After-election Chandler news roundup, May 17

A couple of articles on the aftermath of the Chandler City Council elections, and a few more related to politics in our community:

1. Donovan, Weninger win by large margins

Non-profit executive Trinity Donovan and restaurant owner Jeff Weninger have won the Chandler City Council runoff for two open seats by large margins.

2. Crafty Donovan lets rivals do her work

(Note: this story is dated May 11th, but has only appeared online today.)

I am going to put on my Carnac the Magnificent hat, look five days into the future and make a bold prediction: Trinity Donovan will be the first candidate in the history of Chandler elections to be voted for by every single person who turns in a ballot. And the great part is she barely had to campaign at all because her two opponents did all the work for her.

3. Firm to map Chandler's wet-lab needs

Two biotech companies have moved out of Chandler, and the city is turning away similar out-of-state companies because the city lacks wet labs - spaces equipped for chemical and biological experiments.

4. Contractor fines may escalate - Could quadruple for stopping on Arizona Avenue

Contractors who hire day laborers and continue to ignore Chandler's ban on stopping along Arizona Avenue could soon see a whopping increase in fines.

5. Ahwatukee hopes of freeway on tribal land rise, fall with every change in wind

It seems as though Ahwatukee Foothills residents are hanging on every word from the Gila River Indian Community these days. Every word, that is, on the topic of the proposed South Mountain Freeway. And the media are dutifully reporting each and every change in the wind.

6. Jeff Flake and others prepare attack on earmarks

House GOP conservatives led by Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona are preparing to target dozens of earmarks in the first fiscal 2007 appropriations bills reaching the floor this week, a Flake spokesman said Tuesday. (h/t AZ CongressWatch).