Week in Review: Top News

Nevada leaders entered the debate over security, guns and sharp political rhetoric in the wake of a Jan. 8 shooting rampage in Tucson that left six people dead.

Police in Arizona believe the attack was an assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was critically wounded as she held an event for constituents outside a grocery store.

As a show of support for Giffords, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., held her own "Congress on Your Corner" event at her Las Vegas office on Friday.

The shooting also sparked reviews in Nevada of security procedures for public officials and renewed criticism of politicians who use gun-related analogies. Former U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle, in particular, took heat for her comment during last year's campaign that "Second Amendment remedies" were available to people "if Congress keeps going the way it is."

In a response Wednesday, Angle called such finger-pointing "an audience rating game" that "contradicts the facts as they are known."

Monday

A Crime of passion?

Las Vegas dancer Debora Flores Narvaez was killed in the heat of the moment by her dancer boyfriend, Jason "Blu" Griffith, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.

The monthlong search for the missing Flores Narvaez made headlines before coming to a grisly end Jan. 8, when Griffith was arrested and the woman's dismembered body was found stashed in tubs of concrete in a downtown Las Vegas home.

Tuesday

Furloughs for guards

State correctional officers will be required to take one furlough day a month starting in February under a plan approved by Gov. Brian Sandoval and other members of the state Board of Examiners.

Despite earlier warnings to the contrary, new Corrections Director Greg Cox said the furloughs would not be a safety risk. The step is expected to save $312,700 a month in pay.

Wednesday

Taking our medicine

State lawmakers will be asked to make legal drugs with certain ingredients available by prescription only in an effort to thwart methamphetamine production.

A bill in the works by state Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, would require customers to have a doctor's prescription to buy cold medicines that contain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine.

Under a 2007 law, such medicines already are sold only in limited quantities from behind the counter at pharmacies and require buyers to sign a registry.

Thursday

Violent crime down

Violent crime in Las Vegas continued its multiyear downward trend in 2010 with one big exception: sexual assaults.

Violent crimes have fallen 15 percent since 2005, including three straight years of declines even as the economy has been on the skids. The police department's crime statistics follow a nationwide trend.

The news that sex crimes were up 16 percent since 2005 was the lone black eye in what Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie called an otherwise "impressive year."

Friday

Someone is hiring!

Station Casinos Inc., which operates 19 properties in Southern Nevada, announced plans to hire 1,000 employees over the next couple of months.

There are 500 full-time and 500 part-time positions being offered. The available job types include dealers, bartenders, waitresses, hotel operations, security, chefs and kitchen assistants.