News briefs for Nov. 3, 2003

Monday, Nov. 3, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

Police investigate two slayings

Metro Police homicide detectives are investigating two separate killings from the weekend.

At 1:52 a.m. Saturday police were called to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center after a 25-year-old man arrived with several gunshot wounds. A relative brought the man to the hospital, where he died a short time later, police said.

Officers discovered that the man was shot outside a home in the 5900 block of Walusca Avenue.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man in his early 20s with a shaved or bald head.

The name of the victim will not been released by the coroner's office until the family has been notified.

At 9 a.m. Saturday a couple discovered a body wrapped in cloth on the side of Las Vegas Boulevard about two miles south of Sloan, police said.

Until an autopsy is performed, there is no way to tell the age, race or sex of the victim, police said.

Anyone with information on either of these two incidents is asked to call Metro's Homicide Section at 229-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

October warmest in recent history

It's official: October 2003 was the warmest October ever recorded in the Las Vegas Valley, the National Weather Service said.

In a report released on Saturday, the average daily temperature for last month registered 75.4 degrees. That's 6.7 degrees above the average daily temperature of 68.7 degrees for most Octobers since officials began weather reports in 1937, Weather Service meteorologist Brian Fuis said.

The old record of 74.9 degrees for warmest daily average was set in 1988, Fuis said.

October also did not bring a trace of rain, becoming the eighth-driest October on record.

Cooler weather will continue through the end of this week, and temperatures will run about 10 degrees below normal in Southern Nevada.

Fire dog Josie is buried today

Josie, a yellow Labrador retriever famed for her investigations at local fire scenes, was to be buried at 2 p.m. today at Craig Road Pet Cemetery at Craig Road and Tenaya Way.

Josie served with the Clark County Fire Department from Nov. 11, 1991, until March 9, 2001.

She had retired with fire investigator Cliff Mitchell, who kept her as a member of his family since her retirement from the fire department.

At 13 years and 7 months of age, Josie was put down Saturday by a local veterinarian. The normal life expectancy for her breed is 12 years.

Josie was used to detect traces of flammable chemicals at fire scenes. She once identified 18-day-old drops of gasoline in a parking lot as part of an investigation.

A black Labrador retriever named Wren, 4 1/2 years old, replaced Josie.