YUMA – Many children dislike following school dress codes, but one Arizona student is doing something about it.

Fourteen-year-old Justin Wright says he’s standing up for his constitutional rights in his fight to repeal the dress code at Centennial Middle School in Yuma in favor of street clothes.

The district requires students of Wright’s age to wear solid navy, red or white shirts; pants, jeans, shorts, capris, skirts and skorts are allowed, as long as they’re khaki, navy or plain denim. Athletic shoes, sandals and heels of 1 inch or less are allowed, but students can’t wear flip flops or shoes with tiny wheels on the bottom for gliding.

He wrote a letter against the dress code to the Crane Elementary School District governing board and has collected 250 signatures from students who want the code repealed. He said he wants about 300 more to make a statement to the board.

Wright said not only does the policy violate students’ right to free speech, but it also costs families more money to buy special items than having students wear their regular clothes.

District spokesman Chris Weigel said students’ free speech rights aren’t being infringed upon by the dress code.

He said research revealed uniforms are less expensive than street clothes.

Scott Jones, Wright’s language arts teacher, said he wasn’t comfortable taking a position on the petition drive, but did say he was proud of the appropriate way Wright has conducted himself.

Although he is graduating middle school next month, Wright said his success may save other students from following a dress code. He hopes a successful petition drive could influence high schools to also abandon a code.

“Maybe I can get this started again next year (at high school) and I can get really serious and get the attention of the TV news,” he said. “That way I’ll get more support.”

Several editorials about HB 2564, the Abortion Consent Act, unfortunately fail to recognize the problems with our abortion statutes and misrepresent the solutions the bill proposes.

As the prime sponsor of the legislation, I appreciate the chance to address both issues.

Women in Arizona lack informed consent when seeking an abortion.

It is standard practice for a patient to receive complete and accurate information before agreeing to virtually any other invasive medical procedure, including the information required in this bill: alternatives, risks and time to consider the options before undergoing the surgery.

All except for abortion.

Because of the nature of abortion, women are more vulnerable to being taken advantage of, routinely denied one-on-one counseling and often rushed into making the decision without the advantage of full and accurate information.

Waiting periods protect women from being pressured by individuals who may not have women’s best interests in mind.

Some claim a 24-hour reflection period presents an undue burden for women. Why should abortion be singled out as an undue burden when it is standard practice for every other surgery – even for women residing in rural areas?

Furthermore, the courts have held that 24 hours is not an undue burden. The informed consent features in HB 2564 will enhance the standard of care a woman seeking an abortion receives – a goal everyone should be able to agree is laudable.

These requirements will not in any way deny a woman the right to an abortion. So why do critics of HB 2564 believe women should not be fully informed before making such a monumental decision, which can have serious physical and emotional consequences?

The second problem HB 2564 solves is parental consent.

Editorial writers are correct in stating current Arizona statute requires a minor seeking an abortion to obtain a parent’s consent. But loopholes render the laws virtually unenforceable.

This bill simply requires a parent’s notarized signature – ensuring parents have a meaningful opportunity to give consent before an abortion is performed on their daughter, while still allowing an option for minors who are in abusive parental situations.

Parental consent laws are widely accepted and promote the parent-child relationship.

Third, the bill updates important civil rights protections for medical professionals.

Rights of conscience have always been an integral part of abortion statutes, allowing medical professionals to opt out of providing abortions.

But medical advances require we update these protections to include abortion medication, since these present a moral dilemma to some who do not wish to participate in causing the abortion of a child.

This protection will not prevent a woman from obtaining a morning after pill, as Plan B is readily available over the Internet, through the mail and even over the counter!

Respecting the right not to sell specific drugs causing the abortion of a child doesn’t impose an ideology on anyone, but forcing a pharmacist to sell them does.

Finally, the bill addresses nonphysicians performing surgical abortions.

The abortion procedure may not be new, but it still presents substantial risks to the female body, and serious complications occasionally arise. The Abortion Consent Act makes certain that only a licensed physician may perform the procedure, so women undergoing an abortion are not put at risk in Arizona.

HB 2564 does not address prevention. Preventing unwanted pregnancy is certainly an issue, but denying the existence of real problems with our current abortion statutes and not taking action to correct them is irresponsible.

The fact this bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support (36-19) should be some indication of its common-sense nature.

