Local news briefs for February 13, 2001

Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Green Valley artwork stolen

"Big Sister" is pretty lonely this morning.

The bronze statue of a girl kneeling down and tying her little brother's shoe at the intersection of Green Valley Parkway and Wigwam Avenue in Henderson now is a statue of a little girl kneeling down and looking at the grass.

The 250-pound little boy portion of the statue, valued at $45,000, has been stolen and perhaps is being held for ransom, Henderson Police Department spokeswoman Valerie Klein said. The theft is believed to have occurred Sunday.

Apartments to undergo changes

In an agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice, two developers and an architect will pay $1.9 million to modify several Las Vegas apartment complexes to provide accessibility for the disabled.

In a consent decree filed in federal court, Camden Property Trust, Becker Built and George F. Tibsberany Inc. resolved allegations that they violated the federal Fair Housing Act by failing to make eight apartment complexes in Las Vegas accessible to the disabled.

The Justice Department had alleged that the common areas in the complexes had steps and pathways inaccessible by people with disabilities, and that the apartments themselves had narrow doorways and bathrooms making them inaccessible to wheelchairs.

DA investigators seek more pay

District attorney investigators, locked in a contract dispute with Clark County that has lasted for more than year, began their arbitration session Monday morning.

The investigators, who have not been given more than a cost-of-living increase in several years, are hoping for an 18 percent raise.

Joel Moskowitz, chairman of the 27-member investigators division, said the increase would put workers at the same payment level as Metro Police. Moskowitz said that in the early 1990s, investigators' pay was about 2 percent more than Metro; now their salaries are 17 percent less than Metro.