Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 23

Reno Evening Gazette Wednesday, October 3, 197923 jOOq! Tahoe casinos plan spring construction JVL 11 Jk I Two of three Lake Tahoe hotel-casino builders, ing with my attorney In a few days. Until then, I Kahle plans to build Oliver's Hotel-casino, wit fcCli Biven the Bo-ahead bv the U.S. Surjreme Court sairl have no comment." seven-story hotel tower. given the go-ahead by the U.S. Supreme Court, said have no comment." Kahle plans to build Oliver's Hotel-casino, with seven-story hotel tower, a Tuesday they plan to begin construction by next Rdlan IVfehon Douglas County Manager Bob Hadfield interpreted the ruling as upholding the lakeshore's proposed hotel-casino sites zoning.

Hadfield said the current board of county commissioners has passed a resolution not to encourage casino building. Prior approval of the building permits will stand, he said. Douglas County Commissioner Harold Dayton said, "As far as I can see, all that was holding them up was financing because of the lawsuit Now they can go ahead and get their plans approved." The casinos' preliminary plans were approved in 1973, over Tahoe Regional Planning Agency staff objections, in a split vote that immediately and seriously eroded the TRPA's standing as a bi-state agency. California's TRPA representatives voted against the casinos, but a majority of Nevada's delegation voted for them. The TRPA compact required a majority of both delegations to vote against the casinos to block approval.

Each of the casinos would cover about 20 acres, employ from 1,400 to 2,850 persons with an equal number of parking spaces and would accommodate up to 960 hotel rooms. "We're quite thrilled about the whole thing. We feel the court has decided in the right direction," said Richard F. Kudrna, Harvey's executive vice president, Tuesday. Harvey's has developed an expansion plan that Includes a garage, hotel and remodeling of the existing casino.

Kudrna said his understanding of the ruling would allow Harvey's to apply for a building permit today. But the casino intends to complete the garage project before it submits its hotel plans, he said. Excavation for the garage could begin either in spring or fall of 1980, Kudrna said. Kahle confirmed his intentions to build. "Definitely," he said Tuesday night.

"1 hope to get started in the spring. We've been in the courts for seven years, so I'm not fooling." spring. The court decided Monday not to hear California's appeal of a Douglas County decision allowing three new high-rise hotel-casino complexes at Stateline. While the county has not issued building permits yet, the losing attorney in the appeal said there no longer Is any legal hurdle blocking their issuance. Douglas County Commission Chairman Ken Kjer nor Douglas County Manager Robert Hadfield could not be reached today for comment on whether the county would issue the permits.

The three casino projects are by Harvey's, immediately on the state line, and by Ted Jennings and Oliver Kahle, whose casinos would lie about a mile east of the border. Only Jennings refused to confirm whether he will build, saying Tuesday night: "I haven't heard it (Supreme Court decision) legally yet. I will be talk Victim's brother testifies in Mazzan murder trial Dr. Joe's big day The landmarks in our lives arrive occasionally: our own birth, graduations, marriage, the appearance of our own wee maybe certificates that say we did good and perhaps a retirement memento to carry to the finish line. Special people are inaugurated, but even with the brisk turnover of leaders, such events seldom occur in one's life.

On Friday at the University of Nevada-Reno campus, a special man is to be honored on one of his landmark days. Dr. Joseph N. Crowley will be inaugurated as 13th president of UNR. The sun is scheduled to shine, campus bells will chime and at 1 p.m., the pageant begins.

Dr. Joe will wear a newly created UNR presidential medallion, a gift from Distinguished Nevadans. Men and women representing 116 colleges, universities and learned societies will march in his honor and 3,000 officials and guests will watch. The highlight of pomp and circumstance will be the UNR leader's inaugural address. Dr.

Joe is an excellent speaker and on this day he will be at the top of his form, which is to say insightful, humorous, direct and, on this most special landmark occasion, stirring. Most impressive of all is that Dr. Crowley has not chosen to go solo on his big event. He and UNR's First Lady, Joy Crowley, will be surrounded by some of the most important people from the various chapters of JT their lives, before their if: 1961 marriage, and 1 He also testified that the victim could have received the stab wounds from someone standing behind the couch. Mazzan, in one of his statements to police, said he was sleeping behind Minor's couch when the murder took place.

In testimony Tuesday afternoon, the victim's father, Justice of the Peace Richard C. Minor, said he met Mazzan on Dec. 20, two days before his son's murder. He said his son introduced him to Mazzan but he did not recall any conversation they may have had. Minor's wife and family sat quietly in the second row of the courtroom throughout the afternoon.

Minor immediately left the courtroom after giving his testimony. Also testifying Tuesday was John Sullivan, a 30-year-old slot machine mechanic, who said he bought marijuana twice from Minor. Sullivan testified Mazzan was present the second time he purchased high quality sinsemilla (seedless) marijuana from Minor, on the night of the murder. When asked by Dunlap to identify a sample of marijuana as the sinsemilla, Sullivan provoked laughter by replying, "I'd have to smoke it to be sure." Sullivan also testified he knew very little about the extent of Minor's alleged drug dealing He said he never bought cocaine from Minor or knew that Minor may have sold it. The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday at 10 a.m.

