Gilbert News

Natalie Cox, owner of "Natty by Design," and mother of four, sands a vanity in the garage of her home in Gilbert, Ariz.

The GilbertFest Family Music & Arts Festival will showcase the talents of about a dozen or so area musicians and about three dozen area artists, including students from several high schools.

Parents and students at Coronado Elementary School in Higley have launched an aluminum-can pop-tab drive to support the Ronald McDonald House after a first-grader developed a rare form of cancer.

Gilbert residents can now use their smartphones to report neighbors for overgrown weeds, barking dogs and excessive baby-sitting with a new "app" developed by town officials.

In the sleepy days of Gilbert, before any strip malls where built or six-lane streets were paved, it was hard to separate the people of the town from the places where they lived and worked.

A case of mumps has been confirmed at Higley Elementary and Middle School in Gilbert, and Maricopa County public-health officials are asking Higley parents to keep their children out of school if they have not been vaccinated.

Thanks to modern technology, best-selling and prolific novelist Richard Paul Evans visited with students at Gilbert Christian High School earlier this week.

Four local residents -- including two incumbents -- already have declared their intention to run for Gilbert Public Schools governing board while three incumbents on Higley Unified's board said they will seek another term.

A man that climbed a radio tower in downtown Los Angeles and removed his clothing along the way is from Gilbert, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Freshmen interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers will be able to get a head start on their career at Gilbert Highland and Mesa Red Mountain high schools through a pilot STEM diploma initiative.

Highland High School in Gilbert will host high school students from northern Arizona competing in the English-Speaking Union's annual Shakespeare Monologue Competition at 10 a.m. Feb.

It may say February on the calendar, but East Valley communities are starting to hire for summer - and some year-round - aquatics jobs.

The plaques are part of a "History Walk" project being developed by a group of around 25 civic-minded residents taking part in the current Gilbert Leadership class, a program developed and operated by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.

About 500 Gilbert employees will be barred from the town's annual labor talks due to stringent standards for union recertification set by the Town Council in December.

Gilbert earned $900,000 in 2011 by selling cans, bottles, papers and other materials to recycling centers, according to town spokeswoman Beth Lucas.

Gilbert Public Schools' Superintendent Dave Allison made the decision last month not to extend Ken Hein's one-year contract to continue with the strategic plan process.

Teens and their parents can attend a session Feb. 27 about summer volunteer opportunities at Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert medical centers and at Dignity Health Urgent Care centers in Ahwatukee, Gilbert and Queen Creek.

Frustrated Gilbert residents are asking why the town hasn't done anything to alleviate a dangerous bottleneck on Higley Road near the Santan Freeway, where a major six-lane artery abruptly constricts into a congested two-lane capillary.

Valley Metro added two bus routes on the edge of Gilbert last year, along Arizona Avenue and Power Road, and ridership on routes across town increased more than 18 percent.

A master-planned community in east Gilbert sold more units last year than any other community of that type in Arizona, according to a national housing-market analysis firm.