Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 95

ALL EDITIONS Northwest 1W The Arizona Republic WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1989 Glendale Northwest Phoenix Peoria El Mirage Sun City Sun City West Surprise Wittmann Youngtown Sun City Stadium's new owners dust off home plate Partners, wives hose the seats, cut down weeds By Holly D. Remy The Arizona Republic The bleachers have been scrubbed, the ice machines are ready lo clink out cubes and new grass has sprouted in the outfield. Sun City Stadium is about to reopen. The stadium, which was shut and listed for sale in 1985, is being restored by three Glendale men, all of them in their late 30s and all of them fathers of young ballplayers. "We have no intention of going out there and making a lot of money," said Bob Atkinson, one of the partners.

"We just want to pay the bills." Atkinson has two partners, Marvin Harper, who works with him at Glendale's Neighborhood Revitaliza-tion Division, and William Bolick, owner of Western Excavation Inc. They took occupancy of the stadium June 1 in a lease-purchase agreement with the owner, Construction and Development Inc: of Glendale. bought the property from Del Webb Corp. in 1983. The agreement calls for the men to close the purchase within 12 months at a locked-in price of $2 million, Atkinson said.

Youth and men's league games at the stadium, 111th and Grand avenues; will be open to the public, he said. Tickets will cost $1 or less, and refreshment prices will be lean. "We found an old price board that said hot dogs were a dollar," Atkinson said. "We don't see why we can't charge 75 cents and still make money." Opening night is scheduled for July 1. "All three of us, plus our wives, work eight to 10 hours a day, then go out to the stadium and work until midnight or 1 o'clock," Atkinson said.

"The stadium had been abandoned, so it had collected a lot of dust. We had to literally hose the place down. "The weeds had grown about belt high. We had to rake the field. We bought a tremendous amount of agree.

Arrangements already have been made for Men's Senior Baseball League games to be played in Sun City this summer. The league, which has 800 teams nationwide, will hold its world series at the stadium in October, Atkinson said. The partners also are seeking youth teams to play in Sun City and are hoping to interest a girls' Softball league for next winter, he said. Nobody has played ball at the stadium since 1985, the year the See SUN CITY, page 10 hybrid grass seed and fertilizer." So far, the partners are hopeful that amateur baseball will play to a Sun City crowd. "We've had a lot of Sun City people hanging on the fence, watching us clean up," Bolick said.

The men became interested in the stadium to solve a problem. "Our boys are all on the same baseball team, and we were looking for a place to play," Bolick said. "Good fields are getting hard to find." Apparently, other baseball players i xJzjsiz Sr I A' A Am 3 Ml I'. The work of Dr. Sam Pallin (seated) is shown on a television screen as Candy Ranshaw RN (left) and scrub nurse Kitye Strohmeyer assist Pallin while he operates on the eye of patient Howard Paunt.

Removal of cataract gives Phoenix resident a new outlook on life 3 v- Evidence reported missing Lawman doubts items were taken By Mark Coast The Arizona Republic Youngtown police are investigating a claim that jewelry seized by officers in connection with a fraud investigation two years ago is missing. According to Youngtown Police Chief Michael Branham, Mary Ann Lance, 51, said jewelry was missing when she went to reclaim property seized from her home in 1987. The evidence box with Lance's goods, which was unsealed June 9, also contained someone else's property, she told police. Branham said he considers the matter serious and has called for an investigation. But he said he does not believe property was taken from the department's evidence room.

A list made in 1987 of the evidence box's contents accurately describes the items in the box, but Lance disagrees with the list, Branham said. Lance, whose current address was not available, could not be reached for comment. Branham said the property was seized from Lance, then living in Peoria, two days after she filed a claim with Youngtown police for a stolen purse. A subsequent investigation found that she had filed a number of theft reports with other police departments, Branham said. Youngtown police alleged Lance filed a false report to make an insurance claim.

A single charge of fraud was filed against Lance by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, he said. But when the Attorney's Office earlier this year asked to examine the seized property, the evidence box could not be found and the case was dismissed, Branham said. The box later was found, and the chief said it never was moved from the evidence room. An employee simply had looked for it in the wrong place, he said. He said the list that itemizes property in the evidence box was not signed by Lance.

