandal, we hope you’ll continue to trust that we won’t stop digging until we find the facts. Curating our 2024 in Review meant mining through a panoply of online and printed news stories — nearly 2,000 of If you enjoy reading 2024 in Review: Readers’ Choice, I invite you to scan the QR code on page 13 and explore dozens more recaps of all of Maricopa’s biggest news events of 2024. It’s a reminder of all we’ve overcome, and all the good we’ve done as a community. New year, same me?
Beyond the Year in Review, this month’s edition features a couple of fantastic long-form stories from our editorial team I think you’ll really enjoy. In his final magazine piece before bidding us adieu for a life of freelance writing in retirement, somewhere sunny south of Tucson, Jeff Chew funnels a half-century of journalism experience
Publisher SCOTT BARTLE
Editorial Director ELIAS WEISS
Advertising Director VINCENT MANFREDI
into his cover story, stepping inside the life of a Maricopa high school mascot. Then, Monica D. Spencer joins forces with junior reporter Kaylin Hansen for a data-driven deep dive into teen suicide, asking real teens and grieving parents tough questions about such tragedies, which happen more in Maricopa than any city or town in Pinal County even by
Advertising TAWNI PROCTOR AMBER ROGALLA
Writers JEFF CHEW KRISTINA DONNAY WENDE GEHRT BRAD RUSSELL GREEN
grossly underreported numbers. I learned a lot in 2024, my first full calendar year here at InMaricopa . I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn in 2025! This year, my goal is to keep bringing you more of the stories you want to read. With that said, I know my piece in the December edition, Maricopa’s secret murder house , was last month’s most popular magazine story — stay tuned for the sequel in next month’s issue, which features exclusive interviews with the people who discovered the body in one of Maricopa’s most mind-boggling unsolved stabbing deaths. I’ll rendezvous with you all then. In the meantime, I’d better get to work — new year, same reliable hometown news source!
JUSTIN GRIFFIN KAYLIN HANSEN DAYV MORGAN
JORDAN RICHARDSON BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. CHRIS J. SCOGGIN MONICA D. SPENCER SHERMAN AND EUPHEMIA WEEKES KYLIE WERNER
Photographers JEFF CHEW
KAYLIN HANSEN VICTOR MORENO BRYAN MORDT
BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. MONICA D. SPENCER
Designer CARL BEZUIDENHOUT
ELIAS WEISS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Elias@inMaricopa.com
MISSION Inform readers/viewers. Enrich advertisers.
BELIEFS We believe in: • An informed citizenry. • Holding ourselves and others accountable. • The success of deserving businesses.
MUSD KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION NIGHT Tuesday, February 11, 2025 Times vary by location Documents needed for registration: • Parent/Guardian ID • Child’s Birth Certificate • Immunization Records • Proof of Residency (electric bill, water bill, etc.)
CONTRIBUTORS
For more information, contact your school site:
Butterfield Elementary School 43800 W. Honeycutt Rd 520-568-6100 Maricopa Elementary School 18150 N. Alterra Pkwy 520-568-5160 Pima Butte Elementary School 42202 W. Rancho El Dorado Pkwy 520-568-7155 Saddleback Elementary School Maricopa Accelerated Program Available 18600 N. Porter Rd 520-568-6110
Santa Cruz Elementary School 19845 N. Costa Del Sol Blvd 520-568-5170 Santa Rosa Elementary School Spanish Dual Language Immersion Available 21400 N. Santa Rosa Dr 520-568-6150
VALUES
• Integrity • Accountability
• Open, honest, real-time communication • Prosperity for clients, community, company
Volume 20, Issue 1 InMaricopa 44400 W. Honeycutt Road, Suite 101 Maricopa, AZ 85138
520-568-0040 Tel News@InMaricopa.com Advertising@InMaricopa.com
BRAD RUSSELL GREEN Dr. Brad leverages his ER knowledge to guide us safely through flu season.
JUSTIN GRIFFIN Longtime InMaricopa contributor Justin takes a look at all our most popular stories from 2024.
WENDE GEHRT Master gardener Wende helps us prepare our plants for a month of frosty nights.
Published advertisements are not an endorsement of products or advertising claims by InMaricopa . No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of InMaricopa . Copyright 2025.
www.MUSD20.org/kindergarten
InMaricopa.com | January 2025
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