Special to SEVLedger

The Trauma Center ‘Wake Up!’ Youth Program has been in place in Arizona for 10 years. The program leaves a huge impression and often changes life decisions of youth from ages 13 through 20. However, many parents and teachers have not heard about it until now.

Only teens that have been arrested, sentenced for alcohol related charges and court ordered to attend know about this valuable program. More importantly, a surprising number of teens come from our own communities: Pinal County, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Higley and Chandler School Districts.

The “Wake Up!” Program was designed as an opportunity to educate youth about the consequences of alcohol and drug use. This is a program through the American Trauma Society, in conjunction with St. Joseph’s Medical Center in downtown Phoenix. Through education and shared learning, the staff and participants explore consequences and entertain new choices and alternatives related to alcohol and drug use. The goal for each session in the Trauma Center ‘Wake Up!’ Youth Program is to have the participants envision their lives differently and to consider the possibilities.

Judge Samuel T. Goodman at San Tan Regional Justice Court handles each case involving teens from all SE Valley areas. When asked how often he sees youth in his courtroom, he said he sees about 50 to 60 kids a month from the area. That is over 650 kids a year, just from the SE Valley.

In the courtroom, Judge Goodman is affable, he can be funny, but when it comes to under-age drinking and driving, he means business. “I have to be the parent,” he said, “because the parents did not take care of the reason the kids are in here.”

After pleading guilty, the kids are sentenced to probation. Probation lasts until they have completed the program, plus a 500 word essay on what they learned, community service work and they have to turn over their cell phones until all of the above is completed.

When Goodman asks kids to hand over their prized possession, they stare back in shock. Goodman calmly addresses the courtroom, “Please, make sure you have your phones off. I have a ton of them in my office, and it drives me crazy when ring all day long.”

Does Goodman read the essays? “Absolutely,” he said, “I read every one of them. I want to be sure the program is still effective.”

Clearly, it still is. Goodman said, “I don’t recall anyone having to go back there after completing the program.

When asked their thoughts about their sentencing, some of the kids believe it’s too hard”, and Judge Goodman is too tough. In fact, some parents come before the judge to make pleas and excuses for their kids after sentencing and completion thereof. After observing in the courtroom several times, this judge isn’t buying it.

The Trauma Center Wake Up! Program continues to be one of the main diversion programs for Maricopa County Justice Courts. The program is made possible by the collaborative efforts of the local Justice System, the Department of Public Safety, the Archangel Foundation and the Level I Trauma Center of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

In the first session, students listened to two veteran Phoenix Highway Patrol Officers speak about the scope of what they have seen on the job. They explained how alcohol related accidents happen at all hours of the day and night, including families, youth and old age from all walks of life.

The officers showed more than fifty slides of graphic alcohol related accidents, many resulting in death. Following the slide show, the officers shared stories of some of the most haunting, heartbreaking accident scenes they have witnessed. Telling a family member they have lost a loved one is hardest part of the job, said both officers.

Session two takes the students into the Trauma Center. In this session students work one-on-one with an instructor and must be absolutely quiet while observing. Each student goes into several Level 1 trauma rooms and only stays for a few minutes.

In one room, a pregnant teen age girl has been flown in by helicopter as the result of a car accident. The young girl, a high-risk patient, was surrounded by almost a dozen doctors and nurses. Specialists were on hand to care for both the unborn baby and the mother.

In another room, Phoenix Fire and ambulance/paramedics bring in a mid-thirties male adult that had been involved in a motorcycle accident. The man was immediately surrounded by a triage unit of doctors assessing damage to his broken ankle, with another triage unit assessing possible damage to his head and upper body.

After leaving the trauma unit, students are encouraged to process their feelings about what they have just seen. How did it make them feel?  Are they ready to make smarter choices in life? What other life changes could they make?

The youths are also asked to do a wheelchair exercise. They sit in a wheelchair and just when they start to feel comfortable, they are asked to move. Then they must wheel themselves up a ramp, open a door and push themselves through the lawn outside. As they do this exercise without assistance, the students find out first hand how hard it is to be confined to a wheelchair.

In the final session, a former US Military Officer told of his accident that left his paralyzed.

Another guest speaker shared his story of being in gangs, on drugs and basically lost for years. He said he began with bad choices at the age of thirteen. It was a long path to recovery for him. It included saying no and meaning it, finding new friends and realizing he was a valuable person. He is now working with kids in the ‘Wake Up!’ program, hoping to help them avoid making similar mistakes.

For the final session, students were required to write a five hundred word essay on the impact the program had made on them, which was then returned to the advocating Judge who court-ordered the student to complete the program.

