Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 7

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC 77 RPA KEVEN WILLEY Term limits for politicians are a bad idea. B2. ALL-GIRL CLASSES Females show more enthusiasm for math and science when there are no boys in class. Bl 1. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13, 1994 Editor, Umrie Roberts 271-8222 1 bl3L3lJDiljl3L3blabbLlL3CJL3aL3 Oiled in the act of saving a life 1 1 Paramedic hit by pickup ii utiui i I L.

J. munimi Ell II A Km Republic Columnist Cop excuses don't justify 'Rambo' acts Another paramedic was knocked down by the speeding truck. Danny Donahue was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center with heavy bruising and back pains but later was released. Hale and Donahue were answering a call about a woman suffering from acute stomach pains. Neighbors said paramedics had been called to the woman's apartment several times in recent weeks.

"The truck was bailing this way 'bout 60 miles per hour," said Willie Schrock, 45, a neighbor of the ill woman. "The paramedic didn't see anything, else he'd gotten outta the See PARAMEDIC, page B4 By William Hermann and Kris Axtman The Arizona Republic Paramedic Tim Hale was doing his job, trying to save a life, when his own was taken by an apparently drunken driver. Hale, 29, was unloading a gurney from the back of an ambulance at 602 S. 17th Ave. late Friday when a pickup truck slammed into him at nearly 60 mph, witnesses said.

The force of the impact killed Hale and pushed the ambulance into a parked firetruck. Hale, an eight-year veteran of the Phoenix Fire Department, left behind his wife, Karen, and sons Jacob, 4, and Joshua, 2. VIA" Investigators observe the wreckage of a crash that killed paramedic Tim Hale (above), who left behind his wife, Karen, and sons Jacob, 4, and Joshua, 2. Dana Leonard The Phoenix Gazette Going for broke i i s' 1 Thanks a million (plus) for donations SEASON -VVTVJi FOR SHARING RECIPIENTS Children: Aid to Adoption of Special Kids $25,000 SF4AON FOR. SHARING Arizona AIDS Project Inc.

$15,000 JtUKJ. ru rLvrvi.vj BackTo-School Clothing Drive Association Tup 7o F'T T3 iV Black Family 4 Child Services Inc $13,800 KU a Boys Girts Clubs of the East Valley $25,000 Boys 4 Girts Clubs of Metropolitan By Linda Helser Boys 4 Girls Clubs of Scottsdale CentrodeAmistadlnc $25,000 The Arizona Republic Chj(Jspay $4 800 It's a simple matter of mathemat- Children's Action Alliance $30,000 tL Christian Family Care Agency Inc $10,000 ICS: 2 5790,000 I.D8 million. Chrysalis Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence That's the bottom line when inc $10,000 thousands of warm-hearted newspaper readers give from the depths Ot their Florence Crittenton Services of Arizona billfolds to help those less fortunate. Foundation for Blind Children $20,000 a a K. Friendly House Inc.

$25,000 And then, the Robert R. McCor- Golden Gate Community Center $25,000 mick Tribune Foundation steps up Hacienda de los Angeles. $20,000 and matches those contributions ex- Sn actly dollar for dollar. $25,000 Season for Sharing, a fund-raising Parente Anymous of Arizona $25,000 ,1,. Phoenix Little Theatre campaign launched on the pages ot pnix South Community Mental Health Center The Arizona Republic and The $5,000 Phoenix Gazette during the holidays, fif was designed by the paper's parent satvatonArmy company, Phoenix Newspapers The Schooihouse Foundation $10,000 7n Soiourner Center to generate funds to assist Valley southwest Human Development Inc $25,000 agencies that Struggle daily while Southwest Leadership Foundation $35,000 serving children, the hungry, the homeless and the elderly.

