Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 22

REPUBLIC MAIE U.S. investigation Car-pool use suggested 22 of overnight vehicles linneeded, county advised into jobs a- progrdih being wrapped SEPER By LAURE WEGNER An investigation into alleged abuses of a $22 million federal jobs programMaF copa County will be completed by early August, the head of the probe said TJwjrsda Dan Fahrion, who leadb a four-person team from the Department of gional office in San Francisco, said a written report will be presented tofe-BoiKl of Supervisors for comment. The audit was launched about a month ago after reports that the county's program under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act is laced with misuse of tax money, political patronage, inefficiency and fraud. IBIilliii III i fllllllllll WSBmKii illlllllipl lltlll iM ill The Arizona- SECTION MJ Page I Friday, July Investors to get $4 million from 2 thrift firms By BRENT WHITING Refund checks totaling $4 million "wiU be mailed July 28 to investors and creditors of the defunct Lincoln Thrift and U.S. Thrift associations, it was announced Thursday.

Distribution of the refunds represents 8 percent of the claims filed by passbook and thrift certificate holders and general creditors, according to Robert A. Baker, chairman of the Lincoln and U.S. Thrift board of trustees. mt' With the mailing of refundsT.25 percent of total claims filed against jthe firms will be paid off, Baker said. it In addition, holders of subordinated capital notes in the two companies Wl receive 4 percent of their claims, bringing total refunds on the'notesw 12'A percent, he said.

Investors and creditors percent of their claims when $8,562176 was distributed in two separate, mailings last July and again in December, Baker said. He estimated investors and Creditors will end up with 33 percent to 40 percent of their investments, while holders of subordinated capital notes Should get between 16 percent and 20 percent. Baker said distribution of 'the, refunds complies with rulings last year by U.S. District Judge Walter E. Craigl; said additional refunds will be made.is the liquidation of the thrift firms-continues and more money becomes available.

Lincoln and U.S. Thrift were in receivership by Craig in IDeccmoer 1975 after the U.S. Securities; and 'ESt- Continued on Page grant Repubhg The program is designed to give unemployed persons jobs that eventu-, ally will become permanent. Meanwhile, Willie James, director of the program, abruptly left Tuesday to take a similar post in Scottsdale at a $10,000 annual cut in annual salary. James said he quit his.

county post because of rumors he is on a "hit list" of county officials that the. supervisors want to fire. He said Thursday an anonymous caller told him last week a replacement already has been chosen. County Manager Charles Miller, however, said no replacement has been named. He said he didn't know James was going to quit until he received his letter of resignation Thursday James said he had Instructed; county CETA workers to.

inform Rubin Lopez, his immediate supervisor in the San Francisco regional office of his resignation. But Bill Hultigan, the Labor Department's regional director, said Thursday he had not heard of James' move. Hultigan termed the action He said if his department found CETA abuses, it would order that any misspent money be repaid to the federal government The. inquiry also could result in criminal prosecutions by local authorities. A look into the program by County Attorney Charles Hyder was cut short last month by Labor Department officials.

Federal officials reportedly told local investigators there were too few documents involved for several persons to be involved. Hultigan said he had no information about the "back-off" request. The FBI also is interested in taking a look at the program's operation, officials said. In May, James received a plague from the Labor department for achieving hiring goals under President Carter's economic-stimulus program. But Hulti- Continued on Page B-2 Barnes, married and the father of two sons, was born in Prescott, graduated from St.

Josehp's Academy and worked for General Electric in California for several years before purchasing El Charro Restaurant about three years ago. He sold that restaurant and opened Squire Dinks in February. researcher gets federal 1 RtwMK (hole by Rev Cofwiv Hot Miller said the vehicles include those used more than 34 percent of the time for commuting to and from work. An earlier summary showed that as much as 92 percent of the monthly mileage recorded on some personal vehicles represents driving to and from work. It also noted commuting accounts for about 35 percent of the 175,000 monthly miles logged on overnight vehicles.

Overnight vehicles currently -are-assigned to county workers in 17 departments. They include 135 passenger cars and 68 trucks. Pastor requested the vehicle study in PAstor requested the vehicle study in April in an effort to pinpoint the costs of providing cars to a variety of elected and appointed officials. They wanted to know whether the county can eliminate any of its fleet of overnight vehicles and instead pay employees to use their own cars for county business. "If evening meetings or emergency calls are made, a claim could be filed to recover the mileage cost at 15 cents per mile.

