Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 13

Tucson, Tuesday, March 22, 1988 Arizona flai(n Sfar Section Page Three Owners of greyhound racer sue dog's handlers The owners of a greyhound racer have filed suit against the dog's handlers, alleging the handlers were negligent in allowing the animal to chew through a steel cage and choke to death. Turnpike Turn, a 21-month-old female, died after getting her head caught in the hole she had chewed in her cage, according to the suit filed Friday in Pima County Superior Court. The death occurred in December, just a few days before the dog was to compete in her first race for prize money, said the owners, Vince and Sandra Latino. The suit, against handlers Michael and Dolly McCurdy of Avra Valley, asks for compensatory damages of $14,500 to cover investments in the dog and expected race earnings. It also seeks $100,000 in punitive damages.

Mrs. McCurdy responded yesterday that the dog's death had been a "freak accident" and insisted "there was no negligence on our part." "We've been in the business since 1953 and this is the first time we've ever heard of this happening," she said. "That dog, no matter what you did, was just crazy," she added. "It ate muzzles. I think we had 15 of them invested in her." According to the suit, the Latinos bought Turnpike Turn from the McCurdys in 1986.

The dog was the offspring of Fuel Altered, another greyhound owned by the McCurdys. 1.. VJ 1NTR0KG SMOOTH BSAS A seamless stretd bra available in sma "dfuHe'SSof soft cup 9 Shown-. ire style Apparel- Marl A. Schaefer, The Arizona Daily Star left, added their bags to the sculpture yesterday, which kicked off the Flowing Wells school's Invention Convention.

Wind baggies All 580 pupils at Walter Douglas Elementary School decorated windbags for an air sculpture. Kindergartners, House panel approves bill allowing UMC to limit disclosure of records tient, unless the patient consents, in writing, to the disclosure. Records that would reveal proprietary information about hospital operations. Records that would place the hospital "at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace." Records that are already deemed confidential by other statutes, such as materials covered by the doctor-patient relationship. Lawyer S.L.

Schorr, representing the Star, opposed the amendments as overly broad and asked who would be responsible for determining what information would harm the hospital's ability to compete with other Tucson hospitals. Schorr noted that anyone seeking access to information under that measure would have a difficult time "showing why UMC would not be competitively disadvantaged without knowing what documents they were talking about." Some of the bill's language "is so euphemistic as to defy definition," Schorr told the committee. David Bodney, an attorney representing the Arizona Newspapers Association, was involved in the negotiations, but said that because of the Star's opposition to the amendment, the association was taking no position. The arguments have revolved around whether the hospital is a By Walt Nett The Arizona Dally Star PHOENIX The House Health Committee yesterday approved a bill limiting the need for University Medical Center Corp. to follow the state's public records law.

The bill passed on a 5-3 vote, with three members absent and four voting "present" which is the same as abstaining. Lawmakers in both houses began looking at such a bill earlier this year after The Arizona Daily Star sued UMC to gain access to documents regarding the hospital's heart-transplant program. Committee members heard the bill last week, but held the vote to force hospital officials and representatives of the Arizona Newspapers Association to compromise. The committee considered an amendment last week which would have given the hospital a blanket exemption from the state's public records law. A similar blanket exemption for the hospital is tied up in the Senate, which has set its regular agendas aside while hearing Gov.

Evan Mecham's impeachment trial. The new legislation a strike-all amendment replacing a measure requiring nursing homes to post bonds as a condition of licensing would require the hospital to disclose all records, except: Records that would identify the care or treatment of a particular pa House panel chairman kills anti-porn bill amid protests public agency or a private corporation. Schorr argued that University Medical Center Corp. is a public body because its directors may be replaced by the Arizona Board of Regents, and because it leases the hospital grounds from the state for $10 per year. Lobbyist Bill Jacquin, representing the hospital, said the compromise was reached in good faith.

Wt WftCOMt CXHI OWN SeOAOW A SOUTH ffV GOtO 1499 iron C- re9 Slb7cBoW onooco- ncudtttoir ran o' with tvninV AU ACCOUNT. CAlt I -800-43S-9'! MONOAT THtOUGM ffttOAT By Walt Nett The Arizona Dally Star PHOENIX House Commerce Chairman Bill English killed a bill last night aimed at squeezing adult theaters out of business, as the measure's supporters watched in disbelief. But House Judiciary Chairman Jim Skelly, also a member of the panel, said the bill will be resurrected in his committee on Monday. English, a Sierra Vista Republican, recessed the meeting at 7 p.m. and announced he was holding the bill after no one offered a motion to pass the measure.

In a related matter, the Judiciary Committee approved a bill bringing telephone pornography firms under the state's racketeering laws, and making it a felony to knowingly provide "phone porn" services to children. As English gaveled the commerce committee meeting to a close, the bill's supporters on the panel complained, "It's not fair! You promised a vote on this." As the meeting ended, Skelly, R-Scottsdale, told Rep. Leslie Whiting Johnson, R-Mesa the bill's leading sponsor that it would be brought up again Monday in the judiciary committee. The commerce committee spent about two hours on the bill, which would: Place restrictions on adult theaters that provide private viewing booths, including filing floor plans and ownership disclosures with the county health department. Scottsdale holds SCOTTSDALE (AP) The runoff election here today for two City Council seats may be one of the most important in the city's 37-year history.

At stake is a continuation of a movement begun in the 1986 when two council members viewed as having a "go slow" stance on growth, development and city indebtedness were elected. Challengers Susan Bitter Smith Replace the "community standard" for determining what is obscene with a statewide standard, and require that "community acceptance" be proven, rather than simply "community tolerance." List dildos and artificial vaginas as obscene devices, and make their commercial sale a felony. Ownership of six or more such devices would be considered proof of intent to sell them commercially. "We want to make it so tough that we'll close them Rep. Jim Miller, R-Phoenix, a committee member and another sponsor of the bill.

The bill also came under fire from Bob Fannin, representing the Motion Picture Association of America, who objected to the "community acceptance" clause as putting an unfair burden on "legitimate" theater and video store operators. Although Miller and Johnson both said the bill was intended to attack "peep shows," Fannin said he was concerned that the obscenity laws might be used to attack major motion pictures. In passing the "phone porn" bill, the House Judiciary Committee added stiffer criminal penalties to the measure, which has already cleared the Senate. When the bill left the Senate, making "phone porn" available to children was a Class 6 felony, with a minimum sentence of 18 months in prison. The House panel made the offense a Class 4, felony, which carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison.

runoff today and Ross Dean are promoting that image in this election. Incumbent Rene Wendell and city Planning Commissioner Richard Thomas are considered the establishment candidates. The two slow-growth, fiscal conservatives elected two years ago, Sam Campana and Myron Deibel, have worked hard for the election this year of Bitter Smith and in recent days endorsed Dean as well. 'J I I -Trrui 1 5 3 CAU ANY 2 MOutS A OAT TOU-'Kf 460-ftoC SHOP TOO 10 0 AT WALL AND TUCSO ACCOUNT CABO SA MLAVtffCAffO AND TMt AMtfrON (XPVESS CA0 'OW A 690ACAAV SCHjTxwST GOlO.