Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 17

ARIZONA The Arizona Republic TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2002 B5 AT THE LEGISLATURE Environment fund Teachers concerned about loss somehow through the general fund," said Monica Pastor, chairwoman of the Arizona Advisory Council on Environmental Education. Last year, the license plate sales generated $504,000 for schools. Pastor said that $399,000 of that money helped send 472 classes on field trips with the remainder used for teacher grants. Hull's office confirmed the "This is not a judgment on these other programs. It is simply a recognition of when you are in a budget deficit you have to pull back and focus on the core services," said Francie Noyes, Hull's spokeswoman.

Hull's proposal hasn't been adopted yet, and teachers are hoping that they won't lose those environmental education funds. "Our families do not have the wherewithal to pay for many things," said Phyllis Sunken, a fifth-grade teacher at Mesa's Stevenson Elementary School, which serves an area where at least 60 percent live below the federal poverty line. "This grant money has enabled us to take kids to places they normally wouldn't go to." Darlene Cull, a sixth-grade teacher at Stevenson, received a $10,000 grant four years ago that let her children conduct a yearlong experiment to see if to natural resource conservation districts has many teachers concerned. The conservation districts, which are under the State Land Department, have been funded by the state's general fund. "It's taking money people are voluntarily paying and using it to fund government that should be funded some way, UNDER THE DOME More action at the state Legislature Act.

Other provisions would have increased penalties for terrorism, given law enforcement new authority to conduct wiretaps and investigate money laundering and required greater information sharing for background checks at nuclear power plants. Michael Haener, a policy analyst for the Attorney General's Office, said the bill would have offered important tools for fighting terrorism and the operations that pay for it. "The feds can't handle everything," he said. "That's why we have state laws." the Salt River could be stocked year-round with trout. Her class visited Salt River at least once a month, took the temperature of the river water and graphed the type and location of garbage.

"It will be a real emptiness to the extension of what we can do," Cull said. Reach the reporter at kristen.go arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7967. Veto kills settlement power for lawmakers By Ashley Bach The Arizona Republic In her first veto of the year, Gov. Jane Hull on Monday rejected a bill that would have given a legislative committee power to approve settlements of lawsuits against the state that affect spending. Lawmakers have criticized for years the use of consent decrees, in which state executive officers sign off on costly settlements without legislative approval.

Hull said she agreed that the legislators should have more say in the process, but Senate Bill 1001 would have given all power to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and none to state agencies or the full Legislature. "You can't have one 16-mem-ber committee making decisions that rightfully belong to the whole state Legislature," said Francie Noyes, Hull's spokeswoman. "If they want to play a role, they have to find a way to do it constitutionally." The veto came less than two weeks after the bill's sponsor, Senate President Randall Gnant, R-Scottsdale, helped kill an Indian gaming bill supported by Hull. But Noyes said the decision was made purely on legal terms. Gnant said he wasn't surprised the bill was turned down and is open to other ideas this year about how to get lawmakers more involved in the settlement process.

He also hasn't ruled out an override of the veto, which would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. "It's an important enough issue that I'm not inclined just to drop it," Gnant said. Reach the reporter at ashley.bacharizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8155. CALENDAR seeks nomination s' plan Monday. Sampling alcohol The Senate gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would allow people to sample alcohol in liquor stores.

House Bill 2556 was narrowly passed and should face a close final vote later this week. The proposal would allow large liquor stores to cordon off a special area to offer samples. Beverage groups are divided over the bill, while neighborhood groups oppose it. Domestic terrorism The House rejected a bill Monday that would have given law enforcement new powers to fight domestic terrorism. "This is truly a bill we do not need," Rep.

Robert Blendu, R-Litchf ield Park, said. "There's nothing here the federal government can't already do." Senate Bill 1427 sought to conform state law to the federal USA Patriot Goddard Announces candidacy for attorney general By Mary Jo Pitzl The Arizona Republic Terry Goddard entered the race for Arizona attorney general on Monday, vowing to be an advocate for neighborhood, consumer and environmental protection. The former Phoenix mayor and state director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is the only Democrat seeking his party's nomination in the Sept. 10 primary.

