Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 29

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC i SATURDAY AUGUST 17, 1996J. i Editor, Sieve Knickmeyer 271-8222 I LAND BUYS 'SLOW Arizona leaving $4 million unspent that was designated for habitat acquisition. B2. RELIGION, B6 5I5T5T5l5I515I5I5I5lDl5TnEl5155I5 Battle btoomin I Age-restricted community gives 90-day exemption over tree harvest I if A i i 1 i 1 I Phoemx CHIRICAHUA Mapr 0 NATIONAL sareaL MONUMENT 1 A i 1 Activists may buy rights to cut, then not do it By Steve Yozwiak Staff writer Environmentalists moved Friday to outbid loggers and prevent the cutting of up to 1,600 trees charred in a 1994 fire in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. Members of the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson submitted permit requests to the Coronado National Forest to harvest the trees in the Rustler Timber Salvage Area, jsite of the Rattlesnake fire in 1994.

Instead of cutting the trees, the environmentalists plan to leave the trees in the heavily hiked forest so that they will fall, rot, return nutrients to the soil, prevent erosion and provide wildlife with places to hide, nest and feed. "I don't like the precedent that it sets," said Shane Jimerfield, assistant director of the Southwest Center, whose group has to come up with $8,000 to buy the See BATTLE, page B4 Prnnnserl timher snip I.W I near nusuer rant fcORONADQf l.WtOMLM ifQRESJi 10 miles 10 km Chris KaeserStafl artist Woman arrested in theft of antiques, furniture Christine KeithStaff photographer Chaz Cope has temporarily been allowed to live with his grandparents in Youngtown, a west Valley retirement community. Boy can stay in Youngtown he'd turn to the streets or commit suicide. Chaz, who said he is a victim of physical and verbal abuse by a stepfather in his mother's Mesa home, has been living with his grandparents since October. But Youngtown, as part of its town ordinance, forbids anyone younger than 18 to stay longer than 90 days.

Although Chaz has been in town for 10 months, it became an issue only recently, when his grandparents asked for a waiver. By Judl Villa Staff writer They found the 4'2-foot tall bronze coon dog. Lots of other stolen stuff, too. In fact, thousands of dollars worth of antiques and lawn furniture from front yards and patios of Paradise Valley homes was recovered Friday at an antiques store, police said. "Somebody told us where the dog was," police Lt.

Ron Warner said. A Phoenix woman was arrested cn theft charges, and her boyfriend is being sought. Warner said police got their big break after an article in The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazelle reported that there had been 15 similar thefts since June 19. Wooden benches and concrete flowerpots were among the recovered items. A limestone statue of a half-nude female that was stolen with the coon dog wasn't.

Apparently, the couple, whom police did not immediately identify, stole the items, then hocked them at six or seven antique shops, mostly in Phoenix and Glendale, Warner said. The woman was arrested at a store near Seventh Street and Camelback Road. "We were at the store impounding and gathering stuff, and she showed up," See WOMAN, page B4 By Barbara Deters Staff writer Sixteen-year-old Chaz Cope is glad he got permission to stay in his grandparents' home in age-restricted Youngtown. But he's worried that the Town Council's welcome mat is good for only 90 days. "All I've got is my grandparents," the Peoria High School junior said Friday.

"That's all I've got in the world." Without them, he said, he believes On Thursday, the Town Council voted unanimously to let Chaz stay with his grandparents, Lynne Rae and Jerry Naab, until Nov. 13. After that the Naabs will have to reapply for another special permit. Other children live in Youngtown but are in homes that are exempt from the age restriction. Town officials believe the family should be able to find another home for the boy before the deadline, said See YOUNGTOWN, page B3 Smoker ban still cloudy in Mesa 4 Phoenix land marks likely to join list of protected sites i.i t.

I PHOENIX A 1 Map -o rj- V. 1 Ik I ftB111 1 VanBurenSt. Washington 0 Jefferson SL r3-' I I I Id America! West Arena I Si V4l(m added to the register, it cannot be demolished. Any exterior alteration must be approved by the city. The J.W.

Walker Building, at 300 W. Washington was facing possible demolition earlier this year to make way for a new criminal-justice facility. Nearby residents and city preservationists stepped in to save it. They argue that the 1920 building, which housed a J.C. Penney Co.

store and Central Arizona Light Power, is worth preserving as a once-thriving commercial center. It will be restored and incorporated into construction plans for the criminal-justice building. As with the Walker Building, the Masonic Temple and the Board of Education Building stand in areas ripe for redevelopment. The Temple, at 345 W. Monroe sits on a near-empty block that Abele fears will be considered one day for a parking lot.

