News briefs for August 12, 2002

Monday, Aug. 12, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

Body found near train tracks

Metro Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered near the railroad tracks at Tropicana Avenue and Valley View Boulevard about 8 a.m. Sunday.

The body was found lying near the tracks, police said. A cause of death has not been determined.

Witnesses told police that a fight broke out among some homeless people who live in a makeshift camp near the site. Metro detectives are asking anyone with information to call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or the Homicide Section at 229-3521.

Man shot to death in park restroom

Metro Police are investigating the death of a man found about 8 a.m. Saturday in a restroom at Doolittle Park, 1700 North J St.

Tommy Lee Griffin, 34, of Las Vegas, apparently died from a gunshot wound, police said.

Witnesses told police they heard gunfire just before 8 a.m. and several people were seen running through the park.

Anyone with information is urged to call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or the Homicide Sectioin at 229-3521.

Assault suspect dies in jail cell

An inmate booked in the Clark County Detention Center on charges of sexual assault of a victim under 14 years old was found dead in his cell Thursday, the victim of an apparent suicide, police said.

Metro Police corrections officers discovered the body of Shane Mehls, 25, Thursday.

Metro officials said Mehls had hung himself. Officers pulled him down and administered CPR until medical crews arrived.

He had been booked into the detention center on June 21 as a suspect in 14 counts of sexual assault to a victim under 14 years of age.

Voter turnout programs urged

The Nevada League of Cities voted unanimously on Saturday to adopt a resolution urging local governments to establish policies to increase voter registration and turnout in the next six years.

The resolution calls for strategies that will bring 75 percent voter registration and 70 percent registered voter participation by 2008.

The Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy reported in 2001 to the Nevada Legislature and had asked for support to encourage and increase voter participation.

Help sought in identifying body

Metro Police are asking the public's help in identifying a man who was found dead about 5:30 a.m. Friday in an alley behind the 200 block of West New York Avenue.

The man was white, in his 50s or 60s, about 5-feet-9 and about 190 pounds. He had gray hair and wore prescription bifocal glasses with dark metal wire-rimmed frames.

He was wearing a white T-shirt with U.S. Olympic Festival '95 on the front, blue shorts with a brown belt and brown suede mocassin slippers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Section at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Old passes will be good at lake

The National Park Service wants users of personal watercraft to know that it plans to honor 2002 passes on Lake Mead next year to make up for a temporary ban that goes into effect on Sept. 15.

Personal watercraft are considered to be vessels, less than 16 feet long that use an inboard motor powering a water jet pump. Lake Mead officials have fallen behind on an environmental assessment to determine the impact of the watercrafts' use on the lake, prompting the ban until the report is finished.

The ban does not apply to other types of hulled vessels, Superintendent William Dickinson said.

While personal watercraft will be temporarily banned on Lake Mead, boats, fishing, swimming, hiking and canoeing are all available recreation activities, Dickinson said.

Woman dies in Reno hotel fire

A Reno woman died and hundreds of people were evacuated after a fire broke out early Sunday at a downtown hotel.

The blaze was confined to a sixth-floor room where the woman was staying at the Comstock Hotel on West Second Street, said fire Battalion Chief Joe DuRousseau.

The victim, Ann Ward, 56, suffered severe burns after apparently setting the mattress on fire with a cigarette, he said.

"The investigators are going to be looking at it as an accident," DuRousseau said. "It does not appear to be foul play at this time."