Elko Daily Free Press from Elko, Nevada • 18

18 ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS, Elko, Nevada Saturday, August 28, 1993 tournament aid. Golf Nevada neirs summary: (continued from front page) Department, said the women can continue to wash cars if they cover more of their bottoms. "I still feel I'm not a sexually oriented business," Lester said. "What's wrong with girls in thong bikinis wash- Vucanovich campaign iC Barbara Vucanovich State employees mad at premium increase out 60 people showed up for the' barbecue. Vucanovich said she enjoys coming to Elko.

"Elko is 'real' Nevada," she said. There are a lot of strong, independent people here and they're not afraid of anything." Vucanovich spends most of her time on Capitol Hill sitting on committees that deal with the issues that affect her constituents, namely gaming, ranching and mining. She is opposed to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt's plan to raise grazing fees, saying it will put the small ranchers out of business. Environmentalists have long argued that grazing is destroying public lands, and Babbitt plans to tighten controls on ranchers using federal rangeland and raise grazing fees from $1.86 per animal unit month to $428 over three years. An animal unit month (AUM) is the amount of forage consumed by a cow and calf or five sheep in a month.

"Environmentalists think ifs a great idea and I'm going to fight it," Vucanovich said. "While it's true that grazing fees could be raised a little bit ranchers who arent making money should see their fees come down. Some people would like to see grazing fees raised to $10. That's unacceptable. Ranchers can't afford it" Vucanovich is also opposed to wholesale changes in the mining laws.

"They want to put a 12 percent gross royalty on mining ore. That would put miners out of business. Another new bill would change the authority of who could use the land. The mining business must have secure tenure." Vucanovich introduced a bill in April that would impose a two percent net royalty on hardrock minerals mined from public lands. The congressman is also concerned about what will be done to reform the health care system.

"Everyone should have access to health care, but people should also have choices. Insurance should be portable. You should be able to take it with you when you change jobs, but we can't penalize small business. We need to help them pool their resources." Vucanovich is strongly opposed to disposal of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is the only site under consideration for disposal of high level radioactive waste, Vucanovich said.

"They want to ram all the nuclear waste, a lot of which comes from the east coast down the throat of Nevada before they've proven it's safe." She doubts the ability of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct an open-minded scientific determination of the suitability of the site. She says the DOE program is driven by unrealistic guidelines, and has introduced legislation that would freeze the program while an independent review by the National Academy of Science takes place. The new legislation would also prohibit all spending for nuclear waste storage activities at Yucca Mountain from 1994 through 1998. She has also taken the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to task in an effort to restore $30,000 in funds that were earmarked to clean up a toxic waste site on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee.

The BIA revoked the funds at the last minute to help cover a $17 million shortfall somewhere else in the bureau. She sent the agency a letter earlier this month asking them to restore the funding The congresswoman says it's a challenge to work for the new Democratic administration. When asked where the Republicans went wrong in the presidential campaign, she said George Bush didn't realize how hurt he was by breaking his "no new taxes" pledge. "He figured he would be fine after all the euphoria from Desert Storm. Ross Perot also sent a strong message and a lot of people who wanted to see change went with him." Vucanovich also said it's refreshing to see more women on the hill.

"It's wonderful. Many of them have been activists in their own communities for quite some time. And even though I don't agree with a lot of them politically, it will be a nice challenge for the 'good old Vucanovich, the first woman elected to a federal office in Nevada, is now in her sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

ing cars iur a living: Lester said he plans to remain open and will plead innocent in court next month. Federal gambling taxes LAS VEGAS (AP) Nevada gaming interests are gearing up for a fight over possible new federal taxes on the industry. Three proposals to increase federal taxes will be considered next month by a House subcommittee. Wayne Mehl, a lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association in Washington, said the gaming industry considers the proposals to be a serious threat "All of this would be over and above what we already have to pay in 1994 under the Clinton budget, and we figure the industry has already paid enough," Mehl said. One proposal would increase the withholding tax on winning bets of at least $5,000 from the current 28 percent to 36 percent Gaming officials estimate that would cost the industry $100 million per year.

Another would boost the excise tax on wagers at sports books from the present 0.25 percent to one percent It is estimated that would cost the industry $20 million annually. And a third provision would reduce the tax deduction for gaming losses from 100 percent to 80 percent Industry officials say they believe this would deter people from gambling. The tax measures will be considered by the Ways and Means subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures on Sept 8 and Sept 14. Members of the Nevada congressional delegation, who have been successful in the past in heading off similar attempts to raise gaming taxes, vow to fight all three new proposals. "What's disturbing to the (gaming) industry is that these tax proposals are not cutting the deficit," Mehl said.

