European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 13, 1993U.s. The stars and stripes a Page 7 no drought about it it s Clear As mud co Iford has say wafer policy is All wet by sue Manning to s Angeles a water in t the Only thing coming Down in buckets in California. Confusion reigns too. For six years water experts said there was a severe drought. Laws were written. Lives were a tinged. Then the Rains came. Now some parts of California have a drought some Don t. Through thursday the Normal amount of rainfall for the season which begins july 1, would be 8.94 inches. Last year 9.08 inches of rain fell by this time. This year it s 19.82 inches and rising said National weather service meteorologist Dion Hamilton. As the rain has mounted so have doubts about drought. As one newspaper put it there is no drought and the drought will never  the state department of water resources says the drought in t Over even though water deliveries May be increased because Snow pack in the Sierra Nevada is 175 percent of Normal. But the los Angeles department of water and Power says the drought is Over and is recommending that the City Council revise its emergency water conservation ordinance eliminating a 10 percent water reduction program for 3.5 million customers said depart ment spokeswoman Debra Sass. A vote is expected before the end of february she said. Meanwhile the Laws Haven t changed and conserva Tion messages can still be found in restaurants Utility Bills and the California psyche. In los Angeles an end to the drought would allow firefighters to resume training with water for the first time in five years. When we can t actually flow the water it changes things for firefighters said fire capt. Steve Ruda. It s like typing on a typewriter without a ribbon. You can Type All you want but when you re done you Don t know what you be  he said there have been no water shortages for fight ing real fires and firefighters have been properly trained but knowledge is Power. Take away that Power and there is a potential for  meanwhile Ruda said no one has told us yet we Are in a position to go Back to full  the water department will recommend that the City Council keep other parts of the ordinance including restrictions on Lawn watering Between 10 . And 5 . A ban on hosing off driveways and walkways a ban on no recycling fountains and a Rule that restau rants can t serve water unless its requested. First time offenders get a warning and subsequent offences carry fines of $50, $100 and $150. The depart ment can Cut off service after a fourth offence which has Only happened once from May 14,1990, to dec. 14, 1991. During those 19 months the City hired drought bust cars who issued 22,858 citations Sass said. The drought busters were rained out by budget prob lems and meter readers have taken Over enforcement. Since dec. 14, 1991, Only one Fine has been issued a$50 penalty for a leak that was t fixed Sass said. Since april department customers have held steady at 20 percent reduced water use each month. It is part of people s lifestyles now even without financial motivation she said. Antic Echevarria president of Somma mattress in los Angeles said potential customers weren t As Wor ried about filling new water bids As they were about draining their wallets. \ i Don t know whether the drought can be tied to sagging business. Well have to wait now that we have had a deluge of water to Sec if sales increase he said. Specie i purpose mini govern ments within . Rise 12%, census shows Washington a special Pur pose districts and Public authorities that process sewage collect garbage fight fires and perform other Community tasks Are the fastest growing Type of govern ment in the nation the census Bureau says. These nontraditional governments often Cut across municipal boundaries to embrace an entire metropolitan area or part of a state such As the giant port a Hority of new York and new Jersey or Small Volunteer fire departments in Rural areas. Proponents say these agencies Are filling a need that did t exist a few dec Ades ago. The need for Public service does t Stop at the traditional boundaries any More said Alan Stevens the census Bureau s chief of government Organiza Tion statistics. It s necessary sometimes to have communities band together and have a regional approach to solving some of these  but critics say these arrangements be tween cities towns and counties to do specific jobs place billions of dollars out Side the Normal political controls faced by mayors and other City officials. We re having essentially unaccountable Public authorities and special districts growing like mad All Over the country said Donald Axelrod professor emeritus some census Bureau facts about governments in 1992 number of governments in the United states 86,743 change in five years up 4 percent mainly due to More special purpose governments. Change in 40 years Down 26 per cent mainly due  Independent school districts. Average number of governments per state 1,734. Most governed state Illinois with 6,809 governments. Least