Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 7

Tuesday, March 2, 1982 Reno Evening Gazette pusinebb CI Karl's opens 206-room hotel: 'Beginning of the Sparks strip' By SUSAN VOYLES Gazette business writer Plans are to break even on the hotel rooms, leaving the profit to be made on the casino floor, she said. Rooms will rent for $29 through the week and $35 on. weekends. Rates for bus tours, used heavily by the casino, will be lower. Mrs.

Berge expects the hotel to provide a big boost in business. The hotel now employs 310, including 30, at the hotel. Employment will go up to about 340 350 this summer, she said. The hotel will have a computerized reservation system. It's decorated primarily in browns The concrete building has sprinklers, smoke detectors and alarms installed everywhere.

And to the Berge it's a dream come she said. Karl's casino. Altogether, the Berge empire now includes two-thirds of a city block for the casino and two parking lots, and another half block for the hotel and parking. The operation truly is a family enterprise. Karl Berge is the principal owner.

Brothers Lyle and Paul, sons Chris, Steve and Eddie, daughters Karla Droege and Patty and daughter-in-law Betty (Chris' wife) all work at the casino. Berge, a native of Hastings, started 16 years ago with five partners he eventually bought out, said Betty Berge, the casino's spokeswoman. Two years ago, Berge bought the First Interstate Bank building next door and opened the "Town Square Restaurant." Many smaller expansions were squeezed in between. "They started with a slot machine apiece," Cobb joked, adding that Berge won't be through "until we cast a shadow over him (John Ascuaga)." The hotel should mean good things for downtown Sparks, said Berge, also president of the Sparks Community Chamber of Commerce. "So many people I can't even keep track have told me there is nothing available in Sparks," she said.

A folksy, friendly atmosphere has been the club's secret for success, she said, adding most customers are locals or bus-tour patrons. For the last six years, Karl's has treated senior citizens to 99-cent or $1.50 dinners on Mondays and Tuesdays. "We really don't make any money on it. Karl has a soft touch. He even has a bus to bring them here," Mrs.

Berge said. The casino feeds about 700 those two nights, she said. What could be considered private enterprise's first contribution to the downtown Sparks redevelopment project opens today Karl's Silver Club's new, 206-room hotel. "We're the beginning of the Sparks strip," quipped Bob Cobb, hotel manager. Throughout the weekend, about 50 Walker Boudwin Construction Co.

workmen and hotel employees made the finishing touches. Last Friday, beds were left to be made and drapes to be hung, and workmen were staining doors and installing outside lights for the covered entrance, tall enough to accommodate most buses. The $5.2 million, six-story hotel is directly behind "7: (5. Autoworkers' chief to poll locals about talks at GM Venezuela reduces oil price NEW YORK (AP) Venezuela has reduced the price of its lower-quality crude oil by $2.50 a barrel, and Great Britain is on the verge of cutting its for the second time this year. "What we're seeing now in terms of contract prices is a crumbling at the edges," a U.S.

government analyst who asked that he not be identified said Mon-' day. new talks today with the union's 11-member GM national bargaining committee. Fraser's comments Monday came after he and Ford Chairman Philip Caldwell signed the historic 31-month contract at the No. 2 automaker's headquarters in suburban Detroit. The signing came a day after Ford autoworkers ratified the pact 43,683 to 15,933.

It is expected to save Ford up to $1 billion. The union's 70-member AMC council will meet with officials of the No. 4 automaker Monday in Milwaukee, said Ray Majerus, the union's secretary-treasurer. Canadian members decided at the five-hour meeting in Chicago to reject the idea of giving concessions and said it was the government's job to help out, not the workers'. After the Monday meeting, "we will proceed and have a council meeting and decide whether to reopen contract talks," Majerus said.

The American Motors proposal asks the autoworkers to forgo $150 million worth of increases in wages and benefits in return for repayment, with interest, in later years. Ford, GM and AMC have sought concessions in the midst of the worst DETROIT (AP) After signing an unprecedented concessions pact with Ford Motor the United Auto Workers' president said he will talk to the union's locals to see if they would support reopening similar discussions that failed at General Motors Corp. And the union's American Motors Corp. council voted unanimously Monday in Chicago to seek more information about a proposal from AMC that in effect asks 15,000 workers to loan the company their wage and benefit increases. Meanwhile, figures released Monday showed February production at its lowest level since 1948.

But AFL-CIO President Lane Kirk-land asserted in Washington that the wage concessions granted to Ford and signed Monday reflect only the auto industry's slump and "do not necessarily" mean the nation is entering an era of austerity for unionized workers. will be talking with the local unions at (General Motors Corp.) within the next few days and will make a determination" on whether to respond to the No. 1 U.S. automaker's call for concessions talks, UAW President Douglas A. Fraser said.

He said union leaders would discuss Ford Motor Co. Chairman Philip Caldwell, right, presents United Auto Workers President Douglas Fraser with a new red sweater similar to the one Fraser wore during contract negotiations. The presentation preceded Monday's signing of the new UAW-Ford pact. Unlimited funds available to buy accounts receivable, contracts, notes, assignments, etc Competitive Rates ILIEASCdD Financial Corporation 702329-4431 continued last month, according to figures released Monday. February car production at the five major U.S.

carmakers fell to its lowest level in 34 years, with just 323,661 autos turned out, the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association said. In February 1948, 275,056 cars were produced. February production was down 32 percent from the number of cars built in February 1981. domestic sales slump since the Depression. The union held concessions talks with GM, but the talks broke down Jan.

29. Although UAW workers at Chrysler Corp. agreed to concessions, the Ford pact is historic because it affects workers nationwide. The Chrysler agreement affects mainly workers in the Midwest. The auto industry's current slump Government GM recalls workers to build more Camaros, Firebirds ntraiMKiEBffii at the Ohio plant, GM spokesman Bruce MacDonald said.

A GM assembly plant in Van Nuys, also is working two shifts to build the cars, he said. DETROIT (AP) While most of the domestic market lies in a deep slump, sales of two General Motor Corp. high-performance models the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird is on the increase. The resulting increased production meant 1,600 GM workers returned Monday to work at the Norwood, Ohio, plant which makes the popular sport models. The recall, which was announced several weeks ago, was prompted by the addition of a second shift insurance campaign WASHINGTON (AP) An insurance firm owned by the U.S.

government, given more leeway by Congress, is launching a campaign to insure more American businesses operating in Third World countries against terrorism and expropriation. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Which insures U.S. firms against the risk of loss from political violence, expropriation and a freezing of assets, has been encouraged by the Reagan administration. L. Ebersole Gaines, OPIC's executive vice president, said he has asked the State Department to cooperate in encouraging American businessmen to invest abroad.

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