News briefs for June 1, 2005

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Coroner says both women strangled

A medical examiner determined that a woman found dead in the same apartment complex where another woman was strangled to death also had been strangled.

Marliee Coote's death was considered suspicious but Metro Police needed the coroner's office to determine the cause and manner of death. Her death was ruled a homicide last week.

Police found Coote, 45, dead in her apartment in the Silver Pines complex at 6650 E. Russell Road near Boulder Highway on May 3, the same day Rena Gonzalez, 25, was strangled to death in her apartment across the parking lot.

Police said Gonzalez had been strangled with a phone cord. A connection between the homicides was unclear this morning.

Aircraft exercises to fly over valley

Military fighters and other aircraft will be participating in training missions over the Las Vegas Valley on Thursday.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is conducting the exercise in air defense. NORAD announced that multiple aircraft will be involved and may fly at low altitudes.

NORAD has conducted similar exercises throughout the United States and Canada since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Motorcyclist dies in crash

A motorcyclist who witnesses said was doing wheelies on Las Vegas Boulevard South was killed Tuesday evening when he crashed into a sport utility vehicle that turned in front of him, Metro Police said.

Metro said the 18-year-old man was riding a 2003 Honda motorcycle north on Las Vegas Boulevard around 5:30 p.m. when Michael Agorrilla, 21, of Palmdale, Calif., turned left off Robindale Road onto southbound Las Vegas Boulevard.

Police said Agorrila turned his 1999 Toyota 4Runner SUV in front of the motorcycle, which crashed into the SUV's rear left side.

The motorcyclist has not been identified pending notification of relatives. Nobody else was injured. Police are investigating the collision.

Mount Charleston school closed

As snowmelt continued to run through Lundy Elementary School at Mount Charleston, school officials decided to close the building until the water stops running.

Students will attend the last week of the 2005 school year at the library in Old Town, the small community across State Route 157 from the fire station in Kyle Canyon. The school has an enrollment of 84 students, kindergarten through fifth grade.

Normally dry streams have been flowing and springs have appeared in the Mount Charleston area where there has been no running water during six years of drought in Southern Nevada.

Dairy offers $10,000 reward

In a new partnership with valley law enforcement, Meadow Gold Dairy is offering a $10,000 reward to help solve a Henderson murder.

Jennifer Davis, 46, was killed and her two teenaged children injured May 4 when a gunman burst into their Henderson home.

Henderson Police said a man was seen fleeing the home after the 1:30 a.m. attack. He is described as in his late teens to early 20s, black or Hispanic, of medium height and build, and as wearing dark clothes and baggy pants.

Police are also looking for the late 1980s model two-door maroon or red hatchback car he drove.

The reward is part of a new partnership between Meadow Gold Dairy and valley law enforcement to assist in solving high priority and horrific crimes. It is based upon a similar program in Dallas.

All rewards will be for $10,000 and paid to recipients designated by law enforcement.

Anyone with information may call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or Henderson Police at 267-5000.

O'Callaghan to be honored

The late Mike O'Callaghan, Las Vegas Sun executive editor and former governor, will be honored in a tree-planting ceremony Saturday.

The Paradise Democratic Club is sponsoring the ceremony in honor of O'Callaghan's outstanding community service. Speakers will include family and friends, such as Sun President and Editor Brian Greenspun.

The ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Paradise Park, 4775 McLeod Drive, off of Tropicana Avenue east of Eastern Avenue.

Reid to host faith symposium

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will host a faith symposium later this year on how religious organizations can help the needy in Nevada.

The symposium was announced at a meeting Reid held with religious leaders about what services are being provided and what needs are not being met in the community. Funding sources will also be identified.

"Pastors and ministers, reverends and rabbis, know their congregations and the needs of those they serve better than anyone,' Reid said. "This symposium will allow us to come together and evaluate what resources are available, what more needs to be done and how we need to do it.

The event will be held at a location and date to be announced.

Cheyenne High closes early

Cheyenne High School students went home an hour early Tuesday after a power outage shut down the West Alexander Road campus.

A downed transformer near the North Las Vegas school was responsible for the loss of power, Clark County School District officials said. School was dismissed at about noon instead of 1:17 p.m.