governed state Hawaii with 20 governments. Is of Public administration at the state University of new York in Albany. Many Are transparent devices for getting around constitutions that prohibit Bor rowing without Public re Ferenda and All the other  in five years the number of special Pur pose districts increased by 12 percent to 33,131 in 1992. Traditional incorporated cities and towns increased by less than half a percent to 19,296. There arc an additional 16,666 unincorporated town ships nationwide Many without formal government structures the Bureau re ported. The irony is we have probably created More governments per Square mile than any other country in the world said Gregory Wiher director of the Center for Public policy at the University of Houston. When a problem comes along that exceeds a narrow geographic scope we can t solve it unless we create another  politicians love special purpose districts. They can create a new government that makes a narrow group of people Happy. The Burden the new government puts on everyone else in t noticeable so they make a few people Happy Don t make anybody angry and address the problem he said. It s a politician s  jilted Groom kills 1, self wounds 2 Hebron Irod. Dpi a Man upset that his Girlfriend had called off their May wedding shot her and her parents thursday and killed himself. Hebron resident Mark Francis 25, killed himself after holding police at Bay thursday authorities said. Also dead was his Girlfriend s Mother Sandy Yelachich 41. Listed in critical condition Fri Day at Porter memorial Hospital in nearby Valparaiso were Michelle Yelachich 20, and her father Michael 47. Authorities said the Cyl Chichs other child Michael jr., a Junior at Hebron High school had left for classes before Francis invaded the family Home in a subdivision of he Bron a town of 3,200 in Southwest Ern Porter county. Investigators said Michelle Yecla Chich broke off her engagement to Francis a week ago the couple s second breakup. Friends told police Francis Slit his wrists following the first breakup but recovered from his wounds. Lesbian wants to rejoin military As chaplain by Gustav Niebuhr the Washington Post the Rev. Carolyn Dusty Pruitt involuntarily Dis charged from the army Reserve seven years ago for being homosexual wants to return As the military s first openly lesbian chaplain. First of All i enjoy the military said Pruitt 46, for Merly a Captain and instructor in nuclear biological and chemical defense and now pastor of a Long Beach calif., Church. Second of All it s an Opportunity to minister in a wider setting than a local co Grega 10pruitt who said she Felt called to the ministry from Aue 4 and would play Church As a child in Texas could emerge As a test Case in the controversy Over the military s ban on homosexuals a prohibition that has applied As Well to chaplains who must be officers an meet All Standard military requirements. The nearly 50-year-old ban is under a six month re ordered by president Clinton on Jan. 29 As ending the prohibition a move that has provoked spirited opposition from Congress and military figures  seeking a chaplain s Post Pruitt could also raise the profile of her denomination the metropolitan Community churches Mcc. Founded in 1968 by the Rev. Troy Perry a pentecostal preacher the Mcc teaches that Jesija Christ died to take away your sins not your  its 32,000 members in the United states Are mainly Gay men and lesbians. The Mcc first filed an application for a chaplain s Post on Pruitt s behalf last july but that was blocked when the armed forces chaplains Board voted in the fall to defer action on it the denomination said. Chap Lains must be sponsored by a larger Church or religious denomination. The seven member Board which includes two representatives each from the army air Force and Navy along with an executive director determines whether such an organization May become a sponsor said u. Col. Doug Hart a Pentagon spokes  s application would have fallen under the Oldman policy where homosexuality is incompatible with Mili tary service Hart said. Mcc officials said they will re Vive Pruitt s application on the Day Clinton s six month review period ends in mid july. -1 Pruitt also has turned to the courts to get Back into the military filing a lawsuit against the defense de eastment to reverse her 1986 involuntary discharge rom the Reserve which occurred after she told a news paper she was a lesbian. She left Active duty in 1976 after five years service to enter a Seminary. Two months ago the supreme court let stand a fed eral appeals court ruling in the Case Cheney v. Fruitt that rejected the proposition that social disapproval of homosexuality can justify the military s exclusion of Gays. The court s action basically allows Pruitt to continue seeking reinstatement. What is really ironic to me is the military investigated me and threw me out on the grounds of moral dereliction and i was accepted in two seminaries said Pruitt who holds master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees