Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 1

itrator will settle New round of food tampering threats 5 Downtown Reno hotel closed Below NFL drug-test fight 1B 1 1 Gazetl COLOR Record $3 million jackpot paid at Tahoe to Packer, and at about 2:30 p.m. won the $1 unlimited progressive jackpot by lining up three bars, four in a row, across the third line on the video slot machine. Packer said the man had purchased a $100 roll of dollars and played about $40 worth in about 20 minutes before winning the jackpot. The man had been alternately playing two adjacent slots on the 16-machine progressive carousel. A Harrah's employee, who said he couldn't give his name on orders of management, said when the San Franciscan won the jackpot "he didn't seem to realize what he'd done until a cocktail waitress came up to him and said 'You hit it.

You hit "He was very pale and his hands were See RECORD, back page (t It's a fantasy, a dream. I came up here a hundredaire and I'm going home a millionaire. World-record slot winner was the casino's policy not to reveal the identity of slot winners unless they gave their permission first. "He has requested he remain anonymous," Yturbide said. "And we certainly honor the wishes of any of our customers and their privacy.

We'd certainly prefer it if he were willing to have a picture taken and his name released." Yturbide also noted the man wished to remain anonymous in order to avoid numerous calls from people "wanting to sell him something. Some people shun publicity because they are concerned with those things." He added that previous winners have been given anonymity before, but not for such a large jackpot. The San Francisco man drove up to Lake Tahoe Friday afternoon, according By Laura MyersGazetie-Journai STATELINE A mystery man described as a schoolteacher from San Francisco on Friday won a world's record $3,041,864.40 jackpot at Harrah's Tahoe. "It's a fantasy, a dream. I came up here a hundredaire and I'm going home a millionaire," the man, who requested his name not be revealed, told a Harrah's publicist.

The man, in his early 50s, told publicist John Packer he was going to buy a Chrysler Imperial, some tennis shoes and a new pair of black socks to replace those he was wearing with a hole in them. "He was kind of in shock at first, but he's very happy about it," Packer said. "But due to the nature of his occupation he said he'd rather remain anonymous. Priscilla Ford U.S. One of the first things he said to me after he won was, i don't want any That's the one thing he doesn't want to give away." Tom Yturbide, Harrah's senior vice president and general manager, said it mmysteiry plan I Z-i ft i TFT- I I 1 s.y0 Ht i i back in court Mi cannot put to death murderers who are legally incompetent, even if they were competent at the time of the killing.

District Attorney Mills Lane told McGee he wanted to make sure the examinations focus only on Ford's competency now and not on her state of mind when she stood trial. "The ball game is over on the conviction. That is history," he said. But Ford's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jane McKenna, said she would prefer the examinations to be broader in scope. If the two sides are unable to agree on the order, it will be up to McGee to decide.

Ford, dressed in a full-length print dress that hid the chains around her waist and feet, sat quietly through the brief hearing. Nf 1 Friday. Seated with Defender Jane Saturday July 12, 1986 35 cents Sunny, high 94, low S3 Friday's smog level: 52 (moderate) Today's smog forecast: good Complete weather report, page 8A NFL football star's death probe closed SACRAMENTO An investigation into who supplied football star Don Rogers with the cocaine that killed him is over, and police have no suspects. Sacramento police Capt. Michael O'Kane said Friday the case was being closed unless new evidence surfaces for an arrest.

"We found no one who would come forward that had witnessed any drug deal between Rogers and any other party," O'Kane said. "We also found no one who witnessed Rogers using drugs." Rogers, 23, a safety for the Cleveland Browns, died June 27 after collapsing in his mother's Sacramento home. An autopsy blamed his death on cocaine poisoning the same substance that killed basketball player Len Bias of the University of Maryland eight days before. Bush tests the water WASHINGTON Vice President George Bush stepped up his unannounced presidential campaign in the key state of Michigan Friday by forming a special "testing-the-waters" fund that supporters hope will raise $750,000 quickly. The money will be used to help Bush supporters in contested precinct elections in the Aug.

5 primary. Delegates selected in the precincts and in later county conventions will have a pivotal role in picking the state's delegation to the Republican National Convention. Details, page 5A. AMA hits AIDS ruling WASHINGTON The American Medical Association weighed in Friday against the Justice Department in the evolving legal battle over whether employers may discriminate against workers who have AIDS because of fear of contagion. In a Supreme Court brief, AMA lawyers argued in contrast to a recent Justice Department opinion that a federal law on the rights of the handicapped protects victims of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other infectious diseases from discrimination based on irrational concerns that they might spread illnesses to coworkers.

The brief argues that employment decisions regarding the handicapped should be based on "reasonable, individualized medical judgments- Drifter gave away infant JONESBORO, Ga. A drifter gave away his 7-month-old daughter after failing in an attempt to trade her for a woman or a sports car, officials said Friday. Robert Louis Hudson, 23, who has provided no permanent address, was in custody at the Clayton County jail on a charge of contributing to the deprivation of a child, said Detective Charlie English. He said Hudson was wanted in Arizona for violating probation from a forgery conviction. Coming Sunday Nevada Sen.

