Top News

The three medical clinics at the center of last year's hepatitis outbreak have filed for bankruptcy, a move that threatens to delay the first civil trial involving a patient infected with hepatitis C.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, the Gastroenterology Center of Nevada, and the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which calls for liquidation of any corporate assets.

The Southern Nevada Health District has linked nine cases of hepatitis C to unsafe injection practices at two of the clinics. An additional 105 cases are possibly related.

The bankruptcies automatically postpone any lawsuits involving the clinics, but the move could require the doctor at the center of the outbreak to speak publicly for the first time.

A court order issued Tuesday compels Dr. Dipak Desai to appear for the bankruptcy trustee's detailed questioning into the financial affairs of the clinics.

MONDAY

NEVADA, THEN MOON

The 40th anniversary of the moon landing has a Southern Nevada link: All three Apollo 11 astronauts trained for their mission at the Nevada Test Site.

Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins and 10 other astronauts spent two days at the test site as part of a crash course in geology in 1965.

NASA returned to Nevada in 1970 to conduct seven more training sessions for astronauts bound for the moon.

TUESDAY

BOY SHOT; DAD CHARGED

The father of a 5-year-old boy who died of a self-inflicted gunshot in the head on Monday night was arrested on a charge of felony child endangerment.

Police said Alex Kopystenski, 31, and his son, Giovanni, were waiting in a Walgreens drive-through lane at Durango Drive and Warm Springs Road when the boy found a gun in the car and shot himself.

WEDNESDAY

JACKSON PROBE WIDENS

Armed with a search warrant indicating Michael Jackson's death is being investigated as manslaughter, Los Angeles police and federal drug agents searched a Houston clinic operated by Dr. Conrad Murray, the pop star's personal physician who also has an office in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas office of the DEA has been assisting the investigation.

Murray's medical office in Las Vegas was dark and closed Wednesday, and nearby office workers said they hadn't seen any recent activity there.

THURSDAY

NIGHTCLUB SHUT DOWN

Just hours after Planet Hollywood Resort paid a $500,000 fine for not properly overseeing activities at Privé, county officials stripped the nightclub of its liquor license and ordered it to cease operations by midnight Tuesday.

Privé's ultralounge also was ordered to close.

Privé was cited for allowing topless and lewd activity to take place on site.

FRIDAY

WEGNER SURRENDERS

Alica Wegner surrendered to authorities in a Las Vegas courtroom after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the 1997 slaying of 14-month-old Kierra Harrison.

The child died two days after being in Wegner's care. Wegner was facing a retrial for Kierra's murder at the end of July.