Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 1

I 11 Mil C0LOR WMM THE JOEl WEST, EAST SQUARE OFF TONIGHT IN SERTOMA CLASSIC FOOTBALL AT RENO HIGH, 1B BOARD BACKS EFFORTS TO SLOW DOWN REMOVAL OF WILD HORSES SAYS NO PROOF OF DAMAGE, 1C BATMAN IS MERE MORE PROTESTERS 7 ARE PUT TO DEATH FOR ATTACKING SOLDIERS; 13 OTHERS ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR TAIWAN. 8A FANS OF DARK KNIGHT WILL FIND PLENTY TO BUY AS BIG-BUDGET FILM OPENS TODAY. STYLE, 1D bumal 1 color BR: I Hr" 'US' I.CT Reno Gazette-J murderer xecutetil Friday Vegas June 23, 1989 35 cents Inmate dies from lethal injection despite ACLU plea "proper punishment" and that he would not "take part in perverting justice by appealing his sentence. Flanagan's execution came only four days after the state killed William Paul Thompson, JUL I with his father, mother and sister, Pearcy said. The warden extended visiting hours so the family could stay with Flanagan until 6 p.m.

They asked that Flanagan's body be shipped back to his home state of Michigan, but prison officials refused to comment on what will happen to the body. Flanagan, housed in the last-night cell 13 feet from the death chamber, requested only a Pepsi for his last meal. He then asked to be left alone with his Bible. After 6 p.m., no visitors were allowed except the warden, the prison director and Flanagan's spiritual adviser, prison Chaplain Al Fry. Pearcy said Fry would stay with Flanagan until he went to the death chamber.

See EXECUTION, back page By Martha MlllerGazette-Joumai CARSON CITY Sean Patrick Flanagan, 28, was executed by lethal injection early this morning after an 11th hour attempt by the ACLU to stop his death failed. Flanagan, pronounced dead at the Nevada State Prison at 2:09 a.m., twice looked over at Dan Seaton, the attorney who prosecuted his case and a witness to the execution, and silently mouthed the words, "I love you, Dan." "I think in his own mind he means it," Seaton, of Las Vegas, said after Flanagan was pronounced dead. "As bad as he is, I'm glad to see him go out in good conscience." Flanagan, who confessed to killing two Las Vegas men he said made homosexual advances toward him, had pleaded to be executed, saying the death penalty was that his Bible study taught him that death was his proper punishment. "Please obey God and put me to death," he wrote. The American Civil Liberties Union's attempt to halt the execution filed in a petition at 2 p.m.

was rejected when Gov. Bob Miller said Flanagan still had other avenues of appeal and that the 60-day period during which the governor may grant a reprieve had long passed. "I am not going to intervene in the lawful judicial process that has determined Mr. Flanagan's fate," Miller said. John Pearcy, spokesman for the prison, said an ACLU representative also called the prison about 4 p.m.

to give Flanagan a lawyer's name and telephone number. Flanagan refused to take them, Pearcy said. Flanagan spent most of his last day who was executed Mon- pinsinnr, day morning for a 1984 hiana9an Reno murder. Flanagan was the fourth person put to death in Nevada and the 113th in the nation since executions resumed in 1977. Flanagan had become devoutly religious while in prison, and last year told a panel of judges that he didn't want to die because he had found God.

But his appeal was denied and 11 months later he told state Supreme Court justices in a letter Mostly sunny, high 85, low 46 Thursday's smog level: 59 (moderate) Today's smog forecast: moderate Complete weather report, page 20A Private exploration of moon set for '92 WASHINGTON A non-profit research group plans to launch the first private planetary spacecraft to search for water at the moon's poles. The Lunar Polar Probe, expected to be launched in 1992, would explore regions never seen during the Apollo missions, said Gregg Maryniak, executive vice president of the Space Studies Institute. The Princeton, N. group is inviting bids for the 300-pound probe, which is expected to cost $5 million. Billed as "the unfinished mission of Apollo," the project will be funded by private donations.