This bill has a woman’s best interest in mind, by equipping her with the information to make a better-informed decision. If a woman is serious about having an abortion, she can have one. But it is neither radical nor draconian to give women accurate medical information about the choices they make.

Nancy Barto is a Republican state representative for District 7 in Phoenix.

PHOENIX – The new interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services has revived a series of tobacco-prevention TV ads aimed at teenagers.

The 30-second spots, which target 12- to 17-year-olds, will begin to air Friday on cable channels popular with teens such as MTV, Comedy Central and BET. The ads play eerie music and show a creepy monster that personifies addiction and control.

The former acting director of the state health department pulled the plug on the three ads late last year, saying she questioned their cost-effectiveness, even after spending $900,000 on developing the commercials.

But the new interim director, Will Humble, said he believes the spots will work.

“This youth-tobacco campaign hits at one of the two primary problems we face as Arizonans: tobacco use and obesity,” he said. “It’s a good, effective campaign that’s been tested by focus groups.”

The ads drive viewers to an interactive Web site, venomocity.com, which includes more information about the dangers of smoking. That site goes live Feb. 16.

State and county public-health workers are delivering the same message at schools as part of the campaign.

“What we discovered in our focus groups is that youth don’t pick up the addiction (aspect) of tobacco,” said Wayne Tormala, chief of the state’s Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention. “Most youth . . . think, ‘Well, even if I start smoking now, I’ll quit by the time I get out of high school.’ They just don’t pick up on the control that nicotine has.”

The ads are produced by Phoenix advertising and public-relations firm Riester and are part of a larger $7 million anti-tobacco effort developed by health officials and endorsed by former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office.

When the ads didn’t run on the planned debut date of Nov. 20, health advocates questioned if the decision was more about public relations than public health, given the state’s dire budget shortfall.

January Contreras, former head of the Health Department, thought airing the ads on the Internet only would be more effective.

Funding for the ads comes from tobacco taxes approved by voters and specifically set aside for anti-smoking efforts, and therefore could not be used, for example, toward the state’s general fund.

The state spent $900,000 on the development of an anti-smoking campaign aimed at teens and children. But an 11th-hour decision by state officials resulted in the centerpiece, a series of television commercials, being yanked before they ever made the air.

Now, some health officials are criticizing the decision and say it may compromise the effectiveness of a public-awareness campaign two years in the making.

“You’ve already made this huge investment,” said Susan Gerard, the former director of the state health department that oversaw the campaign. “This is a waste of so many resources, so many man-hours of work … It’s really a shame.”

The series of three 30-second TV spots was intended to debut Nov. 20 to coincide with the Great American Smokeout, a national kick-the-habit effort.

But the ads were never broadcast following a decision by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which worked with Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office to produce the campaign. State officials say they began to question the cost-effectiveness of running the ads on TV, for which nearly $2 million was budgeted for airtime. The ads instead will be available online at anti-tobacco Web sites. But some health advocates question whether the health department’s reversal, which was endorsed by the Governor’s Office, was more about public relations than public health.

The state is facing a $1.2 billion shortfall this fiscal year, an amount that may double next year. Some health officials believe the anti-tobacco ads were canned to prevent the perception that the state was spending millions of dollars on advertisements during a budget crisis.

Funding for the ads was to come from tobacco taxes approved by voters and specifically set aside for anti-smoking efforts, and therefore could not be used, for example, toward the general fund.

January Contreras, director of the state health department, said there may be a better way to spend the money than to air the ads. But that decision has not yet been made, he said.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure we’re reviewing this carefully, and we’re making decisions that are smart and make the most sense in today’s economy,” she said. “No matter how that funding is used, it will be used for the purpose of youth tobacco-prevention efforts. It’s not as though any of the work that has been done will go to waste.”

On Nov. 18, when it became clear that the ads wouldn’t air on TV, officials from the American Lung Association of Arizona, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Heart Association sent a letter to Napolitano urging her to launch the campaign.

“Your record in leading the fight against tobacco, both personally and as a public official, is remarkable,” the letter stated. “It is with this in mind that we are incredibly alarmed to learn that your administration has decided to cancel Arizona’s new youth smoking-prevention campaign . . . ”

Jan Lesher, Napolitano’s chief of staff, responded with a letter noting that the bulk of the campaign will continue and defending the decision to cancel the TV ads.

