Elko Daily Free Press from Elko, Nevada • 1

5969 MO? 010199 E-fav Micro Film 1115 East Arsuez Ave Sunnyvale, A 9 4 0 8 6 r-J Vol. 109 No. 284 Established Jan. 5, 1883 ELKO, ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA 35 CENTS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1992 16 Pages fl I HI! tiaa UN officials preparing to excavate mass grave I i I 'I' s- I A I I''' :4 1 VUKOVAR, Croatia (API At a desolate cornfield outside the blasted city of Vukovar, U.N. officials are preparing to excavate a mass grave in a probe that could lead to the first war-crimes trials of the Balkan conflict.

The grave, said to hold the remains of up to 300 Croatian soldiers and civilians, was found by U.N. investigators in October about four miles southeast of the city in eastern Croatia. Thousands of shells fired by the Yugoslav army and Serbian paramilitary forces reduced Vukovar to rubble last year. An estimated 2,500 people died, converting the city into a grim symbol of the six-month Serb Croat war that claimed at least 10,000 lives. U.S.

forensic expert Clyde Snow said he believed the mass grave contained the remains of about 175 Vukovar hospital patients who disappeared from the hospital Nov. 20, 1991, a day after Serbian forces concluded their three month siege and captured the city from Croat forces. Snow reported finding the remains of young men, some sticking out of shallow graves, in a 30-by-90 foot area at the top of a ravine outside the village of Ovcara. He quoted witnesses who said wounded civilian men and soldiers were separated from women, child ren and the elderly, and taken from the Vukovar hospital in Yugoslav army buses. In a barn in Ovcara, two of the captives were beaten to death by Yugoslav Army soldiers and Serbs, according to witnesses, who said they managed to escape.

That evening, prisoners were divided into groups of about 20 who were trucked away at 15- to 20-mi-nute intervals. The descriptions sug gested they were taken to the ravine and killed, Snow said. The mass grave "also is believed to contain the remains of Croats captured in the village of Bogdanovci, according to the independent Belgrade weekly Vreme. Up to 900 young Croats from Vukovar are still listed as missing, of whom about 320 were shot on the spot when the city fell, Vreme said. "We have indications of different mass graves and we are investigating the (Ovcara) site," said Blondina Francis Negga, a U.N.

civil affairs officer in charge of the eastern Croatian region, where U.N. troops were deployed last March to support a Croat-Serb truce. U.N. troops are keeping a 24 hour watch over the cornfield. A team of forensic experts were of children with Santa from noon to 2 p.m.

and with Frosty from 2 to 4 p.m. on those days. Santa also will visit Jackson Hewitt Tax Service in Elko Shopping Plaza Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19 to 24. Faster Photo will take photographs during those Wisfrintr Six-year-old Eric Dutcher, left, tr toiling.

and Daisy Dutcher 4j tell Santa Claus their Christmas wishes. Eric is hoping for a Lamborghini remote-controlled car, and Daisy wants "Beauty and the Beast jammies." Santa will be visiting Elko Junction the next three Saturdays. Flashback Photo will take photographs Nevada neivs summary: DOE breaks ground on exploratory tunnel Supreme Court rejects appeal of abortion ruling expected to begin exhuming corpses by late December, according to U.N. officials speaking on condition of anonymity. The mass grave inquiry may be the basis for the first war crimes trial in former Yugoslavia, they said.

Snow prepared his report for the U.N. Human Rights Commission for Yugoslavia, headed by former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki. In a report released today in Geneva, Mazowiecki cited the investigation as part of the "growing evidence that war crimes have been committed" in Bosnia and Croatia. The U.N. Security Council has named a five-member commission to begin investigations leading to an international tribunal.

The leadership of the self-proclaimed Serb state in Croatia opposed the exhumation, saying in a statement published by Vreme that it could lead to "demonization of the Serbs." The statement said the mass graves actually contained the re mains of Serbs killed by the Croats before Serbian forces captured the area. Meanwhile, a regional truce kept the border with Croatia quiet today but fighting erupted in other parts of Bosnia Herzegovina. abortion. But the June decision also said states may raise new hurdles for women seeking to end their pregnancies. The ruling upheld most provisions of a Pennsylvania abortion law.

The invalidated Guam law would have allowed abortions only when an embryo formed outside the woman's womb, or when two doctors determined that continuing a pregnancy would kill a woman or "gravely impair" her health. Monday's action was viewed likely to persuade Louisiana officials not to seek to reverse a federal appeals court ruling that struck down their state law banning most abortions. Louisiana Attorney General Richard Ieyoub said he would an nounce the state's plans Tuesday. The court's brief order in the Guam case drew dissenting votes from Chief Justice William H. He hnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Byron R.

White. Writing for the three, Scalia said a federal appeals court wrongly struck down the Guam law "on its fare "There are apparently some appli cations of the statute that are per fectly constitutional." Scalia said. Rehnquist. White and Scalia joined by Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the June ruling They said then that there is no ren stitutional right to abortion. Thomas did not join in Mondays dissent and offered no comment In ond the majority's one-sentence statement denying the appeal.

In the court's main opinion last June, co-authors Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony M. Kennedy and David H. Souter said states may not impose an "undue burden" on wo men's right to abortion. Justice Harry A. Blackmun supported then position.

They said Pennsylvania regtila tions requiring women to rerene counseling and wait 24 hours before having an abortion are not undue burdens. Other Supreme Court actions are reported on Page 11. WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. Supreme Court sustained women's basic right to abortion today, voting 6-3 against reviving a 1990 Guam law that would have prohibited nearly all such operations. The justices refused to review lower court rulings that had dec lared the U.S.

territory's sweeping law unconstitutional. Today's action, which activists on both sides of the national debate had expected, marked the time in 20 years the high court declined to review a major abortion dispute. But a new case, testing how far states may go in making abortions more difficult to obtain, already is before the justices and could be acted on as early as next week. The court also is wrestling with 12. He was arrested in April 1991 following a six-month long nationwide manhunt.

During Smith's preliminary hear ing, prosecution witness Frank Allen testified he went to Smith's home and Smith chased him through the house with a hammer. He said he escaped by crashing through a plate glass door. But one of Smith's relatives testi fied Allen killed the three because he was angry that Smith owed him money. And Smith, in letters to reporters, suggested Colombian drug dealers committed the murders. Murder arrest RENO (AP) A 34 year old Reno man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a 16 year-old boy in downtown Reno, officers said.

Leonard Pfeiffer was arrested Friday, about four hours after the victim, Eric Moore of Reno, died at a local hospital. The victim was the grandson of William Moon, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Washoe High School junior was shot Wednesday in what police called a senseless and tragic encounter with a stranger in a down town alley. "Eric was a kind young man. not a violent person," Moon said.

"It just goes to show: the young boys are at risk, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We just hope that justice will be served." Pfeiffer, an unemployed mechanic. County to 'confirm' SC code enforcement another abortion related issue: whether federal judges have the authority to deal with abortion clinic blockades. "Today's action was hardly unexpected," said Burke Balch of the National Right to Life Committee, which opposes abortion. "It underlines the reaffirmation of Roe vs.

Wade." David Andrews of Planned Parenthood said his group was relieved by the court's action but added. "It does not address the underlying problem of severe restrictions" the court has let states impose on women seeking abortions. The court last June reaffirmed the core holding of its landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that women have a constitutional right to cials decided convenants and restrictions on property allowed national building and electrial codes to be circumvented. In other action, commissioners are slated to: Discuss "obtaining a letter of understanding" with the city on the county's promise to continue supporting the latchkey program at Sage Elementary.

With the Elko Area Recreation Commission disbanded, commissioners earlier agreed to back the program until the end of the school year. Hear an update on securing a "control crossing" for pedestrians on U.S. 93 in Jackpot. Discuss spending more than $200,000 to upgrade the central dispatch system. Commissioners last month backed the purchase of the new system, but stated they still needed firm prices from Motorola of Salt Lake City.

LAS VEGAS (AP) Energy department workers have broken ground at Yucca Mountain u.r a major phase of exploration to deter mine whether the site is suitable for a nuclear waste repository. Garl Gertz, manager of the Yucca Mountain Project for the U.S. Department of Energy, said the work in-s'iated today was a major milestone ia efforts to determine the suitability i the site, 100 miles northwest of Vegas. During the next year, miners will ill and blast 200 feet into an area Miown as Exile Hill, on the north side of Yucca Mountain. In 1994, a giant tunnel boring machine will begin carving out a 14-mile tunnel, the first leg of a U-shapcd cavern.

The tunnel boring machine will carve tunnels 25 to 30 feet in diameter throughout the mountain, covering some 100 miles and allowing scientists to hunt for hidden faults, underground water and other potential problems. Gertz said. "Up until this point, most of our field studies have been done from the surface, using trenching and drilling techniques," Gertz said. "We're very excited about preparing to move underground where the scientists can conduct tests to better understand the geological structure of the mountain at the underground levels of the proposed repository." Members of the media accompanied Energy Department officials to Monday's groundbreaking activities. "I think there's no way to hide anything," Gertz said.

"It's a wide open project." The Yucca project is being monitored by state and regulatory agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. State officials are vigorously opposed to the project, which would involve storage of 77,000 tons of radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants for 10,000 years. Smith trial begins LAS VEGAS (AP) Jury selection started today in the trial of Joseph Weldon Smith, charged with the October 1990 slayings of his wife and two stepdaughters in their posh Henderson home. Clark County District Judge Jeffrey Sobel has scheduled three to four weeks for the trial. Opening arguments are planned Tuesday or Wed nesday once a jury is seated.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty in the case. Smith, 50, is accused of killing Judith Smith, 47, and stepdaughters Wendy Jean Cox, 20, and Kristy Cox, Spring Creek's battle with the Federal Housing Administration is slated to be discussed by Elko County Commissioners when they meet Wednesday at the Elko County Library. Commissioners are slated to meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Commissioners will affirm that the Elko County Engineering Department will continue to inspect homes in Spring Creek and that the Spring Creek Association's architecture committee will not make exceptions to building codes, said County Manager George Boucher.