Additionally, in a time emergency, if a personal car is not available, taxi fare to the office would be allowed with the return trip by county vehicle," Miller said. The county manager, however, suggested that all such emergency claims would have to be justified and approved by himself and an assistant county manager. Miller recommended that, if the board determines certain county vehicles should remain in a car pool, individuals with those cars should have three months to find another means of transportation. He told the board that reducing overnight vehicles would not affect the operations of various departments. Miller also recommended allowing a number of county department heads to keep overnight vehicles if they were authorized personal cars as a part of their employment contracts.

These employees would include Parks and Recreation Director Robert Milne; Planning Director Don McDaniel; Flood Control Director Herb Donald; Health Services Director Joseph Prekup; Building Safety Director Ray Johnson; County Engineer Bob Ester-brooks; Central Services Department Director Joe McNulty; Medical Examiner Heinz Karnitschnig; Civil Defense Continued on Page' B-t Suit seeking to void ban on off -track bets The owner of a former parimutuel service in Phoenix filed suit Thursday in federal court seeking to strike down the state's new baa on eff-track betting. The complaint was lodged by Joseph Flynn, operator of Personal Messenger Service, 1318 N. Central, against Arizona Attorney General Jack LaSota, The state law banning off-track betting services went into effect June 1, forcing four Phoenix firms to close. Flynn's firm was one of the four. The firms accepted racing bets and sent messengers to race tracks to place the bets.

Bettors paid a fee of 10 percent of their bets for the service. The four firms were in business for about a month when the Legislature pushed through a statute making the operation of such businesses a felony. Flynn contends in his suit that the statute is unconditional because it deprives him of his right to equal protection and due process of law. The suit says the statute deprives Flynn of his right to engage in business free from unreasonable interference by the' state. Richard J.

Hertzberg, Flynn's attorney, said bans on off-track betting services have been declared illegal in Illinois and, Louisiana. Mark Aspey, an assistant state attor-. ney general, has contended that off-' track betting in other states has led to fflega! bookrnaking operations and other criminal By JERRY Maricopa County Manager Charles Milled has told supervisors they could elioffljate nearly 22 percent of the overnight vehicles authorized for a number of county workers, it wat learned Thursday. According to a confidential report fronvMler. to the supervisors, a copy of jphich obtained by The Arizona Republic 44 of the 203 authorized overnight-vehicles should be returned to tho coucty's regular car pool.

man fi opinion Long announcement it short on humility By BERNlB WYNJI Republic PoUtieal Editor It's tough being a public official and having to restrain a large ego and always appear humble while exuding confidence, goodwill and a forceful personality. The task was evidently too much last week for Carolyn Warner, state superintendent of public instruction, llwhen she an- 'nounced she'd seek a second term. For on thing, Mrs. Warner is a member of President Carter's Committee on a r- wot Reduction. However, her announcement package ran to nine pages, not including a seven-page speech.

Newsmen covering her spectacular aire still chuckling over some of the Blly-gilding tidbits in her biography. -ISespite today's women libbers, Mrs. Warner not only lists the name of her htjsbsnd and his occupation but goes on to cite his many civic, social and political-achievements. Then we get to children. She and Ronald have six, four girls and two ages 28 to 17.

Now that's good, solid information for a newsman. But that isn't all. Mrs. Warner listed all the colleges each graduated from, or where they are presently, plus four of them were student body presidents, which ones were homecoming queens, which ones were "captains of the cheer line" and two (boys, I think) who were varsity lettermen. She notes that in 1974 she was, "elected state superintendent of public instruction with 59.8 percent: of the vote-s-the largest winning percentage in any contested statewide election in 1974.f Mrj.

Warner's list of major accomplishments runs pages alone 1ft pages for. each year in office. she tops off the entire confection with a two-page list of her "major educational presentations" when, where, what and how. fm told she still has them on tape. Sol If you didn't hear them the first tirneyou can get an instant replay.