"They're just going to be used to offset the revenue lost from the tax breaks that members of the House want to give to their own constituents." Wire news summary: (continued from front page) vies ordered them to surrender to federal prison officials by Sept. 27 and denied them bail while they appeal their convictions. With good behavior, they could be out in just over two years. King was beaten March 3, 1991, after leading police on a chase that began when they tried to pull him over for speeding; then resisting arrest An onlooker videotaped the episode, which became a national symbol of police brutality. In imposing the sentences, Davies criticized prosecutors for pursuing the federal trial after Koon, Powell, Officer Theodore Briseno and ex-Officer Timothy Wind were acquitted on most state assault charges.

That 1992 verdict triggered rioting in which 54 people died. Briseno and Wind were acquitted at the federal trial. Davies spoke sympathetically of the defendants as good family men and officers with clean records who had been deprived of their careers and privacy by the case Russian plane crash MOSCOW (AP) A passenger jet crashed near Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan today, killing at least 35 people, news agencies reported. Five people, survived. One of the survivors, the flight engineer, told authorities that the Yak-40 crashed because of engine failure, the Interfax news agency said.

Four passengers also survived, said Davlyatali Davlya-tov, an adviser to the chairman of Tajikistan's parliament Three crew members were among the dead. The plane, operated by the state air company Tochikis-ton, went down while taking off in Khorog en route to the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, ITAR-Tass said. Investigators were heading for the crash site. It was the second fatal crash of a passenger plane in the former Soviet Union this week. On Thursday, an L-410 turbo prop carrying 24 people crashed in the Russian city of Aldan in eastern Siberia, killing everyone aboard.

Rep. Barbara Vucanovich was in Elko last Friday to participate in the First-Ever Annual Barbara Vucanovich Fund-Raiser Scramble at the Ruby View Golf Course. "We had a good time and every: thing went well, said David Sheffield, one of the Vucanovich supporters who helped organize the event "We raised about $3,000 for the Vucanovich campaign fund." He said about 30 people participated in the golf tournament, and ab- over the plan. Some said the increases would be so high that they'd be better off quitting their jobs and going on welfare. Members of the rival State of Nevada Employees Association and Service Employees International Union criticized one another and also blasted the Committee on Benefits for the plan.

The SNEA represents about 4,500 of the 12,000 state workers. SEIU has about 2,000 state workers in its union and has been using the proposed insurance hike as a union recruiting tool. But other speakers suggested Gov. Bob Miller is the real culprit because he didn't support legislation backed by the committee and both unions that would have appropriated $30 million over the current 2-year budget 'period to improve worker benefits. Barrett said he was willing to listen to any solutions proposed by workers.

But he added the 1993 Legislature's failure to approve the appropriation set the stage for the premium hikes. And Barrett also warned that a big increase now doesn't guarantee there wont be another big increase next year. Litigioiis non-smoker CARSON CITY (AP) A Nevada convict who won a U.S. Supreme Court battle on behalf of imprisoned non-smokers has lost a Nevada Supreme Court fight against major cigarette companies. The Nevada Supreme Court rejected efforts by William McKinney to revive his civil rights complaint against RJ.

Reynolds Tobacco Forsyth Tobacco Products, and Brown Williamson Tobacco McKinney, 45, also has sued the state of Nevada, and the U.S. Supreme Court said in June that the convict could continue that battle. In the case reviewed by Nevada's highest court, McKinney appealed from a lower court decision to dismiss the tobacco companies on jurisdictional grounds. R.B. Moranda dies in Carlin at age of 45 Robert B.

Moranda of Carlin was found dead of apparent natural causes next to his vehicle in Carlin at noon yesterday. He was 45 years old. He was born Oct 23, 1947, in Washington, D.C., and had been a Carlin resident for the past four years, coming from Sedona, Ariz. He had worked in the area as a laborer. Survivors include his parents, Lawrence E.

and Lorene Moranda of Washington, D.C.; brother Stephen Moranda of St Augustine, and a sister, Christine Moranda of Columbus, Ohio. Cremation will be at Sunset Crematory. No local services are planned. Burns Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Army chief arrested for shoplifting dress WASHINGTON (AP) Acting Army Secretary John W.

