Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 17

Nevada Fun on the Ponderosa The Ponderosa Ranch in Incline Village hosts Nonh Lake Tahoe Days today and lommorrow, with a chili cookott, pig races, Basque dinner and more. Details; 32-1 60S. Saturday OCTOBER 7. 19(19 RENO GAZETTE JOURNAL CITY EDITOR. MORGAN CARTWRIGHT, 788 6397 Section 2C OBITUARIES 4-9C CLASSIFIED 9C BRIDGE You're Mormon and gay where do you turn? Wildland blazes down as fire season ends CARSON CITY The 1989 wildland fire season ended Friday in Nevada, with only 1,423 acres of land burned compared ith 6.398 acres burned last season.

State Forester Lody Smith said cooler nights and more frequent fall storms have decreased fire danger enough to rescind travel and campfire restrictions in the Mount Charleston district in southern Nevada and end the fire season throughout the state. The restrictions had been eased late last month in northwestern Nevada, although Smith said permits are still needed for any fall clean-up burning in most areas. their lives, and were unpleasantly surprised. "It's taboo in the church," Muiriel said. "And not only is there no place to talk about it, if you do well, we were censored quite severely for our support of our son, who is a good person." The McGraths were in Reno Friday to attend the annual conference of Affirmation Gay and Lesbian Mormons a national group of homosexuals, some of whom are active in the church and some of whom have been excommunicated for their sexual orientation.

"We're not a church, we're a social support group," said conference director George Mayorga. "We're here to provide a forum for communication." Although Mormon doctrine forbids Homosexual worshipers' 'social support group' holds conference in Reno By Courtney BrennGanjounai Life-long Mormons Carl and Muiriel McGrath were shattered to learn their son, who was active in the church and had been a missionary in Argentina, was gay. Conditioned since childhood by their religious education to believe that homosexuality was not only a sin, but that it closed the door to heaven forever, they needed a sympathetic ear. They turned to the religion that had been a mainstay in 3 sentenced do childl-s ft Iff i i. York, Florida and Washington, DC.

About 150 members had registered for the conference on Friday. Since their experience two years ago, the McGraths have joined Flag (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), a support group for families of homosexuals. They've stayed with the church, although they're not as active as they once were. "Sometimes you stay with something because it's your culture, your life, even though there are some things you don't like about it," Carl McGrath said. "There are some things I don't like about America but I continue to stay in America." Se GAY, pg 2C case Judge expresses outrage with ugh penalties Michael PhillisGenJootnal Three people who tried to sell a 5-vear-old girl at Reno Cannon International Airport for $5,000, including the girl's mother, were sentenced to prison Friday after Washoe District Judge Peter Breen rejected defense pleas for leniency.

"I'm in a position of expressing the outrage of society for this conduct," he said. Breen sentenced Brenda Hubbard, the 20-year-old mother of the girl, to four years in prison for child abuse, placing a child for compensation and possessing marijuana. He gave Carotin Vaughn, 24, accused of actually arranging the child sale, to an eight-year prison term. Michael R. Lund, 28, was given three years.

All will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of their sentences. The three, traveling in a school bus converted to a traveling van, had arranged to sell Hubbard's daughter to a couple in Seattle. But the couple contacted the FBI, and an undercover agent met the three at the Reno airport March 30 and arrested them when they demanded money for the girl. Assistant District Attorney Ed Basl originally charged the three with kidnapping, saying at the time that there was no actual law in Nevada against selling children. He later helped push a law through the Legislature making it illegal to sell a child.

The crime now carries a punishment of five years to life in prison. The kidnapping charge was thrown out by Breen, who said it did not apply to the case. Basl asked for substantial prison time on Friday. "This case involves everything that is offensive," he said. But defense attorneys Don Evans, representing Hubbard, and Charles Weller, represening Vaughn, said their clients were victims of child abuse ho, in turn, became child abusers.

Hubbard was kicked out of her house at age 10. After running away from foster homes, she moved in with a 20-year-old man at age 12. She became pregnant and lost babies twice that same year, Evans said. Hubbard also had a series of live-in boyfriends while still a young teen, and delivered children at age 15 and 17. "Being on your own at 10 and pregnant at 12 is something that shouldn't happen to anyone," Evans said.

