Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 28

6B Reno Gazette-Journt. Tuesday, August 26, 997 ues' for-Drofit plans draw fire from critics Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky for not fully publicizing a hearing last December on the merger. Rodolico said Nevada has one of the highest percentages of uninsured residents in the nation, adding there's "a severely underserved working population that has been underserved by its government and sold out by its local Blue Cross Blue Shield board of directors." He and other speakers pressed for an appraisal of the Nevada "Blues" present and future value and a formula that ensures the Nevada assets stay in the state. Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada said her group's concern is that premi ums will go up and coverage will diminish. She added the $1.5 million foundation money looks "a little anemic." Gilbert also criticized Molasky for providing little notice about the Colorado and Nevada "Blues" merger.

Brian Lahren, representing the Truckee Meadows Human Services Association 45 nonprofits including United Way, Girl Scouts and the city of Reno also said there hasn't been enough notice or information about the conversion to for-profit status. But Lahren also thanked Blue Cross Blue Shield for holding Monday's hearing to get comments, saying "you have already provided us more opportunity (to testify) than our own state has provided us." Other critics included Ron Rentner of the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry described the Nevada hearing that preceded this state's merger approval as Kafkaesque, and also said there could be a legal challenge in view of what occurred here. Rentner also said the concern is company directors will benefit the most as a result of the merger and the change to a for-profit company, and the subscribers will get treated shabbily. Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, joined in the criticism of the Nevada insurance commissioner's review of the merg er, adding Blue Cross should make sure the Nevada subscribers are adequately protected. Jon Sasser, a Washoe Legal Services lawyer who represents Nevadans for Blue Cross Blue Shield Conversion Equity, said his group wants an independent evaluation to determine the company's worth.

Then, said Sasser, some of the money should come back to Nevada. He has said that could be $30 million if the company is worth 300 million. The Nevada Blues has about 44,000 subscribers and Colorado which means Nevadans are entitled to 15 percent of the net value of the company, he added. Coalitions speak out: Many say asset shift is unjust to Nevada subscribers. By Brendan Riley ASSOCIATED PRESS Coalitions representing children, seniors, working poor, local government and others insisted Monday that Blue Cross Blue Shield protect its Nevada subscribers as it changes to a for-profit corporation.

Speaker after speaker questioned a plan that so far provides only 1 .5 million in a foundation to provide medical coverage for unin sured Nevadans. Some critics said the amount should be $30 million or even more. But under a change from nonprofit to for-profit status in Colorado, Blue Cross Blue Shield assets ould be shifted to that state. The Colorado "Blues" merged with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nevada last January Michael Rodolico of Health Access Washoe County Community Health Center said the asset shift is unjust. He also criticized Nevada Donner Party hike slated for Oct.

11-12 Reno City Council to discuss shrinking plans for ice rink I Details on the hike or lodging: Call the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce at (916) 587-2757. Redevelopment staff: Wants it in downtown complex. RENO GAZETTE-JOUivaAL The fifth annual Donner Party hike will take to the Sierra on Columbus Day weekend. The Oct. 11-12 event includes guided hikes, walks, a campfire, presentations and a museum visit, all coordinated by the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

Fall colors offer a first-hand view of hat the emigrants of the 1800s faced as they traveled across the Sierra near Truckee in early October. The Donner Party wasn't so luckv. Arriving at Donner Lake on Oct. 31, 1846, the party was trapped by early snowstorms and six-hour hike that includes Coldstream Canyon and the passes used by the emigrants. Guides will take groups of 20 people over the picturesque terrain, stopping periodically to offer history and interpretations.

LuncHis on the deck at Donner Ski Ranch. Saturday evening's historical stories and skits will be performed around a campfire. Sunday morning will offer rehalf-mile hikes to the Donner Camp at Adler Creek and the Murphy Cabin site at Donner Memorial State Park. Time also will be set aside to visit the Emigrant Trail Museum before a picnic lunch at the state park. about half of the 8 1 pioneers died.

Survivors ate the bodies of their companions to stay alive. The October tours include Donner Party camps, rugged mountainous trails and the Emigrant Trails Museum at Donner Memorial State Park. Other attractions include the Pioneer Monument; China Wall, built by Chinese railroad workers and Indian petroglyphs, undeci-phered carvings thousands of years old. On that Saturday choose between an easy, one- to two-hour walk; a moderate to strenuous two- to four-hour hike up the Pacific Crest Trail; or a very strenuous four- to ment the city's new master plan and results of its design standards survey. A formal hearing before ordering $11,985 in repairs and painting for the long-closed Kings Inn hotel-casino to make the building less attractive to vagrants.

