Schools seek flexibility on reducing spending

Nevada school officials asked for, and Gov. Jim Gibbons agreed to provide, as much flexibility as possible to make a $96 million cut in education spending.

Superintendents from around the state, including Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes, met with Gibbons on Thursday to learn more about 4.5 percent per year cuts announced Dec. 14.

Gibbons has been criticized for including education in meeting a $284 million spending reduction target over two years.

If districts were given some flexibility to do more of the budget cutting in the second year, the $96 million target statewide for schools would be easier to achieve, Rulffes said.

"We hope that we can be held whole this year and have some kind of an orderly process for whatever cuts might be mandated for next year," Rulffes said.

State Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday a state law requires Gibbons to secure approval from the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee for his plan to cut state spending.

The general appropriations bill approved by the Legislature in June contains a provision that lets governors cut spending but requires them to secure the legislative committee's approval if budget reserves fall below $80 million by the end of the fiscal year.

MONDAY

Nellis completes photo cell project

Nellis Air Force Base celebrated completion of the largest photo voltaic installation in North America, which generates one-quarter of the base's power needs or enough to supply 13,000 houses with electricity.

The Nellis project is similar to photovoltaic systems at commercial buildings and homes, only larger, producing 14 megawatts on a power plant site covering 140 acres.

"It's the technological equivalent of the first jumbo jet in airlines," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "It's on a scale we've never seen in the United States."

TUESDAY

Three more

held in shooting

Police said they had arrested three more suspects in the Dec. 11 school bus stop shooting that wounded six, including four Mojave High School students.

Authorities took into custody on Monday night Erica Adams, 20, Dresden Williams, 18, and Franklin Jackson, 17, in connection with the shooting at Alexander and Walnut roads.

Witnesses said Williams and Jackson, who police say are gang members, were the only shooters. Nicco Tatum, 18, a gang member arrested in Denver a day after the shooting, has been accused of being one of the gunmen.

WEDNESDAY

Internet gambling ban supported

Attorneys general from 43 states came out against a bill rolling back a ban on Internet gambling.

In a Nov. 30 letter to congressional leaders, the National Association of Attorneys General expressed "grave concerns" about a bill by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., that would repeal the 2006 ban and appoint the Department of Treasury to regulate online wagering.

The attorneys general said the ban has driven many illegal gambling operators from the U.S. marketplace.

THURSDAY

Suspect charged in machete attack

A man killed a woman and maimed her two children in a machete attack. Police arrested Victor Cruz, 29, on Friday on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Alex Martinez, 22, who lives at the Cabana Park apartments near Bonanza Road and Eastern Avenue, said he was in bed when he heard the thumping sounds of a fight. When Martinez peered out a window, he saw a woman bleeding on the ground and a bleeding girl running around the building.

Not far away, Martinez saw a man on the ground covering his head with his hands as the attacker whaled on him seven or eight times with a foot-and-a-half long machete.

FRIDAY

Immunization

exemptions rising

The number of Clark County residents requesting exemptions for immunizations is increasing, said public health officials, who worry that unfounded fears of a link between autism and vaccines might be fueling the petitions.

Between 10 and 30 exemption requests are filed each month, said Bonnie Sorenson, director of clinic and nursing services. Dr. Lawrence Sands, the health district's public health officer, is granting roughly six exemptions each month.

Physicians can grant immunization exemption requests. The health district does not take those into account, however, so the number of exemptions is likely higher countywide.

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES

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