Valley authorities watch for terrorist retaliations

Jace Radke and Dan Kulin

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

The communications hub at the Clark County Government Center remained quiet this morning, as it has since it was activated on Tuesday.

The communications center, which is open 16 hours each day, was designed to handle distribution of information to the media about potential terrorist threats or any other problems in the wake of the U.S. attacks on Iraq.

The Las Vegas area, like the rest of the nation, remains on high -- or code orange -- alert, the second highest alert status. Security checks at Hoover Dam, McCarran International Airport, area casinos and elsewhere remain intense but there is currently no known threat to Southern Nevada, authorities said today.

"We're prepared, but we're hoping it stays quiet," Metro Police Sgt. Rick Barela said from the communications center.

This morning the "shock and awe" campaign -- an intense bombing offensive -- began and shots of explosions in the Iraqi capital aired live on the TV networks.

In the joint information center at the Clark County Government Center, Barela watched the missiles rain down on Baghdad on CNN.

"There were some county workers down here who kind of wandered over to our makeshift command post to see what was going on," Barela said. "They just kind of quietly watched what was going on."

Barela said he took a minute to watch the attack unfold before returning to answering phone calls at the information center.

Across Las Vegas, people took a few minutes to catch up on the news.

Ralph Cintola, sales manager at Herda's Discount Appliance, 3025 S. Highland Drive, in Las Vegas said the store's televisions were turned on to the footage of the bombing enthralling customers and employees.

"We've had some people look at the TV going 'ohhh' and 'ahh' with the bombs going off," he said. "Mostly employees have been glued to it too."

Vincent Cravero, 77, was shopping for baby food for his granddaughter at Wal-Mart in Las Vegas off Eastern Avenue near Interstate 215.

"The whole world's watching. It's like a movie," he said. "You turn on the TV to watch the war. It's surreal. This is amazing. Iraqis can watch this too. They can see their city on fire."

Cravero, chief greeter at the New York-New York who worked in military intelligence in World War II, said he is thinking about Iraqi children and the danger they're facing.

"It could have been us, but we're blessed to be here," he said.

Lorna Wells, 41, of Las Vegas, was almost in tears as she watched the bombing at Wal-Mart.

"My brother was killed in 'Nam," she said. "I feel bad for the people fighting there. It's just sad. War is sad. In those days, you didn't get to see this. Hearing the explosions send chills down your spine."

Officials at various government agencies said they were prepared for any potential terrorism attacks, should one come in retaliation to the war with Iraq.

The FBI is staffing its Joint Terrorism Task Force Command Center 24 hours a day, and agents are working 12 hour shifts, Las Vegas FBI spokesman Special Agent Daron Borst said.

In Henderson, the war has caused the closure of the bird sanctuary and prompted the city to put more police on the streets, officials said Thursday.

The Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve was closed Wednesday because it is next to a city water plant, city spokeswoman Vicki Taylor said. The sanctuary will remain closed until the national terrorism threat level changes back to yellow, she said. The threat level is now at orange.

Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry said additional police were assigned to patrol the streets Wednesday afternoon. He refused to say how many of the department's 257 officers are working at any onetime because, he said, someone could figure out what the officers are or are not focusing on with such information.

The added police presence carries an additional cost, but Mayberry would not say how much because, he said, that information could be used to figure out how many officers are working. Keith Paul, the department's public information officer, said the cost is being covered by overtime funds and schedule changes.

North Las Vegas police "have increased nighttime security around vulnerable sites," city spokeswoman Brenda Johnson said.

She would not say what locations were getting additional patrols. The added security is being handled without changing staffing levels, Johnson said.

Metro has not added patrols or moved to 12 hour shifts since the war started, Authorities are, as usual, investigating bomb threats, but report that the number of threats have not increased above normal levels.

"Officers have been directed to be very vigilant, but we haven't changed our staffing," Barela said.

In Boulder City police are paying special attention to power plants and water treatment and delivery facilities. However, at this time the department is not putting additional officers on the streets.

Clark County spokesman Eric Pappa said the war probably won't mean large overtime bills for the county. The county is ready to staff a desk to respond to an emergency, but that hasn't required any significant extra effort yet, he said.

Vince Alberta, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Las Vegas Valley Water District, said the war is not causing significant overtime for his agencies' staff either.

The authority on Thursday approved $153,000 a year for a contract with Wackenhut security, a private company that will provide extra security for the water system's infrastructure. Alberta said Metro has been paid for the same service since Sept. 11, 2001.