Elko Daily Free Press from Elko, Nevada • 18

ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS, Elko, Nevada Tuesday, October 25, 1994 Standing on the proposed future site of the University of Nevada, Reno Fire Protection Training Academy, from left, are: Mike Melarkey, UNR Foundation counsel; Elko Fire Chief O.P. Cash; Debbie Smith, executive director of the North East Nevada Development Authority; Royce "Roy" Beals, executive director of the academy; Norman Dianda, a UNR Foundation trustee; Ron Zurek, trustee and UNR's economic outreach officer; Paul Page, UNR Foundation president; Carlin City Council member Linda Bingaman; County Commissioner Barbara Wellington; and Elko County Manager George Boucher. Fire academy selection committee inspects site The selection committee that chose the Elko-Carlin area for the new site of the University of Nevada, Reno, Fire Protection Training Academy toured the proposed site yesterday, reaffirming their choice. "I thought the trip went well. I think they were Director academy Executive Royce "Roy" Beals said this morning.

Beals is on the selection committee as well as head of the selfsupporting academy, now located near Reno. The academy is owned by the UNR Foundation. Ron Zurek, a foundation trustee and UNR economic outreach official, said negotiations between the foundation selection committee and Elko County Commissioners are continuing, but "both parties are close to a contractual agreement." The commissioners are waiting for a signed contract with the UNR Foundation before they will finalize purchase of a portion of the 400-acre Box Ranch from owner T.G. Sheppard of Winnemucca, Commissioner Barbara Wellington said at the site yesterday. The county plans in turn to donate the 160 acres to the UNR Foundation.

Once that is done, work can begin on the site. North East Nevada Development Authority Executive Director Debbie Smith said yesterday that she thought the members of the selection committee were happy with the site, which is just west of the Carlin Tunnels. "It's a great site," Zurek said, noting that the property is not far from town, elevated to provide for the gravity feed of water to the academy, hilly for mine rescue props and near Interstate 80. After the site inspection, the group had lunch at the Elko Convention Center, where representatives of Alltel, Wells Rural Electric Co. and SkyWest were on hand to answer questions.

"The biggest question has to do with transportation capabilities. That's why it was critical a representative of SkyWest was there," Zurek said. Steven Hart, vice president of market development for St. George-, Utah, based SkyWest Airlines, said he flew to Elko yesterday specifically to reassure the committee that "as long as the demand is there, we will put in additional seats" to Elko. The academy is looking at an average of 230 students arriving per week.

Hart said that SkyWest now has 330 seats flying in and out of Elko daily and "only half are filled on a typical day," which means there is already extra space available for the students. In addition, the airline would add two or three more flights to handle the extra passengers, he said. "What we're hoping is that the demand is sufficient enough to add service for the whole week," Hart said. Zurek also said the committee was impressed with the availability of Alltel fiber optics to meet academy communications needs. WREC would furnish electricity to the academy.

Beals said he'd like to see the new academy completely relocated to the Carlin-Elko site within four years. Classes involving burning props would end that November in Stead and start up again in March in Elko, with brochures already printed for the new site, he said. "It's a major move," said Carlin Fire Chief Will Johnston, who spearheaded the effort to move the academy to this area and is on the fire academy board. He said, however, that he expected the academy to be fully relocated faster than Beals expects with the help of volunteers and inmate labor from the Carlin Conservation Camp. Elko Fire Chief Cash said he saw no problem finding firefighters from Elko, Carlin, Spring Creek and the area gold mines who can become qualified part-time academy instructors.

The academy currently uses Reno area firefighters as part-time instructors while the academy's full-time staff handles the administration, course planning and marketing and specialized instruction. Although the academy teaches some rescue courses at Stead, plans are to add underground mine rescue courses and other mine rescue training. Johnston predicted work on the site could begin next spring, and props for the mine rescue courses would be installed first. Mine rescue classes could be taught here while construction work continued and the academy still operated at Stead, he said. Zurek said that since the selection committee picked the Elko-Carlin proposal for relocation of the academy, it has also been "dealing with the fallout, if you will, of that decision." Some people want to keep the academy in the Reno area.

And Beals is continuing to work with oil companies about the planned relocation of the school, which focuses on training students sent by the oil industry how to battle petrochemical blazes. "Part of them are and part of them aren't" convinced that the academy should be moved, Beals said of the oil companies as he was leaving Elko this morning for Salt Lake City to talk with oil industry representatives. "There will be a few who will be hard to convince." In addition to Smith, Cash, Wellington and Johnston, those helping with the tour included Carlin Councilman Linda Bingaman, Elko County Manager George Boucher and Mike Sea of the Nevada Division of Forestry. Military missing Stinger missiles, GAO reports WASHINGTON (AP) The Army can't account for 40 Stinger missiles but insists none are missing. It's all a problem with bookkeeping, says the Department of Defense.

