Kokopelli Winery in downtown Chandler hosts its ninth annual BBQ, Blues & Brews this weekend. The event runs 5-10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday.

A special BBQ menu will feature items like beef brisket, barbecue chicken pasta, and barbecued glazed salmon. The regular menu also will be available.

Arizona wines and craft beers will be featured.

Shri Blues Band and Krimson Chord will be among the blues bands performing.

Downtown Chandler Farmers Market
Dr. A.J. Chandler Park
Thursday, May 17, 2012
3 P.M. – 7 P.M.

Every Thursday, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, more than 40 vendors have fresh produce, tamales, BBQ sauce, hot dogs, soap, fine arts and crafts, honey, granola, herbal remedies, cheese, salsa and much more. Ready to eat foods and great meal ideas are also available. Live music twice a month and much more.

Visit the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership’s website for details!
www.downtownchandler.org/

*This is an official Centennial Event.

The City of Chandler is celebrating the Centennial in a big way. On May 18th the City celebrates its birthday and turns the monthly Art Walk into an eclectic collection of art and history.

100 Artists and vendors will come to the downtown Chandler streets from 4-10pm to celebrate Chandler’s milestone.

Activities include a stage, community dance groups, several music locations, a few snack vendors and of course lots and lots of art. Chandler’s birthday cards and Vision Gallery art winners will be on display through out the event and it is free to the public.

Held in Downtown Chandler Friday evening May 18.

The public is invited to a free living history performance celebrating Arizona’s centennial at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, 2012, at Chandler’s Downtown Library, 22 S. Delaware Street.

The History Alive! presentation features Todd Weber performing as the great explorer John Wesley Powell, who helmed the first known passage through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River in 1869. Weber’s first person presentation will show Powell writing a letter to his wife, Emma, the night before embarking on his journey of exploration into the “Great Unknown.” It is an insightful and entertaining glimpse into Powell’s state of mind as he prepared to face the perils and the mysteries of the Grand Canyon.

The performance is ideal for young students, teenagers and adults who are interested in learning about Arizona’s pre-statehood history. A question and answer session with Weber, as Powell, will follow the presentation. This History Alive! event is made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council.

For more information, please contact the Chandler Public Library at 480-782-2800 or visit www.chandlerlibrary.org.

The City of Chandler needs to install NEW water and sewer mains beneath sections of Ocotillo Road and Dobson Road beginning in June.

The project will go from the Dobson Road area down Ocotillo Road all the way east to McQueen.

You are invited to a public meeting on Tuesday May 15 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Snedigar Rec Center.

The two new pipelines will require trenching of the street(s) which will result in traffic restrictions.

Visit the project website at www.OcotilloPipelines.com

Hacknight @ Gangplank every Wednesday night

Day job keeping you away from working out of Gangplank during the day? Perhaps you’ve been meaning to come check out our space, but aren’t sure when would be a good time?

Our weekly Hacknights are project time, an open house, jam space and brainstorming session all rolled into one.

Each Wednesday night from 6:00 – 10:00pm (or sometimes midnight or 3am), Hacknight is an opportunity to connect, share ideas and launch new ventures in the community.

It’s a great time to come work on a side project or pursue a hobby. Come shoot a video, record a podcast, join a random jam session, demo a product, solve a WordPress problem or learn the basics of programming.

We’ve got it all.

Gangplank is located across from the Chandler City Hall complex on Arizona Avenue, next to Planet Subs.

www.chandler.gangplankhq.com/events/

The Chandler Fire Department is looking for residents who are interested in learning how to help their neighbors and the community in the event of a disaster or other emergency. The department is currently accepting applications for the basic training classes for Community Emergency Response Teams, or C.E.R.T., which will be held June 22-24, 2012.

Members of C.E.R.T. are local individuals from varied backgrounds who have received specialized training from the Fire Department and other agencies to prepare them for handling emergency situations. C.E.R.T. members provide critical support to communities in emergencies, give immediate assistance to victims, organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site, and collect disaster intelligence to support the efforts of emergency personnel. C.E.R.T. teams may be activated anytime a large-scale natural or man-made disaster occurs, such as a terrorist attack, regional power failure or a devastating storm.

