County news briefs

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

* DUTY-FREE SHOPS -- The County Commission renewed a five-year contract with ALLNU Inc., formerly Allders International, to run the duty-free shop at McCarran International Airport. Aviation Director Bob Broadbent had recommended another company because he believed its ties to Pacific Rim countries would help the airport secure a direct flight from Asia. But commissioners said Allders invested the money in developing the shop when nobody else wanted it and should continue to operate it. The contract brings $800,000 to $1 million in revenue to Clark County each year.

* BIDDING WAR -- A contractor unsuccessfully argued that his competitor didn't qualify under the state's local bidder preference law for a new addition to the coroner's office at 1704 Pinto Lane. The commission on Tuesday chose B&H Construction over Meeks Contracting Inc. as the low and most responsive bidder for the job. B&H offered to do the work for $1.529 million -- $40,000 less than Meeks' proposal. While both are local companies, Meeks argued that B&H changed from a partnership to a corporation without getting a new contractor's license for 17 months.

* PRIME TIME -- County officials said they are within weeks of negotiating a deal with Prime Cable to take over the company's one public access channel. Under the new agreement, the county would have primary control of the government access channel, and share program time with the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and other entities, county spokesman Tom Warden said. Total start-up costs are estimated at $220,000, Warden said. The county will have editorial and programming control but will continue to offer time to UNLV, which currently controls the channel, Warden said. C-SPAN 2 will continue to be the background channel until Prime Cable switches it over to its own spot in December. The agreement will be presented to the County Commission for approval on Feb. 18.