The ''Ahwatukee Foothills News'' is a weekly newspaper that serves the Ahwatukee district of the city of Phoenix. Its education and sports coverage mainly revolves around the two high schools serving the district:

Mountain Pointe High School Mountain Pointe High School is a secondary school located in Ahwatukee, Arizona one of eight public high schools serving the Tempe Union High School District. History The Ahwatukee area of Phoenix experienced explosive growth in the 1990s. T ...

and

Desert Vista High School Desert Vista High School is a public high school located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1996, it is the second Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) school in Ahwatukee and serves approximately 3,000 students. Academ ...

(both part of the

Tempe Union High School District The Tempe Union High School District is a school district of high schools in Tempe, Arizona, USA. Its service area includes almost all of Tempe, the portion of Chandler west of the Loop 101, Guadalupe, the Gila River Indian Community in Mari ...

). The paper is delivered every Wednesday and boasts a circulation of 28,000. Locals may also refer to it as the AFN.

History

First published as the ''Ahwatukee Sentinel'' in 1976, the name was changed to the ''Ahwatukee News'' in 1978. In 1988 it once again changed its name, this time to the ''Ahwatukee Weekly News''. The current incarnation is the ''Ahwatukee Foothills News''. In November 1998, ''Ahwatukee Foothills News'' joined Thompson Newspapers, which already owned the ''

East Valley Tribune The ''East Valley Tribune'' is a newspaper concentrated on cities within the East Valley region of metropolitan Phoenix, including Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek. Formerly a daily newspaper, the ''Tribune'' resulted fro ...

'', as part of the Phoenix SMG (Strategic Marketing Group). Then, in December 2000, Thomson Newspapers sold its Arizona newspaper holdings to

Freedom Communications Freedom Communications, Inc. was an American media conglomerate that operated daily and weekly newspapers, websites and mobile applications and television stations, as well as ''Coast Magazine'' and other specialty publications. Headquartered at ...

, Inc. of Irvine, California. Freedom Communications filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

reorganization on September 1, 2009, in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In 2010,

sold the ''East Valley'' ''Tribune'', the ''Daily News-Sun'', the ''Ahwatukee Foothills News'', ''Glendale/Peoria Today'' and ''Surprise Today'' to 10/13 Communications. In late January 2016, Scottsdale-based

Times Media Group Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and the Times Media Group, is a South African media company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It publishes several major South African newspapers, includin ...

acquired the ''East Valley Tribune'' and ''Ahwatukee Foothills News'' from 10/13 Communications and immediately assumed day-to-day operations.

Awards

The paper as a whole took home five awards from the 2008 Arizona Newspapers Association Better Newspapers contest. Being judged in Division 3 (Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000), the ''AFN'' took home first place for Departmental News & Copywriting Excellence, and four third-place awards: General Excellence; Best Use of Photography; Community Service/Journalistic Achievement; and Special Section, Newspaper Supplement or Magazine. Individually, there was one winner: Former sports reporter Ryan Casey won three awards: Best Team, Sport or Sports Beat Coverage (1st place, Desert Vista); Best Sports Story (2nd place, Desert Vista football); and Best Lifestyle Feature Story (3rd place,
A Long Road Back
). ''(Note: Its sister paper, the ''Maricopa Tribune'' also had an individual winner, Brett Fera, in Best Sports Story (1st place) in the Non-Daily circulation under 3,500 category.)'' Five current and former staffers won awards at the 2007 Arizona Press Club banquet: Brant Clinard, a photographer, won seven awards, including two first places; Jason Ludwig took home first- and third-place awards for reporting; U. Frank Williams, the former photo editor, took home a second place award; Brett Fera, sports editor, won first place for sports reporting; and Ryan Casey, former staff writer, won second- and third-place awards for sports reporting.

External links

Official website

References

{{10/13 Communications Newspapers published in Arizona Mass media in Phoenix, Arizona 1976 establishments in Arizona Newspapers established in 1976