Las Vegas news briefs for December 27, 2002

Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

National Guard units shipping out

An air ambulance squad and a public affairs unit of the Nevada Army National Guard are being shipped out as the nation prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.

Adjutant General Giles Vanderhoff said Thursday the 15-member 126th Medical Co. will be deployed to Southwest Asia.

The unit operates two UH-60 Blackhawk medical evacuation helicopters. National Guard units across the country fly about a dozen such helicopters.

The two 2003 Blackhawks are among the Army's newest, equipped with storm scopes and infrared radar. This deployment will be the model's first combat test.

The unit was in Kosovo from October 2001 to May 2002.

The 69th Press Camp Headquarters is being sent to an undisclosed location. Vanderhoff declined to reveal the number of persons involved or its destination. The detachment includes specialists trained to conduct military briefings, set up press centers, escort reporters and provide information.

Both units are stationed in Stead, north of Reno.

Prison inmate from Clark County killed

An inmate from Clark County was stabbed to death in his cell at the state maximum security prison in Ely on Thursday, prison officials said.

Howard Skolnik of the state Corrections Department said the victim was serving a two- to five-year sentence for car theft. His name was being withheld pending notification of his family.

Skolnik said the man suffered "multiple stab wounds" between 1 and 3 a.m. No weapon was immediately found, he said.

The victim was in a two-man cell and the other resident of the cell is the chief suspect, Skolnik said. The White Pine Sheriff's Office is handling the investigation.

Court rules in Indian water case

An Indian tribe cannot interfere with the state's right to regulate the flow of water on the Humboldt River, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

But the court said District Judge Richard Wagner was wrong when he ordered the South Fork Band of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone of Nevada to adopt a resolution that would allow state officials to cross the tribal land for access to the water gates.

The court also overturned a contempt citation entered against tribal Chairman Marvin McDade, who arrested state water officials after they entered the reservation to reach the diversion point on the river.

The state and the Indians have had periodic disagreements over water rights involving the Humboldt River. The river flows for 500 miles in Northern Nevada, from the Humboldt Mountains east of Elko to the Humboldt Sink south of Lovelock.

Heavy snow excites Tahoe ski resorts

Bolstered by up to 10 feet of snow and the prospect of more on the way, ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area geared up for what could be one of the best holiday ski seasons in recent years.

"Conditions don't get any better than this," said Murray Blaney, a spokesman for Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe. Blaney said a series of storms earlier this month left a base of 4 feet to 8 feet at the resort southwest of Reno.