WEEK IN REVIEW: Top news
A Clark County grand jury decided not to indict Las Vegas police officer Jesus Arevalo in last year's fatal shooting of disabled veteran Stanley Gibson.
An investigation by the grand jury into the shooting began in October and included testimony from about a dozen witnesses.
Gibson, a 43-year-old Gulf War veteran, apparently was lost and distraught in an apartment parking lot early on Dec. 12, 2011. His car was boxed in by two police cars, but he wouldn't follow orders to get out.
Police hatched a plan to remove him from the car: One officer would shoot out a window with a beanbag shotgun, and another would douse the interior with pepper spray.
But when the shotgun was fired, Arevalo fired an AR-15 rifle seven times, killing the unarmed Gibson.
Monday
A gun and a vendetta
Police released the name of an Illinois man who gunned down his ex-girlfriend, 30-year-old Jessica Kenny, and then killed himself in the lobby of the Excalibur on Dec. 14.
Authorities said Edward Brandt, 31, was acting out a vendetta when he shot and killed Kenny, though the two hadn't dated for more than two years. She was a concierge for Vegas.com in the lobby of the resort.
Tuesday
County oks cop tax
County commissioners voted 5-2 to support raising the sales tax a quarter cent to add more police officers.
Sheriff Doug Gillespie still faces an uphill battle persuading Nevada legislators next year to support the proposal, which they turned down in 2009. Gillespie said the additional tax would add police officers lost in recent years because of dwindling property tax revenue during the housing market collapse.
Wednesday
Parents indicted
The parents of three young children killed in a Las Vegas mobile home fire in June were indicted on three counts each of second-degree murder and child abuse and neglect.
Evidence in the case included a toxicology report that showed the parents, Amy Hatzenpiller, 26, and Shane Gouailhardou, 22, were high on methamphetamine when the fire began, prosecutors said.
Thursday
berkley busted
Rep. Shelley Berkley violated House rules and its code of conduct by using her office to help her husband's medical practice, the House Ethics Committee said in a report that concluded her actions were because of error and not corruption.
The committee delivered a mixed verdict after an investigation into conduct that became a major issue during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Friday
Jobs get a bump
Unemployment continued its downward crawl in Las Vegas and Nevada in November.
The jobless rate fell to 10.4 percent locally and 10.8 percent statewide in the month. Reno's rate fell into the single digits, at 9.9 percent, for its first reading below 10 percent since 2008.
NUMBERS
$17.3 million
The statewide Megabucks slot jackpot won at M Resort by a player who reportedly went there to use a voucher for free play and food.
3,000
The number of new college graduates in the labor market following Tuesday's winter commencement at UNLV.
0
The number of people who applied to be on the Manhattan town advisory board. The Nye County town's old board quit because members didn't want to keep meeting minutes.
$2.5 million
What poker star Howard Lederer agreed to pay to settle a $42.5 million U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over his role with a tarnished online gambling company.
QUOTES
"He was committed. There isn't anything anybody could have done."
Ray Steiber
Las Vegas police homicide lieutenant, talking about Edward Brandt, 30, an Illinois man who shot his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Kenny, also 30, and then killed himself in the lobby of the excalibur on Dec. 14.
"You just won an election."
Susan Brager
Clark County Commission Chairwoman, after the commission appointed Henderson attorney Lesley Cohen to the assembly. Cohen replaces Assemblywoman April Mastroluca, a fellow Democrat who resigned Nov. 30, less than a month after winning re-election.
"Enjoy the end of the world!"
The bubbly greeting to customers from Kimmy, a saleswoman at Las Vegas' Zombie Apocalypse Store, which saw brisk business last week - either because of the anticipated Mayan Doomsday or plain old Christmas.
"What has been lost in time and the joy of parenting my children is something I will never again regain."
Victor Fakoya
Who was acquitted in 2010 of murder and abuse charges in the death of 2-year-old Daniel Jaiwesimi but was refused the right to live with his wife and two daughters unless he admitted responsibility in a Family Court child protection case. He filed a federal civil lawsuit against Clark County.
