In a special meeting on Tuesday, July 19, the Gila River Indian Community's City Council decided to send the decision over the Loop 202 freeway to its community in a public vote, according to Gila River Indian Community spokeswoman Alia Maisonet.

In a special meeting on Tuesday, July 19, the Gila River Indian Community's City Council decided to send the decision over the Loop 202 freeway to its community in a public vote, according to Gila River Indian Community spokeswoman Alia Maisonet.

At least 250 people packed a Gila River Indian Community meeting hall Wednesday night to voice opposition to the Tribe’s plan to build a new casino near Hunt Highway and Gilbert Road beginning this summer.

Reports that the Gila River Indian Community may allow the future Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway to pass through reservation land have been greatly exaggerated, a tribal representative said Friday.

The governor of the Gila River Indian Community is proposing a hotel and other commercial development on more than 5 acres he owns southeast of Interstate 10 and Riggs Road.

Former Gila River Gov. Richard Narcia sits in the Whirlwind Clubhouse near the Wild Horse Pass Casino and contemplates just how far the Gila River Indian Community has come.

Foremost on the mind of Gila River Indian Community members are the sacred sites and shrines on South Mountain that would be destroyed if plans to blast a freeway through the mountain proceed, says Alia Maisonet, the tribe's spokeswoman.

Despite some signals that the Gila River Indian Community might be willing to consider a South Mountain Loop 202 route on tribal land, state officials still have Pecos Road marked as the only alternative through Ahwatukee Foothills. But despite almost 10 years of planning for the freeway, there are still several major questions about what impact the freeway will have on local residents.

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio thinks Arizona should make a good faith offer to the Gila River Indian Community to consider allowing the South Mountain Loop 202 on tribal land before construction begins along Pecos Road.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College will host speaker Lori Riddle on Monday, April 2, from 12:40 to 1:40 p.m. in room SC140 on the college’s Pecos Campus, 2626 E. Pecos Road in Chandler.

The Gilbert Chamber of Commerce will hold a Gilbert Town Council candidate forum from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts, 4132 E. Pecos Road.

The Gila River Indian Community has invited the public to see plans for a proposed $60 million relocation of the Lone Butte Casino.

A new temple planned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the southeast corner of Greenfield and Pecos roads in Gilbert will be discussed by the town's Planning Commission 5 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council Chambers at Gilbert Municipal Center, 50 E. Civic Center Drive.

As a longtime resident of Ahwatukee, I have watched development to the betterment of our community; Pecos Park is a prime example. The Loop 202 extension would be a detriment beyond measure. The Gila River Indian Community agrees with this thought through its vote denying the freeway.

I can’t say I agree with some of what Governor Jan Brewer has advocated or seen enacted. But now, after having lived in a cultural milieu right on our borders — what to me seems a strange, even bizarre cultural environment, full of perversions of power and social dysfunction that is absolutely destructive — I definitely agree with at least one idea: We must get total control of our border.

A 73-year-old woman who struck a pedestrian on Pecos Road east of Arizona Avenue on Friday evening will not be charged in connection to the 41-year-old man’s death, Chandler police said.

You can feel safe

You can feel safe

You can feel safe

There may be a glimmer of hope to Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio’s attempts to find an alternative route for the South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway.

The second portion of the Paseo Multi-use Trail is on its way to becoming a reality.