News briefs

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2000 | 10:32 a.m.

Event earns $330,000 for Republicans

The Republican Party of Nevada raised $330,000 at its Team Nevada Kick-Off fund-raiser at the Bellagio hotel-casino Tuesday night.

The event was attended by 285 people including New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, Gov. Kenny Guinn, United States Senate candidate John Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons.

Republican Party spokesman Ryan Erwin called the night phenomenal, saying that the party had hoped to raise $130,000, but ended up with more than double that amount.

Man killed outside bar identified

A man found shot in a bar parking lot Monday morning who later died was identified as 58-year-old Henry Zegler of Henderson.

Zegler was found about 11:20 a.m. shot in the parking lot of Ernie's bar in the 1900 block of North Rancho Drive. He was still conscious and was able to tell officers who shot him, Metro Police said.

Zegler was taken to University Medical Center, where he died. Kesha Smith, 23, Taras D. Stewart, 16, and Fredrick J. Benson, 21, were all charged with murder and robbery, police said.

Zegler and Smith were apparently involved in deal to sell a Ford Mustang when the shooting occurred, police said.

Stabbing victim found in grass

A 27-year-old man was in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center with several stab wounds.

The man was found in the grass in an apartment complex in the 4700 block of East Owens Avenue about 6:30 a.m., Metro Police said.

Police were investigating the incident this morning and few details were available.

Guinn aide resigns to join Porter campaign

CARSON CITY -- Chris Ferrari, the legislative liaison for Gov. Kenny Guinn, is resigning to join the congressional campaign of state Sen. Jon Porter.

Ferrari, 25, will become a deputy campaign manager for Porter, R-Boulder City. His resignation is effective March 10.

He is the fourth aide in Guinn's office to resign in the last six months. Chief of Staff Peter Ernaut and his executive assistant, Yvonne Harrigan, both left to return to Ernaut's private marketing business and to help in the Senate campaign of former Rep. John Ensign. Chad Wilkins, the constituent services director, resigned to enter private business in Las Vegas.

Guinn said he is "very proud" that Ferrari is "seizing this exciting opportunity." He called Ferrari a "tremendous asset."

Court says employees are free to speak

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has ruled that federal employees are free to speak on behalf of nonprofit citizens' groups to federal agencies.

The ruling came Feb. 8 in the case of Jeff van Ee, an electrical engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency's research laboratory in Las Vegas. Van Ee wanted to speak on behalf of nonprofit environmental groups such as the Sierra Club to federal agencies such as the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service on various environmental issues in Nevada.

But the EPA said such public comment was forbidden, and a lower court and the federal Office of Government Ethics agreed. The Appeals Court reversed those decisions on a unanimous 3-0 ruling.

A federal criminal ethics statute was not intended by Congress "to act as a general gag order on federal employees," the three-judge panel said.

Panel to explore church-state issues

Church and state issues will be explored in two panel discussions on Thursday at the Clark County Library.

Religious and civil rights analysts will meet at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the constitutionality of faith-based social services, school vouchers, and religious solutions to school violence.

The panelists include U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Principal Alma Vining of Robert Lake Elementary School and legal experts from the Anti-Defamation League, the UNLV William Boyd School of Law and the University of Southern California Law School.

Moderators will be U.S. District Court Judge Phillip Pro and Greenspun Media Group columnist Jon Ralston.

The event is sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and is open to the public. The Clark County Library Theater is located at 1401 East Flamingo Road.

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