Print edition for April 7, 1997

Poll reveals citizens oppose nukes: The 1,006 citizens polled support an international treaty to eliminate nuclear arms, according to a Lake Sosin Snell & Associates survey.

Sports history for April 7: 1946 - Herman Keiser defeated Ben Hogan by one stroke to win the Masters golf tournament.

505769387.html: SATURDAY

Reid seeks Hawthorne land deal: Under the proposal, the county would acquire ownership of a 33.1-acre section of land commonly known as the Schweer Drive Housing Area at the depot.

People in the News for April 7, 1997: Di's cash

Ralph Siraco: Concerto ascends on otherwise downer day: Notes scribbled across my program: Saturday, March 29, was one of those days in racing. The second running of the $4 million Dubai World Cup in the Arabian desert was postponed due to a three-hour downpour that left the track at Nad Al Sheba all but washed out. So our production company, Race Day Las Vegas, was left showing videos on Channel 39 Cable 9 in place of the world-renowned race.

Baseball team sees losing streak hit 6: The UNLV baseball team's season record fell below .500 this weekend as the Rebels lost three games to Hawaii in Honolulu.

Mesa's charges reduced as rape trial nears end: A judge today reduced a rape charge and threw out a felony assault charge against Cleveland Indians reliever Jose Mesa, agreeing with the defense that the state had failed to prove its case on the two counts.

Obituary: Joyce Witherspoon: Visitation is scheduled from 4-9 p.m. Tuesday in American Burial and Cremation Services, 310 Foremaster Lane. Services will be noon Wednesday in the Greater New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Sports history for April 5: 1927 - Swimmer Johnny Weismuller breaks his own 200-meter freestyle record by seven seconds with a 2:08 clocking. He also lowers his own record in the 100-yard freestyle to 51 seconds, a record he held for 17 years.

Vietnam veterans honor former governor: About 235 people attended the dinner Saturday, including Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who introduced O'Callaghan, who spoke about his military experiences.

Weston's art, puppets set for exhibition: In addition to Weston's paintings, all his own hand-crafted puppet creations will appear together for the first time in the exhibition: Horatio Bear, Senator Hawkeye, Ma and Pa McGrew, and, of course, Aunt Martha and Clarence, who starred on the Strip from the late 1950s through the early 1980s.

Contractor will pre-wet desert to hold dust down: It's not another golf course, according to Douglas Selby, engineering director for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

United Way to recognize volunteers: Nomination forms are available at United Way of Southern Nevada, 1660 E. Flamingo Road, between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. until April 14. For more information, call Mario Muncey, 892-2342.

Weekend Davis Cup Results: Quarterfinals

Teen sought in shooting: Martin Hernandez, a k a "Flaco," is considered by authorities to be armed and dangerous. He was identified as the gunman in a Feb. 20 incident in which a carload of youths drove past the school at 1900 E. Owens Ave. and fired multiple rounds, grazing one boy's inner thigh, before fleeing the area.

Arizona man killed in head-on collision: Three others were injured in the 7 p.m. Sunday accident, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Harney said.

Brakes blamed in tour bus accident: "We got back injuries, face lacerations, arms and shoulders hurt. They were flip-flopped all around the bus and got hit by glass and stuff," said J.R. Harris, a driver with Las Vegas-based Grey Line Tours who came upon the accident about 20 minutes after it happened Friday.

Mining deaths on the rise: Eight miners died at work during the entire previous fiscal year, the Finance Committee was told last week.

Obituary: Bobby Jo Gray: Services will be private. Burial will be in Paradise Memorial Gardens. Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave., is handling arrangements.

Obituary: Catherine LeKander: Obituary: Catherine LeKander

Where I Stand: First political attack for 1998 falls on its face: Most notable is the expensive media campaign being waged by the Nuclear Energy Institute to dump high-level nuke waste on Nevada. A large newspaper advertisement in Oregon included a one-way sign and "Send nuclear waste on a one-way trip ... out of Oregon." Yes, that sign was pointed at Nevada.

Weekend Sports Transactions: American League

Obituary: Virginia Hayden: Palm Mortuary, 7400 W. Cheyenne Ave., is handling arrangements.

Body found in plane wreckage near Grand Canyon's north rim: After spotting the plane from the air, rescuers had to hike on snowshoes to the heavily forested site, and were only able to find one of two bodies believed to be aboard the Cessna 210.

