The stories that defined Apache Junction, Gold Canyon in 2021

In 2021, the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent covered the city of Apache Junction and the unincorporated Pinal County community of Gold Canyon, offering reporting of local issues.

Those stories included:

• A nearly 25-year employee of the Superstition Fire and Medical District appealing his termination from employment before two state agencies;
• The Apache Junction Police Department using its drone to find a woman in distress who had wandered into the desert near Lost Dutchman and Goldfield Road.
• Discussion that property taxes would be required for owners of homes built on state land recently sold at auction as part of community facilities districts to pay for roads, sewer and water systems without burdening all Apache Junction residents;
• The Apache Junction Library Board looking for ways to allow some Maricopa County residents to use its library for free;
• More than $88,000 distributed to 203 EVIT high school instructors and classified staff as a COVID-19 training and classroom preparation stipend;
• The Superstition Fire and Medical District paying out more than $100,000 on 83 claims and out-of-court settlements during the past six years, according to a review of its records;
• A total of $298,075 from the Arizona Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act paying for a new armored vehicle to replace one built in 1993 and used by the Apache Junction Police Department Special Weapons and Tactics unit;
• Superstition Community Food Bank, which offers assistance to individuals and families in northwest Pinal County and east Mesa, expanding thanks to a COVID-19 relief grant, with additional funds needed for the two-phase project;
• A 2.6-acre park where dogs can run free under construction and opening as early as spring 2022 in Apache Junction at the Pinal County complex at 575 N. Idaho Road;
• The city of Apache Junction having 18 claims or out-of-court settlements during the past two years, with four of them open and involving police actions, according to a review of records;
• A Maricopa County agency working to hold back the floodwaters when it rains and pours having several projects in the works, including one that stretches east from Mesa into Pinal County to south Apache Junction;
• Elected officials from the city, county and the U.S. House of Representatives asking federal officials to not move the Apache Junction Social Security Administration Office at 253 W. Superstition Blvd. to the town of Gilbert;
• The results of public records requests made seeking a five-year examination of out-of-court settlements in school districts that have Apache Junction and Gold Canyon students;
• Five city of Apache Junction employees being paid more than $140,000 a year, with none of them among the top 25 highest paid government workers in the Phoenix metro area;
• Seven crimes being reported in 2020 at two of Central Arizona College’s five campuses — down from 20 in 2019 at two campuses, according to a federally mandated campus-security report released in October;
• The Apache Junction Water Utilities Community Facilities District considering penning an agreement with the sewer district to use non-potable water to fill lakes and irrigate grassy areas in recently auctioned and retained Arizona State Trust Land; and
• Pinal County officials reversing a previous decision and voting to accept $3,387,435 from the federal government to hire a vaccine equity employee and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities.