Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.
A Federal Aviation Administration ban on all air traffic across the country remained in effect this morning in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The ban meant that McCarran International Airport, the seventh largest airport in the country and the life-blood of the city's tourism industry, remained closed, continuing to strand thousands of tourists here.
Airport officials said the airlines were having trouble implementing tougher FAA-ordered security measures.
The Nevada Department of Transportation, however, said the Hoover Dam, one of the country's biggest tourist attractions, was opened to passenger traffic at 9 a.m.
But buses, trucks and trailers still were being denied access to pass through the dam into Arizona, and the parking lots, garages and visitor center remained closed.
Motorists were being advised to use alternative routes to Arizona.
Meanwhile, it was learned that among the dead in the attacks was Palo Verde High School teacher Barbara Edwards, who was aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
The school's principal informed Edwards' colleagues this morning of her death before classes began.
Gov. Kenny Guinn said this morning all state agencies remained on alert, but no terrorist threats were reported overnight in Nevada.
"We're just standing by on alert," he said. "It's been very quiet in the state of Nevada."
Guinn said he expected things to return to normal in state government once the airways open up.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, meanwhile, led a moment of silence this morning outside City Hall for the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"We're asking people to come there and share that moment in support of all of us who are grieving for our fellow citizens and the loss of innocence of this country," Goodman told the Sun.
The mayor also planned to discuss Tuesday's attacks with a group of local seniors at the city's Dula gymnasium on East Bonanza Road.
Goodman said all city agencies were taken off a high alert status as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.
"It's never going to be normal again, but we're in business," he said. "Everything's open."
City Marshals continued to monitor all entrances and parking garages, and employees were required to wear their badges.
Clark County manager Thom Reilly said the county will likely be on level one alert throughout the week, meaning officials will remain in constant contact with police agencies and other local governments.
Reilly and Las Vegas city manager Virginia Valentine were scheduled to meet with Sheriff Jerry Keller and the FBI this morning to receive updates on the latest information out of New York City and Washington D.C.
Nellis Air Force Base remained on a heightened state of readiness today, with guards checking each ID at the main gate -- the only permitted access point -- and using special mirror devices to check under cars for explosives.
Nellis, and military bases across the country, were on Forced Protection Delta Level, meaning that while normal operations were to continue, there were further restrictions of movement outside and tighter security checks inside.
Only essential personnel, their families and civil service employees were being allowed on the base today, but traffic lines into the facility this morning were long as gate guards carefully checked each motorist.
The base exchange, commissary, elementary school and recreational facilities were closed today, but the day care center was to remain open until 7 p.m., officials said.
The General Services Administration said all federal agencies, which closed Tuesday after the attacks, were open today. Both the federal and county courthouses also were open.
The Fashion Show Mall and the Boulevard Mall planned to keep their normal hours today.
On the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street, casinos stayed open in the wake of the attacks, but gambling action was slow.
Yvette Mendez, a tourist from San Antonio. Tex., said the terrorist attacks weighed heavy on the minds of gamblers.
"Up and down the Strip, that's all you're hearing," she said. "We'll do maybe $10 in slot machines, but we don't have much appetite to gamble."
The Las Vegas Chapter of the American Red Cross set up a temporary office in the Crown Plaza Hotel, 4255 S. Paradise Rd., to assist stranded tourists.
People congregated at the United Blood Centers' four locations around the Las Vegas area, some waiting up to eight hours to donate. More than 1,000 people had donated blood by late Tuesday, spokesman, Dan Perlstein said.
Most days the blood centers see fewer than 350 people at all four sites and the mobile units, Perlstein said.
The blood was to be flown today in a C-130 military transport from Nellis Air Force Base to the blood center's laboratories in Tempe, Ariz. After being tested, the blood was to be shipped to New York as needed, Perlstein said.
On Tuesday Nevada's National Guard was placed on its highest alert after the terrorist attacks, but most business in state government was conducted in a routine manner.
Chief Kenneth Johnson of the Capitol Police in Carson City, said his force was on "stand-by alert," but he added there was no state of emergency.
Driveways into the capitol and the Nevada Supreme Court were blocked off for hours. But the vehicles used to block the entrances were removed after several hours.
Guinn, who often travels alone, was escorted by two plain clothes Nevada Highway Patrolmen Tuesday. He arrived at the office with them, and they accompanied him to state meetings in the capitol.
Roads were blocked into the Rye Patch Reservoir about 100 miles east of Reno in an effort to prevent any attack on that dam.
Although aircraft were grounded, Guinn said he gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use two Chinook helicopters from the Nevada National Guard for firefighting purposes. If there are lightning strikes in the back country of Northern Nevada, the helicopters will be able to carry bags or water to control the flames.
But the governor said he could not win permission to allow National Guard tankers to drop retardant on a potential blaze.
State government offices remained open but workers watched television to keep abreast of what was going on in New York City and Washington D.C.
Guinn, while keeping in touch with emergency personnel, conducted meetings of the state Board of Finance and the state Board of Examiners.
The governor had planned to fly to Las Vegas this morning for a series of meetings here, but delayed his trip because of the grounding of all commercial flights.
Frank Siracusa, chief of the state Division of Emergency Management, was in Big Sky, Montana Tuesday and could not get back to Nevada because of the grounded flights. By coincidence, he was at a national meeting of emergency officials on how to handle situations just like this.
Guinn released a statement Tuesday condemning what he called a "cowardly assault on our land and our people.
"I ask you to join your hearts and prayers in support of the victims, their families and all those who will work to mitigate this horrible tragedy," he said.
This morning Guinn said he expected the horror to hit home with Americans now that the shock of the attacks was wearing off.
"I think today, as they begin the body count and work to rescue those who have the possibility of being alive, the overall devastation of this will set in," he said. "I think the devastation will have an effect on America for years to come."
Guinn said he was "very proud" proud of the way Nevadans have responded to the attacks.
"Nevadans showed their true grit, and I think all Americans showed that," he said.
In Reno hundreds gathered last night at a downtown casino plaza for a candlelight vigil for the victims of the terrorist attacks. They prayed, listened to speeches and sang such songs as "America the Beautiful" and "We Shall Overcome."
Local radio personality Rusty Humphries said he was angry. He told the crowd, "Let's go kick some butt. Nobody comes in and attacks our nation. Nobody."
United Blood Services extended the hours of operations, asking people to donate all types but especially Type O, both negative and positive.
Qualifying rounds for the 38th annual Reno National Championship Air Races were canceled but were expected to begin today. Two of Reno's biggest malls closed Tuesday but planned to be open today.
Special services were held at some churches. The Most Rev. Philip Straling, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Reno, celebrated a noon mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno. He said, "We must act in a Christlike way. Do not let our hearts be filled with hatred."
Sun reporters Rick Velotta, Ed Koch, David Strow, Diana Sahagun, Adrienne Packer, Kimberly Smith, Emily Richmond and Jeffrey Libby contributed to this story.
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