Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 16

2C Reno Gazette-Journal March 28, 1987 Marina officials to close resort after rent dispute By Tim DahlbergAP LAS VEGAS Operators of the Marina Hotel say they plan to shut the Strip resort down early next week after failing to negotiate a rent reduction with the property's landlords. Attorneys for the Marina filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization late Thursday after the landlords, who include mayoral candidate Tom Wiesner, were granted an attachment in state court for back rent. Attorney David Houston said plans are being made to shut down operations at the hotel early next week. He said the resort, which employs more than 700 people, could be closed by Monday. "There was just no way we could meet that nut," Houston said of the $393,000 monthly payment to a group of landlords.

"It didn't leave enough room to properly run the operation and also service the debt." Houston said negotiations had been underway with the landlord, Southwest Securities, a five-person partnership that includes Wiesner and Gold Coast partner Jerry Herbst, to reduce the rent. He said those stopped, however, when Southwest went to court Thursday and got a writ of attachment for $393,000 of the back rent owed by the Marina operators. "In the face of that (the writ) there wasn't any choice but to file for bankruptcy," said Houston. "We were supposed to meet with them next week, but that's in the trash bin." i Houston said hotel operators Robert Moses a Texas oilman, had tried hard to get a rent reduction so they would be able to keep the property open. "We just met a stone wall on the other side," he said.

"This is simply a recognition of reality. We can't operate that hotel property withoupt a substantial concession from the landlord." But John Netzorg, an attorney for Parents' group claims child abuse laws have backlash Saturday, Legislative summary Governor Measures signed INMATE LAWSUITS AB34. Limits lawsuits brought by convicts or others against the state, Its agencies or political subdivisions. GIRLS REFORMATORY AB39. Appropriates $112,880 for Nevada Girts Training Center in Caliente.

MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES AB101. Prohibits sale for profit of copies of marriage certificates. STATE BIDS AB140. Raises limits for which bids or advertisements are required for purchases by state. XGR CONFERENCE SB4.

Appropriates $150,000 for expenses in hosting National Conference of State Legislatures in Reno in July 1988. CHILDREN'S SERVICES SB117. Appropriates $397,000 for medical claims filed with state Children's Health Services. MENTAL FACILITY SB145. Authorizes state Public Works Board to use money previously appropriated for Southern Nevada medical facility project to redesign the project.

AIR FORCE AJR6. Urges Congress not to deactivate the 474th air wing at Nellis AFB. Senate Measures introduced POWER STUDY SB307, Taxation. Proposes state study on taxation of new Nevada power plants. To Taxation.

PITTA BENEFITS SB309, Joerg. Provides retirement benefits to George Pitta, state employed independent contractor in early 1960s. To Finance. Assembly Measures introduced MEDICAL AB467, Humke. Allows people to designate powers of attorney to make medical decisions for them.

To Health and Welfare. STATE DEBT AJR33-34, Taxation. Proposes to amend Nevada Constitution to raise state debt limit from 1 percent to 2 percent or 3 percent. To Taxation. INITIATIVE AJR35, Haller.

Amends Nevada Constitution to let voters file initiative and referendum petitions regarding zoning ordinances. To Government Affairs. I can't talk about it without have one of my kids home. 5 Pam ArnoldReno Victims of Child Abuse Laws (VOCAL) wielding power and having to make close calls. "That's a tough job and a hard job and they can't bat 100 percent," says Sader, whose committee is considering two important parental rights bills, SB98 and SB99, next week.

Arnold says he was falsely accused of child abuse two years ago, and describes the experience as "absolute hell." He provided only general details about the case, still pending, because his wife's daughter is still in protective custody. He claims child abuse cases can be brought with skimpy evidence by anonymous phone calls to accuse a parent of the crime. Arnold helped organize a nationally affiliated VOCAL chapter in Reno early this month, beginning with 35 people. The group's membership increased to 55 within a few weeks. 'I HH 1 tf Opponents square off over constitutional convention issue i'l, Southwest Securities, said his clients had given the operators more than $3 million in concessions over the past three years and were unwilling to go any further.

He said attempts would be made to find someone else to lease the property, located on the South end of the Strip. "There evidently is some interest in it," said Netzorg, who said the Marina operators were also behind $500,000 in property taxes. "We're disappointed. We had hoped they would successfully reorganize." The Marina operators had filed for bankruptcy protection three years ago. "VOCAL is an emotional stance, and I'm not sure if they have something substantial to bring forward," Gardner says.

