News briefs for April 28, 2004

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 | 9:21 a.m.

Plea deal made in child sex case

A man accused of sexually assaulting his former girlfriend's 7-year-old daughter entered a plea agreement with prosecutors Tuesday in order to have more than 140 related charges dismissed.

Kenneth Samuel Walker, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14. A Clark County grand jury returned an indictment against Walker last year charging him with multiple counts of sexual assault, lewdness, use of a minor in producing pornography and possession of child pornography.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich said the agreement mandates a life sentence without forcing Walker's victim, now 10, to testify.

Luzaich said authorities found two videos of Walker molesting the girl with her on his lap and several other sexually explicit pictures.

Walker faces 20 years to life for each of the two sexual assault counts when sentenced June 8, and Luzaich said she plans to argue for those sentences to be served consecutively.

John Momot, Walker's attorney, told District Judge Michelle Leavitt that he and his client believed the guilty plea agreement was in Walker's "best interest."

Henderson annexes another 482 acres

Without discussion, the Henderson City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to annex 482 acres just outside the city limits that was bought by a developer in November 2003 from the Bureau of Land Management at auction.

The council met in a special session and approved the annexation of the property near Anthem Parkway and Hampton Road.

Pulte Homes had purchased the property adjacent to its Anthem community for $66.5 million, or $138,541 per acre. There were no other bidders for the land at the BLM auction.

Pulte Homes and Del Webb plan to use the site to build a fitness-oriented community under the age-restricted Del Webb brand and a family-oriented community under the Pulte brand.

Public meeting set on intersections

The Nevada Department of Transportation will conduct a meeting from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 13 at Whitney Park Community Center, 5712 Missouri Ave., to discuss modifications to eight major intersections.

The discussion is to address safety, median installation and business access modifications to Eastern Avenue and Flamingo Road; Eastern and Tropicana avenues; Tropicana Avenue between McLeod Drive and Pecos Road; Sunset Road and Eastern Avenue; Stephanie Street and Sunset Road; Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue; Charleston and Lamb boulevards; and Oakey and Decatur boulevards.

The public is invited to speak in open forum, and to question transportation department employees one on one. Written comments can be sent to Jim Souba at the Nevada Department of Transportation, 1263 S. Stewart St., Carson City, NV, 89712, or online at nevadadot.com/pub]involvement, until May 28. For more information call 385-6500, ext. 7592.

State worker's demotion upheld

A hearing officer has upheld the demotion of an employee of the state Division of Employment Security for repeated use of the agency's e-mail, Internet and telephone system for personal use.

Hearing Officer Patrick Dolan, in a decision released Tuesday, found there was sufficient cause to demote Jeffrey Fowzer of Carson City to administrative aide from his position as administrative assistant.

Fowzer, who was hired in 1996, had been suspended previously for five days for unauthorized use of e-mail and the Internet and for continued errors at work.

The hearing officer said the evidence showed Fowzer was guilty of "loafing" during work time and that resulted in his unsatisfactory performance on the job.

Correction made on rail hearings

The date and place listed for the Las Vegas public meeting on a proposed Caliente rail corridor for shipping nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain were incorrect in a Federal Register notice, a Department of Energy spokesman said.

The Federal Register is running a correction today, Yucca Mountain Project spokesman Allen Benson said.

The correct information for the Las Vegas public meeting is:

Four other meetings to accept public comment on a Caliente rail corridor environmental impact statement have been scheduled. They all run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.