Under current procedures, the list of confiscated property is signed by the owner when the property is seized, he said. Branham, who joined the department in October, said he did not know what the procedures were before he became chief. He said he cannot estimate the value of the jewelry Lance says is missing because there is no record of it being confiscated. Branham said police will interview officers involved in the case. Because all have since left the department, the investigation could take several months, he said.

To call an election, petitions bearing the names of at least 666 -registered Peoria voters must be submitted to the city within 120 days of the date that the petitions were registered. Once submitted, the signatures must be verified by the Maricopa" County Recorder's Office. If there are enough valid signatures, the city clerk will notify the mayor and Sceton, according to City Attorney Ronald Keyser. Sceton then would have five days to resign. If she didn't, her name would automatically be placed on a recall ballot and she would have 10 days to file a defense of her conduct.

If the petition drive were success- ful, an election could be held in late April or mid-May of 1990, Keyser said. Girls9 haven at risk Board to decide fate next month By Robert Barrett The Arizona Republic The fate of Promise House and the five teen-age girls living in that group home for abandoned, abused or neglected teen-age girls will be determined next month in a hearing before Glendale's Board of Adjustment. The seven-member board will decide whether the city acted properly when it ruled that Promise House was a group home, not a foster home, and cither had to change its method of operation or acquire a special-use permit or zoning variance. The board will meet at 7:30 p.m. July 20 in the council chambers, 5850 W.

Glendale Ave. "The distinction made (between foster and group homes) is sort of artificial," said Steven Kcist, a Glendale attorney. "Nobody else has made that distinction before." Keist is representing Nick Mav-rolas, president of Promise House which operates the home at 6905 W. Sunnyside. The city code states that an adulf licensed by the state Department of Economic Security may operate a foster home for up to five children without a special-use permit or zoning variance.

However, a group home, where there afe six or more children, requires a permit or variance, the code sjatcs. Although Promise House has only five teen-age girls, it was classified as a group home in an administrative ruling issued May 5 by Bob Coons, Glendale's planning director. Coons made the ruling after about 100 of Mavrolas' neighbors signed a petition claiming the neighborhood would become too commercial if Mavrolas was allowed to establish a second Promise House in the area. Mavrolas said he has abandoned plans to open another Promise House. Coons' ruling said that because Mavrolas' permanent residence is at 6337 W.

Garden Drive, where he is a foster parent to four boys, no permit or variance was required. However, Coons stated that Promise House violates the city code because no adult licensed as a foster parent is. making the home a permanent residence. The five girls at Promise House are supervised by adults working in shifts, not by a licensee living at the address, Coons said. Therefore, Promise House does not qualify as a "home" or "family unit," he said.

The only way for Promise House to continue to operate is to acquire a special-use permit or zoning variance or have the licensee live at the location, Coons said. Mavrolas, who is the licensee, appealed Coons' ruling to the Board of Adjustment. "The board has a number of options," Coons said. "They could concur entirely, disagree entirely or something in between." If the board disagrees with Coons and rules that Promise House is a foster home, "they would be able to continue," Coons said. If the board agrees with Coons, Mavrolas must apply for a special-use permit or zoning variance, make Promise House his permanent residence, which would mean he would have to stop being a foster parent to the four boys now living in his home, or close Promise House.

If he rejects those options, Mavrolas could sue Glendale and settle the argument in Maricopa County Superior Court, Keist said. "That would be his decision," he said. Mavrolas said he will wait until the Board of Adjustment issues a ruling before deciding on his next action. A'iV" jL Michael GingThe Arizona Republic operation, except for a short period when he received a series of shots to numb the eye, Fraga said he experienced no pain and "could only feel scratching" sensations. Fifteen percent of Americans over age 51 develop cataracts, according to 1979 poll results listed in Black's Medical Dictionary.

Although cataracts generally target the elderly, the condition can strike people of any age, Pallin said. "Cataracts is an illness that affects mapy older people, and See SURGERY, page 10 Bradshaw also was targeted along with former council members Louis De Vuono and David Murillo. The four were subjects of a recall after they refused to change the contract of former City Manager James Walker, and Walker subsequently resigned. Later, recall petitions were submitted against Walker's supporters: then-Mayor Edmund Tang; Richard Palmer, who still is on the council; and James Brown, who recently stepped down from the council after losing a bid for mayor. After completed petitions had been filed by both sides, but before elections could be held, both sides convinced enough signers to withdraw their names from the petitions to make them invalid, and recall elections against all seven officials were called off.

ft. In the endocapsular phacoemulsification procedure, a vibrating needle is inserted into the lens covering, and the cataract is broken up and removed. By Chris Fiscus The Arizona Republic When Joe Fraga was a child, doctors told him he would be blind in his right eye by age 16. But the 20-year-old's in his right eye now is restored, and Fraga says his life has drastically changed. "I was just sitting around waiting to go blind," he said.

