Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 13

CarsonDouglas NEWSRECORD 2C LOTTERY OBITUARIES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1997 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL NEWS BUREAU: 885-5562 FAX: 885-5565 COVERING CARSON CITY, MINDEN AND GARDNERVILLE AREAS CIRCULATIONCLASSIFIEDS: 885-5550 2C I Vkte 1 11 Gallego9 ex says she was victim uf After their arrest in late 1980, she said she had been an accomplice in 10 murders nine women, who Charlene Williams: She's free after serving time as killer's accomplice. last month. The California Supreme Court upheld his California death sentence in 1990, but it remains on appeal. Williams, now 41, pleaded guilty to two first-degree murders and a sec PVy and one man -in 1 California and Ne Gallego Williams in 1983 Whitewash of The Wall' requires an explanation It was known as "The Wall" back when Douglas High School band director Bill Zabelsky asked his musicians to sign the orange-tinted wall to signify theirmarchinginthe 1989 Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. Not only was this community proud of the band's achievement in earning this coveted honor, but it raised $62,000 in three weeks so the band could accept the invitation marking President-elect George Bush's elevation to the White House.

It was a proud moment for all of us to watch our Fighting Tiger Band members march in that parade on national television. You couldn't help but feel that our vada. Criminal charges were filed She was freed, with no parole or other conditions, after 1 6 years and eight months in prison. She does not have to notify authorities of her whereabouts and took pains to protect her privacy during the interview, saying Gallego has a contract out on her, the Chronicle said. She would not say in which state she lives, what work she does, or what relationship she has with the son she bore in prison in early 1981, three months after herarrest.

She would not let a newspaper photographer take even a silhouette picture of her or photograph her lawyer, Joseph Murphy. Williams said she was 20, di- Sce GALLEGO on page 2C lished Tuesday, her first since her release from a Carson City prison in July. "It's taken me a hell of a long time to realize that I'm one of the ones who lived." Now, Williams said, she'd like to do something for battered or abused women like herself. "The past can't be undone, but the future can be helped," she said. One of Gallego's victims, Stacey Redican, 1 7, was living in Reno at the time of her murder but was born and grew up in Carson City.

According to her court testimony, Williams lured a succession of voung women into cars between '1978 and 1980 with promises of parties or jobs so that Gallego could find "the perfect sex slave." ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO Confessed murderer Charlene Williams, now a free woman, says she was one of Gerald Gallego's victims. "There were victims who died and there were victims who lived," Williams told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview pub ond-degree murder and was given leniency in exchange for her testimony. She was eligible for parole in Nevada six years ago but chose to serve her full sentence in that state rather than face a possible transfer to a California prison, where she said she feared Gallego would have her killed. in only tour ot the killings. Based on her testimony, Gallego was convicted of two murders in each state and sentenced to death in both states.

A federal appeals court, which said he should get a new penalty trial because of misleading jury instructions, overturned his Nevada death sentence Community's love lifts cancer patient community, represented by our high school nc mmm i- instils torltl hi nrm i Benefit is Friday: For 33-year-old mother of two in Carson City. NEVADA DAY BENEFIT I i It was a historical event that will never CAROL DUIs send chef back to prison ByPatti Steele RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL The Carson City chef who was married to the former warden of the Northern Nevada Correctional Center is heading back to prison for up to seven years on two DUI convictions. Eugene Pizzetta, 49, was sentenced Tuesday to 1 2 to 30 months in prison stemming from a March 28 arrest and 16 to 60 months stemming from a July 17 arrest. Carson City District Court Judge Michael Fondi ordered the sentences to run back to back. Pizzetta pleaded guilty to the charges in September as part of a plea 'VTu, till 'r4 x.

H1' xnf-Y pi imK I '--'1 -J -I, nim i 1 1 mnmm i mi nn ir deal in which a Januarvsexual- What: First Ormsby House Nevada Day Benefit. When: Starts at noon Friday at the Ormsby House in downtown Carson City. Features: Raffles, music, food, drinks, karaoke, dancing and fireworks. Benefits: All proceeds go to the Denise Dunning Cancer Treatment Fund. Donations: Can also be made to the Denise Dunning Fund at the Greater Nevada Credit Union.

assauyscrnasie was droplfd. drunPkn- djiiwhe 1 convicf WlTsl wer Pizzetta's thif fourth. Pizzetta made news in 1995 when Brenda Burns, then Pizzetta ByPatti Steele RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL In many ways, Denise Dunning's life has neverbeen better. The 33-year-old Carson City single mother of two boys was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1 993. The cancer was in remission until it reappeared three months ago.

