News briefs for March 22, 2004

Monday, March 22, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

Sniper suspect returns to Ohio

Ohio highway sniper suspect Charles McCoy was taken Saturday from Las Vegas to Ohio, where he was booked into a Columbus jail.

McCoy, named by police as a suspect in 24 sniper shootings between May 2003 and February, was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday. One woman died in the shootings.

McCoy on Friday told a judge he would not fight extradition to Ohio. He was scheduled to appear in a Columbus courtroom today.

Reid bill would help LV water

The Southern Nevada Water Authority board endorsed a federal move last week that would provide rights-of-way for pipelines to bring groundwater from much of the state to Las Vegas.

The Water Authority, struggling with five years of drought and limited resources in Lake Mead, is increasingly looking to groundwater resources to supplement Lake Mead's finite supply. Lake Mead now supplies about 90 percent of Southern Nevada's water.

The Water Authority has applied for the right to bring water from wells throughout Lincoln and White Pine counties, north of Clark County, to Las Vegas.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is working on a bill that would set aside some land in Lincoln County for development, some land for protected wilderness, but most importantly for the Water Authority, some land for the rights-of-way to build pipelines to bring that groundwater to the urban area, Pat Mulroy, Water Authority general manager, told her board.

Reid has said the bill will likely be introduced within a few weeks.

Man sentenced in e-mail threat

An 18-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced to nine months in federal prison on Friday after pleading guilty to sending a threatening e-mail to a local radio station.

Ryan Edward Lewis was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt.

Lewis pleaded guilty to sending a threatening e-mail on Oct. 2, 2003, to the program director of KISS 101.9-FM, also called Wild 102, a local hip-hop station.

Lewis must serve three years of supervised release following his release from prison, and was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Blown transformer at hotel probed

Clark County fire inspectors are investigating the explosion of an electrical transformer that forced the evacuation of three floors of Circus Circus shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday.

The transformer exploded on the 10th floor, Bob Leinbach, a Clark County Fire Department spokesman, said.

The ninth, 10th and 11th floors of the hotel were evacuated because of the smoke.

A Circus Circus employee suffered minor injuries, but no guests were injured, Leinbach said.

Dr. Charles Held of Gardnerville,

who has practiced in Nevada since 1979, has been named to the state Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses and disciplines physicians. Held replaces Dr. Robin Titus of Wellington, who served one four-year term.