THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON Southwest Troop 90 Valley turns 90 Chamber of PAGE 28 Commerce PAGE
westvalleyview.com
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .............. 8
Child exposed to possible meth, couple arrested
SPORTS ........ 19 Verrado soccer nearing postseason appearance
9 DAYS ......... 21 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ........................12 BUSINESS..................... 17 SPORTS ..........................19 FEATURES .....................22 NEIGHBORHOOD......26 YOUTH ...........................27 OBITUARIES .................30 CLASSIFIEDS................31 EAST
The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
18
February 6, 2019
Buckeye Air Fair, fly-in merge for free event By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
For Buckeye officials, its annual Air Fair is about more than economic impact. The key is to provide a fun activity for families around the Valley. “We allow people behind the scenes at the airport,” said the city’s recreation manager, Miranda Gomez. “With security, it’s hard to get that up close and personal look at airplanes, but we allow that.” This year’s Buckeye Air Fair is two days – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, February 9, and Sunday, February 10 – thanks to the city’s partnership with the Copper State Fly-In, which was formerly held at Falcon Field in Northeast Mesa. This year’s Copper State Fly-In is free. The Copper State Fly-In begins Thursday, February 7, with vendor setup and continues to Sunday, February 10. The Air Fair is Saturday, February 9, and Sunday, February 10. Air shows are Friday to Sunday, according to Copper State Fly-In President Martin Kirkhuff. An air show is something that Falcon Field couldn’t accommodate. “That’s controlled airspace,” Kirkhuff said. “There’s a tower there, and it’s under Phoenix class B. At Buckeye, we can have an air show and we are. “The Air Force is providing F35s and maybe F16s. We have a whole acrobatic
The Buckeye Air Fair will feature air shows at noon Saturday, February 9, and Sunday, February 10. (Photo courtesy the city of Buckeye)
crew of performers. It’s two hours long.” The shows are 4:30 p.m. Friday, February 8, and noon Saturday, February 9, and Sunday, February 10. The two-hour events feature stunt pilots Jeff Boerboon with his YAK110, Brad Wursten and Jon Melby. Friday is kids’ day for the Copper State Fly-In, when 500 grade-school and junior high school students will visit. They will tour the exhibits and hear speakers. Satur-
day, the Sci-Tech Fest comes to Buckeye Municipal Airport. “That’s what it’s all about: exciting the younger generation about aviation,” Kirkhuff said. “There’s a severe shortage of pilots for the airlines. The Air Force is not discharging pilots. They have to come from the civilian side. We have to excite a
Air Fair...continued on page 3
Police release video of Verrado bus ‘assault’ By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The Buckeye Police Department released two black-and-white bus surveillance videos last week that capture the activities of the Verrado High School baseball team as they returned to the school April 5 from a game against Maricopa High School. As reported by the West Valley View last
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spring, the boys were joined on the bus by the girls softball team, two of whom said the boys sexually assaulted their baseball teammate. The videos are inconclusive because the teens’ faces are blurred and the conversations are unintelligible. The videos are taken from the front and back of the bus, and show a group of boys
near the rear of the bus, with two girls sitting adjacent to them. The video clip begins with loud conversation. A few of the boys shuffle seats, where horsing around appears to become more serious. The boys are holding down a teammate,
Bus...continued on page 3