Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 1

Puerto Rico arson suspects jailed 4A Mob bosses sentenced to 1 00 years each ba guards for drug use i i COO 1 NBA bounces Rocket Qtptlfres, Ion urnnil Grand jury indicts Reno-based dating scam Wednesday DeMonte insisted, however, that he didn't violate the law, although he accused the woman he worked with of taking advantage of their mail-order mates. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Sullivan, who is prosecuting the case, is relying heavily on the statements of at least one of the women, who is named as a defendant but who is expected to testify that DeMonte was the brains behind the alleged scam. According to Reno federal court documents and papers provided by DeMonte, the case involves several women who placed advertisements in several publica tions, ranging from USA TODAY to underground, sexually explicit newspapers and magazines. They sought well-to-do men for companionship, marriage or extramarital encounters.

DeMonte's documents include legal and financial records and correspondence between the women and the alleged victims. He says they show that many of his deals with the men were legitimate. The government claims that once the woman got to know the alleged victim, she would introduce him to DeMonte, who frequently posed as her uncle. DeMonte would then involve the men in See DATING, back page Government claims suspected swindlers used sex as bait By Ken MillerGazette-Journal A Florida man was indicted by a Reno grand jury Tuesday on charges he ran a complex dating ring in which women advertised for male companionship and sex and then bilked their new companions out of huge amounts of money. The 16-count federal indictment names Joseph DeMonte, formerly of Reno, and II VAX A I V' i two women, alleged confederates, as defendants.

The alleged conspiracy is said to have been based in Reno but spread across the United States, into Canada and Great Britain. It is believed millions of dollars are involved much of it wired to Reno banks where it was picked up by the women or DeMonte. In Reno Tuesday, DeMonte said the women received the lion's share of the money. And while they may be dismissed from the indictment in return for their cooperation with the government, they are involved just as deeply as he was, he said. '-ITj year of time," said Trustee Robert Whit-temore.

As part of the plan, about 490 of the 700 sixth-graders will be bused anywhere from 1 Ms to 12 miles one-way to middle schools with classroom space. The remainder live close enough to walk to the middle schools. To match middle school schedules, the sixth-graders will begin school at 8 a.m., one hour earlier, and gain an additional 25 minutes of instruction time. One parent expressed concern over placing sixth-graders with older students. However, district officials said, those sixth-graders "will be self-contained in every instant possible." The trustees' short-term plan only addresses enrollment needs for the 1987-88 school year.

Long-term solutions, including the possibility of year-round Congress intended the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to be a floor beneath which pregnancy benefits may not dropf-ngf ceiling abovebjpyieB may not rise, Thurgood Marshall justice U.S. Supreme Court shall wrote for the majority. "By taking pregnancy into account, California's pregnancy disability leave statute allows women, as well as men, to have families without losing their jobs." Feminist leaders generally praised the decision for moving the nation toward equal opportunities for working women. They said they expected other states, and January 14, 1987 35 cents Mostly sunny, high 30, low 17 Tuesday's smog level: 33 (good) Today's smog forecast: good Complete weather report, page 12A Democrats cancel WASHINGTON The Democrats have pulled the plug on one effort by Sen. Chic Hecht, to become more visible on Nevada television but three Reno stations say they rarely use the senator's "video press releases" anyway.

Democrats who now control the Senate have told Republicans to take down an antenna they use to beam video releases to Las Vegas and Reno stations. The press releases feature footage of breaking news from Washington and afforded Hecht an opportunity to appear on the nightly news. But Democrats say Republicans didn't have permission to erect a satellite dish on top of the Senate office building that transmitted the signals to Nevada. Republicans claim the move by the Democrats violates their freedom of expression. KOLO TV-8 has broadcast one release, KTVN used two and KCRL aired none.

Vegas hotel fire was arson LAS VEGAS A fire that caused minor damage Tuesday to a showroom in a resort hotel plagued with labor problems was deliberately set, investigators said. The fire filled the showroom of the Landmark Hotel with smoke but was quickly extinguished by firefighters, said Bob Leinbach of the Clark County Fire Department. Five workers in the showroom were evacuated but not injured. Smoke from the fire didn't reach the adjacent casino area, and gamblers were unaware that there was a blaze, said Don Barnett, director of advertising for the hotel. Leinbach said investigators determined the fire was started by an arsonist in an area beneath a small stage in the showroom, which is considered small by Las Vegas standards and hosts minor acts.

FBI chief to head CIA? WASHINGTON FBI Director William H. Webster is among a handful of people approached by White House officials about heading the CIA, but the search has been suspended to see if William J. Casey recovers sufficiently from brain surgery, administration sources said Tuesday. Three administration sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a handful of people had been sounded out by White House officials about taking over the CIA if Casey could not resume work. But there remains strong support inside the administration and on Capitol Hill for letting Casey's deputy, Robert Gates, continue as acting director.

Moscow post to be filled WASHINGTON President Reagan is about to name Jack P. Matlock a veteran diplomat and Soviet affairs specialist, as the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow to succeed Arthur A. Hartman, an administration official said Tuesday. Matlock, 57, is fluent in Russian his hobby is reading Russian poetry at bedtime and was Reagan's special assistant for Soviet and European issues at the National Security Council.