“The vast majority of the campaign as originally planned continues to move forward,” Lesher wrote. “It does incorporate a Web site and Web-related outreach strategies to reach the settings where many of today’s youth spend their free time.”

The ads are part of a $7 million anti-tobacco campaign developed by health officials who hosted forums and town halls across Arizona, said Gerard, now vice-chairwoman of Maricopa Integrated Health System’s board.

Phoenix advertising and public-relations firm Riester produced the TV ads, but the state health department was unable Friday to determine how much the state paid for the work. Officials also did not release a copy of the commercials, saying they had not yet been approved.

Laura Oxley, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said the commercials may not appear only online, but could also be shown in schools.

That’s not enough, said Bob England, director of Maricopa County Department of Public Health. More than 500 kids start smoking in Arizona each month. Statistically, half eventually will die from it, he said. Aggressive, provocative TV ads are the best way to reach teens with the truths about smoking and addiction, England said.

“Marketing is the most crucial piece when we’re talking about teenage smoking,” he said. “The goal of the . . . TV advertisements is to create a buzz and drive kids to the Web site and to other materials so the whole thing can work together. If you try to do a marketing campaign, or other types of prevention activities without a good media piece, the science is really clear: You won’t get that synergy, it won’t work.”

Bill Pfeifer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Southwest, said he was still hopeful state officials would reconsider their decision.

“They were really ready to go, but for whatever reason the Governor’s Office said, ‘No we don’t want to run those ads,’ ” he said. “This is about saving lives – in particular, young people’s lives – and (to) hopefully keep them from smoking.”

By Matthew Benson, Yvonne Wingett

Teenager impresses local art world with his colorful abstract paintings

Daniel Leon, 17, works on a painting at his home in San Luis. His paintings are on display at the Yuma Arts Center through Aug. 28.

YUMA – Quiet and shy Daniel Leon will softly answer anything you ask, except for how the San Luis teen creates the marvelous paintings that are making such a stir in the local art world.

“People sometimes say they are amazed. They ask: ”How do you do that?’ ” Leon said. “I tell them that I really don’t know.”

The 17-year-old painter has been turning art lovers’ heads lately, thanks to a series of paintings about to go on display at the Yuma Art Center. They are definitely colorful, certainly abstract and always sure to keep adult fans talking.

“He has never taken (formal) classes at all. He just paints and has learned by himself,” raved Lourdes Sabori with the Cultural Council of Yuma. “Most young people, they are interested in painting like cartoon characters. He paints like he has in mind something different. He paints like he is much older.”

Lacking an appointment but armed with a plan, Leon recently walked into the Cultural Council offices and asked for an art show. Sabori said the staff there had already heard of Leon and they were interested in his work. The deal was sealed when he unveiled some paintings brought along as examples.

“I told him ‘Do you know that you are exceptional?’ ” Sabori said. “I told him ‘You are talented and we are going to work together to get you a show.’ ”

That big day, Leon’s debut as a professional artist, was Friday at the Yuma Art Center. Leon talked about and interpreted his art during a lecture.

The art exhibit will remain on display through Aug. 28.

Getting such a grand introduction to the art world certainly has the young artist beaming, too.

“It’s great. I’m too young to have an art show, so it’s like I’ve never imagined,” Leon said.

The San Luis teen discovered his passion for painting just south of the border in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, where he took an informal art class for kids. He was just 10 years old. He remembers suddenly being able to draw people and animals, exhibiting techniques he’d never been taught and producing images he never knew were in his mind.

“I knew how to draw horses and people would ask, ‘How did you draw that?’ and I would say that I didn’t know,” he said, explaining that the art was simply already inside him all along. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it was just there. I just painted with my eye.”

That discovery soon revealed itself as a the appearance of a life’s calling.

“It was my hobby, my education – and my life,” he said. “It was the only thing I was good at.”

Leon continues alone on his journey of artistic self-discovery without the aid of formal teachers or classes. The artist unhappily pointed out, however, that he doesn’t always have the free time he needs to sit down with easel and brush.

“My brother tells me every day to paint or draw something little from the corner of my mind,” he said. “My art is more symbolic, to show an emotion or a feeling or a concept or give a message. My art is only symbolic and surreal.”

Even without the help of a big art show, Leon has already sold about five paintings, mostly just through word of mouth.