Shannon has been charged with shoplifting a woman's blouse and skirt at a post exchange near the Pentagon. Shannon, 59, was given a ticket ordering him to appear Oct. 22 before a federal magistrate in Alexandria, on a federal misdemeanor charge of theft of government property, authorities said. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Shannon, who was stopped by a store detective Thursday, is accused of shoplifting a woman's blouse and skirt at the Army PX at Fort Myer, said Army spokesman Col.

Steve Rausch. He was taken to the manager's office and a military police officer was summoned, Rausch said. Shannon was given a ticket for shoplifting and CARSON CITY (AP) Noisy, irate state workers and retirees succeeded Friday in delaying a vote on a proposed 59 percent increase in insurance premiums. But Howard Barrett, chairman of the state Committee on Benefits, told the opponents of the increase they need to come up with some good alternatives at a Sept 16 workshop. Some of the options discussed during Friday's hearing included higher deductibles so that premiums could be held down, or increases for single workers who only insure themselves.

Under the current plan, those workers wouldn't get any premium hikes. The proposed premium increases atop big increases that took effect in January would mainly affect workers with families about 2,425 state employees. Premiums for full family coverage would increase the most, from the current $206 to $329 a month. Coverage for a worker and a spouse would jump 25 percent, from $147 to $184 a month. A single parent with children would see rates go up 27 percent, from $130 to $165 a month.

Officials said the increases are needed to pay for claims and expenses and still maintain a $10 million reserve in the state's self-funded insurance system. About 300 people jammed into the hearing room to voice their anger Weather Elko, Spring Creek and vicinity. Today, sunny, highs in the middle 80s. Tonight, mostly clear, highs from 35-40. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, highs in the middle 80s.

Elko's low tonight, 36; high tomorrow, 84; low tomorrow night, 37. For northeastern Nevada: Today, sunny, highs from 80s to lower 90s. Tonight, mostly clear, lows from middle 30s to middle 40s. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, highs in the Battle Mountain's low tonight, 44; high tomorrow, 88; low tomorrow night, 45. Jackpot temperatures, 4178043.

Extended outlook for northeastern Nevada for Monday through Wednesday. Fair, except for a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms, highs in upper 70s to middle 80s; lows mainly in the 40s. Weather it Elko for the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.mj HighLow (Precip) WHJDHORSE 787 30 ELKO 83 31" WINN 88 40" RENO II' ST ELY 847 AUSTIN TONOPAH 907 SF SLC: 85V 83 BOISE: 83V 49 FRISCO: 94V 58 VEGAS 100" 76" Elko statistics Record High: J1; Low: 28, '42 Mo. Pep: .09 in. Water Yean 9.61 in.

Tomorrow: Sunrise, Sunset, T21 Stock quotes Closing Quote Newmont (NEM) 50 Newmont Gold (NGO 43 Minorco (MNRCY) 1714 Pennzoil (PZL) 70 Battle Mt Gold (BMG) 9VS Placer Dome (PDG) 21 American Barrick (ABX) 25 Sierra Pacific 21 Idaho Power (IDA) 31 Pacificorp (PPW) 19 Nevada Power 253 Southwest Gas (SWX). 17 Alltel (AT). 29 (T) 62 Pacific Gas-Elec Albertson's (ABS) 54 JCPenney (JCP) 44 Wal Mart (WMD 26 Philip Morris (MO) ....48 Int'l Game Tech Royal Gold (RGLD) 4 Change (week) -V. ,14 1 nc nc 4 1 nc no change Information provided by Edward D. Jones and Company Eagh le poisoning O'Donnefl funeral services Wednesday BILLINGS (AP) A 72-year-old rancher was acquitted of charges he killed eagles and other birds by poisoning sheep carcasses they fed on.

A U.S. District Court jury found Paul Berger innocent Friday night of violating the Eagle Protection Act the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act He was convicted of violating the less serious Federal Pesticide Control Act The government charged that Berger laced the carcasses with poison to kill the eagles that were killing his lambs. Berger denied killing the birds or using poison, though some was found in a shed on his ranch about 24 miles north of Sand Springs. During the weeklong trial, federal agents said Berger told informants that he would kill any eagle he saw. Berger denied the allegation.

Poison was found in several small animals that had fed on the sheep carcasses, but dead eagles, hawks and sea gulls found on the ranch were too decomposed to determine a cause of death. Berger faces up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. If he had been convicted of all charges he could have been sentenced to more than 2 years in prison and $200,000 in fines. allowed to leave the store, he said. Rausch said the Army would have "no further comment during the ongoing legal process." Suspects in such cases are routinely issued tickets and given a mandatory court date, authorities said.

