Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 17

Monday DECEMBER 31. 1984 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Section 3C OBITUARIES 3C VITALS 3-8C CLASSIFIED Mevad '84 surprising year in gaming industry A loolt bacli at Bryan wants united nuke dump opposition CARSON CITY Gov. Richard Bryan says it's necessary for the state's congressional delegation to take a united stand against a proposed high-level nuclear dump in Nevada if the state is to avoid being selected. Bryan said so far he hasn't heard that strong opposition. The U.S.

Energy Department named Yucca Mountain 100 miles north of Las Vegas as one of the three prime sites for the radioactive burial grounds. Bryan and Rep. Harry Reid have both come out strong against the dump site. But the three Republican members Sens. Paul Laxalt and Chic Hecht and Rep.

Barbara Vucanovich have not indicated whether they will fight to keep it out of Nevada. Bryan said, "With the clout we have in Washington, it's going to be very important for us in Nevada, if we are to avoid that final selection, for us to have a strong position taken by the congressional delegation opposing it." mers was thrown out of the storm-tossed Stardust Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. Lawmen are piecing together what they believe is an intricate money trail that leads from the Stardust's back door to Mafia dons in the Midwest. While the so-called "Vacarro Gang" of suspected slot cheaters captured the fascination of many Nevadans, and was likely the most sensational gaming story of the year, the state's crackdown on the Stardust had the most far-reaching implications of any regulatory decision. The story actually began in December 1983, when gaming agents accompanied all three Control Board members on a night-time raid of the sprawling Strip resort.

Owners Allan Sachs and Herb Tobman were served with a complaint alleging 222 violations of Nevada gaming regulations, and while they were never charged in connection with the skimming Washoe law agencies pledge more DUI arrests on holiday By KEN MILLER After a dry run in 1983, Gov. Richard Bryan's Gaming Control Board and its parent Nevada Gaming Commission turned 1984 into a year of the unprecedented. And 1985 holds even more challenges as a revamped Control Board and the Commission head to Carson City seeking more money and broader regulatory powers. The coming year will begin with a realigned Gaming Control Board, with member Dick Hyte the only original Bryan appointee. Bart Jacka, whom Bryan named to replace resigning Patricia Becker last fall, will take over as chairman, and former Board counsel Mike Rumbolz begins his new job as member Jan.

2. Among the high-water marks for gaming in 1984: A gang of suspected slot cheaters 1 FREE-WHEELING: Eric Rasmussen bike over a rise in a field near Rock afternoon. He is one of thousands of of Christmas vacation. I By PHIL BARBER Washoe County law enforcement agencies promise a major effort this New Year's Eve to nab drunken drivers. "We will be arresting more DUIs (than on last year's New Year's Eve)," said Reno police operations commander Capt.

Dick Kirkland. He said each of the city's four police districts will have one officer concentrating on it. His advice: "Don't drink and drive. There are taxis, bus service and friends to take you home." In Sparks, as in Reno, police say they will patrol more heavily on the main streets. But police acknowledge there are not enough officers to arrest all the tipsy drivers.

Including a roadside sobriety test, chemical test and booking, each DUI arrest takes an officer off the street for one to two hours. Additionally, a second officer is frequently tied up on the car-stop as a cover for the arresting officer. To keep officers on "the streets as much as possible, the Washoe Sheriff's Department plans to operate two jail vans. Chief Deputy Barney Dehl said an arresting deputy will turn his prisoner over to van personnel while the deputy starts looking Jcvada UUUUUBBBB believed to be the world's biggest was hauled into court in connection with a scam that spread from Reno to Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas to Atlantic City. And a gang of suspected casino skim I Flenrwr Gazette-Journal of Sparks jumps his three-wheeled dirt Boulevard and Greg Street late Sunday area youngsters enjoying the remainder City planners oppose height of proposed Grand Western operation, they were accused of letting it continue.

Five weeks later, a federal grand iury in Las Vegas rang in the new year with an 18-count indictment charging five Stardust employees were involved in skimming up to $5.2 million in casino revenues. Sachs and Tobman were slapped with a $3 million fine and ordered to sell the Stardust, Fremont and Sundance. Five weeks later, a federal grand iury in Las Vegas rang in the new year with an 18-count indictment charging five Stardust employees were involved in skimming up to $5.2 million in casino revenues. Sachs and Tobman were slapped with a $3 million fine and ordered to sell the Star-: dust, Fremont and Sundance. The state then made gaming history by naming a group of casino executives from the California Hotel-Casino and its sister See 1984, page 2C for other violators.

