THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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NEWS .............. 8 Paramedicine program renewed in Goodyear
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OPINIONS ....................12 BUSINESS..................... 17 SPORTS ..........................22 FEATURES .....................26 YOUTH ...........................32 OBITUARIES .................34 CLASSIFIEDS................35 SOUTH
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The Voice of the West Valley for 34 years
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October 2, 2019
Goodyear bans teen smoking and vaping BY TOM SCANLON
West Valley View Associate Editor
Teen smoking and vaping in Goodyear just went up in smoke … After several presentations and discussions, at 7:38 p.m. on Sept. 23, Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord called for a vote. And Goodyear proceeded to make history. Councilmembers Bill Stipp, Joe Pizzillo, Sheri Lauritano, Wally Campbell, Brannon Hampton, Laura Kaino and Lord all said “aye” to a motion to revise Goodyear’s city code. Thus, Goodyear became the first Valley city to ban teen vaping. While the e-cigarettes (commonly known as Customer Steve Blankenship, left, and owner Alex Nelson, both opposed to Goodyear’s vaping) portion of the vaping law, at the Vapor Vault. Blankenship says vaping helped him quit tobacco revision has put Goodsmoking. (West Valley View photo by Tom Scanlon.) year in the news, the Mayor Georgia Lord led Goodyear’s new vaping restrictions. (Photo city is also raising the courtesy of the city of Goodyear) to be a harmless way to quit cused of jumping on the bandwagon. age to purchase cigasmoking. On Sept. 27, the Six months ago, Goodyear Police of Chief rettes to 21. Centers for Disease Control and Preven- Jerry Geier presented council with a “yelThe state law sets the minimum age at tion raised the number of vaping-related low paper” on youth vaping, which he stated 18 to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes lung illnesses around the country to 805 had become a major problem at Goodyear (also known as JUULs, after the manufac- (up from 530 the previous week). The CDC schools. Even before that, council members turer that dominates the market). says 12 people have died from vaping. say they were hearing vaping at Goodyear In recent weeks, new information has While health concerns have only recentVaping...continued on page 2 come out about c-cigarettes, once thought ly been raised, Goodyear should not be ac-
Goodyear one of magazine’s ‘best places to live’ BY TOM SCANLON
West Valley View Associate Editor
Forget about much-hyped cities like Scottsdale, Surprise, Fountain Hills, Chandler, Mesa and Phoenix. They didn’t make the list. Goodyear did. Goodyear is one of the 100 best places to live in the United States, according to Money magazine. Money ranked Goodyear No. 22 in the country, just after Columbia, Maryland,
and Spring Valley, Nevada. No other Arizona city or town made the list. Goodyear was ahead of Asheville, North Carolina (No. 27), Arlington, Virginia (No. 30), Bend, Oregon (No. 34) and Santa Fe, New Mexico (No. 41). While that may raise some eyebrows, Todd Heilesen of West USA Realty, for one, gets it. “I’ve lived here since 2002, I’ve raised my family here, so that does not surprise me given all Goodyear has to offer and
the growth, all of the shopping and restaurants, the parks,” Heilesen said. “It’s a great place to raise a family.” Newcomers to Goodyear, the realtor said, are “impressed with how well kept the community is. Driving down Litchfield Road lined with palm trees, the general feel.” The Money magazine story was titled “The Best Places to Live in America:
Money...continued on page 7