Top News

The judge in the trial of former University Medical Center chief Lacy Thomas declared a mistrial Friday because Las Vegas police failed to turn over hundreds of pages of potential evidence.

District Court Judge Michael Villani ruled Thomas' defense was harmed when detectives withheld the 577 pages of documents, most of them from meetings ACS Healthcare Services employees held with UMC officials.

The hospital contract with ACS triggered the criminal investigation against Thomas and is the basis for two charges in the 10-count indictment.

Villani said he found no wrongdoing by police or prosecutors, but the potential damage to Thomas' defense could not be ignored.

The mistrial came after two weeks of testimony by more than 16 witnesses.

Monday

Charges dropped

Charges were dropped against the second man arrested in the March 23 shooting of a Las Vegas police officer.

Marvin Wilson was originally charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting a police officer in the shooting that left officer Michael Madland fighting for his life.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said there was not enough evidence to establish that Wilson was driving the vehicle or, if he was, that he should have known that it was stolen.

Tuesday

AG defies governor

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said she won't take legal action to block implementation of new federal health care reform legislation, leaving Gov. Jim Gibbons to fight the battle.

Masto, a Democrat, told Gibbons, a Republican, that any legal fight against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would be futile.

Gibbons had asked Masto to join 14 other states that have challenged the law in court, mainly arguing that the measure is unconstitutional.

Wednesday

Rhodes' plan draws ire

About 200 people packed the Blue Diamond community center to oppose Jim Rhodes' renewed effort to build houses on a 2,400-acre site across from the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Most who attended reside near Red Rock, and most are upset about the return of Rhodes' development plans five years after his earlier attempt fizzled.

Residents grilled Clark County Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola about a proposed agreement between Rhodes and the county.

Commissioners will review the proposal on April 21.

Thursday

NLV to slash 204 jobs

The North Las Vegas City Council approved a plan to cut 204 city jobs by mid-June.

The massive layoff will save the city the additional $33.4 million it needs to make it through fiscal year 2011.

At least $19.6 million will be cut in city services. A detailed list of the layoffs was not provided at the meeting.

Originally, 273 positions were targeted for elimination.

Friday

AG-GOV privilege?

A spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons said Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto may have broken professional conduct rules by announcing she would not file suit to block federal health care reform.

The statement suggests Gibbons is poised to question whether Masto violated attorney-client confidentiality rules by publicly releasing the letter in which she advised the governor against the lawsuit.

A spokeswoman for Masto said the attorney general didn't violate a confidentiality privilege because the governor didn't ask for legal advice.