Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 13

CarsonDouglas 28 it n) i Id) SjLZllJ NEWS RECORD LOTTERY OBITUARIES WEDNESDAY. KAY 13, 1998 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL NEWS BUREAU: 885-5562 FAX: 885 5565 COVERING CARSON CITY, MINDEN AND GARDNERVILLE AREAS CIRCULATION CLASSIFIEDS: 885-5550 teen robbers get prison sentences Johnson Lane light worries crusader Third gets suspended term, probation: In robberies at Wendy's, General Store. taken. Authorities seized approximately $2,100 from the robberies, which is being returned to the rightful owners. 1 he three co-defendants were ordered to pay restitution for the balance.

Hellwinkcl and La Porte were originally charged with two counts of robbery using a deadly eapon, one count of battery ith a deadly weapon, four counts of false imprisonment, two counts of burglary, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of grand larceny, all felonies. All charges except robbery were dismissed as part of the plea deal. March 6. Investigators said they received reports from others ho said they heard the teen-agers discuss thcirinvolvemcnt. According to Sheriff Department records, two males wearing dark clothing and masks entered the Johnson Lane store about 3: 1 5 a.m.

on Feb. 1 1 and tied up a 2 1-ycar-old female clerk. About $1,300 was stolen. On March 6. Wendy's employees were surprised while cleaning the business about 1 2:30 a.m.

A female manager and two male co-w orkers were forced into a cold-storage room but were able to free themselves. About $3,000 reportedly as I KI.I'OKIS Two Carson Valley teen-agers Tuesday received long prison sentences for their roles in robbing the Johnson Lane General Store and the Wendy's restaurant in Mindcn car-licrthisyear. Wesley Lee La Porte, 18, who pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery, was sentenced in Douglas District Court to 1 2 years in state prison on each count, with the terms to run consecutively. La Porte, a resident of the Johnson Lane area, will be eligible for parole after serving six years, eight months. Daniel Lloyd I Icll winkcl, 1 8.

was sentenced to 1 0 years on each of two robbery counts, also to run consecutively, i Ic must serve a minimum of 27 vearson each count. Landscapers fight fires, too NDOT sees progress in rebuilding of -z-r-' fa i Tfiw frjt JS-trSw6 rV? Mtiy vr Crossing Overman Pit: Contract could be awarded next year. By Tim Anderson RENOGAZETTE-JOl'R NAL Despite problems in gaining access to the Overman Pit area of Gold Hill, a Nevada Department of Transportation official said Tuesday progress is being made on the critical initial phase to rebuild the historic Railroad to Carson City. If geotechnical studies are completed in about three months as anticipated, assistant director of engineering Susan Martinovich said a contract to build 1.1-miles of rail crossing the pit can be aw arded early next year. Another year would be required for construction.

Although Storey County officials have criticized the department for a scries of delays related to the $2.7 million, tourism-oriented project. Martinov ich told the State Trans District Court Judge David Gamble sentenced the third teenager involved in the crimes. Justin Reid. to one year in jail but suspended the term and ordered three years probation. As part of the probation conditions, Reid must serve 180 days in jail.

Reid, who turned 1 8 on Sunday, was bound over as an adult in a pre-v ious hearing. I le pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conspiracy charge. Both Reid and Hellwinkcl arc residents of the GardnervilleRanchos. Reid wasn't implicated in the Johnson Lane store robbery but admitted helping plan the one at Wendy's. The three were arrested flames at bay ley's Native Plants Farm Tree Movers, also attended February's workshop on landscaping practices.

She came away impressed. "As a landscapcr you don't really think about how much the industry has the ability to have an impact. There's a lot that can be done," Fox said. Many traditional landscaping practices such as planting juniper trees near homes can increase danger from wildfire, Fox noted. "You can turn it around so you keep the fire away," she said.

The Lucases will soon offer a service to consult and contract defensible space landscaping to homeowners. Many people think that means a barren 30-foot ring around homes. That's not the case. "It doesn't have to be dirt and rocks," Bev Lucas said. "You can See FIRE on page 3B Douglas County resident Chad Dornsifc is a crusader against speed limitson open highways, thinks traffic tickets arc nothing more than highway robbery and predicts the new intersection at Johnson Lane ill prove to be a bad idea.

Someof you may know him as the guy who formed the National Motorists Association in 1982to represent the interests and rights of North American motorists. He says the purpose of his group is to show that the federal government is more interested in intimidation, instilling fearand generating revenue through traffic and speeding tickets than it is in improving highway safety. He says speed doesn't kill and blames most accidents on sleep defi CAROL VOGEL cit and poorly engineered roads with improper light timing and no warningsigns for intersections that occur over hillsor around curves. I le also is against camera-based enforcement, claiming its big selling point is the ability to generate ticket revenues. And as far as he is concerned, that new intersection and light goingin at Johnson Lane is not only ill-advised and short-sighted but will have a long-term negative effect.

