IN BRIEF

SMOKE IN LAVATORY

United flight makes emergency landing

A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Las Vegas Thursday night after smoke was reported in one of the plane's lavatories.

United flight 195, an Airbus A320 bound to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, landed safely at McCarran International Airport about 8 p.m., McCarran spokeswoman Linda Healey said.

The cause of the smoke was not known, Healey said. There were no injuries reported.

DOUBLE SLAYING

One of two people found slain identified

One of two people found dead in an apartment on the east side of the valley Wednesday has been identified as Issac Jones, 28, of Las Vegas.

Jones was found dead at 5075 Spyglass Hill Drive, near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard. He and a second person, whose identity has yet to be released, were found by a friend who had gone to the home to check on the pair.

Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head in what has been ruled a homicide.

$145,000 DUE IN FEES

State must pay ACLU in sex offender battle

The state of Nevada must pay about $145,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada in their court battle over a new sex offender law.

In September, U.S. District Judge James Mahan issued a permanent injunction that barred the state from applying the new statute retroactively. Mahan said the law, as applied to 12 sex offenders represented by the ACLU, was unconstitutional.

This week, Mahan granted the organization's motion for attorney fees.

A spokeswoman at the Nevada attorney general's office, which is appealing Mahan's decision to strike down the law, declined to comment Thursday.

The new law changed how the state categorizes sex offenders. Instead of categorizing them by their risk of re-offending, it categorized them by the crime they committed.

ARGUED SIGN TOO SMALL

Man beats speeding ticket, costs neighbors

A Spring Creek man who beat a $62 ticket has created a legal speed trap that could cost Elko County and his neighbors much more.

James Killian, a Spring Creek resident, argued the ticket he received in April for going 39 mph in a 25 mph zone was unenforceable because the speed limit sign was too small and didn't comply with uniform traffic codes.

Elko Justice of the Peace Al Kacin agreed.

Now, county and Spring Creek Association employees are taking inventory trying to determine how many signs may need to be replaced.