2019’s share of good news
A lot of good things happened in 2019 and we share 19 of them — our holiday gift to you.
Journalists are often accused of dwelling on bad news, and let’s face it, there’s just so darn much of it. But an old editor of ours once said that for a newspaper to truly reflect the community it serves, it has to show the community’s good side as well as its not-so-good.
For a lot of folks, 2019 sucked and they’re ready to move on.
On the other hand, tens of thousands of young people graduated from high school and college and started careers, hundreds of thousands of you volunteered to make your community a better place, and Arizona became one of just six states to be represented by an allwoman U.S. Senate delegation.
A lot of good things happened in 2019, so in honor of our old editor, here are 19 of them — in no particular order — as covered by by the journalists of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.
You may have read some of them already, in which case we thank you for being a faithful reader. Some of you may be new to our site, in which case we welcome you. Either way, consider this list our holiday gift to you, because Lord knows, we could all use a little bit of good news in our lives.
1. The kids are all right
Fed up with the air quality in Phoenix, three members of the South Mountain High School Jaguars track team, Monica Aceves, Levin Escarcega and Erik Gómez Cruz, launched a grassroots campaign to get their district to invest in electric school buses. It worked. In April, the district agreed to purchase its first zero-emissions bus, but the district didn’t stop there. Superintendent
Chad Gestson also unveiled a pilot program for acquiring more electric buses, with possible expansion into feeder districts like Roosevelt Elementary.
2. Home sweet home — for good
Disabled veteran Jim Boerner was about to be evicted from the mobile home he’d planned to grow old in after it was mistakenly sold at auction over property taxes he had already paid. The county didn’t recognize the payment until too late. After an Arizona Republic story on his case brought international attention, Maricopa County officials tried to figure out how to fix their error.
The case wound up in court, and a judge finally ruled that Boerner could keep his home — and his peace of mind.
3. A small step becomes a giant leap
After Jeffrey Bristol was paralyzed by a cerebral hemorrhage as a toddler, doctors told his mother he would never walk. Hermelinda Bristol refused to believe them and taught Jeffrey to never
believe there was anything he couldn’t do.
Not long after Jeffrey enrolled at the University of Arizona, Hermelinda set to work on fulfilling Jeffrey’s dream of walking across the stage at graduation. She worked with UA engineering students to design a mechanical exoskeleton to support him and help him build the strength he would need to walk under his own power.
On graduation day, aided by the thunderous applause from the crowd, the young man doctors said would never walk was able to rise from his motorized wheelchair and take a few short, shuffling steps to shake the hand of Dean Paolo Goes.
4. The return of Larry Legend
He’s not only a great football player, he’s a great human being. And he decided to stick around for another season.
We’re talking of course about future NFL Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, one of the classiest players to ever play the game. After the dumpster fire that was the 2018 Arizona Cardinals campaign, a lot of people wondered if Fitzgerald would stick around for his 16th season in the NFL.
In January, he gave us all a reason to keep watching football, announcing that he’d signed a one-year deal to return to the Cardinals. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe Larry, who is the NFL’s all-time second leading receiver in terms of both catches and receiving yards and holds the league record for most catches with one team.
He also has caught a pass in 227 straight games, and in one of the most absurd stats ever, he has more career tackles than dropped passes. He’s looked as good as ever this season, which gives us hope that he’ll be back next year.
5. Burger madness
Sometimes, all you want is a little taste of home. Apparently that goes double if you’re from the Midwest.
On a wild Wednesday in October, more than 200 people decked out in crowns, slider masks and hats adorned with hamburger boxes lined up on the outskirts of Scottsdale to celebrate the long-awaited opening of Arizona’s first White Castle.
The nearly century-old chain is a staple in the Midwest, and its famed twoby-two slider patties cooked on a bed of grilled onions have capped off many a late night of revelry.
“We didn’t have a lot growing up, not a lot of money,” said Gilbert resident Chris Lewis, who was one of the first in line. “On the very rare chances we got to go out and eat, this was one of the special places we would go, and so it always kinda had that special feeling for me.” Bon appetite, Chris.
6. Lending a helping hand
After Randy Hansen and his wife, Leslie, read a story in the Republic about the struggles of a group of foster moms who were working to build a community center, they couldn’t stop thinking about it. They knew they had to do something to help those who are trying to help the 15,000 children in Arizona who don’t have a stable home.