Last week, the FHA restored mortgage insurance to the Spring Creek housing section after the architecture committee and Elko County Engineer Mike Murphy sent letters stating that minimum building codes would be enforced in Spring Creek. An FHA ban had been extended to the entire community earlier in the month after Washington, D.C., offi was booked into Washoe County Jail without bail for investigation of murder. He was identified through witnesses to the shooting as well as evidence, including a baseball cap, left at the scene. Police said Pfeiffer and the victim were unacquainted and no motive has been determined. They said Pfeiffer exhibited signs of a possible mental problem.

Tip crackdown LAS VEGAS (AP) A group representing Nevada casino employees has asked the state's congressional delegation to intervene on its behalf in a fight over a new tip-reporting plan. Tony Badillo, president of the Nevada Casino Dealers Association, said the group has written letters to all four delegation members asking for relief. He said the request comes in response to Internal Revenue Service plans to step up enforcement efforts against resort employees who don't comply with the new plan. Tip earners who do not take part in the program face the prospect of an IRS audit and Badillo has accused the federal agency of strong-arming hotel employees. Badillo said his office has received at least 75 telephone calls from dealers upset over the new program.

IRS officials said they'll place levies on wages and tips, and seize property if necessary to collect taxes due. The IRS recently announced plans to bring additional revenue agents from Arizona, Utah and Idaho. tree tags BLM, FS through Friday, or through the mail. Permits also are available at forest service offices in Mountain Citv, Wells, Ely and Buhl. Idaho.

Pinyon and I'tah juniper are the only trees that can be cut on BLM areas. Maps of recommended cutting locations are available on request. BLM areas recommended for tree hunters are Spruce Mountain east of Ruby Valley: Sulphur Springs Range west of Diamond Valley: the Leach Mountains west of Montello; Dolly Varden Mountain northeast of Cur rie; the Cherry Creek Range west of Currie; Pequop Mountains and Wood Hills, both east of Wells; Toano Mountains northwest of Wendover; the Maverick Springs Range east of the Ruby Marshes; Medicine Range southeast of Harrison Pass; and Su gar Loaf Peak south of the Goshute Mountains. Cutters are advised that no Christ mas tree or fuel wood cutting is allowed within wilderness study areas. Tree permits for BLM land are available at 3900 Idaho St.

from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or through the mail from BLM, P.O. Box 831, Elko Nev. ami before Dec.

11. Mailed requests should include a check or money order payable to the Department of the Interior BLM as well as the return address and name of each person requesting a tag. BLM permits also are available at the Montello Post Office and the Wells forest service office during regular business hours. Tags also may be obtained at the Wendover port of entry from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

PST Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13. Christinas on sale at Christmas tree permits are avail able from Elko offices of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service for S3 each, with a limit of five per family.

Permits issued by the Humboldt National Forest allow the cutting of pinyon pine or juniper in the Ruby Mountains south of Harrison Pass and on the south end of the Fast Humboldt Range in the Outhouse Draw or Arizona Springs cutting units. Alpine fir may be cut in the Independence and Jarbidge Mountains, and white fir, pinyon or juniper maybe cut in the Ely District. Permits and directions to cutting areas are available at the forest ser vice office, 976 Mountain City High way, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday 4,732 vehicles, a decrease of 1.9 percent.

The count at Winnemucca was 6,986, just 16 cars fewer per day than last October. Idaho Street saw 1.1 percent fewer vehicles with an average count of 23.647. Statewide, rural traffic was up 0.8 percent. Traffic analyst Don Pray of the Elko NDOT office reported some changes were made this month in the locations of rural counting stations. Devices on U.S.

95 at Railroad Pass and U.S. 50 at Ely were dropped, while new ones were added on U.S. 95 at Searchlight and U.S. 6 at Ely. 'l Ji )i Xi xtX.L-Jfj.

XdJ'). jiJ)L Slight changes reported in local liigliway traffic Traffic on Lamoille Highway and U.S. 93 was up in October while counts were down on Interstate 80 and Idaho Street in Elko, reports the Nevada Department of Transportation. Overall, rural Nevada traffic was up less than one percent over October 1991. The average daily count on Lamoille Highway was 9,972 vehicles, up 5.8 percent over the same month in The count on U.S.

93 south of Jackpot was 1,809. That was a 4.5 percent increase over October 1991. 180 traffic was down slightly. The average daily count at Wells was PoOIlin Elkos cold wealhcr Produced Elko had a low temperature of two degrees this vtf i pogonip this morning that morning, and more cold weather and dense fog is crystallized on area fences and tree branches. forecast for the next few days.

Callers reported The Elko High School fence above was pictured the pogonip in Spring Creek was spectacular this along 13th Street across from the fairgrounds. morning. (ORIGINAL DEFECTIVE" xmk 1 iSj I.