Print edition for April 8, 2004

LV man to share in reward for capture of sniper suspect: Las Vegan Conrad Malsom will share in the reward money for giving Metro Police the tip that he spotted the alleged Ohio highway sniper in a Strip casino, which led to the March 17 capture of Charles A. McCoy Jr.

Highlights of February 2004 revenue report on Nevada casinos: AP; -STATEWIDE: $876 million win, up 15.9 percent.

To be fair: Logandale, Overton atwitter over Clark County Fair and Rodeo: By Kristen Peterson; In a quarter-acre garden that wraps most of his home, Sylvan Wittwer, a white-haired man in his 80s, pulls carrots from the earth, shakes them and says without pause, "These are the best carrots you'll ever taste."

Experienced 51s ready to begin '04 campaign: Nick Christensen; PITCHERS

Judge rules Remington had no right to attend meeting: Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington and lobbyist John Cummings had no legal right to attend closed Board of Regents personnel sessions considering their alleged misconduct, District Judge Jackie Glass ruled Wednesday.

Businessman O'Connell, husband of state senator, dies at 83: Robert E. O'Connell, the husband of state Sen. Ann O'Connell, died Wednesday morning following complications from heart surgery.

Kruger cuts loose remainder of Rebels' coaching staff: New UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger has fired assistants Vince Booker, Deane Martin and Dave Rice and said Wednesday he hopes to complete his new staff by early next week.

Suspect in abduction sought: The man's wife and their 6-year-old child managed to escape, but Roberto Dominguez is still at large this morning.

Official used EOB kitchen for business: By Timothy Pratt; Claude Logan, the chairman of the board of directors of the troubled Economic Opportunity Board, used a kitchen built for a publicly funded early childhood program for his private business, to provide meals to prisoners.

Executive women award scholarships: Recipients of the awards included Donna Collier, baking & pastry arts major at the Community College of Southern Nevada; Anastasia Johnson, hotel administration major at University of Nevada Las Vegas; Seville Summit, culinary arts and beverage double major at CCSN; Deshauna Jeffery, culinary arts and pastry arts double major at CCSN; Anna Karner, tourism & convention administration major at UNLV; Holly Lane, food and beverage management major at CCSN; and R. Anne Noel, Culinary Arts major at CCSN.

Guest Columnist -- Linda Frohlich: It's almost that time to trade Italy for Phoenix: ROVERETO, Italy -- Hello to all. How is everyone doing?

Summary judgment sought in lawsuit against police: Jace Radke; A hearing this morning on a motion that would have ended a lawsuit over Henderson Police officers' use of pepper spray and tackling of an 86-year-old man has been continued.

Murder-suicide victims identified: Wilson and Fuoco were found dead in their mobile home on Magic Way near Boulder Highway and U.S. 95. It appears Wilson shot and killed her son and then fatally shot herself, police said. Both were in poor health, and Fuoco was mentally challenged.

Rescue training can be nervous work: Clark County firefighters rescued a motorist trapped by floodwaters underneath Imperial Palace's parking garage.

Letter: Notable by their absence from fray: Such MIA-ness ought to speak volumes to anyone possessing the slightest waft of a clue.

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Pro Stocker Anderson ahead of last year's fast pace: Greg Anderson is putting his money where his mouth is.

Gaming briefs for April 8, 2004: GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Oneida Bingo and Casino began offering off-track betting Wednesday.

Regulators OK reopening of Laughlin casino: CARSON CITY -- The state Gaming Control Board on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for the owner of a California real estate investment company to reopen the Regency Casino, which has been licensed in Laughlin since 1979.

Community briefs for April 8, 2004: The American Institute of Architects lecture series will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Paul B. Sogg Architectural Building on the campus at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Pressure mounting on Vons' owner Safeway: PLEASANTON, Calif. -- The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. pension fund, said Wednesday it supports a coalition seeking to oust Safeway Inc. Chairman Steven Burd and two directors from the grocer's board because of losses and conflicts. Safeway owns the Vons supermarkets in Las Vegas.

Woman arrested in fatal shooting: Tanja Markese called police just after 11 p.m. Wednesday and said her boyfriend had been shot. Police arrived at their home in the 1800 block of Avacado Court and found the man dead of an apparent gunshot wound.

