Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 15

News in minute Gas station opposed Joan Eberly says Tempe has too many gas stations, and she has drummed up 23 signatures trying to stop a new QuikTrip at 918 E. Baseline Road, the site of a closed El Chilito Restaurant. The Tempe City Council will vote on the 20-pump, store Thursday. East Valley, B4. Queen Creek hiring Queen Creek is growing, and so is the municipal employee roster up to 44 from 32, a 37.5 percent Increase.

Most of the hires are for growth-related functions such as building inspectors and road workers. Eait Valley, B4. Advocate helps out Artwork panned Artwork designed to hide pipes at Deer Valley Park has gotten the thumbs-down from neighbors. The work, which resembles a 12-foot-high birdcage, will be going elsewhere. The Phoenix Arts Commission works with the city to disguise eyesores.

Phoenix, B4. City takes on vandalism Vandalism in Glendale parks costs taxpayers $200,000 a year, sparking a new plan in the city's efforts to keep its parks safe. ParkWatch will educate students about vandalism as well as call on communities to report vandalism in neighborhood parks. West Valley, B5. Michael Allison is part tour guide, part advocate.

As Native American liaison for the Arizona Department of Health Services, he helps others get through a government maze, coordinating health efforts between the three Indian Health Service delivery areas, the 21 different tribes and three urban Indian health programs. Allison, hired last year, believes most tribes eventually will take over control of their own health programs. Local People, B2. Paul Maryniak, metro editor, 602.444.NEWS or paul.maryniakfarlzonarepublic.com Wednesday, July 31, 2002 SECTION THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC news.azcentral.com I 1 pi I Special Report your Community sections Ervin Johnson, a homeless man living in downtown Phoenix, says some people living on the streets don't want to be found. "There's a limited amount of places a homeless person can live if they want to be on the street." Phoenix police Sgt.

Lee Shaw Member of "Zebra" squad 4 5l 1 V. mates, ages 15 to 17, are doing time in Madison Street Jail for felonies including rape and drive-by shootings. 1 "A judge sentenced them to up to a year in the county jail," Arpaio said. "They are the ones I'm putting on the chain gang." About 170 juveniles are incarcerated in Madison Street Jail, but only about 30 have been convicted and are eligible for the chain gang, where they lly Carlos Miller The Arizona Republic Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is clamping down on juvenile inmates, shackling them to his controversial chain gang where they will be forced to pick up trash and bury the dead. "These are juveniles who've been tried as adults," Arpaio said Tuesday.

"They've been convicted for serious crimes." The move will take effect in September, seven years after Arpaio launched the country's first female chain gang. Like the male and female chain gangs, the juvenile chain gang will shackle about five inmates together at the ankle. They will wear traditional black and white prison garb as well as the jail's notorious pink underwear. The juveniles will be required to pick up trash on public streets and bury the relatives of indigent families at the county cemetery. Arpaio said the juvenile in will receive credits toward a high school diploma.

"They are attending 'Hard Knocks said Arpaio, referring to classes juvenile inmates attend where they earn credit toward a diploma. "We're going to teach them how to form trash companies," he said. "We're going to teach them how to hire people." The juveniles also will learn how to bury the dead. "We'll have them pray for the deceased," he said. "We'll talk to them about the-cause of death." 4 Photos by Sheme BuzbyThe Arizona Republic Phoenix police Sgt.

Lee Shaw says his team conducted its homeless count in cars and on bikes. Counting the homeless County makes first try to get accurate number As clock ticks down, three-way race is on for Cardinals stadium Find out what happened to Arizona's poverty rate in the past decade and view interactive population maps of Maricopa County at census.azcentral.com. THE NEED The street count of homeless people In an inventory of homeless people in Maricopa County taken during March and April, 3,159 people were counted. The results: Youth When Adutt Adult Family under 18 counted men women members (No parents) Totals Avondale 327 0 0 0 0 0 Buckeye 327 16 6 23 0 39 "Chandler" 327 5 6 0 6 5 Gila Bend 327 142 5 23 15 185 "Gilbert 327 8 6 6 .6 8 Glendale Estimated 208 89 198 ,30 525 Mesa 415 300 28 4 1 333 Peoria 327 3 0 0 4 Phoenix 327 1,195 200 34 4 1,433 Jcottsdale J27 ,.54. 5 4 0 63 Tempe Estimated 210.

90 50 200 550 Tolleson 327 2 5 0 1 8 "Wickenbnrg 327 4 2 0 0 6 Total 2.141 431 336 251 3,159 By Christina Ionard The Arizona Republic They sleep in river bottoms, parking lots and public parks. Some turn up at homeless shelters. And some stay hidden in cars. Officials have never had a true handle on the extent of the county's homeless population but haye taken their first stab at trying to capture a valid number. This spring, 13 cities in Maricopa County took part in a "point-in-time" homeless count with the goal of learning who is out there, where they are and what services they need.

