Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 25

STATE EDITION The Arizona Republic SECTION SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24, 1990 State 'Entitled to opinions, 9 dealer says Missing children tip No. 1: Parent must take care of self first Official held in contempt in property tax refunds Won't repay $12 million By Brent Whiting The Arizona Republic State Finance Director Richard BcisscI was held in contempt Friday for refusing to refund an estimated $12 million in property taxes to 70,000 Arizonans who live outside organized school districts. William Moroney, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge who heads the Arizona Tax Court, delayed until Monday a decision on whether Beissel should be jailed, but said Beissel can erase the contempt finding by signing refund warrants. Moroney issued the ruling during a two-hour hearing in which Beissel took the stand and testified that he lacks authority to sign the warrants because the Legislature has not appropriated the money to repay the property owners. Beissel said he was acting on the advice of Charles Pierson, an assistant state attorney general.

Moroney, however, said he believes that Beissel has not gotten good advice from Pierson and suggested Beissel get a different lawyer. The judge ordered Beissel to pay $1,500 in court costs to a taxpayers group that filed suit in 1988 seeking the refunds. Neither Beissel nor Pierson would comment on Moroncy's order. "Don't you understand English?" Pierson asked reporters who tried to talk to him about the case. "I said, 'No Pierson earlier told Moroney that he will appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, but said that he would advise Beissel to sign the warrants if the state's highest couri threw out the appeal.

Arthur W. Pedcrson, an attorney for the Sun City Taxpayers Association, argued that the refund must stand because Pierson's office elected not to appeal an Aug. 16 judgment by Moroney requiring it. The judgment is accumulating interest at the rate of about $3,000 a day, meaning that the state so far has squandered $340,000 by refusing to pay it, Pederson told Moroney in requesting that Beissel be held iri contempt and thrown in jail. "It's time to pay the piper," Pederson said.

"Enough is enough." At issue before Moroney is the so-called Sun City school-tax case, so dubbed because the tax was levied on on See STATE, page B2 Linda KocevarThe Arizona Republic Animal-rights activist Jimmy Flowers (right) holds a banner that protests the killing of animals for human clothing. Related story, B6. Anti-fur group urges fanciers to 'slam your finger in a door' By Don Harris The Arizona Republic Pat Scheib probably won't recognize her son when she sees him again. "When" is the key word as far as Scheib is concerned. Not "if." Scheib's son, Jimmy, was snatched by her former husband four years ago, when the boy was 16 months old.

"They disappeared without a trace no leads or clues," Pat Scheib said. "The case is still open at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Arlington, Virginia." Scheib, who has a degree in sociology, knows that coping with the emptiness involving a missing child is especially difficult during a holiday. Another Phoenix woman, Cindy Bailey, whose 4-year-old son was missing for seven months, including last Christmas, videotaped a tree trimming and a visit by Santa Claus to a neighbor's house. The videotaping seemed awkward at times, she said, but it "helped so much." "It was a very difficult thing to do, put it bothered me that he (her son, Zachary) wasn't there," said Bailey, a nurse. "I thought he might be upset if we didn't think about him at Christmas.

"We almost pretended that the camera was Zach. We said things like, 'Hi, Zach. We miss you. We wish you were St. Louis police found the boy with his father, Brian Bailey, in March and returned him to his mother, she said.

"When he came home, we showed the tape," Cindy Bailey said. "He cried and said, 'Santa didn't come to my Scheib has some advice for the parents of missing children, children who in the majority of cases were taken by the other parent in a custody dispute. At a meeting Sunday of Arizona's Missing Children Support Group, Scheib urged others to take care of themselves, first and foremost. 1 "So many are so focused on getting the child back that it's the only thing in their life," said Scheib, who founded the support group with Bailey and Len Combs, a stockbroker. Scheib, who is active in student affairs at Arizona State University West's campus, advised parents, "Make, extra time.

Do something enjoyable. Get plenty of exercise and rest. If they don't get rid of the stress, they'll get sick. "Most parents (of missing children) have a problem with insomnia and not being "able to eat. My son has been missing for four years, and it was three years before I got over the sleep problem." 1 Scheib recommends taking some sort of action, such as distributing posters with the missing child's photograph.

That helps a parent cope, knowing that something is being done. "And don't be afraid to use family or friends for support," she said. Scheib, who said there has been no sighting of her son or former husband in four years, added, "I'm not giving lip. Maybe when I'm in my grave. My son will probably be 30 when I see him." By William H.

Carlile The Arizona Republic "Get a feel for fur slam your finger in a door," read the placard held by Karl Klouscr on Friday outside Biltmore Fashion Park. Klouscr, standing on a traffic island, was dressed for the occasion in an animal costume, his leg snared in a simulated, oversize leg-hold trap like those used by real-life trappers. He was one of about 20 aninial-rjghts activists at a rally on the sidewalk on the' northeastern corner of 24th Street and Camelback Road as part of "Fur-Free Friday." The nationwide event was to dramatize opposition to the killing of animals for human clothing. Animal-rights activists planned the rally for what is traditionally the year's biggest shopping day, in order to raise awareness among potential fur buyers. But a major fur merchant in Biltmore Fashion Park was unfazed by the sidewalk demonstration.

