Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

News briefs for January 6, 2005

Inmates to make tanks for brewing

Inmates at the High Desert State Prison near Indian Springs may soon be making tanks for brew pubs.

Micro Brew Inc., of Santa Rosa, Calif., wants to move its operation to the prison and employ about 20 inmates initially.

Howard Skolnik, assistant director of the state Department of Corrections, said Wednesday a contract is being negotiated with the company to lease 10,000 square feet of space in an industrial building inside the prison fence north of Las Vegas.

Skolnik said the company manufactures tanks and other equipment for brew pups and has supplied two casinos in Clark County so far.

The inmates would be paid minimum wage and the company would pay 25 cents per square foot per month rent to the state, he said.

The 60,000-square-foot industrial building is sectioned off in 10,000-square- foot segments.

The plans will be presented to the Legislative Committee on Industrial Programs at the prison system on Jan. 19. Any contract must then be approved by the state Board of Examiners that is composed of Gov. Kenny Guinn, Secretary of State Dean Heller and Attorney General Brian Sandoval. The three also make up the state Prison Board.

Skolnik said the company is ready to move as soon as the contract is approved.

High court catches up with caseload

The Nevada Supreme Court was able to keep a little ahead of the game in handling cases during 2004.

The clerk's office of the court said Wednesday that 1,885 new cases were filed during the year but it was able to dispose of 1,949.

On Dec. 31 last week, there were 1,515 still on file and undecided. That's down from the 1,568 that were pending on Dec. 31, 2003.

The cases include appeals, cases originally brought in the Supreme Court, proposed judicial rules and matters the state Bar Association.

Of the 1,559 appeals from district courts, 1,025, or 66 percent, came from Clark County.

Ex-cop charged in investor fraud

State authorities on Wednesday arrested a 55-year-old former police officer in Las Vegas and charged him with taking $53,000 from investors, Secretary of State Dean Heller said.

Howard M. Klipfel, who had been a police officer in Pueblo, Colo., is charged with two felony counts of securities fraud and one felony count of securities fraud against a person 60 or older.

Klipfel used his insurance business to get people to invest in annuities, mutual funds and precious metals, Heller said. But Klipfel, according to the criminal complaint, spent his clients' premium money on his personal expenses, including paying premiums on insurance and medical policies for him and his family.

Klipfel was licensed to sell variable annuities and life insurance products but not securities. In one case, the complaint said Klipfel took out a $100,000 life insurance policy on the senior citizen without that person's knowledge, and Klipfel named himself the primary beneficiary of the policy.

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