Top News

A man wielding a medieval battle ax hacked a 4-month-old baby to death on a central valley street Thursday in a midday attack that also gravely wounded a woman police believe is the boy's mother.

Police said Harold Montague, 33, attacked Sandra Castro as she pushed Damian Avila Castro in a stroller on San Pedro Avenue near Sahara Avenue and Maryland Parkway.

Montague then went back inside his home at 1609 San Pedro, where police said he had already stabbed his disabled sister-in-law, Monica O'Dazier.

Both women survived.

Investigators have revealed no possible motive for the attack. Police said Montague did not know Castro.

One neighbor said the woman with the stroller walked through the neighborhood almost every day.

MONDAY

IN A SORRY STATE

Gov. Jim Gibbons used his annual State of the State address to lash out at state lawmakers, blaming them for Nevada's fiscal crisis even as he called them into a special session to consider government spending cuts.

The special session, set to begin Feb. 23, will focus on an $881 million state budget shortfall expected to affect all state services, especially education, which accounts for more than 50 percent of Nevada's general fund spending.

Gibbons urged lawmakers to give a "fair hearing" to his proposals for education changes.

TUESDAY

CUTTING TO PROTEST CUTS

Ignoring the rain and their classes, hundreds of college students screamed at the governor, pleaded with legislators and did their best to make the case that higher education has seen enough budget cuts.

The group first gathered on UNLV's campus in what was pitched as a walkout, a ditching of class to show everyone how important their battle was.

Higher education Chancellor Dan Klaich said he did not have a problem with the students skipping class because they would "put a face" on the cuts.

WEDNESDAY

BILL SEEKS WATER FIX

Water officials are crafting what they hope will be a quick legislative fix for a recent Supreme Court ruling that could cloud thousands of water rights across the state and jeopardize plans to supply Las Vegas with water siphoned from across eastern Nevada.

State water regulators want the measure considered during the special legislative session set for Feb. 23.

It will be up to Gov. Jim Gibbons to decide whether to add the proposed bill to the agenda for the special session.

THURSDAY

BAD YEAR FOR THE HOUSE

Gaming regulators reported revenues in Nevada fell 10.4 percent in 2009, the largest single-year decline in state history.

Casinos statewide collected $10.392 billion from gamblers last year, the lowest one-year total since 2003, when gaming revenues totaled $9.62 billion.

But it could have been a whole lot worse. Gaming revenues in the first six months of 2009 were down 13.4 percent compared with the same period in 2008. Over the last six months of the year, the decline eased to 7.2 percent.

FRIDAY

BLOW SOME MONEY HERE

White House officials confirmed that President Barack Obama's long-awaited visit to Las Vegas will take place this week.

The president will arrive in Southern Nevada on Thursday night after a visit to Denver.

Obama will hold several events on Friday alongside Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a White House official said.