Paul Laxalt's name keeps cropping up among lists of potential Republican presidential candidates in 1988. On Sunday, Gazette-Journal reporter Ken Miller begins the first of a four-part series examining the possibility of Laxalt's candidacy, how he became a leading contender, his major competition, what obstacles he must overcome and what his chances are. Real estate section inside Bridge 9C Business 6-8B California 3A Chess 3D Classified ads 4-1 5C Comics 5D Crossword 30 Editorials 7A Entertainment 3-5D Horoscope 5D Markets 6-7B Nation 4-5 A Nevada 1-2C Obituaries 3C Sports 1-5B Style 1-5D TV tog 4D Vitals 3C Weather 8A World 2A Copyright, 1986 Reno Newspapers, Inc. A Gannett newspaper -U -G0EB1 Marilyn NewtonGazette-Journal Ford is her attorney, Deputy Public McKenna, center. HEARING: Murderer Priscilla Ford, right, watches as Washoe District Attorney Mills Lane makes a point in court Doctors to check her competency for execution Craft believed to be secret stealth fighter; pilot is killed By Eric Malnlc and Ralph VartabedianLos Angeles Times BAKERSFIELD, Calif.

An Air Force plane, believed to be one of Lockheed's top-secret stealth jet fighters, crashed and burned in rugged terrain 15 miles northeast of here early Friday, killing the pilot and prompting authorities to impose an extraordinary news blackout. The Air Force declared the crash site and the airspace above it "a national security area" out of bounds to the press and public. Military and civilian officials would say little about the craft, which crashed at about 2 a.m. near Saturday Peak on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Air Force spokesmen at the Pentagon and Edwards Air Force Base, about 65 miles to the southeast, and Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, 210 miles east of the crash site, declined to answer most questions from reporters.

They would confirm only that a plane had crashed and killed its lone crew member, whose name was withheld pending notification of family members. Military officials declined to identify the type of aircraft, the base from which it took off, its destination or its mission. Air Force Lt. Col. Jerry F.

Guess, a public information officer from Edwards, did say that the plane was not armed. "No weapons whatsoever were involved," he said. However, congressional sources in Washington said the downed craft was apparently an F-19 stealth fighter, built See MYSTERY, back page City closes Reno hotel, cites fire code violations By Don VetterGazetteJournal King's Inn Hotel was closed by the Reno fire marshal Friday for having sprinkler, heating and ventilating systems that do not meet state fire codes. Fire Marshal Marty Richard at 9:30 a.m. shut down the 152-room hotel at 301 West where an undisclosed number of guests had to be relocated.

Bob Chandler, King's Inn general manager, said the closure was "unexpected." The hotel is negotiating with construction companies to correct the violations and will reopen when the work is completed, Chandler said. Chandler would not indicate how many employees would be affected by the closure. King's Inn does not have operating fire sprinklers in the hallways or guest rooms, Richard said. There is no paging alarm system in the rooms and the ventilating system doesn't have shutdown mechanisms to prevent smoke from filtering unchecked through the hotel, he said. Similar deficiencies were found in 1984, but King's Inn management appealed to the Nevada State Fire Safety Board and was granted a two-year extension to make corrections.

A similar extension request was made last month, but turned down, Richard said. "If we did not close them down the city would have shouldered the responsibility for allowing the facility to remain open," Richard said. "The city does not need to shoulder that kind of responsibility right now." Reno's budget woes have forced fire See HOTEL, back page On Thanksgiving Day 1980, she raced her black Lincoln Continental down a holiday-packed downtown Virginia Street sidewalk, killing six and injuring 23. The case took more than a year to come to trial because a panel of psychiatrists in early 1981 declared she was incompetent to stand trial. After treatment with anti-psychotic drugs, she was declared competent and the five-month trial began in November 1981.

During the trial, she refused to continue taking the drugs. In March 1982, a jury rejected her insanity plea and found her guilty of six counts of murder and 23 counts of attempted murder. The same jury sen-See FORD, back page By Michael PhillisGazette-Journal A Reno judge agreed Friday to appoint two psychiatrists to examine mass-killer Priscilla Ford to determine if she is mentally competent to be executed by lethal injection. Washoe District Judge Charles McGee directed lawyers for both sides to draft an order within five days defining the scope of the examination. The attorneys also will be submitting the names of psychiatrists who could be.

appointed. McGee will then issue an order providing for an examination, appoint the psychiatrists and schedule a competency hearing, probably in August. The examinations are necessary because Nevada law and a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling both say the state Banks cut prime rate to 8 percent NEW YORK (AP) The nation's big banks cut their prime rates by a half-point to 8 percent Friday following the Federal Reserve Board's reduction in the discount rate, but economists were divided over whether the cuts can spark the nation's lackluster economy. The prime-rate cuts put the benchmark lending rate at its lowest level since May 1978.

They marked the third time this year that the banks and the Fed have reduced their key interest charges by one-half percentage point. Although some economists and politicians had clamored for the rate cuts as a means of stimulating the economy, others maintained that the factors slowing the economy slumping foreign trade and the depressed farm and manufacturing sectors won't be greatly affected by another cut in interest rates. "If we look at economic weaknesses, they are coming primarily from the trade deficit and capital spending," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist for Norwest a Minneapolis-based financial services company. "I don't think the cut See PRIME, back page Big six-month price drop, page 8B Police 1 Associated Press MANHUNT: Law enforcement officers check in as they search downtown Big Sandy, Texas, Friday for a barefoot escaped rapist known as "Animal," who also faces a murder trial. Story, page 4A..