Local news briefs for September 26, 2001

Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

Metro officer injured in crash

A 46-year-old Metro Police motorcycle officer was in critical condition today following what a witness called a single-vehicle accident that backed up morning commuter traffic on U.S. 95 for several miles, Metro said.

A motorist with a cell phone told a Metro emergency dispatcher that he saw the officer go down on northbound U.S. 95 at Las Vegas Boulevard at 6:44 a.m. but saw no other vehicle involved, police said.

The officer was taken to the University Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. A hospital official said his condition was listed as critical. He was described only as a 46-year-old male. Police are withholding the name of the injured officer.Police and the Nevada Highway Patrol were investigating the accident that reduced the northbound lanes on U.S. 95 to one traffic lane, significantly snarling traffic, police said.

Lines of cars, filling all three lanes, at one point stretched from the accident scene to the Flamingo Road exit.

The investigation was continuing to determine what caused the accident, police said.

Hoover Dam opened to more vehicles

The Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday opened Hoover Dam to about 20 local businesses and vehicles towing boats.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, all traffic other than passenger cars and trucks has been diverted off U.S. 93 to U.S. 95, forcing commercial trucks and others to cross the Colorado River at Laughlin.

Local businesses within a 50-mile radius of the dam, such as landscaping companies, will have to apply for permits. They will be subject to searches by Arizona and Nevada Highway Patrols at designated checkpoints.

Recreational vehicles and commercial tour companies that offer boat launches directly below the dam will still be prohibited from crossing the dam.

Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro said Tuesday that about 20 local businesses have come to a standstill since the closings. The easing of restrictions should allow those businesses to continue contributing to the local economy, he said.

LV man dies of gunshot wound

A 37-year-old Las Vegas man was found shot to death by the intersection of Twain Avenue and Palo Verde, near Paradise Road, early today.

Julio Alexi Bernal was pronounced dead at the scene of an apparent gunshot wound, Metro Police said.

Witnesses told police gunshots were heard about 12:45 a.m. today, then three males were seen running from the area, police said.

The motive for the shooting and the identity of the suspects is unknown, police said.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Metro's homicide unit at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Low-level waste shipments resume

The Nevada Test Site on Tuesday accepted its first shipment of low-level nuclear waste since Sept. 11.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham had stopped shipment of all nuclear materials in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, accepts low-level radioactive waste from 15 Department of Energy and Department of Defense sites throughout the country.

The single shipment came from Aberdeen, Md., was transported to Idaho and then to the Test Site, Kevin Rohrer, a DOE spokesman, said.

Another shipment from Rock Flats, a DOE nuclear weapons site near Denver, is expected to arrive at the Test Site on Thursday, he said.

DOE officials say they have tightened security at the Test Site.

"Operations are normal at a heightened security stage," Rohrer said.

A woman killed

in her Sandy Valley trailer has been identified as Eldona Huston, 80. Fred Huston, 81, was arrested on a murder charge in his wife's slaying. According to county records, Eldona and Fred Huston were married in May 1997.

National Park Service rangers

Tuesday called off the search for a Alejandro Ibarra, 38, of Las Vegas, who was missing while swimming Monday in Lake Mead. There are no plans to resume the search. Regular boat patrols in the area of the Las Vegas Wash will continue.