That possibility gnaws away at See 4 LANDMARKS, page B5 By Susie Steckner Staff writer Four downtown buildings that help trace education, commerce, civic involvement and race relations in the early days of Phoenix are the latest landmarks headed for the city's list of protected historic sites. The oldest, the Swindall Tourist Inn on East Washington Street, dates to 1913. The bungalow-style home served as a boarding house for African-Americans through the 1980s. The other buildings are the J.W WalkerCentral Arizona Light Power Building, the Masonic Temple and the Board of Education Building. "With the historic-property register, we try to create a microcosm of the way Phoenix developed over time," said Debbie Abele, a city historic-preservation officer.

"If we're doing a good job, we're saving buildings from all different eras, representative of all the different influences that affected the way Phoenix grew." 1 By Jonathan Sidener Staff writer MESA At Main Street Billiards, pool players still fire up the smokes as they rack 'em and break 'em. At Simpleton's restaurant, they still sell a T-shirt that spoofs the state's well-known anti-smoking campaign "Tobacco Tumor causing, teeth staining, smelly, puking habit" despite a warning from the ad agency's lawyer. And at. Fantasies hair salon, former mayoral candidate Kat Gallant is halfway to having enough signatures for a ballot initiative to rewrite the smoking law. And so it goes with the great standoff over public smoking in fviesa.

In about six weeks since it took effect, the tough, new smoking law has prompted three lawsuits, a ballot initiative and legal disputes over private clubs and the T-shirts, The ordinance, which prohibits smoking in most public places, is i 1 See HUFFS, page B3 Board ol Education Building. Masonic Temple. J.W. Walker Central Arizona Light Power Building. 3 Swindall Tourist Inn.

Staff artist With historic designation, the past will be protected from the future. Once a building or site is James GarciaStaff photographer Among the buildings headed for Phoenix's list of protected historic sites is the Swindall Tourist Inn, which served as a boarding house. i r- VALLEY NEWSEN BRIEF Libertarian presidential hopeful granted spot on Arizona ballot PHOENIX The names of owns a computer-software company tion is seeking public input on future roadway improvement projects. County residents are encouraged to suggest needed improvements to existing county roadways, intersections, bridges, box culverts or even new transportation corridors in Maricopa County. The suggested improvements can be only for those roads or streets owned and maintained by the county, rather than by municipalities or the state.

Candidate projects should be submitted by Sept. 13. A project request form can be obtained from" Chris Plumb at the Transportation. Planning Division, 2901 W. Du-.

rango Phoenix, AZ 85009; phone: 506-4176, fax: 506-4882, or plumbplanning.mcdot. maricopa.gov via e-mail. channels this fall. The three-credit course includes topics such as federal Indian policy and cultural, economic and political change and continuity of American Indian communities. The course satisfies several general-studies requirements.

The class will air live on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. on Cox Communications Channel 20 in Phoenix and Tempe, Insight Cable Channel 7 in Phoenix and Gilbert, and People's Choice TV Channel 46. For more information about the class, call 965-6738. Road input sought in Maricopa County PHOENIX The Maricopa County Department of Transporta dwelling unit and commercial and industrial developers 5 cents per square foot. The fees would pay for expanding offices for the city manager, the council, the Planning and Zoning Department and the department that handles engineering, transportation, water and sewers.

Tom Simplot, deputy director and general counsel of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, said that other Valley cities have development fees which help pay for expanded services but that none has a general government charge. Televised ASU class to focus on Indians TEMPE Arizona State University will televise a Native American history course on local cable District employee Judy Best said Friday that the district's north campus in Goodyear was still without electricity and that power was going on and off at its south campus. The problems are left over from a violent storm that swept through the west Valley on Wednesday. Wind gusts of 70 mph were clocked in the area. Developers cry foul over Chandler fees CHANDLER The development fees the City Council plans to adopt next week include a general government charge that is unprecedented in the Valley and which one group of developers believes is.

illegal. The charge would cost housing and apartment developers $224 per harry Browne and Jo Jorgensen, the libertarian candidates for president and vice president, respectively, Were put on the Arizona ballot priday. Their appearance there had been in doubt after Libertarian officials in Arizona failed to file the names pf the party's presidential electors on time. Judge Norman Hall of Maricopa County Superior Court ruled Friday that it would "serve the interests of justice" to put the slate on the ballot. t- Browne, of Nashville, lias writterT books about investing and the limits of government.

Jorgensen in South Carolina. John Buttrick, a Phoenix lawyer who argued for the Libertarian Party, said Browne will be on the ballot in all SO states. Power woes delay schools' start AVONDALE The opening of school in the Agua Fria Union High School District will be delayed until Tuesday as a result of power outages continuing to affect the two-school district. However, employees are being asked to return to work Monday to help in opening the schools..