Local news briefs for October 19, 2001

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 9:30 a.m.

Las Vegan pleads guilty

Two more defendants in the FBI's secrets-for-sale-scandal pleaded guilty in federal court in New York this week.

Las Vegan Robert Potter, 53, charged in a separate $10 million securities scheme, pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive stolen FBI records and conspiring to commit obstruction of justice. He faces a possible 10-year prison term and $500,000 fine.

Potter's New York lawyer, Herbert Jacobi, 62, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen FBI records and making false statements to the FBI. He also agreed to resign from the New York bar and give up his Manhattan law practice. Jacobi faces a possible five-year prison term.

Potter and Jacobi were accused of paying thousands of dollars for the stolen information, which was obtained by Las Vegas private detective Mike Levin.

Levin had received the documents from James J. Hill, a former security analyst with the FBI's Las Vegas office. Levin and Hill previously pleaded guilty in New York in the theft of the FBI secrets.

Kirwan named to state post

Gov. Kenny Guinn has named Valerie Rosalin Kirwan, a registered nurse since 1977, as director of the Office of Consumer Health Assistance, Bureau of Hospital Patients.

Kirwan of Las Vegas, a quality assurance specialist in the office since its creation in 1999, will earn $103,301. The office helps consumers with problems with health insurance or hospital billing.

Kirwan succeeds Laurie England, who resigned several months ago. Mary Lushina had been acting director, but she also left the office.

Nevadans closer to federal posts

The Senate on Thursday moved a step closer to approving three Nevadans for federal posts.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Daniel Bogden to be U.S. attorney for Nevada. Bogden is interim U.S. attorney for Nevada and has been an assistant U.S. attorney for 11 years.

The committee also approved Jay Bybee, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department and interviewed Reno attorney Larry Hicks for one of two openings on the U.S. District Court in Nevada.

Man sentenced to six months

A 50-year-old Cleveland man has been sentenced to six months in prison for interfering with crew members on an American Trans Airline flight last spring.

Robert Reichert was accused of making threats May 7 on the flight from Las Vegas to Cleveland with 138 passengers. The plane landed in Denver because of Reichert's actions, and FBI agents arrested him.

Theft suspects run barricade

A sport utility vehicle carrying three people sped around traffic barricades early Thursday at a safety checkpoint at Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam police soon stopped the truck and found several large plastic bags containing clothing with price tags still attached, Mohave County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Office officials said.

The barricades at a checkpoint were put up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, officials said.

The dam police contacted sheriff's office deputies, who arrested the three occupants of the truck.

The driver, Victor Herrera-Gonzalez, 27, of San Bernardino, Calif., and his passengers, Maria C. Cerda, 18, and Norma A. Rivera, 23, both of Los Angeles, were charged with theft from stores in a Scottsdale, Ariz., mall, officials said.

Employers with openings sought

Organizers of a free job fair for laid-off workers are looking for employers with vacancies to attend the event.

The Neighbors Helping Neighbors emergency job drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 at Texas Station.

Several casinos, banks, hospitals and security firms have already signed up and recruiters for those companies will interview people for open positions. A job search workshop will also be offered. Laid-off workers will also be able to get information about unemployment claims and job training.

"If there is a job opening anywhere in Las Vegas, we want it to be represented at our event," said Leigh Kimball, general sales manager for The Employment Guide. Kimball's company is producing the fair together with KLAS Channel 8.

Jobseekers and companies interested in participating in the event may call 362-5080, ext. 222, or visit the website (www.klastv.com) for more information.

Driver is identified

The 37-year-old woman killed in a two-vehicle accident in North Las Vegas Tuesday has been identified as Tara L. Rynes.

Rynes was driving a pickup on Commerce Street when she failed to stop at the stop sign at Gowan Road and collided with a dump truck, North Las Vegas Police said.

Meeting planned at EPA office

At a public meeting Saturday in Las Vegas, the Nevada Wildlife Commission will hear opinions about a federal lands bill.

Included in the meeting will be a presentation from state Division of Wildlife staffers.

The meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. at the Environmental Protection Agency, 944 E. Harmon Ave.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., have said they plan to designate federal land as wilderness as part of a Clark County public lands bill, which also would set aside land for development.

The amount of land to be set aside and what activities will be allowed in the designated wilderness areas is being debated by environmental and citizen's groups.

Some groups would like to see activities such as hunting, hiking, camping and horseback riding on the lands, while others would like to see the lands open to development.

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