IN BRIEF
NORTHWEST VALLEY
Fire destroys home; no injuries reported
A fire caused $500,000 in damages to a northwest valley home Sunday afternoon, Las Vegas Fire Department officials said.
Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said firefighters were called to a fire at 6140 Ackerman Ave., near Jones Boulevard and Grand Teton Drive, about 4 p.m.
When firefighters arrived, the roof of the 3,100-square-foot house had started to collapse. Three people and three dogs had left the home. Because of safety concerns, firefighters fought the blaze from outside the house, Szymanski said.
The home was destroyed. The fire probably started on the outside and spread from the vents to the attic, he said.
"That's an open area full of lumber," he said. "Exactly what a fire's looking for."
INCLINE VILLAGE DESTRUCTION
Pray for bear's capture, church's pastor urges
A Nevada pastor is asking parishioners to pray for the capture of a 700-pound bear that has wreaked havoc on homes and property in Incline Village, including a church.
Pray that this bear, which has "done over $70,000 plus damage to homes and now a church is caught and relocated," the Rev. Dick Randall of the Village Church wrote in a Saturday e-mail to church members. "Pray also that it does NOT come back to our church."
On Nov. 21, the black bear managed to remove a handle and a push bar from a church door to make his way inside. He feasted on 22 jars of peanut butter, corn flakes and other items waiting to be packed in holiday food boxes.
NV ENERGY PLAN
BLM taking comments on transmission line
An NV Energy plan to build a transmission line from Ely to Las Vegas has cleared another step toward its approval.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has released an environmental impact study of the One Nevada Line project. Public comment on the project is being accepted through Jan. 8.
The line was to be tied into an NV Energy plan for a $5 billion coal-fired power plant near Ely. But plans for the plant were suspended in June.
Pending approval by the BLM and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the project will break ground in 2011.
ELIZABETH SMART KIDNAPPING
Federal court to weigh competency of suspect
For the third time since his arrest in 2003, a court will hold a competency hearing for the man charged in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart.
The 10-day hearing for Brian David Mitchell starts today in Utah's U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball will decide whether the 56-year-old former street preacher is competent to stand trial.
The hearing will be Mitchell's first in federal court. In state court, he was twice found incompetent for trial.
Mitchell was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.
Smart was 14 in 2002 when she was taken from her home at knife point. She was found nine months later.
L.A. SHOPPING MALL
Performer injured in fall during holiday show
An aerialist performing in a holiday show at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles has been hospitalized after falling three stories to the shopping mall floor.
Ray Pierce of Hollywood Aerial Arts, the company putting on the performance, said the 26-year-old woman slipped Saturday night while hanging upside down from a metal hoop during the finale.
Pierce said the performer fell into a video projection cube and hurt her wrist and pelvis.
