Top News

The Rebels' trip to the NCAA Tournament turned out to be a short one.

Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh sent UNLV packing with a late 3-pointer in Thursday's first-round game in Oklahoma City.

The 69-66 loss spoiled what many Rebel fans were anticipating with a mix of excitement and dread: a second-round date with Kansas, the tournament's top seed.

Instead, the Missouri Valley champs won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1990, and UNLV headed home with a 25-9 finish to the season.

The good news for Rebel fans: All five starters from Thursday's game are expected to return next season.

The bad news: Mountain West Conference rival BYU won its first round game.

Monday

How convenient

Dallas-based 7-Eleven plans to add 15 to 20 more stores in the valley over three years.

About half the stores would be built from the ground up, while the others will be conversions of existing retail outlets to 7-Eleven franchises.

The company already has more than 160 convenience stores in Clark County.

Tuesday

Three-day weekend!

Gov. Jim Gibbons asked some state agencies to establish four-day workweeks if it will save money without inconveniencing customers.

The move came six days after Gibbons vetoed a bill that would have established a Monday-through-Thursday schedule starting in July.

The governor initially asked lawmakers to approve a four-day workweek. Then he vetoed the bill because he said it contained provisions that intruded on his authority.

Wednesday

Rhodes rides again

On the advice of legal counsel, Clark County commissioners introduced a code that could revive Jim Rhodes' plan to develop about 1,700 acres on a mesa overlooking the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

County officials have been locked in a legal battle with Rhodes since 2005, when he sought to build 5,500 homes on a former gypsum mining site atop Blue Diamond Hill.

Last year, a federal judge sided with Rhodes and struck down a state law barring developments that intruded visually on Red Rock. Rhodes was set to challenge the county's version of that rule in federal court in May.

A public hearing on the code is set for April 21.

Thursday

Senatorial subpoenas

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has been subpoenaed to provide documents from when Sen. John Ensign was its chairman and was having an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his top aides.

Disclosure of the subpoena to the Washington-based group comes on the heels of a report that six businesses in Las Vegas also received subpoenas .

The report by KLAS-TV indicated the subpoenas were furthering the investigation into whether Ensign tried illegally to arrange lobbying work for Doug Hampton, the husband of Ensign's mistress.

Friday

Birds die in blaze

Fire swept through the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary, killing more than 150 birds, including at least 60 that are considered rare and exotic.

Firefighters received the call about 5:23 a.m., and the blaze was controlled within 30 minutes. Many animals escaped unharmed, but volunteers and staff members screamed and cried as they arrived and learned of the devastation.

A cause of the blaze has not been determined, though some staff speculated heat lamps swaying in high winds may be to blame.