Goddard, 55, outlined a vision of the office as one with a watchdog role as big as its law-enforcement role. For example, he said he would vigorously prosecute white-collar crime and enforce anti-discrimination laws, especially in the area of housing. He also said he would advocate giving neighborhoods a standing similar to that of crime victims. The attorney general could try to persuade judges in cases involving graffiti or poor property maintenance that the neighborhood deserves protection, he said. And he would watch for legal missteps in the Legislature, such as the alt-fuels crisis that sapped millions from the state budget.

Goddard also said he would vigorously enforce Arizona's environmental laws. He lamented that the state has been the defendant, not the plaintiff, in lawsuits over issues important to Ari-zonans, such as air quality. "I grew up in Arizona," he said at a state Capitol news conference, where he was introduced by former Gov. Rose Mofford. "I remember when you could see the mountains every day." Particulate pollution, in particular, should be closely monitored, since it's the primary cause of the Valley's "Brown Cloud" and has been repeatedly shown to have severe health effects.

He said he also would question a 1997 law that he claims blocks Arizona from suing under the federal Superfund laws, which are designed to address the biggest water-pollution and soil-contamination problems in the nation. Goddard resigned as state HUD director in February after serving six By Kristcn Go The Arizona Republic Half a million dollars that's supposed to help Arizona teachers teach about the environment may be used to help pay the state's budget deficit. Gov. Jane Hull's plan to divert the funds from the $25 environmental license plate sales STATE BRIEFS Crews battle wildfires in 2 national forests U.S. Forest Service crews tackled wildfires burning Monday about 16 miles west of Sierra Vista near a Coronado National Forest mountaintop and in the Superstition Wilderness east of Phoenix.

Officials said the "Ryan" fire had covered at least 250 acres about four miles southwest of the Canelo Hills subdivision, close to Canelo Pass, near Sierra Vista. Bill Willcox of the Sierra Vista Ranger District said air and ground resources were ordered immediately. Six air tankers were at the scene or en route Monday evening, two helicopters were dropping water and two more were expected, Willcox said. The cause of the fire was not known. Farther north, a wildfire in the Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest had charred about 20 acres by Monday evening.

About 55 firefighters, three air tankers and two helicopters were battling that blaze, which was reported about 3 p.m., said Forest Service spokesman Jim Payne. He said the blaze, dubbed the "Reavis" fire, was in a popular but remote hiking area about 40 miles east of Phoenix. No homes were threatened. Arizona, New Mexico at war in Army exercise FORT HUACHUCA New Mexico and Arizona are at war with each other. The conflict may exist only in an Army training scenario designed to teach proper interrogation technique.

The Army training school at Fort Huachuca near Sierra Vista pits the neighboring states against each other as fictitious bickering nations in the training exercises. The scenario says "the People's Republic of New Mexico," said to be under totalitarian rule, is the nemesis of the Republic of Arizona, a U.S. ally. Historically, relations between the two have been shaky at times. In 1863, for example, New Mexico Territory was cut in half and Arizona Territory was carved out of the Southwest desert.

Then in 1906, Arizona and New Mexico residents voted on whether to be reunited in statehood. New Mexico favored unity, but Ari-zonans wanted their own state. Deputies try to ID body discovered on mountain TUCSON Pima County authorities are asking for help in identifying a woman found dead on Mount Lemmon. The county Sheriff's Department can't say how the woman died, but they acknowledge the case is being investigated as a homicide. A hiker found the body about 5 p.m.

Saturday near the Palisades Ranger Station. Ariz, student arrested in Web child-porn case CLARKDALE An Arizona student at Swathmore College in Swarthmore, was arrested after at least 500 child-pornography images were found on his computer, according to court papers. Ivan Maxwell Boothe, 20, a sophomore from Clarkdale, faces 500 counts of sexual abuse of children and related offenses filed after an investigation by the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The charges were filed Monday in Media, Pa. Police said Booth was caught after he sent pornographic images to a detective posing as a 15-year-old boy.

Compiled from reports by the Associated Press. Phoenix Special audits Reconsidering its previous rejection, the House approved a bill on Monday to order special audits of state agencies such as the School Facilities Board and the Independent Redisricting Commission. Senate Bill 1177 would allow a legislative oversight committee to require the Auditor General's Office to perform special research requests and investigations and provide lawmakers with updates before the reviews are finished. It was originally explained as a way for the Legislature to check up on the School Facilities Board, which has come under criticism for its authority to spend hundreds of millions of dollars without the need for lawmakers to approve those decisions. Compiled from reports by The Republic and Associated Press.

