IN BRIEF

AUTISM GROUP

Gibbons campaign adviser criticized for 'sexist' statement

An advocacy group for autistic children and their families criticized Gov. Jim Gibbons' campaign adviser on Tuesday for referring to first ladies as "window dressing."

The founder of the Autism Coalition of Nevada issued a statement, calling comments made to a newspaper by campaign adviser Robert Olmer "demeaning" and "sexist."

Hours after a judge on Monday approved a divorce settlement between the governor and Dawn Gibbons, Olmer told the Reno Gazette-Journal that not having a first lady in the governor's mansion won't be an issue, because any first lady "is to a large extent window dressing."

A Gibbons' spokesman said the governor disagreed with the statement. Olmer later said his remark was not directed at Nevada's first lady.

"She has been a great proponent to various charities," Olmer told KRNV-TV in Reno on Tuesday. "I certainly didn't mean anything negative toward Dawn."

Coalition founder Ralph Toddre said Dawn Gibbons championed the rights of those afflicted with autism and campaigned to raise awareness and seek funding for autism.

He praised both Dawn Gibbons and the governor, who signed a bill mandating insurance coverage for autism treatment, for their support and efforts.

NORTHERN NEVADA

BLM captures 74 wild horses in first day of roundup

The Bureau of Land Management captured 74 wild horses in Northern Nevada on the first day of a two-month roundup expected to relocate about 2,500 wild horses to other lands.

BLM spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said Tuesday that there were no reported problems with the horses on the first day of the capture on Monday, with officials using helicopters to corral the animals from a mountain range about 100 miles north of Reno.

The capture was suspended on Tuesday because of heavy snow.

The plan has come under fire from advocates who question whether the roundup is necessary or humane.

Protests of the roundup are planned today in Chicago, Denver and San Francisco.

GOLDEN VALLEY MAN KILLED

Arrest made in Arizona in fatal hit-and-run traffic accident

Police in Kingman, Ariz., made an arrest Tuesday in the Dec. 21 hit-and-run traffic accident that claimed the life of a Golden Valley man.

Sgt. Bob Fisk said a tip from a citizen led officers to the suspect vehicle and the man who police say admitted involvement in the collision that claimed the life of Kenneth Dean Grantham Jr., 45.

Grantham was killed when the motorcycle he was operating collided with a pickup that left the scene of the wreck on Andy Devine Avenue near Fairgrounds Boulevard. Fisk said an aerial search spotted the 1963 Ford pickup about 10 miles north of Kingman.

Fisk said the owner of the truck, William Shelley, 74, told officers he fled the scene because he was an uninsured driver. Fisk said the vehicle had been altered in a possible effort to disguise its appearance.

Shelley was booked into the Mohave County jail on an initial charge of leaving the scene of a fatal injury accident.