Skip to main content
The largest online newspaper archive
A Publisher Extra® Newspaper

Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 35

Location:
Reno, Nevada
Issue Date:
Page:
35
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Thursday AUGUST 18, 1983 GAZETTE-JOURNAL Section 3C OBITUARIES 13-20C CLASSIFIED 21C COMICS 21 CROSSWORD MX mm inmost Air Force to test $109 million missile project in Arizona LAS VEGAS Despite pleas by Nevada's congressional delegation, the Air Force has decided against bringing a $109 million MX missile project to the Nevada Test Site, choosing instead to take it to a military gunnery range in Yuma, according to reports. Air Force officials said this week the decision to conduct the project involving hardness tests for MX silos at Luke Air Force Base Gunnery Range was made after experts determined geological for: mations in southern Arizona were more suitable than Nevada. By testing the silos in Yuma, the federal government will save about $26 million in excavation and backfill costs, according to a source close to the discussions who asked not to be identified. The decision was made by Brig. Gen Aloysius Casey, commander of the Ballis However, a source familiar with the discussions said Nevada was in line to receive the project but lost out after a rift developed between defense officials and the U.S.

Department of Energy, which operates the Nevada Test Site. "They (Air Force) didn't want to adhere to the criteria that DOE wanted them to adhere to while using the Test Site," the source said. "It was all scheduled for out here and now we don't have it. "We hate to see a contract like this walk from Nevada," the source added, noting that the state's congressional delegation conducted non-stop negotiations with Air Force officials to try to convince them to put the project in Nevada. Sm MX, page 4C tic Missile Office at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, Calif.

Maj. Bill Jacobs, MX project officer at the Nevada Test Site, said Casey's office "really wanted to do the testing here" because the Air Force already had conducted other tests in Nevada related to the MX missile system. "After investigation it was found we didn't have the geology that was really needed, so the Marines (who also use the range) were asked if we could use that area and they said yes," Jacobs said. "We certainly intended to to do it here if we could." 'Jacobs said the tests require bedrock to be at least 130 feet underground, otherwise shock waves bounce back too quickly and throw off instrument readings. Additionally, soil packed around the silos has to be a certain consistency.

Those types of bedrock and soil are not found on the Nevada Test Site, Jacobs said. Capt. Pat Mullaney, spokesman for the Ballistic Missile Office, said the Air Force currently is searching for a program site manager to oversee construction of 10 small and four large superhardened silos, which will be subjected to high explosive blasts as part of a nuclear attack simulation. Mullaney said the project was a "high-technology program that may or may not be utilized for the MX. "It could be used for the MX but it also could be used for some other ICBM," he said.

Mullaney said the Nevada Test Site was being considered for the program from the very beginning but did not have an "inside track" on getting it. States' No. 2 men step into spotlight at Tahoe meeting By MARTIN GRIFFITH Two familiar issues the economy and education are dominating the agenda at the four-day National Conference of Lieutenant Governors, which began today! in Incline Village, Some 40 of the nation's lieutenant governors are expected to converge on the Hyatt Lake Tahoe, site of the gathering. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov.

William Scranton III, conference chairman, said the gathering is held to exchange ideas on state problems. It has produced little partisan wrangling in the past, he added. "It's been a bi-partisan conference in its: outlook and I think that's good," he said. "What we're trying to accomplish is a continuing discussion of the most important state issues i Scranton predicted education would emerge as the top issue, because of growing public concern over the nation's education system. The other top issue will be the ailing economy, he said.

A session will be devoted Friday morning to a regional group discussion of economic development. Paul Hawken of California, author of "The Next Economy," will speak on that issue. Education will grab the attention Saturday morning when the conference features a panel discussion on a report issued by the National Commission on Excellence in Education critical of the nation's educational system. Nevada Lt. Gov.

Bob Cashell will preside over the session, which will feature presentations by Dr. Milton Goldsberg of the U.S. Department of Education and Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Scranton said the lieutenant governors will consider resolutions dealing with education and the economy. See SPOTLIGHT, page 4C Nevada nuclear tests won't be kept secret The Nevada Test Site will continue to release information about some underground nuclear tests even if the Reagan administration enacts a plan to cloak secrecy over nuclear weapons operations.

But under the new regulations if passed as the administration proposes officials still would not give information about some tests at the site, Test Site spokesman Chris West said Wednesday. He also said site officials believe the law would be helpful for security, restricting release of information about the center, north of Las Vegas in south central Nevada. West noted that there currently is little way for most people to get information about nuclear operations at the site. But the new law would make it even more difficult, he said. West said that in 1982 there were 19 "announced" underground tests at the site, and that there have been 11 this year.