Perhaps she ought to dig up that taps of her. May 24, 1977, presentation i U.S. House subcommittee on education. lis entitled "Explanation of the Wittier-directed Arizona plan which reduced federal paperwork by men than 50 percent." Maybe it can bEapplied to state political campaigns. jjfa somewhat less auspicious level, Tom" Freestone, the new Maricopa Cwuity Board of Supervisors member, isjjeginning to discover political reality after experiencing a public honeymoon as recorder the last two years.

fit made the mistake of forming an instant ajliance with the more controversial members of the board and gave the impression that they were going to diSm'antle the county manager form of government But County Manager Charles Miller, a wily 18-year veteran of many political wars, -called in his considerable' IOU'a and headed the vigilantes off at the So Freestone today is a sadder but wiser man, as the saying goes. He almost, resigned but finally decided to stay en and fight another day. am convinced what Freestone wajts to do is laudable pare down Continued op Page 84 PEANUTS WENeY 'CRYBABY "NOW CQN6KATUIAT A trio of dogs waits anxiously for their master outside Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale. The dogs were tied to a no parking sign in the shade and supplied with a bowl of water for the duration of shopping trip. The sign, hopefully, does not apply to canine offenders.

Aircraft narrowly misses residence Plane crash kills 2 Prescott businessmen dogs Spilled gasoline started several small grass fires. The police chief said the men obtained clearance to take off at 12:14 a.m. and estimated the crash occurred a few minutes later. Gherardi, who was not married, had lived in Prescott about four years. UA Scientist cultivates space4arm idea By KEN WAYMAN PRESCOTT Two Prescott businessmen were killed early Thursday when their airplane crashed and burned minutes after taking off from the Prescott Municipal Airport.

Prescott Police Chief Charles Middle-ton said the 1978 Grumman single-engine plane narrowly missed one home in the Suburban Acres subdivision in north Prescott as it went down and burst into flames about four miles from the airport. Middleton said the plane crashed in a vacant lot Killed were John Gherardi, 27, who with his parents operated Gherardi's Italian Restaurant, and Hiram G. Barnes, 36, operator of Squire Dinks, a Prescott supper club. Both bodies were burned beyond recognition and dental charts were used to make positive identifications, according to Dr. Philip Keen, Yavapai county medical examiner.

Gherardi was believed to have been the pilot of the plane which was purchased new last month and had less than 50 hours flying time, according to Larry Adams, owner of Prescott Flying Service. Adams said his firm leased the plane and rented it to Gherardi. He said Gherardi was an experienced pilot and had flown the plane several times previously. It was reported the two men were on their way to Phoenix to pick up a dog, but Middleton said he could not confirm that report. A team of Federal Aviation Authority investigators from Los Angeles are attempting to determine the cause of the crash.

Middleton said part of the wing of the plane was sheared off when it struck a utility pole before it crashed. The plane skidded about 100 yards. By SAM NEGRI Southern Arizona Bureaa TUCSON A University of Arizona scientist has been given a federal grant to explore methods of growing food for the future inhabitants of a colony in outer space. John Phillips of the university's Environmental Research Laboratory has been given $45,168 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Phillips said he plans to spend six months developing an outline for NASA "on what a closed life-support system should consist of and what data will be required on the various organisms." Eventually, Phillips will try to determine how to grow enough food to support a space colony of 10,000 residents.

"We are looking for maximum productivity in a minimum area," he said. "We will develop a perfectly optimal environment for each crop and each animal. We will control temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, light duration and intensity we would do everything possible to maximize productivity." Phillips' grant represents the first attempt by NASA to deal wilt the problem of developing farms in space. Phillips said the cost of space transportation would make it impractical to ship fresh food between earth and the space colonies. "If we're going to have habitats for large numbers of people," Phillips said, "we can do things to make those habitats similar to Earth." It would not be difficult he maintained, to simulate an atmosphere in a space colony similar to one at an altitude of 5,000 feet on Earth.

The main problem, as he sees it, is creating the conditions to bring about a high yield on a small parcel of land. K. (CONGRATULATIONS,) IDONtKNOUfUJrlV I PLAVTHIS GAME. HAV TO HER- Scientist John Phillips of Tucson is researching the most-effectives ways of growing food to support a space colony. And if this can be done in a space habitat, he said, the same methods could be applied to farming on Earth.

"One of the reasons NASA is interested in this project," Phillips' said, "is that if these controls can bt.fcvelcjed for a space habitat, they can aWba applicable to terrestrial systernaand can be helpful in solving the world tot 'it I i i.