Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 11

$ht Arizmta Batlg Star Tucson, Wednesday, June 29, 1994 Money 4B Tucson officials agree to pay state drinking water fines By Keith Bagwell The Arizona Daily Star City of Tucson officials have agreed to pay a penalty of up to $450,000 for 24 alleged violations of state drinking water laws or rules. The tentative agreement which needs City Council approval requires the city to pay a $50,000 fine in cash to the state and spend $300,000 to $400,000 to develop a "wetland" pool under which it can store treated sewer effluent for summer use on parks and schools. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in November cited the city's Tucson Water utility for not sampling and testing its water in as many places or as often as state and federal law requires. It also cited Tucson Water for three instances of failing to report to the state and customers test results showing excess levels of nitrates, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, selenium or trichloroeth-ylene (TCE). And the November letter charged that the city did not receive final state approval for its Central Arizona Project water treatment plant, southwest of the city.

The state agency and Tucson Water disputed interpretation of federal Safe Drinking Water Act rules involved in the citation, so the Environmental Protection Agency investigated the city water system. In April, the EPA upheld federal-law citations in the state's November letter, finding Tucson Water in violation of seven rules, said Jon Merkle, a senior environmental scientist in the EPA's San Francisco office. "This agreement satisfies the requirement that no customer receive drinking water which has not been appropriately monitored," said Edward Fox, Environmental Quality director. Tucson Water was taking water samples and testing them for regular reports to the state agency at only 15 points in its 173-well system, he said. The agreement requires the utility to sample and test for state reporting at 126 points in the system, said John Jones, acting Tucson Water director.

The added tests will nearly double the city's water-testing budget for the year beginning July 1, pushing it up $1.1 million to $2.3 million, he said. Brian Munson, director of the state agency's See FINES, Page 2B Park campsites to quickly fill for holiday weekend Sarah Mayhew leAnzona Daily Star 1 J' Tucsonans will have to pitch their tents in the back yard over the Fourth of July weekend unless they head for nearby state Hidden-gun applications now in mail DPS expects to get 50,000 permit bids PHOENLX (AP) The Department of Public Safety is distributing nearly 60,000 application packets for concealed-weapon permits and expects to process 50,000 within a year, officials said yesterday. "I would estimate that we would approve 90 percent of those who apply," said Lt. Tom Clinkenbeard, commander of the handgun control and permit section for the DPS. To obtain a permit, an individual must complete 16 hours of firearm training, be a legal resident of the state, have no felony conviction or indictment and have no history of mental illness.

A system for handling the criminal background check has been under development, but obtaining mental histories for all applicants may prove difficult because of doctor-patient confidentiality, Clinkenbeard said. Applicants' fingerprints are required for the background check but DPS won't take the prints, Clinkenbeard said, explaining that "applicants will have to go to their local law enforcement agency or there are private agencies that will do it." Clinkenbeard said DPS will process applications for instructor permits quickly but that other applicants should expect a delay of 60 to 75 days. The first non-instructor permits probably will be issued around the middle of September, he said. DPS has not determined how many facilities or instructors will be necessary to meet the weap AT A GLANCE Call these National Forest Service phone numbers to find out if campsites are available: Chiricahua Mountains (602) 824-3560. Parker Canyon Lake (602) 455-5847.

Madera Canyon (602) 281-2296. Pefta Blanca Lake (602) 287-5251. Mount Lemmon (Rose Canyon, General Hitchcock and Spencer Canyon) 749-8700. i Fire danger throughout the Coronado National Forest is rated "very high" for the holiday weekend, with forecasters celling for high winds, scorching temperatures, little rainfall and lightning. "This place is like a tinder-box," said Nelson Turtle, a Mount Lemmon Ski Valley employee.

The National Weather Service is forecasting afternoon temperatures ranging from 107 degrees See CAMPSITES, Page 2B parks by tomorrow afternoon, park rangers said. Rangers from Patagonia Lake State Park, Madera Canyon, Pefia Blanca, Parker Canyon, the Chiri-cahua Mountains and Mount Lemmon parks say people will be lucky to find a campsite by Friday. "We will be jam-packed," said Kathy Paradiso, Chiricahua National Monument park ranger. The park, near Douglas, has 24 campsites and about 50 picnic tables. Last week, Rose Canyon and General Hitchcock campsites on Mount Lemmon were filled by noon Friday, said Bret Bush, recreational forester.

Rose Canyon has about 70 campsites; General Hitchcock, 13; and Spencer Canyon, about 70. "If I were camping this week, I would show up Thursday morning," Bush said. Those who snag a campsite should leave their fireworks behind, park officials said. Ijjr i yi pymyttFynrum f'" ffi Woman, 31, is shot to death in her home ons training requirement. He also said no organization has yet been Back-seat driver certified to teach the course.

"We're not sure how many training programs will be imple room when she was shot. Pratt is 5 feet 5 inches tall with gray and black hair pulled into a pony tail, police said. He was seen driving from the fourplex in a tan 1988 Hyundai two-door. The right front fender of the car is painted black. A source said Brownly and Pratt, whose brother lives next door to the victim, were arguing shortly before the slaying.

Their relationship was not known yesterday. Brownly's children a 9-year-old girl and two boys, 7 and 11-were taken into custody yesterday by workers from the state Child Protective Services division. None of the children was injured and police believe they did not witness the shooting. The roommate, who was not identified, told police she was in another bedroom when she heard a gunshot and then saw Pratt speed away from the home, investigators said. By Hipolito R.

