News briefs for November 18, 2004

Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

NLV postpones rental-plan vote

The North Las Vegas City Council postponed a decision on a controversial rental inspection plan Wednesday.

The plan would charge most landlords an annual $50 fee per rental unit for proactive housing inspections, with additional fines for violations.

Homes less than a decade old and exceptional properties would receive exemptions.

The council withdrew the item for further study and to explore ways of lowering program costs.

Lawsuit filed contesting election

A Minden resident has filed a lawsuit in District Court in Reno contesting the general election in Nevada.

Rick Davis, who said he has lived in Nevada for 32 years, said in a press release that he doesn't expect to change the outcome of the election but wants to make a point that some people tried to register to vote yet their names did not appear on voter rolls.

The petition asks the judge to open a two-day period for people to vote if they filled out voter applications that were lost or destroyed. The case was assigned to Judge Brent Adams, the same judge who allowed a Sparks couple to vote after they said they filled out forms but were not registered to vote.

Many third-party groups registered voters throughout Nevada this year, largely because the state was seen as a pivotal swing state. Yet several voters -- and employees of the groups -- complained that an undetermined number registration cards were lost or discarded, leaving people off the voter rolls.

Man released from hospital

An elderly Connecticut man who suffered serious injuries after his rental car plunged off the second floor of a Golden Nugget parking garage was released from University Medical Center on Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Edward Marcinkowski, 83, of Middletown, Conn., had been in UMC's intensive care unit in serious condition.

Cheryl Persinger, a spokeswoman for UMC, said she did not know if Marcinkowski returned to Connecticut but said he may have been taken to a nursing home or long-term care facility.

His companion when the accident occurred, 79-year-old Violet Krywinski, was released Oct. 28 from UMC. Krywinski is believed to have returned to Connecticut, Persinger said.

Funds to help cabbie's son

A Las Vegas Valley taxi industry trade publication announced Wednesday that more than $52,000 has been raised for the wife and son of a Las Vegas cabbie who died in August after a passenger set him on fire in a robbery attempt.

The funds will go to Pairoj "Paul" Chitprasart's 14-year-old son, David Chitprasart, and to the boy's mother, Kay Uttamong. The fundraising was spearheaded by Craig Harris, managing editor of Trip Sheet magazine, a taxi industry trade publication, and Greg Bambic, a longtime Las Vegas taxi driver.