The Youth ‘Wake Up!’  Program has been running in AZ fourteen years. The goal of the Trauma Center Wake Up! Youth Program is to encourage youth to make better decisions such as wearing a seat-belt and not getting behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The program was founded by trauma surgeon Dr. Marc Levison and justice court Judge Lex Anderson in 1997.  The two joined together to allow for the court system to offer a diversion program that would impact those who violate the zero tolerance laws surrounding underage drinking.  Judge Lex Anderson’s court located in the west valley served mostly underage violators ticketed for drinking at Lake Pleasant.  After a few years the court expanded to 11 justice courts across the valley.

The program is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization through the American Trauma Society.  St. Joseph’s Hospital acts as its fiscal agent.  The program is fee based. All court ordered referrals pay a fee which helps cover operating costs. However, anyone age 13 to 20 years old is allowed to attend.

The Youth “Wake Up!” Program contact information is (602) 406-4220 or on the web at TraumaCenterWakeUp.com.

Special to the Ledger

Budget – the four letter word of personal finance. Just hearing the word can induce dread and fear, yet it’s a vital tool for your financial well-being. Part of the problems surrounding budgets are how needlessly complicated and convoluted they can become.  Budgeting should be relatively simple and painless when you’ve done it right. Find the right system for you and it becomes a financial habit you can actually stick with long past other resolutions. A good budget system will tell you if your spending is helping you reach your goals or standing in the way.

There are a thousand different types of budget systems you can find with an online search, but you only need the one that makes sense to you.  It should be quick and as automated as possible so that you won’t be tempted to put it off.  I prefer budget programs for my clients rather than spreadsheets or traditional paper ledgers. Many banks offer some basic online systems and there are still some standalone products out there, but most have been pushed to extinction by cloud based programs.

I happen to be familiar with Mint and like its ability to do everything easily with little input from the user. You earn and spend the money, and Mint tracks it and categorizes everything for you. You can set up limits by category of spending and have all types of reports generated automatically. It also works well with smartphones so you always have the information you need when you’re out and about.  There’s many more programs out there just like it so make sure you look at all of their features and security measures to find the one that’s a good fit for you.

Once you’ve found the simplest solution that fits your lifestyle, you need to begin tracking your spending.  I’ve found that most people severely underestimate their spending in several categories, the most common being fast food purchases.  Even when you think you keep a close eye on these things there are still spending patterns that don’t become evident until you have the color chart put right in front of you. There’s no denying the power of the pie chart! You’ll probably find additional ways to control your spending even if you’re already financially fit.

Finding that little bit of extra money that can be saved is the most rewarding part of the process.  That’s the money that can fill your emergency savings or opportunity fund.  It can help your retirement or pay off your debt.  Whatever your situation, it’s the seemingly small amounts of money that make the difference between peace of mind and sleepless nights.

You can find more information on budgets as well as financial calculators on our website at AZFamilyFinance.com. Let us know if you have a question you’d like answered and we’ll do our best to include it here.

PINAL COUNTY – A Tucson man was arrested for stealing nearly $47,000 worth of jewelry from SaddleBrooke homes while working on a home cleaning crew.

The Pinal County Sheriff Office arrested Robert Gilson, 28, in a string of thefts in the Saddlebrooke area on May 14, 2013. Gilson, an employee of Maid2Clean, was contracted by homeowners for services. According to PCSO, Gilson would steal jewelry and take it to various Tucson pawn shops.

Gilson admitted to the theft of 76 pieces of jewelry, stolen from eight different houses. He told police he committed the thefts out of financial desperation.

Detectives learned Gilson had made 46 jewelry sales to Catalina Pawn Shop in Tucson between mid-February through April. A search of other nearby pawn shops also revealed additional sales made by Gilson. In total, Pinal County Sheriff Office detectives were able to tie Gilson to four different burglaries totaling nearly $47,000 in stolen jewelry.

The various pawn shop owners said Gilson came in with a story that a recent wealthy family member died and he had inherited the jewelry.

Gilson was in possession of marijuana when he was arrested and was booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center on seven counts of theft, seven counts of trafficking in stolen property, one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Pinal County Sheriff detectives were able to recover nearly $32,000 worth of the jewelry and returned it to the various owners.

By Heather Sneed

The Bubbly Hostess

Special to the Ledger

Welcome back!  Have you tried San Tan Brewery’s Mr. Pineapple Wheat beer yet?  If not, you need to!  This is one of their seasonal beers and this year it’s available in a can – perfect for summer…and I mean PERFECT.

I was skeptical at first, it sounded like it was going to be sweet, just based on the name, but I was wrong.  I should know better than to judge a book by its cover.  This is a delicious German Wheat Ale that was the winner of a silver medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival competition.  I am completely sold on this and can’t wait to buy more to enjoy this summer.  You can visit SanTanBrewery.com and go to their “beers” menu to find out where you can buy Mr. Pineapple this season.