He would not elaborate on why some tests are not announced. But he emphasized that even if the new law is passed, officials always will release details of tests in which radiation accidentally escapes into the atmosphere. He said authorities currently are allowed to release details under those conditions. Dog track makes payment CARSON CITY Las Vegas Downs, the dog-racing venture in Henderson, Wednesday staved off a possible notice of default by making its $90,000 payment for July on a $4 million loan from the state Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). The payment was due July 22 and PERS Executive Director Will Keating said it came in Wednesday.

He said the business is seeking other partnerships to finance an expansion to add a casino, shopping center and other development. The dog track has been closed because of financial problems. Keating said the PERS board would discuss the financial progress being made by Las Vegas Downs at its next meeting. Keating said the board did not discuss the financial problems of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas which has not made payments for several months on a $56 million loan. "There is nothing we can do except sit and wait," Keating said.

He said Sept. 9 is the deadline for the hotel-casino to pay off the entire loan or face foreclosure. Fall not Cat Neva's fault A federal court jury Wednesday' found Reno's Club Cal Neva blameless in a woman's accidental fall down a casino escalator. Jurors took less than an hour to reach the verdict in favor of the downtown club. The trial lasted two days.

Francis Wright and her husband Harold, of Beckworth, sued the Cal Neva for more than $2 million in damages in connection with the December 1981 accident. Mrs. Wright claimed she got on the moving escalator when it came to a sudden halt, forcing her to lose her balance and tumble to the floor below. She said she has undergone extensive medical treatment for a ruptured disc as a result of the fall. Cal Neva lawyer Charles Spann successfully argued that the escalator was stopped for a routine cleaning job.

A former Cal Neva security guard also testified Mrs. Wright told him she had been drinking. Lawsuit won't be pursued CARSON CITY District Attorney Bill Maddox said Wednesday he will probably dismiss his lawsuit against owners of Cinema Blue because the adult movie theater is relocating in Lyon County. Maddox had filed suit claiming some movies shown at the theater were obscene. But a spokesman for theater owner Jack Mann announced earlier this week that the adult theater would be closed down.

Maddox said there's no need to pursue the lawsuit as long as he has "reasonable assurances" that Cinema Blue is moving. But he said future suits could be filed if the theater remains in Carson City. Mondale to be in state LAS VEGAS Former Vice President Walter Mondale will be in southern Nevada this week to attend a fund-raising event and the Nevada State Democratic Party breakfast. Mondale aides declined Wednesday to publicly announce when he would arrive in Las Vegas from Springfield, 111., but he expected to attend a fund-raising event Thursday night. Mondale will attend the Nevada State Democratic Party Breakfast at the Desert Inn Hotel Friday morning, according to aides, and conduct a morning news conference before flying to San Francisco.

Bowling alley held up A little, gray-haired man about 50 years old held up the Starlite Bowl, 1201 Stardust Reno, Wednesday night by claiming to have a bomb in a tote bag, police said. Police said no bomb was seen during the robbery, which occurred at about 10:15 p.m. PHOTO BY TERESA WILLIS LOOKING UP: Nevada Lt. Gov. Bob Cashell and Pennsylvania's Lt.

Gov. William Scranton watch the High Rollers air acrobatic team perform tricks over the Hyatt Hotel at Lake Tahoe Wednesday. Control board delays proposed takeover of Landmark company's application last Friday to the SEC to put Circus Circus on the New York Stock Exchange. Of the 75 million new shares, slightly more than 3.3 million will be offered as common stock at between $13 and $16 a share. Bennett and Pennington will still own 80 percent of the company, and the offering is expected to generate about $50 million.

Circus Circus runs hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Reno, and has branched out into the booming Laughlin area on the Colorado River as well. A new race book and sports pool at Jerry's Nugget in North Las Vegas. The Gaming Commission meets at 9 a.m. today in Carson City to act on the above items and a variety of measures recommended for approval by the control board last week. By KEN MILLER The Nevada Gaming Control Board delayed action Wednesday on Bill Morris' proposed takeover of the Landmark hotel-casino by Las Vegas.

Board members want Morris' application to reflect a $5 million payment to Summa Corp. as part of the $18.4 million purchase price. The document wasn't ready Wednesday afternoon, so the board agreed to act on the transaction at a special Aug. 25 meeting in Las Vegas. The Landmark has been a troubled gaming property for years, struggling to break even ever since Howard Hughes bought it in 1967.

