News briefs for June 18, 2004

Friday, June 18, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

Schiff gets tax bill over $2 million

A Las Vegas man who considers himself the nation's leading authority on income taxes is liable for more than $2 million in unpaid taxes, according to an order granting summary judgment to the U.S. government in a civil suit against Irwin Schiff.

The order, handed down by U.S. District Judge Philip Pro earlier this week, states that Schiff owes taxes for the years 1979 through 1985.

Schiff, a 76-year-old Las Vegas man who federal officials allege has been running a tax scam that has cost the government an estimated $56 million, is also facing criminal charges after being named in a 33-count federal indictment earlier this year.

Pro's order in the civil case, which sought income tax assessments for 1979-1985 from Schiff, states that Schiff did not specifically respond to the government's motions regarding his tax liability.

The criminal case alleges that Schiff and his associates Cynthia Neun and Lawrence N. Cohen conspired to file and cause others to file fraudulent tax returns, including more than 4,950 tax returns reporting no income.

Schiff has argued that the paying of income tax is optional, and that there are no means to enforce the payment of the tax in the Internal Revenue Service's codes.

Poll says foes softening on Yucca

Nevadans still oppose the Yucca Mountain project, but a recent poll by a nuclear industry group says that opposition is softening.

About 47 percent of registered voters polled for the Nuclear Energy Institute said they "strongly disapprove" of the Energy Department plan to pursue the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site, planned for 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. This is a decrease from the 59 percent that strongly disapproved of it in 2002 and the 54 percent in 2003.

MRCGroup completed the poll asking about the topic for the NEI, the industry's lobbying group last month.

Of those polled, 13 percent "strongly approve" of the project, an increase from the 10 percent that answered this way in 2003 and the 11 percent with the same answer in 2002.

Virus outbreak reported over

The virus outbreak that sickened nearly 1,700 people -- mostly Hawaii residents -- who visited Las Vegas since December 2003 is officially over, county health officials in Nevada said Thursday.

"Based on all the evidence we have available, the outbreak is over," Clark County Health District spokesman Dave Tonelli said.

The number of reported cases of the illness dropped to baseline levels for 28 consecutive days, which is the amount of time that norovirus can survive on surfaces, he said.

Most of the 1,697 people who reported catching the highly contagious Norwalk virus stayed in or visited the California, Fremont and Main Street Station hotels in downtown Las Vegas.

The hotels are a favorite destination for island residents and are owned by Boyd Gaming Corp., which operates a daily charter service between Honolulu and Las Vegas.

Most of those who became ill experienced one or two days of vomiting, nausea and diarrhea, Tonelli said.

Metro officer injured in crash

A Metro Police officer suffered an airbag burn and a cut arm after a van pulled out in front of him on Pecos Road north of Owens Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

The officer was heading to a call, traveling north on Pecos, when a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager on a private drive pulled out into the path of the officer's black and white police cruiser, Officer Jose Montoya said.

A 20-year-old male passenger in the van suffered a cut head. Both he and the officer were taken to University Medical Center, where they were treated and released. The driver, a 37-year-old woman, was cited, Montoya said.

Tragedy strikes family on lake

A head-on boat crash near Lake Havasu City, Ariz., killed one son, critically injured another and left their father missing and presumed dead Wednesday.

Tyler Patchett, a 10-year-old scheduled to enter fifth grade this fall at Walnut Elementary School in Moorpark, Calif., was killed when his father's 32-foot catamaran collided with a speedboat about 6 p.m. Wednesday, officials said Thursday. Tyler's brother, Stephan Patchett, 18, suffered head injuries and was listed in critical condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.