Sheriff's deputies already are speeding DUI investigations with their new preliminary breath testers. They have 22 of the hand-held devices in use, Dehl said. A portable breath test on the spot can lead either to quick release of the innocent or quick arrest of a suspected drunken driver. The sheriff's department is the only local agency using the devices. The sheriff's department plans to add an extra squad of about six deputies and also to use reserves, so most patrol cars will be manned by two officers.

Nevada Highway Patrol Capt. John Bawden said troopers' requests for days off over New Year's were refused. He said the NHP will have 20 to 25 troopers working over three shifts. "I hope there are not too many wrecks. We want to make a maximum effort to make the year's end safe and the year's start safe," he said.

The highway patrol started DUI enforcement Saturday night with another "sobriety checkpoint," mis one on U.S. Highway 395, between Carson City and Gardnerville-Minden. It was the fourth such roadblock in Nevada and the second in northern Nevada. casino had been planned to begin in late January with completion of the final phase slated for the spring of 1988. City planners, however, say the 192-foot high expansion is too big for the neighborhood which lies just south of the city's financial district and outside the downtown area the city has designated for casino growth.

The 17-story tower, located on a three-acre site, would dwarf nearby one- and two-story office and commercial buildings, according to a report released by the city Planning Department. Architect Ralph Casazza of Casazza, Peetz Associates said he doubts the developers will agree to scale down the See HOTEL, page 2C 2C KLAICH 3 -yif 9 1 Tnm IflnMu r- By MORGAN CARTWRIGHT Reno city planners are recommending that plans for the 17-story Grand Western Hotel-Casino at California Avenue and South Virginia Street be scaled back with the number of proposed rooms cut from 510 to 300. The project, being developed by Las Vegas gamer Anthony Amico Jr. and bankrolled by a Texas-based investment syndicate, calls for renovating and expanding the run-down Ponderosa Hotel. Plans include a four-level underground parking garage, a convention facility, 19,000 square feet of gaming space and a new 360-room tower connected to the existing 165-room tower by a four-story-high skyway.

Construction of the $25.8 million hotel- Woodburning workshops The Washoe County District Health Department is offering free workshops on the use and maintenance of woodburning stoves and fireplaces Jan. 22 and 23. The workshop will be presented by representatives from the Health Department, the University of Nevada-Reno Fire Training Academy, the Washoe County Building Department, firefighters and a local wood stove dealer. Topics include the proper installation of woodburning devices, wood stove maintenance and efficiency, home safety and evacuation plans and air pollution aspects of woodburning. Everyone attending the workshop will receive a free pound of dry chemical fire suppressant and should bring an empty one-pound coffee can for it.

They will also receive pamphlets on proper burning techniques. The workshops will be held Jan. 22 from 7-9 p.m. at Dilworth Middle School and Jan. 23 from 7-9 p.m.

at Pine Middle School. Burned teen-agers 'stable' BOSTON Two Washoe Valley youngsters severely burned in a propane explosion last week remained in -critically stable" condition Sunday in a Boston Hospital. A nursing supervisor for the Shriners' Hospital said the condition of Gary Ewing, 15, and his sister Patreka Ewing, 12, was unchanged. The two suffered massive third-degree burns last Sunday when a propane tank exploded at their grandparents' home in Washoe Valley. They were flown from Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital in Las Vegas to Boston Tuesday.

Truckee Meadows firefighters have established a fund to aid the family. Donations can either be taken directly to any Valley Bank branch or Truckee Meadows fire station or mailed to "Aid to the Ewing Family Valley Bank, 1101 Corporate Reno, 89502. 3 arrested at roadblock Three people were arrested for investigation of driving under the influence in a special Saturday sobriety checkpoint "roadblock" on U.S. Highway 395 south of Carson City, the Nevada Highway Patrol announced Sunday. The roadblock began at 7 p.m.

and went until late that night. The patrol had announced the roadblock last week, but exact times were not released. The checkpoint, similar to roadblocks the NHP set up earlier this year on Mount Rose and in southern Nevada, is designed to discourage drunks from driving. Patrol officials have said they are evaluating the roadblock program to determine its effectiveness. 2 win Hearst scholarships Dena Hewitson of Incline Village and Ronnie Gibble of Winnemucca, recipients of $2,000 William Randolph Hearst Foundation scholarships, will spend a week next year in Washington, D.C., learning about the U.S.

