Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 1

nam Woof! Mr A Cawtas jk, Valley's antenilj iifet i stats Mostly sunny HIGH 76 LOW 49 Page B8 Final Edition nTTVTT TITTY liMilli! 50C 0 Copyrig 1998, The Arizona Republic FINAL CHASER Thursday, November 19, 1998 Phoenix, Arizona www.azcentral.com 109th year, No. 185 Valley phones ring in new, era I Area code 'overlay' approved, will create 10-digit local dialing Cox gets OK to offer service in Phoenix 111 Mmd By Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Beginning in February, it's going to take longer to dial a local phone number in metropolitan Phoenix if you can even remember it. Faced with the possibility that new Valley phone' numbers could be rationed as soon as next month because of skyrocketing deinartL Arizona corporation commissioners on Wednesday approved a new area-code plan they acknowledge was one of the INSIDE How will the change affect you? Answers to questions you may have about the new area code. A21. "least attractive alternatives" for them and the public.

The controversial "overlay" plan, which passed on a 2-1 vote, will allow existing telephone numbers to be accessed with the 602 area code but assign an Please see NEW, Page A20 By Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Move over US West, there's a new dial tone in town. The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to issue an affiliate of Cox Communications a license to provide city residents with telephone service, ending US West's more than 100-year monopoly in the area. Cox Arizona Telecom plans to begin offering the new digital telephone service in mid-1999 to areas where its cable network has been upgraded to a hybrid fiber optic system. Cox spokeswoman Bruce Smith said more than half of Cox's 220,000 cable customers in Phoenix will have the upgraded components by June 30, 1999. Smith said the service will be rolled out in phases but was unable to say how many people would be eligible initially and in Please see COX, Page A20 mJ LJ LJ XJ But strategy may hurt GOP in impeachment inquiry Battling rundown rentals li m'i tuu taw, i i nimn By Adrianne Flynn and Jeff Barker Republic Washington Bureau WASHINGTON Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr will be trying to rehabilitate his sagging public image when he testifies today in the impeachment inquiry against President Clinton, but the strategy could backfire for Republicans eager to help him out.

The GOP, already stung at the polls by voters rejecting the party's quest to impeach Clinton, runs the risk of further alienating the public if it appears Starr's appearance is nothing more than a partisan gambit. Democrats, already ahead in the public relations war, may have crafted another winning strategy to demonstrate GOP partisanship, according to political observers, by objecting vigorously to every attempt to limit their opportunities to delve into Starr's motives and methods. xk Doug MillsAssociated Press New House Speaker Bob Livingston (left) and Majority Leader Dick Armey share a laugh after winning their posts. Story, Page A5. Starr is scheduled to come before the House Judiciary Committee at 8 a.m.

(Arizona time). Chairman Henry Hyde, R-IIL, and ranking Please see DEBTS, Page A14 I' "4 i 0, u. Space station's 1st phase begins 1,. .1 Tom TingleThe Arizona Republic Kate Wells and her daughter, Tessa, 20 months, check out a house in their neighborhood that has been inhabited by drug dealers and prostitutes. Wells is aware that such houses often are eyesores for residents who take pride in their neighborhoods and their homes.

Russian rocket ready for launch By Michael Cabbage Orlando Sentinel CAPE CANAVERAL One of the greatest technological endeavors in human history and perhaps one of the greatest political feats as well may finally get off the ground. From the same remote plain in Central Asia where mankind took its first steps toward the cosmos 41 years ago, a Russian rocket is scheduled to carry into orbit the first piece of the International Space Station. Launch is to be Friday (1 1 :40 p.m. today Arizona time). For 15 years, station supporters at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have fought long odds to reach this point.

Huge economic, diplomatic and engineer- Please see LAUNCH, Page AW omes havens for blight FIRST PIECES OF Til SPACE STATION Russia is ready to launch the first module of the International Space Station. A look at the enormous project: Now that one house blights the entire neighborhood. Its thriving weeds, peeling paint and trash-littered yard are a visual insult. Its loud music and louder voices jangle the quiet street. Cars By William Hermann and Pat Kossan The Arizona Republic It's the bad house on the block.

It's the one where the charming old couple lived for so long. When they INSIDE CALL TO ACTION: Neighbors take landlord to court. A2. TIPS: What to do if there's a problem rental near you. A2.

their property values have dropped below last year's. They and you feel trapped. Scared. Angry. And they're far from alone.

The saga of the bad house on the block is a common one in the Valley. Most blame for slum blight has been placed upon rundown apartment build- Please see RUNDOWN, Page A2 Location of first units 1 screech in and out at all hours. Frustrated next-door neighbors even considered moving, only to find that moved, it was bought by someone who has rented it to three different tenants in two years each worse than the last. Intamatinnal INSIDE iV" Ca A Space Station Bible Week big news here BOB contractor sues for $34 mil aZarya control module (Russia) Unpiloted; provides propulsion, steering and communication; later to be used as a passageway Page A2' HL4.CL13 Comics HL7 HL7 HL1 HL7 HL7 Dl A2 CL1 Astrology Bridge Business Chuckle Classified are reading the Bible to someone in a nursing home or delivering Bibles to inmates who request them. "If they understood what we were doing and why we are doing it, then the whole thing would go away," May said.

In Gilbert, a restraining order has prevented the mayor from proclaiming the week, which begins Sunday. The Arizona Civil Lfter-ties Union is considering options for a lawsuit after discovering Arizona's governor already had issued a state proclamation. Tucson's mayor had issued a proclamation on Oct. 26, and that 1 Please see BIBLE, Page A15 arid 500 mayors issued Bible Week proclamations with little fanfare and attention, said Thomas May, the association's leader. The controversy in Arizona is the best publicity the event has had in years, May said.

The Bible Association is made up of businessmen and women who are Jewish, Mormon, Catholic, mainline Protestant, Christian Scientist and evangelical Christian who want people to read the Bible, May said. Luncheons and speakers are planned in New York City, and more than 1,000 groups have requested kits on how to observe Bible Week. Suggested activities Before Arizona, little attention paid, group says By Kelly Ettenborough The Arizona Republic National Bible Week has been supported and proclaimed by presidents, governors, and mayors since 1941 and not once needed to be defended in court, the president of the New York City-based National Bible Association said Wednesday. This year, at- least 30 governors Dear Abby Dr. Donohue Healthy Living Montini Obituaries Opinions Prayer Cost: At least $76 billion Completed: 2004 or later Nations participating: U.S., Russia, Europe, Canada, Italy, Brazil Dimensions: 356 290 largest object ever orbited Construction: 45 flights, 1 ,800 hours of spacewalks European Space Agency: Belgium, U.K., Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Swedan, Switzerland Sources: International Space Station, NASA, Knight-Ridder Tribune .0 Bl B4 A2 HL4, 7 CI HL6 B8' Unity connecting i module (U.S.) Six ports will connect to future modules; at first, will have no crew Puzzles Sports Television Weather rTi tt B'i L7.