By Kevin ReaganArizonan Staff Writer The pandemic has not been kind to the film industry this past year, yet Chandler International Film Festival organizers are refusing to let the health crisis prevent its attendees from celebrating the art of cinema. Starting Jan. 21, the four-day festival returns to Chandler’s theaters for the fifth consecutive year and will offer a slate of diverse films for local moviegoers to enjoy – albeit with a few changes. Pandemic guidelines will require theater capacity to be reduced to 30 percent and attendees will be expected to wear masks and socially distance ..read more

By Kevin Reagan Arizonan Staff Writer The city of Chandler is trying to incentivize landlords to accept housing vouchers from low-income families that are increasingly struggling to find anyone willing to accept them. Local landlords can now receive a $400 sign-up bonus for renting to a Chandler resident with a Section 8 voucher from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The new incentive is intended to help fill a housing deficit among voucher recipients who are struggling to find homes or apartments in Chandler.    “We just don’t have landlords that are accepting th ..read more

BY GARY NELSONArizonan Contributor This is what we think we can say about 2021: The beginning is going to be far worse than the beginning of 2020. The end has a chance to be far better. Between that beginning and that end, worlds of uncertainty cloud the horizon. As 2020 dawned, not a single person in Chandler and throughout the East Valley had died or been sickened by a terrible disease we were only beginning to hear about. As it ended, the pall of death and anxiety cast upon communities by COVID-19 was palpable, with some families literally torn to shreds. And as 2021 begins, there is hope t ..read more

By Kevin Reagan Arizonan Staff Writer Chandler City Council has demoted presiding City Magistrate David Fuller after an investigation sustained allegations that he behaved inappropriately around his subordinates. In reaction to an internal inquiry that found some of Fuller’s workplace actions “problematic,” Council amended the judge’s contract to strip him of his title and reassign him to work under a new presiding magistrate. City Court Judge Alicia Skupin was promoted to replace Fuller as the acting presiding magistrate until her contract expires in June. Skupin and Fuller essentially switch ..read more

By Zach Alvira Arizonan Sports Editor The 50th rendition of the Fiesta Bowl, the premier annual college football even in Arizona, provided the first-ever meeting between 11th ranked Iowa State of the Big 12 and No. 25 Oregon from the PAC-12. But while the programs weren’t familiar with one another, some of the players on each team knew their opponents all too well. It was a homecoming of sorts for several Oregon and Iowa State players who were once among the best at their position in high school football across the state. Headlined by the matchup between Perry alum and Iowa State quarterback B ..read more

ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF Chandler is relaunching its program to help small businesses retain workers. Only $4 million of the $9.5 million that City Council allocated to the “I Choose Chandler Business Hiring and Retention Program” was spent, so the city wants to help other businesses keep workers on the payroll. The program was created last summer from the city’s approximate $30 million in federal pandemic relief funds. Mayor Kevin Hartke said the money spent last year helped 540 businesses and that he was “glad to see this successful program continue to support our local businesses through the pan ..read more

By Kevin Reagan Arizonan Staff Writer Chandler-Gilbert Community College is preparing to have 1,500 fewer students during its spring semester as it continues to grapple with the impacts of the pandemic. The college served 5,500 students in the spring of 2020 as the coronavirus started spreading and currently has about 4,000 students enrolled for the spring of 2021. CGCC started its fall semester with a 22-percent drop in enrollment and, like most other community colleges in Maricopa County, hasn’t seen much improvement over the last few months. “The narrative hasn’t changed,” said Maricopa Com ..read more

By Howard FischerCapitol Media Services Gov. Doug Ducey is giving his penultimate State of the State address tomorrow, Jan. 11, from the safety of his own office. Press aide C.J. Karamargin said his boss is simply complying with what the federal Centers for Disease Control says is the prudent choice to avoid further spread of COVID-19. “CDC guidelines about large public gatherings are pretty clear,’’ he told Capitol Media Services. “Avoid them.’’ There is a constitutional requirement for the governor to communicate with the legislature every session about “the condition of the state.” The cons ..read more

By Kevin Reagan Arizonan Staff Writer Chandler City Manager Marsha Reed has submitted her resignation and is expected to retire from the city’s top job by March 4. Reed, who was appointed to her position in 2016, gave her notice to City Council this week and said 2021 seemed like the right time to wrap up her 30-year career in public service. “When you reach a certain age and a certain point, it’s just kind of time to make a decision to retire,” she said. Reed’s announcement comes in the middle of the city’s budget planning process for the next fiscal year and discussions about how the pandemi ..read more

By Kevin Reagan, Arizonan Staff Writer   Chandler Unified School District officials say they’re “disgusted” by community members who have been willfully violating COVID-19 protocols by attending large gatherings and not wearing masks – enough so that they decided to temporarily shut down campuses for two weeks.     Days after a video showing students throwing a massive New Year’s Eve party at a Gilbert residence began circulating online, the CUSD Governing Board held a last-minute meeting Jan. 4 before the start of the spring semester to cancel all in-classroom instruction ..read more