Child abuse and neglect investigations take a long time, and getting good testimony from victims, often younsters, is difficult, says Gardner. Lack of indictment in such cases could mean the law enforcement agency didn't have enough evidence to convict a parent or doesn't have anything to go on, he says. Assemblyman David Humke, a key sponsor of a child protection package passed last session, says state law guarantees parents their day in court at each step of child abuse and neglect cases. Nevada Social Services Chief Gloria Handley bristles at the term "falsely accused." About 45 percent of Nevada's child abuse and neglect reports are unsubstantiated, a figure consistent with national averages, Handley says. That figure covers a wide range of claims, from bruises on a child's arm to allegations of sexual molestation.

State law requires investigation of any abuse or neglect call. Costly class-size bill relegated to committee CARSON CITY (AP) A Senate measure to restrict class size in first through third grades to 22 students would cost the state $106 million in the next five years, the Senate Human Resources Committee learned Friday. Committee Chairman Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, relegated SB239 to a subcommittee so less expensive methods of reducing class sizes could be studied after members expressed doubts the state can afford the proposal. Assuring the panel he wasn't trying to kill the bill in subcommittee, he said, "It's a powerful issue. It would be nice if we could address it this session." Mike Alastuey, associate superintendent for the state Education Department, said the average classroom sizes in Nevada are 24.7 students in first grade, 25.7 in second grade and 25.9 in third grade.

To hire staff and build additional classrooms to bring those figures down to 22 students, now required by state law, the Legislature would have to come up with $81 million for construction and $5 million yearly for the five-year plan in SB239. He said that the state School Board can't enforce the 22-student limit now because school districts lack the money. Sen. Don Mello, D-Sparks, balked at the size of the appropriation. Gov.

Richard Bryan's proposed budget for the next biennium already is $71 million short of state needs and $50 million in additional special appropriations are under consideration, he said. Rawson asked if Alastuey was trying to bury the issue with an unreasonable fiscal burden projection, but Alastuey replied his figures are based on school district reports, adding that the districts tried to be realistic. Mello said everyone agrees that classroom populations need to be reduced but it would be hard to do when prisons, Aid to Dependent Children, Medicaid and other education programs urgently need money. Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said Bryan had made no provisions to improve class sizes in his recommended budget.

"If the governor hasn't taken the initiative to fund education adequately, then who's going to?" he asked. at O'Brien-Rogers and Crosby Funeral Home. A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Masonic Memorial Gardens, with burial at the cemetery. Elissa M.

Pearce BATTLE MOUNTAIN Battle Mountain native Elissa Mendive Pearce, 68, died Thursday in an Elko hospital. She was born June 13, 1918, to Esteban and Petra Amoroto Mendive and had been a lifetime resident of Battle Mountain. Mrs. Pearce went to beauty college in Fresno, and returned to Battle Mountain, where she had her own beauty shop for several years'. She was preceded in death by a son, James Lee Oates, who died in the Vietnam War.

Surviving are daughters, Elaine Migge of Yakima, and Jacqueline Fahien of Santa Rosa, Calif. brother, Louie Mendive of Sparks; sisters, Carmen Jones of Battle Mountain, Neva Sealock of Reno, and Angela Monahan of Henderson; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. A memorial rosary service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at St. John Bosco Catholic Church.

Private inurnment will be held at a later date, under the direction of Burns Funeral Home, Elko. A memorial is being established with Battle Mountain Senior Citizens Center, Battle Mountain, 89820. -vat1-' fi By John RoIIap CARSON CITY Leaders of an effort to cancel Nevada's call for a constitu- tional convention on a balanced budget amendment argued Friday such a con-vention might make major changes in other areas. Opponents of the drive countered that if Nevada rescinds its call for a convention, 'z'- the pressure on Congress to approve a It. balanced budget amendment of its own ll would be dramatically eased.

1. Phyllis Schlafly, a leader in the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, -I- told the Senate Finance Committee that AJR25 is needed to avoid the "constitu- tional chaos" that could result if Congress i calls a constitutional convention. "The current House leadership is mantly opposed to a balanced budget i amendment with any tax limitation, and those men play hard-ball politics," said Schlafly, representing the Eagle Forum. "Rather than passing a balanced bud-; I get amendment," she said, "it would make more sense from their point of view toss it to the wolves of a constitutional convention where a balanced budget amendment would meet an uncertain fate." She said such a convention would be I unduly influenced by special interest groups and the media. "Anybody who thinks that delegates would be elected solely on the balanced l't budget issue just doesn't understand i- grassroots politics," added Schlafly.