"It is being installed because of political pressure, not soundjudg-ment," he said. "U.S. 395 is a highway primary arterial where flow conflicts should be minimized. This is a sad reminder of our state's institutionalized lack of long-range planning. If a long-range plan using sound practices was implemented, it would have a very different plan of attack." He predicts that U.S.

395 will turn into a long parking lot during peak hours, that accidents, commute time and pollution will increase and that the smooth flow of traffic will be interrupted and become more arduous. That remains to be seen, but I told him I happen to think that the recent Johnson Lane improvements make it a lot safer and asked him what was wrong with enforcing speed limits if it'sgoingto save lives. "First of all you're making a basic assumption that the law is there to protect the people and the public he said. "From the very beginningof radarthey have been targeting vehicles that are the least likely to be involved in accidents, which is the irony here." Another irony is that his brother, Rod Dornsifc, was once a highway patrol trooper, publishcrof the magazine Police Product News and wrote the book "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Traffic Tickets But Were Afraid to Ask." After it was published, people started sendingenginecringstud-ies that contradicted the highway patrol's position that speed kills. That's when Dornsifc got involved and started his organization.

Hesomctimesappcarsatthc state Legislature to lobby against speed limits. Yet the most interesting irony is that thisdivorced, 5 1-ycar-old travelingautomotive lighting consultant says his biggest worry is his oldest son. He wants to be a race car driver. Why is he concerned if he really bclievcsthat the cause oftraffic accidents is not speed but fatigue, poorly planned intersections and traffic signals? "Well," he said, laughing at the paradox, "the thought just gives me heartburn." State panel renames part ofU.S. 395 to honor King A $1 00,000 grant funds effort to cut Sierra fire threat Thousands of square miles of northern Nevada, eastern California to be photographed by satellite to identify types of fire fuels.

Most populated areas from Reno to Topaz Lake, Lake Tahoe to Virginia City to be surveyed on the ground to further identify types of fire fuels. Types and densities of brush, trees and other vegetation to be matched with degree of slopes and other factors. Fire threat to different areas will be more accurately gauged. Information to be used for defensible space, land-use planning, subdivision design and recommendations for construction materials. Landscapers, nursery workers, turf growers, maintenance workers can be certified for defensible space.

It is hoped the industry will work more effectively with homeowners to reduce fire danger. portation Board the work is complicated and requires careful attention todctail. "We're making every effort to see that this project gets completed as quickly as possible," Martinovich said. "But it's more difficult than we first thought." Among the difficulties is gaining right of entry, or access to the site, so studies can be done. In a recent meeting called by the department, only tw of a dozen property ow ners attended and signed agreements.

Since then, all property owners except one have given permission for a state-hired consulting firm to get access. NDOT officials declined to identify the property owner, saying negotiations are continuing. In any case, Martinovich said studies will move forward over the next few weeks as officials aim for completion by the end of summer. The earliest that construction of the segment could be completed would be 2000. about two years behind the original schedule.

The idea of rcbuildinga 17-mile section of railroad between Gold See on page 3B 0 Bordertown 'a It Incline 5 Village I Scott DavisReno Gazette-Journal Washoe County for not having the political courage to name a street for King. But hen it was explained the requests in the Reno area were to rename an existing street rather than establishing a new street for King, Miller softened his stance. "Still, they're looking for someone else to do the work for them," Miller said. Board member Jim Thornton said a key consideration in Reno was the cost businesses would have to absorb with a street name change. Daines said he was opposed to the idea of renaming sections of highways and freeways for people because the board established that aspolicyin 1991.

But board member and Attorney General Frank ie Sue Del Papa said there appears to be broad community support for recognizing King. Transportation Department Director Tom Stephens said Sparksoffi-cials informed his office of their support. He said he expected the same from Reno and Washoe County. Reno i yf 396 Lisa J. ToldaReno Gaetle Journal ABOVE: These homes under construction off Foothill Road in Autumn Hills were untouched by a fire that blackened everything around them because of defensible space.

RIGHT: Karl Krauter measures sagebrush at Davis Creek Park as part of a University of Nevada, Reno effort to measure the wildfire threat posed by area vegetation. Defensible space can keep By Tim Anderson RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Aftcrthreeycarsof unsuccessfully pressing Reno officials to name a street for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King supporters of the idea got their ish Tuesday on a federal highway. The State Transportation Board approved a request from the Reno-based King Commission to designate a 27-mile section of LJ.S.