By MARIANA MEJIA Robert Minor testified this morning that his brother Richard brought back a suitcase of marijuana from Hawaii three or four weeks before his death. His testimony came during the third day of John Mazzan's trial for the 1978 slaying of Richard Minor Jr. Minor also said he was acquainted with April Barber, his brother's purported girlfriend. The missing woman's bloody, kniie-torn clothing was found in a trash can near Mazzan's house about two weeks after Minor was murdered. She has never been found.

It is believed that her disappearance and possible murder may be connected in some way with Minor's death. Under cross examination by defense attorney Larry McNabney, Minor said he had never seen Mazzan violent. He testified Mazzan always appeared calm and mellow and on friendly terms with his older brother. Nancy May, this morning's second witness, testified that she and Mazzan used marijuana and cocaine the night before Minor was murdered. After repeated questioning by McNabney, Miss May said Mazzan did have a friend with him that night but she could not say whether it was Richard Minor or not.

In final testimony this morning, Dr. Joseph Gauthier, a pathologist, used several photographs to describe to the jurors each of the 15 stab wounds on Minor's bodv. bazene pnotm oy Larry Nyiuno Whistling grandmother afterward. The Special If People will be kept lows Sierra Home in Reno, below. Wearing a T-shirt that read, "I blew my brains out at the 2nd International Whistle Off," Mrs.

Williams whistled and played the piano. She first started whistling in 1918 and performed on the Tonight Show in 1973. Lillian Williams, an 87-year-old grandmother from Clarksville, whistled her way to two second-place awards in the Second annual World" Championship Whistle Off in Carson City last weekend. Tuesday, she entertained residents of the Odd Fel AA I'll I CIUVJ VVlllUl kVS share the rare inaugural honor. Foremost are the couple's family, their vw own children, Teresa, I Neil, Margaret and Monsignor Carmody dies If- YERINGTON Monsignor Donald Frederick Carmody, pastor of the Holy Family Catholic parish in Yerington, was found dead this morning at his residence.

He was 68. Carmody was born Sept. 1, 1911, in Reno, and was the first native Nevadan ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Reno on March 19, 19:59, by Bishop Thomas Gorman at the St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral. Following his ordination, he served as assistant pastor and administrator of several parishes as well as assistant director of the Nevada Catholic Welfare Bureau, Las Vegas.

In 1947 he was assigned to the Catholic University of America and earned a master's degree in the field of social service. He served as director of the Nevada Catholic Welfare Bureau in Reno and Las Vegas, and as superintendent of schools in Southern Nevada. On July 6, 1956, he was honored by Pope Pius XII with the title of Papal Chamberlain. In 1957, Carmody was named administrator and then the pastor of St. Christopher's Parish, North Las Vegas.

In 1962 he was appointed prinicipal of Bishop Manogue High School, Reno, and in 1966 diocesan superintendent of schools. He was also pastor of Our Lady of Snows, Our Lady of Las Vegas, St. John Bosco, Battle Mountain, and St. John the Baptist in Lovelock. Carmody was educated at the Orvis Ring, Northside Junior High and Reno High schools and was a graduate of the University of Nevada-Reno in 1933.

MONSIGNOR DONALD FREDERICK CARMODY Following graduation he attended St. Joseph's College at Mountain View, and St. Patrick's Seminary at Menlo Park. Recitation of the rosary will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the church.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday at the church. Freitas Funeral Home, Yerington is in charge of arrangements. QVj Tim; the president's 1 mother, Mrs. James B.

Crowley and Dr. DR. JOE CROWLEY Joe sister and brothers: Dolores Palmer of Riverside, William, faculty member at Sonoma State College, Santa Rosa, and James, from the Crowleys' hometown, Oelwein, Iowa, who has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis the last 20 years. Guests include those who were close friends long before Dr. Joe became president, let alone entertained thoughts of an educational career.

People like New York lawyer Martin McCarthy. He and young Joe Crowley became fast friends that first week they enrolled together as University of Iowa freshmen; some of his professors when he studied for his master's at Fresno State University; his Air Force friend, Larry Willoughby, former great Fresno State halfback who wrecked a UNR Wolf Pack football team one autumn day at old Mackay Stadium in the early 1950s; Allen Makely, an IBM executive who was the Crowleys' best man; several who studied with the future president at the University of Washington, all aiming for doctorates; and many more. Dr. Joseph N. Crowley, holder of the top UNR job, is one of those success stories that comes along now and rarely and is always a pleasure to write about.

His first paying job was as a newsboy, hawking papers on street corners. He was a corn de-tasseler at 12 in Iowa, raking in 35 cents an hour. As an undergraduate in Iowa City, he was the multi-purpose flunky at the Airliner Bar Grill: he washed pots and pans, then graduated to dishes, then became assistant salad chef and onward and upward to bartender, serving 3.2 beer. Before that, he was high school stringer for a bunch of Iowa newspapers, handling mostly prep sports. Young Joe Crowley, former carhop at the Root Beer Store in Oelwein.

