News briefs for April 9, 2004

Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

Project near airport withdrawn

A proposal to build 278 homes on 73.7 acres next to the Henderson Executive Airport was withdrawn before the city Planning Commission could weigh in on it Thursday.

Thomas Amick, an attorney representing property owner Plise Development, said the city staff's opposition to putting homes on that land played a part in the decision to drop the proposal.

Amick said a new proposal for the land could come after the area is developed more, but said it's not known when a new plan might be submitted to the city.

The commission was scheduled to hear the request to rezone the land for residential uses on Thursday. The land is currently zoned for an industrial park.

City staff said the rezoning should not be granted because of the airport and existing industrial uses nearby.

Residential areas next to area airports have caused friction for years in the Las Vegas Valley, as homeowners complained about noise and safety around the airports that in most cases were there before any homes were built around them.

Fuel spill closes Little Ash Springs

Little Ash Springs, a popular spot two hour's drive north for Clark County residents, has been temporarily closed to the public by the Bureau of Land Management because of a diesel fuel spill.

Ash Springs is off U.S. 93 and is home to the White River springfish, a federally listed endangered species, a BLM official said.

About five gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the springs, and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is helping BLM officials investigate the accident, Jeff Weeks, BLM's Ely assistant field manager, said.

Diesel fuel is hazardous, especially to young children and the elderly, BLM environmental protection specialist Jeanette Matovich said.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are consulting on the cleanup.

Yucca comment time sought

The Interior Department needs to extend its public comment period on the Energy Department's proposal to study land in Nevada for the proposed rail line to Yucca Mountain, Nevada's senators wrote Thursday.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev. and Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked for an additional 90 days for the public to be able to comment on a Bureau of Land Management land withdrawal and stop on new mining claims for two years while the Energy Department studies land to build a rail line to take nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, should the site get approved.

The bureau announced the Energy Department's request to plans to remove more than 300,000 acres of land in December. The three-month public comment period that March 29.

Reid created a form on his Web site (/reid.senate.gov/yuccamtn]comments.cfm) for the public to write in comments on the proposed withdrawal that will be forwarded to the Interior Department.

Sandy Valley man convicted

A jury has convicted a Sandy Valley man of second-degree murder for the May 2001 shooting of his live-in girlfriend.

Joseph Wright, 41, now faces a sentence of up to life in prison. Wright is scheduled to be sentenced by District Judge Michelle Leavitt June 3.

This was the second trial in the case. The jury in his February 2003 trial could not agree on whether Wright was guilty of murder.