News briefs for May 12, 2003

Monday, May 12, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Police blame road rage in killing

In what police believe is Henderson's first slaying involving road rage, officers arrested two teenagers in connection with a shotgun killing last month.

Jeffrey "J.J." Jefferson, 17, and Christopher "Gizmo" Giblin, 18, are being held at the Clark County Detention Center on murder charges, police said.

Jefferson was charged Thursday and Giblin on Friday.

They are accused of gunning down William Shepherd, 54, early on April 21 after an argument. Shepherd's body was found by police on Patrick Lane near Stephanie Street.

Henderson police were called after reports of gunfire about 4:30 a.m. that day. Officers found a man's body lying in the street next to a van that was still running.

Perchlorate study is unfinished

The Air Force failed to complete a key study it promised on the amount of perchlorate the public ingests from crops irrigated with Colorado River water, according to a published report.

The study could have helped federal officials calculate the potential health risks of perchlorate for humans, especially newborns, the Press-Enterprise of Riverside reported Sunday.

Perchlorate is an oxygen-rich chemical, which interferes with the way the body takes iodide into the thyroid and can disrupt how the gland regulates metabolism. It's unclear how much is dangerous.

The salt has been flowing into the Colorado River from two rocket fuel manufacturers in Henderson. Kerr McGee Chemical Corp. is making progress in removing the rocket fuel chemical from entering the river, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection supervisor Douglas Zimmerman said.

The second plant, American Pacific, moved its operations to Cedar City, Utah, after a 1988 explosion at the Southern Nevada site leveled the plant. It, too, is studying ways to remove perchlorate from ground water entering the river, Zimmerman said.

Col. Dan Rogers, who headed the Air Force research, said testing vegetables and fruits remains a priority.

"We believed that it was important from the beginning," Rogers said.

In an e-mail, Rogers blamed failure to complete the study on a lack of financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Air Force received $500,000 in 1999 to study both the amount of perchlorate in crops such as lettuce, as well as the amount found in wild plants and animals.

Instead of completing research on America's dinner table crops, the Air Force focused on the wild life.

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