Hughes' Summa Corp. sold it the next year for $12.5 million. It has lost millions since. However, Morris, a Las Vegas attor the Nevada Gaming Commission: A public note offering of up to $140 million by MGM Grand Hotels. The MGM plans to use part of the proceeds from the borrowing to pay off a $54 million loan that was needed to rebuild the MGM-Las Vegas after the 1980 fire.

The balance from the borrowing will pay off part of a separate loan to the gaming giant. The public offering requires Security and Exchange Commission approval. MGM Hotels has hotel-casinos in Reno and Las Vegas. A Circus Circus stock split whereby owners William Bennett and William Pennington's 1,600 shares would bloom into 75 million shares. It amounts to a stock split.

That decision comes on the heels of the ney, said the club took in more than $26 million in 1982 revenues, and he expects about a 10 percent increase this year. He is planning an extensive hotel expansion, and said the building is in dire need of renovation. The $5 million has been due Summa since it sold the club to Zula Wolfram. Mrs. Wolfram was forced to turn over her majority share in the Landmark after her husband's Ohio investment firm went out of business with a massive deficit.

The club then went under the control of court-appointed trustee Patrick McGraw, who has been trying to push the Morris sale through. Two minority stockholders are fighting in court to stop the sale. In other agenda items carried over from last week's meeting, control board members recommended for approval by 7 in running for Sparks city manager job I illf V. Settlement proposed in civil rights suit By HELEN MANNING Nevada State Prison inmates could expect new reg- ulations guaranteeing protection from psychiatric mistreatment, as part of a proposed settlement in a 4-year-old federal civil rights suit. included would be an inmate's right to refuse mind--altering drugs ordered by a prison psychiatrist or aide.

"We're about 85 percent there It's a great and much needed case. I think both sides will benefit," said Washoe Legal Services lawyer Charles Zeh, representing the inmates. "It's been a long, hard fight, but this is a better way to do it all around," agreed Deputy Attorney General Brooke Nielsen, representing the state. The class action suit was brought against the state prison system in 1979 by Allen Lyn Taylor and three other inmates, alleging unconstitutional treatment including: Administration of dangerous mind-altering or psychotropic drugs against their will. Transfer to mental health facilities without due process.

Confinement in the hospital's psychiatric ward under conditions that amount to "cruel and unusual punishment." Settlement will cancel a federal trial set for Oct 25 before U.S. District Court Judge Edward C. Reed Jr' Court documents indicate the settlement would affect an estimated 162 inmates who would be getting psycho-trophic drugs at any given time, and an estimated per month who would be transferred to prison psychiatric waros Nielsen emphasized that while the prison system favors a settlement the allegations are "absolutely denied by the defendant. Not true." See SETTLEMENT, page 4C JAKE HUBER PAT THOMPSON By LENITA POWERS Sparks Mayor Jim Spoo said Wednesday he expects to announce Friday his selection for the Sparks city manager job from among seven finalists for the post. The mayor's appointment of a city manager must be approved by the City Council, which is scheduled to consider the matter at its Monday meeting.

The seven finalists for the position are Greg Rivet, Sparks acting city manager; Ed Everett, Washoe County assistant manager; Jake Huber of Verdi; Patricia Thompson and Michael Cool, both of Las Vegas. The two other candidates, both from out of state, have requested the city not release their names because it could jeopardize their current jobs. The salary for the position ranges from about $45,000 to $57,000. In the following profiles, five of the candidates discussed why they want the job and their philosophies of city management. Greg Maurice Rivet, 34, is a native of North Bay, Ontario.

He graduated in 1972 from Yale University with a degree in sociology and psychology. He and his wife, Joan, live in Washoe County and have one daughter. After graduating from Yale, Rivet attended the University of Grenoble, France, where he studied Spanish and coached and played on the hockey team. "I grew up playing hockey. It was strictly an avocation for me.

I never had aspirations of being a major league hockey player." But it was hockey that brought Rivet to Nevada. "I tried out for the Chicago Blackhawks in Michigan and I met the Reno Aces' coach there. He asked me if I wanted to play in Reno. So I came to Reno in 1973 and then later the team folded. So I decided it was time to put my education to use." 'f ED EVERETT See SPARKS, page 4C GREG RIVET.

Get access to Newspapers.com

  • The largest online newspaper archive
  • 300+ newspapers from the 1700's - 2000's
  • Millions of additional pages added every month

Publisher Extra® Newspapers

  • Exclusive licensed content from premium publishers like the Reno Gazette-Journal
  • Archives through last month
  • Continually updated

About Reno Gazette-Journal Archive

Pages Available:
2,578,595
Years Available:
1876-2024