Senate in the offices of Sens. Paul Laxalt and Chic Hecht. Hewitson and Gibble will attend briefings with President Reagan, Cabinet members, and members of the House of Representatives. Hewitson is student treasurer, a National Honor Society member and varsity athlete at Incline High. Gibble is student vice president, a National Honor Society member, president of the Math Club and a member of the Letterman's Club at Albert M.

Lowry High. Clark OKs Mormon temple LAS VEGAS The Clark County Commission has unanimously approved construction of a much-debated Mormon temple at the base of Sunrise Mountain. Homeowners in the area said they are concerned about the increased traffic the temple would create. WIRE SERVICE AND STAFF REPORTS Dan Klaich appears certain to chair 1985 Board of Regents serve this imbalance. Klaich declined to speculate on the chairmanship election outcome, or who the new chairman might select to head subcommittees, which should increase from two to four in January.

He noted, however, that both he and Sheerin were selected to head the subcommittees by outgoing chairman Jack McBride of Las Vegas. Sheerin, who said her support of Klaich is "no secret," joined other regents in saying they view themselves as representatives of all universities and community colleges in the system, not just those in their regions. "Once Joe (Foley) works with the board and grows to trust us, he will see that this is the case," Sheerin said. Whitley said, "My selection is Dan Klaich By STEVE PAPINCHAK Reno attorney Dan Klaich will become the new chairman of the University of Nevada Board of Regents, according to a poll of regents. Klaich appears certain to get the two-year post when regents vote Jan.

10 in Las Vegas. The new chairman will play a critical role in attempts to sell the 1985 Legislature on a $312 million university budget request for 1985-87. A telephone poll of board members indicates Klaich has solid support among both northern and southern Nevada regents. Six of the nine board members indicated Klaich is their choice. Supporting Klaich were Regents June Whitley, Joan Kenney and Carolyn Sparks, all of Las Vegas; Dorothy Gallagher of Elko; JoAnn Sheerin of Carson City; and Frankie Sue Del Papa of Reno.

Chris Karamanos of Las Vegas could not be reached for comment. "I think Dan will be the unanimous choice of the board," Del Papa. But there is one vote Klaich doesn't have yet. Joseph Foley, a Las Vegas attorney who was elected to the board in November, confirmed reports that he is lobbying for the job. "In a sense that is true," he said of the reports.

"We are trying to get good balance in the organization. To achieve that I certainly have not discouraged the people who have wanted me to be elected chairman," Foley said. There is concern, he said, that northern Nevada regents now chair both regents' subcommittees, and the selection of a northern chairman for the full board could pre See REGENTS, page Pyramid Lake's last non-Indian property for sale: lodge and inn By TOM KINSEY The only non-Indian property on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation is up for sale but the Indians apparently aren't buying up this last bastion of the white man on the shore of their desert lake. The Crosby Lodge and the Sutcliffe Inn, located on 21 acres along the west side of Pyramid lake, are on the block for $1.8 million. The property was homesteaded by James Sutcliffe in the mid-1800s and was settled long before President Ulysses S.

Grant issued the executive order establishing the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation in 1874. However, it wasn't until 1924 that Congress enacted legislation giving non-Indians the opportunity to acquire legal title to their land at an established price. The Pyramid Lake Indians' tribal attor ney, Michael Thorpe of Tacoma, said he knows of no current attempt by the Indians to buy the land, although an offer made a year ago by the tribe was rejected. "I believe the parties were fairly far apart," he said. The Pyramid Lake resort has been host to a wide variety of activities ranging from a stage stop to a guest ranch when divorces were one of Reno's major industries.

During World War II, there was a small naval detachment at the resort while the Navy used the lake for target practice by torpedo bombers. It also was used as a railroad maintenance station for the Southern Pacific line to the north. However, the railroad quit using the tracks and tore them up in the 1970s. The Crosby Lodge is owned by 37-year-old Fred Crosby. His father-in-law, Herb Capurro, owns the Sutcliffe Inn.

vjacene-journa MOVING OUT: Herb Capurro, left, owner of the Sutcliffe Inn, and Fred Crosbv owner of the Crosby Lodge, want to sell their Pyramid Lake businesses. 1.