News briefs for November 21, 2001

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 9:04 a.m.

Controversial plan may be changed

A controversial, long-delayed Henderson project that would build homes farther up the foothills southwest of the city may be withdrawn, Mary Kay Peck, community development director, said Tuesday.

In the past week, developer Rich MacDonald has met privately with City Council members to discuss an alternative to a 632-acre master-planned community he first proposed in February 2000.

MacDonald said this morning that the new project would involve one change to a 79-acre parcel just south of Sun City MacDonald Ranch, an age-restricted community that has loudly opposed the project.

Rather than build single-family homes spread over the entire acreage, McDonald says he will propose concentrating the same amount of condominiums on 20 acres, hiding the development from view of all but a few homes. He will need a variance to do that.

Sun City MacDonald Ranch residents have argued that the project would cut into too much mountain, build too many houses on too little hillside and bring skateboarding children into their quiet streets.

The Planning Commission has recommended that the City Council reject the project currently up for review, in part because of 48 acres of apartment housing. The project, however, complies with the hillside ordinance.

The new project will go before the planning commission sometime in the next few weeks.

Hafen appointed to Henderson post

The Henderson City Council on Tuesday appointed Councilman Andy Hafen to a one-year term as mayor pro-tem.

Hafen replaces Councilman Steve Kirk, who served this past year.

The appointment could be significant if Mayor Jim Gibson decides to run for state attorney general.

Gibson has been mulling a run for two months, but political insiders say it is unlikely that he will run against Republican contender Brian Sandoval, former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

If Gibson did run successfully, the mayor pro-tem would be promoted to mayor.

Small fire hits room at Sahara

A small fire at the Sahara hotel sparked the evacuation of more than 400 people early this morning.

Firefighters quickly put out the 3 a.m. fire, which was contained to one room on the 15th floor. The curtains in the room apparently caught fire, said Bob Leinbach, a Clark County Fire Department spokesman.

Firefighters normally evacuate the floor where the fire is and the floor above and below, but hotel officials evacuated floors 11 through 27 when the fire alarms went off and smoke was seen on the 15th floor.

Two people had minor injuries. A man staying next to the room where the fire originated was treated for smoke inhalation at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. A woman who complained of cuts on her feet after evacuating the hotel was also treated at the hospital.

The buffet was opened for the evacuated guests, said Jackie Brett, a hotel spokeswoman.

The evacuated people were allowed back into their rooms about an hour after the fire. Some people on the 15th floor were moved to other rooms, Brett said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Officers cleared in civil suit

A group of Metro Police officers on Tuesday were cleared by a federal civil jury of any wrongdoing in connection with a March 1999 raid.

Carl and Alexandra Bergh filed a federal lawsuit against Officers Mike Ireland, Curtis Wills, John Baltas and Blake Penny in May 2000, claiming they violated their civil rights by bursting into their home without a warrant.

The couple further alleged that the officers raided their home in retaliation for an earlier lawsuit they filed against Metro concerning a search months before.

The March 1999 raid took place one day after a federal judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit stemming from the earlier search. That lawsuit was eventually settled for an undisclosed sum.

The officers' attorneys, Thomas Dillard and Peter Angulo, told jurors Monday that Carl Bergh consented to the second search. The officers testified they asked to search the home to investigate odd smells and the possibility the couple was operating a methamphetamine lab.

County votes to take over job

The Clark County Commission voted Tuesday to have the county take over maintenance duties of nearly five miles of Las Vegas Boulevard to help facilitate the construction of the monorail and standardize the permitting process.

By taking the road from the Nevada Department of Transportation, the county will incur an annual cost of $69,600 in maintenance work. The portion affected by the commission's vote is between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue.

When complete, the monorail will stretch from the MGM Grand to the Sahara hotel. The system will run along the Strip, Sands Avenue and Paradise Road.

Wishing Well Cove trash removed

Local divers collected more than 800 pounds of garbage from Wishing Well Cove at Lake Mead earlier this year.

The cove, about nine miles east of Callville Bay on the Arizona side of Boulder Canyon, is a scenic spot for boaters.

Gregg Mikolasek, a local dive instructor and owner of In-Depth Consulting, and fellow diver Sandee Guy organized the event with the National Park Service.

It took four hours for 29 divers to remove the trash.

Public hearings set on many issues

The Public Utilities Commission has scheduled sessions to give Nevada consumers an opportunity to discuss utility issues.

The PUC regulates privately owned water and sewer companies and investor-owned electric and natural gas energy services. The hearings are scheduled for Las Vegas, Henderson and Reno.

A hearing in Henderson will begin at 9 a.m. on Dec. 13 in the Henderson Convention Center, 200 Water St., and cover water and sewer issues, telecommunications, natural gas and electricity.

A hearing on Dec. 13 at the Winchester Community Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive, has been set to begin at 4 p.m. with the same issues.

A Reno hearing has been scheduled on Dec. 5.

Two killed near state line

A sport utility vehicle flipped over early today near the California-Nevada border, killing two people and injuring two others, authorities said.

The accident occurred about 3:38 a.m., about two miles south of the state line. The driver of the vehicle was headed northbound on Interstate 15 when the SUV spun out of control, authorities said. Two people were ejected from the vehicle.

Two people died at the scene and two others were seriously injured. Their conditions were not immediately known. None of the victims' identities were released.

The northbound lanes were closed to traffic for 1 1/2 hours and reopened at 5:11 a.m.

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