WEEK IN REVIEW: Top News

A man who voted in a disputed North Las Vegas City Council race does not live in that city.

Greg Mich'l admitted that he voted in the race, which sitting Councilman Richard Cherchio lost to Wade Wagner by a single vote.

Mich'l said he did not know that he wasn't allowed to vote in the North Las Vegas race.

"I'm really embarrassed," he said. "I never vote, and then this happens."

He said voting materials arrived at his brother's house, which is in North Las Vegas. He figured it was OK to use them.

"I didn't realize you had to be a resident of North Las Vegas," he said.

Cherchio, who has challenged the results, also is focusing on Jordan Buck, the son of Mayor Shari Buck.

Cherchio's attorney said Jordan Buck might have cast an invalid ballot.

Jordan Wagner, a 23-year-old college student, is registered to vote in both North Las Vegas and in Utah.

MONDAY

LV police settle error

Las Vegas police will pay $1.5 million to a man who was wrongly imprisoned because of a DNA mix-up.

The award is the largest in the department's history.

"We took four years of his life away, and there is no giving that back," Sheriff Doug Gillespie said.

Dwayne L. Jackson, 28, pleaded guilty to a 2001 robbery after DNA evidence tied him to the crime. But the evidence was switched with another man's.

Terry Cook, the DNA technician, no longer works at the department.

TUESDAY

Another Strip homicide

Three days after Las Vegas police had a news conference saying a rash of homicides on the Strip was an anomaly, a fourth homicide occurred.

Randall "BP" Blackwell was stabbed in the heart July 9. Blackwell, 25, died from his injuries a week later.

The Review-Journal discovered the homicide; police did not report that a fourth had taken place.

"We should've followed up," officer Jay Rivera said.

WEDNESDAY

Housing plan decried

Developer Jim Rhodes' vision for creating a town atop a mesa near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is still getting no love from its potential neighbors.

A Rhodes representative gave a detailed description of the proposal to Blue Diamond residents at a packed community center.

Most people expressed disdain.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg -- we're going to fight you!" resident Pauline van Betten said, drawing cheers.

Rhodes wants to build more than 7,000 homes, surpassing his previous plans for 5,500 homes. That also caused an uproar.

THURSDAY

Man heads to prison

The man who killed UNLV student Angela Nichole Peterson in a collision after a night of drinking could spend more than 16 years in prison.

Kevin Miranda, 20, who had pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving, was sentenced Thursday to between six years and eight months and 16 years and eight months in prison.

Peterson's parents, Frank and Linda Peterson, said their daughter's death has destroyed their lives, too.

FRIDAY

Jail inmate killed

Francesco Sanfilippo was killed early Friday at the hands of his cell mate, Carl Marcus Guilford, 18, authorities said.

A corrections officer saw that Sanfilippo had suffered an apparent head wound. Las Vegas police said they soon discovered Guilford had beaten and stabbed Sanfilippo with a pencil after an altercation.

Sanfilippo was in custody on child pornography charges.

Guilford is facing murder charges in the May death of his 6-year-old cousin.