Las Vegas news briefs

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:52 a.m.

At about 5 p.m. Thursday the officer was riding with another officer in the left travel lane heading northbound on U.S. 95 north of Cheyenne Avenue, when a car struck the rear of one of the officer's motorcycles throwing the officer to the roadway.

Claudia Urbano, 28, was driving the Mitsubishi that hit the officer, and it appears that she was not paying attention and drifted from the right lane into the left lane, police said.

The accident is still under investigation, police said.

PROBATION -- A Reno man was given 3 years of probation and a $2,000 fine by Washoe County Judge Janet Berry on Thursday, for charges relating to a 1993 insurance fraud case.

Michael ZaZa, 69, made an application for a life insurance policy on a woman he claimed was his daughter in 1993. When the woman died, ZaZa made a $90,000 insurance claim, but an investigation by the Attorney General's office revealed that the woman who died was not ZaZa's daughter.

ZaZa, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud on Oct. 27, will also have to complete 80 hours of community service as part of his probation.

DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has permanently disqualified a North Las Vegas retailer from the Food Stamp Program for exchanging food stamps for cash.

As of Oct. 6, the 7-11 at 1721 Las Vegas Blvd. North was disqualified for purchasing food stamps at less than face value, or trafficking them.

Because the store was OK'd to be in the food stamp program, owner Rakesh Patel could have redeemed the stamps through a bank for full value.

The store also exchanged stamps for beer, which is a major program violation, USDA officials said.

TIME CAPSULE -- Gov. Bob Miller, his wife Sandy and daughter Megan placed a time capsule today under the stairway of the governor's mansion, which is undergoing a remodeling.

Using the suggestions of school children, the capsule includes baseball cards of Sammy Sosa and Mark Maguire, a gigapet, the Titanic video, a Beanie Baby, a Spice Girls CD and a happy meal box with a toy from McDonalds.

It will be opened in the year 2018, the same year as the one placed by former Gov. Paul Laxalt in 1968.