Speaking of which, if you haven’t been to San Tan Brewery yet, I’d highly recommend it.  They have delicious food and lots of yummy beers to taste.   They are located in Downtown Chandler at 8 South San Marcos Place.  They even have a pretty decent “Lil Brewer’s” menu for the kids too, that always makes me happy!

Definitely give this refreshing beverage a try if you like craft beers, I think you’ll enjoy it.  Please stop by my blog or Facebook page and leave me feedback on what you think.

Turning to my little one’s upcoming birthday party preparations, significant progress was made this week!  More materials purchased to decorate the tables, plates/napkins/forks all on hand now, menu finalized, well – except for the cake.  I am still going back and forth on this, in fact this week I considered adding FONDANT to the cake décor.  If you’ve been following me long enough, you’ll know that I had a bit of a fiasco the first time I used fondant for my older one’s birthday last summer.  We’ll see how much courage I can build up this year.  I’ll keep you posted!

Please stop by my Facebook page or blog and leave a comment.  You can find me at TheBubblyHostess.blogspot.com.  You can also like my page on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheBubblyHostess.

Lastly – always remember to make the most out of your planning, so you have time to enjoy your champagne.

The program kicks off Saturday, June 1 at 2:30 pm, with an event featuring National Award Winning Author Indiana Bones (Mike McCartney).  This event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Pinal County Library District and the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Florence.”

Summer Reading will run through the month of June.  Children and teens may complete reading logs to win participant prizes.  There are also a series of summer events for all ages.  “Dig into” Mondays by picking up a trivia handout sheet available at the front desk, complete and return the next week for a fun incentive.

On Tuesdays at 2:00 pm, there is Teen Tuesdays, which allows teens to show off their skills on the Wii and X-Box 360.  On Wednesdays at 10:00 am, younger children can “dig into” some good books with Children’s Librarian Ms. Rita, who will present stories, songs, finger plays, and special guests.  “Dig up” some crafts On Thursdays at 2:00 pm, there is a variety of crafts for children of all ages.  Parents and guardians are strongly encouraged to assist younger children.  Registration is required for crafts, although walk-ins are accepted on a space available basis.  Each week ends with a Friday family flick, complete with popcorn and a drink!  A family movie will be shown in the library programming room each Friday at 1:00 pm, with seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Adults are also invited to enjoy the library’s 2013 Summer Reading Program with “Ground-Breaking Reads”.  Turn in an entry for each book you read.  Every Monday, a random drawing will be held for prizes!

Adults may also win prizes by submitting entries for “Journey Stories”, the Smithsonian Institution on Main Street exhibit coming to McFarland State Historic Park from November 16 to December 29, 2013.  Submit your story to win a prize and to become part of this exciting exhibit!  Additional prizes may be received for submitting photographs and other visual materials with your story.

On Friday, June 14 at 5:30 pm, the library will host Barbara Jaquay, Ph.D., who will present “Descanos: Roadside Memorials and Marking Passages.”  Dr. Jaquay, who carries degrees in both Anthropology and Geography, will trace the use of roadside memorials, from the marking of deaths with a cross by Spanish conquistadores inMexico to their evolving use today.  This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Florence Community Library and was made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council.

Effective the week of July 1st, residents will experience a change in the sanitation services they receive.  Monthly rates will be lowered and residents will now receive a recycling container, in addition to their trash container.  Both containers will be picked up once a week on the same day.

The current fee for a residential customer is $28.98 per month.  Effective, June 1st, the new fee for a residential customer is $17.00 per month.  Residents will save almost $12 per month or almost $144 per year.

Trash and Recycling Services

Presently, the Town picks up trash twice a week for every residential account.  Beginning the week of July 1st, trash and recyclables are picked up once a week on the same day.  For Anthem residents, trash and recycling containers are emptied every Thursday.  For all other Florence residents, trash and recycling containers are emptied every Monday.

Materials that can be recycled include glass, paper, cardboard, aluminum, metals, and plastics.  Residents can place the recyclables in the recycling container without sorting or organizing the materials.  Residents are asked not to include plastic bags in the recycling container.

Holiday Schedule

If your scheduled service occurs on the week of a holiday (4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day), then your trash and recyclables are picked up on the following day.  For example, if a holiday falls on a Monday, then Monday’s route is picked up on Tuesday and Thursday’s route is picked up on Friday.

The first scheduled pick up for trash and recyclables for the Florence residents in Anthem falls on Thursday, July 4th.   So, trash is picked up on Friday, July 5th for that week.

Bulk Trash Services

In addition to the weekly trash and recycling services, residents will continue to have bulk trash services available to them.  Once a month, at no additional charge, residents can put out materials that wouldn’t otherwise fit in the containers provided.  These items may include landscaping materials, appliances, furniture, or other large items that can be safely placed in the landfill.  Materials placed out for bulk trash pick up must be neatly organized and may not exceed 20 cubic yards in total.  Tree trimmings must be cut down to four foot lengths and bundled.

