Local news briefs for February 21, 2000

Monday, Feb. 21, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

Men seen running from crime scene

A Las Vegas man was found shot to death this morning in front of an apartment complex in North Las Vegas, and now police are trying to identify the men seen running away from the area.

A group of people showed up after the shots were fired, at about 2 a.m., but police could find no one who actually saw the shooting, said Lt. Chris Larotonda, a police spokesman.

The name of the man found dead in front of 3301 Civic Center Drive was not released pending the notification of his family.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call North Las Vegas Police at 633-9111 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Car pursued by NHP hits another

Three people were killed in a head-on collision Sunday afternoon on State Route 445 near Sparks.

Washoe County sheriff's deputies said the accident apparently was caused when a northbound car being pursued by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper drifted into the oncoming lane and struck a pickup head-on.

Sheriff's Sgt. Bob Towery said the drivers of both vehicles and a girl in the pickup were killed in the 3:43 p.m. accident. Their names weren't immediately released.

A boy in the pickup was listed in critical condition at Washoe Medical Center, where he was undergoing surgery.

Towery said an highway patrol trooper had activated his overhead lights and was trying to stop the car when the accident occurred.

"There were reports that the (car) driver was weaving in and out of the travel lane," he said. "The trooper wanted to find out what was wrong with the driver.

"But the driver never slowed down and continued northbound until drifting into the southbound lane and striking the other vehicle."

U.S. 93 bridge will be inspected

Inspections of part of the roadway at Hoover Dam are expected to slow traffic in both directions on U.S. 93 on Feb. 28 and 29 and March 1.

From 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on those days, the bridge in front of the dam's parking structure will be inspected by Bureau of Reclamation and Nevada Department of Transportation engineers.

The bridge is routinely inspected every other year. Motorists should expect delays of about 30 minutes to an hour during inspection times, Bureau of Reclamation officials said.

Nevada targeted for cultural program

Nevada is one 14 states targeted by a new initiative by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The endowment is making grants available to states with traditionally fewer cultural programs.

Along with Nevada, the targeted states are Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

The three types of grants include Humanities Scholar-in-Residence Grants for high schools and middle schools to improve humanities curriculum, Consultation Grants for museums, historical societies, filmmakers and public broadcast companies and Preservation Assistance Grants for libraries, museums and archives looking to improve their collections.

Metro honors Las Vegas program

Metro Police is honoring the city of Las Vegas' Rapid Response Team for its efforts to clean up the city's neighborhoods.

The commendation, sent by Sheriff Jerry Keller, praised the 12-person unit for its proactive efforts to clean neighborhoods of trash, debris, overgrowth and graffiti. The team was formed in 1996 at the direction of the Las Vegas City Council.

Jury tells county to pay $2.8 million

An eight-member jury has decided in favor of a Las Vegas couple in their fight over the value of a piece of property that Clark County wants for the Las Vegas Beltway.

The 9.5 acres is located at Centennial Parkway and Rio Vista, less than 1 mile from the planned interchange at U.S. 95, attorney Kermitt L. Walters said.

Walters and James Jack Leavitt represented Lawrence and Janet Doull in their claim that the county would not give the Doulls the value of their property.

The Doulls said they bought the property in 1986 for future commercial use and claimed the property was worth $2.8 million, while the county said the property had only a residential value and offered $650,000.

The jury agreed with the Doulls and ordered the county to pay $2.8 million.

Administrators find new jobs

Several top Nevada Department of Prisons administrators are leaving their posts, Director Bob Bayer said.

Assistant Director John Neill will move to a new job with the Nevada Department of Transportation at the end of the month.

Southern Nevada Correctional Center Warden Miles Long has taken a similar job in another state and Nevada State Prison Warden John Ignacio is retiring in August.

On top of those departures, Phil Nowak has quit as prison medical administrator and auditor Carla Watson is joining the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

"If you've got good people, sooner or later somebody's going to grab them up," Bayer said. "But I'm not going anywhere that I know of."