Local news briefs for January 3, 2000

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

Senator part of security visit to Africa

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., left Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., this morning for a trip to eight African nations: Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

Bryan is touring the nations in his new official capacity as vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Bryan said the trip's purpose was to "assess the security measures" America installed after terrorist bombs ripped through American embassies in August 1998, in which 12 Americans were killed along with 210 others.

Bryan and the Intelligence Committee chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., will meet with officials in each of the nations.

Casino boss gets vehicle from rival

Ormsby House general manager Bob Cashell has won an $11,000 4-wheel-drive vehicle in a charity raffle held at a rival casino in Carson City.

Cashell won a 1990 Toyota donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada for a benefit raffle. The drawing was held last week at the Pinon Plaza.

Cashell, a former Nevada lieutenant governor, said he'll keep the vehicle at the urging of family members but will donate a new Toyota car to the club for another fund-raiser this summer.

He said he bought $300 to $400 worth of tickets in the raffle to benefit the club, not himself.

"Every time I go to a function that has a raffle, I buy a handful of tickets. You do that to help a good cause, not so much to win anything," he said.

Deputy sheriff gives CPR to baby

A Washoe County sheriff's deputy has been credited with saving the life of an infant who had stopped breathing.

The 2-month-old boy was taken to a Reno hospital and is expected to have a full recovery after being revived Saturday by Deputy Terry Wilcox.

Wilcox responded to a 911 hang-up call at the parents' house in the Toll Road-Geiger Grade area south of Reno.

Upon his arrival, the child was not breathing and had turned blue. Wilcox gave the baby CPR until paramedics arrived.

"The baby had been born premature and had come home from the hospital on Tuesday," sheriff's Lt. Doug Gist said.

Review of work on Yucca scheduled

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has scheduled a two-day hearing in Las Vegas to discuss the Department of Energy's progress in studying Yucca Mountain as a high-level nuclear waste repository.

The board will listen to DOE officials report on the progress of scientific studies of possible radioactive contamination in rock from nuclear weapons fallout, the age of deposits in the mountain and other studies on Jan. 25 and 26.

The meeting is open to the public at the Alexis Park Hotel, 375 E. Harmon Ave.