"The NEA (National Education Association) would work for those who support the lib- eral NEA agenda. Pro-life groups would vote for candidates on the basis of their single issue, abortion. No one could deny them that right." And she argued that once a convention is convened delegates could decide to JUST BROWSING: Shirley Bryant checks out some of the clothes to be put on the rack in preparation for the 35th annual Doctors' Wives Rummage Sale being held today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at a donated warehouse on 940 Spice Island Drive in Sparks.

Seventy-five workers will be helping sell merchandise to raise money for local community programs. By Rob WellsAP CARSON CITY A new Reno group claims society's increased awareness of child abuse and neglect has fueled a backlash of false allegations against innocent parents. Consequences of being falsely accused of child molestation and neglect are traumatic, one Reno couple says. "I can't talk about it without beginning to cry. I still don't have one of my kids home," says Reno resident Pam Arnold, a member of Victims of Child Abuse Laws, or VOCAL.

Her husband, Chris Arnold, adds that the misuse and mishandling of laws on child abuse are "ending up destroying the families and children they are trying to protect." Lawmakers, state Welfare and law enforcement officials conversant with Nevada's child abuse laws contend parents' rights are protected. They admit parents can be falsely accused, but say that's an unfortunate byproduct of a state policy that favors the child's interest. Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bob Sader says there is some potential for parents to be wrongly accused, but views that as a consequence of state agencies make major changes in the structure of federal government. "The advocates of a constitutional convention try to deny that a runaway convention could happen, but they cannot deny the risk of a runaway convention. We don't think our great Constitution should be exposed to that risk.

Groups on both the right and the left are proposing major constitutional changes." Roy Ash, former director of the federal Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Nixon and Ford, said a balanced budget amendment is unworkable in real life. He said Congress operating under such an amendment would simply utilize subterfuge to get around tax and spending limitations. Ash also argued that requiring a balance budget in all economic circumstances would tend to exaggerate economic peaks and valleys. Rep. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said he doesn't support a constitutional convention to approve a balanced budget amendment but he argued against AJR25 because it would ease pressure on federal said a lack of such an amendment in the constitution is a "structural flaw that, if not corrected, will ultimately bring this nation to its knees." Craig, a founder of the Congressional Leaders United for a Balanced Budget, also argued that the Gramm-Rudman law requiring Congress to gradually reduce deficits until 1991 when a balanced budget would be mandated has not worked.

He said Democratic House leaders have no intention of meeting even this year's target deficit of $108 billion. And Craig said without the constant pressure of a constitutional convention, Congress will never adopt its own balanced budget amendment. sion early this month. Sedway readily agreed, but not Health and Welfare Chairman Morse Arberry, D-North Las Vegas, who also serves on Ways and. Means.

Arberry said he hasn't yet seen proof that the bill affects statewide budgets and qualifies for a Ways and Means review. Sedway promised to furnish the proof soon. the house arrest program, probation, and court-ordered community service. For those incarcerated, the committee will consider changes in good-time credits and work credits and making a prisoner eligible to apply for parole after serving one-fourth of the sentence instead of one-third, the current standard. Education and training to help prevent inmates from returning once they are released should be high on the Legislature's priority list, Armstrong said.

Many prisoners are illiterate and must be taught to read and write and learn job skills, he said. Training prisoners so they can get a job upon release is also a priority of Sumner's. "We should provide opportunities for those who sincerely want to help themselves." For example, if a medium-security prison at Lovelock is built as planned, Sumner said he wants to start a meat-cutting progam to teach inmates a good-paying trade. Underlining the importance of jobs, Rob Calderone, chief of the Department of Parole and Probation, said that during the past two years, parole or probation was revoked for 1,300 people. Some 76 percent were unemployed when the revocations took place.

Some didn't have jobs because they had no job skills, others "were too busy committing crimes beginning to cry. I still don't VOCAL, a non-profit organization, is basically a support group with attorneys, counselors and psychologists helping people deal with the trauma of being falsely accused. The group also plans to intitate legislative reforms. Asked about the extent of people falsely accused of child abuse in Washoe County, Arnold quotes a newpaper article saying 2,361 allegations of child abuse and neglect were reported countywide in 1986. Action was taken on about 43 percent of those claims, he says.