The group organizing the effort did produce a figure: 11,952 people live on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation. It's within range of previous estimates, which hover between 11,000 and 14,000. But many experts say that it is still far below the actual number of homeless people in the county. The actual street count for the project came to 3,159. That figure was combined with those who stayed in shelters, those turned away and those on waiting lists, as well as the number of shelter hot- By Pat Flanncry, Adam Klawonn and Bob Petrie The Arizona Republic Hang on.

The next 43 days could be the bumpiest yet on the meandering road toward a yet-to-be-built Arizona Cardinals football stadium. With Tempe rejoining the fray Monday over who will host the $350 million project, a three-way rivalry promises to take the state Tourism and Sports Authority to the brink of a Sept. 12 site-selection deadline. By that date, the sports authority must choose where to build the stadium, seal a deal and deliver signed papers to the governor and state attorney general. If it doesn't, the sports authority's future will go to a county wide vote on Nov.

5. The sports authority says it can beat the clock. But Tempe's leap back into the contest could complicate things. While Glendale says it is unfazed by the lews, Mesa is hopping mad at its neighbor. So far, only Mesa has fully ieveloped and debated its proposal, but it's on shaky ground because the plan is contingent on a Sept.

10 referendum. Mesa's deal with the sports authority may be terminated "at any time, and for any reason," authority President Ted Ferris said. According to Ferris, Mesa's site at the Loops 101202 junction still doesn't have enough parking, and "the prospects for this election are not good." He said private polling suggests "we ought not put all our eggs in one basket." Until Monday, that put the football in Glendale's hands. Glendale has broken ground on its Phoenix Coyotes hockey arena and approved an $850 million surrounding development at Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue. With a football venue penciled in on adjacent land, Glendale offers the prospect of a megasports complex with hotels, restaurants, offices and residential development.

But Glendale wants to finance it mostly with private funds and is willing to pay only for "improvements that benefit the public good," City Manager Ed See STADIUM Page B2 Graphics by James AbundisThe Arizona Republic Source: Maricopa Association of Governments line calls. Ervin Johnson, a 52-year-old homeless man living in downtown Phoenix, agrees. "Some people want to be found, some people don't," he said. "Some people enjoy this life. And then some people want to get out, but they can't." But Johnson applauded the efforts, saying there's a need for more facilities for the homeless.

He has been sleeping on a pink blanket covered with a sheet of plastic along 12th Avenue, just north.of the railroad tracks. The Continuum of Care, the Maricopa Association of Governments group that does homeless planning, also factored in other indicators, such as court-ordered evictions data, runaway juvenile information and people turned away from domestic violence shelters. The study shows that Chandler, the Valley's fifth-largest See HOMELESS toge B2 THE REALITY Emergency shelter beds in the Valley The number of emergency beds in Phoenix rises by 550 for individuals and another 50 for families with children from November through March because of an overflow shelter. The numbers do not include beds for transitional or permanent supportive housing, and many of the beds listed under 'bed capacity tor families with children" are domestic violence shelters. (Bed capacity) Famijes i Individuals with children Avondale 0 50 Chandler 0 17 El Mirage 0 12 Glendale.

0 16 Mesa 5 154 Phoenix-. 610 623' Scottsdaie 6" 24 -Totals 615 896 Source: Maricopa Association of Governments Campaign 2002 B6 tats of kindness B2 Quotable "What will cause us to conserve? The one thing that ensures conservation is when there's no more water. Apparently our leaders are waiting for a crisis," says Lisa Force, Arizona program director for Living Rivers, on Valley cities' response to the drought. ottery B2 Arizona B7 ocal People B2 Obituaries B8-9 'alley 101 B2 Opinions B10-U B3 Weather B12 'alley News. Coming Thursday Response ready As Mesa's emergency manager, Assistant Fire Chief Cliff Puckett helped devise a statewide response team ready to kick into action after terrorist attacks.

Thursday in Local Worth your time Did you know? The tallest skyscraper in Phoenix, the Bank One Tower, is 486 feet high. The buzz It's not summer heat making these golfers hallucinate. The face of Jesus, or perhaps a Native American warrior, appears on the north side of Red Mountain, with the best viewing from the first tee at Desert Canyon Golf Club, 10440 N. Indian Wells Drive, in Fountain Hills. The players get ready, then stop and say, "Do you realize there is a face on the mountain?" says Riff Gibson, 37, the golf pro and a Mesa resident I i I ft i.

L-- kv 1 trail In his quest to bolster his political party and fight for its principles, Barry Hess has run for president and challenged U.S. Sen. Jon Kyi. The Libertarian is now aspiring to become Arizona's governor. Campaign 2002, B6.

ROBERTS: This week. Rose Marie Maher begins her ninJi year of waiting for justice. B3. an I 4a.