She has her good days and bad days, and the stack of bills for her medical treatments is growing higher. But the outpouring of support and love from family and friends has given Dunning a renewed zest for life. From friends cooking and delivering her dinner every night and helping with the housework to coworkers donating their sick time to her, Dunning's support has been phenomenal. On Friday, the community has a chance to lend a hand. Dunning is the beneficiary of the first Ormsby House Nevada Day Bash and Benefit at the hotel-casino in downtown Carson City.

Raffle prizes include a Hawaiian vacation for two, a car and 500 cash as well as numerous smaller prizes. "The two words I've used the most in the last few years are amazing and overwhelming," Dunning said. "I feel like I've died and I'm watching from above looking at what everyone is doing for me. They're taking over and doingeverything. They just keep telling me, 'Don't worry about John Tatro, hose family has been close to Dunning for years, helped arrange the benefit.

"Denise is a phenomenal person," Tatro said. "Nobody does not like Denise. When my dad was dying of cancer, Denise would go by his house every day and just chat with him. It was nice for him to be able to talk with someone who knows what it's like. "When we found out she was running short of money, we had no choice but to help her." Tatro talked to Ormsby House manager Bob Cashell, whoembraced the idea of a local benefit.

"The Ormsby House is looking for a chance to bring locals back," Tatro said. "And one way to do that is to help local people." -ijL f-TT 'f VOGEL again. Only those chosen band members could ever say they were there. It was a wall from history. And, at the time, it was clearly understood that this bright-orange wall in the band room with the signatures of those musicians would not be destroyed or painted over.

It was to serve as a constant reminder to the school's future musicians what was possible if they only worked hard enough to achieve a goal. That kind of motivation and that kind of effort made by the students who participated in that inaugural event is something every school official and parent should encourage, support and be proud of. And while it's true that Zabelsky received a commemorative plaque and photos of the event, it was THAT wall that signified something special. It was something that may never happen again but served as a "wall of possibilities." But last summer "The Wall" was destroyed. It was destroyed by an apparent mindless actor miscommunication when Principal Bev Jeans told the school's custodian to paint it white in preparation for a new chorus teacher who was moving into that room.

No doubt Ms. Jeans would like to whitewash this matter, too, and sign it off as a mistake, as Vice Principal John Carlson did when he said it was "old news." But the truth is this isn't "old news" or just a wall that was painted over. It goes far deeper. It's about insensitivity and lack of accountability. Back in August, Zabelsky raised this issue and asked Douglas High School officials what happened.

He was met with silence. All he wanted was an explanation, an apology and maybe an attempt to at least try to salvage this wall. Now it's the end of October and his questions have yet to be answered. No doubt Douglas High School officials would like to put this matterto rest. But if school officials care at all about their students and teaching them about personal responsibility and accountability, then they should be role models and step forward, admit their error and apologize.

Isn't that what as parents and educators are supposed to teach these young adults? Or is personal responsibility and accountability nothing more than words and rhetoric? ABOVE: The Dunning family, from left, Scott, 7, Denise and Brandon, 14, sit in front of their home in Carson City. Denise Dunning, 33, is a single mother with Hodgkin's disease. LEFT: Anna Rupert, foreground, brings in a roast beef dinner complete with vegetables, drinks and dessert for Denise Dunning and her family. Rupert's action is just one example of the outpouring of love and support the Dunning family has received from the Carson City community. warden of a state prison in Carson City, quit her job to open a restaurant with him.

Burns and Pizzetta met in a cooking class while he was an inmate serving time inherprisonforrape. Burns and Pizzetta opened Bre-gene's Trattoria Pastry Shoppc in early 1996. The couple later married but recently divorced. Because of his lengthy criminal past, including more than 60 arrests, defense lawyers Tuesday did not ask for leniency for Pizzetta. But they did ask the judge to consider how Pizzetta's recent notoriety may have contributed to his actions.

"Nobody has given him much of a break," said lawyer John Aebi, who represented Pizzetta on the March DUI charge. He said Pizzetta and Burns were working long hours starting their business while under the scrutiny of the public and press. "Mr. Pizzetta, quite frankly, did not handle the pressure," Aebi said. "He reverted into his old patterns of drinking, and he has to pay the price." Deputy Public Defender Sharon Claasscn, who represented Pizzetta on the July DUI charge, said: "Mr.