Chandler’s basic C.E.R.T. course will teach participants how to identify and anticipate potential hazards, turn off utilities, put out small fires, apply basic medical aid, and assist emergency first responders. The course will also cover how to develop a family emergency communication plan and how to assist family and neighbors in a variety of situations.

The classes will be held on Friday, June 22, from 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, June 24, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both the Friday evening and the Saturday training sessions will be held at the Chandler Fire headquarters, 151 E. Boston Street. Sunday’s session will be held at the Chandler Fire Training Facility, 3550 S. Dobson Road.

Experienced fire service professionals conduct the training, and there is no charge to attend the program. To date, more than 500 Chandler residents have completed the C.E.R.T. training program. Members of C.E.R.T. will be given a vest, helmet, and ID making them easily identifiable in a disaster situation. The group participates in a drill-type exercise at least once a year and receives monthly training classes and updates to their initial training.

“We want everyone to be ready for any emergency situation that might arise in Chandler,” said Fire Chief Jeff Clark. “C.E.R.T. training can help any citizen be confident in their ability to protect their families, assist neighbors, and serve the community in a disaster.”

To register, call the Chandler Fire Department C.E.R.T. message line at 480-782-2116 or send an email to CertAdmin@chandleraz.gov. More information is online at www.chandleraz.gov/fire.

Class is in session for the University of Arizona at its Downtown Chandler campus this month. The inaugural program opens Friday, May 18 at the Chandler Community Center. Over 30 students will be enrolled this summer at UA Chandler.

In the first year Master’s degrees and Graduate Certificates will be offered in Education and Management Information Systems. The initial University programs include the MASTER -IP program, which provides middle and high school STEM teachers with business/industry internships combined with a MA degree. Business sponsors of internships for the first cohort include the Salt River Project, Sundt Construction, Orbital Sciences, Piper Plastics, Inc. and Freeport McMoRan.

“This collaborative partnership will assist the City as it continues to develop a highly educated workforce,” said Mayor Jay Tibshraeny. “The University of Arizona programs are going to help create invaluable relationships between Chandler businesses and the education community.”

University officials view this as an opportunity to develop new and innovative pathways to provide students across the state with access to UA academic programs.

“The UA is absolutely committed to expanding access to unique higher education opportunities,” said Mike Proctor, UA vice president for regional development. “We are thankful to partners such as the City of Chandler, which make it possible for the University to create new pathways to critical degrees.”

The University will utilize approximately 9,000 square feet of space at the Community Center, located at 125 East Commonwealth Avenue, which will be used for classrooms and offices.

UA PROGRAMS TO BE OFFERED IN CHANDLER

College of Education (May 2012)
The College of Education plans to offer three graduate programs in Chandler beginning in May 2012.

Teach Arizona is a fast-track secondary teaching certification/MA program. It has been operating successfully in Tucson for 11 years.

MASTER-IP is a program funded by Science Foundation Arizona with matching funds from business/industry. The program, now in its 4th year in Tucson in partnership with Tucson Values Teachers, provides middle and high school STEM teachers with three consecutive summers of business/industry internships (with pay at industry wages) combined with a master’s degree.

The Graduate Education Specialist Program in School Psychology will be offered by the UA Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies.

Management Information Systems
I – Graduate Certificate in Enterprise Security (Fall 2012)
This certificate program consists of three 3-credit courses covering a wide range of principles and concepts related to information assurance, cyber security and IT security.

II – Graduate Certificate Program in Business Intelligence and Analytics (Spring 2013)
This program is intended to cover the highly and increasingly relevant skills in data analytics and business intelligence in a variety of real-world scenarios.

lll – Masters in Management Information Systems (Spring 2013)
This program is a 31-credit graduate program that will be specially tailored and made available to Chandler participants by combining online and on-site teaching. The graduate certificate courses (Security and BI/Analytics) will count toward the degree.