Local news briefs

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 9:59 a.m.

Missing man, 81, dead in California

The decomposed remains of an 81-year-old man who was missing for an estimated three months were found buried amid plants and debris in a back yard in Barstow, Calif., after a former neighbor allegedly tried to cash the elderly man's checks in Las Vegas.

Sheriff's detectives discovered Theodore Franklin Jimason's body about 1 p.m. Thursday in the back yard of a home where Alana Dee Clayton Reeve used to live, said Sgt. Bobby Dean of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Detectives began investigating Jimason's disappearance after relatives reported him missing July 2. Detectives learned a check had been forged in his name, and Reeve was arrested Sept. 2 in Las Vegas on a check forgery warrant after allegedly cashing Jimason's checks, either Social Security or disability checks, Sheriff's Department spokesman Chip Patterson said.

Man gunned down in his apartment

Two men entered a West Las Vegas apartment early this morning, gunned down its resident and fled, police said.

The identity of the 31-year-old male victim is being withheld pending notification of next of his family.

Metro Police homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said two men arrived at an apartment in a building in the 900 block of West Washington Avenue shortly after midnight.

He said a woman in the apartment heard a knock on the front door and shortly afterward heard several shots in the living room.

The first man is described as a black male about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an average build, curled hair and dressed in a white T-shirt and dark pants.

The second man is described as about 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a medium build and a shaved head.

Phone firm says few people affected

A spokesman for Sprint telephone said today only six customers were affected when there was a problem with 911 equipment in Henderson Thursday.

Rob McCoy said it was incorrectly reported by some officials that the 911 system crashed for the entire city.

The problem affected only six customers in Sun City Anthem Vacation Villas, McCoy said.

He said those customers should have 911 service sometime today.

No changes made in proposed map

Despite criticism from some minority residents in Las Vegas, a proposed map of new city wards will not change.

Retired Wisconsin Judge Fred Kessler's original draft proposal will be introduced at Wednesday's City Council meeting by Mayor Oscar Goodman without a single precinct change.

About 20 people gave their input at an Aug. 31 public hearing about the proposed addition of Wards 5 and 6. More than half complained about the way Kessler had drawn the map. Only a few suggested changes.

But the input had no impact on Kessler's decision.

Public comment is not permitted Wednesday when the final map is introduced. A public hearing on that ordinance will be held Sept. 27 at 2 p.m.

Keller backs proposals from nation's mayors

Sheriff Jerry Keller stood on the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C., Thursday with some of the most high-profile police chiefs in the nation, along with prominent mayors and congressional members to urge Congress to adopt stricter gun laws.

"This is not about gun control, it's about gun ownership," Keller said after the rally held in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "We came here to persuade Congress that we need to be passing every common-sense law that we can."

Keller and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said they agree with the platform of the conference of mayors. The platform supports background checks at all gun shows prior to approving gun sales; closing loopholes that permit importing high-capacity ammunition clips and requiring child safety locks to be sold with all handguns.