Killer sentenced to life in case of murder for hire: Luis Barroso, 25, agreed to the sentence prior to the penalty phase of his trial after a jury found him guilty of 10 felony charges, including first-degree murder, sexual assault and kidnapping charges in the January 2001 killing of 27-year-old Tzatzi Sanchez.

Las Vegas attracts vacationers for spring-break -- without even trying: As one of the top destination resorts in the world, Las Vegas is on the radar screen of thousands of individuals and families who escape for the annual ritual of spring break.

Yahoo profit soars to $101 million: SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Yahoo Inc., owner of the world's most-used group of Internet sites, Wednesday said its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $101.2 million, its highest ever, as it sold more advertising linked to the results of Web searches.

Boyd School of Law makes list of top 100: Jean Reid Norman; Just a year after it earned full accreditation, UNLV's Boyd School of Law has found itself on U.S. News and World Report's exclusive list of the top 100 law schools in the nation.

Mother won't stand trial in child's death: Dahl bound Maria Hermojillo-Dellamas, 28, over to District Court Wednesday after two psychologists found the mother to be mentally unable to stand trial.

Castaways deal paves way for reopening: A trio of local casino operators has a tentative deal to buy and reopen the Castaways hotel-casino near downtown Las Vegas, prospective buyer Randy Miller said this morning.

Letter: Kerry's drug plan is clearly better: John Kerry isn't going to lead this country into deficits. In fact, he wants to get us out of deficit spending.

Columnist Ron Kantowski: New season, same old ballyard for 51s: If you get off U.S. 95 South at Russell Road, make a left and then two right turns, the second of which will take you back over the freeway onto Stephanie, you'll immediately come upon a fenced-off parcel of land that is conspicuous -- not for the rocks and boulders and empty Big Gulp cups that litter it, but because it's about the only parcel of land in the area that hasn't been developed.

Authority says there's plenty of rural water: CARSON CITY -- The Southern Nevada Water Authority says it has provided ample evidence that there is enough water to pump from rural valleys to serve the growing Las Vegas population without harming the natural resources in those areas.

Air Force minimizes moves by families with high school seniors: Dick Benoit; It has long been a personal problem for career service members and a retention problem for the services. Just when teens in military families approach their senior year of high school, and friends and school activities are perceived as having lifetime social significance, military dads or moms are faced with change-of-station orders.

Bidding war intensifies: Toby Anderson; MGM MIRAGE of Las Vegas today raised its offer for Wembley Plc to 301 million pounds ($555 million) in cash, topping a bid from BLB Investors LLC as the U.S. companies vie for control of gambling venues in Britain.

Letter: Hugely profitable drug companies are too powerful: At the national level, I suspect that the drug companies may play the parallel role to Nevada's casinos. Why else would they get away with the price gouging that is going on? They get away with charging Americans far more than they charge the Mexicans and the Canadians and, presumably, all other nations.

City seeks Las Vegas Scenic Byway: Sito Negron; Las Vegas' scenic, cultural and historic centerpiece is Las Vegas Boulevard in all its glory -- from strip clubs and wedding chapels to the old neon "Glitter Gulch," according to a city plan.

Sports briefs for April 8, 2004: New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi confirmed Wednesday that he had spoken with San Diego Chargers general manager A.J. Smith about a potential trade for the Chargers' No. 1 draft choice.

News briefs for April 8, 2004: North Las Vegas is following the lead of the Southern Nevada Water Authority in a bid for access to more water, as well as changes to drought-induced restrictions on car washing and misting systems.

Editorial: Take back veto threat: The Senate approved spending $318 billion for work on the nation's roads and bridges. The House approved $275 billion. They are now meeting to finalize a number somewhere in between. Bush is saying, however, that he will veto the bill if it exceeds $256 billion.

Gazlay trial delayed again: Gazlay, 19, was convicted Dec. 15 of felony assault and battery charges in the May beating of 21-year-old Sean Quinn. Gazlay has maintained his innocence and said he was not a member of the 311 Boyz, a group of youths police allege were responsible for staging fights and beatings in northwest Las Vegas neighborhoods.

Jobless claims drop to three-year low: The Labor Department reported today that new applications filed for jobless claims declined by a seasonally adjusted 14,000 to 328,000 for the week ending April 3. That marked the lowest level since Jan. 13, 2001.

Editorial: President's indecision is disturbing: In recent days the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar of Indiana, and the committee's ranking Democrat, Joe Biden of Delaware, have renewed their concerns that President Bush still doesn't have a plan -- or won't reveal what it is -- that spells out how the transfer of authority will occur. The U.S. military presence will remain, obviously, but still left unclear is exactly what shape Iraqi self-rule will take and just how involved the United Nations will be. Biden and Lugar are worried, therefore, that a workable self-governing plan won't be ready by June 30 ...

Erratic gas prices explained by experts: But with a commodity that often defies the free-market concept of pricing, there was a viable explanation for why late March and early April prices fluctuated so greatly, one industry expert said.

Columnist Dean Juipe: Spinks knows it's a tall mountain he has climbed: Dean Juipe; In the course of 13 months, Cory Spinks has gone from unsung challenger to International Boxing Federation welterweight champion to undisputed welterweight champion to a fight of considerable consequence with Zab Judah.

Police still searching for child missing after mom found dead: Jen Lawson; An Amber Alert was still in effect this morning in the effort to find a 5-year-old boy whose father is being sought in the strangulation death of the boy's mother Tuesday.

County approves church expansion: The Clark County Commission on Wednesday cleared the way for a southwest Las Vegas church to keep growing despite the objections of some of the church's neighbors.

51S SCHEDULE: 51S SCHEDULE

Friends come to blows: Dean Juipe; Gym buddies who fight at the same weight and have sparred a few times rarely meet in a fight of any consequence.

VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: Signals scrambled over radio broadcaster: That applies perfectly when talking about veteran Las Vegas news broadcaster Harley Akers. We don't know who or what to believe.

Global focus on traffic safety: Dan Kulin; Local traffic safety advocates are hoping that the World Health Organization's decision to make road safety its focus for 2004 will draw attention to the "predictable and preventable" deaths on the world's highways will also help efforts in Clark County.

North Las Vegas finalizing switch to Lied Animal Shelter: The North Las Vegas City Council received an update Wednesday on the city's move toward finalizing a contract with the Animal Foundation, which runs the Lied shelter, and an agreement between the North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Clark County, which would all use the shelter.

Obituaries for April 8, 2004: Louis J. Berberet, 74, of Las Vegas, died Tuesday in a local hospital. He was born Nov. 20, 1929, in Long Beach, Calif. A resident for 28 years, he was a retired general manager for a liquor distributor, a Korean War Army veteran, a member of the American Baseball Players Association a board member of the Boys' Club.

LV City Council hears of problems at park: Sito Negron; Beth Jones stood before the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday and poured forth her litany of complaints about Sky-Vue Mobile Park, where health and safety authorities have spent the past few weeks looking into problems like broken sewer lines and broken windows.

State employees pension fund shows improvement: CARSON CITY -- After three years of sub-par investment performance, the $16 billion state Public Employees' Retirement System is back on track, officials said Wednesday.

Fed official told of need for services: By Timothy Pratt; Apparently afraid that they would lose valuable services such as early childhood education, an auditorium of about 150 people -- as many as a third of whom were Economic Opportunity Board employees -- told a federal official investigating the nonprofit agency Wednesday night how much those services meant to them.

Impressive gaming win reported in February: Nevada's 347 casinos won $876 million from gamblers in February, the third best monthly haul in history and up 15.9 percent compared with the $756.1 million won in February 2003, the state Gaming Control Board reported this morning.

Attorneys argue over shutdown: Bill Draper; TOPEKA, Kan. -- For the third time in a week, a federal judge has denied a request from the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma for a temporary restraining order that would allow the tribe to keep its Kansas City, Kan., casino open.

Dogs belonging to man jailed in standoff may be euthanized: Jen Lawson; Some of the pit bull terriers that were removed from a Henderson home after their owner's arrest in connection with a 24-hour police standoff may be euthanized, Henderson Police said.

Reliant in supply deal: An agreement calls for Nevada Power to supply natural gas to Houston-based Reliant, which will convert that gas to electricity for a fixed fee. The 16-month contract begins on June 1 and extends through the 2004 and 2005 peak summer periods. Nevada Power will use the energy for its customers in the Las Vegas Valley.

Foundation gives computers to school: The donation, which contains both new and refurbished computers, will be used to enhance reading, math and science programs.