IN BRIEF

filing fees

Record number of candidates create thousands for Nevada

A record number of Nevada candidates for various political races has generated thousands of dollars for state coffers.

Twenty-four candidates -- more than double the number in any previous year -- filed for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid. The filing fee for that race is $500, and contenders paid a total $12,000.

Secretary of State Ross Miller says Nevada's filing fees are low compared to other states.

He says California charges 2 percent of the salary the office holder receives. For a U.S. Senate race, that would cost a candidate more than $4,000.

The state only keeps fees for federal, statewide offices and legislative districts that encompass more than one county. Fees for offices contained entirely within a county go to that county.

mexico-nevada operation

California men receive prison sentences in gunrunning case

A repeat felon and his brother have been sentenced to prison for buying, selling and transporting firearms from Nevada to Mexico, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Jonnatan Weiss, 29, of Chula Vista, Calif. and Tijuana, Mexico, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, and William Weiss, 37, of Hesperia, Calif., was sentenced to two years, U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said.

U.S. District Judge Edward C. Reed Jr. in Las Vegas handed down the sentences Tuesday after the men pleaded guilty Nov. 24 to conspiracy to receive, transport and deal in firearms, and to the federal charge of transporting firearms into state of residency. Jonnatan Weiss had a previous felony drug trafficking conviction in 2000, authorities said.

Bogden said an alleged coconspirator, Francisco Ulloa, 65, was arrested March 2 in Tijuana while attempting to cross the U.S. border into San Ysidro, Calif. He is expected to face prosecution in Las Vegas.

pew survey

Prison population in Nevada dropped to 12,539 in 2009

Nevada's prison population fell in 2009, mirroring a nationwide trend.

A survey by the Pew Center on the States says the number of inmates in state prisons nationwide declined last year for the first time in about 40 years.

Nevada had 12,743 inmates on Dec. 31, 2008. That number fell 1.6 percent to 12,539 as of Jan. 1, 2010.

The report says the decline reflects policy changes, such as allowing inmates to earn good-time credits for education and substance abuse treatment programs to shorten their sentences.

The Pew study says the overall inmate reduction saved Nevada $38 million and helped avoid $1.2 billion in prison construction costs.