IN BRIEF
FOUR OTHERS INJURED
Woman, 88, dies from injuries in vehicle crash
An 88-year-old woman was killed Saturday after the compact car she was riding in was struck by a pickup truck.
Las Vegas police said the woman was the right rear passenger in a 2003 Toyota Echo that was making a left turn onto northbound Durango Drive from Charleston Boulevard at 10:17 a.m.
The Toyota turned left at the intersection on a "permissive green signal" when it was struck by a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado traveling west on Charleston, according to police.
The driver of the truck, 64-year-old Javier Ascasibar of Las Vegas, was unable to stop before striking the car, police said. He suffered minor injuries.
All four occupants of the Toyota were taken to University Medical Center, where Shirley Oi of Las Vegas died of her injuries.
The three other passengers, who were family members of Oi, suffered minor injuries.
STAFFING SHAKE-UP
Governor to replace his press secretary
Gov. Jim Gibbons is replacing Ben Kieckhefer, his press secretary since March.
Kieckhefer, 31, said he was told on Friday that he will be replaced.
His last day hasn't been decided but will come in the next few days or weeks, he said.
"It was a staffing decision that the governor decided to make, which is absolutely his choice," he said.
Kieckhefer is a former reporter for The Associated Press and the Reno Gazette-Journal.
"I enjoyed the job," he said. "I thought it was important work. I thought it was interesting. I was honored to be able to do it."
Kieckhefer said he knew who would be replacing him but wouldn't say who he or she was.
He said he didn't know what he would be doing after leaving the governor's office.
INCIDENT AT THE TUSCANY
Police: Parents left kids in resort parking lot
Two parents were arrested after leaving their two children in a car Saturday afternoon at the Tuscany.
Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said police were called to the scene by security at the hotel, located on Flamingo Road near Paradise Road.
The children had been spotted in the car by a patron at the hotel, Cassell said.
The names of the parents and the ages of the children were not available.
On Oct. 28, the parents of a 9-month-old boy left a child in a stroller outside the Imperial Palace while they gambled, police said.
They were arrested and charged with one count each of felony child endangerment and felony child neglect.
HATE CRIME ALLEGED
Boys charged with harassing student
Two high school students in Truckee, Calif., have been arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime by harassing a disabled student on a school bus.
Police Sgt. Jason Litche says the two boys were aware the student was handicapped, qualifying them for arrest on the hate crime charge in the incident.
No physical injury to the student was reported.
Truckee High Vice Principal Grant Steuenberg says the school is aware of the case, but that he could not comment because it's a confidential matter.
Litche says the boys were released to their parents the same day of their arrests.
The incident occurred on Oct. 23, but details weren't announced until this week.
TEAR GAS ATTACK
Man upset at Obama election faces charges
A 35-year-old Sausalito man enraged that Barack Obama won the presidential election faces charges that he tear-gassed another man.
Marin County prosecutors say Richard Clay Bell, who lives on a boat in Richardson Bay, was charged Friday with a misdemeanor count of unlawfully using tear gas.
The incident occurred about an hour after Obama was declared the projected winner of Tuesday's election.
Police say for unknown reasons, Bell sprayed tear gas at another Republican supporter who tried to console him outside a waterfront wine bar in Sausalito.
Bell was arrested the next day, but the judge released him Friday pending his court appearance next month.
The victim was treated at the scene and released.
BUDGET CRISIS
California may turn away some students
For the first time in its history, the California State University system may have to turn away some eligible students from all its 23 campuses because of the state's budget crisis.
Chancellor Charles Reed proposed the enrollment restrictions after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week announced $66 million in midyear funding cuts to the CSU system.
The state slashed $31 million in funding to CSU this summer.
The university's governing Board of Trustees is scheduled to discuss the proposal in Long Beach on Wednesday.
The board also will be asked to consider increasing tuition for business school graduate students.
Individual CSU campuses have previously closed enrollment, but such restrictions have never been imposed systemwide.