Report: Cop killed in jump did not pull ripcord: Hashimoto, 36, was parachuting with Navy SEALS to determine whether parachute tactics should be added to SWAT techniques when he fell to his death March 29, 1996 at a Fallon Naval Air Station training site, Acting Reno Police Chief Jim Weston said.

Pesky told to stay out of Red Sox's dugout: "I don't have much time left, and I was hoping they'd let me stay in the dugout. I think some of the players like having me around there."

New open-meeting deputy AG named: Salter, 50, who worked a short time for the Reno Gazette-Journal in the 1960s, said Thursday he asked for the job when it opened up.

Police Know Where They Are, But the Japanese Don't Mind: Cameron W. Barr; At about 400 sites on Japanese roads and highways, computerized monitors operated by the country's National Police Agency (NPA) record the license numbers of every passing vehicle, 24 hours a day. The agency says its N System - N stands for number - eliminates the need for roadblocks in certain areas and speeds the apprehension of stolen cars and missing suspects.

Letter: 'English Patient' depicts world torn apart by war: The archaeologist eventually escapes from his British captors and then encounters the Nazis. Ironically, they are the only ones who can help him. The Nazis provide him with an airplane and fuel in exchange for desert maps. This enables him to fulfill his promise to his lover that he would return to her.

Softball: UNLV goes 2-2 in softball twin bills: Carter, a freshman for CSU, was 3-for-4 in the first game as the Rams beat UNLV 3-1. She drove in a run with a bloop single and also doubled during the game.

Sports history for April 6: 1936 - Horton Smith edges Harry Cooper by one stroke to capture the Masters.

Judge tells it like it is: Melissa Schorr; "No," declares the former New York City Family Court judge. "I've never regretted a decision I've made.

Walters honored: Walters, co-host of ABC's "20/20" newsmagazine show, tearfully accepted the 1997 Distinguished Service Award at the National Association of Broadcasters show. The convention meets through Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center.

Sal DeFilippo: Books expecting a ton of money on De La Hoya: Sal DeFilippo; It isn't a popularity race, but it likely will seem that way at some sports book betting windows this week.

How Communities Respond To Sex Offenders Next Door: Ann Scott Tyson; Hundreds of worried parents, taking advantage of a new state law, showed up at the police station to find out the offender's identity. Residents distributed flyers with his name and address. Within a month, he moved out.

Ner Tamid schedules 'Torathon': The event will also include a short Sabbath morning service, 10-10:30 a.m., a lecture by Rabbi Akselrad, lunch and the attendee's choice of an additional lecture/discussion or the opportunity to create a seder plate.

Duffus, Thunder not playing best: Tim Graham; Usual starter Parris Duffus was yanked from Friday's game and watched from the bench Saturday as Andre Racicot stood between the pipes.

Future of high-tech TV still blurry: For years, consumers have been told to get ready for digital television.

Letter: Ohio student needs information about Nevada: Thank you for helping me.

Hospitals Guarantee Health-Care Delivery: William H. Carlile; Columbia Medical Center Phoenix is one of a number of hospitals in the US that are testing the idea for patients with minor emergencies. It and other affiliates of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the hospital-chain giant, are offering the 30-minute guarantee of service in an effort to attract emergency-room patients, who say long waits are their top complaint.

Driven by Oil and Spite for US, Iran Reaches for Dominance: Scott Peterson; A length of pipe is added to the drilling column, so the whole platform shakes as oil workers drive it into the seabed with a large engine.

Tennis Glance: AP Sports Writer

Letter: Veterans benefits cut off on month before their death: D. Eggleston, Pahrump

Box score: Trappers 7, Stars 6: E--McDonald, Bush, Encarnacion. DP--Las Vegas 3. LOB--Edmonton 3, Las Vegas 4. 2B--Briggs. 3B--McDonald. HR--Garrison (1), Encarnacion (1). SF--Shumpert. SB--Bellhorn (1), Shumpert (2).

Dean Juipe: NBA, NHL hierarchies in disarray: World Order? No, that's too great an undertaking.

Metro looking to expand DARE program in area schools: Cathy Scott; Keller told the Clark County Commission last week that he will be requesting more officers for the local Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in elementary schools.

Democracy in Inaction: Did Haiti Fail US Hope?: Nick Madigan; In Haiti - which US troops rescued from a brutal dictatorship 2-1/2 years ago in a self-proclaimed success for President Clinton - voting in Sunday's election may have been a dismal 5 percent.

