THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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westvalleyview.com
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .............. 7 Bob Musselwhite running for CD8 in November
SPORTS ........ 20 Millennium beach volleyball falls short of state championship win
9 DAYS ......... 21 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ........................10 BUSINESS..................... 15 SPORTS ..........................18 FEATURES .....................23 NEIGHBORHOOD......28 YOUTH ...........................29 OBITUARIES .................34 CLASSIFIEDS................35 NORTH
Buckeye derby returning PAGE
The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
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May 9, 2018
Litchfield Park couple helps African kids By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
Bob Solis and his wife, Sallie, wanted their children to appreciate what they have. So the Litchfield Park couple took their family to South Africa to “see how the other half of the world lives.” “We worked at an orphanage for a week,” he said. “Our kids walked through townships, as they call them, or slums. They didn’t have electricity, toilets or showers. I taught them to count their blessings.” The Solis family returned to Arizona, prayed, and decided in August 2005 to use their life savings to found Open Arms Home for Children, a facility for children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The 70-acre property has a house and two cottages on it for 57 children. “At the time we started Open Arms, 9,000 people a day were dying in Africa from AIDS,” Solis said. “Now there are 2,000, but that’s still a ton of people. Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world. We saw a lot of kids without homes. “They’ve been abandoned in boxes or abandoned at garbage dumps. The children have survived home attacks and invasions. There are all sorts of stories like that.” The nonprofit places six to eight children in cottages with a permanent house mother. The children go to preschool on the property and attend elementary and high school in the local community. Children are served regardless of background, race, economic status or religion. Solis travels to South Africa three times
Bob Solis visits with a child at Open Arms Home for Children, an orphanage he and his wife, Sallie, founded in South Africa. (Photo courtesy Bob Solis)
a year, while Sallie visits once a year. “We know every one of them,” Solis said of the children. “I used to think I would have bad days when something would happen. My problems are very tiny compared to what the kids have gone through. “It’s been a labor of love and a ton of work,” he said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to
know the kids and try and make a difference. The couple’s children – including Washington Nationals pitcher Sammy Solis (see related story on page 2) – also visit. The family also includes Alicia and LouAnn, and two adopted children, Jaala and Jonsy. The
Lives...continued on page 2
First round of air quality monitoring in Tonopah complete By Connor Dziawura Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide measured in the ambient air in Tonopah does not exceed state or county standards or guidelines, according to Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) first round of testing from February 12 to March 12. Further testing will be conducted.
The tests were conducted after years of complaints by residents who live near Hickman’s Family Farms facilities in Tonopah and Arlington. Two Hickman’s Family Farms facilities also voluntarily submitted ammonia data to the Environmental Protection Agency through the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act last year. ADEQ’s testing focused on ammonia and hydrogen sulfide because of the concentrated animal feed operations of Hickman’s. A contractor monitored the ambient air
Quality...continued on page 8