In April 1997: The Arizona Department of Transportation increased the speed limit on
Arizona 85 - the highway from Ajo to Rocky Point, Sonora - to 65 mph from 55 mph.
The change was opposed by the National Park Service, which maintained that the speed limit along the 22 miles of Arizona 85 that run through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument should remain 55 mph.
If anything, the federal government argued, the speed limit should be lowered to 45 mph, to ensure the safety of tourists and prevent wildlife from being killed or injured. Also, the government claimed that the higher speed saved motorists less than four minutes of travel time.
Now: Public meetings are scheduled this week by the National Park Service to help decide what the speed limit should be through the national monument.
Public meetings are:
/ Thursday 7 to 9 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 4321 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.
/ Friday 7 to 9 p.m. at Randolph Center Building, 200 S. Alvernon Way, Tucson.
/ Saturday 9 to 11 a.m. at the Ajo Community Center, 290 E. Fifth,
Ajo.
WEB SITE PROVIDES INFORMATION OF
IMPORTANCE TO NEIGHBORHOODS
In January: Neighborhood activist Richard Donley Fox unveiled www.nailem.org/ - a Web site that gives people quick access to information about city and state elected officials, as well as updates about legislative and other government actions that affect neighborhoods.
The Web site came courtesy of NAILEM - or Neighborhood Activists Inter-Linked Empowerment Movement - which longtime Valley residents Donna Neill and Paul Enniss helped found three years ago.
Now: Fox has been tweaking the system so that each community is recognized by computer search engines. People who don't know the Web site address could type in the name of the city or town as a keyword search.
And Fox says he knows people have been using the site because he's gotten calls from across the state about information that was outdated or erroneous.
Fox has been updating the site with
new tidbits, including seven neighborhood forums on May 23 that will allow residents to
meet and chat with newly named Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
GLENDALE ELEMENTARY DISTRICT SETTLES WITH SUPERINTENDENT
In December 1997: Glendale Elementary School District Superintendent Richard Terbush filed a notice of claim against the district for $2 million for physical and mental distress he suffered from the actions of school board member Gail Poe. The letter claimed that Poe made defamatory comments about Terbush over a six-month period and that Terbush suffered professionally, physically and mentally.
Now: Terbush in late April accepted a settlement with the school district that will end his contract by giving him more than $40,000.
Terbush had been on disability leave from his $105,000-a-year post since early October, a few weeks after a lawsuit was filed against four former board members accused of violating the state's open-meeting law.
Poe is the only member from that period to remain on the board. Four board members were appointed in January after board President Sandra Malone and board members Aurora Gamboa, Sue Komernicky and Mark Trueblood gave up their posts as part of an agreement reached with the state Attorney General's Office.
Terbush's agreement, approved by the four new school board members, pays Terbush the rest of his 1997-98 salary and terminates the final two years of his contract, effective June 30. He also receives an additional $40,000, plus health insurance coverage for himself and his dependents for a limited time. Poe was the only board member to vote against the agreement.