Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 1

mm mm LIFE BUSINESS sports Complete prep coverage Baseball Graf to face owners reject Sanchez Vicario players' plan in Open final v. It 4.. Controlling insect pests with lizards Inflation scare renewed by rising wholesale prices Mostly sunny High 106 Low 80 Details, BB V. Final Edition TEE AMMM ffiEPUELIG 500 Copyright 1994, The Arizona Republic Saturday, September 10, 1994 Phoenix, Arizona 105th year, No. 113 ids commit sekide 2g A 1 '1 TV switch: Channel 5 to carry CBS today (j ate 1 I :1 'Xjyft 14-year-olds apparently shot themselves in head By Dave Walker Republic TV Writer The local TV dial begins to twist today, when the CBS television network moves from Channel 10 to Channel 5, and it won't stop until January.

By then, three of the four major networks will have changed local affiliutes the most extensive such shake-up in modern television The first CBS show to make the move from KSAZ-TV (Channel 10) to KPHO-TV (Channel 5): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, at See CHANNEL 5, page A20 By Richard F. Casey and Judl Villa The Arizona Republic Two Apache Junction High School freshman girls shot themselves in the head Friday in an apparent double suicide across the street from the school. The two 14-year-olds were found by another.classmate near the end of the lunch hour. police that the incident is believed to be a double suicide, rather than a' murder suicide, Apache Junction Lt. Steve Francis said.

A single handgun was found near the bodies, and police believe that the girls each took a turn shooting herself in the head. No suicide notes were found. See 2 TEEN-AGERS, page A2 Heidi Ehmke was pronounced dead at the scene, and Crystal Williams was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. The shootings took place at a Salt River Project substation north of the high school's athletic field at Southern Avenue and Iron-wood Drive.

A Pinal County Attorney's Office investigator who was at the scene told KPNX-TV Crystal Williams The 14-year-old was was flown to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead: KPNX-TV Heidi Ehmke The Apache Junction High School freshman was pronounced dead at the scene. 6 9 I coMdtf sltaid to took Mark DuncanThe Associated Press An exhausted rescue official at a command post in Aliquippa, takes a nap on the hood of his truck. Gruesome scene jolted rescuers Simpson won't face execution 1 Prosecutors to push for life By Linda Deutsch The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Ending weeks of suspense, prosecutors on Friday said that they will not seek the death penalty against- O.J. Simpson and, instead, want to put him behind bars for life without the chance of parole in the slaying of his former wife and her friend. In a letter to Simpson's lawyers, Assistant District Attorney Frank Sundstedt said the decision was made after "consideration of all available aggravating and mitigating evidence." It said prosecutors will not make any further statement about the decision until after the trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept.

26. Simpson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the June 12 slashing deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Multiple murder is a special circumstance under California law that allowed prosecutors the chance to seek the death penalty. Simpson's lead attorney, Robert Shapiro, said his office did not appear before the special-circumstances committee that helped make the decision. "Our position was thut since Mr.

Simpson has unequivocally proclaimed his innocence, this was not an issue on which we could do any more than provide background information regarding the outstanding career and charitable works of O.J. Simpson," Shapiro said. The District Attorney's Office said public sentiment did not play a role in the decision. "While the office is aware that there is deep public concern about whether the death penalty will be sought in a case, the decision must be made independent of this concern," the letter said. It said the final decision was left to Sundstedt after he met with members of the committee.

"District Attorney Gil Garcetti reviewed and affirmed Mr. Sund-stedt's decision in this case," the letter said. Vi A concern raised earlier in death-penalty discussions was a possible perception of inequity between the Simpson case and another high-profile prosecution, that of Lyle and Erik Menendez. The brothers are charged See SIMPSON, page A 19 INSIDE VALLEY AID: A $100,000 mobile mortuary is sent to the USAir crash site from Phoenix, A6 vz i -fp U-n i -'f; By Bucky Gleason The Associated Press ALIQUIPPA, Pa. Rob Cellini finally made it up the hill to the wreckage of USAir Flight 427.

"Does anybody need help?" he called out. "Is anybody alive? Does anybody hear us?" All he heard were the echoes of his voice and a co-worker's, and the popping of the flames. Cellini and Lew Napolitan were the first of many people neighbors, rescuers, counselors to come face to face Thursday night with a scene ghastly even by the standards See RESCUERS, page A6 Officials defend USAir's safety By John H. Cushman Jr. The New York Times PITTSBURGH Government officials strongly defended USAir's safety record Friday even as investigators began what promises to be a difficult inquiry into the latest of the airline's five fatal crashes in as many years.

Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency charged with investigating accidents, cautioned against reaching any premature conclusions about the crash of USAir Flight 427, which, en route from Chicago, suddenly plunged to the ground in the nearby town of Aliquippa on Thursday night, See USAIR'S, pageA6 Tod GombarThe Associated Press The charred remnants of a USAir Boeing 737 are shown in this investigators months to determine the accident's cause, if indeed aerial view of the crash site near Pittsburgh. It will take federal enough evidence has survived to tell them for sure. Inside 20,000 Cubans a year will enter U.S. under accord INDEX: D6 AH1 D6 El A2 CL1 Astrology Az Home Bridge Business Chuckle Classified Editorial Life Montini Obituaries Prayer Puzzles Religion Sports Television Weather Wheels B6 Dl Bl CL37 A2 D6 B4 CI D4 D8 CL1 Cubans actually have been allowed to immigrate each year. "The aim is to identify Cubans who have strong reasons for seeking exit from Cuba and have U.S.

sponsors," Reno said. Castro's government agreed to try to prevent unsafe departures from its shores, "using mainly persuasive methods," and to allow some of the See U.S., CUBA, page A 19 ahead of applicants now in Cuba. Attorney General Janet Reno said the United States will admit a minimum of 20,000 Cubans a year under existing immigration authority, not including immediate relatives of Cubans who have become U.S. citizens. An additional 4,000 to 6,000 Cubans currently on the waiting list for visas also will be allowed Currently, the 20,000 figure is an upper limit instead of a minimum, and only a few thousand By Terence Hunt The Associated Press WASHINGTON The United States and fCuba reached an agreement Friday that will allow thousands more Cubans to enterAmerica legally, a move the White House hopes will replace the chaotic refugee exodus with "a safer, legal and more orderly process." The agreement, initialed by negotiators on behalf of President Clinton and Fidel Castro, acknowledged the interests of both countries in ending thp risky flight by raft across the Straits of Florida.

But the nearly 30,000 Cuban refugees who already have fled the island, most of whom are housed at the U.S. naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Qiba, or camps in Panama, appear to be the big losers under the new agreement. U.S. officials said the Cubans in Guantanamo and -Panama will not be permitted to move Comics D7.CL33 Dear Abby D6 Dr. Gott D6.