He got off to a shaky start academically as a collegian. There was the 1.1 gradepoint average on a 4.0 scale his first two years. Then dropping out and growing up and maturing whilst in the military, and back to college where he scored a 3.5 the final two years. He was a sportswriter at the Fresno Bee while studying for his master's degree, a job he loved. But at the age of 28, Joe Crowley had to decide between journalism and education.

He loved the former and the latter. That education is the winner is obvious from his track record. An outstanding political science instructor, he got his chance for the top job at UNR under highly unusual circumstances. The story is known to many of you, and is repeated briefly here: Regents dismissed Max Milam as president, installed Crowley on an acting basis; then there was a drawn-out presidential search, with Crowley omitted initially from consideration. Then came a bunch of state and community support.

Northern Nevadans wanted him for the permanent job. Crowley wanted it. The "people's choice" was confirmed as president last March. He has since gotten off to a strong start and among the foremost Of his achievements has been to bring the campus community and the community-at-large much closer together. His early performance indicates that there may not be another UNR presidential inauguration for a long while.

Dr. Joe is with us to stay. Inventory tax repeal not expected to hurt Nevada By HENRIETTA CHARLES "There might have been a time when this type of thing would have had a negative influence on Nevada," said Fred Davis, director of economic development for the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce. "But the outside investor is looking for a state's composite picture, not just whether it has an inventory tax or not." But John A. Dermody, a local industrial land developer, said the repeal "can't help us, either." Dermody and others said there is no way to estimate whether the repeal will slow industrial growth in the Truckee Meadows.

The immediate effect of the repeal will be to eliminate the need for California's approximately 325,000 businesses to take inventory each March 1 and submit the totals for taxation purposes, thus reducing overall operating costs. But Dermody and others say it could eventually mean that businesses looking to establish warehousing operations in the West may now take a second look at California because it contains two of the region's most populous cities Los Angeles and San Francisco. But they also point out that although California is repealing its inventory tax, it is increasing corporate and bank taxes to compensate for the estimated $260 million that will be lost in tax dollars. "Nevada never had access to these tax dollars. So, we haven't made the long-range commitments to spending such monies that California has," Davis said.

"I think investors will see that they really aren't saving anything because of the repeal." Don Burns, executive director of the California Warehouseman's Association, agreed that Nevada's warehousing industry is secure and said he didn't forsee a exodus of businesses like J.C. Penney and other companies that have made long-term commitments to maintaining goods in Nevada. If anything, he said, Nevada's public warehouses privately operated facilities where out-of-state businesses contract with local warehouse operators to have their merchandise stored and eventuallv prepared for regional distribution could be hurt by the repeal. Burns said such businesses might opt for being closer to their primary market, since they would no longer have to worry about being taxed on the amount of merchandise they have stored. Repeal of California's 129-year-old business inventory tax is not expected to hinder Nevada's important manufacturing and warehousing industry, officials say.

Nevada industry representatives have long maintained that the absence of a state tax on goods stored or assembled here while en route to a final destination has been instrumental in bringing warehousing and light manufacturing to an economy deeply rooted in tourism and gaming. But these same officials are quick to point out that the lack of an inventory tax has been only one of many reasons geographic location, access to transportation, right-to-work laws, and no personal or corporate income taxes for businesses to build regional warehouses and other operations in Nevada. The main impact of that development has been in the Truckee Meadows. Industry observers believe this is unlikely to change, despite California Gov. Edmund G.

Brown's signing a bill this week that immediately repeals the tax on goods stored a move that businesses have sought for many years. Sundowner conversion goes before planners While a federal grand jury probe Involving the Sundowner hotel-casino has never been publicly resolved, the controversial conversion of six floors of office space to hotel rooms at the Sundowner will be back before the Regional Planning Commission tonight. The proposal won an 8-1 favorable recommendation from the commission last April, but was rejected in the same month by an angry Reno City Council. Council members accused Sundowner owner George Karadanis of trying to circumvent the city in converting office space to hotel rooms in its tower addition. City building officials late last year discovered that plumbing for hotel rooms was being installed in what had been designated as six floors of office space in the Sundowner tower.

The city building department forced the hotel-casino to remove most of the plumbing. The Sundowner, with its tower nearly complete, has revived plans to convert the six floors to 162 hotel rooms. Its proposal will go to the planning commission today along with four other hotel room expansions, including the MGM Grand Hotel-Reno's proposed 982-room expansion. The Sundowner's plans also have been clouded by reports of a federal grand jury investigation Involving building records for the tower expansion. The city last February received a grand jury subpoena requesting "complete files and plans, building application, building permit, sewer allocation and administrative procedure minutes" relating to "ongoing construction" at the Sundowner.

The U.S. Attorney's office refused to comment on the nature of the grand jury investigation in February, and maintained that position when contacted this week. Federal officials would not say whether the probe has been completed..