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This Week
NEWS .............. 6 Avondale Fire & Medical inducts new fire engine
BUSINESS...... 14 Business Briefcase returns with restaurant news
The Voice of the West Valley for 37 years
Attorney general sues BESD, superintendent BY JORDAN ROGERS
West Valley View Managing Editor
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rizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit on Dec. 28 against the Buckeye Elementary School District and superintendent Kristi Wilson. This follows a report issued by the Arizona auditor general that found BESD paid Wilson more than $1.7 million of “additional compensation” from July 2016 to December 2021. That brought Wilson’s total compensation to about $3.3 million for that time, an estimated $571,256 of which she was not entitled to under her employment agreements. “Transparency and accountability are not electives in our public school districts,” Brnovich said. “Hardworking taxpayers expect these public funds to be expended in accordance with the law and the best interest of
West Valley View Executive Editor
Millennium girls hope to net another title
OPINION ...............10 BUSINESS.............. 14 SPORTS ..................18 CALENDAR ............20 FEATURES ..............21 OBITUARIES ...........24 YOUTH ..................26 CLASSIFIEDS ..........27 NORTH
students.” The auditor general found that Wilson’s compensation was about 100% more than what the state’s three largest school districts, on average, paid their superintendents during the same period. The lawsuit seeks to require Wilson, who has been the district superintendent since 2013, to return any funds BESD paid her in violation of her employment agreements and the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause. The Buckeye Elementary School District issued a statement in response to the attorney general’s findings. “It is surprising and disappointing that the Arizona attorney general chose to issue a news release to publicize the lawsuit filed against our school district and superinten-
BESD...continued on page 4
BESD Superintendent Kristi Wilson. (Buckeye Elementary School District/Submitted)
Arrest made in Idaho students’ murders BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
SPORTS ........ 18
January 4, 2023
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28-year-old man was arrested Dec. 30 in connection with the Nov. 13 deaths of four University of Idaho students, including former Avondale resident Xana Kernodle. Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania. The 20-year-old Kernodle was killed along with her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. The Kernodle family could not be reached for comment. Kohberger is a Ph.D. student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, according to the college’s website. The university is 8 miles from the 1122 King Road residence in Moscow, Ida-
ho, where the four students were found dead. Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle shared the home, while Kernodle’s boyfriend, Chapin, was staying the night, according to investigators. Kohberger was due in court Jan. 3 in Pennsylvania, when he was expected to waive extradition to Idaho, according to reports. Latah County (Idaho) prosecutor Bill Thompson said during a Dec. 30 press conference that a criminal complaint charging Kohberger with four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary, was filed Dec. 29. Moscow Police Chief James Fry said during the same press conference that his department received 19,000 tips and conducted 300 interviews. He was limited in what he could release before Kohberger’s Jan. 3 hearing. That included a motive or relation-
ship with the victims. “We’re still asking people to send us things on the tip line,” he said. “We’re trying to build that picture. We’re putting all the pieces together.” Police had sought a Hyundai Elantra that was seen near the crime scene. They found the car with Kohberger and DNA matched genetic material at the crime scene, Fry said. “I can tell you, for a lot of law enforcement, it was a fairly sleepless couple nights,” Fry said. “I have faith in those agencies across the nation. I have faith in our officers. I have faith in the FBI.” Crews cleaning the 1122 King Road home were asked to stop just before the press conference, according to Fry, per a “legal request from the court.” He didn’t elaborate
Arrest...continued on page 3