News briefs for August 2, 2001

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

Trial date set for Sandoval

A March 25 trial date has been set for former Community College of Southern Nevada Associate Vice President Orlando Sandoval, who has been charged with the gross misdemeanor of unlawfully employing a relative.

District Judge Donald Mosley set the trial date this morning after Sandoval entered a not-guilty plea.

A July indictment alleges Sandoval hired his father-in-law, Duane Stevens, as a heating and air conditioning specialist in 1991 while working at CCSN. Sandoval also allegedly helped his father-in-law get substantial raises, according to the indictment.

Man undergoing mental evaluation

A 40-year-old man is in University Medical Center this morning for a psychiatric evaluation after he threatened suicide and his girlfriend's brother was killed during a struggle for a handgun earlier this week.

Danilo DelRosario was found in the area of Decatur Boulevard and Flamingo about 1:15 a.m Tuesday with a gunshot wound to his thumb. He was treated at the hospital and Metro Police had him committed for the evaluation, said Lt. Wayne Petersen of the homicide unit.

When police arrived at an apartment in the 5800 block of West Rochelle Avenue near Flamingo Road Monday, they found 28-year-old Joel Aguilar dead on the floor.

DelRosario's brother and his girlfriend were visiting at the time of a confrontation. Police said that apparently DelRosario started to threaten to kill himself, and at some point there was a struggle for the gun and Aguilar was shot, Petersen said.

City Council passes ordinance

A new ordinance adopted by the Las Vegas City Council Wednesday makes it a misdemeanor crime for individuals who sell household items that are also known as drug paraphernalia.

The new ordinance makes it a misdemeanor for convenience store owners to sell the items they know, or should reasonably know, are used to ingest drugs. The crime is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or a prison term not more than six months.

Trial postponed in two deaths

The trial of a Las Vegas woman accused of causing the deaths of two people while driving and talking on a cell phone has been postponed until Dec. 3.

Karen Morris, 34, had been scheduled to go to trial Monday on three counts of reckless driving and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. District Judge Nancy Saitta agreed Wednesday, however, to postpone the trial at the request of Morris' attorney, John Lukens.

Police believe Morris was talking on her cell phone and driving about 20 mph over the posted speed limit when she drove through two red lights and collided with a vehicle being driven by Leona Greif, 61, on March 25.

Greif and Marcia Nathans, 65, were killed. Nathans' son, Elliott Nathans, sustained severe head injuries.

Senate votes for lower levels

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to require new arsenic limits in drinking water, approving compromise language that adds pressure on President Bush to lower acceptable levels of the naturally occurring, cancer-causing substance.

Fallon, 60 miles east of Reno, has measured arsenic at 100 parts per billion in its water supply. The town, working with the Environmental Protection Agency, is taking steps to reduce the naturally occurring arsenic level.

By a 97-1 vote, senators approved a bill to require the EPA to immediately put new arsenic regulations into effect. The bill's language said the EPA should protect the most vulnerable, such as the young, old and ill, from diseases linked to arsenic. Both Nevada senators, Democrat Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign, voted in favor of the bill.

Well drilled in Pershing County

A rural electric cooperative based in Ely has completed a geothermal well that could eventually generate enough power to supply more than 2,000 people a year, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

Geothermal power is generated by tapping deep, hot water in the earth, which is converted to steam for electrical generators.

Mt. Wheeler Power drilled the well in Pershing County with the help of the Energy Department. The DOE is analyzing the drilling reports, but preliminary studies indicate that it will produce between 2 and 4 megawatts of power. One megawatt is enough to supply electricity to 1,000 people for a year.

Tribe seeks help from U.N.

Western Shoshone tribal members asked the United Nations to intervene in a dispute with the federal government to protect land and treaty rights.

The Western Shoshone delegation from Nevada arrived Wednesday in Geneva to ask the U.N.'s help to protect hunting, grazing, mining development and cultural resources on tribal land claimed under the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863.

The United States has issued trespass notices and ordered that the Western Shoshones remove cattle grazing on Northern Nevada tribal land.

Elko District Bureau of Land Management Manager Helen Hankins confirmed that the BLM intends to remove Shoshone livestock, but would not disclose a specific date.

A homeless man

who died from a beating in June has been identified as Thomas J. Hill, 60. Hill was found June 29 behind a convenience store at Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard. No suspects have been identified in Hill's slaying and no arrests made.