Print edition for May 26, 1998

McDonald under investigation: Cathy Scott; Michael McDonald, a Las Vegas City councilman and a Metro Police bicycle patrol officer, is under investigation by Metro's Internal Affairs Bureau based upon an anonymous letter accusing him of unprofessional behavior.

Group to file complaint against Fremont Street Experience: Denise Cardinal; The group, named Progressive Campaigns, was attempting to get signatures on a petition for a ballot initiative on Friday night at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas. Members were asked to leave the pedestrian mall by security guards, according to Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Nevada chapter.

Humane Society against bull run in casino town: The Mesquite City Council is voting today whether to approve plans by Phil Immordino's Phoenix company to charge 1,000 riders $50 each to be chased by bulls as part of a Western festival in July.

LV schools give nation lessons in Spanish: Benjamin Grove; "At this age, children are so receptive to learning," Elena Steele, the district's foreign-language specialist who designed the program, said. "You should see the children -- they just get up and shout, 'Buenos dias!'"

History of desert fan palm hard to determine: Most botanists and residents of the Moapa Valley, about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, tell of Mormon pioneers bringing palm trees to the valley from Arizona around the turn of the century. Further proof is found in Mormon diaries and journals.

Wednesday at: 1st race 5 fur 2YO Mdn Clm

Obituaries for May 26, 1998: She is survived by her husband, Salvatore; three sons, Ed Carman of Gastonia, N.C., James Beddia of New Rochelle, N.Y., and Bob Beddia of New York City; two daughters, Barbara Beddia of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and Susan Beddia of Henderson; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

507258145.html: By Brian Hilderbrand

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Fashion shows have style to burn: The Badgley Mischka show at Neiman Marcus in the Fashion Show mall took place on the night "Seinfeld" ended. Know what? Ladies of fashion care more about Badgley Mischka than they do about "Seinfeld." There wasn't an empty seat.

Baby's drowning, killing mar holiday: Karen Zekan; A resident of an apartment at 1811 Willow Trail, near Vegas and Rancho drives, was also left homeless Monday when his living room was destroyed by a fire investigators believe stated near a sofa about 1:05 p.m.

Columnist Steve Carp: Another star flames out too early: Steve Carp; The one-time prized point guard who was going to start for Jerry Tarkanian next season sat Monday in the Parker Center jail in downtown Los Angeles. Brunner was awaiting arraignment on charges of armed robbery after allegedly sticking a gun in the stomach of Los Angeles City College coach Mike Miller demanding money.

Fairless wants community college position: Spencer Patterson; Fairless said he wants to be considered for the head coaching position at the Community College of Southern Nevada, should intercollegiate athletics at the school be approved in the coming months by the Nevada Board of Regents.

We Love scoo-be-do-be-You: Louis Chunovic; "Nobody in the world could bogart a song like Frank," says musician-turned-media-mogul Quincy Jones, impresario for Saturday's "Remember Frank" gala, chuckling as he uses the slang term for holding on to a marijuana cigarette. "His legacy will be the art of owning a song."

Letter: Canaries in our society's coal mine: America is facing many dangerous situations today. The things that affect blacks and other minorities should serve as a warning to the rest of the nation.

Western Shoshone overwhelmingly support claims distribution: In Fallon on Sunday, the vote was unanimous, with 109 voting for distribution, according to Larry Piffero, a member of the steering committee that pushed for the vote on the distribution.

Ex-chief of schools' new role criticized: Benjamin Grove; State Board member Bill Hanlon said he was "more than a little irate" that former Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Eugene Paslov had been hired by the Legislative Committee on Education.

Editorial: Final touches on state safety review: The Associated Press notes that a preliminary report from the commission recommends that state law requires stricter inspection procedures and that workers get training in a language they understand. The state Division of Industrial Relations cited in its investigation that while all of the workers were Hispanic and few spoke English, the plant's safety and operations manuals were available only in English. In addition, the governor's commission also recommends restricting the location of explosives manufacturing companies.

Commissioners to trim fluff from meetings: Jeff Schweers; Controversial issues like massage industry regulations, airport noise overlay maps and zoning changes on Mount Charleston have produced long public debates where participants tend to repeat themselves and digress from the topic.

Letter: Economic Opportunity Board helps better the community: They all make a real difference in the lives of residents of our community. Through these and other programs, we have served more than 41,000 people in the past year alone. But numbers do not begin to tell the story.

Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Some people have FITs over SUVs: Scott Dickensheets; Except, of course, that a lot of passers-by will also be piloting sport utility vehicles. Since I drive with a single-minded concentration on whatever slow-rolling grannymobile is impeding my progress on a given day, I hadn't really noticed the rising number of SUVs on the road. Until we bought one. Now I see that every fourth vehicle is a sport ute, every third of those seemingly a white Isuzu Rodeo like ours.

