Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 1

SPORTS pro Lunchtime alternatives Washoe looks to California school for cafeteria options, 1 Raiders blow lead Jets rocket back to win 27-24, 1 Imo Ga MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2003 FINAL EDITION WWW.RGJ.COM KnrPMTC Maybehiohor LIFE ZETTE-JOURNAL Sad day at Sundowner: Workers say goodbye i MAKING AN ABRUPT EXIT: Sundowner workers Mike Chernabaeff, left, a slot supervisor, and Rob Lotta, aslot mechanic, say will be difficult to find other jobs. Carflc TmalV RGJ for our loyalty," he said. Co-ower George Karadanis could not be reached Sunday night for comment. The company announced Friday the casino would close today. The Sundowner Hotel Casino has operated in downtown Reno since 1975.

It has been offered for sale in recent years, Karadanis said in a 2001 interview, and some workers said there might be a See SUNDOWNER on 3A By Martha Belllsle RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Workers at the Sundowner Hotel Casino spent their final night on the job Sunday saying goodbye and planning a trip to the unemployment office, after officials announced abruptly that the business would close at 6 a.m. today. About 300 to 400 employees at the North Arlington Street casino had expected to be working until Dec. 1, but employees til another job turns up. "We knew it was coming eventually," he said as he stood with his boss, slot supervisor Mike Chernabaeff, outside the casino's front doors Sunday night.

"But we all expected to stay until Dec. 1." Workers were told to pick up their final paychecks Wednesday, he said. Chernabaeff said despite the short notice, Sundowner officials offered no severance package. "That's what we get INSIDE September gaming numbers: Will Washoe County's casinos experience a 10th month of declines? Details, 1E were notified Friday the business couldn't last three more weeks. "It's not the best time of year to find a job at a casino," said Rob Lotta, a slot mechanic, adding he planned to collect unemployment compensation un si! ierra's trees under assault 1 ffi mpasHs Road salt the culprit on Tahoe highways a iv ByJeffDeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Salt used to keep roads clear of snow and ice appears largely responsible for the death of hundreds of trees along Lake Tahoe highways, according to a new study.

A fungus found in many sick Tahoe trees also could have contributed to the deaths, but the significance of the infection remains unclear and is being studied, said Shouhua Wang, a plant pathologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture. "There's a clear link with de-icing," Wang said. "I would say de-icing is the most important factor." The study focused on wilting and dying along the Mount Rose Highway, Nevada 50 and Nevada 28 in 2002. Preliminary results of Wang's research were released to the Nevada De- fartmentofTransportation ast week. "We know salt kills trees, we've known it all along," NDOT District Engineer Thor Dyson said.

v. Il i By Slobodan Lekic ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, Iraq Soldiers arrested 18 people involved in a deadly missile barrage last month that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolf owitz narrowly escaped, officials said Sunday. U.S. warplanes bombed near a center of Iraqi resistance, and the military said it was intensifying the fight against insurgents after increasingly bloody attacks. Also, a U.S.

military police soldier was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said today. The soldier, name was not released, was killed Sunday night some 40 miles south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. Meanwhile, a senior Iraqi official warned that mounting violence may delay steps toward a new constitution, considered a major condition for returning the country to full Iraqi rule. Lt.

Col. George Krivo, spokesman for the U.S. See IRAQ on 3A Antfy BammReno Gazette-Journal DYING TREES: Plant pathologist Shouhua Wang holds samples of pine needles taken from dying pine trees in the Nevada side of the Tahoe Basin. The dying trees have been linked to the application of anti-ice road salt. Pier Paolo CltoAssociated Press ON THE MOVE: A U.S.

Army soldier of the 1st Armored Division patrols the center of Baghdad late Sunday after several loud blasts echoed across the capital. INSIDE NATO and U.N. aid: Complaining that U.S. policy on Iraq is adrift, Sen. Joseph Biden, proposes turning to NATOfortroops and the U.N.

for political legitimacy. Details, 2A A new vet: Former Iraq P0W Ron Young Jr. pays tribute to veterans at Mississippi ceremony. Details, 2A ON THE WEB Online poll: Should state and local highway crews be made to discontinue using any de-icing products that contain salt? Log onto RGJ.comnews. pies revealed no salts or very low concentrations.

Salts were found in both the needles of blighted trees and in soil samples, with the severity of blight in a given tree linked to higher levels of salt concentrations, Wang said. The problem seemed sig- See ROAD SALT on 4A Dyson said the study's findings underscore importance of the department's continuing goal to limit use of salts as much as possible. "We're always looking at anything new and we're going to be watching a lot closer," Dyson said. "We're looking at other chemicals, other methods, new tech- nologies." In the study into the tree deaths, scientists selected 42 locations along the three affected Tahoe highways, sampling pine needles of both blighted and apparently healthy trees as well as the soil beneath them. In the healthy trees, sam- Bark beetles wreak havoc from inside Attack likely message for Saudi royal family ByJeffDeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Along a stretch of mountainous terrain around Virginia City and stretching from the Virginia Range into the Pine Nut Mountains, bark beetles are waging a damaging assault on forests of pinyon, killing nearly all the trees in'certain hard-hit areas.

"Once it is attacked, even though the tree may look perfectly green, it's a dead tree standing," said Gary Blomquist, a bark beetle expert at BARK BEETLE INFESTATIONS How to tell: The first sign a pine tree has been attacked by the most aggressive species of bark beetles is the appearance of "pitch tubes" of resin (secretions of sap) in the bark crevices. As the beetles bore small (Vi-to Vs-inch) holes through the bark, the tree secretes sap or resin through the hole, which often "pitches" the beetle out of the tree. This is the tree's natural defense mechanism. When a tree is weakened by drought, or otherwisestressed.it may not be able to secrete enough resin to protect itself from attack by beetles. See TIPS on 4A University ot Nevada, Reno.

INSIDE Alerted: Intelligence officials warned lawmakers last week to expect a Saudi attack, U.S. senator says. Details, 3A metal, broken glass and a large crater. "It's no longer an issue of terrorism for them," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi analyst. "It's become a war on the regime, a war to turn the country into a new Afghanistan ruled by a Saudi-style Taliban." An Interior Ministry official told the official Saudi news agency late Sunday See SAUDIS on 3A By Donna Abu-Nasr ASSOCIATED PRESS RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudis blamed al-Qaida militants Sunday for the suicide car bombing of a Riyadh housing complex that killed 1 7people, declaring it proof of the terror network's willingness to shed Muslim blood in its zeal to bring down the U.S.-linked Saudi monarchy.

The Saturday night attack at an upscale compound for foreign workers also wounded 122 people. The blast, not far from diplomatic quarters and the king's main palace, left piles of rubble, hunks of twisted Over the last year, Virginia Highlands resident Ron Wasson has watched a steadily increasing number of pinyons on his property and those of neighbors turn brown and die. Andy BarronReno Gazette-Journal About a week ago, Wasson plowed over eight beetle-infested RAVAGED TREES: University of Nevada, Reno researcher Gary Blomquist examines a piece of bark recently that he removed from the dead pinyon behind and to the left of him. The tree was killed by bark beetles. A tree can look green and still be dead, Blomquist said.

trees. He applied chemicals to others, hoping tney won't die as well. See BEETLES on 4A Weather Imoex 47. 23 LOW Life Music jukebox PC users change their tune with the newly released iTunes for Windows. Page ID Reno Film Festival Attendance at this year's festival might have increased by 50 percent.

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