News briefs for Jan. 15, 2003

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

Mass-fatalities drill conducted

A mass-fatalities drill was to be held from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the Clark County Fire Training Center at 4425 W. Tropicana Ave., near Decatur Boulevard.

The purpose is to prepare emergency planners and responders to manage a mass fatalities incident while providing services for deceased and surviving family members.

Fifty to 60 participants were to be on site, as well as several life-size mannequins, a county spokeswoman said.

Two girls on bikes hit by car

Two girls on bicycles were hit by a car about 2:35 p.m. Tuesday on Rainbow Boulevard between Hacienda and Tropicana avenues, Metro Police said.

A 13-year-old girl was taken to University Medical Center to be treated for moderate injuries, police said. The driver of a Honda was cited.

Motorcycle officer seriously injured

A Metro Police traffic officer was seriously injured when a van collided with his motorcycle on Silverado Ranch Boulevard at Pollock Drive about 9 a.m Tuesday, police said.

Officer Eric Leach was eastbound on Silverado Ranch on a police motorcycle attempting to stop a speeding motorist. The emergency lights and siren on his 1999 Harley Davidson were activated, police said.

A 1994 Ford van driven by Paul Wooley, 65, of Las Vegas was heading west on Silverado Ranch when he made a left turn onto Pollock Drive into the path of Leach's motorcycle, police said. Leach tried to avoid the collision, but the left side of this motorcycle hit the right front of the van.

Leach was taken to University Medical Center and was listed in stable condition this morning, a nursing supervisor said. Wooley was taken to Desert Springs Hospital with moderate injuries.

Police said the cause of the crash appears to be a left-turn, right-of-way violation and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle utilizing lights and siren, police said. The crash is under investigation.

Student injured with box cutter

The arm of a 15-year-old Western High School student was injured with a box cutter during horseplay with a friend during gym class Tuesday, Clark County School District Police Sgt. Ken Young said.

The incident, labeled initially as a stabbing, was minor, Young said.

"They are friends. There were no threats," he said. "It was an accident."

The injured student was taken to University Medical Center, where his arm wound was stitched closed. The student who brought the box cutter to school faces charges of either possession of a dangerous weapon on school grounds or battery, police said.

Dead woman identified

A 26-year-old woman who died Jan. 8 after coming home from a Strip nightclub and allegedly fighting with a roommate has been identified by the Clark County coroner as Natasha Casey.

Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said detectives are awaiting toxicology results, which could take several weeks. It's not clear how the woman died, but Monahan said detectives are treating it as a homicide until a cause of death can be established.

Police said Casey and several friends were at a nightclub when she complained she didn't feel well. When she got to her Summerlin home, she and a roommate allegedly got into a physical fight. She was dead on arrival at Summerlin Hospital a short time later.

Lockheed Martin donates to museum

Lockheed Martin Nevada Technologies is giving $100,000 to the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation to support the design and installation of exhibits at the Nevada Test Site Museum.

The museum, under construction at the Desert Research Institute at Flamingo Road and Swenson Avenue, is expected to open in October.

The Nevada Test Site Museum has been designated an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute.

For 41 years, the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, was the proving ground for more than 900 nuclear weapons explosions above and below ground.

The Energy Department stopped nuclear experiments there in 1992.

Lockheed Martin Nevada is part of a three-company team that manages operations at the Test Site and related facilities and laboratories. It employs more than 500 people at various sites, including Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Los Alamos, N.M., Livermore, Calif., and Suitland, Md.

Fire department gets FEMA grant

The Boulder City Fire Department will receive a $139,000 federal grant as part of $20 million in grants planned for distribution nationally.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing the funds through the Assistance to Firefighters program.

The Boulder City Fire Department will use the grant for new equipment, including air packs and an air compressor. The new equipment will help meet growing demands, said Edward Hulbert, deputy fire chief.

First Raptor flies into Nellis

America's newest fighter-attack aircraft arrived at Nellis Air Force Base on Tuesday.

The F/A-22 Raptor, the first of the next generation of stealth fighters, was delivered to the Air Combat Command by Lockheed Martin, the primary contractor for the aircraft.

It was flown from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Nellis by Lt. Col. David Rose, chief of Nellis' F/A-22 Integration Office and Air Combat Command's first F/A-22 pilot.

Designed and built by Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Pratt and Whitney, 17 of the new stealth fighters will eventually be assigned to Nellis. Eight more are to be delivered this year.

Over the next year, the Air Force's initial cadre of F/A-22 pilots, mechanics and other support personnel will receive their training at Nellis and in the skies over Southern Nevada.