Jury hears arguments in Reno slaying trial

Wealthy Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack abused illegal drugs to intensify his sexual encounters, but the drugs eventually made Mack so delusional that he shot the judge presiding over his divorce, after first killing his estranged wife in self-defense, his attorneys said Wednesday.

"Darren's mind was essentially raped, by the drugs, of his reason and judgment," lawyer David Chesnoff told jurors during opening statements Wednesday.

But prosecutors Christopher Lalli and Robert Daskas said Mack was a methodical, cold-blooded killer. He plotted to end his heated divorce by killing Charla Mack and assassinating Family Court Judge Chuck Weller, the prosecutors said.

"It was a plan formulated and memorialized by the defendant in his own writing," Daskas said, referring to what appeared to be a "to-do" list authorities found in Mack's Reno townhouse.

Included on the list were: "end problem" and "parking garage-if yes."

Mack, 46, is accused of shooting Weller in the chest sniper-style from a parking garage across from the judge's courthouse office.

The trial was moved to Las Vegas after District Judge Douglas Herndon determined that Mack couldn't get an impartial jury in Washoe County.

MONDAY

Wedding chapel loses license

A hearing before the Las Vegas City Council that included stories of wedding chapel employees harassing, intimidating and attacking employees of competing chapels ended with one chapel getting its business license yanked.

In a unanimous vote, council members declared the Las Vegas Garden of Love chapel a public nuisance and upheld a decision by city staff not to renew the chapel's business license.

The council could hear more about the wedding industry, however, because people on both sides of the case renewed calls for tighter regulation.

TUESDAY

Home sales picture gloomy

Home sales continued to plummet in September to their lowest levels in years, and median prices for both new and existing homes edged downward from a year ago, Las Vegas housing analysts reported.

Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith said he counted 1,399 new home sales, the lowest monthly total since January 2000. The year-to-date total of 15,475 is down 44.3 percent from a year ago.

Larry Murphy of SalesTraq showed 1,328 new home closings during the month, a 52 percent decline from the same month a year ago. The median price was $312,639, down 3.3 percent.

Existing home sales were down 50 percent to 1,466 in September, and existing median home prices declined 8.9 percent to $263,075.

WEDNESDAY

Auditors to review remodeling issues

Clark County commissioners are expected to hire outside auditors to conduct an extensive review into how the county handled a complaint about remodeling work that was completed at the Rio without permits or inspections.

Investigators hope to determine why the county initially dismissed concerns about the lack of permits in August 2006.

Whistle-blower Fred Frazzetta contacted Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine in the summer, prompting Valentine to begin discussions into reopening the investigation. But it wasn't until the Review-Journal began asking questions about the lack of permits and subsequent inspection that the county formally reopened the case in late September.

THURSDAY

State Senate leader warns against cuts

State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio said the governor should not immediately cut university, mental health and child welfare spending and wait for the Legislature's consent before reducing state government agency budgets.

In response to revenue declines, selected state agencies, including higher education, were asked by Gov. Jim Gibbons two weeks ago to prepare priority lists on how they would cut their budgets by 5 percent, or a combined $184 million.

The lists must be submitted to the governor by Monday.

"We should work together to be both fiscally responsible and try to reduce, insofar as possible, the impact on important services and programs," said Raggio, R-Reno.

FRIDAY

Coal power plant talks upset groups

Amid growing complaints about state government secrecy, environmental groups said state officials are privately negotiating agreements with developers of coal-fired power plants without public participation.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection wants memorandums of understanding from developers of coal-fired power plants about what steps they will take to capture carbon dioxide emissions from their plants once the technology is available.

"Why is this being done behind closed doors?" asked Charles Benjamin, president of Nevadans for Clean Affordable Energy. "Let's put it out in the sunshine."

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES

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