Local news briefs for October 24, 2000

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

Actress recovering from accident

Actress Lauren Hutton is in serious but stable condition this morning following a motorcycle accident Saturday at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Hutton is awake and alert and her condition is improving, her publicist said.

She fractured her right leg and right arm in the crash and has been at University Medical Center since Saturday afternoon.

She was on a ride with the Guggenheim Motorcycle Club when she lost control of her motorcycle. It veered off the road and then slid for several hundred feet, dragging Hutton with it for part of the distance, National Park Service officials said.

The accident occurred just south of the turnoff for Echo Bay Marina on Northshore Road.

The motorcycle she was riding was a rental and returned to the rental company shortly after the accident.

Her injuries could have been more severe had she not been wearing a helmet and protective clothing, hospital officials said.

Man accused of sex with client

A 47-year-old Las Vegas counselor has been arrested on allegations he had sex with a woman he was supposed to be helping, Metro Police said.

William Hough, 47, who is also a pastor, was charged Oct. 6 with a felony count of abusing a client and a gross misdemeanor count of abusing a client, said Lt. Tom Monahan of the sexual assault unit.

Hough is accused of having sex with a woman whom he was counseling at the West Valley Counseling Center earlier in the year in the office. State law makes sexual relations between a mental health provider and a patient a crime regardless if the relationship was consensual.

Hough was also a pastor at the International Church of Las Vegas, Monahan said.

Detectives were investigating to determine if there are other allegations of Hough having sexual relations with clients

Victim gunned down in driveway

North Las Vegas Police are investigating the slaying of a man who was gunned down in his family's driveway Monday night.

Ishmael Rua Vargas, 20, apparently had just returned home in the 3500 block of Simmons Street about 9 p.m. when he was shot several times, police said.

Vargas' brother told police he was in the garage at the time and heard his brother pull into the driveway. He then heard several shots and something hit the garage, police said.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call North Las Vegas Police at 633-9111 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.