Seventeen of Leon’s paintings will be on display at the Yuma Art Center. If the public likes certain paintings, they’ll be able to take them home – for a price. About half of the paintings will be for sale.

“Some of them are very special to me,” Leon said, and he can’t part with those certain pieces.

Arizona drivers under 18 who have had their licenses for less than six months can no longer drive between midnight and 5 a.m.

The Teenage Driver Safety Act that went into effect on July 1 is designed to cut down on the number of accidents involving teens.

The law has exceptions if the teen is with a parent, driving to and from work, school or church function.

The law also bars affected drivers from having more than one teenage passenger they’re not related to in the car.

Yuma police spokesman Clint Norred says the law lets new drivers learn the ropes with fewer distractions. He says heading out late at night with a car packed with teens and a new driver is a recipe for disaster.

State statistics show Arizona drivers between the ages of 15 and 18 were involved in almost 21,000 crashes in 2006, leading to 106 deaths.

MESA – A state law that puts restrictions on new teenage drivers takes effect July 1, the result of one mother’s fight to make sure her daughter’s death wasn’t in vain.

New drivers younger than 18 will not be allowed to drive between midnight and 5 a.m. They will not be allowed to have more than one teenage passenger who they’re not related to, at any time.

The restrictions will be in place for the first six months after a teenager receives a license.

“Good kids are dying out there,” said Donna Oltmann, whose daughter was killed in a 2004 car crash. “If we can do anything to make it safer for them so that no other family has to get that phone call, I’m going to remain active.”

Her daughter, 15-year-old Krystal Ebel, and four friends were packed into a car heading back to Dobson High School in Mesa after a lunchtime pizza party.

Krystal and the driver, 16-year-old Shayna Linneen, died after the car jumped the curb and struck a tree.

Last year, Oltmann and a group of traffic safety activists helped lobby for passage of the new restrictions.

“Sure I’m a grieving mom,” Oltmann said. “But I’m a mom who has learned so much information that I didn’t care to learn throughout my life. Now that I know, I have to do something to make a change. Once you’ve got that information, you’ve got to act on it.”

Before the new law, Arizona was one of five states that had no restrictions on when newly licensed teens could drive, or how many people they could have in their cars.

Now only three states will have no such limits, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a traffic safety research organization.

Traffic crashes are by far the leading cause of death for youths between 15 and 18 years old, accounting for nearly half of the deaths in that age group, according to federal statistics.

In 2006, drivers between 15 and 18 were involved in almost 21,000 crashes in Arizona, resulting in 106 deaths, according to data from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Studies conducted in other states have shown that laws limiting new teen drivers have reduced crash rates for that age group by as much as 60 percent, and reduced fatal crashes involving teen drivers by as much as 32 percent, according to figures cited by AAA.

The law was signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano last year. Ahwatukee Foothills Rep. John McComish, a backer of the law, said he expects to see reductions in teen crashes.

"I refuse the idea that 'being gay' is a reason to hate someone. I refuse to accept it, it has become obsolete. Those who do hold that hate in their hearts, well, after my crowning it is obvious they are now the minorities." Eighteen year old Red Mountain High School senior Kyle Hutchinson, who became the first openly gay prom king in the school's 20 year history poses in Mesa, Ariz., on May 20.

It was the proudest moment of Kyle Hutchinson’s life. As he stood before the crowd at Villa Siena in Mesa on May 3 and was crowned king of the Red Mountain High School prom, he couldn’t stop smiling. The velvet hat that read “Prom King 2008.” The matching cape. It was all so perfect.

Then the boos came.

It wasn’t from everyone, but the dissent rose up from a small, but loud, group of people who were upset, not just because their favorite hadn’t been chosen, but because the boy who did win had done something that had never before happened at Red Mountain.

He was prom king and he is openly gay.

His mother and father, who were in the audience to root for their son, described feeling sick at the sound of the jeering.

“He kept telling me he was going to win and he had convinced me,” said his mother, Doreen Hutchinson. “When they called his name, we heard the cheering, but then we immediately heard the boos. My heart went into my stomach. It was so awful. My husband said he was expecting it, but I wasn’t prepared. It was so sad.”

Hutchinson said he felt bad that his parents had to hear his classmates who weren’t supporting him. But he also said that their reaction is something he has known his whole life, and he wasn’t about to let it ruin his moment.