Hansen drove to see the Jacob’s Mission project himself, intent on donating $25,000. He was so impressed, he doubled it. And he promised to increase it to $500,000 if the moms could match it. Tearfully, they told him they didn’t think they’d be able to, so he matched it himself. He still didn’t feel he’d given as much as those three moms had.
“Their ability to give makes me feel shallow and small,” he said. “I’ve never met people who are so giving. To me, donating your life is a thousand times more impressive than donating things. That’s what these three ladies do. If you look at the commitment to improving the lives of foster kids — they’re just incredible people.”
7. One door closes, another opens
For 36 years, Yoshito and Yuko Eguchi have entertained generations of loyal diners from across the Valley, the last 20 years at their Toh Zan Nagasaki Grill. In July, their landlord said they had to vacate their longtime home in a west Mesa strip mall. The news was devastating. Even though Yoshito was turning 71, the couple hadn’t contemplated retiring quite yet.
After agonizing over the choice, the Eguchis decided they’d rather fight than quit and began to look at Yoshito’s 71st
birthday as “a new start with a positive end.” With a lot of help from family and friends, they found a new location at 1135 N. Recker Road in East Mesa, where they’re happily serving lunch and dinner six days a week.
8. She knows no limits
In 2017, she was one of azcentral .com’s most intriguing high school athletes after she became the first golfer with Down Syndrome to qualify for the state high school championship tournament. In 2018, she became the first Special Olympics athlete to earn a full college athletic scholarship and now plays golf at Paradise Valley Community College. And in 2019 Amy Bockerstette attracted worldwide attention when she shot par on the 16th hole during a practice round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, earning the admiration of U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland.
In the months since, she’s thrown out the first pitch at a Diamondbacks game and been named a co-grand marshal of the upcoming Fiesta Bowl Parade. We just can’t wait to see what she does next, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it involves the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
9. Righting wrongs
When the for-profit Art Institute of Phoenix closed down suddenly late last year, it left 200 students on the hook for student loans of as much as $40,000. When they applied to a contractor to have them forgiven under a special program run by the U.S. Department of Education, they were denied.
“Nobody wants to be accountable or take responsibility. Nobody,” 46-yearold interior design student Christine Anderson told The Arizona Republic.
After the story ran, a Nevada legislator stepped in and helped untangle a bureaucratic snafu that made “the difference between a lifetime of financial ruin or a lifetime of freedom” for the students.
10. A cowboy’s dream
More than 40 years ago, a cowboy with a way of telling stories and making people feel at home bought 40 acres southwest of Tucson and set about building his own authentic Western town. He wanted to repay Arizona for taking him in, when, as an AfricanAmerican, he didn’t think he’d be welcomed.
Over the years, Ed Keeylocko’s Cowtown became a much beloved watering hole, a place with real country music where everyone was welcome and the beer was so cold you had to wear an overcoat to open one.
Sadly, Ed died last year, and Keeylocko’s Cowtown began to fall into disrepair. But this is a list of good news stories, right? Well the good news is that not only did Ed lead a rich life that brought joy to a lot of people, he had a lot of friends. And his friends have been getting together on weekends with Ed’s family to try to restore his dream in the desert to ensure that his legacy, and Keeylocko’s Cowtown, lives on.
11. New owner, new attitude
Long-suffering fans of the Arizona Coyotes are looking a lot less forlorn these days. That’s because the team has a new owner in the form of 55-year-old billionaire Alex Meruelo, who said shortly after he was introduced that “I sure as sh*t want to win” and is putting his money where his mouth is.
He’s ponied up to bring in big names like Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall. Halfway through the season the team is in first place, making it the only shining light in the Valley’s otherwise bleak professional sports constellation.
12. Response for first responders
Kevin Thompson has served the city of Glendale as a firefighter for 26 years. After he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer thought to be related to being exposed to toxic smoke and chemicals, he filed for disability but was denied. But after pressure from State Sen. Paul Boyer, the firefighters union and stories in the media, Glendale relented.
“This was a big part of the battle for me,” Thompson said. “Not only fighting cancer, but trying to figure out how to finance the fight after I retire, so this is huge for me and my family. Now that we have this piece of the puzzle fall into place, now we can focus our attention on fighting cancer and getting better.”
Not long after, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in favor of another firefighter, Gilbert Aguirre of Goodyear, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. While it did not grant him disability outright, it gave him a second chance to have his case reviewed.
