Top News

For the second time in six days, a small plane from North Las Vegas Airport crashed into a valley home.

Thursday's crash killed the pilot and set fire to a house in the 2800 block of Jones Avenue near Cheyenne.

A pregnant woman in the house was hospitalized for observation, but no one else on the ground was hurt.

According to witnesses and investigators, the aircraft went down as pilot William John Leahy Jr., 38, of Redwood City, Calif., was trying to steer it back to the airport after developing engine trouble.

On Aug. 22, Jack and Lucy Costa were killed in their house near Lake Mead Boulevard and Simmons Street when an airplane crashed into the structure on take-off from the North Las Vegas Airport.

The pilot, Mack Creekmore Murphree Jr., also died.

MONDAY

YUCCA NOT A BIG ISSUE

Plans to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain did not rank very high as an issue for Nevada voters when it came to picking the next president, a Review-Journal poll showed.

Of the 400 likely Nevada voters surveyed, 38 percent said Yucca Mountain would have no bearing on their choice, while 23 percent said it would have a major influence.

Some 58 percent of those polled said they oppose the nuclear waste repository.

TUESDAY

SAME-SEX BENEFITS

A state regulation that expands health care insurance benefits to the domestic partners of state employees -- even same-sex ones -- won approval from a legislative subcommittee.

But getting money to cover the expanded benefits could be a tall order.

The estimated cost of the regulation is $4 million, which lawmakers may be hard pressed to find amid massive state budget cuts next session.

WEDNESDAY

'SUGE' SNARED

Hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was arrested by Las Vegas police after two officers reported seeing him beat his girlfriend while brandishing a knife.

The 43-year-old icon of gangster rap was taken into custody about 7 a.m. on Spring Mountain Road near Interstate 15. He was released in the evening after posting $19,000 bond.

Police say they found Ecstasy and a prescription painkiller on Knight, who played football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years.

THURSDAY

NEW CANNERY OPENS

Several thousand people turned out as the $250 million Eastside Cannery opened its doors.

The first major new gaming venture to open on Boulder Highway in 14 years has 307 hotel rooms and a casino with 2,187 slot machines and 26 table games.

In the three months ending June 30, gaming revenues dropped more that 8 percent along the so-called Boulder Strip, which includes Sam's Town, Boulder Station, Arizona Charlie's and Sunset Station in Henderson.

FRIDAY

NO MORE FREE SHOTS

Health officials announced that starting Jan. 1 the Nevada State Health Division will not provide free vaccinations to children who have private health insurance.

Health officials fear the move will increase the chance that some diseases that have long been dormant will reappear in the Las Vegas Valley.