Local news briefs for May 5, 2000

Friday, May 5, 2000 | 12:01 p.m.

Drive to recall mayor advances

CARSON CITY -- The drive to recall Mayor Charles Horne of Mesquite has cleared another hurdle.

Pamela Crowell, deputy secretary of state for elections, said Thursday that backers of the recall movement have gathered 425 signatures on the petition to force an election. That's more than the 384 needed.

She notified Clark County Registrar of Voters Harvard Lomax that he must now check all 425 signatures to make sure they are registered voters. Lomax has nine days, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, to complete the verification.

Horne was elected last June. One of the leaders of the recall is Ken Carter, the former mayor of the city.

Fire paramedic files for Senate

CARSON CITY -- Ed Beaman, a 22-year employee of the Clark County Fire Department, has filed for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate in the 55,000-square-mile Central Nevada District.

Beaman, who has lived in Pahrump for nine years, said Thursday the issues include education, water and the proposed nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain. He's concerned about overcrowded classrooms, the availability of water in the fast-growing area of Pahrump and is opposed to the dump. "They're (the federal government) is trying to shove it down our throat," he said.

Beaman, 44, grew up in Las Vegas and is a captain paramedic with the fire department. He is seeking the seat held by Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon and the district includes all of Churchill, White Pine, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral and Nye counties and portions of Eureka and Lander counties.

Policy change draft finished

The Department of Energy on Thursday sent its final draft of a proposed policy change on guidelines for a nuclear waste repository proposed for Yucca Mountain, the only site under study to bury 77,000 tons of highly radioactive wastes from around the nation.

Ivan Itkin, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the final rule will address all comments and concerns raised by people during a 90-day comment period.

Nevada officials protested the rule after it appeared in the Federal Register on Nov. 30 because it removed such safeguards as preventing water from moving from the surface of Yucca Mountain to the stored waste in less than 1,000 years.

The ground water travel time included in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act was supposed to prevent the water from corroding buried waste containers and potentially allowing deadly radiation to escape into the environment.

DOE spokeswoman Gayle Fisher said the latest guideline draft is about the same as the one proposed last year.

New postmaster begins work June 3

Tom Peterson has been named the new postmaster for the U.S. Postal Service in Las Vegas. Beginning June 3, he will be responsible for all mail delivery, customer service and retail operations in Las Vegas.

Peterson began is postal career in March 1966 as a letter carrier in Minneapolis. He is the 13th person to hold the position of postmaster in Las Vegas.