Local news briefs for May 23, 2000

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 | 12:02 p.m.

Man dies in fall from cliff

A Henderson man Monday died after a 25-foot fall from a cliff at Lake Mead.

John Richard Conn, 22, stood alone on the cliff watching his friend jet ski before the headfirst fall into a large bed of rocks about 1:50 p.m., National Park Service spokesman Bert Byers said. Park Service officials did not know whether Conn slipped or tried to dive into the water.

Conn was flown by helicopter to University Medical Center and was pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m.

Municipal pool forced to close

A Las Vegas municipal pool was evacuated after firefighters responded to a toxic chemical leak Monday evening.

Twenty gallons of hydrochloric acid used to treat swimming-pool water at the West Leisure Service Center at Durango Drive and Gowan Road spilled out after the line feeding the acid sprang a leak.

Firefighters neutralized the acid within an hour with fire extinguishers, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. The pool was closed as a precaution by firefighters when they arrived about 5:30 p.m., Szymanski said.

There were no injuries or damage to the facility, which remained shut the rest of the night while it was cleaned.

No May session for Goodman

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will not be holding his regularly scheduled open-door meeting with residents this month.

The meetings are normally held on the last Friday of each month at City Hall.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 30 at 10 a.m.

U.S. 95 crash kills man, woman

A 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were killed early Monday in a one-car accident on U.S. 95.

The man, from Alabaster, Ala., was driving north on the highway between the Mount Charleston exit and Indian Springs when his car drifted off the roadway about 12:05 a.m. Monday. He apparently over-corrected, causing the car to roll, Nevada Highway Patrol officials said.

The man and the woman, of New Martinsville, W.Va., were thrown from the car. Neither apparently was wearing a seat belt, police said.

The names of the man and woman were not released this morning pending the notification of their families.