Weller said Vaughn was sexually molested by her father. Although he went to prison for the crime, Weller said, the girl never received counseling and the problems associated with that horror remain. Both attorneys asked Breen to give their clients probation and allow them to get counseling. Deputy Public Defender Steve Sexton argued that Lund, the third defendant, honestly thought the two women were legally giving up the baby for adoption. Legionnaires ther in Reno COILED: Bea and Bob Franklin of Highlands.

their boa constrictor to third- and fourth-grade pu Kate Smith School in Sparks on Friday. The snake. oils at 'NttWdjR Cuio. About iCu to fight nuke waste shipments homosexuality, he said not all congegra-tions excommunicate homosexual members. "It's now done on a case-by-case basis," Mayorga said.

"For instance, I am gay, but I am still active in my church in San Francisco." Although there are strong Mormon rules against homosexuality, the religion encompasses an even stronger philosophy of tolerance, group organizers say. Mayorga said one of the main reasons the group picked Reno for this year's conference was because it has a large Mormon population. Also, some church members often go public with their anti-gay sentiment, he said. Mayorga said the group has several chapters in the West and a few in New Jo Go(nGdne Journal long and weighs 34 pounds. It's 1 1 years and grow twice as big.

3 touch the snake. Watkins also told a Senate committee Thursday that he was not prejudging the site north of Las Vegas for the dump's final location. "We're not saying the site must go there," he said. He said he planned to turn his attention to changes at Yucca Mountain in the next few weeks. "Within a month I will have a completely restructured" program, he told the senators.

One of the options on Watkins' desk would delay drilling and all other subterranean testing under Yucca Mountain for two years. Transuranic waste is not as radioactive as high-level nuclear waste including the spent nuclear fuel rods that would be stored in a proposed repository. Generally, transuranic waste is clothing and equipment contaminated with long-living radiation; it doesn't require heavy shielding, but must be isolated for many years. Gov. Bob Miller said Nevada already is CLEAR, page 2C if K.

Linct Iversenbaelte Journal Service of Reno. ellDDi a Mi WM I WW lie At 0 Miller: Restructuring dump won't solve anything No arrests in Reno slaying Reno police on Friday continued their investigation into the killing of a pizza restaurant manager, Lt. Phil Galeoto said. Galeoto would not discuss what evidence police have about the death of Esfandiar "Essie" Ateighechi, 27, of Reno. He was night manager of the Pizza Baron in the Keystone Shopping Center.

Police said he was last reported alive by a fellow employee, hom the victim took home after leaving the restaurant at about 3:30 a.m. Monday. His body was found in a field east of Reno Cannon International Airport. Secret Witness, 322 -4900, is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and prosecution. Molester gets prison term A Reno man convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life terms in the Nevada State Prison.

Washoe District Judge Roy Torvinen sentenced Frederick Holm. 26. The truck driver was convicted by a jury in August of sexually assaulting the girl over a long period in 1988, when she was four and then five years old. Holm must serve a minimum of 20 years before there is a possibility for parole. Store clerk foils robbery A convenience store clerk stopped a robbery attempt Friday morning by chasing away a knife-wielding man who had demanded all the store's cash, Reno police reported.

The incident occurred about 5:30 a m. at Stop Go, Ml East Moana St. The would-be robber was still at large late Friday. Police said store clerk Larry Daniels, 32, of Reno, refused to give the heavy-set robber any money from the register when the man pulled a steak knife. Instead, Daniels jumped the counter and chased the suspect out of the store, but didn't catch him.

VD warning for brothel CARSON CITY The state Health Division said Friday that patrons of P.J.'s Lucky Strike brothel in Elko during much of August and September may have been exposed to syphilis. Health Officer Joe Jarvis said anyone at the brothel between Aug. 1 and Aug. 21 and between Aug. 31 and Sept.

22 should get a medical evaluation as soon as possible. The division monitors a regular testing program for prostitutes working in Nevada's legal brothels. Stupak wants a landmark LAS VEGAS Vegas World owner Bob Stupak says he wants to build a tower nearly as tall as the Empire State Building to give Las Vegas a landmark of its own. "What I'm trying to do for Las Vegas is what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, what the Empire State Building did for New York, what the Seattle Space Needle did for Seattle," Stupak said. The casino owner submitted plans to the city earlier this week for a neon sign tower four times as high as his Las Vegas Boulevard Hotel.