"I thought I'd eventually not be able to see at all." A cataract, which had developed in the eye and caused his sight steadily to decline during the past five years, was removed May 1 at the Lear Eye Clinic's Sun City office. "In that eye, 'it was like looking through a cjoud bank," Fraga said. A textbook, Professional Guide lo Diseases, defines cataracts as "a gradually 'developing opacity of the eye lens or lens covering that is most prevalent in persons over age 70." In simple terms, a cataract is a milky discoloration that forms in the lens of the eye, causing blurring and loss of vision. For Fraga, the condition kept him from doing many everyday things. "I couldn't get my (driver's) license or play sports, and I was night-blind," he said.

"It got worse and worse, until I couldn't see two cataract is broken up and removed. Traditional methods removed the entire lens and lens covering, he said. With the new procedure, much of the support structure of the eye can be retained, improving the long-term health of the eye, Pallin said. "In the 1970s, if you had cataract treatment, you had to wear contact lenses or 'Coke bottle' glasses," he said. "Now, Joe will see better without glasses than he did with glasses." Although he was awake for the feet in front of me." After a 12-minute operation at the Lear clinic, Fraga, a north Phoenix resident, said his entire life took on a new look.

"It's been a long time since I've been able to see anything without being right on top of it," he said. The recipient of a relatively new procedure developed by Japanese researchers, Fraga's pre-surgcry eyesight of 20200 in his right eye improved to 2050 two weeks after the operation. His sight should continue to improve with time, and sight in the eye eventually should be near 2020, said Dr. Sam Pallin, medical director of the Lear Eye Clinic. Pallin used the endocapsular phacoemulsification procedure on Fraga, which requires a small incision in the eye to remove cataracts.

The procedure uses an initial incision of 2.8 millimeters in the lens covering. It is stretched to 5 mm when a lens is implanted. Traditional methods use a 9-millimeter incision, Pallin said. In the endocapsular procedure, an ultrasonic vibrating needle is inserted into the lens covering, and the questions about the recall but did say she was concerned that those circulating petitions might misrepresent themselves by failing to explain what the petitions are for. Cohen said he has plenty of support and docs not believe it will be difficult to gather the 666 signatures needed to force a recall election.

In a prepared statement, he accused Sceton of showing a "lack of concern for the management and spending of taxpayer funds," and said she has "failed to be accountable to the public for hundreds of thousands of dollars expended for proposed economic-development programs." He also cited Sceton 's support for the hiring of outside consultants; support for an upcoming council retreat in Wickenburg, which he contends is expensive and difficult for Peoria official facing 2nd recall try; 'leads the foe says By Mark Coast The Arizona Republic Peoria Councilwoman Arlenc See-ton is facing the second recall campaign against her in the six years that she has been on the council. "In my opinion, she doesn't vote for the best interests of the city, Michael Cohen, leader of the recall drive, said Thursday. Cohen, a Peoria resident who operates an El Mirage upholstery shop, registered recall petitions on June 12, according to Peoria City Clerk Richard Gomez. Sceton said she doesn't feel she has done anything to warrant a recall. VI don't know why anybody would want to recall me," she said June 13.

"I stand behind my decisions on the council." She declined to answer further the public to participate in; and the city's group health-insurance plan as additional reasons. Cohen said that although Seeton is just one of several council members who supported the actions he opposed, he feels she was the leader. "I understand that she cannot do anything specifically by herself," he said. "I feel she leads the others." Cohen said that if the petition drive to recall Seeton succeeds and a recall election is held, he wants former Councilman Wayne Bradshaw to run against Seeton. Bradshaw, however, ruled out any possibility that he would run if a recall election were held.

"I've given it some thought, but the decision is no," he said Thursday. "That's final." In the first recall against Seeton,.