News briefs for March 14, 2003

Friday, March 14, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

Smallpox vaccine ready for use

The state Health Division has ordered its first supply of 1,500 doses of smallpox vaccine to give to first-line responders should there be an outbreak of the disease.

The statewide Smallpox Response Team, which will include nurses, disease technicians and others, will receive training in both Clark and Washoe counties. The volunteers would then receive their shots in mid-April.

If there is an outbreak, the response team would investigate potential cases and provide care to those infected.

Cooler, wet weather on way

The warm spring days are about to get cooler, windier and wetter thanks to a storm system developing in the Pacific Ocean and poised to swoop over Southern Nevada Saturday and Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters said.

While Thursday's high was 83 degrees, a degree short of the record 84 degrees set in 1966, temperatures were expected to drop into the 70s today and into the 60s Sunday and into next week.

A quarter to half an inch of rain is expected with the storm system in Southern Nevada.

Curtains ignite in Paris showroom

The heat from stage lights ignited curtains in a smoky blaze Thursday night in the Paris Las Vegas' main showroom, causing $100,000 in damages and prompting an evacuation of guests from the room.

There were no injuries.

Stage employees put out the flames with fire hoses and fire extinguishers, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

No on-stage fireworks were involved in the Le Theatre des Arts showroom, Leinbach said.

St. Paddy's parade to start at 10 a.m.

Don your glittering green derbies and paint a little shamrock on your cheek, as the 37th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is set for 10 a.m. Saturday on Fourth Street in downtown Las Vegas.

Hosted by the Sons of Erin, the event will feature 1,500 participants and more than 50 floats. It is expected to be viewed by an estimated 30,000 spectators along the route leading to the Fremont Street Experience. The two-hour event also will be televised on Cox cable Channels 1 and 39.

U.S. 95 closing at Valley View

U.S. 95 will be closed at Valley View Boulevard tonight and March 17-20 from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the placement of steel girders on the new overpass being constructed there.

During these times Valley View will also be closed between Bonanza Road and Meadows Lane.

Charleston Boulevard and Bonanza are suggested alternate routes.

For Southern Nevada allergy sufferers

the heaviest dose of pollen from mulberry trees arrived this week, the county's Department of Air Quality Management reported. Very high levels of mulberry and ash tree pollen were reported.