Football Coach Building Confidence in Youth
In his day, kids used to play outside until the streetlights came on, said Damion Dedmon, 34. Now kids want to sit around inside and play video games. “That is the common thing parents talk to me about. We don’t understand it,” said Dedmon. “I ended up doing something that is all-year around to >> Read More…
Driven to Help Others
Armando Banda said his shift in faith can be traced to when he and his wife Olga were having marriage difficulties. Banda said he remembers sitting in a pew at St. Catherine’s, seeking inspiration, looking up at the crucifix at the altar and asking: “Help me understand you better.” At the time, it seemed >> Read More…
Local Girl Giving Back
A local 8-year-old recently got a lesson about philanthropy that will probably last a lifetime. South Mountain resident AnnaSofia Gross recently held a fundraising pancake breakfast in the driveway of her family’s home and earned $1,000 for Hospice of the Valley. She wanted the fundraiser to benefit the hospice because they took care of >> Read More…
Teacher Wins Esperanza Award
Esperanza means hope, and no one demonstrates that more than Julio Rubio, who gave hope and a kidney to his ailing daughter, and gives hope to students and staff every day as a Spanish teacher at South Mountain High School. Rubio was recently selected as a 2012 Chicanos Por La Causa and SRP Esperanza Award >> Read More…
South Mountain Endodontics Opens
The South Mountain area is growing again and can now add South Mountain Endodontics to its list of professional services. The new practice is located on the northwest corner of 19th Avenue and Baseline Road and owned by local resident Dr. Percy B. Twine. An endodontist is a dental specialist like an orthodontist or an >> Read More…
Local Salon Owner Living Her Dream
When Catalina Fitzgerald was a little girl growing up in Mexico, she dreamed of being a top international hair stylist and traveling the world. She did travel the world and she did become a hair stylist. Another of her dreams was opening her own salon, a dream that came true about eight months ago when >> Read More…
Community-Minded Vera Eyeing Council Seat
David Vera spent 33 years with the Phoenix Fire Department first as a fire fighter, retiring as a deputy chief. “We don’t get invited to weddings and christenings, we do get invited to the knife and gun club on weekends,” he said joking about the life of a firefighter, paramedic.“We really do meet people at >> Read More…
Advocating for Education
When Reginald Bolding was a child growing up in Akron, Ohio, he thought lawyers were fictional characters only seen on television. It wasn’t until he was chosen for an internship in high school that took him out of his low-income neighborhood and placed him in the corporate world, that his eyes were opened. “I learned >> Read More…
Planning to Lead by Example
Raised in West Phoenix, he attended church, did volunteer work and gave back to the community, participated in after-school programs, hiked South Mountain, played basketball in high school and dreamed of making it to the NBA, devoted himself to the Phoenix Suns, went away to college and law school, and moved back to work as >> Read More…
Ramirez Helping Lead Flock at St. Catherine
He shops for presents at the mall. He knows the words to Justin Bieber pop songs and can do the “party shuffle.” He stores his calendar and contacts in a cell phone. He may be a priest, but Thielo Ramirez, who goes by “Father Ramirez,” is as hip as any other 31-year-old. “I’m a man. >> Read More…