395 in honor of the late civil rights leader. Even though the proposal is an exception to state policy, the panel, meeting in Carson City, endorsed the idea. 6-1 Republican Controller Darrcl Daines dissented. "This has been a long, hard struggle." commission chairman Onie Cooper said after the decision. "We're grateful for this action.

Now we have to find some money to get proper signs installed." He said he'll ask Nevada Department of Transportation officials for help with signs. If that doesn't happen, he said he'll pursue other potential sources. The King section will run from Bordcrtown at the California border north of Reno to the Mount Rose Highwayjunction. Coopcrhad requested a portion of Interstate 80 be named for King. Reno, Sparks and Washoe County officials endorsed the idea.

But residents told authorities the interstate system is dedicated to the individual who was the driving force behind its creation, President Dwight D. Eisenhower. NDOT officials then recommended a portion of U.S. 395 as a compromise. Initially Tuesday, Gov.

Bob Miller assailed local governments in agencies: Train nursery workers, too. By Jeff DeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Some landscapers and nursery workers will approach summer with thoughtsof fire. As part of a joint effort between the University of Nevada and a coalition of fire agencies, area landscapers arc being trained on what steps they can take to reduce wildfire danger in this high-risk region. Rodger and Bev Lucas, owners of Total Lawn Landscape in Gardncrville, recently attended a special workshop offered through the "Living with Fire" project. They came away with a special certification and a firm conviction that their industry can make a difference.

"We'd like to promote the program even if don't get jobs out of it," Rodger Lucas said. "We've kind of become firemen." The university's cooperative extension and the Sierra Front Wildfire Coopcrators recently received a 1 00,000 grant to conduct a first-of-its-kind study into wildfire danger along a region stretching from Hallelujah Junction south to California's Mono Lake and from Lake Tahoe east to Fernlcy and Hawthorne. Central to the project is the use of satellite photography and ground surveys of vegetation to gauge wildfire threat in different communities. Another component involves training members of the so-called "green industry" about how they can protect property through defensible space techniques. Pat Fox, owner of Washoe Val CHAMPIONS of the Truckee An ongoing community WTifl project that focuses on the Truckce River left y1 A Mining and logging affect river's health Truckee River hot lines To volunteer: 324-0225, press 5399 when asked for the code.

Leave your name, town and phone number. To report camping, criminal activity, trash or graffiti: 328- 3309. (For crimes in progress or emergencies, call 911). A Please turn to page 5B for a complete obituary listing and other news of record. Chuck Graves Ahart.

8 1 Gabbs James C. Anderson, 72, Graeaglc, Calif. Carl Frederick Bernhard, 95, Carson City Maria Louisa Cruz, 87, Sun Valley Ruth Phillips Durvee, 69, Gardncrville Grace E. Thomas Fallin, 95, Reno Kathy Lavcrnc Dean Goble, 40, Sun Vclley Francis "Frank" W. Johnson, 78, Reno Harvey Lee Prince, 74, Elv Margaret Dodge Reeves.

$6, Reno Lawrence "Lucky Larry" Schmidt, 78, Montgomery Pass Patrick A. Sloan 66, Fallon Foster "Steve" Stevens Thwing, 83. Battle Mountain Susan "Sue" Trifina Hillman Welch, 77, Reno for water and timber increased. Logging operations providing timber for mines and railroads degraded the quality of water in the Truckce and Carson rivers. The felled trees removed animal habitats and caused erosion of the stream banks.

Water supplies were diverted to float logs to the mines. In the 1 3,000 years people had lived along the Truckee River, other rivers and lakes of northern Nevada, they did not scar the land. The only signs that the Indians had lived here at all were the obsidian arrowheads left on the playas, grinding stones found along the rivers and near springs and curious scratchings on rocks petroglyphs. In the 1 840s, as soon as the pioneers migrated to what would become Nevada, they began changing the land and the water. The first damage was done to river banks and grassy meadows by wagons and cattle.

Once the miners and permanent settlers arrived in northern Nevada, the effects on the rivers continued at an exponential rate. In 1 858, Granville W. Huffakcr drove a herd of 500 cattle from Salt Lake City to the Truckce Meadows. Four years later, a stage stop and post office were established near his ranch. With the discovery of gold, and, more importantly, silver in the Virginia Range in 1 859, the demands the Indians behind.

area's other waterw ays would change quickly. None of the changes would be for the better. The Truckee River Chronicles by Frank Mullen Jr. runs each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. With the Comstock Lode bringing more and more strangers to the mountains and valleys, the Truckee River and the.