Print edition for October 13, 1998

Editorial: More openness helps consumers: What's also unnerving is that the Financial Institutions Division's policy has been to keep these records from the public. It took a formal request by the Sun to get the information made public.

507114527.html: Saturday, October 17, 1998

DeChant begins trial in murder of boyfriend: Bill Gang; Deputy District Attorney David Roger scoffed at DeChant's claim to police that vindictive "New York-looking type guys" were the ones who killed the wealthy, 300-pound man and buried him in a shallow grave in the desert.

Lewis' stalker makes pitch for parole: Jace Radke; "I'm not a threat to Jerry Lewis or his family or society," Benson told parole commissioners. "I want to leave that behind. I want to be with my wife and start a new life."

Northern Nevada would be hit hardest by expansion of gambling in California: They say a California ballot measure that would open the way for widespread gambling on Indian reservations would batter the economy of northern Nevada.

Skydiving business sues county over rules at Jean: Brian Seals; That didn't happen.

Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Another view of UNLV: From the moment we arrived on campus our hosts displayed the hospitality that has made Utah and the Rocky Mountain States a special part of our country. The only thing that even came close to being equal to the warm hospitality was the delicious taste of vanilla ice cream made right there on campus. The UNLV football team ended the afternoon by losing its sixth game, but certainly didn't leave the field in disgrace. In other words, they didn't quit or dog it when behind by a couple of touchdowns. Except for a last-minute field goal, the Rebels would have ...

Union seeks new vote for airline ramp workers: A spokesman for the Transport Workers Union said the organization has collected enough signatures for a vote and 350 America West employees in Las Vegas will receive a mailing on the election.

Mysterious last show for radio talk show host: "You may recall about a year ago ... I told you that there was an event -- a threatening terrible event occurred to my family -- which I could not tell you about," Bell, host of the "Dreamland" and "Coast to Coast AM" shows, said during today's broadcast at 2:55 a.m.

Monday's Prep Results -- October 12, 1998: At Canyon Gate

Wednesday's Las Vegas Invitational Tee Times: Desert Inn Golf Club

Thursday at Bay Meadows: 1st race 6 fur 3YO&up F&M: 1 Delta Fog (Barton) 119; 2 Russianromance (Perez) 119; 3 Mayor Barbara (Valdez) 112; 4 Marilyn Monruhl (Meche) 119; 5 Heavenly Habit (Gonzalez) 115; 6 Miss Perry (Schvaneveldt) 119.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Malcontents want bigger slice of pie: Dean Juipe; They're playing for a collective $107 million on the PGA Tour this year, with that gold mine spread across 45 events.

Wednesday at Santa Anita: 1st race 1 mi 2YO Mdn: 1 Preachin' Man (Steiner) 120; 2 No Stone Unturned (FValenz) 120; 3 Garcon Gris (Flores) 120; 4 Victory Ridge (Ramsammy) 120; 5 Lentini (Espinoza) 118; 6 Iza Twister (Gonzalez) 115; 7 Joy To Me And You (Alvarado) 120; 8 Sunday Stroll (Pincay) 120; 9 Prairieton (Enriquez) 120.

Letter: No denying sex relationship: During his first campaign for president, Clinton said he never had an affair with Gennifer Flowers. He later admitted he did have an affair with Flowers. Clinton said he was never drafted. When his advisors found out he had indeed been drafted and used political influence to receive a deferral, those advisers were instructed to say that Clinton "forgot" about it.

Letter: Make sure truth emerges: Stanley V. Wisniewski

Tyson report: Therapy needed: Dean Juipe; While the tone of the report is generally favorable toward Tyson, the team of psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists repeatedly recommend that Tyson continue receiving therapy for his behavioral problems.

LV man arrested in Carribbean stud cheating probe: Nevada authorities are monitoring the New Jersey investigation and were aware of the alleged scheme before the arrest, but said the suspect, Jorge Torres, 41, has no previous brushes with the law in Nevada.

Nevada gaming win flat for August: CARSON CITY -- August wasn't a good month for Nevada casinos as gross revenues fell by .21 percent compared to a year ago, the state Gaming Control Board reported today.

Letter: Cartoon character has it right: Lisa's actions illustrated adherence to a set of absolute values, ones which must be followed, or else face the consequences. It is often said that children can be brutal in their actions because they speak and act from the heart without hidden agendas. They just do it.

Brief: Station urges rejection from mystery firm: He said Station learned of IG Holdings' unsolicited tender offer only after investors called to inquire about it. Station stock was trading at $5.31 a share when IG Holdings launched its $4.13 per share offer on Sept. 30. The stock closed Monday at $4.74 and was up about six cents in mid-day trading today.

Brief: MGC now serving Chicago: MGC already serves Las Vegas, Atlanta and Southern California.

Brief: Hotel-casino sued over construction money: Brief: Hotel-casino sued over construction money

Brief: Gaming spinoff named: "It really made the company, so I see no reason not to give it credit," Goldberg told The Press of Atlantic City.

Brief: Fidelity cuts stake in Mirage Resorts: Fidelity does not comment on its investment activity.

Brief: Congressman alleges bribery attempt: C.J. Zane of the consulting firm denied there was a bribery attempt and said Snowbarger had blown the memo out of proportion.

Brief: LV apartments sued over tenant's death: The suit alleges the apartment had faulty electrical and heating systems that led to the fire and lacked operable smoke detectors. Attempts to contact Sunrise Apartments' owners failed.

Brief: UNLV course offered on timeshare management: "We wanted to start having the hotel students understand that timesharing is really a different business from hotels, but a compatible business," said Jim Beckham, a vice president at RCI Consulting who is one of the class instructors.

Brief: Circus, Mirage near settlement: Mirage executives had no comment on the settlement talks, while a Circus executive said no settlement has been reached yet.

Ralph Siraco's selections for Santa Anita: Post Time 1 p.m.

Local PGA golfer excited about this week's LVI: As a lifelong resident of Henderson, Craig Barlow doesn't try to downplay the significance of playing in his first Las Vegas Invitational.

Padres double-A skipper promoted to guide LV Stars: Steve Guiremand; There figure to be a lot of promising young San Diego Padres prospects dotting the Las Vegas Stars roster next spring.

Vandals hit new Reno park: Volunteers built the park in a weekend Sept. 26-27 and Neal Cobb said they can do it again this coming weekend.

Asbestos a new problem for families ousted by fire: Fire officials said the blaze at The Meadows started outside the building early Monday and burned up to the roof. One resident said flames were coming through the door and a window when he woke up.

Five arrested in Yerington drug raids: Noelle Evanson, 19, was booked in the Lyon County jail under $562,500 bail for trafficking a controlled substance and other narcotics offenses. A 15-year-old juvenile was arrested at the same residence in a mobile home park.

Diagnosis: Laughter: Kimberley McGee; Stu Silverstein wants to have you laughing all the way to X-ray.

Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Making sense of twin arts center proposals: Scott Dickensheets; The better-known of the two is the drive to establish a performing arts complex downtown, on roughly 10 acres near the Clark County Government Center. It's being led by Nancy Houssels, the grand dame of local high culture. The lesser-known second proposal, forwarded by a nonprofit group calling itself the Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Inc. (LVPAC), is a truly audacious plan: a 2,800-seat concert hall, a 600-seat theater, a 600-seat drama stage and an outdoor amphitheater, all on 320 art-park acres of what is now federal land near Red Rock Canyon State Park, just off the proposed beltway.

Investigators think deaths a murder-suicide: Lyon County Sheriff's Investigator Jim Cassell said it was fairly certain that Bernier was responsible for both deaths.

Drug charges dropped for police chief's daughter: Bill Gang; Michelle Lynette Parks, 37, walked out of Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle's courtroom a free woman, but bitter at the news coverage the case generated and what she said were "the lies that were told."

Thunder's Bourne not about to panic over loss: Tim Graham; First-year Las Vegas Thunder head coach Bob Bourne has two words for players and fans alike: Don't panic.

LV, flood district double-team underpass problem: The action Monday was taken without comment as the council took a big step toward resolving the problem of high flood waters that close the underpass to the major artery during nearly every significant storm.

Panel to consider proper size, salaries for LV City Council: Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said the committee "well represents the majority interests of all of the (city's) residents."

Editorial: Denying a daughter's dying wish: Such was the case last week when prison officials would not let an inmate visit his dying 17-year-old daughter.

City spending: * $1,995,000: Preapproval of the lowest responsible bidder for the construction of odor control structures and reclamation water treatment enhancements at the city's Water Pollution Control Facility, including a biofilter, contact basin modifications and odor containment structures.

'Inadequate' schools face big test this week: Benjamin Grove; "Everyone has thought that Western students weren't as high quality as students from other schools," Hicks said. "We want to get this off our backs."