People in the News for May 26, 1998: Shorts

Standoff ends without incident: Kelly McMurray, 36, was jailed on charges of assault with a deadly weapon that police described as a small handgun upon retrieving it from the woman's home at 4461 Isabella Ave., near Lamb Boulevard and Stewart Avenue.

Scenic Aviation defends safety record: David Young, president of Scenic Aviation Inc., a North Las Vegas subsidiary of SkyWest Airlines, based in St. George, Utah, said professional jealousy in a highly competitive industry was the motivation behind what he calls a smear campaign against his company's Page, Ariz., operation.

Editorial: Nursing overhaul meets its demise: The roundly criticized plan would have allowed unlicensed people to perform nursing duties. For example, the proposed regulation change would have allowed a medical facility to let its chief nurse require that a registered nurse delegate her duties to an unlicensed person.

Rebel golfers swing at NCAA championship: Last year, the Rebels entered the NCAA finals in Lake Forest, Ill., as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and the top seed in the 30-team national championship field, only to shoot 25 over par and miss the 36-hole cut.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Hilton to test new facility: Dean Juipe; Hosting two shows in early 1997, the Hilton had the misfortune to pay good money for a pair of clunkers that were so disappointing it needed more than a year to recover. Only now, with cards coming both Friday and Saturday nights, is the Hilton willing to test the boxing waters again.

Task force on ethics to hold hearing tonight: Among the proposed recommendations are creating an annual ethics workshop for all elected and appointed officials and requesting more funding from the Legislature for the state Ethics Commission to perform its duties.

Panel to recommend rebuilding wetlands: The SNWA Citizens Advisory Committee on water quality formed in August finished its work last week. The committee will review a final version of its recommendations on June 4. The SNWA board then will consider them on June 18.

Columnist Davey Hamilton: Fourth-place finish dedicated to biggest fan: Davey Hamilton; I told myself last year that I could win the Indianapolis 500 if I just didn't make any mistakes. I know you can't make any mistakes in this race but I did. I screwed up.

Contaminants could have affected Lake Mead fish: Scientists are reviewing thousands of pages of data on pesticides, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals found in the lake's game fish.

Endangered fish has best spawning run on record: Last year, 307,000 fish moved through the area. The bureau has made improvements since then to let the fish move even more quickly.

Interviews complete in UNLV probe: Steve Carp; Nyamekeye has finished interviewing people in his investigation to determine if UNLV athletic director Charles Cavagnaro used racial and sexist slurs in describing some of the school's student-athletes, as anonymous athletic department personnel have claimed.

Where I Stand -- Ruthe Deskin: Nevada voters given chance to show their apathy: When former Northern Nevada legislator Don Mello sponsored legislation that established the unique ballot addition of "none of these candidates," it was meant to stimulate voter turnout by providing an alternative to voting for candidates who are not popular or who are little known.

Frankly fabulous: Six Days of Sinatra: Louis Chunovic; The tribute's centerpiece is Saturday's "Thanks Frank" black-tie gala at the MGM, featuring performances of classic Sinatra tunes, with the original Ol' Blue Eyes arrangements. Performers include Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Vic Damone, Paul Anka and Wayne Newton, co-chair of the gala with Barbara Sinatra, the late singer/ actor's widow, who is expected to appear at several tribute events.

UNLV, seven other schools split from WAC: Steve Carp; It was college athletics' version of Hiroshima.

Cities race to add convention and trade show space: "The problem is that we have run out of space," says John Riddle, president of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, which owns the show.

Nevada regulators struggle with issue of where to allow slot machines: John Wilen; These are just a few of the questions the Nevada Gaming Commission grappled with Friday in its latest hearing looking into whether its regulations should be re-written to more specifically define which types of businesses should and shouldn't be allowed to offer gaming.

New faces brought home Gators' sixth straight baseball title: Spencer Patterson; With 14 seniors -- including all eight starting position players, three of his top four pitchers and his DH -- graduating, Fairless knew the Gators' 1998 season might not have the happy ending the Henderson school had come to expect.

Romero keeps big-league hope alive and well: Steve Guiremand; The 30-year-old Las Vegas Stars catcher is, after all, a living definition of the word.

Struggling Reno Air discontinues Atlanta service: At the same time, he announced the elimination of Reno Air's nonstop service between Reno and Atlanta beginning July 7.

Board approves $1.2 million to keep Nevada nuke waste agency open: The Legislative Interim Finance Committee is scheduled to take final action on the request at a June 23 meeting.

One dead, two wounded in Reno apartment shooting: The three suspects were arrested near Gold Run in California, 35 miles east of Reno, after the Placer County sheriff's office and the California Highway Patrol put highway spikes across Interstate-80.

Approval expected for city manager's contract: Details of the potential agreement between the city and Valentine will not be made available until after the vote. Officials at City Hall say the agreement is for three years and that she'll start in a couple of weeks.