"If you are still living in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty, then 57 percent are false allegations," says Arnold. Brent Gardner of the Court Appointed Special Advocates, a group representing children in child custody and abuse cases, disagreed with Arnold's analysis. Tom SpitzGazette-Journal tally disturbed or retarded Nevadans who cannot pay for private care. Together, the institutions receive about $1.3 million annually in Medicare and Medicaid payments. If the Nevada Mental Health Institute's federal certification had been revoked, it would have been the first mental health facility in the country to be decertified, Payne said.

about $2,500 an acre-foot on the open market. Other ways to extend the water supply include different operating schemes for Independence and Donner lakes. Both are reservoirs used to support the irrigation rights owned by the utility. Rich Drew, manager of the Regional Planning and Advisory Board, said the 1992 water scenario sets the stage for two kinds of water customers ones who pay for what he called cheap Truckee River water and those who will have to pay for new, more expensive water. Nevada digest Obituaries Mary A.

Partenope Mary Agnes Partenope, 96, died Thursday in a Reno care center. A native of Lowell, she was born Oct. 26, 1890, and had been a Reno resident for the past 27 years. Mrs. Partenope was a retired secretary, homemaker and member of Martha Chapter 5, Order of the Eastern Star.

Surviving are a son, Martin of Reno; three granddaughters, seven great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday and from 9 a.m. to noon Monday Births Saint Mary's Hospital ABLISH To Mr. and Mrs.

John Ablish of Sparks, a daughter. March 26. 1987. BULLOCK To Mr. and Mrs Brucs A Bullock ot Reno, a son.

March 26. 1987 GERBER To Mr and Mrs. John Gerber of Boulder, Colo a son, March 26. 1987. KENNEDY To Mr.

and Mrs Mitchell L. Kennedy ot Reno, a daughter. March 26. 1987. PECHACEK To Mr.

and Mrs Jeff Pechacek of Incline Village, a daughter, March 26. 1987. QUINN To Mr. and Mrs Thomas C. Quinn of Reno, a son.

March 26, 1987. rrn 'Ml Institute From page 1C To avoid federal decertification of the facilities, Nevada Legislators last month quickly passed a bill allocating $151,947 to the Sparks institute and $411,448 to the Las Vegas center to pay for more employees. The two Nevada facilities house men Water From page 1C plies. The 80,000 acre-foot figure also requires the acquisition of 21,000 acre-feet of Truckee irrigation rights, which could yield about 8,000 acre-feet of water in a drought year. Local development rules require developers to turn over these water rights to local government before building can begin.

These rights are then leased to Sierra Pacific for use. Water rights cost Lemons From page 1C Whitehead set a reduced bail of $40,000 for Tomlinson, $25,000 for Barron and $7,500 each for Hill and Meyers after their attorneys argued a bail of $1 million was punitive and equivalent to a denial of bail. In setting a higher bail for Lemons, Whitehead noted Lemons has lived in Sacramento for the last two years and does not have the same community ties as the other defendants. Over Thompson's objections. Whitehead allowed the amount of bail for Lemons to be argued in court before Lemons was taken into custody and set a bail of $75,000 for Sather, who was not in custody nor present at Friday's hearing.

Court upholds fitness tests for guards at nuke facilities SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A fitness test for guards at government nuclear facilities that includes a mile run, intended to ensure they could fight off a terrorist attack, was upheld Friday by a federal appeals court. Robert Vogel, a lawyer for 11 guards in Nevada who challenged the fitness standards, said he was not surprised at the ruling. He said a separate law suit is pending in Nevada contesting a rigorous new medical exam. PSC From page 1C Assemblyman Terry Tebbs, R-Las Vegas, suggested the Ways and Means Committee should hold hearings on AB289, which contains the governor's cost containment plan, because it affects state budgets. The bill was referred to the Health and Welfare Committee for discus Crowded prison From page 1C other possible changes by this Legislature to try to cut the growing prison population.

Sen. Sue Wagner, R-Reno, chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she is tired of always studying problems and agreed with Sader when he said, "We have to do something now, not four years from now." Along with parole, lawmakers have suggested changes in sentencing practices. Partly because of strict sentencing guidelines, Nevada imprisons 422 people out of every 100,000, in contrast to the national per capita rate of 230. Sumner warned against instituting determinate sentencing and urged a comprehensive study of the entire criminal justice system. Determinate sentencing imposes mandatory minimum sentences that must be served and reduces a judge's discretion in rendering punishments, he said, adding that such sentencing in California produced "a runaway prison population." One bill already introduced would allow non-volent offenders to serve their sentences at home.

Sumner says 49 percent of his prisoners are jailed for non-violent crimes. Sader, D-Reno, said his committee will consider alternative sentencing methods for those non-violent offenders, including 1.