World War II Navy Signalman Third Class Austin Henry Hesler was laid to rest at Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery Friday, nearly 80 years after he perished in the attack on Pearl Harbor, his remains unidentifiable for decades until a recent DNA test helped reunite him with family.

“It’s very touching,” said Katherine Ayala, Hesler’s great-niece, at the memorial service. “It’s wonderful ... I can come visit and know where he’s at. We’ll come every year.”

According to a press release from the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, Hesler was 21 years old when his ship, the USS Oklahoma, was hit by a torpedo on December 7, 1941.

Hesler was killed in the attack along with 429 crewmen. The ship was recovered in 1944. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency embarked on a project to re-examine the National Cemetery of the Pacific unidentified remains with DNA testing. DPAA confirmed it identified Hesler’s remains on Feb. 24, 2021.

More information in today's feature. 

The original owner and founder of Jo-2-Go Coffee, Shannon Schofield, had a prime vision to design a coffeehouse on the former Clayton Homes property---what is currently a vacant lot off Avenida Escuela. 

Schofield explained how he faced many regulations from the city and had to jump through multiple hoops. He pushed to have a set of two driveways off Avenida Escuela, but the city only allows for one driveway on each commercial property. 

“They don’t want the little mom and pop stuff, they want the corporate stuff. You always see the stuff on Facebook about Red Lobster. If Red Lobster came here, I think the city would roll out the carpet for them and let them do whatever they want to do whether they met the code or not.”

Other small business owners in the community also shared their insights. 

Check out the story here:    https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/sierravista/small-businesses-struggle-with-city-bureaucracy/article_ffc16c34-cbf2-11ec-80b4-eb062dcb75f5.html