13. Ringing in the school year
In 1929, a handful of elementary school students began classes in a converted adobe building in Guadalupe that had once been a pool hall. Later named for longtime educator Veda B. Frank, the campus underwent a series of add-ons that made it resemble a military style barracks.
In 2016, voters approved a complete remodel that still maintains the Spanish-style flair. When students showed up for classes this year, they got a taste of the old as well as the new. Gone was
the electronic chime that signaled the start of the school day. In its place was the historic bell that had been used at the school since 1936.
“Traditions are very much rooted in the community,” Principal Martha Jacobo-Smith said. “And so things like the bell are things that they really treasure and hold dear.”
14. UA, ASU, boldly go where ...
While the nation was busy celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, NASA gave a shout-out to both Tempe and Tucson for “leading the world” in training the next generation of space scientists. Specifically, the agency noted that scientists at the University of Arizona are preparing to land the OSIRIS-Rex space probe on the asteroid Bennu to collect samples. The mission, which started in 2016, has already identified traces of water as the probe circles the asteroid in anticipation of landing sometime in 2020.
A year after the OSIRIS-Rex launch, scientists at Arizona State University announced they would aim their own space ship toward an all-metallic asteroid known as Psyche 16 in 2023.
15. Economy likely to stay strong
The state likely will continue to generate growth in jobs and population much faster than the nation overall, particularly in construction, healthcare and manufacturing.
“Overall, the state economy is generating robust growth that is far outpacing the national average,” said George Hammond, director of the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. “Phoenix is producing most of Arizona’s (job) growth, but Tucson appears to be gaining momentum.”
16. Carrying on father’s legacy
In 1974, Obdulio Marquez opened La Fama bakery in Glendale. on the northwest corner of 53rd and Glendale Avenues. He came from a small town in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, and learned to bake by tagging along with an older brother who worked in a bakery.
Over the years, his Christmas tamales became a community tradition, along with passing out food to the homeless. After he died in 2011, some feared the traditions would end. They needn’t have worried.
Today, his daughters, Lourdes Marquez Adame and Claudia Marquez Ortega, along with their daughters, cousins and friends, spend nearly every waking minute making anywhere from 40 to 70 dozen tamales a day from scratch.
“For Christmas we were always here,” Adame recalled. “My dad never closed.”
17. The art of politics
Heaven knows our state Legislature
can use all the inspiration it can get, and this year it finally got some, 40 years after the fact.
In 1979, the late House Speaker Frank Kelly commissioned an Arizona artist to paint a mural to cover two walls of the windowless chamber. The work was never completed. This year, however, the current House speaker revived the idea.
The result is a print of a panoramic photograph from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, covering the chamber’s walls with a grand, unmistakably Arizona view. Sliced into 22 panels each about 16 feet tall, the print towers over the House floor.
“A workplace that I’m looking forward to getting back to in January,” Rep. Diego Rodriguez, a Democrat from Phoenix, wrote on Twitter. “Beautiful.” Not words usually associated with the Legislature, but let’s hope the grand view inspires some grand ideas.
18. Taking it to the mat
Roman Rozell, a 35-year-old green beret who served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, fulfilled a lifelong dream by competing in a Division I wrestling match for the Arizona State Sun Devils. On his birthday. Rozell was pinned in the first round, but appeared to make history by becoming the oldest wrestler to compete in Division I.
Typically, the NCAA caps eligibility at age 25, but that doesn’t apply for people who join the military straight out of high school.
Joining the team was a lifelong dream for the married father of six, who was stunned when he found out coach Zeke Jones planned to give him a start.
“We never even toyed with the idea of me breaking the lineup or anything like that,” Rozell said. “It just shows how far we’ve come … to convince them that I’m worthy of breaking that lineup. It’s awesome.”
19. You helped. A lot
In 2019, local charities got a $2.1 million boost to help feed and clothe hungry children, bring meals to shut-ins, give respite for caregivers of dementia patients, and provide shelter and therapy for survivors of domestic abuse.
That money came from your donations to the 2018 Arizona Republic’s Season For Sharing program, which for the last 26 years has raised more than $65 million, 100 percent of which has gone to local charities.
The good news is that this year’s drive is still ongoing, and that you can make even more of a difference. Find out more at sharing.azcentral.com.