Corella The Arizona Daily Star A 31 -year-old woman was shot and killed yesterday in the bedroom of her northside apartment while her three children sat in the living room, police said. Police were searching late yesterday afternoon for a man believed to be with Lisa J. Brownly at the time of the shooting. Police found Brownly's body in her bedroom in the apartment she shared with her three children and a woman roommate in the 700 block of East Buddy Lane, said Sgt. Ernie Smith, a Tucson police spokesman.

Sources said she was shot once in the face. The pistol apparently used in the killing was found nearby. She was dead before police arrived at the fourplex near North First Avenue and East Fort Lowell Road. Police said William R. Pratt, 40, was with Brownly in her bed YVIIdl MIC OQIdjr VI bllllUICII 19 HI 9tUr, sometimes you have to squat down and pretend you're a car.

Flowing Wells senior Matt Willard, 16, above, does just that as part of the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department's fourth annual Safe Kids Bike Safety Days. At left, Salpointe student James Maldleigh, 17, helps 8-year-old Leonard Saiz steer through the safety course. About 1,700 children are expected to participate in the two-day bicycle safety program, which concludes today at the Tucson Convention Center. Kids learn the rules of the road and how to interact with traffic through a safety course complete with cars, stop signs and traffic signals. The importance of wearing a helmet also is stressed.

i Photos by David Sanders The Arizona Daily Star mented, but we anticipate 300 to 400 or somewhere in that neighborhood," Clinkenbeard said. The applications will be available at locations that issue hunting and fishing licenses, and at all DPS offices. A four-year permit will cost $50, a permit to train concealed-weapons applicants will cost $74 and a permit to instruct and carry a permit will cost $100. Currently the only Arizonans allowed to carry concealed weapons are law enforcement officers, but Clinkenbeard said he has heard very little opposition to issuing concealed-weapon permits. DPS will not require permit applicants to reveal the type of weapon they intend to carry or why they want to carry the weapon he said.

i Health panel member sues supervisors over renewal of computer services pact Signing up to vote Libertarians submit petitions to join Nov. ballot contract was not renewed because of "lack of attention" during a reorganization of the health system administration last year. He said he discovered the delinquent contract about three months after starting his new job. "It's a series of circumstances that's not desirable by any stretch of the imagination, but you can't undo the past," Huckelbeny said. Moore, a longtime critic of the health system and Kino Community Hospital, named Madden to the commission in May after he removed his former appointee, Dorothy Finley, who disagreed with him.

Moore has said that he would file suit over the contract renewal. At the June 6 meeting, he asked fellow supervisors to pay for a lawyer so he could sue the board. Supervisors voted against the request. He said he gave Madden information about the contract because she was concerned. But Moore denied direct involvement in the lawsuit.

Madden said she filed the lawsuit on her own. Supervisor Raul Grijalva, a Democrat, said he thinks Moore is making Madden sue for him. By Sarah Tully The Arizona Daily Star A dissident member of a key county health commission is suing the Pima County Board of Supervisors for improperly approving a contract for computer services in the health system. Billie Jane Madden, Supervisor Ed Moore's appointee to the Blue Ribbon Commission, filed the lawsuit Friday in Arizona Superior Court. The lawsuit states that the board wrongly approved a contract for back payments to Information Network Corporation.

The company processes documents for indigent patients the county handles for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Republicans Moore and Supervisor Paul Marsh voted against the May 17 motion. The county illegally paid the corporation after the board denied contract renewal the year before on July 6, 1993, the lawsuit states. The corporation was paid month-to-month for its state-mandated services from that time until last month. County Administrator Chuck Huckelbeny, who started as interim manager in December, said the Buttrick would not predict the number of votes he might get in November, but said that if he could get 3 percent, which would be about double the Libertarian registration in Arizona, "it would be a victory." Tomkins said the Libertarians' goal is for Buttrick to get at least 5 percent of the vote in the general election, which would automatically qualify the party for the ballot in the next election.

Under state law, the party also can qualify for future ballots by increasing its registration to about 13,000, which represents two-thirds of one percent of all registered voters, Tomkins said. Unless the party can qualify automatically for the ballot, it has to go through the process of circulating petitions each election year. This year, it took 19,826 signatures to qualify, Tomkins said. Other Libertarians who filed nominating petitions yesterday included Scott Grainger, who is running for the U.S. Senate; John Karow, attorney general; Ernest Hancock, secretary of state; and Doyle Vines, Corporation Commission.

PHOENLX (AP) The Arizona Libertarian Party filed more than 35,000 petition signatures with the Secretary of State's Office yesterday, more than double the number needed to qualify the party for the November ballot. A dozen Libertarian candidates also filed nominating petitions, including John Buttrick, a Phoenix lawyer and the first Libertarian gubernatorial candidate to qualify for the ballot in 12 years. "We're very optimistic about the governor's race," said Rick Tompkins, the party's state chairman. "It's conceivable that we could win, although an awful lot of things would have to happen to make that possible. What is certain is that we will be a factor.

John Buttrick will get a significant number of votes." Buttrick, a partner in the Phoenix law firm Brown Bain, is the first Libertarian gubernatorial candidate to qualify for the ballot since 1982, when former Rep. Sam Steiger was the party's statewide standard bearer. Steiger received just over 36,000, or about 5 percent, of the 726,000 votes cast in that election. THU 3 0 JUN1994 FRI.