Las Vegas news briefs for July 14, 1999

Wednesday, July 14, 1999 | 12:32 p.m.

Metro seeks help in solving robberies

Metro robbery detectives are asking for the public's help in locating a man wanted in connection with a string of convenience store and fast-food restaurant robberies.

The robberies have taken place in the northwest part of town, usually in the late evening or in the early morning.

A man enters the business and usually pretends to be a customer before pulling out a knife and demanding money, police said.

The man is described as black, between 28 and 35 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing about 175 pounds. He has a small goatee beard, black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is urged to call the robbery detail at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

No one injured in fire at Luxor

An exterior fire at the Luxor hotel-casino this morning filled some hallways with smoke but caused no injuries or evacuations, according to the Clark County Fire Department.

Three engines responded around 5:45 a.m. to a report of an exterior fire on a building to the north of the pyramid. Crews extinguished the fire within minutes. Smoke drifted through several floors, and some guests were moved to different rooms, but the hotel's ventilation system helped clear the air.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it appeared to be accidental. No damage estimates were available.

New chief named for tobacco program

CARSON CITY -- Linda Rexwinkel has been named program manager for Nevada's tobacco control program, replacing an outspoken critic of efforts by cigarette companies to kill anti-smoking legislation.

The state Health Division said Tuesday that Rexwinkel will start out at $39,213 a year in the job that had been held by Willie Edwards, who had been out on extended medical leave and also wanted to finish a doctoral program in education.

Smithsonian official dies in glider crash

MINDEN -- The director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and an internationally recognized pilot died after their glider broke apart over the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and crashed.

Donald Engen, 75, head of the museum, and longtime friend William Ivans, 79, of La Jolla, Calif., were killed Tuesday when Ivans' motorized glider broke apart at about 11,000 feet and crashed into a field several miles east of Lake Tahoe, witnesses said.

The area is a mecca for glider pilots because of wind conditions that allow for long, high-altitude flights.

There were no apparent weather disturbances at the time.

Engen had been director of the museum in Washington, D.C., since 1996. He also was administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from 1984 to 1987, and served for two years on the National Transportation Safety Board.

A much-decorated Navy pilot, Engen retired as a vice admiral in 1978. He also served as general manager of Piper Aircraft Corp.

Ivans was the former president of the International Gliding Commission.