Community briefs for Feb. 4, 2003

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.

Comments sought on sensitive land

The Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies are asking people to comment on the acquisition of environmentally sensitive land in Nevada.

The bureau has raised $148 million for the purchase through Clark County land sales authorized under the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. Nominations for land to purchase come from the public, local government and federal agencies.

Nearly 64,000 acres in 23 separate properties have been nominated for purchase. The BLM, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would manage the properties if they were purchased.

For information or to comment on the nominations, contact the BLM at 515-5114.

County honors lifesaving effort

A McCarran International Airport employee was scheduled to receive a commendation today for saving the life of a passenger.

The Clark County Commission was to honor Airport Services Coordinator Celeste Hamner, who was credited with saving the life of passenger Edmund Lau of Los Angeles with a portable electronic defibrillator.

Hamner, according to airport officials, applied the defibrillator to Lau's chest, restarting Lau's heartbeat. It is the first time in the three-year history of McCarran's defibrillator program that the machine has needed to be used in this way.