Arizona
Phoenix restaurant group to expand Slim Chickens locations, plans to hire 500 new workers in Arizona
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Barnett Management Co. said it plans to hire about 500 restaurant employees in Arizona over the next few months as the family-owned, Phoenix-based business ramps up to open three new Slim Chickens restaurants.
The first location will open about mid-June near 35th Avenue and Happy Valley Road in Glendale, followed by another Glendale restaurant opening during the summer near Loop 101 and Northern Avenue. A third restaurant will open later this year in Yuma at Fourth Avenue and 16th Street. Each location will feature about 4,200 square feet of restaurant space including patios, seating for about 90 customers, and will employ about 100 people.
Slim Chickens restaurants sell chicken tenders, wings and sandwiches.
Barnett already operates a Slim Chickens restaurant in Maricopa, with plans to have 32 locations open in the state in about a decade. The company is the exclusive Slim Chickens franchise operator in Arizona.
Barnett, founded in 1979, also operates roughly 55 Burger King franchises in Arizona.
Prospective applicants may visit AZSlims.com to learn more about the company and job opportunities. Open positions include shift leaders, assistant general managers and general managers.
Arkansas-based Slim Chickens has opened more than 265 restaurants since the company’s founding in 2003.
It’s complicated: Why doesn’t Phoenix area have any Michelin star restaurants?
Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
Arizona
Arizona State, coach Bobby Hurley taking heat for actions in loss to rival Arizona
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Few players on the Arizona or Arizona State men’s basketball teams are natives of the Valley. And the Sun Devils only have two players back from last year’s team.
If they weren’t fully aware of the intensity of the Territorial Cup rivalry, they are now.
The latest installment came on Saturday morning with the visiting Wildcats storming to an 81-72 victory at Desert Financial Arena. The win propelled the Wildcats (15-6, 9-1) to a tie atop the Big 12 standings with Houston, which was upset by Texas Tech in overtime later in the night.
It was a competitive game but it was the ending that incensed Arizona fans and sent social media circles buzzing.
The end of the game featured the ejection of Arizona’s Caleb Love and ASU’s B.J. Freeman, the leading scorers for their respective teams, after Freeman headbutted the Arizona player. Freeman was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for the incident.
After the game ASU coach Bobby Hurley chalked up his player’s misguided action to what he called constant trash-talking on the part of the visitors. No doubt there was added frustration at the inability to close out a close game, yet again.
In the closing seconds, Hurley sent his bench players to the locker room with his starters following after the final second ticked off the clock. Hurley explained that as heated as the end of the game was, he didn’t want to see the situation escalate in the handshake line.
“I just saw that it was very heated and there were possibilities that something else could have happened and I was going to avoid that,” Hurley said. “I wanted to avoid any further confrontation.”
Senior guard Adam Miller was the ASU player brought into the postgame interview room and took the high road by choosing not to comment on the events that unfolded at the end of the contest.
It certainly wasn’t a good look for Hurley or the university, especially since the game aired nationally on CBS. Many ASU fans are frustrated with Hurley’s sideline antics, and this is just the latest incident.
Richard Jefferson, former NBA player and broadcaster was among those slamming Hurley on social media. Jefferson is a former Arizona player, so it isn’t surprising.
Hurley was assessed a technical foul with 5:13 left in the first half for objecting to a foul that had been called on Miller. The Sun Devils were ahead 21-19 at the time.
Hurley’s competitive nature, which made him a legend and a two-time national champion in his playing days at Duke, has carried over into his coaching career.
There will be a rematch between Arizona and ASU (12-9, 3-7) at McKale Center on March 4 in the next to last game of the regular season. Arizona is 10-1 on its home floor and the Sun Devils are going to be in desperation mode, their NCAA postseason hopes already seemingly on life support.
Arizona
Gilbert man dies in Eloy skydiving accident, marking second death in 8 days
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The Republic
Eloy police reported that a man from Gilbert, believed to be wearing a wingsuit, died after his parachute failed to deploy before a hard landing on Saturday. This marks the second skydiving-related death in the area within eight days.
About 11:40 a.m., 32-year-old Shawn Bowen was reportedly skydiving near the Eloy Municipal Airport while wearing a “wingsuit-type apparatus,” according to a news release from the Eloy Police Department on Saturday evening.
Eyewitnesses reported that during Bowen’s freefall, his parachute did not deploy, and he died after injuries he sustained from the landing.
Investigators from Eloy police and the Federal Aviation Administration were interviewing witnesses to determine why Bowen’s parachute failed to deploy.
The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office was also at the scene to investigate the death and would conduct an autopsy later next week, according to the Eloy police news release.
Police said the victim’s wife had been notified and offered their condolences to Bowen’s loved ones.
Anyone with information about the death of Bowen was asked to contact the Eloy Police Department at 520-466-7324, ext. 0, referencing case number 2025000741.
Here are recent deaths attributed to skydiving in Arizona
On Jan. 24, Ann Wick, a 55-year-old from Minnesota, died after her parachute failed to deploy after a skydiving experience in the same area as where Bowen died.
Medical personnel attempted lifesaving measures on Wick, but she was later pronounced dead, according to police. The exact cause of death was still under investigation.
Terry Gardner, 73, died at Skydive Arizona on Jan. 31, 2024, after making a hard landing without a fully deployed parachute. Skydive Arizona said Gardner had completed thousands of jumps.
That incident came several weeks after a hot-air balloon crash killed four people in Eloy. The balloon, operated by Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides, had been carrying 13 people at takeoff — eight of them skydivers who had left the craft before issues arose causing it to crash. None of the skydivers was injured in that incident.
The Arizona Republic’s Jose R. Gonzalez and Perry Vandell contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at rcovarrubias@gannett.com. Follow him on X, Threads and Bluesky @ReyCJrAZ.
Arizona
Learjet that crashed with mother, child onboard had flown to Arizona days earlier
Video captures fiery aftermath of Learjet crash in Philadelphia
Authorities are investigating why a Learjet 55 medical transportation jet crashed over Northeast Philadelphia shortly after takeoff Friday night.
The Learjet that crashed in Philadelphia on Friday night while transporting a mother and her child had flown in Arizona earlier that week on Monday and Tuesday.
The medical transport flight was carrying six people, including the young patient and their mother, when it went down in Northeast Philadelphia, just miles from a small regional airport en route to Mexico.
“At this time, we cannot confirm any survivors. No names are being released at this time until family members have been notified,” medical transport company and plane owner, Jet Rescue, said in a statement.
The FAA initially reported that the medical flight was “en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.” Officials later clarified the destination was Mexico.
The young patient had been treated at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia. The return flight was headed to the patient and caretaker’s home in Mexico, the hospital said.
The medical flight would have no survivors, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Philadelphia authorities said they could not confirm fatalities immediately Friday night as crews of first responders and investigators worked at the large crash site near Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Mall.
The jet was captured on video exploding upon impact near a shopping center and a residential area close to Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the small regional airport from which the medical flight had departed.
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management initially reported a “major incident” on its X account, formerly Twitter, just before 7 p.m. Friday. It later provided updates confirming details of the crash.
The reason for the crash is still unclear. The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
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