THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON Goodyear Litchfield woman Park teen showcased starring in in campaign ‘Newsies’ PAGE
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The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
Traffic stop yields $304K in drugs, cash By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
NEWS .............. 7 Water tower display returns to Coyote Library
SPORTS ........ 15 TUHS Wolverines to kick off season August 24
9 DAYS ......... 17 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ........................11 BUSINESS......................14 SPORTS ..........................15 FEATURES .....................18 NEIGHBORHOOD......22 YOUTH ...........................24 OBITUARIES .................26 CLASSIFIEDS................26 EAST
Goodyear police spokeswoman Lisa Berry calls Goodyear one of the smaller cities in the Valley, with a population of 83,000. So, when Goodyear Police and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office made a large drug bust, it was shocking. Diego Diaz Gamez, 23, of Glendale, was the backseat passenger in a car driven by his sister at 11:30 a.m. August 9. The sister, an unlicensed driver, was pulled over for speeding and following too closely near Litchfield and Van Buren roads. Berry said Gamez, a noncitizen who had a Mexican passport, was in possession of 2 grams of marijuana. The car was impounded because the sister was driving illegally. During a search of the vehicle, additional drugs and cash were discovered, including white heroin (9.9 pounds); black heroin (7.4 pounds); cocaine (1.86 pounds); methamphetamine (1.56 pounds); 2,500 fentanyl pills/M30; marijuana (2 grams); and $44,312 A traffic stop yielded $44,312 in cash as well as a variety of drugs. in cash. The street value of (Photo courtesy Goodyear Police Department) seized drugs was $304,518. Goodyear Police Neighborhood En“This is a big deal,” Berry said. “Goodyear has a low crime rate. forcement Team later served a search warThis is probably the biggest (bust) we rant at the suspect’s residence in Glendale, have seen, with the exception of marijua- where it found a stolen MCSO deputy’s na. This is a lot of drugs. We can’t speak vest; stolen MCSO deputy’s AR-15; shotfor other agencies, but for Goodyear it is a gun; military-style flak vest; methamphetvery large drug bust, one of the largest we Traffic...continued on page 3 have seen.”
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August 22, 2018
Bayless opening clinic for families, at-risk children By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
Bayless Integrated Healthcare is opening a one-stop clinic for at-risk children and their families in the Avondale Elementary School District. The multispecialty clinic, in the original AESD building at 235 W. Western Avenue, will provide family medicine, behavioral health and life skill services to students and families who reside in the Southwest Valley. It is expected to open in early September, said Kristen Ray, Bayless’ vice president of behavioral health. “The other behavioral health providers are several to 20 miles outside of the area. It’s going to be a huge impact to meet children and their families where they’re at. There are transportation barriers, parents are working, there are multiple children in different schools. Trying to go from place to place is rough. Being on the campus for one of the schools is going to be really important.” WellCare Health Plans, Care1st Health Plan Arizona and the WellCare Community Foundation donated $230,000 to help expand and renovate the offices so Bayless physicians can provide services. Nearly 1 in 4 children in Maricopa County are living at or below the poverty line, and many lack access to needed health care services. For example, studies show 70 percent of Arizona children with major depression do not receive needed mental health treatment, according to Ray. To help expand access to underserved children and families in Maricopa County, the new clinic will offer physical and behavioral health services to approximately 12,000 to 13,000 AESD students in schools like Avondale Middle, Elíseo C. Félix and Lattie Coor schools. “We’re excited to offer quality health care services to meet the physical and
Clinic...continued on page 7