“I’m always trying to be a good role model for other people. To tell them, ‘It’s OK to be gay. Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you have to be the lowest person, treated the worst,”‘ he said. “But this is something I wanted to do for myself — to prove something to me.”

The king and queen titles have long represented archetypal male and female roles. But gay and lesbian students have been in the news more in recent years for asserting their right to run for their place on the royal court, too, so Hutchinson is not the first and likely won’t be the last.

But according to several teachers with long tenures at the school, he, by all accounts, is the very first to be king at Red Mountain in its 20-year history, at least the first to be open about his sexuality.

Hutchinson was aware of that as he set his sights on the crown in January.

He said he had always been picked on for being more feminine than other boys; for not being interested in sports, for example, or other activities it seemed all his male counterparts were doing.

He came out to his parents on his 16th birthday, and the following school year — after moving from Basha High School in Chandler to Red Mountain in Mesa — he started off the first day being open about his sexuality.

He said Mesa is known for having a large population of conservative Christians who don’t necessarily support homosexuality. So he was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn’t have any problems until prom night.

Now that he has graduated from high school, he hopes to continue working to promote awareness and acceptance by speaking to students who are studying to become teachers about how they can make schools a better place for students like himself.

Red Mountain student Maddy Cypert said she knows there is a lack of understanding at her school about what being gay even means.

She was disappointed that her classmates reacted the way they did to Hutchinson.

“I was hoping he would win. When he won and everyone started booing I was really frustrated by that. A lot of people at my school, they’re really biased against gay people,” she said. “I don’t necessarily think it’s right either, but I don’t think people should be bullied for what they believe.”

Teacher Keiko Dilbeck said Hutchinson is a student to admire for his kindness and his ability to inspire. She was disappointed by the response at prom and wrote a letter for the school newspaper to tell students how she felt about the ones who spoiled a memorable moment.

But Hutchinson said it’s not what he will choose to remember most about his senior prom. Instead he’ll remember that he set a goal that, to some, might have seemed unachievable, and reached it with ease and marginal opposition.

“The people who booed me, I forgive them. But, I guess there’s really nothing to forgive,” he said. “I refuse the idea that ‘being gay’ is a reason to hate someone. I refuse to accept it, it has become obsolete. Those who do hold that hate in their hearts, well, after my crowning it is obvious they are now the minorities.”

Cooking school has special classes

Brianna Tresslar (from left), 13; and her sister Amanda Tresslar, 17; Kaitlynn Teubner, 15, and Jordan Harter, 13, top off the lime ice box pie they made with Nilla wafers.

MESA – Collin licked the spatula. Brianna licked the beater. Amanda wiped the bowl clean with her finger and then, of course, licked that, too.

The kids had just finished creating the first of four menu items – Liz Perry’s EZ Lime Icebox Pie – in a cooking class at Simply Impressive Cooking School in Mesa, and were sampling the fruits of their labors.

Five girls and one boy, aprons donned, assembled around the counter with their teacher, Judy Toth, to next tackle chicken-and-bean enchiladas as part of a new class designed just for their special needs.

The idea to cater a cooking lesson to teenagers with a range of mental and developmental disabilities came about when Karen Gilbert started taking classes with Toth to improve her own skills.

She thought her daughter, Jordan Harter, 13, who has Down syndrome, could benefit from learning some of the same cooking skills and suggested Toth visit Mesquite Junior High School in Gilbert to teach the half-dozen students in her class.

That day, Jordan learned to make stuffed French toast, and her mom said she couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks.

“Those kids were so happy that they could do something all by themselves,” Gilbert said. “Now, cooking is this nice daily thing that we can do together.”

Gilbert said learning life and social skills are important for Jordan, and in the summertime when school is out, she’s always looking for opportunities for her daughter to continue working on those skills.

“Coordination, for example, is really important, so the mixing is a good thing for her to practice,” she said.

Toth thought about her experience with that class and decided to teach a separate session for kids with special needs at her cooking school. She said using her knack for cooking and teaching to enhance the skills of this group of students is “one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.”

Toth said adapting her typical teaching style was tough, though.

Most of the students have never used a can opener, for example, or recognize the importance of washing their hands before handling food.

She said she also had to plan a menu that didn’t include the use of knives, fire or other hazards.

The students encouraged each other throughout the lessons with remarks such as “use your muscles” and “come on, you can do it,” Toth said.

