Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 2

STREET EDITION Uht Affeana Baito Star Tucson, Sunday, April 29, 1990 Page One Deadline revs up car insurance petition activilty to give up your right to contest that I don't think people will stand for that" A second New Start petition drive was launched last month to implement a system that would allow motorists to choose between traditional liability coverage and a no-fault policy. But it recently was discovered that the petition was worded Improperly, and some 16,000 signatures that had been collected had to be scrapped and a new petition drawn. It was filed Tuesday. The Implementation initiative would be meaningless without the constitutional amendment. No-fault supporters, however, said they introduced the second measure because they fear legislators won't take action this See INSURANCE, Page 4B loss if they are Involved in an accident, regardless of who caused it Injured parties could not sue to recover damages for pain and suffering, and the basic coverage is limited to $15,000.

Proponents of no-fault say the system would cut insurance premiums by reducing litigation. Critics of no-fault, led by the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, say it gives insurance companies a way to dodge rate regulation and consumer advocacy. Arizona New Start is partially financed by insurance companies. Kromko said consumers would be the big losers under the proposed no-fault system. "There's nothing positive for the consumer at all," Kromko said.

Insurance companies "want to make a schedule of how much they'll pay you and they want you tures will mount as the July 5 deadline gets closer. "It'll catch on. The word gets out," said Davis, whose group is leading two separate petition campaigns. "You spend the first third to half of your efforts on getting the petitions out." Kromko launched his petition drive Feb. 8 and has collected more than 30,000 of the 86,699 signatures he needs to get the initiative on the Nov.

6 ballot. Arizona New Start began Feb. 16 and has collected 17,234 signatures. No-fault supporters need to collect at least 130,048 signatures because they are seeking to amend the state constitution. Under no-fault, motorists would give up their right to sue in certain circumstances, which the constitution now prohibits.

Insurance companies would reimburse policyholders for medical costs and some income By Mary K. Relnhart The Arizona Dally Star PHOENIX Initiative campaigns to reform Arizona's auto insurance laws have reached the midway point, but organizers agree most of the work lies ahead. Petition drives often start slowly, then pick up momentum when supporters realize the deadline is near, said Rep. John Kromko, D-Tucson, whose California-style initiative would roll back insurance rates by 20 percent. "I've been through this many times, and you always get to feeling antsy this time of year," said, Kromko, a veteran of eight initiative campaigns.

Bob Davis, petition coordinator for the no-fault insurance group Arizona New Start, agrees that signa CeaD-IiG'D-vooQaDODii sleuth -J I i M-- it 1 fl I fT. I 1 -if m. -1 if VJ i 1 1 i im iif -i '1i i mmiljii "iti it 1 -)--- Hunting rats is only part of mission By John F. Rawlinson The Arizona Dally Star Mark R. Miller is looking for rats in a Circle store this particular afternoon.

It's his job. Miller, 47, is one of nine inspectors from the environmental health division of the Pima County Health Department He inspects restaurants, food stores, and school kitchens for health and sanitation violations. A customer had called the Health Department with a complaint that he had seen rat droppings, and that a rat had eaten a hole in a box of cereal he was going to buy. The rat sighting is "the first I can remember in years," Miller said as he drives to the store in his pickup. The rats might have entered the store from the desert surrounding the isolated Circle he says.

"Irate" customers Customers were "irate" at seeing the rats, the inspector said. Miller inspected the store and then hand delivered a health violation notice to the Circle headquarters the same day, giving the firm 24 hours to act. The violation note instructs the store to "Eliminate rodent infestation within the store. Seal all outer openings." It also says to inspect and eliminate all nesting or hiding places and to seal holes in the wall where soda lines run through it. The next day clerks have been busy removing food that has been tampered with.

The rats have chewed holes in bags containing charcoal to get nesting material, Miller said, and clerks noticed the rats went after bags of cereal and dry dog food. The "big boss" from company headquarters was in the store that morning, a clerk tells Miller, checking on conditions. Several boxes containing food that will be thrown away are sitting around. And obvious efforts have been made to seal some holes in the store's walls. An, exterminating company came out the clerk says.

"Patching up holes" "I could have revoked or suspended their permit" Miller says, climbing back in his pickup after the inspection. "But they didn't ignore me. They did some work in there patching up holes and they had an exterminating company come out. I'll check back later and see how many they've caught" he said. i Photos by Benjie Sanders, The Arizona Dally Star Mark R.

Miller, a Pima County health inspector, checks the food temperature at a southside restaurant ij 'HHMManOTaj 4 r- Moore asks Tucson to shut landfill Offers use of Pima site if Los Reales is closed By Joe Burchell The Arizona Daily Star Pima County Supervisor Ed Moore sent letters to the City Coun- cil Friday asking that leaking Los Reales landfill be shut down. Moore, a Democrat offered to support free city use of the county landfill if the city closes Los Reales, -which is leaking contaminants into the ground water. He also sent letters to 10 private garbage collection companies telling them they could be held liable for cleaning up Los Reales or any ground-water contamination caused by the landfill if they continue to dump there. City officials said any pollution problems at Los Reales are being dealt with, and there are no plans to close the landfill on East Los Reales Road, near Interstate 10. Meanwhile, other supervisors said Moore is speaking only for himself when he offers, free use of the county's landfill on Tangerine Road.