"Everyone's entitled to express, their own opinions," said Arleert Handel, one of the owners of Evans Furs. Pat Russell, a spokesman for Concerned Arizonans for Animal Rights and Ethics, said the demonstration was aimed at showing the cruelty of using fur as a product. He said leg-hold traps catch assorted animals, such as bobcats, coyotes, foxes and predator birds, upsetting an area's ecological balance. An estimated 400 trappers in Arizona alone last year were responsible for trapping and skinning 13,000 animals, he said. Nationally, an estimated 5 million to 10 million wild animals are trapped by such devices, he said.

Fur farms account for another 5 million to 10 million animal deaths, he added. A petition drive already is under way to ask voters in 1992 to ban the use of steel-jaw traps on public lands. An attempt to put the initiative on the state's 1990 ballot failed when only 83,000 of the required 107,000 signatures were collected in a three-month drive earlier this year. Upscale neighborhood unites to fight series of burglaries if' Patrick Michael Mitchell Joins the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list. Area of burglaries I i Shea Blvd.

Mile TtT Double to rr ro I Indian Bend Rd, 1 PHOENIX DC Aral lurr" deUllLJ Q. By John Winters and Jim Walsh The Arizona Republic Scottsdale police are investigating a wave of burglaries in a fashionable 6-square-mile area, and some residents are fighting back by taking additional security precautions. About 40 burglaries have been reported since Sept. 1 in the area bounded by Shea Boulevard and Pima, Indian Bend and Scottsdale roads, said Mark Barnctt, a Scottsdale police spokesman. Residents of at least one subdivision in the area, Sands McCormick cious people or circumstances to police, he said.

"Certainly, everyone wants to help if they can, short of hiring an extra patrol or patrolling the neighborhood ourselves," Strauss said. Barnett said the same person or people are responsible for the burglaries because all follow a pattern. Typically, a window or door is forced while the homeowners are away, and jewelry and cash are taken, he said. "It's a crime of opportunity," he said. "If no one answers, it's a fair bet See BURGLARIES, page B2 near 87th Street and Via Linda, are taking the threat seriously, said Harold Strauss, vice president of the Sands McCormick Homeowners Association.

"There's no use tempting fate," said Strauss, whose organization recently sponsored a presentation by Scottsdale crime-prevention officers and is now organizing a Block Watch program. Strauss said two homeowners have been victims in the burglary spree, a rarity in the normally safe area. Residents will watch their neighbors' town houses and report suspi Arizona escapee in FBI top 10 I The Arizona Republic Family is giving thanks for learning of house fire By Susan Leonard The Arizona Republic An armed robber who escaped from the Arizona State Prison at Florence four years ago was added Friday to the FBI's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives. The addition of Patrick Michael Mitchell marks the first time since 1986 that any suspect from Arizona has made the infamous list. Mitchell, 48, also is a suspect in numerous robberies in the United States and Canada before and since his escape, FBI Special Agent Steve Chenoweth said Friday.

He said FBI officials believe Mitchell is armed and unpredictable, and probably was added to the roster because he is dangerous and has been on the run for so long. "He has a propensity for violence," Chenoweth said. "He's well-disciplined and his robberies are well-planned, but if something gets in his way, there is no doubt in my mind he's going to use his weapon. "He's pretty slick, he's a smooth talker and a master of disguises. He'll grow a beard, change his weight and hairstyle, and may have had a face lift." At the time of his escape, Mitchell was serving an 18-year sentence for a 1981 armed robbery of a Diamond's department store at Mctrocentcr.

He is Anglo, 5 feet 9, 165 pounds and has blue eyes, light-brown hair and tattoos. One tattoo on his left arm says "Helen-Pat." X. A 1 fl By Victoria Harker The Arizona Republic While smoke and flames spewed from the chimney atop Kenneth Thozeski's Glendale home Thanksgiving night, he and a group of relatives and friends were inside chatting over pumpkin pie and coffee. But a knock on the door probably saved their lives, fire officials said. Luckily, someone, possibly a passing jogger or a neighbor, noticed the flames about 10:15 p.m.

and ran to the door to warn those inside, Thozeski said, Thozeski, a former volunteer fireman, quickly escorted his wife, Gina, relatives and a friend outside. He also alerted the neighbors and I someone called "911." About 15 minutes later, the roof caved in. 1 "If they would have been sleeping, it 'could have been tragic," Glendale Fire Capt. Kevin Pool said about the fire that ignited in the 6900 block of West Oraibi Drive in the Arrowhead Ranch development. "There was no smoke (inside the house) and it probably would not have set off the smoke alarm until the roof caved in." Fire officials still are investigating the cause of the fire.

But a fire was in the fireplace so officials suspect something malfunctioned in the chimney. The damage to the home and its contents is estimated at $270,000, Pool said. Thozeski, his wife, mother, teen-age son, three relatives and a friend escaped with only the clothes they were wearing. Thozeski didn't even grab his wallet. "I had to go to Wal-Mart this morning to get shoes for (two people) because they were barefoot," said Thozeski, who is the funeral director of the Menke Funeral Home in Sun City.

Everyone is upset about the loss of the home and its contents, but no one was hurt. "The most important thing is that neither my family nor the firefighters were injured," Thozeski said, adding that he is grateful for the offers of assistance from neighbors. Now Thozeski and his family are looking for somewhere else to stay while their house is rebuilt. "We'll just have to start from Day 1 and build from the ground up," he said. Charles KrecsiThe Arizona Republic Kenneth Thozeski stands in front of his burned home on Friday.

The damage to the home and its contents is estimated at $270,000. Fire officials suspect something malfunctioned in the chimney..