A lien would be filed against the property to recover those costs. GMFC of Seal Beach, has not responded to the nuisances cited in past violation notices. A special-use permit and zoning changes for Vintage Hills Senior Apartments on 8.4 acres, south of Seventh Street and near McCarran Boulevard in northwest Reno. The 201-unit project would need the special-use permit for a density of 24 units per acre, which some nearby residents oppose. Current zoning would allow up to 21 units per acre.

Sagewinds, an adolescent treatment center, is seeking a master plan change to public facility for the Brothers of the Holy Rosary Monastery. The Catholic Diocese no longer needs the 14.3-acre property, which was used for the monastery for the last 50 years, and Sagewinds wants to expand its operations. It plans to offer outpatient and residential treatment services as well as Washoe County High School classes for 36 Year's Day flood. For the coming season, redevelopment planner Bruce Ambo said the best place is in the parking lot behind the Mapes Hotel, because much of the river corridor will be under construction this fall or winter. Then in a year, the rink could be permanently installed on the plaza.

OliverMcMillan has designed its proposed plaza to accommodate the smaller ice rink. Piping would be put into the base as the plaza is being built. A coolant is run through the piping to freeze the ice and a chiller that drives the system could be installed in one of the new buildings to go up. Ambo is looking for a decision today because the rink has to be ordered this week to be ready for a planned opening on Nov. 21.

The rinks are custom made to size. The smaller rink would cost $84,000 versus $125,000 for the full-size rink. Room tax dollars would be used to cover the costs and the room tax fund would be replenished from user fees from the ice rink. In other business today, the City Council will consider: Appointing members to a committee to work with J.D. Wilson and Associates to rewrite the city's zoning code and imple Most officials skip meeting on Air Guard move By Susan Voyles RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL The Reno City Council will be asked today to buy a smaller than planned ice rink for permanent use on the downtown riverfront.

But a shrinking rink could mean more elbow-to-elbow ice skating and dash any hopes for ice hockey games or exhibitions by professional skaters. Redevelopment staff wants the council to scale back its proposed rink of 80 feet by 200 feet to 70 feet by 140 feet so it will fit in a central plaza in the proposed entertainment complex. That would put the rink on the former Granada Theater block at First and Sierra streets, where OliverMcMillan developers want to build a large plaza, surrounded by shops and a food court along First Street. The council will review those plans Sept. 8.

The 70-by-1 40 rink is only slightly larger than the 142-foot by 62-foot rink leased last winter and used extensively before the New gov eminent entities. Luther Mack, chairman of the airport's board of trustees, said he had expected more to attend. Trustees must be doing a good job of keeping the elected officials who appoint them to the airport board informed. Mack said. "This says to me (the elected officials) have the information they need," Mack said.

The airport's consultant, Chris building on land needed for an expansion. Some residents are fighting the move and have filed lawsuits to stop the airport from taking over. They allege the outcome of Basham's study was predetermined and point to master plans and drawings, some of which are 10 years old, that show the air guard in their neighborhood. Herman said she remains suspicious of the site selection process. Basham started out looking at 56 possible sites around the state for the air guard before he chose Rewana Farms.

"The process has been tainted from the beginning," Herman said. "Had 1 confidence in the trustees from the beginning, mabe I would feel differently. "Tfee longer I stay in city government, the more I see it is morally corrupt." By Faith Bremner RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Local elected officials for the most part stayed away from an airport workshop held Monday so they could learn about a plan to move the Nevada Air National Guard to a nearby residential area. Only two elected officeholders, Reno Councilwoman Judy Pruett Herman and Assemblyman Don Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, attended the 45-minute meeting. Two members of the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Commission and a representative of U.S.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno. also attended. The Airport Authority of Washoe County had invited the Reno and Sparks city councils, the Washoe County commission and planning commissions for all three Herman Basham, reviewed the results of his study, which recommends that the air guard move from its present site to the Rewana Farms neighborhood southwest of RenoTahoe International Airport. The air guard is based south of the airport terminal XjJ Xjsj Select Savings IN CASE YOU MISSED THE ORIGINAL.

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