Shannon, who has served since Jan. 20 as the Army's top civilian official pending the confirmation of a new Army secretary in the Clinton administration, was placed on administrative leave at his request Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Gordon Sullivan, will serve in the interim as acting Army secretary. Shannon, a career Army officer who retired as a colonel after 23 years of service, served as deputy undersecretary from 1981 to 1984 and became Army undersecretary in 1989. School in 1965.

He had been a member of Future Farmers of America in high school and from 1965-76, worked on various ranches in northern Nevada. He returned to Elko in 1976 and worked as an auto mechanic and later for Carlin Gold for three years. He later worked for the Nevada Highway Department at Emigrant maintenance station, then moved to Las Vegas in 1982. He returned to Elko in 1988 and had worked for the Spring Creek Association. He most recently had been working on the Bottari Ranch in Lamoille.

He enjoyed the outdoors, camping, hunting and fishing and had spent most of his life near the Ruby Mountains. Survivors include a son, Blake ODonnell of Spring Creek; daughter, April Johnson of Las Vegas; father, Hal ODonnell of Kimberly, Idaho; brothers, Robert of Henderson and Joseph of Kimberly, sister, Lora Enos of Elko; and two grandchildren. He was. preceded in death by his mother, Lola Mae ODonnell on Dec. 8, 1992.

In his memory, the family suggests contributions to the Elko County 4-H club of the donor's choice. Carlin council session Tuesday Carlin City Council members are scheduled to hold a special meeting at 7 p.nt Tuesday at City Hall to award a contract for paving several city streets. The meeting is being called specifically to act on the paving bids, according to the agenda The next regular meeting of the council is scheduled for Sept 8. NNCC offers classes for the busy student Rat kills babjO Funeral services for Lillard "Butch" ODonnell, who died Thursday in Lamoille at age 45, will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Burns Funeral Chapel.

The Rev. Ted Virts of the Methodist Church will officiate. Entombment will be in Burns Memorial Gardens. He was born Nov. 15, 1947, in Elko, was reared here and attended local schools, graduating from Elko High software at their own pace.

Students make their own study schedules. The student needs to have access to a computer containing the software studied in the courses, and a computer with a modem attached. The modem-equipped computer is used to call an electronic bulletin board on the Elko campus to communicate with the instructor and other students. This communication is based on sending and receiving stored messages, and answers to students' questions are returned within 24 hours. Computer files and assignments are exchanged through the modem.

Modem calls made from areas outside Elko telephone exchanges will be assessed longdistance charges. Before taking any of these courses, students must take a three-lesson course called "Accessing Coyote Telegraph," which teaches students how to use the bulletin board. The fee for the one-half credit class is $19.70. To sign up for the courses, contact Larry Hyslop at 753-2305. Northern Nevada Community College is offering some classes this fall to fit the needs of the busy student A one-day-a-week "History 101" class is scheduled from 8 a.m.

to 11 a.m. Friday beginning Sept 3. "We selected this time to give an additional schedule option to mothers of school-age children and others who did not want to commit the time to two class periods per week during the day or evenings," said department chairman Jack Smith. The fee for the three-credit course is $8820, and students may register anytime prior to the start of class. Students can learn in the comfort of their homes by registering for one of NNCC's on-line computer classes.

"Beginning DOS," "Beginning Win-" dows," and "Beginning Lotus 123" are being offered this fall. The cost for each of the one-credit courses is $34.40, which includes the lab fee. Students may begin anytime before the Oct 25 deadline. Students will use textbooks, prepared lessons, software and weekly instructor assistance to learn the ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) A pet rat living in a station wagon with a homeless family attacked and killed a four-month-old boy as his parents slept The rat gnawed on the infant's hand and wrist and the baby bled to death, a police spokesman said Friday.

The parents, Steven James and Kathyleen Giguere, ages 27 and 30, were arrested for investigation of child endangerment They were jailed on $10,000 bail and are set to be arraigned Tuesday. Their three-year-old daughter was placed in protective custody at a foster home. The father called for help from a phone booth early Thursday morning, Lt Vince Howard said. Officers tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the infant who was not breathing. Howard said the family had been living in their car and kept the rat as a pet No one else was bitten.

A friend of the Gigueres', Steve Smith, said the family caught the rat when they were living in a motel. "It was a wild rat lie a sewer rat and they caught it as a pet" he said. They kept it even though it bit family members on several occasions, he said. Smith blamed drugs and alcohol for the family's destitution..