Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 1

50 May be higher outside metro area SPORTS: Kings edge Spurs in OT thriller, 107-105. IB no Gazette-Journal BD ill OH 3D mm Re In 8. Police would not release Sparks woman arrested: Newborn boy was taken from Washoe Med and found at Saint Mary's. SUSPECT: Reno Police Detective Alan Salter takes Olga Lopez, 28, into custody Thursday afternoon at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center. A few hours earlier, a newborn was taken from Washoe Medical Center.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense," Reno police Deputy Chief Jim Weston said. "She told us she lost a child some time ago and just wanted to be with a child and to hold it. We don't know what the motive is. Her story has changed several times." Although Weston said Lopez told detectives she acted alone, police were investigating witness reports that she left Washoe Medical Center with a man dressed in hospital scrubs and a flannel shirt. The baby, born at Washoe Policies: A look at how local hospitals keep babies safe.

Medical Center about 1 a.m. Thursday, was reunited unharmed with his mother at Saint Mary's. "A lot or people have gone into that room and not one has come out with dry eyes," said Saint Mary's spokeswoman Becky Swanson. "This has been horribly emotional for the mother and certainly emotional for our staff." ployed licensed child care worker, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and burglary after police said they found her two hours after the abduction hiding with the infant in a bathroom at Saint Mary's Regional Hospital. The motive for the abduction was not immediately clear, police said.

Harrah's adds power costs to room rates "There is almost zero possibility that this cluster happened by Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon Lawmakers visit Fallon ---H By John Stearns RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Harrah's Reno and Lake Tahoe began adding a $3 per room surcharge on hotel rooms this week to help cover rising energy costs, officials said Thursday. Harrah's hotels in southern Nevada began imposing the charges last week, and other hotel-casino groups could follow. "We didn't want to do something that would be too much of a shock or be unpalatable," said John Packer, spokesman for Harrah's Lake Tahoe. A letter from the hotel services director placed in guest rooms explains the charge and reasons, Packer said Thursday, adding he hadn't heard complaints. Harrah's Reno provides a letter and also began telling customers about the charge at check-in after some customers complained about how the message was communicated, said Michael Silberling, senior vice president and general manager.

name, saying she had been admitted to the hospital under a pseudonym to protect her from an estranged boyfriend who had threatened to harm her and the baby. The abduction was not related to the prior threats, Weston said. Witnesses told Dohce thev had seen Lopez walking through the maternity ward for several hours before the abduction, Weston said. See BABY on 1 0A lrfJHztfiT 1 Naval Air Station: Sen. Harry Reid asks for all data it has.

Cory Farley column: Sen. Hillary Clinton wins converts. rapid response to the Fallon cluster, including: A federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention field investigation to begin next week. The creation of a rapid-response team to investigate such clusters. A national database of cases and investigations.

The establishment of a national protocol for investigating cancer clusters and other disease outbreaks. "We need to do a better job of tracking environmental health effects, whether it is asthma, cancer, birth defects or other disorders associated with environmental exposures," Clinton said. See FALLON on 10A repeated the charge that Chinese pilots had been recklessly aggressive in shadowing American intelligence-gathering planes in recent months. China agreed Wednesday to release the crew after receiving a letter in which the United States said it was "very sorry" the Chinese pilot died and the EP-3E entered Chinese airspace and I Marilyn Newton Reno Gazette-Journal Because most customers come from California, they understand the reasons behind the extra cost, Silberling said. Packer said the Tahoe property added the charge only after taking conservation steps.

The $3 won't cover all of the estimated $2 million in unplanned energy costs this year at the 525-room hotel, he said. Harrah's Reno also could exceed its energy budget by $2 million this year at its 952-room hotel-casino, even with conservation efforts and a new $7 million high-efficiency energy plant opens at Harrah's in August, Silberling said. Rhett Long, who oversees more than 3,000 rooms at the Reno Hilton, Flamingo Hilton-Reno and Caesars Tahoe, said he is hoping to avoid a surcharge by "trying to identify every means possi ble to of rset our power consumption." The three properties' power costs were $750,000 higher in the first quarter than the same period last year. More inside: A look at 1 i lenklatinn anr! iAV'-r oiner actions in the Nevada Leaislature. 2001 andalookat JEGjSLftTjJJE today's to the general election ballot in 2004.

Legislators have attempted unsuccessfully several times in the past 100 years to amend the Nevada Constitution to allow a state-run lottery. Attempts in the past 20 years have been defeated largely by the casino industry, which feared a state-run lottery would compete with it. AJR 1 1 hasn't drawn casino industry opposition. No one testified against the plan, but it only had one supporter other than the bill 's sponsor. Nevada State Education Association lobbyist Debbie Cahill said the union supports the plan.

the plane's commander, said, "We're definitely glad to be back." The crew members disputed China's version of what happened during a preliminary debriefing en route to Hawaii, said a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said they were "flying straight and level" and did not veer into the Chinese jet. By Anjeanette Damon RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL A 28-year-old Sparks woman suspected of posing as a nurse to kidnap a newborn from his mother's room at Washoe Medical Center was arrested Thursday after police found the baby boy unharmed in another hospital. Olga Lopez, an unem- TODAY i Calendar IN las Movie reviewer debuts today Staff writer Forrest Hartman reviews "Memento," the latest independent film at the Keystone at the Riverside theater. He says the movie will please action fans while charming the art-house set.

