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westvalleyview.com
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This Week
The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
26 March 13, 2019
Woman apologizes for jaguar incident at zoo BY DARRELL JACKSON AND CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI West Valley View Staff Writers
NEWS ........... 12 United Way introduces “micro-grants” program
SPORTS ........ 22 Dudzik, Lions eager for inaugural baseball season
9 DAYS ......... 24
Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar LETTERS ........................14 BUSINESS..................... 18 SPORTS ..........................20 FEATURES .....................26 NEIGHBORHOOD......29 YOUTH ...........................32 OBITUARIES .................37 CLASSIFIEDS................38 NORTH
A Waddell woman met with Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park officials March 10 to apologize after she was attacked by a female jaguar while she was trying to take a selfie the night before. The 30-year-old visitor, whose name was not released due to HIPAA compliance, crossed the barrier separating visitors from the animals and was scratched by the jaguar’s nail, according to Mickey Ollson, the zoo’s director. “She was not admitted to the hospital,” Ollson said. “She got stitches and was sent home sometime last night. It happened at around 5:45 at the zoo, while we were getting ready to close at 6. “At 9:30 this morning, she called and requested to speak with me. She apologized. She felt terrible that the zoo was getting this bad publicity. She said, ‘I live in the area. I love the zoo. It was rather foolish to do what I did and I’m so sorry.’” Ollson said she was angry that a zoo visitor released a video of her receiving treatment at the zoo and writhing in pain. She
A 30-year-old Waddell woman was scratched by a jaguar’s nail after she crossed a barrier at Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park on March 9. The woman, whose name was not released due to HIPAA compliance, apologized to zoo officials the following day. (West Valley View file photo)
did compliment the Litchfield Park staff for their quick response. She was taken to the gift shop, where she met the Rural Metro ambulance.
“That was a good ending,” Ollson said. “She took responsibility for her actions,
Zoo...continued on page 3
Auditor general releases school spending report BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
With new money coming into the system, classroom spending in Arizona has increased for the second year in a row. New figures from the office of Auditor General Lindsey Perry show 54 cents of every education dollar spent statewide this past school year was on instruction. That largely includes salaries and benefits for teachers and aides as well as instructional
supplies like pencils and paper, instructional software, athletics, band and choir. That compares with 53.8 cents for the prior year and 53.5 cents the year before that. Honing in on West Valley high school districts reveals regional findings. In the case of Agua Fria Union, AG figures have 53.5 cents, versus the previous year’s 52.5. Instruction spending this past year also matched the peer av-
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erage, which represents similar districts. Another district, Buckeye Union came in at 54.6 cents, a 0.4-cent increase over the previous year. Some elementary schools similarly increased spending on instruction. Avondale and Littleton both saw 0.5-cent increases between fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Avondale, at 51.4 cents, spent the equivalent of
Spending...continued on page 8
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