IN BRIEF
NEVADA GOVERNMENT
Gibbons replaces, shifts energy officials
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has appointed Dr. Hatice Gecol as the state's commissioner of energy.
Gibbons said in a release Monday that Jim Groth, a chief warrant officer in the Nevada National Guard, will replace Gecol as director of the state Office of Energy.
Gibbons says Groth was previously chairman of the Nevada Solar Task Force. Groth has been an environmental supervisor in Carson City with the guard.
HIGH RATE OF SPEED
Man killed in collision in NLV was Californian
The man killed in a head-on collision Sunday in North Las Vegas has been identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Jorge Luis Guerrero.
The 21-year-old Pacoima, Calif., man was riding in a white Honda Accord traveling west on Lake Mead Boulevard near Civic Center Drive about 1:15 a.m. when the accident occurred, according to police.
Police said the driver of the Honda turned into the path of a white 1998 Dodge Ram pickup that was heading east. The Honda, driven by 19-year-old driver, was traveling at a high rate of speed and caused the collision, police said.
Guerrero was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. He died of head injuries in what has been ruled an accident.
Police did not release the driver's name or indicate whether the driver faces criminal charges.
LOST CONTROL OF VEHICLE
Victim of crash was Las Vegas teenager
The man killed late Friday in a crash on Bonanza Road near Apache Lane has been identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Issac Benavidez, 19, of Las Vegas.
Benavidez was driving a 2000 Dodge Neon sedan west on Bonanza about 11:30 p.m. when he tried to pass another vehicle. Witnesses told Las Vegas police that Benavidez lost control of the car and struck a 1994 Chevrolet Silverado truck also traveling west.
The Chevrolet spun, but its driver was able to regain control. The Dodge slid and struck a curb, light pole and fire hydrant before coming to rest at a fence, police said.
Benavidez was taken to University Medical Center, where he later died of multiple blunt force traumas in what was ruled an accident.
CHIHUAHUA'S DEATH
Killing of puppy nets jail time for Reno man
A Reno man has been sentenced to up to 21/2 years in jail for killing his neighbor's puppy.
Daniel Thomas Wells earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of killing an animal of another in the beating death of the 6-month-old Chihuahua in May.
Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Derek Dreiling said the case was elevated to felony status because evidence of malice existed.
He said Wells had been drinking, had a bad day at work and ended up acting inappropriately when the neighbor's dog got on his nerves.
Wells was sentenced to 12 months to 30 months in jail, but Dreiling said that he might end up serving less than a year.
The occupants of the other vehicle were uninjured.
ARIZONA EVENT TURNS DEADLY
Saunalike hut lacked permit, official says
A sweat lodge in central Arizona where two people were overcome and later died lacked the necessary building permit, an official said Monday.
Yavapai County building safety manager Jack Judd said no record existed of an application or permit for a temporary structure at the Angel Valley Retreat Center near Sedona.
At any one time, 55 to 65 people attending the Spiritual Warrior program hosted by self-help expert and author James Arthur Ray were crowded into the 415-square-foot space during a two-hour period Thursday night, Yavapai County sheriff's officials said.
Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee died after being overcome in the sauna-like hut, which was built for the five-day retreat. Nineteen other people were hospitalized with symptoms from dehydration to kidney failure. One remained in critical condition Monday, and two others were in fair condition.
