WEEK IN REVIEW: Top news

Gov. Sunny rides again.

Brian Sandoval took a typically upbeat tone in his State of the State remarks Wednesday, saying Nevada's economy is improving though it is a "success story not fully realized."

His comments in Carson City focused primarily on his twin themes of improving education and expanding the economy.

Sandoval called for $135 million in new spending on public education, including money to expand full-day kindergarten to more schools and help more students master English by the end of third grade.

Sandoval's proposed $6.55 billion general fund budget seeks to continue a package of taxes that otherwise would expire on June 30. It also proposes to expand an exemption from the modified business tax to 2,700 additional Nevada employers.

Monday

Grand jury probes cop

A federal grand jury has for months been hearing evidence about an incident involving a Henderson police sergeant caught on video kicking a man in diabetic shock during a traffic stop, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.

Grand jury sessions are secret, and it is unknown what, if any, charges federal prosecutors are seeking against Sgt. Brett Seekatz, who kicked Adam Greene in the head five times during the 2010 incident.

The officers incorrectly thought Greene was driving drunk.

Tuesday

HOA indictments land

Leon Benzer, the former construction company boss at the center of a long-running investigation of fraud and corruption at homeowners associations, and 10 other defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury.

The long-awaited indictment is part of the final Justice Department push to charge conspirators in a scheme to take over homeowners associations across the Las Vegas Valley between 2003 and 2009.

Two Las Vegas lawyers, Keith Gregory, 59, and Barry Levinson, 45, were among those charged in the 18-count indictment.

Wednesday

Bigelow on high

North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace has landed a $17.8 million contract with NASA to build, launch and install its Bigelow Expandable Activity Module at the International Space Station.

Bigelow won't just be the first company with a private, commercial space habitat in orbit.

It's also the first Las Vegas Valley business to win a lead contract from NASA, which is looking to partner with private companies on exploration now that its space shuttle program has ended.

Thursday

'Predator with a badge'

A former Las Vegas police officer accused of stopping female drivers while on duty and coercing them into exposing their breasts was slapped with a maximum two-year jail sentence.

John Norman, who resigned from the Metropolitan Police Department five months after his arrest, pleaded guilty in June to oppression under the color of office and open or gross lewdness, both gross misdemeanors.

Judge Abbi Silver called Norman "nothing short of a sexual predator with a badge."

Friday

Bad match sparks suit

A Las Vegas woman is suing Match.com for $9.9 million after the dating site set her up with a man who nearly killed her.

Mary Kay Beckman is accusing the world's most popular dating site of failing to disclose the dangers of online dating and for the false sense of security provided by the company's commercials.

Attorney Marc Saggese said the company had an obligation to state the dangers of meeting strangers online.