Glendale’s Community Newspaper
Vol. 76 No. 4
INSIDE
This Week
www.glendalestar.com
January 23, 2020
Working to get off the streets BY OCTAVIO SERRANO
Victor Quintero and Melissa Cooper have been living in their car with their dog, Blue, for the past four years. Through the Glendale Works program, they have earned enough to stay in hotels a few nights per week.
Glendale Star Staff Writer
NEWS...............3 Fundraiser helps girl in need of kidney
NEWS ........... 10 Lesko named to impeachment defense
OPINION..................... 12 BUSINESS.................. 14 SPORTS ...................... 16 CALENDAR ................ 18 FEATURES.................. 20 RELIGION ................... 22 YOUTH........................ 24 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 26
At last January’s Point-in-Time Homeless Count, an annual street and shelter count in Maricopa County, volunteers counted 194 unsheltered people in Glendale — nearly five times the 44 unsheltered people counted in 2016. The 2020 count will take place Tuesday, Jan. 28. A Glendale couple who have been living in a car with their dog may not be counted this year, thanks to a program that has helped them get back to work. Victor Quintero and Melissa Cooper have been homeless for roughly four years, living on as little as $5 a day. Recently when they came in contact with Glendale Works, a nonprofit organization through Phoenix Rescue Mission provid-
(Glendale Star photo by Octavio Serrano)
ing day labor for people in need. “They (Glendale Works) were just a blessing,” Quintero said. “There were days we didn’t find enough scrap metal to
even have gas to move and they helped us with daily pay, they helped us make sure we were able to eat.” Glendale Works is an integrated workforce development program aimed at reducing homelessness in Glendale by providing qualified individuals with work. It was developed by Phoenix Rescue Mission with help from the city and launched Nov. 2018. During its first year, Glendale Works interacted with more than 250 panhandlers and homeless individuals with its services, said Nathan Smith, Phoenix Rescue Mission director of community engagement. SEE HOMELESS PAGE 2
Trial nears for accused elementary teacher BY TOM SCANLON
Glendale Star Managing Editor
Court records show Ricky Ordway, the fifth-grade teacher accused of two dozen acts of sexual abuse and molestation, was investigated by Sun Valley Elementary School six months before he was arrested. Ordway, 44, is scheduled for trial April 16. The final case conference is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28. Since his May 14 arrest, Ordway has maintained he is innocent of all charges against him.
The Glendale
Nearly all of the alleged crimes took place in Ordway’s classroom at Sun Valley Elementary School. The school, near Northern Avenue and U.S. 101, is in Peoria not far from Glendale. (Students from both cities attend the school.) Most of the allegations against Ordway took place in the fall of 2018. Four of the alleged crimes took place between January and May, after what the prosecution called a December “mini-investigation” of Ordway. Josephine Hallam, Ordway’s attorney,
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filed a Nov. 26 petition asking the court to dismiss the case. Hallam claimed prosecutors violated Ordway’s rights by “introducing inaccurate and incomplete statements to the grand jurors ... withholding exculpatory evidence ... (and) asking over 100 leading questions.” Hallam said school staff and the principal heard “rumors” of Ordway acting inappropriately with students in December 2018. “In an interview, the principal of Sun SEE ORDWAY PAGE 4
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