WHOOPEE DAZE RETURNING TO TOLLESON, PAGE 5
westvalleyview.com — the newspaper of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park & Tolleson, AZ 50¢ Wednesday, April 13, 2016 (623) 535-8439
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GOTTA RUN Litchfield Park woman prepping for Boston Marathon — Page 3.
View photo by Jordan Christopher
BISHOP THOMAS J. OLMSTEAD speaks at the St. John Paul II Catholic High School ground blessing and sign unveiling April 5 on the grounds of St. Thomas Aquinas in Avondale. To see all photos from this shoot, go to www.westvalleyview.com/pictures.
Ground blessed for Catholic school St. John Paul II High School to be built in Avondale by Glenn Gullickson staff writer
SAFE AND SOUND Baby owls saved after mother is shot — Page 22.
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The first Catholic high school in the West Valley will mark progress for the region and the church, according to the leader of the Phoenix Diocese. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted presided over one of the ceremonial steps in establishing the school on April 5 when he blessed the ground where the high school will be built next to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 13720 W. Thomas Road, Avondale. “This is a great day for the church and the Southwest Valley,” Olmsted said. “It’s a clear statement about the importance of young Catholics.”
He sprinkled water on the construction site and unveiled a sign for the school to be known as St. John Paul II Catholic High School. Olmsted noted that the school is being named for the pope who started World Youth Days during his reign as leader of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. Pope John Paul visited the Valley in 1987, at a time Olmsted worked with him in Rome. He was canonized in 2014. The blessing ceremony came one year after the diocese announced plans to build the school, which is expected to open in fall 2018 for up to 600 students in grades nine and 10.
MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of schools for the diocese, said the campus would have the ability to expand to 1,000 students as grades 11 and 12 open in 2019 and 2020. “We’re excited to serve families in the Southwest Valley,” Mueller said. The diocese operates two West Valley schools for pupils attending preschool through eighth grade — St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Avondale, with 450 pupils, and St. John Vianney Catholic School in Goodyear, with 300 pupils. Construction could possibly start by January on a structure that may include areas that won’t be completed until more space is needed, Mueller said. (See Catholic on Page 2)
Zika blamed for diminishing blood supply Reserves down after ban on donors returning from areas affected by virus by Glenn Gullickson staff writer
An agency that provides blood for hospitals in Maricopa County is urging people to step up and donate blood to replenish a diminishing supply — a situation attributed to the Zika Virus. Since travelers who have recently been to Mexico or other Zika Virus-risk areas are ineligible to donate, some blood drives have been canceled and others are collecting less blood than expected, according to Sue Thew, public and media relations coordinator for United Blood Services Arizona.
“We’re seeing fewer donations,” Thew said. “We need people to replace those who won’t be able to donate blood.” Recent blood drives have collected an average of 36 percent less than expected, Thew said. Other drives have been canceled because regular donors are among those who routinely cross the border, she said. Thew said the hardest hit area is southern Arizona, including Yuma and San Luis, where people who cross the border are deferred from donating blood for 28 days after their return. “We’re a border state, so people freely travel back and forth over the border, especially during spring break,” Thew said. She noted that one of every six blood donations comes from a teen donor. Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director of the Maricopa County Health Department, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s
recommendation on restricting blood donations is similar to procedures put in place for outbreaks of other diseases that can be transmitted through blood products. “It’s important for folks to consider the impact the Zika Virus is having on the blood supply,” Sunenshine said. United Blood Services supplies blood to 64 hospitals in Arizona, Thew said. To maintain the blood supply, the agency needs 500 donors at a dozen daily blood drives it conducts or at six Valley donor centers, Thew said. United Blood Services strives to maintain a three-day supply of blood, but stockpiles of some blood types have been down to a half a day, she said. “We’re working with a lot leaner supply than we would like to operate with,” Thew said. (See Zika on Page 2)