But he says his real plan is to build a tourist attraction and has asked the city to put his plans on hold until he can submit changes that include an elevator and observation deck. The plans for the tower have met with city resistance, prompting staff members to prepare an ordinance limiting signs to 35 feet in height. Aerosol meeting in Sparks About 500 scientists are expected to discuss the depletion of the ozone layer and urban pollution when the American Association for Aerosol Research meets next week at John Ascuaga's Nugget. The Desert Research Institute is the host organization for the convention, to be held Sunday through Friday. Five sessions involving more than 500 technical presentations will include research on global climate and aerosols, nuclear safety and indoor air quality.

The meeting will include exhibits by aerosol firms and research companies. Staff and wire service reports CARSON CITY AP) Gov. Bob Miller said Friday that Energy Secretary James Watkins needs to relocate and not just restructure plans for a high-level nuclear dump. Miller also said he agreed completely with Watkins' comment before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the current plan for building the dump at Yucca Mountain by the year 2003 is "mythical, it's not realistic." "It's just what we've been saying all along, that the plans are unrealistic," Miller said. "But we also believe the repository itself is fatally flawed and restructuring won't solve the problem.

Relocation will." much as 4,900 cubic yards of the waste over two years beginning March 1. The New Mexico repository was to have opened a year ago but has been repeatedly delayed by a series of environmental, technical and regulatory problems. The waste generated at Rocky Flats, which was raided by the FBI earlier this year, remains radioactive for 240,000 years. The plant recovers plutonium from retired nuclear bombs ana reprocesses it to make triggers. Nevada poised By Mike NorrlsQuanv-Journai Nevada political leaders are warning the federal Department of Energy not to consider Nevada as a storage site for waste from nuclear weapons production.

"Don't even ask," said Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev. Bryan's reaction came after news that Energy Secretary James Watkins will ask seven states to store radioactive waste from the Denver-area Rocky Flats atom bomb factory that is threatened with a shutdown unless it finds waste sites by March. Watkins told a Senate committee he had not yet selected states in which to store the transuranic waste, but they apparently would include Colorado and Idaho and possibly New Mexico, Nevada and Washington all of which are key links in the Energy Department's troubled nuclear weapons complex. "Admiral Watkins still doesn't get it Sen.

Harry Reid, said in a prepared statement released by his staff Friday. "It's just plain dumb to think you can take high-level waste from Colorado and shop around for a dump site like the country was some kind of grocery store filled with disposal sites." Because a proposed dump site near Carlsbad, N.M., will not be operating as scheduled, Watkins told the Senate panel he must ask seven states to accept as 30,000 expected as Navy air show opens in Fallon More than 30,000 people are expected to attend today's Greater Churchill County-Fallon Naval Air Station Airshow '89. That was the number that attended last year's show at the Navy base. Admission and parking are free, but seats and refreshments must be purchased. An air station spokeswoman said gates will open at 8 a.m.

Flying will commence at 10 a.m. and after a lunch break at 11:30, will resume at 12:15 p.m. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The show will include both military and civilian participants. The latter include aerobatics by Joann Osterud and Brigitte de Saint Phalle, the Misty Blues all-woman skydiving team, the Condor Squadron of AT-6s and Acme Duck and Airshow Co.

For military buffs, the show will feature an F-16, an F-14, an AV-8 Harrier, an FA-18, an A-6, an A-7, Nevada Air National Guard and a search and rescue UH-1 helicopter. Also, the San Diego Recruit Training Command will present its 50-state Flag Rifle Drill Team and Drug and Bugle Team. By Cory FarleyGaietteioumai Americanism, baseball and "junior shooting sports" are among the topics to be hashed out at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center today during the American Legion's 11th annual National Leadership Workshop. More than 750 Legionnaires, Legion Auxiliary Members and Sons of the Legion from six states have convened for the meeting. They will discuss the Legion's activities, its place in the community and its future before they adjourn Sunday morning.

The big turnout reflects growth in Legion membership that's resulted from new projects and an effort to attract Vietnam veterans, said Lee P. Harris, deputy director of public relations for the organization. The Legion lost strength in the 1970s as older veterans died and Vietnam-era vets shied away from anything military. In recent years, though, membership has passed 3 million for the first time since 1948. Miles S.

Epling, the group's national commander in Reno for the workshop is a Marine veteran who lost both legs in Vietnam. This morning's activities, all at the convention center, include registration ($10 See LEGIONNAIRES, page 2C I A HUNG OVER: Marlon Ramos hangs osj" HimiwawTflb frQCL3 new Interstate 580 overpass while Bill Donaldson looks SVi.t.hff oyppfep.nected to open on Oct. 16, will connect the two highways at (tfcin liBoi ill two are employed by LindeH's Painting.