News briefs for July 15, 2005

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 11 a.m.

Vote on 61 acres pushed back

The Related Cos. will get another 30 days to finalize discussions with Las Vegas officials, which means the Las Vegas City Council will probably vote on a development agreement for the city-owned 61 acres in downtown in early September instead of August, Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday.

"There are some dotting of i's and crossing of t's" the mayor said about what's left in the negotiations with Related. Goodman said both sides are still discussing how tall some of the buildings might be and what would be included in the first phase of the development.

Preliminary plans for the land, part of the former Union Pacific rail yards, call for a performing arts center, academic medical center, new City Hall, office and condominium high-rises, and possibly a domed baseball stadium.

Goodman and other city officials have said the development deal with Related could call for Related to build and own a City Hall building, which the company would lease to the city.

Officials, including representatives with Related, have also said they expect a new City Hall, the medical and performing arts centers, and some office and residential high-rises will be part of the first phase of the development.

Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell said the 30-day delay is not the result of any disagreements arising between the city and Related officials, and said she expects the matter will go before the council in early September.

Fretwell said the council will probably vote during its first meeting in August on whether to formally grant Related an extension until September. If approved, it would be the second extension given to the company for this project.

Two arrested in fraud scheme

Two men have been arrested in Las Vegas on security fraud charges involving $25,000 in a school fundraising scheme, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Thursday.

Martin W. Tunnell and Roger Alan Palas, officers of a company called Kool Kids, Inc., are accused of bilking Don Woodin of Santa Fe, N. M., out of the money.

Francis Arenas, chief of enforcement in the state Securities Division, said the two men told Woodin they had an exclusive right with the Clark County School District to help students raise money. Arenas said that was not true. Woodin was on a trip to Las Vegas at the time and had other business dealings with Palas.

Bail was set at $3,000 for each of them.

Arenas said Woodin was the only investor in the Kool Kids company and the two suspects spent the money for their personal use.

Libraries report record circulation

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District reported record circulation numbers with 10.76 million items checked out during the past fiscal year.

The record represents a 6 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, 2003-2004, and a 105 percent increase since 1999-2000. The district has broken circulation numbers the past five years.

The district attributed the record circulation numbers among the growing valley population to long-term planning and improved delivery of services.

Man sought in sex assault case

North Las Vegas Police are searching for 33-year-old Mario Leanogomez, who is wanted in connection with a sexual assault on a 9-year-old girl.

The mother of the child contacted North Las Vegas Police on June 26, police spokesman Tim Bedwell said.

The sexual assault occurred at the child's home in the 2100 block of Bassler Street, Bedwell said.

Detectives obtained a warrant for Leanogomez, who is a citizen of Mexico and also goes by the name of Marco Leanagomez, Mario Leana and Mario Gomez, police said.

He is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weights about 150 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Leanogomez is urged to contact North Las Vegas Police at 633-1773 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Berkley to hold town hall meeting

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., will hold an on-line town hall meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Monday to discuss Social Security.

Those interested can submit questions in advance through her Web site, http://www.house.gov/berkley.

During the Web site event, show questions submitted either in advance or during the meeting as well as Berkley's answers will pop up on the Web site for people to read. It will last at least an hour, her staff said.

Young man found dead in playground

Metro Police are investigating a shooting early today that left an 18-year-old man dead in an elementary school playground near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards.

The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. outside of Matt Kelly Elementary School at 1900 J Street.

Police received calls from a citizen reporting a fight and the sound of gunfire at the school. When police and medial personnel arrived they found the victim with a gunshot wound in the playground, Sgt. Ken Hefner said. He was pronounced dead a short time later at University Medical Center.

Detectives determined the victim and several of his friends became involved in an altercation over the wall separating the school from an apartment complex.

"The altercation culminated with shots being fired," Hefner said.

Detectives are investigating whether the homicide was connected to a midnight basketball game at the nearby Doolittle Community Center.

The name of the victim was not available this morning.

Motorcyclist injured in crash

A motorcyclist was airlifted to a local hospital early today after crashing near the intersection of Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 in the northern portion of the Las Vegas Valley, officials said.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said the accident, which occurred before 8 a.m., was a single-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle and that the rider had suffered what a dispatcher called "severe injuries."

It was not immediately known to which hospital the victim was taken.

Attempts to reach spokeswomen for the Highway Patrol and Mercy Air were not successful.

Explosion rocks Sparks

A premature explosion at a construction site damaged nine homes in a Sparks neighborhood and pelted a golf course with rocks.

Blasting operations by SANDEX, Inc. were suspended pending an investigation, authorities said.

The Las Vegas blasting contractor was hired by Independent Contractors Inc. of Reno for work on a new subdivision near the 9th hole at the D'Andrea Golf and Country Club, authorities said.

Investigators said Thursday's explosion sent rocks flying about 700 feet from a hill and through the roof of an empty golf cart, a storage unit and windows at about nine houses.

No one was injured.