"I don't recall the board ever taking a vote on that," said Democrat Dan Eckstrom. Democrat Raul Gri-jalva said Moore is "one board member. He's in no position to be li See DUMP, Page4B Legislators likely to keep full allowance By Susan R. Carson The Arizona Dally Star PHOENIX As legislators struggle to end this year's regular and special legislative sessions, they could be without one of the more traditional Incentives that help them finish their work. The motivation to work harder for adjournment is a statute that requires per diem expenses be reduced after the first 120 days of the regular legislative session, or May 9 this year.

That normally would mean that the expense allowance for legislators who live outside Maricopa County would be cut from $60 a day to $20 a day, while the allowances for those who live inside Maricopa County and commute from their homes daily would be reduced from $35 a day to $10 a day. But this year, that hammer could be removed because lawmakers are in both a regular session which some legislative staff members said See ALLOWANCE, Page 2B Aviation Hall welcomes first four members By Donlne S. Henshaw The Arizona Daily Star Frank Borman went from Tucson High School quarterback to fighter pilot to commander of the Apollo 8 lunar space flight to landing himself a place in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame. Borman, former Sen. Barry Gold-water, Frank Luke Jr and Walter Douglas Jr, last night were the first people inducted into the hall of fame at a dinner in their honor.

About 225 people attended the ceremony, held in the Hall of Fame Building at the Pima Air Museum. Borman's high school football coach, Rollin Gridley, said Borman was an excellent quarterback. "He was the brains of the team. While ne played, our teams never lost or tied a game," Gridley said. i At But rats usually aren't Miller's main line of work.

His territory covers "everything south of Ajo and west of (South) Campbell Avenue," he says. This includes 295 stores, food places and restaurants, 141 mobile home parks and schools, and 166 pools and spas. This afternoon he will inspect a Chinese restaurant and a tortilla factory-eatery, armed with a thermometer with a sharp point. With that instrument he will check to see that food that is supposed to be hot is at least 140 degrees. And that cold food is at or below 45 degrees.

"Anything in between is a violation," Miller says. "And I won't accept the excuse that 'Oh, we just put it on there (a steam It must be hot when they put it on there." Temperature violations are considered major violations and can bring an establishment's score down quickly, Miller says. First stop The first stop is at the Phoenix Village restaurant 2750 W. Valencia Road. Victor Gee, the owner, greets him cordially, and Miller begins his inspection.

Jab goes the thermometer into some hot food on the steam table; it reg-See INSPECTOR, Page2B V' Vent grabs attention "I could have revoked or suspended their permit. But they didn't ignore me. They did some work in there patching up holes and they had an exterminating company come out." Mark R. Miller Pima health inspector Miller looks into restaurant's flour containers i a Public input sought at Tuesday meeting on 11 proposed sites for CAP storage Speedway M-wd. job "-TL, Tuceon Speedway Vitiwuiiuiiii ram 1 I 1 r-i -1 Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation SI 0 -HfN Road! I Jo Ls n.

San Xavier ci. G5) rYf Indian sJl A Reservation I 1 CAP aqueduct system to carry Colorado River water to the Tucson region starting next year. Officials are looking for a way to guarantee a reserve supply of water when CAP deliveries are interrupted by maintenance work or emergencies. The bureau estimates that 10,000 to 35,000 acre-feet of reserve water should be available. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot Until 1983, the bureau planned to build a dam and store water at Cat Mountain in the Tucson Mountains.

But that proposed reservoir site drew fierce opposition from Tucsonans because it would have flooded part of Tucson Mountain Park. The cost of developing one of the 1 1 new sites under consideration ranges from $35 million to $250 million, according to bureau estimates. Nelson said the bureau probably, will drop some sites quickly after Tuesday's public meeting, the first of several that the bureau plans to hold. As an example, he cited a reservoir site at Black Mountain on the Tohono O'odham Nation's San Xavier Indian Reservation. That could flood up to 3,000 acres, including a sacred mountain where the O'odham See CAP STORAGE, Page 4B By Enric Volante The Arizona Daily Star Federal planners have identified 1 1 possible sites to store a backup supply of Central Arizona Project water in the Tucson area.

locations range from one reservoir site that would displace 50 homes near Tucson Mountain Park to another that would flood sacred lands on the San Xavier Indian Reservation. Three' of the 11 sites would store water underground in the aquifer instead of in a surface reservoir perhaps in a joint "recharge" project with the city. Others might be used to create a recreational lake west of Tucson. -The VJL Bureau of Reclamation will hold its first meeting to explain the storage project and hear public comment Tuesday. The" meeting is set for 7 p.m.

in the Forum Room of the downtown Holiday Inn, 181 W. Broadway. "We want to find out what issues and concerns are important to the people down in Tucsoo so we can prioritize those Issues jrhen we evaluate the alternatives," said Dave Nelson, a Bureau of Reclamation planning officer. The Bureau of Reclamation is building the 330-mile Reservoir sites Recharge sifts Source: U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation CAP aqueduct Jon Hassen, The Arizona Daily Star "We want to find out what issues and concerns are important to the people down In Tucson so we can prioritize those issues when we evaluate the alternatives." Dave Nelson, of U.S.

Buresu of Reclamation The school had a 32-game winning See AVIATION, Page6B.