Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 1

Final Chaser Fr Suns must ant fast Turn frozen foods into delightful dinners Food in draft day chaos Sports Drink run axtriwwa ptgtot ttof WEDNESDAY JUNE 26, 2(K)2 50 cmrs Ci HIGH High: 112 Low: 84 GOOD MORNING are gomg fc whip (this ttaW Officials at Ford to test cruiser Napolitano spurs oversight effort NATION Women are dominating education gender gap At colleges and universities across America, the proportion of bachelor's degrees awarded to women reached a post-World War II high this year. The trend sparked concern among many experts. A4. Bush visits crews, Fire a quarter-mile comforts evacuees outside Show Low HP ammmmmm -J 1 1 A A -1 WORLD G-8 summit convenes Leaders of the world's most powerful countries are intent on demonstrating a united front against terrorism at their annual summit in Alberta, Canada. A24.

By William I Icrmann The Arizona Republic DEARBORN. Mich. Arizona's attorney general and Ford safety officials agreed to test at least two possible changes to Crown Victoria police cars in an attempt to stop the fiery collisions that have taken the lives of three Arizona police officers. Attorney General Janet Napolitano left Ford World Headquarters on Tuesday with a plan and a promise that a report on the viability of adding gas tank bladders or tank shields will be ready within 90 days. However, Ford held fast to its position that it will not reposition the fuel tank, which auto safety experts have criticized for being placed behind the rear axle, making it prone to explode in rear-end collisions.

But Napolitano said they made "significant and important" concessions on the possibility of installing a gas tank bladder and the potential of placing a See FORD Page A2 INSIDE Retaliation attacks The justice Department has investigated 350 reports of crimes against people of Middle Eastern or South Asian origin since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on America. A9. War coverage, A9-14 -Af I iVV fit 3 Jack KurtzThe Arizona Republic President Bush is surrounded by firefighters who are battling the "Rodeo-Chediski" fire. He declared Apache and Navajo counties and the Fort Apache Reservation disaster areas, making them eligible for federal aid and low-cost loans.

'Rodeo-Chediski' is the size of Los Angeles By Judd Slivka, Kristen Go and Charles Kelly The Arizona Republic They sew, kids reap Valley volunteers fill a tall order, sewing outfits to clothe 6,000 disadvantaged kids in Maricopa County before school starts each fall. Arizona Living, EL Genomics update Leaders of Arizona's efforts to land a biotech research giant have called a news conference for today, fueling speculation of a positive announcement. Business, Dl. Costly decision Monday's Supreme Court decision will cost Arizona millions of dollars to resentence death row inmates, officials say. Valley State, Bl.

Also: Market report: Dow industrials NYSE Nasdaq Business, Dl. $3.7 billion scandal shakes up WorldCom Republic news services JACKSON, Miss. Telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. announced Tuesday that its directors had uncovered more than $3.7 billion in hidden expenses in what could become one of the biggest accounting scandals in U.S. history.

The nation's second-largest telecommunications company after also said it had fired its chief financial officer and will lay off 1 7 nflfl wnrkprs Information on homes Navajo County officials know the fate of homes in Clay Springs, Pinedale, Pinedale Estates, Linden, Timberland Acres, Fool Hollow and Cheney Ranch. Homeowners in those areas can call the hotline at l-(928)-524-4262 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The toll of Arizona's wildfires More than 360,000 acres, or about 580 square miles, as of Tuesday night. About 32,000 people and 10 towns evacuated.

About 400 homes and businesses. 0 percent contained. Up to 6,000 firefighters expected by week's end. TODAY'S FIRE AREA FORECAST: Winds from the southwest at 4 to 9 mph till 1 p.m., then increasing to 14 mph with gusts to 22 mph; 87 to 90 degrees. esc The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire, after revisiting the burned town of Heber a day earlier, crept to within a quarter-mile of Show Low on Tuesday as President Bush arrived to buck up firefighters and evacuees.

Meanwhile, the fire muscled up to more than 360,000 acres, the size of Los Angeles, growing in several directions and making a run north toward Taylor. But fire officials were most worried about its eastern edge, dangerously close to Show Low, and its southeastern portion, where it threatened to jump U.S. 60 and open another front, where it could run north toward Show Low and the Pine-top-Lakeside area. Even so, fire spokesman Jim Paxon said if today's situation holds, firefighters See FIRE Page AI6 I I msme beginning Friday. Sources said Tuesday night that the Justice Department had begun a criminal WorldCom bankruptcy could be next, leaving creditors with massive debt.

A2. CLASSIFIEDS Today, there are 6,265 ads, including 2,930 autos and 608 homes. Classifieds, CLL behind the Arizona Living section. Dave CruzThe Arizona Republic Steve Brown of Phoenix sets backfires Tuesday on the edge of the Fort Apache Reservation. None of the fire has been contained so far.

INDEX Today's Movie Listings are in Arizona Living, E4. Evacuees unhappy to learn about home losses from TV Astrology E7 Puzzles E6, 7 CL1 Ruelas Bl Comics E6, CL11 Sports TV C2 Dear Abby E7 Stocks D5 Lottery B2 Television E8 Obituaries. B6.7 Things to do. B3 Opinions. B8, 9 Valley 101 BIO People E2 Weather BIO Inside Respiratory troubles reach as far as New Mexico.

A16 Uncle Sam opens up coffers to ease recovery. A17. APS, SRP power lines threatened. A18. Family flees to Mesa, only to have that home burn.

A19. Wildfires may crack top 10 of state's worst disasters. Business, DL Enough rhetoric: It's time to thin forests. Editorial, B8. Football pride will help heal community.

Sports, CL azjceritrakom Go to newszcentral.com today for breaking news articles and video updates from 12 News. The revelation is the latest in a series of developments that have spawned new mistrust of corporate America. The business world was reeling from the collapse of Enron the conviction of Arthur Andersen LLC for shredding Enron documents, and the indictment of chief executives at ImClone Systems Inc. and Tyco International Ltd. Until May, Andersen was WorldCom's outside accountant.

"Our senior management team is shocked by these discoveries," said John Sidgmore, who became WorldCom's chief executive officer on April 29. WorldCom said it will restate earnings for all of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 after more than $3 billion of expenses in 2001 and $797 million for the first quarter of 2002 were wrong on the books. lBth year No. 39 A Gannett Newspaper Copyright 2002, The Arizona Republic By Thomas Ropp The Arizona Republic PAYSON Tom Lindsey said he would rather have watched his Overgaard home burn to the ground than to have found out from television news that it was gone. "At least I would have known then and there what had happened," said Lindsey, who, with scores of other Overgaard and Heber evacuees sheltered here, found out from TV news footage of areas leveled by the fire that they had lost their homes.

Lindsey, 29, who showed up at the Payson shelter with wife Lisa, 26, and 2-year-old son Vincent, are among a growing number of evacuees here who have lost patience with the U.S. Forest Service for not releasing a list of destroyed and damaged homes. "It's pretty sad we have to learn about this from TV news," said Jerry Roeller, 68. "We know about our place. It's burned down.

We saw it on TV about 100 times." The fire has continued in the past two days to wreak more damage on the Heber-Overgaard area, where at least 251 homes and six businesses have been destroyed. A fish hatchery, ranch and hundreds of homes See LOSSES Page A16 News tips: (602) 444-2465 Circulation: (602) 444-1000 t-iassmea: (602)444-7355 DAILY i- Ik '-'ho. 1 mosasaos 3DU till' Stir- A-Hm Gdtavs iMhMVs Lxai.