IN BRIEF
'SUSPICIOUS' DEATH
Body of woman found in hotel room
Las Vegas police on Saturday were investigating the death of a woman whose body was discovered in a hotel room at Arizona Charlie's Boulder.
Police said they considered the woman's death "suspicious." Homicide investigators were summoned to the scene after the body was found about 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Further information was unavailable.
NORTH LAS VEGAS HOMICIDE
Man stabbed to death at apartment complex
A man was stabbed to death early Saturday in North Las Vegas, according to police.
Sean Walker, spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police Department, said police were called to an apartment complex at 2200 Ellis Street about 4 a.m. Saturday.
Witnesses at the scene told police that there didn't appear to be a big struggle before the stabbing, Walker said.
Late Saturday, Walker said no one had been taken into custody. The victim, believed to be in his 30s, had not been identified.
Sunday's homicide is the 23rd of 2007 in North Las Vegas, one more than during all of 2006. In 2005, North Las Vegas had 20 homicides.
IDAHO WILDFIRE
Evacuation order issued as blaze spreads
A mandatory evacuation was issued Saturday for residents of more than 1,000 homes in an area south of Ketchum, Idaho, where firefighting efforts were hampered as high winds grounded air tankers.
After three days of relative calm, the Castle Rock Fire roared past predetermined points and into the zone where evacuations were ordered.
Another 100 homes remained under a mandatory evacuation order from last weekend, including homes worth millions of dollars in the resort area of central Idaho. A shelter was set up at a former high school to the south, in the town of Hailey, said Dick Rush, CEO of the American Red Cross for Idaho.
The lightning-caused wildfire had grown to 39 square miles and was 38 percent contained, but embers blown ahead of the blaze increased the threat of spot fires, fire spokesman Bob Beanblossom said.
As of Saturday evening, no structures had been reported lost, he said, although winds were gusting to 25 mph.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Activists march in support of deportee
Immigrant rights activists hoisted signs, waved flags and banged drums Saturday as they marched through downtown in support of Elvira Arellano, a recently deported illegal immigrant who spent nearly a year inside a Chicago church to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born son.
Arellano, 32, was sent back to her native Mexico last weekend after traveling to Los Angeles to attend a rally for the overhaul of U.S. immigration laws.
Organizers said that more than 2,000 people demonstrated, but authorities said it was closer to 600.
7-WEEK-OLD FIRE
Wilderness blaze keeps firefighters on alert
A 7-week-old wildfire in the Santa Barbara County wilderness showed bursts of life Saturday despite firefighters' progress.
The so-called Zaca Fire, which nudged its way into Ventura County this past week, was 83 percent contained Saturday evening after burning 239,468 acres, or about 374 square miles of steep backcountry.
A recommended evacuation for an area west of Highway 33 from the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line south to Pine Mountain Inn was in effect, officials said Saturday.
The blaze swelled by about 635 acres on Friday on its active northern front, and southerly winds sent embers across a containment line at Brubaker Canyon near Highway 33.