Also today, we talk to the swing-rockers Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and sample the Thai food at Siamese Hut. i Renos Sparks 1C Carson parents celebrate triplets Susan, Jane and Adell Fliegler, born Tuesday to Janice and Robert Fliegler, are the first in the history of Carson-Tahoe Hospital. Business id Reports lead to recession fears Frugal consumers made for anemic retail sales in March, and jobless claims hit a 5-year high, spurring new talk ofrecession. Sierra Life ie Horse heaven at Verdi stables When most people dream of chucking it all and starting a new life, they don't think of "it" as coming from the back end of a horse. Lee Lizotte wouldn't have it any other way.

Weather 12a 28 HIGH LOW Partly Cloudy Index 1-12A 2A 11A 11A 1-6B Ufa Happenings Insider Crossword TV Horoscope Comics Dear Abby 1-81 3E 5E 6E 6E 6E 6-7E 7E Briefing Opinion Weather Sports Reno 1-12C Obituaries 1 0-11 Lottery 11C Business 1-80 Markets 4-5D Classified 1-14F Calendar, Movies For convenient home delivery: (775)786-8744 or (800)648-5048 PnnM using ncycfed 2001 1 Lottery proposed to fund education Photos by Andy BarronReno Gazette-Journal IN FALLON: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N. talks Thursday leukemia cases. Zachary is one of the Fallon children with with Zachary Beardsley, 5, after the hearing on the leukemia. Senators pledge to probe cancer outbreak a By Frank X.

Mullen Jr. RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL FALLON The investigation of 12 childhood leukemia cases here since 1999 could lead to a nationwide victory against cancer clusters and childhood diseases, federal lawmakers told more than 300 people Thursday. "We haven't figured out what's causing these things. We can use Fallon as a real argument for doing that," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, a member of a Senate committee that visited Fallon to investigate the leukemia cluster.

"Let's make something good come from this." Clinton; Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. John Ensign, and Rep. Jim Gibbons, heard testimony from dozens of experts and local representatives as part of the Senate 1 La CiSjL-kHKB SPEAKING OUT: Brenda Gross, left, and Tammi Beardsley, Fallon residents and mothers of children who have leukemia, testify Thursday before the panel. By Jennifer Crowe RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Looking for solutions to the state's revenue woes, lawmakers considered a bill Thursday that would create a Nevada state lottery, with tickets sold only in casinos.

Modeled on lotteries in more than 40 other states, Assembly Joint Resolution 1 1 would ask the Legislature, and eventually voters, to approve a lotterv. Money generated would be dedicated to K-12 public education: books, technology, teacher salaries and the construction and maintenance of school buildings. "We have to earmark the money. Otherwise, we'll just have a big dogfight every session over who gets the money," said Assemblywoman Kathy Mc-Clain, D-Las Vegas, who introduced the measure. If AJR 1 1 were approved this session, it would need the Legislature's approval again in 2003 before going landed on Chinese territory without permission.

The Bush administration rejected China's demand that it apologize for the collision. Nevertheless, Chinese newsmedia on Thursday declared a diplomatic victory and characterized the letter as an apology. At a welcoming ceremony at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, Lt. Shane Osborne, Bush praises spy plane crew, criticizes China for detaining them and more money to solve the mystery in Fallon. "We've got information that we didn't have before, and it gives us something to take back to Washington, D.C.," said Reid, Senate minority whip.

The lawmakers urged a said we wish to have." Bush said the two countries disagree on human rights, religion and issues of security in Asia, but agree on the importance of trade and improving living standards for their people. The president reaffirmed that he has no intention of granting China's demand that the United States end surveillance flights, and he Committee on Environment and Public Works field hearing on the leukemia cluster. The hearing lasted four hours. Lawmakers made no promises, but vowed to return to the Capitol with the intent of seeking legislation and a Chinese government spokeswoman Thursday indicated the incident would continue to affect relations. President Bush said crew members "represent the best of American patriotism" and that their plane did nothing to cause the accident.

He said China's detention of the crew was "inconsistent with the kind of relationship we both have KNIGHT RIDDER WASHINGTON The 24-member crew of an American spy plane came home Thursday to the United States after 11 days in captivity in China, and President Bush said their detention was "inconsistent" with good relations between the two countries. Stern comments by Bush 1, WJ 356-3300 Januget.eom PAID ADVERTISEMENT.