And the parents attending the class agreed that it was having the effects they had hoped for.

Kathy Reed enrolled her son, Collin, 14, in the class because he enjoys cooking, and eating, and she thought it would be a fun and useful way to spend an afternoon.

Collin has a mild developmental disability and cooking is helpful to him because he is learning the same coordination skills Gilbert referenced and also learning to use basic tools in the kitchen so he can take care of himself on some levels.

“These are great skills for him to have,” Kathy Reed said. “These are great skills for all kids to have.”

An expert in adolescent development will be speaking Tuesday at the University of Arizona on teen suicide.

Dr. Donald E. Greydanus, professor of pediatrics and human development and director of adolescent medicine at Michigan State University, has written many books on the topic for both professionals and the public, including “Caring for Your Teenager,” published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Greydanus is speaking from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, Room 8403, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

The lecture is free. It will also be broadcast live on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu/home. The Internet link will be available starting at 7:20 a.m.

Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday signed a bill that would put a curfew and passenger limits on new teen drivers.

Arizona drivers under the age of 18, like those in most other states, will now face restrictions on whom they can have in their vehicles and when they can drive.

Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill into law Monday that supporters say will improve safety partly by reducing distractions for teen drivers.

Championed by the Arizona Automobile Association, the bill (HB2033) would generally prohibit teenagers from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. during the first six months they hold a Class G “graduated” license. Exceptions include when young drivers are accompanied by a parent or when they are driving to or from work or sanctioned school or religious activities or a family emergency.

Also during the first six months, a driver with a Class G license would be limited to one passenger under age 18 unless the passengers are siblings of the driver or the driver is accompanied by a parent. The exception for siblings was a bow to concerns that some families want teens to help handle driving responsibilities.

Violators of the driving restrictions would be subject to fines and additional time under the restrictions.

Another provision of the bill would increase the required supervised driving practice to 30 hours from the current 25, including 10 hours of night driving, up from the current five.

In addition, the bill would allow a teen to apply for an instructional permit at 15 years and 6 months, one month earlier than now. In another change applying to instructional permits, the required licensed driver riding as a front-seat passenger would have to be at least 21 years old.

The changes will take effect July 1, 2008, putting Arizona in the vast majority of other states with similar restrictions.

As of February, 44 states had some form of nighttime driving restrictions while 38 had passenger restrictions of some type, according to the Washington-based AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

A 2006 study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that states with restrictions that include those in the Arizona legislation can reduce fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers by 16 percent to 21 percent. The researchers based their findings on 1994-2004 data from 43 states.

Along with the automobile association, supporters included hospitals, insurance companies and groups representing health care providers, alcohol wholesalers, police chiefs, law enforcement officers, the state Department of Public Safety and Napolitano’s office of highway safety.

Some legislators who voted against the bill said it intruded on parents’ rights.

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ON THE WEB To see details of the bill on the Arizona State Legislature’s Web site, go to: www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?

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TUCSON MOMS STAY INFORMED
> Looking for a local community of moms? Check out the Citizen’s new moms blog, “Mama and a Papa,” and visit our new moms page at www.tucsoncitizen.com/moms

Arizona drivers under the age of 18, like those in most other states, will now face restrictions on whom they can have in their vehicles and when they can drive.

Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill into law Monday that supporters say will improve safety partly by reducing distractions for teen drivers.

Championed by the Arizona Automobile Association, the bill (HB2033) would generally prohibit teenagers from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. during the first six months they hold a Class G “graduated” license.
Exceptions include when young drivers are accompanied by a parent or when they are driving to or from work or sanctioned school or religious activities or a family emergency.

Also during the first six months, a driver with a Class G license would be limited to one passenger under age 18 unless the passengers are siblings of the driver or the driver is accompanied by a parent. The exception for siblings was a bow to concerns that some families want teens to help handle driving responsibilities.

Violators of the driving restrictions would be subject to fines and additional time under the restrictions.
Another provision of the bill would increase the required supervised driving practice to 30 hours from the current 25, including 10 hours of night driving, up from the current five.

In addition, the bill would allow a teen to apply for an instructional permit at 15 years and 6 months, one month earlier than now. In another change applying to instructional permits, the required licensed driver riding as a front-seat passenger would have to be at least 21 years old.
The changes will take effect July 1, 2008, putting Arizona in the vast majority of other states with similar restrictions.

