IN BRIEF
NATIONWIDE SEARCH UPCOMING
Housing agency chief announces resignation
The Clark County Housing Authority's executive director has resigned, the agency board's chairman confirmed on Monday.
Nancy Wesoff, who has served as the housing authority's executive director since early 2006, is leaving for a job with the Los Angeles Housing Authority, said Tim O'Callaghan, chairman of the local housing authority's board of commissioners.
Wesoff did not return calls seeking comment.
A nationwide search for a new executive director will shortly be under way, O'Callaghan said.
The Clark County Housing Authority has an annual budget of $36 million. The agency overseas 890 public housing units and is in charge of issuing nearly 4,000 Section 8 vouchers, which allow people to rent housing provided landlords are willing to accept them.
Howard Wasserman, director of operations at the housing authority, will serve as interim executive director until a replacement is named.
TIES TO STREET GANG ALLEGED
Man gets life in killing, attempted murder
A Las Vegas man Monday was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 2004 ambush-style shooting that left another man dead and a woman severely injured.
Jonathon Toliver, 23, was a member of Squad Up, a hybrid street gang that includes members of gangs that have been traditional rivals. Toliver and co-defendant Donnie Bryant were indicted on charges that include violence in aid of racketeering enterprise, murder, attempted murder and weapons-related charges.
On Sept. 13, 2004, Bryant and Toliver stormed the Buena Vista apartment complex between Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. As residents gathered for barbecues and other outdoor activities, the two men opened fire.
Witnesses who testified at Bryant's trial, told jurors the shooting was the result of a drug-dealing turf war. Killed by a barrage of bullets was Gilbert Henry, the cousin of the presumed target of the attack. A woman who was baby-sitting a toddler and infant was struck in the hand by a bullet.
"This sentence should send the message that membership in a violent gang is a ticket to federal prison," said Gregory Brower, U.S. Attorney for Nevada.
Bryant was convicted by a jury in February and is scheduled to be sentenced July 21.
FOUND BEHIND APARTMENT
Slain man identified as Las Vegas 25-year-old
The man who was shot and killed last week in an alley behind an apartment complex near Fremont Street and Eastern Avenue was identified as 25-year-old Paul Delacruz Mendez.
Police received a call about 12:05 a.m. Friday that a man had been shot behind the apartments at 2305 E. Sunrise Avenue. Upon police arrival, they found Mendez, a Las Vegas resident, dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
Witnesses told police Mendez had approached a large white four-door sport utility vehicle with chrome rims when an occupant in the vehicle fired several shots at Mendez.
Anybody with information on the crime is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 385-5555.
ARGUMENT INTERVENTION
LV man who died from gunshots named
A man who was shot and killed Sunday after intervening in an argument near Pecos Road and Cheyenne Avenue was identified as 24-year-old Eduardo Medina-Padilla.
Police were called to a shooting at the 2900 block of Clifford Avenue Sunday about 2:50 a.m. Medina-Padilla, a Las Vegas resident, was taken to the hospital and later died at University Medical Center from multiple gunshot wounds, the Clark County coroner's office said.
Las Vegas police said Medina-Padilla and his roommate saw a man they knew arguing with several other men at an apartment building across the street. Medina-Padilla attempted to intervene and was gunned down, police said.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that multiple suspects might have been involved. The suspect or suspects fled in a black, four-door Lincoln Town Car, police said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or the department's homicide section at 828-3521.
PORTLAND, ORE., WATER SUPPLY
Pair caught skinny dipping in reservoir
Two people caught skinny dipping in a Portland, Ore., reservoir that is a main source of water for the city nearly caused officials to dump millions of gallons of water and close the facility.
Ryan Langsdorf, 28, and Ashley Moyer, 23, were found in one of the two sections of the Mount Tabor Reservoir at about 3 a.m. Saturday during a spell of unusually hot temperatures.
They were cited for trespassing.
But the two were swimming in a section of the reservoir that was not being used.
Had that section been in use, Portland Water Bureau officials say, they would have had to dump millions of gallons of water from that pool and possibly shut off the reservoir.
Earlier this year, millions of gallons of water were dumped when someone put latex paint, a construction cone and hundreds of flyers into the water.