Tom TingleArizona Republic out-hairdos ex-Phoenix Mayor Terry at his Capitol press conference. Republican candidates Three men will vie for the GOP nomination for attorney general. They are: Andrew Peyton Thomas, attorney in private practice, former staffer to then-Gov. Fife Symington and former special assistant to Corrections Department Director Terry Stewart. Announced last month.

John Greene, former state Senate president and state insurance commissioner. Formal announcement pending. Foster Robberson, Phoenix-area attorney in private practice. Announcement pending. ers, with accompanying donations of $5 each, toward the necessary 2,500 signatures needed to qualify under the law.

He will face the winner of a three-way GOP primary. Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl arizonarepublic.com or at (602) 444-8963. A state union leader was gladly surprised to hear the bill passed. "They don't do many things to help workers," said Chuck Huggins, secretary and treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO. But if the point was to support fair labor practices, there are laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act that do the job, said Rep.

Carol Somers, R-Tucson. She voted against Cheuvront's bill, she said, not only because it's unnecessary but also because it sends a between-the-lines message. "It's just one more place in our state laws that makes it perfectly acceptable for people that are here illegally to have the same rights as those who are legal," she said. Asked about the lack of debate on the bill, Somers said several representatives asked for time to speak, but House Speaker Jim Weiers didn't call on Former Gov. Rose Mofford upstages and Goddard as she introduces him Monday years.

He served as Phoenix mayor from 1984 to 1990. He ran unsuccessfully for governor against Fife Symington in 1990 and was involved in an unprecedented runoff election. In 1994, he lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. He dodged a question about why he didn't make another run for governor, saying he is seeking the job of top law enforcer. Goddard is a graduate of Harvard University and earned his law degree at Arizona State University in 1976.

He began his legal career in the attorney general's office, serving two years before entering private practice with his father, former Arizona Gov. Sam Goddard. Terry Goddard later worked for the firm of Bryan Cave from 1990-94. Although most of his experience has been outside of active legal practice, he said his years as mayor and as HUD director gave him experience in overseeing legal services. Goddard is running under Arizona's Clean Elections law.

He said he has collected the signatures of about 1,200 vot- tional Labor Relations Board. The worker was not entitled for work he was not legally allowed to do, they ruled. Cheuvront convinced his colleagues to see the matter differently by tapping into tradition. "This is not about immigration," he said following the lopsided 41-15 vote that surprised even him. "It's about getting paid for hard work, part of our American values." What he feared the most, said Cheuvront, a third-generation general contractor, was that "unscrupulous" employers in Arizona may have interpreted the Supreme Court decision to mean they could hire undocumented workers and then not pay them.

Robert Shuler, lobbyist with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said the bill would reinforce existing state law, which holds employers accountable for paying their employees. Today Drug labs. The Senate will take a preliminary vote on House Bill 2595, which would establish cleanup requirements when illegal drug labs are discovered. 1:30 p.m. on the Senate floor.

What's happening? Gov. Jane Hull will attend the retirement reception for state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Zlaket. 3:30 p.m. today at the State Ccourts Building, 1501 W. Washington Phoenix.

Former President Clinton will attend fund-raisers for the state Democratic Party. 5 p.m. today at Phoenix Civic Plaza and 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 122 N. Second Phoenix.

Quote of the day It would be nice if a former gov ernor would have a parking place. I parked up on 19th Avenue, and it wasn't fun walking here today. Former Gov. Rose Mofford (l')88-')l), complaining about reduced parking on the west side of the state Capitol. House bill legalizes immigrant wages By Hcrnan Rozemberg The Arizona Republic If you work, you get paid.

Even if you hurdled over immigration laws to get the job. With no debate Monday, the Arizona House of Representatives challenged a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision by approving a bill legalizing wages for workers in the state, including illegal migrants. Rep. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, came up with the idea to amend state wage law to disregard immigration status or national origin after reading a news report in March detailing the Supreme Court case.

The bill now goes to the Senate. The nation's top judges decided by one vote that an illegal immigrant in California could not get back pay after being fired for attempting to unionize even though he had the backing of the Na aztentralcom Check out leglslature.azcentral.com for stories and editorials. azleg.state.az.iis for bill status..