WEEK IN REVIEW: Top news
Henderson residents shouldn’t expect to bump into him in the grocery store or anything, but President Barack Obama plans to spend the next three days in Nevada’s second-largest city as he prepares for his first debate against GOP challenger Mitt Romney on Wednesday.
The president will hold a public rally at Desert Pines High School this evening . After that, he is slated to stay in the area Monday and Tuesday, with no public events scheduled, before heading to Denver for the debate.
Obama’s frequent visits to Nevada, more than any president before him, demonstrate the importance of the battleground state in the 2012 White House race. This will be the president’s eighth stop in Nevada this year alone.
Four years ago, Obama prepared for the general election debates in Florida, another swing state.
Monday
Ganging up on cancer
The biggest competitors in cancer care in Southern Nevada – one for-profit and one nonprofit – appear to be forging a deal to collaborate.
Negotiations aimed at expanding "the breadth and scope of cancer care and clinical research offered to the Las Vegas community" are under way between officials with the for-profit Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada and the nonprofit University of California San Diego Health System and the UCSD Nevada Cancer Institute.
Details are expected this week.
Tuesday
Small screen, big life
"Vegas," the new, big-budget CBS drama based on the life of former Clark County Sheriff Ralph Lamb, made its debut to strong ratings.
The series, with Dennis Quaid as the legendary cowboy sheriff, chronicles the law and lawlessness of 1960s Las Vegas – or at least the fictionalized, Hollywood version of it.
Wednesday
Big news for tiny bug
The nickel-sized Mount Charleston blue butterfly is poised to become Nevada’s newest endangered species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the butterfly is in danger of extinction and warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The service also proposes listing as threatened five other similar-looking butterflies.
Environmentalists worry that it could be too late to save the insect, but they said listing it should improve the overall health of the forest without halting development at Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort or elsewhere.
Thursday
Fugitive on Facebook?
Fugitive former prosecutor David Schubert may have fled to Mexico and is now using social media to post pictures of his flight from the law.
A photograph of an empty beach was posted to his Facebook page from a mobile device about noon Thursday.
Schubert, who often handled celebrity drug cases, lost his job as a Clark County prosecutor after he was arrested after buying $40 worth of cocaine in 2011. He has been missing since he failed to surrender Sept. 21 for a nine-month jail term.
His lawyer, Louis Schneider, said authorities told him they believe Schubert is in Mexico.
Friday
Fire claims father, son
A man working on a boat in front of his house triggered a fire that killed him and his 13-year-old son, according to details from the man’s cousin.
Henry Jackson, 50, was working on the boat’s fuel system when it exploded, setting fire to him and his West Las Vegas house Thursday.
Cousin Billy Alston Sr. said Jackson’s wife tried to douse the fire but couldn’t.
The boy, Mirion Jackson, died inside the house while trying to call 911 instead of rushing outside to escape the flames, Alston said.