IN BRIEF
CRAM MIDDLE SCHOOL
Boy, 14, arrested after loaded handgun found
A 14-year-old boy was arrested at Cram Middle School on Wednesday for having a loaded .40-caliber handgun in his backpack, Clark County School District police said.
Lt. Ken Young said district police received a tip that a student had brought a handgun to school. The officers identified the boy and found the gun in his backpack as school was dismissed, between 2:10 p.m. and 2:20 p.m., Young said.
He said the student did not threaten anybody with the gun. "It was more of a case of show and tell, 'look what I got,'" Young said.
He said the student was taken to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, where he faced the recommended charge of possession of a dangerous weapon on school property.
Young said Wednesday's incident marked the 15th time this school year that a handgun had been confiscated from a student.
RENO CAMPAIGN EVENTS
McCain to hold public, private gatherings
Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain will hold a public town hall meeting and a private fundraiser in Reno next week, according to his campaign.
Details of the Wednesday morning town hall meeting have not been announced. The information will be made available on the campaign Web site, www.johnmccain.com.
After that event, McCain is scheduled to attend a fundraising luncheon at the Eldorado Hotel and Casino.
A VIP reception and roundtable is scheduled to begin at noon, according to the invitation to the event.
The Arizona senator last visited Nevada in March, holding a fundraiser at The Venetian in Las Vegas.
NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE
Contractors picked to make Yucca canisters
The federal Department of Energy has picked two contractors to design and build canisters for the transport and permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel at a planned national repository in Nevada.
Yucca Mountain project chief Ward Sproat called the selection Wednesday of NAC International of Norcross, Ga., and Areva Federal Services LLC of Bethesda, Md., a significant step for federal plans to license and build the repository, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The five-year contracts with each company can pay up to $7.3 million to design, license and demonstrate canisters for transporting, aging and disposing nuclear waste at the planned Yucca Mountain repository.
Project planners expect that up to 90 percent of the highly radioactive waste now piling up at nuclear plants in 39 states will be shipped to Nevada in the canisters.
The Department of Energy plans next month to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build and operate the Yucca Mountain project.
LAKE TAHOE BASIN
Nevada, California to tackle bear problem
Responding to last year's record number of problems reported with bears in the Lake Tahoe Basin, state wildlife officials in California and Nevada announced a new agreement Wednesday to pool their resources to try to minimize the conflicts this summer.
The joint effort calls for the California Department of Fish and Game and the Nevada Department of Wildlife to share information, personnel, equipment and supplies in a cooperative black bear management program.
California's bear population is growing and is currently estimated at between 25,000 and 35,000.
Nevada has an estimated 350 black bears, concentrated mostly in the Tahoe Basin area.
