West Valley View - October 12, 2016

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 TEEN HIT BY SEMI RULED SUICIDE, PAGE 4

westvalleyview.com — the newspaper of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park & Tolleson, AZ 50¢ Wednesday, October 12, 2016 (623) 535-8439

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OLD SCHOOL MEETS NEW SCHOOL Seniors join college students for comedy Noises Off at Avondale campus — Page 9.

RUNNING WITH THE PACK Buckeye gearing up for annual marathon — Page 5.

Photo by Senior Airman Aaron J. Jenne

AIRMEN CARRY THE REMAINS OF MAJ. TROY GILBERT Oct. 3 at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. Gilbert died Nov. 27, 2006, when his F-16 crashed while he was providing close-air support to special operations forces about 20 miles northwest of Balad Air Base in Iraq.

Luke pilot’s remains returned to U.S. 10 years after his death by Emily Toepfer assistant editor

Nearly a decade after his death, the final remains of Maj. Troy Gilbert were returned home last week. The 34-year-old father of five, who was stationed at Luke Air Force Base when he died,

GET OUT AND VOTE Early voting begins today — Page 5.

was the first F-16 fighter pilot to be killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gilbert deployed in September 2006 on a 120-day volunteer mission to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base in Iraq. (See Remains on Page 2)

Horse rescued from W. Valley irrigation ditch by Emily Toepfer assistant editor

DAILY UPDATES! News Updates and fresh Classified ads posted Monday - Friday at 4:30 p.m. online at www.westvalleyview.com Volume 31, No. 27 28 Pages 1 Section Circulation: 75,474 INDEX Classifieds .................... 24 Editorials & Letters .......... 6 Obituaries ...................... 22 Society ........................... 21 Sports ........................... 12 Briefcase ......................... 4 9 Days a Week............... 20 Recycle this paper

Mister, a 23-year-old Arabian horse, is recuperating this week after an innocent adventure landed him in muddy water. Sometime before noon on Oct. 7, Mister escaped from a pasture near 129th and Southern avenues when another horse pried open a gate. He was walking in an irrigation ditch, lazily eating grass when he came to the road and tried to jump out. “When he reared up, his back feet slipped out from under him and he just went feet first underneath the road,” his owner, Linda Setterer, said. “So there he was, stuck.” A neighbor’s mother noticed Mister stuck in the ditch, and called Setterer. She immediately did a headcount and saw one horse was missing, she said. “I got up to the road, and there he was,” Setterer said. Two cars had already stopped to help, and Setterer called her vet and rescue crews. “All my neighbors jumped into the water with their good shoes on and their jeans on to see how we were going to get this horse out,” she said. A fence along the ditch was removed and the rescuers tried to use a truck to pull the horse out, but it didn’t work. “The more pressure we put, the more he struggled and got his hips and big butt stuck (See Horse on Page 3)

Former student accused of school threats by Emily Toepfer assistant editor

A former Westview High School student was arrested Oct. 6 for allegedly making threats on social media that referenced students and faculty at the Avondale campus, officials said. Alonzo Vargas, 18, of Goodyear was booked into Maricopa County Fourth Avenue Jail, said Sgt. Mathew Hintz, a spokesman with the Avondale Police Department. He faces felony and misdemeanor charges related to disrupting an educational facility, threatening and intimidating and committing a hoax, Hintz said. The posts were discovered and investigated in conjunction with recent “scary clown” threats that have been occurring across the nation, Hintz said. Alonzo Vargas A letter sent out Sept. 27 to parents in the Tolleson Union High School District stressed the importance of talking with students about making such threats. “Quite frankly, this needs to stop and it needs to stop now,” the letter stated. “The education of your students is negatively impacted whenever we have to react to these threats; it is disruptive and a wasteful use of time.” The letter warned that students could face suspension, expulsion and potential arrest if they are involved in making threats. “Please inform your students that ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ school threat posts may lead to disciplinary action by the school and result in a potential police investigation,” the letter stated.

Threats trending

View photo by Jordan Christopher

MISTER, a 23-year-old Arabian horse, recuperates in his pasture after being rescued from a ditch last week.

Police also investigated threats made on Twitter Oct. 4 referencing Agua Fria High School in Avondale, but they were deemed not credible, Hintz said. Posts also mentioned people in clown costumes going to the school at Dysart Road and Riley Drive, but some had a more “sinister tone,” Principal Ernest Molina said Oct. 5 in a message sent to parents. Police concluded the posts posed no direct threat to the school, Hintz said. “We want to assure students and families that first, we take the safety and security of all of our students and faculty seriously,” Molina’s message stated. “Additionally, we have requested an increased presence from Avondale PD around the campus for the coming days both during the school day as well as after hours.” Social media posts regarding people dressed in clown costumes threatening schools have occurred the last few weeks across the nation. “The good news for many districts is that we are improving our training to educate kids about this general problem with social media abuse, and the community, law enforcement and our students are responding to help us solve these cases through sharing of real time information,” said Dennis Runyan, superintendent of the Agua Fria Union High School District.


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