Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.
Motel slaying victim identified
A man killed Monday in a room at the Town & Country Manor motel has been identified as 42-year-old Gary Christopher Brooks of Las Vegas.
Brooks died of blunt force trauma, the coroner's office said.
A tip led police to the extended-stay motel on Boulder Highway near Lamb Boulevard, where officers found Brooks dead in a room occupied by a man and woman who did not call police.
Daniel Patrick Shammot, 35, who was also staying at the motel, was arrested Monday night for murder with a deadly weapon and robbery. Police said the homicide was drug-related.
Construction worker killed
A construction worker died in an accident Monday morning at the Venetian, authorities said.
The coroner's office identified the victim as 42-year-old Michael Edmonds of Henderson.
He was working on the expansion of the Strip property when he died of mechanical asphyxia, meaning his chest was crushed, a coroner's office spokeswoman said.
Tom Czehowski, chief administrative officer for Nevada OSHA, declined to comment on Edmonds' death, saying he was barred from discussing an ongoing investigation.
Gas leak prompts evacuation
About 30 people were evacuated from a strip mall in the southern Las Vegas Tuesday morning after a construction crew nicked a gas pipe, a Southwest Gas spokeswoman said.
Construction workers near Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Gillespie Street hit a 4-inch-wide gas pipeline underground, Kristien Tary, a Southwest Gas spokeswoman, said.
It prompted the evacuation of a nearby shopping center for a little more than an hour as gas company workers shut off the flow to the pipe. No fires or injuries were reported, she said.
The company continued working Tuesday afternoon to repair the pipe. Crews are also investigating whether the construction company had obtained the proper permit to dig in the area, Tary said.
County to give land to Salvation Army
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved donating 13 acres of county-owned land in Sunrise Manor township to the Salvation Army for use as a community center.
The donation is contingent upon the organization receiving funds for construction of the center, which was billed as a 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot recreation center with outdoor pool to serve residents near the site at Sloane Lane and East Lake Mead Boulevard.
The Salvation Army is scheduled to make a final funding decision on the community center and others like it around the country in March 2006.
The donation carries with it a deed restriction that says the site must be used for charitable or civic uses or it will revert back to the county.
Grant given to homeowners group
Henderson awarded a $2,000 grant Tuesday to a homeowner's association to spruce up its neighborhood.
The Tropicana Square Home Owners Association will spend the money on landscaping and signs for the 104 town home association, according to Sam Bowler, the neighborhood enhancement coordinator for Henderson.
It's the third grant awarded by the city in the year-old program. The city awards up to $2,000 for neighborhood improvements, but the associations are required to match the donation with either labor, materials or money.
The city has also agreed to spend $117,000 on constructing a sidewalk in the neighborhood. That work is expected to be completed in the spring, Bowler said.
Fire damages unoccupied house
Las Vegas Fire & Rescue investigators are looking into what caused a fire that gutted the living room and kitchen of an unoccupied split-level home early this morning.
Crews responded to the home in the 200 block of North Wallace Drive, near U.S. 95 and Jones Boulevard, about 1:40 a.m. after neighbors reported someone possibly trapped inside the four-bedroom home. Firefighters quickly determined the house was unoccupied, according to a fire department statement.
The blaze was brought under control in less than 10 minutes, according to the statement. It gutted the living room and kitchen and caused heavy smoke damage to the basement and upstairs. Damage was estimated at $100,000.
No injuries were reported.
The homeowners told firefighters they had recently sold the 1,660-square-foot house and were expected to close the sale today.
The cause of the fire was under investigation this morning.
archive
