News briefs for March 29, 2002

Friday, March 29, 2002 | 10:44 a.m.

Las Vegas office to get new boss

A new special agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office of the FBI has been named.

Ellen B. Knowlton, currently serving as the deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division, will take the reins from Grant Ashley within the next 90 days.

Ashley will be going to FBI headquarters in Washington to serve as assistant director for criminal investigations.

Knowlton has also served as a special agent in Sacramento, Oklahoma City, San Francisco and New Orleans.

From 1989 to 1992 Knowlton worked at FBI headquarters in the national security and inspections division.

Battle won at high court

Former Clark County building inspector Marcus McAnally has won a procedural victory in the Nevada Supreme Court in his battle to be acquitted of 13 felony counts in connection with false inspection records.

McAnally was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges of falsifying records by a public officer. Before trial, he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on grounds he was not a public officer.

District Judge John McGroarty denied the motion.

Henderson man to be honored

A tree will be planted Saturday at a downtown Henderson park in honor of a longtime Henderson man who died last year.

The 2 p.m. tree-planting ceremony for Wade Snowden, a 1978 graduate of Basic High School, where he excelled in athletics, will be at Morrell Park, a short distance from the baseball field where he played as a youngster.

Snowden died Aug. 25, 2001.

Rehearing on Walters rejected

The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday refused to grant a rehearing to the state Attorney General's Office in its failed attempt to indict Las Vegas gambler-businessman Billy Walters on bookmaking and illegal betting charges. The court earlier this year dismissed the third indictment against Walters and two of his associates, Daniel Pray and James Hanley, who were accused of being involved in a multimillion dollar illegal sports betting operation and unlawfully transferring gambling proceeds throughout the country and overseas.

The case started five years ago when authorities seized some $3 million in cash from lock boxes that belonged to Walters. The money is still being held.

Court denies bid in arson case

William Manciano, sentenced to 10 to 46 years in prison for trying to burn down a house inhabited by three people, including his girlfriend, has lost a second appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Manciano was also convicted of maiming another person's cat, which was dipped in gasoline and tossed into the flames.

Manciano, in his petition to the court, claimed his attorney at the trial was ineffective and made eight errors. He also said his lawyer, who handled his first appeal to the Supreme Court, was guilty of nine errors.

The court, in its unanimous decision, said Manciano failed to demonstrate the performance of either attorney was deficient.

Protest planned by marchers

People from a variety of faiths were expected to walk to the Nevada Test Site today in protest of U.S. nuclear weapons policies.

The 21st Lenten Desert Experience included about 25 people leaving the Nye County boundary line this morning with Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney. The Western Shoshone claim the land, including the Test Site.

After the walk, participants planned a demonstration at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, organizer Marc Page said.

At the Test Site, where more than 900 nuclear weapons were tested from 1951 until 1992, demonstrators were planning to conduct a "nuclear stations of the cross," Page said.

Insulator flashes at MGM Grand

An insulator at the MGM Grand flashed Thursday night causing a momentary power outage at the property.

Backup generators kicked in immediately, and no one was evacuated from the property, Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonja Heden said.

Power was restarted about 45 minutes after it went down.

Reid to hold meeting on lake

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope will hold a summit on Walker Lake near Hawthorne on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The summit is expected to draw experts from government agencies and the private sector on ways to save Walker Lake, threatened by drought and pollution.

A bus tour will leave Reno on Tuesday morning with the summit meeting in Hawthorne on Wednesday.