But Sen. John Glenn says the report on the missiles, prepared by the General Accounting Office, raises questions about U.S. ability to keep sophisticated weapons out of the hands of terrorists. "It would be disastrous if a crate or truckload of these deadly missiles were to fall into the hands of a terrorist organization," said Glenn, D- Ohio, who chairs the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. "Yet, because the DOD has not kept good track of these missiles, that is a very realistic scenario." The report by GAO, Congress' investigative arm, was released today by Glenn.

GAO auditors visited arsenals, looked at inventory, checked paperwork and concluded that 40 of the 6,373 Stingers that were shipped to the Persian Gulf in 1991 not Dow Jones (AP) Closing Dow -Jones stock averages for Tuesday, Oct. 25. Open High Low Close Che 30 Ind 3800.06 3883.56 3803.49 3850.59 4.71 20 Trm 1430.87 1484.14 1461.32 1474.13 1.63 15 Ut 136.64 179.01 175.39 177.63 0.20 65 Stk 1271.22 1288.96 1264.53 1278.84 1.13 Indus 36.016.300 Tran 4.127,600 Utils 5.847,800 65 Stk 45,991,700 Big Board volume at 4 p.m. EST totaled 326.10 million shares, against 287.64 million last session. Nevada news summary: Casino lobbyist requests smoking ban exemption LAS VEGAS (AP) Casinos should be exempt from a ban on smoking in the workplace because of the unique nature of the business, a gaming lobbyist contends.

Wayne Mehl, a lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association, says casinos "are not stuffy office buildings with poor ventilation." He gave his testimony Monday before a federal panel considering a ban on smoking in the workplace. The issue is being studied by the 0c- cupational Safety and Health Administration. Providing enclosed rooms just for smokers would not be possible in casinos, and a smoking ban would have a devastating economic impact on the gaming industry, Mehl said. An informal casino study shows 70 percent of customers smoke while gambling, Mehl said. He predicted a smoking ban would put Nevada casia disadvantage with foreign casinos, where no exists.

Lee Hathon, an OSHA panel member, said Mehl's arguments about competitive disadvantage are a lot like the industry advanced regarding retrofitting for fire sprinklers in the 1970s. Mehl said the gaming industry feels if the government is going to restrict smoking in casinos, "then OSHA ought to learn something about casino resorts." "Their fear is that you guys have gone out and surveyed what needs to be done in an office building and come back and said we're going to do this everywhere," Mehl said of industry concerns. OSHA panel members questioned Mehl for nearly an hour on what the gaming industry is doing to ensure indoor air quality for its workers. Susan Sherman of OSHA asked Mehl if the industry has a policy for handling complaints by workers exposed to secondhand smoke. Mehl said he did not know, but would find out and get back to her.

"I would like to know how the industry responds to these people," Sherman said. Anne Morrow Donley of the Virginia-based Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, or GASP, and Rex Tingle of the AFL-CIO told Mehl they were surprised he did not knowing if casinos have any outreach program for employees who might have complained about secondhand smoke. OSHA is conducting hearings on an anti-smoking rule proposed in March by Labor Secretary Robert Reich. The rule can be implemented by the agency without approval from Congress. A final rule will not be issued until next year, and companies will be given a year to comply.

CARSON CITY (AP) Nevada Public Service Commission has changed Southwest Gas Corp. billing rules to protect residential customers from extra costs due to excess gas use by commercial-industrial customers. The PSC ruling Monday provides for penalties for companies that use more than their scheduled amount of gas during peak use periods. All penalty money will be used for Southwest's own gas purchase costs. The PSC said the change insulates residential customers from cost increases due to volume overruns and ensures that the utility doesn't profit from the penalties.

Southwest's northern division will charge a $2-per-therm penalty and its southern division will charge $1 per therm for excessive gas deliveries. Those amounts correspond to sums Southwest must pay its suppliers if too much gas is delivered. Also, a $10-per-therm penalty will be imposed on any utility customers that ignore a request to limit consumption to scheduled amounts during peak use periods. Armed students Gas bills Gas bills LAS VEGAS (AP) Clark County school officials say 120 students were expelled last year after police and administrators found dangerous weapons in their possession. The district has been permanently expelling students who carry firearms since the enactment of a gettough policy following the August 1990 shooting death of an Eldorado High School student.