Parties prove big spenders in campaign stretch drive: As Democrat Reid and Republican Ensign go at it in their Senate race, the Nevada Republican and Democratic parties have also jumped into the fray. The parties are asking television viewers to get on the telephone, but don't expect them to pay for the calls.

IHL results -- October 13, 1998: LAS VEGAS--Cam Stewart scored twice in the first 2:03, and completed his hat trick with a power play tally in the third period, to lead the Houston Aeros (2-1-0) past the Las Vegas Thunder (0-2-0) 6-4 Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center. It was the Aeros' second straight quick start against Las Vegas. Saturday night, they set a team record with three goals within 1:19 of the opening period. Winger Brian Sullivan wrapped up the win with a power play goal 8:21 into the second period. Mark Freer's seventh-minute goal gave the Aeros a 3-0 first period lead. Sean ...

Las Vegas news briefs: Monty Symmonds, air quality monitoring technician for the Clark County Health District's Air Pollution Control Division, said the new eight-hour standard was violated on 11 days at numerous monitoring sites.

Student station can carry CNN footage: UNLV recently purchased a $900 decoder from CNN, which will allow broadcast students at the university's television station, UNLV-TV, to edit actual raw footage and do voice-overs.

UNLV's punter Kristosik continues to be bright spot: Steve Guiremand; Entering the 1998 season, UNLV had never had a punter earn Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

City's pet stores put on notice to clean things up: Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, before Monday's unanimous vote, called the measure "an important bill" that should put an end to "a pattern of mistreatment" by some professional animal handlers.

Columnist Jeff German: Panaro launches public relations drive to clear name: Even good publicity, you see, isn't good for business when everyone thinks you're into street rackets.

Senate election ads blast at pasts: For high-profile campaigns such as the tiff in Nevada between Democrat Reid and Republican Ensign, it is not enough to subject viewers to 30-second sound bites paid for by the campaigns. Viewers also must endure a steady diet of negative advocacy ads from the state parties that encourage their faithful to call the opposite candidate.

Strohmeyer prepares for formal sentencing: Bill Gang; Iverson would have turned 9 on Oct. 20.

Majority (of one) rules in council: Ed Koch and Erin Neff; The Las Vegas City Council went beyond that Monday when Mayor Jan Laverty Jones stood as a board of one in approving rezoning for a downtown property.

City Council briefs: That's what the city will repay for Clark County bonds that will be issued for construction of the structure at Lewis Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard.

Obituaries for October 13, 1998: Desert Memorial Cremation and Burial Society, 1111 Las Vegas Blvd. North, is handling arrangements.

Public will get chance to meet court candidates: The forum will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the County Commissioner's Chambers at the Government Center, 550 Grand Central Parkway.

Sandy Valley residents seeking high school: It's nearly a 100-mile round trip each school day for high school students to attend classes in Las Vegas. For the past 10 years, there's been a consistent 80 percent dropout rate, according Margot Allaire, a member of the non-profit Sandy-Mesquite Valley Educational Foundation.

Chess champ won't reveal his next move: David Clayton; He came tantalizingly close Monday during an hour-long telephone conversation with the Sun, but every sentence seemed like a chess move in a complicated middle game, pronounced for the moment but maddeningly unclear as to future intent.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Fight local golfers ready to compete in LVI: By Brian Hilderbrand LAS VEGAS SUN

Storey County sheriff's race focuses on prostitute's vote: Charles Porchia, a reserve deputy sheriff, says women working in the two legal brothels voted en masse for his opponent Pat Whitten in the primary election. These women, he claims, are not legal residents of the county, even though they list their homes as Mustang No. 1 and Mustang No. 2, the two bordellos.

Letter: Most people don't care about adultery: I understand that it is wrong to use your position as the president or a congressman to get women. But women are not little angels, either. I'm not defending his actions, but she could have said no. This situation has gotten out of hand.

Letter: Voters need to be heard: What would happen? Out of the woodwork would come the scum of mankind persuading these naive people to hand over their livelihood for them to handle. Disaster for the elderly -- a bonanza for the unscrupulous con men.

Letter: Washington should respect peoples' right to privacy: The late, great President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "Every man should know that his conversations, his correspondence, and his personal life are private. I have urged Congress -- except when the nation's security is at stake -- to take action to that end."

Letter: Wynn's vision belies eyesight: After talking to some people in Santa Monica, Calif., everyone seems interested and excited about it. Wynn will only show part of the collection in the beginning of the opening. I jokingly said, "He doesn't want to give the people culture shock."