Nursing home case fizzles out: Bill Gang; For six years, a forgery case against two women alleged to have ripped off nursing home patients floundered in a sea of legal technicalities.

Obituary: Victor H. Pinneo: Palm Mortuary, 800 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, is handling arrangements.

Sunday's College Baseball Scores: Binghamton St. 6-10, Oneonta St. 0-2

Candidates told to change signs: Two candidates for North Las Vegas Municipal Court judge have been asked by the state to change their campaign signs so they don't appear as if they're incumbents.

Golf roundup: Morgan wins his first major in record-breaking fashion: Winning a major was more than Gil Morgan could accomplish on the regular tour. He didn't let the opportunity slip away on the senior tour.

Columnist Dr. Bill Andrade: Some tips about weight gain after quitting smoking: Nevada has the highest number of smokers per capita in the nation. No state suffers more from lung cancer than the Silver State.

Royster getting tired of counting pitches: "I'm not a big strikeout guy," Royster said after the Stars struck out 13 Sunday in a 7-6 loss to the Trappers at Cashman Field. "If you strike out two and give up a home run, then strike out the next guy, I don't know if that's good pitching or not.

Crowds gather for 'Today' Strip show: Nichole Davis; "I'm trying to watch the whole taping," Ley said 45 minutes into the show Sunday evening. She had missed Humperdinck's earlier practice and decided to stick around. "I can't get over how many people it takes," she said.

Non-Betting Bedouins off to the Camel Races: Scott Peterson; DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- The cluster of trotting camels emerges slowly above the distant shimmer of the desert. As their loping gait brings them closer, details of their finery come clearer.

Radiation list ignores NTS workers: Radiation survivor groups -- from veterans exposed to nuclear weapons fallout to residents living in the path of radioactive fallout -- criticized the administration's response to an advisory panel that spent 18 months and $6 million researching Cold War experiments exposing humans to radiation.

Satellites will guide Lake Tahoe mass transit: They said they also are optimistic because of plans to launch the nation's first on-demand, satellite-coordinated transit system on Tahoe's south shore next year.

Lovelock police chief officially out: Hodge ran afoul of the council in February in a dispute over the alleged misuse of city funds that were earmarked for drug investigations.

Political donors still 'hidden': That is one of the key findings in a campaign finance report released today by the nonpartisan Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. The left-leaning organization, formed in 1995, is a coalition of 31 groups that include labor, environmentalists, ethnic minorities, women and trial lawyers.

US Quietly Adds A Bunker-Buster To Nuclear Arsenal: Jonathan S. Landay; The radar-evading B-2 "stealth" bomber was officially put into the US nuclear force April 1. And the Air Force now has an atomic bomb to be used by the B-2 against underground bunkers. The 12-foot-long B61-11 drills deep into the earth before exploding in a small blast whose shockwaves can crush targets hundreds of feet below.

Obituary: Penny J. McCullough: Bunker Mortuary, 925 Las Vegas Blvd. North, is handling arrangements.

Battista's Gordon Jaffe is the biggest little accordionist in town: Brad Talbutt; But when the sixty-something entertainer straps his gleaming, black Continental accordion to his 4-foot-11 frame and begins to play, he is hard to miss.

UNLV's Clark has some unfinished business: Steve Carp; "Keon, why did you stay?"

Megabucks mania hits hard all over state: A tourist lined up the four Megabucks symbols on the reels but had just one coin in the three-coin machine, missing out on the jackpot that reached $11.58 million this morning.

Columnist Ken McCall: Beltway of great concern to unhappy Sun City resident: Ken McCall; The western Sun City resident points to a plant that is processing sand and gravel from beltway excavations just a few hundred yards away as the cause of her respiratory problems.

Texas Town Tries to Scare Kids Straight: Sam Walker; But four years ago, the El Paso attorney met two clients who changed his mind. Not only did these gang members admit firing shotguns into a crowded dance club, inadvertently killing a teenage girl, but they seemed genuinely surprised that their gunplay had taken a life.

UNLV wins top prep prize: Steve Carp; Lamar Odom, the top prep recruit in the nation, announced Sunday that he will play for Bill Bayno and UNLV rather than Rick Pitino and Kentucky or Jim Calhoun and Connecticut.

Burton gets first Winston win in Texas: Ask most NASCAR drivers if experience from a Busch Grand National race can be carried over to a Winston Cup event and they'll say no way. Jeff Burton would say yes. And he proved it Sunday.