Bulk trash pick up will occur on the same day every month.  For Anthem residents, bulk trash is picked up on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.  For all other Florenceresidents, bulk trash is picked up on the 1st Wednesday of each month.  Residents must call ahead to schedule the pick up of their bulk trash at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled pick up.  The number to call to schedule pick up of bulk trash is (520) 868-7677.  Residents are asked not to place their materials out for pick up more than 24 hours in advance.

New Containers

Right Away Disposal will begin dropping off the new containers the week of June 24th.  Each resident receives one trash container and one recycling container.  The Town of Florence will begin picking up the old containers on that same week.  Residents are asked to continue to use their existing containers through the month of June and to start using the new containers for trash and recyclables that will be picked up in July.

Transfer Station

The Town is currently working with a local transfer station to provide additional services to residents at no additional cost to the residents.  Included in the $17 monthly fee paid to the Town, residents can also drop off their unwanted items at a local transfer station. Residents must show proof that they are a Town resident when using this service by providing a driver’s license and sanitation bill.  Residents do not pay any additional fees at the transfer station for this service.  More info about this service will be made available when an agreement is reached with the local transfer station.

Fees for Additional Services

In addition to the services that are available to residential customers at the flat monthly rate of $17 per month, residents can request additional services at additional cost.  Residents can request additional trash or recycling containers at a cost of $5 per container per month.

If residents request a second pick up of bulk trash items (in addition to the once per month pick up that is free), the cost for that service is $82.50.  Residents can also request that the Town drop off a truck at their home for a few days, load it up with trash, and then have the Town dispose of the items at a local landfill.  The cost for this service is $95 per truck load.

Contact the Town with Questions

To schedule services or make any changes to your account, please call the Town at (520) 868-7677.

The Pinal County Community College District is proposing an increase in primary property taxes of $8,232,029 or 23.7 percent.

For example, the proposed tax increase will cause PCCCD’s primary property taxes on a $100,000 home to increase from $161.18 (total taxes that would be owed without the proposed tax increase) to $216.18 (total proposed taxes including the tax increase).

This proposed increase is exclusive of increased primary property taxes received from new construction. The increase also is exclusive of any changes that may occur from property tax levies for voter approved bonded indebtedness or budget and tax overrides.

All interested citizens are invited to attend the public hearing on the tax increase that is scheduled to be held on May 21, 2013, at 2 p.m. in the Student Services Building (M) at the Signal Peak Campus of Central Arizona College. The campus is located at 8470 N. Overfield Road, Coolidge, Ariz. 85128.

The Wienermobile will be touring the area holding bunderfully fun events at these locations:

Wed 5/22 Bashas’ 4940 S. Gilbert Rd. Chandler 1PM – 6PM
Thurs 5/23 Bashas’ 99 S. Higley Rd. Gilbert 1:30 – 6:30PM
Fri 5/24 Bashas’ 5115 N. Dysart Rd. Litchfield Park 12PM – 5PM
Sat 5/25 Bashas’ 23760 S. Power Rd. Queen Creek 10AM – 1PM

At each event we will be hosting games, letting guests get a sneak peek inside the famous vehicle, and of course handing out iconic Wiener Whistles!

We are two of twelve Hotdoggers currently traveling the hot dog highways of America spreading miles of smiles along the way. The 12 of us were selected from over 1,200 applicants to spend one year piloting one of the six Wienermobile vehicles across the country! In fact, there are more people who have walked on the moon than have been Hotdoggers! Every year, Oscar Mayer recruits at campuses across the U.S. looking for soon-to-be college graduates who have a thirst for adventure and can truly cut the mustard. We are in the final month of our tour and frankly we want to share our adventures with you and make a few more memories to relish.

Some of the duties a park ranger may perform include serving as an interpretive guide, providing visitor services, rule enforcement, fee collections, issuing permits, office and clerical duties, maintaining campgrounds and day use areas, litter and garbage collection, cleaning restroom and shower facilities, moderate level construction work and painting, inspecting and patrolling park grounds, operating a cash register, writing reports and operating power tools and light equipment.

Most State Parks are located away from the major urban areas of the State and may require residence in the local community. Employment in these positions is contingent upon the passing of a medical/physical examination and requires possession of and ability to retain a current, valid state-issued driver’s license appropriate to the assignment. Working weekends and some holidays is required. Some positions may require eligibility or certification as a Peace Officer. Peace Officer Certification has the basic criteria: U.S. Citizenship; no felony convictions; must be at least 21 years of age; medical exam; polygraph exam; physical fitness standards; complete criminal history background check and completion of Police academy (after hire).

To view and apply for Arizona State Parks jobs, go to azstatejobs.gov.