Thirty eight of those expelled in Clark County had guns i in their possession while 59 had taken knives to school. Another 23 students were forced off campus during the 1993-94 school year after carrying to school everything from baseball bats to brass knuckles to BB guns. Over the weekend, President Clinton signed an executive order requirschool districts to expel for at least one year any student who brings a gun to school. The president said the government would terminate funding to states that don't force school disticts to comply, although there could be some exceptions. Nevada law states that a student in Bosnians, French battle near Sarajevo SARAJEVO, Bosnia (AP) In a statement that enraged U.N.

officials, the Bosnian army today asserted French soldiers started a 45-minute gunbattle that was the worst such clash since the U.N. force arrived in 1992. A French peacekeeping force fired 200 rounds Monday after coming under what the United Nations said was an unprovoked attack from government soldiers supposed to be withdrawing from a demilitarized zone on Mount Igman, near Sarajevo. The eight parties in Bosnia's parliament demanded the dismissal of the U.N. commander in Bosnia, Lt.

Gen. Sir Michael Rose. "Rose should go," said a headline in the Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje. Rose's spokesman said the claim that the French fired first was "totally untrue." He said Rose intends to stay on. Rose protested the Igman incident late Monday in a meeting with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic.

At a second meeting today, Izetbegovic assured Rose that Bosnian soldiers would not fire again at the peacekeepers. Rose, in return, said peacekeepers would conduct patrols aimed at ensuring that Bosnian soldiers withdrawing from the DMZ would not come under Serb fire. Under U.N. pressure, about 120 of 500 government soldiers withdrew Monday, Rose's spokesman, Lt. Col.

Tim Spicer, said he hoped the withdrawal would be complete in a few days. Describing Monday's incident, Spicer said Bosnian soldiers opened fire with small arms at a French army bulldozer, then fired a rocketpropelled grenade from about 30 yards away. A nearby platoon of about 30 French soldiers then came under fire from Bosnian soldiers about 40 yards away. A 45-minute gunbattle ensued, with Bosnians firing rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Peacekeepers fired back with machine guns and a 20mm gun atop an armored vehicle.

No casualties were reported. Bosnians are demanding U.N. peacekeepers provides security for a key supply route over Mount Igman. Bosnian authorites have suggested they will complete the withdrawal from the DMZ only if the United Nations protects the road, which comes under frequent Serb fire. Ralph Webster dies in Carson City at 80 longtime re- Reno.

morning at In 1960 he returned to California, in Carson to Auburn, where he worked as a for about driver for a construction company old. for 13 years. He retired in 1979 and was returned to Elko. March 15, He had been a member of the InFolsom, ternational Brotherhood of Teamalways sters since 1937, when he joined March Local 150 in Sacramento; he was also he was a member of Local 533 in Reno. by Lily On Nov.

25, 1937, he and Ada Victor Mitchell of Sacramento were marof Sac- ried. She survives him, as do two as his daughters, Nancy Ernaut, Elko, and Carol Lee Sewell, Boulder, Mont; was five grandchildren; and nine greatCorps grandchildren. he joined He was preceded in death by his working in parents and by a step-father, Charles Forest at B. Bilderback. Webster was an avid sportsman went to and enjoyed hunting, fishing, walking Lumber and gardening.

He was a crossa trucker country skier until the past year until about when his health forced him to relinwith PIE. quish the sport. sleeper -cab Cremation is planned and the date office out of a memorial service will be ancompany to nounced by Burns Funeral Home. first time possession of a dangerous weapon while at school or on a school bus must be "suspended or expelled from the school, although he may be placed in another kind of school for a period not to exceed the equivalent of one semester for that school." For a second occurrence, the student "must be permanently expelled from the school, but he may be required to attend another kind of school." In addition, possession of a weapon on a public or private campus is treated as a gross misdemeanor. Diver dies SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.

(AP) A 47-year-old man died while di- ving at Lake Tahoe when he apparently become entangled in a submerged tree. Coast Guard officials said Rodney Oldham of Los Altos, was diving alone off Rubicon Point when he become caught Monday afternoon. A companion in a nearby boat was unable to dive, and summoned help when Oldham didn't surface, officials said. Rescuers attempted to resuscitate Oldham, but he was pronounced dead at Barton Memorial Hospital. Clinton signs 'sweeping' law on bankruptcy WASHINGTON (AP) President Clinton has signed into law the most sweeping bankruptcy reform in 16 years.

