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Smoking Ban Draws Nigh
 New statewide law takes effect May 1
By Jill Jones
The News
“You, with the cigarette - step away
from the door.
Take 20 steps back. Thank you, you are
free to smoke.”
A statewide smoking ban that goes into
effect May
1, 2007 may not include the “smoke
police” but will
require adherence to the new law that
prohibits smoking
in public places.
The new statewide smoking law was
approved by
Arizona voters last November, and it
places restrictions
on smoking in and around businesses,
public
buildings and places of employment,
including bars
and restaurants.
The new rules require a 20-foot
smoke-free buffer
zone around building entrances.
Employees or business
patrons who smoke must be at least 20
feet from
all open windows, doors or ventilation
outlets. No
smoking signs, at least 4 by 6 inches in
size, must be
posted outdoors at all entrances or on
windows, if
visible from the outside.
All indoor ashtrays and smoking
receptacles must
be removed. If an inspector finds an
indoor ashtray, it
will be considered a violation. In
addition, outdoor
ashtrays must be placed 20 feet from
doors, windows
and ventilation outlets.
See
A-1
Employee Complaint
Leveled Against Police Chief Walp
Inquiry
made into whether generosity was
appropriate
 At
right, Police Chief Glenn Walp. The
attorney who investigated the complaint
said, “Really nothing extraordinary took
place. It’s not a very complicated or
serious
matter.”
By Jill Jones
The News
APACHE JUNCTION- A personnel related
complaint made against Apache Junction
Police
Chief Glenn Walp required the city to
place the chief on paid leave for three
days, as a matter of process, for the
purpose of conducting an independent
inquiry, city officials said last week.
Walp was placed on paid
leave Tuesday afternoon,
April 3, 2007, while the complaining
party, a female whose identity was not
revealed,
was interviewed and an independent
investigator
looked into the complaint. Walp was back
at work on Friday, April 6.
Apache Junction City Manager George
Hoffman said he received the complaint
on
Thursday, March 29, 2007 and after
discussing
it with City Attorney Joel Stern and the
Director of Human Resources, Liz Riley,
it was
decided that the best course of action
would
be to consult with a outside human
resource
legal specialist so as to avoid a
possible conflict
of interest. Attorney Rick Cohen, of
Ford
and Harrison, LLP, was called in for the
assignment.
See
A-1
and see Police
Chief page,
A-5
G.C. Man Charged With
Indecency
 Exposure incident reportedly witnessed
by adults and children
By Jill Jones
The News
GOLD CANYON- A Gold Canyon
man was arrested on Monday,
April 9, 2007 after the Pinal County
Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) reportedly
received two separate, back-toback
complaints of a nude man exposing
himself in the 9800 block of
E. DelMonte Ave. in Gold Canyon.
A deputy was dispatched to the
location after a witness had come
to the Sheriff’s Gold Canyon substation
around 10 a.m. to report an
indecent exposure incident that he
said had occurred in the presence
of his eight-year old daughter and
three-year-old son while he was
taking his daughter to school.
He told authorities that when he
passed the suspect residence on
Del Monte Avenue he observed a
white male, completely nude,
standing by a work bench and also
said the man would turn toward traffic
as it passed. The witness told
deputies the he saw the nude
man’s action of turning toward traffic
as “intentional” and that it was
as if “the subject was waiting for
people to pass by and then turning
toward them and exposing himself”.
See
A-1
AJHS Girls Tie For 2nd
In Region Tennis
 Playoff today or Tuesday against
Coronado for automatic State Tournament
berth
By Chuck Baker
The News
Hoping to make their second
4A-II State Tournament in a
row, the Lady Prospector tennis
team will look to defeat
Scottsdale Coronado in a playoff
match scheduled for either
today, Monday, April 16 or
Tuesday, April 17 to earn the
East Sky Region’s second automatic
berth to State.
The two teams ended up tied
for second place in the final region
standings with only three
losses behind front-runner
Phoenix Arcadia, and because
only the top two teams from the
region receive an automatic bid
into the State Tournament, the
playoff will determine the second
tournament berth.
Because the region’s tennis
coaches weren’t scheduled to
meet until today, we don’t know
where or when the playoff will
be held but you may be able to
find out by calling the Apache
Junction High School’s athletic
office at 982-1110, extension
2324.
But win or lose the playoff,
Apache Junction is likely headed
to the State Tournament anyway
because of their power
point rankings from the season,
according to head coach Steve
Coulter.
See
C-1
and see Tennis,
C-6
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