CHUCK, THEY'RE BAAAAAACK: Our homebuilder of the week award goes to Beckwith Homes, which has polluted the northwest side and Thornydale Road with a bunch of promo signs attached to traffic devices. We thought we'd pounded enough sand up the Southern Arizona Home Builders Ass. on this point. They even told their members to cool it and most have. But some folks just never get the word. Or care. Here's the word: It's unsafe and illegal. As Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has pointed out, cementheads who put up the signs may share liability should any traffic accidents occur because somebody's line of sight was screwed up because they couldn't see around a tagged traffic device. So our next question: When will we see some other form of tagging activity, like citations from the County Planning and Development Department? Or are developers still immune from legal action? A STRANGE SHADE OF GREEN: When the Pima County Board of Supes was passing the gigantic Rocking K Ranch zoning, clearing the way for what amounts to a satellite city on the far southeast side, one of the conditions of the deal was that legendary land speculator and Rocking K daddy Don Diamond set up a vehicle to do some sort of nebulous environmental stuff, particularly around Saguaro National Monument. So Diamond coughed up to fund something called the Rincon Institute. We were never quite sure what it was supposed to do, but it made some folks feel better. We always figured the Golden Rule applied--the Big D wouldn't fund anything that was contrary to his interests--but we didn't hear a whole lot out of the Rincon Institute and hoped when Diamond quit paying for it that it might turn into something environmentally useful. He has, and it hasn't. The Rincon Institute is now out trying to raise some bucks from gullible tree-huggers, but wait before you write your check. Here's a real indication as to where the people who run it are coming from: They're going to honor a local citizen as Environmental Person of the Year. And--the envelope please--the winner is former Supervisor Reg Morrison. Huh? While Reg is a nice man and considerably more civilized than the current crop of GOP supes, he was one of the biggest cement-head, pro-growth, bulldozer-kissing pols in the history of this county. Moreover, we haven't heard a peep out of Reg since Paul Marsh knocked him off back in '92, so we'd love to know what he's been doing to outshine the many local Greens. Bestowing the Environmental Person of the Year award to Reg Morrison is either a pathetic attempt at brown-nosing the growth lobby or simply an indication of total cluelessness on the part of the Rincon Institute leadership. Either way, get real. CAMPAIGNING OVER COFFINS: As we ease into election season, we expect to see all sorts of horses' asses doing all sorts of tactless campaigning. Case in point: Seen at the back of Sam Lena's funeral handing out cards and overheard hustling his fund-raising barbecue was Republican Sheriff's candidate Ron Ochs. He's running against Democrat Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and may have felt upstaged, as Dupnik was one of Lena's pallbearers. Now old Sam probably wouldn't mind having some politics discussed at his funeral, even by Republicans. But Ochs' actions were so tasteless several people present brought it to our attention. SO WHO'S THE IDIOT? Oops! When we mentioned the independent candidacy of Marsha Mendelsohn in that sizzling District 3 Board of Supes race, we smacked The Arizona Daily Star for not reporting the proper method for getting on the ballot as an independent candidate. Guess what? We're the ones who blew it. Those wonderful folks in the Arizona Legislature--no doubt trying to screw over Ross Perot and others and keep the moribund two party system alive--changed the law. The Star was correct--independent candidates can now only get their signatures from registered independents. Which means Mendelsohn just put a big dent in Supervisor Special Ed Moore's plans to run as an independent. Moore recently had the Pima County Attorney's Office give him a legal opinion on how it's done (Hey, Ed, why don't you quit wasting tax money on yourself). Because it's now more difficult to get on the ballot as an independent--requiring the total number of sigs needed by candidates of both major parties, but from a much smaller group--we suspect Special Ed will run again as a Republican. Or maybe as a Tory--who knows? It would be considerably easier for Mendelsohn to gather sigs than Moore--hey, what makes you think independents like you better than anybody else, big fella? One more possibility: Special Ed gets Pima County to pay for another lawyer for him to challenge the signature requirements in court. Wouldn't be the first time. GIVE AND TAKE: We've seen plenty of sleazy, low-down, small-minded and just plain weird behavior at the Arizona Legislature, but this week lawmakers committed the most chickenshit move we can remember. After passing a bill that would have eliminated nearly all gifts from Lobbyists with a 35-19 vote in the House, Rep. David Eberhart made a motion for a new vote, using an obscure parlimentary procedure that left the voting tally off the record. Freed from any notion of accountability, the House quickly voted 24-21 to kill the bill that would have prevented them from accepting those free Suns tickets they love so much. These gutless cretins should be deeply ashamed of themselves for not having the stones to publicly record their votes. Somebody ought to tie them down and put the leeches on 'em. SPARKS ARE FLYING: Just in time for both Independence Day and fire season in Arizona, lawmakers are now talking about legalizing sparklers. Despite the opposition of killjoys like teachers, firefighters and forest rangers, state Sen. Larry Chesley explained that he was voting yes for the measure, even though his kids had set fire to his house with sparklers--twice. ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Rumor around the Capitol has it Sen. John Greene really wants the concealed weapons bill for personal reasons: He dislikes having to check his gun everywhere he goes. Oh good, a pistol-packing paranoid as Senate president. YOU BET YOUR FIFE: We were certainly impressed with Gov. J. Fife Deadbeat III's strong stance against Indian gaming last week. In case you missed it, Fife said he opposed gambling because it was a regressive tax on the poor. So true, Fife, which doesn't explain why the number of lottery drawings in the state have doubled since you were first elected to office. What's the matter, can't handle the competition? We also got a grin when the gov said he hoped the tribes had invested the money wisely. Yes, we hope they've steered clear of opportunistic real estate hustlers who stick taxpayers and pensioners with their failures.

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