Local news briefs for July 7, 2000

Friday, July 7, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

Public hearing scheduled Tuesday

A public hearing for those residents potentially affected by Henderson's pending annexation of nearly 5,500 acres of unicorporated Clark County and federal lands in the southwest Las Vegas Valley has been set for Tuesday evening.

Henderson wants to manage the growth of the 5,100 unimproved acres of federal land on its western border, southwest of the Henderson Executive Airport. Several developers have been pressuring the Bureau of Land Management to sell the acreage, Mayor James Gibson has said.

Hostage-robbery case nears deal

A Las Vegas man who was beaten by a group of bar patrons he had allegedly tried to take hostage last month has agreed to plead guilty.

Brian Kennison, 24, was scheduled to have his preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace James Bixler Thursday, but he decided to waive the hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Schwarz said Kennison will instead plead guilty to burglary with use of a deadly weapon in District Judge Jeffrey Sobel's courtroom July 13.

According to police, Kennison walked into PT's Pub on South Nellis Boulevard at about 5:20 a.m. June 19 and threatened to kill the seven people inside.

Someone inside the bar activated a robbery alarm, and when dispatchers called the bar, Kennison told them not to bother him. When the police arrived, he told them he would kill the hostages unless the police left him alone.

Man killed at swimming pool

A 15-year-old Las Vegas boy was arrested this morning in the shooting death of a 21-year-old man at an apartment complex swimming pool.

The teenager was booked into the Clark County jail on murder charges. He was arrested at his home about 4:45 a.m., said Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro Police's homicide unit.

He is accused of shooting Justin L. Harris about 9:50 p.m. Thursday during an argument at the pool in an apartment complex in the 3200 block of East Desert Inn Road. Apparently Harris and a 20-year-old man got into an argument with the 15-year-old as he was walking by the pool, Petersen said.

The teenager didn't live at the apartment complex, but had been seen there many times in the past, Petersen said.

Harris' slaying is the 54th homicide so far this year in Metro's jurisdiction compared to 52 at the same time last year.

Man found dead in parking lot

A 19-year-old man was found shot to death in a parking lot early this morning in North Las Vegas.

Derrick Mitchell, 19, of North Las Vegas had been shot several times in the chest and head. He was taken to University Medical Center, but died from the wounds, said Lt. Chris Larotonda of North Las Vegas Police's detective bureau.

Police were called out to a parking lot in the 2500 block of West Street on the report of shots being fired. Officers found Mitchell, police said.

Board members named by BLM

Members of a board that advises the departments of Interior and Agriculture on wild horse and burro issues have been named.

The board next meets Tuesday and Wednesday in Reno.

The BLM manages about 46,000 wild horses and burros that roam the federally managed public lands of the West. A 1971 law mandates the protection and management of the animals.

The board includes four previous members: Fred Burke of Arizona, Robin Lohnes of Washington, D.C., Nat Messer of Missouri and Gary Zakotnik of Wyoming, New members are Hilleary Bogley of Virginia, J. Wayne Burkhardt of Idaho, Brent Eldridge and Larry Johnson of Nevada and Richard Sewing of Utah.