News briefs for Oct. 1, 2002

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

Man arrested in shooting death

Metro Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting death of Danny Johnson, 39, of Las Vegas.

Metro investigators arrested Anthony Tatum, 20, on Monday and charged him with murder with use of a deadly weapon. Sgt. Kevin Manning said police are still searching for Tykeith Traylor, 23, of Las Vegas and a black four-door Ford Focus.

Johnson was shot at the intersection of Fremont and 14th streets about 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 22.

Anyone with information about the event is asked to contact Secret Witness at 385-5555 or Metro Homicide at 229-3521.

Philadelphia slaying suspect found

The Nevada Fugitive Investigative Strike Team arrested a New Jersey man wanted for murder in Philadelphia after he was seen leaving the home of a member of the Wu Tang Clan hip hop group.

U.S. marshals, Metro Police and North Las Vegas Police officers arrested James Klein of Pemberton Township, N.J., in Henderson on Saturday after a one-week investigation.

The murder warrant stems from an execution-style slaying believed to be narcotics related, authorities said.

Hansen files ethics complaint

The Independent American Party's candidate for secretary of state has filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission accusing incumbent Dean Heller of slandering him.

Christopher Hansen was criticized by Heller in a recent Sun story for not following rules of requiring political candidates to report campaign contributions and expenditures.

Heller was quoted by the Sun as saying: "That guy wants to be secretary of state and he won't even follow the rules he's supposed to enforce."

Hansen said such requirements are unconstitutional because they "hurt minority parties ... harass contributors and hurt freedom of speech." Other IAP candidates have followed suit by declining to file the reports.

The Ethics Commission must determine if there is any merit to the complaint before proceeding.

Heller declined to comment on the complaint. Spokesman Steve George said candidates who do not file campaign contribution and expenditure reports have been civilly prosecuted by the secretary of state's office.

Screeners hired at Reno airport

The Transportation Security Administration announced today that federal passenger screeners have been deployed at Reno/Tahoe International Airport, bringing to 142 the number of airports with federal screeners.

Last month the screener program was established at McCarran International Airport. The Las Vegas facility has begun training the personnel at the D gates and eventually put them at other gates.

To date the TSA has hired more than 36,000 screeners nationwide.

Lake's tamarisk to be burned out

A controlled, intentional burning of a portion of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area that is not normally accessible to the public will be conducted this week.

The "prescribed fire" at Rogers Springs between Echo Bay and Overton Beach was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. today to control the spread of tamarisk, a bushy tree also known as salt cedar, and allow for the repopulation of the area with native plant species, National Park Service officials said.

Tamarisk is an exotic species that is introduced to an area to control river bank erosion. However, Park Service officials said it tends to overtake native plants along riverbanks and land surrounding springs. Control burns and replanting of native plants tend to keep tamarisk under control, officials said.

The controlled burns are expected to continue Wednesday and Thursday, depending on wind conditions, and possibly into Friday, Lake Mead officials said.

Park personnel will be stationed along North Shore Road to control access to the area. For additional information, contact the Fire Management Office at 293-8989.