THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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The Voice of the West Valley for 32 years
American Legion celebrates WV veterans
SPORTS ........ 18 Verrado RB heads to South Dakota
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LETTERS ........................12 BUSINESS..................... 15 SPORTS ..........................18 FEATURES .....................22 NEIGHBORHOOD......28 YOUTH ...........................29 OBITUARIES .................32 CLASSIFIEDS................34
WEST
February 21, 2018
Tensions rise as Buckeye residents Jim Rounds: Responsibility key want desert shooting halted
to economic growth
By Connor Dziawura
NEWS .............. 7
25
Bill Sansom hears gunshots near his Westpark home in Buckeye at all hours of the day and night. A retired law enforcement officer from Montana, Sansom is one of a handful of residents pushing for a closure of a patch of federal land popular with target shooters and ATV riders along the Tonopah Salome Highway. “I sit in my house and I don’t hear the traffic out here on I-10, but I hear those shots even when I’m watching TV,” said Sansom, who wears hearing aids. “I mean I can’t hear my wife talking to me sitting beside me but I hear those shots.” The controversy has been mounting since the January Buckeye Police Chief Larry Hall speaks with concerned Westpark 14 death of Kami Gilstrap, a residents. (West Valley View photo by Jordan Christopher) 24-year-old pregnant woman Management (BLM) and patrolled by the who was struck in the torso county, Gilstrap was on Buckeye municipal approximately a mile north of the area. The case is tricky, however. The active land when she was killed. While Gilstrap was struck north of the shooters fire in inconsistent directions, shooting site, Sansom noted the I-10, making it difficult to determine the his community and local truck stops, all location and intent of the shot, according to Buckeye Police Chief Larry Hall. Saying south, are visible from some areas where there were 200 shots that day would be an shooters may practice. Some rifles’ ranges underestimate, he said, with thousands of may give plausibility to rounds falling on municipal land, he said. rounds likely having been fired. “I feel unsafe in my own home when “Ballistically speaking, it’s a challenge, there’s shooting going on up there,” but we are working through it,” Hall said. Sansom stated during a neighborhood Hall would not disclose details of the case watch meeting February 15. because the investigation is ongoing. “We’re Other residents echoed certain points, using (investigative measures) in an effort to with some reporting hearing gunshots and bring some solvability to this case.” While it is technically legal to target what is believed to be Tannerite, a form of shoot on the patch of land north of I-10 and exploding target, coming from the desert west of Miller Road, which is managed by as late as 2 a.m. federal officials from the Bureau of Land
Shooting...continued on page 8
By Julio Lugo Economist Jim Rounds told attendees at WESTMARC’s annual board of directors meeting if the right balance is struck, the economy and spending numbers will improve. “We’re going to see a larger share of growth occur in the West Valley, but not everything is a given,” he said. “Just because an organization forecasts this, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen unless you have proper planning.” Rounds was the keynote speaker at the February 8 meeting that brought together business owners, council members and school board directors to discuss potential West Valley growth. Rounds said growth funds infrastructure, but, in turn, infrastructure is needed to fund growth. Economic planners must try to lure businesses to the West Valley and perhaps pay for infrastructure so the area can grow. Case in point: The recent Super Bowl in Glendale made a more than $700 million economic impact. He urged leaders to ponder ways to increase that number. Rounds addressed the recent stock market drops, and said the West Valley will not see any economic changes in the immediate future. “Now is a really good time to start thinking about fundamentals,” he said. “A balanced budget is an economic development tool.” He predicts an economic downturn and failure to plan ahead can make the downturn more severe than it needs to be. Next on WESTMARC’s agenda is identifying West Valley residents and what jobs they require, and how to bring them to the area.
Growth...continued on page 3