Local news briefs for September 11, 2000

Monday, Sept. 11, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

Ethics panel sets review date

The Las Vegas Ethics Review Board will hold an evidentiary meeting Sept. 21 to determine whether enough evidence exists to proceed with a full-fledged hearing into purported conflicts of interest by Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald.

Review Board Chairman Earle W. White Jr. scheduled the hearing after receiving a complaint from Las Vegas resident Bob Rose.

Rose's complaint alleges McDonald attempted to broker the sale of Las Vegas Sportspark to the city or a third party to rid his employer and a partner of a bad investment.

McDonald works for Larry Scheffler at Las Vegas Color Graphics. Scheffler and his business partner, Linda Fernandez, are two of the three partners at Sportspark.

The hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the 8th floor conference room in City Hall, 400 Stewart Ave.

Body found stabbed near NLV market

North Las Vegas Police are investigating the homicide of a man found stabbed to death in an alley beside a market Sunday morning.

The man was found on the ground next to a market at 2666 Las Vegas Blvd. North about 11:20 a.m. Sunday. He had a stab wound in the upper left area of his chest, police said.

The man, who had not been identified as of this morning, was found by a customer of the store. Police said the slaying occurred some time late Saturday or early Sunday. An autopsy by the Clark County Coroner's Office was scheduled for today.

Clark teacher faces misconduct charge

Metro Police have arrested a Clark High School teacher and charged him with sexual misconduct.

David James Pechacek, a 31-year-old teacher, was arrested Friday and charged with four counts of sexual conduct between students and school employees, 10 counts of open and gross lewdness and three counts of child neglect, police said.

Pechacek is alleged to have had sexual conduct with more than one student on multiple occasions in the fall of 1999, police said.

Eight remain hospitalized

Eight passengers of a tour bus that crashed Thursday near Tonopah remained in University Medical Center this morning as the accident investigation continues.

Inattentive driving by the bus operator, Lotfali Rankouh, 56, of California, is suspected as the cause of the accident, Trooper Alan Davidson, a Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman, said. Charges against Rankouh are pending the outcome of the investigation.

The California Sun Lines bus loaded with British tourists crashed about 2:45 p.m. on U.S. 6, about 20 miles northwest of Tonopah. The bus slid on its side for about 200 feet injuring most of the 41 occupants.

Six of eight passengers were in fair condition this morning and the other two were in serious condition, hospital officials said.

Those in serious condition this morning were Kathleen Robinson, 72, and Howard Wingfield, 46, both of England.

James Culter, 64, Bryan Davis, 56, Mary Fames, 63, Gareth Owen, 69 and Sandra Owen, 56, all of England, and Maureen Laird, 52, of the Unites States, were all listed this morning in fair condition.

Driver crashes into street light pole

A 28-year-old Las Vegas man was killed Saturday when he lost control of his car and struck a street light pole.

Gregory Marri was driving a Chevrolet Corvette south on Town Center Drive near Flamingo Road when he was unable to negotiate a left-hand curve about 7:30 p.m., Metro Police said.

The Corvette entered the center median and slid sideways, striking the light pole, police said.

Marri died at the scene. High speed appears to have played a part in the accident, police said.