Local briefs for August 20, 1999

Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 4:12 a.m.

Residents escape predawn blaze

A predawn fire today damaged a downtown Las Vegas residence and left nine people homeless, eight of whom were home at the time of the blaze and escaped without injury, the Las Vegas Fire Department said.

When firefighters responded to 509 S. Eighth St., at approximately 4:30 a.m. they found flames shooting through the roof of the one-story, wood-framed stucco house. Firefighters said they were hampered by the wood shingle roof that fed the flames.

The fire destroyed one room and the roof and extensively damaged the attic. Investigators estimated damage at $50,000.

Three adults and six children lived in the house. Two women awakened by a light in the back yard, discovered the house was on fire, woke up the other residents and got them out of the house, fire officials said.

Two banks hit on Thursday

One suspected bank robber is in custody and another is still being sought following two unrelated incidents Thursday.

The first robbery took place shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday at Bank of America, 1140 E. Desert Inn Road, and the second happened two hours later at U.S. Bank, 948 N. Nellis Blvd., FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle said.

"Both suspects walked into the banks, asked the tellers for money, got money and walked away," Caudle said. "Neither one showed guns, but indicated they had one."

John William Leone, 38, was arrested minutes after the first robbery when Metro Police officers pulled over his car within blocks of the bank, Caudle said. He was charged with bank robbery and booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

The second suspect is described as a white male, approximately 25 years old, 5-feet-6-inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing jeans, a green T-shirt, sandals and a ball cap.

Storm from Mexico brings valley moisture

A trace of rain fell in the Las Vegas Valley overnight, the National Weather Service reported, but heavier showers and thunderstorms were expected later today.

A moist monsoonal flow of air from Mexico, common at this time of year, moved into Southern Nevada from Arizona on Thursday night, sprinkling the Las Vegas Valley after midnight.

If the cloud cover remains in place today, showers and thunderstorms will be less intense. But if the sun warms things up today, the storms could produce locally heavy rainfalls, forecasters said.

The high for today was expected to reach 97 degrees after a low of 84 degrees recorded at 8 a.m.

The weekend outlook calls for a chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoons and evenings.

Bridge construction closes Flamingo

Flamingo Road, between Las Vegas Boulevard and Koval Lane, will be closed between midnight and 4 a.m. Wednesday through next Friday by Clark County's Department of Public Works.

Department spokesman Bobby Shelton said the temporary closing is to allow the hanging of girders for the elevated pedestrian crosswalk between Bally's and the Barbary Coast hotel-casinos.

Traffic flow for eastbound Flamingo Road will be detoured to Koval Lane, where there is other construction that could cause additional delays for motorists.

"This work is just part of the county's $9,200,468 project to build elevated pedestrian crosswalks on the east and north sides of this intersection," Shelton said.

For more information call 455-6030.

Rural areas to get federal assistance

Nevada's rural water projects will benefit from $25 million included in the 2001 Water Resources Development Act.

The act allows the Army Corps of Engineers to work with local communities to provide clean, safe and reliable drinking water, Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday.

"The challenge is to make sure that every Nevadan feels safe when they turn on the tap and fill up their glass and this will help accomplish this goal," Reid said.

The act directs the corps to pay for 75 percent of all improvement work.

Counties eligible for the environmental assistance under the act are Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, Elko, Pershing, Humboldt, Churchill, Storey, Lyon, Carson, Douglas, Mineral, Esmeralda and Lander.