WEEK IN REVIEW: Top News
At long last the Shark is headed to the Hall.
After more than 20 years of trying, Jerry Tarkanian, who led UNLV to the 1990 national championship and four Final Fours, has been voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its illustrious class of 2013.
Tarkanian, 82, is in Atlanta, site of this year’s Final Four, for the official announcement Monday morning.
He will be inducted Sept. 8 at the Hall’s headquarters in Springfield, Mass.
The news capped a busy week for UNLV basketball.
On Monday, freshman Anthony Bennett announced he will be leaving UNLV after one season to enter the NBA Draft, where he is expected to be a top-five pick.
Then on Friday came word that Mike Moser is also leaving the team, though not for the NBA as some predicted. Moser has decided to transfer to the University of Washington to play basketball next season — after he graduates from UNLV in July.
Monday
Car slams into eatery
A car plowed into a westside restaurant, pinning four people under the wreckage and sending 10 to the hospital.
The crash occurred about 12:30 p.m., when a black Lexus sedan plowed into the courtyard and crashed through the window of the Egg & I at 4533 W. Sahara Ave.
The injuries ranged from serious to critical, but everyone was expected to survive, authorities said.
Tuesday
Few voters, surprises
The municipal primaries featured low turnout and few surprises as voters replaced North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck with former state Sen. John Lee. Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen and Las Vegas City Councilmen Stavros Anthony, Bob Beers and Steve Ross all easily won new terms.
Incumbent council members John Marz in Henderson and Anita Wood in North Las Vegas also earned enough votes to avoid a runoff in June.
Wednesday
Water war brewing?
In a move that could trigger a water war, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said his state will not sign an agreement with Nevada over how to share a vast groundwater basin targeted by thirsty Las Vegas.
The Snake Valley water agreement, struck in August 2009, would have divided groundwater between the two states and cleared the way for exports to Las Vegas one day.
Nevada officials quickly signed the finished document, but their counterparts in Utah never did. Herbert now says the deal is as good as dead, prompting talk of legal action on the Nevada side of the line.
Thursday
Outbreak damages
A Clark County jury slapped one of the state’s leading insurers, Health Plan of Nevada, with a $24 million judgment in connection with the 2008 hepatitis C outbreak.
Jurors found that the company “acted in bad faith” and awarded damages to three people, two of whom contracted hepatitis C at a clinic operated by Dr. Dipak Desai.
Robert Eglet, attorney for two of the plaintiffs, said he expects to ask for an additional $1 billion in punitive damages.
Friday
Suit alleges groping
The woman who was captured on courtroom videotape complaining she was groped by a Family Court marshal has filed a lawsuit.
Monica Contreras, 28, alleges in the federal suit that her civil rights were violated in August 2011, when the marshal, Ron Fox, assaulted her in a witness room and then had her arrested in court, with cameras rolling, after she refused to recant her claims against him.
Also named as defendants in the suit are a second marshal who took her into custody, the hearing master , Clark County and the courts.
NUMBERS
784
Career coaching wins — 509 of them at UNLV — for Jerry Tarkanian, who will finally be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
816 feet
The combined distance of the two home runs Las Vegas’ own Bryce Harper hit on opening day for the Washington Nationals, according to the ESPN’s Home Run Tracker.
35,000 feet
The approximate length of copper wire stolen from a six-mile stretch of Interstate 15 near Salt Lake City in one of the largest and most brazen thefts in recent memory.
2017
When NV Energy plans to close its controversial coal-burning power plant north of Las Vegas as part of a larger push to get out of the coal business.
QUOTES
"They think we’re certifiable."
Steve Keller on the reaction by family and friends to his wedding plans. On Wednesday, he and Nancy Levandowski, both of Ames, Iowa, became the first couple to be married at Denny’s on Fremont Street.
"(Expletive) Santa Claus."
The name given to a reporter by the passenger of a car that slammed into an Egg & I restaurant on Sahara Avenue Monday afternoon, sending 10 people to the hospital.
"I just really don’t want to leave this behind. I feel like I have a real special bond with my teammates. The coaches made me a better man and a better player on the court."
Anthony Bennett, who got a little emotional Monday when he announced he was leaving UNLV after one season to enter the NBA draft. He is projected to be a top-five pick and the first Rebel drafted by an NBA team since 2003.
"I truly believe his behavior is escalating and spiraling to a point that somebody is going to wind up dead at the hands of this man."
Melanie Tobiasson, Las Vegas justice of the peace, while revoking the bail of former Nevada lawmaker Steven Brooks following his arrest — the third this year — in California.
MULTIMEDIA
VIDEO: Sheldon Adelson in court reviewjournal.com/adelson_court
