IN BRIEF
LAS VEGAS VALLEY AIR QUALITY
Officials warn wind could kick up dust
Clark County Air Quality officials have issued a dust advisory in anticipation of today's windy conditions.
The advisory extends through Thursday morning. As part of the county's dust-control program, officials ask Las Vegas Valley construction site personnel to take precautions to prevent blowing dust. Airborne particulates can aggravate respiratory diseases.
Officials do not expect dust to reach unhealthful levels. If that happens, a link to a notice will be posted on www.accessclarkcounty.com.
WEST SIDE OF LAS VEGAS VALLEY
Missouri man dies in single car accident
A St. Louis man died on Tuesday when the 2007 Ford Focus he was driving struck a tree near Town Center Drive and Summerlin Parkway.
The 58-year-old man, who wasn't identified, was heading north on Village Center Drive at about 6:45 a.m. when he drove over the center median, across southbound traffic and then struck a tree on the side of the road, Las Vegas police said.
The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to Summerlin Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Police said the cause of the accident probably is medically related.
POLICE ASK PUBLIC'S ASSISTANCE
Driver killed in crash identified as LV man
The Clark County coroner's office has identified the man killed in a crash Sunday as Cecilio Prieto-Anchondo, 50, of Las Vegas.
Prieto-Anchondo was driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup when he died from injuries sustained in a crash at 11:49 a.m. near the intersection of West Craig Road and Home Depot Drive. The accident is still under investigation.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call investigators at 633-1017, ext. 5055, or Crime Stoppers at 383-5555.
NORTHERN ARIZONA SLAYING
Teen pleads guilty to killing Japanese tourist
A teenager on Tuesday entered a plea agreement in the slaying of a Japanese tourist on her 34th birthday near the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona.
Randy Redtail Wescogame, 19, a member of the Havasupai Indian Tribe, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of second-degree murder in the May 2006 death of Tomomi Hanamure.
The original five-count indictment alleged Wescogame killed Hanamure while kidnapping and robbing her in a secluded area about 70 miles northeast of Peach Springs. An autopsy revealed that the victim was stabbed about 29 times.
Wescogame faces a life prison term with no possibility of parole if the plea agreement is accepted by U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia at a Jan. 14 sentencing hearing in Phoenix.
LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZ.
Water line break lets students out of class
Thousands of students in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., enjoyed an unexpected day off Tuesday when public schools and the community college were closed because of a water line break.
Kingman city spokesman Charlie Cassens said crews were conducting planned repairs of a leak when another section of the 36-inch mainline breached about 1,000 feet away at 3 a.m.
The mainline supplies more than one-third of the community's drinking water, he said. Residents were urged to conserve water and postpone any non-essential indoor and outdoor use.
Repairs were completed about 2 p.m., and schools are expected to reopen today.
FIRST EVER IN CAPTIVITY
Angel shark pup born at S.F. aquarium
A San Francisco aquarium has announced the first-ever birth in captivity of a Pacific angel shark, a sand-burrowing species resembling a ray that lives on the West Coast.
Difficulty in nourishing angel sharks is forcing divers to hand-feed the 4-ounce, 9-inch pup, said Reid Withrow, director of husbandry at the Aquarium of the Bay.
Because they are hard to feed, angel sharks are seldom kept, probably the reason none has been born in captivity, Withrow said.
Angel shark adults can grow as long as five feet. The species gets its name from the large wing-shaped fins running the length of their flattened bodies.
The pup was being kept in isolation from its parents, which were caught under a special permit in Bodega Bay in Northern California.