Instruments on the Apollo spacecraft mapped areas 30 degrees north and south of the moon's equator and astronauts walked in equatorial regions. But the lunar poles, shrouded in darkness for perhaps millions of years, remain a mystery, Maryniak said at a Thursday news conference. Maryniak said the institute hopes to obtain from NASA an Apollo-era Gamma Ray Spectrometer, the robe's detection instrument. NASA as two of them stored at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Soviets to help rearm Iran The Soviet Union and Iran reached a broad series of agreements Thursday, including an accord to help rebuild the Iranian military.

The two nations issued a declaration Thursday pledging political and diplomatic cooperation. The Soviet Union also declared its readiness to help Iran "strengthen its defense capacity," and Iranian delegates said Tehran's preference was mostly for "technological assistance that would build up their munitions industry. Story, page 2A. paiofe feiLosDonessoaoi stoH: to dearth Ex-partner arrested in slaying after 312-hour police hunt in i-ifi'W! "'Ml I ni 4 -to nan, A r-- AmcJ 1 1 By Andrea EsquerGazette-joumai A Sparks businessman was shot and killed outside his window manufacturing shop Thursday and his former partner has been arrested for investigation of the slaying, Sparks police said. Douglas P.

Anderson, 38, a Reno resident, was pronounced dead on arrival at Washoe Medical Center shortly before 4 p.m., a half -hour after the shooting, Lt. Terry Brown said. Steven B. Shaw, 42, of 4360 Santa Maria Drive in Reno, was arrested 3 hours after the shooting and booked for investigation of murder. He is being held in the Washoe County Jail without bail.

Shaw had been under surveillance for about a half-hour after his vehicle, a brown Ford pickup truck, was spotted parked on South Wells Avenue in front of Lucky Pete's Saloon. Police said Shaw was seen leaving the bar with another man, and the two got into a different pickup, with Shaw driving. The vehicle was stopped on Mill Street near the southbound on-ramp to 1-580, and about 15 Reno and Sparks police vehicles surrounded the truck. Shaw was ordered out of the truck, but he remained in the cab for a few minutes, talking to police. See SPARKS, back page I ''J "l.Ml i II i yoif-f' Senate OKs child-care bill WASHINGTON After a week of blisteringly partisan debate, the Senate approved a multibillion-dollar measure Thursday aimed at helping low-income families shoulder the costs of child care.

The Democrat-sponsored package, funded largely through an extension of the telephone excise tax, would provide direct grants worth at least $1.75 billion a year, as well as $10.3 billion worth of tax-credits during the next five years. Story, page 5A. Marilyn NewtonGazette-Journal SUSPECT: Steven Shaw surrendered to police Thursday at 1-580 and Mill Street for questioning after a fatal Sparks shooting. Governor expected to veto boost in lawmakersipenj fc) fX NLegislature Veterans condemn court ruling to shield U.S. flag burners By Stuart GolderGazettKiournai Burning the American flag is like killing a bald eagle, says World War II veteran Steve Ambrose of Reno.

Vietnam War veteran Richard Barnes compared burning the flag to "burning the country." Ambrose, Barnes and other military veterans in the Reno-Sparks area Thursday publicly disagreed with Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared the First Amendment of the Constitution protects protesters who burn the U.S. flag as a form of political protest. "Whatever happened to the respect we showed the flag that was the symbol of our nation?" asked George Meredith of Reno, who served in the Army for three years in World War II. "I remember when we used to call it 'Old I just don't understand their thinking." Robert Derrick, who recently got out of the U.S.

Army Rangers, considered the court's ruling ironic. See FLAG, page 6A More tax funds eyed, 4A Truck fee plan, 4 A Insurance rollback, 1C a Plane crash kills 3 near LA SANTA CLARITA, Calif. A single-engine plane that snagged a wire above a power line crashed Thursday afternoon, killing three people and injuring a fourth. The pilot of the French-made TB-21 Trinidad reported engine trouble shortly before the 2:13 p.m. crash near Placenta Canyon about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The survivor, a teen-age girl, was in critical condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia. The pilot and two other passengers were killed. U.S. man feared kidnapped WASHINGTON An American relief worker was apparently kidnapped Thursday in Israel's occupied Gaza Strip, U.S. officials said.

