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This Week
NEWS..............4 Heat relief stations as temperatures soar
Peoria’s Hometown Newspaper
May 28, 2020
Peoria man alleged shooter at Westgate BY TOM SCANLON
Peoria Times Managing Editor
Westgate was terrorized with its second shooting within four months last week. On Jan. 29, 31-year-old Avondale resident Tyler Wilson was gunned down in a Westgate parking lot. The car enthusiast was on his way to an auto show when he became the apparent victim of road rage. His killer has not been caught. On May 20, three were shot at Westgate in an apparently random attack by a single shooter. The suspect allegedly was armed with an AR-15 rifle that jammed—preventing him from reaching his goal of shooting 10 people, according to a prosecutor. Police arrested Armando Hernandez, a
20-year-old Peoria resident, and charged him with multiple counts of aggravated assault. He allegedly told police he identifies as an “incel,” short for involuntarily celibate, and shot people “to gain respect.” A prosecutor said Hernandez had been planning to shoot people at Westgate for three years. On May 20, Hernandez posted a video of himself driving. “Hello, my name is Armando Junior Hernandez and I’m gonna be the shooter of Westgate 2020,” he said as he showed guns in his back seat. “This is to get back at society.” SEE WESTGATE PAGE 3
Aramando Hernandez, a 20-year-old Peoria resident, allegedly shot three people at Westgate before being arrested. He faces more than a dozen charges. (Photo courtesy Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
Property tax, budget meetings in June BY TOM SCANLON
Peoria Times Managing Editor
NEWS..............5 Desert Diamond Casino to reopen June 5
OPINION.................12 BUSINESS...............14 FEATURES...............16 RELIGION................19 YOUTH....................21 CLASSIFIEDS...........22
Peoria City Council votes June 2 on a budget covering the 12 months beginning July 1. As COVID-19 has impacted sales tax, one of the biggest sources that funds the city’s essential services, city officials say it is a “baseline budget.” (Image courtesy city of Peoria)
June is a big financial month for the city of Peoria. Meetings will be heard on property taxes and the city’s budget. “The city of Peoria’s fiscal year 2021 total property tax rate is proposed to stay the same as the prior fiscal year 2020 at $1.44 (per) $100 of assessed value,” said a release from the city. On a Peoria home valued at $100,000, the Peoria property tax levy would be the same $144 next year as for this year. While the secondary tax is being adjusted downward, the primary rate is increasing, which requires a tax-increase public hear-
ing scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, at Peoria City Council Chambers, 8401 W. Monroe Street. Meanwhile, after cruising along with steady growth for the last decade, Peoria—like many other cities around the world—hit a major speed bump with the COVID-19 pandemic. At a May 5 study session, Jeff Tyne, Peoria’s city manager, told the city council the 2020-21 budget he was proposing was “baseline level” with no tax increases, deferring utility-rate adjustments while “supporting council priorities.” The 2020-21 budget of $665 million is slightly more than the 2019-20 budget of SEE PROPERTY TAX PAGE 4