News briefs for Sept. 25, 2002

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2002 | 9:32 a.m.

Teen driver dies in SUV crash

A 17-year-old boy was killed about 1:30 a.m. this morning, when the sport utility vehicle he was driving collided with a propane truck.

The teenager, identified as Jesse Leone of Henderson by the Clark County coroner, was headed east down the off-ramp from U.S. 95 onto Lake Mead Drive going too fast, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Jim Olschlager said. The propane truck was headed east in an adjacent travel lane when the SUV struck it.

The impact caused the SUV to roll, and as it was rolling Leone was partially ejected and killed, Olschlager said.

Man found shot to death

Metro Police are investigating the shooting death of a man found about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 5100 block of South Torrey Pines Drive.

A vehicle seen leaving the scene of the crime was traced to an address in the 1800 block of Linden Avenue, but no suspects were found, police said.

The victim's name was not relased by police.

Police said shots were fired from inside one of the apartments, and the victim tried to flee by jumping off a second-story balcony.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or the Homicide Section at 229-3521.

Gunshot victim found in apartment

A man was found dead, apparently from a gunshot wound, in an apartment on the 700 block of West Adams Avenue Tuesday, Metro Police said.

The victim's identity has not yet been released by the Clark County coroner.

Police received reports of shots being fired at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The victim was found dead inside an apartment, which police said is believed to be used for drug activity.

Police are asking anyone with information about this incident to call the homicide detectives at 229-3521, or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

UMC hit by telephone outage

University Medical Center lost phone service to all phones but 36 emergency telephones Tuesday night, officials said.

Sprint technicians were called to the hospital and re-established service. The cause of the outage is under investigation.

UMC officials apologized for any problems people had trying to get through but said patient care was not compromised.

State settles with Summit View firm

The state and the former private contractor at the Summit View juvenile detention center near North Las Vegas have settled their differences in a dispute over finances.

No money will change hands under the agreement reached between the state Division of Child and Family Services and the Correctional Services Corp., which pulled out of its contract in January saying it was losing money in running the correctional center.

The company says it was due $147,993 from the state for services rendered and for medical bills it paid. The state said Correctional Services failed to do required repairs and maintenance at Summit View before it pulled out.

Under the agreement, each claim will offset the other. Each party agreed to waive future claims.

New NHP troopers assigned to LV

Nine former law enforcement officers are scheduled to graduate from the Nevada Highway Patrol Academy today, and seven of them will be assigned to duty in Clark County.

Assigned to Las Vegas are Troopers Hadi Sadjadi and Steve Gordon, both of Las Vegas; Shawn Haggstrom of Omaha, Neb.; Michael Bradford of Mt. Pleasant, Mich.; James Madsen of Reno; and Keri Halvorsen of Tujanga, Calif.

Tom Bostelman of Round Mountain will be assigned to Primm.

The other two officers are Keith Hoehne of Eureka, who will be assigned to Eureka, and Charles Bluth of Sparks, who is being sent to Winnemucca.

Subcritical test set for Thursday

The National Nuclear Security Administration's Los Alamos National Laboratory will conduct a subcritical experiment at the Nevada Test Site on Thursday, the administration announced Tuesday.

The experiment, called Rocco, will be conducted in a cavern about 960 feet underground at the Test Site, 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The experiment will examine the behavior of plutonium as it is strongly shocked by forces produced by chemical high explosives, according to the announcement.

Subcritical experiments produce scientific data and technical information used to help maintain the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons. During the experiments no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction can occur and thus there is no nuclear explosion, according to the announcement.

The last such experiment was done on Aug. 29. It was called Mario.

Hansen claims default in suit

Jonathan Hansen of Las Vegas, a candidate for state attorney general from the Independent American Party, said he has secured a default judgment against Secretary of State Dean Heller for harassing him.

Heller, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, sued Hansen and other candidates to collect fines because they filed their campaign expense reports late. Heller sought payment of $25 by Hansen for submitting his campaign report one day late.

Hansen filed a counter-suit, saying Heller waived fines for thousands of dollars for Republican and Democrat candidates.

He said he filed suit in April and that Heller had 20 days to respond. The secretary of state failed to file a reply so he took a default judgment against him Sept. 13, Hansen said.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Kateri Cavin, who represents the secretary of state's office, said she is looking into the issue.