He was also a key proponent of the president's decision last year to order sharp reductions in the Soviet Embassy staff in Washington as a precaution against espionage. Wire service reports Inside Horoscope 90 Markets 8-9B Nation 4-9A Nevada 1-2C Obituaries 2C School lunch 4D Sports 1-6B Style 1-10D TV tog 80 Vitals 2C Weather 12A World 2A Bridge 11C Business 7-10B Calendar 2D California 3A Classified ads 3-1 1C Comics 9D Crossword 70 Dear Abby 7D Editorials 11 A Entertainment 6-8D 1-4D Health 7D Copyright, 1986 Reno Newspapers, Inc. A Gannett newspape Or HechrsTV time tM i schools, will be discussed at the board's Jan. 27 meeting. "This is acceptable but not pleasant," Tom Ryan, president of the county's teacher association, said of the scheme.

"It allows us to handle the overcrowding for one year without disrupting all the schools." Enrollment counts in December found 32 of Washoe County's 42 elementary schools showing increases. The crush is evidence of the county's mushrooming birth rate, a figure that climbed from 1,760 births in 1976 to 3,300 in 1985, said Paul Killian, the district's director of research and development. To meet the crush of students, school principals commandeered music rooms, resource rooms and divided larger See SCHOOL, back page Lance IversenGazena-Journal SLIPPERY PLUNGE: Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Bob Ray climbs a steep embankment along the Mount Rose Highway Tuesday while investigating a single-vehicle accident. This was the second accident on the winding highway within 24 hours. Details, page 1C.

Student busing, new classrooms ordered $13 million fund financed 'half a war' By Bob WoodwardWashington Post WASHINGTON President Reagan on Jan. 9, 1986, signed a top secret intelligence order authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency to provide intelligence advice, training and communications equipment to the Nicaraguan contra rebels, according to administration and congressional sources. Under the Reagan order formally known as a "finding" a total of $13 million was spent in 1986 on CIA assistance to the rebels, the sources said. In other developments Tuesday: Former President Jimmy Carter, urging President Reagan to quickly uncover the facts about the Iran arms affair, suggested in Cleveland that the threat of a court-martial be used against Adm. John Poindexter and Lt.

Col. Oliver North. Carter said Reagan could have questioned both Poindexter and North after Attorney General Edwin Meese first reported in November that at least $10 million worth of U.S. arms were sold to Iran and the money from the deal used to aid rebels in Nicaragua. Central Intelligence Agency Director William J.

Casey's brain tumor could have affected his testimony before congressional committees about the Iran arms deal in the weeks before last month's brain surgery, medical experts said. Sources have said that a draft report on the secret arms transactions by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence initially criticized Casey's testimony before the committee as "less than candid." But after his hospitalization last month, that criticism was amended on the theory that Casey, 73, might have been suffering from the tumor's effects. Following Reagan's go-ahead in January 1986, the CIA moved quickly to carry out the finding. It provided an opportunity to help the contras with critical aid at a time when Congress had prohibited mili--tary assistance to the rebels in their fight against Nicaragua's Sandinista regime. That intelligence and communications aid, which one administration source said was "like authorizing half a war," was explicitly permitted by Congress in legislative compromises made in late 1985.

Once Reagan signed the Jan. 9 order, CIA Director William J. Casey moved quickly to beef up the CIA stations in key Central American countries and to ensure that the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies monitored every phase of the Sandinista-contra conflict. See CONTRA, back page FBI probe worried North, page 4A If you don't file tax returns, IRS will do it for you WASHINGTON (AP) The Internal Revenue Service Tuesday rolled out the newest weapon in its fight against tax cheats, a computerized process that will automatically create returns and assess taxes on some of the 3 million people who refuse to file.

"We're talking about a hard-core group of folks who have made the decision to drop out of the system," Assistant Commissioner William Wauben told reporters. "We think this is going a long way to forcing these people back into the system." Those people, he added, fail to file and then ignore a series of notices from the IRS. In many cases, Wau- See TAX, back page By Pat HarrisonGazette-Journal Washoe County School District trustees voted Tuesday to ease a formidable enrollment crunch with new classrooms in a stop-gap $350,000 plan that includes moving 700 students. In a room crowded with parents and teachers, trustees unanimously agreed to meet the expected crush of an additional 1,213 elementary students this fall by buying seven, mobile units that hold two classrooms each. And an industrial arts class will build a more permanent 784-square-foot modular classroom at Verdi Elementary.

The end result is 16 new classrooms, a move that was viewed as a year's breathing space, time to devise a longer lasting answer to the district's troublesome space problems. "I'm delighted we've bought another High court upholds pregnancy leave laws By David SavageLos Angeles Times WASHINGTON In what was hailed as a major victory for women, the Supreme Court upheld a California law Tuesday that grants pregnant employees the right to a four-month leave to have a child and guarantees that they get their jobs back. And a separate ruling could mean new trials for hundreds of blacks convicted by all-white juries. The high court said a 1986 decision barring prosecutors from excluding blacks from juries must be applied retroactively to all cases on trial or under appeal at the time. In the pregnancy ruling, justices voted 6-3 saying a federal law prohibiting discrimination against pregnant women did not prevent the state from discriminating in favor of them.

"Congress intended the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to be a floor beneath which pregnancy benefits may not drop not a ceiling above which they may not rise," Associate Justice Thurgood Mar- pcrnaps Congress, to guarantee women the right to hold their jobs during a pregnancy. Three states Connecticut, Massachusetts and Montana have pregnancy laws that are esssentially the same as California's, according to court papers. Another 12 Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Washington have regulations that grant leave for pregnant women. The Department of Labor has estimated that 85 percent of working women will get pregnant at some time during their career. The case arose when Lillian Garland, a bank teller in Los Angeles, took a leave to have a baby in 1982.

Three months later, she wanted to return to work, but her employer, California Federal Savings Loan Association, said her job had been filled. She asked the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission to intervene under the terms of a 1978 California See SUPREME, back page v4.