News briefs for Nov. 1, 2002

Friday, Nov. 1, 2002 | 9:40 a.m.

Grant to help treat club-goers

Westcare, a Las Vegas-based addiction and mental health treatment center, has received a $350,000 federal grant to help young club-goers keep off drugs.

The grant, part of $8.8 million awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services nationwide to prevent and treat drug abuse, will fund a yearlong project involving Westcare, Metro Police, and the B.E.S.T. Coalition, a nonprofit that works on drug use prevention.

It will help 80 people between the ages of 14 and 24 who have problems with drugs such as Ecstasy and methamphetamine. About half of them will come from patients already in treatment at Westcare and the rest will come from outreach work in clubs and raves, said Lisa Spencer, community involvement center director for Westcare.

"We have become one of the club capitals of the world and with that the drugs have come," said Todd Raybuck, a Metro narcotics detective who will be working on the project. "We need to educate the community about the dangers of these drugs and help those people who are taking them."

Traffic down to one lane on dam

Traffic on Hoover Dam will be restricted to one lane this weekend while construction workers widen the sidewalks, Interior Department officials said Thursday.

The lane closures will take place tonight and Saturday and Sunday nights between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m. Traffic will alternate in the one open lane.

Other construction work in the area, which will include the addition of cable handrails along the sidewalk, will continue for the next three weeks.

Nine arrested in NLV gang sweep

North Las Vegas Police arrested nine people and seized more than $35,000 cash between Oct. 25 and Wednesday during an investigation into gang activity in the city.

The Special Operations Division also served five search warrants and seized 140 grams of drugs -- cocaine, crack, marijuana and methamphetamine, Lt. Art Redcay said.

Those arrested were charged with felony or misdemeanor gang-related violations.

Postal Service wants tubs back

The U.S. Postal Service is asking for the return of the plastic tubs carriers use to transport mail.

Post office officials are asking that people with the tubs return them to the nearest post office or leave them for letter carriers to pick up during daily deliveries.

The Postal Service is experiencing a serious shortage of the mail tubs, which are commonly used for storage by businesses, officials said.

They are trying to collect the tubs before the Christmas season, the busiest season at post offices.

The tubs are affixed with labels warning that the maximum penalty for theft or misuse of postal property is $1,000 and three years imprisonment.