The law gives federal judges power to resolve bankruptcy cases more quickly, particularly when small businesses are involved. "This is precisely the kind of reform that will restore public faith in the ability of our courts to perform in a timely and cost-effective manner," Clinton said in a written statement issued Monday in conjunction with his signing of the legislation. More than 90,000 bankruptcy cases were filed last year, nearly three times the number just eight years earlier. The new law allows more individuals to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which permits them to work out payment plans, rather than Chapter 7, which requires the sale of most of a debtor's property. The debt limit for Chapter 13 was raised by the new law from $450,000 to $1 million.

The legislation also has provisions strengthening creditors' rights. For example, credit card companies could recoup the full payment from debtors who use their cards to pay taxes and then file for bankruptcy. Weather Ed Foster Oh, oh! I hope this week's weather isn't an indication of what kind of winter we're going to have. We have had several decent storm systems move through over the last four weeks and I was hoping that trend would continue into winter. However, the pattern we're currently in is very similar to the pattern that has left us short on precipitation the last eight winters.

We have a high pressure ridge as our dominent atmospheric influence. High pressure is conducive to fair weather. Our airmass is quite stable and temperatures are just above normal for this time of year. Over the next 24 hours an upper level low pressure system will approach the coast and move inland. Sound good? Well, it won't mean much to us.

The low is shearing apart as it moves inland with the majority of its energy and moisture staying to the north of us. The result, we'll see some variable clouds. Northeastern Nevada forecast returned to the depot, other Army locations or the other services." "The Army does not know where these missiles are," GAO said. The report also included anecdotes about lax security that might have let missiles fall into the wrong hands, had a terrorist been in the right place at the right time. Some missiles were transported around the Persian Gulf region on unguarded trucks driven by thirdcountry nationals, the report said.

To help quickly move troops home after the war, units were allowed to turn in equipment, ammunition and weapons without documentation. And enemy weapons and other unauthorized weapons were deposited in so-called amnesty boxes. Among the items found in those boxes: Stinger missiles. And an undisclosed number of Stingers were found unguarded on the side of the road, the report said. At issue are some of the best weapons in America's arsenal: Stingers and Redeyes, accurate enough and strong enough to knock a flying plane out of the sky, yet small enough to be fired from the shoulder of a single soldier; and Dragons, designed to pierce the armor of a tank.

Hill AFB pilot safe after exiting F-16 HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AP) A Hill Air Force Base pilot safely ejected from his F-16 aircraft before it crashed northeast of Wendover today. It was the second F-16 crash in northern Utah in the past two months, said base spokesman Sgt. Barbara Fisher. Cpt. Miguel Torrealday from the 4th Fighter Squadron ejected just before his plane crashed at 10 a.m.

into a desolate area eight miles northeast of. Wendover, she said. Last month, Capt. Michael Goldfein from the 421st Fighter Squadron of the 388th Fighter Wing also ejected before his $17 million plane went down in a corn field near Hooper. Fisher said it was unclear whether Torrealday's plane crashed on the training range or on county land.

A Tonight, variable high clouds and light evening wind. Tomorrow, variable high clouds, clearing tomorrow night. Elko's low tonight, 26; high tomorrow, 64; tomorrow night, 25. Battle Mountain's low tonight, 29; high tomorrow, 70; low tomorrow night, 28. Jackpot temperatures, dispatcher from the Tooele County Sheriff's Office would only confirm that a crash had occurred and referred all other questions to the base.

A 545th Test Group helicopter was en route to transport Torrealday to a base hospital, Fisher said. "He appears to be in good shape," she said. A bio environmental team also was sent to the crash site to determine whether a chemical called 1 hydraziene was leaking from the plane. The chemical can be hazardous if not handled properly but Fisher said there appears to be no immediate danger. Torrealday arrived at Hill Air Force Base on Sept.

7 from the Osan Air Base in Korea. He had logged 1.224 flying hours including 3171 in an F-16. Webster, a died this Home resided 80 years Webster born 1914, in but celebrated 17, the day adopted Mae and Webster ramento, birthday. employment Conservation in 1934 and 1935. In 1935 the U.S.

Forest Service, the El Dorado National Placerville, Calif. During World War II he work for the Georgetown Company in California as and stayed with that firm 1952, when he came to Elko When PIE went to trucks in 1957, moving its of Elko, he went with the Weather for the 24-hour period ending at Webster's first with the Civilian 11 a.m.: (Precip) WILDHORSE WINN 72 ELKO RENO ELY AUSTIN TONOPAR SLC: BOISE: VEGAS FRISCO: Elko statistics Record High: 59; Low: '32 Mo. Pep: 1.00 in. Water Year: 1.00 in. Tomorrow: Sunrise, Sunset, 6:06.