$13,250 A series of stories in both newspa- liS'nnn i YMCA, Phoenix Downtown Branch $15,000 pers illustrated to readers how agen- YMCA, South Mountain Branch $50,000 cies can help those who are looking ymca, Urban Services Branch $5,000 for a way to help themselves. $18'00 "The response from the community H0use of Arizona inc $10,000 has been overwhelming," said Louis Association of Arizona Food Banks .48,000 -i ri Desert Mission Inc A. Weil III, publisher of Phoenix Goodwill Industries of Central Arizona $22,423 Newspapers Inc. "When we began Love In Action Ministries 2,000 this campaign in mid-November, we had no idea so many Arizona waste Not inc residents would respond in such a generous way. It shows that people AmVican Red Cross, Central Arizona Chapter care about each other." $25,000 TUo-t in snn inHiviHiiak and Centra Arizona Shelter Services $75,000 To be exact, 10,800 individuals and Communty Housing Partnershjp nc $17,390 companies cared enough to contnb- Downtown Neighborhood Learning Center $18,560 1, Family Emergency Service Center $25,000 And 68 Valley agencies will receive jr $25 0QO grants during a Feb.

23 luncheon Home of Hope th Home School Visitors Program 10,000 hosted by the papers. Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County A committee of 1 3 PNI employees, Lutheran Social Ministry of the 1 5,000 wnrkine in conjunction with the SL Joseph the Worker working in conjunction wmi Foundation of Arizona $21,000 McCornuck Foundation, selected re- Unjted Methodist Church 4 Its Affiliated Organize- cipients by reviewing applications tions 25'22 submitted by agencies Ma In keeping with PNIs focus on The elderly: Arizona's children in 1 994, the largest Alzheimer's Association ce en Area Agency on Aging, Region Inc $30,000 percentage of funding, 50 percent, will Beatjtudes Center D.OAR. (Developing Older Adult be going to agencies serving children. Resources) "We are gratified that those who contributed trust US to spend their Foundation for Senior Uving $20,000 donations wisely," Weil said. Mesa Senior Center Inc The excuses of the Phoenix Police Department don't wash.

There was no justification for the Rambolike treatment of an innocent woman named Gail Peters, whose car closely matched the description of a rapist's car. After going over police explanations of the episode, listening to a tape of their radio communications and reading an account of one of the rapes, I don't see how police could have suspected Gail Peters of anything more sinister than driving home from work. And yet, they pulled her over, drew their guns, handcuffed her, swore at her, accused her of assisting a rapist and finally left her alone and dazed on the side of the road. It didn't have to be that way. It should never be that way again.

It began early last week. Police were looking for a serial rapist who'd been attacking high-school girls in the Valley. They knew he drove a white Jeep Cherokee with an environmental plate. Gail Peters drives a white Jeep Cherokee with an environmental plate. In September, she reported to Phoenix police that the front plate of her car the one without vehicle-registration stickers had been stolen.

Last week, a witness in the rape case took down a license-plate number that matched Peters'. Police figure the rapist stole his white Cherokee in Tucson, drove to Phoenix, then stole a plate from Peters' white Cherokee. Assistant Phoenix Police Chief David Brewster told me investigators believed there were two white Cherokees on the streets with the same plate number. One belonged to Gail Peters. One was driven by the rapist.

Spotted by police Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, while a police dragnet covered the Valley, Peters returned to Phoenix from an out-of-town environmental conference. Police spotted her car traveling westbound on Indian School Road somewhere around 40th Street. They immediately began tailing her. Officers initially were warned that they might be following an armed and dangerous rape suspect.

Long before Peters was pulled over, however, officers shadowing her in an unmarked car learned more than enough to convince them she wasn't their suspect. For example, they could see that Peters' vehicle was a two-door model. The suspect's was supposed to be a four-door. I asked Assistant Chief Brewster about this on KTAR Radio's Pat McMahon show Friday morning. He said some victims of the rapist had indicated his Jeep was a four-door, but added, "Unfortunately, victims, when they're traumatized, are not absolutely positive." But one of the rapist's victims was positive.

She described being attacked in the front seat and then ordered into the back. "(The victim) entered the vehicle through-the back door on the driver's side," according to a police search warrant. Unless police believed the rape suspect was driving two Jeep Cherokees, a two-door and a four-door, they had to know that Gail Peters was not their suspect. License plate checked Then, there's the license plate. On the tape of police transmissions, officers following Peters say the plate on her car has registration stickers on it.

