Local news briefs for October 6, 2000

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

Two killed in Henderson collision

Two people including a child were killed Thursday morning in a collision at the intersection of Calico Ridge and Lake Mead drives in Henderson.

While making a left turn, a Chrysler was struck on the driver's side by a Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling west on Lake Mead, police said.

The driver of the Chrysler was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. A child in the back seat was also killed.

Another child in the back seat was taken to University Medical Center and was in critical condition, and a woman in the front seat was treated for minor injuries at UMC.

The driver of the Jeep suffered minor injuries.

The names of the victims had not been released this morning.

Workshop held at UNLV

The Hispanic Leadership Summit of Nevada will continue a two-day workshop Saturday 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at UNLV to discuss business, civil rights and political empowerment.

The workshop is free and refreshments will be served.

Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera and Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia were scheduled to speak at the workshop today.

Saturday's session includes welcome remarks from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and U.S. Senate hopefuls Ed Bernstein and John Ensign.

The workshop is held at the Moyer Student Union. For information, call 257-6020.

Police suspect murder-suicide

The bodies of a man and woman were found near a car parked Thursday in the desert in what Metro Police say was a murder-suicide.

The bodies of the 50-year-old woman and 47-year-old man were found by a motorcyclist about 8:30 a.m. a short distance from the car, Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro's homicide unit said.

The woman had been reported missing and was last seen by her family Sunday. They said she was trying to break off a relationship with the 47-year-old man, police said.

Police say the evidence at the scene points to a murder-suicide, with the man shooting the woman several times, then shooting himself.

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

Research project gets $2.25 million

The Department of Energy awarded a $2.25 million grant to a joint research project conducted by the University of Nevada, Reno, UNLV and the Desert Research Institute.

The money, to be divided equally among the institutions, will fund operation costs of the Nevada Desert Free Air CO2 Enrichment facility at the Nevada Test Site. The project studies the impact of the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide on desert ecosystems.

UNLV also was awarded a $150,000 grant last week to study solar power for the next two years.

Dr. Robert F. Boehm and two UNLV students will study solar thermal power generation using tracks of solar power generators near Barstow, Calif. They hope to find a way to store heat to use at night to supplement power production.