IN BRIEF
LAS VEGAS MUNICIPAL COURT
Late Judge Gregory's seat filled temporarily
Cynthia Leung was appointed Wednesday to fill the unexpired term of Municipal Judge Toy Gregory, who died recently of a heart attack.
The office will be up for election in 2009.
Leung has worked for the city of Las Vegas since 1999 as part of the criminal division in the city attorney's office. Before that, she spent two years as a criminal defense attorney in Las Vegas.
A California native, Leung attended the University of California, Berkeley and the Southwestern School of Law in Los Angeles.
Gregory served on the Municipal Court bench for 24 years, including seven as chief judge.
In all, there are six judges in Las Vegas Municipal Court, which has jurisdiction over misdemeanors committed within the city limits.
SAHARA AT TORREY PINES
Pedestrian dies after being struck by pickup
A pedestrian was hit by a pickup truck and killed Tuesday after she staggered into traffic on Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas police said.
The woman, who was not identified, died at the scene of the 9:15 p.m. incident near Torrey Pines Drive. Witnesses told police that one vehicle swerved to avoid the woman before a 2005 Dodge pickup driven by Zachary Gaboury, 25, of Las Vegas hit her.
HEMENWAY HARBOR
Lake Mead Marina to be moved Friday
To take advantage of favorable weather conditions, officials at Lake Mead National Recreation Area have moved up plans to relocate a marina to deeper water.
Lake Mead Marina will be moved Friday instead of Monday as originally planned. As a result, the boat launch ramp and the rest of Boulder Harbor will be closed to the public Friday morning. Lake Mead spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said the area should reopen by noon.
The 473-slip marina is being moved two miles to Hemenway Harbor, where it will become part of Las Vegas Boat Harbor marina. The trip across the water is expected to take three to five hours.
A portion of the marina was moved to Hemenway Harbor last February.
Eight years of drought on the Colorado River have caused the water level at Lake Mead to drop almost 100 feet. This is the third marina that has been forced to relocate to deeper waters since 2002.
CARLIN CONSERVATION CAMP
Tattooed escapees may stick out
Two convicts walked away Wednesday from a low-security Nevada prison camp in Carlin -- and at least one of them shouldn't be tough to identify because he has the words "convict" and "guilty" tattooed on his head and neck.
Prison authorities said the Carlin Conservation Camp walkaways were Erik Houser, 28, who has the tattoos, and Lee Duckett, 23, who also has tattoos but nothing as obvious as Houser's.
Officials said the two men may be in a pickup reported stolen near the camp. Duckett was imprisoned for possession of stolen property and Houser for possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon. Both were convicted in Washoe County.
APPEAL BY FIREFIGHTERS UNION
Reno fire chief's plan for inspections on hold
A plan by Reno Fire Chief Paul Wagner requiring firefighters to conduct random building inspections is on hold pending a judge's ruling on whether it's subject to union negotiations.
An arbitrator had ruled in the city's favor to allow the plan, which was appealed in court by the firefighters union.
Wagner says that as chief, he has the right to assign inspection duties to firefighters. City officials see it as a way to augment the department's five fire inspectors and provide better monitoring of older buildings that don't have fire sprinklers.
But union leaders say the matter should have been worked out by an oversight committee of administrators and firefighters.
THREATENED BIGHORN
Report: Saving sheep would cost $27 million
The federal government says efforts to bolster populations of the threatened Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep will cost about $27.5 million over 20 years.
The cost projection is included in a draft economic analysis released Tuesday of a proposed 416,000-acre critical habitat declaration. The area includes portions of five California counties in the central Sierra.
Because most of the land is federally owned, the cost associated with the declaration is estimated at $135,000.
Bob Williams, head of the Fish and Wildlife Service in Nevada, says public comments on the analysis, as well as the critical habitat designation, will be accepted until March 6.
SAN FRANCISCO ZOO
Renovations at big cat exhibit wrapping up
Workers are finishing an overhaul of the big cat exhibit at San Francisco Zoo after a fatal Christmas Day attack by an escaped tiger.
The renovations include raised walls, new glass barriers and electrified wires.
The big cats have been kept indoors away from public view since a tiger killed a San Jose teen and mauled two friends.
The exhibit will remain closed indefinitely while the cats acclimate to their new surroundings.