The stolen plate did not. When I asked Assistant Chief Brewster about this, he said, "We weren't sure at the time if he (the rapist) had procured stickers." That might seem logical, except that while Peters was being tailed, police checked the stickers on her license plate and verified that they were valid. The only way it could have been the rapist's Jeep, then, is if he had stolen stickers to match the ones on Peters' plate. Finally, there was the route Peters took. I Police followed her as she turned west off 16th Street onto Maryland.

According to radio transmissions, police knew that Gail Peters, the woman who had reported her license plate stolen, lived nearby on Maryland. In spite of all that and after seeing that the driver of the car was a woman police treated Peters as a dangerous felon. "It's just the most frightening thing you can imagine," Peters said. "And it is made worse when these guys don't listen to you, or ridicule you. When they make you feel like scum." See mmm, page B4 Tom StorvThe Arizona Republic In an incredible feat, William J.

Babin, a 5th-degree black belt, nears the end of a demonstration in which he broke 100 boards in just over 28 seconds. The Chandler resident, at the American Taekwondo Association's Winter Tournament in Mesa, was taking part Saturday in a fund-raiser for scholarships. Legislator scolded on kids bill Sun City group demands he act on 'Success by Six' plan the House Appropriations Committee, has called the legislation bad policy and vowed to let it die. "Let's spend our money and our energies to correct the system we now have, which in my opinion, is out of control," he said Saturday. Channel 10 catches spirit, changes name to KSAZ read: "Let it out Bob Burns" and "Prevention not Welfare." Most of the women in the group said Burns should get out of the way and let the majority rule.

Nathaniel Lauriat, minister of Sun City's Unitarian Universalist church, said he is ashamed that few religious leaders in the state openly support Success by Six. "Everyone should recognize the humane aspect of this measure," said Lauriat. "But even if you don't care about that, the conservatives should love the economic aspect. All the experts estimate we can save $3,000 to $5,000 in costs for incarceration and other problems if children's problems are treated earlier in life." Alice Dockrell of Sun City said the whole issue is a no-brainer. "Most anyone can see that the option is putting a lot of young people in prison or helping them to grow up better," Dockrell said.

"It's ridiculous to even think about continuing our current path." Contributing to this article was Judi Villa of The Arizona Republic. By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic A group of Sun City residents called it one last act to try to save Arizona's children. Signs criticizing Rep. Bob Burns, R-Glendale, for attempting to kill the "Success by Six" legislation, which is designed to help disadvantaged children, were being waved by about 25 grandmotherly members of the Sun City Chapter of the National Organization for Women. The group gathered Saturday morning near Promenade Mall at 99th Avenue and Bell Road.

"This bill is large enough for both parties," Carolyn Modeen, spokeswoman for the Sun City NOW chapter, said of the Success by Six proposal. "It ultimately affects our security because when children go through life as losers, they lash out in some way." The bill, which has the support of nearly two-thirds of the state Legislature, calls for funding programs that improve infant health, prepare disadvantaged children for first grade and prevent child abuse. However, Burns, chairman of By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic First, Channel 12 changed its call letters to KPNX in recognition of Phoenix. Then, Channel 3 began trumpeting itself in the vanguard of "Arizona's Family." Now, Channel 10 is jumping on the bandwagon. On Saturday, CBS' Phoenix television affiliate changed its call letters from KTSP to KSAZ to reflect the station's new marketing theme, "The Spirit of Arizona." Jim Girodo, vice president of marketing for Channel 10, said the change is due to the rise in popularity of cable television.

"You need to have an identity locked into place," he said. Plus, Girodo said, the KTSP call letters never connected with local audiences. When Great American Communications Corp. bought the station in 1983, it changed the call letters from KOOL to KTSP to match its sister station, WTSP in Florida. Those calls letters stood for Tam-pa-St.

Petersburg. "We told people for a long time that it stood for Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix, but I don't know if anyone really believed it," quipped Tom Dolan, news director for Channel 10. Girodo said the change was made to tie in with CBS coverage of the Winter Olympic Games. Burns said he objects to the bill because many of the services it attempts to create already exist. The bill's at-risk preschool component already is being addressed in an education-reform package, and funding for prenatal care and preschool are available, he said.

The committee must hear the bill by Friday or it could be dead. That is the deadline for bills to be cleared through the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate. On Saturday, the demonstrators showed their disagreement with Burns by carrying placards that.