As of February, 44 states had some form of nighttime driving restrictions while 38 had passenger restrictions of some type, according to the Washington-based AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

A 2006 study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that states with restrictions that include those in the Arizona legislation can reduce fatal crashes involving 16-year-old drivers by 16 percent to 21 percent. The researchers based their findings on 1994-2004 data from 43 states.

Along with the automobile association, supporters included hospitals, insurance companies and groups representing health care providers, alcohol wholesalers, police chiefs, law enforcement officers, the state Department of Public Safety and Napolitano’s office of highway safety.

Some legislators who voted against the bill said it intruded on parents’ rights.

A bill to impose new passenger and curfew restrictions on Arizona drivers younger than 18 passed the state House on Tuesday after also passing easily in the Senate.

The House approved 50-7 the bill that cleared the Senate on April 11 on a 23-6 vote.

Supporters contend the passenger restrictions would improve safety, because young drivers can be easily distracted, particularly if there are other teens in the car. Opponents said the bill intrudes on parents’ rights.

“We keep heading down this road of nanny government,” said Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa. “The state doesn’t own my children. I’m responsible for my children.”

Championed by the Arizona Automobile Association, the bill represents a revival of an earlier piece of legislation that easily passed the Senate on Feb. 20 and then cleared one House committee before dying in that chamber when it wasn’t heard by a second House committee whose chairman opposed it.

The bill (HB2033) would generally prohibit holders of Class G “graduated” licenses from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. during the first six months of holding the Class G license.

Exceptions to the midnight-5 a.m. ban include when the young driver is accompanied by a parent or when driving to or from work or sanctioned school or religious activities or a family emergency.

Also, during the first six months, a Class G licensee could drive with only one passenger under age 18 unless the passengers are siblings of the driver or the driver is accompanied by a parent. The exception for siblings was a bow to some families who want teens to help handle driving responsibilities.

Violators of the driving restrictions would be subject to fines and additional time under the restrictions.

Another provision of the bill would increase the required supervised driving practice to 30 hours from the current 25, including 10 hours of night driving, up from the current five.

The bill also would allow a teen to apply for an instructional permit at 15 years and 6 months, one month earlier than now. In another change applying to instructional permits, the required licensed driver riding as a front-seat passenger would have to be at least 21 years old.

The changes would not take effect until July 1, 2008. If the bill becomes law, Arizona would join the vast majority of other states with similar restrictions.

Catalina Foothills High School won first place in the national chess championships held over the weekend in Kansas City, Mo.

Foothills battled to a tie with Edward R. Murrow High School of Brooklyn, N.Y. First place was awarded to Foothills based on a tie-break formula that takes into account cumulative performance.

Catalina Foothills has won two of the past three National High School Championships. It finished second in 2006.

Seventeen Tucson students traveled to Kansas City but only the top four scores counted for determining the championship, according to a news release from the team.

The top four finishers for the CFHS were Vaishnav Aradhyula, Landon Brownell, Christopher De Sa and Pavel Savine.

The other Foothills students who participated were Eli Alster, Sean Higgins, Edward Moskala, Kevin Richardson, Steven Waldstein, Jenelle Wallace, Victor Yee, Yunlin Zhang, Matthew David, Charles Park, Stephen Brown, Leland Sanson and Chris Marin.

The team coach is Robby Adamson. The tournament was sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation.

Catalina Foothills High School won first place in the national chess championships held over the weekend in Kansas City, Mo.

Foothills battled to a tie with Edward R. Murrow High School of Brooklyn, N.Y. First place was awarded to Foothills based on a tie-break formula that takes into account cumulative performance.

Catalina Foothills has won two of the past three National High School Championships. It finished second in 2006.

Seventeen Tucson students traveled to Kansas City to play in the championship section but, as with each team, only the top four scores counted for determining the championship, according to a news release from the team.

The top four finishers for the CFHS were Vaishnav Aradhyula, Landon Brownell, Christopher De Sa and Pavel Savine.

The other Foothills students who participated were Eli Alster, Sean Higgins, Edward Moskala, Kevin Richardson, Steven Waldstein, Jenelle Wallace, Victor Yee, Yunlin Zhang, Matthew David, Charles Park, Stephen Brown, Leland Sanson and Chris Marin.

The team coach is Robby Adamson. The tournament was sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation.