News briefs for December 20, 2004

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

Small plane crash-lands

Metro Police responded to a small private plane that crash-landed in a remote desert area four miles south of Jean on Saturday after it ran out of gas.

Jean is 35 miles south of Las Vegas.

The plane remained in the desert Sunday until arrangements could be made to move the craft, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said.

No one was injured.

The 1974 Piper Cherokee plane is registered to Robert L. Marks of Oceanside, Calif.

Elevator repairman dies in apparent fall

An elevator repairman was found dead at the Sahara hotel on Friday morning, the victim of an apparent accident, an official with the Sahara Hotel.

Donald Traylor, 42, of Las Vegas, appears to have died from a head injury consistent with a long fall, according to the Clark County Coroners Office.

"This wasn't foul play, it was just an accident," the Sahara official said Friday. "The death is still under investigation and we don't really know how he died yet."

The official declined to be identified. Sgt. Chris Jones, a spokesman for Metro Police, referred questions to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which investigates possible workplace accidents.

Tom Czehowski, chief administrative officer for Nevada OSHA, declined to comment on Traylor's death, saying he was barred from discussing an ongoing investigation.

Scientist hired to direct tests

The Nevada Cancer Institute has hired a former pharmaceutical company scientist to direct human tests of the newest, most experimental potential treatments, the institute said in a statement today.

Dr. Sunil Sharma becomes the head of the institute's Clinical Phase I Unit as well as the Section of Gastrointestinal Oncology, which deals with cancers of the digestive system.

One of the institute's priorities is bringing the first-ever Phase I trials to Nevada, officials have said.

Sharma was previously the senior director of early clinical development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., a Swiss-based international drug company. In that capacity, he worked to move potential cancer treatments from laboratory testing to clinical trials.

"I hope to use my training and expertise to bring novel therapeutics to cancer patients throughout the state of Nevada," Sharma said in the institute's statement.

The cancer institute's 140,000-square-foot facility in Summerlin is to open next year. An exact opening date has yet not been announced.