The worker was identified as Chris George, 37, of the Save the Children Federation. It was believed to be the first kidnapping of a non-Israeli in Israel or its occupied territories, i i Wire service reports i i fnm-- ii By Courtney BrennGazette-Joumai CARSON CITY Gov. Bob Miller today is expected to exercise the first veto of his gubernatorial career, axing a bill that would increase the retirement benefits of lawmakers by 300 percent. Some legislators predicted they'll override the veto on AB820, which also would provide better pension plans for some 46,000 state employees and their dependents. The governor's move could cause a backlash.

"The members of the Assembly feel very strongly about this," Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said Thursday. "This is a game of both branches of government, and when it comes back, I expect it to be overridden." It takes a two-thirds majority vote of both houses to override a veto. The first time around, AB820 passed unanimously in the Assembly and 16-4 in the Senate. Sen. Don Mello, D-Sparks, criticized what seemed to be a surprise move on Miller's part, since the governor had not come out in opposition to the bill earlier.

"It was introduced a month ago and the governor never talked to me about the bill, nor to anyone else," Mello said. "I've worked with six or seven governors and I've never seen one like this." "He knew what was in that bill," Mello added, accusing Miller of giving in to political heat at the last minute. Under AB820, state employees would be eligible for benefits after five years of service instead of 10. The contribution would continue at a rate of 19 percent of gross sal Jean Dixon AlkinGazene-Journal ANGRY: Leonard Wagner, manager of Reno's Desert Sunset Motel, flies Old Glory upside down in protest. Civil rights decision gives cities wider protection ary.

It also reduces the penalty for early retirement and increases cost-of-living adjustments from 2 percent to 3 percent after 10 years of retirement. But the bill has drawn some tublic criticism for increasing egislative pension benefits from $25 a month for each year of service to $100 a month for each year of service for up to 30 years of service. The bill could make some retired legislators eligible for $3,000 in monthly retirement benefits. A full-time public employee would have to make an annual salary of $40,000 to equal the benefits of the lawmakers. Miller's staff would not elaborate Thursday on why the governor plans to veto AB820, the first of more than 400 measures passed by the Legislature this session to be rejected by the governor.

Press secretary Larry Henry said Miller would likely provide an explanation for the veto today. He said the governor's staff did not lobby for or against ABO See VETO, page 4A Inside WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court, narrowing a century-old federal law, Thursday gave cities important new protection against big damage awards when they are accused of violating people's civil rights. By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled against a former Dallas high school football coach who said he lost his job because he is white. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the court, said the 1866 law can be used to sue a city only if it can be proved the alleged violation of civil rights was part of an official municipal policy. It is not enough to show that a city employee, Other Supreme Court action, page 7A The high court previously applied that limitation to a civil rights law enacted in 1871 a statute also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act.

The ruling is the latest in a string of defeats handed civil rights plaintiffs this year by a newly solidified conservative majority on the court. Onie Cooper, a regional director in Reno for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he is fearful what the court will act on next. Markets 8-9B Movie guide 20 Nation 4-1 6A Nevada 1-2C Obituaries 2C Sports 1-4B Style MOD TV log 8D Vitals 2C Weather 20A World 2A Bridge 19C Business 7-10B Calendar 20 California 3A Classified ads 4-20C Comics 9D Crossword 7D Dear Abby 70 Editorials 19A Entertainment 2-8D Health 7D Horoscope 90 acting in his or her official capacity, violated Copyright, 1989 Reno Newspapers, Inc. A Gannett newspaper ir See CIVIL, page 7A someone rights, she said. LOR (TO X8T 11 11 Will 3 I-, Art.

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