News briefs for August 13, 2002

Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

Two die in separate drownings

A toddler and a North Las Vegas man drowned in separate incidents over the weekend.

Tyler James Lahodny, 2, was found by his grandmother about 7:30 a.m. Saturday in a swimming pool at a home on Chela Drive near Tropicana Avenue and Sandhill Drive, the Clark County coroner's office said. The boy's mother was not at home at the time.

The boy got through a safety net around the pool, said Metro Police, who are investigating.

Fransisco Javier Armendariz, 27, of North Las Vegas went swimming in Boxcar Cove along the north shore of Lake Mead about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Friends noticed him missing a half-hour later.

Rangers found him, pulled him from the water and attempted to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, National Park Service spokeswoman Karla Norris said.

Boxcar Canyon is between the Las Vegas Bay Marina and Callville Bay Marina.

It was the sixth drowning at Lake Mead this year, Norris said. None of the victims wore a life jacket, she said.

State to require cigarette report

A new regulation will require both cigarette wholesalers and manufacturers to report the number of cigarette sales by brand to the attorney general's office and and to the state Department of Taxation, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa says.

The new rule will help determine if the tobacco companies are paying the correct amount into the cigarette settlement, she said. Nevada is to receive about $1.2 billion in the master settlement. But tobacco manufacturers who did not sign the agreement must deposit a penny a cigarette into an escrow fund with the state.

The regulation, adopted earlier this month by the state Tax Commission, requires a monthly report from wholesalers on the number of each brand of cigarettes they sell and file an annual report by April 15.

Bank robber runs away empty

A bank robber fled with no money after trying to hold up a Bank of America branch in Henderson Monday.

A man handed a teller a note demanding all of the money in the lower cash drawer at the bank in the 2700 block of North Green Valley Parkway about 10 a.m. When he was shown there was no money in that drawer, he fled, Henderson Police said.

The man said he had a gun, but none was seen, police said.

The man was described as white, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 190 pounds with sandy blond hair and in his early 30s. He was last seen wearing a yellow T-shirt with the word Hawaii on it, blue jeans and work boots.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Henderson Police at 565-8933 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Weber named to Public Works Board

Gov. Kenny Guinn Monday named Robert Weber of Las Vegas to the state Public Works Board to succeed Irene Porter, also of Las Vegas, who completed two terms.

Weber is an engineer and president of R.D. Weber and Associates, Inc.

The Public Works Board oversees the construction projects authorized every two years by the state Legislature.

Comments sought on lake sediment

Lake Mead National Recreation Area officials are asking the public to comment on a plan for dealing with sediment flowing into Las Vegas Bay.

Marina operators, public safety officials and recreation concessionaires are threatened by the delta expanding from erosion in Las Vegas Wash.

Over the past 30 years erosion has deposited 4.5 million cubic yards of material in the delta. The dropping lake levels have exposed about a mile of sediment that, along with daily wash flows, is spreading in the Las Vegas Bay.

At the rate the sediments are moving, it is estimated that the Las Vegas Marina will have to move in three to six months.

The National Park Service is preparing an environmental assessment seeking a short-term solution. Alternatives that are being evaluated include no action, a buyout of the concessions' properties and relocating the facilities.

Written comments should be sent by Sept. 13 to: Superintendent, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Attention: Las Vegas Bay Delta, 601 Nevada Way, Boulder City 89005.

Locked out drivers stay on picket line

Although they declared their 6-day-old strike over and offered to return to work late last week, drivers of Reno's Citifare bus system returned to the picket line Monday.

Drivers are protesting their employer's decision later Friday to lock them out of their jobs until an agreement is reached on a labor contract. Drivers stayed off the picket line over the weekend.

"The drivers will be out there until this thing is over with," said Lou Martino, chief of Teamsters Local 533. "If they let us back to work, riders would enjoy full service instead of limited service."

But Mike Steele, manager of Transit Management of Washoe, refuses to let drivers back on the job before a contract is approved, saying they could strike again "at whim" and further inconvenience riders.