Pizzetta and his former wife lived under an almost amazing umbrella of public scrutiny. Mr. Pizzetta has nocoping mechanisms. When things began to go bad, he turned to his old friend alcohol." But Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer argued Pizzetta alone was responsible forhisactions. "Everybody in this life has choices," Langer said, adding, "The longer Mr.

Pizzetta is behind bars, the safer the citizens of Carson City are." Pizzetta made a short and tearful statement before his sentence was handed down. "I want to apologize to the court and the community. But most of all I want to apologize to the woman I love the most," he said. "I'm ready to accept the consequences." Because of his criminal past, Pizzetta is not eligible forearly release. Photos by Lisa J.

Tolda Reno Gazette Journal UNR engineers rumble into earthquake testing 'Shake tables': Researchers will test the strength and design of building materials. of structure components such as concrete bridge columns in quake conditions. The tables create earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter scale. That's a big shake. The scale ends at 1 0.

"It's a lot of fun," said John Drumm, the mechanical engineer who operates the tables from a computerized control booth in UNR's earthquake engineering laboratory. The $8.5 million lab, with its shake tables and other heavy equipment, is big enough and good enough to make UNR a national leader in earthquake research. The federal government recently designated UNR one of the participating universities in the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. UNR will test quake-proof construction technology as part of a team that includes Cornell University, Virginia Tech and the Univer- Sce QUAKE on page 2C By Don Cox RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Enough man-made power exists at the University of Nevada, Reno to reproduce the ground-shaking motion of an earthquake bigger than the one that rocked northern California in 1989. Some of the energy ill be demonstrated today hen UNR shows off the country's biggest set of what scientists call "shake tables." The two hydraulic platforms each 1 4 feet long and 1 4 feet ide are used to test the strength and design Pollen count In Truckee Meadows area as of Oct.

2728, 1997 Parts per cubic meter of air: LOW MODERATE HH I LOW MODERATE H'CH Nevada CAP to resume search for missing plane Volunteers with the Nevada Civil Air Patrol will resume the search this morning for a missing plane. Alpine County Sheriffs officials said they were notified of the missing Cessna U206B about noon Monday. The plane was scheduled to leave Minden and arrive in Calaveras County, Calif. "We checked several airports to see if we could find a change in their flight plan," said assistant sheriff Bob Tucker. "When we couldn't, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol began searching." Tuesdav afternoon a search plane picked up an emergency locator transmitter signal around Mokelumne Canvon, located off of Highway 4 near Bear Valley.

Calif. But Tucker said it looks like that signal was reflecting off the mountains and was generated from the Lincoln Airport near Sacramento. Please turn to page 5C for a complete obituary listing and more news of record. Gordon Leroy Barlow 7 1 Fallon James Gordon Beaubien, 83, Sparks John Castro 49, Reno Roberta May Stoneman Dawson. 86.

Fallon Adele Recen'd Etkland, 83. Battle Mountain Martha Ann Greenwood. 63, Hawthorne Mvrtle Robertshaw Meecham. 83. Elv Edward D.

Mullen, 86. Reno Earl H. Nicholson, 97, Carson City Lillian Frances Schmidt, 8 1 Reno Bewley M. "Bill" Spencer. 90.

Pinctop-Lakeside. Ariz Carson City man, 75, dies after bogging down in Kings Canyon A 75-year-old Carson City man reported missing Monday died early Tuesday after he as found in the Kings Canyon area, the Carson City sheriff office reported. Bill Baxter was seen about 3:40 p.m. Monday by a man who told officers he saw an elderly man and a vehicle stuck in Kings Canyon, sheriffs spokesman Bill Callahan said. Deputies did not find the man and assumed he'd freed his car, Callahan said.

But about 7:20 p.m. Monday, Baxter's home health care nurse reported him missing, Callahan said. Deputies showed Baxter's picture to the man who saw him and determined it as the same man. The sheriffs search and rescue team went to Kings Canyon for another search of the area and found Baxter's truck about four miles from here the road ends. Baxter was found about a mile from his truck at about 11:45 p.m..

Callahan said. line: 359-5011 24 hours a day Source: Drs Shapiro. Rotfistem and LoKshin. Allergy Asthma Associates i Sagebrush fcP Pine 34.